Antematter
Antematter Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Box
- Board
- Rocs x 6
- Ravens x 12
- Bridges x 30
- Planets x 6
- Chips x 188
- Dives x 6
- Token of Respect x 6
- Cargo x 30
- 56-Card Poker Deck
- 25-Card Crew Decks x 6
- 15-Card Deck of Enigmata
- Dealer Chip
Setting Up Your Game
Player Load Out
Choose your crew. After everyone has chosen, each player receives their 25-Card CREW DECK, SHIPS (1 ROC, 2 RAVENS), 4 BRIDGES, and 300 NEPHELIUM. NEPHELIUM is the in-universe currency, represented in ANTEMATTER by chips. Players start with 1 Blue (worth 100), 2 Red (50 each), and 4 White (25 each).
Choosing Your Crew
The six crews are the Isan, Feron, Catallax, Malleon, Phalanx and Conclave. Each crew has a different play style on the board and in poker.
- Isan: High speeds and daring escapes. On the board, the Isan have the most freedom to move and make smuggling runs. In poker, the crew can supply a few coins to make a big bet.
- Feron: Play the Feron when you want to go hard. On the board, you can raid opponents' ships, take their loot, then drop a bomb that sends them back to base. In poker, you pounce on any weakness and score extra rewards for muscling opponents out of the hand.
- Catallax: Help opponents while helping yourself. On the board, you reward opponents working hard at salvaging by pointing them to bonus resources, in exchange for a finder's fee. In poker, your crew helps you sit out dustups between opponents and hold the line against aggressive play.
- Malleon: Play all the angles and seize any opportunity. On the board, Malleon ships can call on informants to snatch contraband from a distance. In poker, you can delay opponents' aggressive bets, persuade opponents to fold, and call in favors from the bank to press your advantage.
- Phalanx: Precise, focused aggression. On the board, the Phalanx fly best in formation, racing to and holding the most important strategic points. In poker, your crew has your back: force opponents to ANTE extra when you hold a superior hand, or sneak in an extra bet when they think it is safe to move on to the next round.
- Conclave: Confound your opponents. On the board, you can trace the orbits of planets to move your ships great distances, or move the planets themselves. In poker, your opponents' secrets are never safe, and you can turn their own crew against them.
Pick Your Base
Players choose one of the six BASES to place their SHIPS and begin their journeys. All players place their three SHIPS inside their BASE. You may place them on whichever HEX of the BASE you like, and you can move them about freely inside your BASE.
Set Up the Board
After players have placed their SHIPS in their BASES, set up the board. Add NEPHELIUM chips to the circular nodes on each ORBIT, according to the color of the circles. These chips, when on the board, are known as PLUNDER, and the HEXES they are found on are called PLUNDER HEXES. There are White, Red and Blue Plunder Hexes.
After all the PLUNDER has been placed, place the DIVES. Each DIVE is placed on a DIVE HEX. DIVES can be visited by both ROCS and RAVENS to gather more CREW CARDS.
Chip denominations: 25 NEPHELIUM, 50 NEPHELIUM, 100 NEPHELIUM, and 500 NEPHELIUM.
Looting the Board
The Conflux is full of riches, and it is up to you to collect the most before your opponents do. Each of your SHIPS can only loot once per TURN, unless you have a crew member that lets you loot twice. No SHIP can loot everything: they are specialized, so use the right SHIP for the right job.
Plunder
PLUNDER is looted by RAVENS. It is the chips scattered across the board when you set up the game. When you loot them with your RAVENS, you add that chip to your STACK. You also draw one CREW CARD and place it face down. You cannot look at the card and add it to your hand until the LOOT PHASE is over, because it takes time for your crew to recruit them.
White, Red and Blue Plunder chips are found on the White, Red and Blue Plunder Hexes.
Dive Bars
DIVE BARS are notorious establishments, filled with the flotsam of the Conflux. They are the green chips located in the outermost ORBIT of the board. You can always find more CREW MEMBERS there. If you loot one, you immediately draw a full hand of CREW CARDS (up to a total of 7 cards), or you can discard your current hand and draw a full hand (7 cards). You can loot DIVES with your RAVENS and your ROCS.
