High Frontier 4 All: Module 4 – Exodus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 4A. Module 4
  • 4A1. Core, Starship, & Exodus Game Lengths
  • 4A2. Module 4 Components
  • 4A3. Contract Card Anatomy
  • 4A4. Augmentation Chit Anatomy
  • 4A5. Module 4 Setup
  • 4A6. Core/Module 0-3 Rules Changes
  • 4A7. Core/Module 0-3 Rules Clarifications
• 4B. Contracts & Enterprises
  • 4B1. Contract Decks
  • 4B2. Contract Cards
  • 4B3. Contract Auction (adds to the Fundraise Operation)
  • 4B4. Contract Fulfillment (new free action)
  • 4B5. Late Penalties
  • 4B6. Default Penalties
  • 4B7. Contracts & War/Anarchy (Module 3)
  • 4B8. Enterprises (Modules 1 & 2)
• 4C. Isobank (Module 1)
  • 4C1. Isotope Monetization (same as Module 3)
  • 4C2. Founding The Isobank (new in Module 4)
  • 4C3. The Isobank/Starship During War or Anarchy (Module 3)
  • 4C4. Exodus Fueling Table
• 4D. Spaceborns & Cybernetic Augmentations
  • 4D1. Spaceborn Colonists
  • 4D2. Spaceborn Exomigration (new option for exomigration free action)
  • 4D3. Augmentation Chits
  • 4D4. Implant (new Operation)
  • 4D5. Parenthood
  • 4D6. Augmented Colonists
  • 4D7. Promotion (Operation revised from Modules 1 & 2)
• 4E. Module 4 Endgame
  • 4E1. Module 4 Endgame
  • 4E2. Module 4 Endgame Scoring
  • 4E3. Project Exodus Scoring
• 4F. Exodus Scenarios (Module 3 competitive)
  • 4F1. Exodus Conventional War
  • 4F2. Exodus Union War
• 4G. Module 4 Solitaire Games
  • 4G1. Contract Auctions Modifications
  • 4G2. CEO Solitaire Modifications
  • 4G3. Alternative Political Diagram for Solitaire
  • 4G4. Solitaire/Cooperative Victory Conditions
• 4H. Module 4 Strategy (Geoff Speare)
  • 4H1. Contract Tips (4-Cycle Game)
  • 4H2. Planning Tips (Modules 1 + 2 + 4 Games)
  • 4H3. Augmentation Tips
  • 4H4. Earthborn vs. Spaceborn
• 4I. List of Spaceborn Colonist Futures

4A. Module 4

Module 4 Exodus expands High Frontier in scope but not in length:

• a. Contracts (All Games). Enhance the early to mid-game, granting early Aqua and mission goals.
• b. New Spaceborn Colonist Queue (Modules 1 & 2) represent Humans born in space whose bodies have atrophied to the point that they are largely mechanical.
• c. Augmentation Chits (Modules 1 & 2) are gained by completing contracts and played on Colonists to upgrade them and allow them to Promote and be Promoted.
• d. Enterprises (Modules 1 & 2) are another path to augmentations, as humanity alters itself and its machines to better colonize the solar system and reach the stars.
• e. New Solitaire Political Diagram (Module 0) to integrate contracts with the CEO and altruism solitaire variants.
• f. An Isobank, founded by one player and holding the game's repository of isotope fusion fuel, becomes the center of starship construction. With Module 3, the isobank can be raided and potentially robbed! If a starshot occurs, either in the spirit of expansion¹ or to escape from bondage,² a combination game into Interstellar is possible.

¹ WHY GO AD ASTRA? Each of us has a drive to spread one's wings that has been reinforced by eons of natural selection. This instinct, rather than "population pressures", will impel a pioneering minority to the stars. Earth is never going to run out of living space, as this is being written, the global population increase is plummeting at a rate such that the population max will be achieved this century. Meanwhile, technological advances continue to shrink the ecological footprint, the number of hectares per person that each of us requires for our food and other needs. A simple application of arcology and high tech farming would provide more living space than the vastness of space could provide for centuries, because of what it takes to make such places habitable.

² EXODUS refers to a mass departure of refugees, as originally accounted in the second book of the Torah and of the Old Testament. The war-refugee scenarios in this Module describe a postwar interstellar exodus comparable to the flight of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt about 3.5 kya.

4A1. Core, Starship, & Exodus Game Lengths

Module 4 Exodus lasts from 4 to 7 solar cycles long. The Combined Game leads into the next game Interstellar.

• a. 4-5 Cycle Core Game (competitive).

  • Modules. Module 0 must be used, and optionally Modules 1, 2, and 3 (Conflict).
  • Ignore Rules in Blue Font. Rules in blue font are only for the 6-7 cycle games. Ignore these rules, including isotope monetization, enterprises, spaceborns, augmentations, and Project Exodus. Include those labeled for Module 3 (Conflict) if using that Module.
  • Number of Players. 2 to 6 competitive, or 1 solitaire (4G).
  • Game Victory. See 4E2.

• b. 6-7 Cycle Games (competitive).

  • Modules. Modules 0, 1, and 2 with Futures, and optionally Module 3 (Conflict).
  • Number of Players. 2 to 6 competitive, or 1 solitaire (4G). Solitaire is not supported if using Module 3.
  • Game Victory. See 4E2.

  EASILY MISSED: Because of the inclusion rule (4E3b), if you have at least one Colonist who has an augmentation chit, you are almost guaranteed a seat in the Starship Exodus. [4A1b]

• c. 5-7 Cycle Scenarios using Module 3 (competitive).

  • Exodus Conventional War (4F1). Use Module 3, but additionally score per 4E2 and desperation starshots (4E3b) are allowed.
  • Exodus Union War (4F2). Use Module 3, but additionally score per 4E2 and desperation starshots (4E3b) are allowed. War can break out, with the Spacer Union (including Robots) as the Independence bloc and the others as the Loyalist bloc.

4A2. Module 4 Components

• a. 1 Drawer Box.
• b. 1 Rules Booklet.
• c. 1 Starship Stack Placard/Alternative Solitaire Political Diagram.
• d. 4 Player Aids.
• e. 36 Contract Cards which form the 3 contract (4B) decks.
• f. 6 Timepiece Chits (1 for each of 6 player colors).
• g. 1 Default Chit.
• h. 1 Isobank/Starship Token. Place this at the base of a Bernal where the isobank is established.
• i. 6 Exodus Contract Cards.
• j. 10 Spaceborn Colonist Cards.
• k. 6 Robot Colonist Cards.
• l. 6 Child Chits (1 for each of 6 player colors).
• m. 6 Isotope Monetization / Isobank Stack Cards.
• n. 36 Augmentation Chits (6 for each shape).
• o. 12 Exodus Medal Chits (TW Thruster, Promoted Bernal, Promoted Freighter, Commander, 8 passengers).

4A3. Contract Card Anatomy

Contract cards have a blue side and a gold side. The contract decks start blue-bordered side faceup. In games of 6 or more cycles, the deck flips to the gold-side when the isobank (4C2) is built. Contract cards are auctioned after a fundraise operation (O2b).

• a. Name.
• b. Mass/Rad-hardness. Use these when the contract is carried as a Stack Card, see B2h and B2j.
• c. Type.
• d. When Fulfilling or Fulfilled Abilities. See 4B2e.
• e. Ideology Pair. Individuality-freedom, honor-unity, or equality-authority.
• f. Cybernetics. Represent partner agencies (4B2k) and are used for implantations (4D4c).³
• g. Destination.
• h. Cash Advance.
• i. Late Fee.
• j. Victory Points.
• k. Tophat/Felony. See 4B2f.

³ CYBERNETICS is the science of communication and control systems shared by machines and living things. Such an integration is essential for mastering the high frontier as well as for a starship controlled by both humans and machines.

4A4. Augmentation Chit Anatomy

Augmentation chits have their effects on one side, and the corresponding cybernetics icon for implantation (4D4c) on the other. They are placed upon a Colonist card via the implant operation (4D4).

