Inception (Dream City)
Inception (Dream City) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
The game supports 4 to 8 players. One player is the mark and the others are extractors. It is a multiplayer game in which the mark and the extractors struggle against one another.
The game contains:
| Component | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Action cards | 102 |
| Extractor character cards | 18 |
| Mark character cards | 7 |
| Dream level cards | 18 |
| Vault cards | 4 |
| Bribe cards | 4 |
| Mark advantage / M4 carbine card | 1 |
| Ten Commandments of Inception / setup chart cards | 8 |
| Mark marker | 1 |
| Mind-lock dice (blue) | 4 |
| Red dice | 2 |
| Rulebook | 1 |
Game Setup
Shuffle the deck. Before the game begins, shuffle the action cards into a single stack and place it in the centre of the table as the draw deck.
Determine sides. Before the game begins, the players decide who will be the mark. The player who considers themselves to have the highest IQ becomes the mark; all other players are extractors.
Extractor setup.
- Each extractor is randomly dealt 2 extractor character cards. Choose 1 of them and place it face down in front of yourself.
- Each extractor is dealt one dream level card of each of the two kinds. Dream level cards have two faces: one kind shows levels 1 and 2 (one on each face), and the other kind shows levels 3 and 4. Together they represent the four dream levels.
- The extractor's dream level cards must be stacked on top of one another. The number showing on top represents the dream level the player is currently in. At the start of the game, all players are on dream level 1.
Mark setup.
- The mark is randomly dealt 2 mark character cards. Choose 1 of them and place it face down in front of yourself.
- Place the 4 dream level cards in front of yourself in the order 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Place the 4 vault cards face down at the corresponding dream level positions, as the mark wishes. One of the 4 vault cards contains the secret, which the extractors must not find; the other 3 vault cards contain gold coins.
- Set the number of mind-locks on each dream level according to the setup table below, represented by mind-lock dice (placed on the vault cards, as in the example). Place the mark marker on the dream level 1 card.
- The mark owns 1 special card, the mark advantage / M4 carbine card. (See The Mark's Four Major Advantages below.)
- Select the bribe cards for the number of players from the setup table below. Shuffle them and place them face down beside the play area. During the game, no player, including the mark, may look at this pile of bribe cards.
Example: in a 6-player game, the mark's setup is as follows. The mark places the four dream level cards 1, 2, 3 and 4 in order; the vault cards are placed face down beneath them, one per level, with the mark marker on level 1 and the mind-lock dice on the vault cards according to the table.
Setup table by number of players:
| Players | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mind-lock dice, Level 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Mind-lock dice, Level 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Mind-lock dice, Level 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Mind-lock dice, Level 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Bribe cards, success |
Game Tips
To help everyone settle into the game, each player is given 1 Ten Commandments of Inception / setup chart card. It can be consulted at any time for the rules. The Ten Commandments are a card listing ten basic rules of the game; the setup chart gives the mind-lock and bribe card data.
On your first game, you may consider leaving out the character cards and the action cards marked "EX" (the [Shapeshift] cards). This makes the game easier to learn and smoother to play.
After you have played for a week and understand the rules of Inception, add the character cards and the EX action cards for the complete game experience.
The Game Begins
All players turn their character cards face up. The game begins.
Game Process
The mark begins the first round.
Each round proceeds through the following phases:
- Round start.
- Draw phase. Draw 2 cards from the top of the draw deck as your hand.
- Play phase. You may use any number of hand cards. You may use a specific hand card or ability to make one successful unlock (see Unlock below). You may discard any 2 hand cards to perform a revival (see Revival below). Each time you use 1 hand card, carry out its effect. Unless otherwise stated, a hand card goes into the discard pile after it is used.
- Discard phase. At the end of the round, discard down to 5 hand cards.
- Round end. The turn passes to the player on your right, who begins their round.
During the game, players take turns in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. In a multi-game session, odd-numbered games go counter-clockwise and even-numbered games go clockwise.
