Ruling — Argent: The Consortium

← Argent: The Consortium

You asked

How do I setup the game?

Answered counted as answered

Asked with: Argent: The Consortiumbg-144797-en-1e

To setup the game of Argent, follow these steps:

1. Set up Player Offices:

* Identify the First Player as the one who most recently attended a university class and give them the Key Token.[1][2]

* In player order, each player chooses an available candidate sheet or is dealt one randomly.[1][2]

* Each player takes all Marks and Loyalty Badges associated with their color.[1][2]

* Choose a candidate side (side A is recommended for first games) and claim the Starter Spell featuring that candidate's picture.[1][2]

* Take 2 Mages associated with your department, 6 Gold Tokens, 2 Mana Tokens, 2 Intelligence Tokens, and 2 Wisdom Tokens.[1][2]

* Note: Candidates from the Department of Students also begin with an extra Merit Badge.[1][2]

2. Set up the Consortium Board:

* Stack markers on the Influence Point (IP) track at the spot representing 5 Influence; stack these in reverse clockwise turn order starting from the last player, with the First Player's Marker at the top.[1][2]

* Place the two white-bordered Voters (for most Supporters and most Influence) in their appropriate positions on the Consortium Board.[1][2]

* Shuffle the Consortium Deck and deal 10 additional Voter cards face-down onto the Consortium Board.[1][2]

* In turn order, each player chooses and places a Mark on one of the face-down Consortium Voters; no two players may mark the same Voter during this step.[3]

3. Prepare the University:

* Include the white-bordered University Central tiles (Infirmary, Council Chambers, and Library) in the University Board.[1][2]

* Add other rooms randomly depending on the number of players.[1][2]

* For first games, specific layouts are provided (e.g., 3 Players - 8 Rooms; 4 Players - 10 Rooms; 5 Players - 12 Rooms).[4][5]

* All first-game setups use the A sides of each room.[4]

4. Place Mage Power Cards:

* Place the Mage Power reference cards to the side of the board.[1][2]

5. Set up the Bell Tower:

* Set up the Bell Tower Cards in a row below the Consortium Board based on the number of players (e.g., for 3 players, include all 2+ cards but exclude 4+ and 5+ cards).[6]

6. Set up Round Cards:

* Order the five Round Cards with '1' on top and '5' on bottom, and place them near the Consortium Board.[6]

7. Create Decks and Tableaus:

* Shuffle the Spells, Vaults, and Supporters decks and place them face-down beside the game area (set aside Legendary Spells).[6]

* Reveal 3 cards for the Spell Tableau, 3 cards for the Vault Tableau, and 5 cards for the Supporter Tableau.[6]

8. Draft Mages:

* Place all remaining Mages in the center of the table.[6]

* Starting with the last player and moving in counter-clockwise order, each player drafts one Mage; continue alternating clockwise from the Start Player and counter-clockwise from the last player until each player has 5 Mages total.[6]

* Attach one colored Loyalty Badge to each of your Mage's bases.[6]

9. Finalize:

* Put reserves of Gold, Tokens, Merits, and Mana near the board for later use.[1]

[1] RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook · p.8 · Game Setup · 1. Set up Player Offices · 2. Set up the Consortium Board · 3. Prepare the University · 4. Place Mage Power Cards

[2] RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook · p.8

[3] RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook · p.9 · 11. Place Starting Marks

[4] RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook · p.10

[5] RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook · p.10 · Recommended First-Game University Setups · 3 Players - 8 Rooms · 4 Players - 10 Rooms 5 Players - 12 Rooms · Player Office Setup

[6] RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook · p.9 · 4. Place Mage Power Cards · 5. Set up the Bell T ower · 6. Set up Round Cards · 7, 8, 9. Create Decks and T ableaus · 10. Draft Mages

