Alien Frontiers Factions: Definitive Edition
Alien Frontiers Factions: Definitive Edition Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The expansion includes:
- 14 Faction boards, which expand the options available to colonists and give each player a unique ability
- 1 Brethren of the Stars die for use with that Faction
- 1 REV unit used with the Xeno Explorations, Inc. Faction
- 43 Agenda cards that give players a new way to score victory points with secret in-game and end-game goals
- 36 Alien Tech cards that add more variety and introduce new and interesting game mechanics
Transcriber note: the printed Contents text says 36 Alien Tech cards. The "New Alien Tech Cards" section below prints 35 card headings. The section is transcribed as printed; the count was not reconciled.
Setup
This expansion adds the following optional setup steps.
Deal two Agenda cards face down to each player. Place the remaining Agenda cards in a draw deck near the Orbital Market. Players may look at their own Agenda cards. See the Agenda Cards section for more details.
Randomly select a number of Faction boards equal to the number of players plus one, then return the remaining Faction boards to the game box. Determine player order, then give all of the selected Faction boards to the last player.
The last player chooses one Faction board, places it face-up on the table near the game board, and passes the remaining Faction boards counter-clockwise. This procedure continues until all players have chosen a Faction board. The remaining Faction board is returned to the box.
Faction Facilities
Each Faction board has an orbital facility with one docking port (top icons) and an owner's bonus (bottom icons).
If the docking port is unoccupied, any player may use that facility's Docking Ability by docking one ship of any value and paying a fuel access fee to that Faction's owner. If the Faction owner uses the orbital facility on their own Faction board, they do not pay the access fee. If there is an additional cost to use the Faction facility, that cost is paid to the supply.
Each Faction board also grants a unique Owner Ability to the Faction owner that other players may not use. Using this owner benefit is often free, but if there is a fuel or ore cost, it is paid to the supply.
Faction Boards
Each Faction board lists a Docking Ability (top), which any player docked there may use, and an Owner Ability (bottom), which only the Faction owner may use. The quoted phrase under each name is the board's printed flavour line.
Brethren of the Stars
"Live by the code or die by it"
Docking Ability (top): If the Brethren Ship is already on the board, you may move it to an empty docking port at the Lunar Mine and gain one ore.
While the Brethren Ship is on the board, it has no value, but it does block a docking port and it is subject to any rule or card that would move any other ship.
Owner Ability (bottom): The Brethren of the Stars Faction owner may roll the Brethren Ship along with their other ships. If the Brethren Ship comes up blank, it is set aside until the owner's next turn.
If it comes up with the Raider icon, the Faction owner may use it to "hijack" any one die on the board and replace it with the Brethren Ship. The Faction owner then rolls the hijacked ship and uses it as their own, except that the hijacked ship may not come from or go to the Terraforming Station.
If the Brethren Ship is on the board at the start of the Faction owner's turn, it is removed from the board along with the Faction owner's other ships.
Example: You have rolled 2 / 3 / 5 / 6 / Raider. You take the Brethren Ship, place it at the Alien Artifact, and hijack one of the Blue ships docked there. You roll the Blue ship and get a 3. Your ships are now 2 / 3 / 3* / 5 / 6.
Corex Conglomerated
"Deep Pockets"
Docking Ability (top): Pay two fuel to the supply to gain one ore for each territory you control.
Owner Ability (bottom): At the beginning of their turn, the Faction owner gains one fuel plus an additional fuel for each territory that they control.
Dark Space Explorers
"Back from the unknown"
Docking Ability (top): Pay one fuel to the supply to take the top card from the Alien Tech deck. If the card is a duplicate of one you already have, the new card is discarded without effect.
Owner Ability (bottom): On their turn, the Faction owner may use the discard powers of up to two Alien Tech cards instead of just one.
Homesteaders Union
"For the people, by the people"
Docking Ability (top): Advance your colony one circle at the Colonist Hub.
Owner Ability (bottom): The Faction owner may launch their colonies from the sixth circle of the Colonist Hub instead of the seventh.
