Dominion: Allies Rules

Official-rulebook flavor excerpt: “It's a celebration!”

Allies centers on Favors: Liaison cards generate Favor tokens, while a single Ally selected during setup gives every player a way to spend or benefit from those Favors. The expansion also has six rotating split piles containing four differently named cards each.

Setup, Favors, and Allies

If at least one Liaison is in the game, give each player a Favors mat and select exactly one Ally for the game. Each player normally begins with one Favor; if Importer is used, each player begins with five instead. When you receive a Favor, add a token to your mat. Spending Favors is optional unless an effect says otherwise.

An Ally can normally be used only once each time its trigger occurs unless it explicitly says to repeat. Allies are not Supply piles, cannot be bought, and never enter decks.

Split Piles and Rotation

Allies has six split piles, each with four groups of four cards. Only the current top card can be bought or gained. Players may inspect a split pile without changing its order. To rotate a pile, move the entire group of identical cards currently on top to the bottom, keeping their order; the next different card becomes available. The whole stack counts as one Supply pile for game-end purposes.

Normal Kingdom Card Clarifications

Barbarian

Each other player trashes the top card of their deck. If it is expensive enough, that player gains a cheaper card sharing a type with it; otherwise they gain a Curse. If no legal cheaper card exists, the trashed card still stays trashed.

Bauble

Choose two different printed options. Its “put gained cards on your deck” option lasts for the turn. Bauble is a Treasure-Liaison, so it can both function as a Treasure and provide a Favor.

Broker

Trash a card from your hand, then choose one resource—Cards, Actions, coins, or Favors—and receive one of that resource per coin in the trashed card's cost. Potion, Debt, and other special cost symbols do not add to this count.

Capital City

Draw a card and receive +2 Actions. You may discard two cards for its coin reward, but only receive that reward if two cards were actually discarded. You may then pay the stated amount of already-available coin to draw two cards; you do not play Treasures in the middle of resolving Capital City.

Carpenter

If no Supply pile is empty, receive +1 Action and gain a low-cost card. Once at least one Supply pile is empty, Carpenter switches to its trash-and-upgrade mode instead.

Contract

Receive a Favor. You may set aside an Action from your hand face up; if you do, Contract stays in play and the set-aside Action must be played at the start of your next turn.

Courier

Discard the top card of your deck, then search your discard pile and optionally play an Action or Treasure from it. The played card can be the card just discarded.

Emissary

Draw three cards. If that draw forced a shuffle involving at least one discard-pile card, also receive +1 Action and two Favors.

Galleria

Its extra-Buy trigger uses the card's actual current cost when gained, after cost modifiers.

Guildmaster

Guildmaster is a Liaison whose Favor gain can immediately pay for an Ally ability triggered by the same card gain or play when timing permits.

Highwayman

Until your next turn, the first Treasure each other player plays on each of their turns does nothing when played. Multiple Highwaymen do not blank multiple Treasures. At the start of your next turn, discard Highwayman from play and draw three cards.

Hunter

Reveal three cards, then choose an Action, a Treasure, and a Victory card from among them, in that order, putting the chosen cards into your hand and discarding the rest. A multi-type card may satisfy whichever one matching category you choose at that step.

Importer

During setup, everyone starts with five Favors instead of one. At the start of your next turn after playing Importer, gain a card within its limit. Importer itself does not continually generate more Favors.

Innkeeper

Receive +1 Action, then choose among its three hand-adjustment options. When an option says to draw and then discard, resolve both parts completely.

Marquis

Receive +1 Buy, then draw one card for each card already in your hand and finally discard down to ten cards. Count the hand before the draw begins.

Merchant Camp

Gives Actions and coin. When discarded from play, you may put Merchant Camp on top of your deck instead of into your discard pile.

Modify

Trash a card from your hand, then gain a more expensive card according to Modify's limit; if the trashed card is an Action, Modify also gives the card/Action bonus printed for that case.

Royal Galley

Draw a card, then you may play a non-Duration Action from your hand and set it aside. At the start of your next turn, play that set-aside Action again. Royal Galley remains in play while tracking it.

