Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Starting Components
- 10 Character cards
- 4 Pawns
- 53 Player cards — 36 City cards, 5 Epidemic cards, 4 Rationed Event cards, 8 Produce Supplies cards
- 8 Reference cards
- 82 Legacy cards
- 27 Infection cards
- 4 Haven worker cards
- 2 Prologue cards
- 6 Dossiers
- 1 Infection Rate marker
- 1 Incident marker
- 9 Supply centers
- 3 Tracking tokens
- 8 Plague cubes
- 36 Supply cubes
- 8 Numbered packages
- 2 Sticker sheets
- This manual
- 1 Board
You will need a pen. It is not included in this box.
Welcome to Pandemic Legacy – Season 2
Playing a Legacy Game
Unlike most games, which fully reset every time you play, Pandemic Legacy carries some elements forward from one game to the next. Decisions you make in game 1 will be there in game 2, 3, and every game played with your copy of the game. Different groups will make different decisions and will have a different experience. What results is a game unique to the group that plays it.
You will write on parts of the game. You will put stickers on cards, the characters, and the board. Sometimes you will even destroy (tear up) a card. These changes are permanent. Also, at the end of each game, your group will make permanent improvements to prepare for future games.
As you play, you will find other ways the game will change.
Some elements of play are hidden and sealed off before your very first game. As you play, you will find instructions that tell you when to open these packages. Do not open the packages in the box until you receive instructions to do so. The dossiers also contain hidden information that will be revealed as you play.
Some rules are missing throughout the manual. As you play, you will gain these missing rules and stick them into the manual. From that point on, the rules will be permanently changed.
Legacy Deck
The Legacy deck contains cards that will describe what happens over the course of the game's 12 months. It is arranged in a specific order — do not look through or shuffle these cards. During setup, draw the cards and read them one at a time, until you get to a card that says PAUSE or STOP on the back. This card will tell you when to continue drawing from the deck, which might be at the end of a game, or during setup of the next month. The Legacy deck is a one way trip. Even if you repeat a month, do not put Legacy cards back. If the Legacy deck becomes scattered, have someone who is not playing the game put the cards back in order using the numbers in the corner of each card.
If You've Played Pandemic Legacy Season 1
You will be familiar with a lot of elements in this game, such as the Legacy deck, rationing levels (called funding in Season 1), game end upgrades, dossiers, and sealed packages. But there is a lot that is new. You don't have to have played Season 1 to play this game; they are independent games linked by their storyline.
What Stays and What Gets Reset?
Writing on the components, putting stickers on the board or on cards, opening new materials, scratching off cards, and tearing up or destroying components are permanent changes.
When the game tells you to destroy a component, it will not be used in that or any future games. Tear it up (or do what you like with it).
In all other ways, the game resets for the start of each game. The pieces on the board, cards in hand, incidents, etc. all reset.
Game Months
Pandemic Legacy is broken into 12 months, starting in the 71st year after the end of the world.
If your group succeeds in a month, you move on to play the next month. If you fail, you get one more chance to succeed in the current month. Start a new game with the current set of rules and objectives for the month you just lost. If you lose again, you must move on to the next month for your next game. The world can't wait.
End of the Campaign
The campaign will end after you finish December (win or lose!). At that point, you will be scored on your final results. Your score will largely be based on how many months you won (winning in the earlier part of the month is better). The population of the grid will have a (lesser) impact on your score. There will be other criteria that will also add to or subtract from your score.
The Prologue
Since this game is different from base Pandemic (and from Pandemic Legacy – Season 1), there is a prologue game. This prologue game has no legacy effects — there are no permanent changes. You should play the prologue at least once and as many times as you want, until you feel comfortable with the new gameplay. After that, you should start your Legacy campaign.
Prologue Rules
Use the two Prologue cards (found with the Player and Infection decks) to walk you through your objectives.
Read the Journal Entry/Prologue card for background information and to learn what rules are different for the prologue game.
Use the Prologue Objective card during the game.
Component Overview
Objectives
In each game, you will need to complete one or more objectives to win. The number needed is shown on the board for that month.
At least one objective will be mandatory. Mandatory objectives must be completed in order to win. You do not need to decide which other objectives you will accomplish at the beginning of any game; you may wait to see how the game unfolds.
