I n t r o d u c t i o n

This game is based upon the typical life of a late medieval

English court. Many Kings came under the influence of a

select inner group of courtiers who used their influence to

gain gifts of land, titles, money, offices and castles. This

game recreates your desperate race to get the best and the

most gifts.

The game is played over three rounds; each round the

king visits a royal castle or house (The Kings Progress).

Your aim is to gain the most prestige for your family by

collecting courtier cards, melding them to build your

influence and thus gain control of the courtiers, advancing

those courtiers to the royal castle and then using these

courtiers to select various gifts for yourself. Gifts and

courtier control gain prestige points at the end of each

round. As the game progresses prestige points for gifts

increase. Each courtier also has a character ability that can

be used by the player in control to gain extra actions or

other advantages. Most Prestige points at the end wins.

C o m p o n e n t s

8 courtier pieces

1 King Card

1 King Counter

10 scoring markers (2 each of five colours)

64 Influence cards (8 courtiers, 8 cards each of values 0,

1, 2, 3 twice per courtier)

60 gift cards (5 gift types: 12 each of Castles (blue), Land

(green), Money (yellow), Offices (red) and Titles

(purple))

8 ability cards

8 minor control cards

8 exhausted ability disks

3 King location order cards

1 game board

C o u r t i e r s

There are 8 Courtiers and each has;

A symbol denoting that courtier

A shield on the board with the symbol showing the home domicile

A suit of influence cards (2 each of value 0,1,2,3)

An ability card

A minor control card and

A courtier piece (in the same colour as the Influence card and shield)

Example

The Knights Shield, (his home domicile is shown on the board

with his shield);

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His Ability Card, his Minor

control Card and an influence card

(value 2)

B o a r d

Apart from the eight houses and castles of the eight

courtiers (home domiciles) there are three other features

The travel inns that can

accommodate one courtier

each,

London that can accommodate

two courtiers and

the three Royal Castles and

Houses that the King

progresses to throughout the

three rounds of the game. The

Royal house or castle is shown

by the King shield and will be

referred to in the rules as the

Royal Court.

P r e p a r a t i o n

1. Each player chooses a two scoring markers of the same colour (player choice or at random). One will

remain in front of each player until they score prestige

points and the other is placed in front of the player as a

helpful reminder of the player colour. The colour of

the scoring marker shows which gift type each player

is particularly interested in: if a player scores any

prestige points in his gift he scores a bonus prestige point.

2. Choose a starting player at random and give him the King Card.

3. Place the 3 King location order cards at random face-up next to the three royal courts; shown by the King

Shield.

4. Place the piece of each courtier at their indicated home

domicile.

5. Shuffle the cards and Deal each player four Influence cards. They then discard one card face down and keep

the three remaining cards to form their initial hand of

influence cards.

6. Shuffle the remaining Influence deck plus the discards, make one face down pile and turn over three

cards face up.

7. Shuffle the gift deck and deal 12 gifts to the Major Gifts area in 6 pairs of 2. Then deal 6 gifts in the

Minor Gifts area.

8. Place the King Counter on the Court timing track on the number equal to the number of players

P l a y i n g t h e G a m e

The game consists of 3 rounds in which the King journeys

to one of the 3 Royal Courts. In the first round the

Progress is to the Royal Court with the King location

order card 1, the second round to King location order card

2 and the third round to King location order card 3.

Each round consists of four phases

1. Player Turn (players take their turn in a clockwise order until this phase

ends)

2. Minor Gift Selection 3. Scoring 4. Housekeeping

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1 . P l a y e r T u r n

Each players turn may consist of 3 phases: A. King Card B. Courtier Abilities

C. Influence and Control

A . K i n g C a r d

At the start of each players turn there is a King Card phase. If the player does not have the King Card this

phase is skipped.

If the player has the King Card he carries out two actions:

1. Advance the King Counter along the Timing Track. (This happens even in the first turn of

every round)

2. Claim 1 Prestige Point IF there is a courtier in the Royal Court.

If the King counter should reach the crown the round ends

immediately; the moving player does not get a turn but

will start the next round.

