Star Realms: Rise of Empire Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Contents
• Overview
• General Rules
  • Regular Setup (non-campaign games)
  • Turn Structure
  • Main Phase
  • Playing Cards
  • Ships
  • Bases
  • "When Acquired" Abilities
  • Using Abilities
  • Resolving Abilities
  • Ally Abilities
  • Scrap Abilities
  • Scrapping Cards
  • Acquiring (Buying) Cards
  • Attacking
  • Discard Phase
  • Draw Phase
• Campaign Rules
  • Campaign Setup
  • New Factions
  • "When Acquired" Abilities (Campaign)
  • Upgrading Cards
  • Winning & Victory Points
  • Between Games
  • After the Campaign
• Non-Campaign Formats
  • Standard (2 Players)
  • Free-For-All (3-6 Players)
  • Hunter (3-6 Players)
  • Hunter First Blood (3-6 Players)
  • Hydra (4 or 6 Players)
  • Emperor (6 Players: 3 vs 3)
  • Raid (3-6 Players: 1 Boss, 2-5 Raiders)
• Icon Reference List
• The New Factions
• Credits

Box Contents

• Rulebook & Gameboard
• Personal Decks Pack (72 Cards) — Star Empire, Trade Federation, Consortium, Kingdom, and Scavengers personal decks (Decks 1-4)
• Campaign Pack (80 Cards)
• Post-Campaign Pack (24 Cards)
• 14 Envelopes (& Cards) — DO NOT OPEN UNTIL INSTRUCTED
• 8 Card Dividers
• 2 Score Dials
• 2 Foam Blocks

Card lists are available at StarRealms.com/rise-of-empire

Overview

In Star Realms, you start with a Personal Deck of cards representing your space armada. On your turn, you will play cards from your hand to gain Trade, Combat, Authority, and other effects.

• Trade is used to buy powerful Ships and Bases from the Trade Row.
• Combat is used to attack opponents and their Bases.
• Authority is your score. Each player begins the game with 50 Authority.

At the end of your turn, you will discard any Ships you played and draw 5 new cards from your deck. If your deck is empty, shuffle your Discard Pile (including any newly bought cards) to create your new deck.

The first player to reduce their opponent's Authority to zero wins!

If either player has never played Star Realms before, we recommend they learn the basics by playing a game using only the "General Rules." After that, dive into the campaign!

Veteran Star Realms players may skip to "Campaign Rules."

General Rules

Regular Setup (non-campaign games)

Player Setup

1. Randomly determine who will take the first turn.
2. Each player starts the game with 50 Authority. Use the score dials to track your Authority.
3. Each player starts with a standard Personal Deck. Each deck contains 8 Scouts and 2 Vipers. (Open the "Personal Decks Pack.") Shuffle your deck and place it face-down next to you. Return the extra Personal Decks to the game box.
4. The first player draws a hand of three cards from their Personal Deck and the second player draws a hand of five cards from their own Personal Deck. You may look at the cards in your hand, but not those in your opponent's hand. Whenever you draw a card during play, put it into your hand.
5. On your turn, you will play cards from your hand onto the table, face-up. Each player should make room for this "in play" area.
6. Each player should make room for their own Discard Pile. Discard Piles are face-up and may be reviewed at any time. Leave them empty for now.

Game Board Setup

7. Place the game board on the table within reach of the players.
8. Place the 20 Explorers face-up in a pile on the game board where indicated. (Open the "Campaign Pack.")
9. Shuffle the 60-card Trade Deck and place it face-down on the game board where indicated.
10. The Trade Row consists of the 5 spaces between the Trade Deck and Explorers. For each empty space (starting next to the Trade Deck), turn the top card of the Trade Deck face up and put it into that space.
11. The Scrap Heap is on the other side of the Trade Deck. Whenever you "scrap" cards during play, add them face-up to the Scrap Heap. They are removed from the game. Scrapping your starting cards will let you draw your good cards more often!