End of the Game
- Extractors win: if the vault containing the secret is opened before the action cards have run out, that is, while cards can still be drawn from the draw deck.
- Mark wins: if the deck can no longer be drawn from, and the vault containing the secret has not been opened.
Key Explanations
Unlock
An extractor may unlock using the action card [Unseal]. If the unlock succeeds, the mind-lock count on the same dream level is reduced by 1: the mind-lock die is turned from its current face to the face 1 lower (for example, a 6 turns to a 5).
Each round allows only one successful unlock. Once an unlock has succeeded, extractors may not make a further unlock by choosing an ability or an action instead; in general, only one successful unlock is possible per round.
Cancelling an Unlock
When an extractor unlocks, any player may at any time play another [Unseal] card to cancel that unlock's effect. The [Unseal] card used to cancel still counts as used.
Vault
When all of the mind-locks on a dream level have been unlocked, the vault on that level is opened. Turn that vault card face up.
- If the opened vault contains gold coins, the mark may have the extractor who opened it draw 1 bribe card (see Bribes and Turncoats below).
- If the opened vault contains the secret, the game ends and the extractors win (see End of the Game).
Bribes and Turncoats
When an extractor opens a vault containing gold coins, or uses the action card [Dream Peek], the mark may have that extractor draw 1 bribe card at random.
- An extractor may receive several bribe cards. As soon as a bribe card obtained shows the word "DEAL", that extractor must become a turncoat.
- An extractor who draws a bribe card showing "DEAL" has been successfully bribed. That player becomes a turncoat, switches to the mark's faction, and shares the mark's victory or defeat.
- An extractor who draws a bribe card with a cracked picture has failed the bribe, and it has no effect.
- During the game, a bribed extractor may look at their own bribe cards at any time. Except for that extractor, no player, including the mark, may look at bribe cards; this applies until the end of the game.
Illustration: an extractor uses [Dream Peek] or opens a gold vault, then the mark has them draw 1 bribe card.
Dice Roll
When a player becomes the target of a SHOOT-type action card, that player rolls a red die. The number of pips showing on top of the die after the roll is the roll result.
Skills and card effects may raise or lower the roll result, but a red die always has a maximum of 6 and a minimum of 1. For example, if the die shows 1 and the roll result is modified by -1, the result remains 1.
Each action card's effect states which roll results apply and what they do. A roll result of death is described below.
Death
When the roll result is death, the victim enters the Lost Layer (see Lost Layer below). The victim chooses 2 hand cards to give to the killer; if the victim has fewer than 2 hand cards, the victim gives all of them.
A dead player may not use abilities or action cards. A dead player also cannot become the target of another player's abilities or action cards, and cannot revive another player.
Lost Layer
A player enters the Lost Layer by dying or for other reasons.
- When an extractor enters the Lost Layer, that extractor's character card is placed face up on top of their dream level card.
- When the mark enters the Lost Layer, the mark marker is laid on its side on the dream level where the mark was killed.
- In the Lost Layer, during their play phase, the player may not take any action except to revive themselves (see Revival below).
Revival
In your play phase, you may discard 2 hand cards to revive yourself or another player.
- Reviving yourself: you move to dream level 1. Because of the third special effect of the mark's advantages, the mark cannot revive themselves.
- Reviving another player: the revived player moves to your current dream level. A player in the Lost Layer cannot revive another player.
Movement
- When an extractor moves from one dream level to another, that extractor must display the corresponding dream level card in front of themselves, covering the other dream level card, to show the dream level they are currently on.
- When the mark moves from one dream level to another, the mark moves the mark marker onto the corresponding dream level card.
World View
Each mark character card carries a world view. This world view exists as a rule for this game and may change the game's original rules. A world view does not end for any reason, including the death of the mark.
The Mark's Four Major Advantages
Because the mark is at a severe numerical disadvantage, special effects are needed to raise the cost to the extractors of pursuing the mark:
- The mark always has the M4 carbine in play; place it in front of yourself. The M4 carbine is a special item with this effect: when the mark uses a SHOOT-type card, the target player's roll result is -1.
