Legacy: Gears of Time Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
  • Influence Cubes
  • Player Markers
  • Present Day Marker
  • Technology Capacity Markers
  • Failed Technology Markers
  • Turn/Round Marker Gears
  • Legacy 50-Point Tokens
  • Character Card
  • Timeline Game Board
  • Technology Card
  • Fate Card
• Board Setup
• Player Setup
• Gameplay
• I. Player Turns
• Successful Technologies
• II. Resolve the Timeline
• III. Award Legacy Points
• IV. Return Influence Cubes
• V. Prepare for the Next Round
• Victory!
• Clarifications and Reminders
• Recommendations
• Fate Card FAQ
  • General
  • Bloodline Influence
  • Not What We Hoped For
  • Perfectly Laid Plans
  • Time Folds Around Us
  • We Need More Time
  • Willed Into Existence
• Fate Card Gameplay Variants
• Legacy: Forbidden Machines Expansion
• Acknowledgements

Overview

Legacy is a game of time travel and technology. Players will travel along the timeline into the past, stopping to build up elaborate chains of technologies and vie for influence over existing ones. At the end of each round, players return to the present day to claim their rewards of Legacy Points and Influence Cubes; the player with the highest Legacy point total at the end of the game is the winner.

Components

• Technology Cards (66)
• Fate Cards (6)
• Influence Cubes (108) - 27 of each color
• Player Markers (4) - 1 of each color
• Character Cards (4)
• Timeline Game Board (1)
• Present Day Marker (1)
• Technology Capacity Markers (6)
• Failed Technology Markers (8)
• Turn/Round Marker Gears (2)
• Legacy 50-Point Tokens (8)
• Rule Book (1)

Influence Cubes

When placed on a Technology, these cubes represent each player's Influence over that Technology. The player with the most Influence Cubes of their color on a Technology is considered to have the most Influence over it.

Player Markers

These markers represent each player's position on the Timeline during a round. The Timeframe a player marker is in is considered their current Timeframe.

Present Day Marker

Placed on the Timeline over a Timeframe as the starting position of all players at the beginning of each round.

Technology Capacity Markers

Placed above the Timeline on the Technology Capacity Track, these indicate the number of Technologies that may be established in each Timeframe. The Technology capacity for each Timeframe is equal to its distance from the present day.

Failed Technology Markers

These markers are used to keep track of which Technologies are not successful during the round. Marking failed Technologies helps determine which ones are missing dependencies, and expidites end of round scoring.

Turn/Round Marker Gears

Placed on the Turn and Round Indicator tracks to indicate the current round and turn.

Legacy 50-Point Tokens

One of these tokens is given to a player when they go beyond an increment of 50 Legacy Points on the Legacy Point Track.

Character Card

1. Character Name - The name and title of this Antiquitect.
2. Story - A little bit about their background.
3. Pursuit Technology - At the end of each round, if a player has the most Influence over this Technology and it's successful, that player gains bonus Legacy Points equal to the number in the crown icon.
4. Possible Actions - A list of the choices for actions a player can perform on their turn; these are the same for each player.
5. Influence Pool - A reminder of how Influence Cubes are gained and used. Cubes in a player's Influence Pool may be kept on their character card, separate from the supply.

Text printed on the Character Card:

Possible Actions (3 per turn). You must take three actions on each of your turns. Actions may be repeated and performed in any order.

• Travel to the Past, any number of Timeframes (You cannot travel forward in time)
• Establish a Technology in your current Timeframe
• Influence a Technology in your current Timeframe
• Draw the top two of the draw pile, keep one and discard the other (There is no hand size limit)
• Play a Fate Card. (This is a free action)

Pursuit Technology - At the end of each round, you gain Legacy Points if you have the most Influence over this Technology (excluding ties) and it is successful.

Influence Pool - At the end of each round, you gain Influence Cubes from each successful Technology you have the most Influence over (including ties) to your Influence Pool. You may keep these cubes on this card, separate from the supply, later using them with the Influence a Technology action. All players begin the game with no Influence Cubes in their Influence Pool.

