In a Ctional Feudal Province of Japan, the Uneasy Balance Between
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In a ctional feudal province of Japan, the uneasy balance between secrets and subplots remained quietly—albeit delicately—settled until the day the regional Daimyo discovered the Geisha’s secret. For these many long years the Daimyo had coveted, consulted, and trusted the Geisha. However, during that time she had secretly despised the Daimyo and loved his most loyal samurai in secret. ey bore a child 20 years ago, who has now grown into a formidable young man. Upon discovering the Geisha’s secret relationship, the Daimyo raged and dishonored the samurai, ordering him to kill the Geisha and commit seppuku. e samurai refused and fought his way free, helping the Geisha escape. e samurai was declared a ronin and both were declared fugitives. In hiding, the Geisha’s son began to spread many of the secrets the Daimyo shared with his mother over the years and the Daimyo’s honor began to come into question by the city nobles. Now the Shogun is on his way to the city to consult the Daimyo and uncover the truth. e Daimyo has called all his noble allies and the ronin’s main rival to hunt for the Geisha and the ronin in hopes of exposing the conspiracy against him. Setup 1.Place the Shogun Board in the center of the play area and place the Shogun Track marker on the Shogun Track’s rst space. 2.Place the “Temple” Establishment Board in the center of the play area and place the Rival and Daimyo tiles on it. 3.Separate the Role Cards out by type and build the Role deck according to the number of play- ers (see chart on bottom of next page), returning any unused Role cards to the box. Shu e the Role Deck, then deal one face-down Role Card to each player. A player may look at their Role card at any time but must keep them secret from the other players. Deal a Player Aid to each player. 4. e player with the Motonaka card must reveal their Role Card for all players to see. at player collects the In uence cards, the Geisha card, the Ronin card, and the Patron cards (both full-sized and mini cards). 5.Take the Establishment Boards that are marked for the current player count, leaving those for a higher player count in the box. Shu e the Establishment Boards together and deal one between each pair of Noble players. Motonaka is not considered a Noble and is skipped over when setting up the Establishments. Instead, place an Establishment Board in front of Motonaka, to occupy the space between the players seated to Motonaka’s left and right. 6.Motonaka builds the full-sized Patron deck by taking all full-sized Patron cards marked for the current player count (player count is printed on the cards). Leave all cards for higher player counts in the box. He then shu es all full-sized Patron cards together forming the Patron deck. Randomly deal three Patron cards face-down to each Establishment (including the Temple). is will deal all Patron cards out to Establishments. 7. Shu e all Honor tokens together in a face-down pool, beside the Temple. 8.Set the Action Markers and Suspicion Tokens beside the Honor pool. Set the Honor Cards to the side. e Action Markers are only used when a game e ect speci cally mentions them. 9.Motonaka Chooses the Geisha’s and the Ronin’s Disguises - Motonaka secretly performs the fol- lowing tasks. Other players should look away! a) Separate the Assassin mini cards from the rest of the Patron mini cards, then shu e the Patron mini cards (including only those cards matching the current player count and without the Assas- sins) together to form the Disguise deck. Leave the Assassin mini cards face-up in front of you, to be used during the Prelude. b) Draw two cards from the top of the Disguise deck. Memorize them and then hide one under- neath the Geisha card and the other underneath the Ronin card. Motonaka can reference these cards any time as needed but must keep them secret. 