Turn Structure

Players alternate taking turns. Each turn has three phases:

1. Main Phase
2. Discard Phase
3. Draw Phase

Main Phase

During your Main Phase you may perform any of the following actions as many times as you like, and in any order you wish:

• Play cards from your hand.
• Use the Primary Abilities of your in-play Bases.
• Use the Ally/Scrap abilities of your in-play Ships and Bases.
• Use Trade to purchase new cards from the Trade Row.
• Use Combat to attack an opponent and/or their Bases.

Playing Cards

There is no cost to play a card from your hand. Simply place it "in play" (face-up on the table in front of you).

There are two main types of cards in Star Realms: Ships and Bases.

Ships

When a Ship enters play, its Primary Ability happens immediately. If the Ship has an Ally and/or Scrap Ability, you may choose to use one or both of these abilities at any time during your Main Phase (provided you meet the requirements to use those abilities).

Ships that you play remain face-up in front of you until your Discard Phase, when they are placed in your Discard Pile.

Bases

Unlike Ships, when you put a Base into play you do not have to immediately apply its Primary Ability. Instead, you may choose to use a Base's Primary Ability once during your Main Phase. (You are not required to use this ability.) Also unlike Ships, Bases are not discarded at the end of the turn. Instead, they remain in play until destroyed or scrapped. As long as your Base remains in play, you may use its Primary Ability once on each of your turns.

Each Base has a Defense number on its shield icon in its lower-right corner. This represents the total amount of Combat (damage) that it must be attacked with in a single turn to destroy it. Any damage that does not destroy a Base is removed at the end of the turn. Once destroyed, a Base is placed in its owner's Discard Pile.

Bases with "Outpost" above their shield icon protect you and your other Bases. While you have an Outpost in play, you may not be attacked and your non-Outpost Bases may not be attacked or targeted by an opponent.

"When Acquired" Abilities

Many Rise of Empire cards have a new ability keyphrase: "When acquired." Whenever you acquire one of these cards, put the card into your Discard Pile as usual, then gain the ability's effects.

Using Abilities

Other than "When acquired" abilities and Ships' Primary Abilities, players may use the various abilities of their in-play Ships and Bases at any time during their Main Phase. Each ability may only be used once per turn.

Resolving Abilities

When an ability gives you Combat or Trade, it is added to your resource pool and can be used at any time during your Main Phase. When an ability grants Authority, add it to your Authority score.

Some abilities provide multiple effects. (For example, Digger's Primary Ability generates 1 Trade and 2 Combat.) Other abilities allow you to choose between multiple effects. (For example, Hunter's Primary Ability generates either 2 Trade or 4 Combat.)

If an ability requires multiple players to make decisions, start with the player whose turn it is and proceed clockwise around the table. For example, if an effect causes each player to discard a card, the player whose turn it is will be the first to choose and discard a card (showing it to all players), then the player to their left chooses and discards a card, and so on until all players have discarded a card.

Sometimes a card will contradict the rulebook. When this happens, follow the rules on the card.

Ally Abilities

Each Ally Ability is indicated by a faction icon on the left edge of its ability box. On your turn, these abilities trigger (and can be used) as soon as you have another card in play that belongs to that faction.

Ally Abilities trigger regardless of the order in which cards are played. For example, if you play a Star Empire Ship, then you play a second Star Empire Ship, each Ship sees the other and each of their Star Empire Ally Abilities trigger (if any).

Once an Ally Ability has triggered, you may use it at any time during your Main Phase that turn. You don't have to use it if you don't want to.

Scrap Abilities

Each Scrap Ability is indicated by a trash can icon on the left edge of its ability box. You may use a card's Scrap Ability at any time during your Main Phase by placing it into the Scrap Heap.

Cards placed in the Scrap Heap do not return to your deck, so carefully consider if using a card's Scrap Ability is worth losing that card for good.

You may use a card's Scrap Ability in addition to its Primary and/or Ally Abilities.

Scrapping Cards

Some abilities allow you to scrap other cards from your hand, Discard Pile, etc. Scrapped cards are placed in the Scrap Heap. Scrapped Explorers are placed in the Explorer Pile.

