Download - Kremlin Living Rules
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krEMLININTRODUCTION:
Kremlin is a game for 3-6 players, loosely based onthe politics of the Communist Party in the Soviet
Union. he ob!ect is for a player"s faction to control
the Party Chief and to #$ave" during the annual
%ctober Parade to sho$ personal control of the
Communist Party.
Kremlin $as originally released in &'(6 by )ata
*organa and a licensed version from +valon ill
follo$ed shortly thereafter. his version allo$s
players to play $ith both of the older rules sets or
$ith ne$ rules allo$ing players to use modern
post-&'6/ Soviet and 0ussian politicians as $ell.
he rules are bro1en do$n into several sections.
he 2asic 0ules section is an overvie$ of the
components. t also contains ho$ to prepare to play
the game and basic concepts that are necessary to
play any version of Kremlin. hen the game specific
rules follo$ starting $ith a brand ne$ $ay to play
the game, *odern. f you"re ne$ to Kremlin or have
played several games it"s recommended that yougive this version a try first. he Standard game
closely resembles the original rules of Kremlin.
4hile the &'5( game loosely resembles +s
version. n any case you $ill find the original rules
for the version you prefer compatible $ith this ne$
printing of Kremlin. 7ou may find you li1e a
combination of all the versions you e8perience.
hat"s perfectly fine, adapt the rules to your
preference.
%rgani9ation: +ll three versions share a common
core set of rules. 4hen CORECOREis displayed you $ill
1no$ these are the core set of rules, identical in all
three games. 4hen GAMEGAME is displayed you 1no$
this set of rules is specific to the game version you"re
playing, they are also indented. + VARIANTVARIANT
symbol gives you a common variant to the game
version you"re playing, $hich is further indented.
BASIC RULES
C%;5 Politician cards 56 $ith Politicians on both sides,
56 $ith Politicians on only one side/
&( ntrigue cards color coded into three sets/
one sheet of die-cut counters
d5
THE GAMEBOARD:he game board has many different areas on it. n
the corner, the phases of a turn are listed. + turn
trac1 is located on the lo$er right. here is a corner
labeled ?
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n addition, each of these offices has color-coded
programed instructions listed in a bo8 under their
name the color behind each position name isnt
important/. hese are reminders for ease of play,
telling in $hich phases a Politician may be eligible to
ta1e action. Sometimes a Politician cannot fulfill his
duties because a card has been played or the
Politician is off at the sanatoriumD inactive/D thismeans another Politician assumes the vacant offices
duties for the moment. hat order is also noted on
the board. )or e8ample, loo1 at the Eefense *inister
Fthe programed instructions begin $ith a ?3A. his
means he is used in the third phase of the turn Spy
nvestigations/. f the Eefense *inister can"t do his
!ob, players loo1 for ?3+A in this case, the )oreign
*inister/. hat Politician no$ may carry out that
Phase"s opportunities instead. f ?+A is unavailable,
proceed through the alphabet until a Politician is
available to act.
THE POLITICIANS:
Politician cards have a facial picture of the Politician
and the Politician"s name. here is also a capital
letter in the upper left corner for ease of reference on
a player"s nfluence record sheet.
n the upper-right is the Politician"s current age. +s
the game progresses, this $ill change by $ay of
adding stress to the Politician. Using the number-counters, 1no$n as Stress Points (SP), players $ill
ad!ust a Politician"s age, placing his ne$ age on top
of the age listed on the card.
he card also lists the Politician"s strengths and
$ea1nesses. hese are important and may have a
bearing on aging, cards played or results of dice
rolls.
here are t$o sets of Politician cards in the game.%ne set is single-sided and labeled Politicians
*odern. he remaining Politicians are double-
sided. %ne side, red bac1ground, is the fictional
Politicians, the other side, gray bac1ground, is the
historical Soviet Politicians.
INACTIVE POLITICIANS:
Politicians in the Sanatorium are inactie! hey may
neither vote nor ta1e actions. +n action is anything a
Politician does or decides. he on"#decision an
inactive Politician may ma1e is choosing to remain in
the Sanatorium or return to $or1. + Politician
$ithout any declared influence points is not
considered inactive.
