The Isle of Doctor Necreaux
The Isle of Doctor Necreaux Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- Score Track
- Token Punchboard
- 3 dice
- 110 cards
- 2 Special Adventure cards
- 33 Character cards
- 75 Adventure cards
Goal
As elite search-and-rescue operatives, you must face the vile machinations of Doctor Necreaux's lair, find the kidnapped scientists, and secure transportation off the island before it is destroyed by the bomb. Working cooperatively, everyone must use their personal resources for the best interest of the mission. The world is counting on you.
Setup
Your character is your alter ego in the game, and it is made up of three Character cards. To create everyone's character, first shuffle the Character cards and deal three to each player. You may look at your own cards, but don't discuss them or show them to anyone else. Select one of your three cards to keep, pass the other two to the player to your left. The player to your right passes you two cards. Choose one, and pass the other to the player to your left. Place all three of your character cards face up in front of you, and place Tokens on any cards with Charges (not all Character cards can be charged). Each player should then explain the abilities and limitations of his character to the group.
When playing solo, randomly draw three Character cards. If any of the following are drawn, discard and draw a replacement: Healer, Leader, Master Strategist, Ninja, Scout, or Scrounger.
Set the Scientists and the Escape Shuttle cards aside. Shuffle the remaining Adventure cards and split them into three roughly equal piles. Leave the first pile alone. Put the Scientists card in the second pile and shuffle it, then put the Escape Shuttle card in the third pile and shuffle it. Assemble the Adventure Deck with pile three on the bottom, pile two in the middle, and pile one on top. The Escape Shuttle should be in the bottom third of the deck and the Scientists should be somewhere in the middle.
Place the Countdown Clock Marker on the Countdown Track based on the number of players.
| Players | Countdown Clock |
|---|---|
| One player | 00:12 |
| Two players | 00:11 |
| Three players | 00:10 |
| Four players | 00:09 |
| Five players | 00:08 |
This indicates the Countdown Clock. At the end of each Turn, the Clock ticks one step closer to zero.
Character Cards
Figure note: the rulebook illustrates a sample Character card (the card "Precognitive Psychic", Charges (0)) with callouts reading "Starts with zero charges, but can be charged", "When the power works", "Card Type", and "How the power works when a charge is used".
Charges
Charges reflect the number of times Character or Item cards can be used. For instance, the Character card Lucky starts with 7 Charges. Each time a player wants to use the card to re-roll a die rolled by another team member, the player would spend — or Discharge — one Charge and discard a Token. When the number of Charges has been reduced to zero, the card cannot be used again until it is recharged. There is no upper limit to the number of Charges a chargeable card may hold. Charges are replenished as specified by the card only if it indicates the card can be charged.
Play
Individual players do not take traditional game turns in Isle of Doctor Necreaux. Instead, you act together as a team, making decisions as a team. Each Turn begins with players performing upkeep. Certain Character and Item cards require upkeep (being charged and so on) at the beginning of each Turn, while others require upkeep at the end. Once all of the upkeep is completed, the team decides upon an action for the Turn — to Move or Rest.
Movement entails searching Necreaux's lair for the Scientists and/or the Shuttle. Rest involves taking time to recover from wounds, reload weapons, and so on.
Rest
When the team decides to Rest, they do not draw cards from the Adventure Deck. Each team member flips either one face-down Character or Item card face up and Charges one card. Charging a card means adding one Charge to any one card with the Charge keyword. If the team member has no cards he can charge, nothing happens. During a Rest action, any player may also give and move Item cards to and from other team members.
Lastly, before the Turn is over, the team may look at the top card of the Adventure Deck and decide whether to place the card face down at the top or bottom of the deck.
Once the Rest is over, the Turn ends. Complete any "end of turn" upkeep necessary before moving the Countdown Clock one space toward zero.
Move
When the team decides to move, all team members must agree upon the Speed — how quickly they intend to move about the island. All of the team members must agree on a number greater than zero, but there is no upper limit. This is your team's Speed for the Turn. It represents the number of cards you'll draw from the Adventure Deck in a given Turn. Cards are drawn one at a time, but the team only has a few Turns to get the job done. Mark the team's Speed with the Speed Marker.
Once the Speed is set and the team is ready, the game is on.