Unless you are instructed to destroy an objective, it will be available to complete month after month (even if you completed it in an earlier month).
The Dossiers
As you play, you will find cards that have dossier numbers or letters on them. When you do, open up — and tear off using the precut tab — the dossier doors matching the numbers or letters on the card.
The Packages
The game will instruct you as to when to open these.
The Reserve
The reserve is the area in the game box where you keep cards, stickers, and pieces that aren't an active part of the game but might be needed during or after a game.
Rationed and Unrationed Events
At the beginning of each game, you will choose and add Rationed Event cards to the Player deck equal to your rationing level. Your rationing level is 4 in the prologue and at the start of January, but will go up and down from game to game. The minimum rationing level is 0 and the maximum is 10.
There are also Unrationed Event cards that you will discover later. These are always included in the Player deck, regardless of rationing level, until they are used, at which point they are destroyed.
Tracking Tokens
Use these tokens to track your progress toward completing objectives each game.
Card Stickers
Some cards in the game have spaces for an improvement. These improvements are put on as part of the Game End Production step. Each card can have only 1 improvement, and you can put an improvement only on a card that has a space for it. Note that Infection card improvements and City card improvements have a different shape to help you remember which goes on which card.
Example card note (Infrastructure): This card counts as 3 cards of its color for the Build Supply Center action.
Example card note (Well Stocked): If there are 2 or more Supply cubes in this city when this card is drawn, do not remove any Supply cubes.
Turning Point Cards
All Turning Point cards you find are taken from the reserve and placed in the Game End area at the start of each game. These are checked at the end of the game to see if their requirement has been met. If so, follow the instructions on the card. If not, return the card to the reserve until the next game. There are no turning points at the beginning of the campaign — they are introduced as the year unfolds.
Supply Cubes
Supplies (represented by gray cubes) are all that stand between the world and extinction. Whenever an Infection card is drawn, move 1 Supply cube from that city to the stockpile. If there are no Supply cubes in the city when the card is drawn, place a Plague cube.
Plague Cubes
There is a plague (represented by green cubes) that has brought the world to the brink. There is no known cure or treatment for this plague.
Supply Centers
Supply centers are temporary structures you build in a game. They are combination of mobile hospital, supply depot, and headquarters. Supply centers do not stay from game to game as the Hollow Men tear them down almost as fast as you put them up.
Supply centers allow you to play Produce Supplies cards in that city, and at the end of a game, the population of cities with supply centers will increase.
Produce Supplies Cards
These cards are always shuffled into the Player deck and help players produce a lot of supplies during one turn if they are at a haven or supply center. See Other Actions on page 10.
The Game Board
Locations
Cities and havens are together referred to as locations. Any card that specifically talks about a city cannot be used on a haven, and vice-versa.
Locations close to water have an anchor symbol on them; those are port locations.
Havens
The white locations with an anchor symbol are called havens. At the beginning of your campaign, name the three havens on the board (be cool and come up with a name together).
Population
Each location has a population, which is used to determine how many Supply cubes are placed when using a Produce Supplies card. The population of a location can be as low as 0 or as high as 8.
Population track: RECOVERING 8 / 7 / 6, SURVIVING 5 / 4 / 3, STRUGGLING 2, FALLING 1, FORSAKEN 0.
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER A will go here.")
Supply Lines
Although there are no supply lines at the beginning of the game, cities will be connected to each other across land by supply lines. Cities directly connected by a supply line are adjacent.
Sea Lanes & Sea Routes
Locations are connected to each other in the ocean by sea lanes. Locations directly connected by a sea lane are adjacent. A series of connected sea lanes is called a sea route.
The Grid
The board is largely empty as the world is mostly unknown to you. "The grid" refers to any location that is connected to the starting havens (i.e., a path can be traced along supply lines and/or sea lanes to the starting havens).
Expanding the Grid
As you explore the world, you will expand the grid. Whenever you open a sticker that expands the world map, add that sticker to the board, aligning it using the latitude and longitude lines.
Objectives Section
In one corner of the board is a section where objectives are placed. January will start with two objectives. Other objectives will be added and removed in future months. If you ever have more objectives than you can fit into this section, place some next to the board.
