2
Time, Economy, and State
Cycles, Ages, and the words on the board
A round is every House acting once. A cycle is three rounds plus Economy. An Age is three cycles. If you lose the clock, you lose the game’s spine.
Cycle Economy sequence
| Step | Economy action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Resolve Production. |
| 2 | Consume each House’s primary Need. |
| 3 | Apply or clear shortages; a second consecutive shortage adds 1 Chaos. |
| 4 | Resolve delayed agreements, deliveries, Breaches, and Defaults. |
| 5 | Expire end-of-cycle effects and refresh once-per-cycle effects. |
| 6 | Advance the cycle marker. |
State glossary
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Controlled | One House has an uncontested legal control marker. |
| Neutral | No House has established control. |
| Contested | Opposing characters or effects currently dispute control. |
| Uncontrolled | A formerly controlled feature has no current controller. |
| Disputed | A claim or ownership question is unresolved by the current effect. |
| Active | The feature may provide its printed benefit. |
| Inactive | The feature remains in play but provides no printed benefit. |
| Destroyed | The feature is removed or marked destroyed and requires rebuilding before activation. |
A valid Claim marks control; the site activates next cycle. Destroying a site adds +1 Chaos. Rebuilding returns it to inactive status until activated again. Controlled, uncontrolled, neutral, disputed, and revealed site states need precise glossary definitions—use the table above until a later lock tightens them.
Each House begins with 2 Order, 1 Influence, 2 Coin, and 1 unit of its primary Need good. Cap 5 per good and 10 Coin. Standard suppression is 2 Order → −1 Chaos, limited to one normal Order reduction per player per cycle. Special cards may exceed this.