“Bran was going to be a knight himself someday, one of the Kingsguard. Old Nan said they were the finest swords in all the realm. There were only seven of them, and they wore white armor and had no wives or children, but lived only to serve the king.”
–George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of The Kingsguard , the third Chapter Pack in the Kingsroad cycle for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game !

A man’s word can be broken. A knight’s honor can be tarnished. Any man can harbor secret ambitions, even a member of the Kingsguard. The seven Sworn Brothers of the Kingsguard wear white armor and take vows to serve the crown, and only the crown. However, each Sworn Brother is a man at his core, and susceptible to the temptations and ambitions and doubts that plague all men. Each has his secrets, and the sixty new cards (three copies each of twenty different cards) in The Kingsguard lend shape to their ambitions, their deceptions, and their deadly talents.

Like each of the Chapter Packs in the Kingsroad cycle, The Kingsguard returns players to a Westeros changed by the War of Five Kings, countless treacheries, and new alliances. The balance of power between the game’s six Houses has changed, as have the faces of those Houses. As part of this return to Westeros, each Chapter Pack in the Kingsroad cycle explores one or more of the game’s existing themes or mechanics, adding new depth of strategies and deck-building options while remaining light on new rules.

Accordingly, as it explores the secret ambitions of the seven active Kingsguard , The Kingsguard adds new depth to the game’s Shadows mechanic, featuring not only Shadows-crested versions of the Knights of the Kingsguard , but of other characters and locations, as well. In total, no fewer than twelve of the Chapter Pack’s twenty different cards feature the Shadows crest.

Seven Knights with Seven Styles

“Ser Arys offered his arm and she let him lead her from her chamber. If she must have one of the Kingsguard dogging her steps, Sansa preferred that it be him. Ser Boros was short-tempered, Ser Meryn cold, and Ser Mandon’s strange dead eyes made her uneasy, while Ser Preston treated her like a lackwit child.”
–George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

The Kingsguard introduces eight new characters with the Kingsuard trait, seven of whom bear no House affiliation. All of them bear the Shadows crest, except for Ser Barristan Selmy ( The Kingsguard , 53), the one true Knight among them and the only Kingsguard member to be dismissed from service before his death.

Excepting Ser Barristan Selmy, the knights of the Kingsguard depicted in The Kingsguard are secretive, manipulative, self-serving, and conspiratorial. Their vows are merely veils behind which they hide their true ambitions. Because of this, most of these Kingsguard characters are fueled by secrets , possessing abilities that trigger when cards come out of Shadows, that allow players to return cards to Shadows, or that increase in strength with the number of cards in Shadows.

All told, the new dynamics permitted by these Kingsguard characters will keep your opponents in suspense. You’ll know which cards you’ve placed facedown into Shadows, but your opponent won’t. You’ll be able to identify the perfect moments for these characters to reveal themselves. If you’re clever, you’ll be able to use these Knights to your advantage, preying upon their personal ambitions and swaying them to serve your House and your cause. These Sworn Brothers may have taken their vows to serve only the king, but in the end, they’re only men – talented warriors, but ambitious, prideful, and imperfect. More than anything, they are distinguished from other men by their proximity to the king…and to the Iron Throne.

Secrets, Sorcery, Treachery, and Oaths

These new Kingsguard characters, On My Oath ( The Kingsguard , 60), and the other cards from The Kingsguard will soon make the battles, intrigues, and power grabs of Westeros more exciting and more dangerous than ever.

Look for The Kingsguard to arrive at retailers late in the third quarter of 2013!