Thunder Rolls Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Section 1 - Setup and Anatomies
  • Components
  • Game on the Table
  • Card Anatomies
  • Action Space Anatomy
• Section 2 - Playing the Game
  • Rolling Phase
  • Thunder Phase
  • Thunder Interlude
• Section 3 - Cards
  • Hazard Cards
  • Race Cards
  • Non-Player Driver and Action Cards
  • Race Cards (Track Rules)
  • Qualifying Cards
• Section 4 - Action Spaces
• Section 4 - Concepts in Detail
  • Moving
• Section 5 - Race Series
• Section 6 - Championship
• Section 7 - Iconography
  • Action Space and Team Tile Icons
  • Bonus Racing Actions

Section 1 - Setup and Anatomies

Components

1. 1 Game Board (Double sided with 1 track on each side)
   • 1a. Action Spaces
   • 1b. 5 Red Flags
2. 8 Team cards (tarot sized)
   • 2a. 64 Dice (8 six-sided dice in each team colors)
   • 2b. 16 Cubes (2 Cubes in 8 Different Team colors)
3. Small Cards
   • 3a. 12 Speed Cards
   • 3b. 32 Thunder Rolling Cards
   • 3c. 12 Deck of Hazard Cards
   • 3d. 16 Qualifying Cards
   • 3e. 16 Non-Player Actions Cards
   • 3f. 8 Non-Player Driver Cards
4. 8 Race Cars (1 each team color)
5. 1 Pole/Leader Token
6. 4 Race Cards (tarot sized)
7. 8 Guide cards (poker sized cards)
8. 24 Solitaire Tiles (2 Sets)

Game on the Table

1. Place the game board on the table (Oval side up if this is your first game).
   • 1a. Action Spaces are at the bottom of the game board. Leave room under each Action Space for Thunder card placement.
   • 1b. If playing with 4 players or less, place 1 Red flag on the 3rd priority space of each Action Space.
2. Each player takes a Team Tile, the matching color car, the 8 matching color dice and the 2 matching color cubes. The Team card should have the "Driver" side face up granting the ability - "May Flip to Re-Roll Any Number of Dice". Each player places 1 of their color cubes on the Start space of the Laps track on the game board and 1 cube on the Champion Scoreboard.
3. Shuffle each deck of small cards separately then:
   • 3a. Place on the indicated space on the game board.
   • 3b. Populate Action Spaces: Place 3 Thunder cards under each Action Space as noted by the icons on the lower right corner of the space (down pointing arrow is face down, up pointing arrow is face up). Place the remaining cards on the indicated space on the game board.
   • 3c. Place on the indicated space on the game board.
   • 3d. Deal each player 2 Qualifying cards. Place the remaining cards on the indicated space on the game board.
   • 3e. Place on the indicated space on the game board.
   • 3f. Place Non-Player Driver Cards (NPDs) face up near the game board in any order. Place all NPDs back in the box if it matches a human player's chosen color. Place all dice matching NPD colors back in the box. Place cubes matching NPD colors on the lap and score tracks.
4. Each player chooses 1 Qualifying card to play as their Qualifying number and discards the other. Higher numbers earn better starting positions for the race. The lower numbered Qualifying cards provide a bonus for use during the race. NPC Drivers will use their Qualify number to place their car. Place the car of the player or NPD with the highest qualifying number on the 1 space, the next highest on the 2nd space and so on until all cars have been placed. If a player has a number that matches an NPC Driver's Qualify number, the player gets placed before the NPC Driver.
5. Once all of the cars are on the starting grid, give the player in the #1 space the Pole/Leader token. In the rare case an NPC Driver is in the Pole position, the player with a car closest to the 1st position takes the Pole/Leader token. Non-Player Drivers never are considered as the first player.
6. Choose 1 of the Race cards to play. The Race card shows which side of the game board will be used. One player reads the race card which identifies the number of Stages in the race, the number of dice rolled in each Stage by players, special rules for the race, and Scoring. Place the Race card on the track in the designated area.
7. Give each player a Reference Guide card.
8. If playing solo, use the 24 Solitaire Tiles. (The solitaire variant's full rules are not included in this draft of the rulebook.)

