Age of Comics: The Vault Collection Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Special Guest Comic Book Cards
  • Components
  • Setup
  • The Dynamic Duo Bonus
• Double Specialized Creatives
  • Components
  • Setup
  • During the Game
• War Expansion
  • Components
  • Setup
  • When the War Calendar Tile Is Revealed
  • Printing War Comics
  • Specialized Creatives and Fans Earned
  • Selling War Comics
  • Remaining Actions and End Game Scoring
• Objective Cards
  • Components
  • Setup
  • The Objective Cards Included

Special Guest Comic Book Cards

To celebrate the golden age of comics, six special guest artists were invited to create their own homage to its iconic genres.

Components

• 6 Rip-off Original Comic Book cards
• 6 Mini Originals Comic Book tiles
• 6 Rip-off Comic Book cards
• 6 Mini Rip-off Comic Book tiles

Setup

Shuffle these cards into the base game Original and Rip-off decks.

These cards follow the standard rules for their type: Special Guest Original cards follow the rules for Original Comic Book cards, and Special Guest Rip-off cards follow the rules for Rip-off Comic Book cards. However, unlike standard Rip-off cards, Special Guest Rip-off cards also carry a bonus.

The Dynamic Duo Bonus

Both types of cards feature a new bonus in the top left corner, following the same placement as the standard bonuses on base game cards.

This bonus allows you to print this comic using a creative team already assigned to another comic on your player mat.

When printing a Special Guest comic with the Dynamic Duo bonus:

1. Use a Writer and Artist already assigned to a previously printed comic.
2. Pay the full printing cost as normal, including money equal to the comic's value and the required Idea tokens.
3. Place the new comic in the next available slot on your player mat, to the right of the comic using those creatives. If needed, slide previously printed comics to the right to make space.
4. The same creative team is now assigned to both comics.
5. A creative team may never be assigned to more than two comics.

If you take the Print (x2) action, you may print two comics using one or two creative teams, including Special Guest comics with the Dynamic Duo bonus, provided you pay all required costs and respect the maximum of two comics per team.

Note: A comic printed using Dynamic Duo is treated as a normal printed comic and functions normally on the chart and with Sales Orders, Mastery tokens, and Special Action cubes.

If the creatives later increase their value through Learning or Training, the total value of both comics increases accordingly.

At the end of the game, Special Guest comics score exactly as if the creatives were normally placed beneath them.

The corresponding Special Guest Rip-off cards also feature this bonus and follow the same rules described above. In all other respects, they follow the standard rules for Rip-off Comic Book cards: they do not require development or Idea tokens to print, do not gain the standard +1 fan of Original cards, and do not award end-game VP as Original cards do.

Double Specialized Creatives

These cards show two colors and two genre icons, representing creatives specialized in more than one comic book genre.

Components

6 Double Specialized Creatives cards.

Setup

At the beginning of the game, after distributing the initial resources to players (cards, money, and Idea tokens), shuffle the 6 Double Specialized Creatives cards into the appropriate Writers' and Artists' decks before setting them up on the table.

During the Game

Double Specialized Creatives are hired from the display in the same way as standard Writer and Artist cards.

All Double Specialized Creatives cards have value 1, but unlike standard value 1 Creative cards, they do not come with an Idea token.

A Double Specialized Creative is considered specialized for a comic if one of its two genres matches that comic's genre.

Example: This Writer card is half red (Romance) and half green (Sci-fi), and therefore grants +1 fan when printing a Romance or Sci-fi comic book.

They can also increase their value through Learning or Training following the standard rules.

At the end of the game, Double Specialized Creatives can award VP to original comic books matching one of their two genres, following the standard end game scoring rules.

War Expansion

The golden age of comics did not unfold in isolation. As World War II reshaped society, it also influenced the stories people read. The War expansion introduces this historical context into the game, affecting the comic book market and creating new opportunities and challenges for publishers.

Components

• 6 Original Comic Book cards
• 1 War Mastery token
• 6 Mini Originals War Comic Book tiles
• 6 War Sales Order tiles
• 10 War Idea tokens
• 1 War Calendar tile

Setup

1. Before placing Sales Order tiles on the Manhattan map, replace 6 value 3 Sales Order tiles, one per genre, with the 6 War Sales Order tiles. If you are also using the Special Sales Order tiles mini-expansion, replace 6 additional regular value 3 tiles, one per genre, with the 6 Special Sales Order tiles. Then proceed with the standard Sales Order setup for the chosen player count.
2. Take the 6 Calendar tiles, excluding the War Calendar tile, and place one random tile on the first space of the calendar track (round I) and another on the fifth space (round V). Then shuffle the War Calendar tile with the remaining 4 tiles and place them randomly on the calendar track from rounds II to IV, with 3 tiles placed in round III. In round III, you will reveal 3 tiles instead of 2.
3. Add the War Idea tokens to the supply only. They may be collected at any time during the game via the Ideas action. Do not place War Idea tokens in the Ideas spaces.
4. Keep the War Comic Book cards aside. They will enter the game later. You can now start the game.

