Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game
Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Summary
- Sorting Guide
- Your First Game — Use These Cards
- Game Setup
- On Your Turn
- Episode Phase: Add an Episode Card to the 'Verse
- Action Phase: Play Cards from Your Hand
- Recruiting Characters, Scanning Spaces, and Fighting Enemies
- Turning a Hidden Card Face-up
- How to Fight an Enemy
- Strike Phase: Each Enemy in the Combat Zone Strikes
- Cleanup Phase: Discard Your Hand and Draw Six New Cards
- Objectives
- Inevitable Cards
- Ending an Episode
- Inter-Mission
- Ending the Game
- Keyword Abilities
- Ability Timing
- Additional Rules and Clarifications
- Referring to Crew Members By Name
- "Your Characters"
- "Defeating" Cards
- "Gaining" Cards
- Running Out of Cards in the Crew Deck
- Running Out of Browncoats
- Running Out of Talents or Flaws
- Running Out of Crew Strikes or Ship Strikes
- Special Abilities on Cards
- "Show" a Card
- "Activate"
- "Avoid Any One Strike"
- "Cancel a Strike"
- Enemy Gets -1 Attack
- "Attach" to a Space
- "Clear" Space
- "Pay Attack or Recruit Points" Abilities
- Inevitable Cards and Defeated Players
- Character Classes
- Adjusting Difficulty
- Coordinate in Solo Play
- Suggested Main Characters
- Playing a Campaign
- Game Contents
- Credits
Game Summary
Each player starts with a deck of basic cards plus one Talent card. At the start of your turn you draw a card from the Episode deck and place it face-down on the board; it may be an outlaw thug, an Alliance ship, or a Reaver raiding party. You play cards from your hand to generate Attack, Recruit Points and special abilities. Attack defeats enemies and scans hidden cards. Recruit Points gain new character cards for your deck. At the end of your turn, every Enemy in the Combat Zone strikes you or Serenity.
When your deck runs out of cards, shuffle your discard pile into a new deck, including everything you recruited — so your deck strengthens over time, while the enemies and challenges also get tougher.
How to Win
Each game plays through three episodes of the series. Players cooperate to complete a set of Objectives for each episode (for example "Defeat Patience," "Impress Warwick Harrow," or "Snatch the Pills"). Better results earn more Credits, which are spent to repair or upgrade Serenity. Completing the final episode wins the game.
Enemies attack and wound the players as the game progresses. Taking damage equal to or greater than your Health defeats you, but another player can heal you back into the game. If every player is defeated at the same time, the players lose.
Some enemies attack Serenity herself. If she takes too many hits, the game is lost.
Your First Game
For a first game, use the specific card stacks listed under "Your First Game — Use These Cards" below. This plays the Pilot Episode "Serenity" plus "The Train Job." (The Pilot episode is split across two separate Episode Decks.)
After the first game you can play all 14 Episodes of the series, or mix and match Episodes in any order.
Sorting Guide
There are 500 cards in addition to the playmat. Each of the following card groups is made up of similar-looking cards:
- 35 Shiny
- 25 Misbehave
- 5 Browncoats
- 9 Avatars
- 12 Side Jobs
- 40 Crew Strikes
- 20 Ship Strikes (6 Ship Strikes have a label on their left side — set these apart from the regular 20)
- 10 Upgrades
- 15 Talents
- 20 Flaws
- 3 Inevitable Cards
- 15 Objective Cards (each has an Episode number near the top)
Each of the following groups is an Episode deck made up of different card types. Each one has a label at the bottom. (The 6 labelled Ship Strikes you set aside are used here.)
- 10 Serenity (Part 1) – A
- 11 Serenity (Part 2) – B
- 12 The Train Job – C
- 10 Bushwhacked – A
- 11 Shindig – B
- 12 Safe – C
- 10 Our Mrs. Reynolds – A
- 11 Jaynestown – B
- 12 Out of Gas – C
- 10 Ariel – A
- 11 War Stories – B
- 12 Trash – C
- 10 The Message – A
- 11 Heart of Gold – B
- 12 Objects in Space – C
Finally, sort the remaining cards. Each of these has one of the nine crew members' names underneath the card's title. Sort by crew member as follows:
- 14 Book
- 14 Inara
- 14 Jayne
- 14 Kaylee
- 14 Mal
- 14 River
- 14 Simon
- 14 Wash
- 14 Zoe
Your First Game — Use These Cards
- Objective/Episode Deck A: "Serenity (Part 1)"
- Objective/Episode Deck B: "Serenity (Part 2)"
- Objective/Episode Deck C: "The Train Job"
- Players: Mal, Kaylee, Zoe, Jayne, Book (In a four-player game, leave out Book. In a three-player game, leave out Jayne and Book, etc.)
- Crew Deck: Wash, Inara, River, Simon
Game Setup
Player Starting Decks
Give each player their own personal 13-card deck made up of these cards:
- 7 Shiny
- 5 Misbehave
- 1 Talent
Main Characters and Supporting Characters
Each game has 5 Main Characters and 4 Supporting Characters, so that all 9 crew members are part of every game. Many cards in the game have different effects based on who the Main Characters are.
Take the 9 Avatars and follow these steps:
- Each player selects an Avatar and puts it in front of them. Each player is a "Main Character." (Players can choose the Avatars they like, or select them randomly.)