Crew Card Hand
Players begin the game by drawing 4 CREW CARDS from their 25-Card CREW DECK. Players may have a maximum of 7 CREW CARDS in their hands at any given time. If you add CREW CARDS to your hand past the limit because you have looted PLUNDER, you must immediately choose and discard CREW CARDS into your DISCARD PILE, face up, until you have only 7 left. When CREW CARDS are played, they are discarded.
If all your CREW CARDS have been discarded, shuffle your DISCARD PILE and turn it face down. This is your new CREW CARD deck.
CREW DECKS contain cards of three different RANKS. Each deck is made up of 3 unique Boss Cards, 3 Lieutenant Cards (x2), and 4 Mate Cards (x4).
Placing the Planets
- Everyone draws from the POKER DECK for a high card. The winner places the Purple Planet on any hex in the purple orbit.
- The Blue, Red, White and Green Planets are then placed in a line going outward from the Purple Planet. Keep the second Green Planet separate for now.
- Once the PLANETS are lined up, randomize their placements. Draw until you have 4 cards, one for the Blue, Red, White, and Green PLANET (discard all face cards).
- The number of HEXES each PLANET moves is calculated by multiplying the number of its respective POKER CARD by the number of tiers the PLANET piece has. If the card drawn for the White Planet is a 2, the number of HEXES it will move is 6.
- Finally, place the second Green Planet on the hex opposite, reflected from its counterpart. The board is now ready.
Looting the Planets
The PLANETS of the Conflux each have loot to smuggle. Bring your biggest SHIP for that, your ROC. When a ROC loots a PLANET, it receives CARGO of the PLANET's color, as well as two chips of that PLANET's color. CARGO has no value on its own, but if you travel to the ENGINE STAR (the center HEX) and trade, you receive a payout based on how much CARGO you are hauling: 100 NEPHELIUM per CARGO. If you smuggle CARGO of all five types to the ENGINE STAR at the same time, you get an additional bonus of 250 NEPHELIUM. Once you have smuggled to the ENGINE STAR, your ROC is immediately returned to BASE so you can get right back to looting. You may only have one of each type of CARGO at any time.
Who Goes First?
Each player draws a card from a shuffled POKER DECK. The player who draws the highest card is given the DEALER CHIP and becomes the dealer for the first hand. The person to their right, who will deal last, moves first during the initial LOOT PHASE.
Now that everything is situated on the board and the TURN order is set, each player draws 4 cards from their shuffled CREW DECK.
Congratulations, you are ready to play ANTEMATTER!
Ships and Movement
The game begins with the board and the LOOT PHASE. Familiarize yourself with your SHIPS.
There are two kinds of SHIPS in ANTEMATTER: the RAVEN and the ROC. They serve different functions, but both consume the same pool of resources to move around the Conflux: the BURN.
Ships and Their Burns
At the beginning of each LOOT PHASE, you are allotted 3 BURNS. BURNS can be split between your SHIPS in any combination you choose. You may use all three BURNS on one SHIP for an extra-long move, or use one BURN for each SHIP.
The Roc
Your ROC is the backbone of your smuggler fleet. It is used to LOOT PLANETS and SMUGGLE CARGO to the ENGINE STAR. It may also land on DIVES to recruit CREW MEMBERS.
Your ROC moves 1 HEX per BURN.
The Ravens
Your two RAVENS are used as trailblazers and salvagers. They land on PLUNDER HEXES to LOOT PLUNDER, and land on DIVES to recruit CREW MEMBERS. Deploy BRIDGES up to 1 HEX away.
RAVENS move up to 2 HEXES per BURN.
Advanced Maneuvers and Orbiting Planets
Building Bridges
Once a TURN, each RAVEN may place or move 1 BRIDGE onto any space within one HEX of it.
