The Lost Worlds of Josh Kirby Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Player Turn
  • Phase 1 – Rolling Phase
  • Phase 2 – Action Phase
• Acquiring a World
• Renown
• World Powers
• Power Die
• End of Game
• Event Cards
• Space Opera Mode
• Campaign Powers
• End of Campaign & Scoring
• Glossary

Components

• 18 World Cards (Tarot)
• 1 Hyperspace Board
• 3 Unique Action Dice (white, grey, black)
• 5 Player Control Panel
• 5 Morality Markers (1 per player color)
• 5 Dreadnought control tokens (1 per player color)
• 5 Champions (1 per player color)
• 30 Fleets (6 per player color)
• 1 Dreadnought
• 25 Power Tokens
• 25 Renown (Max 5 per player)
• 1 Power Die

Setup

Table Set Up

1. Shuffle the deck of World Cards.
2. Reveal World cards equal to the number of players face up in the center of the table. In a 5 player game reveal only 4 World cards.
3. Set the HYPERSPACE board in the center of the table where everyone can reach it. Each player places 3 Fleets in Hyperspace and 3 Fleets on their HOME PLANET.
4. Place the Dreadnought Ship in Hyperspace.
5. Place the Power tokens where they can be easily reached.

Player Set Up

1. Give each player:
   • a Control Panel
   • 6 Fleets
   • 1 Renown
   • 1 Champion
   • 1 Dreadnaught control token
   • 1 morality marker
2. Place the morality marker placed on the Scoundrel space of the control panel's MORALITY track.
3. Place the Champion and Dreadnaught control token on the Control Panel, they are unlocked through game play.

Player Turn

The person who most recently read or watched science fiction is the first player. Players then take their turns in a clockwise order around the table.

A player's turn has two phases:

1. Rolling Phase
2. Action Phase

Phase 1 – Rolling Phase

The active Player rolls all three ACTION DICE. A player's position on the morality track indicates which Action dice they may choose to re-roll. A player must re-roll the chosen dice at the same time not in sequence. World Powers may grant additional re-rolls and may only be used at this time. A single die may be re-rolled any number of times.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!: Once an action die is spent a player is no longer in the rolling phase and my not re-roll any of their dice.

The faces of the Action dice are as follows:

• SETTLE – For each SETTLE icon the player may place one Fleet from their Home Planet to the settle side of any world card in play.
• CONQUER – For each CONQUER icon the player may place one Fleet from their Home Planet to the conquer side of any world card in play.
• MOVE – For each MOVE icon the Player may choose to either Ready one fleet or to move one Fleet from a World to any Settle or Conquer side of any World in play including the World they occupy.
• RENOWN – For each RENOWN icon the player gains one renown token.

Phase 2 – Action Phase

The Player has the choice either to take actions by Activating any or all of their dice or to PASS.

• PASS: If a player choses to Pass they READY two of their Fleets or gain 1 Renown. To READY a Fleet, move it from HYPERSPACE to the players HOME PLANET.
• ACTIVATE: A player may choose to active their dice in any order. To activate a die give it to the next player and resolve each of the actions shown on the die. Some die faces have two actions icons. Both of these actions must be resolved prior to activating a new die. Several die faces show two actions separated by a slash "/" indicating a choice between the two actions. All individual actions are optional and players are not forced to take an action they do not want to.

Acquiring a World

Each World Card has a SETTLE value and a CONQUER value shown on opposing settle and conquest sides of the card. The value indicates the total number of Fleets a single player is required to have on that specific side of the World card in order to ACQUIRE it. Players place their Fleets on the side of the World card corresponding to the action taken Settle or Conquer. Any number of players may have any number of Fleets on one or both sides of a World card. Remember that Move actions can be used to move Fleets from a World to any Settle or Conquer side of any World in play including the World they occupy.

After each Action Die is completely resolved check to see if any players have Acquired any worlds in play then complete the steps below. Then the active player may then continue resolving any additional action dice they may have to complete their turn. Multiple worlds may be acquired in a single turn.

Clear Fleets – All Fleets used to Acquire the world are placed in Hyperspace. All other Fleets occupying that world are wrecked. This may include additional ships belonging to the player that Acquired the world.

Wreck – To Wreck a Fleet return it to its Player's Home Planet. A player gains one Renown each time one of their Fleets is Wrecked. A player never gains Renown for Wrecking their own Fleets.

Take World Card – Settled worlds are place on the left side of the player's board and Conquered worlds on the right side. Tuck the card under the player board so that the opposing Settle or Conquer value of the card is concealed (see example below).

Power Token – Place a Power Token on the world card to indicate the World Power is available for use.

Change Morality – The Player moves their Morality marker according to whether they settled or conquered the World. Settling moves your marker one space to the left on the morality track towards the galactic SAVIOR. Conquest moves your morality tracker one space to the right toward the diabolical TYRANT.

