Each wife knows only her own place in the succession. Only the earliest wife still in play may claim the crown by killing Henry.
Mark more than one seat as Human to play pass-and-play on one screen; hidden information is covered between turns.
Pass and play
Everyone else, look away. Your hand and secrets are hidden until you are ready.
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Each wife is secret and knows only her own number (1–6) in the succession. When Henry dies, the earliest wife still alive claims the crown, whoever struck the blow. If Wife 3 kills him while Wife 2 lives, Wife 2 wins. Henry wins if every wife is eliminated.
Seats are shuffled each game, and play starts with the wife on Henry's left, then runs clockwise. Everyone sits in a circle. Henry has a bodyguard on each side, so the wives beside the guards are 2 seats from him. Distance is counted the shorter way round, and fallen places close the gap — kill a guard and that side of the table moves 1 seat closer to Henry.
Your reach is 1 — you can only attack someone right next to you. A weapon played in front of you raises it (Rapier 2, Crossbow 3). Secret Passage makes everyone 1 seat closer to you; Locked Chambers makes you 1 seat further from everyone. These stay in play and are free to play.
Poison on you strikes first, then you draw 2 cards. You may play as many cards as you like, but only one attack (Ambush or Hired Assassin) and one poisoning (Poisoned Wine or Meal) per turn. Discard down to 6 at the end. (Setup can switch to the older “2 actions per turn” rule.)
Off by default. When on, once per game you may ask a wife sitting next to you whether she is earlier or later than you. With it off, information comes from Birth Record, Succession Clue, talents and eliminations.
Royal Favour draws 2, Patronage draws 3, and Royal Banquet lays out 1 card per wife face up — starting with whoever played it, each wife takes one in turn; taken cards stay on show, marked with who took them, and View the table lets you check the seats while you choose. Slander, Confiscation, Pickpocket and Henry's Seize Her Goods can all reach any card in front of a wife: weapon, posted Guard or Pardon, Locked Chambers, Relic and the rest. Pickpocket steals a random card from a neighbour's hand — or, if Henry is next to you, robs his treasury (he loses 1 Authority, you draw 1).
Challenge to a Duel targets any wife or Henry at any distance. Starting with the one challenged, each side in turn discards an attack, poison or weapon card (Henry pays 1 Authority) or yields. Whoever yields or can't answer loses 2. A duel is not an attack, so it doesn't use your one attack per turn.
Twin Stilettos (weapon, reach 1) lets you make 2 attacks a turn. Righteous Fury gives 1 extra attack this turn. Gunpowder Plot deals 1 damage to every other wife and both bodyguards; a wife holding a Queen's Guard spends it automatically to block. Holy Relic stays in play: each attack, Royal Displeasure or Charge of Treason against you has a 1 in 3 chance to fail.
If you are attacked while holding a Queen's Guard, or Henry gives a royal order against you while you hold a Royal Pardon, play pauses: you see the damage and choose to block or take the hit. You can still post either card on your own turn instead.
Physician's Draught heals you or a wife next to you (+2 Health, cures Poison). Royal Feast heals every wife 1 and cures everyone's poison — Henry's too, and he restores 1 Stamina.
Free, and as often as you like: discard 2 or more cards, from your hand or from in front of you, and draw 1 fewer per started set of 3 (2 for 1, 3 for 2, 6 for 4). A replaced weapon or companion goes back to your hand.
Everyone's talent is shown on her seat. Only identities are secret.
When only one wife is left (and always in the Solo Trial), cards about rival wives — Birth Record, Succession Clue and Slander — leave the game, and she draws replacements.
Stamina is his life — at 0 he dies, and that is the only way he dies. Every blow against Henry counts double: attacks, duels, poison and the Sweating Sickness. Authority is his money: he starts at full Authority, gains more each turn, and acts for as long as it lasts: Royal Displeasure (1 — a wife loses 1 Health), Charge of Treason (2 — she loses 2), Interrogation (1), Seize Her Goods (2), Send to the Tower (3), Privy Chamber (2), Apothecary (2), Physician (3) and Food Taster (2). Each action once per turn, and only one of those two royal orders. If he spends nothing, his next revenue is doubled. Running out of Authority leaves him powerless but alive.
Optional (on by default). 2 Protection and 2 Health each. Every point of Protection blocks one whole attack; then Health takes the damage. A guard who survives an attack strikes back for 1. They take no turns; only Henry can Reinforce the Guard. Bribe the Guard strips Protection from any distance; a guard with none left loses 1 Health instead. Poison can be slipped to a guard 1 seat away: it gets past his Protection, nothing cures it, and each dose costs him 1 Health when Henry's turn ends. The guards sit at the table but are not players. With bodyguards off, Henry sits alone at the table with more Stamina instead, and Bribe the Guard is removed from the deck.
Slipped into a cup, so only 1 seat away (a Poison Ring lets it reach as far as your weapon). It waits and strikes at the end of the victim's next turn — so she has that turn to drink a Physician's Draught and cure it. 1 damage per dose. Whoever's dose is fatal is the killer.
The Tower: while the Tower card is in front of a wife, she is out of the court's reach: no wife can attack, poison or duel her, and no wife, guard or sickness can hurt her. Only the King's orders still reach her. At the start of her turn she checks: Roses, she escapes; otherwise she loses that turn.
