The Herald
The Herald Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview and Goal of the Game
In The Herald, you take the role of Captain Sama Kollin, commander of the U.N.S. Herald. Your mission is to guide the first human spaceship in its voyage of exploration, accomplish results that repay humankind of its efforts, and come back to Earth to ignite enthusiasm for the New Frontier.
You must choose the route of the journey, manage Supplies and the Effectiveness of your Officers, and direct them to deal with the Events you face, all while dealing with the Isolationist saboteurs on board, and without losing your Leadership.
You win the game if you manage to travel to at least one Lis Point, investigate The Source of the wave signals that were received twenty-four years earlier, dismantle all four Isolationist Cells, and achieve or complete (any combination of) at least three Diplomatic Successes or Research Surveys.
You lose if you run out of Supplies, if you lose all your Leadership, if you earn a Bad Reputation three times, if you don't come back to Earth before the Final Countdown ends, if you fail to dismantle all Isolationist Cells, or if you don't achieve all the positive results required for victory.
Events will give you Opportunities to achieve Diplomatic Successes and complete Research Surveys, but will also pose Threats that can cause you to lose Time or make yourself and all humans a Bad Reputation.
Game Components
To be printed
1 Captain's Pad and 1 Event Pad, which are used to keep track of the current game state.
To be supplied by the players
2 Ship pawns to be used on the Holomap and the Event Matrix.
6 tokens (small euro-discs or similar) to be used on the Holomap, including 4 Journey tokens and 2 Bad Reputation tokens; although not necessary, it is convenient if the two groups of tokens are distinguishable. Also, the Bad Reputation tokens should be flat, so that a Ship pawn can be stacked over them.
15 track markers (euro-cubes or similar) to be used on the Time track (1), on the Countdown Roll track (1), in the Command Bay (5), and in the Officers' Quarters (8); although not necessary, it is convenient if the five markers used in the Command Bay make up two distinguishable groups of two "accomplishment" markers and three "captain" markers to reflect the meaning of the indicators in the Bay.
6 six-sided dice, including 5 Reading Dice, which are used to determine the impassable Chaos-Entropy Boundary Readings and the unpredictable unfolding of the journey's Timeline for the current turn, and 1 Countdown Die, which is used for the Final Countdown; although not necessary, it is convenient if the Countdown Die is distinguishable from the others.
For the Linear Timeline variant, you also need 24 Event tokens (small euro-discs or similar) to be used on the Event Matrix; these tokens should be flat, so that a Ship pawn can be stacked over them (see Variant: Linear Timeline).
Game Setup
Captain's Pad
In the Sector Holomap, place a Ship pawn on Earth's Region; this pawn will represent the current Position of the U.N.S. Herald in space.
On the Time track, place a marker in the "24" space.
In the Command Bay, place the three "captain" markers in the "4" space on the Supplies Level track, the Leadership track, and the Infiltration track; place the two "accomplishment" markers in the "0" space on the Diplomatic Successes track and the Research Surveys track.
Event Pad
In the Officers' Quarters, place one marker in the highest-valued space ("4" or "3") on each of the eight Effectiveness tracks.
Roll one Reading Die. On the Event Matrix: if the die result is 1, 2, or 3, place the remaining Ship pawn in the space corresponding to the "Vibrations" Event (at the top of the central column); if the die result is 4, 5, or 6, place the pawn in the space corresponding to the "Survival" Event (central column, fifth from the top).
Other Components
Keep at hand the remaining marker, the four Journey tokens, and the two Bad Reputation tokens. The Reading Dice are used every turn, whereas the Countdown Die is only used towards the end of the game.
Playing the Game
Turns
A game consists of a variable number of turns; each turn, you:
A. Determine the Chaos-Entropy Boundary Readings for the turn, and apply their effects.
B. Direct your Officers to face a new Event.
C. Advance Time.
D. Check for victory.
A. Boundary Readings
Roll the five Reading Dice, and assign one die to each of the five active Boundary Readings as you see fit; as a reminder, place each die in the corresponding chosen space in the Boundary Readings section on the Captain's Pad. At the beginning of the game, the STEC Engine Reading is inactive and is not used.
