Cosmic Encounter: Cosmic Odyssey Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Integrating this Expansion
• Using this Expansion
• Components
  • Standard Components
  • Variant Components
  • Campaign Components
• New Rules
  • Alternate Timeline Aliens
    • List of Alternate Timeline Aliens
  • Cosmic Quakes
  • Essence Cards
    • Playing with Essence Cards
  • Timing Rule
• List of Schizoid Conditions
• Campaign Rewards

Integrating this Expansion

To incorporate this expansion into an existing collection, perform the following steps:

1. Add Alien Sheets: Combine all of the new alien sheets with the stack of available alien sheets (from the base game and any other expansions). For each alternate timeline alien, remove its original from the stack (see page 3).
2. Add Flare Cards: Set aside five of the six copies of the Inferno flare card. Combine the remaining Inferno flare card and the other new flare cards from this expansion into the existing deck of flare cards.
3. Replace Destiny Cards: Some other expansions add new colored components, including additional destiny cards, to accommodate additional players: orange (Cosmic Incursion), black (Cosmic Conflict), and white (Cosmic Alliance). For each color present in the destiny deck, replace one of those cards with its corresponding hazard destiny version.
4. Incorporate Variant Decks: As this expansion includes new cards that are compatible with variants introduced in previous expansions, for each of the decks already integrated, shuffle in the new cards from this expansion. These include the tech deck (the base game), hazard deck (Cosmic Conflict), reward deck (Cosmic Incursion and Cosmic Dominion), and space station deck (Cosmic Storm). For the space station variant, there are more space station cards and two decks of new types of stations (with different backs). Shuffle each of these decks separately.

Using this Expansion

Read through this rulebook first. This rulebook explains how to incorporate the content of this expansion into an existing collection and contains some general rules that apply to any game played with this expansion. The campaign guide is used during a Cosmic Odyssey campaign to provide rules for setup and details about the specific age in which the game takes place.

This expansion not only introduces a campaign for Cosmic Encounter® but also includes 30 aliens, 12 alternate timeline aliens, 4 new variants, and a sampling of variants originally introduced in the many other Cosmic Encounter expansions. Some of the new components are used exclusively in campaigns, while others can be used in any game of Cosmic Encounter as explained in more detail later.

All cards from the Cosmic Odyssey expansion are marked with a symbol on their fronts. This allows players to easily separate them from their other cards.

Components

There are three types of components: standard, variant, and campaign. Standard components can be used in any game of Cosmic Encounter. Variant components are used when playing with a specific variant (and may be introduced at various points during a campaign or used in a standalone game). Campaign components are only used as part of a campaign.

Standard Components

• 30 Alien Sheets
• 12 Alternate Timeline Alien Sheets
• 7 Silencer Alien Tokens (total silence, partial silence)
• 1 Vector Alien Token (normal, reverse)
• 38 Essence Cards
• 47 Flare Cards
• 8 Destiny Cards

Variant Components

• 8 Deep Space Stations
• 8 Deep Space Station Cards
• 10 Space Stations
• 10 Space Station Cards
• 8 Sky Cities
• 8 Sky City Cards
• 88 Moons
• 88 Moon Cards
• 24 Lux Tokens
• 24 Lux Cards (double-sided)
• 14 Ultra Lux Tokens
• 16 Objective Cards
• 14 Evolution Cards
• 23 Reward Cards
• 9 Ultra Reward Cards
• 25 Tech Cards
• 26 Hazard Cards

Campaign Components

• 11 Privilege Cards
• 10 Envoy Cards
• 13 Master Cards
• 11 Wrench Cards
• Campaign Log Pad
• 11 Age Cards

New Rules

The following rules introduce a new categorization term and a couple of other new rules that are applicable to any game played with this expansion.

Alternate Timeline Aliens

As a consequence of multiverses merging, this expansion includes 12 aliens that are new versions of aliens that originally appeared in either the base game or one of the other expansions. Compared to their earlier incarnations, some are more powerful, some are less powerful, and others are just different. These aliens and their flares have a slightly different frame to help differentiate them from their original versions.