Timeline Game Board

1. Discard Pile
2. Draw Pile
3. Round Indicator Track
4. Turn Indicator Track
5. Player Order Track
6. Legacy Point Track
7. Technology Capacity Track
8. A Timeframe
9. The Timeline

Technology Card

1. Artwork
2. Name - The name of the Technology. This name may be referenced as a dependency by more advanced Technologies.
3. Discard Cost - The number of other cards that must be discarded in order to establish this Technology. When established, this number of Influence Cubes is placed onto the Technology from the supply.
4. Reward - The number of Legacy Points awarded at the end of a round to the player with the most Influence Cubes on the Technology. Rewards are only given for successful Technologies (each of its dependencies exist in the past relative to it on the Timeline and they are also successful).
5. Dependencies - The names of each Technology that must exist in the past (relative to this Technology) on the Timeline for this Technology to be successful. Fundamental Technologies have no dependencies and are always considered to be successful. Direct dependencies are in bold text and have a reminder of their reward value (bonus Legacy Points are given to the player with the most Influence over each direct dependency when this Technology is successful). Indirect dependencies are also listed as a reminder, although no bonus Legacy Points are given for them.
6. Dependency Icons - A visual representation of the direct dependencies needed for this Technology to be successful.
7. Dependent Technology Icons - These icons provide a hint of the Technologies that depend on this one. (The icon for Space Flight, which depends on Flight, is shown in the example)

Fate Card

1. Name
2. Artwork
3. Ability Text - The ability gained when the Fate card is played. Some Fate cards will remain in play until the end of the round, others are discarded immediately once played.

Board Setup

This setup example is for a two-player game.

1. Shuffle all of the Legacy: Gears of Time Technology and Fate Cards together to form the draw pile. All players will draw cards from this pile. If the draw pile is ever depleted, shuffle the discard pile and it becomes the draw pile. Including the Fate cards is optional.
2. Place one Gear Marker on the leftmost square of the Round Indicator Track. This marker moves to the right after each round.
3. Place one Gear Marker on the leftmost square of the Turn Indicator Track. This marker moves to the right after all players take a turn.
4. Place the Present Day Marker under the center Timeframe for a two-player game, or to the right one Timeframe for each additional player.
5. Place Technology Capacity Marker(s) on the Technology Capacity Track over each Timeframe to the left of the Present Day. For a two-player game, place the IV-I marker. Add the V marker to its left for a three-player game. Add the VI marker to the left of the V marker for a four-player game. Each Timeframe has a Technology capacity equal to its distance in the past.
6. Place each Player Marker on the Present Day marker.
7. Each player places one of their cubes near the Legacy Point track. All players start with zero points.
8. The player with first choice places a cube in the desired position on the Player Order Track. Player order selection proceeds clockwise with the remaining players.

Note: It is recommended that players sit toward the bottom of the game board since Technology cards are played below the Timeline.

Player Setup

• Each player selects a Character Card, Player Marker and matching colored cubes. Players start the game with no Influence Cubes in their Influence Pool. Cubes gained to the Influence Pool should be kept on that player's Character Card.
• Randomly select a player to have first choice for player order position. One suggestion is for all players to check their watches and whoever is currently the furthest back in time (earliest time) has first choice.
• Deal six cards to each player from the draw pile. These cards form the players' hand and should be kept secret. Players may immediately look at their cards.
• Deal one additional card to the second and third players and two additional cards to the fourth player. This bonus is only given before the first round.

Gameplay

Each game consists of four rounds. Each round contains the following phases:

• I. Player Turns
• II. Resolve the Timeline
• III. Award Legacy Points
• IV. Return Influence Cubes
• V. Prepare for the Next Round

I. Player Turns

Each round consists of players taking four turns each. Players take turns in the order indicated on the Player Order track, beginning with the first player.

Each player must perform three actions, and may play Fate cards. The following actions are available and may be repeated and taken in any order:

• Travel to the Past (left), any number of Timeframes
  • (Travelling forward in time (right) with this action is not permitted)
• Establish a Technology in the current Timeframe.
  • Pay the discard cost, place the Technology under the Timeline and place cubes from the supply equal to the cost on the Technology.
  • If this causes any future Technologies to be successful, remove the Failed Technology Markers from them.
  • Technologies may only be established in a Timeframe with less Technologies than its capacity (the number above the Timeframe).
  • A Technology may not be established in a Timeframe that already has another copy of the same Technology.
• Influence a Technology in the current Timeframe.
  • Place any number of cubes from the Influence Pool onto one Technology. (Players begin the game with empty Influence Pools and will gain cubes at the end of each round)
• Draw the top two cards from the draw pile, choose and keep one and discard the other.
  • There is no hand size limit
  • (If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile)
• Free Action: Play a Fate card.
  • Playing a Fate card does not count as one of the three mandatory actions and may be performed at any point during the player's turn.
  • There is no additional cost.
  • The ability must be resolved before continuing the turn.
  • Not What We Hoped For, Willed Into Existence and Perfectly Laid Plans remain in play till the end of the round. The others are discarded immediately after they are played.
  • Any number of Fate cards may be played per turn.

At the end of the last player's turn, advance the Turn Marker Gear one square to the right. The first player will then begin their next turn and so on. If this is the end of the fourth turn, instead proceed to phase II. Resolve the Timeline.

