The King Is Dead: Second Edition

On your turn, you must either play an action card OR pass

The game proceeds clockwise around the table

If playing a card, discard it face-up and perform its action, then recruit one follower

If you pass, you do nothing this turn; you may act or pass again on your next turn

When all players have passed consecutively, proceed to the power struggle phase

After performing an action, take any follower from any region on the board and place it in front of you

You may not take followers from the reserve area

Followers collected show your loyalty to factions at game end

Check the region card with the lowest number (first struggle uses region 1, second uses region 2, etc.)

Count which faction has the most followers in that region

Put the winning faction's control piece in that region

If there's a tie or no followers present, the region becomes unstable—place an instability piece there

Move all followers from that region to the reserve area

If three instability pieces are on the board, the game ends immediately with France winning

Flip the region card face-up and begin a new round

You cannot move followers to/from or place followers in regions that are already controlled or unstable

Keep your discarded cards face-up in front of you; you may view your own discards but not opponents'

You can only play one card per turn; you have eight total actions in the game

You must attempt to fully complete an action; if impossible, complete as much as you can

Even if an action cannot be fully executed, you still recruit a follower afterward

Take two Scottish followers from reserve and place them in a region adjacent to a Scottish-controlled region (or adjacent to Moray if Moray is not controlled by another faction or unstable); both must go to the same region

Take two Welsh followers from reserve and place them in a region adjacent to a Welsh-controlled region (or adjacent to Gwynedd if Gwynedd is not controlled by another faction or unstable); both must go to the same region

Take two English followers from reserve and place them in a region adjacent to an English-controlled region (or adjacent to Essex if Essex is not controlled by another faction or unstable); both must go to the same region

Take one Scottish, one Welsh, and one English follower from reserve and place them in any region(s); they may go to the same or different regions; if a faction type is unavailable in reserve, that type is not placed

Swap the positions of two face-up region cards and place a negotiation piece on one of them; cards that are face-down or already have negotiation pieces cannot be swapped; if fewer than two valid cards exist, this card has no effect

Swap one follower in a region with one follower in a different region; you may swap followers of the same faction (though this provides no benefit); you must swap if possible, or this card has no effect; another player cannot immediately use Maneuver to undo this action

Swap one follower in a region with two followers in an adjacent region; you may swap followers of the same faction; you must swap at least one-for-one if possible, or this card has no effect; another player cannot immediately use Defeat to undo this action

Execute the action shown on the top face-up card of another player's discard pile

Take two Scottish followers from reserve and place them in a region, then remove one follower from that region to reserve; you may remove one of the just-placed followers; if reserve has insufficient followers, place what's available

Move two followers from one region to an adjacent region; you must move both if possible, or at least one, or this card has no effect

This card cannot be played during the game; reveal it when determining the winner—it counts as one follower of any faction you choose; if the game ends with coronation and you are tied, having this card means you win immediately; this card takes precedence over other tiebreakers

Place two followers of whichever faction has the most followers in the reserve area into any region; if two factions are tied in reserve, choose one

Swap one English follower in a region with two non-English followers in another region; you may swap same-faction followers; you must complete fully if possible, or this card has no effect

Swap one Welsh follower in a region with one non-Welsh follower in another region; if you cannot complete this fully, the card has no effect

Swap two Scottish followers in a region with two non-Scottish followers in an adjacent region; you may swap same-faction followers; if you cannot swap 2-for-2, try 1-for-2 or 2-for-1, then 1-for-1; if none is possible, this card has no effect

Place two non-Scottish followers from reserve into a region adjacent to a Scottish-controlled region (or adjacent to Moray if Moray is not controlled by another faction or unstable); both may be of the same faction

Remove one Welsh follower from a region adjacent to a Welsh-controlled region to reserve, then place two followers from reserve into that region; if Gwynedd is not controlled by another faction or unstable, you may use regions adjacent to Gwynedd; the two placed followers may be any factions including Welsh; if no Welsh follower is in valid regions, still place two followers; if that's not possible, this card has no effect

Remove one English follower and one other follower from a region adjacent to an English-controlled region to reserve, then place one follower from reserve into that region; if Essex is not controlled by another faction or unstable, you may use regions adjacent to Essex; the placed follower may be English; if no English follower is in valid regions, remove one follower and place one; if that's not possible, just place one from reserve; if none of these work, this card has no effect

Remove one Scottish follower from a region adjacent to a Scottish-controlled region to reserve, then place two followers from reserve into that region; if Moray is not controlled by another faction or unstable, you may use regions adjacent to Moray; the two placed followers may be any factions including Scottish; if no Scottish follower is in valid regions, still place two followers; if that's not possible, this card has no effect

Take two followers from reserve and place them in a region adjacent to a Scottish-controlled region (or adjacent to Moray if not controlled/unstable); these may be any faction

Take two Welsh followers from reserve and place them in a region adjacent to a Welsh-controlled region (or adjacent to Gwynedd if not controlled/unstable), then swap one Welsh follower in this region with followers in an adjacent region

Take two English followers from reserve and place them in a region adjacent to an English-controlled region (or adjacent to Essex if not controlled/unstable), then swap followers between this region and an adjacent region

Place two Scottish followers from reserve in a region adjacent to a Scottish-controlled region, then swap these with followers in an adjacent region

Place two Welsh followers from reserve in a region adjacent to a Welsh-controlled region (or Gwynedd if applicable), then move followers to adjacent regions

Swap Scottish followers between adjacent regions controlled by Scottish forces

Swap one follower from in front of you with one follower in any region

If three instability pieces are placed on the board at any time, the game ends immediately and France wins—no player wins

If eight power struggles are completed without French invasion, the game ends with coronation and a new king is crowned

The winner is the player with the most complete sets of followers; one complete set contains one follower of each faction (Scottish, Welsh, English)

If tied, the player who most recently played an action card wins

Place the victory card with the coronation side up in front of all players

Arrange control pieces in the three circular spaces based on how many regions each faction controls; the faction controlling the most regions ranks first

If two factions tie in regions controlled, the faction that won the most recent power struggle ranks higher; check the most recently revealed region card if needed

Among players, whoever has the most followers of the winning (first-ranked) faction becomes king and wins

If tied on the winning faction, compare followers of the second-ranked faction

If still tied, the player who used all their action cards first wins

Divide into two teams and sit facing your partner

During the game, you cannot discuss strategy with your partner or show each other your cards

Play with the standard rules; other mechanics remain the same

When the game ends by French invasion, combine your followers with your partner's; the team with the most complete sets wins; if tied, the team whose member most recently played an action card wins

Followers are NOT combined with your partner's; determine faction rankings normally; the player with the most followers of the winning faction becomes king and wins; their partner also wins and becomes the minister

Apply the same tiebreaker rules as the two-player game; if still tied, the side that finished playing all action cards first wins