Aether Captains: Capek Golems Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Setup
• Card Layouts
  • Golem Capek Card Layout
  • Game Card Layout
  • Scientific Inquiry Colors
• Initial Game Setup
• To Win
• Play
  • 1. Buy cards from the Auction House and play them immediately or place them in your hand.
  • 2. Discard a set of Scientific Inquiry cards and mark gained resources on your Capek Golem cards.
  • Special Wild Cards
  • 3. Discard one card to draw two new cards from the Draw Pile.
• Additional Rules of Play

Requirements

For this game you'll need the deck of 54 cards consisting of:

• 12 Capek Golem body part cards, 6 per player
• 39 game cards showing areas of scientific inquiry, gold coins and field research journal entries
• 3 cards which make up the Auction House and Public Outrage Track
• 40 markers for the Capek Golem cards (eurocubes work well) [Alternately you can use 6d6 per player, placing one die on each Golem card and rotating the die up each time a resource is gained towards the specified total.] and one additional marker for the Public Outrage Track

Setup

Each player should begin by taking a set of the 6 Capek Golem cards and placing the cards in front of them as shown in the Golem Capek Card Layout below. Place the Auction House and Public Outrage cards in a row between the players and put a marker on the zero (0) space of the track (see next page).

Each card making up the sections of your Capek Golem shows several icons. Black circles represent the number of Field Research resources that must be found to give you the spare parts needed. Colored circles with numbers represent the number of cards of matching colors for the Scientific Inquiry resources. There are 6 types of Scientific Inquiry cards/resources and each has a unique color. You will need to collect sets of cards that match one of these color icons, not both. Some cards in the deck have a 7th color (dark gray) with the name of a character; these cards are wild and can be used in the place of any other color.

Next, shuffle the deck of 39 game cards and deal 4 cards to each player. Place the rest of the deck face down to the left of the Auction House as the Draw Pile and turn over 4 cards, placing each face up in the 4 Auction House slots adjacent to the gold coin icons (see diagram below right). Cards in the Auction House can be purchased during the game and used immediately to gain Field Research resources to be placed on your Capek Golem cards, or they may be placed in your hand to build a Scientific Inquiry set, or used later as gold to purchase more cards. Players may have as many cards in their hand as they wish.

Lastly, choose who goes first.

Card Layouts

Golem Capek Card Layout

The printed layout of a Capek Golem body part card is labelled: Field Research Resource Space, Scientific Inquiry Set Colors and number of cards needed for a set, and Capek Golem Body Part. The six body part cards are fig. 1 braincase assembly, fig. 2 torso motor, fig. 3 left manipulator, fig. 4 right manipulator, fig. 5 left ambulator and fig. 6 right ambulator.

Game Card Layout

Each game card has 3 parts to it. The printed layout is labelled: Scientific Inquiry Resource Value, Scientific Inquiry Set Color, Scientific Inquiry Type, Gold Value when using this card to purchase an auction card, Field Research Journal Notes, Field Research Resource Value and Public Outrage Track Value.

• A colored rectangle showing the Scientific Inquiry resource color with a resource value number. It is located in the upper left of the card.
• The center right of the card shows 1-3 gold coins. Gold is used in the game to buy cards in the Auction House.
• The lower third of the card shows two icons: a black circle with a number referring to the Field Research resource value and a red circle with a number referring to the Public Outrage cost to play that card for Field Research resources. A journal entry to the right outlines part of the narrative about your Field Research.

Scientific Inquiry Colors

The six Scientific Inquiry color types are: Parts Machining, Organ Replacement, Steam Engine Dynamics, Ventilation Systems Integration, Aetheric Sublimation and Brain Surgery.

The seventh color is wild and has the name of a character (The Engineer, The Assistant or The Hired Man).

Initial Game Setup

Place the two Auction House and the Public Outrage cards together in a row and place a marker on the zero space of the Public Outrage Track.

Deal four cards face up, one in each auction slot. Place the rest of the deck in the Draw Pile slot.

The Auction House consists of 4 slots, each with a different gold value. You may buy cards here to use immediately to gain Field Research resources or place in your hand to use later for a Scientific Inquiry resource set or buy cards later with its Gold value. After the player is done buying cards, slide any remaining Auction cards around to fill in the empty space (ex. if a card is bought from auction space (2), move cards (4) and (3) down to fill in the (2) space, and turn over a new card, placing it in the (4) space.)

The Public Outrage Track is used to track the righteous anger of the citizens of Easley by the River towards the experiments being conducted by the players. If the marker on this track ever reaches (25), both players lose simultaneously. Both players will need to work together to make sure the token never gets that high. The token can never move below zero.

Discarded cards will go here. When the Draw Pile is exhausted, shuffle the Discard Pile and place face down on the left as a new Draw Pile.