• a. Name & Shape. Triangle (isotope), hexagon (batteries), heart (life-support), jar (hibernation), rectangle (warden), and radiation triad (shields).
• b. Effects. See 4D3a,b,c,d,e,f.
• c. Cybernetics icon. This is the required icon for implantation, see 4D4c.

TIP: Because contracts require boosting, there is more boosting in a Module 4 game and consequently the Player White NASA Faction Privilege (with a boosting bonus) is at an advantage. This Faction is recommended for beginning players. [4A5]

4A5. Module 4 Setup

Setup is per Core (C) plus for the Modules used plus the following (skip the blue font for a 4-5 Cycle game):

• a. Seniority Disks. Four to seven, depending on the game length chosen (4A1).
• b. Contract Decks. Separate the contract cards into 3 decks, one for each ideology pair (4A3e), with the blue-side faceup. Shuffle each deck and place near their ideology pair on the political assembly placard.
• c. Timepiece & Default Chits. Place these chits near the Sunspot Cycle placard.
• d. Starting Aqua. Contract decks are not patent decks and so they do not affect starting Aqua (C5).
• e. Exodus Contract Deck (Modules 1 & 2). Shuffle the Exodus contracts, randomizing which side of each is faceup. Place them on the starship placard with the isobank token (4A2h) on top to show the deck is locked.
• f. New Colonists (Module 2). Shuffle the new Colonists (spaceborn and Robot), plus all Robots from Module 2, into a new spaceborn queue.
  • Queues. Module 4 uses 2 Colonist queues: earthborn and Robot/spaceborn (4D1).⁴ "Earthborn" is slang for a non-Robot Colonist from Module 2.
• g. Augmentation & Child Chits (Module 2). Each player adds to their Reserves the child chit of their color, and a set of augmentation chits of the 6 shapes.
• h. Module 3 Conflict. If playing with this Module, decide if the War will be conventional (4F1) or Union (4F2). Then additionally setup per 3A2. Reminder that this may make the final starshot a desperate one.

⁴ EARTHBORN vs. SPACEBORN. A person born on Earth is acclimated to a 1 gee planet or Bernal. A person who has spent years in a low gravity rocket or world suffers from muscular atrophy to the point where they would need a lot of bionic help to take a vacation on Earth. As the future unfolds, humans may specialize into two kinds of cybernetic augmentations: mental aids, such as an exocortex or wearable computers, and physical aids, such as bionic limbs, locomotion, and life-support, all of which allow acrobatic performance in zero-gee.

4A6. Core/Module 0-3 Rules Changes

• a. Inspiration (K2a). This event is applied to both Colonist queues plus the contract decks (4A5b), including the Exodus contract deck if it is active (4C2c).

• b. Contract Fulfillment (add to G). This new free action moves a completed contract card from a Stack to adjacent to your playmat. Completed contracts are called enterprises (4B8).

• c. Negotiation Summary (add to N). Possession of contract cards can be negotiated only if unfulfilled. Some fulfilled contract Abilities may be negotiable, if specified. Augmentation chits are not negotiable. Fulfilled contract icons may be shared (see partnership delegates, 4B8).

• d. Fundraise Operation (O2 of Module 0). During this Operation, a partner delegate can be placed on an enterprise per 4B8b in order to increase your portfolio. As the final step of this Operation, you may cycle a contract deck and may start a contract auction (4B3).

• e. FINAO (H7e). Failure Is Not An Option cost changes after isotope monetization (3B5).

• f. Isobank Stacks (add to E3). This is a new Stack created by construction of the isobank (4C). Its location for all players is indicated by the single isobank/starship token.

• g. Miner Colonist Profession (2C1a). During a site refuel operation (I5), you may perform one extra refuel per Colocated miner present. The refuels may be of different types (you may receive 1 isotope and 7 water, for instance.)

• h. There are 2 queues instead of 1: earthborn and Robot/spaceborn (4A5e). During any exomigration, you must choose whether to join the Spacer Union (4D2) or not. If you do, exomigrate the top card from the Robot/spaceborn queue, but if you do not, take the top card from the earthborn queue. If you ever exomigrate a Robot/spaceborn, you must Decommission all your earthborns and vice versa. Regardless if you hold Robot/spaceborn Colonists, or Human Colonists, your Colonist limit is equal to the number of anchored Bernals (doubled for promoted Bernals, see 2Ca).

4A7. Core/Module 0-3 Rules Clarifications

• a. Bank (clarification). This term refers to the Space on the map where you store your Aqua and/or gold beads, except that gold beads are stored at the isobank if one exists (4C2). Your Bank is located in LEO, a Home Bernal (2B3), or (if Module 3) an ET Home Bernal (3F1), whichever is furthest from Earth. You may only have one Bank at a time.

• b. Powersat Stacking (clarification). Modifications to the Powersat push value are limited to +1 maximum (total push +2), except for the MagBeam robonaut (which always gets a total push of +3 thrust regardless of Powersat push value).

• c. Multiple Rerolls (clarification). If multiple Abilities and/or rules grant rerolls for a particular roll, you may reroll once per such Ability/rule. After a reroll, you decide whether to keep it or roll again (if possible).

• d. Site Descriptions (clarification). Some cards in this Module use new methods of describing Sites:

  • Unexplored: A Site without a claim disk or busted disk.
  • Flyby Space: A Space with a flyby bonus printed on the map, including solar oberth flyby (H8e).
  • Signposted: Any Site with a colored route leading to it.
  • Space Elevator: A Site connected to an elevator path printed on the map (e.g. phobos), or to an Anchored GEO Space Elevator (1B9e).

• e. **Dropstone Sites (Clarification).**⁵

  • Any Synodic Comet (multiple locations).
  • Jovian Himalia Moonlets (elara, leda, himala, lysithea: 10:10 F).

4B. Contracts & Enterprises

Contract decks are made up of contract cards representing available for-hire work from various enterprises. The winning bidder gets instant funding in return for a promise to complete the contract by a specific deadline, with penalties for being late. Fulfill a contract by taking its card to the specified location, and (if specified) returning it. Once fulfilled, a contract grants cybernetics icon(s) and (usually) an ongoing Ability, both representing a continuing partnership with a high-tech enterprise. A fulfilled contract is also worth VP at the endgame.

• a. Contract Categories include trillionaire passengers, tourists, megaprojects, military contracts, government grants, science payloads, and robotic research.
• b. Discard. This glossary term means to put a card to the bottom of its appropriate deck or queue.

4B1. Contract Decks

Contracts form three or four decks placed around the political assembly and have special rules for bidding, inspiration, and being carried in Stacks.

• a. Inspiration Event. Like patent decks, all contract decks are inspired during the inspiration Event Roll (K2a).
• b. Isobank Contract Upheaval. Each contract has two sides: blue and gold. As soon as an isobank (4C2) exists, flip all three contract decks so the bottom is on top and from now on the more profitable gold side is used.⁶
• c. Exodus Contracts. This deck (4A5e) is composed of special single-sided contracts which start on the starship placard. This deck starts covered by the isobank token (4A2h) to indicate that it is locked (and not affected by inspiration Events) until the isobank is established. This removes the token from the deck, so that its top card is now auctionable (4B3c).

⁶ AQUA VS. ISOTOPES. These two commodity currencies differ in their value on Earth. Aqua (water) is not very valuable on Earth, while isotopes (gold beads) are quite valuable as fuel for fusion powerplants. Aqua has no value on Earth's surface, but does have value in LEO. If you pay the programmers in Aqua, you pay in water orbiting in big cans where the programmers can resell it to outward-bound ships that need propellant.

4B2. Contract Cards

Contract cards have Mass and rad-hardness and are carried in Stacks like other cards in play until their contract is fulfilled and they are stored as enterprises.

• a. Not Patents. Contract cards do not count against academia hand limit (I2a) and cannot be sold (I3a).

• b. Side Matters. When boosting, a contract must be placed on the side (blue-side or gold-side) that was faceup when it was auctioned.

• c. Launch Surety Contracts. Contract cards are immune to pad explosion/space debris events (K2c) or budget cuts events (K2f).