Successful Technologies

• A Technology is only considered successful if all of its dependencies exist in the past relative to it on the Timeline (not in the same Timeframe), and are each considered to be successful.
• Fundamental Technologies are always considered to be successful.
• Technologies do not require Influence Cubes to be successful.
• Whether or not a Technology is successful may change during a round. The Failed Technology Markers are used to track this as the state of the game changes.
• After each new Technology is established, check the Timeline for Technologies that may now be successful and remove their Failed Technology Markers.
• At the end of the round, check for Technologies that fail if their dependencies have been removed and add Failed Markers to them.

II. Resolve the Timeline

1. Return all player markers to the Present Day.
2. Discard all Technologies without Influence Cubes (A). Check to see if this causes any remaining Technologies to fail and place a Failed Technology Marker on them.
3. Discard any duplicate copies of Technologies.
   • The oldest (furthest left) successful copy will remain, discarding all other copies (B).
   • If no copies are successful, discard all but the most recent (furthest right) failed copy (C).

Any Influence Cubes on discarded Technologies are returned to the supply, not to players' Influence Pools.

III. Award Legacy Points

1. Players with the most Influence over their Pursuit Technology (listed on their Character Card) gain the bonus Legacy Points indicated in the crown icon.
2. For each successful Technology, Legacy Points are awarded to the player with the most cubes on it. Points are also awarded each time a successful Technology in the future directly depends on it. Ties for the most cubes split the reward value (rounded down).

Example: The red player gains 2 from The Wheel, another 2 from the Combustion Engine dependency on The Wheel, and 3 from Combustion Engine itself, moving a total of 7 on the Legacy Point Track. Blue gains 3 from Fire and another 3 from the Combustion Engine dependency on Fire, moving a total of 6 on the Legacy Point Track. No points are gained from Cartography since it is not successful.

IV. Return Influence Cubes

1. For each successful Technology, return one cube for the player with the most cubes on it to their Influence Pool.
2. For each failed Technology, return one cube for the player with the most cubes on it to the supply.

In the case of a tie for most cubes, all tied players return one cube.

If returning cubes causes a Technology to have no cubes left on it, the Technology still remains for the next round.

V. Prepare for the Next Round

If it is not the end of the fourth round:

• Advance the Round Marker Gear one square to the right.
• Return the Turn Marker Gear to the leftmost square.
• Discard all Fate cards in play to the discard pile.
• Players draw back up to six cards in hand. Players who already have six or more cards receive none. If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile.
• Move the Present Day Marker (and all player markers) one Timeframe to the right.
• Move the Technology Capacity Markers one Timeframe to the right. Add the highest capacity marker above the leftmost Timeframe.
• Determine player order. Beginning with the player with the least number of Influence Cubes in their Pool, players chooses their position in current player order for the next round. Ties are broken by lowest score, then ascending player order from the previous round.

Victory!

At the end of the fourth round, the player with the highest Legacy Point total is the winner. Ties are broken by least number of cubes in Influence Pools, then by ascending player order (I-IV) on the Player Order Track.

Clarifications and Reminders

• It is only possible to travel back in time (to the left) with the Travel to the Past action.
• A Technology may be established without its dependencies pre-existing on the Timeline. Place a Failed Technology Marker on it until it becomes successful.
• A Technology may not be established in a Timeframe that already has another copy of it, although it may be established in another Timeframe.
• Influence cubes are not limited by the Supply. Use a suitable replacement if players need more Influence Cubes.
• All discarded cards are placed face down in the discard pile.

Recommendations

• New players should play games with only two or three players until all players are familiar with the rules.
• Including the Pursuit Technology bonus is optional and is recommended only after all players are experienced with the basic gameplay.
• Don't travel too far into the past too early. It's not possible to travel forward in time during a round and the capacity of the later Timeframes will be needed.
• Try to establish Fundamental Technologies in the early rounds as much as possible since gaining Influence Cubes is very important.
• Remember to Influence the Technologies that are needed for others to be successful. Technologies without Influence Cubes are removed at the end of the round before scoring.
• One player should return the cubes for everyone at the end of each round; returning cubes from all successful Technologies first, then all failed.
• Choose carefully when you play a Fate card, at times they are best served paying a discard cost instead.

Fate Card FAQ

The Fate card encountered in Legacy are powerful, and (at times) unwieldy. The clarifications below should aid in navigating the timeline safely!

General

• A Fate card may only be played during a player's turn.
• Playing a Fate card does not count toward the three standard actions.
• A Fate card may be played after a player's third action.

Bloodline Influence

Card text: Place an Influence Cube from your supply on any Technology

• The cube comes from the supply, not from the player's Influence Pool.
• The cube may be placed on any Technology at any point in along the Timeline.
• This card is discarded immediately after it is played.

