Star Trek: The Dice Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
• Game Setup
• The Board
• The Game Turn
• Crew Dice
• Mission Cards
• Event Cards
• Development Cards
• Winning and Scoring the Game
• 2 Player Variant
• Example of Gameplay
• Card Clarifications

Introduction

In Star Trek: The Dice Game you alone are responsible for the Starfleet crew members aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise during its five year mission of exploration. In order to succeed you will need to complete missions and overcome the unpredictable challenges that may arise during them. If you complete the full five years of exploration you will return to Starfleet Headquarters in glory and be promoted to Admiral. But beware; as you travel ever further from Federation space the challenges and constraints you face will grow more and more extreme. Do you have what it takes to survive?

Components

• 10 Crew Dice
• A deck of Mission Cards
• A deck of Event Cards
• A deck of Development Cards
• 2 double sided 5 Year Mission Cards (easy/ medium / hard/ Kobayashi Maru)
• 10 marker tokens (Hull, Shields, Miscellaneous)
• Game board

Game Setup

• Shuffle the Event, Mission and Development decks and place each of them face down next to the game board.
• Turn the first three Development Cards face up
• Place the Hull token on Hull space 7
• Place the Shield token on Shield space 0
• Place a token on Year space 1
• Select your 5 Year Mission card (Easy/ Medium/ Hard/ Kobayashi Maru) and place it on the board
• Place a token on the corresponding Dilithium Crystal Reserves space (10, 9, 8 or 7)
• Place 10 Crew Dice in the Quarters area of the board
• Place the remaining spare marker tokens to one side

The Board

• Crew Stations: the ship is made up of five locations, which correspond to the five Crew Dice roles. Each location has a fixed number of Crew Stations to which corresponding Crew Dice may be assigned during the Reporting for Duty phase. If more of a given role is rolled than there are available Crew Stations, the excess Crew Dice are returned to Quarters. Certain Development cards may adjust the number of crew stations.
  • Command: two Command (COM) stations
  • Science: three Science (SCI) stations
  • Medical: three Medical (MED) stations
  • Engineering: three Engineer (ENG) stations
  • Security: three Security (SEC) stations
• Sensors: There are four Sensor Stations. Any Crew Dice Threat results rolled must be placed here. Unlike normal stations these do not clear during the Cleanup Phase. Crew Dice placed here may only be returned to Quarters when all Sensor Stations are filled, or when a SEC Crew Dice is assigned to move one Threat Crew Dice from Sensors to Quarters (see "Crew Dice: Security: Clear Sensor action")
• Shield track: Although they are down at the start of the game, the Enterprise has the ability to raise shields. The SCI Crew Dice action "Raise Shields" increases Shields to 5, regardless of the value it was on before. Damage inflicted on the Enterprise by Event Cards with the keyword "Damage" is subtracted first from Shields. If Shields are at 0 and damage is inflicted, it is applied to the Hull track. Event cards inflicting "Hull Damage" bypass Shields and damage the Hull directly.
• Hull track: Damage inflicted on the Enterprise that bypasses Shields is inflicted upon the Hull. If the Hull is reduced to 0 and there are no Shields active, subsequent damage is taken in the form of Crew Dice; for each point of damage one Crew Dice assigned to Quarters or a Crew Station is moved to Sickbay. If no active crew remain in Quarters or Crew Stations the ship is destroyed and the game is over.
• Quarters: Everyone needs downtime, even on a busy starship. Crew Dice begin the game here, and form the dice pool at the start of each turn. Those dice that are not Locked In to Developments or Events, or that are assigned to Scanner Stations, are returned here after they have activated an ability, or during the Cleanup Phase.
• Sickbay: Your crew may become injured or sick and moved to Sickbay during the course of the Enterprise's adventures. Crew Dice moved to Sickbay may only be returned to Quarters through the use of the MED Crew Dice action "Heal".
• Mission Card: The active Mission Card is placed here.
• Dilithium Crystal Reserves: You only have finite reserves of fuel to complete your missions. If you run out of fuel you'll have to abandon your current mission and start another. Careful, if you fail two missions in a row you lose the game.

The Game Turn

The game is played over a series of turns. Each turn is broken down into the following three phases:

• Mission Phase:

  • Deplete Crystal Reserves: If a Mission is in play advance the Dilithium Crystal Reserves track one space. If the token reaches space zero, discard the Mission as failed and draw an Event Card.

  • Refresh Mission: If no Mission Card is in play, draw one and place it on the game board, adding any marker tokens required and returning Crystal Reserves to the starting value. See "Mission Cards" below.

