This game is free. Feel free to print out the components and play the game. I do want to keep copyright on all my efforts. Do not change the game and/or claim it as your own. If you really enjoy this game, or want to keep a hard copy in your games collection then I would appreciate a donation, or a game you have put together.
The House War universe was designed and copyright by Dillon Burke (vizi@ihug.co.nz) and is used with his permission.
Final
Decree - cards.pdf
Contains 60 cards. You will need to print these on cardboard, or insert them
into card slips. Black-backed Ultra Pro card slips are ideal for the purpose.
Final
Decree - deptmats.pdf
Contains the 6 departmental mats, and 5 control arrows. Ideally printed on card and cut out.
Final
Decree - decrees.pdf
Contains the 5 decrees. You will need a set of these for each time you play. Note: the text that describes the decree does not have an effect on game play. These are part of the game background.
Final
Decree -help.pdf
Contains 2 summary sheets, one on the turn order, the other on stamping decrees. Its all stuff covered in the rules, but is probably useful to have a summary in play.
Final
Decree -rules.pdf
This document here, it has the rules of the game, and some other information.
This game is set in the House War universe, invented by Dillon Burke. I was thinking of changing the setting to something most people are a little more familiar with. I was thinking of setting the game "in a small pacific nation beset by management books," or possibly a software company trying to release various products. Instead I decided to go with the original setting, soon to be seen in a game in a town near you.
To fill in those who don't know, House War is a series of games by Dillon Burke. A number of noble houses compete with varying success for power prestige, and the imperial throne. The latest incarnation is set in a time when the empire is collapsing. Technology is disappearing, the Emperor is a figurehead, and the noble houses are fighting tooth and nail to build monuments to themselves. This game is set just before then, the decline has started but the current Emperor has a chance to stop it, but not if the Emperor's bureaucracy behaves like every other bureaucracy in the history of humanity.
Many historians have studied the House War III period. It always captures the imagination. How did such a great empire fall? Many notable historians (See D. Burke's excellent simulationist history) place great importance on the Great Houses and their quest for glory. While this is certainly a valid point Burke and others overlook the 5 Decrees issued by the last Emperor before hostilities broke out. All our best models suggest that if any one of these decrees was acted upon, then war may well have been averted. This would suggest that a large portion of the blame falls on the executive bureaucrats of this era. The purpose of this historical simulation is to assess who was to blame, and why.
Blame: A black token. The player with the least blame in their personal blame pool at the end of the game wins. Blame not currently assigned to a player or department is kept aside in a bank.
Departmental Blame: Blame assigned to a department. The blame is kept on the departmental mat.
Personal Blame: Blame assigned to a player, also called Personal Blame Pool. These blame tokens are kept directly in front of the player.
Department: There are six departments. The department that a player is head of is referred to as being theirs. (That is, all references to "your department" refer to the department the player is currently head of. Departments can be controlled by other departments. Arrows are used to represent control.
Departmental mat: This represents the department. Departmental blame tokens are placed on the mat. Any decrees at the department are place don or under the mat. The head of the department is represented by the appropriate player's pawn.
Decree: Decrees are represented by decree slips. Are decree consists of a number of steps that must be performed. Each step must be performed in order, and by the correct department. When a step is performed it is represented by a stamp on the appropriate check box. When all steps have been performed the decree is said to have been enacted. See the section on Decrees.
Empty Department: The department that currently has no head.
Stagnation and decline card: This card must be played immediately. It represents the Empire falling apart. When it is played five cards are immediately put into the discard pile. All departmental blame goes to the departments' current heads. The Stagnation and decline card is then reshuffled into the deck. Note: the discard pile is not shuffled in too. When the deck is exhausted the game ends. I am toying with having the drawing player get to choose one of the 5 discarded cards for their hand. Altering the number of cards discarded can easily control the length of the game. Why is this card in the game? It means the game is of undetermined length. I also think the game is much better as a short game than as an epic.
The Emperor has issued his decrees, he has restructured the bureaucracy, now all he need to have happen to save his empire is for his executives to do their job!
The player controlling the Executive Branch goes first, from there on play proceeds clockwise. When the last card in the deck is drawn the game ends. The game also ends if all decrees are enacted. The player with the least personal blame wins.
On his or her turn each player goes through the following sequence.
All players in their turn may use their three actions to perform any combination of the following:
Departments also allow players to perform special actions. These are like any other action, only the head of the department in question can perform them.
Treasury
The head of Treasury may spend an action to gain 2 extra actions for their turn. This may only be done once on a players turn. (It is worded this way so you know what to do when players are only head for part of their turn.)
Secret Service
The head of Secret Service may investigate another department. All blame on that department is transferred to the personal blame pool of its head.
Admiralty
The head of Admiralty can go on maneuvers. This action removes 2 personal blame and 4 departmental blame from the admiralty, this action may only be performed once on a players turn.
Human Resources
The head of Human Resources may use an action to reassign players to departments. All players can be changed, or not, as the head of HR decides. The player may move themselves with this action, in which case they continue their turn as head of their new department.
Executive Branch
The head of Executive Branch may restructure. You may move remove, move, reverse, or add a control arrow. An arrow cannot be added or moved so that control loops. If you can follow a department's control arrows back to itself, then it is an illegal placement.
The Department of Reform has no special power.
Note that a player can be head of more than one department in their turn. They are allowed to perform special action when they are head of the appropriate department. For example a player may start off as head of Admiralty and use their three actions to do maneuvers, move to the empty Treasury department, and then spend an action to get another 2 actions.
A player may use an action to stamp a decree, the following rules govern this action:
Decrees can be forwarded to another department as an action. If the department is the next one with an unstamped step, then the forwarding player loses 1 personal blame.
Players may freely trade personal blame between each other, as long as both parties agree. Cards can also be traded between player's hands.
No deals are binding. A player's personal blame total is public knowledge.
Carl de Visser
Dillon "Grand Vizier" Burke