The King's Poisoner is a thrilling pick-up-and-play tabletop roleplaying game of court intrigue, romance and murder. With no prep or games master required, 3–8 players can open the box and create a memorable experience in 1–2 hours!
Everyone else is a member of their royal court who's either going to assassinate them, or rat out the conspirators and save them.
Who will you trust? What will you dare? Who will be king!
This is NOT a social deduction game, keep reading.
The King’s Poisoner is a thrilling out-of-the-box tabletop roleplaying game of love, loyalty, ambition & murder. With no preparation and no game master, 3–8 players can learn as they go, scheming unforgettable stories in 1-2 hours.
Press your luck blackjack-style card play combined with collaborative storytelling creates the drama, romance & suspense of court intrigue, that will keep everyone guessing right to the very end!
Featured at SXSW Sydney Games Festival, PAX Aus, OZ Comicon, GenCon (Online), GoPlayNW (Online), Conquest & Generation Games Festival to overwhelmingly positive reviews, V2S Games is crowdfunding the production of boxed sets that deliver the rich play experience that The King's Poisoner and its players deserve. Find out What People Are Saying below.
15 tokens to track advantage, each printed with kingly design
A large dealer button to indicate the dealer for the round
A 96-page printed pad of character sheets, with more printable from the PDFs provided
A 12-page King's Poisoner Survival Guide for best-practices, extended play and reference
A crown fit for the king (who may or may not be poisoned!)
The limited Deluxe Edition comes in a larger box and includes the Standard Edition contents PLUS a superior royal crown, a custom-made King's Poisoner gaming mat and a set of 6 ten-sided dice.
Promotional image, final product may differ.
Digital mockup, final product may differ.
Promotional image, final product may differ.
The king can be the ruler of any kingdom—past, present, future or fantastic. The title is king by default, but you can be any autocrat of any gender e.g. a queen, an emperor, a pharaoh, CEO etc.
The king takes 2–3 trait cards to create their character and an event card and a threat card to help establish the kingdom.
Everyone else plays a member of the king's court with a provocative motive for murder.
They take a role card and a motive card. Each card presents two options: players choose one of each to create their characters.
Players follow the instructions in the Core Rules (latest version available now) for each Act to set the scene, deal the cards and play a hand of 21 or blackjack.
Act One—The King Holds Court
Everyone plays against the King, presenting themselves to the royal court. Players maneuver to try to win advantage, without falling under suspicion.
Courtesy of the PlayingCards.io Virtual Tabletop Available for Online Play
Act Two—Plotting and Scheming
Players conspire with one another to kill or save the king. Each rendezvous or happenstance is an opportunity to use your advantage and gain more, but you risk suspicion, arrest or worse.
Act Three—Assassination
Those harboring ill intent will try to assassinate the king. Those who remain loyal must act to prevent it.
Only when the last card is played do the players find out whether the king lives or dies—the fate of the entire kingdom in the balance.
The final PDF of the Core Rules available upon release with all updates
The Add-ons you want to add to your pledge (standard shipping fees apply)
The Pledge Manager, which offers the ability to pledge at a later date
Digital mockup, final product may differ.
Friend of the Court (Full Digital—PDFs only)
Thanks for supporting The King's Poisoner! In addition to the benefits of Supporter of the King, this gets you access to everything you need to play online, or print & play at home, which is:
The final PDF of The King's Poisoner's Survival Guide available upon release with all updates
The final PDF of the full deck of The King's Poisoner Game Cards
The final PDF of the Character Notepad
The final digital files for use with the PlayingCards.io Virtual Tabletop & online play
All Fully Digital unlocked stretch goals
Digital mockup, final product may differ.
Member of the Court (Standard Edition Boxed Set + Full Digital PDFs)
Thanks for supporting The King's Poisoner! In addition to the benefits of being a Friend of the Court, this gets you a physical copy of the Standard Edition boxed set with everything you need to play online AND with friends and family at the table!
This includes:
A physical copy of the The King's Poisoner Standard Edition boxed set (see shipping)
All Fully Digital unlocked stretch goals
All Standard Edition unlocked stretch goals
Digital mockup, final product may differ.
Friend of the King (Deluxe Edition Boxed Set + Full Digital PDFs)
Thanks for supporting The King's Poisoner! In addition to the benefits of being a Friend of the Court, this gets you a physical copy of the limited Deluxe Edition boxed set with everything you need to play online AND get the truly royal experience with friends and family at the table!
This includes:
A physical copy of The King's Poisoner Deluxe Edition boxed set (see shipping)
All Fully Digital unlocked stretch goals
All Deluxe Edition unlocked stretch goals
Digital mockup, final product may differ.
