The Mushroom Eaters
The Mushroom Eaters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 Game Board
- 1 Action Pawn (representing the Mushroom)
- 1 Challenge Die
- 1 First Player Token
- 1 Nervous System Board
- 2 Small Focus Boards (Hour and Shaman Drum boards)
- 7 Face Tokens
- 20 Mantras (4 of 5 different Mantras: A, B, C, D, E)
- 32 Awake tokens (24 at 1, 8 at 5s)
- 5 Breathe Tokens
- 25 Wisdom Tokens (16 at 1, 9 at 2)
- 41 Paradox Tokens (25 at 1, 12 at 5, 4 at 10)
- 1 6xp Paradox Token
- 1 3xp Personal Path Token
- 17 Place Action Tokens (12 regular, 5 advanced marked A)
- 10 Small Nervous System Cubes (2 in each player color)
- 40 Large Focus Cubes (8 in each player color)
- 10 Personal Path Octagons (2 in each player color)
- 40 Player Mood Cards (8 cards in each player color)
- 10 Environment Cards
- 10 Share and Talking Cards
- 36 Personal Path cards
- 5 Experience Point/Shaman Relief cards (1 for each player)
- 1 Mantra Overview Card
- 2 Symbol Aid Cards
- 5 sets of 3D Glasses
Theme Overview
Those seeking to understand the themes portrayed can read this section. Understanding the terminology and function may help players understand their goals more clearly.
Gaining and losing. The game revolves around gaining and losing Experiences. Experience could be seen as ideas, insight, or contemplation. Players gain things like Awakenings, Wisdom, Nervous System Strength, Focus, Personal Paths concepts of the Great Paradox and so forth. These all have value in the game and are considered collecting Experience - for this booklet this Experience will be called "items." Game players are physically gaining and losing tokens so the term items may make greater sense.
While these items have a value they can be easily lost by the overall Psychedelic Experience. The Experience added at the end of the game is formed out of the thoughts that remain.
Mood Cards - the hand of 8 player card represent the various moods felt throughout a psychedelic experience. These moods might help speed up or slowly move through an area.
Nervous System - The nervous system is challenged through this experience. The Intensity track is a meter for the nerves when under duress by the generic term "Intense moments." The term intense is referring to moments that seem to challenge an Eaters very survival. While these moments may actually be safe, to an Eater the moment may be an eternity of contemplation over a microscopic idea that carries the weight of the sun.
The Moving Forward track is the energy an Eater may or may not have to move past a moment.
Heavy Actions - Moments that are filled with rapid concepts, perhaps the desire to flee from thinking, ideas immediately lost because the moment is just "too much."
Intensity - The Challenge of Intensity would be the Eaters ability to grasp a vast and wild thought and not be crushed by the weight of the subject matter. An Eater that can do this earns a Paradox. An Eater that doesn't have the energy, is losing ideas and concepts because he can not grasp the amount of data that is occurring. He may be sinking into panic.
Everyone loses an energy after this sort of moment.
Shaman Drum - The ability to navigate through moments rather than being consumed by them, yet still being able to understand fragments of the Paradox.
Paradox - Collecting paradox is understanding a fragment of the Great Paradox. The Great Paradox being a gigantic, possibly infinite, idea that can only be seen in fragments.
Wisdom - The greater understanding or learned path of something that will be carried with an Eater further into life.
Awakening - A quick revelation that has meaning, but overall a general observance. It can be important but also light in weight.
Mantra - This is referring to perhaps a Shamanic saying that may carry a deeper understanding, and the Eaters ability to understand the idea. The Mantra spaces are moments when a student grasps an idea by their teacher that they may have heard a thousand times but had yet to fully grasp.
Talking - Words can be very confusing in a psychedelic state. If words aren't difficult enough actually speaking them can be even harder. Talking moments are people trying to discuss concepts with words and the difficulty or success of grasping the concepts.
Sharing - Kind gestures, comforting, being there for another can reward both Eaters. Perhaps learning a way of being and sharing it through action.
Fire - The brief moment of rest or re-focus. The Fire spaces throughout the game are the Eaters remembering that they are just sitting around a fire, and are okay. In these quick moments the Eaters are able to rebuild momentarily.
Environment - Going from an indoor environment to an outdoor environment can be like visiting two different planets. The mood and character of each environment speaks differently. When an environment needs to be checked, the Eaters may have moved or something may have occurred that changes the environment. These changes can range from feeling Cold, to Sick, to Giggling, to feelings of Euphoria.