Game End Area
During the game, you may be instructed to put cards into the Game End area. At the game's end, remove all cards from this area and follow the instructions on each of them.
Incident Track
The Incident track lets you track how many times a Plague cube has been placed into a location. Even if a card or ability removes these cubes from the world, the Incident marker never moves backward. When the Incident marker reaches the end of the track, the players immediately lose the game.
Supply Cube Stockpile
This is where Supply cubes go so that players can keep track of how many are left and easily reach them.
During the game, unless a card or effect says otherwise, Supply cubes are taken from and returned to the stockpile. When an effect instructs a player to spend 1 or more Supply cubes, they take them from their Character card and return them to the stockpile.
At the end of the game, return all Supply cubes in the stockpile to the reserve — they do not carry over from game to game.
Characters
Characters have little experience outside the havens — perhaps they've never seen the mainland at all. But they will grow into something more. Players do not need to play the same character each game.
Before the prologue, create the five starting characters.
As you play the campaign, you may find new characters that will use the other five Character cards.
To create a new character:
- Take a blank Character card.
- Choose a job and place the sticker onto the Job box on your Character card.
- Choose an image sticker for your character and place it as your Character card's photo.
- Name the character and give them an age.
- Choose one of the named havens as their home.
Do not fill in the place of death. That may come to pass as your characters gain exposure. As you scratch off the Exposure track on your Character card, you may reveal scars or a skull. But not now. Not yet.
Example Character card (annotated): Name — Newt; Home — Asgard; Age — 36; Exposure track (1–7) blank; Job — Administrator: Once on your turn, as an action, move a pawn to any other pawn.
Handwritten note in the margin: "We did not ask to be here. We do not want this responsibility."
Setup
1. Set Up the Board
Put as many Supply cubes into the stockpile as the number shown on the supply track for that month (on the board right under objectives). Put any extra Supply cubes into the reserve, out of play.
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER B.")
Look through the reserve and collect any cards from previous games that go onto the board. This will include objectives and turning points. Place turning points into the Game End area. (There are no turning points in the prologue or at the start of January.) Place Objective cards into the Objectives area.
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER C.")
Place the Plague cubes onto their location on the board. Place the Incident marker on the "0" space of the Incident track. Place the Infection Rate marker on the left-most "2" space of the Infection Rate track. Put a Tracking token on the "0" space of any tracks on Objective cards.
In future games, there may be other pieces to place.
Place the supply centers nearby.
2. Read the Legacy Deck
Read the Legacy deck, one card at a time, until you get to a PAUSE or STOP card. This will give you your priorities for the month and any new rules or materials. A PAUSE card means to stop drawing until the current game is completed. A STOP card means you don't draw from the deck until the start of the next game month.
3. Supply the Grid
Put all Supply cubes from the stockpile onto the locations of the grid. You can place any number of Supply cubes (including zero) on each location.
As the grid grows, there might not be enough supplies in the stockpile to fill all locations. Players will have to decide which locations are in short supply.
4. Infect the Grid
Shuffle the Infection cards and flip over 9 of them. Move 1 Supply cube from the city matching each flipped card back to the stockpile. If a card is flipped over and there are no Supply cubes in the city, instead place a Plague cube and move the Incident marker forward 1 space on the Incident track. Place flipped cards into the Infection discard pile.
RULE STICKER D will replace this rule.
5.
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER E will give you step 5 for set up. Skip this step for now.")
6. Prepare the Player Deck and Deal Cards
6a. As a group, decide which Rationed Event cards to add to the Player deck. The Player deck can have as many Rationed Event cards as your current rationing level (4 in the prologue and start of January).
In future games you may find rationed and unrationed events. Unrationed events always go into the deck and don't count toward rationing.
6b. Shuffle these Event cards, all Produce Supplies cards, and the City cards together. Deal cards to each player according to the number of players:
| # of players | Cards |
|---|---|
| 2 players | 4 |
| 3 players | 3 |
| 4 players | 2 |
Players keep their hands face up at all times.
7. Add Epidemics to the Player Deck
Divide the remaining Player deck into 5 face down piles, as equal in size as possible. Shuffle 1 Epidemic card into each pile. Stack these piles to form the Player deck, placing smaller piles at the bottom.