- In the mark's play phase, the mark may move to an adjacent dream level without using a card. This may be used only once per round.
- At the start of the mark's round, if the mark is in the Lost Layer, the mark immediately revives on the dream level where they were killed. Stand the mark marker upright in place.
- When an extractor opens a vault containing gold coins, the mark may have that extractor draw 1 bribe card.
Golden Rule
When rules or card texts conflict, resolve the conflict using this order of priority:
Abilities > Action cards > World view > Game rules & the mark's advantages / M4 carbine
Detailed Explanations
1. Introduction to Action Cards
The diagram labels the parts of an action card: A card name, B card effect text, C card effect illustration.
SHOOT-type cards
All action cards with "SHOOT" in their names belong to the same type. They are divided into regular SHOOT and special SHOOT. There is one kind of regular SHOOT, which has the most common combat function. Special SHOOT has three kinds, with different effects; each makes it more likely to kill or move the target player.
The SHOOT-type cards are:
- Regular: SHOOT
- Special: SHOOT · Assassin King, SHOOT · Armour-Piercing Spiral, SHOOT · Explosive Warhead
SHOOT (28 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: any other player on the same dream level as you.
- Effect: the target player rolls 1 die and the result gives the following effects.
- Three-face die icon: move the target player to an adjacent other dream level.
- One-face die icon: the target player dies.
Analysis: when a target player is moved, you choose the move, and the target must move. Besides its chance to kill the target, SHOOT usually works through suppressive fire, driving the opponent to another dream level. SHOOT may also be used on an ally, so that the ally is pushed by instinct at a dangerous moment, achieving the goal of helping the ally move.
SHOOT · Assassin King (3 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: any other player on any dream level.
- Effect: the target player rolls 1 die and the result gives the following effects.
- Three-face die icon: move the target player to an adjacent other dream level.
- Two-face die icon: the target player dies.
Analysis: this card has its greatest effect when you and the other players are on different dream levels. In particular, if the target player is on a dream level adjacent to yours and you still hold another special SHOOT card, then even if the roll is not 2 or 1, you still have a 50% chance of pulling the target close to you, after which you may follow up with suppressive fire.
SHOOT · Armour-Piercing Spiral (3 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: any other player on the same dream level as you.
- Effect: the target player rolls 1 die and the result gives the following effects.
- Three-face die icon: the target player shows their hand, discards all [Unseal] cards, and moves to an adjacent other dream level.
- Two-face die icon: the target player dies.
Analysis: [Unseal] is the most critical card in Inception, and SHOOT · Armour-Piercing Spiral is the counter to [Unseal]. Against it, the target would rather die than let the [Unseal] cards in their hand leave.
SHOOT · Explosive Warhead (3 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: any other player on the same dream level as you.
- Effect: the target player rolls 1 die and the result gives the following effects.
- Three-face die icon: the target player shows their hand, discards all SHOOT-type cards, and moves to an adjacent other dream level.
- Two-face die icon: the target player dies.
Analysis: compared with SHOOT · Armour-Piercing Spiral this card looks weaker, but it often removes the target's fighting ability at once: there is about a 50% chance of discarding all of the target's regular and special SHOOT cards, gaining an advantage in a short time and making the dream journey safer.
[Unseal] (24 cards)
- Timing: your play phase, or whenever any player uses effect 1 of [Unseal].
- Target: your own mind-lock on the same dream level, or another [Unseal] card being used to unlock.
- Effect: choose one of the following effects.
- Effect 1: only extractors may use this effect. Make one unlock on this dream level. After a revival, this effect may not be used again in that round.
- Effect 2: cancel the unlock effect of 1 [Unseal] card.
Analysis: the mark may not use [Unseal] effect 1. Whenever anyone uses [Unseal] effect 1, any player may use [Unseal] effect 2. [Unseal] effect 2 cannot itself be cancelled. For example, if an [Unseal] used to unlock is cancelled by another player's [Unseal], then a further [Unseal] may not be used to cancel the effect of that second [Unseal].
