{"id":100,"date":"2016-09-18T23:34:09","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T04:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oakheartgames.com\/boardgames\/?page_id=100"},"modified":"2016-10-07T07:43:43","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T12:43:43","slug":"emperor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oakheartgames.com\/boardgames\/projects\/oakheart-beast-project\/emperor\/","title":{"rendered":"Emperor Boardgame"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"alpha\"Emperor<\/span><\/h2>\n

Emperor is a game of quiet whispers, cunning, and misdirection. \u00a0While it is an abstract strategy game at heart, there is a dash of push-your-luck. \u00a0It is rare that an abstract strategy game can work well (or in this case, better) as a game for 3 players over the usual\u00a02 for the genre *we’re trying to see how\u00a0it can work with 4.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each player takes turns moving one member of their house (pawn) to either influence the emperor or subtly shift the balance of power through manipulating members of other houses (or both). Each player can, using her own pieces, maneuver to manipulate the position of other players\u2019 pieces or even the emperor himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are three different ways to win the game — once any victory condition is met, the game ends. \u00a0Eliminate the other houses<\/strong> through Conspiracy<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0by surrounding the emperor with three members of any other house; that house is eliminated from the game — to win through conspiracy, you must be the only house in the game. \u00a0There are two different score tracks that could also win the game. When your house reaches the end of the Influence<\/strong><\/em> track, you’ve created enough influence\u00a0to control the court\u00a0and immediately win. \u00a0Each time you move a rumor (flipped pawn), you gain influence. \u00a0Moving the crown of\u00a0Favor<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0to the symbol of your house on the Favor web means you’ve made the\u00a0Emperor your puppet. \u00a0Scoring favor requires getting one or two members of your house adjacent to the emperor\u00a0at the end of your turn.<\/span><\/p>\n

2-4 Players *Best with 3*<\/span><\/p>\n

Approximately 10 minutes per player per game<\/span><\/p>\n

7-13 pieces on a three dimensional board resembling steps up to a throne room<\/span>
\n Board consists of 9\u00a0triangles on the edge of a hegagon shaped board.<\/span><\/p>\n

Victory Conditions<\/h2>\n
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      \n
    • Favor:<\/strong> The first player to move the crown of favor to his house’s symbol wins. Each turn, pawns adjacent to the emperor gain favor. Win: The emperor becomes your puppet.<\/li>\n
    • Influence: <\/strong>Victory can be gained through spreading rumors (flipping pawns) each turn. Each pawn flipped earns one influence. The first player to move their influence marker all the way around the Influence Track wins. Influence is not scored until after a house has gained favor with the emperor. Win: Your house controls the court.<\/li>\n
    • Elimination Victory (Conspiracy)<\/strong>: All of the remaining player’s units surround the emperor. When three members of any other house surround the emperor, that house is eliminated. Win: You are the only house remaining.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

      Gameplay<\/h2>\n

      Round<\/h3>\n

      A round consists of each player taking one turn.<\/p>\n

      Turn<\/h3>\n

      There are six (6) phases per turn. \u00a0Phases must occur\u00a0in this order:<\/p>\n

        \n
          \n
            \n
          1. Create a rumor (flip a pawn of your house)<\/li>\n
          2. Move the pawn (spread the rumor)<\/li>\n
          3. Resolve Influence\u00a0(if any, move pawns sharing sides)<\/li>\n
          4. Score Influence* (add 1 point for each flipped pawn)<\/li>\n
          5. Score Favor (each player sharing points with the emperor moves crown of favor)<\/li>\n
          6. Reset pawns<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

            *Influence is not scored until the\u00a0house has gained\u00a0favor.<\/p>\n

            More Details<\/h3>\n

            The active player chooses one\u00a0of her own pawns, flips it (to represent a rumor), and moves it a number of spaces up to the distance granted by the terrain. \u00a0A flipped pawn carries the active rumor.<\/p>\n