Pictured in the rulebook: Original Alien, Alternate Timeline Alien, Original Flare, Alternate Timeline Flare.

During setup for a game in which a player selects an alternate timeline alien, the new flare for that alien is added to the deck instead of the original flare. During the game, if the player plays the original flare for the alien (for example, after drawing it from the unused flare deck or it being included as a random flare), it does not count as matching their alien so they must resolve its wild effect, not its super effect.

List of Alternate Timeline Aliens

This is a list of each of the alternate timeline aliens and where their original versions came from. As described earlier, remove the original versions from the stack of available alien sheets, if present.

• Brute (Cosmic Storm)
• Daredevil (Cosmic Dominion)
• Demon (42nd anniversary edition or Promo)
• Grumpus (Cosmic Storm)
• Locust (Cosmic Incursion)
• Micron (replaces Macron from the base game)
• Masochist (base game)
• Perfectionist (Cosmic Eons)
• Sadist (Cosmic Conflict)
• Schizoid (Cosmic Alliance)
• Void (base game)
• Zombie (base game)

Cosmic Quakes

If a player needs to draw a card from the cosmic deck and both the cosmic deck and discard pile are empty, a cosmic quake occurs! Each player discards their hand, the discard pile is shuffled to make a new deck, and then eight cards are dealt to each player.

Essence Cards

Several aliens begin the game with a component called essence cards. Each of these aliens has an essence symbol on its sheet and its own set of essence cards which enhance its power.

Aliens with Essence Cards:

• Cosmos (8 rules)
• Negator (8 negations)
• Schizoid (8 conditions)
• Witch (7 curses)
• Zilch (7 fates)

Pictured in the rulebook: the essence symbol on an alien sheet.

Playing with Essence Cards

When a player selects an alien with essence cards, they shuffle that alien's essence cards and place them facedown near the alien sheet as a set. Then, the player draws three cards from that set as their essence card cache. When referred to by game effects, a set of essence cards is not considered to be a deck and a cache of essence cards is not considered to be a hand. Cards in a player's cache are kept separate from the set and kept secret from all other players until played.

Players always maintain a cache of three cards; each time players play or are forced to lose an essence card from their cache, they replace that card by taking the top card from their set and placing it in their cache. Any essence cards that are played or lost are kept in a faceup unavailable pile. When there are no essence cards left in a set, that player shuffles their unavailable pile to form a new set.

When an alien sheet with the essence symbol is lost or flipped facedown, all essence cards still in the game belonging to that alien are returned to that player's unavailable pile.

Players can always look at their cache as well as essence cards they have played against another player. Each alien sheet with the essence symbol explains how their essence cards are played. Players who have been given facedown essence cards cannot look at them.

Timing Rule

When there are timing conflicts, determine the order of effects by starting with the offense, then the defense, then all other players clockwise from the offense. If there is no offense, start with the player who was most recently offense and proceed clockwise.

List of Schizoid Conditions

While playing with the Schizoid, players can use this list of conditions for easy reference:

• Bluffer: After you fail to make a deal, if you have at least four foreign colonies, you win the game!
• Colonizer: After you draw a new hand, if you have at least three foreign colonies, you win the game!
• Conciliator: After you make a deal, if you have at least three foreign colonies, you win the game!
• Intruder: If three of your foreign colonies each have at least four ships, you win the game!
• Relocator: If you have at least three foreign colonies in the same system, you win the game!
• Traditionalist: If you have at least five foreign colonies and at least three home colonies, you win the game!
• Wanderer: If you have colonies in at least three different systems and have three or fewer home colonies, you win the game!
• Xenophobe: After you re-establish a home colony, if you have at least two foreign colonies, you win the game!

Campaign Rewards

Below is the campaign prize chart from the Cosmic Odyssey campaign. It is printed below for easy reference.

Player Ranking	Player Prizes
2	Draw 2 privilege cards, keep 1.
3	Gain 1 random envoy.
4	Draw 1 unused flare.
5	Draw 1 ultra reward card.
6	Draw 2 reward cards.
7	Discard any number of cards.
8	Discard up to 3 cards.