Excavation Earth: Second Wave

Excavation Earth: Second Wave Rulebook

Table of Contents

Module 1: Wild Cards

Module 1 Components

6 "multi region" wild cards
1 "no region" wild card

Module 1 Setup

When dealing players their starting hands, also give each player the wild card matching their chosen faction. This card is in addition to the usual number.

Module 1 New Rules

Wild cards are flexible because they match every colour (with one exception). They can be used like any other card. However, once a wild card has been used, it is set aside.

When you take the Command action, you may retrieve an envoy to take your spent wild card back into your hand, instead of using a command ability.

Wild cards cannot be played to take the Survey action.

Module 1 Solo Mode

Because you get a wild card and Zu does not, do this to compensate: Move one Excavate card from Zu's Round 2 deck to its Round 1 deck. During the Preparation Phase of the second round, take four random cards (instead of three) from the previous round's discard pile. This gives Zu one extra action in the first round.

Module 2: Influencers & Collectors

Module 2 Components

For each of the two new factions:

1 faction board
3 explorer pawns
22 crew cubes
1 turn order marker

In total: 2 faction boards, 6 explorer pawns, 44 crew cubes and 2 turn order markers.

Module 2 Solo Mode

These two new factions can be played against Zu without any adjustments to the rules.

Guilds of Sheenu-Jai (The Collectors)

When you fill an entire column of your gallery with samples, draw two action cards (instead of one) as a bonus.

House of Tvntrm (The Influencers)

When you take the Market action, you may add a second coloured buyer instead of the wild buyer. You may also add a wild buyer to a different market.

House of Tvntrm Example: Using your ability, you add two blue buyers to the selected market, along with one of your traders. Then you add a wild buyer to a different market, which ejects a red buyer from the front of that market's queue.

Module 3: Achievements

The captain of the mothership has challenged the explorers to a friendly wager. Will you be the one to win big on the achievement boards that the whole galaxy is looking at?

Module 3 Components

22 achievement cards: 8x easy (green), 9x medium (yellow), 5x hard (orange)
3 achievement tokens per faction
2 Achieve cards for Zu (solo mode only)

The printed sample cards are:

Easy (green, primary side, value 12) and grey secondary side (value 5): "End your turn with explorers in 3 different markets and no other players' explorers present." Icons: two circled numerals at top left, a 1/player marker at top right.
Medium (yellow, primary side, value 16) and grey secondary side (value 7): "Take the Survey action 3x in the same round. (rounds 1–2 only)" Icons: two circled numerals at top left.
Hard (orange, primary side, value 20) and grey secondary side (value 9): "End your turn with envoys in all 3 command centres and at least 2 more envoys than any other player." Icons: two circled numerals at top left, a 1/player marker at top right.

Transcriber's note: the sample cards are shown only as small printed examples in the source; the numbers in the card badges are read as the credit values, and the circled-numeral icons are not spelled out in the text. The remaining cards of the 22-card set are not printed in this rulebook.

Module 3 Setup

Before players choose their factions, separate the achievements into sets by difficulty, shuffle each set separately, then draw random achievements and place them with their primary sides (coloured) face up: two easy, two medium, and one hard.

If you draw an achievement that has the same icon as one of the achievements drawn earlier, discard it and draw another one instead.
If you draw an achievement that has an icon marking it as not compatible with the current player count, discard it and draw another one instead.

When players choose their factions, they also take the set of three achievement tokens that match their faction.

Module 3 New Rules

At the end of your turn, you may complete one of the available achievements, if you met its criteria on that turn. Immediately earn credits as shown on the achievement. Completing an achievement is not an action and does not require you to spend or discard anything.

If the achievement is primary (coloured) side up, flip it to its secondary (grey) side. Players will earn fewer credits for completing this achievement from now on.

If the achievement indicates that it can only be done once per player (1/player), place one of your achievement tokens on it as a reminder that you cannot complete it again. Achievements without this indication can be completed multiple times by the same player.

The achievement tokens are not meant to be limited; if you run out, use any proxy available.

Module 3 Solo Mode

When you play against Zu, you race for achievements the same way as you would in a multiplayer game. Do not use any achievements marked with the solo-exclusion icon (a circled 1 with a symbol, printed in the source).

At the start of each round, add the two Achieve cards to Zu's deck and shuffle them in.

When an Achieve card is revealed, Zu flips an achievement of your choice and earns the credits shown on either the secondary side (easy mode) or primary side (hard mode). If they are all already flipped, Zu earns five credits instead. After that, Zu immediately takes another action.

Module 4: Observation Barge

Finding new artefacts is the most exciting part of an excavation, so it's no surprise that some galactic VIPs want to be there, to be the first to see. Gaining entrance to the elite's observation barge is a huge opportunity, because you could make some friends in high places…

Module 4 Components

1 observation barge tile

Module 4 Setup

After you set up the main board, place the observation barge tile nearby in the play area.

Module 4 New Rules

Change to Survey Action: When you take the Survey action, take a buyer of the colour matching the card you played from the supply and add it to the back of the queue on the observation barge.

The queue on the observation barge can hold up to five buyers. When a sixth buyer is added, the buyer at the front of the queue is ejected and returned to the supply. These buyers affect popularity levels as usual.

Round 3 Only: When you survey, you may place one of your available crew cubes onto the observation barge. You may reassign a security guard if needed.

Change to Sell Action: When you take the Sell action, after you move all participating buyers to the mothership, move all buyers of the matching colour (if any) from the observation barge to the mothership. Do not earn any credits for these buyers.

Change to Preparation Phase: When the surveyor forecast is resolved, each player may move some or all of their crew cubes from the surveyor forecast to the observation barge instead of retrieving them. Any crew cube not moved this way returns to its owner's supply as usual.

Change to Game End: When the game ends, score crew majorities on the observation barge based on rank: The player with the most crew present earns 15 credits, the player with the second-most crew present earns 10 credits, and the player with the third-most crew present earns 5 credits.

In the case of a tie between players, add together the credits for the tied places, and divide those credits as evenly as possible (rounding down) between the tied players. The next player is bumped down accordingly.

If you have no crew present on the observation barge, you cannot earn credits for it, no matter your rank.

Module 4 Solo Mode

Zu always adds its crew cubes to the observation barge when possible, both in the Preparation Phase and when taking the Survey action during the third round.