To Win

To win a player must activate all six cards of their Capek Golem. Activating a single card includes having all Field Research resources (represented by the circular black icons) for that card as well as discarding one set of Scientific Inquiry cards matching the number total on one of the two colored circular icons (You need to only match one color, not both, nor may you have a mix of colors). Each Capek Golem card has a different number of resources needed to activate it. However, if the marker ever reaches (25) on the Public Outrage Track both players lose the game. The two types of resources (Field Research and Scientific Inquiry) can be activated in any order but both are needed required to fully activate a Capek Golem card.

The printed figure beside the body part cards reads: "To activate this card you will need to mark 3 Field Research resources, and you will need to play a set of 3 Scientific Inquiry cards matching either the circular blue (Ventilation Systems Integration) or yellow (Parts Machining) icon. You need only match one of these colors, not both. Once you have played one of these sets you may place a resource marker in this area." It also reads: "The two types of resources (Field Research and Scientific Inquiry) can be activated in any order but both are required to fully activate a Capek Golem card."

Play

If at the start of a player's turn the player has fewer than two cards in hand, they should draw two cards from the Draw Pile before completing any of the three actions. A player may do any of the following three actions on their turn, in any order, but can do each action only once during that turn:

1. Buy cards from the Auction House and play immediately or place them in your hand.
2. Discard a set of Scientific Inquiry cards and mark gained resources on your Capek Golem cards.
3. Discard one card to draw two new cards from the Draw Pile.

1. Buy cards from the Auction House and play them immediately or place them in your hand.

The Auction House has four cards for sale, each at a different value - ranging from 4 gold coins down to 1 gold coin. Purchase a single card at its Auction value by discarding cards with an equal or greater number of gold coins (cards in your hand will show either 1, 2 or 3 gold coins, so to buy an Auction card worth 4 gold coins a player will discard a combination of cards equal or greater to 4 gold coins) to buy that one card. You may repeat this step to buy additional cards, one at a time.

Now the player must do one of two things with any of the cards purchased:

A. Discard a card immediately on the Discard Pile and take the number of Field Research markers as indicated by the circular black icon and distribute them however you like on your Capek Golem cards on the round black resource icons. Then move the marker up or down the Public Outrage Track as indicated by the number in the circular red icon. A positive number moves the marker towards (25), a negative number moves the marker towards (0). Remember if the marker ever reaches (25) both players lose the game and the citizens of Easley on the River will come knocking on your doors with pitchforks and torches asking to have a word with you about your immoral experiments. The marker can never move below (0).

Note: This is the only way you can gain Field Research resources. You may not play a card from your hand to collect these resources.

B. Place any gained cards in your hand and use them later on for their gold value or to complete a Scientific Inquiry set.

After deciding on one of these two options slide the remaining Auction cards around to fill in the empty space (ex. if a card is bought from auction space {2}, move cards {4} and {3} down to fill in the {2} space), and turn over a new card, placing it in the {4} space.

The printed figure for this step labels: the Field Research resource value (the number of markers you'll place on your Capek Golem cards on any of the circular black icons) and the amount the marker will move on the Public Outrage Track for taking those resource markers.

2. Discard a set of Scientific Inquiry cards and mark gained resources on your Capek Golem cards.

During the game players, will be collecting sets of cards of different colors in their hands, matching different types of Scientific Inquiry. You may have as many cards in your hand as you wish. Each card counts for one in that set (See Special Wild Cards rule below for an exception).

Discarding a completed set, matching both a color and number as indicated on a Capek Golem card, allows you to place a marker in that resource area, helping to activate that card. You can choose either of the two color types to collect for a set, but you cannot make a set with a mix of both colors.

The printed figure for this step reads: "This card is used to form a set of yellow (Parts Machining) Scientific Inquiry cards. It is worth one card in that set."

Special Wild Cards

There are 3 special wild cards in the game which may be used in any set and can take the place of one or two cards (as marked). However, using one of these cards in a Scientific Inquiry set comes at a price. The player must move the marker on the Public Outrage Track as indicated by the number in the circular red icon. A positive number moves the token towards (25), a negative number moves the token towards (0).

The printed figure shows the three special wild cards: The Assistant, The Hired Man and The Engineer. Each shows the number of cards it can take the place of (as marked) and a red Public Outrage value.

3. Discard one card to draw two new cards from the Draw Pile.

A player may discard any one card from their hand to draw two new cards from the Draw Pile.

Additional Rules of Play

If at the start of a player's turn the player has fewer than two cards in hand, they may draw two cards from the Draw Pile before completing any of the three actions.

During the game, players may have as many cards in their hand as they wish.

If the Draw Pile is ever exhausted, shuffle the Discard Pile and create a new Draw Pile.

If at any time the marker is moved to the (25) space on the Public Outrage Track the game ends immediately and both players lose.

Note: the Play section says that with fewer than two cards in hand a player "should" draw two cards, while Additional Rules of Play says they "may" draw two cards. Both are transcribed as printed.