• d. Manned Contracts. If a contract has the "Humans on Board" icon, it is considered Human (see glossary). This is significant for Glitch Repairs, Felony defense, Glory, or as a manned target during combat. It is a Felony to voluntarily Decommission or Discard a manned contract, and if it suffers voluntary Decommission, you suffer default (4B6).

• e. Contract Abilities are of 2 types:

  • When Fulfilling. These Abilities occur once only, as the contract is fulfilled.
  • Fulfilled Ability. These Abilities remain active after the contract is fulfilled and becomes an enterprise (4B8).

  EXAMPLE [4B2e]: You win the auction for the Exodus contract "Rival Isobank". You boost it to your Home Bernal, and take it and 5 isotopes to the listed destination, an opponent's Bernal at Titan. Because of its "when fulfilling" Ability, you gain 2 isotopes at this Bernal, and 1 more at the isobank. Having fulfilled the contract, you gain the fulfilled Ability, which is to swap 1 isotope for 6 Aqua at your (soon-to-be-built) non-Home Bernal.

4B3. Contract Auction (adds to the Fundraise Operation)

At the final step of a fundraise operation (O2b), if you do not have an active timepiece for another contract in the Sunspot Cycle, you may perform a contract auction for the top card in a contract deck sharing an Ideology with an Active Law. Before choosing to start the auction, you may Discard the top card from that deck.

TIP: Due to late fees, bidding in the first solar cycle is risky unless you boost a rocket quickly. [4B3]

• a. Partner Enterprise. Whether or not there is a contract auction, a delegate from a fundraise can be used to form a partner enterprise per 4B8a instead of being placed in the Political Assembly.

• b. Auction Prohibition. Contract auctions cannot be held during War/Anarchy.

• c. Deck Selection. After performing the fundraise and associated vote tally (O2a), choose a contract deck sharing an ideology in its ideology pair (4A3e) with an activated law.

  • If the Active Law is in Unity, multiple laws may be activated; otherwise, only one law will be activated.
  • Once the isobank is built (4C2), you may also choose the Exodus contract deck regardless of Active Law.

  EXAMPLE [4B3c]: You perform a fundraise while the Active Law is freedom. You add a delegate into equality and move another delegate into equality so that freedom, equality, and unity each have 2 delegates. You examine the contracts, and the honor-unity ideology pair is the best one. Therefore, to break the tied vote tally, you move the Active Law to unity so that you may choose the top honor-unity contract to auction.

  EASILY MISSED: There are no contracts which match Centrist. If the Active Law is Centrist, none of the contract decks may be selected except (post-isobank) the Exodus contract deck. [4B3c]

  TIP: Freedom/Individuality is almost all-manned (11 of 12); Equality/Authority is somewhat manned (4 of 12); and Honor/Unity is almost all unmanned (1 of 12 manned, 2 of 12 on the gold side). [4B3c]

4B4. Contract Fulfillment (new free action)

Each step of a contract's destination is fulfilled as a free action (G) by moving your Stack containing the contract to the listed destination, while satisfying any other listed conditions. If you fulfill the terms of the contract, move it to a space adjacent to your playmat, and return your timepiece from the Sunspot Cycle placard, which instantly lifts restrictions on contract auctions. Any "Fulfilled:" Abilities of the contract are now active (4B2e).

• a. Contract Start. All contracts are put onto the map via the boost operation, boosted to your choice of either LEO or your Home Bernal, see 4A7a). If the contract specifies "Return", it must be returned to your Bank.

• b. Representation. The contract card itself must be included in the Stack which fulfills the contract or destination step.

  EASILY MISSED: A contract cannot be voluntarily Decommissioned/Discarded. [4B4b]

  EXAMPLE [4B4b]: A player is completing the "rivalry" contract (visit a Site in a zone with a claimed glory chit & return). She lands in the E Zone, which has a claimed glory chit, and announces this. On a future Turn, she realizes that the F Zone chit is a better target, so travels to a F Zone Site and announces the landing. The rivalry for the E Zone chit is no longer relevant.

• c. PR. You must announce each step of a contract's fulfillment to all players. Only the most recent announcement for each step is valid.

  EXAMPLE [4B4c]: The "Life Support Test Protocol" contract has a destination: "Site in Saturn Zone with Promoted Bernal and augmented Colonist & Return". To fulfill this contract, you must have the contract, a Promoted Bernal, and an augmented Colonist at a Saturn Site, then must have those same cards at your Bank (the "Return" clause).

• d. Return. If your destination specifies "Return," after reaching the other destinations listed, the Stack must move to your Bank (4A7a) to fulfill.

4B5. Late Penalties

If the 1st player cube moves past your timepiece in the Sunspot Cycle, you are late which flips the timepiece and orients the contract sideways. You can also declare a contract late, to pay it off faster. Pay its annual late fee until either it is fulfilled or its advance is paid (or twice the advance if the contract was never boosted). Follow these steps:

• a. Flip To Deadbeat. Flip your timepiece to its "deadbeat" side. It remains in place until removed by fulfillment or repayment (bullets d or e).

• b. Pay Late Fee (optional). At the start of your Turn in which your timepiece is "deadbeat", after Bernal profits, you may pay all or part of the late fee listed on the contract. Place all payments directly upon the late contract to track how much you have spent.

  • No Overpayments. You cannot pay more than the late fee each Turn.
  • Nonpayment. Until the debt is paid, if you fail to pay the late fee then you default (4B6), receiving the default chit and moving the contract to your Hand if not already there.

  EASILY MISSED: Defaulting has no effect if you already hold the default chit and the contract is already in your Hand. [4B5b]

• c. Orient Card Horizontally. A contract in horizontal (landscape) orientation indicates that it is late. This can be in your Hand, or in a Stack.

  • All Abilities (including tophat or felony, see 4B2f) on a late contract are deactivated.
  • Boosting/Decommission. A late contract can be Decommissioned to your Hand, without changing the landscape orientation of its late status or the payment on it. A late contract cannot be boosted.
  • Mishap Insurance. If the Mishap Insurance Law is active when your timepiece flips to deadbeat, place Aqua from the Pool equal to the contract's Mass (4A3b) on the contract. You may lobby (O4) this Law.

⁷ MERCURY, NOT FOR BEGINNERS. Why is the closest planet to Sol one of the hardest and highest delta-v planets to reach? First, it orbits so quickly (about 45 km/sec) and so deeply in the Sol gravity field, inclined at 7 degrees from the ecliptic. Furthermore, without an atmosphere, aerobrake is not an option. NASA was unable to attain a satellite orbit around Mercury until the MESSENGER Spacecraft of 2011, which needed 6 years and flyby of Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The programmer responsible was Robert Farquhar, a planetary trajectory pioneer who designed some of the most esoteric and complex spacecraft trajectories ever attempted.

4B6. Default Penalties

If unable or unwilling to pay the late fee, or your manned contract (4B2d) suffers an involuntary Decommission, you default and suffer the default chit.⁸

TIP: Defaulting on a contract, especially a manned one, can be very, very bad. Doing any of the following is like landing on Sol and hoping a sunspot will save you [4B6]:

• Make a Belt Roll which could Decommission a contract.
• Make a Hazard Roll which could Decommission a contract.
• Leave a Stack in space before a potential CME Event that could Decommission a contract.

• a. Add to Hand. Move the contract to your Hand. If it is late, it is added to your Hand in a horizontal Orientation to indicate that you must pay late fees in order to Discard the contract (4B5b,e).

• b. Take Default Chit. Take the default chit (4A2g) from anywhere, and store it on your playmat on its blue or gold side depending on the contract color.

• c. Default Stigma. If you have the default chit you are not allowed to boost manned contracts.

• d. Endgame Default Penalty. During endgame scoring (M2, 4F), the default chit subtracts 3 or 6 VP.

  EXAMPLE [4B6]: You boost a tourist contract, but it perishes in a solar flare with still 7 years remaining. The contract goes into your Hand, and you get the default chit. You reboost the contract (presumably with more naive tourists), and fly towards your destination. Before you reach it, you become late and start paying late fees. But finally you fulfill the contract and add it to your contracts fulfilled area. Meanwhile, your opponent also defaults on a contract, so you fortunately lose the default chit and its stigma.

