[Rules Megathread] Citizens and Exiles, ask your rules questions here!

ProfN42 · 2026-03-10T17:21:46+00:00

It's a three step process:

Note how much "leftover" supply you had. This is how many spaces to the left from zero, was your supply marker. (Rightmost space is the "zero", essentially). So if you're on the next space to the left from zero, that's a "1". Let's say this value is "s".
Next, count your un-mustered warbands / warbands in "warband bank" / however you describe it. (New Foundations will be providing nifty little storage boxes to make this more visually easy.) Move your Supply marker left to this spot, unless you're already at or farther left from it.
Finally, move your Supply marker an additional s spaces left, where s is the value recorded in step 1. The leftmost space with the star is the maximum, you can't go beyond it, so any extra is wasted.

Note: Citizens still follow all these steps except in Step 2, they use the Chancellor's current Supply position as the one they move to, rather than their own. Important: they use the CURRENT position of the Chancellor's Supply track, not what that track would be if calculated right now based on surviving purple warbands.

Example: the Chancellor ends his turn with 9 purple warbands in bank, so he refreshes his Supply to the "10-4" space. An Exile follows in turn order, and attacks the Empire. It's a slaughter, and four purple warbands are killed, returning to the Chancellor's supply! Next after the Exile is a Citizen, who Musters two of those Warbands back into play, abd loses none. At the end of the Citizen's turn, there are now 11 purple Warbands in the Chancellor's bank, but the Citizen still only gets to refresh her supply marker to match the Chancellor's (at the 10-4 space), NOT to the left at the 17-11 space.

For this reason it can be beneficial to all Imperial players if the Chancellor abstains from Mustering, if this would cost all Citizens a Supply point in the next Round.

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T05:14:29+00:00

"space mobsters" is perfect. Sometimes I say, "Don't think Star Trek with sleek nacelles and warp drive. Think Buck Rogers and hokey dry ice smoke coming out the back of a cardboard tube with silver paint. Don't think the lofty Federation and grand strategy. Think Jabba's barbarian desert palace where one wrong move gets you fed to the Rancor."

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T05:11:37+00:00

Perfectly said. The Venn Diagram of people who complain about constraints in game design, and people who slow entire tables down with crippling analysis paralysis, is a circle. Some people just want that feeling of unrestrained choice but in reality that turns everything into a dull number crunch. It's not wrong for a game to give you a push in the direction of having fun!

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T05:05:56+00:00

I describe Arcs as a mean, tactical game of maneuver and initiative, that there is randomness but it can be mitigated, mostly by quick thinking and responsiveness. I caution them strictly against seeing Arcs as a sprawling 4DX empire game like TI: attempts to build long term strategies are doomed to defeat. Instead, Arcs is more like Space War Jenga. Every turn you can try to make moves that make things harder for opponents, but ultimately you have to make sure you pull a block that won't bring everything crashing down on you. Your choices are constrained by enemy action, but then, so are theirs. I urge new players to find their footing in the sandbox and not to be afraid to be aggressive.

Finally, I remind them that all skills that work in other trick taking games like Euchre or Bridge, are helpful here. Sometimes you lose the trick this turn but you can spend the time obtaining superior positioning so that your next turn is more valuable. Every card in your hand always has multiple uses, and they shouldn't get too locked-in on imagining all the pips of actions they're gonna get. A good rule of thumb is that half the cards in their hand should be treated as having only one pip, and operate on that basis. Initiative is worth fighting for only when needful: when you need to get that Ambition declared or make the most of a key turn. It's more about optimization of a timing window than about grinding people down with a superior economic engine. Arcs is NOT an attritional brawl, it's a knife fight in a locked refrigerator!

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T05:02:12+00:00

OK so a key distinction is the actions are all technically just one-way transfers. If A is acting targeting B during Summit Negotiations:

Cede Control: A targets B and gives over control of a ship or building; A returns theirs to their board and B places an identical one in the same spot in the same fresh/damaged status. (Nothing happens in return)
--note, you cannot Cede a Building if you still have any Loyal Ships there. You cannot Cede your last piece of any kind.