  • Activate Mission Actions. These may listed be on Mission cards, Event cards or Development cards. Mission Actions are indicated by this symbol: M

    If an Event card is drawn during this stage which has the Mission Action symbol, that Mission Action triggers.

• Deployment Phase:
  • Roll Call: Gather all Crew Dice from Quarters and roll them. Do not take any Dice in Sickbay, assigned to Sensors or "Locked In" to an Event or Development. Apply any positive or negative effects (Not M actions) from Event or Development cards.
  • Report For Duty: Crew Dice report to their Ship Stations. See "Crew Dice" and "Crew Stations" for details on how to place Crew Dice.
  • Deploy: Take Crew Dice actions (Repair, Clear Sensors etc) or place Crew Dice on Event, Development or Mission cards as required. Mission stages, including Draw Card stages, are conducted during Deploy.
• Cleanup Phase
  • Return any dice from Crew Stations to Quarters.
  • Return any dice from completed Mission Stages or Event Cards to Quarters
  • Place any completed or failed Mission Cards in the appropriate Mission Discard pile
  • Place any completed Event Cards in the Event Discard pile
  • Claim any completed Development Cards (maximum 9)

Crew Dice

Your primary resource in Star Trek: The Dice Game are the brave crew of the Starship Enterprise. These are represented by your pool of 10 Crew Dice.

Crew Dice may be used to complete challenges (requirements for which are shown on Event, Development and Mission cards), or to complete special actions.

Crew Dice have the following faces, which represent different roles that different abilities and uses in the game.

• 6: Command (COM): Gold
  • Meet a COM challenge OR
  • Orders: Change one other Crew Dice to a result of your choosing
• 5: Science (SCI): Blue
  • Meet a SCI challenge OR
  • Two SCI Crew Dice may act as one MED Crew Dice OR
  • Raise or Lower Shields: Move Shield track to maximum or minimum
• 4: Medical (MED): Blue
  • Meet a MED challenge OR
  • Two MED Crew Dice may act as one SCI Crew Dice OR
  • Heal: Move one Crew Dice from Sickbay to Quarters
• 3: Engineering (ENG): Red
  • Meet an ENG challenge OR
  • Two ENG Crew Dice may act as one SEC Crew Dice OR
  • Repair: Hull damage is reduced by 1
• 2: Security (SEC): Red
  • Meet a SEC challenge OR
  • Two SEC Crew Dice may act as one ENG Crew Dice
  • Clear Sensors: Reduce Sensor Threat by 1 (return Threat to Quarters)
• 1: Threat
  • Threat rolls must immediately be placed in the Scanner Crew Stations. These dice remain in place until all available Scanner Stations are filled. When this occurs the assigned Crew Dice are returned to Quarters, and an Event card is drawn. If there are any additional Threat results still to assign, these are returned to Quarters.

In addition any three Crew Dice assigned to any Crew Stations may act as any other Crew Dice (i.e. you could use 1 MED, 1 SEC and one ENG to act as 1 SCI).

Once a Crew Dice has used its ability it is normally returned to Quarters. The player may instead choose to leave a Crew Dice "Locked In" on a partially completed Event Card, or Development Card. Crew Dice may not be "Locked In" to partially complete Mission Stages. Threat results are not returned to Quarters, but must remain in place in Scanner Crew Stations.

Where multiple Crew Dice have been used to achieve a result, for example three dice to achieve a COM result, in order to Lock In that result all Crew Dice used to achieve it must be assigned, stacked on the space where the Locked In result is required.

Where a game effect refers to an Active Dice, this is any dice not in Sickbay, captured by an Event card (such as Alien Parasites) or placed on Scanners.

Mission Cards

The Mission Card deck is shuffled at the start of the game, and one Mission Card is drawn during the Mission Phase of each turn if no others are in play. Each Mission represents your current goal, much like the setup for a TV episode. You may need to transport medical supplies to a distant colony, intervene in a potential diplomatic crisis or sneak into the neutral zone to rescue a lost ship.

When a Mission Card is played the Dilithium Crystal Reserve track is set back to maximum, as specified on the 5 Year Mission Card.

Mission Cards typically have one or more Mission Stage actions listed, indicated by this icon: M

These actions are carried out during the Mission Phase of each turn unless otherwise indicated. If there are multiple M actions to play the player may choose the order in which to play them.

Each Mission Card lists the completion criteria. Typically Mission Cards are broken down into numbered Mission Stages, with a space for a tracking token against each. As each Mission Stage is completed the token is moved to the next Mission Stage. Only one Mission Stage may be completed per turn.