Mercury's Angels
"Radical individualism is the future"
Docking Ability (top): A player docked with Mercury's Angels may change one of their undocked ships to any value that does not match another of their undocked ships.
Owner Ability (bottom): After rolling, if the Faction owner's ships are all different values before using any Alien Tech cards, gain one fuel or one ore.
New Gaia Engineers
"Creating a new Mother Earth"
Docking Ability (top): To dock at New Gaia Engineers, you must already be docked at the Terraforming Station. Immediately re-roll the terraformed ship and place it back on the Terraforming Station. The result of the roll determines where the ship will go when it leaves the Terraforming Station, either on the player's next turn or if blasted by the Plasma Cannon. If it is a 1, 2, or 3, the ship will go to the supply. If it is a 4, 5, or 6, the ship will go to the Maintenance Bay.
Owner Ability (bottom): When any other player uses the Terraforming Station, their fuel and ore payment is given to the Faction owner instead of the supply. If the Faction owner uses the Terraforming Station, their payment goes to the supply as usual.
Prophets of the Artifact
"Listening for our alien overlords"
Docking Ability (top): A player docked at Prophets of the Artifact may draw a number of Agenda cards equal to the value of the docked ship. The player keeps one of the drawn cards and discards the rest. If the kept card puts the player over their limit of held Agenda cards, additional discards will be necessary.
Owner Ability (bottom): The Faction owner may discard one of their face-down Agenda cards to choose one of the following benefits: gain one fuel, gain two fuel, gain one ore, or draw the top card of the Agenda deck.
Transcriber note: the printed benefit list is laid out across a line break. It is read here as three gain benefits (one fuel; two fuel; one ore) followed by the draw option.
Proxima Centauri Scholars
"Concentrated study"
Docking Ability (top): Pay one fuel to the supply to move any Field Generator token from one territory to another territory.
Owner Ability (bottom): Once per turn, the Faction owner may pay two fuel to place or remove one Field Generator token in any territory. The Faction owner may not use this benefit to move a Field Generator from one territory to another.
Scavenger Fleet
"Not pretty, but it flies"
Docking Ability (top): You may dock two unequal ships at the Shipyard and pay the usual costs to build a new ship.
Owner Ability (bottom): When the Faction owner builds a new ship at the Shipyard or acquires the Relic Ship from Burroughs Desert, they immediately roll it and use it along with their other unplaced ships.
Smugglers' Alliance
"No honor among thieves"
Docking Ability (top): To dock at Smugglers' Alliance, you must also simultaneously dock at the Raiders' Outpost. Once docked, you may raid a combination of four resources AND one Alien Tech card from among all opponents.
Owner Ability (bottom): The Faction owner may use any sequence of three ships to bump ships already docked on the Raiders' Outpost. Higher value is not required for this Faction's owner.
Sunrise Commune
"The brightest stars shine within"
Docking Ability (top): Pay three fuel to the supply to move any one colony to a territory with no other colony on it.
Owner Ability (bottom): The Sunrise Commune Faction owner may pay one ore less than usual when landing a new colony if that colony is placed on a territory without any other colonies.
Terran Exchange
"Let the free market reign"
Docking Ability (top): A player docked at Terran Exchange gains one additional ore the first time they use the Orbital Market each turn.
Owner Ability (bottom): Once per turn, the owner may either give an opponent an Alien Tech card and then steal two ore from them, or give an opponent one ore and then steal one of their Alien Tech cards. In either case, the owner of Terran Exchange chooses the Alien Tech card that is exchanged.
The Terran Exchange's power is unaffected by the Holographic Decoy.
Uranian Syndicate
"Control in chaos"
Docking Ability (top): You may either pay one ore to the supply and move one of your colony tokens from one territory to another territory or pay two ore to the supply to move one of an opponent's colony tokens from one territory to another territory.
Owner Ability (bottom): The Faction owner may use the territory bonus of one contested territory, even if the owner doesn't have any colonies in that territory. A contested territory is a colonized territory which is not controlled by any player. The Burroughs Desert bonus cannot be used in this way.
Xeno Explorations, Inc.