If a card is scrapped by anything other than its own Scrap Ability, that card's Scrap Ability is not applied.

The Trade Row should always have five cards in it. Whenever a card is scrapped from the Trade Row, replace it with the next card from the Trade Deck.

Note: Discarded and scrapped cards should be placed face-up in their respective piles. Players may review these cards at any time.

Acquiring (Buying) Cards

Some card abilities give you Trade. Trade goes into your Trade Pool, which you may add to and use over the course of your Main Phase. Trade is used to acquire cards from the Trade Row or the Explorer Pile. A card's cost is found in the Trade icon in its upper-right corner.

To acquire a card, subtract its cost from your Trade Pool and place the card into your Discard Pile. Any remaining Trade may be used during your Main Phase to acquire additional cards.

The Trade Row should always have five cards in it. When a card leaves the Trade Row, immediately replace it with the next card from the Trade Deck.

Attacking

Some abilities give you Combat. Combat goes into your Combat Pool, which you may add to and use over the course of your Main Phase.

Combat is used to attack opponents or their Bases. You may make multiple attacks on your turn.

To attack an opponent, spend any amount of Combat from your Combat Pool and lower their Authority by the same amount. To attack an opponent's Base, spend Combat equal to the Base's Defense. That Base is destroyed and put into that opponent's Discard Pile.

While an opponent has an Outpost in play, you can't attack that opponent and you can't attack or target their non-Outpost Bases.

Some cards instruct you to "destroy target Base" – this is done without spending Combat.

Discard Phase

Whenever you discard or acquire a card, place it face-up in your Discard Pile. Players may review Discard Piles at any time.

During your Discard Phase, you:

1. Lose any Trade remaining in your Trade Pool.
2. Lose any Combat remaining in your Combat Pool.
3. Put any Ships you have in play into your Discard Pile.
4. Put any cards left in your hand into your Discard Pile.

Draw Phase

During your Draw Phase, you:

• Draw five cards, then your turn ends.

Note: If you ever need to draw a card and your Personal Deck is empty, first shuffle your Discard Pile and place it face-down as your new Personal Deck.

Example: At the beginning of your Draw Phase, you have three cards left in your deck. Draw those three cards, shuffle your Discard Pile to create your new Personal Deck, then draw two more cards.

Campaign Rules

The Rise of Empire legacy campaign is played over a series of 12 Scenarios. In each Scenario, you'll open an envelope that unlocks new content for the campaign. The Trade Deck will permanently change as players upgrade Ships and Bases. As each player wins Scenarios, they'll earn Victory Points in the fight for superiority.

Note: While playing the campaign, use only the cards that are included in this game box and/or the Infinite Replay Kit (sold separately). After you finish the campaign, you may combine them with other Star Realms products.

Campaign Setup

1. Before the first campaign game, you must choose your faction: Star Empire or Trade Federation -- this will be your faction throughout the entire campaign. If both players want the same faction, flip a coin to decide who gets their choice.
2. Take the "Vault" envelope that matches your faction. If there are any items in your Vault from previous games, remove them and set them next to you for use and reference during the game.
3. Open the current Scenario envelope. (Start with "Scenario 1: An Empire is Born." Open subsequent Scenarios in numeric order.)
   • A. Some envelopes contain sticker sheets. Take any stickers that match your faction.
   • B. Set the Victory Point card(s) aside. A player that meets a Victory Point card's condition earns that card. See "Winning & Victory Points."
   • C. The Star Empire player will take the first turn of the campaign. In subsequent games, whoever earned the Victory Point card in the previous game will take the first turn.
   • D. Place the oversized Scenario card face-up on the table so that it matches the first player's faction. That will be the side used for this game. (The Scenario card for the first game is the same on both sides.)
   • E. Read the Scenario card. Scenarios may modify the game's rules, or require the first player to make a choice. There may even be smaller Scenario cards to serve as a reminder of which choice was made.
4. Take the custom Personal Deck corresponding to your faction. This deck contains the starting cards shown below. (Open the "Personal Decks Pack.")
5. Finish setting up the players as usual. (Each player gets 50 Authority, the first player gets a three-card hand, and the second player gets a five-card hand.) See "Regular Setup."
6. Set up the game board as usual (Explorers, Trade Deck, Trade Row, and Scrap Heap). See "Regular Setup." (Open the "Campaign Pack.")

