Rayguns and Rocketships Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Setup
• Round Sequence
  • Rocketship Map
  • Round Summary
  • Round Start
• Turns
  • Rocketship Movement
  • Rocketship Shooting
  • Crew Movement and Combat
  • Damage
  • Action Tokens
  • Evacuating the Rocketship
  • Round End
• Winning the Game
• Example Round
• Advanced Rules
  • To the Last Man
  • Special Tokens
  • Princess Persevone
  • Ironwill Variant

Game Components

The game includes the following components:

• 1 Rulebook (in your hands!)
• 1 Episode book
• 1 Star Map Game board
• 4 Rocketship maps
• 4 Rocketship miniatures
• 24 Crew Member miniatures
• 4 Captain miniatures
• 4 Captain cards (double-sided!)
• 4 Command card decks (14 cards per deck)
• 28 Raygun tokens
• 30 Blast markers
• 30 Action tokens
• 1 First Player token
• 3 Warbot tokens
• 3 Atomic Core tokens (double-sided!)
• 6 Asteroid/Iceteroid tokens (double-sided!)
• 1 Princess Persevone token
• 1 Data Tape token
• 4 Planeteer Faction tokens
• 1 Victory Track chart
• 3 Red Eight-Sided dice (d8)
• 1 Black Eight-Sided dice (d8)

Setup

1. Set up Play Area

   • Unfold the Star Map and place it in the middle of the play area.
   • Place all Action tokens, Blast markers, and dice within easy reach of all players.
   • Place the Victory Track chart to one side. Place the Planeteer Faction tokens on the first space on the Victory Track chart.

2. Choose Factions

   • Each player chooses a Planeteer Faction and takes the following pieces.
     • 1 Captain miniature
     • 6 Crew Member miniatures
     • 1 Rocketship miniature
     • 1 Captain card
     • Deck of 14 Command cards
     • 1 Rocketship map
   • Select 1 Star card and add it to your hand.
   • Place the Captain's card corresponding to your faction face-up near the Rocketship map.
   • If playing the basic game, return to the box any other items (various tokens, etc.) as they will not be used.

3. Player Area Setup

   • Each player should set up their faction pieces as described below:
     • Place their rocketship on the planet closest to them. This is their starting position. No two factions should start on the same planet.

You are now ready to start!

Round Sequence

Rayguns and Rocketships is a programmable action game. Every Round, players will program three Command cards that will be activated over the course of three Turns. This continues until one player wins!

Rocketship Map

Place crew members on the named rocketship locations to gain advantages during play.

• Cockpit: Rotate the rocketship 45 degrees in either direction, allows for Star cards to be played.
• Engines: Add 1 to forward movement when a crew member is placed on an engine.
• Airlock: Allows crew to exit and enter a rocketship.
• Raygun: A crew member here will improve shooting a raygun (see Firing Rayguns pg. 10).
• Control panel: Allows for Star cards to be played, opens all airlocks at once.
• Hatch: Roll to replace rayguns or select Star cards (see Search the Hatch pg. 12).

Round Summary

Round Start

• Draw 1 Star card.
• Program 3 Command cards facedown – including Star card.

Three Turns (One Turn for each Command card)

• Each player reveals left most facedown card, and takes a number of Action tokens equal to the number of Action-token icons shown on the card. Action tokens may be stored until the end of the Round.
• Each player (starting with the player with the First Player token) plays a Phase. All players must complete a Phase before moving on to the next:
  • Rocketship Movement
  • Rocketship Shooting
  • Crew Movement and Combat
• After all Phases are completed, the Turn is over and the First Player token passes to the left.
• If there are still facedown cards remaining, continue to the next Turn. If all 3 cards have been revealed, the Round ends.

Round End

• Discard any remaining Action tokens.
• Place any played Star card in a face-up Discard pile next to the deck.
• Return all other Command cards to players' hands.

Round Start

At the start of a Round, each player draws 1 card from their Star card deck, adding it to their hand.

Each player then plays 3 cards facedown. These cards can aid certain actions that will be performed during the Turns.

Programming Command cards: example of the Blaarg hand, with 3 Blaarg Command cards programmed facedown.