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                  \n
                • A pawn spreading a rumor is flipped before it is moved.<\/li>\n
                • Movement occurs through the points or sides of the triangle.<\/li>\n
                • Pawns cannot move into an occupied square.<\/li>\n
                • A pawn may move a maximum of 1 to 5 spaces as\u00a0determined\u00a0by its\u00a0starting terrain.<\/li>\n
                • Pawns moving toward the throne room pay one additional movement (2 movement to move 1 space). \u00a0Moving away from the throne room, or within a terrain type costs the normal (1) movement per space.<\/li>\n
                • If a pawn influences (shares sides with) another pawn:\n
                    \n
                  • Check to make sure the move is legal. A pawn cannot approach an already flipped pawn.<\/li>\n
                  • The active player moves the approached pawn to a new, legal position on the board (even if it is another house’s pawn).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Terms<\/h3>\n
                      \n
                        \n
                          \n
                        • Conspiracy – <\/strong>Resolved immediately. When three pawns of the same house share points with the emperor, that house is eliminated from the game due to a conspiracy. If one house remains, that house wins. If more than one house remains, continue play minus\u00a0the eliminated house(s).<\/li>\n
                        • Favor<\/strong> – How much the emperor will listen to your house. \u00a0Basically, each pawn is trying to make the emperor a puppet of their house. \u00a0Favor is gained each turn for each\u00a0pawn sharing points with the emperor.<\/li>\n
                        • Favor Web<\/strong> – A 2 dimensional\u00a0measurement of how much the emperor favors one house over the other. When scoring favor, if a house’s pawn shares a point with the emperor, move the crown of favor one line toward your house’s emblem on the favor web. \u00a0One victory condition is to be the first house to place the crown of favor on your house’s symbol.\u00a0Active player moves the crown first, then continue clockwise.<\/li>\n
                        • Influence<\/strong> – Influence is the\u00a0spreading of a rumor. \u00a0It is both the number\u00a0of pawns aware of the current\u00a0rumor (flipped), and the accumulation of influence on the track around the board for each house. A house cannot accumulate\u00a0influence until it\u00a0has gained\u00a0favor with the emperor.<\/li>\n
                        • Influence Track<\/strong> – The Influence Track surrounds the playing board and is used to monitor\u00a0the number of pawns flipped (rumors created or spread) during the game. \u00a0The game ends, and that player wins, if she\u00a0has flipped 60 pawns. Note: A house cannot accumulate\u00a0influence until it\u00a0has gained\u00a0favor with the emperor.<\/li>\n
                        • Movement<\/strong> – Movement is granted whenever a rumor is created (a pawn is flipped). \u00a0This occurs at the beginning of each player’s turn, and again for each rumor being spread. \u00a0Movement is always determined by terrain (see Terrain – numbers indicate maximum spaces). \u00a0Note: movement toward the throne room costs two rather than one movement.<\/li>\n
                        • Rumors<\/strong>\u00a0– The active pawn creates a rumor (flipped), and attempts to spread the rumor to other pawns. \u00a0Rumors are spread when two pawns share sides of a triangle space (influence). \u00a0Rumors create movement because they need to be spread (resolve influence), so the approached pawn must be moved to another legal space (using its current\u00a0terrain’s movement).<\/li>\n
                        • Terrain<\/strong> – Terrain is the location\/texture of each space. \u00a0There are 5 terrain types in all, each associated with a maximum movement allocation:\n
                            \n
                          1. Throne Room<\/li>\n
                          2. Court<\/li>\n
                          3. Gardens<\/li>\n
                          4. City<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

                            Special\u00a0Notes<\/h3>\n
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                                \n
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                                • The emperor may also be moved through rumors and count toward scoring influence (spreading rumors).<\/li>\n
                                • If one active pawn moves to share sides with 2 or 3 pawns, the approached pawns must be moved. \u00a0The move is illegal if any of the approached pawns is already flipped.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n
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                                  <\/div>\n

                                  Next iteration of #emperor. Black was winning, but lost because rumors led to a conspiracy. #prototype #boardgamepieces #Protospiel #bgg #3dprinting #boardgames<\/a><\/p>\n

                                  A photo posted by Ryan Ziegler (@oakheartgames) on