Starting Personal Decks:

• Star Empire Personal Deck: 8 Scout, 1 Viper, Imperial Fighter, Smuggler
• Trade Federation Personal Deck: 8 Scout, 1 Viper, Federation Shuttle, System Police

New Factions

Rise of Empire introduces three new factions to the game: the Consortium, the Kingdom, and the Scavengers. The starting Trade Deck is made up of 20 cards from each of these factions.

"When Acquired" Abilities (Campaign)

Many Rise of Empire cards have a new ability keyphrase: "When acquired." Whenever you acquire one of these cards, put the card into your Discard Pile as usual, then gain the ability's effects.

If you choose to upgrade such a card, its "When acquired" Ability happens after the Ability and Faction Upgrade stickers are applied (as described below). Upgraded cards permanently lose their "When acquired" abilities for the rest of the campaign.

Upgrading Cards

Players are attempting to convert the Consortium, Kingdom, and Scavengers to their faction's side in the war. As you acquire a Ship or Base, you may upgrade it by paying extra Trade. It costs 2 Trade to upgrade a Ship and 3 Trade to upgrade a Base. (This must be paid at the same moment you acquire the Ship or Base. You can't pay to upgrade it later in the turn.)

When you upgrade a card, you'll put two stickers on it: one Ability Upgrade and one Faction Upgrade. Upgrades are permanent and cannot be removed. Each card can only be upgraded once.

Ability Upgrade Stickers

You start the campaign with an Ability Upgrade sticker sheet from the Scenario 1 envelope. This sheet has upgrades for cards of five different costs. The stickers in the left column upgrade Ships; those on the right upgrade Bases.

An Ability Upgrade sticker is placed below the card's Primary Ability. An Ability Upgrade sticker must match the upgraded card's cost and type. Ignore effects that change cost, such as Lifter's Primary Ability.

You may use only one upgrade from each row on your sticker sheet. For example, if you use a 3-cost Ship upgrade sticker, you may NEVER use the 3-cost Base upgrade sticker from the same sheet. This means you can only apply a maximum of 5 stickers from a given Ability Upgrade sticker sheet.

This sticker sheet has two stickers for 4-cost cards: one for a 4-cost Ship and one for a 4-cost Base. (You may only ever use one of these two stickers.)

Some Ability Upgrade stickers add to Primary Abilities. The additional effects start with "and."

Faction Upgrade Stickers

Upgrading a card gives it your faction in addition to its original faction! This means it can trigger Ally Abilities of either faction.

Note: A card and its Ally Ability trigger can be different factions. For example, a Ship has an Ally Ability of another faction. That Ally Ability cannot be triggered by a Ship of that same original faction, even though both Ships share a faction.

When you upgrade, apply the Faction Upgrade sticker (matching the card's original faction and your own faction) over the faction icon in the card's top left corner. Each dual-faction icon represents two factions.

Upgrade Timing

The precise timing of upgrading is as follows:

1. Buy a Ship or Base by paying its Trade cost (or acquire it for free using an ability).
2. Pay the extra Trade to upgrade the card (2 Trade for a Ship or 3 Trade for a Base).
3. Take note of its "When acquired" Ability, but do not apply it yet.
4. Put the Ability and Faction Upgrade stickers on the card.
5. Put the upgraded card into your Discard Pile (or elsewhere, if instructed).
6. Refill the Trade Row with the top card of the Trade Deck.
7. If the upgraded card had a "When acquired" Ability, resolve it. (If you forgot which ability it had, refer to the table below.)