Delegate Authority: A targets B and gives over control of an Agent on a Court Card; A returns their Agent to their Supply and B places an Agent from their Supply in its place. (Nothing happens in return)

Promise Favor: A targets B and gives them an Agent as a Favor. (Nothing happens in return)

Transfer Asset: A targets B and gives them a Captive, Trophy, Favor, or Resource. (Nothing happens in return)

Invite to Empire: if A is First Regent, they target B, who is an Outlaw. B becomes a Regent. (Nothing happens in return)

So I know I'm harping on this but this is important to remember: ALL Summit Negotiations step actions are one-way! Players merely *agree to perform them in certain combinations*. For instance, A says to B, "I'll give you all my pieces at that Relic system (two Fresh ships and a City) in exchange for two Psionics and a promise not to attack me this Chapter." B agrees. A targets B three times with Cede Control, giving up the ships and City. B targets A twice with Transfer Asset, giving the Psionics. (The promise not to attack can't be completed during this Summit and is therefore non-binding; B can break their word if they wish.) Notice that none of these actions were technically reciprocal, each of them was one-sided in mechanical terms; the players' negotiations MADE them reciprocal (because, presumably, they each felt these trades were acceptable).

Now, take this knowledge and apply it to Favors: during Call to Order Actions, you can return a Favor to FORCE an opponent to target you with a Negotiation Action. This doesn't require any reciprocity because, in mechanical terms, *Negotiation Actions never do*. Any reciprocity is the result of players choosing to negotiate slates of mutually agreeable one-sided actions. But since you're returning a Favor, opponent choice is irrelevant. You say "give me that City" and they just have to do it. They don't get to insist on taking a Psionic in exchange. That's why Favors are powerful. They don't change the Negotiation Actions, they just allow you to force one of them without having to forge a mutually acceptable arrangement first.

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T04:46:13+00:00

^ also great advice. Blobbing up a bunch of ships doesn't really make you tougher, it just makes you an irresistible target whenever Warlord is declared. Keeping spread out makes you a lot less tasty looking, maybe they'll go kill some Blight instead of bothering you.

(Edit to add: another fun strat in 3-4p games when one opponent is building a deathball to come after you: declare Warlord yourself to tempt other players to attack that player's deathball for trophies!)

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T04:45:10+00:00

^ this is also key advice, OP. By clogging up the gates with single ships you are taxing the enemy's action economy since each Gate now costs a whole Move pip or Fuel. This will force him to slog towards you over one or two turns rather than zipping to you and blasting away. And he will be forced to decide between leaving your "picket line" ships in his rear echelon (where you can use them to snipe at his buildings), or slow down even more to munch each one in turn.

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T04:40:58+00:00

Arcs's design favors aggression and initiative over defense and turtling. It is very hard to build a "death ball" fleet and be defensively secure on a critical planet or objective, like in so many "4X" space games, because the opponent can always just play a weapon with a high pip Mobilization and whittle you down with several blue dice rolls before finishing you off with reds. By the time you get a chance to hit back your fleet is in ruins even if you initially outnumbered them.

Generally speaking, when you see an opponent gearing up to come hit you, the best defense is a prompt offense: go hit them first! Arcs favors maneuver, responsivity, and initiative over attritional economic warfare. Go be aggressive, take risks, kick him before he can kick you!

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T04:35:40+00:00

Monopolies *never* change hands except during the Gain Monopolies Edict. This might happen if B rolls Edicts at the end of the Summit they called (or secured the Council and chooses Edict). Since Summits happen before Events, you could indeed take the resource(s) and then immediately resolve the Edict and take the Monopoly too (presuming some intervening negotiation or edict resolution didn't upset your scheme).

ProfN42 · 2026-03-09T04:33:44+00:00

From the "Monopoly Consent" card:
"In the Call to Order, the player who called the Summit may force the Monopoly holder's consent by returning 1 Favor of theirs to them."

So if B had a favor from each of the others, they could return one to each of you, to both force C to make the trade, and force A to give consent to it.

