Diktat Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Rules
  • The Principles
  • Goal of the Game
  • Components
  • Setup
  • Number of Players
• Component Overview
  • Overview of the Table
• Component Details
  • Opportunity Card
  • Cabal Card
  • Cabal Board
  • Influence Marker
• General Directives
  • Basic Principles
  • Material Limits
  • The Others and Other Players
  • Discarding a Game Element
  • Hiding or Showing
  • Power Points (PP)
  • Taking a Debt
• Administrator and Rank
• The Cycle
  • 1. Opportunities
  • 2. Development
  • 3. Manoeuvres
    • Send a Team
    • Spy
    • Assassinate
    • Expand Influence
    • Develop Cabal
    • Special Manoeuvre
  • The Art of Politics
    • Free Exchange
    • Exchange of Information
• Terminology
• Prague Sector Overview
• Configuration: The Others
  • Setup of the Others
  • Other Stacks
  • The Others Board
  • Darkness Phase
    • 1. Gathering
    • 2. Proliferation
    • 3. Infection
  • Assassinations of the Others
  • Resolution of the Others
  • Victory of the Others
  • Brume & Fiel
    • Darkness Tokens
• Icon Glossary
  • Agent Tokens
  • Manoeuvres and Actions
  • Resources
  • Types of Elements
  • The Others
  • Miscellaneous
• Note on Omitted Pages

Game Rules

The Principles

Diktat is a competitive, asymmetrical game. On each turn, the players carry out Manoeuvres one after the other. They place stacks of tokens in certain sectors they want to dominate. They spy on the pieces of other players and assassinate some of them to gain the advantage. They use the abilities they acquired by conquering sectors of the board, or unlock the specific abilities of their Cabal to gain even more power.

Watching, understanding and interacting with the other players is necessary to foil their stratagems. In Diktat, everything can be negotiated. Sale of information, agreements and betrayals will shake up the struggle for power.

After a few games, it will also be possible to use the "Configuration: the Others" to add an autonomous force, opposed to all the players, which adds new tactical options.

Goal of the Game

In Diktat, the tactical progress and geopolitical influence of the Cabals are represented by Victory Points. Each Cabal gains them mainly by sending teams into the sectors of Prague to seize opportunities, or by developing to gain new abilities.

The first player to reach 10 Victory Points (VP) wins the game.

If no one has reached this goal at the end of the last Cycle (a game turn), the player with the most VP is declared the winner.

Warning! The Cabals of the Bloc do not only oppose one another. The formidable Others try to extend their influence over Prague and can upset, at any moment, the balance of forces at work in the night.

Components

The Diktat box contains the following base components:

• this rulebook, and player aids (Cycle overview, icon / terminology glossary, Influence marker overview), and an introductory rules sheet;
• one main board representing Prague and its sectors;
• 72 Opportunity cards;
• 100 Agent tokens (50 Citizen, 25 Guard and 25 Emissary);
• 10 Assassin tokens and 15 Spy tokens;
• 24 Influence markers (2 per sector);
• 30 Affinity tokens: 10 Politics, 10 People and 10 Artefact;
• 30 Used tokens;
• 5 Cabal boards;
• for each Cabal: 1 screen, 1 Victory Point counter, 5 Cabal cards and 5 Manoeuvre tokens;
• one Administrator token (first player) and one Cycle counter (game turn);
• the specific components of the Cabals: 6 Sleeper Agent tokens, 6 Membership tokens, 6 Revolt tokens and 6 Blockhouse tokens;
• Power Point tokens;
• Debt tokens.

The "Configuration: the Others" expansion, also included in this box, contains:

• 10 Faction of the Others tokens;
• 15 Corruption tokens;
• 6 Darkness tokens;
• 1 Fiel card and 1 Others board.

Setup

1. Place the main board in the centre of the table.
2. Shuffle the Opportunity deck and place it, face down, next to the main board.
3. Each player randomly draws (or chooses) one of the Cabals. They place the matching components in front of them: a Cabal board, their screen, their Cabal cards, their Manoeuvre tokens, as well as their Affinity tokens and the components specified in the "Endowment" panel of their screen. They place their Victory Point counter on space 0 of the track on the main board.
4. The Administrator token is placed next to the main board.
5. The Cycle counter is placed on space 1 of the track on the main board.
6. The Influence markers are stacked on their corresponding sectors, with side 1 visible.
7. All other base components are left within reach, in the general supply.