"When Acquired" Abilities Reference

Faction group	Cost	"When Acquired" Ability
(Draw group)	1 to 4	You may draw a card and discard a card.
(Draw group)	5 to 6	You may draw a card.
(Draw group)	7 to 8	You may draw two cards and discard a card.
(Trade group)	1 to 4	Gain 2 Trade
(Trade group)	5 to 6	Gain 3 Trade
(Trade group)	7 to 8	Gain 5 Trade
(Scrap group)	1 to 4	You may scrap a card in your hand.
(Scrap group)	5 to 6	You may scrap a card in your hand or discard pile.
(Scrap group)	7 to 8	You may scrap up to two cards in your hand and/or discard pile.

Additional Sticker Sheets

You begin the campaign with one Ability Upgrade sticker sheet, and you will receive additional sticker sheets during Scenarios 2-4. You can upgrade a card with a sticker from any of your sheets, but you may still only upgrade one card (Ship or Base) for any given row on a particular sticker sheet. Remember: you may NEVER apply more than 5 stickers from a single Ability Upgrade sticker sheet.

Political Victory

Normally, you win the game by reducing your opponent's Authority to zero. However, in Scenarios 1-4 there is an alternate win condition: if a player uses all five stickers from that Scenario's sticker sheet, they win immediately.

For example, if it's Scenario 3 and you use all five stickers from your Game 3 Ability Upgrade sticker sheet, you win a Political Victory. Stickers from previous Scenarios do not contribute toward a Political Victory.

Future Games

Upgraded cards are permanently modified; they will be shuffled into the Trade Deck in future games. Although these cards are aligned with the Star Empire or Trade Federation, either player may acquire them from the Trade Row. This represents Ship captains or Base commanders switching sides during the course of the war and taking any technology along with them. You can fully use these "opposing faction" cards and even activate their Ally Abilities if able.

Winning & Victory Points

Track your Authority using the score dials. If you reduce your opponent's Authority to zero, you win the current Scenario. The winner of each Scenario earns the corresponding Victory Point card. Keep your Victory Point cards until the end of the campaign; they will add to your final score. At the end of Scenario 12, follow the instructions in that envelope to determine the winner of the campaign.

Between Games

Return the Scenario card to its envelope. Reset your Personal Deck and return all cards with a cost to the Trade Deck. Remember, upgrades last until the end of the campaign, so upgraded cards are shuffled into the Trade Deck as usual.

If you want to jump right into the next Scenario, set up the game as usual. (See "Campaign Setup.") To pause the campaign, put your unlocked and collected items (sticker sheets, Victory Point cards, etc.) into your Vault envelope.

Ready to Play! You are now ready to start the Rise of Empire campaign!

After the Campaign

After determining the winner, count how many upgrades you made during the campaign. If you upgraded fewer than 20 total cards, upgrade the remaining Trade Deck cards until you have upgraded 20 total cards. If both players must do this, take turns. You must still follow the one-upgrade-per-cost rule (Ship or Base, but never both) for each of your upgrade sheets.

Lastly, open the "Post-Campaign Pack." Shuffle the new Trade Deck cards into the existing Trade Deck cards. This new, larger Trade Deck may be used to play standard games of Star Realms, or any of the following formats.

Non-Campaign Formats

Star Realms can be played in a variety of formats, with various numbers of players. We recommend not playing with 5 or 6 players until after you have completed the campaign and unlocked the larger Trade Deck.

Unless otherwise specified, all the general rules apply to each format.

Optionally, the Star Empire Personal Deck (including Imperial Fighter and Smuggler) and Trade Federation Personal Deck (including Federation Shuttle and System Police) may be used by:

• Both players in a 2-player game
• Both Emperors (see the Emperor format)
• A Boss (see the Raid format)

Players 3-6 track their Authority using score cards. Line up the tens and ones digits.

Standard (2 Players)

Randomly determine the first player. That player gets a three-card starting hand. The other player gets a five-card starting hand.

Free-For-All (3-6 Players)

Randomly determine the first player. That player gets a three-card starting hand, the second player starts with four cards, and all other players start with five cards. Play proceeds clockwise around the table.