There are three types of Mission Stage:

• Challenge Actions: The most common method for completing a Mission Stage is to assign the appropriate Crew Dice to the Mission Card during the Deploy section of the Deployment Phase. Crew Dice assigned to a completed Mission Stage are returned to Quarters during the Cleanup Phase. An example Challenge Action might be "Cure: 2 MED", indicating that two MED Crew Dice must be assigned to complete the stage.
• Card Actions: Some Mission Stages may trigger the drawing of a card rather than requiring Crew Dice to complete. Once this action has been completed the Mission Stage tracker is moved to the next Mission Stage. The final Mission Stage listed on most Mission Cards is "Development: Draw 1", indicating that the player must draw one card from the Development Deck and replace an existing Development Card.
• Special Actions: Certain Mission Stages have additional instructions. The Transport action, for example, reads "SHIELD/ 1 ENG", indicating the Shields must be lowered using the Lower Shields action (1 SCI), and 1 ENG deployed.

If all Mission Stages have been completed the Mission Card is moved to the Completed Mission pile during the Cleanup Phase, and a new Mission Card is drawn during the next Mission Phase.

If the Dilithium Crystal Reserves track runs out before the Mission is complete, the Mission Card is moved to the Failed Mission pile during the Cleanup Phase, and an Event card is drawn. If two missions are failed in a row, the Enterprise's 5 year mission ends in failure, and the game is lost.

Each time a Mission Card is completed, advance the Year Track one space.

Event Cards

If all you had to worry about was completing your Missions life aboard the Enterprise would be a breeze. But as anyone who has seen an episode of Star Trek knows, things never go that smoothly.

Event Cards represent the plot twists and unpredictable events, the equipment failures, alien interventions and human frailties that plague the Enterprise crew. The challenge you face in completing your five year mission is to balance the wellbeing of your ship and crew against both the goals of your current Mission Card and the challenges posed by any Event Cards in play. Making the right decisions when deciding how to commit your limited resources is the difference between triumph and ignominious defeat.

Some Event Cards have an immediate effect and then are discarded. For example "Report to Sickbay" requires you to move one of your active Crew Dice to Sickbay. Once this action is completed the Event Card lists the action "Discard"; the Event Card is moved to the Event Card Discard pile.

Other events list criteria that must be completed before the Event Card may be discarded. Typically a negative effect will remain in play until this criteria is met. For example the Event Card "Transporter Malfunction" states that the "Transport" action listed on some Mission Cards may not be taken until two ENG Crew Dice are Deployed to the Event Card. Once they have been deployed the Event Card is completed. During the Cleanup Phase the Crew Dice are returned to Quarters and the Event Card is moved to the Event Card Discard pile.

Where timing issues arise, the player chooses which order in which to resolve Event effects.

Some Event cards are more complex, and include a number of Stages, much like Mission Cards. These Event Stages function in the same way as Mission Stages. Some Events may even include rewards for completion.

Some Event Cards have one or more Mission Stage actions listed, indicated by this icon: M

These actions are carried out during the Mission Phase of each turn unless otherwise indicated. For example an enemy ship will typically inflict damage to the Enterprise as a Mission Stage action.

You may have a maximum of nine Event cards in play at one time. If a game effect instructs you to draw an additional event, discard an existing one at random.

Development Cards

It's not all dilemmas and disasters out in deep space. Sometimes you get rewards, in the form of Development Cards. Development Cards provide benefits that may change game rules in your favour, and are critical to surviving the countless dangers that await you on your five year mission.

At the start of the game three Development Cards are placed face up next to the Development Deck. During the Deployment Phase you may commit Crew Dice to Development Cards in the same way as you would to Mission or Event Cards. If you meet the Development Card requirement you gain that Development, and move the card to your Active Developments area. You now gain the benefit of that Development.

Move the remaining Development Cards to the left and draw a replacement, placing it on the right.

You may have a maximum of nine Development Cards in play at any time. You may choose to discard an existing card in order to gain another.

Whenever a game effect instructs you to Draw a Development card you must discard the lefthand card of the three face up Development Cards and draw a replacement, placing it on the right. If you had Crew Dice assigned to the discarded card they are returned to Quarters.

Winning and Scoring the Game

The game is won by completing the five year mission, a total of five Mission Cards. However the game can be difficult, and many missions won't survive that long. In order to track your progress and determine how well you did in each game use the following scoring mechanism.

For each year completed, you are awarded the following rank:

• 0 years: Crewman 3rd Class
• 1 year: Ensign
• 2 years: Lieutenant
• 3 years: Commander
• 4 years: Captain
• 5 years: Admiral

Note the Year Card game setting (easy, medium, hard, Kobayashi Maru) as an initial (E, M, H, K).

