Welcome to Discworld: Ankh-Morpork!

Ever dreamt of ruling the most chaotic city on Discworld? Well, now's your chance! Lord Vetinari has vanished, and Ankh-Morpork is ripe for the taking. Get ready to scheme, backstab, and maybe even accidentally bring back the king in this delightfully unpredictable game of urban domination!

Objective of the Game

In Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, your ultimate goal is to fulfill the secret victory conditions on your assigned Personality card. You'll keep this card hidden from your opponents, all while trying to figure out what they're up to and stopping them from achieving their own nefarious goals. Will you spread your influence like a spider, control key areas, amass a fortune, or simply watch the city descend into glorious chaos? The fate of Ankh-Morpork rests in your hands!

Preparation (Setup)

Getting Ankh-Morpork ready for your reign is a breeze. Here’s how to set up your game:

1. Board Placement: Place the main game board in the center of your playing area. This board depicts the twelve distinct areas of Ankh-Morpork, each with a name, number, and building cost.
2. Component Piles:
   • Place the twelve trouble markers, four demon pieces, and three troll pieces by the side of the board.
   • Create a bank with the thirty-five silver coins ($1 each) and seventeen gold coins ($5 each).
   • Place the twelve City Area cards face up on display next to the map so everyone can see them.
3. Player Pieces: Each player chooses a set of playing pieces of the same color, consisting of twelve minion pieces and six building pieces.
4. Initial Minion & Trouble Placement: Each player places one of their minions in The Shades, The Scours, and Dolly Sisters. A trouble marker should also be placed in each of these three areas.
5. Player Money: Each player starts with ten Ankh-Morpork dollars from the bank. Remember, you can't hide your money from other players!
6. Personality Cards: Shuffle the seven Personality cards and deal one face down to each player. Keep your personality secret! Place any remaining Personality cards to one side without looking at them.
   • Two-Player Game Note: Remove the Chrysoprase card before shuffling and dealing Personality cards.
7. Random Event Deck: Shuffle the twelve Random Event cards and place them face down by the side of the board.
8. Player Card Deck:
   • Separate the Player cards into two decks: the forty-eight green-bordered deck and the fifty-three brown-bordered deck.
   • Shuffle the brown deck and place it face down on the table.
   • Then, shuffle the green deck and place it face down on top of the brown deck. This forms your main draw pile.
   • Two-Player Game Note: Remove the Hubert and Cosmos Lavish cards (both brown-bordered) from the draw pile before shuffling.
9. Starting Hands: Deal five cards from the top of the draw pile to each player. Place the remaining cards by the side of the board to form the draw pile.
10. Player Aid Cards: Each player takes one Player Aid card to help remember important rules.
11. First Player: Use the twelve-sided die to randomly determine who will be the first player.

The Turn of Play

Playing Discworld: Ankh-Morpork is straightforward, but don't let that fool you – the decisions are deep! Here’s how a turn unfolds:

1. Play a Card: On your turn, you choose one Player card from your hand to play.
2. Perform Actions: You perform the actions indicated by the symbols at the top of the card, from left to right. You can choose to perform some or all of the actions, but you are not forced to perform any individual action except for the Random Event action.
   • Place a Minion: Take one of your minion pieces and place it in an area where you already have a minion, or in an adjacent area. Areas connected by bridges are considered adjacent. If you have no minions on the board, you can place one in any area. If all your minions are on the board, you can remove one and place it elsewhere.
   • Trouble Markers: Whenever a minion (including trolls and demons) is placed or moved into an area that already contains one or more minions, you must place a trouble marker in that area (if it doesn't already have one). If a minion is moved or removed from an area, any trouble marker there is also removed. You cannot build in an area with a trouble marker, and you can only assassinate a minion in an area with a trouble marker.
   • Place a Building: You can place one of your building pieces in an area where you have a minion. You cannot build in an area that already contains a building or a trouble marker. Pay the building cost shown in the area (and on the matching City Area card) to the bank. Then, take the matching City Area card into your possession, placing it face up in front of you. If you already have six buildings, you can remove one to build in a new area, returning its City Area card to the display.
   • City Area Card Abilities: Each City Area card grants you a unique ability, usually usable once per turn. You cannot use an ability on a card in the same turn you gained it, with the exception of the Small Gods card.
   • Assassination: Remove one minion (not your own), troll, or demon of your choice from an area that contains a trouble marker. This also removes the trouble marker.
   • Remove one trouble marker: Remove one trouble marker from an area of your choice.
   • Take money: Take the indicated amount of money from the bank.
   • Scroll: Perform the action described in the text at the bottom of the card.
   • Random Event: This is the only mandatory action. Draw the top card from the Random Event deck and check the back of the rule book for its effect. After resolving the event, place the Random Event card to one side (each event occurs only once per game).
   • Play another card: You may play another card from your hand. You can chain these actions to play multiple cards.
   • Interrupt: Cards with this symbol can be played at any time, even if it's not your turn, often to protect yourself from negative effects. Playing an interrupt card during your turn does not count as an action.
3. Discard Played Card: Once you've finished with the card, place it face up next to the draw pile to form the discard pile.
4. Refill Hand: Draw enough cards from the draw pile to bring your hand size back up to five cards. If you already have more than five cards (e.g., from an action during your turn), you don't draw any more, nor do you discard any.
5. Next Player: The player to your left takes their turn.

End of Game and Scoring

The game can end in a few exciting ways:

• Personality Card Victory: A player immediately wins if they achieve the victory conditions on their secret Personality card at the beginning of their turn (except for Commander Vimes).
• Riot Random Event: If the Riot Random Event card is drawn and there are eight or more trouble markers on the board, the game ends immediately. Points are then tallied. (Commander Vimes does not win automatically here, but may win on points).
• Draw Pile Exhausted: As soon as one player takes the last card from the draw pile, the game ends.
  • If Commander Vimes is in play, they win immediately.
  • Otherwise, the player with the most points wins.

Scoring (if the draw pile runs out and Commander Vimes is not in play):

• Each minion on the board is worth five points.
• Each building is worth a number of points equal to its monetary cost.
• Each $1 in hand is worth one point.
• If you have the Dent card or the Bank card, you must pay back the amount noted. If you cannot, you lose fifteen points for each.
• Tie-breaker: In case of a tie, the tied player with the highest monetary value City Area card wins. If still tied, the tied players share a joint win.

Tips for Winning

Ankh-Morpork is a city of opportunity, but also peril! Keep these tips in mind to outwit your opponents:

1. Know Your Personality (and Theirs!): Your Personality card is your guiding star. Understand its victory conditions inside and out. But don't just focus on yourself! Pay close attention to what other players are doing – where they're placing minions, what areas they're building in, and how much money they're accumulating. This will give you clues about their secret objectives and allow you to block them.
2. Master the Player Cards: The Player cards are your primary tools. Learn what each symbol means and how to chain actions effectively. Remember, you don't have to perform every action on a card, but the Random Event is mandatory! Strategic use of card abilities, especially those from your owned City Area cards, can give you a significant advantage.
3. Control is Key (for some!): If you're playing as Lord Selachii, Lord Rust, or Lord de Worde, controlling areas is paramount. Remember, you control an area if you have more playing pieces (minions or buildings) in it than any single other player, and also more than the total number of trolls. Areas with demons cannot be controlled. Keep an eye on your opponents' piece counts in contested areas!