You may attack/target any combination of Bases and/or players. When a player is defeated, put all of their cards into the Scrap Heap. The last player remaining wins the game!

Hunter (3-6 Players)

Randomly determine the first player. That player gets a three-card starting hand, the second player starts with four cards, and all other players start with five cards. Play proceeds clockwise around the table. You may only attack/target the player to your left and/or the Bases belonging to the players on your immediate left and right. When a player is defeated, put all of their cards into the Scrap Heap. The last player remaining wins the game!

Hunter First Blood (3-6 Players)

This format uses the same rules as Hunter, but the game ends as soon as a player is defeated. The player to their right wins!

Hydra (4 or 6 Players)

All players on a team share an Authority score. Each player has their own Personal Deck, hand, Discard Pile, and in-play zone. (For example, your teammate's in-play cards won't trigger your Ally Abilities.)

Randomly determine which team goes first. Players on that team draw three-card starting hands, and players on the opposing team draw five-card starting hands. Teams alternate taking turns (rather than individual players), with all teammates sharing their Main, Discard, and Draw Phases.

All teammates take their turn simultaneously, playing their cards into their separate in-play zones. You still have your own Trade and Combat Pools, and you still make your own decisions; playing and acquiring cards, activating abilities, and attacking. You may, as many times as you like each turn, transfer any amount of your Trade and/or Combat into a teammate's pool. This allows teammates to work together to destroy Bases and purchase expensive cards. As long as any player on a given team has an Outpost in play, no one on that team may be attacked and that team's non-Outpost Bases may not be attacked or targeted by opponents.

When a team's Authority is reduced to zero, all players on that team are defeated.

Two-Headed Hydra (4 Players: 2 vs 2): Each two-player team has a shared score of 75 Authority.

Three-Headed Hydra (6 Players: 3 vs 3): Each three-player team has a shared score of 100 Authority.

Emperor (6 Players: 3 vs 3)

Players split into two teams of three, with each team choosing one player to be their Emperor. The Emperors sit facing each other, flanked on either side by their Admirals (teammates).

Each Admiral starts the game with 50 Authority and each Emperor starts the game with 60 Authority. The players on the starting team each draw three-card starting hands and players on the other team each draw five cards.

Play begins with Player 1 and proceeds clockwise. This means that everyone on Team A takes an individual turn, then everyone on Team B does the same. During your turn you may pay 1 Trade to move a card from your Discard Pile to a neighboring teammate's Discard Pile. You may do this as many times as you can afford, and in any order you wish.

An Emperor may attack/target any opponent and their Bases. An Admiral may only attack/target the opposing Admiral across from them and their Bases. When an Admiral is defeated, they may put a single card from their hand, deck, or Discard Pile into their Emperor's Discard Pile. Put the defeated player's remaining cards into the Scrap Heap. The Admiral across from the defeated player may now attack/target the opposing Emperor and their Bases.

When an Emperor is defeated, their team loses the game!

Raid (3-6 Players: 1 Boss, 2-5 Raiders)

Choose one player to act as the Boss, with all other players acting as the Raiders. Play starts with the Boss and proceeds clockwise around the table. The Boss begins the game with two fewer cards than their normal hand size (see table), while each Raider begins the game with a standard five-card hand. Raiders take their turns individually, but any damage dealt to the Boss' Bases doesn't wear off until the start of the Boss' turn. (This allows one Raider to start an attack on a Base and another Raider to finish the job.)

Raiders: Each Raider starts with 50 Authority. Raiders may look at each other's hands and discuss strategy. Though the Raiders play as a team, each player still has their own Trade, Combat, and Authority, and they still make their own decisions; playing and acquiring cards, activating abilities, and attacking. When a Raider is defeated, they may put a single card from their hand, deck, or Discard Pile into each teammate's Discard Pile. Put the defeated Raider's remaining cards into the Scrap Heap. The Raiders win if they defeat the Boss!

