Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How is “Lyssan” pronounced?
A. Whoever won the last game knows the correct pronunciation. If this doesn’t settle it, you must disagree about the pronunciation until a new winner has been found.
Q. Can a priest ready a spy in a distant province?
A. Nope. A priest can no more support a distant spy than a knight can kill enemy agents on the other side of the country. The key rules text is all in bold, right where we start talking about agents and what they do: Agents can only affect the province they occupy; an agent cannot act on an agent in a distant province without first moving there. (Page 13, top)
Q. Can two knights each spend one action to destroy a castle?
A. No. Each time you use an agent, that counts as a command. Each command has to finish before you can start the next command. So if you move a knight into a space with a castle and it still has one action left, it either finds a use for that action or the unspent action goes to waste when you start your next command. (Rules page 11, middle)
Breaking castles is hard. If you want to break a castle, you’ll need to either move in with overwhelming force, jump ahead in the turn order so that you can move in one turn and then attack before they can respond, or do something clever with influence cards.
Errata – First Printing Bugs
I seem to have two copies of the card “The Elsburg Syndicate” and “The Von Jaedts”
This is a correction to an issue where two cards both gave control to agents of the same color: The second copies of the cards are the replacement for the buggy ones, and you also have replacement counters. Click HERE for details.
How many provinces must I start away from the other players?
In the first printing, the rulebook and the set-up guide on the back of the Council of Orvanich player board disagree on this point. And neither is explicit on whether the province you’re in counts, or only the provinces between. And for bonus wrongness, the illustration shows an initial placement on Chern, which ISN’T an edge of the board. Let’s straighten this out. And what do we mean by “The edge of the board”, for that matter?
The edge of the board is any province that touches water or unnamed land. That is, starting from under the board name: Gilstein, Trental, Thurn, Grücke, Erber, Belcik, Prug, Dreji, Pryschyk, Brevd, Vorwald, Lusfurt, Liebesbrukke, Kaiharbad, Stännich, Maert, or Marville. Additionally, in a 4 player game, the 9 “Island” provinces are ALSO considered the edge of the board.
The reference board reading on how many spaces you need to start away from another player’s initial placement is correct if you only count the provinces between the two starting pieces, not the provinces they occupy. The rulebook says you must place one province further away, which is only correct if you also count the province you’re moving into for distance.
For example. If the first player places in Erber in a 4 player game, Belcik would be too close, as would Prug. But Dreji, with 2 spaces between, would be a legal placement. If it were a 3 player game, you would be expected to start at least one further away: Dreji would no longer be legal, but Pryschyk would.
The rulebook says each player starts with 2 castles, but the reference board says 2 Construction Sites. Which is correct?
The rulebook is correct: Each player starts with two full castles, no construction sites.
Do I have to re-hire an agent when I use a debt to clear the shame of its death?
No. The rulebook as printed says that the agent IS rehired. It should say the agent MAY BE re-hired, so that it’s optional.
This way, if a vassal card is stolen from you after you already have a dead agent of that vassal as shame, you can take a debt to absolve the shame of losing the vassal, without handing the player who just stole your vassal a free agent. Of course, you still can, if you choose. But it’s a rare circumstance to want to help the player who just took your vassal from you. Especially since you need to trust them not to immediately use it against you: Since you’re the player re-hiring the agent by taking a debt, it appears at your castle. You’re sure you trust the player who just stole from you?
11 replies on “Errata and FAQ”
thanks for FAQ section Sam.
I have question regarding the vassal courtier cards.
a. When we have the one-time bonus of that agent? When we played the card? Or anytime we wish after that?
b. Does the agent comes exhausted under normal hire rule?
c. If we play this card during Prelude part, what is the condition (following point a and b above)
thanks!
Ignatius
a) You do the hire as you play the card.
b) It follows the usual rules for hires. So yes, the agent comes in exhausted. Naturally, if you previously played a card like “Rally” or “Spymaster” that causes agents to come in ready, they may also apply to this hire.
c) If a vassal is played in the prelude, it technically comes in exhausted. However, since it will be readied at the start of Summer on the first turn before anything could have been moved, most players will simply place the agent ready and skip the formality of placing it exhausted and then readying it shortly afterward.
Can you provide a inventory of the pieces and cards? I noted some asymmetry in terms of castles and mines? I believe I haven’t lost anything but it would be reassuring to match up with the expected number of pieces. Thanks, this is an impressive start to what I hope will be a productive endeavor.
Actually, it appears I am missing one Blue castle and one red mine. Please advise.
Send me an eMail to sam@thornhenge.com with your shipping address and the missing parts, and I’ll send you a replacement!
In setting up a four player game (including islands,) are all seaside territories legal for first placement, or just those at “the edge of the map?”
Any territory touching the sea or unnamed land is “the edge of the map”. In a 4-player game, this includes the islands.
Hello ,
We came across THE following situation :
I took over a vassal courtier from An opponent with a spy , One of THE
Units was killed and my opponent still needed to pay his debt for it.
I assume that he still needs to pay Either influence or give up a courtier and that THE unit then returns to my pool ?
Regardeer
Frank from Belgium
And you’ve just found the thorniest rules question in all of Lyssan!
The dead agent stays on their board as shame, even after you steal the vassal. The agent goes to your pool of hirable agents once they have paid to clear the shame. If they use a debt to clear the shame, they are not required to return the agent to the board, but may do so if they choose. If they do, it’s their choice which of your castles to return the agent to play at.
Hi, what is the meaning of “the Understanding”?
“The Understanding” is a euphemism for one of the mafias present in Lyssan.
“The Understanding” is inspired by “La Cosa Nostra”, which translates to “this thing of ours”. It’s a vague term used by some members of the old Sicilian mob to refer to their organization. Sometimes, when you’re tied to a shadowy organization that rules by threat and conspiracy, it’s better not to say its name.
“The Understanding” springs from a similar place. We have an understanding, you and I. I import contraband into this town. You import contraband into that town. We don’t step on each others toes. Sometimes I send you someone. Maybe that someone needs to vanish and never be seen again. Maybe they need to vanish long enough for the heat to blow over. When you send me someone, I will do the same favor for you. We have this “understanding”.
The Elsburg Syndicate is a similar organization. Like the Hansa Teutonica in our own world’s history, they’re an alliance of merchants. They’ve realized that if you actually obeyed every law set by every noble who’s lands you traded in, you’d never be able to feed your family. So they make their own law. Being in the habit of breaking laws, many of their business tactics would be recognized as racketeering, monopolistic, or just plain extortion by a neutral observer. It’s a dirty world.