Bridge Chains
A BRIDGE is a tool used to boost your ROC's mobility. If your ROC lands on one of your BRIDGES, it may travel one additional HEX for FREE. If the HEX it lands on next contains another of your BRIDGES, it may continue moving. Link your BRIDGES together into a network to send your ROC from one side of the system to the other.
Planet Orbits
The board looks different every game, because the PLANETS can start on any HEX in their ORBITS. Over the course of the game, the PLANETS move around the board, taking their CARGO and any ROCS currently visiting with them.
The PLANETS move clockwise at the end of every CYCLE. When the POKER PHASE is over, the deck is given to the next dealer to shuffle, and the person who was just dealer moves each PLANET.
Planet Tiers
The PLANETS travel 1, 2, or 3 HEXES along their ORBITS each TURN. You can tell how many HEXES each moves by the number of tiers on each PLANET's base (1, 2, or 3 tiers).
Planet Slingshot
Not only can you hitch a ride on a PLANET to move for free, your ROC can use the momentum from leaving the PLANET after it moves to propel itself 2 HEXES in 1 BURN. Use the SLINGSHOT to hop from PLANET to PLANET, or link up with a BRIDGE CHAIN.
Loot Phase Cards
CREW CARDS are used to assist your fleet with navigating the board. A crew card may add additional BURNS, let a Scrapper loot twice, or let a Beckoner move the PLANETS. Create combinations of CREW CARDS, BRIDGES, and SLINGSHOTS to maneuver through the Conflux.
Antematter Poker
Poker in ANTEMATTER is played Texas Hold'em style: 2 card pocket hands and 5 community cards. Instead of blinds, ANTEMATTER uses ANTES, which go up at regular intervals (see Refilling the Board / Upping the Ante). The current ANTE affects how powerful certain CREW CARDS are. The ANTE multiplier on a card (and in this manual) is noted by an "x" symbol. A card that brings in 10 is only worth 250 chips at the beginning of the game when the ANTE is 25, but by the end it will be worth 1,000 or more.
Poker Crew Cards
CREW CARDS are what make poker in ANTEMATTER unique. Use GAMBIT cards to add weight to your bet, or play a TRUMP card to avoid having to pay up when your opponents raise. The most powerful cards can give you an extra boost of luck, or a way to bluff your opponents into folding.
Unless the card says otherwise, every POKER PHASE CREW CARD is played during your TURN in the round of poker. If it is your turn to call, bet or fold, it is also your turn to use any CREW CARDS that could make that decision easier. Some CREW CARDS are time restricted, so check the Poker Timeline in the middle of your CREW CARDS to make sure you play a card at the right time.
How To Play Poker
Poker is won by making the best 5 card hand using your 2 pocket cards and the 5 public community cards, or by being the last player left. In ANTEMATTER poker, the game begins with all players placing an entry fee to the round, known as the ANTE. The ANTE increases with every STAGE.
A full hand of poker is played as follows:
- Pocket cards. Players are dealt two cards face-down. These are your pocket cards. Keep these to yourself.
- First betting round. Betting starts with the player to the LEFT of the dealer and goes clockwise. During a round of betting, each player can check or bet. Once a player bets, players can no longer check; each player can only call, raise, or fold. Once the round is over, proceed to the flop.
- The Flop. Three cards are revealed from the top of the POKER DECK and placed in a row. These first 3 community cards are known as THE FLOP.
- Second betting round. After THE FLOP is revealed, there is a second round of betting, starting with the player to the LEFT of the dealer and going counter-clockwise.
- The Turn. Another card is revealed from the top of the POKER DECK. This card is known as THE TURN.
- Third betting round. After THE TURN is revealed, there is a third round of betting, starting with the player to the LEFT of the dealer and going counter-clockwise.
- The River. The last card is revealed from the top of the POKER DECK. This card is known as THE RIVER.
- Final betting round. After THE RIVER is revealed, the fourth and final round of betting begins, starting with the player to the LEFT of the dealer and going counter-clockwise.
