This weekend, I’m at Visioncon, and I’m bringing with me v1 of The Prince’s Gambit for its first public playtest. I’m looking forward to the show and playing the game, but I’m also looking forward to putting the playtest doc in your hands.

To that end, v1 of the cards you’ll need for play is ready. You can download the files below, in case you’d like to print them now and have them ready for when I release the doc itself (possibly tomorrow, but most likely after Visioncon).

Remember:

• This isn’t the complete game. This is just version one of the core mechanic. Conspicuously absent, you’ll notice, are the clans and the Disciplines. That comes later. First and foremost, I want the basic system to work, and that’s what v1 intends to test.
• They’re ugly. That’s to keep them cheap to print and test with, since we know we’re going to be throwing them away after the v1 playtest. Some of them have full-color, full-card-back images on them. Sorry, but that’s how it has to be for now, as there’s information on the opposite side of the card that needs to not be visible through the back of the card. If it helps, you don’t have to print them in color. I print them in color because I am as fancy as a person can possibly be.

My recommendation is to use a nice, heavy cover stock, at least 80 lb. (I use 110 lb.). You may have some lying around already, but you can definitely pick up a pack of it at your nearest office supply store. You’ll want to print one set of cards first and then, using whatever duplexing method is available to you, print the other set on the opposite side. (Maybe you have a great printer that does this for you. If not, you can simply put the already-printed set back in your paper tray, already-printed-side down. I can’t offer technical support, and I don’t know how your printer works, so I advise printing one sheet of each set first to learn how to feed the paper into your tray.)

Download Prince’s Gambit v1 card fronts

Download Prince’s Gambit v1 card backs