Official Rules
March 10, 2020
Background
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The Robin in the Hood Trading Card Game is based on a medieval tournament in which opponents struggle to determine who is the most skilled.
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As a character enters battle, their agility determines who has the advantage of the first blow. They may be nimble and strike fast and deliberately, or they may be clumsy and awkward and have a disadvantage.
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Next, weapons become important. The weapon they are skilled with, its range, how it strikes - all determine the winner of this next stage of battle.
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Of course, the character must wield enough strength for the weapon they choose; either defensively, or offensively, but in the end, the character who starts strong may be defeated simply because they cannot battle as long as they need to. Endurance ultimately decides the winner of the tournament.
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Game Play is based on these four stages of battle.
Cards
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Cards contain a description of each character, followed by a special skill which adjusts their ability level, or that of the characters they face in battle. At the bottom of the card, their ability in each of these stages is represented by a color and a score. The higher the number, the better their ability with that skill.
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Optional
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"Modifier" cards may also be used. Players can decide for each tournament to play with or without them.
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These Modifiers use character groupings representing their Caste and politics.
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Caste
Noble
Townsfolk
Outlaw
Royalty
Knight
Guard
Politics
Activist
Pacifist
Game Setup
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A play mat is not required, but is useful to manage your cards. Players decide on the number of victories required to win a tournament and a coin or token may be used on the "Victories" bar to mark progress. A reference for colour values is also provided.
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With or without a mat, each player has four battle stages, a "Draw" pile, a "Dead Cards" pile, and a "Victories" counter (or score card). If you are using modifiers, you may also have a "Modifier" pile.
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An additional option is to provide an "ante" card, wagered for the tournament. The winner of the tournament keeps their opponents' "ante" card.
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Any card from any year may be played, however players should agree on the number of "Active" cards used in a tournament (minimum of 10). Only one of each character may be used per round. For example, you cannot use more than one "Robin" card. Any additional cards are set aside and may not be used.
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Each player's deck is shuffled and placed face down at one side of the game mat as the "Draw" pile. The player then draws the top five cards which become their playing hand.
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Game Play
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At the beginning of a round, each players selects one card from their playing hand.
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If using modifier cards, either a character card, or a modifier card must be selected. Only one can be played. Modifier cards have special instructions which affect the outcome of a battle. Some modifiers are played for one hand only. Others remain in play until removed by an opponents' modifier, or is replaced with a different modifier. When a modifier is no longer in play it is placed face down in the "Dead Cards" pile.
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If you choose a modifier card, your Agility stage remains empty and your characters will not advance after the round, and your opponent will automatically win the Agility stage.
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Character cards are placed on the first stage of battle; Agility, and advance as the game progresses.
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In the first round, character cards are placed at the same time.
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Each player checks the skill level for each stage of battle with a card (for the first round this is only Agility) and adjusts it by the special skills on the character cards in play.
Special skills on cards marked with a star may adjust scores in other stages.
Finally, modifier cards are considered and skill levels are adjusted accordingly.
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​The final skill levels are compared. The character card with the lower final skill level is removed from play and is placed face down on the "Dead Cards" pile. If skill levels are the same, the battle is considered a draw and both cards remain. If a stage on your opponents' mat is empty, you are considered the victor for that stage.
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At the end of a hand, winning cards are moved to the next stage (eg. from Agility to Weapons, or Strength to Endurance). As one card moves into a stage, any card in that stage must also be moved to the next stage until a card occupies an empty stage. Once a card reaches an empty stage, no more cards are advanced.
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At the end of a hand, if one player has a card on each stage of battle, that player has won the round and their victory token is advanced by one space. If both players have four characters on the battle stage, or there are no more cards on the "Draw" pile at the end of a round, the round is considered a draw and no victory is declared.
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Once cards have been advanced, the Agility stage should now be clear, and a new hand can begin.
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Players draw the next card from the "Draw" pile to make five cards in their playing hand. A new card is chosen for the agility stage.
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From this round forward, the player who won the previous Agility stage must place their card first. If an agility stage battle is a draw, both players again place their cards at the same time.
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At the end of a round, if players have enough cards, they may elect to select a new "Active" set of cards and should discard their previous Draw Pile.
Winning the Game
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Once a player reaches the agreed upon number of victories, they are declared the winner of the tournament!
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Huzzah!