Orklord’s Haven

Ah yes, the game of the royals, my favorite part of Boile de Muertre.  It is intriguing, do you not agree?

There is a confused look upon your face again.  Zut allors, I have forgotten you have never created a royal’s mission before!  Here, I shall illustrate the version we teach to children or to foreigners.  Do not take offense, everyone must learn the game at some point.

If you have lost the match of Boile de Muertre and now it is your turn to portray your opponent’s royal, you must take on the role of storyteller and create a scene where after the match, your opponent’s team speaks with their royal, receives congratulations and the like, perhaps is invited to a party in their honor or a public spectacle of some kind, this is your choice.  It is perfectly acceptable for your opponent to request a certain scene.  To the victor goes the spoils and all that.

At some point during the story the royal of your opponent’s team, as portrayed by you, will approach the team and request a favor.  This is phrased as a request, but in reality, it is a demand.  As you portray the royal, you look into your opponent’s deck, not his team deck, but the deck of unassigned cards in their base Uno deck, and produce a card.  This is the reward offered by the royal.

There is a delightful exchange opportunity here that takes place sometimes.  You see, some royals are greedy and do not wish to offer the world to their team.  As the royal, you may offer up a Red 7 to a Rank 5 team.  If your opponent is satisfied with this offer, the team accepts the mission.  If not, they must politely negotiate with their royal, gently asking for something else.  It is up to you if this is acceptable and you may draw out a different card.  It is recommended that you do not offer Wild Draw Fours until the team has reached Rank 8, but ultimately, it is up to you.  Keep in mind that if you are extremely cruel, you are setting the tone for your opponent when he or she portrays the royal of your team later.  But all good stories have conflict, so do not be easy on them either.

But now, we come to the creation of a adventure.  How do I do this easily?  The answer is in your cards, of course.  Your deck can quickly help you dream up a mission for the boile de muertre team if you wish.

Take your own team deck, which should be equal or very similar to that of your opponents, and draw cards from it for inspiration and guidance.  You are best served if you do not share these cards with your opponent, but instead use them for inspiration and note them secretly.  Once you have drawn your first card, the color of the card should the colors you use to paint the mission.

• Red represents the emotions of anger, hatred and lust
• Blue represents sadness, bitterness, melancholy and loneliness
• Yellow represents the emotions of fear, suspicion or anticipation
• Green represents the emotions of envy or greed

If you draw an Action Card, the type influences the adventure as well.

• A Draw Two means that you draw two more cards (and if one of them is a Draw Two, you draw even more, but you use those you wish to use, not all of them if it is too confusing)
• A Reverse means that the mission given is not the real reason for the adventure, that during the story, a new reason will be revealed; you should draw again and look for a color and number in order to give the false reason for the adventure.
• A Skip or Nulle card means the adventure was trivial and without challenge, the opponent may tell you the story of how it has happened and then you continue into a match.  A Wild means that the mission was completed however you wish and you tell the story to your opponent of how they succeeded or failed.

The Number on the cards can be used against the following chart of plots.

• 1 – Theft
• 2 – Revenge
• 3 – Pursuit
• 4 – Rivalry
• 5 – Temptation
• 6 – Rescue
• 7 – Escape
• 8 – Discovery
• 9 – Transformation
• 0 – Love

Now you have the colors and numbers, I will give a few examples of how I would create a mission for your team, the L’oiseau Marin and their Royal – Countess Fabienne.

Let us say I draw a Green 4, which is Envy + Rivalry.  After a splendid victory, I describe Fabienne inviting your team to a well appointed townhome in an enemy’s city and offering a Red 8 for your team to attack and maim her enemy’s rogue gladiateur before your upcoming match.

Or perhaps I draw a Blue Draw Two and then draw a Yellow 5 and a Blue 3, which is Bitterness and Fear + Temptation and Pursuit.  This would result in Fabienne begging the team to find her lost heirloom from the House of Bonaparte that was stolen from her during the last match.  She would offer a Green Reverse.

Of course, I could instead have drawn a Red Reverse.  I would then draw a second card, which would be the Green 5, which is Hatred masking Envy or Greed + Temptation.  Ah, a tricky one.  In this instance, Fabienne would command the team to attack a minor royal she claims offended her at a recent match, but as the team sneaks into his domicile, they find an extremely expensive trinket that would be easily missed during the investigation of the royal’s death.

Does this help you to understand how easy it can be to create missions offered by your royal?  Feel free to ask me questions if you need assistance.