Revenge of the Dictators Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components Overview
• Game Setup
• Overview
• General Rules
• Playing Your Turn
  • Travel (maximum once per turn!)
  • Draw a Card
  • Play an Action/Asset Card
  • Activate an Asset Card
• The Command Deck
  • Action Cards
  • Asset Cards
  • Interruption Cards
  • Play Restrictions
• Founding Father Cards
• DEFCON Cards
• Trident Nuclear Deterrent Card
• Disarming a Nuclear Facility
• Nuclear Zone 4
• Trident Nuclear Deterrent
• Confronting & Convincing the President
• The Map
  • International Flights
  • Nuclear Zones
  • Time Zones
  • Adjacent States
  • Washington D.C.
  • Special Sites
  • Roadblock and No-Fly Zone Tokens
• Advanced Rules
  • Skipping Turns and Multi-Turn Cards
  • Adjusting the Game
• FAQ

Components Overview

1. 1 map of North America
2. 14 Dictator cards
3. 102 Command cards consisting of:
   • 66 Action cards
   • 31 Interruption cards
   • 5 Asset cards
4. 18 Event cards consisting of:
   • 4.1 15 Founding Father cards
   • 4.2 2 DEFCON cards
   • 4.3 1 Trident Nuclear Deterrent card
5. 12 Presidential cards
6. 40 Nuclear Facility cards consisting of:
   • 11 Nuclear Zone 1 cards
   • 12 Nuclear Zone 2 cards
   • 8 Nuclear Zone 3 cards
   • 9 Nuclear Zone 4 cards
7. 30 Roadblock tokens and stickers
8. 5 No-Fly Zone tokens and stickers
9. 15 Nuclear Zone 4 tokens and stickers
10. 14 Meeples and stickers
11. 5 6-sided dice
12. 1 20-sided die
13. 1 DEFCON level marker
14. 1 Trident Nuclear Deterrent token and sticker
15. 10 Turn-tracker/Skip-a-Turn cards
16. 2 rulebooks (1 English and 1 Dutch)

Game Setup

• Lay down the map of North America.
• Shuffle the pile with Dictator cards and deal one to each player. A Dictator card is visible for all players.
• Put your corresponding meeple on the map in Hawaii. This is the starting position for each game.
• Separately shuffle the pile of cards from each Nuclear Zone deck. Every player gets 1 random card of each Nuclear Zone deck. A player may look at his/her own Nuclear Zone cards at any time during the game. However, since it is a secret for other players what Nuclear Facilities you have to disarm, make sure you deal the cards face-down.
• Randomly place one Nuclear Zone 4 token facedown on each Nuclear Facility in Mexico and Canada.
• Shuffle the Command cards. Deal 4 cards to each Dictator.
• Shuffle the Founding Father cards and randomly pick 3 face-down.
• Shuffle the 3 Founding Father cards, the 2 DEFCON cards, and the Trident Nuclear Deterrent card together with the Command cards to create the Command deck.
• Shuffle the Presidential deck. For novice players we recommend to remove the "Oops" card from the Presidential deck.
• Put the marker on DEFCON level 5.
• Place the Roadblock tokens, the No-Fly Zone tokens, the Trident Nuclear Deterrent token, and the remaining Nuclear Zone 4 tokens within reach.
• Give each player a 6-sided die.
• Place the 20-sided die within reach.
• Place the Turn-tracker/Skip-a-Turn cards within reach.

Now you are ready to take over the U.S.A.!

Overview

The ultimate goal of the game is easy: reach Washington D.C., confront and convince the President and become the new leader of the USA.

All players start the game in Hawaii and make their way through the USA (and possibly Mexico and/or Canada). Every player plays a Dictator with its own special ability. On this glorious path towards the President in Washington D.C., the players try to disarm Nuclear Facilities. The more Nuclear Facilities a Dictator disarms, the higher his/her chance of successfully convincing the President, and thus winning the game.