Card Anatomies

Every small card in Thunder Rolls carries printed reference icons so players rarely need to check the rulebook mid-race:

• Team Cards show the team's Qualifying Number and, on the Driver side, the team's re-roll ability ("May Flip to Re-Roll Any Number of Dice").
• Thunder Cards show a movement value (the number of spaces to roll the car forward), and may show icons for the Rolling Phase bonus and the Thunder Phase bonus.
• Hazard Cards show a movement penalty, a Mandatory Programmed Location, and a No Pit Penalty (see Section 3).

Action Space Anatomy

Each Action Space on the board shows:

• Dice Set: which number the dice set placed here must show (sets containing only 1's may be placed on Pit Stop, and so on for each space).
• Dice Placement Bonus: the racing action gained when placing dice on this Action Space.
• Penalty / Rewards: gained at the end of the Rolling Phase (only Pit Stop and Low Line carry these).
• Priority Position: players in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd priority positions gain the Thunder Cards beneath the space.
• Thunder Card Orientation: cards placed beneath Action Spaces are face up or face down; down arrows are face down, up arrows are face up.

Section 2 - Playing the Game

Thunder Rolls is played in 2 distinct Phases:

Rolling Phase: Players roll their dice and place them on the Action Spaces to perform racing actions and try to gain position on one of the three priority spaces. Players continue to take turns in rounds until all players have depleted their dice pool by placing all dice on Action Spaces. After all dice have been placed, players gain the cards beneath each Action Space based on the priority placement of their dice.

Thunder Phase: Players program the cards acquired in the Rolling Phase. Once programmed, the player with the leader token reveals their leftmost card and performs the movement and action on it, followed by each player clockwise revealing a card and moving on the track as indicated. After each player has completed 1 card, the NPDs are activated by the Lead player, and then the process is repeated until all players and NPDs resolve 4 cards.

This section provides detailed game play of these two phases. It is recommended that at least one player has read Section 3 - Concepts in Detail, which identifies additional rules and examples.

Rolling Phase

Roll Dice, Create Dice sets, Place Dice, and use Placement Actions.

Step 1 – Roll Dice Pool: Players gather all the dice in their dice pool and roll them.

Step 2 – Create Dice Sets: Players create sets of matching dice, placing all dice of the same number rolled into each set.

Step 3 – Place Dice Sets: Starting with the Pole/Leader and going clockwise, players take turns placing one set of dice on the Action Space matching the number of their chosen set. Once placed, a player takes the Placement Action of the Action Space.

Dice Priority: All dice in a set must be placed. The first player to place dice on an Action Space always places in the 1st place priority rank. The second player to place dice on the same action as another player will place their dice in the 2nd place priority rank unless the second player has more dice in their dice set. If the second player has more dice in their set, the first player is bumped into the second place priority spot. Dice sets will always be placed on the highest priority space available, moving dice sets with fewer dice down one priority level. This may force multiple dice sets down the priority ranking if multiple players have dice on the same action. When a player adds a dice set to an Action that already contained their dice, the dice sets are combined to make a single larger set. This may cause a dice set to rise in the priority rankings and thus bump other dice sets below it. Dice placed below the 3rd priority still perform the action of the Action Space, and in case of the Pit action still qualify as pitting to avoid Hazard penalties.

Priority Example: The active player rolls eight dice and gains the following results: 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6. The player would like to get her pit stop out of the way to avoid a Hazard, but does not want to place three dice on her first turn. She decides to go with the 6's and places both dice showing a 6 on the 1st space of The Groove and advances her car 2 spaces on the board.

Using Team Re-Roll Ability: If the player does not like the numbers rolled on their dice, they may flip their Team card from the "Driver" side that states "May Flip to Re-Roll Any Number of Dice" to re-roll any of the dice they choose. Once this card is flipped, the player will have to place dice on the Pit Stop Action to refresh their Team card, flipping back to active.

Dice Placement Example: The Red player rolls her dice pool of 5 dice as she has already placed 3 dice on previous rolls. She puts her dice rolled into matching sets of two 2s, two 5s, and one 6. She decides to place the set of 2's on the #2 Rubbin' Is Racin' Action. The Blue player already has the 1st priority space with a single die which is less than the two dice the Red player is placing, therefore bumping the Blue player's die down to the 2nd priority space and adding her two blue dice to 1st priority space. Then, the Blue player performs the Rubbin' Is Racin' Placement Actions.

