Astroforce: The Dice Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• First Game Setup
• The Boards
• The Game Turn
  • 1. Mission Phase
  • 2. Deployment Phase
  • 3. Cleanup Phase
• Crew Dice
• Mission Cards
• Event Cards
• Development Cards
• Winning, Losing & Scoring
• Two Player Variant
• Card Clarifications

Components

• 10 Crew Dice
• 24 Mission Cards
• 40 Event Cards
• 38 Development Cards
• 2 double-sided 5 Year Patrol Cards (Easy/Medium & Hard/Deadly)
• 10 marker tokens (Hull, Shields, Miscellaneous)
• 3 double-sided Game boards

First Game Setup

1. Place the ASV Pioneer game board alongside the Quarters board and player prompt board.
2. Shuffle the Event, Mission and Development decks and place each of them face down next to the game board.
3. Turn the first three Development Cards face up.
4. Place a token on Hull space 7.
5. Place a token on Shield space 0.
6. Place a token on Year space 1.
7. Select your 5 Year Patrol Card (Easy, Medium, Hard or Deadly) and place it on the board.
8. Place a token on the FTL Fuel Cell space corresponding to your Patrol Card (10, 9, 8 or 7).
9. Place the ten Crew Dice in the Quarters area of the board.
10. Place the remaining spare marker tokens to one side.

The Boards

1. Crew Stations: the ship is made up of five locations, which correspond to the five Crew Dice roles. Each location has a fixed number of Crew Stations to which corresponding Crew Dice may be assigned during the Reporting for Duty phase. If more of a given role is rolled than there are available Crew Stations, the excess Crew Dice are returned to Quarters. Certain Development Cards may adjust the number of crew stations.
   • Command: two Command (COM) stations
   • Science: three Science (SCI) stations
   • Medical: three Medical (MED) stations
   • Engineering: three Engineering (ENG) stations
   • Security: three Security (SEC) stations
2. Sensors: There are four Sensor Stations. Any Threat results rolled on Crew Dice must be placed here. Unlike normal stations these do not clear during the Cleanup Phase. Crew Dice placed here may only be returned to Quarters when all Sensor Stations are filled, or when a SEC Crew Dice is assigned to move one Threat Crew Dice from Sensors to Quarters (see "Crew Dice: Security: Clear Sensor action").
3. Shield track: Although they are down at the start of the game, the Pioneer has the ability to raise Shields. The SCI Crew Dice action "Raise Shields" increases Shields to 5, regardless of the value they were on before. "Lower Shields" reduces them to 0 regardless of the value they were on before. Damage inflicted on the Pioneer by Event Cards with the keyword "Damage" is subtracted first from Shields. If Shields are at 0 and damage is inflicted, it is applied to the Hull track. Event Cards inflicting "Hull Damage" bypass Shields and damage the Hull directly.
4. Hull track: Damage inflicted on the Pioneer that bypasses Shields is inflicted upon the Hull. If the Hull is reduced to 0 and there are no Shields active, subsequent damage is taken in the form of Crew Dice; for each point of damage, one Crew Dice assigned to Quarters or a Crew Station is moved to Medbay. If no active crew remain in Quarters or Crew Stations the ship is destroyed and the game is over.

The Game Turn

The game is played over a series of turns. Each turn is broken down into the following three phases:

1. Mission Phase

• Deplete FTL Fuel Cells Reserves: If a Mission is in play, advance the FTL Fuel Cells Reserves track one space. If the token reaches space zero, discard the Mission as failed and draw an Event Card.
• Refresh Mission: If no Mission Card is in play, draw one and place it on the game board, adding any marker tokens required and returning FTL Fuel Cell Reserves to the starting value (see "Mission Cards").
• Activate Mission Actions: These may be listed on Mission Cards and Event Cards. Mission Actions are indicated by the 'M' symbol. If an Event Card is drawn during this stage which has the Mission Action symbol, that Mission Action triggers.