"On the move"
Docking Ability (top): A player docked at Xeno Explorations, Inc. may move the REV to an adjacent territory and may then use that territory's bonus as if the player controlled the territory.
Owner Ability (bottom): The Faction owner may pay one fuel to move the REV to an adjacent territory and may then use that territory's bonus as if the Faction owner controlled the territory.
New Technology: The Remote Exploration Unit (REV)
- The REV may only move into a territory that shares a border with the territory in which the REV is currently located.
- The REV only activates a territory bonus when it first moves into a territory. If the REV has not moved, it grants no bonus.
- The REV cannot activate the Burroughs Desert territory bonus.
- The Repulsor Field blocks the REV from entering or exiting that territory.
- The Isolation Field blocks the REV from activating that territory's bonus.
- Moving the REV into a territory you already control grants you no additional benefit.
Agenda Cards
Each Agenda card has two conditional situations: an in-game objective and an endgame objective. The in-game objective is a situation that a player may reveal at the time they achieve the condition to score 1 VP. The endgame objective is a situation that a player may reveal at the end of the game if they have achieved the condition to score 1 VP. Only 1 VP may be awarded per Agenda card.
Example card (printed on the card image): In-Game Objective: "When you gather your fleet of seven ships, you may immediately reveal this card and score 1 Victory Point." Endgame Objective: "If at the game's end, you possess a Resource Cache and an Oscillation Capacitor, reveal this card and score 1 Victory Point."
Each player starts the game with two Agenda cards that they keep face-down on the table in front of them. A player may have up to three total Agenda cards. Revealed Agenda cards count against this limit.
New Rule: Orbital Market
A player may dock a pair of ships at the Orbital Market to draw two new Agenda cards instead of using the facility's usual benefit. A player may keep or discard any of their new or face-down Agenda cards, but revealed Agenda cards may not be discarded.
Agenda cards do not count as Alien Tech cards and thus may not be discarded by using the discard power of cards such as Oscillation Capacitor or be stolen via the Raiders' Outpost.
If the Agenda deck is exhausted, reshuffle the discarded cards to form a new draw deck.
New Rule: Tiebreakers
If using Agenda cards, any ties in endgame scoring are first broken by the tied player with the most revealed Agenda cards. If still tied, follow the other tiebreakers as usual.
Agenda Card Reference: Base Game and Agendas Only
The Agendas on this page are all achievable using only the base game rules and can be included in all games where Agendas are used.
| In-Game Agenda | Endgame Agenda |
|---|---|
| Roll five sequential ships without using Alien Tech | You control Pohl Foothills |
| Place three colonies in a single turn | You control Herbert Valley |
| Roll four-of-a-kind without using Alien Tech | You control Van Vogt Mountains |
| Gain six or more ore in a single turn | You control a territory with a single colony on it |
| Possess four Alien Tech cards that no other player possesses | You control Asimov Crater |
| Place a colony on a territory that already has the Isolation Field on it | You control Bradbury Plateau |
| Bump your own ships from the Raiders' Outpost | You control a territory containing three or more colonies belonging to other players |
| Gain twelve or more fuel in a single turn | You control a territory with three field generators on it |
| Move colonies so that you and an opponent both gain VPs | You control Burroughs Desert |
| In-Game Agenda | Endgame Agenda |
|---|---|
| Dock your ships at five different orbital facilities on the same turn | You do not have any colonies on Burroughs Desert |
| Fill every dock at the Lunar Mine with your ships | You do not have any colonies on Herbert Valley |
| Launch a colony from the Colonist Hub and begin work on a new colony in the same turn | You do not have any colonies on Asimov Crater |
| Roll 10 or less with your fleet of five or more ships without using Alien Tech | You do not have any colonies on Bradbury Plateau |
| You are the first player to build your sixth ship | You have (or tie for) the most colonies in contiguous territories |
| Discard the Plasma Cannon to return a ship to the supply | You have exactly one colony in the territory with the Repulsor Field |
| Move or remove two Field Generators in the same turn, you may reveal this card immediately and score 1 VP | You possess no Alien Tech cards |
| A player uses the Raiders' Outpost against you (the raid against you fails when this Agenda is revealed) | You possess a Data Crystal and a Holographic Decoy |
| You have three or more landed colonies but control no territories, you may reveal this card immediately and score 1 VP |
Agenda Card Reference: Additional Expansions
The following Agenda cards require that an optional game element (Factions, Outer Belt, specific Alien Tech cards, etc.) be used in order for that card to be achievable. Do not use these Agenda cards if not using the associated game element.
