kremlin living rules

8/10/2019 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.

4


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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.

-123-123

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.

-123-123

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.

12


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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

kremlin living rules

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