8. Select Characters
Each player selects a character and player color and takes the corresponding pawn and Reference cards. Place each pawn at their home. If there aren't enough characters for all players, some players must play a haven worker.
9. Begin Play
Take all the pawns and randomly select one. That player goes first and play proceeds clockwise.
On Your Turn
Each player turn is divided into 4 steps:
- Check for exposure.
- Do 4 actions.
- Draw 2 Player cards.
- Infect cities.
After a player is done infecting cities, the turn ends and the player on their left goes next.
Players should freely give each other advice. Let everyone offer opinions and ideas. However, the player whose turn it is decides what to do.
Your hand can have City, Produce Supplies, and Event cards in it. City cards are used in some actions, Produce Supplies cards are used to bring supplies from the stockpile to havens and supply centers, and Event cards can be played at any time.
Check for Exposure
If you start your turn in a location with 1 or more Plague cubes, gain an exposure (see Exposure, Scars, and Death on page 16).
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER F.")
Do 4 Actions
After checking for exposure, you may do up to 4 actions and an unlimited number of free actions each turn.
Select any combination of the actions listed below. You may do the same action several times, each time counting as 1 action (unless it's a free action). Your character's job and abilities may change how an action is done. Some actions involve discarding a card from your hand; all these discards go to the Player discard pile.
Free actions do not count toward your 4 actions per turn. Free actions must be done during the "Do 4 actions" step of your turn either before, between, or after any other actions that you take. You must complete an action before starting another action.
Movement Actions
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER G.")
Drive / Ferry — Move to an adjacent location connected by a line.
Sail — Discard a card to move to the city named on the card, provided you can trace a sea route to it. (Both locations will have an anchor symbol.)
Charter Boat — Discard the City card that matches your current city to move to any location, provided you can trace a sea route to it. (Both locations will have an anchor symbol.)
You cannot do the Sail and Charter Boat actions over land. We hope you understand why.
Other Actions
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER H.")
Make Supplies — Take 1 Supply cube from the stockpile and put it onto your Character card. You can hold any number of Supply cubes.
Produce Supplies — Discard a Produce Supplies card while in a haven or supply center to do the Produce Supplies action.
If you use its "Local Production" ability, fill your current haven or supply center to its population with Supply cubes. If the location already has Supply cubes equal to or above its population, do not place more.
If you use its "System-Wide Production" ability, fill all havens and supply centers on the grid to their population, then check a box on the card (you must still be in a haven or supply center). When the last check box is filled on the card, destroy the card.
If there aren't enough Supply cubes in the stockpile to fill locations to their populations, put as many as you can in any order you like.
Deliver Supplies — Put as many Supply cubes as you like from your Character card into your location.
Share Knowledge — You can do this action in two ways:
Give a City card that matches the city you are in to another player, or take a City card that matches the city you are in from another player.
The other player must also be in the city with you. Both of you need to agree to do this.
If the player who gets the card now has more than their hand limit (usually 7 cards), that player must immediately discard a card or play an Event card.
Build Supply Center — Discard 5 cards matching your current city's color. Take a supply center and place it into that city. It will last for the rest of the game. If there are no more available, move an existing supply center to your location instead. Each city can have only 1 supply center.
Recon (not in prologue)
When you Recon, you are exploring some of the lost world in an attempt to learn what happened and how it can help you with your objectives.
Each location where you can Recon shows you what you must discard in order to recon from there. In most cases you need to recon from a supply center. Read each recon description to see what you need:
- Unless otherwise stated, there must be a supply center in that city.
- You need to discard City cards from your hand matching those on the route leaving the city.
- If the cards on the route have an
*symbol (e.g., ★ ★ ★), the cards can be of any cities — only the color matters.
Example: Recon with any 3 blue cards from a supply center here to open Package 1.
- If the cards have letters on them (e.g.,
A), then each card discarded of that color must be a unique city.
Example: Recon with 4 unique black cards from a supply center here to open Package 2.
- When you successfully do the Recon action, open the package number as shown on the route.
Free Actions
These actions must be taken during the "Do Actions" step but do not count toward your 4 actions for the turn. Free actions cannot be used to interrupt other actions. For example, you cannot do the Pick Up Supplies action on the haven in the Mediterranean while using the Sail action to get from London to Cairo.
