More Cosmic Encounter Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 7.0 Other Destiny Cards
  • 7.1 Colourless Cones (Optional)
  • 7.2 Comet Cards (Optional)
• Optional Rules
• 9.0 Inverted Planetary System Hexes
• 10.0 Inverted Warp Hex
• 11.0 Lucre
• 13.0 Moons
  • 13.1 Setting Up a Game with Moons
  • 13.2 Moon Effects
  • 13.3 Challenges Against a Moon
  • 13.4 Occupying a Moon
  • 13.5 Value of Bases on Moons
• 14.0 Changes Required by the Expansion
• 15.0 Special Alien Powers
  • 15.1 Artefacts
  • 15.2 Assassin, Dictator and Will Ambiguity
  • 15.3 Loser and Insect Ambiguity
  • 15.4 Silencer Ambiguity
  • 15.5 Abuse of Alien Powers

7.0 Other Destiny Cards

By default, as described in game setup (1.2), the Destiny deck contains only the base Destiny cards: coloured cones on a white background, or inverted black cones on a coloured background. The composition of the Destiny deck can be varied by including the special Destiny cards of the expansion: colourless cone cards and Comet cards.

During setup, shuffle the Comet and colourless cone cards together, then include one of these cards at random for each player in the normal Destiny deck. Each time the Destiny deck must be reshuffled, remove the last of these additional cards that was played and replace it with another, at random, from those that were left out of play. Players may also choose to replace all of these cards instead of only the last one, to add variety to the game.

7.1 Colourless Cones (Optional)

Colourless cone cards are special Destiny cards that are not linked to a colour directly, but only through the instructions printed on them. The text on the card allows the GO to identify the system against which it must make its Challenge. For those Alien Powers whose effects depend on colour (Assassin or Will, for example), treat these cards as if they were of the colour of the player indicated by the instructions above.

The Dictator Alien Power may still direct the cone as it chooses, unless the description can be applied to more than one player; in that case the Destiny card turned over is treated as a wild card, and the Dictator has no effect.

If the instructions indicate the GO itself, treat it as if a Destiny card of the GO's own colour had been turned over: the GO may choose to ignore it and draw the next card. If the instruction could refer to more than one player, the GO chooses among them which one it will attack. The Assassin Alien Power may in that case choose a different target from those matching the description, as if it were a wild card.

Cards that refer to a Regular Challenge indicate that the GO may make a Challenge in that player's system, attacking them on a planet or attacking the occupant of a Moon in the system (or occupying a free Moon). Cards that refer to a Warp Challenge indicate that the target will not be an opposing base, but the ships of a player that are in the Warp, with the results detailed on the card itself.

If the inverted planetary system hexes (9.0) are used, the Worldships player may use any such cards it holds as if they were a normal Destiny card, and may use a normal card to replace one of these special cards when it is drawn. If the inverted Warp hex (10.0) is used, the section of colour corresponding to the system in which the Challenge took place is the one emptied into the Warp (or the Defense's section in the case of a Warp Challenge).

7.2 Comet Cards (Optional)

Comet cards are Challenge modifiers: they establish additional or special rules for the duration of the next Challenge only. Note the effect in force and draw a new card from the Destiny deck, ignoring any other Comets drawn, until a Destiny card identifying the Defense of the Challenge is drawn. Even if several cards must be drawn after a Comet before the target of the Challenge is identified, the first Comet drawn will still affect how the contest unfolds.

If the inverted planetary system hexes (9.0) are used, the Worldships player may play a Comet card it holds even after the Destiny card that establishes the Defense of the Challenge has been turned over, provided this happens before the hyperspace cone is pointed at the target.

Optional Rules

The following rules are all optional and may therefore be adopted in whole or in part by the players, by mutual agreement before the start of the game.

9.0 Inverted Planetary System Hexes

Each of the systems has an uncoloured back, different for each hex, which represents a peculiarity of that player. The effects produced by the inverted hexes are very powerful, so players should agree to use either all or none of this version of the game, in order to keep it balanced.

