Cards

The Card Economy

Cards are the currency of diplomacy. They are spent in negotiations, played for tactical effects, and scored at game end. Every card in the game belongs to a closed-loop economy — played, burned, and discarded cards return to the deck pool immediately. The deck never runs out; every draw is a random selection from whatever is currently available.

Each player starts the game with 3 Tier 1 troop cards in hand.

Earning Cards (Tick System)

Every player has four tick counters that track progress toward earning new cards:

• Random — draws from the full deck at random
• Agreement — draws an agreement card
• Value — draws a value (troop) card
• Standalone — draws a standalone (tactical) card

At the start of your turn, the random counter gains ticks based on how many territories you hold — 0.25 ticks per territory. The agreement, value, and standalone counters are only fed by bonus zones on the map, not by territory count. When any counter reaches 15 ticks, you earn 1 card of that type and the counter resets. Any remainder carries over.

This means territory control drives your random card income, while bonus zones drive type-specific income. A player holding lots of territory earns random cards steadily; a player holding key bonus zones earns targeted card types.

Three Card Types

Agreement cards are used in negotiations. You propose them to another player, fill slots with value cards, and create binding pacts. Subtypes include Ceasefire, Territory Transfer, Covert Support, and Manufacturing Partnership. Each agreement type has distinct mechanics covered in Chapter 5.

Value cards fill the slots inside agreement cards, providing the economic weight behind a deal. They can also be self-applied for an immediate troop bonus — but at a cost. Self-applying a troop card incurs a deploy debt: your next turn’s deploy is reduced by half the bonus gained.

Standalone cards are played directly for tactical effects. No negotiation is needed — you play them as your between-turn action and they resolve at your next turn start. Subtypes include Betrayal, Forced March, Foreign Aid, Duration Modifier, Trap, Fortify, and Siege. Full details in Chapter 6.

Tiers

Most cards come in two tiers: T1 (weaker, more common) and T2 (stronger, rarer). The tier affects both the card’s mechanical power and its point value at game end. For example, a Ceasefire T1 lasts 3 turns while a Ceasefire T2 lasts 5 turns.

Hand Limit

Your hand can hold a maximum of 15 cards (configurable between 10 and 20 in custom games). When you earn a card that would exceed the limit, one random card in your hand is destroyed and replaced with the new one. Managing your hand size and discarding strategically matters — you do not want the game making that choice for you.

Card Locking

When you include a card in a proposal, it becomes locked. A locked card cannot be played, discarded, or offered in another proposal until the original proposal is accepted, declined, or expires. Plan your negotiations carefully — tying up cards in pending deals reduces your flexibility.