Star Realms: Gambit Set
Star Realms: Gambit Set Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Gambits (Optional)
Setup note from the Overview and Setup section of the Box Set rulebook: "If you haven't played before, set aside the silver-bordered Gambit cards. Otherwise, see the Gambits section on page 5 for additional instructions."
Gambit cards are optional. Try them after you've played a few games.
At the beginning of the game, shuffle the Gambits. Choose a number and deal that many of them face down to each player. Players may take fewer Gambits as a handicap. Set aside any remaining Gambits in a face-down pile (if anyone gets a Wild Gambit card, they may need this pile).
Players may look at their own Gambits at any time. Anyone may reveal any number of their Gambits by turning them face up at the start of the game and/or during their Main Phase. Once you reveal a Gambit, its abilities apply and/or may be used as normal.
Gambits never go into the trade deck, your hand, or your personal deck.
The rulebook shows this card as an example (the heading below is added for readability):
Example Gambit: Bold Raid
Bold Raid (Gambit) Destroy target base. Draw a card.
Beside the example, the rulebook prints this callout: "When playing with Gambit cards, choose a number of them to be dealt face down to each player. You may reveal any Gambits at the start of the game or during your main phase."
Hydra (4 or 6 Players)
The Hydra team rules below are the Box Set's Hydra section, kept as they apply when players form a team against a challenge card. The Emperor and Raid formats are base-game formats and are not reproduced here.
All players on a team share an Authority score (see below). Each individual player has their own Personal Deck, hand, Discard Pile, and in-play zone (for example, your teammate's in-play cards won't trigger your Ally Abilities).
Randomly determine which team goes first. Players on that team get three-card starting hands. Players on the opposing team get five-card starting hands. Teams alternate taking turns (rather than individual players), with all teammates sharing their Main, Discard, and Draw Phases.
Each player still has their own Trade and Combat Pools and still makes their own decisions regarding playing cards, acquiring cards, activating abilities, and attacking. Players may, as many times as they like each turn, transfer any amount of their Trade and/or Combat to a teammate's pool. This allows teammates to work together to destroy bases and purchase expensive cards. As long as any player on a given team has an Outpost in play, that team may not be attacked and any non-Outpost Bases belonging to that team may not be attacked or targeted by opponents.
When a team's Authority is reduced to zero, all players on that team are defeated.
Two-Headed Hydra (4 Players: 2 vs 2)
Each two-player team has a shared score of 75 Authority.
During their Main Phase, any player may pay 1 Trade to move a card from their Discard Pile to the Discard Pile of a neighboring teammate.
Three-Headed Hydra (6 Players: 3 vs 3)
Each three-player team has a shared score of 100 Authority.
Note: When playing as a Hydra team against a challenge card (see page 8), the challenge's Setup section indicates the team's shared Authority score.
Challenge Cards
Solo and Cooperative
Players battle against the game using Challenge Cards.
The oversized Challenge Cards included in this set allow you to play by yourself, or on a team with your friends, against the game. In each challenge you will be fighting against a different bad guy (known as "the Boss").
You'll use normal Star Realms rules for hand size, acquiring cards, using Combat, etc. The next few titles cover general rules for challenge cards. Additionally, each challenge has its own special rules (pages 9-10).
After you pick the Challenge Card you want to play, go to its section, read the story (in italics) aloud to all players, and follow the setup rules to get started.
Challenge Difficulty Levels
There are four difficulty levels for each challenge:
- Beginner: Players take three turns each before the Boss's first turn.
- Intermediate: Players take two turns each before the Boss's first turn.
- Veteran: Players go first.
- Expert: Boss goes first.
The challenges are designed to be tough for an experienced player at Veteran level, so you may want to start out on Beginner or Intermediate and work your way up from there.
Mulliganing the Trade Row
A player may, during their Main Phase on any turn, scrap every card in the Trade Row. The Trade Row may only be mulliganed once per challenge game.
Challenge Notes
When the players play first (Beginner, Intermediate and Veteran), they get a three-card starting hand on their first turn of the game.
In Beginner and Intermediate difficulty levels, once the players have taken their extra turns at the start of the game, play proceeds as normal, with the players and the Boss alternating turns.
If the Trade Deck ever runs out of cards, shuffle the Scrap Heap into a new Trade Deck (first remove any cards that don't belong in the Trade Deck, like Scouts).
Boss Attacks
When the rules say, "the Boss attacks", the Boss uses its Combat to make a series of attacks. For each attack, it follows the steps below, making the first possible attack. Repeat this process (starting at #1) until the Boss has no Combat remaining. For each attack, the Boss uses the minimum Combat required to defeat a player or to destroy a Base.
- If the Boss can attack and defeat a player, it attacks the player with the highest Authority that it can defeat. (If tied, it attacks one of them at random.)
