Moonrakers: Nomad Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Components
• Game Setup
  • Navigation & Contracts
  • Placement Guide
  • Prestige & Other Cards
  • Checklist
  • Ready to Play
• Gameplay
  • Intro
  • Event Deck
  • Event Examples
    • Hazard Event (Touring Merchant)
    • Drafting Event (Prison Break)
    • Travel Event (Ritual Lavation)
  • Policies
    • Voting on Policies
  • Policy Examples
    • Defense Force
    • Bravado Mandate
    • Special Training
• Sorelia
  • Sorelia Sector Card
    • Extra Rules on Sorelia
  • Sorelia Prototype Ship Parts
• Additional Rules & Interactions
  • New Buy Phase Rules
  • Advice
  • Game Variant Rules
    • 1) Play to 15 Prestige
    • 2) Set all Hazard Dice to 1 Hazard
    • 3) No Allies in the end game.
• Solo Mode Rules
  • Setup
  • Gameplay and Scoring
    • 10 Round Scoring
    • 15 Round Scoring
• Glossary

Overview

The Nomad expansion adds global Events, overhauls the Contract system, and adds new prototype Ship Parts to the game.

Each turn a new Event card is revealed. These Events can provide challenges, rewards, or even allow players to vote on policies that change the rules.

Each Moonrakers faction operates out of their own Sector and offers Contracts that align with its goals. Players travel between these Sectors to find Contracts that fit their strengths.

The reclusive Sorelia Faction has retreated to an unknown location to test prototype weapons far from the watchful eyes of the UA. Will you seek them out and unlock their advancements?

Components

• Navigation Board x1
• Prestige Board x1
• Rulebook x1
• Objective Cards x4
• Ship Tokens x5
• Sorelia Prototype Ship Parts x10
• Contract Cards x20
• Sorelia Sector Card x1
• Event Cards x35

Game Setup

Navigation & Contracts

Begin by setting up the base game of Moonrakers as laid out in its rulebook, with the following exceptions:

1. Return the Dispatch board to the box and set the Navigation board where it would normally be placed.

2. Shuffle the Event Deck and place it next to its corresponding slot on the Navigation board.

3. Gather all Contracts from the base game, Nomad, and any other expansions in play. Separate them into decks based on their primary color. Shuffle and place each deck next to its contract slot on the Navigation board, matching by color.

4. Place Ship Tokens matching the players colors on the Stay at Base section of the Navigation board.

Note: All expansions have their own marker in the bottom left hand side of the card. We recommend playing the expansions separately before combining them. If you do combine, we recommend Overload and Nomad for your first play. The Binding Ties, Overload, and Nomad expansions can be used together at 3-5 players. The Overload and Nomad expansions can be used together at 1-5 players. Check out page 28 for rules on solo play.

In the source scan, the setup text beneath this Note is partly covered by the Note box and a diagram (a fragment about playing a sector and contract reads only partially). Only the legible text is transcribed here.

Placement Guide

Setup diagram (NOMAD_PLACEMENT_SETUP.IMG), numbered as follows:

1. Event Deck (35 Event & Policy cards, shuffled, placed on its slot on the Navigation board).
2. Event Deck slot on the Navigation board.
3. Separated Contracts, placed on the Navigation board's contract slots by color.
4. Navigation board (center).
5. Sorelia Sector Card.
6. Shuffled Sorelia Prototype Ship Parts (10 Prototype Parts).
7. Objectives.
8. Prestige Board.
9. Prestige Ship Locations.

Further setup is covered on the following pages.

Prestige & Other Cards

5. Place the Sorelia Sector Card on the "Anomaly Detected" window on the Navigation board, Contract side up.

6. Shuffle and place the 10 Sorelia Prototype Ship Parts within reach of all players. Do not shuffle it into the Ship Parts Deck on the Armory Board.

7. Add the Nomad Objectives to the main deck of Objectives from the Base game before shuffling and placing them on the table within reach of all players.

8. Place the Prestige Board with the "10" side faceup on the table within reach of all players or assign one player to track all players prestige and place it near them. See Game Variant Rules for playing the "15" side.

9. Place Ship Tokens matching the players colors on the 0 section of the Prestige Track.

Checklist

1. Navigation Board
2. Event Deck
3. Contracts
4. Starting Ship Locations
5. Sorelia Sector Card
6. Sorelia Prototype Ship Parts
7. Objectives
8. Prestige Board
9. Prestige Ship Locations

Ready to Play

Once the Navigation and Prestige boards have been set up and the Nomad cards have been combined into the base game's respective decks you are ready to begin the game!

Gameplay

Intro

The Nomad expansion plays very similarly to the base game of Moonrakers, but adds Events between each turn and restructures how you choose Contracts. This new system allows you to be more selective with the types of Contracts you want to attempt, but also limits your ability to ally depending on your current location in the Moonrakers system.

Event Deck

At the beginning of every Mission Leader's turn, they must reveal a card from the Event Deck. The revealed card will either be an Event or a Policy. These cards affect all players, not just the Mission Leader, unless otherwise specified.