Pick Up Supplies — Take as many Supply cubes as you like from your location and put them onto your Character card.
Transfer Supplies — Give as many Supply cubes as you like to a player in your location or take as many Supply cubes as you like from that player (with their permission).
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER I.")
Example of Play
It is Anna's turn and she wishes to play her Produce Supplies card and deliver some supplies. Since she is already in a haven, she can set her plan in motion right away.
- She first plays a Produce Supplies card for its Local Production ability at the empty haven where she is. Anna takes 3 Supply cubes from the stockpile (the haven's population limit) and fills her haven with them. (She does not check a box on the card since she played it for Local Production.)
Free. She picks up all 3 cubes (she could have picked up fewer cubes) with the Pick Up Supplies free action and puts them onto her Character card.
-
Anna does the Drive/Ferry action to move her pawn to Lagos.
-
She does the Deliver Supplies action there and puts 2 cubes on Lagos (she could have delivered a different number of cubes instead).
-
Then she does the Sail action, discarding the London card from her hand to move to London.
Free. Anna transfers supplies for free to Adele, who is also in London, with the Transfer Supplies free action.
New Actions
(This page of the manual is reserved for new actions revealed during the campaign. It contains eight blank ruled boxes, printed as placeholders labeled "RULE STICKER J" through "RULE STICKER Q", to be filled in with stickers as new actions are unlocked.)
Draw Cards
After doing 4 actions, draw the top 2 cards together from the Player deck.
If, as you are about to draw, there are fewer than 2 cards left in the Player deck, the game ends and your team has lost! (Do not reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.)
If you are over your hand limit (usually 7 cards), immediately discard cards or play Event cards until you are at your hand limit.
Epidemic Cards
If your draws include any Epidemic cards, do not add them to your hand (and do not draw replacement cards for them). Instead, immediately do the following in order:
1. Increase: Move the Infection Rate marker forward 1 space on the Infection Rate track (If the marker is already at 5, it remains at 5.)
2. Infect: Draw the bottom card from the Infection deck. Remove all the Supply cubes from that city and put them in the stockpile. (Do not add Plague cubes if the city has no Supply cubes.)
Discard this card to the Infection discard pile.
RULE STICKER R will replace this rule.
3. Intensify: Shuffle just the cards in the Infection discard pile and place them on top of the Infection deck.
Remember to draw from the bottom of the Infection deck and to then shuffle only the Infection discard pile, placing it on top of the existing Infection deck.
It is rare but possible to draw 2 Epidemic cards at once. In this case, do all the steps above once and then again.
After resolving any Epidemic cards, discard them to the Player discard pile.
Event Cards
Playing an Event card is not an action. The player who plays an Event card decides how it is used. Event cards can be played at any time, except in between drawing and resolving a card. For example, you cannot draw an Infection card, see that you don't like it, and then choose to play One Quiet Night.
Once played, Rationed Event cards are discarded to the Player discard pile, while Unrationed Event cards are destroyed.
Hand Limit
If you ever have more cards than your hand limit (after first resolving any Epidemic cards you may have drawn), discard cards or play Event cards until you are at your hand limit. The standard hand limit is 7 cards.
Infections
Flip over as many Infection cards from the top of the Infection deck as the current infection rate. This number is below the space of the Infection Rate track that has the Infection Rate marker. Flip these cards over one at a time, infecting the city named on each card.
To infect a city, remove 1 Supply cube from it and return it to the stockpile. If the city has no Supply cubes, instead place a Plague cube and record the incident (see Incidents, below). If the city already has 3 Plague cubes, do not place a 4th cube. Instead, an outbreak of the plague occurs in the city (see Outbreaks, next column). Discard this card to the Infection discard pile.
(Two blank ruled boxes follow here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER S" and "RULE STICKER T".)
In the rare case you get through the entire Infection deck, reshuffle it and move the Infection Rate marker forward 1 space on the Infection Rate track. If this causes the rate to change during the "Infect" step, use the old rate when determining how many cards to draw.
Incidents
An incident happens whenever a Plague cube is placed into a location. Move the Incident marker forward 1 space on the Incident track.
If the Incident marker reaches the last space (skull), the game ends and the players lose.