2. Deployment Phase

• Roll Call: Gather all Crew Dice from Quarters and roll them. Do not take any Dice in Medbay, assigned to Sensors or "Locked In" to an Event or Development. Apply any positive or negative effects (not 'M' actions) from Event or Development Cards.
• Report For Duty: Crew Dice are assigned to their Ship Stations. See "Crew Dice" and "Crew Stations" for details on how to place Crew Dice.
• Deploy: Take Crew Dice actions (Repair, Clear Sensors etc) or deploy Crew Dice on Event, Development or Mission Cards as required. Mission stages, including "Draw Card" stages, are conducted during Deploy.

3. Cleanup Phase

• Return any dice from Crew Stations to Quarters.
• Return any dice from completed Mission Stages, Development or Event Cards to Quarters.
• Place any completed or failed Mission Cards in the appropriate Mission Discard pile.
• Place any completed Event Cards in the Event Discard pile.
• Claim any completed Development Cards (maximum 9).

Crew Dice

Your primary resource in Astroforce: The Dice Game are the brave crew of the Starship Pioneer. They are represented by your pool of ten Crew Dice.

Crew Dice may be used to complete challenges (requirements for which are shown on Event, Development and Mission Cards), or to perform special actions. Crew Dice have the following faces, which represent different roles, abilities and uses in the game.

Command (COM):

• Meet a COM challenge, OR
• Orders: Change one other Crew Dice to a result of your choosing

Science (SCI):

• Meet a SCI challenge, OR
• Raise or Lower Shields: Move Shield track to maximum or minimum
• Alternatively, two SCI Crew Dice may act as one MED Crew Dice

Medical (MED):

• Meet a MED challenge, OR
• Heal: Move one Crew Dice from Medbay to Quarters
• Alternatively, two MED Crew Dice may act as one SCI Crew Dice

Engineering (ENG):

• Meet an ENG challenge OR
• Repair: Hull damage is reduced by 1
• Alternatively, two ENG Crew Dice may act as one SEC Crew Dice

Security (SEC):

• Meet a SEC challenge OR
• Clear Sensors: Reduce Sensor Threat by 1 (return Threat to Quarters)
• Alternatively, two SEC Crew Dice may act as one ENG Crew Dice

Threat:

• Threat rolls must immediately be placed in the Sensor Crew Stations. These dice remain in place until all available Sensor Stations are filled. When this occurs the assigned Crew Dice are returned to Quarters and an Event Card is drawn. If there are any additional Threat results still to assign, these are returned to Quarters.

In addition, any three Crew Dice assigned to any Crew Stations may act as any other Crew Dice (i.e. you could use 1 MED, 1 SEC and one ENG to act as 1 SCI).

Once a Crew Dice has been used it is normally returned to Quarters. The player may instead choose to leave a Crew Dice "Locked In" on a partially completed Event Card or Development Card. Crew Dice may not be "Locked In" to partially complete Mission Stages.

Where multiple Crew Dice have been used to achieve a result, for example three dice to achieve a COM result, in order to Lock In that result all Crew Dice used to achieve it must be deployed, stacked on the space where the Locked In result is required.

Active Dice: Where a game effect refers to an Active Dice, this is any dice not in Medbay, captured by an Event Card (such as Alien Parasites) or placed on Sensors.

Mission Cards

The Mission Card deck is shuffled at the start of the game, and one Mission Card is drawn during the Mission Phase of each turn if no others are in play. Each Mission represents your current goal. You may need to transmat medical supplies to a distant colony, intervene in a potential diplomatic crisis or sneak behind enemy lines to rescue a lost ship.

When a Mission Card is played the FTL Fuel Cells Reserve track is set back to maximum, as specified on the 5 Year Patrol Card.

Mission Cards typically have one or more Mission Stage actions listed, indicated by the 'M' icon. These actions are carried out during the Mission Phase of each turn unless otherwise indicated. If there are multiple 'M' actions to play the player may choose the order in which to play them.