[Dream Shuttle] (20 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: you.
- Effect: you move to an adjacent other dream level.
Analysis: dream level 1 and dream level 4 are not adjacent. So when you are on dream level 1 you cannot move to dream level 4 with this card, and when you are on dream level 4 you cannot move to dream level 1.
[Dream Peek] (8 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: the vault on any one dream level, or one extractor who has already been bribed.
- Effect: choose one of the following effects.
- Effect 1: only extractors may use this effect. The mark may first give you 1 bribe card. You then look at the vault on any one dream level, and you must not reveal what you saw.
- Effect 2: only the mark may use this effect. Look at all of one extractor's bribe cards.
Analysis: when an extractor uses [Dream Peek] effect 1, the mark first decides whether to have that extractor draw 1 bribe card, and then that extractor looks at the vault on any one dream level. When the mark's bribe cards have all been dealt out, an extractor who uses [Dream Peek] will not receive a bribe card, so the extractor faction may look at vaults afterwards at no cost.
[Telekinetic Pull] (5 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: any one player other than you.
- Effect: move another player to your current dream level.
Analysis: whichever faction you belong to, when you know where the secret vault is, pulling the ally who is farthest from you close to you concentrates strength most effectively for unlocking, or removes the risk of failing by being separated. Because a dead player is not affected by card effects, a dead player cannot be moved by [Telekinetic Pull].
[Conjured Object] (3 cards)
- Timing: your play phase.
- Target: you.
- Effect: draw 2 cards from the top of the draw deck.
Analysis: while you gain one extra hand card, you also use up the draw deck, bringing the end of the game closer.
[Shapeshift] (5 cards, EX)
- Timing: any phase of your turn.
- Target: any one player other than you.
- Effect: swap character cards with another extractor until the end of the round.
Analysis: this is an EX card, and it is not recommended to include it in a first game. The mark may use this card on extractors, but extractors may not use [Shapeshift] on the mark. Within one round it may be used several times, but at the end of the round all character cards on the table must be returned to the positions they held before the round began. If some characters' skills work during the draw phase and you wish to use such a skill, you may use [Shapeshift] before you draw.
Detailed Explanations: Introduction to Dream Thieves
The diagram labels the parts of an extractor's character card: A character name, B English name, C skill name, D skill effect.
Joker
- Skill [Loss of Control]: if you skip your draw phase, you may roll 1 die and draw that many cards instead. If you do, you must discard all of your hand cards in your discard phase.
Analysis: the number of pips on the die is how many cards you draw, but at the end of the round you must discard all of your hand cards. So [Loss of Control] is best used when you have few or no hand cards. There is another method: if you hold [Shapeshift], use [Loss of Control] and then, before the discard phase, use [Shapeshift] to swap to another character. Because [Shapeshift] lasts until the end of the round, you do not have to discard hand cards in the discard phase.
Point Man
- Skill: you may reveal the cards drawn in your draw phase. If among them is a [Dream Shuttle], draw 2 more cards from the top of the draw deck.
Analysis: if a [Dream Shuttle] is revealed among the drawn cards, the 2 cards drawn afterwards go directly into your hand, so they cannot be revealed.
Tourist
- Skill: in your play phase, you may give all of your hand cards (at least 1) to another player, and then you move to that player's dream level.
Analysis: suppose you are on dream level 1 and have no [Dream Shuttle] in hand, but you want to move to dream level 4. You may give all of your hand cards to a player who is on dream level 4, and then move to dream level 4. To use the skill you must have at least 1 hand card; otherwise you cannot use it.
Shade
- Skill [Shadow]: in your play phase, you may move at any time to the dream level of the mark.
Analysis: if Shade has not been bribed, she is an extractor who troubles the mark. In her play phase, she may use the effect of [Shadow] at any time and any place. Her movements are very hard to control by ordinary means, and hunting the mark becomes all the more advantageous.