It is nonetheless possible to give an inexperienced player more chances by allowing them to play with the inverted hexes while the more skilled players use the normal side of the planets.

When using this version, during setup the system hexes are chosen before the Alien Powers, optionally drawn at random based on the colours of the normal side. The peculiarities of each system are described below.

BINARY. During setup this player distributes its ships among the six planets as it wishes. When the Alien Powers are assigned, the Binary player draws two Flare cards and assigns the two Alien Powers to its two stars. From then on it may use both powers, but not together in the same Challenge. If the Binary player loses two bases in one of the two systems, it also loses the use of the corresponding Alien Power, while the other remains unchanged. To lose both Alien Powers, the Binary player must be reduced to one or fewer bases in each of the two systems.

GAS GIANT. During setup this player places its 20 ships on the surface of the planet as it wishes. These ships may later move off the planet normally, but the Gas Giant player must always have at least three ships on the planet to keep its Alien Power. When the Gas Giant is the target of a Challenge, the phase proceeds normally until the allies have declared themselves. At this point, before the Challenge cards are selected, the Gas Giant player may withdraw as many ships as it wishes from the Challenge (provided at least one remains), setting them aside so that it is clear which are involved in the cone and which are not. Other players may have more than one base on the Gas Giant, shown by separate stacks of ships left after different Challenges; each such base may be targeted as if it were a normal planet in the base version. The Filth Alien Power has no effect on the Gas Giant. If the Sniveler Alien Power is in play, treat the Gas Giant as if it constituted three bases for its owner, unless the owner has fewer than three ships there, in which case the number of ships is also the number of its bases.

RINGS. The central planet and each of the rings count as separate planets. During setup the Rings player distributes its ships among them as it wishes. The rings and the central planet have special defensive characteristics: each adds the number shown on its hex to the number of ships present there when defending. For example, the central planet adds 10, while the outermost ring adds only 2. If the Rings player prefers, it may subtract these bonuses instead of adding them.

ROSETTE. During setup this player places its 20 ships on the six planets in any combination it wishes. When it is the target of a Challenge, the Rosette player may also use the ships present on the two planets adjacent to the one targeted by the hyperspace cone to compute the result. Ships on the adjacent planets are not at risk in case of defeat, and are added to the total only after the Challenge cards have been revealed and after any other effects. The player is never forced to add the adjacent ships (as when facing the Anti-Matter Alien Power), and it may evacuate its ships from the targeted planet to an adjacent planet, provided it has a base there. When trying to reconquer a base in its own system, the Rosette player may always add the ships of its bases on the planets adjacent to the one it is attacking; again, these ships are not at risk in case of defeat.

SPACE DUST. During setup this player removes three of the Destiny cards of its colour from the deck, including the one with the inverted cone, and sets them aside, reshuffling the rest of the Destiny deck. The Space Dust player places its 20 ships on the system in any way it likes; each of these ships counts as an independent base. When a ship is taken, its base disappears, and more than one ship cannot be stacked on the same base when ships are drawn from the Warp. As Defense, the Space Dust player, after the Challenge cards have been selected but before they are revealed, may play one of the Destiny cards set aside earlier to add 5 to its total in the Challenge. In case of defeat, that card is discarded on the discard pile of the Destiny deck. When a player wins a Challenge against Space Dust, its ships are stacked somewhere and form a single separate base, apart from the others.

WORLDSHIPS. During setup, after the Destiny deck has been shuffled, deal three of its cards to this player as a separate hand, immune from consolations, discards and other incursions. The player may later use these cards to replace a card turned over from the Destiny deck, either to avoid an attack or to deflect one of its own Challenges. If the replacement is a wild card, the player may make any decision about the target system. Both Destiny cards are then discarded. When the Destiny deck runs out, the Worldships player loses any unused cards and draws three new ones from the new deck. The Worldships player has no effect on the Will Alien Power.

10.0 Inverted Warp Hex

The reverse side of the Warp hex (which contains a coloured fan) may be used both with the normal system hexes and with the inverted ones (9.0).

