Doomsday Bots

Doomsday Bots Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Setup

Shuffle each of the card decks (Parts, Rooms, Bosses and Boss Loot).
Select the Boss and Boss Loot.
- Take the top card from the Boss Deck and place it face down on the table.
- Take the top 3 cards from the Boss Loot Deck and place them face down next to the Boss Card.
Build the Mad Genius's Clock Tower.
- Deal out a number of Room Cards from the Room Deck face down and arrange them into a suitable Clock Tower.
- For first time players, we suggest a simple 2x5 tower with the Boss Room at the top. However, the game is designed in such a way that you can feel free to get creative with your own tower designs.
Place all player tokens below the starting row of rooms.
Finally, give each player a Player Reference Card and 3 Energy Tokens.

Table Layout

The diagram shows the play area as a tower of two columns of Room cards, with the Boss card at the top of the left column and the Boss Tracker beside it at the top of the right column. The Boss Loot deck sits to the upper right. A Scrap heap is placed to the upper left. The Parts & Items area sits to the left of the tower's middle rows, and the Rooms area is to the right of the tower's middle rows. The Player Tokens sit in a row marked "Outside the Tower" beneath the bottom row of Room cards.

The Draft

Once you complete the Game Setup, the Draft begins!

Deal 7 Part Cards to each player face down.
You should look at the cards you were dealt and choose 1 card to put into your Toolbox, placing it face down in front of you.
Once everyone has made their selection, pass the remaining cards clockwise around the group.
Repeat this process until no cards remain.
Repeat Steps 1 to 4 - this time passing the cards anti-clockwise.
You should have 14 cards in your Toolbox at the end of the draft.

You cannot choose to skip a pick - you must make a selection from every hand of cards you are passed.

Building Your Bot

Once you have 14 Parts in your Toolbox from the Draft you should build your first Bot.

Parts will provide your Bot with one or more stats and some special Abilities. These stats will be applied when Attacking other Bots, Contesting the Boss and Encountering Rooms.

Part stats are:

Intelligence (INT)
Power (PWR)
Speed (SPD)

Part abilities are one of three types:

Activate - Spend an Action to use.
Continuous - Always active.
Trigger - Occurs when conditions are met.

A Bot may have a maximum of 1 Head, 1 Core, 2 Arm and 1 Leg Parts equipped. Equip as many or as few Parts as you want, you will need more Parts later!

Your Bot also comes with 2 'Trunk' slots, which can hold Consumable Items.

Finally, there is a 'Boss Loot' slot. This is where your Bot can equip one of the coveted pieces of tech from the Boss!

Revealing Your Bot

After everyone has made their decisions and placed their Parts face down, you should each reveal your creations!

However, cards in your Trunk should remain face down until you choose to use them.

The Bot is laid out as follows: the Head and the Boss Loot slot sit in the top row; the two Arms and the Core sit in the middle row; and the two Trunk slots and the Legs sit in the bottom row.

Gameplay

Your goal as a Mad Genius is to get your Bot to the top of the Clock Tower, defeat the Boss, steal their Boss Loot and make it back out of the Clock Tower.

Each turn you have 2 Action Points. Some Actions and abilities may also require you to spend Energy. A Bot may have a maximum of 3 Energy. All Actions cost 1 Action Point.

Actions available on your turn:

Ability - Activate the ability on a card. Some abilities may also cost Energy.
Attack - Make an Attack Action against another Bot.
Contest - Attempt a challenge in a Boss Room.
Move - Move your Bot to an adjacent room. It may move in any direction, including diagonally.
Pick Up - Equip a Part, Consumable or Boss Loot from the Room your Bot is in. If your Bot already has the maximum number of that card type equipped, then choose one equipped card to Drop. You cannot Pick Up with another Bot in the same Room or in the Boss Room if the Boss has not yet been defeated.
Self-Destruct (Humane Bot Termination Protocol) - Destroy your Bot and build a new one Outside the Tower. See: Humane Bot Termination Protocol (page 11).