Avatar
- Skill [Descent]: in your play phase, when you move to a dream level with a higher number, you may draw 2 cards from the top of the draw deck.
Analysis: [Descent] can only be used when moving from a lower-numbered dream level to a higher-numbered one. For example, it can be used from level 1 to level 2, but not from level 2 to level 1. When Avatar revives themselves, moving from the Lost Layer to any dream level counts as moving from 0 to a higher-numbered dream level, so the effect of [Descent] is also triggered. Avatar's opportunity to take effect comes from [Dream Shuttle]: each move both strengthens the hand and reduces the draw deck. Whether Avatar belongs to the extractor faction or the mark's faction, their presence must not be underestimated.
Architect
- Skill [Labyrinth]: in your play phase, you may discard 1 SHOOT-type card so that one player on your dream level, until the end of that player's next round, is unaffected by action cards and abilities, and cannot move.
Analysis: a player who is the target of [Labyrinth] may still revive others, make unlocks, cancel unlock effects, or use action cards. Any action card used on oneself, including [Dream Shuttle], has no effect. A skill used on oneself is likewise without effect; for example, Black Swan's [Scatter] cannot make the player draw cards, but the activated skill may still give hand cards to other players. [Labyrinth] does not remove the effect of the world view.
Chemist
- Skill [Concoct]: in your play phase, you may discard 1 hand card, and then take 1 [Dream Shuttle] from the discard pile into your hand. This may be used only twice per round.
- Skill [Inject]: in your play phase, you may use a [Dream Shuttle] on a player on the same dream level as you.
Analysis: [Concoct] can be simply understood as turning 1 hand card into 1 [Dream Shuttle]. Of course, you must first confirm that a [Dream Shuttle] is in the discard pile. Any player may check the cards in the discard pile at any time.
Forger
- Skill [Scheme]: in your play phase, you may draw up to 2 hand cards from another player, and then return the same number of hand cards to that player. This may be used only once per round.
Analysis: the effect of [Scheme] may swap just 1 hand card with another player. You may return the cards drawn from another player to that player, because the cards drawn are still hand cards of the Forger. [Scheme] has the ability to take secrets: by exchanging hand cards it reveals other players' identities and intentions, allowing unexpected cooperation or restricting an opponent.
Soul Sculptor
- Skill [Carve]: when you use a SHOOT-type card, after rolling the die, you may use the target player's number of hand cards as the final roll result. This cannot be changed by other effects.
Analysis: once the effect of [Carve] has been used, the roll result cannot be changed again. For example, when the Soul Sculptor uses a SHOOT-type card on the mark who has [Fortress], the Soul Sculptor uses [Carve]; the world view's effect of -1 to the roll result described on that mark's card is then ignored, and the roll result becomes that mark's number of hand cards.
Space Queen
- Skill [Interlace]: when another player successfully unlocks, you may draw 1 card from the top of the draw deck.
- Skill [Creation]: in any player's discard phase, you may place 1 hand card on top of the draw deck.
Analysis: [Creation] lets you control, at a critical moment, the hand cards the other players draw. For example, a companion of the Space Queen badly needs a [Dream Shuttle]; during the discard phase of the player before that companion, the Space Queen may place 1 [Dream Shuttle] on top of the draw deck. Of course, the same method may be used to return the favour to an opponent.
Lord of War
- Skill [Decisive]: in your play phase, you may discard 2 hand cards, and then take 1 card from the discard pile into your hand. This may be used only once per round.
Analysis: the Lord of War can have any card wanted, but must keep constant track of what is in the discard pile.
Black Swan
- Skill [Scatter]: you may skip your draw phase, give all of your hand cards (at least 1) to any number of other extractors, and then draw 4 cards from the top of the draw deck.