Sentinel

Look at the top five cards of your deck, shuffling as needed. You may trash up to two, then put the rest back in any order. With fewer than five total cards available, inspect all that remain.

Skirmisher

After its immediate bonuses, for the rest of the turn each Attack card you gain makes every other player discard down to three. Reactions that block Skirmisher are used when Skirmisher is played, not later when you gain another Attack.

Specialist

You may play an Action or Treasure from your hand. After it resolves, choose either to play that same card again or gain a copy from the Supply. The replay can happen even if the played card left play.

Swap

Draw a card and receive +1 Action. You may return an Action from your hand to its pile; if you do, gain a differently named eligible Action from the Supply directly to your hand. Returning is not trashing.

Sycophant

Receive +1 Action and discard up to the required number of cards; its coin reward requires discarding at least one. Whenever Sycophant is gained or trashed, receive two Favors, which may immediately be usable by the Ally.

Town

Choose between the card-and-Actions mode or the Buy-and-coin mode.

Underling

Draw a card, receive +1 Action, and gain a Favor.

Split Pile Clarifications

Augurs: Herb Gatherer → Acolyte → Sorceress → Sibyl

Herb Gatherer: Gives +1 Buy, moves your deck into your discard pile, and may play a Treasure from the discard pile; rotating Augurs is optional.

Acolyte: May trash itself or another Action to gain a cheaper card and can interact with the trash as printed.

Sorceress: Name a card, reveal your top card and put it into hand; if you named it correctly, each other player gains a Curse.

Sibyl: Draw four cards and receive +1 Action, then put one card from hand on top of your deck and a different card on the bottom.

Clashes: Battle Plan → Archer → Warlord → Territory

Battle Plan: Provides its Action/reveal utility and may rotate a Supply pile as specified.

Archer: Each other player with at least five cards reveals all but one card; you choose an eligible revealed card for that player to discard.

Warlord: Gives +1 Action and a future draw. Until your next turn, other players cannot play from hand an Action name for which they already have two or more copies in play. Cards played from somewhere other than hand are not stopped.

Territory: Scores one point per differently named Victory card you own. When gained, gain a Gold for each empty Supply pile.

Forts: Tent → Garrison → Hill Fort → Stronghold

Tent: Gives coin, may rotate the Forts, and when discarded from play may go onto your deck.

Garrison: During the turn, add a token to that Garrison each time you gain a card. At the start of your next turn, remove those tokens to draw that many cards. Replaying one physical Garrison adds additional tokens but does not duplicate the same tokens twice.

Hill Fort: Gain an eligible card, then choose either to move the gained card into your hand or to receive +1 Card and +1 Action.

Stronghold: Choose immediate coin or the future three-card draw. It is also a Victory card and remains in play when its Duration option is waiting.

Odysseys: Old Map → Voyage → Sunken Treasure → Distant Shore

Old Map: Draw a card, receive +1 Action, discard a card, then draw another card; rotating Odysseys is optional.

Voyage: Gives +1 Action and schedules an extra turn, but never a third consecutive turn. During the Voyage turn you may play only three cards from your hand; cards played from other zones do not count toward that limit.

Sunken Treasure: Gain an Action from the Supply that you do not currently have a copy of in play.

Distant Shore: Draw two cards, receive +1 Action, and gain an Estate if available. Distant Shore is itself an Action-Victory card.

Townsfolk: Town Crier → Blacksmith → Miller → Elder

Town Crier: Choose one of its three benefits, then independently decide whether to rotate the Townsfolk.

Blacksmith: Choose among drawing up to a six-card hand, drawing two cards, or drawing one card plus receiving +1 Action.

Miller: Receive +1 Action, inspect the top four cards, put one into your hand, and discard the rest.

Elder: Receive its coin benefit and optionally play an Action from your hand. For an Action that literally offers a “choose” list, Elder lets you take one additional different option from that list.

Wizards: Student → Conjurer → Sorcerer → Lich

Student: Receive +1 Action, optionally rotate Wizards, and trash a card from your hand. If that card is a Treasure, gain a Favor and put Student onto your deck.

Conjurer: Gain an eligible card. At the start of your next turn, return Conjurer itself to your hand, so repeated plays can continue the cycle.

