Star Scrappers: Cave-In Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
  • 1. Mercenary Cards
  • 2. Artifact Cards
  • 3. Crystal Tokens
  • 4. Command Cards
  • 5. Faction Totems
  • 6. Game Board
• Game Set-Up
• Gameplay
  • Turn
  • Hand Limit
  • Base
  • 1. Starting Phase
  • 2. Action Phase
    • 1. Recruiting a Mercenary
    • 2. Mining Crystals
    • 3. Collecting an Artifact
    • 4. Using a Mercenary Skill
      • Subjugation
    • 5. Raiding a Base
  • 3. Clean-Up Phase
• Game End
  • Scoring
• Example of Gameplay
• Card Clarifications
  • Terrons (Brown Cards): Recruitment Skills
  • Hy'drans (Blue Cards): Bribery Skills
  • Minegglers (Purple Cards): Economic Skills
  • Metanels (Yellow Cards): Mining Skills
  • Bioss (Red Cards): Subjugate Skills
  • Weedlocks (Green Cards): Expansion Skills
• Artifacts

Game Components

• 78 Mercenary cards (13 cards in each of the 6 faction colors)
• 12 Artifact cards
• 60 Crystal tokens
• 6 Command cards (1 in each faction color)
• 6 Faction Totems
• 1 Game Board
• 1 Cave-In token
• 1 Rulebook

The heart of the game (a stone one, but still...) are the mercenary and artifact cards, and crystal tokens. The pictures below describe them in greater detail.

1. Mercenary Cards

There are 6 factions of mercenary miners (Mercenaries) in the game. Each faction is represented by a different color and symbol. Each Mercenary has a level, indicated by a number from 1 to 4 on the card, and every Mercenary has a special skill, either an action or an in-game effect, that is described in detail in the text box at the bottom of the card. The higher the level of a Mercenary, the better its skill. To the right of the text box is a symbol that describes how the special skill functions:

• The skill works throughout the entire turn of the player who played the card.
• The skill works instantaneously and only once.
• The skill works as an additional action of a given type, taken in the current turn.

2. Artifact Cards

Artifacts are valuable items that provide the player with in-game benefits, or award additional Victory Points (VP) at the end of the game. Artifacts are collected by sending teams of Mercenaries on dangerous missions.

3. Crystal Tokens

Crystal tokens are the main source of Victory Points in the game.

There are two numbers on each Crystal token (see image). One is the mining cost, indicating how difficult it is to Mine the Crystal, the other shows how many Victory Points the Crystal is worth at the end of the game.

Crystals may also have Faction symbols on them. At the end of the game, sets of different symbols are worth additional Victory Points.

Some Crystals also have a Cave-In symbol on them. Mining these Crystals damages the structure of the Mine, increasing the risk of a collapse. When collapse occurs, the game ends.

4. Command Cards

Each player gets one of these. On the back of the Command card is a summary of a game turn.

5. Faction Totems

Control of these Totems is worth Victory Points at the end of the game and they give you a discount on Mining Crystals.

6. Game Board

Game Set-Up

1. Separate the Crystal tokens into 4 stacks, based on their mining cost (1, 3, 6, and 10), and shuffle each stack separately. Take four Crystal tokens with a mining cost of 1, three Crystal tokens costing 3, two costing 6, and one costing 10, and place them face up below the Game Board.

2. Randomly choose 4 of the 6 Command cards. The colors of these cards show which Mercenary Factions will be available in the Mercenary Docks. The 2 Command cards that were not chosen should be placed next to the Mine.

   For your first game we suggest using the following Factions: Hy'drans, Metanels, Terrons, and Minegglers. The Bioss and Weedlock Command cards should be placed next to the Mine.

3. Separate the Mercenary cards of the four available Factions into 4 stacks according to their levels (1, 2, 3, and 4). Then, shuffle each stack separately and place them as four face-down stacks to the right of the Mercenary Docks.

4. From the Mercenary stacks, deal one level 4 Mercenary card, two level 3, three level 2, and four level 1 Mercenary cards face up in the Mercenary Docks above the Game Board.