Analysis: before the end of each round, Black Swan should try to keep 1 hand card as the last card; in the next round's draw phase this card is given to a companion, so that Black Swan gains more hand cards and benefits the companion. The effect of [Scatter] may act on several players at once; for example, all 5 hand cards may be given to 5 players.
Dream Interpreter
- Skill [Foreshadow]: when you use [Unseal], you may draw 2 cards from the top of the draw deck.
Analysis: when [Unseal] is used to cancel the unlock effect of another [Unseal], this also counts as a successful use of [Foreshadow].
Extractor
- Skill [Extract]: after you successfully unlock, you may draw from the top of the draw deck a number of cards equal to the mind-locks currently on your dream level.
Analysis: the effect of [Extract] weakens as the game goes on. The mind-lock count on a dream level means the count after the unlock. For example, if the mind-lock count before an unlock is 6, then after a successful unlock it is 5, so at that moment [Extract] lets you draw 5 cards from the top of the draw deck.
Judger of Mind
- Skill [Convict]: when you use a SHOOT-type card, the target player rolls 2 dice instead, and you choose 1 of them as the roll result.
Analysis: when [Convict] is used on an ally, the regular SHOOT already has a one-in-two chance of moving the target; with [Convict] there is a higher chance of helping the ally move through the dream. When [Convict] is used on an opponent, it increases the chance of driving the opponent away or killing them. However, it is unavoidable that the 2 dice show the same result, for example two 6s, in which case the Judger of Mind is at its most helpless.
Martyr
- Skill [Sacrifice]: you may skip your play phase and roll 1 die. If the result is one of the four faces shown on the card, increase or decrease the mind-locks on your current dream level by 2. The mind-lock count cannot exceed the original number. After this skill resolves, you die immediately and discard all of your hand cards.
Analysis: as its name suggests, [Sacrifice] works by sacrificing yourself to affect the mind-locks, which are the root of victory or defeat in the game. The action card [Unseal] can only cancel the unlock effect of [Unseal], so it has no effect on [Sacrifice].
Paprika
- Skill [Rescue]: in your play phase, you may discard 1 hand card so that one player in the Lost Layer revives to your dream level, and take all of that player's hand cards into your hand. This may be used only twice per round.
Analysis: [Rescue] is a skill that can affect players in the Lost Layer. As a dream doctor in name and in fact: a player who is revived cannot use [Unseal] in the round of revival, so [Rescue] is a revival method of very low cost. It is a serious threat to the mark, who must either kill Paprika every round or refrain from using SHOOT-type cards on the extractors, so that [Rescue] has no chance to take effect. Because the Golden Rule states that skills take priority over world views, [Rescue] is not affected by the world view of the mark's [Secret Passage].
Terrorist
- Skill [Pursuit]: the SHOOT-type cards you use are not restricted by the number of dream levels between you and the target.
- Skill [Frenzy]: when you use a SHOOT-type card, unless the target player discards 1 hand card before rolling, the roll result is -1.
Analysis: suppose the Terrorist is on dream level 1 and the target player is on dream level 4; the Terrorist may still use SHOOT-type cards on that target. When the Terrorist uses [Frenzy] on a target player, the target must discard 1 hand card before the roll, otherwise the roll result is not -1. [Frenzy] can be affected by other effects.
Detailed Explanations: Introduction to the Mark
The diagram labels the parts of a mark character card: A dream name, B skill name, C skill effect, D world view.
Each mark character card has one skill and one world view. The mark cards are: Black Hole, Harbor, Imperial City, Midsummer, Secret Passage, Fortress and Chessboard.
Black Hole
- Skill [Reverse Flow]: on each of your draw phases as the mark, each dream level whose vault has not been opened recovers 2 mind-locks. The number of mind-locks cannot exceed the original number.
- World view: extractors may successfully unlock twice per round.
Analysis: for example, if the vault on dream level 2 starts with 5 mind-locks, and during one round the extractors unlock it down to 3, then on the mark's turn the mark may add 2 mind-locks, so the count becomes 5, whether or not the mark has died earlier. On each dream level, every unopened vault gains 2 mind-locks in the mark's draw phase. The original number of mind-locks means the number set up at the start of the game. For example, if the vault on dream level 2 starts with 5 mind-locks, and during one round the extractors unlock it down to 4, then on the mark's turn the count also becomes 5.
