Rule

Prophet's Gambit

Outside your table’s allowed sources

Official reference · CoS · 2014

Game Designed by Sean Goodison, for 3–5 players, using the Tarokka Deck.

How To Play

Separate out the High Deck cards, marked with the Crown symbol. Shuffle them, and place this deck to one side.
Choose a Dealer to shuffle the remaining cards, called the Common Deck. The person to the Dealer's left then draws a card from this deck and places it face-up in the centre of the table. This is the Focus card.
The Dealer then places one card per player face-down around the Focus. These are the player's Fate cards. Players may look at their own Fate card at any time.
Each player is then dealt 6 cards and the Common Deck is placed within easy reach of all players. Discarded cards should be placed face-up, next to the Common Deck.
The goal of the game is to refine your hand down to 3 cards, which will be combined with the hidden Fate cards and shared Focus card to make the best hand possible.

Each player selects one card from their hand, these are all played face-up simultaneously.

The player with the highest numbered card in front of them may discard their Fate card and replace it with a new card from the deck. They then take the first turn this round.
Each player takes a turn (moving clockwise) to Play one card from their hand, covering their previously played card, or discard a card to Risk activating the top card of the High Deck.
Play:: If the card is a Master (an unnumbered Common Deck card) or has a number lower than that of the player to their right then the current player may draw a new card from the Common Deck before discarding one from their hand.
Risk:: Each card in the High Deck triggers a different special ability which is resolved immediately before being discarded. These abilities are detailed in the section titled 'High Deck Rules'.
Once each player has had one turn a new round begins.

Round 2 is the same as the first.

After the second round the player who has the highest numbered card showing decides whether to 'kill' (discard) or 'save' (keep) the Focus card. If it is killed then the Focus card is out of play and players' final hands will now only be four-cards strong.

Finally, players reveal their hand of cards and Fate cards. The player with the best combination of cards using their hand, Fate, and possibly Focus cards is the winner.

Ties

In the case of two players being tied for anything the player closest to the dealer clockwise wins.

Order of Winning Hands (Strongest to Weakest)

High Deck Rules

Revealing cards from the High Deck is risky as there's no telling what chaos you might unleash.

CoS: Swap your Fate card with the Focus card.
CoS: Each player discards a card, then draws a card from the Common Deck.
CoS: Discard all the remaining cards in your hand. Then draw a new card from the Common Deck for each one discarded.
CoS: Choose another player. Look at their hand of cards and choose one for them to discard. Then they draw a card from the Common Deck.
CoS: Each player must discard cards until they have three left in their hand. The game immediately advances to the Reveal.
CoS: Keep this card on the table in front of you. Regardless of who wins the execution you decide whether to kill or save the Focus card.
CoS: Rotate the Fate cards one player clockwise.
CoS: Take a card from the discard pile, then discard a card.
CoS: Draw two cards from the Common Deck and then discard two cards.
CoS: Keep this card on the table in front of you. You and your cards can't be affected by any future High Deck cards.
CoS: Choose another player who hasn't had a turn this round. That player must either play their highest or lowest numbered card, as directed by you.
CoS: Each player chooses a card from their hand and passes it to the player on their left.
CoS: Look at all player's Fate cards once.
CoS: Choose a card from your hand and a random card from another player's hand to swap.