REMINDER (MODULE 3): An opponent is another player, a player that is not you, the player whose Turn it is. During War, an enemy is an opponent who is in the bloc you are fighting against. [4B6a]

⁸ DEFAULT is the failure to fulfil a contractual obligation. It damages reputation, the most fundamental asset of any enterprise.

4B7. Contracts & War/Anarchy (Module 3)

With the Conflict Module, contract auctions and fulfillment are slightly different during War / Anarchy: military contracts enjoy special importance, late fees are suspended, and contracts may be abandoned without penalty.

• a. War Outbreak Partner Dissolution. If War occurs, or if during War an ally becomes an enemy, all partner delegates (4B8b) on enemy enterprises are Discarded. See 4B8c for re-installing during War.

• b. Military Contracts. Contracts of type "military" remain unaffected by War/Anarchy, and ignore all the bullets below.

• c. Auction Freeze. No contract auctions (except military) are allowed during War/Anarchy.

• d. Late Fees. No late fees are paid (except military) during War/Anarchy.

• e. Abandonment. A contract (except military) may be abandoned (without penalty) during War/Anarchy by taking its card to LEO or the Anchored Bernal of any player. Discard the contract and remove your timepiece from the Sunspot Cycle.

  EXAMPLE [4B6e]: Anarchy occurs in Season Blue, and you worry that an opponent will attack your Rocket Stack carrying a billionaire contract to cause you to default. You dump the billionaire at a nearby Bernal.

4B8. Enterprises (Modules 1 & 2)

A completed contract stored adjacent to your playmat is called an enterprise. The different types of cybernetics icons on them are important for implanting augmentations (4D3).

• a. Delegates & Partner Enterprises. During a fundraise operation (O2b), you may place a delegate on an opponent's enterprise (see next bullet). An enterprise with your delegate is called a partner enterprise.

• b. Placing Partner Delegates. You may place a partner on an enterprise in an opponent's enterprise only with their negotiated permission.

• c. Placing Partner Delegates (Module 3). During War, you cannot place or retain partners on enemy enterprises, but you can place on allied enterprises, even without permission, as long as you pay the owner a bribe (3B1).

• d. Portfolio. The cybernetics icons on your enterprises or your partner enterprises is called your portfolio. This is important for the implant operation (4D4) and thus for the promotion operation (4D7).

  EXAMPLE [4B7d]: You wish to promote your muddling GW thruster into a spectacular TW thruster, but only have 3 of the 4 implantations needed. Player Gray has a Jars cybernetics that you lack. During a fundraise, you place your Delegate on his fulfilled Contract. Then on the following turn, you move your thrice-augmented Colonist to the Home Bernal of Player Gray to perform the 4th implantation as a negotiated on-site operation (N6). In return for these services, you transfer ownership of your second Bernal to become his second Bernal.

4C. Isobank (Module 1)

The ready availability of Aqua to Earth and the mining of rare isotope fuels causes the Aqua market to crash, making isotopes the new standard. Inflation causes FINAO costs in Aqua to double, and the exchange rate of Aqua to Isotopes is 10:1. Eventually a new storage facility for isotopes, the isobank, becomes the new center for storing and exchanging isotopes.

TIP: The Isotope monetization cards included with Module 4 may be handed out as a reminder of the effects of monetization. [4C1]

4C1. Isotope Monetization (same as Module 3)

In Module 1, gold beads representing starship isotope fuel can be factory-refueled (1C1a) at factories matching the Spectral Type of your GW thruster, should you have one. This Spectral Type is called your iso-standard. In Module 4, the first player who establishes their iso-standard by producing a gold bead at a Factory triggers isotope monetization.⁹ This doubles the costs of FINAO for all players. Gold beads stored at your Bank can be used as currency for auctions or FINAO. Gold beads at your Bank are worth 10 Aqua.

• a. 2X FINAO Costs. Failure Is Not An Option (H7e) costs are instantly and permanently doubled for all players (including those with Open Source faction privilege) if one of these occurs:

  • Either the Lofstrom Loop (2B4f) or the GEO Space Elevator (2B4i) is Anchored as a Home Bernal.
  • The first gold bead of isotope fuel is produced (1C1a).
  • (Module 3 only) After a War, the first ET Home Bernal (3F1) is Anchored.

• b. Blue/Gold Bead Exchange Rate. At your Bank, one gold bead can be exchanged for 10 Aqua, and vice versa. Thus, if you pay the programmers with 1 gold bead, you get 2 Aqua in return.

  EXAMPLE [4C2b]: You have a mini-mag orion that you wish to take through a Hazard and need to pay the programmers. You isotope refuel one gold bead at your M Factory, and transport this by Freighter to the Bernal that is your Bank. Then you pay the programmers 1 gold bead, and receive 2 Aqua in change.

• c. Gold Bead Bank Transactions. If your Bank receives any gold beads in a transaction, either through negotiation or in an auction, as soon as they leave the Bank they automatically become your iso-standard.

⁹ ISOTOPE MONETIZATION describes the crash of the Aqua market, as a result of LEO becoming eclipsed as a space hub, supplanted by Bernals in water-rich areas. The new commodity economy is based upon isotopes, the sort of material needed for clean nuclear reactors for both Earth and starships, who are perhaps equally thirsty for energy.

• d. Debasement. If you never had a GW/TW thruster and thus no iso-standard, you cannot hold any gold beads. If your Bank receives an Isotope in trade, you must immediately convert it into 10 Aqua.
  • If you receive an Isotope not at your Bank, you must immediately convert it into 1 FT locally.
• e. Iso-Standard Permanency. See 1Cb.
• f. Exchange Timing. You may only exchange Aqua/gold beads as a free action on your Turn or when making a payment, excluding negotiations (N).

4C2. Founding The Isobank (new in Module 4)

An isobank is the Fort Knox of the Solar System, a Bernal where all the Solar System's reserves of Isotope Fuel (see glossary) are stored. This central repository is of military significance, and will eventually become the drydock for the interstellar rocket called Project Exodus. The player owning the isobank Bernal is known as the isobanker.

EASILY MISSED: If you Anchor a Bernal to an opponent's Dirtside, you do not automatically get permission to use it. [4C2a]

• a. Founding Bernal. You may, as a free action, establish the isobank (and Project Exodus) if, on your turn, there is no isobank and you fulfill these 2 conditions:

  • Have an iso-standard (i.e. ET produced a GW thruster per 1Cb).
  • Have an Anchored non-Home Bernal with a dirtside matching their iso-standard. (This can be at an opponent's Dirtside). If using Module 3, an ET Home Bernal can be the isobank.

• b. Place Starship Token. Place the starship token on the map under the Bernal's token to show that it is the isobank. See 4C3a if the Bernal is unanchored (voluntarily or involuntarily).

• c. Exodus Contracts Active. Removing the starship token from the Exodus contract deck activates it; this deck is now available for contract auctions (4B3), and is now affected by inspiration events.

• d. Storage of Isofuels. Once established, the isobank becomes the Bank for all players' isotopes.

  • Isotope Stacks. Each player places an isotope monetization/isobank stack card next to their playmat, isobank stack side up. The player founding the isobank takes the single Isobanker card. This card represents a new Stack located at the isobank.
  • Isotope Movement. When the isobank is established, isotopes at player's Banks move to their isobank Stack. If the isobank moves, isotopes at the isobank move with it.
  • Exchange of isotopes is to/from the isobank rather than to/from LEO/Home Bernal.
  • The isobank does not count as a Bank for any other purpose (return of contracts, exomigration, etc.).

4C3. The Isobank/Starship During War or Anarchy (Module 3)

The isobank stores the isotopes of all the players, both allies and enemies. If the founding Bernal is unanchored, the Isobank is sent Dirtside for protection (4C2g) where it remains in space), where it can be destroyed or captured in combat. During or just after War/Anarchy (assuming that it has enough isofuel, crew, and equipment), the isobank can launch as a starship and attempt to fly off the map, with the player with the most isofuel in command. Exiting the map prematurely ends the game with scoring. Players may attempt to stop this by combat per 4C5c.