The coloured fan printed on the reverse side of the Warp hex represents a kind of limbo, to which ships temporarily go before entering the Warp proper. Ships in this Limbo are inaccessible to the players and to Flare and Edict cards (including Mobius Tubes and Warp Break). All ships lost in a given Challenge go into the same coloured section of the Limbo, regardless of that section's colour and of the colour of the ships.

At the start, place a marker of any kind on the Limbo section of the colour corresponding to the first player. At the end of each Challenge, place all the ships lost in it into the Limbo section indicated by the marker, then move the marker to the next section clockwise. In each following Challenge, repeat this procedure.

Each time a card is turned over from the Destiny deck, some ships may slip from the Limbo into the Warp, where they become available to be drawn again. When an inverted cone is drawn, no ships pass into the Warp; otherwise, all the ships in the section of the colour drawn by the cone go into the Warp. If a wild card is drawn, the colour of the section emptied into the Warp is the one the GO has set for its Challenge.

11.0 Lucre

Yellow pieces bearing the money symbol represent Lucre, the currency in use in the universe. At the start of the game each player receives a number of Lucre equal to its starting position plus three (the first player will have 4, the second 5, and the fifth 8).

At the start of its turn, before drawing a ship from the Warp, each player receives three Lucre plus one for each base it owns in its own system, Moons included.

If the inverted system hexes (9.0) are used, the Gas Giant and Space Dust players nonetheless receive seven Lucre plus one for each Moon owned in their system, unless they have fewer than four ships in their system; in that case they receive that number plus three, as normal.

Lucre may be spent only by a main player (the GO or the GD), following the usual timing of events during the turn (so the GO acts before the GD in every phase).

There is no limit to the amount of Lucre a player may spend, and it may be spent several times for the same purpose, as listed below:

Lucre spent	Turn phase	Use
3	1	Draw an extra ship from the Warp
3	7	Add 1 to the total in a Challenge
6	8	Add 1 to the total in a Challenge
4	1-6	Buy a card from the Challenge deck
10	1-6	Discard a card from hand
7	1-3	Buy a random Flare card from those not in play

Naturally, money may also be used to influence an agreement, to persuade an uncertain ally, or to bribe a player into using, or not using, its Alien Power. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that this option may considerably lengthen the duration of the game.

13.0 Moons

Moons are the satellites that may be present in the planetary systems of the various players. Once occupied, they introduce further changes to the rules and to various aspects of the game in progress, making it even more varied and unpredictable.

The effects that each Moon has on the game may be mild or very heavy, so the Moon pieces are classified into four categories of complexity, represented by the following icons:

• Quarter Moons: cause effects that can be kept under control with a minimum of skill.
• Half Moons: cause effects that also require a little luck to be dealt with successfully.
• Full Moons: generate complex effects that can overturn the course of the game in a few moments.
• "Cheese" Moons: are often senseless or silly, or have little connection with the actual game in progress.

In this way, players can easily establish at the start of the game how much importance they wish to give the Moon factor, using only certain categories rather than all of them. It is advisable to begin with the simplest Moons, adding the other categories one at a time, depending on how random the effects on the game should be. With some experience it is possible to reach an ideal mix of Moons of the various types. All types of Moon use the same game rules described below.

13.1 Setting Up a Game with Moons

Once the players have agreed on the types of Moons they will use, make a stack with the corresponding pieces. Then, after the Alien Powers are assigned (1.3), each player draws two Moons at random and places them face down in its own system. Each player may look at its own Moons to learn their effects, then return them face down to its system. During the course of the game, each player may look at the face-down Moons in its own system as many times as it wishes.

13.2 Moon Effects

Moon effects may be recurring or sporadic, and may occur in a given phase of the turn rather than at any moment. Each Moon piece bears the usual timing icons and one of three wordings:

• Continuing: the effect comes into operation as soon as the Moon is revealed and remains in effect for as long as it is occupied. If another player occupies that Moon, the effect remains active but may transfer to the new occupant (unless it is of a global nature or specifies otherwise).
• Intermittent: the effect takes place as soon as the Moon is revealed, then ends, and does not repeat until the Moon is occupied again by another player. If a player abandons the Moon and then reoccupies it, the effect takes place again, unless this happens in the same Challenge in which it was abandoned.
• One-shot: the effect described for that Moon takes place once, and only once, in the game, when the Moon is revealed. The Moon is then discarded without being replaced by another Moon.

