The West: Ascendant
The West: Ascendant Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set Up
Shuffle together the 48 Facility cards and place them in a face down (Doppelgate side up) Facility deck in the middle of the play area, between the two players. Place the top five cards of the Facility deck face up next to the Facility deck in a row, forming "the middle."
Shuffle the 18 Locus cards and separate them into three even decks. Place them to the side of the middle, within easy reach of each player.
Each player takes a Reference Card and a Slide Tracker and sets their starting points to 40.
Determine a First Player and give them the Turn Sequence card. That player draws two cards from the Facility deck and places the top Doppelgate card of the deck in their Zone (play area). The Second Player places the double sided Doppelgate card in their Zone and draws two cards from the Facility deck.
Each player takes a CITYENGINE card and places it in their Zone set to the CITYENGINE-PLAN side.
Then, the game begins.
Facility and Doppelgate Cards
During the game, players will acquire FACILITY cards. Facility cards are used for various things in the game. Each Facility belongs to one of four types, and each type has a Facility Effect.
The back of each Facility is a DOPPELGATE. Players may acquire Doppelgates from the top of the Facility deck as the game is played. Each Doppelgate has a Trigger Effect.
Acquiring Facilities and Doppelgates, their effects, and their uses, are found later in the rules.
Locus Cards
LOCUS cards begin the game to the side in three decks. Each Locus is either a Prime or a Trigger, each has two Required Facilities, as well as an Effect (either Prime or Trigger). Locus cards are the same on the front as they are the on the back.
During the game, players may discard the two Required Facilities from their hands to acquire Locus cards from the decks to their Zone.
Acquiring Locus cards, and their effects, are found later in the rules.
CityEngine Cards
Each player has a CITYENGINE card. Cityengine cards are two sided (Plan and Complete). Once per game, a player may complete their Cityengine instead of taking a regular Action.
The requirement and effect of doing this are covered on the Cityengine cards.
Turn Sequence Card
The majority of game play for The West: Ascendant can be found on the double sided TURN SEQUENCE card. This card outlines what the player can and must do during their turn, and is passed back and forth throughout the game between the two players. The Turn Sequence card begins the game with the First Player on the Front Side. When a player has the Turn Sequence card, it is their turn.
When a player uses their ACTION (either FACILITY or LOCUS) for the turn, the other player gets a reactionary effect. This reactionary effect is not part of the Action, and does not trigger further actions.
Facility Action
When a player chooses the FACILITY ACTION, they must either:
- Take all FACILITIES of a single type from the middle and use their FACILITY EFFECT, or
- Take any two FACILITIES from the middle.
Regardless of which they choose, the other player loses 1 for each card they took.
Facility cards that a player takes go into the player's hand (which is hidden from the other player).
Locus Action
When a player chooses the LOCUS ACTION, they must:
- Discard the two Required Facilities from their hand to play a LOCUS from a deck to their Zone.
A Locus card's two Required Facilities are indicated by the two Facility illustrations on the card.
Locus Effects
At the start of the player's turn, they check for (and use) the PRIME EFFECT of any face up Locus to the side of the play area, and/or any Locus in their Zone. If there are multiple Prime Effects the player could use, they may use them in any order they wish.
When a player takes an Action, they check for (and use) the TRIGGER EFFECT of any face up Locus to the side of the play area, and/or any Locus in their Zone. If there are multiple Trigger Effects the player could use, they may use them in any order they wish.
CityEngine Action
Each player has a CITYENGINE card. On a player's turn, once per game, instead of taking a FACILITY or LOCUS ACTION, they may follow the instructions on their Cityengine card.
Doppelgates
At the end of a player's turn, they may discard matching Facility cards from their hand to play a DOPPELGATE from the deck to their Zone. This is covered on the Turn Sequence card.
Points and Ending the Game
Throughout the game, players will do things to the other player to cause them to lose points. Points are the only thing that can be lost in this game. As a player loses points, they adjust their Slide Tracker along the Points Track to the side of their double sided SCORE-REFERENCE card.
Players cannot gain points during the game. Players cannot go below 0 during the game.
The Turn Sequence card indicates the end game conditions. The Score-Reference cards show the end game scoring. When the game ends, the player with the most points wins.
General Rule
ALL EFFECTS AND ABILITIES IN THIS GAME ARE MANDATORY (UNLESS THEY INCLUDE "MAY") AND MUST BE FOLLOWED TO THE BEST OF THE PLAYER'S ABILITY. A PLAYER CANNOT SELECT AN ACTION THAT THEY CAN NOT COMPLETE. WHEN IN DOUBT, DO WHAT THE CARD SAYS.