Number of Players

The number of players changes several things in a game of Diktat:

• the number of Cycles (game turns) the game lasts;
• the number of Manoeuvres the players can carry out during a Cycle;
• the number of Opportunity cards placed face up during the Opportunity phase of each Cycle.

Players	Cycles	Manoeuvres	Visible cards
2	5	5	2
3	4	5	2
4	4	4	3
5	3	4	3

Component Overview

The components of the base game, as listed on the printed "Présentation du matériel" page, are:

• Main board x1
• Initiation rules sheet x1
• Cycle overview, icon and terminology sheets x5
• Cabal screens x5
• Cabal boards x5
• Others board x1
• Fiel card x1
• Opportunity cards x72
• Cabal cards x25
• Influence markers x24
• Revolt tokens x6
• Blockhouse tokens x6
• Sleeper Agent tokens x6
• Darkness tokens x6
• Membership tokens x6
• Power Point tokens x60
• Assassin tokens x10
• Spy tokens x15
• Used tokens x30
• Administrator token x1
• Affinity tokens x30
• Corruption tokens x15
• Debt tokens x10
• Manoeuvre tokens x25 (5 x 5)
• Victory Point counters x5
• Citizen tokens x50
• Emissary tokens x25
• Guard tokens x25
• Faction of the Others tokens x10

Overview of the Table

The printed overview numbers the following elements on the table:

1. Main board
2. Victory Point counter
3. Cabal screen
4. Cabal board
5. Cabal card
6. Influence marker
7. Endowment
8. Administrator token
9. Power Points (PP)
10. Citizen, Guard and Emissary tokens
11. Corruption tokens
12. Others board
13. Opportunities track
14. Cycle counter

Component Details

Opportunity Card

1. Affinity symbol
2. Darkness score
3. Sector corresponding to the card
4. Effect of the card
5. Type
6. Card number

Cabal Card

1. Faction of the card
2. Recommended order of acquisition
3. Description of the card's effects

Cabal Board

1. Opportunity card space
2. Victory Point gain
3. Cabal card space
4. Cost of the space and Victory Point gain
5. Manoeuvre token space
6. Influence marker space

Influence Marker

1. Sector to which the marker is attached
2. Level of the effect / number of Influence markers
3. Type
4. Effect when the player holds only one marker of the sector
5. Effect when the player holds both markers of the sector

General Directives

Basic Principles

• A player who touches a stack placed on the board, for whatever reason, must never change the order of their tokens or shuffle the stacks.
• When a player must "Use" a card or a marker, they place a Used token on it. The player can no longer use the effects of an Ability, Development, Special Manoeuvre or Manifestation of a Game Element that is already Used.
• When it is their turn during the Manoeuvre phase, a player must carry out a Manoeuvre. They cannot pass their turn.
• A player may always look at their own pieces placed on the board.

A player may voluntarily take only one Debt token per Cycle. A player may be forced to take a Debt token to pay PP to another player or to the supply if they do not have enough (for example, when they reveal a Guard during an Assassinate Manoeuvre).

Material Limits

Players have an unlimited supply of Agent tokens (Citizen, Guard, Emissary) and of tokens (Spy, Assassin, PP, Used and Corruption). The tokens specific to the Cabals, such as the Blockhouses of the Black Guard or the Sleeper Agents of the PoliSec, are limited to 6. A player who has already used their 6 elements cannot play any new ones.

The Others and Other Players

In the universe of NOC, the monsters that haunt the Artefact are called "the Others" by the population.

For the purposes of these rules, the term "Other" (with a capital letter) refers to Other pieces, and not to the other players, who are referred to as such (without a capital letter) or as "opposing players".

When a player must discard Other pieces, they are placed next to the board.

Discarding a Game Element

When a player must discard one of their pieces, tokens or PP, it is returned to the supply.

When a player must discard an Influence marker, it is returned to its original sector, face 1 visible. When an Opportunity card must be discarded, it is placed in a discard pile near the main board.

Furthermore, when a player discards a Possession (Influence marker or Opportunity card), any Possessions located to its right are shifted one space to the left to fill the gap. Any VP corresponding to the freed space on the Opportunities track are immediately lost, as are those linked to Influence markers or Affinity tokens (which are turned over and returned to their owner's supply).