Play begins with the player whose Bot has the highest combined stats (INT + PWR + SPD). Don't forget any special effects such as Set Bonuses when calculating this!

All Bots begin in the "Outside the Tower" zone. Whilst here you cannot take any actions except Movement Actions. You may not re-enter this area again unless forced to by an effect or if your Bot has the Boss Loot.

Rooms and Encounters

Each Room in the Clock Tower has an Encounter that must be attempted upon entering the Room.

Passing an Encounter will allow your Bot to progress undamaged. Failing will result in your Bot taking 1 point of damage and your turn immediately ending.

Upon entering a Room, you should reveal it if not already done, then check the Encounter Rating listed on the card. You must then roll your D20 and add the total bonus your Bot has in the corresponding stat. If you meet or exceed the Encounter Rating, you pass the Encounter.

For example: If a Room has a 14 INT Encounter Rating and you roll 10 when your Bot has +4 INT, you pass the Encounter.

If you fail an Encounter, you do not need to re-attempt it before moving out of the Room on your next turn.

Some Rooms have Trash Conditions and Trashed Encounters. This is denoted by a trash icon.

When the Trash Conditions of a Room are met, place a Trashed Token on the Room Card. Some Rooms have special effects which become active when Trashed.

Damage and Bot Destruction

Each point of Damage that a Bot receives will cause it to Drop 1 Part into the Room they currently occupy.

If your Bot takes Damage, you choose which Part it will Drop. However, if your Bot is the target of an Attack Action, the Attacker chooses!

If your Bot takes Damage when it has no Parts left to Drop, it is destroyed! Your turn immediately ends and your Bot moves to the "Outside the Tower" zone. Skip your next turn and construct a new Bot with the remaining Parts in your Toolbox (or send it in unaugmented if you have run out).

Boss Loot and Consumables do not count as Parts.

Player vs Player Combat

You can have your Bot engage in combat by making an Attack Action against a Bot in the same Room as yours. (The Range ability increases the distance at which you can make Attack Actions.)

The Attacker chooses which stat they want to attack with (INT, PWR or SPD). Then, both players roll off against each other, adding the bonuses for the chosen stat from their Bot's Parts to their roll.

If the Attacker's value is equal to or higher, they win and choose the Part(s) the other Bot must Drop. If the Defender's value is higher, the attack is negated and nothing happens.

You may not perform Pick Up Actions if any other Bots are in the same Room as yours.

Humane Bot Termination Protocol

As an Action you may have your Bot Self-Destruct. Doing so will deal 1 Damage to all other Bots in the same Room as your Bot.

You should then proceed as if your Bot were destroyed in any other manner.

Boss Rooms and Contesting the Boss

Bosses are a special type of Room Card. They have multiple, difficult challenges and effects.

When you move into a Boss Room for the first time, reveal it and find the matching Boss Tracker Card. Place it next to the Boss Room.

There is no Encounter when entering a Boss Room, instead you may make a Contest Action against your choice of the uncovered challenges shown on the Boss Tracker. (For challenges listed as "ANY" you may choose which stat to use when attempting the challenge.)

If you succeed at a challenge, place a Trashed Token over it. Upon Trashing all challenges, the Boss is defeated and will drop their Boss Loot! The player whose Bot dealt the final blow gets to choose and equip one of them (at no cost). They must then Scrap the others.

Boss Loot does not count as a Part.

Winning the Game

The player whose Bot makes it out of the Clock Tower with the Boss Loot is the Winner! (Once a player's Bot makes a Movement Action into the "Outside the Tower" zone whilst equipped with the Boss Loot.)

