Rebel Nox
Rebel Nox Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preparation
- Followers: Sort the followers by value into 3 stacks.
- Locations: Place the Nexus in the middle of the table. Shuffle the other locations, draw 5 and place them below the Nexus so they form the shape of a pyramid. Remaining locations are put aside in a facedown deck.
- Conflict marker: Put the conflict marker nearby.
- Prepare the card deck (cards valued 1-17 in three colors + 3 rebels):
- With 6 players: Shuffle all cards into a deck.
- With 4 or 5 players: Put aside the 3 rebel cards. Shuffle the remaining cards and then remove 17 cards (with 4 players) or 9 cards (with 5 players) as indicated in the table below. Then add the rebel commander and one regular rebel (4 players) or all 3 rebels (5 players) to the deck. Unused cards are put back in the game box.
| Number of players | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cards removed | 17 | 9 | 0 |
| Cards in deck | 34 | 42 | 51 |
| Rebel cards added to the deck | 2 (commander + 1 regular) | 3 | 3 |
Note: The rebel commander is indicated by a star.
Shuffle the deck and deal 9 cards to each player. You are now ready to begin.
Flow of the Game
In each round, two teams fight for the control of 6 locations. If you have a rebel card, you are on the Rebel team. If not, you are on the Loyalist team. The locations are worth influence, which will let you recruit followers at the end of the round. The team that controls the most influence also gains bonus followers. The first team that gathers a required number of followers wins the game. But beware: as cards switch hands, teams may change.
Starting a New Round
Before play begins, all players who have a rebel card declare that they are rebels. Players with more than one rebel card do not reveal how many rebel cards they have.
If you have the Rebel commander card, you are starting player at the first location: Choose one of the three locations at the bottom of the pyramid, and place the conflict marker below it. The chosen location will be the first active location, and it may alter the rules as indicated on the location card.
Fighting For a Location
The starting player chooses one card from their hand and plays it in front of them. The color of this card is the leading color for this location. It also determines the trump color, as indicated on the conflict marker: If yellow is the leading color, blue is the trump color. If blue is leading color, red is trump. If red is leading color, yellow is trump. Tip: To indicate the leading colour, rotate the conflict marker so the leading color is facing up.
Now, the other players follow in a clockwise order around the table, until each player has played one card from their hand.
You must always play a card of the leading color, if possible. When you do not have a card of the leading color, you must play a card of a different color. Note: Rebel cards cannot be played.
Taking Control of a Location
The player who played the strongest card wins the active location (this may be changed by action symbols on the cards). Cards of the trump color are stronger than cards of the leading color, and cards of the leading color are stronger than the third color. Within a color, the card with the highest number is considered strongest.
The winning player takes the active location together with all played flag cards (see below) and puts it face up in front of themselves. All other played cards are put in a discard pile. The winning player also becomes the next starting player and chooses the next location by placing the conflict marker below any location in the pyramid that does not have another location below it. Then, the player starts the new fight by playing the first card for this new location. The color of the played card becomes the new leading color, also determining a new trump color for this location.
Action Symbols
Effects are triggered after all players have played a card.
Assassin (cards 2, 8)
An assassin takes out the strongest card. If one assassin is played, the second strongest card wins the location. If two assassins are played, the third strongest card wins, and so on. It is possible that an assassin assassinates himself. If all cards are assassinated, the player with the strongest card wins (as if no assassins had been played). Important: Special symbols on assassinated cards still apply.
Flag (cards 5, 10)
The winner of the active location collects all flags played at this location. At end of the round, each flag is worth 1 influence.
Infiltrator (cards 3, 6, 9, 12)
After the winner of the location has been declared, the player who played the weakest card must draw cards from the hand of the player who won the location: Draw 1 card for every infiltrator symbol that was played, look at them, and then give back the same number of different cards. You cannot give back any of the cards you drew. If the number of infiltrator symbols equals or exceeds the number of cards in hand, the two players simply switch hands. If the player who won the location also had the weakest card, the infiltrators have no effect.
Note: Players are encouraged to talk during the game, but they are not allowed to give information about the specifics of the cards in their hand.
Example of play
Adam plays first, leading with a yellow 8. Beth and Dani don't have a yellow card, so they must play a different color. Beth plays a blue 3 (since yellow is leading color, blue is trump). Two assassins were played, taking out the two strongest cards: The blue 3 and the yellow 8 (highest card of the leading color). The yellow 2 is now the strongest card, so Carl wins the location and places it in front of him. Since a total of three infiltrator symbols were played, Dani (who played the weakest card) draws three cards from Carl's hand and then gives three different cards back.
End of a Round
After all 6 locations have been won (the Nexus will always be the last location) the round ends. All players who have a rebel card in hand now announce that they are on the Rebel team (players with more than one rebel card need not reveal exactly how many rebel cards they have). All other players are on the Loyalist team.
Calculate the total number of influence controlled by each team on locations and flags: The team that controls the most influence wins the round. In case of a tie, the team that controls the Nexus wins.
Each player on the winning team gets bonus followers: The bonus is determined by how many players are on the winning team (see table below).
Finally, each player on both teams recruits 1 follower for each influence they personally control on their locations and flags.
| Players on the team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Followers awarded to each player on the winning team | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Followers required for team to win | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
Check For Victory
Check the table to see if any team has gathered enough followers to win the game: Add together all followers belonging to all players on the team, including followers won in previous rounds. The number of followers required to win depends on the number of players on the team.
If one team gathered enough followers, all players on this team share the victory and the game ends. If both teams have gathered enough followers, the team that won the last round wins the game.
Example: Loyalists (3 players) have 28 followers, while rebels (2 players) have 24. Since Rebels meet their requirement they win the game.
If no team gathered enough followers, prepare for another round. Put the Nexus back in the middle of the table and discard all locations from the current round. Then put 5 new locations below the Nexus.
Players keep the 3 cards on their hand, including any rebel cards. Collect all played cards, shuffle them, and deal 6 cards to each player, so that each player has a hand of 9 cards. The player who won the Nexus in the previous round becomes the starting player.
Location FAQ
Cards that state "End of round" apply after all locations have been fought for, when the winning team is determined.
- Aetheon: If the player who won the Aetheon also wins the Nexus, these locations are worth zero in total (+3 from Nexus and -3 from Aetheon).
- Artefactories: The player who won must pass this location together with all flags played this turn to the player on their left. The winning player will still lead at the next location.
- Conclave: If the player who won the Conclave is on the rebel team at the end of the round, the Conclave makes you lose 2 influence instead of gaining 1.
- Hathor Rift: If the player controlling Hathor Rift also ends up controlling the Nexus, this player's team automatically wins the round and is awarded the bonus followers.
- Medina Maxim: All cards with an assassin/flag/infiltrator symbol must be played face down. They are revealed after all players have played a card. If the leading player plays a card with an action symbol, the player must announce the card's color.
- Neurograft Core: This card is resolved after any infiltrator cards have been resolved. The player who wins this location draws one random card from the hand of the player to their left and the player to their right. The cards are taken into hand before the player gives one card back to each of his/her neighbours. Make sure each player gets a different card than which was drawn.
- Souq Sector: When determining the winner of this location, add 1 to the number of assassins played at this location.
- Sulfur City: At end of the round, all your collected flag cards are worth -1 influence instead of +1. This includes flag cards won at other locations.
- The Orchards: If your team does not win this round (i.e. the other team controls the most influence), you immediately gain 3 followers (these count when checking for end game victory).