| In-Game Agenda | Endgame Agenda |
|---|---|
| Gather your fleet of seven ships | You possess a Resource Cache and an Oscillation Capacitor |
| Go from the lowest untied score to the highest untied score in a single turn | You possess a Booster Pod and an Experimental FTL Drive |
| Steal from all opponents on a single turn | You possess a Polarity Device and a Multiverse Window |
| Gain two or more Alien Tech cards in a single turn | You possess a Stasis Beam and a Solar Harvester |
| Take control of two territories belonging to other players in a single turn | You possess a Plasma Cannon and an Electrofabricator |
| Place the Repulsor Field on the planet without using Proxima Centauri Scholars | You do not have any colonies on Lem Badlands |
| Move the REV into a territory that already has the Isolation Field on it | The REV is located in a territory that you control |
| Place or Move the Repulsor Field onto the territory where the REV is located | The REV and the Relic Ship are both in Burroughs Desert |
| Take control of a territory using the Ion Fluctuator |
| In-Game Agenda | Endgame Agenda |
|---|---|
| Use the Shipbreaker Drone to destroy one of your ships | You possess the Shipbreaker Drone and exactly four ships |
| Another player steals the Oracle Engine card from you | You possess the Oracle Engine |
| Use the Relic Ship at the Terraforming Station | You possess the Relic Ship and the Magnetic Lockdown |
| The Lunar Mine has five sequentially numbered ships and at least one of those ships is yours | You possess the Nano-Recycler and control the Van Vogt Mountains territory |
| Build a ship using the Shipfitter Drone | There are no Field Generators in any territory |
| Claim two Asteroid cards on the same turn* | You control Blish Expanse* |
*These components found in the Outer Belt expansion.
New Alien Tech Cards
There is one copy of each new Alien Tech card in this expansion. Shuffle them into the main Alien Tech deck and apply the same general rules as with the original Alien Tech cards.
Note that some of these Alien Tech cards refer to optional rules such as Agendas, so remove those Alien Tech cards if not playing with the corresponding optional rule.
Alien Sarcophagus
This card is worth 1 VP if you also have the Alien City card or the Alien Monument card.
You may discard Alien Sarcophagus at the start of your turn to gather the Relic Ship and use it as your own for that turn only.
Astrogation Servo
Pay two fuel to take any one ship from the Maintenance Bay, roll it, and use it as if it were your own ship. The borrowed ship may not be docked at the Terraforming Station. That ship's owner gathers the ship with the rest of their fleet at the start of their turn.
You may discard Astrogation Servo to send all ships docked at one orbital facility to the Maintenance Bay.
Auto Pilot A.I.
Place one of your ships here and leave it on this card for the rest of the game.
At the start of every turn, take either two fuel or one ore from the supply. If this card is raided, move the ship from the card to the Maintenance Bay.
You may discard Auto Pilot A.I. to move the ship to the Maintenance Bay.
Bio-Intergration Circuit
The printed heading reads "BIO-INTERGRATION CIRCUIT"; the printed spelling is kept.
You may discard Bio-Integration Circuit at the beginning of your turn to reclaim your ship docked at the Terraforming Station instead of returning it to the supply. The reclaimed ship goes to the Maintenance Bay.
Chameleon Cloak
Pay two fuel to replace an opponent's ship(s) at one orbital facility with equal valued ship(s) of your own. Pay the usual cost, if any, and gain the usual facility benefit for docking. Send the replaced ships to the Maintenance Bay.
The Chameleon Cloak may not be used on a ship docked at the Terraforming Station.
You may discard the Chameleon Cloak to swap all colonies on two territories. The Repulsor Field blocks this action.
