Planetarium: Primordial Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set-Up
  • Epochs
  • Frost Line
  • Combined Set-Up
• Epochs
  • Creating a Protoplanet
  • Proto Evolution
  • Storing Tokens
  • Upgrading Cards
  • Late Heavy Bombardment
  • Comets
• The Frost Line
  • Playing Cards
  • Thawing and Cooling
  • Scoring Heat and Cold
• Star Variants
• Notes and Extras
  • Extra Player Markers
  • Extra Matter Tokens
  • Dual Matter Tokens
  • Hostile/Habitable Matter Tokens

Components

• 60 Uniquely illustrated cards
• 4 Frost Line markers
• 4 Comet tokens
• 4 Protoplanet tokens
• 4 Planet tokens
• 4 Planet standees
• 16 Matter tokens
• 8 Dual Matter tokens
• 6 Habitable/Hostile Matter tokens
• 4 Rocky/Gaseous tokens
• 4 Stars
• 30 plastic Cold tokens
• 30 plastic Heat tokens
• 24 extra player markers
• Cloth bag
• 4 reference cards

Set-Up

Epochs

Set up Planetarium in the regular way, with these alterations:

1. Replace the four Planet tokens with random Matter tokens drawn from the supply of extra Matter tokens.
2. Place the comet tokens in a stack near the ▶▶ mark on the Evolution track, and the Protoplanet, Rocky/Gaseous tokens, and Planets within reach.
3. Deal players 1 Low Evolution, 1 High Evolution, 1 Rocky Proto Evolution, 1 Gaseous Proto Evolution, and 2 Final Evolution cards (players keep 1 Final Evolution card and discard the other).

Frost Line

Set up Planetarium in the regular way, with these alterations:

1. Place the four Frost Line markers between orbits III and IV.
2. Replace all the High, Low, and Final Evolution cards with those provided in this expansion (marked with the Frost Line symbol).
3. Place the Heat and Cold tokens within easy reach.

See page 7 for setups and game play using alternate stars.

Combined Set-Up

The Epochs and Frost Line expansions can be played together. To set up the game to play with both modules, simply follow the instructions for both setups.

Epochs

Creating a Protoplanet

The solar system begins with no Planets. On their turn, instead of moving a Matter token or Planet, a player can create a Protoplanet.

1. To create a Protoplanet, take a Matter token from anywhere on the board and place it in a section of your player board that currently no Planet exists for. Place the corresponding Protoplanet token in the empty space created on the board.
2. Protoplanets move in the same way Planets do. Matter tokens that collide with Protoplanets are placed on player boards beside the matching letter.

Proto Evolution

Only Proto Evolution cards can be played to Protoplanets. Low, High, and Final Evolution cards cannot be played to Protoplanets.

1. Play the Proto Evolution card beside the board to the matching Planet with one of your player markers on it.
2. Move the Matter tokens from your player board to the Evolution track.
3. Score the listed points for the Proto Evolution card and perform the Gravity action if the card lists that effect (see page 8 of the Planetarium rules).
4. Set the Habitability/Hostility of the new Planet.
5. Replace the Protoplanet token with the corresonding Planet token of a Rocky or Gaseous type based on the symbol appearing under the card's score.
6. Place a token on the board to mark if the new Planet is Rocky or Gaseous.

Storing Tokens

Matter tokens gathered by colliding them with protoplanets are stored on a player's mat and may be spent to play a Proto Evolution card or any legal Evolution card, once the Protoplanet becomes a Planet. For instance if two players have been adding Matter to protoplanet B, and one player plays a Proto Evolution card to create Planet B, then the other player will be able to use the Matter they have accrued to play other Evolution cards to the new Planet.

Upgrading Cards

Once all four planets are created, players can upgrade their Proto Evolution cards to Low Evolution cards. To do this, instead of playing a card, a player discards a Proto Evolution card and draws a Low Evolution card.

Late Heavy Bombardment

1. The first time a Matter token is placed on the ▶▶ space on the Evolution Track, the "Late Heavy Bombardment" is triggered.
2. Take all Matter on the Evolution Track, shuffle it, and place it randomly on every empty dotted space on the board. Place a Comet token on each empty lettered space, if there are any.

If there are not enough Matter tokens on the Evolution track to refill the board, use tokens randomly selected from the extras supplied with this expansion.

The next time the Evolution Track reaches the ▶▶ space, the regular Acceleration event occurs. See page 10 of the Planetarium rulebook.

Comets

Comets move on the board in the same way that Planets move. Players may choose to move a Comet token rather than a Matter token or Planet. Comet tokens collide with Planets in the same way Matter does. Comet tokens can be used as any form of Matter when playing an Evolution card. When spent to play a card, Comet tokens are placed back in the game box, not added to the Evolution track.

The Frost Line

Playing Cards

Some cards in Planetarium: Primordial have a Frost Line icon in the requirement column. There are two types of Frost Line icons:

1. [Frost Line icon pointing down] Those that require the card be played on a Planet inside the Frost Line (when on an orbit between the Frost Line and the star/sun).
2. [Frost Line icon pointing up] Those that require the card be played on a Planet outside the Frost Line (when on an orbit between the Frost Line and the edge of the board).

When a card with a Frost Line requirement is played to a Planet, place the card beside the Planet's side of the board, score the points, and adjust the habitable/hostile status of the Planet if relevant. Then, place on the card a number of Heat or Cold tokens as indicated in the symbol under the score.

Thawing and Cooling

When a card with Heat or Cold tokens on it is added to a Planet, check to see if there are any opposite tokens on cards already on that Planet. For instance, if playing a card with Cold tokens, check for any Heat tokens on cards already on that Planet. If there are any opposing tokens, remove one from each card that has one or more opposing tokens.

In the example image (step 4), a player has played the Ammonia Ice card to Planet D. This removes a single Heat token from any card that has a Heat token.

Scoring Heat and Cold

Some Final Evolution cards require that the Planet you play the card to has a majority of Heat or Cold tokens, as shown by these symbols:

• Cold Majority Requirement (blue star symbol)
• Heat Majority Requirement (orange star symbol)

At the end of the game, after all players have completed their final turn and scoring, each Heat or Cold token on cards players control awards them 2 additonal points.

Star Variants

When playing with the Frost Line module, you may optionally play with a Red Dwarf, A-Type, or Variable star. To do so, make the following changes:

Red Dwarf Star: Place the Red Dwarf token in the middle of the board, and the Frost Line between orbits II and III.

A-Type Star: Place the A-Type token in the middle of the board, and the Frost Line between orbits IV and V.

Variable Star: Place the Frost Line between orbits III and IV.

While playing with the Variable star, the brightness of the star and the position of the Frost Line will change over the course of the game. There are three levels of brightness:

• Low: Place the small Variable Star token on the board, and the Frost Line between orbits II and III.
• Medium: Have no star token on the board, and the Frost Line between orbits III and IV.
• High: Place the large Variable Star token on the board, and the Frost Line between orbits IV and V.

On a player's turn, they may reduce their score by 2 points to decrease or increase the brightness of the star by one degree (for instance, from low to medium). If reducing their score by 2 would drop their score below zero, a player cannot change the brightness of the star on their turn. A player cannot change the brightness of the star by more than one degree on a single turn.

Notes and Extras

Extra Player Markers

Primordial includes 24 extra player markers, 6 markers per player. Simply add these to each player's supply of markers at the start of the game.

Extra Matter Tokens

When playing with the Epoch module, use a random selection of these tokens to fill in the letter spaces on the board. It is not recommended that you mix this extra Matter in with the pool of tokens from the Planetarium base game, as it may result in a solar system that has an imbalanced distribution of Matter, making some cards harder to play. But if you'd like to get adventurous, then by all means try mixing them into the general pool of Matter tokens!

Dual Matter Tokens

To play with the extra dual Matter tokens, simply mix them into the pool of Matter tokens from the base game and place them randomly on the board during set-up.

Hostile/Habitable Matter Tokens

These optional tokens can be used with the Epoch module. Instead of placing Matter on the four letter spaces on the board, place a random selection of these tokens (number side down) on the letter spaces. When one of these tokens crashes into a Planet, flip the token face up, and place it on the Planet's image on the corner of the board. The revealed number on the token adds to the Planet's hostile or habitable total for the rest of the game.