5. Each player takes two level 1 Mercenary cards, and one level 2 Mercenary card, from the stacks beside the Mercenary Dock to form their starting hand.

6. Each player randomly takes one of four available Command cards, and receives the Faction Totem of the corresponding color. Each player places their Command card and Faction Totem in their play area, leaving space to play Mercenary cards and create their Base.

7. Place the Cave-In token on the 0 space of the Cave-In track on the Game Board.

8. Separate the Artifact cards into three stacks of 4 cards each, shuffle each stack separately, and place them face up on the Game Board.

9. The Start Player is the one who has most recently watched a Steven Seagal movie. If no-one wants to admit to watching Steven Seagal movies, then decide randomly who will be the Start Player.

Gameplay

Beginning with the Start Player, players take turns one after another in clockwise order.

Turn

Each turn is divided into 3 phases:

1. Starting phase:
   1. Activate any Artifacts whose effects take place at the beginning of the turn.
   2. Activate the Leader.
2. Action phase: Take two different actions, or Raid the Base of any player.
3. Clean-up phase:
   1. Place all the Mercenary cards played in the current turn into the active player's Base.
   2. Remove Mercenary cards from the active player's Base until only the top 7 remain.
   3. Refill the empty spaces in the Mine and the Mercenary Docks.

Hand Limit

You have a hand limit of 7 cards. You may never take cards into your hand in excess of your hand limit unless specified by another rule.

Base

The cards in the Base need to be stacked in such a way as to make the top part of each card visible to other players at all times. The last played card is on top of the Base and is the Leader; the first card played is at the bottom of the Base.

1. Starting Phase

1.1 If you have any Artifacts, they may be activated now.

1.2 If you have any Mercenary cards in your Base, the top one is your Leader and you may now activate its special skill. If this skill grants you an action, you do not take it at this time, you take it during your Action phase and it does not count towards the 2 actions per round limit.

If you have no Mercenary cards in your Base, skip this step.

Example: The last Mercenary played by John in the previous round was a Blue level 1 card. That Mercenary is now his Leader. If there is a blue Crystal with a cost of 1 in the Mine, John can take it for free at this point in his turn.

2. Action Phase

You can perform 2 out of 4 possible actions

or

You can forfeit your 2 actions to Raid a Base, and possibly Steal a Totem (see page 7).

Possible actions:

1. Recruit a Mercenary
2. Mine a Crystal
3. Collect an Artifact
4. Use a Mercenary's special skill

The actions you choose must be different.

When you play cards, place them face up in your play area; do not put them in your Base just yet. Place them on top of each other in the order in which you played them. The order of the cards played is important as they will go into your Base in the same order.

When more than one card is played in a single action, you may play them in any order you choose. All played cards will be put into your Base during the Clean-up phase.

1. Recruiting a Mercenary

You can Recruit a Mercenary from the Mercenary Docks by choosing this action. You can Recruit a level 1 Mercenary for free, but to Recruit a Mercenary of level 2-4, you must play a single Mercenary card that is exactly 1 level lower than the Mercenary you want to Recruit.

The color of the card you play does not need to match the color of the Mercenary you are recruiting. Take the recruited Mercenary into your hand.

You cannot take the Recruit action if you have 7 or more cards in hand.

Example: You want to Recruit a level 3 Mercenary. To do so, you play a level 2 Mercenary. The level 2 card remains on the table, and the level 3 card goes into your hand.

Note: Level 1 Mercenaries can be recruited for free without spending a card, but you must still use one of your actions to Recruit.

Example: John starts his turn and has a Hy'dran Fish'Bean (blue level 2) as his Leader. This allows him to take a level 2 Mercenary from the Docks during his Starting phase, and also allows him to take the same action twice during his Action phase. John decides to play the card he just took to Recruit a level 3 Mercenary with his first action. He then uses that level 3 Mercenary to Recruit again with his second action to Recruit a level 4 Mercenary.