If a player discards a Possession that gives an Affinity token, they must also discard an Affinity token from their supply, or one already placed on an Opportunity card. In the latter case, they lose the corresponding VP.

Hiding or Showing

A player's Cabal board must remain visible to everyone, showing the Manoeuvres played, the Cabal powers acquired, the Opportunity cards, the Assassin and Spy tokens acquired and the Influence markers collected. By default, the other game elements of a player (Power Points, Agent tokens and Affinity tokens) are hidden behind their screen.

Power Points (PP)

Over the course of a game of Diktat, players gain and lose Power Points, abbreviated "PP". They represent the monetary funds of each Cabal, as well as the material capacities, support, influence, credit and authority gained or lost through the actions of the players.

Taking a Debt

A player may take a Debt token at any time. It immediately gives them 5 PP, but reduces their total VP by 1 when the end of the game is triggered.

Administrator and Rank

When the rules refer to the order of Rank, unless stated otherwise, this means decreasing order of Rank.

The initial Rank value is shown on each Cabal's screen and may change during the game according to the players' gains. By default, when a tie or simultaneity occurs and no other rule resolves it, the order of Rank breaks the tie.

The Cycle

A game of Diktat consists of a succession of turns called "Cycles".

A Cycle is itself divided into five successive phases: Opportunities, Development, Manoeuvres, Resolution and End of Cycle.

If no winner is declared at the end of the End of Cycle phase, a new Cycle begins, unless it was the last Cycle (depending on the number of players, see the "Number of Players" panel, p. 5).

1. Opportunities

The Administrator draws a number of cards from the Opportunity deck according to the number of players and places them, face up, on the Opportunities track of the main board. Then, they place one Opportunity card, face down, in the space provided for this purpose.

2. Development

Each player receives:

• 3 Citizen tokens, 3 Guard tokens, 3 Emissary tokens and 3 Power Points;
• their Manoeuvre tokens (as many as indicated in the "Number of Players" panel);
• all the Development benefits indicated on their Game Elements.

These resources are taken from the supply.

3. Manoeuvres

The Manoeuvre phase is the main phase of the Cycle. The players carry out their actions and pursue their strategies.

At the start of each Cycle, the player with the highest Rank is designated Administrator and receives the Administrator token. The Administrator sets the play order during the Manoeuvre and Resolution phases, and wins most ties.

If a player acquires the highest Rank during a Cycle, for example by winning the Influence marker of the Harmony College, they immediately become Administrator and take the Administrator token.

The Administrator designates a player. Starting with that player, and then clockwise, the players carry out a Manoeuvre in turn until they have spent all their Manoeuvre tokens.

There are 6 possible types of Manoeuvre. It is entirely possible to carry out the same Manoeuvre several times during a Cycle.

Remarks. Remarks are given within the rules flow below. They group together clarifications that will only be useful in rare situations. You may skip them on a first reading and refer back to them as needed.

Some Game Elements may contradict the rules presented here. In that case, they take precedence over this rulebook.

A player's Manoeuvre tokens count their actions already carried out and those still remaining. During each Manoeuvre, the player places a token on the corresponding space of their Cabal board, or on top of a stack of Agent tokens in the case of the Send a Team Manoeuvre. To know how many times the player can still play during this phase, simply count their remaining Manoeuvre tokens.

Send a Team

This is the key Manoeuvre of Diktat. The player designates a sector and places as many Agent tokens from their supply as they wish there, in the order of their choice.

These tokens are placed face down, in a single stack. To indicate that the stack belongs to them, the player places one of their Manoeuvre tokens on top.

All combinations of Citizen, Guard or Emissary tokens are possible.

Each sector may contain only 2 stacks (or 3 stacks in a 5-player game). If the sector already contains the maximum number of stacks, a player cannot send an additional team there.

A player may send several teams into the same sector over several Manoeuvres.

Spy

The player may look at 2 elements, chosen from:

• tokens from any stacks placed on the main board (1 token = 1 element);
• the Opportunity card placed face down (1 card = 1 element).

The player does not have to show the spied element publicly (although they may do so if they wish). They look at it, then put it back in the same place. The player must not change the order of the tokens in a stack.

