Kingdoms: King - The Lord and Liege

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The King: Advice to the Adjudicator

The King is, without a doubt, the most important piece in the game. For this reason, any imbalance or poor judgment calls by the Adjudicator here will be magnified greatly. Likewise, any decision to deviate to far from standard descriptions by the players may be game breaking in many ways.

Try to keep the King simple when you assign stats to him - they'll be plenty of decisions and complications for King players, and plenty of opportunities to show tactical finesse. What you don't need is a game that is a foregone conclusion from the outset because of an overpowered or underpowered King.

The traits, boons and drawbacks below which may cause game balance issues are marked with an asterisk. Its a good idea to balance these out so that if an asterisked descriptor is present with one Kingdom at the start of the game there is an equally useful/debilitating one in the opposed Kingdom as well.

As always, bear in mind that this list is not and never be exhaustive! If you need a new descriptor, then just add it on! Bear in mind that descriptors with drastic effects should normally be placed in Traits rather than Boons, as Boons are very easy to come by in-game.

When applying descriptors to the King, bear in mind that the descriptors can also be used to reflect the kingdom itself as well as the King. For example, if a kingdom has an exceptionally low population, then the Poor Recruiting drawback may apply.

Boons for the King

Bountfiul Harvests*

The King has +1 to his Harvest rating.

Centralised Wealth

Add +3 to War Defence versus Plunder campaigns only.

Defensively Fortified Kingdom

Add +3 to War Defence versus Pillage campaigns only.

Effective Management*

In Springtime the King has +2 to his Dreaming rating.

Empowered Dreaming*

The King has +1 to his Dreaming rating.

Excellent builder*

The King pays -1 Glamour for each Improvement he builds, to a minimum of 1 Glamour per Improvement.

Excellent recruiter*

It costs the King one Glamour to renew two armies.

Inspires Community

Add +5 to the Kingdom's total Internal Security versus Kidnap intrigues only.

Inspires Devotion

Add +5 to the Kingdom's total Internal Security versus Manipulation intrigues only.

Inspires Loyalty

Add +5 to the Kingdom's total Internal Security versus Propaganda intrigues only.

Inspires Paranoia

Add +5 to the Kingdom's total Internal Security versus Espionage intrigues only.

Secure Palace

Add +3 to War Defence versus Checkmate campaigns only.

Terrifying

When this piece is acting as a War Commander in a Summer Campaign, each opposing Army temporarily has -1 to Battle Strength.

Vast Wealth*

The King starts the game with +5 Glamour.

Victory March

Reduce the Glamour Cost of this kingdom declaring a Checkmate objective to 3 Glamour.

Drawbacks for the King

All or Nothing

This Kingdom cannot win by an "Inevitable Victory". At the end of Turn 12, the opposing Kingdom automatically wins the game.

Bloodthirsty Kingdom

In any Summer where this Kingdom does not launch any Summer Campaigns, the King loses all his remaining Glamour.

Bound to the Kingdom

The King can never be an Attack Commander nor an Agent.

Diminished Dreaming*

The King has -1 to his starting Dreaming rating. This is a good drawback to apply to King's with very versatile and mutable powers - in effect, the King's imagination is engaged in controlling his powers rather than in his Dreaming.

Diminished Harvest*

The King has -1 to his starting Harvest rating. This is a good drawback to apply to King's with increased power levels - in effect, the King has to use up some of his yearly Glamour just to maintain his power.

Internal Dissent

Each Summer the King must select one Army to act as a police force - this Army cannot participate in that Summer's attacks or defences. If the King does not or cannot do this, then he loses one Improvement of the opposing King's choice.

Internal Intrigues

Each Winter the King must select one back row piece other than a Knight to act as a secret policeman - this piece cannot participate in that Winter's attacks or defences. If the King does not or cannot do this, then he loses D6 Glamour.

No Glamour

The King starts the game with 0 Glamour. This drawback is a good one to apply if there is some reason why the King starts without power - perhaps he is rules a kingdom that is on the verge of collapse, or perhaps the backstory had him "buy" his kingdom or his queen.

Pacifistic

No Summer Campaigns or Winter Intrigues may be launched by this kingdom until the enemy has made at least one attack during the games of succession.

Physically Weak

During Summer, temporarily reduce Dreaming by -4.

Politically Inept

During Winter, temporarily reduce Dreaming by -4.

Poor builder

The King pays +1 Glamour for each Improvement he builds.

Poor recruiter

The King pays +1 Glamour for each Army he renews.

Traits for the King

Aggressive

The King gains +2 to Dreaming for the purposes of attacks, and -4 to Dreaming for the purposes of defence.

Alternative Victory Condition

This Kingdom can no longer attempt Summer Campaigns with the Checkmate condition, and cannot win by Checkmate. In compensation, an alternative route to victory is defined by the Adjudicator. This should be at least as hard to achieve as a Checkmate victory, and both Kings are aware of this trait being in place, and what the new win condition for this Kingdom is.

Behemoth of War

The King is truly massive - for example, a dragon the size of a castle, or an elemental spider whose stride spans the horizon. This trait adds +3 to the Dreaming of the King in Summer, but applies a -5 penalty to the King in Winter.

Cautious

The King gains +2 to Dreaming for the purposes of defence, and -4 to Dreaming for the purposes of attack.

Hateful

The Kingdom hates the enemy with a terrible intensity. The King may never make or accept Ransom offers, except under the Treaty of Love and Sacrifice.

Inaccessible Kingdom

The Kingdom is hard to reach - for example it is on a string of sea islands, or is underground, or is at the centre of a desert. This trait means that each Campaign launched by or against this kingdom has an additional cost of 1 Glamour per Army involved. Armies may have a Boon to bypass this cost, but the Arbitrator should make sure that both sides have equal access to this Boon at the start of the game to make sure the game is balanced.

Mercurial

At the start of Springtime roll a D6. On a roll of 1, the King's Dreaming is reduced to 0 for the whole year. On a roll of 6 his Dreaming is doubled for the whole year. On a roll of 2-5, this Trait has no effect.

Political Leader

The King rules through political canniness but is weak in battle. This trait adds +3 to the Dreaming of the King in Winter, but applies a -5 penalty to the King in Summer.

Strength in Trade

The Kingdom is prosperous from trade - the King's Harvest is increased by one. Unfortunately wealth inevitably flows outwards too! The opposing King's Harvest is increased by one as well.