- If there are fewer than five players, select additional Avatars until you have a total of five including the players. Put these extra Avatars below the Bridge space of the playmat. These cards are also "Main Characters," but they do not count as players.
- Four Avatars should now be left. These determine which four crew members are Supporting Characters this game. Take each of those characters' 14-card stacks, shuffle them together, and place the resulting 56-card deck onto the space marked "Crew Deck." Put those four Avatars back in the box.
Avatars
Your Avatar card stays in front of you during the game.
- Health determines how much strike damage it takes to defeat you.
- Defense Value is referred to only by specific card effects. (It also comes into play if you mix in other Legendary Encounters games where players can fight each other.)
- Your Avatar also has a Talent ability and a Flaw ability, covered later.
- Rank determines who goes first, and some effects refer to Ranks.
The Avatar card shows: the character's Name and Rank at the top, the Talent ability, the Flaw ability, the Defense value, and the Health value.
Example — Mal is Avatar 1, with Defense 4 and Health 10. His Talent, Fiercely Loyal, draws a card, and can be Activated to have two different players each draw a card (defeating the Talent). His Flaw, Antagonistic, adds an Episode card to the 'Verse.
Game Stacks
Shuffle the 10 Upgrade cards, the 5 Browncoats, the 20 Ship Strikes, and the 40 Crew Strikes separately and put those stacks face-down on their respective spaces.
Put the Talent and Flaw stacks face-up above the playmat.
Objectives
Objectives are marked as either "A," "B," or "C." Each game uses exactly one of each type. Players attempt to complete each Objective card in order, with A first and C last.
Pick an "A" Objective and put it on the Objective space. Pick a "B" Objective and a "C" Objective and set them aside for now.
You can choose which three Objectives to use, or randomly select an A, a B, and a C. Each Objective card carries the name of an Episode of the Firefly TV show, and they are numbered so you can play the whole series in order if you like. (Note: the Pilot Episode "Serenity" is split into an A and a B.)
Episode Deck, Side Jobs, and Inevitable Cards
Each Objective card you picked has a corresponding Episode "mini-deck," which includes enemies to fight, goals to complete, and more. You fight through the Episode A mini-deck first, then B, and finally C.
There are also 12 Side Job cards that are randomly shuffled into the mini-decks depending on the number of players (see the Side Job Table). Finally, there are 3 Inevitable cards, one placed on the bottom of each mini-deck; they act as a timer for how long you have to complete each Episode.
Build each Episode Deck like this:
- Find Objective A's ten-card mini-deck. Randomly shuffle the proper number of Side Jobs into the deck without looking at them. Randomly select one of the Inevitable cards and put it on the bottom of the deck without looking at it. Place the deck on the Episode Deck space on the playmat.
- Find Objective B's eleven-card mini-deck. As above, shuffle in the Side Jobs and place an Inevitable card on the bottom. Set this Episode deck to the side of the playmat with its Objective card face-up on top of it.
- Find Objective C's twelve-card mini-deck. As above, shuffle in the Side Jobs and place an Inevitable card on the bottom. Set this Episode deck to the side of the playmat with its Objective card face-up on top of it.
Side Job Table
| Number of Players | Side Jobs in Each Mini-Deck | Special Rules |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 1 | |
| 3 | 2 | |
| 4 | 3 | One Preparation Round* |
| 5 | 4 | Two Preparation Rounds* |
*With four or five players, each player gets one or two free "preparation" turns at the beginning of Episode A. Take those turns as normal except skip the Episode Phase.
Some players enjoy playing solo by controlling two Avatars. In that case, use the 2-Player row of the Side Job table.
Starting the Game
- Put the top five cards of the Crew Deck face-up into the 5 spaces of the Bridge.
- Each player shuffles their own personal deck of 13 cards and draws a hand of 6 cards from it.
- The player with the highest rank goes first. (Example: Mal is Rank 1, which is highest.) Then play proceeds clockwise.
On Your Turn
Complete the following phases in order:
- Episode Phase: Draw an Episode card (keeping it face-down) and add it to the 'Verse.
- Action Phase: Play cards from your hand, using them to recruit, scan, and fight.
- Strike Phase: Each Enemy in the Combat Zone strikes.
- Cleanup Phase: Discard your hand and all cards played, then draw six new cards.
Episode Phase: Add an Episode Card to the 'Verse
At the beginning of your turn, without looking at it, put the top card of the Episode deck face-down into the closest space in the 'Verse.
Push Other Cards to the Left If Necessary
Each of the five spaces in the 'Verse holds only one card. When a card enters a space that already contains a card, the existing card is pushed one space to the left to make room. A single card entering the 'Verse can therefore push several cards.
- Only push a card forward if it must move to make room for another card entering that space.
- Cards move the same way whether they are face-down or face-up.
A Card Might Get Pushed to the Combat Zone
If a card on the leftmost space is pushed, it leaves the 'Verse and enters the Combat Zone. If it is face-down, turn it face-up immediately (see "Turning a Hidden Card Face-up").
The Combat Zone holds any number of cards. Each time a new one is added, slide the existing ones over to the right.
