Precedence

Overview

Precedence is a four-player, partnership-based trick-taking game originating in the Core Worlds of the Stellar Drive Empire. Its origins can be directly traced to games like Whist and Spades. It is a game of hierarchy, precision, and controlled ambition.

Played formally in Core and Border salons, Precedence emphasizes disciplined bidding, visible declaration, and long-term strategic restraint.

Game Structure

Each round consists of:

1. Antes
2. Deal
3. Meld Declaration
4. Bidding
5. Trick Play
6. Scoring

1. Antes

At game start, the Accord Pot is funded. It is awarded to the team that wins the full game.

At the start of each hand, each player may contribute an agreed ante into the Hand Pot (table agreement). The Hand Pot is awarded to the winning team of that hand based on scored points.

2. Deal

• 13 cards dealt to each player.

Trump Suit

The trump suit is used every hand. It rotates per hand in a fixed cycle and is announced at the start of each hand. Trump does not change mid-hand.

Rotation order: Core → Border → Frontier → Void → (repeat).

Example: Hand 1 trump is Core; Hand 2 trump is Border; Hand 3 trump is Frontier; Hand 4 trump is Void; Hand 5 trump is Core again; etc.

3. Meld Declaration Phase

Before bidding, players may declare Melds.

Meld Declaration Fee in the Hand Pot

Precedence has no Meld Dare wagering. The only meld-related gambling is optional and set by table agreement.

• Optional Meld Declaration Fee: If the table agrees, each accepted meld declaration costs twice the ante (the same for any meld type), paid into the Hand Pot by the declaring side. Only one meld declaration per player per hand. The fee applies only to accepted meld declarations; rejected or invalid attempts do not incur the fee.

Example: Ante is $2 per player and the optional meld fee is enabled. A player declares a triad and it is accepted. The declaring side adds $4 to the Hand Pot (which is two times $2).

Meld Rules

Allowed Melds

• Triad: 3 cards of identical rank
• Quad: 4 cards of identical rank
• Run (3+): Sequential cards of the same suit (minimum 3)

Meld Scoring (base values)

Meld	Points
Run (3)	10
Run (4+)	20
Triad	30
Quad	40

Declaring Melds

• Declared Meld cards are placed face-up (open) in front of the player who declared them.
• Declared Meld cards must be played before any non-Meld cards.
• Each declared Meld may require an additional fixed wager into the Hand Pot (table agreement).

Contract interaction

• Contract SUCCESS: team gains full meld points.
• Contract FAILURE: team gains half meld points (round down).

4. Bidding

Each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win (0–13). Partners' bids are summed into a team contract (total tricks the team expects to take).

Example: Player A bids 4, Partner bids 5 → Team contract = 9 tricks.

Each trick bid may require a fixed credit contribution to the Hand Pot (table agreement).

5. Trick Play

• Player left of dealer leads first trick.
• Must follow suit if able.
• Highest card of lead suit wins unless trump is played.
• Trump overrides lead suit.
• Emperor is highest card within its suit.

Winner of trick leads next.

6. Scoring — Book threshold

Bids are total tricks a team expects to take. The Book is 6 tricks: therefore, the first 6 tricks score 0. Only tricks above 6 score. Each scoring trick is worth 10 points.

Excess / Bags

Excess tricks (bags) = Tricks taken in excess of the bid. Bags are tracked per team across hands.

When a team's bags reach 10:

• Apply −120 points to that team's score.
• Reduce bags by 10 (carry remainder if any).

This penalty is known formally as:

The Imperial Audit