General Rules

The player who is dressed up as a Dictator most convincingly starts the game. We encourage everyone to use fake mustaches, beards, hats, wigs and to put on a nice accent. Alternatively each player rolls a 20-sided die. Whoever rolls the highest number starts the game. The game is played in turns in a clockwise order.

Some cards may alter the general rules! If there are any problems or disagreements during the game, the player with the most dominant argument decides what happens. This doesn't mean it's the correct argument, but we're dictators!

Every Dictator has a special ability as can be seen on the Dictator cards. Some can only be used during your own turn, others at any time, a few can only be used once, while others can be used every turn.

Playing Your Turn

During his/her turn, every Dictator gets a maximum of 3 actions. Dictators can spend their actions in any order, amount and combination.

Travel (maximum once per turn!)

Move your meeple from one location to another following the roads. The Travel symbol is also used for other elements in the game.

Draw a Card

Spend an action to draw a card from the Command deck. The maximum number of cards allowed in your hand at the end of your turn is 5. You may draw more cards than your hand size limit permits you to have. Discard any excess cards at the end of your turn. When the Command deck is empty, shuffle its corresponding discard pile and add 3 randomly picked new Founding Father cards to make a new Command deck.

Play an Action/Asset Card

Spend the amount of actions as indicated on the card to play the card.

Activate an Asset Card

Spend the amount of actions as indicated next to an ability on the asset card to activate the ability.

The Command Deck

There are 6 kinds of cards in the Command deck:

Action Cards

Dictators are only allowed to play Action cards during their own turns. Some Action cards cost more than 1 action to play as indicated by the number on the left side of the card.

Card anatomy: card type (Action), cost to play, card name, effect of the card.

Example: Just What I Needed! (cost 2). Effect: Search the Command deck discard pile for a card and put it into your hand.

Asset Cards

Dictators are only allowed to play Asset cards during their own turns. When you play an Asset card, place it in front of you. You are now able to activate its ability/abilities in each of your turns until it is removed. To activate an ability, spend the amount of actions as indicated.

Card anatomy: card type (Asset), cost to play, play restriction, card name, cost to activate when in play, effect of the ability.

Example: The Marauder (cost 2, play restriction: USA). Abilities: spend 2 actions to move past a Roadblock token and remove the Roadblock token; spend 3 actions to move to an adjacent state.

Interruption Cards

Dictators can play Interruption cards at any time during anyone's turn. In addition, Interruption cards don't cost an action as indicated by the 0 cost.

Card anatomy: card type (Interruption), cost to play, play restriction, card name, effect of the card.

Example: Tornado Season (cost 0, play restriction: USA). Effect: Play after an opponent moves. Move that opponent to an adjacent state.

Play Restrictions

Command cards can have a play restriction or a multi-turn symbol, which is indicated below the action cost to play the card.

• USA flag: The effect of this card is only usable within the USA.
• Multi-turn symbol with the number 2: This card stays in effect for 2 turns of the affected player.
• Multi-turn symbol with the number 3: This card stays in effect for 3 turns of the affected player.

Founding Father Cards

If you draw a Founding Father card from the Command deck, immediately place it face-up in front of you and resolve its effect. Nope, you can't draw a new card as a replacement. The Founding Father card remains in play until it is removed, until you draw a new Founding Father card or until it leaves play as indicated by the multi-turn symbol (see above). In all cases, discard the Founding Father card to a separate discard pile next to the remaining deck of Founding Father cards.

Examples:

• Gouverneur Morris (active for 3 turns). Effect: Discard your hand at the end of your turn. If you can't discard a card, you skip your next turn.
• Signing the Declaration. Effect: Draw 2 new Founding Father cards and shuffle them into the Command deck.
• George Washington. Effect: Each Dictator discards his/her hand.