Action Phase: Play Cards from Your Hand
Your deck contains many Character cards. A character card shows: its card frame and class icon, its card title, the character's name, its Recruit Points (used to recruit more characters), its Attack (used to scan spaces and fight enemies), any special ability, and its Cost — how many Recruit Points it takes to recruit that character.
Some cards produce Recruit Points, which let you recruit more characters or pay for other effects. Others produce Attack, which lets you scan spaces and defeat enemies. Some grant special abilities such as drawing cards or healing.
- Play cards from your hand in any order, one at a time.
- Each time you play a card, do what it says immediately. Many cards say "Activate," which means you may wait until a later point in your Action Phase to use that effect.
- You get any Recruit Points listed in the card's Recruit icon, but you don't have to use them right away.
- You get any Attack listed in the card's Attack icon, but you don't have to use it right away.
- Some cards show something like "2 +" inside their Recruit or Attack icon. The "2" is the amount you always get; the "+" means you might get more, based on the card's special ability.
- Keep the cards you play face-up in front of you until the end of your turn.
- You don't have to play every card in your hand. Some character cards are very powerful in the right circumstances but risky or even harmful at the wrong time.
Class "Combo" Abilities
Some characters have an ability introduced by a Class Icon and a colon — for example, "Strength: You get +2 Attack."
- You may use a class combo ability only if you have already played another card of that class earlier in your turn.
- A card's class is shown by the class icon in its upper left corner (see "Character Classes").
- You may use a card's combo ability only once a turn, even if you played two or more cards of the required class earlier in the turn.
Example: the card "No Power in the 'Verse Can Stop Me" always gives 2 Attack when played. If you have already played another Intel card earlier in the turn, its class ability gives an additional +2 Attack. If you play two copies of it as your first two cards of the turn, the first one cannot use the class ability, but the second one can.
Talents and Flaws
Talents and Flaws are special cards gained during the game. You also start the game with one Talent card in your deck.
You play a Talent card the same way you play a Character card. When you do, follow the instructions on your Avatar, as if the text on the Avatar were printed on the Talent card itself. Every Talent ability draws a card immediately. Then, at some point during your Action Phase, you may Activate the Talent to get a special ability — which also defeats the Talent.
Example: if you are Wash and play a Talent card, you immediately draw a card. If you then Activate the Talent, you scan a space for free and the Talent is defeated, returning to the Talent stack. If you choose not to give up the Talent card, it goes to your discard pile at the end of your turn like your other cards.
Flaws work differently. At the start of your Action Phase, if you have any Flaw cards in hand, you must play each of them one at a time. If you draw a Flaw card at any point during your Action Phase, you must play it immediately before taking any other action.
When you play a Flaw card, follow its instructions. Afterwards, put it back into the Flaw stack.
Recruiting Characters, Scanning Spaces, and Fighting Enemies
Between playing cards from your hand, or after you have played all of your cards, you may recruit any number of characters, scan any number of spaces, and fight any number of enemies — any or all of that, as many times as you are able, in any order.
How to Recruit a Character
The Bridge section of the board has five spaces, each containing exactly one face-up character from the Crew Deck. To recruit a character from the Bridge, spend Recruit Points equal to that character's cost (shown in its bottom right corner) and put it into your discard pile. When your deck runs out and you shuffle your discard pile into a new deck, you will soon draw that new character.
Whenever a space in the Bridge is empty for any reason, immediately refill it with the top card of the Crew Deck, face-up. So you might recruit a character, see what new character appears in its place, and then recruit that new character too if you have enough Recruit Points.
You may also recruit a Browncoats card from the Browncoats stack: spend 3 Recruit Points and put the top card of the stack into your discard pile. Browncoats always cost 3 Recruit Points, and there is one Browncoats card for each of the five classes — you won't know which one you get until you recruit it. Apart from their classes, Browncoats are identical.
Some special abilities instruct you to "gain" a character. Whenever you gain a character, put it in your discard pile unless the effect says otherwise.
How to Scan a Space
During the game there will be hidden (face-down) cards in the 'Verse. It is usually a good idea to scan them — turn them face-up — so that if you find an Enemy card you can try to defeat it before it moves into the Combat Zone and starts striking you.
Each of the five spaces in the 'Verse has a Scan Cost. To scan a space holding a hidden card, spend Attack equal to that space's Scan Cost, then turn the hidden card face-up.
Some special abilities also let you scan a space; in those cases you do not pay the Scan Cost.
Turning a Hidden Card Face-up
A hidden card turns face-up when its space is scanned, or when it enters the Combat Zone. Different things happen depending on the kind of card.
Revealing an Enemy
Enemies make up the majority of the cards in the 'Verse. They may be Outlaws, Alliance soldiers, or Ships. An Enemy card shows its name, its card type and descriptor, any special ability, and its Attack value — the amount of Attack you must have in order to kill it.
When an enemy is revealed it stays where it is and continues to move through the 'Verse the same way a hidden card moves. Some enemies have "Reveal" abilities; when such an enemy is turned face-up its Reveal ability triggers once and can be ignored afterwards.
Revealing a Side Job
When you reveal a Side Job, leave it where it is. It moves along the 'Verse just like an Enemy. Each Side Job is a small mission for the player to complete. Once completed, the team gets its "Success" text. If it grants Credits, put the Side Job next to Serenity as a reminder to count those Credits at the end of the Episode.