Hour/Faces - Each hour holds a different personality. The track represents an Eater, perhaps meditating or allowing their body or mind to drift off in a sort of physical sense, but also in a mental capacity as well. Each face representing the passing of time per hour.
Personal Path. The personal path cards are individual contemplations. It is the mind drifting away with it's own thought. A player on a personal path is caught in a thought and must see it out to completion. Some thoughts may be intense or heavy, other may help him gain insight. While in a personal path the player plays alone as the other players continue forward without him.
Game Play
The game begins with the Action Pawn in the Shaman's hut on the first space of the Action Track.
Each player has their own hand of 8 Player Mood Cards.
A turn is divided into 3 Phases. The current First Player must play in the following in Phase Order:
- Play 1 Mood Card.
- Move the Action Pawn Forward on the Action Path the number of spaces shown on the card played.
- Experience the Action on the space where the Pawn lands.
After a player has completed his action, he passes the First Player token clockwise. The next player plays a Mood Card, moves the Action Pawn forward, experiences the action and so on. Play continues in this manner until the final space on the Action Path is reached at which point players add their Experience. The player with the most Experience becomes the Shaman.
NOTE: The First Player Token doesn't necessarily need to be passed. It is best to use the First Player token for Actions that have more procedure, so all players can remember the clockwise turn order.
Phases of a Turn
1. Play 1 Card
Each player has a hand of 8 Mood cards. The current First Player must play 1 card. After the card is played it is placed in the player's personal discard pile. At any time a player has no cards, he takes his discards to form a new hand.
2. Move the Party Marker
Each Mood Card has a movement number. After the card has been played the current player moves the Action Pawn forward on the adventure track the EXACT amount of spaces stated on the card.
The Action Pawn CAN be moved further up the track by using a Moving Forward Energy on the Nervous System Board at this time (discussed in Nervous System section).
The Action Pawn MUST stop at the beginning of any Must Do series of actions regardless of the number stated on the card. (Discussed in Must Do Actions)
*If playing with Personal Paths, playing a card as a 2 may force a player to move onto a Personal Path Space, if in range. (Discussed in Personal Paths)
The Action Pawn MUST move forward, NEVER backwards.
Players can play the 0 card to not move the Action Pawn and re-experience the same Action but no ONE player can re-experience the same Action twice. (0 card explained in Mood Card section)
ex. Arielle plays a 3 card, and moves the Action Marker exactly 3 spaces forward.
3. Experience the Action
When the Action Pawn is moved onto an Action the current player MUST experience the Action. The Action Path has unique spaces. Each space represents different actions the Eaters can take. Some actions just affect the current player, most of the actions affect all players. Also many of the actions are helpful, but some of them can be difficult.
Basic Action Overview
(Each action will be explained in detail in the Actions Section. This section is an overview of the general types of actions. If the game flow is understood after this section players could try the game and refer to each Action in the Action Section as they arise. After each action is attempted the overall game should fully realized.)
Current Player Action. Each Action marked with a 1 means only the current player will take the action.
ex. The current player lands on a Breathe Space. Only he flips his Breathe chip to Deep Breathing.
Every Player Action. Each Action with no number means ALL players will take part in the action. The action is always first experienced by the current player and then followed clockwise by all the other players. This turn order also applies whenever players collectively gain or remove items. Some items can clearly be gained or discarded simultaneously, use your best judgment!
ex. The player must draw a Share Card. The Share Card has 3 items. The current player must take 2 items for himself and give one item to another player of his choice.
Heavy Action. When a player lands the Action Pawn on a Heavy Action every player experiences the loss. Players lose the item shown on these Actions in turn order beginning with the current player.
Ex. Tyler plays a 3 Mood Card and can't avoid landing the Action Pawn on a lose 1 Nervous System energy. Every player must decrease on energy on the Nervous System Board on either the Intensity or Moving Forward side of the board. (explained in Nervous System section)
Must Do Action. These spaces represent segments of the Experience that must be experienced. The Action Pawn MUST land on these Must Do Spaces. If a player plays a card that can move the Action Pawn beyond a Must Do space he must land on the Must Do Action instead!