DEFCON Cards

If a DEFCON card is drawn or put into your hand, immediately reveal the card, increase the DEFCON level on the board and execute the effect of the newly reached level. Nope, again you can't draw a new card as a replacement. After the effect has been executed, discard the DEFCON card to the Command deck discard pile. It is possible to draw a DEFCON card from the discard pile with the ability of Mao "Ze Bong" or put it in your hand with the Action card "Just What I Needed!".

Trident Nuclear Deterrent Card

If the Trident Nuclear Deterrent card is drawn or put into your hand, immediately reveal the card. If it's the first time this card is drawn, put the Trident Nuclear Deterrent token on its designated spot on the board in the Gulf of Mexico. You are now able to move to this new location. The Trident Nuclear Deterrent can only appear once each game.

If it's the second time this card is drawn, remove the token from the board. In both cases, you can't draw a new card as a replacement. If a Dictator is on the Trident Nuclear Deterrent token when this happens, move that Dictator to Guantanamo Bay. It is possible to draw the Trident Nuclear Deterrent card from the discard pile with the ability of Mao "Ze Bong" or put it in your hand with the Action card "Just What I Needed!".

Disarming a Nuclear Facility

All Nuclear Facilities have a corresponding unique Nuclear Facility card.

Every Dictator can choose how many and in what order they disarm the Nuclear Facilities given to them at the start of the game. Dictators are only able to disarm their own Nuclear Facilities! Nuclear Facilities from Nuclear Zones 1, 2 and 3 count towards the number of disarmed Nuclear Facilities when confronting the President. Nuclear Facilities from Nuclear Zone 4 don't! They give you a random bonus.

Nuclear Zones 1, 2 and 3 count towards the number of disarmed facilities. Nuclear Zone 4 does not.

To disarm a Nuclear Facility you have to meet the following requirements:

• Be in the correct location as shown on your Nuclear Facility card.
• Spend your Travel action and an additional 1 action.
• Roll a 3-6 with a 6-sided die.

If you succeed, put the Nuclear Facility card face-up in front of you as a reminder for everyone. If you fail (for example by rolling a 1-2 or because of a card played by an opponent), keep the card in front of you. There are no penalties for failing. You can try to disarm the Nuclear Facility again if you have sufficient actions.

Nuclear Zone 4

When you disarm a Nuclear Facility from Nuclear Zone 4, look at the Roman numeral on the bottom of the token. You do not have to reveal the numeral on your token! The number corresponds to a special bonus described below. You can use the special effect once and only during your own turn (unless otherwise stated), without spending an action. The effect of the token can't be cancelled in any way.

• I: Move your meeple to Washington State or Washington D.C.
• II: Disarm one of your Nuclear Facilities.
• III: You get a single usable +5 on your die roll when convincing the President. You may choose to use this bonus after you roll the die.
• IV: Swap your Dictator card with another Dictator card from the deck. You may choose your new Dictator card.
• V: Swap places with another player. This includes everything: Dictator card, hand, Nuclear Facility cards, meeple, tokens and cards in play. You may only use this ability in the turn you receive this token.
• VI: Choose any number of meeples. You may swap the locations of those meeples with each other.
• VII: Draw 5 Presidential cards and choose one of them. Put that card in front of you facedown. Put the other cards back into the Presidential deck and shuffle it afterwards. You may choose to draw this card instead of a card from the Presidential deck. You can only draw this card once. Discard it after use.
• VIII: Reveal the top 6 Command cards and put them into your hand. You may play any number of revealed cards for free this turn. Shuffle any revealed Event cards back into the Command deck.
• IX: Reveal this token when DEFCON 1 is reached. You win the game.
• X: Draw 3 Command cards and 3 Founding Father cards, shuffle them, and distribute 1 random card to each opponent. Shuffle the remaining cards through the Command deck.

Trident Nuclear Deterrent

The Trident Nuclear Deterrent carries as many nuclear warheads (Nuclear Zone 4 tokens) as there are Dictators playing. As long as the Trident Nuclear Deterrent token remains on the board, every Dictator can try to disarm its nuclear warheads. Disarming a nuclear warhead works the same way as disarming a Nuclear Facility. When you disarm a nuclear warhead from the Trident Nuclear Deterrent, draw a random unused Nuclear Zone 4 token.