- Showdown. Players make the best five-card combination between their pocket cards and the community cards, and show their hands. The player who bet or raised last shows their hand first. The best 5 card hand wins the pot and moves first in the next LOOT PHASE. In case of a tie, the pot is evenly split among the winning hands, and the players draw a High Card to determine who moves first in the LOOT PHASE.
Betting Actions
- Check: Passes the action to the next player to the LEFT without making a bet. This can only be done if no one has bet or raised in the current betting round.
- Bet: Wagering chips by placing them in the pot. The action moves to the LEFT and all players must either Call the bet or Fold to the bet.
- Call: Matching the bet that another player has placed and passing the action to the LEFT.
- Raise: Calling a bet another player has placed and betting even more chips. The action moves to the LEFT and all players must either Call your raise or Fold to your new bet. Successive raises may result in a betting round going around multiple times until all players have gone "All-In" and wagered all their chips.
- Fold: Conceding the hand instead of calling a bet or raise.
Grifters, Enigmata, and the End of the Poker Phase
Grifters
In the poker deck, the Jokers are kept in and are called GRIFTERS. If you are dealt one in your pocket, you have a decision to make. Either expose the GRIFTER immediately in exchange for a new card, or team up with the GRIFTER to con your opponents. Working with a GRIFTER carries a risk: with a GRIFTER in your pocket, you cannot win the hand at the showdown. However, if you manage to bluff or convince your opponents to fold, you reveal your GRIFTER in exchange for 20 Nephelium and bragging rights.
Enigmata
If a GRIFTER comes out on the FLOP, deal another card to replace it, but first introduce a little mayhem. Also deal a card from the DECK OF ENIGMATA, each of which radically alters the rules of the hand. If multiple GRIFTERS come out, replace them all with new cards but draw only one ENIGMATA CARD. If a GRIFTER comes out on the TURN or RIVER, replace it without dealing an ENIGMATA CARD.
Getting Ready for the Next Loot Phase / Shuffling the Poker Deck
Once the hand is over, the deck is given to the next dealer to shuffle in preparation for the next hand, and the person who was just dealer moves each PLANET. This marks the end of the CYCLE. After the completion of 4 CYCLES, the current STAGE ends.
Refilling the Board / Upping the Ante
After a STAGE, the ANTE is raised 1 level. If the ANTE is 1 white chip, it becomes 1 red chip; red becomes blue; blue becomes black. This happens after the last POKER PHASE, before the PLANETS are moved. At this time, each PLUNDER HEX on the board is replenished. If there are still unclaimed chips on the board, the new ones are stacked on top of them.
How to Win and Going Broke
The objective of ANTEMATTER is to impress the Corner Booth by building the biggest pile of chips in the Conflux. The number of chips you are aiming for changes based on how many opponents you face, although you can set the limit to whatever you want if you would like to play all night.
To win you must be in possession of the TOKEN OF RESPECT, a coin given out by the Corner Booth when you reach a certain threshold of your target STACK size. You must possess the TOKEN OF RESPECT for one full CYCLE before you can win, even if you win a hand of poker that brings you from below the amount needed to win past that amount. If two or more players end the CYCLE in possession of the TOKEN OF RESPECT and the amount of chips needed to win, the winner is the player with the larger stack of chips. This gives your opponents their last chance to cash in their CARGO, and keeps opponents from stealing the game out from under the frontrunner by winning a hand of poker right at the end. Once you are in possession of the TOKEN OF RESPECT, you cannot lose it.
Table of Victory
| # of Players | Threshold to Earn the TOKEN OF RESPECT | Amount Needed to Win |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1500 Nephelium | 2000 Nephelium |
| 4 | 2000 Nephelium | 2500 Nephelium |
| 5 | 2500 Nephelium | 3000 Nephelium |
| 6 | 3000 Nephelium | 3500 Nephelium |
Going Broke
If you lose all of your chips, your ROCS and RAVENS return to BASE immediately. Your STACK is replenished with the same 300 NEPHELIUM chips you began the game with, so get to work on that last CARGO and bounce back. Everyone loves a great comeback!