Some of these Must Do spaces are grouped into a series of actions. The current player that lands on the first Must Do Action in a grouping remains the current player as each action is experienced.
ex. The Action Pawn is 2 spaces away from a Must Do Action. Tyler plays a 3 Mood Card but must move the Action Pawn onto the grey Must Do Action. This Must Do Action is the beginning of a grouping of 3 separate Must Do Actions. Tyler must remain the current player in each space of the grouping. His turn will be finished after the last Must Do Action is experienced.
NOTE: The game begins on a series of 2 Must Do Actions. The First Player will remain the current player for those two Must Do Actions, and the next player clockwise will begin the journey into the regular action spaces.
Mantra Action. Each Mantra space represents the ability to understand the Mantra spoken. Each letter matches a Mantra Token Eaters can collect on their journey. When the party marker lands on a letter of a Mantra space ALL players check if they own a Mantra token matching the letter.
ex. Wendy lands on a C Mantra space. The Shaman is chanting a phrase. Both she and Jason have a C Mantra Token, thus the context of what the Shaman is speaking is understood and they collect the items featured on the Token (1 Awakening and 1 Wisdom).
Intense Action. These spaces represent the intensity of the Experience on the Eaters. All players will experience the Intense Action simultaneously. Intense Actions are a challenge with the moment and is explained thoroughly in the Intense Moment Section.
Shaman Drum Action. These spaces represent the Shaman and another player playing a primitive beat or chant to shake the Eaters' fragile minds from the Intense Moments. This will be explained in detail in the Shaman Drum Section.
Place Symbol. Eaters draw from the face down Place Action Tokens and put the token face up on top of the Place symbol. These should be placed immediately when seen.
Personal Path Action. Personal Paths are generally branched away from the main Action Path. Players may or must individually experience these Actions by moving off the main Path. Discussed fully in the Personal Path section.
After the current player has completed his action play continues clockwise. The next player plays a Mood Card, moves the Action Marker, experiences the Action and so on. This continues until the final space on the action track is reached at which point players add their collected Experience. The player with the most Experience has understood how to best navigate in this psychedelic realm and becomes the new Shaman.
End Game
Players collect their Experience in different forms as follows:
- Awakening Tokens = 1 Experience
- Face Tokens = 3 Experience
- Wisdom = 2 Experience
- Paradox Tokens = 0.5 Experience (10 would equal 5 Experience)
Greater Paradox. Player with the most Paradox has a greater understanding of the Great Paradox and earns 6 Experience. If tied, points are divided and rounded down.
Most Personal Paths. The player who has collected the most Personal Path cards has contemplated many concepts and earns 3 Experience. If tied, points are divided rounding down.
End Game Example.
Jason has:
- 4 Awakening = 4xp
- 2 Faces = 6xp
- 4 Wisdom = 8xp
- 9 Paradox = 4.5xp
Jason's total is 22.5xp
Understanding Nerves, Focus and the Expanding Mind
Now that you know the flow of the game, below are a few details you'll want to know so you can travel well.
The Nervous System
The Nervous System Board will keep record of the Nervous System's constitution throughout the session. There are two tracks on the Nervous System Board: Intensity track which marks a players capacity to confront Intense moments from a weakened strength level of 1 to a confident level of 10. The Moving Forward track marks a player's ability to move the Action Pawn forward from a strength of 0 to 4.
During any action that allows a player to increase his Nervous System level, he may increase his Energy level on either the Intensity or Moving Forward track. Also any action that asks a player to decrease his Energy level, he may choose to decrease either from the Intensity or Moving Forward track.
Players look to the Nervous System Board to see how much Energy they have in an Intense Action. When in an Intense Action (which will be explained further below), players will compare their Strength to the total strength value of the Intense Moment the players are in.
The Moving Forward track allows players to move the Action Pawn further when playing their Mood Cards. A Player can add Move Forward energy to increase the value of the movement on the Mood Card played. On his turn, a player can spend as much Move Forward energy as he wishes. For each Move Forward energy spent the player moves the Action Pawn another space further along the Action Path and also moves his Moving Forward cube down the number of energy spent. Moving Forward energy may not be used to move the party marker in reverse nor can it be used to skip Must Do actions.
ex. Jason plays a 2 Mood Card. He moves the Action Pawn 2 spaces along the Action Path, and then spends 2 Moving Forward energy to move the pawn an extra 2 spaces. He moves his Move Forward cube down 2 spaces on the track.