Step 4 – NPD Actions: After all players have had a turn rolling their dice pool, creating sets of dice, and placing one set on the matching Action Space, then performing the action, the NPDs take a turn. The player with the Pole/Leader token draws 1 Non-Player Action card for each NPD and performs the action for the Rolling Phase.

Important: The turn that any player places their last dice on an Action Space is the last time the NPDs take a turn.

Step 5 - Start a New Round: As long as some players have dice remaining in their dice pool, start another round repeating steps 1-5. Players that have no dice in their dice pool are skipped, and NPD cars do not activate if a single player in the round did not roll at least one die. When all players have depleted their dice pool, proceed to Step 6 – Action Space Rewards and Penalties.

Step 6 - Action Space Rewards & Penalties: Flip over all face down Rolling Thunder cards beneath the Action Spaces. Then starting with Space #1 - Pit Stop and going in priority order, players in the Priority spaces take the cards of their choice. The player holding the 1st priority position chooses a card, then the 2nd priority position player chooses a card and the 3rd priority position player takes the remaining card. If some priority positions were vacant, remaining cards are discarded after priority players make their choices. If the Action Space provides a Reward or Penalty it is resolved before moving to the next Action Space.

Only two Action Spaces have Rewards and Penalties and show this icon. These are resolved at the end of the Rolling Phase as follows:

• Pit Stop: Players without any dice on the Pit Stop draw 1 Hazard card when this Action Space is resolved.
• Low Line: Players not gaining a card from this action (all dice below the 3rd Space) move their car forward 2 spaces when this Action Space is resolved.

6+ Player Rule: If there are 6 or more players in the game, each player will be dealt 1 random Thunder card after all Action Spaces have been resolved.

Speed Cards: After all the Thunder cards have been distributed, players with less than 4 cards draw Speed cards to bring their total race cards to 4.

Step 7 - Retrieve Dice: All dice on the Action Spaces are returned to the players.

The Rolling Phase is now complete and game play moves to the Thunder Phase.

Thunder Phase

In this Phase, players will program their Race Strategy using the cards gained in the Rolling Phase and then perform movement on the track.

Step 1 – Leader: The Pole/Leader token is passed to the player with the car that has moved the furthest around the track. In case of a tie, the players Race for Position by making a Risk Test: Each tied player rolls a single die and the higher roll takes the Pole/Leader token.

Step 2 - Hazard Rolls: Simultaneously, players discard down to 4 cards then roll a single die for each Hazard Icon on their remaining cards. For each roll of "1", the player draws a Hazard card.

Step 3 - Race Strategy: Simultaneously, each player programs their Speed, Thunder, and Hazard cards face down in their Program Slots 1 through 4 at the top of their Team tile. If players have Hazard cards, those are programmed into the slots indicated on the Hazard card (more than 1 Hazard may end up in the same slot).

Step 4 - Racing Movement: After all players have programmed their cards for their Racing Strategy they will perform Race Movement. Starting with the player with the Pole/Leader token and moving clockwise around the table, each player will reveal all cards in their leftmost program slot. Resolve Hazards in the leftmost slot first then perform the movement and bonus if able. Then the next player will reveal their leftmost cards (resolving Hazards first), and so on until all cards have been resolved and cars moved.

Step 5 - NPD Cards: The player with the Pole/Leader token draws a single Non-Player Action card for each NPD and resolves the actions shown in the Thunder Phase section of the NP Action card.

Step 6 - Repeat: Repeat these steps until all cards in all 4 Program Slots have been revealed for each player.

Hazard Icon: During Step 2, players discard down to 4 cards then roll a die for each card with this icon. Draw a Hazard card for each die roll of "1".

Program Placement Icon: This icon tells you the Mandatory Programmed Location for this Hazard card. For example, a card marked "2nd" would go into the second slot on top of a Race card programmed there.

Race Strategy Example: Team Red gains 3 Thunder cards during the Rolling Phase so they are dealt 1 Speed card to bring their total cards to 4 as required.

• Step 1 - Leader: Pass the Pole/Leader token.
• Step 2 - Hazard Rolls: Unfortunately, one of Red's Thunder cards shows a Hazard icon and Red rolls a 1, which means they must draw a Hazard card.
• Step 3 - Race Strategy: Red programs cards. The Hazard shows a Mandatory Programmed Location of slot 2 so it goes there on top of a Race Card. Red decides to place the Speed card in slot 3, holding their best card for slot 4, hoping to make up for other low movement.
• Step 4 - Race Movement: Players take turns resolving cards in the 1st slot, moving cars as indicated.
• Step 5 - NPD Actions: Don't forget to move these!
• Step 6 - Repeat: When resolving the second slot, Team Red will first reveal their Hazard and resolve it completely. If the Hazard does not discard the Thunder card beneath it, Red will then resolve the Thunder card as well.

