I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how to play Ashes with more than two players.

Multiplayer formats for games like MtG with Commander, with not only its deck construction and MtG game play. But the added political layer that gets added with more than two players just takes the game to a new level. A level where having the strongest deck does not guarantee that you are going to win. I just love Commander. As do a lot of MtG players, it is the most popular format for the game.

Even Star Wars Unlimited launched the game with not just its regular two player format, but also a multiplayer format called Twin Suns. That’s how popular multiplayer formats are in these tcg/lcg games.

Multiplayer formats are just easier to get to the table and play with your friends. They are more social.

So why wouldn’t I want this in Ashes as well?

There are official rules for playing at the higher player count of three to four players. Which are as follows:

3-4 Player Rules

“The rules are identical except that whenever player order
matters, start with the Active Player and proceed clockwise. Also, whenever you need to pass something “to your opponent,” pass it clockwise. The Active Player is the player whose turn it is or, if it is not during the player turns phase, the player with the first player token.

When a Phoenixborn is destroyed, its controlling player discards all cards on their battlefield or spellboard. That player and their play area are no longer in the game. If any cards they own are in another player’s play area, those cards stay in play. The game ends when only one player has a Phoenixborn in play. They have won the game!” Page 13, Ashes Rulebook 1.5

However this is a free for all. Which we will come back to later in the post with an interesting variant to these rules. Obviously these are the simplest rules to use, a last person standing with player elimination.

However I think one or two games out there have takes on taking a two player game into a multiplayer game that I think might be worth considering.

I will stress that I haven’t tried these yet in Ashes. So what you have are my thoughts on these and the changes I’ll be making.

The Mistborn take…

Recently I bought the deckbuilder Mistborn which had the following multiplayer mechanic for allocating damage on a turn.

“ In 3-4 player games, there is an added mechanic called the “Target.” The last player from the first player (counting clockwise) starts with the Target. At the end of your turn, after attacking any allies (you may target anyone’s allies during this phase), you must direct your damage points at whoever holds the Target. After a player with the Target takes any amount of damage to their health total from another player, they may pass the Target to another player. Target passing only happens after all damage has already been used for that turn.” Page 15, Mistborn rulebook

This has a kind of King of Tokyo feel with a player occupying Tokyo and taking any damage from the other players with the option to move out after taking any damage.

To do this in Ashes all you need is something to act as the target that can be passed around. A poker chip would be ideal for this. But anything will do.

Vampire the Masquerade Rivals take…

I like the Vampire the Masquerade Rivals take on multiplayer.

Let’s look at what the Rivals rulebook says. I’ve put in bold the bits I think are relevant to what we will be using to replicate the mechanic in Ashes.

“The game ends when any player is knocked out or any player reaches
13 Agenda points. There are 3 ways to win:
. You win if you are the first player to reach 13 Agenda points.
. You win if you you knock out your Rival.
. Have the most Agenda points when a foe gets knocked out that
doesn’t fulfill an above win condition (i.e., Special Affairs Division
or another player knocks out your Rival, etc.).

To knock out a foe, you must do one of the following:
. Cause their Prestige to drop to 0.
. Defeat the last active vampire in their coterie (vampires in torpor
are not active).

If you knock out a foe other than your Rival (or they are knocked
out by effects not controlled by any player), the player holding their Rival token gains 3 Agenda points. A player who is knocked out has their agenda permanently set to 0. Then compare agenda scores. The player with the most agenda wins! See tiebreakers and ‘Rare End of
Game Circumstances’ on page XX if you encounter a situation not
covered above.” Page 3, Vampire the Masquerade Rivals rulebook

This is how Rivals decides which players have which rival.

“Randomly determine who goes first and give them the ‘1st Player’ token. Each player has a number based on where they are sitting. The player with the ‘1st Player Token” is Player 1. The player to their left is Player 2, etc. In a 2_player game, your only foe is your Rival. In a 3p game, grab Rival tokens 1_3. In a 4p game, use tokens 1_4. Place the tokens face down in the middle of the table and mix them up. Starting with player 1 and continuing clockwise, each player in turn grabs a token and flips it over. If you grab a token with your player number on it, grab a new one and then throw yours back in face down and mix them up again. When there are 2 players yet to grab a token, if either of their numbers have not been
revealed by the earlier players, flip the remaining tokens over and each player who doesn’t have a token grabs one that isn’t their own. This prevents these players from being left with their own token. Compare your token to the turn order (clockwise from player 1). The player whose number is on your token is your Rival for the game. So if you grab token #2, your Rival is player 2—the player one seat clockwise from player 1.” Page 4, Vampire the Masquerade Rivals rulebook

To start with we will need four tokens numbered 1 to 4. There needs to be no change to how the Rivals rules describes to select your rival.

The win conditions are you win if you knock out your rival.

Or if you knock out someone else’s rival, it’s the player with the most phoenixborn health left, with the player holding the rival token of the player just knocked out getting 3 health back (up to the phoenixborns max health).

The Star Realms/Epic take…

I love Star Realms. It’s probably my most played deck builder. Especially if I include app plays (over 12k games played).

“Hunter (3-6 Players)

Randomly determine which player is going first. That player gets a three-card starting hand. Play proceeds clockwise around the table. The player going second gets a four-card starting hand. All other players get a five-card starting hand.

Players may only attack/target the player to their left and/or the Bases belonging to players on their left and right. If a player is eliminated, put all of their cards into the Scrap Heap. The last player remaining wins the game!

All we take from these rules is you can only attack/select the player to your left.

Hunter First Blood (3-6 Players)

The same rules as Hunter, but when the first player is defeated, the game immediately ends and the player to their right wins!” Page 6, Star Realms rules

“Jackpot Gumbo
Suggested by Anthony Harris
“This variant is for all the people who love the tactical combat of multiplayer in ‘Star Realms’, but don’t want to have to wait for final elimination like in monopoly. It also creates more tension and strategy for all players involved.
Basically, instead of playing until only one is left, the game is over when the first players’ authority reaches zero. At that point, the person with the highest authority is the winner.
This way, everyone is in the game until the end, and they all have to be mindful of every decision they make. Instead of just racing to elimination. sometimes players may even have to consider teaming up to ‘pull’ another player back, or even helping a player who is weak and close to getting eliminated.” https://www.starrealms.com/multiplayer-rules-jackpot-gumbo/

This variant kind of takes the free for all format and removes the player elimination element. If I was going for a free for all game this is the version I’d play. Players aren’t left sitting around watching from the side line.

“Hunter – Last One Standing
Same as Hunter – First Blood, except when a player is eliminated, the person to their right doesn’t win. Instead, that person gains 5 health and draws a card.” https://www.epiccardgame.com/formats-multiplayer/

Might be worth trying.

There are some team formats (especially in Star Realms/Epic) but I’m not sure how the shared life side would work. More thought and play testing is required.

But I’m hoping to try some of the above ideas real soon.