Then, apply the effects of the Readings in this order: Direction; Environment; Sabotage (later in the game, STEC Engine); Timeline; Event.
A1. Direction
The Direction Reading determines the movement of the U.N.S. Herald: each possible die result allows movement in one of two adjacent directions on the Sector Holomap. The ship always moves one Region at a time.
A Reading of 1 allows movement towards the left or left-and-up. A Reading of 2 allows movement towards the left or left-and-down.
A Reading of 3 allows movement left-and-up or right-and-up. A Reading of 4 allows movement left-and-down or right-and-down.
A Reading of 5 allows movement towards the right or right-and-up. A Reading of 6 allows movement towards the right or right-and-down.
You can't choose a direction that would lead you out of the Holomap; your data banks covering outer space are not sufficiently detailed to allow safe navigation there. If the Reading allows only one valid direction, you must choose that direction; if both directions are valid, you may choose either.
If both the directions allowed by the Reading would lead you out of the Holomap, you get temporarily lost, and must spend time to update your data banks and re-compute your route: choose a different, valid direction, and advance Time by 1.
In all cases, move the Ship pawn on the Holomap according to the direction you chose. If your new Position corresponds to a Bad Reputation token (see Events), stack the Ship pawn on top of the Bad Reputation token.
Back to Earth
If, after moving the pawn, the Position of the U.N.S. Herald corresponds to Earth, the game immediately ends (see Winning and Losing).
Lis Points
If, after moving the pawn, the Position of the U.N.S. Herald corresponds to one of the two Lis Points of the Sector, put a Journey token in the corresponding Visit space linked to the Point's Region.
Lis Points are named after Janar Lis, one of the brightest minds behind the physics of the STEC Engine. Because of their position in space, visiting Lis Points allows you to perform deep scans to expand your star data banks and verify the exact position of The Source.
The Source
If, after moving the pawn, the Position of the U.N.S. Herald corresponds to The Source's Region, you have a chance to look for the source of the signal that started the U.N. Space Program twenty-four years earlier; put a Journey token in the Visit space linked to The Source's Region.
The results of your search will be determined when the Event for the current turn is resolved (see The Search at The Source).
A2. Environment
The Environment Reading determines whether the uninhabited planets and planetoids that you encounter this turn offer any useful and readily-available resources that can be used to Resupply, and whether the place is sufficiently safe and friendly for a Shore Leave.
If the Reading is 1 or 2, the environment is unfriendly, and offers no exploitable resources. Supplies are used up this turn, but they cannot be replenished: decrease the Supplies Level by 1.
If the Reading is 3 or 4, you find significant exploitable resources, although the environment is generally unsuitable for humans. You may decide either to just Resupply On-the-fly or do a Full Resupply (see below).
If the Reading is 5 or 6, you find a friendly environment, but only a limited amount of exploitable resources. You may decide either to just Resupply On-the-fly, or allow your crew to go on Shore Leave (indicated as "SHO" on the Pads – see below) to alleviate the stress of the mission.
Resupply
Whenever you Resupply On-the-fly, you manage to replenish Supplies just enough to offset consumption for the turn: the Supplies Level does not change.
Whenever you do a Full Resupply, you manage to restock more than your consumption for the turn: increase the Supplies Level by 2. However, a Full Resupply takes time: advance Time by 1.
Note: The Supplies Level may never go above 4: you simply do not have enough storage space on board.
Shore Leave
Your Officers benefit from the Leave: increase each Officer's Effectiveness by 2. However, time passes quickly during a Leave: advance Time by 1.
Note: An Officer's Effectiveness may not increase above the highest-valued space in their respective track ("4" or "3"): although your Officers are well-trained, their experience is still limited, and they are only human beings.
"When we finally left the orbit, we all looked at the hospitable, Earth-like planet with longing eyes."
A3-1. Sabotage
The Sabotage Reading determines the level of activity of the infiltrated Isolationist Cells.
If the Reading is 1 or 2, the Cells remain dormant this turn.
