Charterstone

To set up, first unwrap all card decks, being careful not to examine individual cards too closely to avoid spoilers. Place the double-sided game board in the center of the table, choosing one side to use for the entire campaign. Open the Scriptorium tuckbox and place the general supply components (coins, resources, progress token, and Charterstone die) beside the board. Each player receives two workers, 12 influence tokens, and a victory point marker of their chosen color, placing the marker on the '0' space of the victory point track. Players then select an empty Charter on the board and take its corresponding Charter Chest, opening it to retrieve their two workers, 12 influence tokens, and a victory point marker. Follow the instructions on initial story cards to place specific building stickers onto your Charter and the main board, and to draw initial assistant and objective cards. Any unused character components are returned to their respective Charter Chests and placed back in the main game box. The game's Chronicle (rulebook) will guide you through the initial setup steps and introduce new rules as you play through the campaign.

The primary objective in Charterstone is to expand the Kingdom of Greengully by constructing new buildings, gaining valuable assistants, acquiring essential resources, and completing various objectives. Players strive to appease the Forever King by demonstrating their ability to grow and develop their assigned Charter. Over the course of a 12-game campaign, players will permanently alter the game board and components, creating a unique game state. The player who accumulates the most victory points by the end of the campaign will be declared the winner.

During your turn, you must perform one of two main actions: either place a worker or retrieve workers. When placing a worker, you select an available building space on the board, pay its associated cost (if any) by returning resources or influence tokens to the general supply, and then immediately gain the benefits of that building. If another worker was already on the chosen space, it is returned to its owner. When retrieving workers, you take back all of your workers currently placed on the board into your personal supply, making them available for future turns. Workers are sized differently (small and large) but function identically. Resources and coins are limited, so if the general supply runs out of a specific item, it cannot be collected until more are returned. Influence tokens, once placed, cannot be moved or removed until the end of the game, though some effects may allow you to regain them from the general supply.

Victory points are accumulated throughout the game and at the end of the campaign. Players gain points from various sources, including completing objectives, advancing on the reputation track, and utilizing persona abilities. At the end of each game, players score points based on their position on the reputation track (10 points for most, 7 for second, 4 for third, with ties granting full points to all tied players). Additionally, players gain 'glory' points by marking stars on their Charter Chest for every 10 victory points earned. These stars can unlock bonuses for future games. Some cards with an hourglass symbol will also award points at the end of the game. The player with the highest total victory points at the end of the 12-game campaign wins. Non-winners get to name a winning or inactive Charter as a show of humility.

A game ends when the progress token advances to the final space on its track. Once this happens, the current round is completed, ensuring all players have taken an equal number of turns. After the final round, end-game scoring commences. Players gain victory points from their reputation on the reputation track and any cards with the hourglass symbol. The player(s) with the most victory points on the track mark a trophy on their Charter Chest. All non-winning players name a winning or inactive Charter. All player pieces, including coins, resources, and cards, carry over to the next game in the campaign. After Game 1, specific cards are extracted from the Index and placed in the Archive, and new rules or components may be introduced for Game 2. The campaign continues for 12 games, with each game building upon the previous one, permanently altering the game board and rules.