10. Motonaka shu es the four City Markers together, and places one face-down over each of the Shogun Track’s nal four spaces. Motonaka may peek at these City Markers at any time, but the Noble players cannot look at them. 11. Motonaka shu es the In uence cards to make the In uence deck, and places it face-down near his play area. 1 5 Player Game 4 11 9 5 3 6 3 7 8 5 10 1 6 6 6 5 2 3 6 3 5 6 NUMBER OF PLAYERS ROLE DECK CONFIGURATION NUMBER OF PATRON CARDS 5 2 Allies, 1 Betrayer, 1 Usurper, 1 Motonaka 15 6 3 Allies, 1 Betrayer, 1 Usurper, 1 Motonaka 18 7 3 Allies, 1 Betrayer, 2 Usurpers, 1 Motonaka 21 8 4 Allies, 1 Betrayer, 2 Usurper, 1 Motonaka 24 2 The Prelude Motonaka has taken the mantle of the realm’s information broker and knows the hearts of all the nobles in the Daimyo’s holding. Before beginning the game, Motonaka should read the following passages (in italics) aloud, and will be responsible for remembering all of the information he learns during this Prelude. If Motonaka is not comfortable remembering the information, then he is allowed to take notes (so long as those notes do not fall into the Nobles’ hands!). “Nobles of the Daimyo’s holding, please close your eyes. “I am Motonaka, broker of information, and I have disguised Chiyo the Geisha and Fusanobu the Ronin among the Patrons at your Establishments. I have summoned the Shogun to put an end to the Daimyo’s inquiry, and I will win the day if the Shogun reaches the Daimyo’s stronghold. “Allies of the Daimyo, keep your eyes closed, but raise your thumbs so that I might know you. “Allies, put your thumbs back down. “Betrayer, keep your eyes closed, but raise your thumb. “Betrayer, put your thumb back down. “Usurper(s), open your eyes and look around you. Choose one of the three Assassin mini-cards in front of you, show that card to the Usurper(s), then tuck it face-down under the Shogun Board. is Patron is now the True Assassin, which the Usurper(s) will need to win the game. “Usurper(s), close your eyes. Now, all players may open their eyes.” Overview and Objectives Following Chiyo’s and Fusanobu’s escape, you will take the role of the prominent gures in the Daimyo’s holding, and you will guide the events that lead to this great tragedy’s conclusion. While you make every attempt to appear as an ally to the Daimyo with your actions, you are motivated by your own secret loyalties. You will win the game if the faction you support is able to achieve its goals during the Final Act (see page 13). Note: Motonaka is able to win prior to the Final Act. Daimyo’ s Ally Loyal to your lord, you wish to expose and capture Chiyo and Fusanobu, and send them to be executed for their crimes against the Daimyo.. All Ally players will win if the True Ronin , the True Geisha , the Daimyo , and one or more Imperial Patrons are together in the same Establishment, as long as that Establishment is not also owned by the Betrayer! Betrayer Loyal to no one but yourself, you wish to take advantage of these tragic events. If you ambush and present Chiyo, Fusanobu, and the Daimyo to the Shogun, you can seize power for yourself! You will win if the True Ronin , the True Geisha , and the Daimyo are together in one of your establishments. Usurper A conspirator loyal to Fusanobu’s Rival, you wish to lure the Daimyo and Fusanobu together in an establishment with the True Assassin, so that the Rival and his master can seize power over the holding. All Usurpers will win if the True Ronin , the Daimyo , and the True Assassin are together in the same Establishment. Motonaka You are Motonaka; Chiyo and Fusanobu’s son. You wish to discredit the Daimyo and hide your parents until the Shogun arrives to witness the Daimyo’s incompetence. You will win if the Shogun Track marker reaches its destined City Marker before any other faction is able to win the game. 4 Key Concepts Establishments and the Temple You are the co-owner of the Establishment Boards to your left and right, and your neighbors at the table to your left and right are also co-owners of those Establishments respectively. When an e ect in the game refers to “your Establishments,” it is referring to the Establishment to your left or to your right. Each Establishment can hold the Daimyo token, the Rival token, and/or any number of Patron cards. e area in front of each Establishment is reserved for the cards and tokens that are “at” that Establishment. e Temple is a special Establishment in the center of the play area, which is not owned by any player, and is not considered to be adjacent to any player. e Temple is a sacred place. Noble players cannot move the Daimyo , Rival , True Ronin , or True Geisha to the Temple using Loyal Actions. The Geisha, the Ronin, and their Disguises At the start of the game, the Geisha (Chiyo) and Ronin (Fusanobu)—known collectively as the Fugitives—are disguised and hidden among the Nobles’ Establishments. ey will appear as normal Patrons, but it is possible for certain actions to reveal their true identities over the course of the game.