Not What We Hoped For

Card text: The reward for any one Technology that you Influence becomes 0

• The target Technology is selected at the time this card is played an cannot be changed.
• The player must have at least one of their Influence Cubes on the target Technology for it to be a valid target.
• 0 Legacy Points are given for this Technology when scoring.
• Although it may serve as a dependency for other Technologies, the dependency bonus reward is also 0.
• Dependencies of the target Technology still receive their bonus Legacy Points as normal.
• This has no impact on the Pursuit Technology bonus.
• This card remains in play next to the target Technology as a reminder till the end of the round. Discard it before the next round.

Perfectly Laid Plans

Card text: Protect one Technology you Influence from other players' Influence and Fate Actions

• The target Technology is selected at the time this card is played an cannot be changed.
• The player must have at least one of their Influence Cubes on the target Technology for it to be a valid target.
• Once targeted, other players may not perform Influence actions or play Fate cards targeting the Technology.
• Any existing Fate cards or Influence Cubes on the target Technology are uneffected.
• This card remains in play next to the target Technology as a reminder till the end of the round. Discard it before the next round.

Time Folds Around Us

Card text: Move a Player forward one Timeframe

• Any player may be selected.
• The selected player is moved forward in time (to the right) one Timeframe.
• This card is discarded immediately after it is played.

We Need More Time

Card text: Your next Establish a Technology action this turn may exceed the Technology capacity by one

• The ability from this card only applies to the player's next Establish a Technology action during the current turn.
• All other rules for Establishing a Technology apply.
• This card is discarded immediately after it is played.

Willed Into Existence

Card text: Remove a dependency from any Technology

• Select a single direct dependency to be removed from a target Technology at the time this card is played. The selection and target cannot be changed.
• The target Technology no longer requires the removed Technology as a dependency (or the removed Technologies dependencies) to be successful.
• No bonus Legacy Points will be given for the removed Technology if it does exist.
• This card remains in play next to the target Technology as a reminder till the end of the round. Discard it before the next round.

Fate Card Gameplay Variants

While the standard setup is to include them in the draw pile, there are a few alternatives to change the gameplay experience with the Fate cards. Before the game, players should agree upon the role Fate cards will play.

Your Fate Is Sealed - Remove the Fate cards entirely from the game. Players must rely solely on their ability to effectively adapt based on the Technology cards they draw.

It Is Our Destiny - Randomly distribute one Fate card to each player during player setup, the remaining Fate cards are removed from the game.

• Fate cards are not part of the player's hand, but may be played as normal.
• A Fate card is removed from the game when resolved, not placed in the discard pile.
• Fate cards may not be used to pay discard costs.

Shape The Future - Place all six Fate cards face up to the side of the board to form the Draft Area. As an action, a player may take one Fate card of their choice from the Draft Area, limited to once per turn.

• When a Fate card is chosen, all other players may place one Influence Cube from their supply onto a Fate card of their choice in the Draft Area.
• When a Fate card is chosen, all cubes on the chosen card are placed in the respective player's Influence Pools.
• When a Fate card is resolved, it is returned to the Draft Area.
• Fate cards may not be used to pay discard costs.

Legacy: Forbidden Machines Expansion

The story continues with the first expansion, Legacy: Forbidden Machines (not included).

Vesper, the dark energy fueling the Ancient Machine, is growing out of control, eroding the timeline and causing it to crumble faster than ever. Restoring balance is imperative. To do so, the Antiquitects must break their oath and create the Forbidden Machines - powerful contraptions they were sworn to never bring into existence!

Experience the rise of powerful new technologies in Legacy: Forbidden Machines.

Legacy: Forbidden Machines uses all the familiar components and rules from Legacy: Gears of Time, but is played with a new set of 79 Technology cards, many of them introducing two new abilities. Although the game setup is the same, the Technology and Fate cards from Gears of Time are not used when playing this expansion.

• Several Fundamental Technologies have "When Established" abilities that are performed immediately after a player establishes the Technology, giving a boost to the player's time travel plans.
• Some Technologies have an Activation ability, indicated by an icon. Players may Activate these Technologies once per turn to perform the ability that follows, resulting in powerful effects such as gaining Legacy Points, Influence Cubes, or even an extra turn!

Acknowledgements

• Design: Ben Harkins
• Development: Justin Stone and Ben Harkins
• Illustrations: Steve Maggart
• Graphics: Peter Wocken
• Editing: Craig Vollmar
• Playtesting: Nate Anderson, Chris Heuer, Michelle Kanarski, Josh Slivken, Jamin Brunner, Mark Maruska, James Greene, Jon Quarfoth, Robert Eichinger, Kent Harkins, Cassandra Grabarkiewicz
• Published By: Floodgate Games, LLC.