13.3 Challenges Against a Moon

When the GO draws a Destiny card, it may choose to make a Challenge against a Moon in the system of that colour, rather than against a planet, even if the Moon is not occupied by the player who owns the system. The GO may not make a Challenge against a Moon on which it already has a base. If it draws the colour of its own system, the player may choose to occupy, or make a Challenge against, a Moon in its own system, taking advantage of the fact that it already knows the Moon's effects.

If the Moon targeted by the Challenge is not occupied, the GO occupies it directly, without carrying out the full normal Challenge procedure. If the Moon is occupied by another player, that player is the GD for that Challenge, and not the owner of the system in which the Moon is located (as is normal for Challenges against planets; see 3.2).

The resolution of a Challenge against a Moon takes place as usual (3.3-3.9), with the exception that neither main player may invite allies, nor may alliances be created in any other way (with the abilities of the Magnet or Parasite Alien Powers, for example). A Challenge against a Moon is always "one against one", and only one player at a time may take a base on a Moon. That player is always the GD if the Moon becomes the target of someone else's Challenge, regardless of the system in which the Moon is located.

13.4 Occupying a Moon

When a player places a base on a Moon for the first time, it must immediately take the corresponding Moon piece and read its instructions. If the Moon bears the words "Play Now", the player must reveal the piece by turning it over, and the effects described take effect immediately. If the Moon bears the word "Secret", the player may decide whether to reveal it immediately or at any later moment, for as long as it is the occupant. If a player loses a Challenge on a "Secret" Moon it occupies (and so is the GD) before the Moon has been revealed, it may not reveal it until it reconquers that Moon later in the game.

A player may occupy, or make a Challenge against, a Moon that has already been revealed, but each effect of the Moon comes into operation as soon as it does so, whether the Moon is "Secret" or "Play Now". The icon shown on the Moon piece serves to time its effects with respect to the turn; it does not determine the phase in which the Moon must be revealed.

If a player removes all its ships from a Moon, it has deserted the base, which ends every effect of the Moon (even if Continuing). The Moon piece remains face up.

13.5 Value of Bases on Moons

Once occupied, a Moon is treated as a base in all respects, with the following exceptions: it does not count as one of the five bases needed for victory; it cannot be granted or acquired as the result of an agreement; and its occupation does not allow the Plant Alien Power to activate its ability. A Moon occupied in one's own system counts as an internal base for keeping one's own Alien Power and for calculating any Lucre gains (11.0).

14.0 Changes Required by the Expansion

Integration of the rules and clarifications. The following is intended to make it easier to integrate the base version of the game with its expansion, and to clarify how base and optional rules may be mixed, so that each group arrives at its own customised version of Cosmic Encounter.

14.0 Changes Required by the Expansion. Some cards and Alien Powers of the base game cannot take into account the components introduced with the More Cosmic Encounter expansion and its optional rules. It is nonetheless evident that interactions between them will occur, and these are listed below.

14.1 Cavalry Alien Power and its Flare card. The Cavalry player cannot use a Kicker card when using its power, but its Challenge card is affected by any Kicker played by the main player. When the Flare card of this Alien Power is played, in either the Wild or the Super version, any Kicker affects every Attack card played by the allies of the player who used the Kicker.

14.2 Chosen Alien Power and its Flare card. When this player draws for the effect of divine intervention, if it draws a Kicker before a Challenge card, the first of any Kicker cards applies to the Challenge card it will take. When the Flare card of this Power is played in the Super version, the player may keep any Reinforcement card it draws.

14.3 Chronos Alien Power and its Flare card. When Chronos declares a time journey, if its opponent has played a Kicker card, it must set that card aside together with the Challenge card played. The Flare card in the Wild version does not force a player to make a Challenge against a planet; it may make a Challenge against a Moon, if it wishes.

