Count Ilban Richese

Every Solari you spend comes back as knowledge — industry that pays twice.

Beginner-friendly (one complexity icon)

Background

Count Ilban Richese runs the Imperium's factories, and his ledgers reward every expense. Ruthless Negotiator draws you a card whenever you pay Solari for the cost of a board space — Conspire, Rally Troops, the Mentat, the High Council, the Swordmaster all arrive with a bonus card attached. His Signet Ring, Manufacturing, mints 1 Solari flat.

One complexity icon: spend money, draw cards, repeat. The craft is in building a loop where the signet's Solari feeds the spaces that trigger the draws.

How you win

Ilban's game is a virtuous circle: signet Solari → Solari-cost spaces → bonus draws → bigger Reveal turns → more purchases → a deck that accelerates every shuffle. The Swordmaster and High Council — mandatory buys for most leaders — are profitable for you, each arriving with a card attached.

Convert the engine into VPs the usual ways: Persuasion-heavy Reveals buying The Spice Must Flow, funded Conflict commitments, and faction climbs powered by simply seeing more cards than everyone else.

How they play

Route plans through Solari costs — when two lines are close, prefer the one that pays Solari to a space: the drawn card is a hidden rider on every such turn
Mentat becomes elite — 2 Solari for a draw, an extra Agent, and the Negotiator draw; take it whenever it's open
Signet on off-turns — a quiet Manufacturing play keeps the treasury stocked so a cost-paying line is always available next turn
Buy infrastructure early — the Swordmaster and Council both trigger your passive; Ilban wants them sooner than almost any leader

Strengths

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The game's biggest one-time purchases — Swordmaster, High Council — are cheaper in real terms for Ilban because each comes with a drawn card. His infrastructure spike arrives earlier and hurts less.
✓
Manufacturing means the trigger resource is never missing: the ring prints the Solari that the passive converts into cards. No other leader's two abilities mesh this cleanly.

Weaknesses

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His passive needs Solari-cost spaces, and there are only so many — a table that blocks Conspire, the Mentat, and Rally Troops starves the Negotiator for whole rounds.
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Extra draws feel great and score nothing by themselves. Ilban players can "win the engine" and lose the game if the card advantage never becomes Conflicts, Influence, or Spice Must Flow buys.

Tips & tricks

Tip
Conspire costs spice, not Solari — check each space's cost icon before counting on the draw. Rally Troops (4 Solari, 4 troops, plus your card) is the Negotiator's true jackpot turn.
Tip
Set engine deadlines: by mid-game the extra cards should be showing up as bought Spice Must Flow VPs or faction thresholds — if not, redirect the draws toward swords and Conflicts.

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