During each Spy Manoeuvre, a player may look at one additional element for each Spy token they possess.

Remarks. When a player spies on tokens, they are not required to choose them from the same stack or the same sector. They are not obliged to choose tokens belonging to the same player; they look at any token placed on the board. They are not required to look at the tokens of a stack in any particular order: they may look at the 3rd token of a stack, then the 1st, for example. During the same Manoeuvre, a player may spy on both tokens and cards.

Assassinate

During this Manoeuvre, the player carries out an Assassination, or several if they possess Assassin tokens.

During an Assassination, the player reveals an opposing token from a stack placed on the board. That token is shown to everyone.

• If it is a Citizen, it is discarded.
• If it is an Emissary, well played! The Emissary is discarded and the player who carried out the Assassination gains 3 PP from the supply, to reflect the terror they inflict on the Bloc.
• If, however, it is a Guard, the Assassin is neutralised. The Guard is discarded and the player who carried out the Assassination must pay 2 PP to the targeted player. The Manoeuvre immediately ends, even if the player could have carried out other Assassinations.

If the player possesses one or more Assassin tokens, they may chain as many Assassinations as they like, one after the other, as long as they do not reveal a Guard, which ends their Manoeuvre.

Remarks. The player does not look at the targeted token before removing it: if they have not spied on or negotiated the right information, they must choose at random.

If they assassinate several tokens, they are not required to choose them from the same stack or the same sector. They are not obliged to choose tokens belonging to the same player; they assassinate any token on the board.

A player may decide to end their Assassinate Manoeuvre even if they still have one or more Assassin tokens.

Expand Influence

The player gains 1 Power Point.

They may discard a single Agent token of any type (Citizen, Guard or Emissary), or an Assassin or Spy token, to gain 1 additional PP.

Develop Cabal

The player discards as many PP as indicated on the next free space of the Cabal track on their Cabal board. They choose one of their Cabal cards and place it on that space. Its effects are immediately active.

Some spaces on the track indicate a gain of Victory Points. These are won as soon as the player places a card on that space.

Remarks. A recommended order is indicated on the Cabal cards. It is intended for players making their first games of Diktat who do not wish to dive into the tactical intricacies of their Cabal before mastering the game engine. A player comfortable with this latter may play the Cabal cards in the order of their choice.

Special Manoeuvre

Some Game Elements describe Special Manoeuvres. On their turn, the player may spend one of their Manoeuvre tokens to carry out one of them. The Game Element is then Used.

The Art of Politics

Diktat is a game of bluff, alliances and betrayals. The following principles of interaction apply.

Free Exchange

In Diktat, players may make whatever agreements they wish. They may freely exchange their tokens, markers or Opportunity cards, in payment for a service or out of pure philanthropy. Service exchanges are possible. For example, a player may assassinate tokens in a sector where they have no stack, at the request of another player, free of charge or for payment.

Exchange of Information

A player may reveal, free of charge or for payment, to all or some of the other players, information in their possession (the nature of opposing tokens in a stack, the nature of a hidden Opportunity card, etc.).

Leaving One's Place

At any moment, a player may agree to leave their place in a sector to another player, and withdraw one of their stacks from it. Their tokens are then discarded.

"On the Artefact"

In Diktat, treachery is a weapon. So when two players agree on an arrangement, they may seal their agreement by swearing "on the Artefact".

By this formula, both parties commit to respect their part of the contract and to tell the truth. A player must honour a commitment made under oath. If they do not keep their word, they immediately lose one Victory Point.

4. Resolution

During the Resolution phase, the players clash for control of the sectors. Two steps follow one another: the Revelation and the Conquest of sectors.

Revelation

First, the Administrator turns face up the secret card on the Opportunities track of the main board. It may be claimed like the others during the next step.

Conquest of a Sector

The Administrator designates a sector containing at least one player's stack.

All the tokens of all the players present there are turned face up. The player who has the most Emissaries is declared Winner of the sector.

If several players are tied for the win, a Power Struggle breaks out (see below). All other ties are resolved by Rank order.

Starting with the Winner, and then in decreasing order of Emissary count, the players take spoils in turn. When a player makes a spoil, they discard one of their Emissaries in the sector and take a Trophy (see below). The next player then does the same. A player who has no Emissary (or no longer has one) in the sector cannot make a spoil.

