The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future
The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Game Board, Zeppelin Board, Zeppelin Figure with Base, 6 Character Figures, 6 Character Boards, 48 Tokens, 36 Hero Cards, 36 Villain Cards, 10 Current Events Cards, 24 Finale Cards, 3 Plans Cards, 2 Reference Cards, Instructions.
Game Setup
- Choose who will play as the Heroes (Cliff Secord, Jenny Blake, and Peevy Peabody) and who will play as the Villains (Neville Sinclair, Lothar, and Eddie Valentine). Take the matching reference card.
- Place the game board so the Hero player is on the red and gold side and the Villain player is on the green and blue side. Place the Upper Hand token on the Bulldog Cafe.
- Place the Zeppelin board next to the game board, fit the Zeppelin figure onto the base, and place it on the Lakehurst space.
- Each player places their three character boards in front of them. The Villain player starts with Valentine face up.
- Place the matching Turn token (color side up) and one Grit token on the corresponding spaces on each character's board.
- Place the Rocket token on the lowest space of the Rocket Skill track on Cliff's board.
- On the Hero side of the game board, place the Cliff and Peevy figures at 1635 Palm Terrace and the Jenny figure at the Bulldog Cafe, as shown. On the Villain side of the game board, place the Sinclair and Lothar figures at Sinclair Mansion and the Valentine figure at the South Seas Club, as shown.
- Place the remaining tokens in separate piles beside the Zeppelin board to form the supply.
- Shuffle the Current Events and Finale decks separately and place them face down next to the Zeppelin board.
- Each player takes their 36 cards, shuffles them, and places them next to their characters' boards in a face-down deck, leaving room for a discard pile. Then they draw seven cards into their hand.
- The Hero player takes the three Plans cards and hides them by secretly choosing one of their characters to start with the Rocket Blueprint. Place the Rocket Blueprint card face down below that character's board and the two Decoy Plan cards face down below the other two boards, without your opponent knowing who has what.
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Object
Fight for the Plans to keep them out of your enemies' hands. The fate of the future depends on it! Gain Finale cards if you have the Plans or control locations around Los Angeles. When the Luxembourg Zeppelin reaches Los Angeles on its Goodwill Tour, use your Finale cards to add up your points. The player with the most points wins!
How to Play
The game is played in rounds. During each round, follow these steps, in order:
- Reveal the Current Events
- Take Character Turns
- Gain Rewards
- Prepare for New Round
1. Reveal the Current Events
Draw the top Current Events card from the deck and move the Zeppelin one space toward Los Angeles for each zeppelin symbol shown at the top. If none are shown, the Zeppelin does not move. If the Zeppelin moves onto the Los Angeles space, this is the last round of the game. (See End of the Game.)
Read the event out loud and do what it says. Then place the Finale token on the location shown at the bottom. This indicates an additional reward at that location. (See Gain Rewards.)
Place the card in a discard pile face up.
2. Take Character Turns
Each round, the player with the Plans takes the first turn. Players alternate turns until they've taken one turn with each of their characters. After all six characters have taken a turn, players gain rewards if they have the Plans or control locations. (See Gain Rewards.)
On your turn, choose one of your characters and flip their Turn token on their character board. A character whose Turn token is already flipped cannot take another turn this round.
Play cards showing that character's symbol, one at a time. You may play as many or as few cards as you want, including none at all. If a card shows multiple characters' symbols, any of those characters may play that card on their turn.
When you play a card, place it face up in your discard pile and choose whether to use the Actions on the left or the named Ability on the right — you cannot use both. If you use the Actions, each Action is optional, but any Actions you take must be done in order from top to bottom. If you use the Ability, you must pay the cost by discarding the number of Clout shown, if any. If you do not have enough Clout, you may not use that card's Ability.
After playing any cards you wish to play, announce the end of your turn. Now it's the other player's turn.
Actions and Abilities
All Actions and Abilities apply only to the character taking their turn, unless specifically stated.
Move
Characters move from location to location on their side of the game board. They never move to the other side. How far the character may move is shown in the symbol, though Abilities may allow the character to move further. Any number of characters may share a location.
After moving to a new location, whether by an Action or an Ability, immediately take the Location Action shown on the game board. Only take the Location Action on the location where the character ends their move — not on locations they pass. Note: Characters cannot "move" to the same location they started on with a single Action or Ability. They must move to a new location to take the Location Action.
Movement example: Jenny plays Smashing Success, but decides to use the Actions on the left instead of the named Ability. She moves to Chapel Airfield and gains two Clout — one for the Action on the card and one for the Location Action on Chapel Airfield.
The Rocketeer's Movement. When Cliff plays a card to move, he uses the Rocket! How far he may move is not indicated by the symbol. Instead, he may move up to the number of locations away as the current Rocket Skill. (See Raise Rocket Token.)
Tussle
Tussling is how you fight to try and steal the Plans or knock out a character so you can control the location. Choose one opposing character at the same location to Tussle with. The Tussle Strength is shown in the symbol. You may discard your Tussling character's Grit tokens to increase the Tussle Strength by 1 for each token discarded.
