Kickbacks
A kickback is earned when a Corrupt Politician is on a successful project committee, regardless of how they voted. It is added to the Corruption Fund automatically. The Corruption Fund is Bad's win tracker.
How Kickbacks Work
- A project succeeds with a Corrupt Politician on the committee.
- The kickback printed on the project card is added to the Corruption Fund privately.
- The COA audit for next Year is flagged
Kickback: Yes.
The kickback amount is never said out loud. Only the yes or no flag is shared, one Year later, through the COA audit.
Vote does not matter
Any Corrupt Politician on a successful committee earns the kickback — Support or Oppose. The reward is tied to being on the committee, not to the vote.
Kickback Amounts
Kickbacks are printed on each project card. The amounts fall into these ranges by project size:
| Project type | Kickback printed on card |
|---|---|
| Small project | 1 to 2 |
| Large project | 3 to 5 |
The exact value is fixed per card. Neither the Corrupt nor the Good players choose it. The moderator reads the kickback in private and records it.
The Corruption Fund
The Corruption Fund is the net running total of:
- + every Nakaw across all Years
- + every kickback from a successful project committee
- − every Suhol paid: 3
- − every Tokhang paid: half of the Corruption Fund target
Bad wins when the Corruption Fund reaches the target (20 for 13 players). See Win Conditions for the full check order.
Why the deduction matters
Suhol and Tokhang spend straight out of the same tracker that measures Bad's progress. Every ability use is a real cost. A Year where 3 free Corrupt steal +3 and then pay 3 for Suhol contributes 0 to the win threshold. The Corrupt traded threshold progress for a silent COA.
Pace reference (13 players)
If Bad steals around 5 of 7 Years (+3 each) and gets kickbacks on about 3 projects:
- Theft contribution: about 5 × 3 = 15
- Kickback contribution: about 3 × 4 (large average) = 12
- Ability spend: 1 to 2 Suhols (−3 to −6) and maybe 1 Tokhang (−10)
- Net contribution: about 11 to 17 over 7 Years
Good reaches the spending target (24) in roughly the same window. The race is tuned so abilities cost both sides real progress.
The Kickback Decision
When a Corrupt Politician sits on a committee, the kickback comes if the project succeeds — vote any way. The choice is about steering the project, not protecting the kickback:
- Vote Support: push the project toward success. Kickback is collected if it passes.
- Vote Oppose: push the project toward failure. If the project still passes (other committee members carried it), the kickback is still collected. If it fails, neither side gains.