Turns

A Turn consists of several Phases, always starting with the player with the First Player token:

1. Each player reveals their left-most Command card and takes a number of Action tokens indicated on the card.
2. There are three Phases, and all players complete each Phase before moving on to the next. The three Phases are:
   • Rocketship Movement
   • Rocketship Shooting
   • Crew Movement and Combat
3. Pass the First Player token to the left.
4. If this has been the third Turn, the Round ends.

During each Phase, players can use Action tokens, Command cards, Star cards, or crew members to accomplish actions. These are detailed in the following sections.

Rocketship Movement

Players may move the rocketship on the Star Map during this Phase. Players must always perform the movement action on a Command card first. You can use the notch in the rocketship model's base to help you determine movement direction.

There are three ways that allow players to move their rocketship. Commands are always issued in relationship to the front of the rocketship.

1. The Command cards pictured below add to movement. Movement points gained from Command cards are mandatory.

   • Turn Port
   • Forward
   • Fire Retro Rockets

2. For each crew member manning an engine location, the player may move the rocketship forward 1 star node. These movement points are not mandatory.

3. For each crew member manning a cockpit, the player may move the rocketship 45 degrees to the left or the right. This movement is not mandatory.

Rocketship Turning – with a crew member in the cockpit.

NOTE: Action tokens may NOT be used during this Phase.

Ramming Ships: Look out! If 2 rocketships collide, they may take ramming damage. If a collision happens on the Star Map, each player rolls a d8.

• If the ramming player rolls higher then place 1 Blast marker on the target rocketship and move the rammed rocketship back 1 star node.
• If the ramming player rolls lower, then no damage is taken and the ramming player moves back 1 star node.
• If both players roll the same result, each player places 1 Blast marker on their opponent's rocketship and both rocketships are moved back 1 Star Node.

Crew Members: If a rocketship ends its movement on a star node with a crew member, the owner of the crew member moves the figure to any adjacent star node.

Off the Star Map: The galaxy is surrounded by a terrible, crushing void. If a rocketship ever travels off the Star Map, the player with the First Player token will place 1 Blast marker on that player's rocketship. The player may then reorient their rocketship in any direction.

Rocketship Shooting

During this Phase, players may attempt to shoot at any rocketships that are in range.

Determining Range: A raygun's range extends in a 90 degree arc from the side of the player's rocketship. Use the "X" on the Rocketship miniature's base to determine the arc to see whether an enemy rocketship is within range. Depending on whether a raygun is unmanned or manned, determines the distance of the range. An unmanned raygun can aim at targets up to 2 star nodes away, while a manned raygun can aim at targets up to 3 star nodes away.

Note: Crew members on the Star Map are too small and quick to be targeted by a rocketship's rayguns.

Note for Blaargs only: The raygun port in the center of the Blaarg saucer may shoot at any target within a full 360 degree arc. This raygun many target a separate rocketship if desired.

Firing a Raygun – diagrams show an unmanned raygun and a manned raygun, each shown with its range arc and targets.

Firing Rayguns: The position of your rocketship matters during firing. Only rayguns facing an enemy rocketship may be fired. Rayguns are fired in a battery, meaning you are firing all of your available rayguns at one target. Rayguns can only shoot once per Turn then they need to recharge. So unless a special ability or Star card allows otherwise, you should pick your target carefully!

• Unmanned Rayguns: A rudimentary robot AI can fire a raygun but it isn't particularly accurate.
  • Range: 2 star nodes in a 90 degree arc from the ship.
  • Hit: Successful on 7-8.
• Manned Rayguns: If a crew member is on the raygun, they increase its range and accuracy.
  • Range: 3 star nodes in a 90 degree arc from the side of the rocketship.
  • Hit: Successful on 5-8.

Declaring a target: When firing rayguns, the player must declare whether they are shooting at the rocketship's body (see damage pg. 12) or at the rocketship's rayguns (see destroying rayguns below). Once a target is declared, roll the dice!

Using the Dice: The single black die can be used to differentiate between manned or unmanned rayguns when rolling. It can also be used to determine which player is the defender during crew combat (see crew combat pg. 11).

Fire: Roll one d8 for each raygun fired. If the shot is successful, the attacker places 1 Blast marker on the Rocketship map (see damage pg 12). A Blast marker is never placed on a location with a miniature or a token, unless a special ability allows it.