Focus
Two smaller boards are to monitor the Eaters ability to focus during their journey.
During any action that allows a player to add a cube to Focus track, he may add the cube on either Board. Also any time a player must remove a cube from a Focus track, the player also chooses to remove the cube from either Board.
Players add cubes to these tracks from their stock of large Focus cubes. When a player adds a Focus he puts his new cube/cubes on the bottom of whatever track he has chosen. If there are no spaces left on the track, the player still puts his cubes on the bottom of the track, but must first push all the cubes up the track until enough cubes fall off from the top to allow him enough space to add his cubes. Any cubes knocked off the top of a track are given back to the appropriate players.
If a player has no cubes in their personal stock he may use a cube in use. If a cube is removed in this manner all cubes slide up the track to fill its vacancy. Cubes can be taken and used again on the same track.
ex. Arielle has earned the ability to add 2 of her Focus cubes. She could add one to both the Hour Board or the Shaman Drum track but decides to invest both cubes on the Hour Board. This track only has one open space so she must first push all the cubes up one space to give her two empty spaces. This knocks one of Tyler's cubes off the track. She now places both of her cubes on the bottom.
3xp Face Action. Any time the players encounters a Face Action players look to the plot track. The player with the most cubes on the Hour Board immediately earns the 3xp Face Token pictured. He has focused the most on letting go in this hour. If there is a tie, the player who has a cube closest to the top of the track wins the Face Token.
After the player earns his Face Token he must remove the ONE cube closest to the top of the track and return it to his supply.
ex. Jason moves the Action Marker on the Face Action. Jason has one cube on the Hour Focus track, Arielle has 2 cubes, Wendy has 2 cubes and Tyler has no cubes on the track. Arielle has one cube further up the track than Jason and earns the Face Token, and removes her top cube from the track.
If no cubes are on the Hour Board when a 3xp action occurs ALL player must lose one item! All players have failed to focus this hour.
Shaman Drum
During moments of Intensity, players might land on a Shaman Drum Action, if so players look to the Shaman Drum Board. The player with the most cubes on this track earns 2 Paradox. If there is a tie, again, the player closest to the top of the track earns the Paradox.
After the player earns his 2 Paradox he must remove the one cube closest to the top of the track and return it to his supply.
If no cubes are on the Shaman Drum Board when the Eaters mourn for assistance ALL players must lose one item! All players have failed to navigate as Eaters during this Shaman Drum action.
The Intense Moment
Throughout the Experience the Eaters encounter many intense moments. Anytime the Action Pawn lands on an Intensity Action a Paradox Challenge must ensue and players follow this 3 phase procedure.
Paradox Challenge Procedure
- Roll The Challenge die and add the Intensity number nearest the action.
- Determine Player Outcome.
- Lose 1 Nervous System.
1. Roll The Challenge Die. The current player rolls the die for the Confrontation. Each Intense Action has an Intensity value number located near the Action. For example the trees on Panel B have a value of 5. This number represents the probable Intensity of the Actions in the area. When the die is rolled the number rolled is added or subtracted to the probable value to determine the total Intensity of the Confrontation. A blank side equals zero.
ex a. Tyler Lands on an Intense Action. He rolls a +1. The total Confrontation value is 6 (5+1=6)
2. Determine Player Outcome. All players look to their Intensity Energy track on the Nervous System Board. Any player whose energy is equal to or greater than the Challenge's total Intensity earns 1 Paradox. All players below the Challenge Intensity total must lose any one item they own. Any items lost, are lost in turn order. (see Losing Items)
ex b. All Players check the Intensity Energy. Tyler and Arielle have 7 strength. Jason has 6 strength and Wendy has 4. Everyone but Wendy earns a Paradox. Wendy must lose any 1 item.
3. Lose 1 Nervous System. ALL PLAYERS must lose one Energy after a Challenge. Players lose this energy regardless whether they earned a Paradox or not, confronting the Great Paradox takes energy. Players may decrease their level on either side of the Nervous System Board.
Note: If a player can not decrease any energy because he is at the bottom of both tracks, he must lose 1 more item! He is in a full blown panic attack.
ex c. After the Confrontation every player MUST decrease an energy level on either side of the Nervous System Board. Tyler decides to decrease his Moving Forward energy.
