The Black Rider – a Regents Journey
Peace has left the land. In the shadows of church towers, a rider without a master roams. He brings division—and death—wherever he goes…
It is a turbulent time in the Kingdom of France. Villages are growing into cities, roads cut through forests and rivers, and cloisters shelter those who still believe in order amidst chaos. Though the kingdom is drawn on parchment, power is far from settled. Within these lines, construction—and conflict—will unfold.
In The Black Rider, you step onto familiar terrain with unfamiliar rules. The game board is predetermined, and space is limited.
Your Role in the Story
The Black Rider is a narrative adventure set in a medieval landscape where players place tiles, claim territory, and pursue hidden objectives—while a dark figure haunts the countryside. The game is played on a fixed map with characters, secrets, and unpredictable events. Play smart, guard your secrets… and watch your back.
Purchase Options
Whats included?
Game board: Map of France
The game takes place in medieval France. Tile placement is prohibited to the tile locations on the map, forcing design choices and expansion options.
24 Royal Decrees cards
During the game, events can be triggered when a tile is placed on a field with an envelope icon. Inside the envelope is a Royal Decree, which must be read aloud and executed immediately.
The Black Rider
The Rider wanders the land, hunting his next victim. At the start of each turn, the active player rolls a die and moves the Rider accordingly. Wherever he lands, followers (meeples) are driven off the board and returned to their players.
At the end of the game, the Rider remains active—and blocks scoring in any area he’s haunting…
5 Characters
Each player takes the mantle of a character wandering through France with their own personal goals to make their claim to power.
Play as one of five vassals of King Charles VI…
Mette
of the Low Plains
Mette lives with the land and speaks with her hands. She smells the rain before it falls and knows where the grain will grow before it’s sown. Her domain stretches across the fields, but her heart reaches further—she feeds the hungry but has no patience for pride or greed. In the game of power, she’s often overlooked… until her fields are found to feed three cities. They call her a peasant, but some quietly call her the true queen of the land.
Brother Alric
of the Dark Abbey
Brother Alric spoke to trees as a child—or so he believed. Raised in a monastery at the forest’s edge, where silence is sacred and knowledge a weapon, he studied inscriptions, relics, and lost scriptures. Some say his prayers can shift the weather. Others whisper he knows more about the Black Rider than is safe for a mortal man.
Ser Dorian Malk
Master of Roads
Gold. Grain. Gossip. If it can be moved, Ser Dorian has sold it. His wagons come from afar, his contacts stretch farther. He’s charming but evasive; courteous, but ruthless in a deal. Dorian calls himself “just a businessman with a good sense of direction”—yet he’s always suspiciously close to the places the Black Rider has just visited…
Lord Ysbrand
of the Silver Gavel
Even as a boy, Ysbrand preferred scrolls to swords. His judgment is sharp, his memory unforgiving. Appointed magistrate of three cities before the age of thirty, he’s never given a ruling he regrets. He believes in justice—but also in order, even when it must be enforced with a heavy hand.
Lupus Vernot
Son of Stone
Born in a quarry and raised by masons, Lupus knows every stone by name. He speaks in blueprints, sleeps with a compass beneath his pillow, and refuses wine unless it’s drunk atop a roof he designed. Wherever he appears, something rises. Sometimes wondrous, sometimes useless—but always impressive.
Compatibility Guide
The Black Rider is designed as a narrative Journey for Regents and is fully playable using the Regents base game.
For players who enjoy classic tile-laying games, we also provide a free compatibility guide that explains how this story can be adapted to other popular tile-laying systems, such as Carcassonne.
This optional PDF contains:
- terminology mappings (e.g. how certain buildings or areas correspond),
- minor rule adjustments where needed,
- guidance on using the story, characters, and events without Regents components.
The compatibility guide is entirely optional, free of charge, and not required to play The Black Rider with Regents.
Download the free compatibility guide
This guide is an unofficial adaptation and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any other publisher.