Last Stand: if a blow would bring you to 0, a Royal Pardon you hold (posted or in hand) is spent instead and you stay at 1 Health. Otherwise a wife at 0 Health is out and her identity is revealed. Murder will out: whoever eliminated her is exposed too. Spoils: if a wife or Favourite eliminated her, she takes her hand; if Henry did, it is discarded.
Off by default. Choose 1 or 2 Favourites at setup and they join as extra seats. Their identity cards are shuffled with the wives', so nobody knows which seats they hold. Everyone knows how many there are. A Favourite plays like a wife, with 4 Health, cards and a public talent, but she is not in the succession.
Loyal mistresses (Mary Boleyn, Madge Shelton, Anne Stafford, Jane Popincourt) win with Henry, even if they fall. Henry doesn't know who they are. Each has a once-per-game Favour that turns her identity face up. The Pretender (Elizabeth Blount) wins alone if Henry dies while no wife is alive. Henry wins only when every wife and the Pretender are gone.
Asked whether she is earlier or later, a Favourite answers by a secret cover number. Birth Record, Interrogation and Court Informant show her true card. With Favourites at court, Henry's attention is divided: he gets 1 less Authority per turn, and his Stamina is adjusted for the table size.
Off by default. One extra seat holds a hidden Companion. Everyone knows he is there, but not which seat he holds or whom he serves. Six serve a wife: Maria de Salinas (Catherine of Aragon), George Boleyn (Anne Boleyn), Edward Seymour (Jane Seymour), Thomas Cromwell (Anne of Cleves), Thomas Culpeper (Catherine Howard) and Thomas Seymour (Catherine Parr). Two serve the King: Charles Brandon and Lady Mary. A wife's Companion is only dealt if she is at court.
A wife's Companion wins only if his lady takes the crown, even if he has fallen. He doesn't know which player she is, and she doesn't know him. Twice per game he may make a Discreet Inquiry: he privately asks a player whether she is his lady. Henry's Companion wins with Henry, and Henry knows who he is from the start. The wives don't. Like a Favourite, a Companion answers earlier-or-later questions by a secret cover number.
Off by default. The player holding the token goes first; at the start of each new round it passes one seat forward (clockwise) or back, as chosen at setup, skipping the fallen. Henry still goes last every round. Without it, the same wife always opens the round.
Off by default. Nobody can be eliminated in rounds 1 and 2: a blow that would finish her leaves her at 1 Health instead. From round 3 on, play as normal. It gives every player at least two full turns.
Off by default. Games run about half as long. Henry starts with about half his Stamina, and every player starts with 3 Health instead of 4, so both sides move faster.
Off by default. Everyone starts with one random weapon or in-play card already in front of her. Henry gets a little more Stamina.
Off by default. A fallen player keeps her turn as a ghost, but deals only with the King, never with the living. The wives' ghosts may haunt him (he loses 1 Authority, or a guard loses 1 Protection if he has none); the King's own people watch over him (+1 Authority). Each happens at most once per round.
Off by default. Each wife has one power. Using it turns her identity face up, so choose the moment. Aragon: The Rightful Queen, the first time she would be eliminated she reveals herself and survives at 2 Health (automatic). Boleyn: The Queen's Wrath, a player within her reach loses 2 Health, without using her attack. Seymour: Mother of the Heir, she and everyone 1 seat away restore 2 Health and are cured of poison. Cleves: The Annulment, Henry loses 2 Authority and his royal orders can't target her until his next turn ends. Howard: Reckless Hearts, draw 1 and make 2 more attacks this turn. Parr: The Queen's Book, draw 3.
Royal Marriage joins you and another unmarried player in a pact: neither may aim a hostile card at the other, and each privately learns whether the other is earlier or later. Divorce Papers end any pact and draw you a card. A Secret Letter shows you a player's hand and whether she is earlier or later than you.
Instead of loyal mistresses and one Pretender, every Favourite is a claimant for herself, ranked by when her affair with Henry began: Anne Stafford, Jane Popincourt, Elizabeth Blount, Mary Boleyn, Madge Shelton, Anne Bassett. If Henry dies with no wife alive, the best living claim takes the crown. Each claimant has one secret identity check. Henry gets a little more Stamina with 3–4 wives.
Six companion cards. Keep one in front of you (free to play) for its public effect. If you are the wife it served, you may reveal yourself once for its Affinity. Eustace Chapuys (Aragon): Henry can't Interrogate you; Affinity, his royal orders can't target you while Chapuys stays. Catherine Carey (Boleyn): hand limit 8; Affinity, Henry loses 2 Authority and you draw 1. Prince Edward (Seymour): at 1 Health you restore 1 at the start of your turn; Affinity, restore 3 and cure poison. Hans Holbein (Cleves): fools the next identity check on you, then leaves; Affinity, draw 2 and no royal orders until Henry's next turn ends. Lady Rochford (Howard): your Pickpocket reaches 2 seats; Affinity, 1 more attack every turn. Lady Elizabeth (Parr): draw 1 at the end of a turn with no attack; Affinity, draw 2 and study a Succession Clue.
For 3–6 wives, without Favourites. The wives split into two hidden factions: the Pomegranate (Wives 1, 2 and 6) and the Phoenix (Wives 3, 4 and 5). You know your own faction, not your allies. When Henry dies, the earliest living wife takes the crown and her whole faction wins, alive or not.
You are the only wife, so you are always eligible. Henry acts as long as his Authority lasts (he gains 1 per turn) and has 17 Stamina (26 without bodyguards).