Basics of Play

Turns

Chez is a turn-based game like many others, but there are some important subtleties to note.

Each turn, you have one action, and one bonus action.
You also have unlimited reactions.
You must use your action each turn, however, your reactions and bonus action are only used in specific circumstances. See the turns table for clarification on types of actions.

Actions

Each turn, you must use an action.
Typically, this will be playing a card (or playing a combo), or picking up a card. Note that you cannot do both in one turn—by default, you only have one action.

Bonus Actions

If you have a bonus action, you may also use your bonus action during your turn.
You may use your bonus action before, during, or after you use your action, but it must be during your turn. Note that if you have extra actions, you do not gain extra bonus actions.

Reactions

Reactions can be used both during your turn and during other players' turns. You have unlimited reactions, so you can use these whenever you like.

What Can I Play?

Rules for Cards

Like many games, what you are able to play depends on the card on the top of the pile (with a few exceptions).

If the top card is black: you may play lower than or equal to the card in value. Note that aces in Chez count as the lowest card.
If the top card is red: you may play higher than or equal to the card in value.
Cards played do not need to be the same colour or suit as the card on the pile, unless stated otherwise.
If the top card is a joker: you can play anything.
If the top card is an ace or a king, you may play an ace or a king of the same suit, even if this would usually be invalid. For instance, if the top card is an ace of spades, you can play the king of spades.
Jokers can be played onto anything.

Special Cards

Whenever you play a special card (or any combo that is not a revolution, a castle, or a royal court) and this leaves you with no cards in your hand, pick up a card from the draw pile. You must do this before you do anything else, even if it is not the end of your turn. You may not finish on a special card.

Rules for Combos

Any combos that are played onto the discard pile must generally be valid (see the combos themselves for validity conditions), however, combos that are played onto the space directly in front of you (i.e., not the discard pile) do not need to be valid.

Picking up and the Plague

If you cannot play anything, you must draw a card from the draw pile. Some cards also require you to pick up from the draw pile.

Choosing to Pick up: The Plague

You may also choose to pick up a card, even if you have cards you are able to play, instead of playing a card on your turn. However, if you are currently able to play a card, you run the risk of catching the Plague, which may kill you.
- Whenever you pick up instead of playing, and you still have cards you are able to play, roll a d6 after you draw.
- If you roll a 1, you must then roll a d8 and a d12. Add the rolls of the d8 and d12 together.
- If you have a number of cards lower than or equal to this sum, you are safe and do not catch the Plague. If you have a number of cards higher than this sum, you catch the Plague and have a certain amount of turns left to live equal to the difference between your roll and your number of cards.
  - From now on, at the end of each one of your subsequent turns, your number of turns left to live is reduced by 1. Once you reach 0, you have been killed by the Plague and are out of the game.
  - Your position on the leaderboard becomes the lowest available place. For instance, if Grug just died to the Plague another player, Brug, had died already to the Plague, and another, Norman, to a Revolution, the last three positions would read:
    - ...
    - 3rd from last: Grug
    - 2nd from last: Brug
    - Last: Norman
- If you roll anything other than a 1 on the d6, you do not need to roll the d8 and the d12, and you do not catch the Plague.

Running out of Cards

If there is no draw pile left, take all but the top card of the discard pile, and every card from the secondary discard pile, and shuffle these together to form the new draw pile. Drawing then continues from the top as normal. If there are no cards left other than the top draw card of the discard pile, and you still need to pick up cards, you are out of the game. This very rarely comes up, but can make for some powerful strategies if done right.

The Dice Law

A rule that comes up often in Doubles, Triples, and Quadruples, The Royal Court, and other combos, is the dice law. What happens when you play two jokers together? What about when you play two jacks, or three, or four? What happens when you play two 10s or kings together?

Whenever a rule refers to "upgrading" a card, this generally means one of two things:
- Step up the die by one. This means to take the next largest die after the one you would usually use. For instance, for an upgraded jack, you roll 1d6, rather than 1d4, and for an upgraded joker, you roll 1d12, rather than 1d10.
- Note that should a situation arise where the die should be upgraded to a d100, we instead roll 1d20 and another of the die you would usually roll. This means, if you were to play 4 jokers, for instance, you would roll 1d20 + 1d10.
- Continuing to upgrade further steps up the smaller die, doing the same as above again if needed.
- If the card has no dice associated with it, we instead double the action. For instance, when playing two kings, instead, switch two cards with a player of your choice.
This is a good general principle to keep in mind, but for a full description of what to do when doubling up cards, see the cards themselves.

What Does Everything Do?

Aces

The ace is part of the Anarchy class in Chez.
Unlike the other cards, aces have two main functions.