[Source note: the printed sentence above contains an unbalanced parenthesis, "(4C2g) where it remains in space), where it can be destroyed..."; transcribed as printed.]

• a. Isobank Protection. During War or Anarchy, the starship token automatically moves to a Dirtside (isobanker's choice) of the Founding Bernal. It remains there during War / Anarchy regardless of Founding Bernal Loss (4C2g). When War/Anarchy ends, the isobank returns to a Bernal if there is one using its location as a Dirtside.

• b. Destruction & Bank Heist. The starship token itself is unaffected by combat. If at a Factory which is destroyed or captured in combat, the victorious player steals the stored isotopes of all the other players, in the heist of the millennium. Then, the isobank is destroyed, the starship token is discarded, and a new isobank may be established per 4C2. Place the isotopes from all players' playmats in an outpost at the former isobank location.

  TIP: Submarines make impregnable isobanks. [4C3b]

• c. Desperation Starship Exodus. During War, or during the year the War ends, the player with the most isotopes in the isobank can convert the isobank into the Starship Exodus with themselves as commander. They remain in command for as long as the starship exists. (If tied for the most isotope, the isobanker chooses whether to allow exodus.) This option requires the following requirements at the isobank:

  • T W Thruster. The starship needs an operational TW Thruster at the isobank.
  • Augmented Colonist. The starship needs at least one augmented Colonist.
  • Fuel. On departure and upon exiting the map, the combined number of isotopes must be at a minimum "reckless", see 4C4b. The commander robs the isobank of the isotopes from every player for his getaway.

• d. Exodus Launch. As a free action the commander moves all the starship components (previous bullet) into the Starship Stack placard (4A2c). If the isobank is on a Site, the starship launch is allowed an automatic risk-free factory-assist.

¹⁰ STARSHIP EXODUS. Although its power is in the terawatt range, and a thrust of around 9 in the High Frontier scale, its enormous mass gives it a rather sluggish acceleration. Its three ballerinas are based upon an estimated specific impulse of 2449 ks (8% c).

¹¹ JUPITER-SOL-JUPITER EXIT. This is the most fuel efficient route to exit the solar system, but leaves the starship in the inner solar system for a vulnerable two years. The initial flyby of Jupiter kills the ship's orbital velocity, allowing it to plummet towards Sol. This takes 1.1 years, and the engine is ignited at perihelion, when it is closest to Sol. The resulting Oberth force multiplier and continued thrust takes it clear of the solar system, with a final pass at Jupiter again.

4C4. Exodus Fueling Table

Starships require a tremendous amount of Isotope Fuel (Isofuel).¹² The minimum "reckless" amount of fuel required for a starshot to occur depends on player count as shown in the table below. Also shown is the starting fuel in a continuing Interstellar combined game. The player providing the most isofuel chooses the starshot commander (4C3c).

• a. Isototal is total isotopes owned by all players collectively, in all locations.

  • Isotope present at the completion of ad astra futures (1D1b) counts toward that player's isotope contribution towards Project Exodus (4E3b,d) even though it has been Decommissioned. Track this by storing gold beads on the Future card (4Agi).

• b. Starshot Determination. If the isototal at the endgame meets the minimum number in the "reckless" row for the appropriate column based on player count, there is a starshot and Project Exodus scoring (4E3) takes place.

• c. Fueling Bonus or Penalty. If there is a starshot, players with passengers receive an endgame VP bonus or penalty based on the isototal as shown in the final column of the Exodus Fueling Table (below).

• d. Interstellar Fuel Levels (Combined Game). Compare the isototal to the appropriate column based on player count to see the starting wet mass for Interstellar:

  EXAMPLE [4C4]: During the endgame starshot, Player White has 10 isotopes, Player Yellow has 2 isotopes, and Player Green has 1 isotope plus 10 isotopes for completing the "Lithiated Ammonia Ice Starship" Future. The isototal is 23, which is "reckless" in a 3-Player game.

Exodus Fueling Table

Starting Wet Mass in Interstellar	1 Player isototal	2 Players combined isototal	3 Players combined isototal	4 Players combined isototal	5 Players combined isototal	6 Players combined isototal	Endgame VP adjustment (per player)
Max (220 mass)	15 or more	24 or more	30 or more	40 or more	50 or more	60 or more	+10 VP
Crisis (130 mass)	10 - 14	15 - 23	24 - 29	32 - 39	40 - 49	48 - 59	0 VP
Reckless (80 mass)	5-9	7 - 14	12 - 23

¹² ISOTOPE FUEL. A typical flight plan for the Starship Exodus starts with a wet mass of 220 mass (8800 tonnes), of which 10 mass is dry mass (equipment and passengers), and 210 mass (210 tanks) is isotope fuel for the fusion engine. It expends 190 of those tanks accelerating to cruising speed (16%c) in 36 years, leaving 20 mass of braking fuel. Each tank is half helium-3 and half deuterium isotopes, refined from the atmosphere of Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.

4D. Spaceborns & Cybernetic Augmentations

Human Colonists come in two types: earthborns (comfortable in 1 gee planets and Bernals) and spaceborns (Human-machine hybrids comfortable in zero-gee and high radiation). Colonists of all types become augmented if they are implanted with an augmentation. Augmentations are chits that represent technological modifications for humans, and biological modifications for Robots.¹³ They are placed on a Colonist card via the implant operation (4D4) to enhance the Colonist's capabilities.

EASILY MISSED: Earthborn Colonists are Human (and not Robots). Spaceborn Colonists are Human (and not Robots). Unemancipated Robots are not Human and not spaceborn (but are drawn from the spaceborn queue). Emancipated Robots are Human and spaceborn. [4D1]

4D1. Spaceborn Colonists

Module 4 introduces new Colonist cards called spaceborns, cyborg Humans whose bodies have atrophied so severely in the space environment that they are inseparable from their augmented limbs, locomotion, and life support system. Unlike earthborns (Colonists introduced in Module 2), spaceborns have artificial blood and are cancer-immune. Although they are Human (see glossary), they support Robot equality during emancipation (2A6b).

• a. Colonist Provenance. Colonists may be spaceborns, earthborns, or Robots.
  • Emancipated Robots (2A6b) count as Humans, Robots, and spaceborns.
  • "Colonist" refers to any of the above.
• b. Sterile. Spaceborns and Robots cannot obtain the heart (parenthood) augmentation.

¹³ PROMOTION VS AUGMENTATION. Many of the promotions on Colonist cards are a combination of genetic and bionic enhancements, as well as the cybernetics that communicate with them. An extreme case is a "reverse cyborg", which has mental functions largely undertaken by an exocortex. On an interstellar mission, augmentations of human biology are essential because the expected radiation levels are not survivable for pure humans. In the next game in the High Frontier saga - Interstellar - the humans have further diverged into specialized cyborgs, Amazons with reproductive capacity and heavily-augmented brains, and Meatheads with hibernation capacity and who have heavily augmented bodies.

4D2. Spaceborn Exomigration (new option for exomigration free action)

This Module plays with 2 queues (2A2b): one for the Human Colonists of Module 2 (called earthborns), and the other for all Human Colonists from this Module (called spaceborns) plus Robots from either Module. During exomigration (2A6), you may choose which queue to draw from. However, to draw from the Robot/spaceborn queue you must have at least 1 Colony dome that is not your Home Bernal and must join the Spacer Union. Except per 4D2e or 4F2f, no player may hold Colonists from both queues.

• a. Space-Based. You may not exomigrate from the spaceborn queue unless since the beginning of the Turn you owned a Colony dome other than your Home Bernal.

  EXAMPLE [4D2a]: You have a Home Bernal anchored, and then industrialize your first Factory. You use your Colonist to make it into a Colony, and then exomigrate a new Colonist. This new Colonist cannot be spaceborn, because this Colony is your first outside your Bernal, and did not exist since the start of the Turn (too soon to produce spaceborn).

• b. Spaceborn Exomigration. Draw the top card of the spaceborn queue, following normal exomigration rules.

  • If Multiple Robots are Drawn, choose one per 4A6i.