One team member draws the top card of the Adventure Deck. Regardless of the team's Speed, only one card is ever drawn at a time. Each card in the Adventure Deck falls into one of five categories — Event, Item, Monster, Room, or Trap. When a particular card is drawn, follow the instructions on that card. If it's a Monster card you must fight it; if it's a Room card, explore it; and so on.
The team must completely resolve the drawn card before moving on. In the case of a Trap, this means suffering its effects or rolling high or low enough to overcome the Trap. In the case of a Monster, this means winning the combat. This pattern continues until the team has resolved a number of cards equal to the team's Speed.
If the card drawn is an Item card, set it aside in a Pending Item pile. The team does not automatically earn it. Instead, they must fight the next Monster card to earn the Item (see Combat, below). Sometimes numerous Item cards can be set aside before a Monster is encountered. Other times, Monsters can be fought without reward. If a Turn ends, pending Item cards remain.
Repeat this until you've drawn a number of cards equal to the team's Speed. Once you've drawn and resolved the last card, the Turn is over. Complete any "end of turn" upkeep necessary before moving the Countdown Clock one space down toward zero. If the Scientists and Shuttle have been found, the team escapes the island just before the Countdown Clock ticks again. If the Countdown Clock reaches zero, the game ends. Otherwise, a new Turn begins.
Combat
When a Monster card is drawn, combat begins. Before rolling any dice for combat, the team may choose to retreat, in which case each character suffers one point of damage (or "Hit"). Discard the Monster card and any pending Item cards, and end the team's Turn, even if the Team has not yet moved its full Speed.
The team may choose to retreat at the beginning of each Combat Round, should the battle continue. All players must agree to retreat, otherwise combat continues with all team members.
During each round of combat, every player rolls one die. These are your combat rolls. Compare each player's combat roll to the Monster's Combat Value (CV). The team suffers one Hit for each combat roll that's less than the Monster's CV. The Monster suffers one Hit for each player's combat roll that is greater than its CV (you may use Tokens to mark this damage). Tied rolls do not inflict hits. If the Monster suffers damage equal to or greater than the number of players on your team, the Monster is defeated. Discard it and end the Turn. Otherwise, combat continues (unless the team retreats).
Once dice have been rolled, the team is committed to the combat. Regardless of what actions are taken to kill a Monster, any die roll less than the CV of the Monster is a wound to the team.
After defeating a Monster, you may claim a number of pending Item cards equal to the number of dots (•) following the CV and distribute them among the characters. Discard any unclaimed Item cards. If there is no dot, discard all pending Item cards. Once Items are assigned, they can only be reassigned during a Rest action.
Damage
When your team takes damage, you may direct all of the damage to one character or spread the damage among the team members in any combination.
For every Hit a character suffers, a player must • flip a Character card face down, or • discard a face-down Character card
Treat face-down Character and Item cards as blank — they no longer count as their type (Heroic, Tech, and so on) and provide no game benefit unless otherwise stated. If you flip a card with Charges on it face down, the Charges stay with the card and can still be moved or taken with the effects of other cards. If you discard a card with Charges on it, the Charges are discarded and leave play as well.
Example
Your team of three characters is fighting the Gargantuan Reanimated Cyborg Ape (CV 6). Your combat rolls (after modifications from Items, Character cards, and others) are 7, 5, and 3. The Ape suffers one Hit and can suffer two more (because there are three team members). The team must allocate two points of damage among its members. Two team members can suffer one Hit each, or one character could suffer two Hits. Agreeing that two members will suffer the damage, two Character cards are flipped face down with their Charges still attached.
After applying damage, a new round of combat starts. The team may choose to retreat (with each player taking one Hit and discarding all pending Items) before you roll for the next round of combat.
Death
If all of your Character cards have been discarded, your character is gone from play, either lost on the island, dead from exhaustion, or stark mad from dangers he witnessed in Necreaux's lair. Any Items associated with the Character are removed from play.
Special: Sliding Wall Trap
The Sliding Wall Trap card splits the party into two teams, creating an unusual situation in the game.
First, the team members decide who is going to be on the "main" team and who is going to be on the "lost" team. Each team must have at least one character on it, but otherwise the teams do not have to be evenly split. The two teams no longer count as a single team, and, as such, they won't participate in the same events. They can't swap Items or share Rest actions with each other. The teams can share information — their triple-encoded two-way micro-enhanced radio-jammer headsets still work.
