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 expansion for Carcassonne where each player takes on a character with a secret objective. Players collectively build the French landscape on a pre-printed map and face events, strategic dilemmas, and role-based decisions. Each player follows the standard Carcassonne rules, with several tweaks and additions.

Play as a vassal 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.

Royal Decrees

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…