2. Mining Crystals

To Mine one of the Crystals from below the Game Board, you must play one or more Mercenary cards that fulfill both these criteria:

• All the cards must be of the same color as the Crystal being mined,

  and

• The sum of the levels of the cards must be equal to, or higher than, the mining cost of the Crystal.

Note: The mining cost of a Crystal is reduced by 1 if you have the Faction Totem in that color. If this reduces the cost to 0, you do not have to play a card to Mine the Crystal, but you must still use an action to do so.

Wild Crystals: In each game, two sets of Mercenary cards will not be used. The Command cards of the colors not in use were placed to the right of the Game Board during setup. Crystals of those colors are known as Wild Crystals. To Mine them, you can use cards of any color, as long as all the cards are of the same color.

Example: Lisa wants to Mine a yellow Crystal with a mining cost of 6. In order to do that, she must play Metanel (yellow) cards with levels that have a total value of at least 6. She could play a level 1, a level 2 and a level 3, for example. If yellow Crystals are Wild (the Metanel Mercenaries are not in the game), she can Mine the Crystal using a set of Mercenary cards of any single color, with levels totalling 6 or more.

CAVE-IN: If you Mine a Crystal with a Cave-In symbol on it, move the Cave-In token one step to the right along the Cave-In track.

When you Mine a Crystal, place it face down in front of you. You are free to look at the Crystals you have collected at any time, but you are not obliged to show them to other players.

The Faction symbols that are sometimes found on Crystals grant extra Victory Points at the end of the game.

3. Collecting an Artifact

You can Collect one of the Artifacts currently on top of one of the stacks. To Collect an Artifact, you must play any number of Mercenary cards of any colors with levels that sum to a value equal to, or higher than, the cost of the Artifact. The colors of the cards being played do not matter, and can be different.

Each Artifact card actually has two Artifacts on it. When you Collect the Artifact card, choose one of the two Artifacts and tuck the card half under your Command card so that it only reveals the Artifact you have chosen. This decision must be made at the moment you Collect the Artifact and cannot be changed later.

Example: You play 4 Mercenary cards with levels of 4, 2, 1, and 1, and collect an Artifact card with a cost of 8.

Example: You have 3 Artifacts in total, 2 on the left, and 1 on the right.

After you Collect an Artifact from one of the stacks, the Artifact card below it becomes immediately available for collection.

CAVE-IN: When an Artifact stack is empty, i.e. if you have just taken the fourth Artifact from a stack, move the Cave-In token one step to the right along the Cave-In track.

4. Using a Mercenary Skill

You can play a single Mercenary card from your hand to use the special skill of that card.

Note: The special skill of a Mercenary only applies when it is played specifically using this action. If a Mercenary card is played for Recruiting/Mining/Collecting, its special skill does not activate. The exception to this is Leaders: their skill may be used during your Starting phase.

Example: Mark plays the Terron Foreman (a level 2 brown card) as his first action and uses its special skill. This allows him to reduce the level of Mercenary cards by 2 when Recruiting this turn.

He then recruits a level 4 Mercenary with his second action, using only a level 1 Mercenary card – the Terron Foreman's skill has reduced the level of the recruited card from 4 to 2, therefore Mark only needs to play a Mercenary of level 1.

Subjugation

Subjugation is a special skill unique to the Bioss. It allows you to Subjugate a Mercenary from the location specified on the Bioss card.

When you Subjugate a Mercenary, put that card face down in your play area.

Note: Leaders cannot be Subjugated.

Subjugated cards cannot be used for the rest of the game. However, when the game ends, add the sum of the levels of all your subjugated cards to your Victory Point total.

5. Raiding a Base

Instead of taking two actions, you can Raid any player's Base, including your own.

First, choose a Base to Raid. The owner of that Base immediately returns the Leader (the top card) of their Base to their hand (even if that takes them over the hand limit). You then take the Faction Totem of the same color as Leader from whoever has it (if you already possess the Faction Totem of that color, you keep it). Then, you take cards from the top of the Base you raided, until either all the cards in the Base are gone, or you reach the limit of 7 cards in your hand.