• c. Joining Spacer Union. If you put a spaceborn into play, immediately Discard (not a Felony) all your earthborns in play and exomigrate, drawing from the spaceborn queue.

• d. Earthborn Exomigration. If you hold any spaceborn colonists, you are a member of the Spacer Union and are not allowed to exomigrate from the earthborn queue.

• e. Rank & File. If the spaceborn queue is empty or contains only Robots, your exomigration emancipates the Robots per 2A6b. If post-emancipation and the earthborn queue or the spaceborn queue is empty, players must exomigrate from the other queue (even if they do not meet the Space-Based requirement listed above).

  • [Source fragment printed at this point, text as printed:] "the Spacer Union is dissolved, so that 4D2c and 4D2d are ignored." (The printed page does not state its antecedent; it parallels the Space Empire note in 4F2f.)

4D3. Augmentation Chits

Augmentations are chits that come in 6 shapes, listed below. Augmentation chits are placed on Colonists via the implant operation (4D4), they are only removed from the Colonist during Decommission.

EASILY MISSED: Augmentations cannot be removed except by Decommissioning the Colonist. You also cannot exchange ownership of Colonists (N3d). [4D3]

• a. Isotope (triangle shape). A Colocated factory refuel that produces isotope receives an additional isotope. Even if other Abilities increase isotope fueling (e.g. miner colonists), only a single extra isotope is provided.

  EXAMPLE [4D3a]: A factory refuel at a Site with a miner Colonist generates 2 isotopes (1, plus 1 for the colonist). If the "Femtochemistry" refinery were present, each of those would be doubled by the refinery's ability, for 4 isotopes overall. In either case, the Isotope augmentation would provide 1 extra isotope (3 total with just the Miner, 5 total with "Femtochemistry").

• b. Battery (hexagon shape). This provides a pulse generator (this is an on-board nuclear support, see 2C3).

• c. Jars (jar-shape). An industrialization that creates a Colony by Decommissioning this Colonist (even one without an ISRU platform) does not need to Decommission a robonaut (represents hibernation jars).

• d. Life-Support (heart shape). This enables a special implant operation called parenthood.

  • No Spaceborn. This chit can only be placed on an earthborn.

• e. Warden (rectangular). This adds a buggy platform of ISRU = 1, see I6.1. This is a buggy weapon in War/Anarchy (3E4).

• f. Shield (radiation triad shape). This gives the Colonist a minimum rad-hardness of 9. This is a gun weapon in War/Anarchy (3E3b).

Augmentation Table [4D3]

Augmentation	Icon	Effect
Isotope	(triangle)	Colocated isotope refuel(s) receives +1 isotope
Battery	(hexagon)	Pulse Generator
Jars	(jar)	Colocated industrialization with colonization does not need a robonaut.
Life-Support	(heart)	Parenthood
Shields	(radiation triad)	RH 9
Wardens	(rectangle)	ISRU 1 buggy

4D4. Implant (new Operation)

This Operation places one or more augmentation chits onto any number of Colocated Colonists (earthborn, spaceborn, and/or Robot) at an Anchored Bernal. The chits have cybernetics icons (engine, batteries, jars, life-support, wardens, shields); you must have corresponding icons on fulfilled contracts in order to implant. Additionally, you must have a Colony dome that is not your Home Bernal to represent the space-based conditions that lead to augmentation.

• a. Location Requirements. This Operation must be performed at your Anchored Bernal (or an opponent's Bernal if negotiated or the Law is freedom to roam O5f).

• b. Space-Based. You must have at least one Colony that is not your Home Bernal to perform this Operation. If playing with Module 3, your ET Home Bernal qualifies.

• c. Portfolio Requirements. You must have cybernetics in your Portfolio with icons for each of the chits you wish to implant.

• d. Implantation Limits. Each Faction is limited to one augmentation chit of each shape.

• e. Procedure. Take one or more valid augmentation chits and place each of them on top of a Colonist.

• f. Parenthood. If the life-support augmentation is one of those added, see 4D5a for limits and 4D5b for effects.

  EXAMPLE [4D4]: You Anchor your "GEO Space Elevator" Home Bernal in GEO. Remember that this requires an Epic Hazard Roll (4A6k). This exomigrates the "Vatican Observers". Since you have a Colony on Ceres, you are qualified to implant the observers. The cybernetics on your fulfilled contracts include two hearts and a triangle, so you expend an Operation to implant the heart and the triangle chits, placed on the colonist card. The heart chit causes parenthood, see the next example.

4D5. Parenthood

The life-support (heart-shaped) augmentation can only be implanted in earthborn Humans, because the genetics of spaceborn suffer from their high radiation environment. This augmentation enables parenthood:

• a. Reproduction Requirements. This chit can only be placed on an earthborn Colonist, and cannot be placed on Robots, spaceborn, or a Colonist with the Jars chit.

• b. Preteen Years. When this chit is placed, place your child chit on the Solar Sunspot Cycle 9 years into the future. During this period, the child Colonist is considered part of the heart augmentation of its parent.

• c. Coming of Age. When the Sunspot Cube moves past the child chit, the child is ten years old. The life-support Colonist is Decommissioned, and replaced by an earthborn (4D1) Colonist of your choice. You may look at the entire Colonist deck, and choose the one you wish to be the newborn. Shuffle the deck after examining it. This does not cause any delegate placement.

  EASILY MISSED: Since parenthood Decommissions the parent first, you may choose that Colonist as the child (a "chip off the old block"). [4D5d]

• d. Wunderkind. The child comes into play Promoted (Purple-Side).

  EXAMPLE [4D5d]: Your "Vatican Observers" from the previous example scandalously got pregnant in the last year of Season Blue. Place the child chit 9 years into the future, in the first year of the next Season Blue. When the Sunspot Cube moves into the 2nd year of Season Blue, the Vatican Observers are Decommissioned into their queue (perhaps the Pope was outraged). You choose the wunderkind "Malcolm" as the successor, promoted as "Renaissance Man".

• e. Inheritance. The preteen inherits all the augmentations (including the heart) of the retired Colonist (its parent).

4D6. Augmented Colonists

An Augmented Colonist is a Colonist (Human or Robot) implanted with at least one augmentation chit.

• a. Augmented Humans vs. Augmented Robots. Humans (either earthborns or spaceborns) can prevent or cause Felonies, collect glory, can repair Glitches, and it is a Felony to voluntarily Decommission them. Robots don't have these capacities unless emancipated (4D1h). See Human and Robot in the glossary.

• b. Promotion. If a Colonist is Promoted, move their augmentations onto the Colonist's Purple-Side.

• c. Death. If a Colonist is Decommissioned (other than for parenthood), Discard their augmentations to their Reserves.

  EXAMPLE [4D6c]: During Anarchy, you decide to Murder/Suicide your Colonist left stranded on Mars after delivering a contract. The Colonist's Jars augmentation is returned to the Jars.

4D7. Promotion (Operation revised from Modules 1 & 2)

This Operation flips a stack card to its improved Purple-Side. 4D7a,b,c,d are the same as Modules 1 and 2 (1A5 & 2A3), while 4D7e is a new requirement unique to Module 4. In short, to perform the promotion operation, you must bring Colonist(s) with a certain number of unique augmentation chits as well as the card being promoted to either a promotion colony or a Lab Bernal.

• a. Dome Icon. This indicates the colony type where a promotion can take place. There are 5 types:

  • Spectral Colony if at the specified Spectral Type (D, H, S, etc.)
  • Submarine Colony (waves icon)
  • Astrobiology Colony (leaf icon)
  • Atmospheric Colony (cloud icon)
  • Push Colony (push icon)

• b. Lab Promotion Site. A Promoted and Anchored Bernal is always a valid promotion colony for Colonist, Freighter, and GW thruster cards (2A3c).

• c. Negotiation. To promote, the Colony or Lab must either be your color or be an opponent's color as a negotiated on-site operation (N6) or alternatively allowed by the freedom to roam law (O5f).