Sorcerer: Draw a card and receive +1 Action. Each other player names a card then reveals their top card; a player whose guess is wrong gains a Curse.

Lich: Draw six cards and receive +2 Actions, but skip your next turn. Multiple Liches can make you skip multiple turns. When Lich is trashed, move it from the trash to your discard pile and gain a cheaper card from the trash if possible; moving Lich this way is not gaining it.

Ally Clarifications

Architects' Guild: When you gain a card, you may spend two Favors to gain a cheaper non-Victory card. The new gain can itself trigger the Ally again.

Band of Nomads: When you gain a sufficiently expensive card, you may spend one Favor for +1 Card, +1 Action, or +1 Buy. Use the card's current cost.

Cave Dwellers: At the start of your turn, spend a Favor to discard a card and then draw a card; repeat as desired. You still draw if you had no card to discard.

Circle of Witches: After resolving a Liaison, you may spend three Favors to make every other player gain a Curse. This is not an Attack card being played.

City-state: When you gain an Action during your turn, you may spend two Favors to play it from where it was gained if it is still there.

Coastal Haven: During Clean-up, spend Favors to keep that many cards in hand instead of discarding them. You still draw the normal new hand in addition to the kept cards.

Crafters' Guild: At the start of your turn, spend two Favors to gain an eligible card directly onto your deck.

Desert Guides: At the start of your turn, spend a Favor to discard your hand and draw five; repeat as desired.

Family of Inventors: At the start of your Buy phase, you may place one of your Favor tokens on a non-Victory Supply pile. Each Favor token there reduces the cost of cards from that pile for everyone, without going below zero.

Fellowship of Scribes: After playing an Action, if you have four or fewer cards in hand, spend a Favor to draw a card. This can trigger once per Action play.

Forest Dwellers: Once per turn at the start of your turn, spend a Favor to inspect your top three cards, discard any number, and return the rest in any order.

Gang of Pickpockets: At the start of your turn, either spend a Favor or discard down to four. This is not an Attack and cannot be blocked as one.

Island Folk: At the end of your turn, spend five Favors to take an extra turn, but never a third consecutive turn.

League of Bankers: At the start of your Buy phase, receive coin based on each complete group of four Favors you currently have; the Favors are not spent.

League of Shopkeepers: After playing a Liaison, receive bonuses based on whether you currently have at least five or at least ten Favors. The Favors are not spent.

Market Towns: At the start of your Buy phase, spend a Favor to play an Action from your hand; after it resolves you may spend another Favor and repeat.

Mountain Folk: At the start of your turn, spend exactly five Favors to draw three cards.

Order of Astrologers: When shuffling, spend Favors to look through the cards and choose one card per Favor spent to place on top; shuffle the rest.

Order of Masons: When shuffling, spend Favors to inspect the cards and move up to two cards per Favor into your discard pile instead of shuffling them.

Peaceful Cult: At the start of your Buy phase, spend any number of Favors all at once, then trash that many cards from your hand. Resolve trash-triggered abilities afterward in an order you choose.

Plateau Shepherds: During scoring, pair Favors with cards meeting the Ally's cost requirement for two Victory Points per pair. A Favor cannot be used in more than one pair.

Trappers' Lodge: When you gain a card, spend a Favor to put it onto your deck. If the deck is empty, it becomes the only card there.

Woodworkers' Guild: At the start of your Buy phase, spend a Favor and trash an Action from your hand to gain an Action, with no ordinary coin-cost ceiling; the gain happens only if you actually trashed an Action.

Accessibility Notes

Keep Favor totals public and announce every Favor gained or spent. During setup, read the chosen Ally aloud and leave it in a fixed location. Whenever a split pile rotates, announce the pile name, the card group moved to the bottom, and the new top card. For effects that inspect split piles, say all card names in their current order. For Family of Inventors, announce every pile that has Favor cost-reduction tokens and the current count. For skipped or extra turns from Lich, Voyage, or Island Folk, state the turn sequence before play continues.

Source

This accessible rules page is based on the current Rio Grande Games Allies rulebook and retains additional accessibility guidance for mixed blind and sighted play. Official Rio Grande Games Allies rulebook PDF.