B . C o u r t i e r A b i l i t i e s

There are 8 ability cards, one for each courtier. They

describe the courtiers special ability. As each player takes major control they also take the ability card and

place it below the built cards.

All abilities are in addition to a players normal turn

except for Influence of the Chaplain that replaces the players turn.

The player, at the start of his turn, may use the ability of

one of his courtiers if it is NOT exhausted. When used he places an exhausted disk on the Ability card. The ability

can be used once while they have major control of that

courtier and cannot be used in the turn the ability is

gained.

If another player gains major control and thus the ability

card, the ability is refreshed. The exhausted disk removed

and the ability can now be used again. Ability cards are

not refreshed between rounds; to be refreshed they have to

change ownership.

For details on the abilities see summaries on card and full

details on the back page of the rules

C . I n f l u e n c e a n d C o n t r o l

Each player has two actions. There are four action types

but they must occur in the order of Advance, Build,

Collect and Discard. A player may repeat any action type.

The actions and their order are:

Advance a courtier

Build influence in courtiers

Collect influence cards

Discard any exposed influence card

Advance a courtier A player may use one action to move one courtier to

an adjacent location

He may repeat the action to advance the same courtier again or another courtier

Only one courtier is allowed per inn (note some locations have two inns and some one)

Two courtiers are allowed in London A player may move a courtier over whom he has no

control

No courtier may be advanced away (a further distance) from the current Royal Court

If the same courtier is moved twice the intermediate location can be full, i.e. the courtier rides through.

If the moved courtier should arrive at the target Royal

Court follow the Arrival at Court sequence.

A r r i v a l a t C o u r t

As each courtier arrives at Court the active player

enters the courtier on the Arrival Track in entry order

(position 1 then 2 then 3, etc) and takes the King

Card.

The player with Major control then:

1. Discards the exposed influence card of the arriving courtier

2. Selects any pair of gifts in the Major gifts layout

This discard from a courtier in the Royal Court does

not change Major or Minor control until the Scoring

phase of each round.

Exposed

Card

Note that cards can still be built to courtiers in the

Royal Court but again control does not change until

the Scoring phase of each round.

T i m i n g T r a c k

Each round ends when five courtiers arrive at the

Royal Court. If the moving player has another action

this action is lost but he gains the King Card and so

will start the next round.

Note the round can also end when the King piece

reaches the crown on the Timing track even if five

courtiers have not reached the Royal Court.

Build influence in courtiers A player may build (meld) any number of cards from

his hand to the table for one courtier or one each for

two courtiers

When several cards are built they should be stacked so that the courtier name is visible for all cards and only

the top card is exposed

Any cards added to a build must be placed underneath the bottom card (the one furthest from the exposed

card). However the value of the cards built can be

concealed from other players by picking up the set,

adding underneath and laying down again

Control of courtiers is checked immediately when new influence is built except when the courtier is in the

Royal Court. In this situation control only changes in

the Scoring phase

Major control of each courtier is determined by the

highest value built (face-up cards on the table). The player

who has the second highest value built has minor control.

The value of the build is equal to the number of cards plus

the number of symbols on the exposed card.

Example above: this build has 3 cards plus 2 bottles

giving a value of 5.

When any player first builds influence cards of a courtier

give him BOTH the Ability Card and the minor control

card. When a second build is made (of any value) give the

appropriate card (ability for major control, or minor for

minor control) to the building player. If the building

player ties for build value then give him the minor control

card. In other words you have to improve on a courtiers

build value to take ownership of either card (ability or

minor control). A circumstance can arise when an ability

or minor control card needs to be reallocated and two

players (or more) are tied for build value and neither

player has either card. In this case the nearest player in

clockwise order from the card that needs to be reallocated

takes precedence.

Note that a player can enter a courtier into the royal court

with both major and minor control.

