The ladder
Four to eight players sit in a strict pecking order, from the Greater Dalmuti at the top down to the Greater Peon. Empty your hand first and you take the throne next hand; finish last and you become the Greater Peon.
The pyramid deck
Eighty cards where rank 1 is the single best card and every rank has as many copies as its number. The two jesters are wild alongside other cards, but played alone they count as rank 13, the worst in the game.
- 1The Great Dalmuti
- 2Archbishop×2
- 3Earl Marshal×3
- 4Baroness×4
- 5Abbess×5
- 6Knight×6
- 7Seamstress×7
- 8Mason×8
- 9Cook×9
- 10Shepherdess×10
- 11Stonecutter×11
- 12Peasant×12
- ★Jester×2
Taxes and revolutions
Before each hand the Greater Peon sends the Greater Dalmuti their two best cards and receives any two back; the Lesser pair trades one. Whoever is dealt both jesters may call a revolution to cancel the taxes, and when the Greater Peon calls it, the whole ladder flips.
Climbing tricks
The lead plays a set of equal-rank cards. Going around the table, play the same number of cards at a lower rank or pass; passing never locks you out. Once a set goes all the way around unbeaten, whoever played it leads fresh.
Claude at the table
Short on players? Seat Claude Opus in as many chairs as you like. Every Claude plays its own hidden hand, pays its taxes, and calls the occasional revolution.
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