Keywords

Abilities - See "Building your Bot" (Page 6).
Action - See "Gameplay" (Page 8).
Action Point - You have 2 Action Points to spend on Actions per turn.
Adjacent - Something within a distance of 1 Room in any direction (including diagonally).
Drop/Dropped - Put an equipped Part, Consumable or Boss Loot onto the floor of the Room your Bot is currently in.
Encounter/Encounter Rating - The value you must meet when entering a Room by rolling your D20 and adding your bonuses for the specified stat.
Energy - When a Bot is built it is provided with 3 energy. This is mainly used as an additional cost for some abilities.
May - Effects that use the word 'may' are not mandatory.
Range/Ranged - Standard Attacks have 0 Range. Each point of Range increases the distance that your Bot can Attack by 1 Room.
Recharge 'X' - Regain 'X' number of Energy Tokens for your Bot. Your Bot can have a maximum of 3 Energy.
Scrap/Scrapped - Put on the Scrapheap.
Scrapheap - A pile of cards that have been removed from the game.

Revisions and Variants

For future errata, FAQs and additional ways to play Doomsday Bots, see the publisher's website at digisprite.co.uk.

Appendix: Bot Rally (Alternate Play Mode)

Companion sheet "Latest Updates and Game Modes" (DigiSprite), which sits outside the base rulebook. Transcribed from the cut-out fold sheet. Printed fold-line instructions are omitted.

Is that a Donut shaped Clocktower you spy in the distance? Some wasteland genius has been messing with the laws of time and space again!

What a perfect oppertunity to stress-test your Bots! But it looks like your opposing mad geniuses have got the same idea. Why not come to an amicable agreement this time?

A contest of speed and wits! Something outside the typical brutal affair? A race? Well, that sounds splendid! And it looks like the previous Boss left plenty of Doomsday Devices in their cellar for you to grab... or is that the attic?

Bot Rally is an excellent change of pace for Doomsday Bots! It's a quick and furious game mode, especially for two players, and for two teams of two! You gain an extra movement action each turn, and everyone's going the same way round the tower!

(If Playing with Two Teams of Two, Make sure you alternate turns with the opposing team, when Drafting and Racing in the Tower. So your order is: Team 1 Player 1 > Team 2 Player 1 > Team 1 Player 2 > Team 2 Player 2, and so on.)

Bot Rally Game Setup

Arrange the Tower like the diagram on the next page, with 7 Random Room Cards arranged in a circuit.
Place two Boss Cards face-down as the 'Pit Stop' Room and the 'Check Room' (it doesn't matter which ones, they're just there to mark the space, they will remain face-down for the whole game). The 'Pit Stop' is always on the inside of the circuit, and the 'Check Room' is always on the Outside.
Randomly Deal a Number of Boss Loot Cards equal to 1+ the Number of Players. Place these face-down next to the Check Room.

Bot Rally Draft

Draft with your opponents for Parts as per the Base Rules. Players should still have 14 total Parts & Consumables in their Toolbox by the end of the Draft.

Bot Rally Gameplay

All rules from the Base Game apply, apart from the following:

Each Player can make 3 Actions Per Turn, instead of 2. But one of your actions each turn MUST be a Forward Move Action.
All Bots start the game in the 'Pit Stop' Room. With regards to the rules, this Room is considered to be 'Outside the Tower'.
Bots must move round the tower in an Anticlockwise direction (printed as "Anitclockwise" on the sheet's diagram note). Bots cannot move backwards (but forced movement effects still allow your Bot to move in any direction).
Rooms & Bots are only adjacent to the Rooms and Bots behind and infront of it. This applies to Range also. Any time a player would move "up" or "down" the Tower, they move Forward or Backwards respectively.
Everytime a Bot enters the "Check Room" or the "Pit Stop" Room from the rearward direction of the Tower, they gain a Trash Token to count the number of Laps they've made.
If a Bot is destroyed, or self-destructs, that Bot's owner must skip their next turn to build their next Bot. That Bot is placed on the "Pit Stop" Room.
When a Player's Bot leaves either the "Check Room" or the "Pit Stop" Room, and they have 2 Trash Tokens (i.e. Completed their Second Lap) that player may look at the Boss Loot pile and equip a single boss loot of their choice, then return the pile to it's face down position. (Note that the Boss Loot Pile is kept separate from the and the Check Room's Drop Pile).
A Player may enter the "Pit Stop" Room instead of the "Check Room" when they lap round the tower. If they do, their turn immediately ends and they skip their next turn, but their Bot recharges to maximum energy, and until that Player's next turn, they may Add or remove parts from their Bot to and from their Toolbox.
Anytime a Bot is Destroyed, or their Boss Loot is dropped, that Boss Loot is returned to the Boss Loot Pile in the Check Room. Then follow the regular rules for Bot Destruction. (This resets their current Lap).