Each Mission Card lists the completion criteria. Typically Mission Cards are broken down into numbered Mission Stages, with a space for a tracking token against each. As each Mission Stage is completed the token is moved to the next Mission Stage. IMPORTANT: Only one Mission Stage may be completed per turn. There are three types of Mission Stage:

• Challenge Actions: The most common method for completing a Mission Stage is to assign the appropriate Crew Dice to the Mission Card during the Deploy section of the Deployment Phase. Crew Dice deployed to a completed Mission Stage are returned to Quarters during the Cleanup Phase. An example Challenge Action might be "Cure: 2 MED", indicating that two MED Crew Dice must be assigned to complete the stage.
• Card Actions: Some Mission Stages may trigger the drawing of a card rather than requiring Crew Dice to complete. The final Mission Stage listed on most Mission Cards is "Development: Draw 1", indicating that the player must draw one card from the Development Deck and replace an existing Development Card (see "Development Cards").
• Special Actions: Certain Mission Stages have additional instructions, such as Transmat ("SHIELD + 1 ENG"). Note: the "SHIELD" component of the 'Transmat' action requires that shields be at 0, either by using the 'Lower Shields' action, or through damage.

If all Mission Stages have been completed the Mission Card is moved to the Completed Mission pile during the Cleanup Phase, and a new Mission Card is drawn during the next Mission Phase. Each time a Mission Card is successfully completed, advance the Year Track one space.

Failed Missions: If the FTL Fuel Cells Reserves track runs out before the Mission is complete, the Mission Card is moved to the Failed Mission pile during the Cleanup Phase and an Event Card is drawn. If two Missions are failed, the Pioneer's 5 year patrol ends in failure, and the game is lost.

Event Cards

If all you had to worry about was completing your Mission, life aboard the Pioneer would be a breeze. But sadly things never go that smoothly.

Event Cards represent plot twists and unpredictable events; equipment failures, alien interventions and human frailties that plague the Pioneer crew. The challenge you face in completing your five year patrol is to balance the wellbeing of your ship and crew against both the goals of your current Mission Card and the challenges posed by any Event Cards in play. Making the right decisions about how to deploy your limited resources can be the difference between triumph and ignominious defeat.

Some Event Cards have an immediate effect and are then discarded. For example "Report to Medbay" requires you to move one of your active Crew Dice to Medbay. Once this action is completed the Event Card lists the action "Discard", which moves the Event Card to the Event Card Discard pile.

Immediate effects are identified by the immediate-effect icon.

Some Event Cards are ongoing and list criteria that must be completed before the Event Card may be discarded. Typically a negative effect will remain in play until this criteria is met. For example, the Event Card "Transmat Malfunction" states that the "Transmat" action listed on some Mission Cards may not be taken until two ENG Crew Dice are deployed to the Event Card. Once they have been deployed the Event Card is completed. During the Cleanup Phase the Crew Dice are returned to Quarters and the Event Card is moved to the Event Card Discard pile.

Ongoing effects are identified by the ongoing-effect icon.

Some Event Cards are more complex, and include a number of Stages, much like Mission Cards. These Event Stages function in the same way as Mission Stages. As with Mission Cards, only one stage may be completed per turn. Some Events may even include rewards for completion.

Some Event Cards have one or more Mission Stage actions listed, indicated by the 'M' icon. These actions are carried out during the Mission Phase of each turn unless otherwise indicated. For example an enemy ship will typically inflict damage to the Pioneer as a Mission Stage action.

Where multiple Event Card effects must take place, the player may choose the order in which to resolve them. You may have a maximum of nine Event Cards in play at one time. If a game effect instructs you to draw an additional Event, discard the oldest Event first.