If the Reading is 3 or 4, the Cells engage in limited activity, aimed at destroying Supplies: decrease the Supplies Level by 1.
If the Reading is 5 or 6, the Cells engage in bold activity, aimed at causing structural damage to the U.N.S. Herald. To repair the damage, you need both Supplies and Time: decrease Supplies by 1, and advance Time by 1. Also, your crew and Officers lose some faith in you because of your apparent inability to deal with the situation: decrease Leadership by 1.
Counterintelligence
Whenever the Cells are not dormant, your security forces have a chance to gain information about the members of the Cells.
If the Sabotage Reading is 5 or 6, the Isolationists' reckless activity allows your security to easily gain enough evidence to identify the members of one Cell and dismantle it: decrease Infiltration by 1.
If the Sabotage Reading is 3 or 4, the Isolationists' cautious activity allows you to find only limited clues. If the sum of the Reading Dice is 18 or greater, the clues are still sufficient to easily dismantle a Cell; otherwise, you can either decide to pursue the investigation further, or wait for another chance. To investigate, you must choose two Officers with Expertise in Police and Communication, respectively (see Officers and Subjects), and with a current Effectiveness of 1 or greater. Under their lead, your security is able to dismantle one Cell; however, the two Officers feel the stress of duty and become wearier: decrease their Effectiveness by 1. In both cases, if you successfully dismantle a Cell, decrease Infiltration by 1.
"Sir, we have them."
"Good. Put them in separate containment rooms, and keep them under constant watch. I want no more trouble from this scum."
A3-2. The STEC Engine
As soon as you manage to arrest the members of the last remaining Isolationist Cell, a series of explosions badly damage the STEC Engine of the U.N.S. Herald. Your engineers work for weeks to repair and stabilize the Engine, and several die from exposure to radiations and excessive gravitational pressure; in the end, the Engine is operational again, but remains permanently unstable.
Perhaps it was just an unpredictable system malfunction in what is still highly experimental technology; perhaps it was a sophisticated space-time-delayed gravitational explosive charge. In any case, the U.N.S. Herald suffers structural damage: decrease Supplies by 1 and advance Time by 1.
"I can't believe it, Captain: are you suggesting that one of the engineers that built the STEC Engine planted an explosive device in it?"
"Unfortunately, Sir, that's a possibility; I suggest we investigate."
From now on, the Sabotage Reading becomes inactive, and is replaced by the STEC Engine Reading, which determines whether the Engine works properly for the current turn.
If the Reading is 1 or 2, the Engine malfunctions, causing incoherent fluctuations in the STEC gravitational field, and substantially slowing the ship's travel speed: advance Time by 1.
If the Reading is 3 or 4, the Engine works with only few small fluctuations this turn, and the ship can advance at normal travel speed.
If the Reading is 5 or 6, the Engine is perfectly stable, if only for a limited amount of time; in this case:
a. If you have recovered the Alien Travel Technology at The Source (see The Search at The Source), you may try to exploit it. To do so, you must choose two Officers with Expertise in Space and Physics, respectively (see Officers and Subjects), and with a current Effectiveness of 1 or greater. Under their lead, your engineering team can do the necessary calculations, and tune navigational settings accordingly; as a result, your travel speed increases significantly this turn: take back Time by 1. However, the two Officers feel the stress of duty and become wearier: decrease their Effectiveness by 1.
b. Otherwise, if you don't have the Alien Travel Technology, or prefer to preserve your Officers for later tasks, the Engine works properly, but you travel at only normal speed.
A4. Timeline
The Timeline Reading determines which of the many theoretically possible Events actually unfolds in your Timeline for the current turn.
If the U.N.S. Herald is in the Region where The Source is supposed to be, the Timeline Reading is used in a special way (see The Search at The Source): do not move the Ship pawn on the Event Matrix this turn. Otherwise:
a. If the Reading is 1 or 2, move the Ship pawn on the Event Matrix one column to the left; if the Reading is 3 or 4, leave the pawn in the current column; if the Reading is 5 or 6, move the pawn one column to the right.
b. Then: if the Reading is 1, 3, or 5, move the pawn one row up; if the Reading is 2, 4, or 6, move the pawn one row down.