However, if a Side Job ever enters the Combat Zone on a turn, you must complete it by the end of that turn or it is automatically failed: follow its "Failure" instructions and put it into the Defeated Cards space. So a Side Job revealed in the Combat Zone gives you only that turn to complete it.
If an Episode ends with uncompleted Side Jobs in play, they are discarded without success or failure.
Revealing an Event
When an Event card is revealed, follow its instructions and then put it into the Defeated Cards space on the playmat.
Revealing a Ship Strike
If you reveal a Ship Strike, it works just as if you had drawn it from the Ship Strike deck. Put it on the lowest slot of Serenity that doesn't already have a Strike (see "Ship Enemies and Ship Strikes").
Note: when you repair a Ship Strike that came from an Episode Deck, put it into the Defeated Cards space.
Revealing a Goal, Special, or Character Card
Sometimes you will find a Goal, Special, or Character card. These always have Reveal abilities telling you what to do. Goals are tied to completing Objectives; Special cards have various effects but are not necessary to complete Objectives; Character cards get shuffled into player decks.
How to Fight an Enemy
Once an enemy has been turned face-up you can fight it. You may fight any number of enemies, one at a time, in either the 'Verse or the Combat Zone, as long as you have enough Attack on your turn. To fight an enemy, spend Attack equal to that enemy's Attack value to defeat it, then put that card onto the Defeated Cards space on the playmat.
You can only fight an enemy if you have enough Attack to defeat it. If an enemy somehow has 0 Attack Value, you defeat it immediately when you attack it. Some enemies have a "Defeated:" ability; when that enemy is defeated, follow those instructions.
After you defeat an enemy, any leftover Attack can be used to scan spaces and/or fight more enemies.
Note: fighting an enemy often represents shooting or punching it, but sometimes it represents outsmarting, outrunning, or outmaneuvering the enemy — it would be hard to fight an Alliance Cruiser with guns.
Strike Phase: Each Enemy in the Combat Zone Strikes
From right to left, each enemy in the Combat Zone strikes, one at a time. There are two types of enemies: Crew enemies and Ship enemies. If a card doesn't say "Ship," it is a Crew enemy.
Crew Enemies and Crew Strikes
When a Crew enemy strikes, the player whose turn it is draws a Crew Strike, puts it on their Avatar, and follows its instructions, if any. Most Crew Strikes have a damage number. If you ever have damage greater than or equal to your Avatar's Health, you are defeated — but with luck a teammate will patch you up.
When you are defeated, immediately do the following:
- If you were in your Action Phase, it is now over.
- Avoid all Crew Strikes you would draw for the rest of the turn. (You still draw Ship Strikes if necessary.)
- Turn your Avatar face-down, but leave all strikes on it.
- Reset your deck by shuffling all of your cards together, but don't draw any cards from it. This includes cards you played that turn, your hand, your discard pile, and your deck.
While you're defeated you are out of the game: your turn is skipped, you can't draw any more strikes, and you ignore all game effects. Your Avatar no longer counts as having a Rank or being a Main Character, with one exception — you can still be healed by effects that heal a Main Character.
Several effects say to "heal a strike from any Main Character." This means you take any one Strike card from that Character and put it onto the Discarded Strike space.
While you're defeated, if another player heals one of your strikes and brings your damage total below your Health value, you immediately re-enter the game. Draw a hand of six cards and resume playing as normal; when your next turn comes around, you take it as normal.
There is no penalty for being defeated other than being temporarily out of the game. However, if all players are defeated at the same time, the game is over and the players have lost. (It's fine if each player is defeated at different times and healed back into the game — you only lose if everyone is defeated at the same time.)
Ship Enemies and Ship Strikes
When a Ship enemy strikes, it strikes Serenity herself instead of a player. The player whose turn it is draws a Ship Strike, puts it on the lowest slot of Serenity that doesn't already have a Strike, and then follows its instructions. If the instructions say "Ongoing," they take effect immediately and last as long as that Strike is on Serenity. Otherwise, follow the instructions one at a time when the strike is drawn.
If all slots of Serenity have Strikes and you draw another Ship Strike, Serenity explodes and the players lose the game. This makes Ship enemies especially dangerous. A Crew enemy only strikes the player whose turn it is, which means its damage is effectively divided among the players — but a Ship enemy strikes Serenity turn after turn, eventually destroying her.
The good news is that each Ship Strike has a repair cost. You may pay the required amount of Attack to repair a Ship Strike. You can repair any Ship Strike you have, and you don't have to repair them in the order you received them. Put a repaired Strike face-up underneath the Ship Strike deck; once all the Strikes in that deck are face-up, reshuffle the deck.
You can also repair Ship Strikes between Episodes (see "Inter-Mission").
Strike Abilities
Some enemies have "Strike:" abilities. When that enemy strikes, after you draw a strike card, follow the instructions of that ability.
Avoiding a Strike
Some effects allow you to "Avoid" a strike. In that case you don't draw a strike card at all. If you avoid the strike of an enemy with a Strike ability, you also ignore its Strike ability.
Non-Player Main Characters and Strikes
Usually only players draw Strikes. However, a few effects (for example, "Zoe draws a Strike") force a specific Main Character to draw a Strike whether they're a player or not. If a non-player Main Character draws a Strike, ignore its text; but if it has at least 1 damage, they are defeated. If it has no damage, just discard it.