Bot Rally FAQ

Q1: Regarding "Improbability Grenade", can I use it to swap with someone in the Check Room or Pit Stop Room and gain a Lap? A1: No Cheating! Your bot must physically cross between the 7th Room and the Pit Stop Room / Check Room to gain a Trash Token!

Q2: If I use a card effect to move another player's Bot between the 7th Room and the Check Room / Pit Stop Room, does that bot gain a Trash token for making a lap? A2: Yes! (Try this in team games!)

Q3: Can I attack or Target another player's bot when they're in the Check Room or Pit Stop Room? A3: No! They're Outside the Tower.

Q4: Can I leave out the "Mysterious Rug" Room? A4: Sure! Whatever your group feels is fair!

Appendix: Doomsday Bots FAQ

From the same companion sheet.

Q1: How do I know what type each Card is? A1: All cards have a type identifier to the bottom left of their name plate to show what type of card they are. For example, the Rocket Legs card will read [Part - Legs]. In addition, all Bosses, Boss Trackers and Boss Loot have gold text frames instead of the regular brown coloured frames.

Q2: If I move an enemy Bot to an unrevealed Room, does that Bot have to test that Room Encounter? A2: Yes! and they do so immediately!

Q3: What do I do with Consumables? A3: The Parts Deck consists of all Part cards (e.g. [Part - Core]) and all Consumable cards. This makes for a total of 56 cards to draft at the start of the game. Each Bot may have up to 2 Consumables equipped at any time, and these should be placed face down in their Trunk slots until activated. Consumable cards do not count as Parts when receiving damage - this means that a Bot with no Head, Core, Legs or Arms, but 2 Consumables, will still be destroyed if they take any damage. When destroyed, any equipped Consumables will drop in the room the Bot was occupying, just as Parts and Boss Loot do.

Q4: After defeating a Boss and making your way back down the tower, do you re-encounter already revealed Rooms? A4: You always encounter rooms whenever you enter them, even if the boss has been defeated. (They are really bad at turning off the turrets when the are defeated).

Q5: Regarding Suspicious Rug. If I fail the Encounter Roll and I take Damage, where does my parts drop? A5: They Fall in the Suspicious Rug Room before you fall! (Damage before Triggers!)

Q6: Regarding 'Lux, Helio-Artificer': When counting the Parts & Consumables currently in the room, do you also count parts equipped to Bots in the room? A6: No, for her ability you only count parts on the floor in the Boss Room.

Q7: Regarding the Part Card 'Rocket Legs': Can I use the card's ability to move into unrevealed rooms? A7: Yes! You can even use it to move into the Boss Room! Just remember to roll any tests when you land!

Q8: Can my Bot function without any parts? A8: Yes! A Bot is only destroyed when it takes damage and does not have a part to lose. Otherwise it is completely functional! You can even send an Unagumented Bot into the Tower (One that has no Parts equipped).

Q9: What happens to Boss Loot and Consumables my Bot is carrying when my Bot is Destroyed? A9: They drop in the Room the Bot was Destroyed in.

Q10: What do I do with the 'Bot Delivery Device' Kickstarter Exclusive Card? A10: This is an optional card that can change how the game is played! Decide with your playgroup if you want to include it. The card exists outside the Tower, and any Player is allowed to use it when they create a new Bot.