Played as an action, an ace acts as a normal card. It is played onto the pile as normal. It has no special function.
Played as a reaction, an ace can be played as a special card onto the discard pile out of turn to negate (or "nope") the effect of any special card or combo (including other aces!), with some exceptions:
- An Ace of Spades cannot be noped by any other ace, i.e. it trumps all.
- A joker can only be noped by the ace of spades. Other aces have no effect on jokers.
- Generally speaking, any combo played onto the discard pile can be noped except for True Transformations, which are unnopable.
- Combos played onto the space in front of players cannot be noped with aces, though other actions may generally be taken against them.
- If unsure about whether something is nopeable or not, refer to the rules about the card or combo itself.
Aces can usually be played at any point during the game, including after seeing the results of rolled dice. However, there are certain cases where noping something is illegal:
- If the card or combo you are intending to nope grants you extra goes, and you have already taken at least one of these goes
- If the card or combo you are intending to nope gives you extra cards, and you have already seen the cards (e.g. you cannot nope a 10 after recycling, or a king after seeing the card you have swapped).

2, 3, 4, 5

2, 3, 4, and 5 are part of the Aspirations class in Chez.

2, 3, 4, and 5 are not special cards. They have no special function on their own, but can be combined to make a powerful combo: The Revolution.

6

The 6 is part of the Anarchy class in Chez. It is a special card, and can be noped.

Whenever you play a 6, roll a d6. If you roll an odd number, you must pick up that many cards from the draw pile. If you roll an even number, the next player must pick up half that number of cards from the draw pile.
Playing two red sixes together gives you a rare chance for victory: The Two Red Sixes.

7,8,9

7, 8, and 9 are part of the Asylum class in Chez.

7, 8, and 9 are not special cards. Like the 2, 3, 4, and 5, they have no special function on their own. However, these cards, too, can be combined to make a useful combo: Castles.

10

The 10 is part of the Anarchy class in Chez. It is a special card, and can be noped.

Immediately after you play a 10, count the number of cards you have in your hand. Then, place these at the bottom of the draw pile.
Now draw back this same number of cards from the draw pile. Note that it is possible you may draw some of your own cards back into your hand, if the draw pile is small enough when you play the 10.
The 10 has other uses, with Castles.

Jacks

The jack is part of the Authority class in Chez. It is a special card, and can be noped.

After you play a jack, roll a d4. This is how many extra actions you now have. Note that this does not grant you additional bonus actions.
Note that the cards you play must still be valid.
The jack can also be used in the The Royal Court.

Queens

The queen is part of the Authority class in Chez. It is a special card, and can be noped.

The queen has a different function depending on the number of players currently in the game.
- With more than two players: the queen changes the current direction of play.
- With just two players: the queen, when played as your last action of your turn grants you an extra action. Note the subtlety in this: if you have multiple actions, for instance, three, and play the queen on the second, it does not grant you an additioinal action. However, if you play the queen on the third and last action, you are granted an additional action after said queen.
The queen can also be used in a few different combos: The King-Queen Combo, The Royal Court.

Kings

The king is part of the Authority class in Chez. It is a special card, and can be noped.
Like the queen, the king also switches things up. However, the king does this differently.

Each time you play a king, you must choose another player. This player must then fan the cards in their hand out to you (facing down) and you must pick a card from their hand. You cannot pick a player if they have no cards in their hand.
Now you must pick a card from your original hand to give back to them. Note that you cannot give them back the exact card you just took from them. You may give them a card of the same value--it just has to be one you had in your hand beforehand.
If the player does not have enough cards in their hand (e.g. with upgraded kings), they must draw from the draw pile until they do.
The king can also be used in a few different combos: The King-Queen Combo, The Royal Court.

Jokers

The joker is part of the Anarchy class in Chez. It is a special card, but can only be noped by the ace of spades.
The joker is a card that can both help and harm your attempts. Used right, it can stop an opponent from winning at a crucial moment. Used wrong, it can give your opponent exactly what they need to crush you under their heel. Be wary of giving away, and playing, jokers (especially considering the The Betting Man).

Each time you play a joker, this ends your turn. Once played, your turn is over--any remaining actions you may have are lost.
The next player should then roll a d10. They must pick up this many cards from the draw pile.
Note that the next player now plays on this joker; they may play any card!
The joker, like the 6, can be used for a rare chance for victory: The Betting Man.
Your opponent can also stack a joker; meaning, they can play another joker on top of yours. The player after them must now respond by either picking up the amount for the ascended joker, (i.e. 1d12 with two, 1d20 with three), playing another joker, or noping. Noping negates the whole stack of jokers.