When a non-player Main Character is defeated, turn its Avatar face-down and put the Strike on it. While face-down they are out of the game — just like a defeated player, they no longer count as a Main Character or have a Rank. They can still be healed back into the game like a player.
Cleanup Phase: Discard Your Hand and Draw Six New Cards
- At the end of your turn, put all the cards you played this turn into your discard pile. Also discard any cards in your hand that you didn't play this turn. (You can look through your discard pile at any time to see what's in there.)
- Then draw six new cards from your deck.
- If you don't have enough cards left in your deck and still need to draw more, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck, then draw the rest of the cards you need.
- Don't shuffle your discard pile into a new deck until your deck has completely run out AND you still need to draw or reveal more cards from your deck. This means your deck will sometimes be completely empty.
Objectives
There are many different types of Objectives. Some require you to find and reveal certain cards. Some require you to use the special abilities of Goal cards. Some require you to defeat specific enemies. It might not be immediately clear how to complete an Objective, but it will make sense as you play through the Episode.
You can complete Objectives in an Episode in any order. Whenever you complete an Objective during an Episode you immediately get the reward indicated on the Objective card. Some rewards give you Talent cards for your deck; some give you Credits, which are spent after the Episode is finished. Some Objectives tell you to place a card next to Serenity — this is to help you remember how many Credits you've earned during the Episode.
Some Episodes have "Setup" text; follow those instructions right at the beginning of that Episode. Some Objectives have special abilities that affect that particular Episode.
Once each Objective in an Episode has been completed or failed, the Episode immediately ends (see "Ending an Episode").
Some Objectives are Mandatory. If the players fail a Mandatory Objective, they lose the game.
Inevitable Cards
The last card of each Episode deck is always an "Inevitable" card. Inevitable cards act as a time limit for an Episode. There are three different ones, and each does something mean to the players if it enters the Combat Zone.
- An Inevitable card can't be scanned, fought, or interacted with in any way by the players or other cards. You can tell a face-down card is Inevitable because it has a different coloured card back.
- Once an Inevitable card is in the 'Verse, any effect that says "add an Episode card to the 'Verse" instead just moves the Inevitable card one space. This includes the Episode Phase.
- The spaces to the right of an Inevitable card no longer count as being part of the game.
- Once an Inevitable card enters the Combat Zone, reveal it.
- It strikes normally during the Strike Phase. However, once it has gone through a Strike Phase on each player's turn, the Episode automatically ends and any uncompleted Objectives are failed. If any of those were Mandatory, the game is lost.
Ending an Episode
Once you've completed or failed each Objective in the Episode, the Episode immediately ends. If this was Episode C, the game is now over (see "Ending the Game"). If it was Episode A or Episode B, do the following:
- The player whose turn it is goes immediately to their Cleanup Phase, discarding their cards and drawing a new hand as normal. Then note who the next player is — they take the first turn of the next Episode. (It's helpful to turn their Avatar sideways as a reminder.)
- Put all cards in the 'Verse, Combat Zone, and Operations into the Defeated Cards pile.
- If there are any cards left in the Episode deck, put them face-up into the Defeated Cards pile as well. The only exception is the Inevitable card: put it off to the side in the same orientation (face-up or face-down) it was in when the Episode ended.
- The team now has an Inter-Mission phase before the next Episode.
Inter-Mission
There are two Inter-Mission phases during the game — one after Episode 1 and one after Episode 2. During this phase, do the following in order:
- Resolve any "End of Episode" effects from the Objective card.
- Reveal the top three Upgrades.
- Count up how many Credits the team earned during the Episode.
- Spend those Credits in one or more of the following ways:
- Buy Upgrades.
- Repair Ship Strikes.
- Heal Crew Strikes.
- Draw extra cards for the next Episode.
Note: the team decides as a group how to spend Credits. If they can't agree, the highest-ranking player decides — and for this purpose the highest-ranking player includes a player who is currently defeated.
Buy Upgrades
You can buy one or more Upgrade cards by paying their Credit Cost. When you buy an Upgrade, place it in the highest empty slot on Serenity. If there are no empty slots, you may discard an existing Upgrade to replace it with a new one. Put the discarded Upgrade, and any you chose not to buy, on the bottom of the Upgrade stack.
Example — Enhanced Sensors is a Serenity Upgrade costing 4 Credits: once each turn, you pay 2 less Attack to scan a space.
Repair Ship Strikes
You can repair a Ship Strike by paying the Credit cost printed on the playmat next to that Strike's slot. You can repair any Ship Strike you have, and you don't have to repair them in the order you received them. Put a repaired Strike face-up underneath the Ship Strike deck; once all the Strikes in that deck are face-up, reshuffle the deck.
Heal Crew Strikes
You can spend any amount of Credits to heal up to that much damage worth of strike cards from each Main Character.
For example, if the team spends 3 Credits to heal Crew Strikes, each player may heal up to 3 damage worth of strikes from themselves — so each player could heal three 1-damage strikes, a 1-damage strike and a 2-damage strike, or a 3-damage strike. Each non-player Main Character also heals their strike if applicable.
