Concepts

Act Structure

• Play three acts, of 3/3/4 chapters. Acts do not end early due to power thresholds, play all chapters.
• Act 1, players receive a Fate and perform initial setup.
• Between Acts, there is an Intermission where board state is partially cleaned up, players might change their Fate, and otherwise existing game state mostly just carries forward.
• Winner of the campaign game is the player with the most power after Act 3, but power is halved during each intermission.

Fates

• Fates provide players with unique and diverse abilities. They include setup instructions, and new cards and tokens to be added to the game as instructed (into your play area, or into the court deck, or edicts, or otherwise).
• They are categorized as A/B/C based on which act they can be drawn in. A and B fates have followup unlocks for the remaining acts.
• Act 1/2: each Fate has an Objective score (separate marker on the power track) and some ways to score points toward that Objective. During intermission, you add new cards to the game based on whether you succeed or fail your Objective. If you succeed your objective, you may keep or switch fates. If you fail, you must switch.
• Act 3: A/B Fates have a Grand Ambition, with two conditions that grant significant ramping power at the end of each chapter based on how many conditions you satisfy.
• Act 3: C fates have a Final Objective, which once completed lets you outright win the game at the end of a chapter, if you have at least 1 power.

Empire, Alligiance

• All players start as a Regent of the crumbling galactic Empire. One Regent is First Regent, who governs the Empire and holds the Imperial Trust.
• A Regent can become an Outlaw (or return as a Regent) by calling a Summit - Summit taught later.
• Empire Control: The Empire controls any system with at least one fresh Imperial ship.
• Presence Law: During a Regent’s turn, they control Imperial systems with at least one Loyal piece, and can perform actions there with Imperial ships.
  • The First Regent controls Imperial systems for the purposes of ambitions, objectives, and events.
• Truce Law: In Imperial-controlled systems, Regents cannot harm or tax the empire or each other.
  • harm means battle, hit, damage, or destroy (except taking damage when attacking).
• Movement Law: When moving Imperial ships, for each ship moved a loyal ship must move with it.
• Imperial Trust: a frozen holder for resources which are hard to lose or spend, but count toward ambitions.
• Regents may add Imperial ships to battle when attacking, and must do so when defending. Outlaws may choose to attack the Empire directly, in which case Regents do not defend (and the First Regent takes Outlaw trophies).

Free States

• Neutral cities/starports. Can tax/build ships/repair/catapult from them in systems you control.
• If you battle, all free buildings in the system defend. Take as trophies when destroyed. Destroying free Cities provokes outrage as usual. They can be raided for exactly one resource of the planet type for one raid key.
• There’s an unlimited supply, if not enough tokens use a proxy.

Blight

• Is tough, taking 2 hits from one roll to damage/destroy.
• Is hostile, stopping Catapult moves.
• Deals damage during Crises, first to Imperial pieces, and if none then to all players present.
• Repairs and spawns more during Intermission.

Events

• Imperial Council is a new Court card, can be influenced/secured like any other while “In Session”.
  • Securing it triggers an Event at end of round for the securing player, and supercedes Event cards.
• A few Event cards are shuffled into the Action deck.
  • Cannot be led, or played facedown.
  • When played faceup, they grant actions equal to the lead card, and trigger an Event at end of round for the player with initiative, after it changes.
  • If played after another Event card, or after the Imperial Council has been secured, it does nothing.
• Resolving an Event at the end of a chapter has two phases: (optionally) calling a Summit, and then resolving either Crises or Edicts. (Imperial Council chooses, if Event the dice decide.)
  • Summit: allows leaving the empire, flipping the Council back to In Session, and triggers a negotiating round where players can exchange pieces and resources.
  • Crises: Resolve Blight Crises (they attack), Fate Crises (in turn order, from player cards), and Court Crises (from unsecured cards in Court).
  • Edicts: Resolve from the rules booklet, from low number to high. Govern the Imperial Reach is performed by the First Regent: change policy, or enforce current by collecting Imperial Demand and taking Imperial Action.

Setup

• Add 2/2/3 Event cards to Action deck
• Build Court deck with “CC” Vox/Guild cards, add 1 Lore card per player
• Place Imperial Council “In Session” as leftmost Court card (after dealing normal amount)
• Build initial Rules Booklet
  • (2p) Guild Envoys Depart
  • Govern the Imperial Reach - shuffle, stack in one slot
• Imperial clusters
  • Roll number die, this and next clockwise are Imperial
  • (2p) add a resource token from each Imperial planet to ambitions
  • Place 1 Imperial ship in each Imperial system
  • Place 1 damaged Blight in each non-Imperial system
  • Roll event die, place 1 Free City on each matching non-Imperial system
• Players draw 2 Fates, simultaneously choose and reveal
  • Set up based on Objective card, setup side
  • All players start as Regent
  • Switchback setup: 3 ships + 1 building in a system with an Imperial ship
  • Free Cities to any empty Imperial planet building slots

During Play

Summit

• Call to Order - take any number of actions
  • Return Favor to force a Negotiation action targeting you, costs 1 favor
  • Petition the Council back to In Session
  • Leave the Empire
    • If First Regent, give to Regent with most Power.
    • If no Regents, empty Imperial Trust and lose 1 power per resource returned
  • Revive the Empire
    • If no Regents, become a Regent and take First Regent
• Negotiations - all players take any number of actions, needs consent of affected Rival
  • Cede Control - replace 1 Loyal piece with a Rival’s. Can only cede buildings if no Loyal ship in system, cannot cede last city, starport, or ship on map.
  • Delegate Authority - replace 1 Loyal agent on a court card with a Rival’s.
  • Promise Favor - give a Loyal agent from your supply to a Rival
  • Transfer Asset - give a Captive, Trophy, Favor, or Resource to a Rival
    • forcing a resource transfer costs Favors equal to raid cost
  • Invite to Empire - If you’re first regent, return an Outlaw to Regent

Flagships

• Granted by some B Fates.
• Turns all Loyal buildings Free, and gives you a Flagship piece.
• Flagship can be upgraded with your city/starport tokens, making it tougher and giving it more function.
• Has a whole other page of rules, but get that from the rulebook when someone actually grabs a Flagship Fate.