Destroying Rayguns: If a player has declared to shoot at an opponent's rayguns and rolls a successful hit then the following happens:

• The attacking player chooses which rayguns they will destroy equal to the number of hits they have rolled.
• If the chosen raygun has no crew member manning it, the raygun is destroyed.
• If a crew member is manning raygun, the rocketship's owner may choose to lose the crew member instead. If a captain is manning the raygun, the captain takes 1 Blast marker (See captain damage pg 12).

Rayguns can also be destroyed from inside the rocketship by a crew member's attack (see Crew Combat pg. 11).

Destroying a Rocketship: If a rocketship has 8 Blast markers on it, it is destroyed. Destroying a rocketship is worth 3 points.

Crew Movement and Combat

Crew Movement

Battle Stations! In this Phase, players will move crew members around the rocketships and on the Star Map.

Crew movement: Each crew member (including the captain) can move 2 spaces and gets 1 attack. Players can spend Action tokens to gain extra movement and attacks. Crew members may move orthogonally or diagonally.

NOTE: You probably won't move your crew around much during the first few Turns of the game as you will have placed them where you want them to be!

Crew Combat

Each crew member (including the captain) moves 2 spaces and can make attack as a "free" action. The player may spend an Action token to gain additional movements and attacks.

Crew members can use their weapons to make two different kinds of attacks: Ranged attacks and Melee attacks.

Ranged Attack

A crew member may make a ranged attack with their neurolizer pistol against any target up to 2 spaces (or 2 star nodes) away. The enemy must be in line-of-sight and not blocked by any obstructions.

A ranged attack originating from outside a rocketship may not attack anything inside. Rocketships cannot be harmed by neurolizer pistols – their armor is too thick!

To perform a ranged attack, roll one d8. The attack is successful on a roll of 5-8.

If the target is a raygun or crew member, on a success, that target is destroyed and removed from play. If the target is a captain, place 1 Blast marker on an opponent's Captain card.

• If the chosen raygun has no crew member manning it, the raygun is destroyed.
• If a crew member is manning raygun, the rocketship's owner may choose to lose the crew member instead. If a captain is manning the raygun, the captain takes 1 Blast marker (See captain damage pg 12).

Dodging a Ranged Attack

If an attack on a crew member or captain is successful, the defender may spend 1 Action token to dodge the attack. If no Action tokens are played, then the attack causes 1 Blast marker of damage.

Melee Attack

En garde! A crew member or captain may make a melee attack against any other adjacent crew member or captain using their deadly circuit sword.

Both players each roll one d8.

• If the attacker rolls higher than the defender, the defender takes 1 Blast marker of damage.
• If the defender rolls higher than the attacker, the attack is successfully blocked.
• If the attacker and the defender roll the same number, a riposte occurs!
  • When a riposte occurs, the attacker becomes the defender, and the defender becomes the attacker. They then begin the melee combat again with these new roles. Melee combat continues until a hit or miss occurs!

Damage

Rocketship Damage: If a player deals damage to another player's rocketship, the attacker always chooses where the Blast marker is placed. Place 1 Blast marker on a space without a miniature or a token.

A Blast marker on a named location (such as engines or the hatch) must be extinguished before that position can be used by a player. A Blast marker remains on the rocketship until it is extinguished or if the rocketship is destroyed.

A crew member cannot move through a Blast marker unless it has a special ability.

Crew Damage: Crew members only have one health. If a player would put a Blast marker on a crew member, they are defeated and removed from play.

Captain Damage: When a captain takes damage (from rayguns, melee or ranged combat) place 1 Blast marker on one of the abilities on the captain's card. The captain loses that ability unless they are healed by a crew member. If the captain takes 3 Blast markers of damage, they are defeated and removed from play.

Action Tokens

Action tokens are gained from Command cards and special abilities such as on the Captain card. Action tokens can be used at any time during the Turn as is appropriate. Action tokens may be stored until the end of a Round, at which point they must be discarded. Actions token are used to:

• Make additional movements and attacks
• Search the hatch
• Extinguish a fire
• Heal a Blast marker
• Use the airlock
• Evacuate the rocketship
• Activate a special ability

NOTE: Action tokens are not spent to move a rocketship or fire a raygun unless a special ability allows it.

Search the Hatch: If a crew member is on the hatch space of their own rocketship, they may spend an action to roll one d8. On the roll of a 5-8, you may either:

• Place 1 Raygun token onto an empty raygun port
• Select 1 Star card and add it to your hand

Extinguish Fire: If a crew member is adjacent (diagonally or orthogonally) to a Blast marker, the player may spend an Action token to remove 1 Blast marker from play.

