The Old King's Crown reference sheet

Overview

• 2–4 players compete over 5 rounds (standard) to accumulate the most Influence (♦) [p.8 — Aim of the Game]
• Each round has 5 phases: Start of the Year → Spring → Summer → Autumn → Winter [p.8 — Gameplay Structure]
• Players bid Faction Cards to acquire Kingdom Cards, clash over Regions, govern Councils, and journey for Lore [p.16 — Sequence of Play]
• Most ♦ in your Supply at game end wins [p.34 — Winning the Game]
• Four asymmetric factions: Nobility, Clans, Uprising, Gathering [p.34 — A Fractured Kingdom's Factions]
• Short = 4 rounds, Standard = 5, Extended = 6 [p.6 — Setup]

Setup

1. Place Kingdom Board; put Councils Tile above it [p.6 — Setup A]
2. Shuffle Kingdom Cards; fill Great Road with 3 face-up cards + flip top of deck (4 total face-up) [p.6 — Setup B]
3. Place all ♦ and ☑ tokens in the Reserve [p.6 — Setup C]
4. Place Kingdom's Favour disc on Harvest Field [p.6 — Setup D]
5. Place Season Marker in Spring slot, Round Marker in slot 1 [p.6 — Setup E–F]
6. Stack Clash Markers (I on top) in indicated slot [p.6 — Setup G]
7. Each player takes Player Board, Herald, 5 Supporters, Hand Size Marker (set to ♦ start value), 4 Tactic Tiles (unexhausted side up), Faction Markers, Site of Power Tile [p.6–7 — Setup H–M]
8. Search Faction Deck for Advanced and HQ cards (have Lore Cost); place face-up on Site of Power [p.7 — Setup M]
9. Find Heir card (♦ icon); set aside. Shuffle remaining deck. Take Heir into Hand, draw until you have 6 cards [p.7 — Setup N]
10. Determine turn order (oldest first or random); place Order Markers; first player takes Active Player Marker [p.7 — Setup O–P]

Turn structure

START OF THE YEAR (skip Round 1)

1. Draw cards up to Hand Size (simultaneously)
2. Adjust Order Track by ♦ totals (most ♦ = first; ties reverse previous order)

SPRING

3. Place Bids — each player places 1 face-down Faction Card simultaneously
4. Resolve Bids — reveal; highest Strength resolves first: take Great Road card, steal opponent's Kingdom Card, or return card to Hand
5. Repopulate Great Road
6. Place Heralds on Locations (in turn order)
7. Place 1 face-down card next to each Region (simultaneously)
8. Spring ♦ Action Step (in turn order)

SUMMER

9. Last player on Order Track places Clash Markers (sets Region order)
10. Resolve each Region: Reveal cards → Day ♦ Action Step → Night ♦ Effects Step → Tally Strength → Claim Rewards

AUTUMN

11. Autumn ♦ Action Step in turn order: Govern (once), Journey (once), any ♦ Actions/Commands

WINTER

12. Winter ♦ Effects Step (simultaneously)
13. Cleanup: return Heralds, move Supporters to Lost Pile, discard Active cards (remove ♦ from cards that have it instead)
14. Advance Round Marker

Actions

Combat

Trigger: Summer — last player on Order Track sets Region order with Clash Markers (I resolved first) [p.25]

Clash Sequence per Region:

1. Reveal face-down cards next to Region (all become Active)
2. Day ♦ Action Step (turn order) — activate Actions/Commands; newly added face-down cards revealed after
3. Night ♦ Effects Step (simultaneous) — mandatory Effects trigger (e.g. Deadly eliminates all opponents' Active cards → Lost Pile)
4. Tally Strength: sum of Active card Strength + 1 per Supporter in Region (first clash only) + ability bonuses [p.28]
5. Highest Strength wins; ties → each tied player plays a card face-down or passes; all pass = no winner, no rewards [p.29]

Winning: Choose 1 Location in the Region → claim Herald Reward (if Herald there: gain 1♦, steal 1♦ from each opponent's Herald on same Location) → claim Location Reward [p.30]

