G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game: Shadow of the Serpent Expansion
G.I. JOE Deck-Building Game: Shadow of the Serpent Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 20 Main Deck Cards
- 4 Leader Cards
- 13 Cobra Cards
- 36 Mission Cards
- 8 Complication Cards
- 1 Expert Mode Card
- 5 Command Center Tiles
Rule Updates
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If a card tells you to "re-roll" certain dice results, do this ONLY ONCE after the initial roll. Re-rolled dice that show the result in question are not re-rolled again. For example, if you need to re-roll all [die face showing two Hit stars], and you roll another [die face showing two Hit stars], do not re-roll it again. Also, only re-roll dice from the initial roll, NOT dice added via Gear, Utility, or other [Mission-icon symbol] cards.
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Cards that grant a "Hit" don't give you extra dice that can be manipulated.
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When adding a Cobra Battalion to the line-up, always place it on the left-most uncovered card in the line-up.
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When counting Transports in the Hangar, do not count the one you must remove to start a Mission. For example, for (Core Set) Flint's ability to trigger during a Mission, you would need at least 3 Transports in the Hangar, so you have 2 remaining once the Mission starts. If you don't go on a Mission during your turn, do not remove any Transports from the Hangar.
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Service Rifle: These cards are used in all games. This stack of cards is placed faceup next to the line-up during setup, on the opposite side from the main deck.
Group Items
You will find a new COST icon on 2 new Transports in the main deck and on the Command Center tiles. It has 3 bars on the edges to distinguish these from other cards.
When you wish to purchase one of these high-priced items, you can buy them normally or ask for help from your comrades. If you ask for help, each of your teammates may play as many cards from their hand as they wish during your Recruit Step to increase your Recruit value total. The game text of any cards played by non-active players is not resolved. Only their printed Recruit points (in the star icon) is granted to the active player. You can only use these Recruit points to buy the agreed-upon Group Item.
Command Center
The Joes use their fortified Command Center as a place to rest, recover from their missions, and plan their next move against Cobra. During the game, you can improve your Command Center by purchasing tiles to unlock new and powerful abilities!
Command Center tiles start out facedown unless the Mission says otherwise. You can still see the Group Cost and the effects of each tile, but a tile is not active until it is faceup. As soon as a tile is faceup (showing the full color side), it may be utilized.
These tiles cost between 6-10 Recruit points to build (the same as "buy"). They are all Group Items and they may be built in any order. When you build a tile, flip it faceup. The game text on each tile (except for the Command Room) may be used multiple times during your turn, but only once per Mission.
If a Command Center tile is "destroyed," flip it facedown. Return any Ninja on it to their stack. The tile may be rebuilt (by paying the Group Cost again) and flipped faceup to restore it any number of times during the game.
If you choose to use the Command Center while playing Missions from other expansions, you must use the Cobra Trooper (Ninja) stack and all of the Complications and Cobra Officers from this set. You should use a few Expert Mode cards as the Command Center will make Missions from other sets easier.
Command Center Tiles
Repair Bay: "Place used Transports (except VAMP) here at the end of each Mission instead of discarding them. At the end of each round or if Repair Bay is destroyed, return all Transports here to the Hangar."
Transports you place here will return to the Hangar much faster than when they are discarded.
Stockade: "Place defeated Cobra Officers here. They cannot re-enter play except due to Story Mission text. If Stockade is destroyed, return all Cobra Officers here to their stack."
Tuck the Officers under this tile to distinguish them from any Ninja that might appear here. "Story Mission text" refers to any text in the middle and bottom of Mission cards. If a Complication says to put a Cobra Officer into play and they are all in the Stockade, discard the Complication without effect and do not draw a replacement. If game text tells you to put a "random" Cobra Officer into play, ignore all Officers in the Stockade.
Battlestation: "Group Mission: Re-roll 1 die."
This should be your go-to first effect after rolling your initial dice, but it can only be used during Group Missions.
Laser Cannon: "Side Mission: Roll 1 additional die."
Add this additional die to your initial roll only during Side Missions.
Command Room: "End Phase: If none of the Command Center tiles are covered, draw 1 additional card."