Deep Breathing
Anytime during a single Intense Moment players can flip over their Deep Breathing to avoid the Challenge. When a player flips over his Breathing Token he is passing from the Intense Action entirely. He avoids every phase of that Intense Action. He loses no items even if he is below the energy level needed, but he also does not gain a Paradox. The player flipping over a Breathe Token also will not lose a Nervous System Energy in the third phase of a Challenge. A used Breathe Token cannot be used again unless turned back to the Deep Breathing side.
ex. Wendy has 4 Intensity energy and can not beat the Challenge of 5 strength. She flips his Breathe Token and does not gain an Paradox or lose an item. Nor does he decrease an energy when everybody else does.
Mantras
When the Action Marker lands on a Mantra Action all players check to see if they own the matching Mantra token. Each player, with a matching Mantra collects the items featured, in player order. After items have been collected the Mantra Token is returned to the Supply. If a player does not own the Mantra specified in the action he loses the item mentioned on the Mantra Overview Card.
Mantra Tokens are limited. Players may own more than 1 of the same Mantra, as there is 2 of every Mantra space per Chant. A player may earn the items on one Mantra and discard it, and earn the items from the same letter if experienced again and the player owns another of the same Mantra Token. If all Mantra Tokens are taken and a player has a chance to earn one, he earns nothing.
Many Mantra tokens can be obtained using Share Cards, Environment Cards, and Fire actions.
All Mantras collected, but 1, are returned during the first Must Do actions on Panel F.
Environment
As an action the current player must draw the top card of the Environment Deck. The current player places the card face up so all players can see. Each player, beginning with the current player and going clockwise, MUST play ONE Mood Card from their hand. The movement number from the card played will match a number on the Environment card. Players receive the item to the right of the matching number. In some cases players may lose an item depending on what card they play. After the Environment card has been played it is discarded next to the other Environment cards. If all Environment cards have been discarded the deck is shuffled to make a new deck.
If a player has no cards in hand when the Environment card is played he immediately draws all of his Mood discards into hand and plays a card.
Some Environment cards do not have a 0. If a 0 card is played and the card does not have a 0, the player earns or loses nothing.
ex. Jason lands on a Environment Action, and draws an Environment card. The Eaters have become Cold. Each player must play one card. Jason playes a 2 and earns an Energy. He raises his Intensity energy. Arielle can only play a 1 and loses an Awakening, Tyler plays a 3 and places a Focus Cube at the bottom of the Shaman Drum influence track. This placement pushes Jason off the top of the track. Wendy also plays a 2 and moves her Moving Forward energy up one.
Reminder: If a player plays a card for an item he is to remove, and does not own that item, nothing happens, he just discards the card as normal and has no further penalty.
Share
As an action, the current player must draw the top card of the Share/Talking deck. Only the Share portion of the card is checked. The Share portion will have 3 items. The current player chooses to keep two of these items for himself, and must choose another player to receive the third item. If the third item is an item another player cannot receive (because someone already has Deep Breathing or no card to draw), he must give the item to a player that can receive it. If no one can receive an item due to this circumstance, nobody receives it. After the items on the card have been decided, it is discarded. If all Share/Talking cards have been discarded, shuffle the discards to form a new deck.
ex. Tyler lands on a Share Action, and draws a Share/Talking card. The Share portion offers a Mantra Token, an increase in Nervous System Energy and a Deep Breathing. Tyler takes the Mantra and increase in Energy and gives the Deep Breathing to Jason. He could not give Deep Breathing to Arielle because she already had Deep Breathing.
Talking
When the Eaters lands on this space conversation ensue and the current player draws one card from the Share/Talking Deck and refers only to the Talking Bubble icon on the card. The current player must give the card to any one player. The player earning the card must deal with the effect mentioned in the Talking Bubble. After effects are dealt with, the player who was given the Talking Card draws from the same deck and gives that card to any player that has not yet received a Talking Card. The new earning player deals with the effects of his card and draws a card to give to any player without a card and so forth until all players have received 1 card. After all players have received a card the Action is finished and play continues with the next clockwise player. Players shuffle Talking Cards back into the deck incase they land on another Talking space later.
If the card shows an item with a red bolt, the player must lose this item. If item does not have a bolt, the player gains the item mentioned.