Note: You can still Raid a Base even if you are at your hand limit. You do not get to take any cards from the Base (unless Raiding your own Base, when you get your Leader back), but you still get the Faction Totem matching the color of the returned Leader.

Note: If your Leader's skill allows you to perform an additional action, and you choose to Raid a Base, the action of the Leader can still be taken, either before or after raiding the Base.

Example: Kate has two cards in hand and decides to Raid Mark's base, which contains 7 cards. Mark first returns his Leader to his hand. This was a yellow card, so Kate takes the yellow Faction Totem. Then, Kate takes the 5 top cards of Mark's Base (up to her hand limit of 7). Mark's Base now has a new Leader, the one card remaining in the Base.

Note: You can never take the Leader (the top card) of an enemy Base because as soon as you Raid it, the Leader is returned to the hand of the owner of the Base. However, if you Raid your own Base, you do return your Leader back to your hand.

Golden Rule – The Leader is always safe

Your Leader cannot be taken by the other players in any way – even by using Mercenary skills. When an opponent Raids your Base, the Leader is always returned to your hand, even if it would temporarily put you above the 7 card limit. This is the only time in the game that a player may have more than 7 cards in their hand.

3. Clean-Up Phase

This phase has three steps:

3.1 Without changing their order, place all the cards that you played this turn on top of your Base. The last card you played should be the new top card, and is now your Leader. Make sure that all the cards in your Base are placed so that players can see their color and level at all times.

3.2 If there are more than 7 Mercenaries in your Base, remove Mercenaries from the bottom of your Base (the ones that have been there the longest) from the game, placing them back in the box. Do this one by one until 7 cards remain. Remember that the cards in your Base need to be stacked in such a way as to always show the level of the Mercenaries present.

3.3 Refill the empty spaces in the Mercenary Docks and the Mine with the appropriate Mercenary cards and Crystal tokens. If, during this step, any of the stacks of Mercenary cards or Crystal tokens run out, move the Cave-In token 1 space to the right along the Cave-In track for each stack that ran out this turn. Do not move the Cave-In token for stacks that were empty at the start of this turn, only ones which became empty during this turn.

Game End

The game ends when the Mine collapses. This is indicated by the position of the Cave-In token on the Cave-In track and depends on the number of people playing:

• 4-player game = 9 Cave-Ins
• 3-player game = 8 Cave-Ins
• 2-player game = 7 Cave-Ins

When game end is triggered, the game does not end immediately. Players keep playing so that everyone has taken the same number of turns. Therefore, the player to the right of the Start Player will always be the last person to play.

Scoring

Victory Points (VP) are awarded for:

• Crystals (the VP value shown on the Crystal Token)
• Artifacts (VP according to the text)
• Faction totems (3 VP each)
• Sets of Faction symbols on Crystal tokens (see below)
• Subjugated cards (for each card: 1 VP per level)

Players score for sets of different Faction symbols on Crystal tokens. More than one set can be collected, and points are awarded separately for each set as follows:

Amount of unique symbols	1	2	3	4	5	6
Victory Points awarded	1 VP	3 VP	6 VP	10 VP	15 VP	21 VP

Example: Mark has gained 6 Faction symbols during the course of the game. Two yellow, two blue, one green, and one red. He forms one set of 4 different symbols (yellow, blue, green, and red) to score 10 VP, and a second set of 2 symbols (yellow and blue) worth 3 VP. In total, he receives 13 VP for his Faction symbols.

The player who scores the most Victory Points is the winner. In case of a draw, all the tied players win.

Scoring example:

At the end of the game, John has the following Crystals:

John scores 22 Victory Points from his Crystals (6 + 4 + 1 + 6 + 3 + 0 + 1 + 1).

John has 5 symbols on his Crystals: one set of 3, and 2 sets of 1 each.

He scores 8 VP for symbols (6 + 1 + 1).

John has two Artifacts: "Barking up the Right Three" gives him 3 points for each pair of Crystals with a mining cost of 3 (he has one pair), and "Contract" gives him 1 additional point for each Crystal of a chosen color. John has three green Crystals, and chooses that color. In total, John scores 6 VP for his artifacts (3 + 3).