Remember that players who start a turn in a location with Plague cubes get exposed. (See Exposure, Scars, and Death on page 7.)
Example of Play
After having drawn her 2 cards, Anna proceeds to the "Infect" step.
The current infection rate is 3, so Anna flips over the top 3 Infection cards: Lagos, Lagos, London.
She first removes 2 Supply cubes from Lagos and returns them to the stockpile.
Since there are no Supply cubes in London, she must add a Plague cube there and move the Incident marker forward 1 space. She then discards the flipped Infection cards.
At the start of her next turn, if Anna's pawn is still in London with a Plague cube, she will get an exposure.
Outbreaks
When an outbreak occurs, remove 1 Supply cube from every location adjacent to the city. If the connected location does not have a Supply cube, place 1 Plague cube instead. Move the Incident marker forward 1 space on the Incident track for each Plague cube placed.
If any connecting location already has 3 Plague cubes, do not place a 4th cube in those cities. Instead, in each of them, a chain reaction outbreak occurs after the current outbreak is done.
When a chain reaction outbreak occurs, remove Supply cubes or place Plague cubes as above, except do not add a Plague cube to locations that have already had an outbreak (or a chain reaction outbreak) as part of resolving the current Infection card. Move the Incident marker forward 1 space for each Plague cube placed.
Turn End
After infecting cities and discarding Infection cards, your turn is over. The player on your left begins their turn.
Game End
Game End
You win as soon as you complete the necessary number of objectives (which must include all mandatory objectives) or you trigger a losing condition. The game ends immediately, even if it is the middle of a player's turn or a series of outbreaks. You cannot finish out your turn after you win or lose, even if you would like to.
There are multiple ways for the game to end in a loss:
- Immediately when the Incident marker reaches the last space of the Incident track.
- If a player cannot draw 2 player cards after their actions.
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER U".)
Win or lose, first return all City and Infection cards in players' hands and the discard piles to their respective decks. Then, there is a series of Game End steps that must be followed at the end of each game to see how the just-played game changed the world, your characters, and the grid.
The Game End steps are covered in detail on the last page of this manual. We recommend reading them after finishing your first prologue game to get an idea of how each game impacts the following games in the campaign.
Tracking Your Campaign
Use the game calendar on page 18 to record your progress, wins and losses, players involved, your current rationing level, and the size of the grid. Page 19 will help you track which cities are part of the the grid.
Example calendar row: Month — Prologue; Rationing — (blank); Date Played — Nov 18; Players and Characters — Laura/Anna, Alice/Adele, Ollie/Newt; Win or Lose? — W; Cities on the Grid — 9.
Laura and her friends completed their first game (the Prologue) and filled in the corresponding row of the game calendar.
Exposure, Scars, and Death
Exposure
It's a dangerous world out there and characters will gain exposures. (One way is to start a turn in a location with a Plague cube. See page 10.)
When a character gains an exposure, scratch off the next box on the character's exposure track (starting at the leftmost box). If there is nothing under the box, there is no immediate effect.
Scars
If the box that was just scratched off has a scar symbol, it means the character has developed a scar. Choose any of the available scars and place it onto a slot on the Character card. This can be an empty slot, or a slot with a job or a character ability. You cannot cover a scar with another scar.
Death
If the box that was just scratched off has a skull symbol, the character has died from the plague. Write down the location of the character's death on the sheet. That character cannot be played in this or any future game.
If your character dies, discard all cards you have in hand and return any Supply cubes on the Character card to the stockpile. You lose any remaining actions, but must resolve the rest of your turn (i.e., do the "Draw Player cards" and "Infect" steps as usual).
Select a different character from those available and place your pawn at that character's home. If there are no more characters available, use a haven worker for the rest of this game, placing your pawn at any haven connected to the grid.
Haven Workers
The rules for haven workers are on their cards.
Haven Worker card text: Start the game in any haven. You have no special abilities and cannot receive upgrades or scars. If you gain an exposure, discard your hand and lose any remaining actions. Start your next turn in any haven.
Example of Play
At the beginning of his turn, Newt finds himself in New York with 2 Plague cubes. He gains an exposure (even though there are 2 Plague cubes).
He scratches the next box on his Exposure track and reveals a scar.
