Political Intrigue

The **Political Intrigue** Option was introduced in the Shards of the Throne Expansion for Twilight Imperium Third Edition and expands greatly on the Political System

The Political Intrigue Option is incorporated into the game by using the Political II or Assembly II Strategy Cards

## Setup

During game setup, each player receives:

* The 3 Representative Cards for their respective faction (Represent their race at the galactic council)
* The 5 Promissory Notes that match their unit color (Used to create binding contracts)
* 2 Political Cards (If using Political II Strategy Card)

## Council Steps

### Using the Political II Strategy Card

When the Active Player executes the Primary Ability of the Political II Strategy Card, they choose 1 of their 2 available Political Cards to resolve. All players then follow these steps:

**(1) Choose Representatives:** Each player can choose to send a Representative to the Galactic Council by placing the Representative Card face down in front of their Player Area

**(2) Resolve Spies**

* Starting with the Speaker and going clockwise around the table, each player who chose a Representative with the Spy trait reveals it and resolves its special ability

* After all Representative with the Spy trait have been revealed, remaining unrevealed Representatives are turned face up

**(3) Resolve Bargaining and Promissory Notes:** Players may offer Trade Goods or Promissory Notes to other players in order to convince them to vote in their favor. Trade Goods and Verbal agreements are non-binding. however Promissory Notes are binding

**(4) Resolve Voting and Outcome:** The active player reads the agenda out loud and players may vote

* A player may not participate in the vote if they did not send a representative or their representative was assassinated

* Trade Goods may be used as bribes but are not binding

* Starting with the player to the left of the Speaker and going in clockwise order, voting occurs one player at a time.
	+ Each player has as many votes as the total combined influence value of all of their unexhausted planets plus the bonus votes provided by their Representative, with a minimum of 1 vote.
	+ When voting, a player must cast all their votes or none (votes cannot be split). Voting does not exhaust the planet cards
	+ A player may choose to abstain from voting during any agenda (Their votes do not count)
	+ The option with the highest number of votes is the option chosen by the players to resolve
	+ If there is a tied vote, the Speaker breaks the tie

**(5) Draw New Political Card:** The Active Player draws a new Political Card to replace the one chosen during this Council.

### Using the Assembly II Strategy Card

**(1) Choose a player:** The Active Player may choose any player to resolve 1 Political Card from their hand. The chosen player must select 1 of their Political Cards to be resolved for this Council

**(2) Give the Speaker Token to another player:** The Active Player may give the Speaker Token to any player other than the player chosen to resolve their Political Card

**(3) Choose Representatives:** As above

**(4) Resolve Spies:** As above

**(5) Resolve Bargaining and Promissory Notes:** As above

**(6) Resolve Voting and Outcome:** As above

## Promissory Notes

Each player has access to the same 5 Promissory Notes:

* Monetary Concession: Play as an action: You may force me to give you all my Trade Goods
* Promise of Protection: Play after I target a Representative with a Spy: You may force me to target a different representative
* Support for the Throne: You require 1 less Victory Point to win
* Territorial Concession: At the start of a combat round in a Space Combat: You may force me to retreat from the battle
* Voting Concession: Play during the 'Bargaining' step of a council: You may force me to vote in your favor

Starting with the Speaker, each player follows these steps to offer a Promissory Note:

* The offering player may offer 1 Promissory Note, face down, to another (receiving) player and asks them to vote a specific way for the upcoming Political Card

* The receiving player looks at the Promissory Note and either:
	+ Agrees to vote the specific way the offering player asked for and keeps the Promissory Note (must adhere to the agreement)
	+ Refuses and returns the Promissory Note to the offering player.

Each player may only offer 1 Promissory Note per Political Card

A player cannot reveal the Promissory Note to other players

When a player plays a promissory note, the other player must comply to its effects

## Representatives

Representatives may have a number of bonus votes they contribute to a vote in the Council (listed on their card). There are 3 classes of representatives with different abilities:

* Spies: Revealed before other Representatives and resolve their abilities before voting begins
* Bodyguards: Cannot be assassinated
* Councilors: Have more bonus votes

Representatives may be assassinated (at which point their card is removed from the game)

## Representatives by Faction

### The Arborec

 Dirzuga Ohao
 Dirzuga Mantasa

### The Barony of Letnev

 Captain Lassir
 Legate Erran

### The Clan of Saar

 Melkov
 Elder Sarrig

### The Embers of Muaat

 Flaim Haash
 Moltosh Flae

### The Emirates of Hacan

 Huldran
 Garrus

### The Federation of Sol

 Ronald Wiley
 Claire Gibson

### The Ghosts of Creuss

 San Omairo
 Sai Seravus

### The L1Z1X Mindnet

 44GSI-O
 R7-82

### The Mentak Coalition

 Orid Gim
 S'Ula Mentarion

### The Naalu Collective

 S'Sruuk H'Eyra
 S'Sruuk G'ella

### The Nekro Virus

Note that as per their faction abilities, the Nekro Virus may not vote but may still resolve Representatives

 Wendigo
 Beelzebul

### Sardakk N'orr

 Qui'rek
 An'grag

### The Universities of Jol-Nar

 Ta Zern
 Deluin Fillac

### The Winnu

 Perdin Perdona
 Berekar Berekon

### The Xxcha Kingdom

 Xxekir Grom
 Ggrucoto Rinn

### The Yin Brotherhood

 Rhal Darish
 Talla Darator

### The Yssaril Tribes

 So Ata
 Zo Cou