Deep State: Ultimate Deep State Mini-Expansion
Deep State: Ultimate Deep State Mini-Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Absolute Power: Main Variant
Setup
Step 3. World Domination Projects. Place the overlays on all projects taking part in the game. Each overlay covers the Stage 5 cell of its project. Place the overlays so that the side with the golden globe faces up.
Gameplay
A player who reaches Stage 5 of any project wins immediately. The game ends at once.
If no player has reached Stage 5 of a project (which is not easy at all!), then at the end of the game the winner is determined in the usual way, by the influence points earned.
Advancing to Stage 5 of a project follows the usual rules. Only Stage 5 changes in each project; Stages 1 through 4 remain as they were.
- In many projects, the requirements for advancing to Stage 5 include having cards with a specified number of Special Interest symbols (as in the Deep State project). There is no need to discard cards, since the game ends instantly and it no longer matters which cards you have left.
- You may use the same cards to meet different Stage 5 requirements. For example, Stage 5 of the Comintern project requires 4 Agitator symbols and 10 Special Interest symbols. If you have both "Trade Unions" cards (for 1–4 players), they give you 2 Agitator symbols and 3 Special Interest symbols at once.
World War
As always, World Wars increase the number of agents that must be returned to the reserve to advance to Stage 5 of a project, and reduce the number of symbols required. For the Comintern, United Nations and Espionage projects, choose 1 symbol (instead of one symbol of each type) if there is 1 World War card in play. With 2 World Wars, choose either 2 identical symbols or 2 different ones.
Tactical Tips
- By throwing all your efforts into reaching Stage 5 of a project, you often miss other winning opportunities. We recommend betting not only on the instant victory, but also hedging by securing first place in influence points, in case no one manages to reach Stage 5.
- Compatibility with the Deep State: Global Conspiracy expansion: it may happen that in a game with "Absolute Power" the players focus all their efforts on reaching Stage 5 of one project or another. In that case, the modules and mini-expansions that award influence points at the end of the game lose their meaning, for example secret operations. This is normal. We recommend not including these mini-expansions in games with "Absolute Power."
Other Variants
The reverse side of the World Domination Project overlays shows the moderate variant. Its requirements are demanding, but not as hard as in the main variant. When you reach Stage 5 of a project, you receive a substantial number of influence points, but you do not win the game, and play continues.
Note that in the moderate variant some Stage 5 requirements call for discarding cards with Special Interest symbols. In such cases you are free to first meet the requirements for the other symbols, and only then discard the cards with Special Interest symbols.
You may also place the overlays on the projects in any order (either side up). In that case, some projects will make you the instant winner when you reach Stage 5, while others will give you many influence points. But it may happen that the players focus their efforts only on the projects with an instant victory. This depends on your gaming group.
You may also place the overlays (of the main or the moderate variant) on only some of the projects, not all of them. It is up to you! Play however you like best.
Solo Mode
You can add the "Absolute Power" mini-expansion to solo mode. This brings two changes:
- You may play only on the high or maximum difficulty level.
- When the Gray Cardinal card is played, Falcon advances in 1 of the 3 projects as usual, but he chooses the project in which he has advanced further. If there are several such projects, he chooses between them according to the project order.
In solo mode we recommend using the moderate variant. Unlike a player, Falcon cannot devote all his efforts to an instant victory, while at the same time he does not let you acquire the cards you need to win.