🔧 debug — where this ruling came from

outcome: ANSWERED — Answered
corpus profile: live
answerer pin (deploy-frozen, attribution only): gemma4:26b think:false 5571076f3d70
timings: search 226 ms · ask 13574 ms · total 13810 ms
single-flight (PR-5): queued 0 ms · generation 13810 ms
retrieval refs (raw) — what the PASSAGE SEARCH returned, not what the answerer read: [{"page": 8, "score": 0.048412, "snippet": "Follow these steps to set up your game of Argent... The First Player is the one who most recently attended a university class. Give this player the Key Token to show that he will go first. In player order, each player chooses one of the available candidate sheets, or is dealt one randomly. Each play", "headingPath": "Game Setup · 1. Set up Player Offices · 2. Set up the Consortium Board · 3. Prepare the University · 4. Place Mage Power Cards", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 8, "score": 0.048131, "snippet": "8 88 Game Setup Follow these steps to set up your game of Argent... 3. Prepare the University In every game, the white-bordered University Central tiles (Infirmary, Council Chambers, and Library) will be included somewhere in the University Board. The other rooms will be added randomly, depending on", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 10, "score": 0.047875, "snippet": "10 1010 Recommended First-Game University Setups 3 Players - 8 Rooms 4 Players - 10 Rooms 5 Players - 12 Rooms Note: All first-game setups use the A sides of each room. A 3- or 4-Player game is recommended for your first game. In later games, you can use these basic University layouts, or create mor", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 10, "score": 0.047643, "snippet": "Note: All first-game setups use the A sides of each room. A 3- or 4-Player game is recommended for your first game. Training Fields Courtyard Chapel Catacombs Guilds Vault Student Stores Council Chamber Library Infirmary The setup for two players can be found in the Options and Extras section on pag", "headingPath": "Recommended First-Game University Setups · 3 Players - 8 Rooms · 4 Players - 10 Rooms 5 Players - 12 Rooms · Player Office Setup", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 11, "score": 0.045262, "snippet": "Gameplay proceeds over a series of 5 rounds leading up to the election of the new Chancellor. At the end of the fifth round, all of the Consortium Voters are revealed and whoever has earned the most votes will win the game. Remember that whatever else happens, votes are the only thing that matter at", "headingPath": "Gameplay · 1 - Setup Phase · 2 - Errands Phase", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 9, "score": 0.045228, "snippet": "B Set up the Bell Tower Cards in a row below the Consortium Board, based on the number of players in the game. For example, in a 3-player game, all of the 2+ Bell Tower cards are included, but the 4+ and 5+ cards will be left out. 4 10 6 Chapel d gain a Mark a Mark na; gain a Mark A Stores old disco", "headingPath": "4. Place Mage Power Cards · 5. Set up the Bell T ower · 6. Set up Round Cards · 7, 8, 9. Create Decks and T ableaus · 10. Draft Mages", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 18, "score": 0.044563, "snippet": "There's more than one way to become the Chancellor of the world's most prestigious magical university! Here are some alternate game options that you can use once you are familiar with how to play! Each variant will require new strategies and styles of play to become victorious! For players wanting a", "headingPath": "Options and Extras · Epic Variant · B-Side Rooms · Build the University · Alternate Mage Powers · Diversity Requirement · …", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 5, "score": 0.029877, "snippet": "Your Candidate Sheet contains all relevant information for your Candidate. It has a few notable parts: Name - The Candidate's name and current position at the University. Starting Items - This section shows what gold, mana, stats, and Mages that you begin the game with. Player Aid -This section expl", "headingPath": "Candidate Sheet · Candidate Starting Spell · Optional Open Discards · Bell T ower Offerings · Round Cards", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}]
citations (raw) — what the answer cited, chosen from a retrieval this page cannot show: [{"page": 8, "quote": null, "headingPath": "Game Setup · 1. Set up Player Offices · 2. Set up the Consortium Board · 3. Prepare the University · 4. Place Mage Power Cards", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 8, "quote": null, "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 9, "quote": null, "headingPath": "11. Place Starting Marks", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 10, "quote": null, "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 10, "quote": null, "headingPath": "Recommended First-Game University Setups · 3 Players - 8 Rooms · 4 Players - 10 Rooms 5 Players - 12 Rooms · Player Office Setup", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}, {"page": 9, "quote": null, "headingPath": "4. Place Mage Power Cards · 5. Set up the Bell T ower · 6. Set up Round Cards · 7, 8, 9. Create Decks and T ableaus · 10. Draft Mages", "sharpsignalDocId": 635}]
boost provenance — errata + base rulebook (E2/E3): no registered errata card matched this query; base rulebook doc 635 boosted; rulesage.errata.boost-enabled=true, rulesage.errata.supersedence-enabled=true
base rulebook doc 635 boosted
answered-before recall: this ruling was answered, so past rulings were not offered
similarity threshold in force: 0.55 (rulesage.answered-before.similarity-threshold; the exact-question tier is not gated by it)
debug row retained until: Nov 8, 2026 01:13