Shield. After you discard any Grit, your opponent may then Shield all or part of the Tussle. To Shield, they discard cards showing both a Shield and the Tussled character's symbol. The Tussle Strength is reduced by 1 for each card discarded.
Then the Tussled character must discard as many Grit tokens from their board as the final Tussle Strength. If they need to discard a Grit when there are none left, the character is knocked out.
Tussle example: Jenny discards one Clout to play Makin' Headlines for its Ability, choosing to Tussle with Valentine. She needs a final Tussle Strength of 2 to knock him out. She discards two Grit tokens to increase the Tussle Strength to 3. Unfortunately for her, Valentine discards two Shields, reducing it to a final Tussle Strength of 1. Valentine must discard one Grit token, but avoids being knocked out.
Knocked Out. When a character is knocked out, lay their figure down on the game board at their location and flip that character's Plans card face up, if they have one. If the card is a Decoy, it remains face up. If it is the Rocket Blueprint, the opponent immediately steals all three Plans cards and hides them. (See The Plans.)
A character who is knocked out cannot use any Actions or Abilities, or Shield any Tussles. On that character's turn, the first card played stands the character up. The card must show the character's symbol, as normal, but all Actions and Abilities are ignored. Stand the character figure up on their current location (do not take the Location Action), and then continue playing cards, as normal.
Gain Grit
Take a Grit token from the supply and place it on an empty Grit space on the character's board. If the character's Grit spaces are full, they cannot gain more. Grit cannot be gained by another character — only the character taking their turn.
When a character Tussles, they may discard Grit to increase the Tussle Strength. If a character is Tussled, after discarding any cards to Shield, they must discard one Grit for each unshielded Tussle Strength. (See Tussle.)
Gain Clout
Take Clout tokens from the supply and place them in a pile nearby. The number of Clout tokens you take is shown in the symbol. Your Clout is shared by your three characters. Any time one of your characters gains or discards Clout, it's from your shared pile.
In the rare case that there are no Clout tokens remaining in the supply, use any convenient substitute, such as coins.
Draw a Card
Draw a card from your deck and add it to your hand. You may play the card on the same turn, as long as it shows the symbol of the character taking their turn. If you ever need to draw when your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck.
Draw a Finale Card
Draw a Finale card from the deck and place it in a face-down pile nearby. You may look at your Finale cards at any time, but keep them secret from your opponent.
At the end of the game, you'll add up the points from all your Finale cards based on the final state of your characters and the game board. In the rare case that the last Finale card is drawn, immediately move the Zeppelin to Los Angeles — this will be the final round of the game. (See End of the Game.)
Raise Rocket Token (Heroes only)
Raise the Rocket token one space up the Rocket Skill track on Cliff's board.
The Rocket Skill, shown to the left of the Rocket token, indicates Cliff's movement and improves some card Abilities. When Cliff takes a move Action, he may move up to the number of locations away as the current Rocket Skill. For example, if the Rocket Skill is 3, he may move up to three locations away. He only performs the Location Action he ends on, as normal.
Recruit a Soldier (Villains only)
Take one Soldier token from the supply and place it on Sinclair's board. Soldiers on Sinclair's board have been recruited to your Secret Army. Note: You cannot recruit a Soldier if there are none remaining in the supply.
Ambush. Ambushing is how you bring your Secret Army onto the game board. When you play a Secret Army card for its Ability, you may recruit a Soldier and then you may discard three Clout to Ambush. Place your recruited Soldiers in the center of the game board at the locations of your choice. Only one Soldier can ever be at each location.
The first time you Ambush, Valentine is removed from the game and his character board is flipped to show the Secret Army. For the rest of the game, the Secret Army takes the character turns instead of Valentine.
After you Ambush, you may continue to recruit Soldiers, placing them on Sinclair's board. You must Ambush again to place recruited Soldiers from Sinclair's board onto the game board.
Ambush example: Sinclair already has three recruited Soldiers. He plays Secret Army for free to recruit a Soldier. Then he discards three Clout to Ambush. Valentine is removed from the game and Sinclair chooses which four locations to place the Soldiers in the center of the game board.
Soldiers. On the Secret Army's turn, you play cards showing their character symbol. However, they cannot use named Abilities. They can only take the Actions in the left column. Choose one Soldier to take the Actions on each card you play — the Actions on a single card cannot be split between Soldiers.
When a Soldier moves, they must end their movement in a location that does not already contain a Soldier. Soldiers cannot take Location Actions. Soldiers cannot gain or discard Grit. They also cannot have the Rocket Blueprint. After the Soldiers Ambush, any time the Villains steal or hide the Plans, Sinclair or Lothar must be given the Rocket Blueprint. Place a Decoy Plan card face up below the Secret Army's board.
Soldiers Tussle and may be Tussled with, as normal, although they do not have Grit to discard. They may still Shield if an opponent Tussles with them, but if they do not Shield the entire Tussle Strength, they retreat and are placed back on Sinclair's board as recruited Soldiers. Soldiers are never "knocked out."
