Doom Machine
Doom Machine Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Uncover and destroy The Doom Core before you succumb to total extinction.
Setup
- Set the Doom Machine tracking card to your left. Place corresponding tracking cubes on the zero spaces of the Sentience (yellow) and Power (black) tracks.
- Find the "Doom Core" machine part card, and place it face down to the right of the Doom Machine tracking card.
- Shuffle the remaining machine part cards and remove 6 at random (set them back in the tin, as they won't be used for this run). Place the 9 remaining cards face down on top of the Doom Core to create the machine deck.
- Place the Player HP (health points) tracking card below the machine deck. Set the white tracking cube on the 10 space of the Player HP track.
- Draw the top 3 cards from the machine deck and place them face up, in a line, to the immediate right of the deck. These are the starting machine parts you will face.
- Take one yellow die for each revealed machine part card and place it on the yellow dice slot on the cycle track on each card, setting the die face to match the indicated value. This represents each machine part's HP (health points).
- Set the remaining unused yellow dice aside for now, then place your 5 black starting dice in front of you. Setup is complete!
Setup Component Key
- A — Doom Machine Tracker + Cubes
- B — Machine Deck
- C — Player HP Tracker + Cube
- D — Starting Machine Part Cards
- E — Machine Part Die
- F — Extra Machine Dice Pool
- G — Starting Player Dice
Setup Layout
(Diagram of the table layout after setup.) Across the back row: the Doom Machine Tracker + cubes (A), the Machine Deck (B), and the row of Starting Machine Part Cards (D), each with its Machine Part Die (E) on its cycle track. Below the machine deck sits the Player HP Tracker + cube (C). In front of the player: the Starting Player Dice (G) and the Extra Machine Dice Pool (F).
How to Play
Gameplay Loop
Phase I: Dice Roll / Resolution — On each turn, you will roll your available dice, and allocate them in various ways to modify your rolls, defend against incoming damage, and deal damage to parts of the Doom Machine.
Phase II: The Machine Phase — Once you have allocated and resolved all of your dice, the machine will cycle its remaining parts, resolve their effects, then grow by 1 additional card. This loop continues until either you have revealed and destroyed the Doom Core or you are destroyed by the machine.
Phase I: Dice Roll / Resolution
At the start of your turn, roll all of your available dice (you start with 5 black dice and may gain up to 5 additional yellow dice from destroyed machine part cards). Allocate them in any of the following available ways, based on your rolls:
- Activate any available utilities
- Play dice to your shields
- Deal damage to machine parts
Player Actions
1) Activate Any Available Utilities
You may place any number of unallocated dice on available utility slots. Each utility slot can only be used once per turn, and all dice you intend to place into utility slots must be placed there and immediately resolved (re-rolled or modified) before any of them can be re-allocated to either shields or part damage.
When placing a die on a dice modifier slot, immediately rotate and modify its face value by +/- 1 pip. Leave it on its utility slot until all other utility dice have been resolved. Note: sixes may NOT be changed to ones and ones may NOT be changed to sixes.
When placing a die on a re-roll slot, immediately re-roll it and place it back on the slot until all other utility dice are resolved. Once a die is re-rolled, it cannot be placed on a +/- slot to be further modified.
(The two utility slot types: the Dice Modifier +/- Slot, and the Dice Re-roll Slot.)
Once all utility dice are resolved (i.e. re-rolled or modified +/-1), remove them from your card and allocate them to either shields or damage, if possible. Unallocated dice that cannot be played are considered spent at the end of your turn.
2) Play Dice to Your Shields
You may place unallocated dice (including dice that have been modified via utility slots) to the available shield slots, gaining shield strength equal to the total face value of all dice placed there. In a normal game, no more than 4 dice can be placed this way per turn. In Hard Mode, no more than 3 dice can be placed this way per turn. Additionally, dice used for shields do not persist from round to round. They're re-rolled at the start of your next turn.
(The Shield Dice Slot.)
3) Deal Damage to Machine Parts
You may deal 1 damage to a given machine part by successfully fulfilling the roll conditions (on the middle right side of the card) and allocating the required dice to the part. (Only 1 point of damage is dealt each time a roll condition is met and the required dice are allocated). Some parts can be damaged by a single die, others require a specific combo of 2-3 dice.
When a part is successfully damaged, rotate the part's yellow HP die face to reduce it by 1 pip, then place the dice you used to damage that part below the card. These dice are spent and cannot be re-used until your next turn.