THE INTRIGUE CARDS:here are &( ntrigue cards C/. he cards are
divided into three dec1s by the color of the top bar
on the front side red, gray and blac1/. +ll game
versions use the red dec1 $hile the other t$o are
specific to the version being played.
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2lac1 on beige: the ard-line Stalinists
4hite on green: the 0ed +rmy *ilitarists
4hite on blue: the =ysen1o
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he other $ay comes at the end of turns 3, 6, and '.
Starting $ith the player to the left, of $hoever
controls the highest active Politician, players, in a
cloc1$ise manner, may choose one of the follo$ing
options. Publicly add t$o Ps to Politicians currently
in the Politburo either t$o on a single Politician or
separate points on t$o different Politicians/ or dra$
t$o ntrigue cards remember hand limit/, orpublicly add one P and dra$ one card. Players
should mar1 their nfluence sheets accordingly in
the proper column. Players must place anyall Ps
before dra$ing any cards.
-./ INLUENCE %urs go to &&O/:
he initial influence assigned by each player only go
up to &, but through the play of ntrigue cards or
the Ps added on turns 3, 6, and ', it is possible for a
player to have more than & points on a Politician. f
this happens, that player must place his faction"s
#&" mar1er on the Politician in order to claim that
status. 4hen he does this, all other factions remove
their nfluence. 0emoved nfluence is ;%
eliminated. hose nfluence points are once again
#undeclared".
+s long as the Politician remains at #&", no one else
may put nfluence on that Politician.
RETIREMENT:
Sometimes people gro$ too old for office and decide
to retire. n Kremlin, that ta1es place $hen a
Politician"s age reaches '6, they are then removed
from the game immediately. + Politician cannot ta1e
actions $hich $ould guarantee him to retire. i.e.,
Condemn at age 'L or higher, Purge at age '>.../
TURN ORDER:
n Kremlin, there are eight phases in a turn,
comprising & year of time. 0egardless of $hich
game version you are playing, these phases remain
the same.
&. Cures
5. Purges
3. Spy nvestigations
L. ealth Chec1s
>. )uneral Commission
6. 0eplacement
N. 0ehabilitation
(. Parade, of the %ctober 0evolution
ntrigue card errata:
ntrigue card 3 +ssassination +ttempt
Change second sentence to read Mf the result is
one lo$er than his Purge rating, the politician
receives YY . f it is t$o lo$er, he receives Y.
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Modern, Standard & 1928 GameModern, Standard & 1928 Game
he Mo0ernMo0erngame is a brand ne$ $ay of
playing Kremlin. his game blends some of the
best features of the previous game editions. t
also adds some completely ne$ mechanics to thegame.
n the modern era, the Communist Party $as
more stable than in the Stalinist era, but its aging
leadership fossili9ed and the heavy-handed
bureaucracy collapsed, leading to a modern
0ussian state, stripped of much of its Soviet
empire, but still longing for its days of glory
under a #security-state" regime.
he Stan0ar0game reflects the $ay the game
$as originally played.
-123: he &'5s $ere a violent and unstable time
for the Soviet Communist Party. he decade sa$
the death of =enin, the dismissal of rots1y, and
the rise of the one man =enin didn"t $ant in
charge: Stalin. Soon enough, the purges came
and the remainder of the 2olshevi1 %ld Huard
$ere dead, $hether from illness or e8ecution..
Variant: his version ma1es the &'5( game a very common $ay that Kremlin
is played. t should be read together
$ith &'5(.
+ll three versions are mi8ed together amongst
the core rules. o avoid confusion decide $hich
game youre playing and then only read the
game specific rules for it.
PREPARATION:
GAMEGAME
Mo0ernMo0ern
ntrigue cards: Shuffle together the red
shaded and blac1 shaded Cs
red:&-36, blac1:N3-&(/.
Politicians: use the cards labeled Politician
*odern.
=eave the Party Chair empty for the
moment.
Eeal three Cs to each player. Players mayloo1 at these before assigning Ps to
Politicians. Players allocate their Ps before
the Politicians are dealt to fill the Politburo.