Development Cards

It's not all dilemmas and disasters out in deep space. Sometimes you get rewards, in the form of Development Cards. Development Cards provide benefits that may change certain game rules in your favour; they are critical to surviving the countless dangers that await you on your five year patrol.

At the start of the game three Development Cards are placed face up next to the Development Deck. During the Deployment Phase you may deploy Crew Dice to Development Cards in the same way as you would to Mission or Event Cards. If you meet the Development Card requirement you gain that Development, placing that card in front of you. Cards placed here are considered to be in your 'Active Development Area'. You gain the benefits of all cards in this area. You may have a maximum of nine Development Cards in your Active Development Area at any time. You may choose to discard an existing card in order to gain another.

Whenever you take a Development Card from the queue, slide the remaining Development cards to the left and draw a replacement from the deck, adding it to the right of the queue.

Whenever a game effect instructs you to Draw a Development Card you must discard the left-hand most card of the three face up Development Cards and draw a replacement, placing it on the right. If you had Crew Dice assigned to the discarded card they are returned to Quarters.

Winning, Losing & Scoring

The game can be lost by running out of Crew Dice or failing to complete two Mission Cards in a row.

The game is won by completing your 5 Year Patrol Card, which means finishing a total of five Mission Cards. However the game can be difficult, and many patrols won't survive that long. In order to track your progress and determine how well you did in each game, use the following scoring mechanism.

A rank is awarded based on the number of years that were completed:

Years completed	Rank
0 years	Crewman 3rd Class
1 year	Ensign
2 years	Lieutenant
3 years	Commander
4 years	Captain
5 years	Admiral

Note: The 5 Year Patrol Card game difficulty (easy, medium, hard, deadly) as an initial (E, M, H, D).

As an example, if a Kzinn Stealth Cruiser blows the Pioneer to bits during the third year, using the hard difficulty 5 Year Patrol Card, your final rank would be Lieutenant (H).

Two Player Variant

Players alternate the roles of "Captain Player" and "Crew Player". It is suggested that players pass a marker between them to indicate who the Captain Player is. Players may confer during the Deployment Phase, but the Captain Player has final say.

Alternatively, if you wish to remove the risk of an alpha player dominating proceedings or you want to make the two-player game a little more challenging, you may wish to rule that conferring is not allowed during the Deployment Phase and that the poor old Crew Player just needs to shut up, scrub the decks and do as they are told.

On a turn:

• The Crew Player is responsible for all physical interaction with the game. They move tracker tokens, draw cards, roll, place and clear the dice.
• The Captain Player is responsible for giving orders, which the Crew Player must then carry out.

Other than these changes, gameplay proceeds as normal.

Card Clarifications

Q: How does the "Space/Time Disruption" Event Card work? A: You must complete this Event before the current Mission is completed (either by the FTL Fuel Cells Reserves running out or by you completing all the Mission Stages). If you fail to complete the Event and the Mission completes, you must lose one card from your Active Development Card area at random. Then take the Event deck and Event discard pile and shuffle them back together. The Space/Time Disruption Event Card remains in play and the above effects will trigger again if it is still in play when your next Mission completes.

Q: How does Dissention in the Ranks work? A: You may put dice on any card, but only to meet the full requirement of the card or stage; so, there must be no "Locked In" Crew Dice on the cards at the end of the turn.

The following clarifications are from the official Word Forge 3-year demo rules, as the scanned 5-year booklet is cut off before them.

Q: How do the Bridge Crew Development Cards work? A: The Bridge Crew +1 result can only be used for Crew Actions (such as Raise Shields) and to participate in Challenges. They cannot be locked in, changed by Orders or combined with other dice to create a different die result.

Q: How does Kzinn Stealth Cruiser work? A: This event has stages to complete, just like the stages on Mission steps. Only one stage may be completed per turn.

Q: Some cards have small symbols in the left-hand border of the card. What are these for? A: These symbols are used in the Away Team expansion. You can ignore them if you are just playing the base game.