• d. Decommissioning Promoted Cards. Except for Robot sales (2C2a) and Robot transfers (Nb), Purple-Side cards cannot be sold on the free market (I3b) or included in a stack transfer (N3). They can be involuntarily Decommissioned, but see (1B7) and (2C2). They can be voluntarily Decommissioned (Felony for Human Colonists) and then sold or transferred from your Hand (except Human Colonists). They return to play on their White-Side or Black-Side by being boosted (Bernals), exomigrated (Human Colonists), or ET Produced (Robots, Freighters, and GW Thrusters).

• e. Augmented Colonists (new Promotion Requirement). In order to promote, a Colonist (or Colonists) of yours must be present with a certain number of unique augmentation chits:

  • To Self-Promote Your Colonist. The Colonist being promoted needs at least 1 augmentation.

4E. Module 4 Endgame

4E1. Module 4 Endgame

The game ends when the final Seniority Disk is taken, or (Module 3) if the starship token exits the map as per 4C3.

4E2. Module 4 Endgame Scoring

Scoring is per the Core Game (M2), or 3G1 if using Module 3, but with these additions:

• a. Contract VP. Each fulfilled contract scores VP as listed. (Module 3) Apply a multiplier as for bribe VP (3G1a).

• b. Default Chit. You suffer negative VP if you hold the default chit (-3 VP blue side, -6 VP gold side).

• c. Unfulfilled Contracts. If you have an unfulfilled contract, you suffer negative VP for each Aqua left unpaid towards the advance (or twice the advance if the contract was never boosted, see 4B5b,e).

  EXAMPLE [4E2c]: You end the post-isobank game with an unfulfilled contract with a cash advance of 17 Aqua. Your opponent also has a default contract, with a cash advance of 21 and with 10 Aqua of payments on the card. You suffer a VP loss of 17, and she suffers a VP loss of 11.

• d. Isobanker (4C2) receives 5 VP.

• e. Project Exodus Requirements. A starshot occurs with Project Exodus scoring (4E3) if either of these endgame conditions are true:

  • Ad Astra Future was completed (1D1b). See 4A6i.
  • Endgame Equipment. A TW Thruster and a high enough isototal (4C4b) exists.

• f. If Tied. Resolve by most Aqua. Otherwise, share victory.

4E3. Project Exodus Scoring

At the end of the game, if the starshot requirements (4E2e) are met, there is a starshot with additional Project Exodus scoring. This collects all the isofuel (including ad astra isofuel per 4A6i) and Purple-Side cards that exist in the game to see if they contribute to the Starship Exodus. Players are awarded medals according to their contribution:

• a. Isotope Exchange. In reverse player order, players may exchange Aqua for isotope (or vice versa).

• b. Ad Astra or Desperation Starshot (Module 3). For these starshots, the medals and VP of the next 3 bullets are scored only if they are present at the starship location when it departs (4A6i or 4C3c). For Project Exodus scoring, the medals and VP are awarded no matter where the passengers and equipment are located.

• c. Award Command Medal (6 VP). The player with the most isotopes (including ad astra isofuel per 4A6i) receives the command medal. If tied, the isobanker chooses among those tied; determine randomly if there is no isobanker.

• d. Project Exodus Fueling. Compare the isototal (4C4a) to the appropriate column of Table 4C4 based on player count. If the result is reckless (4C4b), subtract 10 VP from each player with one or more augmented Colonists. If the fueling is max, add 10 VP to each player with one or more augmented Colonists.

  EXAMPLE [4E3d]: In a 5-player game the isototal is 50 isotopes. All players have one or more augmented Colonists, and all 5 add 10 VP to their score per Table 4C4.

4F. Exodus Scenarios (Module 3 competitive)

These wargame variants require Module 3 (Conflict). They assume a total war between two implacable foes, and the loser is motivated to exit the solar system entirely, and start over in a new system. Conversely the winners of the War are motivated to hinder the losers from building a starship and escaping.

• a. Sides. One side (as specified) are the Loyalists and the other are the Independents. However, as this is an ideological rather than racial war, you are free to join the enemy side using defection (3B3c).
• b. Desperation Starshot. If you are the commander, you may attempt to end the game early per 4C3c, except that you may also attempt it after the War if you lost the War (i.e. your extremist delegate was disgraced).
• c. Winning the War. See 3F4.
• d. Winning the Game. See 4E2, including contributions to Project Exodus (4E3).

4F1. Exodus Conventional War

This game plays with all the rules of Module 3, but with scoring per 4E2. Desperation starshots (4Fb) are allowed.

4F2. Exodus Union War

The game begins with Human factions per Module 3, but if War breaks out (from any of the causes listed below), the Robots become introspectively conscious and join the spaceborns in a fight for recognition as fully human. Players are assigned to a bloc depending upon the Colonists they hold. Follow these steps:

• a. Indicate Bloc Allegiance. Players with Robot/spaceborn Colonists (i.e. belonging to the Spacer Union (4D2)) start as Independence. Players with earthborn Colonists start as Loyalist. Players with no Colonists must join either bloc, choosing secretly and simultaneously. Flip your propaganda chit to independence or loyalist without losing your extremist. Propaganda chits with no Extremists are unaffected.

  EXAMPLE [4F2a]: As Player Purple, you default as Loyalist when War breaks out. Yet you hold the "Gabonese Mining Consortium" Colonist and thus are a member of the Spacer Union, which indicates that you start as Independence. Flip the propaganda in authority to its Independence side, with your extremist on top.

• b. Desertion of Enemy Colonists (modifies 3C3f). All earthborn Colonists are members of the Loyalist bloc, and all Robot/spaceborn Colonists are members of Independence, regardless of ideology. If at the end of your Turn a Colonist of yours supports the opposing bloc than what your Propaganda chit indicates, you must either:

  • Evade the "No Enemy Colonists" restriction (3D5d honor).
  • Discard this enemy Colonist to the bottom of its queue.

  EASILY MISSED: If your exomigration is limited by the lack of suitable Colonists, you must wait until one is available. See 3A3g. [4F2b]

• c. War Outbreak. There are 3 ways that War can occur:

  • A War Outbreak Roll is made during each adjustment of the exploitation track per 3C1 to see if War occurs.
  • Empty Queue. War also occurs if there is an exomigration (2A6) but there are no cards in the appropriate queue to draw from.

¹⁷ MORALITY OF MACHINES. Morality is a code of values that guide a being's decisions, assuming the being actually has a choice and is not a slave to its programming. Morality is inapplicable to beings (such as animals other than humans) that cannot make moral or immoral choices. Just as in the creation of conscious humans as simulated in Bios:Origins, conscious robots are created by the conceptual and technological facility of using language to create a simulated mental landscape on which to make choices. The crucial aspect of consciousness is that it empowers the being to overwrite its own programming and adopt its own values. The fact that humans (and no other animal) commit suicide or become celibate hermits overwrites 500 million years of natural selection programming to survive and spread genes. The assumed value that the robot majority are assumed to pursue in this game is knowledge, thus the exclusivity of experience and Futures in victory accounting.

4G. Module 4 Solitaire Games

If you play solo or using a full cooperative mode, apply the following rules when playing this Module:

4G1. Contract Auctions Modifications

Unless playing with CEO, each contract has a flat 6 years to fulfill.

4G2. CEO Solitaire Modifications

If using CEO Solitaire (V6):

• a. Major Achievements include contract fulfillment, becoming the isobanker, or completing an Exodus contract. Achieving one counts as a fulfillment for the next board meeting (V6c), except the last one which must either be a Future or a Columbus level starshot (4G4b).
• b. Default counts as not meeting a requirement of the next valid Board meeting, ignoring other effects.
• c. Contract Auction Skipped. Each contract has a flat 6 years to fulfill.
• d. VP Threshold. At least once before the final Meeting you need to meet a VP Threshold at the board meeting. This can be alongside your major achievement.
• e. Victory Conditions. See V6e (do not use 4G4).

