I found an article on Cardmarket about Commander variants and one in particular stood out to me, Kingdoms. So I thought I could adapt it for 60 card multiplayer games.
Kingdoms Rules:
Get one Plains, one Swamp, one Forest, and two Mountains. If you have a sixth player joining, add one Island as well.
Every player receives one land face down at random.
The player who received the Plains is the King. The King is the only player that reveals their identity. All other players cannot reveal their roles until the game is completely over.
The King always starts first and begins with 50 life. The King wins the game if they are the final player alive.
The player who receives a Forest is the Knight. The Knight's goal is to protect the King. If the King and the Knight are the lasts ones alive, they both win the game.
The players who receive the Mountains are the Bandits and their goal is to kill the King. If the King dies, the Bandits win the game, regardless of who else is still alive.
The player who receives a Swamp is the Assassin. The Assassin wins when all other players are dead.
The player who receives an Island is the Usurper. The Usurper's goal is to deal the finishing blow to the King. If this happens, the Usurper becomes the King (and vice versa). The Usurper's life total is then set to 50, while the King stays at 1 life. It's now also the Knight's purpose to defend the new King.
Players besides the King cannot reveal their roles until the game is completely over. (The only exception is if the Usurper kills the King.)
Players can "claim" that they have certain role.
One thing I wanted to do was expand the roles for even larger than six players, the other was to use a more resonant way to denote each player's role. Instead of using basic lands I went with cards and tokens to determine the players roles.
Each player is randomly dealt a face-down role card. Only the King reveals their role unless a rule states otherwise.
The first six roles basically function the same but some of the titles are different. B Because this isn't a Commander version, the King starts with 35 life. The King goes first, and wins if they, or they and the Knight* are the last remaining players. B The White Knight's(I use a Knight token) job is to protect the King, no matter which player ends up becoming King . The White Knight wins if they are the last one standing or If the King wins. B There are two Assassins(once again, tokens to represent), the Assassins' goal is to kill the King. If the King dies, the Assassins win, regardless of what other players are still in the game. B The Dragon(token here too) can only win when all other players are eliminated. B For a six player game you add The Usurper. The Usurper's goal is to become the King. When the Usurper deals lethal damage to the King the Usurper reveals their role and trades roles with the King. The Usurper's life total is set to 35 and they take the King card, they in affect become the new King. The defeated King's life is set to 1, and they are now the Usurper. The Usurper must become King and win as King. B For a seven player game add in the Prince. The Prince's goal is to become the King. For a Prince to become King they must do lethal damage to a King and then trade roles with them(see Usurper). After the Prince becomes king, all they then need to do is defeat the Usurper to win. B With eight players add the Black Knight(I use Riftmarked Knight's token). The Black Knight is loyal to the original King, and can only win if the original King wins. If the Black Knight does lethal damage to a King who is not the starting king, the starting King gets their crown back(meaning they, the kings, trade roles and get life total rests associated with the role exchange).
During the game players are not to reveal their roles, unless otherwise instructed to do so, but may bluff at what their role is.
The cards I've tagged are some ideas for great flavor representation. With options such as these and the tokens, players have a firmer, more flavorful grasp on their role
Edited after playgroup input.
Get one Plains, one Swamp, one Forest, and two Mountains. If you have a sixth player joining, add one Island as well.
Every player receives one land face down at random.
The player who received the Plains is the King. The King is the only player that reveals their identity. All other players cannot reveal their roles until the game is completely over.
The King always starts first and begins with 50 life. The King wins the game if they are the final player alive.
The player who receives a Forest is the Knight. The Knight's goal is to protect the King. If the King and the Knight are the lasts ones alive, they both win the game.
The players who receive the Mountains are the Bandits and their goal is to kill the King. If the King dies, the Bandits win the game, regardless of who else is still alive.
The player who receives a Swamp is the Assassin. The Assassin wins when all other players are dead.
The player who receives an Island is the Usurper. The Usurper's goal is to deal the finishing blow to the King. If this happens, the Usurper becomes the King (and vice versa). The Usurper's life total is then set to 50, while the King stays at 1 life. It's now also the Knight's purpose to defend the new King.
Players besides the King cannot reveal their roles until the game is completely over. (The only exception is if the Usurper kills the King.)
Players can "claim" that they have certain role.
One thing I wanted to do was expand the roles for even larger than six players, the other was to use a more resonant way to denote each player's role. Instead of using basic lands I went with cards and tokens to determine the players roles.
Each player is randomly dealt a face-down role card. Only the King reveals their role unless a rule states otherwise.
The first six roles basically function the same but some of the titles are different.
B Because this isn't a Commander version, the King starts with 35 life. The King goes first, and wins if they, or they and the Knight* are the last remaining players.
B The White Knight's(I use a Knight token) job is to protect the King, no matter which player ends up becoming King . The White Knight wins if they are the last one standing or If the King wins.
B There are two Assassins(once again, tokens to represent), the Assassins' goal is to kill the King. If the King dies, the Assassins win, regardless of what other players are still in the game.
B The Dragon(token here too) can only win when all other players are eliminated.
B For a six player game you add The Usurper. The Usurper's goal is to become the King. When the Usurper deals lethal damage to the King the Usurper reveals their role and trades roles with the King. The Usurper's life total is set to 35 and they take the King card, they in affect become the new King. The defeated King's life is set to 1, and they are now the Usurper. The Usurper must become King and win as King.
B For a seven player game add in the Prince. The Prince's goal is to become the King. For a Prince to become King they must do lethal damage to a King and then trade roles with them(see Usurper). After the Prince becomes king, all they then need to do is defeat the Usurper to win.
B With eight players add the Black Knight(I use Riftmarked Knight's token). The Black Knight is loyal to the original King, and can only win if the original King wins. If the Black Knight does lethal damage to a King who is not the starting king, the starting King gets their crown back(meaning they, the kings, trade roles and get life total rests associated with the role exchange).
During the game players are not to reveal their roles, unless otherwise instructed to do so, but may bluff at what their role is.
The cards I've tagged are some ideas for great flavor representation. With options such as these and the tokens, players have a firmer, more flavorful grasp on their role
Edited after playgroup input.