Crew Card Glossary
Some CREW CARDS have rules about when you can play them. You can identify them by the TAG in the upper-right corner and the corresponding keyword in the text box. POKER and LOOT CREW CARDS have different TAGS.
Poker Tags
[D]estiny
- Destiny appears on Boss cards. Play them before the FLOP to alter the rules for the rest of the phase.
- Only one Destiny card can be played per POKER PHASE. Once a player has played a Destiny card, other players cannot play theirs.
[G]ambit
- Play CREW CARDS with Gambit as you place a bet or raise an opponent's bet. These cards upgrade your bets with bonus effects.
- You can play any number of Gambit cards per bet.
[P]rovoke
- When you play a CREW CARD with Provoke, you choose one of your opponents to target. These cards all affect the "provoked opponent" in some way.
- You can play more than one Provoke card targeting the same or different opponents.
[T]rump
- Play a Trump CREW CARD after an opponent takes a type of game action that the card "trumps". For example, if a Trump card says it "[T]rumps a bet," you can play it after an opponent bets.
- To trump an action, play your Trump card on your TURN after an opponent takes the specified action.
- You can trump any action that happened this betting round since your last TURN, even if more than one opponent took the same action. For example, if you are third in the betting order and the players ahead of you both bet, you can choose to trump either player's bet.
- You and other players can trump the same action with one or more Trump cards each.
[W]etwork
- You can only play one Wetwork card per POKER PHASE.
- Multiple players can play Wetwork cards in the same POKER PHASE, but only one per player.
Loot Tags
[A]mbush
- Ambush cards are the only CREW CARDS you can play out of TURN.
- Play an Ambush on an opponent's TURN when they attempt the specified action within the card's RANGE.
- You cannot play more than one Ambush on the same opponent's action, but multiple players can each play one Ambush in response to the same action.
[R]aid
- Play [R]aid CREW CARDS when your SHIP moves within RANGE of the specified target.
- You may only play one [R]aid each time one of your SHIPS moves. But you can play a new [R]aid no matter how your SHIP moves, whether it is using a BURN, a bonus move from a BRIDGE, or a CREW CARD.
Crew Card Keywords
Keywords are shorthand for game actions that appear on multiple CREW CARDS. Some cards have reminder text; this section expands on these with the full official rules.
General Keywords
Collect
- Take the NEPHELIUM stated on the card from the bank and add it to your STACK.
Steal
- Take the NEPHELIUM stated on the card from the specified opponent(s) and add it to your STACK.
Poker Card-Only Keywords
Float
- To float, take the amount of NEPHELIUM stated on the card from the bank and add it to your total bet.
- If this raises your total bet above the call amount, it is considered a bet (or raise) and requires your opponents to call before moving to the next betting round.
- If you win the hand, return that NEPHELIUM to the bank. If an opponent wins the hand, they keep it.
Invest
- To invest, take the amount of NEPHELIUM stated on the card from the bank and add it to your total bet.
- If this raises your total bet above the call amount, it is considered a bet (or raise) and requires your opponents to call before moving to the next betting round.
- Unlike Float, you do not need to return the NEPHELIUM to the bank if you win the hand.
Negotiate
- If you play a card with Negotiate, each of your opponents, in TURN order, can choose to fold immediately.
- After your opponents choose whether to fold, the betting round resumes as normal.
Reduce
- To reduce a bet, you force the opponent who placed it to take the amount of NEPHELIUM stated on the card from their total bet and return it to their STACK.
- If any opponents called that bet or raised in between when the bet was placed and when you reduced it, those opponents also return that much NEPHELIUM from their total bets to their STACKS.
- After you reduce a bet, you only need to call the reduced amount. If the bet is reduced to zero, check instead.
Glossary of Terms
Ante - The chip that all players put into the pot at the beginning of each hand of Poker. The Ante is also used to determine the power of certain Poker Phase Crew Cards.
Base - The three starting Hexes for your ships.
Bridge - Deployable warp gates placed by your Ravens. Rocs use them to boost around the board. Linkable into a Bridge Chain.