After the split, the main team finishes its Turn normally, moving the Countdown Clock at the end of its Turn. Play swaps to the lost team, choosing a Speed and drawing Adventure cards like a normal Turn. Do not move the Countdown Clock at the end of the lost team Turn. While split…
- The lost team plays
- The main team plays
- Move the Countdown Clock
When a second Sliding Wall Trap card is drawn, both teams reunite (do not roll for the trap). Finish the Turn in progress (continue drawing until you reach the current team's declared Speed), counting all characters as one team. Move the Countdown Clock normally and resume play.
Ending the Game
The game ends under one of three conditions:
- The Countdown Clock reaches zero
- The Scientists and Escape Shuttle have both been found and the Turn is over
- The Escape Shuttle card is found and the team chooses to leave the Isle at the end of the Turn
If the game ends because the Countdown Clock reached zero (whether or not the Scientists were found), the island blows up with everyone on it. The world is safe, but the cost was high. If it's any consolation, you'll be remembered as heroes.
If the game ends because you made it to the Shuttle with the Scientists, you escape the island just before the bomb explodes and rescue the Scientists. The world is in your debt.
If the game ends because you made it to the Shuttle but you didn't have the Scientists, you escape the island, but… Just before the bomb explodes, you spot another shuttlecraft zipping away from the other side of the island. Unfortunately, the explosion makes pursuit impossible. Could Doctor Necreaux have escaped with the Scientists? Will the team members be forced to mount another rescue attempt?
If any team members were separated because of the Sliding Wall, the team with the Shuttle determines who leaves — and when — which can lead to some interesting conclusions to the game.
While the teams are split, the Escape Shuttle and/or Scientist cards remain with one team or the other. In the rare instance that one of the teams has or finds the Scientists and does not make it out alive, the Scientists remain unrecovered until a second Sliding Wall Trap card is drawn.
Variants
The Dream Team
You may collaborate and freely exchange Character cards with each other when distributing them at the start of the game. During setup, adjust the Countdown Clock so there are two less Turns to finish the mission.
The Misfits
Deal three Character cards to each player. Instead of selecting a Character card, each character is built by the deal of three cards. There is no customization. During setup, adjust the Countdown Clock so there is one more Turn to finish the mission.
The Dirty Half-Dozen
Deal one Character card to each player. During each Rest action, each player draws a Character card and places it face down in front of him. There is no customization. The team may not Rest two Turns in a row, nor may they Rest on the first Turn of play. During setup, adjust the Countdown Clock so there are two more Turns to finish the mission.
No Time to Waste
Deal out six Adventure cards to each player (making sure the Scientists and Escape Shuttle are not among them). Each player selects one card to put back in the Adventure Deck and sets the other five cards aside, face down and out of play. Set up the rest of the deck normally. During setup, adjust the Countdown Clock one place closer to zero for each player.
Thrilling Heroics
Each player draws four Character cards, but discards the fourth instead of keeping it. During setup, adjust the Countdown Clock so there is one less Turn to finish the mission.
Uncertain Ending
At the start of the game, move the Countdown Marker five spaces closer to zero. If you end a Turn on zero, roll one die. This roll cannot be modified or re-rolled. On a 6, the island blows up and the game ends. Otherwise, continue play, rolling at the end of each successive Turn.
What's That Over There?
Do not discard unclaimed pending Items after defeating a Monster. Save them for the next combat. During setup, adjust the Countdown Marker so there are two less Turns to finish the mission.
Advanced Play
For a more challenging play experience, start with fewer turns or even fewer character cards.
Reference Sheet
Setup
- Draw Character Cards
- Fully Charge Cards
- Prep Adventure Deck
- Set Countdown Clock
- One player: 00:12
- Two players: 00:11
- Three players: 00:10
- Four players: 00:09
- Five players: 00:08
Turn Order
- Upkeep
- Select Rest or Move
- Rest
- Flip one face-down card
- Charge one card
- Draw one card from the Adventure Deck
- Note: the printed reference sheet lists "Draw one card from the Adventure Deck" under Rest, but the Rest section above states that during Rest the team does not draw cards from the Adventure Deck. The body text is followed; the reference sheet is transcribed as printed.
- Move
- Select and Mark Speed
- Resolve Adventure cards
- Combat
- Retreat
- Suffer one point each
- Roll combat dice
- Resolve Damage
- Retreat
- Combat
- Repeat
- End of Turn Upkeep
- Adjust the Countdown Clock