The Event Matrix "wraps around" in both directions:
a. If the Ship pawn is currently in the left-most column, and you must move it further to the left, move it to (the same row in) the right-most column instead; the reverse applies when moving right from the right-most column.
b. If the pawn is currently in the top-most row, and you must move it further up, move it to the bottom-most row (of the same column) instead; the reverse applies when moving down from the bottom-most row.
A5. Event
The Event Reading modifies the Effort required to meet the challenges of the current Event (see Events).
B. Events
The Ship pawn on the Event Matrix indicates which Event unfolded this turn.
Some Events give you Opportunities, indicated by a "+" (plus) sign: if you deal with the situation positively, you gain Supplies (indicated as "SUP" on the Pads), achieve a Diplomatic Success ("DIP"), or complete a significant Research Survey ("RES").
Other Events pose Threats, indicated by a "−" (minus) sign: if you mishandle the situation, you lose Leadership ("LEA") or Time ("TIM"), or make yourself (and all us humans) a Bad Reputation ("REP") in that Region.
Officers and Subjects
You don't deal with Events directly: your responsibility is to lead the U.N.S. Herald in her journey, and to lead her back to Earth. Your training was comprehensive, but, as a result, there is no subject you are really expert in.
To face Events, you must rely on your Officers. Each Officer is an expert in one field, with a further specialisation in a specific Subject within that field.
There are eight Subjects, two within each of four fields:
a. Cultures ("CUL") and Communication ("COM") in the field of social sciences.
b. Physics ("PHY") and Biology ("BIO") in the field of theoretical sciences.
c. Space ("SPA") and Ground ("GRO") in the field of applied sciences.
d. Battle ("BAT") and Police ("POL") in the field of security operations.
Challenges
Each Event requires you to face Challenges in the two Subjects listed under the Event. Each Challenge requires a certain amount of Effort, which can vary between 3 and 6, depending on the Event, the Event Reading, and the presence of any Bad Reputation tokens nearby (see below).
To face a Challenge in a Subject, you must choose one of your Officers who has Expertise in that Subject, and whose current Effectiveness is at least 1; Officers' Expertise can be 2 or 1, as indicated in the Officers' Quarters on the Event Pad.
An Officer may not face two Challenges simultaneously: you must select two different Officers that will work together to deal with each Event. If there are no Officers who can face a given Challenge, because all the Officers with Expertise in that Subject do not currently have high enough Effectiveness, the outcome is a failure (see below).
Dealing with Events
If the U.N.S. Herald is in the Region where The Source is supposed to be, a special Event unfolds (see below).
Otherwise, determine Effort for the two Event's Challenges: take the value listed under the Event, and modify it according to the Event Reading:
a. If the Reading is 1 or 2, increase Effort by 1 for the first Challenge.
b. If the Reading is 3 or 4, increase Effort by 1 for both Challenges.
c. If the Reading is 5 or 6, increase Effort by 1 for the second Challenge.
If your current Position on the Holomap corresponds to a Bad Reputation token (see below), or is next to one or more such tokens, mistrust and outright hostility hinder you: further increase Effort by 1 for both Challenges.
Then, choose two Officers to face the Event's Challenges: if the sum of an Officer's Expertise in the Subject and their current Effectiveness equals or exceeds the required Effort for that Challenge, the Officer meets the Challenge.
If there are two Officers who can meet the two Event's Challenges, you may direct them to face the Challenges, and deal with the Event successfully; the two Officers feel the stress of duty and become wearier: decrease their respective Effectiveness by the difference between the Effort required for their Challenge and their Expertise in that Subject.
Otherwise, if your Officers are unable to meet both Challenges, or you prefer to preserve them for later tasks, you select no Officers to deal with the Event, and the outcome is a failure (see below).
