Game Rules

Rules for Round Table

Players begin the game with two decks of cards - one, called the Main Deck, contains all of the player’s regular cards – Knights, Titles, Quests, Redirects, and Equipment. The other is called the Demesne Deck and contains all of the player’s lands (called demesnes, a medieval word meaning “holding”). Players maintain these decks separately. The player is allowed to customize the Main and Demesne decks - they are not required (or expected) to use all the cards that came in their base pack. A third deck, called the Regions Deck is a shared resource between both players. During their turn, players can draw cards from either their Main deck or their Demesne deck. Players can then bring cards from their hand into the play area (called “playing a card”), which brings that card under their control. Players are required to discard down to 10 cards at the end of every Season.

There are seven basic types of cards:

1. Demesnes

   Demesnes are lands that the player controls that give them resources to recruit knights, titles, and equipment as well as activate quests and redirects.

   The basic Demesne is a Farm, which can be upgraded to a Manor, Large Manor, Keep, and Castle in that order. Only a Manor can be upgraded to a Large Manor, a Keep to a Castle, etc. Each card contains text to remind players.

   Each demesne has a Resource Point (RP) value. Resource points for all demesnes under a player’s control are added together to arrive at the total RP the player has to recruit or play Knights, Titles, Equipment, Quests, and Redirects.

2. Knights

   Knights constitute the main army for each player. Players recruit knights by using resource points from their demesnes. Knights have two primary attributes – influence and resistance – which are used to either conquer or defend a region from conquest.

   Knights can be brought into play if the player has sufficient Resource Point capacity. The capacity is the total number of points the player has from their controlled Demesnes and the allocated RP are those used by the currently in-play cards. If there is sufficient capacity, the player may bring that card into play. For example, if the player has a total capacity of 20 RP and has 6 RP allocated, then they could play any Knight requiring up to 14 RP. Most players denote this by rotating their Demesnes to indicate they are being used to pay for upkeep.

   Some Knights are also Monarchs. These are a special subclass of Knights but this does not affect their classification as Knights.

3. Equipment

   Equipment is used to increase the influence and/or resistance of a knight. It can only be associated with an individual Knight. Some Equipment adds Influence points, some adds Resistance, and some adds to both. Fey (fairy) Equipment is better than its non-magical equivalent. Equipment counts toward the allocated RP.

4. Quests

   Quests are cards played on Knights that cause them to be unavailable for one or more turns. To show that a Knight is questing, they are flipped over or rotated 90°.

5. Redirects

   Redirects allow a player to “counter” a Quest card played by an opponent. They reverse the effect and make the Knight available again.

6. Titles

   Titles are special endowments that can be bestowed upon an individual Knight. These Titles add to the Knight’s Influence and/or Resistance. The same Title cannot be bestowed multiple times upon the same Knight (i.e., you can’t make the same knight a Baron or a Round Table Knight more than once), but different Titles can be bestowed and the effects are cumulative (i.e., a Knight can be both a Round Table Knight and a Duke). Titles require upkeep from RP.

7. Regions

   Regions are the areas of Britain each player tries to control. The number of regions for a game can be varied to change the time required for the game. A minimum of 5 regions are required for a game; there is no predetermined maximum although they must all be unique.

   Each region has a value in Renown points. At the end of the game, the player who has the most renown is crowned Supreme Monarch and wins the game.

Description of Cards

There are 3 main card layouts used in Round Table TCG.

Main Cards

The first is for the cards in the main deck. These cards, whether Knights, Equipment, Quests, or Redirects, are laid out similarly:

Card Title: This is the name of the card.

Card Type: This defines the type. These are the types listed above. Some cards, like the example above, have subtypes. Subtypes are not used in the basic game.

Artwork: A pretty picture of the card.

Card Text: Basic information about the card’s effects in play, if any.

Influence: The “attack strength” or “power” of a card. Not all cards have an influence rating. Influence is used to capture regions. For titles and equipment, this will be a modifier to a knight’s base resistance.

Resource Points: The number of resource points from demesnes a player needs to control to be able to bring the card into play.

Resistance: The “defense” of a card. Resistance is used to resist another player’s attack on a region. For titles and equipment, this will be a modifier to a knight’s base resistance.

Demesne Card

The second card type is the Demesne card. Its layout is as follows:

Card Title: This is the name of the card.

Card Type: This defines the type. These are the types listed above. Some cards, like the example above, have subtypes. Subtypes are not used in the basic game.

Artwork: A pretty picture of the card.

Card Text: Basic information about the card’s effects in play, if any.

Resource Points: This indicates the number of resource points that are available to the player. The Resource Points for all the demesnes a player controls are added together.