Thunder Interlude

After the Thunder Phase, the Stage is over and the players score points as noted below:

Stage Scoring: In a 2 Stage race, at the completion of the 1st Stage the players will score Stage points; the 1st place car scores 2 points and the 2nd place car scores 1 point. Then the 2nd Stage is set up by reshuffling all decks and placing Thunder cards under each Action Space. Move the Leader token to the current Leader of the race. Then a new Rolling Phase is conducted.

Race Finish Scoring: If the race is a 1 Stage race, or the players completed the 2nd Stage of a 2 Stage race, the players score the Race Final:

Place	Points	Place	Points
1st	12	5th	7
2nd	10	6th	6
3rd	9	7th	4
4th	8

Scoring Tokens: During each scoring, regardless of Stage or Race Final, players advance their token on the Scoreboard track equal to the points they gained.

Laps: Each time a car moves around the track and passes the Start/Finish Line they advance their token 1 space on the Laps Track. There are rare cases where a car that has passed the Start/Finish line is forced to back up (Bump or Hazard); when this happens they move their token on the Laps track backward 1 space. They can then regain it when they pass on future movement. Note: Players do not gain a lap at the start of the race, when passing the line from the Start Grid, only after moving around the entire track.

Section 3 - Cards

Hazard Cards

Some of the greater movement Thunder Cards have Hazard icons on them representing that there is a chance the car will develop a problem when the card is programmed. In the Thunder Phase after discarding down to 4 cards, each player will roll a single die for each Thunder Card with a Hazard icon. Additionally, players that do not have a die on the Pit Stop automatically draw 1 Hazard.

Movement Penalty: Negative numbers (shown in red) move a player's car backwards to adjacent spaces if open. If eligible spaces are blocked, hazards will force the blocking car(s) to move orthogonally backward to make room for the car with the Hazard. Players should beware of being behind cars with Hazards programmed.

Mandatory Programmed Location: Hazard cards must be programmed on top of the race card in the position identified and are revealed prior to activating the card beneath it. Most Hazards are immediately resolved and discarded, then the card beneath it is revealed and play continues as normal. Some Hazards are Ongoing and remain in effect for the remainder of the Thunder Phase, affecting each race card as revealed.

No Pit Penalty: The bottom section of each Hazard identifies an additional penalty if the player with the Hazard did not have a die on Pit in the Rolling Phase. If a car did not pit and gets multiple Hazards, each pit penalty activates – so plan on pitting regularly!

Race Cards

Race cards come in 3 types: Thunder, Speed, and NPD Actions. Thunder cards are the best of the Race cards players can gain. These generally offer movement and bonuses during the Thunder Phase. Speed cards are supplemental to Thunder cards and represent the driver just trying to keep up with the faster cars, again offering movement but not always as much as Thunder cards. In the Rolling Phase of each Stage the players are trying to obtain 4 Thunder cards to program into their 4 slots in the Thunder Phase. If a player gains less than 4 Thunder cards, they draw Speed cards to make up the difference. If a player has more than 4 Thunder cards, they discard down to 4 total before rolling for Hazards. Some Thunder cards have a Hazard icon. If any of the 4 cards kept by a player has a Hazard Icon, that player must roll one die. If rolling a "1" on that die, the player draws one Hazard card and programs it accordingly. Remember, all Thunder and Speed cards provide a movement number (the total number of spaces to move the car) and some have an optional driver bonus action as described on the player guide cards.

NPD Actions are used to determine actions of the Non-Player Driver cars on the track and are never held by players. These are described in detail below.

Non-Player Driver and Action Cards

Non-Player Drivers: Also called NPDs, these are used when playing with less than 8 human players. As noted in setup, the NPD card, their matching color car and cubes are used. NPD dice remain in the box. The player with the Pole/Leader token will be responsible for the resolution of the NPDs each round.