When the War Calendar Tile Is Revealed

The game unfolds as normal until the War Calendar tile is revealed, at any time between rounds II and IV.

Until that moment, War Sales Order tiles cannot be flipped or collected. However, War Idea tokens may still be collected from the supply.

When the War Calendar tile is revealed, the war begins. That round is referred to as the WAR round.

Apply the following changes when setting up that round:

1. Creative card setup

   • 4-player game: Remove the 2 face-up Writer cards and the 2 face-up Artist cards closest to their decks. Discard them, leaving only 2 face-up Writer cards and 2 face-up Artist cards on display for this round.
   • 2 & 3-player game: Remove the 2 face-up Writer cards and the 2 face-up Artist cards closest to their decks. Discard them, leaving only 1 face-up Writer card and 1 face-up Artist card on display for this round.

   This reflects the shortage of writers and artists during the war. From the following round onward, return to the standard Creatives card setup.

2. Comic book card setup

   • 4-player game: Randomly draw 2 War Comic Book cards and place them face up in the 2 display spaces closest to the deck, replacing the 2 Original Comic Book cards currently there. Discard the replaced cards. Then shuffle the remaining 4 War Comic Book cards into the Original Comic Book deck.
   • 2 & 3-player game: Randomly draw 1 War Comic Book card and place it face up in the display space closest to the deck, replacing the Original Comic Book card currently there. Discard the replaced card. Then shuffle the remaining 5 War Comic Book cards into the Original Comic Book deck.

   From the following round onward, return to the standard Comic Book card setup.

Printing War Comics

To print a War Comic Book, you need the same resources as for a standard Original Comic Book: a creative team, money equal to the comic's value, and 2 War Idea tokens.

War Comic Book cards feature 6 possible bonuses. Four of them are the standard one-off bonuses found in the base game:

1. +1 Fan
2. 2 Idea tokens (any)
3. 1 Super-transport ticket
4. +$4

The remaining two cards feature the following one-off bonuses:

5. Dynamic Duo. This bonus follows the same rules as the Dynamic Duo bonus on the Special Guest Comic Book cards (see the Special Guest Comic Book Cards section). It allows you to print this comic using a creative team already assigned to another comic on your player mat.
6. Any one bonus of your choice. Choose 1 of the other 5 available bonuses.

Specialized Creatives and Fans Earned

In addition to the War icon, each War Comic Book card shows an extra genre icon and color. This extra icon indicates the genre specialization that can expertly create that particular War Comic Book. When a War Comic Book is printed, it gains +1 fan for each specialized creative whose genre matches that extra icon.

Example: If a War Comic Book shows the Superheroes icon, each creative specialized in Superheroes grants the usual +1 fan when that comic is printed.

During the WAR round only, a printed War Comic Book gains 2 fans instead of the usual 1 shown in the top right corner of the card. In all following rounds, War Comic Books gain only 1 fan as normal.

There are no Rip-off War Comic Books.

Selling War Comics

War Sales Order tiles follow the standard rules for Sales Order tiles, but they can be fulfilled only by War Comic Books.

War Sales Order tiles may be flipped and collected only from the WAR round onward.

Remaining Actions and End Game Scoring

All other rules and actions follow the base game.

At the end of the game, War Comic Books are scored as usual, with creative specialization determined using the extra genre icon shown on the card, as described above.

Example: If a War Comic Book shows the Superheroes icon, it gives 6 VP at the end of the game if both creatives are specialized in Superheroes, 4 VP if only one is, and 2 VP if neither is.

Objective Cards

Objective cards give each player a secret end-of-game goal worth additional VP.

Components

12 Objective cards.

Setup

Shuffle the 12 Objective cards and deal 2 to each player. Each player chooses 1 of the 2 cards as their personal objective for the game and keeps it face down next to their play area.

If, by the end of the game, the player has fulfilled the objective's condition, they score the additional VP shown on the card.

All Objective cards, both chosen and unchosen, remain face down until the end of the game.

Note: If you are playing with the War expansion, War-related components may count for the following objectives:

• PhD in comics
• Master of all trades
• Full of ideas

The Objective Cards Included

• PhD in comics: 4 or more Mastery tokens give you 8 VP.
• Master of all trades: 6 different genres of original comics printed give you 8 VP.
• All about the money: $50 or more give you 6 VP.
• True love: Min 4 printed romance comics give you 2 VP per original and 1 VP per rip-off.
• Crime pays: Min 4 printed crime comics give you 2 VP per original and 1 VP per rip-off.
• Slasher: Min 4 printed horror comics give you 2 VP per original and 1 VP per rip-off.
• Klatu barada nikto: Min 4 printed sci-fi comics give you 2 VP per original and 1 VP per rip-off.
• Super powers: Min 4 printed superheroes comics give you 2 VP per original and 1 VP per rip-off.
• High noon: Min 4 printed western comics give you 2 VP per original and 1 VP per rip-off.
• Quality matters: 5 Better-color tokens or more give you 6 VP.
• Sincerest form of flattery: 5 rip-off comics printed or more give you 6 VP.
• Full of ideas: 12 Idea tokens or more give you 6 VP.