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Lets say:

It's Andy's turn and he pays three coins to assasinate Bob.

Charlie has a Contessa and wants to disrupt Andy.

Is Charlie allowed to use his Contessa here?

dwjohnston
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2 Answers2

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When Andy has his turn, the following happens:

  1. Andy claims to have an Assassin, and named Charlie as his target and pays 3 coins
  2. Bob and Charlie both have an opportunity to challenge Andy
  3. If Andy has not been challenged (or he was challenged but does have the Assassin), the Assassination action proceeds. If the challenge was successful, the Assassination action did not take place and thus Andy has his 3 coins returned to him
  4. Charlie (and only Charlie) may claim Contessa to block the assassination
  5. If he does, Andy and Bob both have an opportunity to challenge Charlie
  6. If Charlie does not (claim to) have the Contessa, the assassination goes through and Charlie loses an influence

A similar effect happens with someone claiming Captain. On the other hand, anybody may claim to have the Duke in order to block someone's Foreign Aid.

Source: The game's designer, answering pretty much this exact same question on BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/10440845#10440845

Daniel Lim
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ConMan
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  • This answer doesn't relate to my question, which is Andy attempting to assassinate Bob. – dwjohnston Jul 24 '15 at 05:15
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    Then swap Bob and Charlie's names in my answer. If the assassination target does not claim to have a Contessa, it cannot be blocked only challenged. I've found a BGG thread where the designer answers this exact question. – ConMan Jul 24 '15 at 06:38
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No, only the person who has the action taken against them can block it. It doesn't Matter if it is assassination or the stealing of coins, the target will need the card (or claim to have it) to block it. The only thing another player can do is challenge the acting player if they don't think they have the card they claim they do.

Joe W
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