Non-Player Actions: After all players have taken their turn in either phase (Rolling or Thunder), the player with the Pole/Leader token will draw 1 Non-Player Action card for each NPD and carry out the action for the current phase. Resolve an NP Action for each NPD in the same order as the NPD cards were lined up at the beginning of the game.

Moving NPDs: NPDs will always end their turn on the inside lane, or closest to the inside lane as possible. In either phase, the NP action will either move the car, perform a racing action or do both. Additionally, if the Driver icon is on the NP Action card, the NPD will also perform their unique Driver Bonus listed on the NPD card. If any movement or action cannot be performed due to track position, it is ignored.

Performing NPD Actions: When performing Crossover or Side Draft, choose targets from the inside lane, moving out until gaining a target. NPDs never roll dice in Risk tests. Instead use their Random Die Roll number. NPDs never are the Leader to gain the Pole/Leader token, even if leading the race.

NPD Turns - Rolling Phase: In the Rolling Phase, the NPDs take turns as long as all players are taking turns. On the round that any player places their final die on an action, depleting their dice pool, NPDs will resolve one last NP Action. Regardless of how many additional rounds the players take to place all dice in their dice pools, once one player has depleted their dice, the NPDs take no further actions.

NPD Turns - Thunder Phase: In the Thunder Phase, the NPDs will have 4 turns just like human players. After each Program Slot is resolved for all players, the Pole/Leader draws and resolves a single NP Action card for each NPD.

Race Cards (Track Rules)

The Race cards identify the length of the game in Stages, the number of dice used each Stage, and special Rules for the race.

Stages: Each race will be 1 or 2 Stages in length. Each Stage consists of a Rolling Phase, followed by a Thunder Phase. At the completion of each Stage, scoring occurs. Scoring will either be Stage scoring if the race is not over, or Race Scoring when completing the final Stage of the race. In between each Stage of a race, players will perform the Thunder Interlude which will clear cards, score Stage points, gather discarded dice and direct players to reset the game for the next Stage.

Special Race Rules: Most Race cards have special rules on them that alter game play and create the feel of the track so that on superspeedways the players will need to work together to gain benefits from the draft or on short tracks where body damage is less hindering. Race cards bring interesting new advantages and challenges to the game.

Qualifying Cards

Qualifying Cards are used at the beginning of the game only. During set up, each player is dealt 2 Qualifying cards then players choose 1 to play as their Qualifying number, discarding the other. Higher numbers earn better starting positions for the race. The lower numbered Qualifying cards provide a bonus for use during the race. NPC Drivers will use their Qualify number to place their car. Place the car of the player or NPD with the highest qualifying number on the 1 space, the next highest on the 2nd space and so on until all cars have been placed. If a player has a number that matches an NPC Driver's Qualify number, the player gets placed before the NPC Driver.

• Qualifying Number: This number is used for Qualifying. The numbers range 1 – 16 with the higher numbers being a better starting position.
• Qualifying Bonus: This card has a bonus the player can use one time during the Rolling Phase.

Section 4 - Action Spaces

Action Space 1 - Pit Stop: Dice Sets containing only 1's.

• Setup: 3 Facedown Thunder Cards.
• Dice Placement Action: Each time a player adds dice to this space, they flip their exhausted Team card back to the active side.
• Rewards and Penalties: At the end of the Rolling Phase, during resolution of this space, players with dice here (including those who do not hold a priority position) do not gain a Hazard card. Each player without a die on this tile draws 1 Hazard card. All Hazard cards must be placed during the Thunder Phase.

Action Space 2 - Rubbin' Is Racin': Dice Sets containing only 2's.

• Setup: 3 Facedown Thunder Cards.
• Dice Placement Action: Each time a player adds dice to this space they perform a Crossover or a Side Draft then Move 1 space on the track. The player may either perform a Crossover or a Side Draft using the bonus movement rules for the action chosen. Afterward, the player moves their car 1 space.
• Rewards and Penalties: None.

Action Space 3 - Low Line: Dice Sets containing only 3's.

• Setup: 1 Face up and 2 Facedown Thunder Cards.
• Dice Placement Action: Each time a player adds dice to this space they Move 1 Space on the track.
• Rewards and Penalties: This Space has a bonus for players not in a priority position. If a player had any dice on the Low Line Action Space and did not gain a Thunder Card, that player may immediately Move 2 spaces on the track.

Action Space 4 - Crew Chief: Dice Sets containing only 4's.

