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The universal resolution system in Congress of Vienna is the exchange of traits. The initiator of the challenge first names one of their traits in the relevant attribute, ideally in an amusing and dramatic fashion ("I shall charm and amuse you easily, because I am Witty!"). The defender replies with a trait of his own, and so forth. Traits are obvious to the viewer - if you throw "Backwards", everyone watching the challenge will realize just how backwards you really are.
In order to activate a trait, you must discard a card of the appropriate suit. Card value never matters, unless a specific ability tells you otherwise.
A single trait can only be used once on each side of a challenge. For example, if one of your allies has already thrown 'Dashing', you cannot throw it as well. However, if one of your opponents throws a trait that you possess, you may respond with the same trait; they cancel out, neither side needs to pay an activation card for that trait, and the challenge keeps going.
In the event of a tie, nothing happens, which means a victory for the defender. Most challenges are simply win/fail, though margin of success challenges do exist, in which case one side can keep throwing traits even after the other side stops. Some challenges are reversible, in which case the initiator may be affected if the defender ends up with more traits (though a tie still means nothing happens).
By default, the main participants (initiator and defender) in a challenge may not be aided/opposed. A challenge will say if aiding is allowed, in which case only those who were present for the initiation may become involved.
Whether or not your target successfully defends, you cannot initiate the same challenge against them again for half an hour.
All abilities that affect other players will come with a card. Show that card to your target when you activate the ability, so that they can tell what you're doing, decide how many resources they want to spend defending against it, etc. Bystanders may not read the card, unless aiding is allowed or the ability has the "Obvious" quality.
Most abilities will have "qualities" listed on their card. If the quality is a word (ie, "Verbal"), that description is obvious to anyone. If the quality is a symbol (ie, "R"), you can only identify it if you have an ability allowing you to do so.
Certain challenges will have the quality "Combat". Combat challenges are blatantly offensive in nature, and can usually allow allies. In Congress of Vienna, combat will be quick - all combat results are decisive, and after one full round, anyone who wishes to flee may do so. (Remember, no re-initiating challenges for 15 minutes.) If you were not present when the combat started, you cannot join in until a full round (attack and possible counterattack) has finished, so you will almost certainly be unable to join in at all.
In general, if the defender has a combat challenge of a similar nature (as defined by the ability cards), the challenge becomes reversible, and the combat will be entirely resolved in the one challenge. If the defender doesn't have a similar challenge, but manages to defend successfully, he or she has the chance to counterattack with a combat ability of his own afterwards.
There is a "default combat result", which applies to the loser of combats and anyone who aided him or her: "You may not initiate any challenge against your attacker, or anyone who aided him/her, for the next 15 minutes." This ensures that all combat results are decisive, so that the game does not get bogged down in drawn-out fight scenes.
Wounds and damage are a common outcome of combat. The effect of "damage" is hand size reduction: if you take 3 damage, your maximum hand size is reduced by 3. You will only have to discard if this reduces your limit below your current number of cards. If your hand size limit ever reaches zero, such that you cannot possibly hold any cards in your hand, you die.
There will be "wealth cards" in the hands of certain characters. All such cards have the same value, regardless of the currency written on the card. These cards represent renewable sources of money, salaries and resources rather than a lump sum. Each is a significant amount of money, able to seriously improve an individual's lifestyle, or have a small but noticeable effect on the finances of a government.
Wealth cards have owners, printed on the card; this will not change over the course of the night, even if the money changes hands. You may not pass wealth along second-hand; for example, if you recieve financing from Rothschild, you cannot then pass along Rothschild's money to Blackadder. Because these are salaries, the owner may rescind a gift/bribe/etc at any time.
Many players will have "troth cards." These represent a character's emotional commitment. No game ability can force you to give your troth to someone else; they should only be given and traded as a result of roleplaying, though abilities can affect that indirectly. Troth cards are used as a method of counting coup, of keeping track of whom (or how many people) you may have successfully charmed.
As with Wealth cards, Troth cards have their owner printed on them. Given the right roleplaying scenario, the owner may rescind a Troth card that has previously been given.
Most characters will own only 1 Troth card. Owning multiple Troth cards means that you care less about each individual commitment, and are perfectly willing to offer your heart (or pieces thereof) to multiple people.
As in many FGS games, your ability to act will be recharged by recoveries provided on your character sheet and at game locations. You will start the game with an empty hand. There are two universal recoveries, which may be used by any character:
You cannot choose to discard a card you don't have. If you're forced to do so, simply skip your next recovery.
Characters will have nametags, which will show their name, title, and a set of symbols. You may only recognize symbols in character if an ability allows you to do so. However, all nametags will contain a Status symbol, which everyone may recognize. Status is a number from 1-5.
Note that even someone with a status of 1 is non-trivial; servants and commoners are not viable characters at the Congress of Vienna. Since all characters present can be assumed to have "done their homework" regarding the attendees of the Congress, you may recognize the name and common information (as given on the cast list) of everyone you meet, regardless of status.
If you have drunk a significant portion (1/3-1/2, your judgement) of a drink, an d find a poker chip in your cup, see a GM.
There will be a map displaying the current military situation in Europe. As the game takes place over one night, there will be no actual troop movements. Government representatives will be able move markers around and indicate potential threats and movements, but such moves will mean exactly what they are, pieces on a map... until the Congress ends, of course.