14.4 Clone Alien Power. This player may not keep the Kicker cards it plays.

14.5 Deuce Alien Power. Kicker cards affect only the main Challenge card of this player, not its additional card. The player must always declare which card is the main one.

14.6 Filch Alien Power. May not redraw Kicker cards played by the opponent.

14.7 Gambler Alien Power and its Flare card. This player may keep its Kicker card, if any, secret together with the Challenge card it plays, and may lie about both. The difference in score referred to in the Flare card in the Wild version is calculated after the effect of the Kicker cards.

14.8 Laser Alien Power and its Flare card. The opponent may play a Kicker card before the Laser player draws the Challenge card to be played for it. The Flare card in the Wild version, consequently, forces the victim to select its Kicker card, if any, before asking for allies.

14.9 Loser Alien Power. Players may use Kicker cards after the Loser declares the revolt, but before the Challenge cards are selected.

14.10 Mirror Alien Power. The reversal of the digits takes place after the multiplication caused by Kicker cards.

14.11 Oracle Alien Power. May not see the opponent's Kicker card, if any, before choosing its Challenge card.

14.12 Pentaform Alien Power. With the exception of the Moon "Moon Base Omega", bases conquered on Moons do not count toward the change of life stage.

14.13 Phantom Alien Power. As soon as a player receives this Alien Power (possibly during the game), it must turn over five of its ships that are in any combination of bases and place them on the star of its system. Losing the Alien Power prevents the player from using or creating further phantom ships, but it may always convert existing ones into normal ships by moving them from the star to the hyperspace cone.

14.14 Seeker Alien Power. This player may ask questions about the additional hand of the Miser Alien Power and the victory conditions of the Schizoid Alien Power.

14.15 Sorcerer Alien Power. When this player swaps Challenge cards, the Kicker cards stay where they are.

14.16 Visionary Alien Power. Has no power over Kicker cards, and specifies the Challenge card the opponent must play after each player has chosen whether or not to play a Kicker card.

14.17 Worm Alien Power. This player may not reposition the hyperspace cone so that it points at a Moon.

14.18 Edict card Keeper. Allows the player to keep Kicker and Reinforcement cards as well as Edict and Flare cards.

14.19 Edict card Plague. Also causes the discard of one Kicker card and one Reinforcement card.

14.20 Edict card Sanity. Also nullifies all effects of the Moons, and limits each player to the use of only one of its Alien Powers (if it has more than one).

14.21 Flare card Vampire. In the Wild version, it does not oblige a player to consider only bases on planets: ships may also be exchanged with a player on a Moon base.

14.22 Flare card Void. Does not affect only planets, but also allows the removal from the game of a Moon.

14.23 Worldships inverted hex. If this player has Comet cards in its special hand, it may use them in any Challenge.

15.0 Special Alien Powers

The incredible variety of effects caused by the various Alien Powers almost guarantees that conflicts or misunderstandings will arise. Sometimes the descriptions of Alien Powers seem vague, because it was decided not to limit the player in its actions, and this can lead to situations of abuse of certain Alien Powers. Moreover, despite the efforts of the designers and developers of the game, some combinations of Alien Powers are decidedly ambiguous. The examples below, which are the most frequent, show the approach to follow in resolving any uncertainty that arises from particular combinations in play.

15.1 Artefacts

Some Alien Powers use certain game components in a special way. These special objects, which other Alien Powers do not possess, are called Artefacts. For example, the victory conditions of the Schizoid, the additional pieces of the Symbiote, the additional hand of the Miser, and so on.

Most of these Alien Powers have on their card the icon indicating initial game setup, since artefacts can be acquired only at that moment. The general rule is that none of these Alien Powers can be acquired during the course of the game. If one is drawn later (for example because of the Reincarnator), it must be discarded and replaced with another.