Collect influence cards A player may take one card per action OR two cards if

all three cards showing have no symbols on them

(values of 0)

These cards are replaced immediately from the influence deck

At no time can a player take a blind card from the top of the deck without the Rumour ability of the Mistress

L o y a l t y T e s t

If the face-up three cards cannot be replenished due to

the Influence deck running out a Loyalty Test Occurs.

Each player in order, starting to the left of the player

with the King Card, must discard one exposed

Influence card from a built set on the table. The player

or players who discard the highest value Influence

Card get a free courtier advance. These discards and

any others are then shuffled into the Influence deck

and the table cards replenished before any free

advances are taken.

If there are two or more free advances the player to the

left of the King Card goes first and then in clockwise

order. If a courtier enters court follow the normal

arrival sequence. The King Card goes, as normal, to

the player entering the courtier. If the phase should

end because five courtiers have arrived at the Royal

Court any remaining free advances can still occur but

no further entries to the Royal Court are possible.

Play continues from the point prior to the Loyalty Test

Discard any exposed influence card A player may discard any one exposed influence card Major and Minor control may change unless the

courtier is at the Royal Court

2 . M i n o r G i f t S e l e c t i o n

When the round ends either by 5 courtiers arriving or time

running out, the Minor gifts are now picked in reverse

entry order. The player with minor control of the courtier

in the highest numbered space (e.g. 5 if five courtiers

have arrived at Court) on the Arrival Track selects first.

Behind

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At least one minor gift and two major gifts will remain

and these are discarded.

3 . S c o r i n g The Gifts are now scored in alphabetical order: Castles,

Land, Money, Offices and Titles. The scores vary by

round:

Round 1st 2nd 3rd

1 2

2 3 1

3 4 2 1

The player with most gifts of that type is in first. Second

most is second place and so on. If players have the same

number of gifts in one type then the most crowns on those

gift cards break the tie.

If there is still a tie then score that position with one

prestige point less and the next lowest position is not

scored. For example; if there is a tie for first in the third

round then the tying players score 3 prestige points each

and the next player scores 1 for third.

Then the player with the most gift types also scores. If the

number of types is equal, the worst suit for each player is

compared. If those suits are equal, after length and then

number of crowns are considered, then the next best suits

are compared and so on until the tie is broken or the suits

are deemed to be equal.

If a player scores any prestige points in the gift which is

the same colour as their player colour they score a bonus

prestige point. This does not apply to most gift types.

Example: In the first round Adam, playing purple, has 3

Titles, 2 Land and 1 Castle. Steve, playing yellow, has 3

Land, 2 Offices and 1 Title. Adam is first in Titles and

castles scoring 4 Prestige points and Steve is first in Land

and Offices also scoring 4 points. Both players have three

gift types. Adams worst gift type is 1 castle with no crowns but Steve has 1 Title with 1 crown. So Steve scores

2 points for the most gift types. Finally Adam scores in

his gift, titles (purple), scoring a further point. Steve playing yellow did not score in his type (Money).

As each player scores first in a gift type they must discard

any one exposed built card from any courtier they choose.

This discard also applies to most gift types. If there is an

unresolved tie then BOTH players must discard. These

discards are made before the next gift type is scored.

M a j o r C o n t r o l S c o r i n g For all courtiers, redistribute Major and Minor control as

required.

The player with the highest value built for each courtier

has major control and gets the Ability card and the player

with the second highest value built gets the Minor control

card. If there are ties the player with either of these cards

wins the tie. If the players with the cards are tied then the

cards remain where they are. In other words you have to

improve on a courtiers value built to take ownership of

the card (ability or minor control).

Example: Adam has Mistress build value of 3 and the

Ability card. (He had to discard when selecting a major

gift). Carl has a build value of 4 as does Martin. However

Carl has the minor control card. So the Ability card (now

refreshed) goes to Carl and the minor goes to Martin.

Each player now scores 2 Prestige Points for each Major

control of a courtier they now possess.