Confronting & Convincing the President

To confront the President follow the next steps:

• Be in Washington D.C.
• At the start of your turn, draw a card from the Presidential deck and show it to the other players. This does not cost an action.
• If the President is present (as indicated on the card), you successfully confront him and you'll need to convince him. This will take up your whole turn.

Presidential card "Alrighty!": The President is present and you can try to convince him.

To convince the President roll a 20-sided die. Look at the chart below to see the minimum required die result. This depends on the number of Nuclear Facilities you disarmed.

# Disarmed Nuclear Facilities (Nuclear Zone 1-2-3)	Minimum Dice Result
0	20
1	18
2	14
3	8

If you succeed and nobody stops you, you are victorious!

If you fail to convince the President, you can try again next turn, but you'll need to follow all of the above steps again. If the President isn't present, you fail to confront him. Resolve the effects of the Presidential card (if any) and play your turn as usual.

Presidential card "Metal Detector": The President isn't present and you can't try to convince him. Discard your hand.

The Map

International Flights

An international flight is indicated by the dotted line on the map. To move across an International flight you need to spend your Travel action and an additional 1 action.

Nuclear Zones

The board is divided into 4 Nuclear Zones. Every Nuclear Zone consists of several locations with a Nuclear Facility, and some without. You can recognise a Nuclear Facility by the nuclear sign.

Time Zones

The board is divided into time zones as indicated by the orange lines. The time zones are only used within the USA. Hawaii has its own time zone.

Example Command card: Helicopter (cost 2, play restriction: USA). Effect: Move to any state up to 2 time zones.

Adjacent States

The USA is divided into states. Each state has one or more locations, which are connected by roads. In addition, each state is adjacent to its neighbouring states. This means that there doesn't need to be a connecting road between those states (see below).

Note: Hawaii is not adjacent to any state.

Washington D.C.

In the game, Washington D.C. is treated as a state. It is adjacent to Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and the CIA HQ.

Special Sites

Some cards refer to the special locations:

• Guantanamo Bay
• CIA Headquarters
• Area 51

Roadblock and No-Fly Zone Tokens

A Roadblock token can only be placed on a road and there can't be more than one token on a road at any given time. When a road has a Roadblock token, players can't move past this road. They now need a card to either remove the token or help them move past.

A No-Fly Zone token can only be placed on a time zone. When a time zone has a No-Fly Zone token, players can't use an International flight or Helicopter to move in, out or across this time zone.

Advanced Rules

Skipping Turns and Multi-Turn Cards

Some cards make you skip a turn. Skipping turns is cumulative, see example 1. If you need to skip a turn, place a "Skip-a-Turn" card in front of you.

Some cards stay in play for more than 1 turn. If you receive a multi-turn card during your own turn, it will count as the first turn of this card. To indicate the number of turns a card remains in play, you can use the "Turn-tracker" card. If you need to skip a turn, this will not count towards the number of turns the multi-turn card remains in play. See example 2.

Example 1: Joseph "The Man of Steal" plays an "Amtrak" and moves from Oklahoma to Ohio. He needs to skip his next turn because of the "Amtrak". Joseph's turn ends and is followed by Fidel "The Fiddler" who plays an "EMP" in Ohio. Now Joseph needs to skip another "next" turn. Since the next turn will only start after Joseph has skipped a turn due to "Amtrak", he will skip two turns in total.

Example 2: In addition to example 1, Joseph "The Man of Steal" draws a Founding Father card in the same turn as he plays "Amtrak". It's Gouverneur Morris! Joseph is unable to discard a card at the end of his turn, so he skips his "next" turn. Because skipping a turn is cumulative, Joseph skips a total of 3 turns ("Amtrak", "EMP" and Gouverneur Morris). Gouverneur Morris stays in play for three of Joseph's turns, including the one when he received Gouverneur Morris. Since Joseph needs to skip 3 of his "next" turns, the 2 additional turns Gouverneur Morris will stay in play will start counting only after Joseph has skipped 3 turns.