Bridge Chain - A series of connected Bridges.
Burn - The resource used to move your ships around the board. Every player gets 3 Burns every turn.
Cargo - Loot gathered by your Rocs on Planets to be smuggled to the Engine Star.
Crew Card - Individual cards from your Crew Deck.
Crew Deck - Your personal deck of Crew Cards. Each deck is unique and features a mix of Poker and Loot Phase cards.
Cycle - The combined Loot Phase and Poker Phase. After each cycle, at the end of the Poker Phase, the Planets move along their orbits and the Poker Deck is shuffled.
Deck of Enigmata - The deck you draw from when a Grifter is revealed on the flop. When a Grifter is revealed, replace it with a new card from the Poker Deck and draw 1 card from the Deck of Enigmata.
Dive - A bar where additional Crew are found. Loot a Dive to fill your hand with Crew Cards, or discard your hand and draw a new, full one.
Dive Hex - The Hexes that Dives are placed on around the board.
Engine Star - The center of the board. Rocs smuggle Cargo to this Hex and Loot it to trade Cargo for a payout.
Enigmata Card - A card from the Deck of Enigmata. When a Grifter is revealed on the flop, it is replaced by a new poker card, and one of these cards is dealt.
Grifter - A unique face card in the poker deck. If you get one in your pocket, you cannot win the hand, but if you manage to bluff your opponents into folding, you gain 20 Nephelium. If one comes out on the flop, it is replaced by a new card and an Enigmata Card is triggered.
Hex - The standard unit of distance on the board.
Loot Phase - The first phase in every Cycle. Players take turns moving their ships around the board, collecting Plunder and Cargo. The player who won the last Poker Phase moves first.
Nephelium - The currency of the Engine Star Universe. In ANTEMATTER, this is represented by chips.
Orbit - The path of each Planet. On the board, Orbits are delineated by the colors of the ships that travel along each Orbit.
Planet - The 6 Planets of the Conflux. They rotate around the Engine Star clockwise along their corresponding Orbits. They are looted by Rocs to gain Cargo and Nephelium. Rocs can move with the Planets as they orbit, and Slingshot off the Planet to move one additional Hex in one Burn.
Plunder - Derelict or damaged ships scattered around the Conflux, represented by Nephelium chips. Ravens may loot Plunder to pick up the chip and draw one card from their Crew Deck.
Plunder Hex - The Hexes that Plunder is placed on around the board.
Poker Phase - The hand of Poker played after the Loot Phase. Players take turns betting in a hand of Texas Hold'em Poker. The winner gains the pot and moves first in the next Loot Phase.
Range - The distance in Hexes between objects affecting each other on the board.
Rank - The rarity of Crew Cards. From least rare to most: Mates, Lieutenants, Bosses.
Raven - One of two ships in your fleet. Ravens move up to 2 Hexes in 1 Burn, and can place Bridges for your Rocs. Ravens may loot Plunder and Dives.
Roc - One of two ships in your fleet. Rocs move 1 Hex in 1 Burn, but can use Bridges. Rocs may loot Planets and Dives, and smuggle Cargo to the Engine Star.
Ship - Your Ravens and your Roc are ships. Your Bridges are not considered Ships.
Slingshot - The maneuver your Roc makes when it moves off a Planet it has just traveled with as it Orbited. Rocs may Slingshot to move up to 2 Hexes in 1 Burn.
Stack - The amount of Nephelium chips a player possesses. Your goal in ANTEMATTER is to grow your stack to the target amount.
Stage - The number of cycles before the board is refreshed and the Ante is increased. In standard play a stage is 4 cycles.
Tag - Special categories of Crew Cards. The Tag is found in the upper-right corner of the card. Tags alter how a card is played, and how it might be affected by other cards.
Token of Respect - The coin needed to win ANTEMATTER.
Turn - Each player's time to act. In the Loot Phase, your turn is when you move your ships around the board. In the Poker Phase, it is when you bet, check, call or fold.