Draw Cards for Next Episode
Once per Inter-Mission, you can spend any amount of Credits to have each player immediately draw cards. It costs 2 Credits to have the players each draw one card.
Note: any unspent Credits are lost.
Set Up the Next Episode
- Put the next Episode deck on the Episode space and put its Objective card on the Objective space, discarding the previous Objective.
- If this is Episode 2, put the top two cards of the Episode Deck face-down onto the two rightmost spaces of the 'Verse.
- If this is Episode 3, put the top four cards of the Episode Deck face-down onto the four rightmost spaces of the 'Verse.
- The next player takes the first turn of the next Objective, and play continues as before.
Ending the Game
At the end of the third Episode, if you've completed its Mandatory Objectives, you've won. You still win even if you failed Objective A and Objective B.
If you'd like to keep score, the team earns Victory Points as follows:
- 1 Point if Objective A was fully completed.
- 2 Points if Objective B was fully completed.
- 3 Points for winning the game (completing Objective C).
So fully completing all three Episodes earns 6 points; failing the first two Objectives but still winning the game earns 3 points.
Note: some third Episodes have End of Episode instructions that affect the next game. If you're not playing a campaign, ignore these (see "Playing a Campaign").
Keyword Abilities
Many character cards and enemies have keyword abilities.
Coordinate
Coordinating lets another player "borrow" one of your cards. It is a critical way to help your teammates defeat tough enemies. Many cards in the Crew Deck, and all Browncoats, have Coordinate.
During another player's turn, you can Coordinate with them like this:
- Set aside a Coordinate card from your hand face-up, then immediately draw a new card to replace it. While it is set aside it is considered "out of play."
- That player can now play a virtual copy of the card you coordinated with them. A virtual copy counts as playing the exact same card, including its text, stats, and class symbol.
- At the end of that player's turn, put the card you Coordinated into YOUR discard pile.
You can only Coordinate one card to each player on their turn. However, multiple players can each coordinate one card to the player whose turn it is, giving that player a huge advantage.
When you Coordinate a card to a player, they can choose not to play a virtual copy of it. Either way, you still draw a replacement card.
Range
The Range ability lets an enemy strike even while it is still in the 'Verse and hasn't entered the Combat Zone yet. During the Strike Phase, each enemy in the Combat Zone strikes; after that, going from left to right, each face-up enemy in the 'Verse that has Range strikes. (Range does nothing in the Combat Zone.)
Stationary
A card with Stationary doesn't move normally in the 'Verse. If another card would push it, that card instead moves to the next space, leaving the Stationary card where it was. Stationary cards can still be moved by other effects, and an Inevitable card will still push a Stationary card normally — it's Inevitable, after all.
Escape
When an enemy with Escape enters the Combat Zone, it immediately leaves the game; put it into the Defeated Cards space. If it has text after "Escape," follow those instructions when it escapes.
Double Strike
An enemy with Double Strike strikes twice during the Strike Phase. Each strike is treated separately, so if an effect lets you avoid one strike, you still receive the other one from a Double Striker.
Ability Timing
Many abilities tell you when they are active:
- Reveal: happens once, when the card is first turned face-up.
- Ongoing: always active.
- 'Verse: the ability is only active while the card is in the 'Verse.
- Combat Zone: the ability is only active while the card is in the Combat Zone.
- Reaction: a few player cards use this, meaning you can follow its instructions to do something helpful on another player's turn.
If multiple abilities in the 'Verse and Combat Zone trigger at the same time, resolve them in this order: go from right to left in the Combat Zone, then from left to right in the 'Verse. This typically means the order goes from oldest card to newest card.
If a card tells multiple Main Characters to do something at the same time, the player whose turn it is does it first, then it goes in clockwise order.
If multiple cards are moved to the Combat Zone at the same time, turn the first one face-up (if necessary) and resolve any Reveal triggers or text it has; then turn the next card face-up, and so on.
If multiple effects happen at the same time and it's not clear what order to resolve them in, the player whose turn it is chooses the order.
Additional Rules and Clarifications
Referring to Crew Members By Name
Many effects refer to specific Crew Members. These effects only check Main Characters, and most of them only take effect if the Crew Member is a player. For example, "Mal gains a Talent" only does something if Mal is a player.
Keep in mind that any Main Character can draw a strike whether or not it's a player. For example, "The highest-ranked Main Character draws a strike" will cause that Main Character to draw a strike whether it's a player or a non-player.
"Your Characters"
Character cards include Shiny, Misbehave, and Browncoats cards, as well as any cards you gained from the Crew or Episode decks. They do not include Talents or Flaws.
If an effect refers to "your characters," this includes any supporting character cards in your hand as well as any characters you've played this turn. The characters in your deck and discard pile do not count.
"Defeating" Cards
In addition to spending Attack to defeat enemies, many effects instruct you to "defeat" certain cards. Defeated characters go to the Defeated Characters space, defeated Talents and Flaws go back to their respective stacks, and all other defeated cards go to the Defeated Cards space.
If an effect says to defeat "one of your characters," you can choose a character in your hand or one you've played this turn. If you choose one you've already played this turn, you still get to use the Recruit Points, Attack, and special abilities the character has already produced, and you still count it for the purposes of triggering another card's Class ability. (You can't defeat a virtual copy of a card that another player Coordinated to you.)
