A Game of Thrones Hand of the King is a popular card game by Bruno Cathala published by Fantasy Flight Games.
The postal version is for 2 players only, and two games are played simultaneously.
The GM needs a copy of the game and the players should read the F2F rules
The GM deals out all 36 character cards (including Varys) in a 6x6 square.
The GM randomly chooses 6 companion cards and discards the remainder.
The results of the above are recorded for game 1, then repeat for game 2
On each postal turn, player 1 submits an unconditional order for game 1 and a conditional order for game2, whilst player 2 submits conditional orders for game 1 and unconditional orders for game 2.
Players capturing (not killing) the last member of a house must choose a companion and execute the instructions on the card, and orders should cover this. Note that if Petyr Baelish is one of the available companions, the two extra companions are pre-drawn and known to both players
In the event of an NMR, the GM will make a random legal move for that player.
At any point, a player may claim victory (by extrapolating the remaining possible moves) in one of the games, and the GM must verify this, play continuing if victory is not assured.
A 6x6 wordprocessor table should suffice for the Kings Landing board with cells containing either text giving the character name or a small scanned image of the card.
To aid the players making conditional orders, the GM should also list all the possible first moves.
The report should also list the characters captured by each player, and any that are dead, plus the companions available for hire.
A summary table such as the one below is not absolutely essential, but helpful:
| Player | Stark | Greyjoy | Lannister | Targaryen | Baratheon | Tyrell | Tully |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice | 2* | 0 | 1 | 3* | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian | 2 | 0 | 3* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Example Kings Landing board:
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Legal moves are Stark up, Baratheon right and Lannister right. Stark up takes both the remaining Starks so the player gets a companion. Baratheon right also gets a companion, but Lannister right does not.
Each game ends in one of three ways: