Rail Raiders Infinite Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Train Cars
  • Rail Raiders Infinite Dice
  • Raider and Lawbot Models
  • Raider Stat Cards
  • Dealer Token
  • High Noon Cards
  • Long Arm of the Law Cards
  • Loot Tokens
  • Loot Cards
  • Double-Dollar Tokens [$$]
  • Player Reference Cards
• General Concepts
  • Turn
  • Round
  • Moving
  • Searching
  • Rolling
  • Rerolls
  • Fight
  • Showdown
  • Facedown Train Cars
  • Off the Train
  • Hand Rank
  • Equipment and Weapons
  • Grit
• Board Overview
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Object of the Game
  • Beginning a New Round
  • Starting the Game: Boarding the Train
  • Player Turns
    • High Noon Phase
    • Action Phase
    • Cleanup Phase
  • Ending the Game
  • Example of Play
• Reference
  • Hand Rank
  • Player Turns
  • Action Phase
  • Cleanup Phase
  • Lawbot Rules

Components

Train Cars

Players use these double-sided tiles to build the game board. The tiles represent the Interstellar Express train that the Raiders are fixin' to rob. Except for the locomotive and the caboose cars, each car is placed facedown at the beginning of the game.

x14

Rail Raiders Infinite Dice

Players use the 20 Rail Raiders Infinite dice to determine the outcome of fights and some actions. Each Rail Raiders Infinite die has six sides, with the faces showing 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace.

x20

Raider and Lawbot Models

These plastic figures represent Raiders and Lawbots on the game board.

• Raider Models x6
• Lawbot Models: Deputies x7, Sheriffs x5, Marshals x2

Raider Stat Cards

These cards describe the Raiders and outline any of their special abilities.

x6

Dealer Token

x1

The Dealer token goes to the player who takes the first turn in each round. Play proceeds clockwise (to the left) from the Dealer. Once every player has had a turn, roll off to determine the Dealer for the next round.

High Noon Cards

These cards represent the random events that can occur during a daring train heist. The High Noon deck also determines how long a game of Rail Raiders Infinite lasts. When a player draws the last High Noon card, the game ends at the end of that round.

x56

Long Arm of the Law Cards

These cards represent the Lawbots' response to the train heist. Long Arm of the Law cards place Deputies, Sheriffs, and Marshals on cars or may grant bonuses to the Lawbots on a car. If a Long Arm of the Law card tells you to put out a Lawbot when all of the Lawbots are already on the train, move a Lawbot of the specified type from another car to the car that you drew the Long Arm of the Law card for.

x56

Loot Tokens

These tokens represent an opportunity for a Raider to loot the train. Each train car specifies how many loot tokens to put on it whenever you turn it faceup. Place loot tokens facedown without any player seeing the numbers.

x10 / x7 / x3 (the printed counts for the three token groups; the text layer does not show which numbered value each group carries)

Loot Cards

These cards represent the various goodies that the Raiders can get by looting the train. Most cards award a Raider double-dollars or equipment that will help during the heist.

x56

Double-Dollar Tokens [$$]

These tokens represent double-dollars, the currency in the Rail Raiders Infinite world, and track how much money each Raider has liberated from the train. The Raider with the most double-dollars at the end of the game wins.

x28 / x7 / x7 (the printed counts for the three token groups; as with the Loot tokens, the text layer does not show each group's value)

Player Reference Cards

These double-sided cards provide players with quick reference information. On one side it shows the Hand Ranks, and on the other shows the value of [$$] for defeating Lawbots.

x4

General Concepts

Turn

A turn is a measurement of game time. One turn consists of one player taking up to three actions with their Raider.

Round

A round is a measurement of game time. One round consists of each player, starting with the Dealer and proceeding clockwise around the table, taking a single turn.

Moving

Moving is an action that players can take with their Raider. This action lets the player move the Raider to an adjacent train car of the player's choice.

Searching

Searching is an action that a player can take with their Raider. This action allows a Raider to search one Loot token on their current train car. Raiders cannot Search if there are any Lawbots on the same car. If a Raider Searches while another Raider is on the same train car, the other Raider can try to stop the search. This, quite naturally, starts a fight. If the searching Raider remains on the train car at the end of the fight, then it succeeds and may Search as normal.

Rolling

When a player rolls, they roll five of the Rail Raiders Infinite dice and make the highest ranked hand possible from the result. Some abilities allow a player to roll more than five dice. After rolling, players must choose five of their rolled dice and make the highest ranked hand possible.

Rerolls

Some abilities may allow players to reroll dice or to roll additional dice. If multiple players have abilities which allow rerolls, beginning with the active player and moving clockwise, each player decides which dice they will reroll. Players are not required to reroll. All players make all their rerolls simultaneously. No die may be rerolled more than once, and the second result stands. After all rerolls are resolved, the players must make the highest ranked hand possible from any five of their rolled dice.

Fight

A Raider's actions can trigger a fight with other Raiders and/or Lawbots on the same car. When a fight breaks out, each side rolls. The side that makes the best hand wins the fight. If a Raider beats the Lawbots, remove one Lawbot from the train car. If a Raider beats another Raider, move that Raider to a train car adjacent to the car they are currently on. If the Lawbots beat a Raider, move the Raider to an adjacent train car chosen by the player that is controlling the Lawbots.

Showdown

A Showdown is an action that players can take with their Raider. Raiders that perform the Showdown action select and fight a specific target. Other Raiders on the same car may choose to participate in the fight as well.

Facedown Train Cars

Except for the locomotive and caboose, train cars always start the game facedown with the roof side showing. Flip a train car faceup when a Raider begins its turn on a car or moves onto the car during its turn. After flipping a car faceup, place a number of facedown Loot tokens on the car equal to the number on the car's Loot icon. Then draw a number of Long Arm of the Law cards equal to the number on the car's Long Arm of the Law icon. Resolve the Long Arm of the Law cards in the order they were drawn.

Off the Train

Through various circumstances or calamities, Raiders may find themselves Off the Train. When a Raider is moved Off the Train, put its model on its card. No models or effects currently on the train can affect the Raider, and the Raider cannot affect anything on the train. The only actions a Raider Off the Train can take are to get back onto the train, as described under Playing the Game. Players may not, under normal circumstances, voluntarily move their Raiders Off the Train.

Hand Rank

Rolling the Rail Raiders Infinite dice and making a hand is the main mechanic for resolving fights and other actions in Rail Raiders Infinite. The hands that can be made are ranked below.

Hand Rank Key

• Rank 1. High Die
• Rank 2. One Pair
• Rank 3. Two Pair
• Rank 4. Three of a Kind
• Rank 5. Straight
• Rank 6. Full House
• Rank 7. Four of a Kind
• Rank 8. Five of a Kind

Higher ranked hands beat lower ranked hands, meaning that hand rank 5 beats hand rank 3. When players have hands of the same rank, determine the winner by the quality of the hands. So a pair of Kings will beat a pair of Queens, as Kings are the higher die. If players make exactly the same hand, then those players must roll-off to break the tie.

Equipment and Weapons

Some Loot cards are items that Raiders can use to their advantage. If you get an Equipment or Weapon card, put it faceup near your Raider's card to show that your Raider is now in possession of it. Raiders can only use one weapon during a fight. Starting with the Dealer and going clockwise around the table, players select which weapon their Raider will use before rolling dice for the fight.

Grit

Some Long Arm of the Law cards have the word Grit in the card's text. Place the card next to the car it was drawn for. Grit cards have some effect on the Lawbots that are on the car or have other ongoing effects listed after the Grit term. Once a Raider has been involved in a fight with the Lawbots on the car, the Grit card is discarded. If multiple Grit cards are drawn for a car, stack them with the newest Grit card on top. Only the Grit card on the top of the stack affects the game. When discarding Grit cards, only discard the top card of the stack. The next card now affects the game.

Board Overview

The board is built from the train cars, with these areas around it:

• Caboose: always face up.
• Train Cars: begin the game facedown.
• Locomotive: always face up.
• Long Arm of the Law Deck
• High Noon Deck
• Loot Deck
• Loot Tokens
• Raider Cards
• Dealer Token
• Rail Raiders Infinite dice

Setup

Every good heist needs a plan. Follow these steps to set up the board and play area and get to the raidin':

1. Choose Raiders: Each player rolls five of the Rail Raiders Infinite dice. The player that makes the best poker hand gets to choose the Raider that they would like to play. Roll-off ties. Players then go clockwise around the table to choose their Raiders. Alternatively, you can shuffle the Raider cards and deal one to each player. Each player places their Raider's card in front of them on the table and puts their Raider model on the card to show that they are Off the Train.

2. Build the High Noon Deck: Shuffle the High Noon cards, and pull eight cards off of the top for each player in the game (e.g. for three players, take the top 24 cards). These cards form the High Noon deck for this game. Return the remaining cards to the game box. Shuffle the High Noon deck thoroughly, and place it on the table within easy reach of every player.

3. Shuffle the Long Arm of the Law Deck: Shuffle all of the Long Arm of the Law cards thoroughly, and place the Long Arm of the Law deck within easy reach of every player. (The printed step reads "Long of Arm of the Law cards".)

4. Shuffle the Loot Deck: Shuffle all of the Loot cards thoroughly, and place the Loot deck within easy reach of every player.

5. Build the Train: Remove the locomotive and caboose cars, and shuffle the rest of the train cars facedown. Then draw and lay out a number of train cars facedown in a row. The number of train cars used depends on the number of players:

   • Two players: four train cars
   • Three players: five train cars
   • Four players: six train cars

   Place the locomotive faceup at one end of the row and the caboose faceup at the opposite end.

Now you are ready to start the first round of Rail Raiders Infinite!

Playing the Game

Object of the Game

The object of Rail Raiders Infinite is to loot more double-dollars [$$] than any other Raider by the time the High Noon deck runs out. Once the High Noon deck is exhausted, all the Raiders must make their getaway before the train reaches the station!

Rail Raiders Infinite is played over a series of game rounds. Each round, every player takes a turn to perform up to three actions with their Raider. At the beginning of their turn, each player draws a High Noon card and resolves its effects. When a player draws the last High Noon card, that player and every player to their left who has not yet had a turn that round gets to play their turn, and then the game ends. The player (or players) with the most double-dollars at the end wins the game.

Beginning a New Round

Each game round begins with players rolling to determine the Dealer for that round. The player that makes the best hand gets the Dealer token and takes the first turn of the round. Play then proceeds clockwise from the Dealer around the table.

Starting the Game: Boarding the Train

At the beginning of the game, players start with their Raiders Off the Train and their models on their Raider cards. Before the first turn, players place their Raiders on the train, starting with the Dealer and moving clockwise around the table. Getting onto an interstellar train in mid-run is tricky at best. Jumping on the caboose is the simplest way, but from there it becomes a gamble. A Raider may board the train on the caboose without requiring a roll. To board a car further along the train, choose a car and count how many cars it is away from the caboose and add two. The total number is the minimum hand rank the player must roll to board that car.

If a player fails to make a successful hand, their Raider must stay Off the Train, but may attempt to board again during its turn. At the beginning of its turn, a Raider may be placed on the caboose or gamble on boarding elsewhere as outlined above. Raiders that succeed at boarding the train at the beginning of their turn, may take their actions for the turn as normal.

On the first round of the game, after every Raider has boarded (or attempted to board) the train, the game continues to player turns.

Example: Josie Oakley chooses to board the car next to the caboose. Since this car is one car away from the caboose, she needs to make a hand that is rank 3 or better. (The car's distance is 1 + 2 = 3.)

The printed boarding diagram shows: Caboose = no roll required; a car one away from the caboose = Required Hand Rank 3 (distance from caboose of 1 + 2); a car two away = Required Hand Rank 4 (distance from caboose of 2 + 2).

Player Turns

After determining the Dealer, the game proceeds to player turns. A player's turn consists of three phases performed in the following order:

1. High Noon Phase
2. Action Phase
3. Cleanup Phase

Immediately after a player's Cleanup phase ends, the next player's turn begins. After every player has taken a turn, the round ends and a new one begins.

High Noon Phase

The player draws the top card of the High Noon deck and resolves its effects. Players draw and resolve a High Noon card even if their Raiders are Off the Train.

Action Phase

During the Action Phase, players take three actions with their Raiders. A Raider may not perform the same action type more than twice during a turn (e.g. Move, Showdown, Move is legal. Move, Move, Move is not legal). The different actions that a Raider can take are:

Move

When a Raider performs the Move action, their player moves the Raider's model to a train car of their choice adjacent to their current car.

Showdown

When a Raider performs the Showdown action, select one Raider on the same car or the Lawbots on the same car as the target of the action. A fight then begins between the Raider that is performing the Showdown and the target. Before the fight, each Raider on the same car that isn't the Showdown's target may decide to participate in the fight as well. Go clockwise around the table from the active player to determine which Raiders will participate. If Lawbots are not the target, they do not participate.

After determining all of the parties involved in the fight, every participating player rolls.

If Lawbots are the target of the Showdown, the player to the left of the active player rolls and makes decisions for the Lawbots. If the Raider to the left is also involved in the fight, then the Lawbots are controlled by the player to that player's left, and so on around the table. If all Raiders are involved in the fight, the Dealer controls their Raider and the Lawbots. All of the Lawbots on a train car fight as a team, so only roll once for all of them. If a group of Lawbots includes at least one Sheriff, then they may reroll one of their dice in a fight. If a group of Lawbots includes at least one Marshal, then they may roll an additional die in a fight.

The side that makes the best hand wins the fight. The winner decides what happens to all of the parties that lost the fight. If two parties make exactly the same hand, and no other hand is higher ranked, roll-off to determine the winner of the fight.

Raiders that lose a fight must move, in an order chosen by the winner, to an adjacent train car of the winner's choice. If a Raider that is moved by a fight has more [$$] than the winner of the fight, the winner may take one of the loser's [$$]. Since Raiders are moved sequentially in an order of the winner's choosing, this generous donation is determined and collected sequentially. e.g. A Raider with 2[$$] who won a fight against a Raider with 3[$$] and one with 4[$$] could move the Raider with 3[$$] first to collect 1[$$], and then move the one with 4[$$] to collect an additional 1[$$].

If the Lawbots lose a fight, then one Lawbot is destroyed and removed from the board. When the Lawbots are destroyed, always remove the lowest-ranked Lawbots first: start with Deputies, then Sheriffs, and then Marshals. The winning Raider receives [$$] for salvaging the destroyed Lawbot's parts.

• Deputy = 1[$$]
• Sheriff = 2[$$]
• Marshal = 3[$$]

Search

When a Raider performs the Search action, their player turns one Loot token on the train car faceup. That player gets to look at a number of cards from the top of the Loot deck equal to the number shown on the Loot token. The player chooses one of those cards to score or equip and discards the other Loot cards. Raiders cannot Search if there are any Lawbots on the same train car.

Other Raiders that are on the same train car may oppose the Search and try to stop the Raider from picking up a Loot token. Starting to the active player's left, each player decides if they wish to oppose the Search or not. If any Raiders do, then all of the opposing Raiders and the Raider that Searched fight. If the Raider that Searched wins the fight, it gets to Search as normal. If it loses, then the Search does not happen. Resolve this fight using the same rules for fights outlined in the Showdown action section.

Pass

A Raider does not need to use all three actions. A player may pass on any actions, doing nothing with those actions and ending their turn.

Some train cars have abilities that require a Raider to spend an action to use them. These abilities detail what happens when a Raider spends an action to use the train car's ability.

Cleanup Phase

Players perform any end-of-turn bookkeeping during the Cleanup phase. Any effect that says it lasts until the end of a player's turn ends in this phase. A player's turn ends as soon as all Cleanup phase business is resolved, and play proceeds to the next player clockwise around the table.