A player can not give himself the card drawn, unless he is the only player in the conversation. (This may be possible if Personal Path cards are in use)
ex. Landing on a Talking Action Tyler draws a Talking card and gives it to Jason, Jason is bothered by what Tyler has to say and loses 1 Paradox. Jason draws a card and gives it to Tyler. Disturbed by Jason's conversation Tyler must lose a Mantra. Tyler draws again and gives the card to Wendy, and Wendy gains a Nervous System Energy. Wendy draws and must give Arielle the card because all other players already have a card. Arielle must lose 1 Awakening.
Fire
This is a common space of rest and refocus for the Eaters. In player order all players must play one Mood Card from their hand. Players collect the item/s featured next to the Fire on the card played. The card is discarded. If a player has no cards in hand before a Fire Action he takes all cards into his hand as normal. The items of the resting fire and other features of the cards are mentioned below.
Personal Path
Personal Path actions are individual episodes a player may encounter. These actions can be on the regular Action Path, but are often branching off of the Action Path. A player can choose to move to these actions, but may also have to move to these actions.
If a player moves the Action Pawn on to the action, he places one of his Personal Path Octagons onto the Action and draws the top card from the Personal Path Deck and places the card face up in front of himself. He places his second Octagon on the first Action of his Personal Action Path located on the lower left of his card. The first action is not played, the player has just prepared for the Personal Path. He will have the opportunity to use actions on this card his next turn.
A player may also move to a Personal Path action space branching off the Action Path. He must have enough movement to reach the path. A Mood Card with more movement can be used, extra movement is lost. The Action Pawn is moved to the Action adjacent to the Personal Path space and the player uses the extra movement to place his Octagon on the branching Action. The player draws a card from the Personal Path Deck and places it face up in front of himself, placing his second Octagon on the first Action of the Personal Path. The first action is not played, the player has just prepared for the Personal Path. He will have the opportunity to use actions on this card his next turn.
The adjacent action the Main Action pawn is moved to is not played, only the Personal Path card is drawn by the player at this time. The next player in clockwise order will move the main Action Pawn forward.
If a player is within a 2 space range from a Personal Path Action and plays a 2 Mood Card, the player MUST move directly to the Personal Path action!
Entering a Personal Path
Once a Personal Path Action, on the board, has an Octagon no other player can use the Action (even if a 0 card is played.) The action is considered locked until the player finishes the Personal Path. The other players must continue to move the main Action Pawn forward. Any "0" card played in this instance is considered passing.
ex. Jason is two spaces away from a branching Personal Path action. He plays a 3 Mood Card and moves the main Action Pawn 1 space forward, leaving the main pawn on this Action and places his Octagon on the branching action as his second movement. Having used the 3 Mood card, his third movement is lost. He draws a card and places his second Octagon on the first action of the card. He will begin advancing on the Personal Path on his next turn. The next player, Wendy, plays a 2 Mood Card and moves the Action Pawn forward leaving Jason behind to complete his Personal Path.
Once a player has drawn a Personal Path, he has ventured away from the rest of the players and must complete his personal path alone. A player begins on the lower left action and must move up the Path, and complete the card on the final Must Do action.
The following rules are applied when on a Personal Path:
- As the current player, Mood Cards played can only move the Octagon forward on the Personal Path card, his Mood Cards will not affect the main Action Pawn while on the Personal Path Card.
- Nothing the main Action Pawn does affects the players on Personal Paths. Also, nothing a player does on a Personal Path will affect other players. Ex. If players using the Action Pawn moved onto an Environment Action the players on Personal Paths do not participate and visa versa.
- Players on Personal Path are counted in Actions that consult Focus tracks.
- A Player on a Personal Path may Share and be Shared with.
- "0" Mood cards can be played on a Personal Path but each action can only be performed once! If a player has already experienced an action and plays a 0 it is considered passing. (Note: Playing a "0" is the only way to experience the first action on a Personal Path)
- Intensity base value on a Personal Path is located in the upper left hand corner.
- Each Personal Path card ends with a Must Do Action.
When a Personal Path Card is complete the player removes his Octagon from both the board and the card, collects the card and IMMEDIATELY joins the rest of the Eaters. The player can participate in any group action again and move the Action Pawn forward.
Losing Any Items
Anytime a player must lose ANY item he can choose from: cubes on the Focus Boards, decreasing Nervous System Energy levels, Awakening Tokens, Paradox, Wisdom, Mantra Tokens, Personal Path cards and Face Tokens (Face tokens can't be divided into Experience points. A player cannot trade his 3 xp Face Token for 2 Awakening. He loses whole token!).