A machine part can be damaged more than once per turn, but you must have enough dice to completely fulfill the damage condition each time. When all of your dice have been allocated and resolved, and/or you have no more playable dice to play, proceed to the Machine Phase.
Destroying a Machine Part
If you successfully destroy a machine part by reducing its HP die to zero, remove the card from play and add that part's die to your permanent pool (set it aside with your other spent dice until the start of the next turn).
Note: you can never have more than 10 dice (5 black and 5 yellow) in your permanent pool.
Then, shift any remaining machine part cards in play to close the gap.
Destroyed Card Effects
Some machine part cards have a yellow X icon and effect on them. These effects are triggered and resolved immediately when that part is destroyed. Example: deal 1 damage to all parts in play.
Phase II: The Machine Phase
At the start of the machine phase, go from left to right down the row of machine parts in play, cycling each card's dice track and resolving its abilities as follows:
- Move a machine part card's yellow die 1 space down its cycle track. If that die lands on an icon, immediately trigger that icon's corresponding ability.
Note: if moving the die places it on a dead space (darkened square), then move that die back to the starting position on the track.
Example: The HP die for Soul Harvester will cycle one space down the track, triggering its ability, which will deal 5 damage to the player, if they don't have enough shields to prevent some or all of that damage. Unblocked damage carries over and reduces HP directly.
Phase II (continued)
- Proceed to the next machine part card in the line (moving right) and repeat the card cycling process until all part cards have increased their cycle track by 1 and resolved any abilities/effects that are triggered.
- Now, carefully slide the entire machine part card row one space to the right. Draw a new machine part card and slot it into the available space.
- Add a yellow HP die to the first cycle tracking space on the new card, setting the die face to the correct starting HP value for that card.
Note: there can never be more than 10 machine parts in play at any given time. If 10 cards are active on the line, then skip drawing a new card and proceed with play.
Machine Cycle Complete
When all machine part cards have cycled and a new card is added to the line, gather all of your spent dice (including any new dice you may have obtained by defeating machine parts) and return to Phase I.
Hate reading? Watch the How to Play video: https://nathanmeunier.com/doom
Taking Damage
Any time a machine part card deals you damage, it will always damage your shields first (if you have any remaining). As damage is taken, reduce the value of shield dice first until they are completely expended (and removed to your spent dice pile). Any remaining damage that hasn't been absorbed by your shield dice will carry over and deal direct damage to your HP.
Winning the Game
You win the game when the Doom Core has been destroyed. You normally don't have to clear all of the machine part cards to win. However, if your HP is reduced to zero, the machine destroys you first, and you lose.
Hard Mode
For a tougher challenge and longer game, try playing Hard Mode using the following rule variations:
- Setup the game as you normally would, but instead of removing 6 cards at random, use all 16.
- Flip the player HP tracking card to the B side: you now have one less shield slot, re-roll slot, and roll modifier slot.
Good luck, you'll need it!
Card Anatomy
Each machine part card shows: the card name; the roll conditions needed to damage the machine part; the machine part's cycle track; and the cycle icon effects placed along that track.
Card Effect Icons
- Damage — Hits player's shields first; if blocked, then HP if any carries over.
- Power + Sentience — Increase or decrease both Power and Sentience.
- Broken Shield — When activated, only 1 shield die can be placed next turn.
- Destroy Effect — Immediately triggers when a part card is destroyed.
- Repair — Restores part card's HP (only up to its maximum starting health).
- Gear — Instantly triggers an additional track cycle for any cards immediately adjacent to it.
- Lock — Choose one of your dice and set it aside. It does not get rolled or placed on your next turn.
- Power / Sentience — Move the corresponding token up or down the Doom Machine track.
Dice Roll Symbology
Examples of the roll conditions printed on machine part cards:
- 3 dice required, sum: the 1st die + 2nd die must equal the value of the third die (i.e. 2+4=6).
- 2 dice required, doubles: they must be doubles.
- 1 die required, either/or: it can be either a 2 or a 3 value.
- 2 dice required, exact pair: they must be a 4 and a 5.
- 2 dice required, one exact / one greater-than: one must be a 3, another greater than 3.
- 3 dice required, all match: they must all be sixes.
Credits
Doom Machine is copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved. Design and art by Nathan Meunier (www.nathanmeunier.com).
The Cardenio Modern font was made by Nils Cordes. The re-roll slot icon was created by Delapouite under Creative Commons BY 3.0.