• Setup: 2 Face up and 1 Facedown Thunder Card.
• Dice Placement Action: Each time a player adds dice to this space they Move 1 Space on the track. Then, the player may retrieve 1 of their dice from any other Action Space and place it back into their dice pool.
• Rewards and Penalties: None.

Action Space 5 - High Line: Dice Sets containing only 5's.

• Setup: 1 Face up and 2 Facedown Thunder Cards.
• Dice Placement Action: Each time a player adds dice to this space they draft 1 space using the draft bonus rules. If there is no eligible car to draft, this movement is lost.
• Rewards and Penalties: None.

Action Space 6 - The Groove: Dice Sets containing only 6's.

• Setup: 3 Face up Cards.
• Dice Placement Action: Each time a player adds dice to this space they Move 2 spaces on the track.
• Rewards and Penalties: None.

Section 4 - Concepts in Detail

(The source rulebook labels both this section and Action Spaces above as "Section 4"; the numbering is reproduced as printed.)

Moving

Positive Numbers (shown in green) are always forward movement. These are shown on the Action Spaces during the Rolling Phase and move the number printed on cards during the Thunder Phase. Forward movement can be orthogonal (directly forward) or diagonal (a forward space that touches the front corner of the car's current space).

Braking: A car may stop movement at any point, including not moving at all when they have 1 or more movement in the Rolling or Thunder phase, by simply announcing they are braking. When they stop movement by braking, their turn ends immediately and no other movement or bonus action can be performed.

Pushing: When a car's movement is blocked by cars in all eligible spaces, the player may push the cars orthogonally in front of their own car. When pushing, move all cars orthogonally in front of the active player 1 space. Then all players involved, including the active player, must make a Risk Test. After pushing, if the car has remaining movement and is still blocked, it can push again, repeating the process until it has an eligible open space to move onto or runs out of movement. It should be noted that Drafting is not considered Pushing so no Risk Test is performed when drafting. However, in some cases, Drafting may cause a Push. When it does, all cars involved must make a Risk test.

Risk Test: When pushing, or otherwise instructed by a dangerous in-game traffic situation, each car involved must roll a single die. If adjacent cars roll matching numbers they lose control and are moved backward 2 spaces. Starting with the frontmost car, move cars backwards 2 spaces. If no eligible space is available, continue moving cars backwards until an eligible space is found. Repeat this process for each adjacent player involved that rolled the same number on their dice.

Remember, NPDs use their static Random Die Roll number for all Risk Tests so players compare their rolled numbers to the NPDs' Random Die Roll if adjacent.

Racing for Position: When scoring points or establishing the Leader for the Pole/Leader token, cars sharing the same section of track race for position. When racing for position, conduct a Risk test for the cars involved. If they fail the roll and after being moved backward are still competing for the Lead or scoring points, repeat the process until it is resolved with establishing the leader and point distribution. Racing for position may cause the competing cars to move backward past other cars giving them the Leader or the higher points. It may also result in three cars racing for position.

Players automatically gain advantage if the car they would race for position against is a Non-Player Driver – no Risk test required.

Push Example 1 – Single car: The player for car #18 places a die on the Groove Action enabling him to advance one space. The two spaces touching #18's current space have cars, so movement is blocked. The #18 player decides to push car #17 (the only car they can push as it is directly in front) so both cars move forward 1 space and then both players roll a die. They roll a 5 and a 3, so no problem, #18 can now continue moving if they have more movement. If they had rolled the same number, both cars would have been moved backward 2 spaces from the pushing car's space onto a section both can fit on.

Push Risk Roll Example 2 – Multiple cars: The player for Car #9 places a die on Action Tile #6 – The Groove and can move forward 1 space. Since all locations the player could move to are occupied, he has to push the car in front of him, car #17, orthogonally in front, or brake. The player decides to push car #17 which in turn pushes car #13. All cars are moved forward and then all three players roll a die for the Risk Test. Each player rolls a die; Car #13 rolls a 6, Car #17 rolls a 4 and Car #9 rolls a 6. Since Car #13 and #9 are not adjacent, all the cars pass the test. If Car #17 had rolled the 6 along with Car #9 and Car #13, all cars would have lost control and moved backward 2 spaces from Car #9's position.

Section 5 - Race Series

For players seeking a racing experience that simulates a race season in a single play session, Thunder Rolls offers two ways to play beyond a single race. The first is called a Race Series.