Defeating your starting cards can actually be good for you, because it means you will draw your more powerful cards more often instead of the weaker ones.
"Gaining" Cards
Whenever you gain a card, put it into your discard pile. After you shuffle your deck you'll be able to draw the new card.
Running Out of Cards in the Crew Deck
If the Crew Deck runs out, keep playing normally except that the Bridge will no longer refill. Once there are no longer cards in the Bridge, you can no longer recruit characters other than Browncoats.
Running Out of Browncoats
Once there are no more Browncoats left, you can no longer recruit them.
Running Out of Talents or Flaws
If there are no Talents or Flaws left, ignore any effects that would cause you to gain them.
Running Out of Crew Strikes or Ship Strikes
When the Crew Strike deck runs out, immediately shuffle all of the discarded Crew Strikes to make a new deck.
When a Ship Strike is repaired, you place it face-up underneath the Ship Strike deck. Once all of the cards in that deck are face-up, shuffle them together to make a new deck.
Special Abilities on Cards
- Cards can override the rules of the game.
- If one card says you can't do something while another tells you to do it, "can't" beats "can."
- If a card tells you to do something but you can't do all of it, do as much as you can. For example, if a card tells you to discard two cards from your hand but you have only one card, just discard the one card.
- If a card requires a choice but it's not clear who should make the choice, the player whose turn it is makes the choice.
- If a card instructs "you" to do something but you're not sure who it refers to, it refers to the player whose turn it is.
"Show" a Card
This just means to show the other players that you have a particular card in your hand or in play in front of you. You don't have to play or discard the card.
"Activate"
When you play a card, immediately gain its Recruit Points and Attack, and you must follow any instructions in its text. However, if it has an "Activate" ability, you can wait until later in your Action Phase to activate it. When you're ready, simply say you're activating the ability and follow its instructions.
You can activate an ability only once per turn. It can be helpful to turn a card sideways as a reminder that you've already activated its ability.
"Avoid Any One Strike"
Some effects allow you to "Avoid any one Strike." In this case you can skip drawing a strike once during that turn. It could be from an Enemy striking during the Strike Phase, or from another effect like an Event. If you choose to avoid a strike from an enemy with a "Strike:" ability, that ability won't occur. You don't have to avoid the next strike you would have drawn — for example, you can wait to avoid a Strike from an enemy with a Strike ability.
"Cancel a Strike"
Some effects allow you to "Cancel a Strike." In this case you will already have seen the strike card, and if you are able to cancel it you immediately discard the strike without applying its damage or following its instructions.
Enemy Gets -1 Attack
Some effects reduce an enemy's Attack value. It can never go below 0. When you fight an enemy whose Attack value is 0, you can defeat it without spending any Attack.
"Attach" to a Space
Some cards tell you to "attach" to a space. In this case, put it in the space of the 'Verse but slide it up a bit, so other cards can still go into that space on top of the attached card while leaving the attached card's name visible. Attached cards don't move from their attached space unless a game effect tells them to.
Example — the Goal card Fireball (Out of Gas – C): Reveal: Zoe draws a Crew Strike. Attach this to the space it's in. (If it was revealed in the Combat Zone, attach it to the rightmost space of the 'Verse and push any card that's there as normal.) Ongoing: Treat this space as if it doesn't exist — other cards, including Inevitable cards, skip over this space. Pay 7 Attack to vent the fire into space, defeating this card.
"Clear" Space
A space is considered "clear" if there is no card in that space. A space that has an attached card can still be clear if there is no other card in it.
"Pay Attack or Recruit Points" Abilities
Some cards allow you to "pay" Attack or Recruit Points in order to get an effect. In this case, just spend the amount and follow the instructions. The Attack or Recruit Points you spent is gone and can't be used for anything else.
Inevitable Cards and Defeated Players
Once an Inevitable card spends a Strike Phase on each player's turn, the Episode automatically ends. Even if an effect lets you avoid a Strike from an Inevitable card, that turn still counts toward the Strike Phase ending the Episode. Even if a player is defeated and has their turn skipped while an Inevitable card is in the Combat Zone, that still counts toward the Strike Phase ending the Episode.
Example: Mal, Zoe, and Wash are sitting in that order, and Zoe is defeated. The Inevitable card enters the Combat Zone on Mal's turn and strikes Mal during the Strike Phase. Zoe's turn is skipped because she is defeated. Wash plays a card that lets him avoid a strike from the Inevitable card. At the end of that turn the Episode automatically ends, because the Inevitable card spent one turn in the Combat Zone on each player's turn, including Zoe's skipped turn.
If an effect specifically says it moves the Inevitable card — one card in the game currently does this — it resets the timer, as though it hasn't entered the Combat Zone at all.
Character Classes
- Intel cards are the best at gaining information and drawing cards.
- Leadership cards help the team and are good at gaining characters.
- Strength cards are good at fighting and defeating your own weaker cards.
- Survival cards can avoid strikes and can heal.
- Tech cards are good at avoiding or repairing Ship Strikes.
Adjusting Difficulty
The game can be very hard, especially for newer players. Some Objectives are harder than others, and some combinations of Main Characters are stronger against certain Objectives. In addition to trying out different combinations, here are ways to make the game easier or harder.
To make the game easier, do one or more of these:
- During setup, shuffle extra Side Jobs into each Episode deck.