Scoring

• ♦ (Influence) is the only scoring currency; tallied at game end from each player's Supply [p.34 — Winning the Game]
• Gain ♦ from Location Rewards when winning Clashes [p.30 — Claim Rewards]
• Gain ♦ from Herald Rewards (1♦ + steal 1♦ per opponent Herald on same Location) [p.30]
• Gain ♦ via Kingdom Card abilities, Tactic abilities, and Council of Relics [p.44 — Councils]
• If Site of Power is empty at game end: gain 1♦ per 2☑ (Lore) remaining in Supply [p.45 — No Cards Left]
• Tiebreaker 1: holder of Kingdom's Favour wins [p.34]
• Tiebreaker 2: highest position on Order Track [p.34]

End of game

• Game ends after the final round when the Round Marker advances past the last slot [p.33 — Advance the Round Track]
• Final round = Round 4 (Short), 5 (Standard), or 6 (Extended) [p.48 — Adjusting Game Length]
• Before tallying: if your Site of Power is empty, convert ☑ → ♦ at 2☑ per 1♦ [p.45]
• Player with most ♦ in Supply wins [p.34 — Winning the Game]
• Tie → Kingdom's Favour holder wins; if no one holds it → highest on Order Track wins [p.34]

Glossary

• Active: A face-up Faction Card next to a Region. Cards in Hand, Deck, Councils, Discard, Lost Pile, or Occupying Kingdom Cards are NOT Active [p.43 — Active Cards]
• Attrition: Draw from empty Deck → shuffle Discard into new Deck, reduce Hand Size by 1 (min 3) [p.16 — Attrition]
• Burn: Remove component from game entirely; returned to box [p.43 — Burn/Burned]
• Eliminate: Card removed from Clash and sent to Lost Pile (Resilient → Discard Pile instead; Invulnerable → immune) [p.40 — Deadly]
• Govern: Move a Faction Card with ♦ icon from Hand into a Council; contributes its Votes [p.31 — Govern]
• Journey: Move a Faction Card with ♦ icon to Lost Pile; gain ♦ Lore tokens equal to ♦ icons; spend immediately on Site of Power cards [p.32 — Journey]
• Occupy: A Faction Card slotted under a Kingdom Card on your Player Board; Occupying cards are not Active [p.19 — Occupying Kingdom Cards]
• Pathfinder (Trait): Card goes to Discard Pile instead of Lost Pile when used to Journey [p.42 — Pathfinder]
• Resilient (Trait): If Eliminated, card goes to Discard Pile instead of Lost Pile [p.41 — Resilient]
• Invulnerable (Trait): Immune to Elimination by Deadly or any other Elimination effect [p.41 — Invulnerable]
• Votes (♦): Icons on Faction Cards placed in Councils; more votes = stronger Council benefit [p.51 — Votes]
• Printed vs. Gained: Printed = on the card; Gained = temporary, not affected by abilities targeting printed info [p.46 — Printed, Gained & Blanked]

FAQ

• Q: Can a card with Ambush use it more than once per Round? — A: Yes, each card with Ambush may activate it once per Clash, and may do so in multiple Clashes in the same Round [p.37 — Ambush]
• Q: What happens if all tied players pass in a tied Clash? — A: No winner is declared; no rewards are claimed for that Region [p.29 — Resolve Tied Clashes]
• Q: If I have more cards in Hand than my Hand Size after Attrition, what do I do? — A: Immediately discard cards from Hand until you equal your new Hand Size [p.47 — Hand Size]
• Q: Can I spend Lore (☑) at any time? — A: Only when you add one or more ☑ to your Supply; if you pass, you must wait until next time you gain ☑ [p.45 — Acquiring Cards From Your Site of Power]
• Q: If two Deadly cards are Active in the same Clash, do they eliminate each other? — A: Yes; all are Eliminated simultaneously and all are considered to have caused the Elimination [p.40 — Deadly]
• Q: Does the player who is first on the Order Track act first or last in placing Clash Markers? — A: The player LAST on the Order Track places all three Clash Markers and chooses the Region resolution order [p.25 — Place Clash Markers]
• Q: If I claim the Kingdom's Favour and already hold it, what happens? — A: Reset it back to III uses [p.46 — Kingdom's Favour]