Harbor
- Skill [Tsunami]: when any vault is opened and the game has not ended, every extractor rolls 1 die, in game order. If the result is 1 to 4, that extractor moves to the Lost Layer. On a result of 5 or 6, nothing happens.
- World view: when two vaults have been opened and the secret has still not been opened, the game ends and the mark's faction wins.
Analysis: when an extractor opens a vault containing gold coins, the effect of [Tsunami] is triggered, and every extractor must roll 1 die in game order: a result of 1 to 4 kills that extractor directly, and 5 or 6 means nothing happens. An extractor who enters the Lost Layer because of [Tsunami] is not treated as having been killed by the mark, because this effect is not used by the mark on a target player. So the Lost Layer is entered directly, skipping the killed state, and there is no killer and no victim, so no hand cards are given. Likewise, since the death is not caused by the mark, the effect of the [M4 carbine] cannot be stacked on it.
Imperial City
- Skill [Gold]: when you give an extractor a bribe card, you may choose 1 card to give to that extractor.
- World view: when a player receives a bribe card, that player chooses another extractor who has not received a bribe card. That extractor is treated as having used 1 [SHOOT], and the roll result is -3.
Analysis: whether an extractor opens a vault containing gold coins or uses [Dream Peek], each time the mark chooses to give a bribe card to that extractor, the mark first looks at all undealt bribe cards, then selects 1 of them to give to that extractor. During the game, this mark may check all undealt bribe cards at any time, but may not look at bribe cards already given to extractors. The SHOOT referred to by this mark's world view is a regular SHOOT. The effects of this mark's world view may be affected by other effects.
Midsummer
- Skill [Abundance]: in your draw phase, for each undealt bribe card you hold, draw 1 additional card.
- World view: in every extractor's draw phase, the number of cards drawn is increased by 1.
Analysis: if the mark starts with 3 bribe cards, the mark draws 5 cards in the draw phase; if 1 of them has been dealt to an extractor, one fewer is held and the mark draws 4 cards. Under this world view, every extractor who does not use a skill draws 3 cards in the draw phase.
Secret Passage
- Skill [Teleport]: your [Dream Shuttle] may move any extractor to the Lost Layer. This may be used only twice per round.
- World view: a player may revive only by discarding 1 [Dream Shuttle]. The mark's advantages are not affected.
Analysis: whichever dream level a target extractor is on, the mark needs only 1 [Dream Shuttle] to move that extractor to the Lost Layer. An extractor sent to the Lost Layer by [Dream Shuttle] does not need to give hand cards, because they skip the killed state directly. This mark's world view changes the original revival rule: a player may not revive by discarding 2 hand cards; instead, the player must discard 1 [Dream Shuttle] to revive themselves or another player. This mark's world view may be affected by other effects.
Fortress
- Skill [Ruthless]: in your play phase, when you move to another dream level, you may treat it as having used 1 regular [SHOOT] on any one extractor.
- World view: the mark's roll results are -1.
Analysis: in the mark's turn, if the mark moves from dream level 1 to dream level 2, this is equivalent to the mark using 1 regular [SHOOT] for free: the mark does not play any card, and then names any other player on any dream level, who must roll the die to dodge. The world view of this mark may be affected by other effects.
Chessboard
- Skill [Relocate]: when a vault is about to be opened, you may swap that vault with an unturned vault on any dream level. This skill may be used only twice.
- World view: when [Dream Peek] is used, draw 2 cards from the top of the draw deck.
Analysis: for example, when the vault on dream level 1 is about to be opened and the vault on dream level 2 has not yet been opened, the mark may choose not to open the dream level 1 vault, and instead swap the dream level 2 vault with the dream level 1 vault; the vault that is then opened is the one originally on dream level 2. Under this world view, every time [Dream Peek] is used, 2 cards must be drawn from the top of the draw deck. [Relocate] may be used at most twice in a single game.