- Give each player one or two extra Preparation turns at the very beginning of the game. (On a preparation turn, players skip the Episode Phase.)
- When you set up Episode 2, put fewer than two cards into the 'Verse. When you set up Episode 3, put fewer than four cards into the 'Verse.
- Give each player an additional Talent in their starting deck. You can also give them an extra Talent before the second and/or third Episode starts.
- Give the team 1 or more bonus Credits in between each Episode.
- Treat each player's Defense Value as extra Health.
To make the game harder, do one or more of these:
- During setup, don't shuffle in as many Side Job cards.
- When you set up Episode 1, put one or more cards from the Episode deck face-down into the 'Verse. When you set up Episode 2, put more than two cards into the 'Verse. When you set up Episode 3, put five cards into the 'Verse.
- Don't give the players a starting Talent.
- Give each player a Flaw at the start of one or more Episodes.
- Don't skip defeated players' turns. When their turn comes around, do the Episode and Strike Phase as normal. (They still won't draw any Crew Strikes, but it would still be possible for a Ship enemy to strike Serenity.)
- For a super-hard mode, end the game immediately if any player gets defeated.
Coordinate in Solo Play
If you play a solo game with one Avatar, once per turn you may discard a card with Coordinate to draw a new card.
Suggested Main Characters
You can use any Main Characters to play any combination of Episodes, but if you are playing through the Episodes in order and want to choose Main Characters who played a larger role in those TV Episodes, here are some suggestions:
- Serenity and The Train Job: Mal, Kaylee, Zoe, Jayne, Book
- Bushwhacked, Shindig, Safe: Simon, Wash, Inara, Book, River
- Our Mrs. Reynolds, Jaynestown, Out of Gas: Jayne, Inara, Zoe, Mal, Simon
- Ariel, War Stories, Trash: River, Jayne, Kaylee, Book, Simon
- The Message, Heart of Gold, Objects in Space: Wash, Mal, Inara, River, Zoe
Playing a Campaign
In addition to playing "one-off" games, you can play through the whole series as a Campaign. In a Campaign you play five games in a row, covering all 14 TV episodes, and some things carry over from game to game — Avatars, Strikes, and Upgrades.
- All five Main Characters and four Supporting Characters are the same for all five games. Each player keeps the same Avatar for each game.
- Each Episode is played in order. So Game 1 uses the first three Episode decks, Game 2 uses the next three, and so on.
- Each time you win a game, two things happen before you start the next game:
- First, there is a special Inter-Mission phase after Episode C. You earn Credits and spend them on Upgrades, Repair, and Healing. (You can't spend them on drawing extra cards for the next Episode.)
- Second, when you set up for the next game, keep all Upgrades and Ship Strikes that are on Serenity and all Crew Strikes that are on Main Characters. All other decks reset normally, including player decks.
- Each time you lose a game, reset everything normally when setting up for the next game. (Losing a game will affect your final Campaign Score.)
- Whether you won or lost, follow the End of Episode instructions for Episode C.
Winning a Campaign
The main goal of a campaign is to win all five games, but you can also play to get the best score you can. Keep track of your score after each game (see "Ending the Game").
- After the fifth game, add up the points you scored for each individual game. You can score up to 6 points per game.
- Starting with Game 2, you also get bonus points for winning individual games; later games are worth more points:
- 5 Points for winning Game 2
- 10 Points for winning Game 3
- 15 Points for winning Game 4
- 20 Points for winning Game 5
- Finally, if you won all five games, you get an additional 20 points.
Example 1: You won all five games. Your individual game scores were 6, 4, 3, 6, 5 (24 total). For winning games 2, 3, 4, and 5 you earned 5, 10, 15, and 20 points (50 total). You get an additional 20 points for winning all five games. Your final score is 94 points.
Example 2: You won games 1, 4, and 5. Your individual game scores were 6, 3, 1, 6, 5 (21 total). For winning games 4 and 5 you earned 15 and 20 points (35 total). Your final score is 56 points.
Final Score Chart
| Score | Rating |
|---|---|
| 100 Points | Big Damn Heroes |
| 85-99 Points | Everything's Shiny, Cap'n |
| 51-84 Points | Keep Flying |
| 0-50 Points | Time to Retire and Give Up This Life of Crime |
Note: if you're going to use any of the options to make the game easier or harder, make sure to use the same rules for all five games.
Campaign Variant: Instead of playing the 15 Episode Decks in order, you can mix and match Objectives however you like to make five games worth of Episodes. Remember to use the A-B-C method of setting up Episodes.
Game Contents
Rulebook, playmat and 500 cards:
- 35 Shiny
- 25 Misbehave
- 5 Browncoats
- 9 Avatars
- 126 Character cards (9 characters with 14 cards each)
- 15 Objectives
- 165 Episode Cards (15 different "mini-decks")
- 12 Side Jobs
- 40 Crew Strikes
- 20 Ship Strikes
- 10 Upgrades
- 15 Talent
- 20 Flaw
- 3 Inevitable Cards
Credits
Game Design: Ben Cichoski and Danny Mandel (Super Awesome Games). Original Legendary Game Engine Design: Devin Low. Published by The Upper Deck Company, Carlsbad, CA. Firefly and all related characters are trademarks of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.