Region Card

The third and final type is the Region card. Its layout is as follows:

Region Name: This is the name of the region.

Artwork: A pretty picture of the card.

Resistance Points: The “defense” of a region. Higher resistance points indicate that a region is more difficult for a player to conquer.

Renown: The number of Renown Points earned by the player who conquers the region.

Terms and Terminology

Active indicates a Knight that is face-up and available to participate in conquering or defending a region.

Engaged indicates a Knight that is face-down and is ineligible for participating in conquering or defending a region. When engaging a Knight, flip the card over or rotate it 90°.

Renown is used to measure a player’s success. Regions possess a Renown value. The player capturing the regions with the most total Renown wins the game.

Reset turns a Knight face-up or rotates the card back to the original orientation, making them available again. During the Winter Season of a player’s turn, Knights are reset back to a face-up position or original orientation (unless a card dictates otherwise).

Resource Points are used to determine the amount of power a player wields. Resource points are the sum of Demesnes currently controlled by a player. The capacity of RP is the sum of the Demesnes under a player’s control. The allocated RP is how much is being used to maintain the cards under the player’s control.

Spent Pile is a face-up pile of cards that were played. This is for Knights, Quests, Redirects, and Titles that are used during play.

Game Field

A typical play area will look something like this:

Before Play Begins

Each player should make a deck consisting of no less than 60 cards of which no fewer than 40 are their main deck and the remaining cards are their demesnes (holdings). These decks are tracked separately and are not shuffled together. At the beginning of the game:

1. Each player separates their main deck from their demesne deck
2. Players determine who will go first. Players can use whatever method they desire to determine this (high roll, flip a coin, rock/paper/scissors, etc.). This first player is the “active” player.
3. Each player pulls a Farm from their demesne deck, puts the Farm into play, and then shuffles the remaining cards.
4. Each player independently shuffles their demesne and main decks.
5. Each player draws as many cards as they desire from their demesne deck. They may draw any number from one to ten cards.
6. Each player then draws from their main deck the number of cards needed to reach ten cards in their hand. For example, if a player draws three demesne cards they will draw seven cards from their main deck.
7. The active player then begins their turn.

Basic Game Play

Play consists of rounds where all players are allowed to take actions. A game round consists of four seasons. Play in each season continues clockwise from the active player.

The seasons of each round are:

Spring Season

The Active Player may bring knights, equipment, and titles cards into play under their control.

Players may bring one Demesne into play under their control during the Spring season. Players may only play upgraded Demesnes if they have the appropriate Demesne available. For instance, they can only play a Keep if there is a Large Manor that has not already been upgraded.

A player may only have cards in play whose Resource Point total are less than or equal to the total number of resource points a player has from their demesnes.

Players may move Equipment between Knights during Spring. Titles cannot be moved between Knights.

When the Active Player is done with their desired activities, play moves clockwise. Each player in turn can do any of the above. When all players have passed, the season ends.

Any player with more than 10 cards in their hand at the end of this season must discard down to 10.

Summer Season (Campaigning)

Campaigning is broken into several steps that allow each player to take actions and allow their opponent to respond to those actions. In cases where a player can and does respond, each player will alternate turns taking actions until both “pass” or choose to do nothing. Once that happens, all cards are resolved in the order they were played, and play proceeds to the next step.

1. Declare Campaigns Step
   • a) The active player may take one or more of the following actions:
     • Declare Knights as attacking a region by moving the card to that region. The Knight is now considered Committed.
     • Add additional knights to an existing attack (but they cannot move a knight already Committed).
     • Play Quests
       • Players must spend available RP to play Quests or Redirects.
       • Quested Knights are engaged and removed from the attack, then moved back to the controller's area.
       • Quests that are played on a Committed Knight can only be played in response to that Knight being Committed in the last turn.
       • Quests can be played on Ready/Uncommitted Knights.
     • Play Redirects
       • Redirects can be played on any Quested Knight or by a controller on one of their committed Knights.
       • Redirected Knights are reset and then eligible to join an attack or start a new one.
     • Play any other card provided that it explicitly states it can be played in this step.
   • b) Once a player completes their actions, game play moves to the next player restarting with step a) above.
   • c) Once all players have completed their actions (playing quests and redirects, declaring attackers, etc.), the players resolve the attacks.
2. Resolving Attacks Step
   • a) Each player attacking a region determines the sum of their Knights' Influence.
   • b) Players remove from their total Influence the sum of their opponents' Resistance.
   • c) Each player compares their remaining Influence against the Resistance of the Region. If it exceeds the Region's Resistance, the Region is captured.
     • If the total Influence for both armies exceeds the Region's Resistance, the player with the higher total captures the Region provided their remaining influence is more than to or more than the Renown of the region. If both totals are equal, the attack is a draw and the Region stays independent.
     • Example: Player A has 12 Influence remaining and Player B has 10 Influence remaining. If the region is worth 3 or more Renown, Player A can't capture it, even if the Resistance of the Region is less than 12.
   • d) Captured regions are removed from the middle ground between both players and placed in the capturing player's play space.
   • e) If the remaining Influence for both players is less than the Region's Resistance, the region remains independent.
3. Repeat Resolving Attacks step for each region separately.