+fter points are allocated, shuffle the
Politicians and fill the Politburo in ran1
order,
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them on their nfluence 0ecord sheets.
f there are 3-L players, no points may be
assigned to ?Bictor +paratschi1A.
f there are >-6 players, nfluence *+7 be
assigned ?Bictor +paratschi1A.
he game $ill last up to ten turns.he game is ready to begin.
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ntrigue card set: Shuffle together the red
shaded along $ith the gray shaded ntrigue
cards red: &-36, gray: 3N-N5/.
Politicians: use the gray bac1ground historical
Politician cards
Eeal three ntrigue cards to each player.
Players may loo1 at these immediately.
)or &'5(, place ?Bladimir =eninA in the Party
Chief slot.
Players no$ assign their Ps, recording them
on their nfluence 0ecord sheets, prior to
seeing $here the remaining Politicians begin.
Players are allo$ed to assign nfluence to
?Bladimir =eninA at the start of the game.
%nce influence is assigned, shuffle the
Politicians and fill the Politburo and ran1s of
the People !ust li1e the Standard game. hese
cards should be placed so that the historical
Politician gray shaded bar/ is face up.
he game $ill last up to ten turns.
he game is ready to begin.
VARIANTVARIANT
Use the e8act same ntrigue and Politiciancards as Standard.
Euring the ncrease nfluence phase the
additional Ps may be assigned to any
politician.
he Party Chief begins sic1, add Y. Hame
lasts ten turns, unless theres no victor, it
then proceeds up through the >th phase of
turn &&. he People, still arranged by
order of age, consists of all the Politicians
off the board, not !ust the first L.
Game Sequence:
1. CURECORECORE
aving a Politician you control die is usually
inconvenient, so often, it is a good idea to spend theyear in a Sanatorium to improve the Politicians
health.
n this phase, Boting-*ember Politicians $ith any Y
on them must decide if they $ish to ta1e a Cure and
go to the Sanatorium. his is done in voting order
from the top do$n/. f the Politician goes, a CURECURE
mar1er is placed on the Politician"s card. Unless an
ntrigue card is played causing a change, Politicians
$ill remain in the Sanatorium for the entire year.%nce a Politician is completely healthy and removes
his last Y, he must return to the Politburo at the start
of the ne8t turn.
f you loo1 at the ealth table, youll see Politicians
have a significantly better chance of regaining their
health at the Sanatorium than they do remaining on
the !ob./
4+0;;HQQ Politicians in the Sanatorium are
inactiveFand thus more susceptible to Purges and
rialsQ
;+CB< P%=C+;S:
f a Politician is #ta1ing a Cure" and is located at the
Sanatorium, he is considered inactive. his is
important because it means his !ob responsibilities
no$ fall to another Politician, depending on the
color-coding on the board.
+ Politician $ith no nfluence on him is still active.
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%nce the decisions regarding ta1ing a Cure have
been made, Politicians are aged SPs/. +ging isn"t
automatic for everyone and may depend on their
health or their ministry. ndeed, it is possible for
Politicians to get younger during a turnQ
hough a Politician"s SPs potentially could belo$ered under no circumstance could his age be
reduced belo$ his starting age.
Politicians
are aged as follo$s:
& SP if serving as ?Party ChiefA
& SP for each Yon their card, providing they are not
at the Sanatorium
& SP for each??on their card
& SP if occupying a *inistry that is the same as the
Politician"s 4ea1ness
-& SP if occupying a *inistry that is the same as the
Politician"s Strength
Sanatori%&: for a Juic1 reference/
4hen a Politician is at the Sanatorium, ?a1ing the
Cure,A he is referred to as inactive. he effects of
$hich are as follo$s:
-does not age due to any Y
-more li1ely to gain health.
-may not vote in either a rial or a nomination-has 3 added to a purge attempt die roll.
-office duties get passed on to a different
politician
-cannot $ave as the P.C.
-may not perform any actions e8cept to roll
his health dice or choose to leave the
Sanatorium
GAMEGAME
AGINGTA$ING A CURE:
Mo0ernMo0ernhere is no limit to the number of years a
Politician may be aged during this phase.
Politicians in Siberia age one year
automatically. n addition, they are aged one
year for each Ythey have.