New World Card – Deal a new World card into play.

Renown

Renown is gained by resolving the Renown action on the Action icon, Fleets being wrecked, and some effects of World Powers. Players may never have more than a maximum of five renown at a time. Any additional renown gained beyond the maximum is immediately discarded. Renown may be spent at any time on a players turn.

Place Champion (cost: 2 Renown)

A player may only place their Champion if they are on the Scoundrel, Hero, Saint, or Savior spaces of the Morality track. A Champion may be place on any un-acquired world in play. The Settle and Conquer values of a world are reduced by one for any player with their Champion occupying it. Champions cannot be moved with the Move Action, they may only be placed for the cost of two Renown. When a world a Champion occupies is Acquired they are returned to their controlling players board.

Place Dreadnought (cost: 2 Renown)

A player may only place the dreadnaught if they are on the Scoundrel, Villain, Scourge, or Tyrant spaces of the Morality track. The Dreadnaught may be place on any unacquired world in play. The player also places their Dreadnaught control marker on that world. Only the controlling player may Acquire the world the Dreadnaught occupies. A player ignores this effect if their Champion also occupies the world. The Dreadnaught cannot be moved with the Move Action, it may only be placed for the cost of two Renown.

Gain a World Power Token (cost: 5 Renown)

The Player gains a power token and places it on one of their Acquired worlds that no longer has a power token. A world may never have more than one power token.

World Powers

World powers may be activated at any time on a players turn. To activate a Power the player Discards the Power Token from that World. A Power may be used immediately after Acquiring a World even if the player has no additional Action dice to activate. Follow the instructions on the World card to use its World Power.

Power Die

Renown represents the epic deeds and major accomplishments of your empire. The epic die represents the explosive progress brought about by those events. The Epic Die can be added to the standard rules and may be combined with any other expansion content.

At any time during a Players rolling phase they may spend 3 Renown to roll the Epic Die. The Epic die may never be re-rolled, set, or manipulated in any way by world powers or any other means. If a player chooses to Pass then the Epic die is also discarded with no effect.

IMPORTANT NOTE!! Once a player activates a die they are no longer in the rolling phase and cannot purchase the Epic Die. For example you may not gain Renown by activating a die and then purchase the Epic Die.

Power Die faces

• 2X – The next action die resolved is activated twice in a row.
• READY ALL FLEETS – Ready all of your Fleets in hyperspace.
• CHAMP / DREADNAUGHT – Place either your champion or the Dreadnaught regardless of your Morality.
• MAX RENOWN – Gain Renown equal to your maximum.
• POWER TOKEN – Add a power token to an acquired world that does not have one.

End of Game

The end of the game is triggered when any player reaches or exceeds a specific value of Settled and Conquered Worlds. The required value is based on the number of players. Any other victory point bonuses do not count toward triggering the end of the game. The triggering player completes their turn then every other player takes one final turn.

The draft does not print the numeric Settled/Conquered threshold for each player count.

Event Cards

Event cards represent specific events of Galactic importance that have occurred and present challenges or opportunities that the players can interact with. Events can be added to the standard rules and may be combined with any other expansion content.

Setup

Shuffle the Event deck and deal out two event cards. Each event card indicates the number of power tokens placed on it when it enters play. On a players turn they may activate any number of event cards at any time. A power token is discarded from the event when an event card is activated. If the last Power token is discarded the Event card is discarded as well. At the start of each player turn deal out new event cards so that there are always two available on their turn.

Some events are coded with an (X) this is = number of players. Icon should represent multiple players.

Events

• Ancient technology discovered and reactivated (2) – If an action die shows Renown Icons you may activate the die twice.
• Hyperspace anomaly appears aiding travel (3) – Once per turn may discard a die to Ready 2 fleets.
• Sector wide trade alliance ratified (3) – Once per turn you and a Player of your choice gain 1 Renown.
• Showdown on Vega III (3) – Spend 1 Renown to place your champion on a world and wreck 1 opponent fleet there.
• Engineers develop advanced reclamation robots (3) – Once per turn may discard an Action Die to ready two fleets.
• Explorers bold go where no being has gone before (1) – After Acquiring a world via Settle that is not occupied by an opponent you may Ready two fleets.
• Invasion fleet devastates helpless world (1) – After Wrecking fleets by Conquering a world gain 1 renown for each fleet Wrecked.
• The galactic senate meets this week (X) – Once per turn you may choose: Gain 3 Renown, Ready 2 Fleets, or Wreck 2 Fleets.
• Reinforcements flood the sector igniting conflict (3) – Once per turn move a Fleet from any world to a world occupied by your champion or dreadnaught.
• Bribery scandal uncovered (2) – Once per turn spend 1 Renown to move a champion or dreadnaught from a world you occupy to any other world.
• Illegal sale of banned death rays reported (3) – Discard a die to Wreck Fleets on a World you occupy equal to the number of action icons on the die.
• Harrowing story of escape after this commercial break (2) – Once per turn move your champion or dreadnaught to another world.
• ???? (?) – The "/" face of one die counts as "&".