Fall Season

The Active Player may pull as many of their cards in play (other than Demesnes) as desired back into their hand. If there are any Titles associated with a Knight removed this way that are not also removed from play, they are placed in the Spent pile. Any unremoved Equipment is unpaired but remains on the playing field (and must still be supported with RP).

If there were any captured Regions, a new Region is placed into play from the Regions deck to bring the total back to 3 (if possible). When all Regions from the Region deck are conquered, the game is over and a winner is determined.

Any player who has more than 10 cards in their hand at the end of this season must discard down to 10.

Winter Season

The Active Player shifts to the next player.

The Active Player must draw a card from either their Demesne deck or their Main deck. If one deck is exhausted the player must draw from the other. If no cards are available in either deck, the game ends and a winner is determined. This is repeated for all other players until all players pass.

If any Knights are Engaged (from having Quested last turn), they are reset. For each Knight reset, its controller must draw one card for each Resource Point used to send the Knight on the quest (the Knight's Resistance divided by 5).

Any player who has more than 10 cards in their hand at the end of this season must discard down to 10.

Future Rounds

Rounds go back to the Spring Season and continue until the final region is conquered or both a player’s Main and Demesne decks are exhausted. In either case, the Renown points for all regions conquered by each player are calculated. Whoever has the most Renown is crowned Supreme Monarch and wins the game.

Special Rules

Special Rule on Knights

There are two kinds of Knights in Round Table – generic Knights (Knight Mercenary, Knight Errant, Knight Bachelor, Knight Vassal, and Chevalier) and named Knights (such as Gawain, Arthur, and Lancelot).

Only one copy of a named Knight can be in play at any time. If a player recruits a Knight with the same name as a Knight already in play under either player’s control, both Knights are removed from play and placed in the Spent Pile. Any Titles associated with the removed Knights are also removed from play. Any Equipment used by those Knights becomes unpaired; it can be paired with another Knight during that owner’s Spring Phase.

Special Rule on Quests and Redirects

There is a limitation on Quests and Redirects. Only one of each named Quest or Redirect can be played during the Summer/Campaign Season. If during the Summer/Campaign Season, a player uses The Green Knight Quest on a Knight, no other player can use The Green Knight Quest for the remainder of the season.

Similarly, if one player used Royal Command to reset one of their Knights, other players could not use it to reset one of theirs.

This restriction is removed at the end of the Summer season.

Winning the Game

Play ends when one of two conditions occurs:

1. The final region is conquered by a player
2. A player has no more cards to draw from either their main or demesne decks and they must draw a card

Once either condition is met, the players will calculate the total Renown they earned from their captured regions. The player who has the highest Renown is crowned the Supreme Monarch and winner of the game.

If the total Renown is tied, the player who captured the fewest territories is the winner.

If both players have the same total amount of Renown and the same number of Regions, the game is a tie.

Example of Game Play

To be redone.

The Cardinal Rule

There is a cardinal rule for Round Table:

The text on a card may contradict the game rules. In these cases, the card text supersedes the rules in this booklet.

If you have any questions about game play or a specific card, there is a Wiki available online that describes game play and card rulings. Please check the main website and click Support.

Constructing Decks

Players may find while playing that they wish they had more of a particular kind of card or fewer (or none) of another. Players are free to use the cards from their collection to build their own decks provided that no more than one of any named Knight are used. In other words, a player may not include two or more Arthurs or two Guineveres in their deck. This restriction applies only to named Knights - players may include as many duplicate unnamed Knights, Quests, Equipment, Titles, and redirect cards as they desire.

The main deck can be of any size provided that it is a minimum of 40 cards. There is no minimum size for the Demesne deck. However, the total of the Main deck and the Demesne deck must be at least 60 cards. There are no maximum sizes imposed for either deck.

Players will decide at the beginning of the game which regions will be used. They may use any number of cards from either player’s region deck - or a blend of both player's decks - provided that the minimum number of 5 regions are used for the game.