When all players have made a first spoil, a new round of spoils begins in the same order, starting with the Winner. Spoils continue until every player has claimed as many Trophies as they had Emissaries, or until no Trophy remains available.

For example, if player A has three Emissaries and player B has one:

• Player A chooses a Trophy.
• Player B chooses a Trophy.
• Player A chooses two Trophies.
• If there are no more Trophies, the spoils stop.

Power Struggle

When a Power Struggle breaks out, each player involved secretly takes as many PP as they wish from their supply and places them in a closed fist.

The players reveal their bids at the same time. The player who bid the most is declared Winner; they make their spoil first, followed by the player who made the second-largest bid, and so on. In case of equal bids, the order of Rank applies.

All PP bid are then discarded.

Trophies

As a Trophy, the player may:

• Take an Opportunity card from the track. The player takes from the Opportunities track of the main board a card linked to this sector and places it on the leftmost free space of the Opportunities track of their Cabal board. They immediately benefit from its effects. If they have no free space left on their Opportunities track, they place the card next to their Cabal board and gain 2 VP.

  For each Affinity symbol on the card, the player may turn over one of their corresponding Affinity tokens (if they have one) and place it on the card. They then gain 1 VP.

  In addition, a number of Victory Points is indicated below certain card spaces on the Cabal boards. These points are gained immediately when the player places a card there.

• Take an Influence marker. The player takes an Influence marker from the sector and places it in the "Influence" area of their Cabal board.

  A player may hold two Influence markers from the same sector. Their effects do not add up: the second is placed on top of the first, face "2" visible.

  A player has only 5 Influence marker spaces. If they are all occupied, the player must discard enough of them to make room for the new one.

Influence Markers

Here are the effects of the Influence markers. When a player holds both markers of a sector, the level 2 effects replace the level 1 effects. Gains are lost if the player loses the marker that grants them.

Sector	Level 1 effect	Level 2 effect
Nouvelle Ville	(Gain) 1 Victory Point.	(Gain) 2 Victory Points.
Malá Strana	(Development) 1 Emissary.	(Development) 1 Emissary and 1 PP.
Hypogées	(Development) 1 Spy.	(Development) 2 Spies.
Karst	(Development) 1 Assassin.	(Development) 2 Assassins.
Faubourgs	(Development) 2 Citizens.	(Development) 3 Citizens.
Combinat	(Development) 1 PP.	(Development) 2 PP.
Forteresse	(Development) 1 Guard.	(Development) 2 Guards.
Josefov	(Gain) 2 Affinities of your choice.

New Conquest or End of Resolution

Once a sector is resolved, the players discard all their tokens there. Then, the Administrator designates another sector that contains at least one stack of tokens, and a new Conquest begins (return to "Conquest of a Sector").

Otherwise, the players discard all their Agent tokens (Citizens, Guards and Emissaries), as well as their Assassin and Spy tokens. They keep their PP, their Affinity tokens and their special Endowment tokens (Blockhouses for the Black Guard, Revolt for the Resistance, etc.).

They remove all Used tokens from their Possessions and discard them.

Finally, the cards remaining on the Opportunities track are discarded.

A new Cycle begins. Return to phase 1, Opportunities.

Attack of the Others

If a card bearing an Attack of the Others icon is on the Opportunities track at the end of the Resolution phase, the effect of an Attack of the Others is triggered.

The effect of an Attack of the Others may change depending on the Configurations used. In the base game, each player must discard 1 PP per VP they possess.

The sectors are thus resolved one after the other, until all the stacks of tokens have been discarded. When that is the case, the End of Cycle phase begins.

Configurations

Extensions may be added to the Diktat base game to extend the play experience, renew its gameplay and address different themes of the NOC universe. Each brings additional components and rules. These supplements are called Configurations. They may be used independently or together, at the players' choice.

This base box contains a first Configuration: the Others (see below).

5. End of Cycle

If at least one player has 10 VP, or if the last Cycle has just been played, the end of the game is triggered (see below).

End of Game

Each player loses 1 VP per Debt token they possess.

The player with the most Victory Points wins the game and imposes their Diktat. In case of a tie, the player with the most PP wins. If players still cannot be separated, they are joint winners (ex aequo).

Terminology

Some rules points, Opportunity cards and Influence markers use specific terms, detailed in this glossary, to which you can refer as needed.

