This is version 0.8 of the official game rules. This document was last updated 16 May 2013.
Generals & Assassins is a competitive card game for 2 to 4 players, using one standard deck (with jokers) for each player. It is played in as a series of 8 rounds, in which players acquire Victory Points by using wealth to purchase Land and battling other players to take what is theirs!
- One standard deck (with jokers) for each player
- Poker chips or other tokens for tracking hit points (50 per player)
- A score sheet to keep running totals
These terms and abbreviations will be used throughout the rules:
- Attack Points (AP)
- Used to determine the strength of an attack during an attack action.
- Defense Points (DP)
- Used to determine the strength of a defense during an attack action.
- Hit Points (HP)
- Represents the health of a player during a round.
- Victory Points (VP)
- Used to determine the overall winner of the game.
To win the game, players must acquire the most Victory Points over a series of 8 rounds. Victory Points are acquired by obtaining Land, which can either be purchased with Money or conquered by defeating other players in battle.
Cards have the following values based on rank:
| Card | Value |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 |
| 2 - 10 | Face value |
| Jack | 10 |
| Queen | 11 |
| King | 12 |
| Joker | 25 |
Cards have a particular meaning based on suit/type:
- Court (J, Q, K)
- Court cards are Generals. They are used during attack or defense. They cannot be used as Land, Money, Healing or Soldiers. Suit is ignored.
- Clubs
- Clubs are Soldiers. They may be used during attack or defense.
- Spades
- Spades are Land. Land contributes to a player's VP at the end of the round. They also contribute 2 DP each during defense, regardless of their face value.
- Diamonds
- Diamonds are Money. Money is used to purchase Land.
- Hearts
- Hearts are Health. Health is used to regain HP.
- Jokers
- Jokers are Assassins. They are used as a special attack called Assassinate.
Before play begins, each player must suffle their deck of cards and place it face down in front of them. Discards should be placed face up next to the player's deck.
It may be advantageous to declare a player the bookkeeper or banker, who is responsible for keeping track of HP and VP throughout the game. However you choose to keep track of things, each player starts the game with 50 HP and 0 VP.
The game is divided into a series of rounds. The VP players acquire at the end of each round add to their total VP for the game.
At the beginning of each round, players have 50 HP, regardless of the outcome of the previous round. Each player draws five cards into their hand. If this is the first round of the game, determine randomly who plays first. Otherwise, the player who has the lowest total VP for the game plays first. Play proceeds clockwise around the table.
On their turn, players must play one (and only one) of the following actions: Attack, Assassinate, Buy Land, Heal or Discard. Players must declare their action and target (if applicable) each turn.
- Attack
- Attacking
- Players must play at least one General from their hand to attack an opponent.
- They may add any number of Generals and Soldiers from their hand to increase their Attack Points.
- Defending
- The player being attacked may play any Generals and Soldiers from his hand to increase his Defense Points.
- The defender is NOT required to play a General.
- All Lands the defender has in play add two DP, regardless of their face value.
- Assisting
- Players who are not the attacker or defender may assist either side with one General or Soldier from their hand, adding it to the total AP or DP, depending on which side they are assisting.
- As an incentive to assist them, the attacker and defender may offer other players Lands they have played in exchange for their help.
- If Land is exchanged, transfer Land cards to the assisting players before the attack is resolved. If the defender transfers Land to another player, he does not receive the 2 DP bonus for that Land.
- Resolution
- The total AP of the attack is the sum value of all Generals and Soldiers played by the attacker and those assisting him.
- The total DP of the defense is the sum value of all Generals and Soldiers played by the defender and those assisting him, plus 2 DP for each Land card the defender has in front of him.
- If the total AP for the attack is greater than the total DP, the defending player deducts the difference from his HP.
- If the total AP is equal to or lesser than the total DP, the attack fails and no HP are deducted.
- All Generals and Soldiers involved in the attack and defence are discarded after the attack is resolved. All players must then draw back up to five cards.
- Attacking
- Assassinate
- Assassins must be played alone. They cannot participate in regular attacks or be combined with Generals or Soldiers.
- Assassins may only be defended against by playing another Assassin, in which case the attack fails.
- Other players may not assist during assassinations.
- If the first attack failed and the attacking player has a second Assassin in his hand, he may immediately play it to attempt the assassination again.
- The defending player may also play a second Assassin to stop this second attack.
- If the assassination is successful, the defender must deduct 25 HP from his total for the round.
- Buy Land
- Players may discard any number of Money cards from their hand to play any number of Land cards from their hand.
- The combined value of Money cards discarded must be equal to or greater than the combined value of all Land cards played.
- No change or refund is given if the Money discarded exceeds the total value of the Land played.
- Players must place Land cards on the table in front of them so that other players can see their value clearly.
- Players must discard any Money cards used to purchase Land cards and draw enough cards to bring their hand back up to five cards.
- Heal
- A player may discard a single Health card to regain its value in HP. Only one Health card may be played per turn.
- A player may never have more than 50 HP. Any excess HP gained from healing is lost.
- After healing, players must draw a card to bring their hand back up to five cards.
- Discard
- If a player cannot or does not wish to perform any other action, he must discard any one card from his hand.
- If a player discards an Ace, he may discard any number of other cards along with it as long as he shows the Ace to the other players.
- After discarding, a player must draw back up to five cards.
The round can end in one of two ways:
- If a player draws the last card from their deck, each player gets one more turn. Then the round ends.
- If a player is reduced to 0 HP, the round ends immediately.
At the end of a round, each player sums the value of the Land cards in front of them. This sum is their VP total for the round. Each player adds this sum to their VP total for the game, unless their HP was reduced to 0, in which case the player does not gain any VP for the round. Instead, his VP go to the player that defeated him.
Unless it is the last round, all cards are returned to their respective decks and reshuffled. All players reset their HP to 50. The next round begins with the player who has the lowest VP total for the game.
The game is over at the end of 8 rounds, though players may choose to play more or less rounds for a longer or shorter game.
The player with the most victory points at the end of the last round wins! If two or more players are tied for the most VP, additional rounds must be played until a winner can be declared.
Generals & Assassins is copyright (c) 2013 by Sean Crystal <[email protected]>
Special thanks to: Josh Long, Doug Hurst, Brad Hurst