Appendix
Glossary of Game Terms
- You: refers to yourself.
- Player: any person taking part in the game.
- Extractor faction: the extractors who have not been bribed and those whose bribe failed. They are opposed to the mark's faction.
- Mark faction: the mark itself and the extractors who have been successfully bribed. They are opposed to the extractor faction.
- Action: something a player may do in the game.
- Turn: the period from when it is a player's turn until that player's actions end, up to the moment before the next player's turn begins.
- Round: every player takes one turn.
- Phase: each player has three phases in each turn that allow action: the draw phase, the play phase and the discard phase.
- Draw deck: the stack of unused action cards placed face down.
- Top of the draw deck: the topmost card of the draw deck.
- Hand cards: the action cards in a player's hand.
- Effect: the impact that the text of a skill, action card or world view has on the course of the game once it is carried out.
Questions and Answers
The publisher's introduction to the Q&A section, which is not a rule, is omitted. The questions and answers are reproduced as printed.
Q: Will hand cards be added that decide the roll result? A: The new character Soul Sculptor is a character that controls the roll result by relying on hand cards.
Q: The skills of the extractor characters are too strong; can they be revised? A: After many rounds of testing, the skills of the extractors have been adjusted to a balanced state. There is no strongest or weakest; the only difference lies in how much influence each skill has against different marks. So, facing different marks, making good use of your own character's skills is itself an expression of game skill; characters whose skills seem strong but are used recklessly will lead to eventual failure.
Q: Can a turn-order mechanism be added to make the game order fairer, because the first player always has an attacking advantage over the second? A: On this point, the rules recommend that in a multi-game session, the play order alternates clockwise and counter-clockwise, one order per game. During play, the rules do not recommend adding any other mechanism, because it would increase the complexity of the game. As a game whose main theme is fast rhythm, adding mechanisms that raise the difficulty of learning or hinder the flow of the game is not desirable.
Q: The dice are too much a matter of luck. Please add more supporting attack cards, and cards that can defend against attacks. A: Dice are both loved and disliked by players. Inception is built around a fast rhythm; the large swings of dice rolls during an attack suit the atmosphere of this game, and the excitement of this game comes from the dice mechanism. As for supporting attack cards, there are now 9 special SHOOT cards, whose relatively strong attacking power already makes a large difference to the progress of the game. Defensive cards that block attacks were finally not added, because this game is built around the core mechanism of unlocking. Players must understand from the first contact what they should be doing, and too many complicated attack-card mechanisms would take the game off course; so the many attack and defence cards that existed in the early version were removed.
Q: Could the mark turn the character cards face up first, and only then have the extractors choose their characters? This would make the extractors' character combinations better. A: This method would indeed reduce the randomness of character combinations. However, on the current test data, the win rates of the mark and the extractors are roughly level. If it became possible to build extractor combinations that counter the mark, the choice of characters would become fixed during selection, reducing the variety of character combinations; this would weaken the mark while also removing the challenge for the extractors, and the fun of the game would disappear. So this method is not adopted.
Scoring
For multi-game play, you may use the scoring rules below. At the end of each game, record each player's score for that game. When the multi-game session ends, add up each player's game scores and compare the totals to decide the final winner.
Score for one game = base score + extra bonus.
All scores are per player.
| Role | Mark | Extractor, not bribed | Extractor, bribe failed | Turncoat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark faction wins | 3 | — | — | 3 |
| Extractor faction wins | — | 3 | 3 | — |
| Extra bonus: Extractor faction wins | — | — | 1 | — |
Note: the table is transcribed as printed. The extra bonus row applies to a player in the extractor faction whose bribe failed.
Omitted from the transcription: the printed designer's and editor's foreword, the credits and staff list, the closing story text on the credits page, and the publisher's contact information. These are not rules.