Healing the Captain: If a crew member is adjacent to their wounded captain, the player may spend 1 Action token to remove 1 Blast marker from their Captain card.

Using the Airlock: Crew may enter and exit their own rocketship via the airlocks on either side of the rocketship at the cost of 1 Action token.

• To exit your own rocketship: Crew must be on one of the airlock spaces on the Rocketship map. Spend 1 Action token to exit the rocketship onto any adjacent star node.
• To enter an enemy's rocketship: Crew must be on a star node adjacent to the rocketship. Make a ranged attack roll to successfully enter an enemy's rocketship on an airlock space.

NOTE: It costs nothing to exit an enemy's rocketship or enter your own rocketship.

Important: A crew member must already be on a star node to enter a rocketship. There is no direct rocketship-rocketship jump unless a special ability or Star card allows it.

Evacuating the Rocketship

If a rocketship is destroyed, the player may spend 1 Action token per crew member to have them evacuate the rocketship. Place all of the evacuated crew adjacent to the Rocketship miniature on the Star Map. Then remove the destroyed Rocketship miniature from play. If the player doesn't have enough actions to evacuate all of their crew, those crew members are considered destroyed.

Round End

The Round ends at the end of the third Turn. To clean up, do the following:

• Players must discard any remaining Action tokens.
• Return all other Command cards to players' hands.
• Discard any played Star cards.
• A new Round begins!

Winning the Game

Gameplay ends when one player is the first to reach the target victory point total. For a two-player game, we suggest 12 points, for a three-player game, we suggest 16 points, and for a four player game, 20 points.

Victory Points are earned for:

• Destroy a raygun: 1 point
• Defeat a crew member: 1 point
• Defeat a captain: 3 points
• Destroy a rocketship: 3 points
• Each discarded Star card: 1 point
• Complete a scenario: See scenario

The player who reaches the target Victory Points wins and is declared the MASTER OF THE GALAXY!!!

Example Round

Round Start: Programming Cards. You are playing as the Zard. You've drawn 1 Star card and have created your hand. You have chosen to program 2 movement Command cards to start with, and a Star card that moves an enemy's rocketships for your first Round. These cards are placed faredown in the order you want to play them in.

Turn Start: Card Reveal. All players reveal their first programmed card. Your first programmed card is a Forward movement card, which will get resolved in the Rocketship Movement Phase. You will take 2 Action tokens for revealing this card.

Phase 1: Rocketship Movement. You can now move your rocketship. You have a Forward movement card, which will move your rocketship 1 star node. You also have a Zard crew member on an engine space, which lets you move 1 more star node. Finally, you have a crew member on the cockpit space, so you can turn your rocketship 45 degrees to the left or the right.

You want to shoot at the Astro-Rangers' rocketship in your Rocketship Shooting Phase, so you take all your movement and turn your rocketship to the left to make sure you can hit the Astro-Rangers' rocketship.

Phase 2: Rocketship Shooting. Now that all players have moved your rocketships, the Rocketship Shooting Phase starts. The Astro-Rangers' rocketship has moved 1 star node forward, but they are still in range of the 1 manned and 2 unmanned rayguns on the right side of your rocketship. You declare that you want to do damage to the rocketship directly with all 3 rayguns. Then you roll one dice for each shooting raygun.

First, you roll for the manned raygun. You roll a 6, which is a hit! (Manned Raygun Die Roll, hit on 5-8: 6, a success.)

Then you roll for the unmanned rayguns. You roll a 2 and a 6, which are both misses for unmanned rayguns. (Unmanned Raygun Die Roll, hit on 7-8: 2 and 6, both failures.)

You now place 1 Blast marker on the Astro-Rangers' rocketship. You decide to place it on the engine space where there isn't a crew member, limiting how much extra movement the Astro-Rangers can make.

Phase 3: Crew Movement and Combat. After every player has fired your rayguns, the Crew Movement and Combat Phase can begin.

You CAN move every miniature 2 spaces this Phase, but you are currently happy with your current crew placement. You currently get very good bonuses from the stations your crew man.

The only problem you see is the Blaarg crew member that entered your rocketshipon the previous Round.