The last event entry is printed in the draft with unfinished placeholder text ("????" and "?"); it is transcribed as printed.

Space Opera Mode

Space opera mode allows players to tell their full story over the course of several linked games in the form of a campaign. This mode can be played with the base game or combined with any of the Josh Kirby expansions. You may want to play with the same content in all games as this can influence player strategy. Campaign progress is made and tracked after any world is acquired and at the end of each game.

Games are played using the standard rules. Each time a player acquires a world they will place faction stickers on the campaign map. Player reference cards track the campaign powers players have unlocked and their overall campaign morality. At the end of each game wins and losses are tracked. As soon as all sectors on the campaign map have been colonized the campaign ends immediately and is scored. This means that the final game is never completed and scored.

To begin give each player a campaign reference card. Record your Empire name and start the game normally. Feel free to sleeve, photo copy, or write directly on the card.

Claiming Worlds

After a player acquires a world card they place a faction sticker on the campaign map on an unclaimed world. The very first sticker placed by a player must be on the colony world (First Row) of a starting sector. The first player to colonize a sector gets to name it.

When placing additional stickers the following restrictions apply:

• The method you acquired the world in the game (settle vs. conquer) must correspond to the icon shown on the world on the campaign map.
• The first faction sticker a player places on a sector must be on a colony world. You can only place stickers in new sectors connected by wormholes to a sector that you already occupy. A player is considered to occupy a sector if they have one or more faction sticker there.
• Additional stickers placed in a sector you occupy may be either on linked worlds directly below your colony world or on a stronghold world in that sector.
• You may never place faction stickers on more than one colony world or stronghold world in a sector.
• No world may ever have more than one faction sticker on it.
• If you cannot place a faction sticker according to the above restrictions you must immediately place your wormhole gate sticker on a wormhole on the campaign map (see wormhole gate rules below).

Important Note: When a player acquires a world they record it as settled or conquered on their campaign reference card. This tracks progress toward their overall campaign morality. In 4 player & 5 player campaigns the first world acquired by players in each game of Josh Kirby allows them to place two faction stickers in succession however they only record this as one world on their reference card.

Campaign Powers

When all the worlds linked to a colony world are claimed that player immediately gains the campaign power for that sector for the rest of the campaign. These can be marked on the campaign reference card.

Wins, Losses & Wormholes

When totaling up VPs at the end of a game include the VP bonuses available in the campaign. At the end of each game all players will place one additional faction sticker either in the Victory zone or the Defeat Zone. Victories count for 2 Campaign Points (CP). Defeated players take turns in game victory point (VP) order placing faction sticks in the Defeat zone. Players choose which Defeat bonus to unlock.

Only one sticker is required to unlock the power and players may only place one sticker one each power. If there are no remaining spaces that power cannot be unlocked. The Campaign map will indicate the number of spaces available based on player count.

The Wormhole power allows a player to place their wormhole sticker on a wormhole line. The two sectors connected to that wormhole are considered adjacent and that player may colonize those sectors. Additionally the player is considered to be adjacent to the Lost Sector. The Lost sector counts as a sector in every way however colonies there grant immediate effects. Remember players may not place more than one colony in a sector.

End of Campaign & Scoring

Once the final sector has been colonized by a player the campaign ends immediately. The current game is not scored proceed immediately to Campaign scoring. Campaign points are awarded for the following: Games won, number of Colonies, number of strongholds, position on the campaign morality track.

Subsequent Games

In subsequent games players have setup bonuses from Defeat powers. The first player is the lowest scoring player from the previous game.

The draft does not print the campaign scoring values, the campaign map, or the player reference card; those components are not included in the draft and are not reproduced.

Glossary

• OCCUPY – A player occupies an unacquired World in play when they have at least one of the following there: a settling or conquering fleet, their champion, or the Dreadnaught under their control.
• READY – Take a fleet from hyperspace and place it on the players Home Planet.
• STEAL – Take 1 Renown from any player and place it on your player board.
• SET – Choose any face of the Die.
• SETTLE – For each SETTLE icon the player may place one Fleet from their Home Planet to the settle side of any world card in play.
• CONQUER – For each CONQUER icon the player may place one Fleet from their Home Planet to the conquer side of any world card in play.
• MOVE – For each MOVE icon the Player may choose to either Ready one fleet or to move one Fleet from a World to any Settle or Conquer side of any World in play including the World they occupy.
• RENOWN – For each RENOWN icon the player gains one renown token.