Example: You face the Vibrations Event next to a Bad Reputation token. The listed Effort is 4, and the Event Reading is 2, so the first Challenge (BIO) requires an Effort of 6 (4 from the Event, plus 1 from the Reading, plus 1 because of the REP token), whereas the second Challenge (COM) requires an Effort of 5 (4 from the Event, plus 1 because of the REP token).
To meet the BIO Challenge, you could select Lt. Buma (Expertise 2), who needs a current Effectiveness of 4, but not Ens. Rash (Expertise 1), who cannot have enough Effectiveness; to meet the COM Challenge, you could select Ens. Guwer (Expertise 2), who needs an Effectiveness of 3, or Lt. Shaniev (Expertise 1), who needs an Effectiveness of 4. Effectiveness would decrease by 4 for Lt. Buma and Lt. Shaniev, by 2 for Ens. Guwer.
If you selected two Officers capable of meeting the Event's Challenges, you deal with the situation successfully: if the Event poses a Threat, the Threat is neutralized with no further consequences; if the Event gives you an Opportunity, increase Supplies Level by 2, completed Research Surveys by 1, or Diplomatic Successes achieved by 1, as indicated by the Event.
Note: No more than four Diplomatic Successes achieved and four completed Research Surveys may be recorded. Further accomplishments might surely be beneficial to humankind, but public opinion grows easily weary of repetition, so they do not contribute to the mission's outcome (see Winning and Losing).
Otherwise, if your Officers couldn't handle the Event's Challenges, you fail: if the Event gives you an Opportunity, the Opportunity is lost with no further consequences; if the Event poses a Threat, you suffer its consequences, as indicated by the Event:
a. If the consequence is a loss of Leadership or Time, decrease Leadership by 1 or advance Time by 1, respectively.
b. If the consequence is Bad Reputation, place a Bad Reputation token at your current Position on the Holomap (your Position does not change: stack the Ship pawn on top of the Bad Reputation token).
Dilemmas
When dealing with Events, sometimes the stakes are so high that resorting to extreme measures or shady means, accepting to pay a high price, or simply depart from the U.N. Space Fleet's Code of Behaviour, becomes a strong temptation.
When you choose the Officers to face an Event, you may declare that the Event presents a Dilemma, and order your Officers to do whatever it takes to succeed: if you do, decrease Effort by 1 for both Challenges. However, your crew and Officers always expect you to behave like a paragon of integrity: decrease Leadership by 1.
To lead the exploring parties, choose Officers to face the four Challenges; the sum of the Expertise and the current Effectiveness of each Officer must equal or exceed the Effort needed to meet their respective Challenges. If there are no suitable Officers for one Challenge, you may still organize the operation if you declare it a Dilemma: decrease Leadership by 1; if there are no suitable Officers for two or more Challenges, the operation may not be organized.
The Search at The Source
When you arrive at the Region where The Source is supposed to be, you begin a search to locate any signs of who, or what, produced the signal. Soon, you realise that locating your destination is more difficult than you expected: mid-range scans indicate that space-time has a peculiar geometry here.
Depending on how accurate your data banks are, and how the Timeline unfolds, you might be unable to immediately trace a safe approaching route, and might need time to perform additional scans and send probes ahead:
a. if the Timeline Reading is 1 or 2, the time needed to reach the Source is 2;
b. if the Timeline Reading is 3 or 4, the time needed to reach the Source is 3;
c. if the Timeline Reading is 5 or 6, the time needed to reach the Source is 4.
Note: this special Event is not affected by any Bad Reputation token nearby.
Decrease time needed by 2 if you have already visited at least one Lis Point, and advance Time accordingly.
When you finally reach your destination, on a small planet orbiting around a dying star, you find a vast, apparently abandoned building complex. You form experienced reconnaissance teams and send them inside the place, only to discover that an automated defence system is still somehow operational.
To gain full access to the complex and hope to retrieve any useful information, you must organise a coordinated operation, which requires Supplies and presents four Challenges in Cultures, Battle, Ground, and Biology, respectively.