The Zard crew member now attacks the Blaarg crew member. To attack, both the attacker and defender have to roll a die.

You decide to move your Zard crew member, currently on the engine, two spaces toward the Blaarg to begin a melee attack. (Zard's attack dice: 6, a success. Blaarg's defense dice: 4, a failure.)

You roll a 6. The Blaarg player rolls a 4 for defense. The Blaarg takes a Blast marker of damage, is defeated, and is taken out of the game.

Turns 2-3. After all crew members on all ships have moved, Turn 1 ends. Once Turn 1 ends the First Player token passes from you to the Astro-Ranger player, who is sitting on your left.

Turn 2 then begins at the Turn Start: Card Reveal and play continues the same as it was for Turn 1. Repeat this process for Turn 3.

Once Turn 3 is over, the end of Round sequence begins.

End of Round. End of Round, all players discard any remaining Action tokens. You place your Tractor Beam card into the Discard pile next to your Star deck. Finally, your Forward card and Turn Port card return to your hand.

Once these actions are taken, the Round is over and a new Round begins!

Advanced Rules

Use these rules to add some extra swashbuckling spacefaring adventure to your Rayguns and Rocketships game!

To the Last Man

Keep playing until only one player is left standing! Warning, this will make for a longer game.

Special Tokens

Use these special tokens to add even more challenge to your Rayguns and Rocketships game! These tokens are also used with the exciting Episode book.

• Asteroid: 1 Asteroid token is placed on any star node on the Star Map. A player cannot move or shoot through an asteroid. If a rocketship collides with an asteroid, it takes 1 Blast marker of ramming damage (see ramming ships pg 9).
• Iceteroid: The rules for iceteroids are the same as asteroids – but players can shoot their rayguns through the crystalline iceteroids at other players.
• Warbot remains: These robotic remains from a long-fought war drift through the galaxy. An adjacent crew member may collect warbot remains at the cost of 1 Action token. If the crew member returns to their rocketship with a warbot, it may either be placed on any cockpit or raygun where it acts as a crew member and satisfies all Command card requirements. A warbot may be destroyed like a raygun. A warbot is worth 2 victory points if destroyed.
• Atomic core: The atomic cores of destroyed rocketships have scattered into space. Place 1 Atomic Core token, green-side face-up, on a Star node. An adjacent crew member may collect an atomic core at the cost of 1 Action token. If the crew member returns to their rocketship with a core, it may be placed onto the control panel or engine where it acts as a crew member and satisfies all Command card requirements. If an atomic core ever takes blast damage, flip it onto its red-side. The atomic core can be flipped back to its green-side for 1 Action token. If the core remains red at the end of the core owner's Turn, it will explode, causing 1 Blast marker of damage to anything within a 1 space radius! That's enough to destroy a rocketship!
• Data tape: The data tapes carries the secret plans of the Star Breaker battle station. Randomly select a player to start with the Data Tape token on their control panel. The plans may be stolen by another player by an adjacent crew member spending 1 Action token to carry it. If that crew member is defeated, the plans will stay where they are dropped. The player who possesse the Data Tape token by the end of the game earns 5 victory points!

Princess Persevone

The Princess of Vaporia has been kidnapped! Randomly select a player to start as the kidnapper and place the Princess token on their hatch. As long as the Princess is on the hatch, the kidnapper may draw an extra Star card.

The other players try to rescue the princess. An adjacent crew member may rescue the princess at the cost of 1 Action token. Upon being rescued, the princess becomes a crew member of the rescuing team and gains the following abilities:

• Heal: The princess may heal a crew member (or allow them to ignore one damage) once a Turn as a free action.
• Act: The princess may man a raygun, cockpit or control panel. Treat this as if she were a normal crew member.
• Move: The fleet footed princess has a movement of 4 spaces instead of 2 per Turn.
• Royalty: The princess cannot be defeated. Instead, if an enemy damages the princess through combat, she is returned to the kidnapper's rocketship's hatch. Having the Princess as a crew member (regardless if you are the kidnapper or rescuer) is worth 5 victory points at the end of the game.

Ironwill Variant

Game is played as normal, but each crew member can take 2 blasts of damage! Tip the miniature over to indicate its wounded status. Wounded crew members must spend 1 Action token to "stand back up" and return to action. They may be healed by other friendly crew members at the cost of 1 Action token.