Events can force travel, present interesting decisions, or provide rewards.

Policies are decisions voted on by all players that can change rules in special ways.

Event Examples

There are multiple types of cards in the Event Deck. Many of these are self-explanatory, but here are three specific Event examples that will help players understand how to resolve more advanced cards.

Hazard Event (Touring Merchant)

All players may choose to roll a Hazard die. If they do, they must take the results shown on the Event card. The Hazards rolled do not reduce a player's Prestige during Event cards. For example, on Touring Merchant, if a player rolls a blank they will get 2 Credits. If they roll 1 Hazard, there will be no effect. If they roll 2 Hazard, they will lose 1 Credit if available.

Players can only roll one die unless otherwise stated on the Event card.

The Touring Merchant card shows the three results: blank, gain 2 Credits; 1 Hazard, no result; 2 Hazard, lose 1 Credit.

Drafting Event (Prison Break)

Draw Crew equal to the number of players. Draft, from lowest to highest Prestige, to their discard piles.

Give the drawn cards to the player with the lowest Prestige. That player chooses one to keep and adds it to the appropriate place according to the card. The remaining cards go to the player with the next lowest Prestige.

If two players have the same amount of Prestige, the player earliest in turn order drafts first. Players must draft a card, but they may choose to discard it.

(The DRAFT ORDER diagram on the page shows the 3rd, 2nd and 1st ranks by Prestige for this example.)

Travel Event (Ritual Lavation)

Players travel to a specific Sector, sometimes optionally. The Mission Leader starts their turn in this sector and must move to an adjacent location after the Event is completed. (Adjacency details, page 23.)

The Ritual Lavation card reads: All players travel to Magnomi. They may trash a card from their hands.

If a player is already in that Sector, they may still participate in the Event.

Policies

Policies are decisions made by the Council that will affect all of the Moonrakers. The Mission Leader is presiding over the council. They read the card aloud, make sure everyone understands, and call for a vote.

Voting on Policies

1. If a Policy is drawn from the Event Deck at the beginning of the Mission Leader's turn, it is read aloud to the other players.

2. All players must simultaneously vote thumbs up or thumbs down; we recommend using a countdown from 3.

   a) If there is a majority count of thumbs up, the Policy passes and it's added to the Active Policy section of the Navigation board.

   b) If there is a majority count of thumbs down, it is discarded.

   c) In the situation of a tie, the Mission Leader decides the outcome.

3. If passed, the Policy stays in effect until a new one is voted on. Once a new Policy gains majority vote, any old Policy is discarded and no longer has any effect.

Note: If you are also playing with the Binding Ties Expansion, keep in mind that Policies don't affect Head to Head Contracts.

Policy Examples

There are multiple types of cards in the Event Deck. Many of these are self-explanatory, but here are three specific Policy examples that will help players understand how to resolve more advanced cards.

Defense Force

Card text: When you stay at base: Draw 3 Objectives and keep 2, but gain 0 Credits.

If approved, players draw 3 Objectives and keep 2, but do not gain any Credits when staying at base. This Policy overrides the normal stay at base rewards.

Bravado Mandate

Card text: All contracts add +1 Hazard Die and +1 Prestige to the negotiation pool.

If approved, every Contract's Prestige negotiation pool is increased by 1, meaning that a Contract worth 1 Prestige is now worth 2, but it still must be negotiated for. In addition, each contract gains an additional Hazard die for negotiation.

Special Training

Card text: Ship Parts cost 1 Credit more. Crew cost 1 Credit less.

If approved, Ship Parts will cost 1 Credit more than shown on their card and Crew will cost 1 Credit less during a players Buy Phase.

Navigation

The Navigation board is made up of 5 Sectors and the Moonrakers base of operations. Each Faction has its own Sector, labeled by its color and Faction name.

Contracts

1. Contracts are now revealed when you travel to a new Sector as the Mission Leader.

2. To choose a Contract, you must choose an adjacent Sector to your current location, move your Ship Token there, draw 3 Contracts from the corresponding deck, and place them in the slots provided below the board. (Adjacency details, page 23.)

3. After revealing 3 Contracts, the game continues much like the base game Planning Phase found on page 15 of the base game rulebook.

Extra Rules on Contracts

a) You may still pay 1 Credit to replace a Contract.

b) Mission Leaders may attempt to negotiate over 2 Contracts and then must either attempt one alone or stay at base.

c) Remaining Contracts that are not chosen are placed at the bottom of their corresponding Contract Deck.

Staying At Base

1. When a player decides to stay at base, they move their Ship Token to the base at the center of the board. This can be done at the start of their turn or after moving to a Sector and revealing 3 Contracts. Staying at base has the same effects as in the base game:

   a) Draw 2 Objectives and keep one.

   b) Gain 1 Credit.

(Diagram: the orange player decides to stay at base for their turn and travels there from Henko. The blue player, on their turn, travels to Ventus from Magnomi and reveals 3 Ventus Contracts to attempt and negotiate.)

Adjacency

Adjacent Sector

1. As Mission Leader, you cannot stay in your current Sector after the resolution of the Event card as you are constantly on the run from UA. You must either travel to an adjacent Sector or travel to and stay at the Moonrakers' base.

