Enowen raced through the light snow, her breath steaming in the winter air. “Guard? Sir? Can you help me?” The guard captain hesitated for a moment, but Enowen sniffled and moved swiftly to place a few coins in the palm of his hand. She lowered her voice and said, “Be wary of the Guild of Architects, sir. They’re trying to run this district into the ground.”
The captain looked about and bit on the coin. True gold. He looked at the waifish girl and nodded. “We wouldn’t want that to happen,” he said. “You’ll have our full support.”
The city of Cadwallon is known for its intrigues and power struggles. In Arcana Revised Edition, six different guilds compete for control of the city, and two to four players try to win the favor of notable personalities, fortify key locations, and bribe their way to victory with precious relics.
Filled with power struggles, espionage, thievery, treachery, backstabbing, and bribery, Arcana Revised Edition is the perfect way to fill your holidays with all the action and drama you crave, but without any accompanying headaches!
A classic bid for power
Each guild in Arcana Revised Edition has its unique strengths and weaknesses. As they try to influence notable personalities, occupy key locations, and acquire valuable relics, the guilds send agents to the game’s different districts. You can send agents face-down to your friendly districts, shielding your plans from your opponents, but to win personalities and locations in your opponents’ districts, your agents must risk exposure, playing face-up.
Each round, players compete for the face-up Stake cards in the districts, trying to match or exceed each Stake’s “main arcanum,” its primary cost. Exceed the main arcanum while bidding more than your opponents, and you win the card. You can also bribe personalities by offering them relics. If the value of your bribe and agent’s arcanum are enough to influence the personality, you win the bid immediately, and your opponent’s agents are sent back to his discard pile, empty-handed.
Each Stake can help you win future bids, and each has a point value to add to your point total at the end of the game. When the Ducal Jubilee begins, and the game concludes, the player with the highest total point value wins the game, seizing primary control of Cadwallon… at least for a little while.
New tactics
The Revised Edition of Arcana introduces several optional rules to enhance and streamline your games. You can customize your guild for greater control over your strategies, cutting out cards in order to excel in a single arcanum or to balance your agents’ abilities. Objectives allow you to score additional points by winning related Stakes. Guild Masters provide you with additional guild strategies, including some powerful abilities that you can trigger once each turn. Gorsna, a Guild Master from the Guild of Thieves, can force your opponent to move one of his agents out of the district in which he was played.
Other optional rules allow you to discard Stake cards to recruit members of the Militia, introduces random events, or make tactical discards in order to keep your guild deck small and focused on winning the myriad struggles that form your strategy for greater power.
Plots and schemes for the whole holiday season
The guilds of Cadwallon never truly rest. When the air turns cold and fragrant with the scents of burning wood and spiced meats, Cadwallon may sound quiet, but the experienced ear may catch the sound of padded feet scuffling across stone stairs, or the clink of coin in a sellsword’s pocket.
With its rich themes and lavish art, Arcana Revised Edition provides you an excellent way to lie, cheat, bully, and buy your way to dominance this holiday season… all in good fun!
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