John's final score is 36 VP (22 + 8 + 6).

Example of Gameplay

1. John starts the game with one blue level 2 and two yellow level 1 Mercenaries in his hand. On his first turn he has no Base (no Leader) or Artifacts, so he skips the Starting phase. In the Action phase, he decides his first action will be to Mine a red Crystal that has a mining cost of 1. The Bioss (red) faction is not being used in the game, so red Crystals are Wild Crystals and he can use any level 1 card to Mine it – he chooses to play a yellow card. As his second action, he plays a blue level 2 Mercenary to use its skill.

   This allows him to take a level 2 Mercenary from the Docks into his hand - he chooses a yellow one. John places the two cards that he played, in the order in which he played them into his Base. Therefore, the top card is the blue level 2 Mercenary. This is now his Leader. John's turn is over.

2. On his second turn, John uses the skill of his Leader. He takes another yellow 2 from the Docks. Moreover, his Leader allows him to perform two identical actions – John wants to use that fact. He uses the yellow 2 and 1 he has in his hand to collect a Crystal with a mining cost of 3.

   Then, he uses his second yellow 2 to excavate a green Crystal with a value of 1 (the green Weedlock faction is a Wild Crystal in this example).

3. Before the start of the third turn, Luke's Base is taken over by Kate. Luke returns his Leader – the yellow 2 – to his hand and Kate takes 3 cards from his Base (that's how many she can take before the hand limit of 7 cards kicks in).

   Then, he takes over the base of a different player and does not perform any more actions.

4. Luke is left with a yellow 2 as the top card of his base. He uses the skill of his Leader and gets a free action to mine a brown Crystal with a brown 2 from his hand.

Card Clarifications

All Mercenary and Artifact skills and effects are optional. It is never mandatory to use them. For all skills, the hand limit applies. You can never take cards in excess of this with the use of any skill. Remember the Golden Rule: Leaders are immune to the effect of Mercenary skills.

Terrons (Brown Cards): Recruitment Skills

Driller (Level 1): Take a brown Crystal with a cost of 1 from the Mine. This action does not count as mining, therefore it does not interact with other skills or Artifacts that affect the Mine action.

Foreman (Level 2): The skill of this Mercenary allows you to Recruit Mercenaries for less. You can Recruit levels 1, 2, and 3 Mercenaries without using a card, and you can Recruit a level 4 Mercenary using a level 1 card.

Sergeant (Level 3): The skill of this Mercenary allows you to take up to 2 Mercenaries from the bottom of your Base into your hand. The hand limit applies as normal, so if you have 6 cards in hand you can only take 1 Mercenary.

Colonel (Level 4): The skill of this Mercenary allows you to take any number of Mercenaries from the Docks, provided that the sum of their levels does not exceed 5.

Hy'drans (Blue Cards): Bribery Skills

Frogt'Opus (Level 1): Take a blue Crystal with a cost of 1 from the Mine. This action does not count as mining, therefore it does not interact with other skills or Artifacts that affect the Mine action.

Fish'Bean (Level 2): Take a level 2 Mercenary from the docks. Additionally, as long as this card's effect is active, the actions you perform can be identical. For example, if this Mercenary is your Leader, you would be able to perform the Mine action twice.

Shu'War (Level 3): Take a Mercenary from any Base (including your own) and put it into your hand. Hand limit applies.

Mu'Shell (Level 4): Take up to 2 Mercenaries from any one Base (including your own) and put them into your hand. Hand limit applies.

Minegglers (Purple Cards): Economic Skills

Mineraccoon (Level 1): Take a purple Crystal with a cost of 1 from the Mine. This action does not count as mining, therefore it does not interact with other skills or Artifacts that affect the Mine action.

Diggerhino (Level 2): Change the color of one Crystal in the Mine to a different color of your choice for the duration of your turn. The cost to Mine that Crystal this turn is also reduced by 1. If this reduces the cost to 0, you must still perform the Mine action, even though you do not use a card to pay for it.