Administrator: the player whose Rank is the highest. They decide the order of play during the Cycle phases. They also win most ties.

Affinity: for each Affinity symbol present on their Opportunity cards, a player may use a corresponding Affinity token from their supply to gain 1 VP. They then place the Affinity token, turned over, on the card bearing the symbol. A player may turn over an Affinity token they possess and mark the corresponding VP at any time. When a player gains an additional Affinity, they take an Affinity token and add it to their supply.

Agents: Agent tokens are the Citizen, Guard and Emissary tokens. Emissaries allow seizing Opportunities in the sectors, Guards protect the other Agents, and Citizens conceal Emissaries. The different types of Agents are used for certain abilities.

Assassin: an Assassin token allows revealing one additional Agent token during each Assassinate Manoeuvre of the Cycle. It is placed next to the Cabal board so that it is visible to the other players. It is not spent when the player assassinates: it only indicates that the player may assassinate one additional token.

Others: the creatures haunting the Artefact. They are played mainly in the "Configuration: the Others" as an autonomous force with their own Agent pieces: Other Citizens (the Parasites), Other Guards (the Abominations) and Other Emissaries (the Vectors). When a game effect allows targeting a Citizen, Guard or Emissary, the active player may target an Other Agent of the corresponding type.

Ability: the player gains this ability for free and permanently, for as long as they keep the Possession.

Cycle: a game turn, divided into five successive phases: Opportunities, Development, Manoeuvres, Resolution and End of Cycle.

Development: the resources indicated on this Possession are collected by its owner during each Development phase.

Endowment (Dotation): the specific material of a Cabal, which it receives at the start of the game, during setup.

Exchange / pay: the player may discard the indicated elements to obtain the indicated effect or element. An exchange or payment may only be made once per use.

Game elements: the term designates Influence markers, Opportunity cards, Cabal cards, the screen, the Cabal board and all pieces and tokens. Depending on context, it may refer to those in play, on the board, or belonging to a player.

Spy: a Spy token allows looking at one additional element during each Spy Manoeuvre of the Cycle. It is placed next to the Cabal board so that it is visible to the other players. It is not spent when the player spies: it only indicates that the player may spy one additional element.

Scourge (Fléau): these Opportunity cards often have no effect, but carry a high Darkness score.

Gain: the player gains the indicated advantage. If they lose the element, they also lose the gain.

Manifestation: the holder of this Possession may trigger its effects at any moment. This does not cost a Manoeuvre. Once the effects are resolved, the Possession is Used.

Special Manoeuvre: the Possession gives access to a Special Manoeuvre with a specific effect. Once played, the Possession is Used.

Darkness (Noirceur): the value shown at the top right of Opportunity cards. It is used in games with expansions such as "Configuration: the Others".

Possession: the term designates, without distinction, an Opportunity card or an Influence marker owned by a player.

Rank: the standing of a Cabal. The Cabal with the highest Rank is named the Administrator. The Administrator sets the play order and wins most ties.

Used: when an effect indicates that a game element is "Used", the player places a Used token on it. They may no longer use the game element for as long as the Used token has not been discarded. At the end of a Cycle, all Used tokens are discarded.

Prague Sector Overview

The Prague Bloc is cosmopolitan. Its sectors have specific flavours. The Opportunities that may appear there tend to correspond to certain types of resources or abilities. Here is an overview:

• Nouvelle Ville: the brutalist and Art Deco buildings of this sector house the administrative and financial centres of the city. Its Opportunities often award Victory Points or Power.
• Malá Strana: an isolated, privileged old quarter, it welcomes the former bourgeois families of the Bloc. Its Opportunities often award Emissaries or Power.
• Vieille Ville: the cultural centre of the Bloc, this sector is considered the heart of Prague, as much as Nouvelle Ville is its mind and Malá Strana its soul. Its Opportunities allow the player to call on its competent population to obtain additional Manoeuvres.
• Hypogées: control of these vast underground complexes, established under the Bloc, allows unprecedented ruses and increased mobility. Its Opportunities strengthen the ranks of the Cabals' spies.
• Karst: an ultraviolet shantytown on the outskirts of the Bloc, this sector is an inexhaustible source of thugs and criminals. Thanks to its Opportunities, the Cabals may use the services of unscrupulous assassins.
• Faubourgs: this miserable sector is home to many workers and citizens of low extraction who work at the Combinat. Its Opportunities extend the Cabals' workforce.
• Combinat: a gigantic industrial enclave, it employs most of the low-ranking citizens, who work there until death. Its Opportunities give Power to the Cabals.
• Centre Motol: the main research centre of the Direction du Progrès, this sector is where the search for disturbing inventions, capable of altering the very rules of physics, takes place. Its Opportunities give access to unexpected abilities that affect the order of the Cycle.
• Collège de l'Harmonie: the Direction de l'Harmonie is the guardian of the Way, a dogma at the crossroads of religion and science, oriented toward the veneration and understanding of the Artefact. Its members are influential and their decisions are final. Its Opportunities improve the Rank of the Cabals.