To determine the operation's costs, look at the Event Reading:
a. If the Reading is 1 or 2, a successful exploration requires 1 Supplies, an Effort of 4 in Cultures and Battle, and an Effort of 3 in Ground and Biology.
b. If the Reading is 3 or 4, a successful exploration requires 2 Supplies, and an Effort of 3 in Cultures, Battle, Ground, and Biology.
c. If the Reading is 5 or 6, a successful exploration requires 1 Supplies, an Effort of 3 in Cultures and Battle, and an Effort of 4 in Ground and Biology.
If you have the necessary Supplies and available Officers, you organize the operation and send the exploring parties inside. Adjust Supplies according to the operation's costs; also, the Officers you have chosen feel the stress of duty and become wearier: decrease their Effectiveness by the difference between the Effort required for their Challenge and their Expertise in the corresponding Subject.
All this effort is not in vain, though: your Officers recover interesting information and artefacts, including strange data banks that, once deciphered, reveal knowledge that describes an advanced method of space travel; as a reminder, place a Journey token in the "Alien Travel Technology Found" space on the Holomap. Unfortunately, you find no trace of the beings who built the place; judging from what you see, you can only surmise they must be physically similar to humans.
Otherwise, if you cannot organise the operation, or are not willing to meet its requirements, you resume your journey empty-handed.
"Sir, I think I now have a good grasp on it. This... "Alien Travel Technology"... It is more advanced than ours, and yet it would be surprisingly easy to modify the STEC Engine to take advantage of it, if with some effort. But..."
"But?"
"But if the modified Engine were... sabotaged... the whole ship would be probably turned into dust."
C. Time
If the Time marker is in one of the first twenty-one spaces of its track, advance Time by 1.
"Let me be frank, Captain: I don't know how long we will be able to keep the Isolationists at bay. You'd better be back soon, otherwise I can't guarantee there will be a welcoming committee."
As soon as the Time marker reaches the third-to-last space, the Final Countdown begins. During the Countdown, Time does not advance automatically; instead, use the Countdown Die to make a Countdown Roll: if the result is within the range indicated in the track space where the Time marker is, advance Time by 1; otherwise, Time does not advance this turn.
During the Final Countdown, Readings and Event results that normally cause the Time marker to be advanced or taken back are not applied, and instead become modifiers to the Countdown Roll:
a. If you are forced to choose a direction not allowed by the Direction Reading, subtract 1 from the Countdown Roll.
b. If you do a Full Resupply or Shore Leave, subtract 1 from the Countdown Roll.
c. If the Sabotage Reading is 5 or 6, subtract 1 from the Countdown Roll. If you dismantle the last Isolationist Cell, subtract 1 from the Countdown Roll.
d. If the STEC Engine Reading is 1 or 2, subtract 1 from the Countdown Roll; if it is 5 or 6 and you used the Alien Travel Technology, add 1 to the Countdown Roll.
e. If the result of an Event is a loss of Time, subtract 1 from the Countdown Roll.
Multiple modifiers add together; to keep track of the resulting modifier for the current turn, use the remaining marker and the Countdown Roll track on the right of the Time track.
D. Winning and Losing
Your voyage ends as soon as the Ship pawn on the Holomap is moved back to Earth's Region.
Success (Victory)
If you have visited The Source's Region (regardless of the outcome of the search), visited at least one Lis Point, dismantled all four Isolationist Cells, and achieved or completed (any combination of) at least three Diplomatic Successes or Research Surveys, the mission is a Success. As soon as your after-flight quarantine ends, you are invited as the guest of honour to a state dinner attended by the leaders of all nations, who patiently queue to personally thank you.
If, in addition to the goals above, you also managed to limit earned Bad Reputation to at most one token, recover the Alien Travel Technology at The Source, visit both Lis Points, achieve or complete at least (any combination of) five Diplomatic Successes or Research Surveys, and end the journey with a Leadership of at least two, the mission is an Outstanding Success (indicated as "OS" on the Pads). A few weeks after your comeback, in a solemn ceremony broadcast all over the world, you become the first person to be awarded the Orion Star, the most important decoration of the U.N. Space Fleet.
