The royal field guide
Every term the game uses, in ordinary language - what it means, when you meet it, and exactly what to do.
46 entries
Whoever's turn it is right now.
Proving cards affect only the Active Noble. Ordeals and Decrees affect everyone, but the Active Noble always resolves first, then play continues clockwise.
The order everyone resolves a shared card in.
Ordeals and Decrees affect everyone, so the game needs one clear order.
Your own screen of the game: your vault, your covered chest and your study.
It is where you check what you hold and, privately, how much you have given.
The kingdom's money. Everyone can see how many you hold.
Crowns pay for Ordeals, Proving choices and Market goods - but Crowns themselves are worth nothing at the end.
See alsoSaveGiveInvestIncomeVault Token
Royal guidance or favour announced to the whole kingdom.
Decrees are the counterweight to Ordeals - often help, income or a temporary rule everyone follows.
See alsoOrdealActive-first, then clockwiseRotation (round)Royal Treasury
A reduction in what you pay for a Market purchase.
Discounts come from Virtues or from an earlier card. They are helpful, but they do not pile up.
The last part of your turn: exactly one deliberate choice about your wealth.
This is the heart of the game. Save, Give, Invest or Wait - one only, every turn.
Hardship still reaches your House, but the bill never does - you weather the storms other nobles pay for.
This is the card's exact wording: Never pay for the amount of Ordeals. However, other effects still apply. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
The kingdom the game takes place in - a green, medieval-inspired realm of forests, rivers, market towns and noble estates.
Every card, season and journey happens somewhere in Evergreen. The Houses are all part of the same realm, not rival nations.
The candlelit ceremony that ends the year.
Every chest is opened at last, and the scores are read aloud.
What happens when you simply cannot pay what an Ordeal demands.
It is a setback, not an elimination. You are never in debt and you never lose your House.
See alsoOrdealSurrendered turnVirtueFull payment (affordability)
You recover quickly: after trouble passes you are a little richer and a little better placed to buy.
This is the card's exact wording: After an Ordeal, gain 100 Crowns and a 100-Crown discount toward your next Market item. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
The court likes you. Whenever the Crown speaks, you are richer for it.
This is the card's exact wording: During any Decree event, gain +200 Crowns in addition to other Crowns. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
You get to look ahead and pick the lesser of two futures instead of taking whatever comes.
This is the card's exact wording: View the top two Proving OR Ordeal cards, choose one to resolve, and discard the other. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
You may only choose something you can pay for completely.
There is no borrowing, no credit, no part-paying and no going below zero anywhere in this game.
Giving simply costs you less, so you can be charitable more often than anyone else.
This is the card's exact wording: Pay 100 Crowns less for each House Gemstone deposited to charity. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
Donating 500 Crowns to charity.
Each gift places one House Gem in your hidden chest, and each gem is a point that nobody else can count.
The Duke of Oakgrove's Generosity pays 100 Crowns less for each gem deposited.
A noble family, named after a tree - Evergreen, Oak, Birch, Cedar, Palm, Elm, Willow, Maple, Apple.
Your House gives you colours, a crest and a Noble with a Virtue. It is identity and theme; it is not a hidden faction with secret bonuses.
A gemstone in your House colour, placed in a covered chest each time you give to charity.
Gems are the quiet half of your score. Nobody may count them until the Gala.
See alsoGivePublic vs hiddenEvergreen GalaParagon of Evergreen
Crowns the season brings you for the previous season's efforts.
Income is what refills your purse so you can keep saving, giving and investing.
The Baron of Maplegrove's Prosperity adds +200 Crowns to each round of income.
You find a better price on everything, from Market goods to the costs a Proving asks of you.
This is the card's exact wording: Pay 100 Crowns less for every Market purchase, and 100 Crowns less for any Proving-card costs. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
You may shoulder half of another noble's hardship - and your charity chest grows for the kindness.
This is the card's exact wording: May split an Ordeal with another noble: absorb half of their loss and deposit 1 House Gemstone. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
Buying one useful thing from the Market.