As an example, if a Romulan Bird of Prey blows the Enterprise to bits during the third mission on Hard mode your final rank would be Lieutenant (H).

2 Player Variant

Players alternate the roles of "Captain Player" and "Crew Player", passing a marker between them to indicate who the captain is. Players may confer during the Deployment Phase, but the captain player has final say.

Alternatively, if you wish to remove the risk of an alpha player dominating proceedings or you want to make the 2 player game a bit harder, you may wish to rule that conferring is not allowed during the Deployment phase, and that the poor old crew player just needs to shut up, scrub the decks and do as they are told.

On a turn:

• The Crew Player is responsible for all physical interaction with the game. They move tracker tokens, draw cards, roll, place and clear the dice.
• The Captain Player is responsible for giving orders, which the Crew Player must then carry out.

Otherwise gameplay proceeds as normal.

Example of Gameplay

The following example presents two turns of gameplay.

Narrative	Mechanics
The Enterprise leaves Earth orbit to embark upon a five year mission of exploration.	TURN 1 Preparation The Medium Difficulty Year card is chosen. The Dilithium Track is set to 9. 3 Development cards are revealed: Command Station, Engineering Kit and Medical Tricorder.
First order of business; travel to the Omnicron Nebula to conduct detailed stellar cartography. Unfortunately it seems the last minute ship preparations could have used some quality control; a coolant leak in the engine room forces a complete evacuation of Engineering. The Enterprise is dead in space.	Mission Phase Mission: Stellar Cartography is played. Mission Card M action: Draw Event: Coolant Leak. ENG results rolled during Roll Call must be rerolled once.
The captain barks orders...	Deployment Phase: Roll Call The 10 Crew Dice in Quarters are rolled: 2 COM, 1 THR, 3 SEC, 3 MED, 1 SCI.
...and crew scramble to their stations.	Deployment Phase: Report for Duty Crew Dice report to their stations. 1 THR is assigned to Sensors.
Blue-shirted technicians trigger venting protocols that allow the engineers back into Engineering. They start work preparing for Warp.	Deployment Phase: Deploy COM used to change 1 MED to SCI and 1 SEC to ENG. COM dice returned to Quarters.
Aware that it is always best to be prepared the captain has sickbay prep a medical tricorder, just in case.	2 MED assigned to Medical Tricorder. 2 SCI assigned to Coolant Leak.
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Back on track, the crew focus once more on the mission at hand.	Cleanup Medical Tricorder moved to Active Developments, and replacement Development card drawn (Boosted Sensors). Crew Dice returned to Quarters. Coolant Leak moved to Event Discard pile. Crew Dice returned to Quarters. All Crew Dice on Crew Stations, not including the one on Sensors are returned to quarters.
The calm is short lived. The captain curses those spacedock boffins as a series of rivets blow on deck 7, venting air into space. Which pencil-pusher passed this ship as mission ready?	TURN 2 Mission Phase Crystal Reserves reduced to 8. Mission Card M action: Draw Event: Hull Breach. 2 Hull Damage/ turn until 2 ENG are deployed.M action: Hull track reduced by 2 to 5 (Hull Breach).

Card Clarifications

Q: How does the "Space/ Time Disruption" Event card work?

A: You must complete this Event before the current Mission is completed (either by the Dilithium Crystal Reserves running out or by you completing all the Mission Stages). If you fail to complete the Event and the Mission completes, you must lose one Active (that is, one of your purchased) Development card at random. Then take the Event deck and Event discard pile and shuffle them back together. The Space/ Time Disruption Event card remains in play, and the above effects will trigger again if it is still in play when your next Mission completes.

Q: How does Dissention in the Ranks work?

You may put dice on any card, but only to meet the whole requirement of the card or stage; so, there will be no "locked in crew dice" on the cards at the end of the turn.

Q: How do the Bridge Crew development cards work?

Consider "+1 each turn" as a "virtual die". This "virtual die" cannot be changed by the Orders action (that action states: "Orders: Change one other Crew Dice to a result of your choosing"; the +1 result is not a Crew Dice). The same logic applies to Locked In. The rules state "The player may instead choose to leave a Crew Dice "Locked In" on a partially completed Event Card, or Development Card." The +1 is not a crew dice, and so cannot be left Locked In. It can be used to take the corresponding action (so Scotty can perform the Repair action), or to participate in challenges.

Q: How does Romulan Bird of Prey work?

This event has stages to complete, just like the stages on mission steps. Only one stage may be completed per turn.

Q: Some cards have small symbols in the lower right corner. What are these for?

These symbols are used in the Away Team expansion. You can ignore them if you are just playing the base game.