retrieval — what the passage search returned

what this block IS: the PASSAGE SEARCH's own results — the same search that fills this page's closest-passages list — and NOT the passages the answerer read. Answering runs its OWN retrieval: a far wider candidate pool, re-ranked down to a final handful, plus floors this search never applies — the base rulebook, surviving errata corrections, and one slot per book on a multi-book read. Each of those armed only if THIS ask sent what it needs: the boost block names the ids it forwarded, and the scope line names the books it read. A document the answer CITES that no row here names is therefore EXPECTED, not a defect: two searches, two candidate pools, two orders. How much wider that pool was is set gateway-side and is NOT REPORTED for this ruling, and neither are the answerer's final rows — so rulesage has nothing of its own to show beside these.

score = the fused retrieval score (reciprocal-rank fusion over the search arms) — NOT a cosine similarity. This ruling ran the THREE-ARM fuse (full-text + vector + the doc-priority boost arm, which carried the base rulebook and/or the errata corrections this query matched), whose arithmetic ceiling is 0.04918 — all three arms ranking the same chunk #1 (ceiling = arms/(k+1) at k=60). The measured healthy band 0.016–0.033 was measured on TWO-arm asks and does not bound this one: its high end is the two-arm ceiling, and a third arm has room above it. A chunk only one arm ranked highly lands near 0.016 (that one arm's #1 vote), so 0.03 here is an excellent hit, not a 3% match.

per-arm ranks (the rank each search arm gave a chunk): NOT DISCLOSED by the gateway. Fusion happens gateway-side and only the FUSED score crosses the wire, so rulesage cannot show them without a gateway change. The rank column below is the FUSED rank (position in the returned list), which is real.

token count per chunk: NOT DISCLOSED — chunk token counts are not reported on the ask path. The character counts below are of the bounded snippet/quote rulesage actually received — a real measurement of what we hold, never an estimate of the chunk.

fused rank	document	heading	page	fused RRF score	snippet chars
#1	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	Game Setup · 1. Set up Player Offices · 2. Set up the Consortium Board · 3. Prepare the University · 4. Place Mage Power Cards	p.8	0.048412 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#2	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)		p.8	0.048131 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#3	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)		p.10	0.047875 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#4	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	Recommended First-Game University Setups · 3 Players - 8 Rooms · 4 Players - 10 Rooms 5 Players - 12 Rooms · Player Office Setup	p.10	0.047643 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#5	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	Gameplay · 1 - Setup Phase · 2 - Errands Phase	p.11	0.045262 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#6	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	4. Place Mage Power Cards · 5. Set up the Bell T ower · 6. Set up Round Cards · 7, 8, 9. Create Decks and T ableaus · 10. Draft Mages	p.9	0.045228 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#7	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	Options and Extras · Epic Variant · B-Side Rooms · Build the University · Alternate Mage Powers · Diversity Requirement · …	p.18	0.044563 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#8	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	Candidate Sheet · Candidate Starting Spell · Optional Open Discards · Bell T ower Offerings · Round Cards	p.5	0.029877 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300