Configuration: The Others

The following rules integrate the Others, the monsters haunting the Artefact, into games of Diktat. They make up an autonomous force with its own agenda, which adds new threats and tactical options for all players.

Setup of the Others

Once the standard setup is complete, the following sequence is carried out:

1. The Others board is placed next to the main board. The Corruption tokens, Darkness tokens and Faction of the Others tokens are left near the Others board.
2. 4 Citizen tokens, 4 Guard tokens and 4 Emissary tokens are shuffled together and placed on the Artefact sector, in a single stack, face down. If you own the Supremacy expansion, you may use its specific Other pieces instead. A Faction of the Others token is placed on top of this stack.
3. A Fiel card is chosen. It indicates how the Others function for this game. In the base box, this is the "Brume & Fiel" card.

Remarks.

• When a player uses a game effect that may target an opposing Agent token (Emissary, Guard or Citizen), they may target an equivalent Other piece (Vector, Abomination or Parasite). An effect targeting a Vector, an Abomination or a Parasite may only target an Other piece of that type.
• When the Administrator must take Other pieces from the Artefact sector to place them in another sector, they must take them from the top of the stack downwards.
• If Other pieces must be placed in a sector that already contains an Other stack, they are placed on top of that stack.
• When an Other piece is discarded, it is placed face up in the centre of the Others board.

Other Stacks

A Faction of the Others token is placed on top of each Other stack to identify it.

Other stacks count towards the limit on the number of stacks that may be in a sector.

Like player stacks, Other stacks are made up of Citizens (the "Parasites"), Guards (the "Abominations") and Emissaries (the "Vectors").

A player may spy on and assassinate tokens of an Other stack normally. If they assassinate an Abomination, they pay 2 PP to the supply and their Manoeuvre ends. If they assassinate a Vector, they gain 3 PP from the supply.

Other stacks remain on the board during the End of Cycle phase. They are only discarded when the rules specify.

If a game effect instructs players to take Other pieces from the Artefact sector but that sector does not contain enough of them, only the available pieces are placed. If the Artefact no longer contains any Other pieces, a Corruption token is placed on the sector.

Corruption tokens count as revealed Parasites (the "Citizens" of the Others). They may be assassinated, and they take part in the Assassinations of the Others (see below).

The Others Board

The Others board represents the heart of the Artefact, the lair of the Others. Darkness tokens and discarded Other pieces are placed on its central area.

Opportunity cards won by the Others are placed on the Corruption track, on the periphery of the Others board. The first card won is placed on space 1, the second on space 2, and so on.

The sectors of the main board that have at least one Opportunity card on the Corruption track are called "corrupted sectors".

Opportunity cards on the Corruption track may be claimed by players as Trophies, as if they were on the Opportunities track.

When a card is removed from the Corruption track, the cards on higher-numbered spaces are shifted one step to fill the empty space.

Darkness Phase

A sixth phase completes the Cycle when the Others are in play: the Darkness phase. It is placed at the very start of the Cycle, before the Opportunities phase, in this order:

1. Darkness
2. Opportunities
3. Development
4. Manoeuvres
5. Resolution
6. End of Cycle

During the Darkness phase, the Others extend their influence over the board and may carry out their sinister plans. The Darkness phase is made up of 3 steps.

1. Gathering

Skip this step in the first Cycle.

All discarded Other pieces are shuffled face down and placed on the Artefact sector, beneath the Other stack if there is already one.

2. Proliferation

The Administrator draws the first card of the Opportunity deck and adds it to the Corruption track.

