King's Court

A random player is crowned. Every player leads a noble house, the monarch too, and each house has its own perk and a motto it lives down to.

The monarch hears the court's petitions and grants one each round. The nobles flatter, bribe and plot. The crown is strong by design: no house can take it alone, and every ally you recruit is someone who can sell you out.

Anyone without a seat joins as the Commons: the audience, who vote for the best plea and throw tomatoes (or roses) at the monarch.

Put the host screen on the TV, or on your stream. Everyone joins on their own phone with a four-letter room code, in the browser, with nothing to install. The big screen shows the court; your phone keeps your secrets.

It takes 3 to 8 players (best with 5 to 7) and an evening: 60 to 120 minutes, about the length of a board game. Every round has five phases:

1. PetitionA crisis strikes the realm: a dragon with opinions, a plague that makes people confess. Each noble backs one of three courses and writes a plea.
2. AudienceThe pleas go up on the big screen. Nobles lobby the crown in private whispers, gold optional. The screen shows who is whispering to whom, never what.
3. DecreeThe monarch grants one course, and the realm shifts. Sometimes Fortune's wheel turns and it goes horribly wrong. Let the treasury, the army, the Church or the people hit zero, and the monarch falls on the spot.
4. NightEveryone does one thing in secret: collect taxes, drill troops, spy, spread a rumor, sabotage a rival, or join a conspiracy. The monarch may arrest someone.
5. DawnThe night is revealed: rumors, arrests, executions and coups.

The game runs in three acts. The Peaceful Reign eases everyone in, one new trick a round. The Troubles let the knives out, and the crown can change hands. The Succession builds to the end.

Then comes the Omen. Every noble declares, in secret and all at once: claimant, loyalist, or keep it to yourself. On the Last Night, the claimants march on the capital by three roads:

1. The Gateswon with soldiers, and whatever mercenaries gold can buy.
2. The Chapelwon with the Church's favor, and indulgences.
3. The Streetswon with the people's favor, and bread.

Take two of the three and the crown is yours. If the crown holds, the monarch wins, and so does the Chancellor they named.

Then the Chronicle: the whole game replays, and every whisper, bribe and plot comes out. The losers get awards, such as Most Tomatoed Monarch and Snitch of the Realm.

Executions, betrayal and plague, told with a perfectly straight face. Some lines from the dawn reports:

• An arrestQueen Agnes arrests Edwina for treason. Edwina was knitting. The court is not reassured.
• An executionBartholomew meets the headsman. Bartholomew II inherits everything: the lands, the grudges, the debts, and a very nervous cat.
• A standoffQueen Agnes runs. Fulk runs. They meet in the stables, apologize to each other, and walk home. Even the horses are ashamed.

Nobody is ever knocked out. An executed noble's heir takes over the house, the grudges included, and the scheming carries on. Lying is expected.

King's Court is made for small groups and for streams. Stream the host screen as you would any game, and the chat joins in.

1. Chat is the CommonsThey take no seats, so they can't ruin a conspiracy from inside, but they vote on the pleas and pelt the monarch.
2. Streamer timersEvery timer one and a half or two times as long, to cover the stream's delay.
3. No turn lost to delayPhones show everything a player needs to act, and the room code hides at a keypress.