what the answerer read — the passages it actually had in front of it

what this block IS: the passages the ANSWERING read put in front of the answerer, in the order it read them — the other half of the two reads described above, and the one that decides what the answer could possibly say. Each row names the book it came from and where in that book it sits, what it scored when the search arms were fused, which arm carried it there, and whether the re-ranker chose it or a floor guaranteed it a slot. A row here that no passage-search row names is EXPECTED: a far wider pool, re-ranked, with floors the passage search never applies.

the passages the answerer read: NOT RECORDED for this ruling. Any of three things leaves this empty, and they are all different from the answerer having had nothing to read: this ask may never have reached a gateway at all; a multi-book ask keeps each book's own context on that book's own page rather than here; or the gateway build that answered may simply not report it. What this NEVER means is that the answerer read nothing — an answer was composed from passages either way, and their absence here is a gap in what we were told, not in what it read.

chosen chunks — what the answer actually cited

#	document	heading	page	quote chars
[1]	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	Game Setup · 1. Set up Player Offices · 2. Set up the Consortium Board · 3. Prepare the University · 4. Place Mage Power Cards	p.8	no quote on the wire
[2]	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)		p.8	no quote on the wire
[3]	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	11. Place Starting Marks	p.9	no quote on the wire
[4]	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)		p.10	no quote on the wire
[5]	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	Recommended First-Game University Setups · 3 Players - 8 Rooms · 4 Players - 10 Rooms 5 Players - 12 Rooms · Player Office Setup	p.10	no quote on the wire
[6]	RULEBOOK Argent: The Consortium — Rulebook (corpus doc 635)	4. Place Mage Power Cards · 5. Set up the Bell T ower · 6. Set up Round Cards · 7, 8, 9. Create Decks and T ableaus · 10. Draft Mages	p.9	no quote on the wire

generation — timing and the path taken

timing split: retrieval 226 ms · first delta 8324 ms · total 13810 ms (retrieval and first-delta both measured from the START of gateway work, so first-delta INCLUDES retrieval — do not subtract)
full breakdown: queued 0 ms · retrieval 226 ms · ask 13574 ms · gateway work 13810 ms · total 13810 ms
tokens in (the prompt the answerer read): 4251
tokens out (what the answerer generated): 800
tok/sec: 146.9 tok/sec — 800 output tokens in 5.446 s of generation
live seat (read from the running child): answering — gemma4:26b think:false · num_ctx 32768 (live-verified 49s ago)
stream path: streamed — the gateway pushed at least one accumulated draft
watchdog: first-token watchdog: 30s per arming window (rulesage.table.first-token-watchdog-seconds), re-armed once by the passages frame — so the worst case before a reader falls back to polling is 60s. Whether it actually fired is a BROWSER-side decision that never reaches the server, so it is not recorded here. The stream path above is the server's half of that story: whether a delta was emitted at all.
num_ctx · think posture: both are the CHILD's settings, not rulesage's, and no ask reply carries them — an answer never states which context window or think posture produced it. The live-seat line above reads them from the running child instead, where the gateway can answer for itself; it describes the child NOW, not this ask.

disposition

outcome: ANSWERED — Answered
abstain rationale (n/a — this ruling answered): answered — no abstain rationale applies

setup-shape — why the checklist band did or didn't render

decision: NO_APPROVED_CHECKLIST — setup-shaped, but no approved setup checklist exists for this game
pattern that matched: SETUP — "setup" / "set up"
matched words (in the normalized question): setup

errata registry — what the gate above had to match against

this game registers NO errata cards (edition 568), so "no registered errata card matched" above could never have matched one

Errata scope: the gate above matched this ruling's own edition only. When an ask also reads an expansion, that expansion's own registered errata cards stay outside the match — a stated phase-1 limitation, not a failed lookup.