Ending the Game

When a player draws the last card of the High Noon deck, the game ends at the conclusion of that round. Play proceeds around the table until the player to the right of the Dealer finishes their turn, then the game ends. The Raiders flee the train as it approaches the station, where they would doubtless face hordes of Lawbots. The player (or players) with the most double-dollars wins the game.

Example of Play

Step 1: Draw High Noon Card. David (Dave) begins the turn by drawing a High Noon card. He draws Fire Main Thrusters, so it and one more card from the top of the High Noon deck are discarded.

Step 2: Move Action. David gets to take three actions. David uses his first action to move his Raider onto a car that already has a Lawbot Sheriff and Deke's Raider on it.

Step 3: Showdown Action. David uses his second action to Showdown, targeting the Lawbot Sheriff. Deke decides he wants in on the action and joins the fight. Wayne, the player to David's left, rolls for the Lawbots. He rolls 9, 10, Q, K, A. Using the Lawbot Sheriff's reroll, Wayne rerolls the 9 getting another K to make a pair of Kings, a rank 2 hand. Deke rolls and gets 10, 10, J, J, Q making two pairs, a rank 3 hand. David rolls and gets 9, J, Q, Q, Q making three of a kind, a rank 4 hand.

Since David has the highest rank hand he wins the fight. He destroys the Lawbot Sheriff, scoring 2[$$], and then moves Deke's Raider one car back towards the caboose.

Step 4: Search Action. Now that David has cleared everyone off of the car he is on, he uses his last action to Search. He chooses one facedown Loot token on the car and turns it over, revealing '2'. David draws the top two cards of the Loot deck, getting Small Time and Haul. Since Haul will give him more [$$] he chooses Haul as the Loot card he will score and gains 3[$$]. Both Loot cards are then discarded. Since that is the end of his third action, David's turn is over and the player to his left takes their turn.

Reference

Hand Rank

Rolling five Rail Raiders Infinite dice and making a hand is the main mechanic for resolving fights and other actions in Rail Raiders Infinite. The hands that can be made are ranked as shown in the Hand Rank Key above (Rank 1 High Die through Rank 8 Five of a Kind).

Higher ranked hands beat lower ranked hands, meaning that hand rank 5 beats hand rank 3. When players have hands of the same rank, determine the winner by the quality of the hands. So a pair of Kings will beat a pair of Queens, as Kings are the higher card. If players make exactly the same hand, then those players must roll-off to break the tie.

Player Turns

After determining the Dealer, the game proceeds to player turns. A player's turn consists of three phases performed in the following order:

1. High Noon Phase
2. Action Phase
3. Cleanup Phase

Immediately after a player's Cleanup phase ends, the next player's turn begins. After every player has taken a turn, the round ends and a new one begins.

High Noon Phase: The player draws the top card of the High Noon deck and resolves its effects. Players draw and resolve a High Noon card even if their Raiders are Off the Train.

Action Phase

During the Action Phase, players take three actions with their Raiders. A Raider may not perform the same action type more than twice during a turn (e.g. Move, Showdown, Move is legal. Move, Move, Move is not legal). The different actions that a Raider can take are:

• Move (see Playing the Game)
• Showdown (see Playing the Game)
• Search (see Playing the Game)
• Pass (see Playing the Game)

Cleanup Phase

Players perform any end-of-turn bookkeeping during the Cleanup phase. Any effect that says it lasts until the end of a player's turn ends in this phase. A player's turn ends as soon as all Cleanup phase business is resolved, and play proceeds to the next player clockwise around the table.

Lawbot Rules

If a Raider destroys a Lawbot, the Raider receives [$$]. All of the Lawbots on a train car fight as a team, so only roll once for all of them. If a group of Lawbots includes at least one Sheriff, then they may reroll one of their dice in a fight. If a group of Lawbots includes at least one Marshal, then they may roll an additional die in a fight.

• Deputy = 1[$$]
• Sheriff = 2[$$]
• Marshal = 3[$$]