- The Boss attacks the highest-Defense Outpost that it can destroy. (If tied, it attacks the highest-cost tied Outpost. If still tied, it attacks one of them at random.)
- The Boss attacks the highest-Defense non-Outpost Base that it can destroy. (If tied, it attacks the highest-cost tied Base. If still tied, it attacks one of them at random.)
- The Boss attacks the player with the lowest Authority. (If tied, it attacks one of them at random.)
Remember, the Boss can't attack a player or a non-Outpost Base that is protected by an Outpost.
If an ability allows the Boss to "destroy a base", it selects the Base using steps 2 and 3 above.
Nemesis Beast
1-4 players solo/co-op challenge
While exploring a new system for colonization, your scanners pick up what appears to be a massive geomagnetic storm on the fourth planet. The storm continues to grow in intensity, ripping the planet apart.
The storm moves away from the debris field and toward your fleet, matching your changes in course. You realize to your horror that the "storm" is a supermassive planet-swallowing space beast! You must defeat it to save your fleet, your realm, and perhaps the galaxy itself!
Challenge Setup
When playing with two or more players, for each player in the game, place one card from the top of the Trade Deck face down in front of the Boss.
The Boss starts the game with 50 Authority per player.
Note: The Boss has no hand, deck or Discard Pile.
Each player starts with a standard Personal Deck (8 Scouts and 2 Vipers).
All players share a score of 50 Authority (regardless of the number of players). When playing with more than one player, the players are a Hydra team (see page 7).
If a player would make the Boss discard a card, instead that player draws a card, then discards a card.
If a player would destroy a base, that player gains 3 Combat instead.
Boss Order of Play
On the Boss' turn, follow these steps:
- Scrap the card in the Trade Row furthest from the Trade Deck. Do not replace the card.
- Move the entire Trade Row one position away from the Trade Deck.
- Place the scrapped card face down in front of the Boss. The Boss gains Combat equal to the number of cards in front of it.
- Reveal a new card from the Trade Deck to fill the empty spot in the Trade Row.
- The faction of the card revealed determines which special ability the Boss gains that turn (see the Nemesis Beast card). If the revealed card has no faction (see Merc Cruiser), the player(s) choose any faction to determine which ability the Boss gains. If the revealed card has more than one faction (see cards from other Star Realms sets), the player(s) choose one of those factions to determine which ability the Boss gains.
- The Boss attacks.
- End the turn.
Note: The Boss' Blob faction icon ability allows the Boss to destroy bases equal to the number of players, regardless of which player the bases belong to. For example, in a three-player game, if one player had two bases in play, and the other players had none, the Boss would destroy both bases and gain 3 Combat.
Pirates of the Dark Star
1-4 players solo/co-op challenge
The Pirates of the Dark Star are known galaxy-wide for their cruelty, laying waste to entire systems and leaving few survivors to tell the tale. Now they have their sights set on your star realm. They have smashed your frontier fleet and are now advancing on the inner planets. Defeat the pirates or see your realm lost!
Challenge Setup
The Boss starts the game with 25 Authority per player.
Note: The Boss has no hand, deck or Discard Pile.
Each player starts with a standard Personal Deck (8 Scouts and 2 Vipers).
Players start with 50 Authority each. When playing with more than one player, players have individual Authority and can be individually eliminated. However, players have a shared turn, and pool their Trade and Combat like a Hydra team (see page 7).
If a player would make the Boss discard a card, instead that player draws a card, then discards a card.
If a player would destroy a base, that player gains 3 Combat instead.
Boss Order of Play
On the Boss' turn, follow these steps:
- For each player remaining in the game, scrap one card in the Trade Row furthest from the Trade Deck. Do not replace the cards.
- Move the remaining Trade Row cards one position away from the Trade Deck for each card scrapped.
- Reveal a new card from the Trade Deck to fill each empty spot in the Trade Row.
- The faction and cost of the first card revealed determines what the Boss does to the first player (see the Pirates of the Dark Star card). The second card revealed determines what the Boss does to the second player, and so on. If the revealed card has no faction (see Merc Cruiser), the player chooses any faction to determine what the Boss does to them. If the revealed card has more than one faction (see cards from other Star Realms sets), the player chooses one of those factions to determine what the Boss does to them.
- End the turn.
Merc Cruiser
The Merc Cruiser is an unaligned ship: it has no faction. The Box Set setup says: "Shuffle the Trade Deck (all the standard size cards with faction icons in the upper left hand corner, plus the 3 Merc Cruiser cards) and place it face-down on the table."
When a Merc Cruiser is revealed during a challenge, the Boss's effect is chosen by the player(s) as described in the Boss Order of Play for the challenge in use:
- Nemesis Beast, step 5: if the revealed card has no faction, the player(s) choose any faction to determine which ability the Boss gains.
- Pirates of the Dark Star, step 4: if the revealed card has no faction, the player chooses any faction to determine what the Boss does to them.