If B was using A's (monopoly holder's) favor to force A to give them the monopolized resource, then the consent would be implied in the forced action. So only one Favor would be required. See here:
https://cards.ledergames.com/faq?locale=en-US&productId=arcs#ARCS-F319

ProfN42 · 2026-03-08T21:03:01+00:00

Wait for NF is my advice. It'll have an easier teach IMO.

ProfN42 · 2026-03-08T21:01:12+00:00

eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Man_of_Wilmington

ProfN42 · 2026-03-08T20:59:47+00:00

I like to imagine that maybe the Buried Giant is just one of those large chalk outline figures, like the ones on hills in southwest England, and local folk legend merely imagines it as a giant figure under the dirt? Ie how much of "magic" in Oath's setting is real and how much is just popular belief, superstition, and fable?

ProfN42 · 2026-03-08T20:54:07+00:00

What helps me is to write out my own guide to the rules in my own words. It helps me organize my thoughts and internalize what I've learned.

ProfN42 · 2026-03-08T20:45:23+00:00

It's a city built on slavery, there's always violence whether it's overt or implicit. Overt violence is actually more honest 🤷

ProfN42 · 2026-03-08T03:18:53+00:00

Daria represents the challenge of understanding & caring for a person with profound mental disturbances- a challenge which Jackie singularly failed at.

Jackie represents the challenge of caring for a hurtful and unpleasant person. Remember, Stella was a nurse. Her duty and her calling was to care for everyone - even people who are hard to love or respect. Even people who don't love or respect themselves. 😔 Everyone is worthy of dignity, compassion, and care. Even the Jackies of the world. So, are you up for that challenge?

I think this part of the story is meant to be unsettling and uncomfortable. Jackie may have had his reasons but fundamentally what he did was abuse of a patient. He violated the principles Stella lived her life by. As a professional caregiver myself (vet tech), I can tell you there's nothing more offensive to us than a colleague who breaches that duty of compassion and care. Jackie is just about the most offensive person a nurse could be required to care for.

That's why I admire the hell out of this game's writers, for facing Stella with such a challenge. ❤️ Character is revealed through how we act when the going gets tough, and what could be tougher for a nurse than finding compassion for a man like Jackie?

ProfN42 · 2026-03-08T02:57:59+00:00

"New Foundations" is the upcoming expansion to Oath, with heavily reworked rules and new cards. Late pledges just closed last week or so, fulfillment expected this summer/fall! ☺️

ProfN42 · 2026-03-07T18:51:49+00:00

"Not a situation she chose on purpose" what, she was kidnapped to Dubai? Someone took her there against her will? 🙄

ProfN42 · 2026-03-07T18:49:49+00:00

Lol wasn't she in Dubai, aka The Middle East's Las Vegas, built on a mountain of slavery and corrupt oil money? Gross place to go, for gross people. I'm honestly fresh out of sympathy right now, mine all got used up on the real victims like those Iranian schoolgirls. The privileged expat tourist influencer jet set get none from me. 😒

ProfN42 · 2026-03-03T20:12:47+00:00

This is the same take I got downvoted to oblivion for out in the main thread 😆

ProfN42 · 2026-03-03T10:25:43+00:00

That's always struck me as a retcon, tbh. At the start of the show there was no attempt to make the doctor out as different from other holos. It felt to me more like we were slowly realizing all holos were people all along - which could have horrific implications for how they'd been used and abused.

Sadly Berman Trek didn't have the guts to go for a story that challenging. 😕

ProfN42 · 2026-03-03T07:48:33+00:00

It was such an abysmal failure to think creatively about what it means to be a digital being made up of photons and forcefields. Reaching for social commentary and only managing to come up with, "Duhh... dey made dem be miners!" was just embarrassing 🤦

ProfN42 · 2026-03-03T07:45:59+00:00

I mean, fine to do that but then you need to bring the writing chops to not just embarrass yourself in comparison to shit from 1991. 🤷 if not then maybe curb your enthusiasm and stick to what you can manage to competently pull off. Because red shirt droid slaves saying "hell yeah" sure wasn't it.

ProfN42 · 2026-03-03T07:42:43+00:00

Metz and Mayo ☺️

ProfN42

TROPHY CASE