Market goods help you later in the year, but they are never worth points at the end.
See alsoDutyMarketMarket itemFull payment (affordability)Discount
The first part of your turn: you roll one die and travel.
Where you land decides which kind of card you face on the Path.
The kingdom's shops, where you may buy one useful thing on a turn.
Different tiers of goods open up as the seasons pass, and prices can shift with events.
See alsoInvestMarket itemDiscountSeasonFull payment (affordability)
Something you own for the rest of the game, like a ledger or a strong vault door.
Items shield you from certain named hardships or grant a reroll. They never score points.
A Reinforced Vault Door spares you the Crown loss on the Ordeals that name it.
The character you play: a lord or lady responsible for the people and lands of one House.
Your Noble gives you a Virtue - a permanent advantage that shapes how you handle money and hardship.
See alsoHouseVirtueActive Noble
You can roll again and then choose how far to travel, so you steer where you land.
This is the card's exact wording: May reroll the die. If used, may move up to the number of spaces on the second roll. Only one reroll per turn. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
A hardship that strikes the whole kingdom at once.
Everyone is affected, including whoever drew it. Your Virtue is applied first, and only what remains must be paid.
Storm over Evergreen damages roofs across every estate.
See alsoVirtueFailed OrdealActive-first, then clockwiseVault TokenPersonal Ordeal
The title given to the winner.
It goes to whoever balanced generosity and preparation best - not to whoever held the most Crowns.
The second part of your turn: you face whatever the space you landed on brings.
Each space is a Proving, an Ordeal or a Decree. You draw that card and resolve it before your Duty.
An Ordeal that strikes only one noble instead of the whole realm.
A few Proving choices send you to draw one. It resolves exactly like an Ordeal, but only for you.
See alsoOrdealProvingFailed Ordeal
Your lands simply yield more. Every income is larger than everyone else's.
This is the card's exact wording: Each round of income grants +200 Crowns in addition to other effects. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.
A personal test: a moment where you, and only you, decide what to do with what you have.
Proving cards usually offer two choices - often a costlier, more generous or more prepared option, and a cheaper or more cautious one.
A neighbour's barn roof has failed. Help fully at cost, or offer a smaller kindness.
See alsoPathFull payment (affordability)Personal OrdealCrowns
Rolling the die a second time instead of keeping the first result.
Only some Virtues and Market goods allow it. A reroll is a privilege, not a standard option.
See alsoJourneyVirtueMarket item
One complete pass around the table, so every noble has had a turn.
The year only ends on a rotation boundary, so every House plays the same number of turns. Some effects last exactly one rotation.
The Crown's own coffers - where paid costs go and gifts come from.
When a card says you pay the Treasury, the Crowns leave the game rather than going to another player.
Putting 500 Crowns into your vault.
Each deposit becomes one Vault Token, and each token is a point.
See alsoDutyVault TokenCrowns
One quarter of the year: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, played in that order.
Seasons change the atmosphere of the kingdom and which Market goods are available. A full game runs through all four.
Tier II Market goods appear from Summer onward; Tier III from Autumn.
A turn you sit out entirely.
It is the cost of a failed Ordeal: no Journey, no Path and no Duty that turn.
See alsoFailed OrdealJourneyDutyVirtue
Proof of 500 Crowns you set aside. Public, and worth one point.
Vault Tokens are meant to stay saved until the year ends - they are savings, not spending money.
See alsoSaveCrownsOrdealEvergreen Gala
Your Noble's permanent strength of character.
Virtues are always on. They come before card effects and before general rules, and they have no limits or charges.
Deliberately doing nothing and keeping your Crowns.
Sometimes patience is the right call - an Ordeal may be coming, and Crowns you still hold can pay it.
See alsoDutyCrownsFailed Ordeal
Careful preparation softens every blow, and it stacks with the household staff you can hire.
This is the card's exact wording: Reduce the loss from any Ordeal by 200 Crowns. May be used together with the Estate Butler. Virtues are permanent, unlimited and always active.