Stan0ar0Stan0ar0
Euring this ,4ase, no Politician may age more
than %;< 7
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2. PURGES
CORECORE
n the Purge phase, the KH2 head may attempt to
eliminate alleged enemies of the state $ithin the
ran1s of the Politburo. o do this, the KH2 ead
selects a target and rolls the die. f it is eJual to or
higher than the Purge number located on the board
as $ell as here/, the target has been successfullypurged. f the Purge fails, the KH2 ead
immediately ages 3 years and the Phase is done.
< PU0H< ;U*2
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GAMEGAME
Mo0ern an0 -123Mo0ern an0 -123
he Eefense *inister may place one??per
Boting-*ember Politician of his choice, even if
there is already a??on this Politician the??????
mar1er is the ma8imum a politician may ever
have. he only affects of additional??is to age
the Politician faster/. he Eefense *inistermay not add more than one??to any one
Politician during this Phase.
Stan0ar0Stan0ar0
%nly one??may ever be on a Politician
CORECORE
TRIALS:
+ rial may be called against any one Boting-
*ember Politician $ho had a??
on him before thebeginning of the Spy nvestigation Phase. Politicians
$ho didn"t start the phase $ith a??cannot be
brought to rial. rials are resolved by a vote of the
senior eight members of the Politburo. he members
vote in descending order from the Party Chief do$n.
nactive Politicians are not allo$ed to vote.
Politicians $ithout nfluence placed on them $ill
al$ays vote #nnocent".
f the accused Politician receives t$o #nnocent"
votes, he is not guilty. f this occurs, remove all of
the??on the targeted Politician and the Eefense
*inister is aged three years. f the accused Politician
is found guilty, he is sent to Siberia.
f an acJuittal occurs, the Eefense *inister may not
place a ne$??on that same Politician this turn.
CONDEMNATIONS:
he Eefense *inister can bypass the need for a trialfor Candidate-level Politicians. e may chose one
per year and send him directly to Siberia. his ages
the Eefense *inister t$o years.
GAMEGAME
Mo0ernMo0ern
he Party Chief or a &st =evel Politburo
member may negate this Condemnation by
aging himself > years immediatelyFif
negated, the Candidate remains and loses none
of the nfluence on him
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4 use the >
year old line.
5. FUNERAL COMMISSION PHASE
CORECORE
his phase is only used if the Party Chief office is
vacant. f so, the )oreign *inister must name either
the KH2 Chief or the Eefense *inister as successor.
f no one occupies those offices then the )oreign
*inister may nominate someone from the 5nd =evel.
%nly if the entire Politburo is empty save for himself
may the )oreign *inister be nominated for the topofficeQ
+fter a nomination is made, the choice must be
confirmed by the Boting-*embers. Hoing through
the ran1s of the &st and 5nd levels starting $ith the
highest ran1ing member/, Politicians vote. f there
are three #no" votes, the nomination has been
re!ected. mmediately age the )oreign *inister one
year.
*P%0+;
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any vacancies on the -st Lee"they must be filled
based on the oldest Politician $ithin the 5nd level. f
the 5nd level is entirely empty then the oldest
Politician from the Candidates is chosen, if also none
there then from the People.
;%: f the number of
vacancies in the Politburo is greater than the number
of Politicians in the Politburo and among the People,
the game ends immediately. 4hoever controls the
highest ran1ing active member of the Politburo $ins
the game.
%nce all promotions are complete, ma1e sure that
there are at least four Politicians in the ran1s of the
People. f there are fe$er than four there, Politicians
are added in +ge-order.
;%
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Parades duration. Success is a sign of the
*otherlands strengthQ
f the Party Chief is healthy, his $ave is
automatically successful. f the Chief has a Y , he
must roll eJual to or greater than N to successfully
$ave. f the roll fails, the Party Chief must age one
year. f he has YY then the roll for success becomesa &L or higher. f this fails, the Party Chief is aged
t$o years.
f there $as a successful $ave, put a )action mar1er
of the )action $hich controlled the Party Chief on
the turn chart. f the $ave failed, place a Y there
instead.
0emember: + Party Chief a1ing the Cure cannot
even attempt to $ave.
