Hi all.

Im totally new to TI4. Purchased a copy and played a 4 player game with friends (all seasoned gamers). We had fun learning but didn’t use promissory notes.

Having looked at the rules for them and read them all, I’m wondering how and when to use them and how to gain benefit and leverage from them in game. (Particularly the faction specific ones that tend to have a detrimental effect on you)

I understand that they can only be used by players that you have given them to. Please can someone explain to me when I would want to use them and how to get value from them.

Thanks everyone.

The easiest place to use them strategically is during the Politics phase. A Law (or other type) that comes up that harms mainly you, and the other players either don't care, or don't care much, you could swing someone to vote in your favor.

Yes, you need to balance the "harm to you" from each. But some of the racials are easier to give away than others (Nekro, Hacan, Jol-Nar), that could be given several times in a game. It will be tough to give the "bonus to attack me" racial notes, but if that Agenda card is harmful enough, it might be worth giving out......at the time.

On a side note, the player you trade the Note to, can trade it to a 3rd party, which may or may not be a problem for you, but something to keep an eye on.

The main problem with the notes is that they're a) strong and b) unpredicable (in terms of when they hit you). But generally, if you can get something benefitial now, it's often worth it to give a PN, since you don't know if they're ever used at all.

You get value from them only in that you can trade them for something else that you want. It's really no more complex than that.

I gain nothing tangible from someone else having my Ceasefire PN. However, I might give someone my Ceasefire...

A. ...in exchange for the three trade goods that I really need right now.

B. ...for their promise to cast at least eight votes a certain way on an important agenda.

C. ...in exchange for their own Ceasefire, as part of a temporary truce.

D. ...as a token of goodwill to prove that I have no intent of attacking, so that that player doesn't complain or retaliate when I take over two systems one away from his homeworld.

And so on.

On 1/1/2018 at 7:42 PM, pklevine said:

You get value from them only in that you can trade them for something else that you want. It's really no more complex than that.

^ This. Being a sneaky SoB helps of course. If you can convince the other players that your potential future commodities are worth blocking one of their future attacks (of your choice) then more power to you. The *real* fun is when you trade away someone else's PN for your own advantage without the original player groking it.