G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game: Silent Interlude Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Mission 8: Silent Interlude (Solo Only)
  • Setup
  • Rule Changes for Silent Interlude
  • SILENT/NOISY
  • Act II
  • Expert Mode for Silent Interlude
• Mission 9: A Traitor Within
  • Setup
  • Loyalty Cards
  • Accusation Cards
  • Running a Story Mission During A Traitor Within
  • Your Cards and Discards
  • Upon Discovering a Traitor
  • Loyal Players Can Attempt to Rehabilitate the Traitor
  • Sabotage Cards
  • No Traitor?
• Miscellaneous Rules
• Card Rulings

Contents

• 8 Leader Cards
• 8 Snake Eyes Starter Cards
• 13 Loyalty Cards
• 3 Cobra Officer Cards
• 8 Complication Cards
• 8 Accusation Cards
• 16 Sabotage Cards
• 2 Expert Mode Cards
• 4 Player Aid Cards
• 1 Main Deck Card
• 24 Mission Cards
• 1 New End of Round Token
• 1 SILENT/NOISY Token
• 4 Discard Pile Tokens

Mission 8: Silent Interlude (Solo Only)

Not only is this a solo mission, but Snake Eyes goes it alone (for the most part) without aid from other Joes. It is our intent to keep the action and characters limited to just what appears in the Silent Interlude storyline.

Setup

1. Set up a Solo-style G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game just as you would any other.
2. Be sure to use the Solo/2 side of the Threat Meter, the core game End of Turn token, and the Reserve Tile.
3. Shuffle the C.L.A.W. Transport into the main deck.
4. Create the Story Mission stack with 1 random Mission and 1 Finale per Act. This creates a stack of 6 cards instead of the usual 9.
5. Your Leader in this game is Snake Eyes. Grab his 0-cost Leader card and place his Promoted Leader nearby.
6. Place both Scarlett Leader cards nearby as well.
7. Remove all GIs and the Comms card from your starting deck. Snake Eyes is all alone here... no GIs to accompany him!
8. Shuffle all 9 0-cost Snake Eyes cards (8 normal and the 0-cost Leader) into your starting deck. You will have an 11-card starting deck.
9. Place the SILENT/NOISY token at the top of your play area, just above where you normally play your cards. It starts on the SILENT side.
10. Replace the core game Destro and Storm Shadow cards with the new ones from this expansion.
11. Remove all other Cobra Officers from the game.
12. Remove Major Bludd Appears and all Precision Strikes from the core set Complications. Put them back into the box.
13. Then shuffle the new Act I, II, and III Complications into their corresponding decks.
14. Leave all other new components out of the game.

Rule Changes for Silent Interlude

Buying Joes. When you buy or gain a Joe from anywhere that is not from this expansion, place it onto the Reserve tile. These Joes may never enter your hand. After all, none of them appeared in the Silent Interlude story! Instead, you can "spend" them from your Reserve tile to aid many Snake Eyes cards and Scarlett as well.

Reserving a card from your hand works the same as always. Just keep the Joes and your reserved card separate.

Using Your Reserve Joes. Most of Snake Eye's cards have an ability reading: "Remove 4 cost worth of Joes from the Reserve tile: +1 Wild Skill." Each of your cards with this text may activate this ability once when played. So if you play 3 of them, you could do it 3 times during the same turn. The removed Joes are removed from the game. If you play multiple Snake Eyes and wish to activate multiple instances of this ability, the payment required may be combined. So, you could remove a 5- and 3-cost Joe to activate 2 Snake Eyes abilities.

Transports. None are needed for any of these Missions. In fact, they cannot be used. The new C.L.A.W. Transport in the main deck is the only one that can be used. The Hangar starts with no Transports. When a Transport (other than C.L.A.W.) appears in the line-up, place it into the main deck discard pile and then replace it.

Cobra Operatives. Some Cobra cards refer to "Cobra Operatives." Every Cobra Officer, Trooper, Battalion, and Ninja counts as a Cobra Operative for these card effects. Other cards that mention "Cobra" are not counted.

Card Updates for Silent Interlude.

• HALO Jump: Allows you to add 1 Snake Eyes or Scarlett from your hand to the Mission after determining whether you are Silent or not.
• Recovery Signal: Allows you to return 1 Snake Eyes or Scarlett to your hand after the Silent roll, which might maintain Silence.

SILENT/NOISY

This is Silent Interlude, at Silent Castle, using a Joe well-known for his silence. So, as you can imagine, being silent is a good thing. The SILENT/NOISY token starts out on the SILENT side and will remain that way until you are NOISY. This is determined partly by how many Scarlett and Snake Eyes are on the Mission and how many Cobra Operatives are in play (Officers, Troopers, Battalions, and Ninja). Remember that each Mission is started by a single character.