Players place on each corrupted sector as many Other pieces, taken from the Artefact sector, as the Darkness score of that card.

If several Opportunity cards correspond to the same sector on the Corruption track, players place for each of them as many pieces as the Darkness score of the last card drawn.

Proliferation is carried out in the order of the Corruption track. The Other pieces are placed on the sector corresponding to the card in space 1, then the one in space 2, and so on. If the Artefact is empty before the end of this phase, a Corruption token is placed on every corrupted sector that could not receive any Other piece.

3. Infection

A Darkness token is placed on each sector (except the Artefact) for each full group of 4 Other pieces it contains. 1 Darkness token is placed on each sector containing 4 to 7 Others, 2 Darkness tokens on a sector containing 8 to 11 Others, and so on. There may be several Darkness tokens on the same sector.

Darkness tokens are not discarded during the End of Cycle phase.

Assassinations of the Others

When a player places a stack in a sector containing an Other stack, the Others attack it. The player to the left of the active player immediately carries out an Assassinate Manoeuvre, with as many assassins as there are Other pieces and Corruption tokens in the sector.

If a Guard is revealed, the Manoeuvre stops immediately and the player takes 2 PP from the supply.

The player carrying out the Manoeuvre for the Others may not use any personal ability during this step. The target may not give them any information about the contents of its stack.

Resolution of the Others

When a sector is resolved, the Other pieces there are revealed at the same time as those of the players. The Other Vectors take part in the conquest of the sector.

Vectors always win ties, without needing to take part in a Power Struggle.

If the Others win the sector, or if no player has an Emissary in the sector, its conquest stops immediately. The players present make no spoils. The revealed Others are shuffled and placed back on the sector as one stack.

If the Others are not the winners, they make a spoil in the normal order of resolution. When the Others make a spoil, one of their Vectors is discarded from the sector, then each player must discard one of their Emissaries.

If the Others are not the winners of the sector, the Other pieces there are discarded at the end of the conquest.

At the end of the Resolution phase, each card remaining on the Opportunities track is added to the Corruption track.

Victory of the Others

If a seventh card is added to the Corruption track, or if a seventh Darkness token should be placed on the main board, the Others overwhelm Prague. The players lose together, immediately.

Brume & Fiel

Darkness Tokens

In this Configuration, the Darkness tokens represent the Fiel and the haunted Mist that seizes the sector.

While a Darkness token is placed on a sector, players may not take a card attached to that sector, or its Influence markers.

As a Trophy, a player may discard a Darkness token.

Attack of the Others

The first card of the Opportunity deck is drawn and added to the corrupted sectors track.

Artefact Influence Marker

When the Others Configuration is used, the effect of the Artefact Influence marker is:

• Level 1: (Manifestation) The player moves up to two Other pieces from one sector to another.
• Level 2: In addition to the level 1 effect, (Ability) the player may take as a Trophy Opportunity cards or Influence markers in sectors containing Darkness tokens.

Icon Glossary

The printed icon glossary identifies each icon by name. Icons are listed here by their printed label.

Agent Tokens

• Citizen token
• Guard token
• Emissary token

Manoeuvres and Actions

• Assassinate Manoeuvre
• Spy Manoeuvre
• Move a stack
• Skip your turn
• Play again
• Used
• Remove a Used token
• Blockhouse
• Revolt

Resources

• Affinity (Artefact)
• Affinity (Politics)
• Affinity (People)
• Affinity (all types)
• An Affinity token of your choice
• Assassin
• Spy
• Victory Point
• Power Point
• Player's Rank

Types of Elements

• Ability
• Development
• Special Manoeuvre
• Manifestation
• Gain
• Scourge

The Others

• Faction of the Others
• Attack of the Others
• Move an Other piece
• Other Agent token
• Immunity to attacks of the Others

Miscellaneous

• Convert
• Exchange
• Use
• Possession
• Opportunity card
• Secret Opportunity card

Note on Omitted Pages

The following are not transcribed: the cover and artwork pages, the setting fiction ("L'univers de Diktat", pages 18 to 20), the decorative artwork pages, the backers list and credits (pages 28 to 30), and the advertising page for the NOC roleplaying game. The reference page at the end of the book repeats the Number of Players and Influence marker tables already transcribed above, and is not repeated.