If, in addition to the goals above, you also managed to avoid any Bad Reputation, achieve or complete (any combination of) six Diplomatic Successes or Research Surveys, and end the journey with a Leadership of at least three, the mission is a Complete Success (indicated as "CS" on the Pads). Many years later, in the first anniversary of your death, a monument in your honour is erected in front of the U.N. Headquarters; simultaneously, an exact copy of the monument is erected at the main entrance of the building complex of The Source.
If you would like to have a measure of how well you did, you can compute your "score" as follows:
a. If the Final countdown has not begun yet: add 5 points; otherwise, if there is any Time left (which is, the Time marker is not in the last space of the track): add 2 points.
b. If you recovered the Alien Travel Technology at The Source: add 3 points.
c. If you have visited both Lis Points: add 5 points.
d. If you have achieved 2, 3, or 4 Diplomatic Successes: add 5, 8, or 12 points, respectively.
e. If you have completed 2, 3, or 4 Research Surveys: add 5, 8, or 12 points, respectively.
f. If you end the game with a Leadership of 2, 3, or 4: add 3, 5, or 8 points, respectively.
g. If you have earned 1 or 2 Bad Reputation token(s): subtract 3 or 8 points, respectively.
Failure (Defeat)
If at any time during the game your Supplies Level drops to 0, the STEC Engine stops working and the life-support systems of the U.N.S. Herald shut down: everyone on board dies from lack of oxygen.
If at any time during the game your Leadership drops to 0, your Officers lose all faith in you, declare you unfit to command, and put you under arrest. They will soon discover that the Captain's life is not an easy one: lacking the necessary experience, they will start quarrelling with each other, and will ultimately fail to lead the U.N.S. Herald back to Earth.
If at any time during the game you are forced to put a third Bad Reputation token on the Holomap, humankind becomes an unwelcome presence throughout the Sector. Dodging hostile patrolling space cruisers, you arrive back to Earth only to discover that your notoriety has preceded you, and most of the space-faring cultures of the Sector have warned humans to stay away from their space or face war. The court martial awaits you.
If at any time during the game you are forced to advance Time past the last available space in its track, time runs out, and the Isolationists on Earth finally gain enough power to terminate the Space Program. A time of revenge begins, as politicians and civil servants are put under trial for crimes against humanity. When you finally arrive back to Earth, you and your crew meet the same fate.
If you make it back on time, but without enough results to convince the public opinion, governments around the world give in to popular pressure, and the U.N. Space Program is "indefinitely put on hold". Shortly after, you are dismissed from the U.N. Space Fleet.
If you do not manage to dismantle all four Isolationist Cells, as soon as the U.N.S. Herald approaches the U.N. Space Station orbiting around Earth, some of the remaining saboteurs create a diversion by mounting an attack to the command bay, while the others target carefully-planned attacks to key points of the ship's data bays, irrecoverably damaging its computer systems. Unable to control it, you watch in desperation as the Herald enters Earth's atmosphere and falls into the middle of the Indian Ocean; the ship finally explodes, producing tsunamis that obliterate many inhabited coasts.
Variant: Linear Timeline
In this variant, which requires the 24 additional Event tokens, each Event on the Event Matrix may happen at most once per game.
During setup, when you determine the starting position of the Ship pawn on the Event Matrix, place an Event token in the space corresponding to the Event you start from ("Vibrations" or "Survival"), and stack the pawn over the token.
Whenever you move the Ship pawn on the Event Matrix to an Event without a token, place an Event token there, and resolve the Event normally.
On the other hand, whenever you move the Ship pawn to an Event which has already happened (and therefore has an Event token), no significant Event happens. However, a minor incident requires the attention of one of your Officers, who feels the stress of duty: choose an Officer with Expertise in the Subject corresponding to the first Challenge of the Event you moved to, and decrease their Effectiveness by 1. If both Officers with such Expertise currently have an Effectiveness of 0, the incident causes you to lose time or Supplies instead: if the Event you moved to would be an Opportunity, advance Time by 1; if it would be a Threat, decrease Supplies by 1.
The game remains otherwise unchanged.