He chooses a scar from those available and puts it on an available space on his Character card.
Example scar (Xenophobia): You need 1 extra City card (of the same color) to do the Recon action.
Clarifications
Using Abilities
You must be able to use all of an ability in order to activate it. This is true whether it is on a card or a character. For example, if you had a card that let you add supplies to the board and there were no supplies in the stockpile, you couldn't play that card to put 0 supplies on to the board just to be able to discard that card.
Commonly Overlooked Rules
- You do not draw a replacement card after drawing an Epidemic card.
- On your turn, with the Share Knowledge action, you may take a card from another player if you are both in the city that matches the card.
- Your hand limit applies at all times.
- Locations can contain any number of Supply cubes (The population of a location does affect how many Supply cubes can be added with the Produce Supplies action, however.)
Taking Notes and Looking at Cards
There is an element of discovery in this game — players will explore the world and find new information that they may want to track. It is perfectly acceptable to take notes as you go.
Also, all cards in the reserve, the Infection discard pile, and the Player discard pile may be looked at by players at any time. Cards in the Player deck and Infection deck cannot be looked at unless an ability allows it.
What Happens If We Mess Up a Rule Since We Can't Go Back?
In most cases, it won't matter. A little rule confusion here or there, or a card left out of a deck, or something forgotten will not greatly affect your game. Just note it and move on.
In some cases a missing or confused rule will have resulted in a whole game being too easy or too hard. In this case, the group should decide whether to increase their rationing level for the next game (if you accidentally made a game too hard) or reduce their rationing for the next game (if you made a game too easy).
Credits
Game design: Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau Illustrations: Chris Quilliams and Atha Kanaani Graphic design: Philippe Guérin, Karla Ron, Marie-Elaine Bérubé, and Marie-Eve Joly Editing: Jean-François Gagné and Steven Kimball
Playtesters: Martha Amezcua, Chris Aylott, Katherine Aylott, Alan Tun-Wei Bach, Cory Banks, Mike Bretzlaff, Jasmine Butler-Davis, Pete Butler-Davis, Danny Calderon, Kasey Cargill, Ryan Corder, Lindsay Daviau, Melissa DeMorris, Court Dimon, Jeroen Doumen, Bianca van Duijl, Sarah Edwards, Daniel Egnor, Michelle Ell, Robert Ell, Kim Farrell, Nathan Fluegel, Jonathan Fromm, Rachel Gay, Mark Goetz, Vincent Grasso, Sarah Graybill, Chris Grim, Beth Heile, David Helber, Shelby Hemker, Patrick Hillier, Amanda Houts, Nicole Hoye, Trisha Huang, Wei-Hwa Huang, Aeos James, Richard Jeffers, Brian Jewkes, Sasha Johnson-Freyd, Nicholas Kent, David Kloba, Grace Kloba, John Knoerzer, Eva Ko, Donna Leacock, Martin Lieser, David Lipman, Dan Luxenberg, Paul Madden, Matt Manis, Joshua Martin, Christina Martins, Chris Matthew, Tony McRee, Chris Mitsinikos, Owen Mitsinikos, Nora Montaño, Mabelene Ng, David Nolin, Kevin O'Hare, Erik Oliver, Sacha-Mikhail Roberts, Ben Rosset, Colby Sellers, Hannah Shen, David Short, Bill Shube, Sarah Shube, Jenn Skahan, John Shulters, Paul Stefko, Mark Swanson, Colin Thom, David Tome, Ana Ulin, Nickolaus Wing, Chris Kit Yona, Lola Yona, Rob Zacny, Ian Zang, Michelle Zentis. Special thanks: John Knoerzer, Beth Heile, Wei-Hwa Huang, and Colin Thom.
Z-Man Games 1995 West County Road B2 Roseville MN 55113 USA (651)-639-1905 [email protected] www.zmangames.com
© 2017 Z-Man Games, All Rights Reserved. Pandemic, Z-Man Games, and the Z-Man logo are TM of Z-Man Games. Z-Man Games is a division of Asmodee North America, Inc. Actual components may vary from those shown. Made in China.
NOT INTENDED FOR USE OF PERSONS 13 YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNGER.
