Overview

A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition) is a competitive living card game where 2-6 players each control a Great House of Westeros vying for control of the Iron Throne. Players build decks of characters, locations, attachments, and events, and use plot cards to gain gold and set the round’s parameters. Each round, players marshal forces, initiate military, intrigue, and power challenges against opponents, and compete for dominance. The first player to accumulate 15 power on their faction card wins. The game supports two formats: Joust (2 players) and Melee (3-6 players with title cards).

Components

Core Set includes:

• 8 faction cards (Baratheon, Greyjoy, Lannister, Martell, Night’s Watch, Stark, Targaryen, Tyrell)
• Plot cards (7 per faction deck)
• Character, location, attachment, and event cards for each faction
• Neutral cards usable by any faction
• Gold tokens, power counters
• First player token
• 6 title cards (Melee only)
• Influence tokens (Melee only)

Setup

1. Determine format: 2 players = Joust. 3+ players = Melee.
2. Determine first player randomly. Give them the first player token.
3. Announce factions and agendas in player order. Place faction card faceup.
4. Create treasury: Pool gold tokens, power counters, and influence tokens centrally.
5. Place plot decks facedown next to faction cards.
6. Shuffle draw decks.
7. Draw setup hands: Each player draws 7 cards. In player order, each may take one mulligan (shuffle back, draw 7 new).
8. Place setup cards: In player order, each player places up to 8 total cost worth of character, location, and attachment cards facedown. Max 1 Limited card. Duplicates of unique cards placed at no cost.
9. Reveal setup cards simultaneously. Attach attachments and place duplicates.
10. Replenish hand to 7 cards.

Turn Structure

The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round has 7 phases:

1. Plot Phase

• Each player simultaneously selects 1 plot card from their plot deck and places it facedown.
• Reveal all plot cards simultaneously.
• Resolve “When Revealed” abilities (first player’s first, then player order).
• Melee only: Select title cards (titles grant power bonuses and restrictions).
• The player with the highest initiative value on their revealed plot becomes the new first player (ties: current first player decides).

2. Draw Phase

Each player simultaneously draws 2 cards from their draw deck. (If deck runs out, that player is eliminated.)

3. Marshaling Phase

In player order, each player becomes the active player and:

• Collects income equal to the gold value on their revealed plot card.
• Marshals cards from hand by paying gold cost: characters to front row, locations to back row, attachments to characters/cards, duplicates for free.
• All players may use Action abilities during the action window.
• Continue until all players pass consecutively.

4. Challenges Phase

In player order, each player becomes the active player and may initiate up to 3 challenges (one Military, one Intrigue, one Power, in any order).

To initiate a challenge:

1. Announce challenge type (Military/Intrigue/Power), target opponent, and attacking characters (must have matching challenge icon and be standing). Kneel attackers.
2. Stealth: Characters with stealth may bypass one defending character each.
3. Defender declares: Defending player kneels standing characters with matching icons.
4. Compare STR: Higher total STR wins (ties go to attacker). Must have STR >= 1 to win.
5. Unopposed bonus: If defending STR was 0, attacker gains 1 power on faction card.
6. Apply claim: If attacker won, apply the claim value from attacker’s plot card:
   • Military: Defender kills characters equal to claim value
   • Intrigue: Defender discards random cards from hand equal to claim value
   • Power: Defender moves power from their faction card to attacker’s faction card equal to claim value
7. Resolution keywords (Renown, Insight, Intimidate, Pillage) resolve.

5. Dominance Phase

Each player counts total STR of their standing characters. Add 1 for each gold in their gold pool. Highest total wins dominance and gains 1 power on their faction card. Ties: no one wins.

6. Standing Phase

All kneeling cards stand (rotate upright).

7. Taxation Phase

Each player returns unspent gold (exceeding their reserve value on plot card) to the treasury. Discard revealed plot cards to the used pile.

Actions

Challenge Types

Type	Icon	Claim Effect
Military	Sword	Defender kills X characters
Intrigue	Eye	Defender discards X random cards from hand
Power	Crown	Transfer X power from defender to attacker faction card

Keywords

• Stealth: When declared as attacker, choose 1 defending character without stealth; that character cannot defend this challenge.
• Renown: After winning a challenge, gain 1 power on this character.
• Insight: After winning an Intrigue challenge, draw 1 card.
• Intimidate: After winning a Military challenge, kneel 1 defending character.
• Pillage: After winning a challenge, discard top card of losing player’s deck.
• Ambush: May be marshaled during challenges phase (pay gold cost).
• Limited: Only 1 Limited card may be marshaled or played per round.

Duplicates

A second copy of a unique card in play may be marshaled as a duplicate (placed under the existing card at no cost). Duplicates can be discarded to save the card from being killed or discarded.

Dead Pile

Killed characters go to the dead pile (removed from game for unique characters – no copy may re-enter play).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Win: The first player to accumulate 15 power on their faction card wins immediately.

Power is gained from:

• Winning unopposed challenges (+1)
• Renown keyword on characters (+1 per character after winning)
• Winning dominance (+1 per round)
• Card abilities and plot effects
• Melee: defeating rival title holders (+1)

Elimination: A player whose draw deck runs out is eliminated.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Melee Format (3-6 players)

• Title cards: Each round during the Plot Phase, players draft title cards. Each title designates a “Rival” and “Supporter” among other titles.
• Rival bonus: Winning a challenge against your Rival’s bearer grants +1 power.
• Support restriction: Cannot initiate challenges against the bearer of the title you support.
• Title cards provide unique abilities and power adjustments.

Plot Deck Rules

• Each player has exactly 7 plot cards.
• After all 7 are used, shuffle all used plots back into the plot deck.
• Plot cards have: gold value (income), initiative (turn order), claim value (challenge damage), reserve (max gold kept end of round).

Unique Cards

• Only 1 copy of a unique card may be in play per player.
• Uniqueness is checked across all players for characters with the same title.
• Killed unique characters go to dead pile; no player may marshal another copy.

Card Ability Types

• Action: Triggered in action windows (player choice)
• Reaction/Interrupt: Triggered by specific game events
• Forced Reaction/Interrupt: Mandatory when triggered
• Constant: Always active while card is in play
• When Revealed: Triggers when plot card is revealed

Gold and Economy

• Gold is gained during marshaling (from plot card value + location abilities).
• Gold is spent to marshal cards and use certain abilities.
• Unspent gold exceeding reserve value is returned to treasury during taxation.

Winning and Losing Challenges

• Attacker wins ties.
• Neither side wins if the winning side has 0 total STR or no participating characters.
• Claim is only applied if the attacker wins.

Player Reference

Round Phases:

1. Plot (select, reveal, resolve When Revealed, select titles in Melee)
2. Draw (2 cards)
3. Marshaling (collect gold, marshal cards)
4. Challenges (Military/Intrigue/Power)
5. Dominance (standing STR + gold; winner gains 1 power)
6. Standing (all cards stand)
7. Taxation (return excess gold, discard plot)

Victory: 15 power on faction card.

Challenge Resolution:

1. Declare type, target, attackers (kneel)
2. Stealth bypasses
3. Declare defenders (kneel)
4. Compare STR (attacker wins ties)
5. Unopposed bonus (+1 power if defending STR = 0)
6. Apply claim (Military: kill, Intrigue: discard, Power: steal)
7. Keywords resolve

Key Numbers: | Item | Value | |——|——-| | Power to win | 15 | | Setup card cost limit | 8 | | Starting hand | 7 | | Cards drawn per round | 2 | | Plot deck size | 7 | | Challenges per player per round | 3 (one each type) |