Chrono-Spike
Re-roll one of your unplaced ships.
You may discard Chrono-Spike after placing all of your ships to re-roll up to two of your ships and re-use them at a different facility.
Deflector Shield
When another player uses a card to move, alter, use, or destroy your ship(s), that player must pay an extra one fuel per ship in order to perform that action.
You may discard Deflector Shield to place or move the Repulsor or Positron Field to a territory where you have at least one colony.
Electrofabricator
Pay two fuel to receive one ore.
You may discard the Electrofabricator to gain three ore.
Experimental FTL Drive
Pay two fuel to change one of your unplaced ships to any value, then place one fuel from the supply onto this card. At the end of the turn in which the Experimental FTL Drive receives its third fuel, return all fuel on this card to the supply and discard this card.
If you control the Pohl Foothills territory, the one fuel discount comes off the fuel you pay to the supply.
If the Experimental FTL Drive card is stolen via the Raiders' Outpost, the fuel currently on the card stays with the card.
The Experimental FTL Drive card has no discard ability.
Field Amplifier
Pay three fuel to move any one Field Generator on a territory you control to straddle the border with an adjacent territory. This field now effects both territories equally. If raided, move the field to one of the two territories.
You may discard Field Amplifier to move all fields on the planet to one territory where you have at least one colony.
Field Propagator
Pay three fuel to move or place a Field Generator on a territory where you have at least one colony. Roll a die to determine which Field Generator to place:
- 1/2/3: Repulsor
- 4/5: Positron
- 6: Isolation
You may discard Field Propagator to move one Field Generator of your choice from one territory to another.
Fleet Interlink
Pay three fuel to increase every unplaced ship in your fleet by one point (a ship that was a 6 becomes a 1).
You may discard Fleet Interlink to place a Field Generator not already on the planet in a territory where you have at least one colony.
Gravitron Shunt
Pay three fuel to move any colony from a territory and place it on this card (limit 1 colony on card). This colony still counts as landed. The colony's owner may pay two fuel on their turn to move the colony to any territory. If this card is raided while a colony is on it, the colony moves to a territory of the raider's choice.
Infiltration A.I.
You may pay two fuel when you gather your fleet to also gather one opponent ship from the board to use as your own. Opponent ship may not be gathered from or placed at the Terraforming Station.
You may discard Infiltration A.I. when you gather your fleet to also gather two opponent ships from the board to use as your own (no fuel cost). Opponents' ships may not be taken from or placed at the Terraforming Station.
Infinity Mirror
Instead of rolling your fleet at the start of your turn, you may pay four fuel to roll one ship and set all your other ships to that same value.
You may discard Infinity Mirror to manually change every ship on the board to the value 1.
Ion Fluctuator
Pay three fuel to move an opponent's colony from a territory containing one of your colonies into an adjacent territory.
You may discard Ion Fluctuator to move all opponents' colonies from a territory containing one of your colonies to an adjacent territory of each colony owner's choice.
Lunar Tunneler
Pay one fuel when you dock at the Lunar Mine to receive one additional ore.
You may discard the Lunar Tunneler to send all of the ships currently docked at the Lunar Mine to the Maintenance Bay.
Magnetic Lockdown
Place two fuel on this card to prevent all your landed colonies from being moved or removed for one round. Return the two fuel to the supply on your next turn or if this card is raided.
You may discard Magnetic Lockdown to move up to two of your landed colonies to any one territory.
Multiverse Window
You may have a total of four Agenda cards while you possess the Multiverse Window instead of the usual three.
If you have any face-down Agendas when you lose or discard this card, you must discard down to a total of three Agendas. Revealed Agenda cards may not be discarded.
You may discard the Multiverse Window to reveal a face-down Agenda and score the in-game VP, even if you have not met the Agenda's condition.
Nano-Recycler
Pay one ore to receive three fuel. If you control Pohl Foothills, receive one additional fuel.
You may discard Nano-Recycler to return one of your ships to the supply to receive three fuel and three ore.