Ancientone (Level 3): This turn, you pay 4 less for Artifacts when you Collect them. These savings are cumulative with any other card which also gives you a discount. For example, if your Leader is an Ancientone, and you play another Ancientone as your first action, you can Collect an Artifact with your second Action and pay 8 less. If the cost of an Artifact is reduced to 0 or less, you must still perform the Collect action, even though you do not use a card to pay for it.

Maccarat (Level 4): This turn, the mining cost of all Crystals is reduced by 4. Consequently, you can Mine a Crystal with a mining cost of 1 or 3 without spending a card, but you must still perform the Mine action.

Metanels (Yellow Cards): Mining Skills

Oddgrabber (Level 1): Take a yellow Crystal with a cost of 1 from the Mine. This action does not count as mining, therefore it does not interact with other skills or Artifacts that affect the Mine action.

Drollo (Level 2): Gain an additional mining action this turn. For example, if you play this card as your first action, you can perform an extra mining action this turn in addition to your normal second action (which could also be to Mine). If this card is your Leader, you can perform three actions in your turn, one of which has to be the Mine action.

Robuster (Level 3): Temporarily change the color of up to 3 cards in your hand to any one color. This is useful for mining Crystals as you need to play cards that match the color of the Crystal.

Scrabber (Level 4): Take a second Crystal with the same cost from the Mine after mining. This only applies to Crystals with a mining cost of 1, 3, and 6.

Bioss (Red Cards): Subjugate Skills

Cyberwitch (Level 1): Take a red Crystal with a cost of 1 from the Mine. This action does not count as mining, therefore it does not interact with other skills or Artifacts that affect the Mine action.

Mindwasp (Level 2): Subjugate one of the lowest-level Mercenaries (player's choice) from your Base. Leaders cannot be subjugated. For example, if you have 2 cards in your Base, a level 3 Mercenary on the bottom and a level 1 Leader on top, you Subjugate the level 3 card because Leaders cannot be Subjugated.

Custodian (level 3): Subjugate a level 2 Mercenary that is not a Leader from any Base, including your own.

Domina (level 4): Subjugate up to three level 1 Mercenaries from your hand. For each one you Subjugate, take a Crystal of cost 1 from the Mine.

Weedlocks (Green Cards): Expansion Skills

Sapling (level 1): Take a green Crystal with a cost of 1 from the Mine. This action does not count as mining, therefore it does not interact with other skills or Artifacts that affect the Mine action.

Stalkroot (level 2): The skill of this Mercenary allows you to use your Weedlocks to Mine Crystals of a different color. Treat your Weedlocks as if they were of the same color as the Crystal you want to mine.

Seeder (level 3): This turn, the level of your Weedlock cards is doubled when you play them to Mine, Recruit, or Collect an Artifact. For example, a Sapling is still a level 1 card in your hand, but if you play it to Recruit, it counts as a level 2 card.

Mandragore (level 4): You may take 1 Weedlock from each Base (including your own), or choose any one Base (including your own) and take 2 Weedlocks from it. Place taken Weedlocks into your hand. Hand limit applies.

Artifacts

Baton of Coaxing – If you also possess Enchanced Vision, you get to take a Crystal from below the Game Board for each Base you Raid.

(Card text — Alien Species Agents: This Artifact counts as two Faction symbols of your choice. Baton of Coaxing: Every time you Raid an opponent's Base, take a cost-3 Crystal.)

Enchanced Vision – When Raiding, you may Raid a second different Base immediately after the first Raid has been resolved, even if you have already reached your hand limit of 7 cards. Any other card effects relating to Raids also affect this second Raid.

(Card text — Depth Sonar: Worth 4 VP for each cost-10 Crystal you have. Enchanced Vision: After Raiding a Base, you may immediately Raid another different Base.)

Third Cyber-arm – If you are already at your hand limit, you cannot use this ability. Also, if your Base only has one card (your Leader), you cannot use this ability.

(Card text — Space Exchange: Worth 2 VP for each Artifact you have (including this one). Third Cyber-arm: At the beginning of your turn, take the bottom card from your Base.)