Race Series: A Race Series expands a game session to multiple races, usually 2 or 3 races with the winner being the player with the most total points. The races are set up and played just like a single race, with the following additional rules:

1. Races in Session: After the players identify the number of races to be run in the session, the players can either choose Race cards to be the races of the session, or randomly draw Race cards. Once the Race cards are established, they are shuffled and one drawn for the next race. At the end of the race, discard the used Race card and choose a new one in the same manner.
2. Multi-Race Session Qualifying: Qualifying for the first race of the session follows normal Qualifying rules, but each race after the first will be established in reverse score order; the last place car being placed on the 1st space of the starting grid, then the next to last place car on the 2nd space, and so on until all cars are placed.

Qualify Bonus Abilities: Qualifying card bonus abilities not used in the first race can be carried over to the next race until used. Qualifying card bonuses remain active for the entire session until used.

3. Scoring: The scoring tokens remain on the points gained between Races; points from new races being added to the car's current points.
4. Winner: The Winner of the Race Series is the player with the most total points after all races have been completed.

Section 6 - Championship

The source rulebook notes: "Components for this section have not been completed for this prototype but Championship details can simply be recorded on a piece of paper."

A Championship can be played over multiple play sessions. When playing a Championship, the players will play 8, 10, or 12 races as the Championship Season, tracking the car standings by recording each race on the Championship form found on the back of this rulebook. When the Season is complete, the players will run one Playoff race to crown the Champion. In the Playoff, all cars are eligible to win, but Season Standings and Season Wins determine Qualifying positions and Bonus Points granted prior to the green flag waving in the Playoff Race. The races are set up and played just like a single race, with the following additional rules:

1. Season Tracking: The players will take a Championship sheet and in the top right corner under Season Sessions record the number of races to be played in the Championship: 8, 10, or 12.
   • Season Races Complete: As players complete races they will update the Race section of the Season with the number of races run, so these should be recorded in pencil.
   • Race Winners: There are checker flag boxes beside each car number that are used to identify race wins. When a car wins a race, the box is filled in to identify the win. Each win will be 1 Bonus point in the Playoff Race and in the event of a Tie in the Playoff Race, Wins represent the first tiebreaker.
2. Race Schedule: The players will shuffle the Race cards and randomly choose 1 for the current race. After a race is run, the Race card is discarded to the box and not used again until one of the following occurs:
   • If the Race deck only contains the 4 base game races, reshuffle the deck after the 4th race is run.
   • If the Race deck includes expansion Race cards, reshuffle the deck after 6 races have been run.
   • Alternatively, the players can build a schedule by just agreeing after establishing the number of Races in the Season Tracking and recording them.

Playoff Race: After all races for the Season, players will complete one final Playoff Race run. This race will always be a Superspeedway or Mile Oval race.

3. Track Champions: Each time a player wins a race (season and playoff), they record the win on the Championship sheet by writing the number of the winning car of the race on the leftmost checker flag space on the bottom of the Race card.
4. Season Qualifying - Race Session: During Season races, the qualifying for the first race of each game session follows normal Qualifying rules, but each race after the first in the session will be established in reverse score order; the last place car being placed on the 1st space of the starting grid, then the next to last place car on the 2nd space, and so on until all cars are placed. The next Gaming Session will utilize the Qualify cards for the first race.

Qualify Bonus Abilities: Qualify card bonus abilities not used in the first race carry over to the next race, then the next if not used – staying active for the entire session until used.

5. Playoff Race: At the completion of the established Season Races, there will be one final Playoff race to declare the Champion. The Race card used for the Playoff race will be a random draw of the Superspeedways and Mile Oval races shuffled together with the bottom card being drawn. The following Playoff rules apply to setting up this race:

Champion Eligibility: All cars are eligible to win regardless of their position in the Season Standings, but the final Season Standings and Wins significantly influence the Playoff race.

Playoff Qualifying: The cars are placed on the starting grid in order of the final Season Standings; the car with the most points placed on the 1 space, the next highest points placed on the 2nd space, and so on until all cars are placed. If any cars are tied in points, the car with the most Wins is placed first. As always, player-run cars tied with NPDs are placed first.

• Starting Points: The cars are awarded points prior to starting the Race as noted below.
• Wins: Each car is awarded 1 point for each Win they achieved during the Season.
• Standings: The top 4 cars in the final Season Standings are awarded points for their ranking: 1st place = 4 points, 2nd place = 3 points, 3rd place = 2 points, and 4th place = 1 point.