4 . H o u s e k e e p i n g

Return all the courtiers who are at the Royal Court to their home domiciles. All others remain on their

current travel inn or home domicile

All gifts that are unselected are discarded

Pick up the influence deck, add the discards, shuffle, cut and stack face down. The three face-up cards

remain face up

Deal a fresh set of gifts to the Royal Court

Place the King Counter on the Timing track on the number equal to the number of players

The first player to start the next round is the player with the King Card

W i n n i n g t h e G a m e

The player with the most Prestige Points Wins.

If there is a tie for the most Prestige Points then most gifts

in total, most crowns on gifts and then most built cards

break ties.

T h a n k s

Many, many thanks to the Monday Night Crew of Martin

Draper, Adam Huby, Adam Tracey and Carl Brittain for

their ideas, help and enthusiasm in play-testing and proof

reading. Especially to Martin Draper for the thinking

around the character abilities.

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H o u s e a n d C a s t l e s

Anglesey Abbey: Cambridgeshire The Priory was founded in the reign of Henry I for

Augustinian monks (circa 1279). It was destroyed by

Henry VIII in the year 1609 and four hundred years of

being a religious community came to an end with Henry

VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. When the site

passed into the hands of the Parker family at the turn of

the 17th Century, they set about transforming it into a

country house.

Blickling Hall: Norfolk In 1390 a rectangular moated hose was built on this site.

In 1505 Blickling was inherited by Sir Thomas Boleyn,

whose daughter Anne grew up in the house and later

became Henry VIII's second wife in 1533. Rebuilt in the

early 17th century it became one of England's great

Jacobean houses, famed for its spectacular long gallery,

superb library and fine collections of furniture, pictures

and tapestries.

Knebworth: Hertfordshire In February 1490, Sir Robert Lytton, purchased

Knebworth from Sir Thomas Bourchier for 800. In about

1500, he began to build on to the fifteenth-century

gatehouse a new red brick Tudor manor house enclosing a

central courtyard. In 1810, Mrs Elizabeth Bulwer-Lytton

decided to modernise the house in a rather radical manner.

With the demolition of three sides of the house she

proceeded to remodel the one remaining wing and cover

the brickwork in stucco. Continuing the work of his

mother, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton embellished the

exterior of Knebworth in an eccentric gothic fashion that

resembled a cross between a fairy-tale castle and an eerie

'Adams family' abode. A liberal array of fancy domes and

turrets are vividly contrasted with carved bats, griffins and

grotesque gargoyles.

Boarstall: Buckinghamshire Boarstall Tower is all that remains of the fortified moated

house built here by John de Handlo in 1312. The three-

storey tower with hexagonal turrets rising from each

corner of the battlemented roofline was the only entrance

to his carefully guarded property. It was altered in the

16th and 17th centuries and today the Tudor and Jacobean

windows and octagonal chimneys can be seen rising

almost to the height of the turrets.

Chenies Manor: Buckinghamshire

The manor was built in 1460 by Sir John Cheyne and

added to in 1526 by Sir John Russell (Earl of Bedford.

Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were entertained at the

house, which includes a medieval well, dungeon and

reputed priest hole. It has beautiful gardens and two

mazes.

Greys Court: Oxfordshire Grey's Court derives its name from Lord de Grey who

fought at Crecy and became one of the original Knights of

the Garter. In 1347 Edward III granted Lord de Grey a

licence to crenellate his house. In 1538 Henry VIII

secured the estate to Francis Knollys, who later held the

office of Lord Treasurer of the Household to Queen

Elizabeth. The 14th century Great Tower and three

smaller medieval towers remain but it is basically a

gabled 16th century building. The well is 200 feet deep

and a great wheel turned by a donkey was used to raise

the water and it is the largest surviving donkey wheel in

Britain.

Windsor: Berkshire Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in

the world. William the Conqueror chose the site, high

above the river Thames and on the edge of a Saxon

hunting ground. It was a day's march from the Tower of

London and intended to guard the western approaches to

the capital. The outer walls of today's structure are in the

same position as those of the original castle. In the 1170s

Henry II rebuilt in stone the Round Tower, the outer walls

of the Upper and most of the Lower Ward, and the Royal

apartments in the Upper Ward. In the 1360s Edward III

created the immense St. George's Hall for the use of the

Knights of his newly founded Order of the Garter. St

George's Chapel was begun by Edward IV and ten British

monarchs lie buried in the chapel: Edward IV, Henry VI,

Henry VIII, Charles I, George III, George IV, William IV,

Edward VII, George V and George VI.