Game Calendar
Use this calendar to record your progress through the campaign. Rules: If you win, advance to the next month and decrease your rationing by 2. If you lose the first half of the month, play the second half of the month and increase your rationing by 2. If you lose in the second half of the month, increase your rationing by 2, then proceed to the next month. Rationing cannot go over 10 or below 0.
The calendar table has columns for Month, Rationing, Date Played, Players and Characters, Win or Lose?, and Cities on the Grid, with rows for the Prologue and for the Early and Late attempt at each of the 12 months (January through December). The Prologue row is pre-filled with a rationing level of 4; the January row is pre-filled with a starting rationing level of 4.
Cities of the Known World
A two-column checklist numbered 1–52, with columns "City Name" and "On the Grid?", for recording which cities join the grid as the campaign progresses. The list is pre-filled with the nine starting cities, all checked as on the grid:
- New York — on the grid
- Washington — on the grid
- Jacksonville — on the grid
- São Paulo — on the grid
- London — on the grid
- Istanbul — on the grid
- Tripoli — on the grid
- Cairo — on the grid
- Lagos — on the grid
Entries 10 through 52 are blank, to be filled in as new cities are added to the grid during the campaign.
Game End Steps
1. Adjust Population
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER V will give you step a. Skip it for now.")
b. For each location that has at least 1 Plague cube, decrease that location's population by 1. It only ever goes down by 1, even if there are 2 or 3 Plague cubes in it.
(A blank ruled box follows here in the manual, labeled "RULE STICKER W will give you step c. Skip it for now.")
d. For each city that has a supply center, increase that city's population by 1.
If a location's population would decrease and increase by 1, its population stays the same.
2. Check the Legacy Deck
You may be instructed to draw more cards if there is a PAUSE card at the top of the deck.
3. Resolve Cards in the Game End Area
a. If there are any Infection cards in this area, add them to the Infection deck.
b. Review all Turning Point cards in the Game End area to see if they triggered. Resolve these cards in numerical order from low to high.
4. Spend Production Units
Win or lose, you choose upgrades at the end of each game based on the number of cities on the grid.
Calculate the number of cities on the grid and look at the table in the Game End area to see how many units you get to spend. You get an additional +1 unit if you won the game. Any unused units are lost; do not carry them over from game to game.
Character Abilities
Spend the cost next to an ability to add it to a created character, even one who did not play in the most recent game. Use any empty slot on the Character card. You cannot place an ability over a scar, a job, or another ability.
Example ability card note (Record Keeper): Increase your hand limit by 1 card.
Example ability card note (Administrator): Once on your turn, as an action, move a pawn to any other pawn.
City Card Improvements
Spend the cost next to a City improvement sticker to add it to a City card with an available slot. That city must be connected to the grid and each slot can have only 1 sticker.
Example City card improvement (Foundations, London): This card counts as 2 cards of its color for the Build Supply Center action.
Infection Card Improvements
Spend the cost next to an Infection improvement sticker to add it to an Infection card with an available slot. That city must be connected to the grid and each slot can have only 1 sticker.
Example Infection card improvement (Lockdown, London): If this card is in the Infection discard pile, any player may discard it to destroy this card at any time.
Infection improvements are in effect during:
- Game set up
- The Infect step during an Epidemic
- The Infect step at the end of every player turn
Population
Spend 1 production unit to increase the population of any non-forsaken location by 1. If the location is a forsaken city then increasing it back to 1 costs 2 production units.
Take the sticker and place it over the location's current population. You can spend multiple production units to increase the population by more than one. If you do so, apply the final population sticker to the location; do not place all the stickers in between the old level and the new one. If you ever run out of population stickers, record the population near the city with a pen or pencil, but remember the population cannot go above 8.
If You Won the Game
- Start your next game at the beginning of the next month.
- Your rationing level is dropped by 2 (minimum of 0) as you save more resources for future troubles.
- Record your new rationing level on the calendar.
If You Lost the Game
- If this is the first time the month has been played, you must try the month again. If it was your second attempt at the month, move on to the next month for your next game.
- Your rationing level is increased by 2 (maximum of 10) as you realize you need to dig a little deeper.
- Record your new rationing level on the calendar.
Clear the board of all game pieces (but not stickers, those are permanent). These all reset for the start of the next game.
Set up future games as described on pages 8 and 9.