Awarded points are marked on the Standings board prior to starting the race.

Track Champion & Season Leader Bonus: The Track Champion shown on the Race card gains the Track Champion Bonus as always, but the 1st Place car in the final Season Standings also gains the Track Champion bonus, enabling both to look at 1 facedown card at each Action Tile prior to starting the Rolling phase of each Stage of the race. If the Track Champion is also the points leader starting the final race, they may look at 2 facedown cards under each Action tile.

6. Crowning the Champion: At the end of the Playoff Race, the player with the most points is the Champion. In the event that cars have tied scores at the end of the race, the first tie-breaker is Wins, and if still tied, finish order in the Playoff race is the 2nd tie-breaker. As always, Players win all ties against Non-Player Drivers.

If the players have the Race Day expansion, there will be benefits for each season end position that will be distributed at the end of the Playoff race.

Race Day Expansion includes fans, sponsors, manufacturers, events and interviews that can be added to Championship game play. At the time of game publication, Race Day is in design and development.

Section 7 - Iconography

The Perfect Line: This icon appears on Thunder cards. During the Thunder Interlude, players move 1 space forward for each left and right flag in adjacent Program Slots.

Hazard: This icon appears on Thunder cards. In the Thunder Phase, after players discard down to 4 cards, they roll a single die for each Hazard Icon on their remaining cards. For each roll of "1", the player draws a Hazard card. This icon also appears on the back of Hazard cards as a reference.

No Pit Penalty: This icon appears on Hazard cards and applies an additional penalty to a player who draws this Hazard and did not pit during the Rolling Phase.

Discard: This icon appears on Hazard cards as part of a No Pit Penalty. If it triggers (because a player did not pit), discard the Speed or Thunder Card beneath this Hazard.

Program Placement Icon: This icon appears on Hazard cards and shows the Mandatory Programmed Location for this Hazard card. For example, an icon marked "2nd" would go into the second Program Slot on top of a Race card programmed there. If a card says "Any", the Hazard may be placed in any Program Slot.

Driver Bonus: This icon appears on NP Action cards. If an NP Action drawn shows this icon for the current phase, the NPD activates its unique Driver Bonus ability. This icon also appears on NPD cards to show the unique ability NPDs gain when an NP Action activates the bonus.

Action Space and Team Tile Icons

• Placement Bonus: When placing dice, gain the actions listed.
• Rewards and Penalties: After the rolling phase, two of the six Action Spaces have Rewards and Penalties that must be resolved before moving to the Thunder Phase.
• Thunder Card Placement: Three Thunder cards are placed under each Action Space. Face up cards use the up arrow, face down cards use the down arrow.
• Flip Team Tile: When placing any number of dice on the Pit Stop, flip your Team Tile to the active side (the one that allows you to reroll).
• Retrieve (Crew Chief): When placing any number of dice on the Crew Chief, take 1 of your dice from any other Action Space and place it in your "ready" area, then back in your dice pool.

Bonus Racing Actions

Many cards and Action Spaces have a Bonus Racing Action that can be performed before or after the movement. Bonuses are always optional.

• Clean Air: The bonus of Clean Air adds +2 movement to the card, but only if the following conditions are met: 1) there cannot be any other cars in the section of the activating car when it starts movement, and 2) there cannot be any cars in the section in front of the activating car when it starts movement. If both of these conditions are met, the bonus of +2 movement is added.
• Crossover: The Crossover bonus enables a car to swap spaces with a car on the section in front of it. The car being swapped with must be on a space directly in front, or adjacent in front, of the active car (touching the space of the active car). Crossover movement may be performed at the start or at the end of the car's movement.
• Drafting: Drafting is additional movement gained by cars moving together. To draft, at the start or end of the active car's movement the player may choose a car orthogonally in front of, or orthogonally behind, the active car and advance both cars 1 space. Cars may not change lanes. If this movement pushes other car(s), the car(s) pushing and the car(s) pushed take a Risk test.
• Side Draft: The Side Draft bonus enables the active car to move a car on an adjacent space in their sector backward orthogonally 1 space. If a car is in that space, it is forced backward as well. Multiple cars in the same lane may be forced backward by this action. No Risk test is required.