3. Gain Rewards
Once all six characters have taken one turn, players gain rewards. The player with the Plans draws a Finale card, even if they don't control any locations. Then players gain rewards at locations their characters control.
Your characters control a location if you have more characters (including Soldiers) at the location than your opponent. A character who is knocked out does not count toward controlling the location. If there's a tie, or there are no characters at the location, neither player gains the reward.
Gain the reward shown in the center of the location. Two locations have different rewards for the Heroes and the Villains, as indicated by their background color and separated by a slash. Rewards are the same as Actions and Abilities with the following additions:
- The Observatory: If you have the Plans, hide them. If you don't have the Plans, flip a Plans card face up. (See The Plans.)
- 1635 Palm Terrace: Each of your characters who is not knocked out gains a Grit, even if they aren't at this location. If a character's Grit spaces are full, they cannot gain more.
- Bulldog Cafe: Take the Upper Hand token from the game board, or from your opponent if they have it. As long as you have the Upper Hand token, draw an additional card from your deck at the end of the round. (See Prepare for New Round.)
Gain Rewards example: At the Bulldog Cafe, the Heroes have Jenny and the Villains have Sinclair and one Soldier. The Villains control the location and take the Upper Hand token.
At Chapel Airfield, the Villains have Lothar and the Heroes have Peevy. However, Lothar is knocked out, so the Heroes control the location. The Heroes raise the Rocket token one space up the Rocket Skill track on Cliff's board, and because they have the Plans, they raise it one additional space. (See The Plans.)
The Plans
At the start of the game, all the Plans are face down. If a Plans card is flipped face up, it remains face up until it is hidden or stolen. Flipping the Rocket Blueprint does not immediately steal them, unless it was flipped when the character was knocked out.
When you hide the Plans, flip all three Plans cards face down, secretly choose which character to take the Rocket Blueprint, and place the Plans cards below the characters' boards. Note: The Secret Army cannot have the Rocket Blueprint. When the Villains hide the Plans, give the Secret Army a Decoy Plan and immediately flip it face up.
To steal the Plans, knock out the character who has the Rocket Blueprint. It's possible for a character to be given the Rocket Blueprint after they are knocked out. If you Tussle with them, you steal the Plans — a character who is knocked out cannot Shield and has no Grit. Note: The Villains also have a card that can steal the Plans.
Some Abilities and rewards for controlling a location are more powerful if you have the Plans, as indicated by the symbols on the cards and locations (Clout Reward, Rocket Skill Reward (Heroes Only), Soldier Reward (Villains Only)). If you have the Plans when you use the Ability or gain the reward, gain the additional benefit shown within the symbol. Note: You may still use the Ability or gain the reward if you don't have the Plans, but you don't get the additional benefit.
4. Prepare for New Round (Skip in the Final Round)
Both players prepare for the next round by flipping all the Turn tokens on their character boards color side up again. Then they may discard any cards they want from their hand. Lastly, they draw from their deck back up to seven cards. If a player has the Upper Hand token, they draw an additional card. If you ever need to draw a card when your deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
Begin a new round by revealing the next Current Events card.
End of the Game
When the Luxembourg Zeppelin reaches Los Angeles, the final round is played and then the game is over. Note: The Zeppelin cannot move past Los Angeles.
Each player flips all their Finale cards face up and adds up their points. The player with the most points wins! If there's a tie, the player with the most Finale cards wins. If there's still a tie, the player with the Plans wins.
Sample Finale card scoring shown on the cards includes bonuses such as: +2 Points if you control the South Seas Club; +1 Point for each opposing character who is knocked out; +1 Point for every two Clout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change the order that my characters take their turn from round to round? Yes.
If a character is "placed" at a new location or "swaps" locations with another character, do I get to take the Location Action? No. Only take the Location Action when you "move" to a new location. Soldiers never take Location Actions.
If a card Ability moves another character to a new location, do I get to take the Action on the location? No. Only the character whose turn it is can take Location Actions.
If I steal the Plans, when I hide them, do I have to give the Rocket Blueprint to the character who stole them? No, you may give them to any character except the Secret Army.
When hiding the Plans, can I give the Rocket Blueprint to a character who is knocked out? Yes, but they are vulnerable since they have no Grit and cannot Shield.
What happens to Valentine's Turn token the first time the Soldiers Ambush? Replace it on the Secret Army's board with the same side face up.
What happens if Valentine has the Rocket Blueprint when the Soldiers Ambush? The Villain player may immediately hide the Plans, giving the Rocket Blueprint to Sinclair or Lothar.
Does the Villain player have to Ambush? No. The Villain player may choose not to Ambush and instead keep Valentine for the entire game.
When taking the Secret Army's turn, can multiple Soldiers take Actions? Yes. However, only one Soldier may take the Actions on each card played.
This game was designed by the gum-chewing team at Prospero Hall. For more about our games go to: prosperohall.com.
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