In Line for Succession (Deluxe Edition Boxed Set + Full Digital PDFs + Exclusive Game Session with the Creator—Spaces Limited)
Thanks for supporting The King's Poisoner! In addition to the benefits of being a Friend of the King, this gets you an exclusive opportunity to play a game of The King's Poisoner with the game's creator.
No prior experience is necessary as Jonathan can teach you the game as you play and will be only too happy to answer any rules or development questions you may have—which you can take back and share at your table or online playing groups.
Digital mockup, final product may differ.
Merchant of the Court (5 x Standard Edition Boxed Sets + Full Digital PDFs—Bricks & Mortar Retailers only)
Thanks for supporting The King's Poisoner! In addition to the benefits of being a Friend of the Court, this gets you 5 physical copies of the Standard Edition boxed set with everything your customers need to play online AND with friends and family at their tables!
This includes:
5 physical copies of the The King's Poisoner Standard Edition boxed set (see shipping)
All Fully Digital unlocked stretch goals
All Standard Edition unlocked stretch goals
Digital mockup, final product may differ.
Envoy of the King (5 x Deluxe Edition Boxed Sets + Full Digital PDFs—Bricks & Mortar Retailers only)
Thanks for supporting The King's Poisoner! In addition to the benefits of being a Friend of the King, this gets you 5 physical copies of the limited Deluxe Edition boxed set with everything your customers need to play online AND get the truly royal experience with their friends and family at the table!
This includes:
5 physical copies of the The King's Poisoner Deluxe Edition boxed set (see shipping)
All Fully Digital unlocked stretch goals
All Deluxe Edition unlocked stretch goals
Digital mockup, final product may differ
*The following backers will receive a FREE King's Poisoner printed cloth pouch with their reward as a gift:
Followers of the campaign prior to launch who pledge at any level
Anyone who pledged in the first 48 hours of the campaign
Returning supporters who have purchased any V2S Games products prior to the campaign
Some stretch goals will be revealed as they're unlocked during the campaign. Each stretch goal will improve a feature of the boxed set, providing an opportunity to highlight its utility in play and the benefits of its improvement.
“I had the pleasure of playing The King's Poisoner at PAX, and it was one of the highlights of my weekend! The mechanics are easy to learn and the game does an excellent job of encouraging everyone to roleplay and collaborate together. I loved the game so much that I just purchased my own copy, and am super excited to run it for my friends!”—Lucienne Impala, Game Designer
“[…] It was very fun to try and kill the king, incriminate other people and get them thrown in jail. I also like how you can shorten the game based off-of how much time you have. The rules were easy to understand for beginners.”—Vinvinvintage, OZ Comicon
“…absolutely loved it! A really fun and roleplay heavy way to play political assassination with goofy shenanigans & rising stakes!”—LycheeLyrica, PAX Aus
“Incredible story with great flexibility. The core mechanic is timeless and exciting.” —Darthomen96, SXSW Sydney
“It's the type of game that you can pull out for a quick game, easy to learn, but plenty of depth to master as you try to assassinate the King.”—Chaotic Jamgochian, Game Designer & Playtester
“Very distinct characters [I really liked randomly rolling them] with their own motives pointed in weird directions and the mechanics really brought that surprise. I had no idea what was going to happen when I turned that card! Really compelling, loved it! (chef's kiss)”—Marc Majcher, Game Designer, Playtester, Actor & Director
If delicious betrayal and threatened disaster are your favourite ingredients for drama? If jealous siblings, bitter lovers, and loyal-to-a-fault companions are your perfect dinner guests? Then look no further! Walk the knife-edge between avoiding suspicion and carrying out the much-desired assassination with The King's Poisoner!—Donogh McCarthy, Game Designer & Playtester
Shipping fees will be chargedAFTER the campaign during pledge management but before shipping begins. V2S Games is working with a worldwide fulfillment company to ensure accurate and timely shipments.
Shipping for one boxed set is estimated at US$7–17 to Australia, New Zealand, North America, United Kingdom, European Union and Asia, depending on Standard or Deluxe edition (larger), specific country and global market volatility. Estimated shipping to the rest of the world is more expensive. Please contact V2S Games for details. Additional physical items may increase shipping costs. Actual shipping prices will be determined after production is finished.
Shipping to Australia, NZ, Asia, USA or UK won't incur import taxes or VAT. Outside of that, each backer is responsible for any import costs charged by their country.
An aerospace engineer by trade, Jonathan is a lifelong game designer. He founded V2S Games in Melbourne, Australia, with a mission to use games as a means to bring people together. His goal with The King's Poisoner is to introduce tabletop roleplaying to a wider audience and showcase a new approach to collaborative storytelling. Crowdfunding this project is the first step towards making his passion a sustainable one.