The only possible way to acquire a Power of this type during the game is through the abilities of the Pentaform or the Changeling. If a Power of this kind passes from one player to another during the game, the artefacts are transferred along with the Alien Power. For example, if the Changeling were to clash with the Terrorist, it would also receive the list of bombs placed with the Power.

The Alien Powers with Artefacts are: Hurtz, Industrialist, Miser, Pentaform, Queue, Schizoid, Symbiote, Terrorist, Warrior and Witch.

15.2 Assassin, Dictator and Will Ambiguity

These three Alien Powers all relate to the drawing of a card from the Destiny deck, and may seem complicated to understand. The Assassin kills a ship of the colour drawn with the Destiny card, regardless of which system or colour is then attacked. The Dictator points the hyperspace cone at the system of its choice, regardless of the colour drawn, the colour hit by the Assassin, and the Will. The Will may enter a Challenge with the colour of its choice, regardless of the colour hit by the Assassin, but it is subordinate to the Dictator's choice of system, although within that system it may still attack any colour.

15.3 Loser and Insect Ambiguity

Can the Insect copy the Loser and counter a revolt? No. This is a prime example of the timing rules of the turn. The GO would have the opportunity to declare a revolt first. If it did so, the revolt would take place and the GD could do nothing about it. If the GO decided not to declare the revolt, the GD could do so, and in that case the GO could do nothing about it.

15.4 Silencer Ambiguity

What exactly this Alien Power prevents is generally clear, but it often causes confusion. In practice, every attempt to reach an agreement automatically fails, while normal play of cards that require no explanation is allowed. Any card or other game component that involves some indeterminacy, such as the need to select a target or to choose something (like the Edict card Plague), is forbidden by the Silencer, because it requires some form of communication from the player affected by this Alien Power.

The Silencer blocks the following Alien Powers: Anomaly (partially), Aura, Berserker (Challenge), Calculator, Chronos, Crystal, Delegator, Demon, Dictator, Diplomat, Doppelganger, Extortionist, Force, Gnome, Grudge (if it chooses), Healer, Hurtz, Judge, Lloyd, Loser, Magnet, Mesmer, Mind, Mirror, Mutant (by other players), Negator, Obverse, Pavlov, Phantom, Philantropist, Pirate, Plant, Prolong, Prophet, Queue (timing), Seeker, Serpent, Silencer, Siren, Skeptic, Sniveler, Sting, Trader, Visionary, Will (if the base has more than one colour), Witch, Wrack.

The Silencer does not block the following Alien Powers: Amoeba, Anomaly (partially), Anti-Matter, Aristocrat, Assassin, Assessor, Berserker (card value), Boomerang, Bully, Busybody, Butler, Cavalry, Changeling, Chosen, Clone, Connoisseur, Deuce, Disease, Dragon, Empath, Entrepreneur, Ethic, Filch, Filth, Fungus, Gambler, Ghost, Gorgon, Grief, Grudge (if only one), Industrialist, Insect (depending on the Alien Power copied), Laser, Machine, Macron, Miser, Mutant (from the deck), Oracle, Pacifist, Parasite, Pentaform, Queue (order in the turn), Reincarnator, Reserve, Schizoid, Sorcerer, Spiff, Subversive, Symbiote, Terrorist, Vacuum, Vampire, Virus, Void, Vulch, Warpish, Warrior, Will (if the target base has only one colour), Worm, Wraith, Zombie.

15.5 Abuse of Alien Powers

Some Alien Powers of the original version of the game left players a great deal of freedom of interpretation, allowing them to range with individual creativity. Such powers risk being unlimited in their effects, and indeed they were often abused in the original version of the game.

In this new version, Mayfair Games Inc. has sought to limit these effects without distorting the essence of the Alien Powers themselves. This is the case with the Schizoid, which must now include at least three external bases in its victory conditions. For some Alien Powers, however, limiting their effects would have meant profoundly altering their nature, so they were kept in the original versions, knowingly at risk of abuse by players. For these Alien Powers, it is advisable for players to agree before starting the game on the limits to observe or, where this is not possible, to set them aside.

The Alien Powers still subject to abuse are: Force, Judge and Witch.