The following procedure can be found on a player aid card for quick reference.

Running a Story Mission During Silent Interlude

1. If the SILENT/NOISY token is showing NOISY, skip this procedure and continue with the Mission as normal.
2. Each time you start a Story Mission, reveal the top card of the main deck. Note its cost.
3. Add any number of additional Scarlett and Snake Eyes from your hand to the Mission.
4. After resolving Complications, roll 1 die for each Cobra Operative in play.
5. For each HIT, subtract 1 from the cost of the revealed card on top of the main deck.
6. If the number of Scarlett and Snake Eyes cards on the Mission is equal to or less than the modified cost of the revealed card, you are SILENT. Otherwise, flip the token to the NOISY side.
7. At the end of your turn, if the top card of the main deck is face up, discard it.

To summarize: If the number of Scarlett and Snake Eyes cards on the Mission is higher than the revealed card's modified value, flip the token to the NOISY side, which will impose a +1 Difficulty penalty on Story Missions. If it's already face up, the +1 Difficulty applies. To flip it face down to SILENT again, upgrade your starting Snake Eyes Leader. It has text that flips the token back to SILENT.

Act II

The Story Missions for Act II are marked Scarlett Solo, which means that only she can start the Mission and no one else may join them. You will gain her (0) at the end of Act I. Feel free to Promote her if you wish. Snake Eyes is free to run Side Missions and Missions against Cobra Officers. Scarlett and Snake Eyes can team up against non-Story Group and Side Missions during Act II, as only the Story Missions are Scarlett Solo Missions.

Expert Mode for Silent Interlude

If you are consistently able to beat this scenario, put this Expert Mode card into play. It increases the cost to use the many Snake Eyes character cards that can give you an additional +1 Wild Skill.

Another way to keep the game fresh is to try another Leader. Use standard GIs and an 11-card starter deck. If your last game was a loss, you can use the Snake Eyes Starter cards instead.

If you rarely lose, replace Scarlett with another Leader as well! However, without her "return to hand" ability, her solo missions might take longer to complete. Whichever Joe you choose is the only one that can run the "Scarlett Only" missions.

Mission 9: A Traitor Within

Setup

1. Set up a G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game just as you would any other, except for the changes below.
2. Create the Story Mission deck with 1 random Mission and 1 Finale per Act. This creates a stack of 6 cards instead of the usual 9.
3. Replace the core game End of Round token with the new one from this expansion.
4. Replace the core game Dr. Mindbender card with the new one from this expansion.
5. Put a Discard Pile token in the spot where each player will place their discarded cards.
6. Display Chuckles (0 & 6) and Lt Falcon (0 & 6) along with the other playable Joe Leaders and choose your character as usual.
7. Shuffle the 8 Accusation cards together and place them near the Cobra Troopers/Battalions.
8. Shuffle the 16 Sabotage cards together and place them near the Cobra Troopers/Battalions.
9. Prepare the Loyalty cards by placing 1 Loyal Joe card and 1 Traitor card face up in front of each player.
10. Then, shuffle 4 Loyal Joe and 1 Traitor from the remaining cards together.
11. Deal 1 card from this stack face down to each player.
12. Place the remaining cards from this stack back in the box and face down.
13. Each player peeks at the card they were dealt, but must not comment about it.
14. Now, each player makes sure all 3 of their Loyalty cards are face down, then shuffles them (while still face down) and places them face down in a row next to their play area without looking at them.
15. Each player draws 1 Accusation card and places it face up in front of any player. You can even choose yourself!
16. Leave all the other new components out of the game.

Loyalty Cards

These cards determine your loyalty, and that information is currently known only to you. You cannot claim to be a Traitor, but you are free to call yourself Loyal and accuse others of being a Traitor for any reason or no reason at all!

The more players there are in the game, the greater the chance of a Traitor. Of the 5 cards that are shuffled and dealt in secret, 4 of them are Loyal Joe cards, while 1 is a Traitor card. In a game with only 2 players, there's only a 2 in 5 (40%) chance of there being a Traitor. With 4, there's a 4 in 5 (80%) chance of a Traitor!

A Hidden Traitor

• If you placed 2 Loyal Joe cards face down in front of you, you are Loyal. You seek to complete the Missions and win the game as usual.
• If you placed 2 Traitor cards face-down in front of you, you are a Traitor! As long as you have not revealed 2 Traitor cards, you are a Hidden Traitor. Once you have been discovered, you are an Active Traitor.

The longer you stay Hidden, the faster the Threat Meter goes up, up, up! But then again, the Sabotage cards might be a good path towards a Traitorous victory. Be obvious or be subtle; the choice is yours. Do what you can to cause the Joes to lose the game in any of the normal ways. If that happens and you are an Active Traitor, you win! If you are still a Hidden Traitor, the Joes earn a pyrrhic victory due to your failure to reveal yourself. But if you are discovered too soon, you may not have the tools to do much damage and the Joes will have lots of time to rehabilitate you. More on that later.