VICTOR*
GAMEGAME
Mo0ernMo0ern
Bictory is determined by the first faction to
control the Party Chief for three $aves. his
can be three different Party Chiefs each
$aving onceQ f a $ave is done successfully,
place a faction mar1er on the urn rac1 on
the appropriate turn.
f no one has $on by the end of urn &,
victory is determined by $ho has the highest
score. + faction"s score is determined by:
& pt. for each successful $ave
3 pts. for controlling the Party Chief
) not inactive/
5 pts. for each &st =evel Politburo
member controlled ) not inactive/
& pt. for each 5nd =evel Politburo
member controlled ) not inactive/
f there is a tie, the +mericans $in
$hich means everyone loses/.
Stan0ar0Stan0ar0
he game ends $hen a single Po"itician$aves
three times regardless of $ho controlled him
during those $aves. Place a SP mar1er on
that politician to indicate the number of $aves
during the game/. +ll hidden nfluence on the
Party Chief is no$ revealed and $hoever
controls the Party Chief after all nfluence is
revealed $ins the game. this reveal is
technically simultaneous so a player"s chance
to add more Ps ends upon the first player to
reveal/. f no single Politician $aves threetimes during the game, $hoever controls the
Party Chief at the end of urn & $ins instead.
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Bictory is determined by the first action
$hich controls the Party Chief for three $aves.
t does not have to be the same Politician $ho
$aves each timeD it can be three different
Politicians each $aving onceQ f a $ave is done
successfully, place a faction mar1er on the urn
rac1 on the appropriate turn.
f no )action manages three $aves in ten turns,
$hoever controls the Party Chief at the end of
the game is the victor.
VARIANTVARIANT +s mentioned earlier if the
primary victory condition isnt met by turn
& the game proceeds into the &&th turn
and ends immediately after the >th phase.
he )action $ho controls the P.C. at this
point is the victor.
ADDITIONAL RULES
GAMEGAME
TRUST NO ONE
Mo0ern an0 -123Mo0ern an0 -123
+n individual $ho proclaims no loyalties or
ideals in his office cannot be trusted. f a
Politician has not had any nfluence declared
on him, he is immediately condemned to
Siberia at the end of the Spy nvestigation
Phase.
Mo0ern:Mo0ern:enforced among &stlevel Politburo
only.
-123:-123:enforced among &stand 5ndlevel
Politburo only.
VARIANTVARIANT and Stan0ar0Stan0ar0
his rule isnt enforced.
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BRIBES AND NEGOTIATIONS
CORECORE
Euring the game, players are allo$ed to e8change
cards or trade cards for favors such as agreeing not
to target a specific Politician during a Purge Phase/.
he only limiting factors are:
Trades may only be made bet$een t$o players.Tnfluence Points may not be traded.
T+ll tal1 must be public though the card contents do
not need to be revealed/.
T%nce an agreement is reached, both parties are
bound to it. Eeal-brea1ing is not allo$ed in
Kremlin.
GAMEGAME
-123-123:
;o difference from core rules.
VARIANTVARIANT +n agreement is bindingonly $ithin the current phase. 2eyond
that it"s merely a promise.
Ne? Mec4anic +or t4e Mo0ern Ga&e:
GAMEGAME
E@ILE:
Eiscretion is the better part of valor.
Politicians $ho are the declared targets of
either Purges or rials but not
Condemnations/ have the right to declare that
they are going into
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Variants +or an# 8a&e ersion:
T4ree P"a#er Version
Players may assign #&" to an &&th Politician.
;o Ps may be placed on the Party Chief until
the end of the third year the first opportunity to
add influence/.
C"%' ;;
+ssign your >> total Ps in any manner you $ish,
doesn"t have to be on e8actly & Politicians.
Li&ite0 E0ition Po"itician
f your set came $ith the l.e intrigue and
Politician cards heres some suggestions as toho$ to use them. he l.e. ntrigue cards can be
used $henever you $ant.
a1e the 6 l.e. Politicians double lettered/ and
pass one to each player. his is their e8clusive
Politician. %nly that player may assign Ps to
him. Euring the adding influence phase players
may add to other players e8clusive politician.
%riginal Hame: Urs ostettler
0eprint Eevelopment: im Eiet9
0e-$rite and layout: *ar1 efferson