This is the only tile that you cannot use more than once during your turn. The additional card you draw is added to your standard 5-card hand when you draw, leaving you with 6 cards in your hand at the end of your turn. Facedown (unbuilt) tiles cannot be covered, so they never turn off this ability.
New Mission Setup
There are 2 new Missions in this Expansion: The Rise of Serpentor and Night of the Arashikage. Feel free to use only 2 Missions in each Act (1 of 5 at random and 1 Act Finale gold card) for your first game or two, for a total of 6 Missions. Once you beat that, you are ready for the full 9 Mission setup.
There is no special setup for Rise of Serpentor. Simply place all 5 Command Center tiles facedown during setup.
For Night of the Arashikage, place all 5 Command Center tiles faceup during setup. Then place X Ninja in the Command Center (onto tiles from highest to lowest cost), where X is the number of players +1. For example, in a 3-player game, add 4 Ninja to the Command Center, leaving only the Repair Bay (the lowest-cost tile) uncovered. As you clear Ninja from tiles, you'll be able to use those uncovered tiles.
New Cobra Officers
There are 3 new Officers. Just leave them next to the stack from the Core Set. Some of the Core Set Officers may appear during these new Missions. Ignore the Cobra Officers in the Stockade when you need to put a random Cobra Officer into play.
New Complications
There are 4 new Act I Complications, and 2 new Complications each for Acts II and III. Shuffle the original Act I Complications, remove 4 of them from the game (sight unseen), then add in the 4 new ones. Shuffle Act II's pile, remove 2, and add in the new 2. Repeat for Act III.
New Side Mission
Cobra Trooper (Ninja)
There are 10 of these new Troopers, which supplement the original Cobra Troopers but are kept in a separate stack. These cards are both Cobra Troopers and Ninja, so they are affected by any card effects that name either type.
Some Missions and Complications add Ninja to the Command Center. When they do, place the Ninja on the highest-cost uncovered faceup tile (one per tile max). If there are no uncovered tiles in the Command Center at that time or all 5 tiles have a Ninja already, a player must gain the Ninja as a Side Mission instead. Adding a new tile to the Command Center, however, does NOT move a Side Mission Ninja away from a player to the new tile. Ninja are never placed on facedown Command Center tiles.
Ninja in the Command Center are not controlled by any player, so they do not increase the Threat Meter. However, as it says on the Ninja card, "Players gain no benefits from covered tiles." For all purposes, the tile is blank while covered by a Ninja. However, any cards currently on the tile remain. For example, if the Repair Bay has 2 Transports on it when a Ninja appears there, those Transports remain and will not return to the Hangar at the end of the round until the Ninja is removed. New Transports cannot be added to the Repair Bay while the Ninja remains there. Likewise, if a Cobra Officer is in the Stockade, a Ninja covering the tile does not rescue the Officer, but it does prevent new Officers from being placed there. If there are Transports in the Repair Bay or Officers in the Stockade, those are not "covering" the tile, so the tile's text is still active.
When you take a Ninja into your own play area, you control that card. When you attempt a Side Mission against a Ninja in the Command Center, you can choose any Ninja covering any tile. Place defeated Ninja back on their stack.
New Starting Leaders
Hawk gives you some extra Recruit that can only be spent on Group Items. However, the more players there are in the game, the lower the bonus.
Storm Shadow is very good against Ninja. Note that in the Rise of Serpentor Mission, Ninja may still appear through Complications.
New Main Deck Cards
There is a stack of 20 new main deck cards that should be added to the main deck. For your first game or two, just shuffle all the main deck cards from the Core Set and this expansion together.
New Expert Mode Card
There is 1 new Expert Mode card in this expansion. Once you have successfully tackled the two new Missions, add this card during setup. It will instruct you to remove main deck cards from the Core Set equal to the number of cards you are adding from this expansion.
Specific Card Clarifications
Bridge Layer: This is a Group Item. The Joes in this Transport may go on a second Mission after the first, but cannot be swapped out for new ones. Any Gear, Utility, or [Mission-icon symbol] cards used during the first Mission do not apply to the second.
C-130 Hercules: This is a Group Item. When you choose this as your Transport, you may also bring 1 [tank-icon, Land-type] Transport with you. However, you cannot load extra Joes into that Transport. Instead, apply only the game text to the current mission, should it apply.