2. An adjacent Sector is one that is orthogonal from your current location or connected to all sectors. (Moonrakers Base & Sorelia)

3. The Mission Leader can only move once per turn unless they decide to stay at base instead of attempting a Contract.

Note: The Sorelia Sector and Moonrakers Base are adjacent to all Sectors and each other.

(Diagram: adjacency arrows between the Sectors, the Moonrakers base and the Sorelia Sector.)

Allies and Adjacency

1. When choosing Allies to help attempt a Contract, you may only invite those that are in an adjacent Sector to you.

2. When negotiation is complete, Allies must move their Ship Token to the same Sector where the Contract originated.

(Diagram: the blue player decides to go on a Contract with the yellow and orange player. The green player also wanted to join, but is unable to because they are not adjacent to Ventus from Komek. The remaining two Contracts are placed back into the bottom of the Ventus Contracts pile.)

Sorelia

Sorelia Sector Card

1. Sorelia is a hidden Sector and players must complete a special Contract to unlock it. To attempt the Contract, a Mission Leader will move their token to the Sector and either attempt to solo the Contract or invite Allies to join them.

2. The Mission Leader may discuss the Contract with potential Allies before moving their token to the Sector.

3. If any Allies join the Contract, they must also move their token to the Sorelia Sector Contract.

4. If players successfully complete the Contract, flip the Contract over to reveal and unlock the Sorelia Sector. The Sorelia Sector has its own Contracts that can be attempted like the other four available Sectors. If the Contract is failed, the Contract remains and may be attempted again on future turns.

(Diagram: the purple and green players succeeded in completing the Sorelia Sector Card. That Sector is now unlocked and flipped. Travel is allowed anywhere to and from Sorelia.)

Extra Rules on Sorelia

a) Sorelia is adjacent to all Sectors.

b) Contracts in Sorelia have a variety of different primary requirements, but most have Crew requirements.

Sorelia Prototype Ship Parts

Contracts with this icon (prototype Ship Part icon) have a prototype Ship Part as a Contract reward. This reward is negotiated for as if it was a bonus card, but instead of drawing the top card of the Ship Part Deck, the player who gains this reward draws the top card of the Sorelia Prototype Deck and may install it on their ship. Just like a bonus card reward, the Sorelia Prototype Ship Part drawn can be discarded if they are not desired. All prototype parts also allow the player to gain any Action card when installed.

(Diagram: FLIP, REWARD, SORELIA PROTOTYPE SHIP PART and BONUS ACTION CARD icons showing the Sorelia Sector card flip and the reward types.)

Additional Rules & Interactions

New Buy Phase Rules

Players may now freely discard 1 Crew or Ship Part from the Armory at the beginning of their buy phase. After their free discard, they may spend 1 Credit to discard a second card at any time during their buy phase, but not a third.

Advice

Keep adjacency in mind! If you have a great Damage ship and are stuck on Magnomi (meaning you can't attempt a Contract there next turn) try to ally with another player so that you can leave the Sector and return as Mission Leader!

Game Variant Rules

1) Play to 15 Prestige

Does your playgroup keep wishing for a longer game? Flip over that new Prestige Board and play to 15!

2) Set all Hazard Dice to 1 Hazard

Too much game variance? Do you hate the feeling of rolling 3 double Hazards? This might be for you - instead of rolling, assign all Hazard dice to 1 Hazard for a more predictable experience.

3) No Allies in the end game.

Does your friend Pete always hate it when you win games and so he gives your partner the victory in a bogus negotiation outside of the spirit of the game? Pete's the worst. We recommend adding this rule in which you don't allow any negotiation with a player after they have reached 8 points. Fly strong you glorious griffin.

Solo Mode Rules

Playing with Expansions adds a lot of content and complexity to the solo mode. We highly recommend playing with both Overload and Nomad if you have both expansions, as well as any micro expansion card packs you have, such as Shard or Endless. We have updated the score goals and added goals for the 15 Prestige side of the Prestige board if you would like to play a longer game.

Setup

1. Follow the Nomad setup directions found at the start of this rulebook and choose to play 10 or 15 rounds by using the 10 or 15 side of the Prestige board.

2. Follow the setup directions found on page 28 of the base game rulebook, including setting up the Mercenary Deck.

3. In solo mode, a player may not use cards from the Crew, Ship Part, Event, and Objective Decks that reference Allies or interacting with others. A player may either remove these during play or from their respective decks before play begins.

Gameplay and Scoring

Follow the gameplay and scoring rules on page 29 of the base game rulebook. Keep in mind Advanced action cards are not added to your final score.

10 Round Scoring

Score	Rank
<150	Beginner
150-200	Novice
200-250	Advanced
250-300	Mastery
>300	Chosen one

15 Round Scoring

Score	Rank
<150	Beginner
150-250	Novice
250-350	Advanced
350-450	Mastery
>450	Chosen one

Glossary

The Glossary pages (printed pages 29-30) are blank in the source PDF, so no glossary entries are transcribed here.