4G3. Alternative Political Diagram for Solitaire

The provided solitaire political diagram may be used instead of the standard political diagram for any solitaire game using Module 0. This changes four of the Laws (O5), with the design goal to make all Ideologies relevant, and to reduce the randomness and luck-factor of the experience, so one can plan better for victory. The revised setup, and the new Laws and lobbies are:

• a. Setup. Place an additional delegate into centrist.
• b. Individuality Law "Launch Contracts". Boosting is a free action.
• c. Individuality Lobby. Pay 1 Aqua and Discard a delegate in an inactive Ideology to use its Law.
• d. Equality Law "Subsidized Research". Take bonus supports when initiating a research auction op. Pay 1 Aqua per support card.
• e. Authority Law "Regime Change". After an Event Roll, Discard a delegate here to change to or cancel inspiration. This may be the same delegate from a lobby action.
• f. Unity Law "Sol Unification". Replace season blue Anarchy with International Assistance. FINAO cost is 2 less until the end of season blue.
• g. Unity Lobby Cost is 0 Aqua.

EASILY MISSED: The Ideology present at a given time influences the VP count for the board meeting but seniority disks are only considered at the endgame. [4G3]

EASILY MISSED: Academia hand limit (I2a) applies to solitaire. [4G3]

4G4. Solitaire/Cooperative Victory Conditions

You win as a solitaire player (including Combined Game solitaire) if you make a starshot (4E2e). Score your VP per 4E2 & 4E3, then check which victory level (Viking, Columbus, or Polynesian) that you achieved for colonizing a New World:

Achievement Table [4G4]

Solitaire Length	4-cycle	5-cycle	6-cycle	7-cycle
a. Viking	0 - 15 VP	0 - 30 VP	10 - 45 VP	20 - 65 VP
b. Columbus	16 - 25 VP	31 - 55 VP	46 - 75 VP	66 - 100 VP
c. Polynesian	26+ VP	56+ VP	76+ VP	101+ VP

4H. Module 4 Strategy (Geoff Speare)

Module 4 Exodus adds one new feature (contracts) for all games, and 2 another sets (augmentations & spaceborns) for longer games. Contract opportunism is important as you go about your industrialization and Futures building. It's exciting to explore the new stuff, but don't forget that contracts should not be undertaken unless they help achieve your core mission. Keep your (steely) eyes on the ball!

4H1. Contract Tips (4-Cycle Game)

Contracts can jump start your economy and missions, but can turn into distractions without proper planning:

• a. Early Rockets. Boosting quickly allows nabbing the easy Glory chits, which makes paleoconservative directive (O5b) extremely attractive. Module 4 adds new advantages to early missions. If you are the first with an Operational rocket, you will have an edge in bidding for and fulfilling contracts, providing funding, VP, and Abilities. Players without early rockets may try to influence politics to keep those contracts unavailable.

• b. Timing. As contracts need to be boosted, it's best to take a contract when you have something else to boost: your initial rocket, an improved component, etc. The number of Operations you can perform in a game is limited, so do as much as you can with each one!

• c. Hazards. When bidding on (and fulfilling) a contract, all of the concerns for any High Frontier mission apply: radiation hardness, Mass, Burns, Hazards, and landing/liftoff. In particular, don't forget that the contract has its own Mass and rad hardness! If a contract with the "Humans on Board" icon suffers involuntary Decommission, you suffer severe default penalties (4B6) along with the loss of equipment.

• d. Turn Order. Players after you in turn order have an advantage; they effectively get an extra turn to complete the contract. If these players are likely to bid, make sure you have a useful second operation planned if you do not win the contract auction. If they do win, starting another auction next turn is often a good idea - unless they complete their contract very quickly, they will be unable to bid.

  TIP: The contracts with a subsurface ocean destination are common, making Ceres a common early destination. If your own goals include Ceres, watch the contract market and the politics to acquire such contracts, or keep them out of enemy hands. [4He]

• e. Bait. Contract auctions are also great opportunities to encourage opponents to make a mistake, or to nudge them away from your mission goals. Tempting an opponent with the right contract may distract them from some other goal they should be pursuing - or even cause them to bid too aggressively and default. The price of acquiring the wrong contract is much higher than that of buying the wrong patent. Think carefully when you bid.

4H2. Planning Tips (Modules 1 + 2 + 4 Games)

• a. Goals. A Module 4 game has 3 extra steps that you may need to get into an advantageous endgame position:
  • Fulfill Contracts. (Module 4). Enough to gain 4-5 icons, including at least one of each type and no more than 2 of each type.
  • Get Factories. (VP, ET Produce)
  • Get Bernals. (VP, Aqua; VP and operations through Colonists)
  • Augment Colonists. (Module 4)
  • Transport Augmented Colonists to Promotion Locations (Module 4)
  • Get TW Thruster. (movement)
  • Get Futures. (VP)
• b. Long-Range Planning. Your Turns are often either Operation-limited or movement-limited. Try to combine both in a Turn, for instance ET producing cards while moving a contract to its destination.
  • Operations. Contracts require Operations to acquire and boost (as with patents, it's better for you to win an auction that someone else started, to save yourself an operation), but give you Aqua - which in effect saves you Operations that you would have otherwise spent selling cards or fundraising.
  • Movement. Fulfilling contracts requires a lot more rocket movement. The more you can align that movement with other missions (industrializing, moving Bernals, etc.), or perform it when you are operation-limited (such as while you are ET Producing, or buying cards to launch a Bernal), the faster your game will progress.
• c. Contract Variety. With the contract icon requirements for augmentation (and thus for Promotions), choosing a variety of contracts is much more important than in Core+M0 games. Fortunately, there are multiple valid paths. Getting an early start on contract diversity can be quite useful. The Political Assembly can fill up quickly, making it harder to move the Active Law. If you can fulfill contracts before the Active Law gets stuck, or before the isobank, you are one step ahead. Alternatively, waiting for (or causing) the construction of the isobank leads to contracts which are harder to fulfill, but which have more icons.

4H3. Augmentation Tips

Augmentation chits don't go away unless Colonist is Decommissioned, so think about when you put them on.

• a. Parenthood is very valuable, especially if everyone goes spaceborn.
• b. Pulse Generator & ISRU 1 Buggy address common gaps.
• c. Shielding & Jars are more situational but can be very useful.

4H4. Earthborn vs. Spaceborn

The more people on a side, the more churn (and the less control).

• a. Earthborn Advantages. Parenthood, more isotope multipliers, more miners and engineers, better Futures VP.
• b. Spaceborn Advantages. Get Robots, lower average Mass, more Industrialists and prospectors.

4I. List of Spaceborn Colonist Futures

• a. Assimilation Future: Reqs = Robots not emancipated, spend 25 Aqua at Promoted Bernal. Effects = Every Robot becomes emancipated; 12 VP.

  Robots from all players are Emancipated. Future and performing Human must be at your Promoted Anchored Bernal when performing the Epic Hazard Operation.

• b. Exonet Future: Reqs = Colonies in 4 Heliocentric Zones; 2 aug. Colonists. Effects = choose any contract deck when fundraising; 11 VP.

  "Choose any contract deck when fundraising" is an ongoing ability granted for the remainder of the game, regardless of the state of this card. No specific location required when performing the Epic Hazard Operation.

• c. Space Surveillance Future: Req = Active Law in Freedom. Effects = Seniority disk and 1st player choices made by you (as required); (Endgame): 9 VP.

  Whenever a player would make a choice regarding seniority disks and/or 1st player, you make the choice - but must make a valid choice. (You can't keep the same person as the 1st player, for example, unless they are the only valid choice.) No specific location required when performing the Epic Hazard Operation.

• d. Robot War Future: Req = 2 Promoted augmented Robots at Colony on Size 7+ Site. Effects = Casus belli; 9 VP.

  Casus belli is described in 1D2c and Core Glossary ("War of Independence"). Future and performing Human must be at your Colony on a Size 7+ Site when performing the Epic Hazard Operation.

• e. TNO Future: Req = At Neptune Colony Site with 2 Promoted Colonists. Effect = +4 VP per Neptune J Zone Factory.

  Gain 4 VP for each of your Neptune Zone Factories at the end of the game, regardless of the state of this card. Future, performing Human, and 2 Promoted Colonists (one of which can be performing the op) must be at your Colony in the Neptune Zone when performing the Epic Hazard Operation.