Null-Time Vault
Transfer any combination of three fuel or ore from your supply to this card each turn. No more than eight tokens can be placed on the card. Tokens on this card may not be used, do not count against your resource limit, and cannot be raided as resources. If the card is raided, the tokens stay on the card.
You may discard Null-Time Vault to transfer any tokens on this card to your supply.
Oracle Engine
Pay two fuel before you roll your fleet to draw an Agenda card and place it face-up across the Oracle Engine card. If you fulfill the In-Game Objective on that Agenda card this turn, score 2 VP and place a coin or other marker on the card to note its special value, then discard the Oracle Engine card. If not, discard the Agenda card instead.
Discarding the Oracle Engine upon successfully fulfilling the Agenda card's objective does not count as your one Alien Tech discard on your turn. An Agenda successfully fulfilled via the Oracle Engine does not count against your Agenda card limit.
Oscillation Capacitor
Once per turn, you may re-use an Alien Tech card with a fuel cost by paying that cost again. If appropriate, the Pohl Foothills bonus may also be applied to the card's second use.
You may discard the Oscillation Capacitor to discard one Alien Tech card of your choice held by another player without invoking that card's discard power.
Peta-Bit Processor
Pay four fuel to discard an additional one of your unused Alien Tech card for full benefits.
You may discard Peta-Bit Processor to remove the three cards on display at the Alien Artifact from the game.
Probability Focus
You may place one fuel on this card each turn before you roll your fleet. If you roll four-of-a-kind, exchange the accumulated fuel for an equal amount of ore and add them to your supply. Otherwise, the fuel accumulates. Fuel on this card may not be withdrawn and does not count against your resource limit. If the card is raided, the fuel is discarded.
Resonating Beacon
Pay one fuel to cycle the cards at the Alien Artifact.
You may discard Resonating Beacon to claim one card at the Alien Artifact. You may cycle the cards up to three times at no cost before choosing.
Retrieval Webbing
Whenever other players discard resources because they are over the resource limit, those tokens go to you instead of to the supply.
You may discard Retrieval Webbing to take one resource of your choice from each player. This is not blocked by the Holographic Decoy.
Scout Drone
Pay one fuel to look at the top three cards on the Alien Tech deck and replace those cards in any order.
You may discard Scout Drone to move one of your landed colonies to an unoccupied territory.
Seismic Detonator
The Seismic Detonator has no function other than its discard power and it is a one-use card. Once discarded, the Seismic Detonator is removed from the game.
You may discard the Seismic Detonator to move all colonies in one territory to adjacent territories of your choice. The Repulsor Field blocks the use of the Seismic Detonator in that territory. The Repulsor Field blocks colonies fleeing the Seismic Detonator's use in an adjacent territory.
Shipbreaker Drone
If you have five or six ships in your fleet, you may return one of your unused ships to the supply for its Shipyard value in fuel and ore.
If you have five or six ships in your fleet, you may discard Shipbreaker Drone to return two of your unused ships to the supply for their Shipyard value in fuel and ore.
Shipfitter Drone
Pay one fuel and dock a pair of 5s or a pair of 6s at the Shipyard to build a new ship at no additional cost.
You may discard Shipfitter Drone when you build a new ship to roll and use it immediately.
Solar Harvester
Gain one fuel for each opponent's ship docked at the Solar Converter.
You may discard the Solar Harvester to return all fuel tokens held by your opponents to the supply.
Superconducting Grapple
Pay two fuel per ship to dock at a facility that has no open docking ports. Normal costs apply. Place your ship(s) near the docking ports at that facility. Your ships do not move if ports become available before your next turn.
You may discard Superconducting Grapple to move all ships from one facility to the Maintenace [sic] Bay.
Suppression Matrix
Pay two fuel to decrease every unplaced ship in your fleet by one point (a ship that was a 1 becomes a 6).
You may discard Suppression Matrix to remove any one Field Generator from a territory that you have at least one colony in.
Tele-Operator
Pay two fuel to use a card on display at the Alien Artifact as if it were your own. Regular usage costs apply. VP cards are exempt, and the chosen card may not be discarded.
You may discard Tele-Operator to claim a card on display at the Alien Artifact.