Overview

Complots is the French-language edition of Coup, a bluffing and deduction card game set in a corrupt Italian city-state. Each player has two face-down character cards representing their influence. On your turn, you take an action — some actions can be claimed by any character, but powerful actions require claiming to have a specific character. Other players can challenge your claim or block your action. Lose both your influence cards and you are eliminated. Last player standing wins.

Components

• Character cards: 6 different characters, with multiple copies of each (typically 3 copies per character for 3-6 players, 4 copies for 7-8 players)
• Coins/tokens (treasury)
• Reference cards

The 6 characters are: Duke, Assassin, Captain, Ambassador, Contessa, and Inquisitor (variant character).

Setup

1. Select 5 of the 6 available characters for the game (the 6th is set aside).
2. For 3-6 players, use 3 copies of each selected character (15 cards). For 7-8 players, use 4 copies (20 cards).
3. Shuffle the selected character cards and deal 2 face-down to each player.
4. Each player receives 2 coins from the treasury.
5. Remaining cards form a face-down court deck in the center.
6. Determine a starting player.

Turn Structure

On your turn, you must perform exactly one action. There is no passing. After your action is resolved (including any challenges or blocks), play passes clockwise.

Actions

General Actions (no character required)

Action	Effect
Income	Take 1 coin from the treasury. Cannot be blocked or challenged.
Foreign Aid	Take 2 coins from the treasury. Can be blocked by the Duke.
Coup	Pay 7 coins to force any player to lose 1 influence (turn over a card). Cannot be blocked or challenged. Mandatory if you have 10+ coins.

Character Actions (require claiming a character)

Character	Action	Effect
Duke	Tax	Take 3 coins from the treasury.
Assassin	Assassinate	Pay 3 coins to force a player to lose 1 influence. Can be blocked by Contessa.
Captain	Steal	Take 2 coins from another player. Can be blocked by Captain or Ambassador.
Ambassador	Exchange	Draw 2 cards from the court deck, choose which to keep, return 2.
Inquisitor	Examine	Look at one of another player’s cards; you may force them to exchange it with the court deck. Or exchange 1 of your own cards.

Blocking

• Certain actions can be blocked by claiming to have the blocking character.
• The player whose action is blocked can challenge the blocker’s claim.

Challenging

• When a player claims a character (for an action or block), any other player may challenge.
• Challenge succeeds (bluff caught): The challenged player loses 1 influence (turns over a card).
• Challenge fails (claim was true): The challenged player reveals the claimed card, shuffles it into the court deck, and draws a replacement. The challenger loses 1 influence.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The last player with at least one face-down influence card wins. All other players have been eliminated by losing both their influence cards.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• If you have 10 or more coins at the start of your turn, you must coup — no other action is allowed.
• When you lose influence, you choose which of your face-down cards to turn face-up. Once revealed, it has no further effect.
• If an assassination is challenged and the challenge fails, the target still loses an influence to the assassination (potentially losing 2 total).
• If an assassination is successfully blocked by Contessa, the 3 coins spent are still lost.
• The Inquisitor replaces the Ambassador in some game configurations.
• Complots differs from standard Coup by including the Inquisitor character and supporting up to 8 players.
• With 2 players, a variant rule gives each player 1 coin at start instead of 2.

Player Reference

Action	Cost	Can Be Blocked By	Can Be Challenged
Income	0	—	No
Foreign Aid	0	Duke	No (but block can be challenged)
Coup	7 coins	—	No
Tax (Duke)	0	—	Yes
Assassinate (Assassin)	3 coins	Contessa	Yes
Steal (Captain)	0	Captain, Ambassador	Yes
Exchange (Ambassador)	0	—	Yes
Examine (Inquisitor)	0	—	Yes