Players can't lose Mood cards in their hand or discards, nor cubes from their supply.
If a player does not have the particular item to lose he loses nothing.
You are now aware of the primary functions of the game. As you are playing you can refer to this action section on the journey when needed.
Special Action
After the Jelly Space is reached, for the remainder of the game, a player, may, at any time during their turn, use ONE special action. This is a one time action! After it has been used no other special action can be played. This special action does not count as a player turn.
Special Actions
- Add 2 focus to any track/s
- Increase 2 Nervous System Energy on any track.
- Avoid the effects of not having a Mantra (this Special Action can be used on another player's action)
- Flip Breath Token to Deep Breathing
- Gain 2 Paradox
In addition to the use of a Special Action, all Identity Mood Cards can be played as a 0 to 3 Movement. Explained in Mood Card section.
Easier Game?
First time players, and players very new to gaming may want to remove Personal Paths and the Jelly Space from the game. Simply play without them. When Personal Paths arise, ignore them and do not count them in for movement. Also ignore the Jelly Space benefits of adding Movement to the Identity Card, also ignore the use of the Special Action.
2-3 Player Game
The Focus Tracks in a 2 and 3 player game are limited. Players in a 3 player game do not use the last space on either Focus Board. In a 2 player game, players do not use the last 2 spaces on either Focus Board.
In a 2 player game the Talking Action is a bit different. On a Talking Action, the current player draws 4 Talking cards and places them face up. The current player must choose one card to give to their opponent. The card's effects are dealt with and the opponent chooses one of the remaining 3 cards and gives it to the current player. The player deals with the effects. The remaining 2 cards are left face up. If another Talking Action is played 2 more cards are added to make another 4 face up cards. The same procedure continues.
Mood Cards
Identity Card (1). This card embodies the player's personal subconscious. Equals 2 movement until the Jelly Space is reached. After the Jelly Space is reached players can now use their Identity Mood Card to move 0 - 3 spaces. Also in Environment actions an Identity card can equal 0-3 value.
On Fire action, if played, either 2 Awakening Tokens or 1 Mantra Token can be chosen.
3 Movement Cards (2). Equals 3 movement.
On one card's Fire, if played, 2 Nervous System energy. Player chooses how to increase energy.
On other Fire, if played, earns the player 2 Focus. Player chooses how to distribute the cubes. (One cube on each track or 2 on one track.)
2 Movement Cards (2) (Identity card is considered a third) Equals 2 movement. MUST move to Personal Path if in Range.
On one card's Fire, if played, player earns 1 Focus. Player chooses how to distribute.
On other Fire, if played, player earns 1 Energy. Player chooses how to distribute.
1 Movement Cards (2) Equals 1 Movement.
On one card's Fire, if played, player Draws 1 card from their Mood discard pile back into their hand.
On other Fire, if played, player flips Breathe token to Deep Breathing. If player already has Deep Breathing it earns the player nothing. It's just discarded.
0 Movement Card (1). Equals 0 movement.
On Fire action, earn 1 Paradox.
If a player plays a 0 Movement he experiences the same action on the space the Action Pawn sits. This also can occur for Identity cards after the Jelly Space is reached and Identity movement is used as 0.
Players can continue playing 0 Movement cards until the player who originally landed on the space takes his turn again. This player must move the party forward if he can. If this player can only play a 0 Movement card, nothing happens. He just discards his card, and the next player must move the party forward. A single player cannot experience the same action twice.
Note. 0 Movement cards CANNOT be used to repeat a Must Do or Series of Must Do action spaces. If a player can only play a 0 Movement card on a Must Do Action nothing happens, he discards his card, and the next clockwise player must move the party forward.
On Personal Paths, the only way to experience the first space is to play a 0 Movement Card.
ex 1. The Action Pawn sits on an Awakening Action. Tyler plays his 0 Mood Card and collects an Awakening.
ex 2. Wendy has moved the Action Pawn onto a Share Action and Shares. Jason, Arielle, and Tyler all play 0 Movement cards to Experience the Share Action as well. Wendy cannot experience the action again since she has already experienced the action. She must now move the Eaters forward and plays a 2 Movement card to move the Eaters 2 spaces forward.
ex 2. Jason must move the Action Pawn off the Must Do Fire space. He only can play a 0 Movement Card, and does so. Nothing happens, the Fire is not experienced again, and it is now Arielle's turn.