Hampton Court: Surrey

Vyne: Hampshire The Vyne was built in the 16th-century for Lord Sandys,

Henry VIII's Lord Chamberlain, and then became home to

the Chute family for over 300 years. In the mid-17th-

century it acquired the classical portico on the north front

(believed to be the first of its kind on a domestic building

in England) and in the late 18th-century a dramatic

Palladian staircase hall was designed by the owner, John

Chute. Another significant feature includes the fascinating

Tudor Chapel with Renaissance stained glass.

Knole: Kent

Hampton Court Palace was England's most significant

palace of the Tudor age. From 1515-c.1521, the Lord

Chancellor of England and soon-to-be Cardinal, Thomas

Wolsey, transformed a medieval manor (situated 13 miles

southwest of London on the north bank of the River

Thames) into a palace. In 1527 Wolsey finished building

lodgings for Henry VIII and soon after was forced to

surrender ownership to the King. Much of the place was

rebuilt by William III in 1689.

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Knole was a late medieval archbishop's palace that Henry

VIII liked so much that he forced Thomas Cranmer, his

Archbishop of Canterbury, to hand it to him in 1538. In

the early 17th century, Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of

Dorset, transformed it into a Renaissance mansion.

Towards the end of the 17th century, his great-great-

grandson, the 6th Earl, acquired Knole's unique collection

of Stuart furniture and textiles through his office as Lord

Chamberlain.

Leeds Castle: Kent

Situated on a lake in the middle of the Kent countryside

the castle can trace its history back to a Royal Saxon

manor house built in 857. The original stone castle at the

site belonged to the Crevecoeur family, becoming a royal

palace in 1278, when Edward I built a fortified mill and

barbican here. It became known as "Lady's Castle"

because its royal residents include Eleanor and Margaret,

the wives of Edward I, Philippa of Hainhault, wife of

Edward III, Catherine de Valois, Henry V's wife,

Catherine of Aragon, first (but not last) wife of Henry

VIII, and Elizabeth I, who was imprisoned here, for a

time, before her coronation.

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C h a r a c t e r A b i l i t i e s

All abilities are in addition to a players normal turn except for Influence of the Chaplain that replaces the players turn.

C h a m b e r l a i n : D i s g u i s e The Chamberlain can build up to two different courtiers into one or two builds. These must be

different courtiers to the build they join. He places the disguised card/s underneath the chosen

build. These cards are discarded if they become exposed.

C h a p l a i n : I n f l u e n c e The Chaplain may perform three actions in any order but all three actions must be different.

K n i g h t : C a r r i a g e The Knight can give a free advance to any courtier. A courtier can then undertake further

advances as part of a players normal actions to move through a full travel inn.

M i s t r e s s : R u m o u r The Mistress must draw a number of cards from the Influence deck equal to the number of

courtiers in the same and adjacent locations (including the Royal Court). She may choose one of

these cards to keep whilst the remaining un-chosen cards are discarded. If there are not enough

cards in the influence deck she can only draw as many as are there.

P r i v y S e a l : N e g o t i a t e The Privy Seal can reorder up to two built sets. He cannot build any cards with this ability but he

can still build influence cards as either or both of his 2 actions

S e c r e t a r y : F a v o u r The Secretary can swap any gift in the major or minor gift area with another in the gift area or

with a blind draw from the remaining gift deck. If it is swapped with the gift deck, draw the top

card and discard the exchanged card.

S t e w a r d : O p p o r t u n i t y The Steward can collect a discard or a face-up card. He can sort through the discards to find on he

likes and he does not have to reveal the chosen card.

T r e a s u r e r : C o r r u p t i o n The Treasurer can claim as many prestige points as courtiers in the Royal Court.

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