City of the Great Machine: Stand-In Heroes
City of the Great Machine: Stand-In Heroes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 6 Hero cards
- 27 Access cards (3 decks of 9 cards)
- 6 Hero miniatures: Maverick, Mercenary, Researcher, Huntress, Impresario, Psychiatrist
Setup
Step 8. The Revolutionaries' Preparations. A core game Hero and their Stand-In Hero cannot participate in the same game. The easiest way to find pairs of corresponding Heroes is to look at the Initiative number, as they are the same on both Hero cards.
There are no other restrictions. You may use any mix of core game Heroes, Stand-In Heroes, and Heroes from the other expansions.
Playing as a Stand-In Hero, choose any deck of Access cards supplied with this expansion.
Guide to Heroes' Abilities
Gertrude Tomahawk • Mercenary
Initiative 1 • Max. Trust 8
Stands in for Mateusz Orzeszko, the Veteran.
When starting a Riot, Gertrude may decide to break a Guard for free before paying Trust for each unidentified Famous Citizen in the District. That newly broken Guard is not counted when Gertrude pays Trust for unidentified Citizens while starting a Riot and determines the Riot result.
However, the harsh methods used by Gertrude scare away those who are in doubt — meaning the Citizens corresponding to the current Stage of Discontent are inactive and do not join her Riot! For example, Merchants (3) do not join her Riot unless Discontent is at Stage 4 or higher. Nobles (5) do not join even at the Riot Stage. On the other hand, if the Riot fails, the Great Machine cannot immediately arrest the Citizens who remained inactive.
Gertrude may decide not to use her ability (not to break a Guard when starting a Riot). In this case, the Citizens join her Riot (and may be arrested, if the Riot fails) as per the normal rules.
Tactically, for Gertrude, it is just as important to organize a successful Riot as it is to force the Great Machine to take excessive measures to protect the Districts!
Arjana Varma • Huntress
Initiative 2 • Max. Trust 8
Stands in for Coolum McDouglas, the Fowler.
Arjana's extraordinary skills allow her to take any Action, except for starting a Riot, in a connected Minor District for 1 additional Trust or Major District for 2 additional Trust, as if she were there. For example, staying in a District connected to the Tower of L.A.W. with 3 Guards, Arjana may take an Action in the Tower of L.A.W. — for instance, cancel a Directive — by paying 5 Trust (2 Trust for using her ability + 3 Trust for the Guards in the Tower of L.A.W.).
Arjana pays additional Trust before she takes an Action in a connected District. She must pay this additional Trust even if that Action is free.
There should be no Servant in a connected District for Arjana to use her ability.
Tactically, Arjana should always consider all her possible Actions. For example, she may move Citizens from a connected District to a District where a Riot is planned, or she can try to break a Guard in a connected District making it easier for another Hero to exit it.
Lucas Aberstein • Impresario
Initiative 3 • Max. Trust 7
Stands in for Veiga Vazquez, the Actress.
The Great Machine is vastly intelligent, but at the end of the day, it is only a machine, incapable of reading between the lines. Lucas exploits this by crafting messages — loud and clear for the citizens who are willing to join the Revolution, yet easily dismissed by the Machine.
Lucas raises Discontent with an Incitement Action or with a Special Action on the Central Square as per the normal rules. He may then immediately pay 2 Trust to identify 1 Famous Citizen in his District.
In the Opening phase, Lucas receives 1 additional Trust, if there is at least one identified Citizen in his current District. However, he does not take into account revealed Citizens, as he prefers to act covertly, without bringing the attention of the authorities.
Tactically, Lucas works best when there is at least 1 identified Citizen in each District. Generally, he is capable of performing 2 of the main tasks the Heroes need to accomplish, both in one stroke — raising Discontent and identifying Famous Citizens.
Yanko Kalderash • Maverick
Initiative 4 • Max. Trust 7
Stands in for Olga de Troyes, the Vagabond.
At the end of his turn, Yanko may use his ability to relocate to any connected District (if not detained). This is not considered a movement for any game effects, and Yanko is not allowed to do anything after relocating.
If Yanko relocates himself to a District with a Raid token, he will not be detained (Yanko uses his glider at night while the Servants sleep in their beds).
Tactically, Yanko prefers relocating himself to the most advantageous District he'd like to start the next round in. For instance, he can end movement in a District with another Hero or in a Major District with few Citizens and then fly away at the end of his turn.
Magnus Edison • Researcher
Initiative 5 • Max. Trust 8
Stands in for Sylvia Wu, the Artificer.
Magnus is well versed in how the Guards work, and despite the numerous security protocols installed by the Great Machine, he knows how to benefit from their presence. In the Opening phase, Magnus may decide to receive Trust from Guards (instead of Famous Citizens) in the amount equal to the number of Guards in the District plus one. Servants and broken Guards are not counted.