Once your Loyalty cards are down, you cannot look at them again, so make sure you know your loyalty before you set them down. They are randomized so that even you do not know where your Loyal Joe and Traitor cards are positioned among the 3.

When instructed to flip a Loyalty card face up, choose one without peeking at them first. This is a blind pick, even if it's one of your own cards.

Accusation Cards

These are treated like Side Missions, and players are limited to 2 Side Missions at a time each. If a player already has 2 Side Missions, they cannot be given an Accusation. Until a Traitor is discovered (or it is proven there isn't one), Accusations will be the only Side Missions in the game. If the Accusation deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discards to create a new deck.

Important Side Mission Rules for A Traitor Within

1. During A Traitor Within, any player may run any player's Side Missions.
2. When a Precision Strike is drawn from the Complication deck, discard it and draw an Accusation instead.* Then immediately give that Accusation to any player with 1 or fewer Side Missions in front of them. If everyone already has 2 Side Missions, discard the Accusation.

*If there is an Active Traitor or all players have revealed 2 Loyal Joe cards, Precision Strikes are not replaced and are given out as the core game rules dictate.

The Accusations each feature 1 of the 8 different Skills in the game. Other than the above rules, they are run like any other Side Mission during your turn. Other players cannot join the Mission. Note that you may run an Accusation Side Mission during the very first round of the game if you wish. However, sometimes you might want to wait so you have a chance to reduce the Threat Meter (a potential reward).

If your roll Fails, the Accusation remains where it is.

If your roll Succeeds, flip any 1 of that player's face-down Loyalty cards face up. Then immediately draw 1 card. Next, if you flipped a Loyal Joe card face up, reduce the Threat Meter by 1 (but never back into the "Starting Round Only" space). These effects are listed on the Accusation cards. Once the success has been fully resolved, place that Accusation card into a face-up discard pile next to the Accusation deck.

If you succeed at an Accusation Side Mission during the Starting Round, you still flip a card, but revealing a Loyal Joe card does not reduce the Threat (as it can't move back into the Starting Round circle). Is it traitorous to run an Accusation Side Mission during the Starting Round as it won't help reduce the Threat Level? That's up to you!

A player might wish to give an Accusation they draw to themselves and run it as well. A Loyal player might do this to prove their loyalty as quickly as possible. A Traitor might do so if they wish to become an Active Traitor sooner than later.

Running a Story Mission During A Traitor Within

Story Missions are resolved as usual, with the active player calling for help or going it alone. Once the team has been set, there are a few changes:

1. An Active Traitor may choose to play 1 Sabotage card from their hand to hinder the Mission.
2. Each player draws 1 Complication and reveals it. This includes any Traitor and players who are not on the Mission. This is the meaning of the "1/P" in the Complication area of the Missions.
3. If there is no Active Traitor, discard any Precision Strikes drawn and draw an Accusation to replace it. Immediately give it to any player.
4. If the Story Mission is a Failure, the active player draws 1 Accusation and places it in their own Side Mission area: Your poor leadership is obviously to blame for the failure and now everyone is suspicious of you. If that player already has 2 Side Missions, discard the new Accusation.

Your Cards and Discards

To keep everyone guessing as to your loyalty, you cannot reveal the cards in your hand or discard pile to the other players. Each player was given a Discard Pile token at the start of the game to hide their discarded cards under. Place your discarded cards face down and make sure the Discard Pile token is always on top of the stack. This prevents you from mistaking your deck for your discard pile. Do not reveal the cards you are discarding from your hand as you discard them. Turn them face down before discarding them.

The reason for all this subterfuge is so that a Hidden Traitor can still work against the team without getting caught. A player might call for the Tech Skill on a Group Mission, and the Hidden Traitor might have a Joe with that very Skill, but the Hidden Traitor might not want to aid the Mission. They might prefer to keep the card in their hand, and even discard it at the end of their next turn without ever playing it. It would be an immediate giveaway if the other players could look at the cards being discarded to say "Hey! You did have Tech Skill. Traitor!"

A Hidden Traitor might even be more sneaky and join the Mission, but refrain from playing [crosshair icon] cards to help. Of course, a Hidden Traitor could be so bold as to hold cards back and then play them during their turn anyway, hoping that no one was paying attention. Your level of risk is up to you.