Adjusting the Game

Some players like to make the game easier or more difficult. We've included a few options:

Increase the difficulty:

• Add more Founding Father cards to the Command deck.
• Add the "Oops" card to the Presidential deck.
• Set the default DEFCON level at 4 instead of 5 at the start of the game.

Decrease the difficulty:

• Remove some or all Founding Father cards from the Command deck.
• Remove a DEFCON card from either or both the Command deck and the Presidential deck.

FAQ

Do I have to use all my actions? Nope! You can use less than 3 actions per turn.

When a card says "move", does this count as my Travel action? Nope! Cards that spend your Travel action specifically use that symbol.

When a card says "move", can I use that move as a Travel action? Nope! Move is not the same as Travel.

Can I move past a Roadblock using the Amtrak or the Helicopter? Yes you can! Both the Amtrak and the Helicopter don't use roads.

Can I remove a Founding Father card with Censorship? Yes you can!

Can I play Interruption cards if I have the Founding Father card John Adams? Yes you can!

If I draw the Founding Father card Signing the Declaration, can I remove my current Founding Father card? Yes you can!

What do I do when DEFCON level 2 is reached, but there are less than 20 cards left in the Command deck? Place all remaining Command cards in the discard pile, but keep aside any remaining Event cards. Shuffle the Command deck discard pile and continue placing cards in the discard pile until you reach 20. Afterwards add the Event cards kept aside and add 3 new Founding Father cards as usual. Shuffle the Command deck afterwards.

When I play Bribery, do I play with my own cards and Dictator? Nope! You temporarily take the place of the chosen opponent. You play with his/her cards, get to see all of his/her Nuclear Facility cards, and can use his/her Dictator card. You also move his/her meeple if you choose to move.

If I use Nuclear Zone 4 token VIII, can the cards I play for free be countered? If you play the cards for free in the turn you play the token, they can't be countered. If you play the cards in a later turn, they can be countered as usual.

If I play Mutually Assured Destruction and one opponent has no cards in hand to discard, does that mean I can automatically move up to 3 states? If an opponent has no cards in hand, he/she is not able to discard any. Since the card says explicitly "if able", that opponent does not count towards the restriction of the card. If every other opponent discards a card, you can't move.

Sneaking Across says "Take an international flight". Does that mean I can use it from anywhere? Nope! You have to be in a location which has an International flight (dotted line) to use that effect.

If I'm in a time zone which has a No-Fly Zone token, can I use Stealth Fighter to move anywhere outside the USA? Yes you can! A Stealth Fighter is not affected by No-Fly Zone tokens.

Why would I play the card Engineer? You only spend 1 action instead of spending Travel and an additional 1 action. This means you might be able to try to disarm your Nuclear Facility a second time in the same turn.

Blackmail Box has an ability which costs 2 actions. Does that mean I can use it during someone else's turn like an Interruption card? Nope! You can only activate an ability of a card during your own turn.

When a card says I can move past a Roadblock, can I move if that road does not have a Roadblock? Nope! You can only move past a Roadblock if that road has a Roadblock.

Can I draw a DEFCON card with Just What I Needed!? Yes you can! Note that the DEFCON card has to be revealed immediately, after which the level on the board increases by 1, and the effect of the newly reached level is executed.

Do I need to roll a die to use the card Hacker? Nope! You disarm the Nuclear Facility without rolling a die. It can still be cancelled by opponents.

When I have Kim "The Young-One", and I choose a Dictator's ability to use that game, can I use it more than once? Yes you can! You can use your chosen Dictator's ability every turn (unless otherwise stated).

Why should I play Morale Boost? Some players confuse the terms "turns" and "actions". In your turn you have 3 actions, so using Morale Boost gives you a whole new turn with 3 new actions.