In the Opening Phase, Magnus may decide not to use his ability and receive Trust from the Famous Citizens in his District.
Tactically, Magnus can go to a District with another Hero or to a Major District with few Citizens without risking being left with little Trust in the next round. Also, Magnus can easily start the new round in a heavily guarded District, as he knows how to turn this to his benefit!
Lilian Defalco • Psychiatrist
Initiative 9 • Max. Trust 7
Stands in for Mustafa Azikiwe, the Physician.
Lilian pays 1 Trust less in total when she identifies Famous Citizens, and also when she pays for unidentified Citizens while starting a Riot. For example, in a District with 2 Guards, she identifies 2 Citizens for 3 Trust instead of 4.
Once per round, at the end of her turn, if not detained, Lilian may send 1 identified or revealed Traitor from her District to the mental asylum (i.e. completely remove the Traitor from the game) and receive 2 Trust.
The removed Traitor tokens are returned face-up to the game box.
Tactically, Lilian is skilled in preparing Districts for Riots. However, she should consider that she deprives herself and other Heroes of Trust an identified Traitor would provide (until revealed)!
Optional Stand-In Variant
Revolutionaries start the game with the core game Heroes of their choice. When a core game Hero is detained in the second half of the game, they are considered imprisoned for the rest of the game, and their Stand-In counterpart takes their place.
Once the first City Event II card is revealed, the Stand-In Variant takes effect. When a core game Hero is detained, they continue playing normally until the end of that current round. At the very beginning of the next round, before the new City Event card is revealed, remove this core game Hero from the game — return all their game components back to the box (Trust tokens are returned to the common reserve).
Then the appropriate Stand-In Hero takes their place. The Revolutionary player follows the same steps as described in the game setup (see "8. The Revolutionaries' Preparations" on page 8 of core game rules), but with the following two changes:
- The player chooses to place the Stand-In Hero miniature either in their starting District or in the District where their core game counterpart was last.
- The Stand-In Hero forfeits 1 of their 9 Access cards as usual. If the imprisoned core game Hero had any additional forfeited Access cards beyond the usual one, for each additional forfeited card, the Great Machine may either take 3 Bonds or force the Stand-In Hero to randomly forfeit 1 Access card.
For example, Mateusz, the Veteran, was detained and left the game. Gertrude, the Mercenary, joins in. She randomly forfeits 1 Access card, as per the core game rules. Mateusz had 3 forfeited Access cards — the usual 1 plus 2 additional forfeited Access cards. The Great Machine decides to force Gertrude to forfeit one more Access card and takes 3 Bonds for another one. Or the Great Machine could decide to make Gertrude forfeit 2 Access cards or to take 6 Bonds instead.
Then the game continues following the normal rules.
Compatibility with the Escalation Expansion
- If a Hero with any Chronoleon's Surge tokens leaves the game, those tokens are inherited by that Hero's Stand-In counterpart. Chronoleon keeps an eye on the newcomers, and she knows whose place each of them arrives to take.
- One of the Heroes chosen for the Optional Stand-In Variant may be Akira, the Inventor, Enkidu, the Determinist, or Julie, the Smuggler from the Bring About a Revolution Module — but as none of them has a Stand-In counterpart, they stay in the game until the end.
Solo & Cooperative Mode
All Stand-In Heroes are fully compatible with the Solo & Cooperative Mode. However, Lilian's ability changes, and it's useful to clarify the abilities of Lucas and Yanko.
Lucas Aberstein, the Impresario. Note. In S&C, the revealed Famous Citizens are treated as identified. The revealed Traitors are not counted for the Impresario's ability.
Yanko Kalderash, the Maverick. Note. A variety of Missions need a Hero to make some operation after ending their movement in a District. Yanko's relocation is not a movement.
Lilian Defalco, the Psychiatrist. Rule change. Lilian pays 1 Trust (instead of receiving 2 Trust) to remove a revealed Traitor.
Optional Stand-In Variant (Solo & Cooperative)
You may use the Stand-In Variant in the Solo & Cooperative Mode with the following changes:
- The detained core game Hero will be replaced by their Stand-In counterpart from the moment the Master Plan reaches VI (you may want to mark it with a token).
- All Mission tokens owned by the core game Hero are inherited by their Stand-In Hero, and they proceed with the Missions progress from the point where their predecessor left off.
- If the imprisoned core game Hero had any additional forfeited Access cards beyond the usual one, for each additional forfeited card, reveal 1 random Stand-In Hero Access card and decide whether to forfeit it OR keep it and advance the Progress marker by 2 Stages.