The Boss: The Boss' starting Authority score and hand size are dependent on the number of Raiders. The Boss wins if they defeat all of the Raiders!

# of Raiders	Boss Authority	Boss Hand Size
2	50	7
3	70	7
4	70	8
5	90	8

Icon Reference List

Faction Icons / Ally Ability Icons: Star Empire, Trade Federation, Consortium, Kingdom, Scavengers. When these icons appear in the upper-left corner of a card, they indicate the card's faction. When they appear on the left edge of an ability box, they indicate Ally Abilities.

Authority: Each player starts the game with a score of 50 Authority. If your Authority is reduced to zero or below, you are defeated and lose the game. When this icon appears in an ability box, it indicates how much Authority you gain from that ability. You may gain Authority even if it would cause you to go over your starting amount.

Combat: When this icon appears in an ability box, it indicates how much Combat you gain from that ability.

Trade: When this icon appears in the upper-right corner of a card, it indicates the card's cost. When this icon appears in an ability box, it indicates how much Trade that you gain from that ability.

Scrap: When this icon appears on the left edge of an ability box, it indicates a Scrap Ability.

Outpost: A Base with this icon is an Outpost. While you have an Outpost in play, you may not be attacked and your non-Outpost Bases may not be attacked or targeted by an opponent.

Defense: Bases have a Defense icon in the lower-right corner: gray for regular Bases and black for Outposts. A Base's Defense is the total amount of Combat (damage) that it must be attacked with in a single turn to destroy it. (Any damage that does not destroy a Base is removed at the end of the turn.) Some cards use the gray defense icon to refer to both regular Bases and Outposts. For example, "Bases have +1 Defense" would affect all Bases including Outposts.

Set Symbol: Star Realms cards have set symbols in the lower-right corner. If you mix Rise of Empire with other sets (after the campaign), you may separate them again using these symbols.

The New Factions

The Consortium: Situated between the Star Empire and the Trade Federation's core worlds, the Consortium is the wealthiest and most developed of the Star Empire's neighbors. Many Consortium citizens are jealous of the riches of Earth and the Core Worlds, and could easily be convinced to rebel. However, others have strong trade relationships with the Federation, and could lose significant wealth and influence if ties were cut.

The Kingdom: The Kingdom is a militaristic monarchy situated far from Earth and the Core Worlds. The Queen has no love of the Trade Federation and its taxation, but she is also wary of the Emperor. Does he truly offer independence, or does he simply hope to replace the Trade Federation as the Kingdom's overlord?

The Scavengers: The Scavengers are not a united star realm, but a loose coalition of salvagers, traders, smugglers, pirates, unsanctioned mining operations, and wildcat colonies. Their common thread is that they all eke out an existence on the fringes of known space. Most Scavengers have never paid a single credit in taxes, and they couldn't give a spent recycler about the Federation or the Empire. They do, however, like stuff: credits, O2, precious metals, biomass, engine parts...every Scavenger has their price.

Credits

Game Concept and Lead Design: Darwin Kastle Game Design and Lead Game Development: Rob Dougherty Game Development and Production: Derek Funkhouser Artwork: Antonis Papantoniou, Graphics Manufacture, Isuardi Therianto, Kurt Miller, Linggar Bramanty, Indah Alditha Putri Siregar, Andrés Agostini, David Gaillet, Jean Baptiste Andrier Graphic Design: Randy Delven, Cody Jones, Kalissa Fitzgerald Graphic Design, Editing Assistance: Adam Lachmanski Editor: Michael Schemaille Playtesters: Randy Delven, Lizzy Funkhouser, Dennis Grayson, Kelsey Gregware, Ethan Hoornbeek, Joel Hoornbeek, Wes Hunter, Cj Moynihan, Debbie Moynihan, Nick and Kelcey Potvin, Paul Salomon, Alec Train

Find card lists, extra story text, FAQs, and rules updates at StarRealms.com/rise-of-empire

First Edition | Star Realms® | Rise of Empire™ | © 2023 Wise Wizard Games