Upon Discovering a Traitor

When a player has 2 face-up Traitor cards, they are now an Active Traitor. The Traitor now drops the pretense of "helping" the team. Several things happen before the game continues:

1. Flip the End of Round token over to the side with just a single +1 Threat.
2. Discard all Accusations in play: They are no longer used in the game.
3. Leave all Loyalty cards where they are as they are. Do not flip any additional cards face up unless a Mission tells you to.
4. Precision Strikes now work as normal, but anyone may still run them.
5. The Traitor takes their Promoted Leader (whether they upgraded it or not) and places it into play in the Cobra Officer area (you might have to search your deck or discard pile).
6. The Traitor draws X Sabotage cards, where X is the number of the current, or just completed, Act. I.e., If you are revealed as the Traitor during Act II, draw 2 Sabotage cards.
7. At the start of each of their turns, a Traitor draws 1 Sabotage card.
8. A Traitor may only use the VAMP Transport to run Side Missions.
9. A Traitor cannot run Group or Story Missions.
10. During each Group Mission (which includes Story Missions) the Loyal players run, the Traitor may play 1 Sabotage card against them. See Sabotage cards on page 9.
11. As the Traitor, you have a new Side Mission only you can run, called...

Menace

A Traitor run any number of Menace Side Missions against other players during their turn.

A Menace Side Mission has the Skill requirement: "Any Skill 4." That means you choose which Skill you want to use when you run it. Play cards, choose a Skill, choose a foe, then roll the dice. If you roll 4 or more Hits, the Mission might be a Success. However, the targeted player may reveal Joes from their hand with that same printed Skill, and roll that many dice.

In the example to the right, a Loyal player being Menaced via Recon or Tracker could reveal this card to roll 4 or 3 dice, depending on which Skill the Traitor is using. The text box of the revealed Joe is ignored. The revealed card(s) goes back into the Loyal Joe's hand. For each Hit rolled, subtract 1 from the Traitor's Hit total. If the number of Hits is now 3 or less, the Menace Fails. If the Menace remains a Success, the targeted player must discard 1 card from their hand at random.

Loyal Players Can Attempt to Rehabilitate the Traitor

This is a Group Mission against the Traitor's 6-cost Leader, who is now a Cobra Officer. All Promoted Leaders have a cost of 6, which is also the difficulty to defeat them. The Skills needed are the Skills that Leader has, with an "&" between them (if more than one). If they have Wild Skill, read that as "Any 1 Skill."

For example, if the Traitor is Lt. Falcon, the Loyal Joes can attempt to rehabilitate him with a Difficulty 6 "Marksman & Explosives" Group Mission.

If the Group Mission is a Success, place the defeated Leader card back in the former Traitor's area. They may promote their Leader as usual. If they had previously promoted it, place it into their discard pile. Lt. Falcon is now a fully Loyal Joe and only wins the game if the other players win as well. Their 2 Traitor cards remain, however.

Sabotage Cards

When a Traitor becomes Active, they immediately draw a number of Sabotage cards equal to the current Act the game is in. Sometimes this can happen at the end of an Act; in which case their draw is equal to the Act that just ended. They also draw 1 at the start of each of their turns. These cards are various dirty tricks an Active Traitor can play during a Group Mission to hinder or harm the Joes. These cards are kept secret in the Traitor's hand until played during a Group Mission.

If an Traitor is rehabilitated, discard all Sabotage cards.

If the Sabotage deck runs out, do not reshuffle it.

No Traitor?

If all players reveal 2 Loyal Joe cards, there is no Traitor.

• Flip the End of Round token over to the side with just a single +1 Threat.
• Discard all Accusations and don't draw them anymore.
• Leave all Loyalty cards where they are as they are. Do not flip any additional cards face up unless a Mission tells you to.
• Precision Strikes are now assigned to players as usual.
• Some cards say, "If all players are Loyal..." These effects only apply after all players in the game have been revealed to be Loyal Joes.

Miscellaneous Rules

2-Player Game Rule. If your "teammate" becomes an Active Traitor, you are playing Solo. Use the Solo End of Round rules as found in the core rules and the original End of Round token. You only suffer End of Round effects at the end of every other round. If the Traitor is rehabilitated, revert to 2-player mode again. Only the Loyal player gets to use the Reserve tile while there is an Active Traitor.

3-4 Player Game Rule. If a Precision Strike is drawn via the Threat Meter's yellow section, it is still replaced. The Accusation goes to the player with the fewest number of Side Missions. If tied, the players choose who gets it or randomize if the decision isn't unanimous.

Expert Mode for A Traitor Within. If you want to give the Traitor a better chance to win, add the Expert Mode card A Traitor Within to the game. It gives the Traitor the chance to convert a Loyal Joe into a Traitor! Follow the directions in "Upon Discovering a Traitor," above. Do not use this card during a 2-player game.

Card Rulings

• Rocket Launcher: Choose any 1 player. They do not draw a Complication during this Mission.
• Proximity Mine: The player whose Complication is destroyed draws the new one.