How To Play!
Greetings, Dog Soldiers! Gather your pals. Ideally, everybody brings their combat pay, but in a pinch you can keep track of who wins each round, and the first to reach a certain number of won rounds, is the overall winner. Money is always more fun…
What You Need To Play!
The game requires six 6-sided dice, or D6. Each die represents one of the six great empires in the galaxy; Human (SolForce), Hiver, Liir, Morrigi, Tarkas, and Zuul. There are dice made specifically for this game, but any six 6-sided dice will do! If you have one of the special sets, you’ll notice the empire’s symbol has replaced the number 6 on each die. These symbols are important to the game, as they can modify gameplay, so learn which symbol belongs to whom. Or, if you’re using your own dice, make sure you know which dice represents with alien race, perhaps by using different color dice, or marking the “6” face of the dice with marker.
Where Can I Get The Special Dice?
Currently, by dropping by the Paradox Interactive booths at various trade shows, or attending special Sword of the Stars events - but don’t worry, we’re thinking about making them available online. Stay tuned!
Getting Started!
Everybody roll one D6. The person with the lowest roll takes their turn first this round. If you’re playing for hard earned Earth credits, this is when everybody antes up, creating the pot for the turn. If you’re playing for points, don’t worry about it. If you’re playing as a drinking game, worry at the end of each turn, but pin your name and home address onto your shirt now, just to be safe.
In your turn, gather up all six dice; you have three rolls to achieve Empire (6), Admiral (5), Fleet (4) . Any dice that meet this goal can stand, and the rest rerolled, provided it’s done in descending order. Meaning, if you take your first roll and get a 6, but no 5 or 4, you can leave the 6 as is and re-roll again, looking to get a 5 and a 4.
Once you have Empire, Admiral, and Fleet, the remaining dice are added up. These are your colonies. If you haven’t used all three rolls, you can re-roll your colony dice again, hoping to try and improve your number of colonies.
Example: You luck out and roll Empire, Admiral, and Fleet in two rolls. On your second roll, your three colony dice are a 2, 2, and a 4 - a total of 8 colonies. You can roll those three dice one more time if you wish, hoping to roll better than 8 colonies, but you can also end your turn there, and keep the 8 colonies, if you feel it’s too risky and you might roll less than 8, for a worse colony score.
Empires
During your turn, you may also roll a 6, an empire symbol. Technically, you are trying to roll at least one every turn, as that is your Empire die when trying to achieve Empire, Admiral, Fleet. But you may also roll another empire dice in your colony dice. Even though these are in the 6 position on the dice, they do not count towards your colony total for your turn. Their modifiers however are in play, as is the modifier of your Empire die.
Any empire symbols you have rolled by your last turn (either because you’ve run out of rerolls or because you’ve ended your turn early) apply. This includes the your “empire” in Empire, Admiral, Fleet, and any that come up in your colony dice.
When you declare your turn done, this is when your colonies are counted and the scorekeeper makes a note of your score.
If a player has bad luck and can’t make Empire, Admiral, Fleet in three rolls, they get nothing for the roundAny empire symbols you have rolled by your last turn (either because you’ve run out of rerolls or because you’ve ended your turn early) apply. This includes the your “empire” in Empire, Admiral, Fleet, and any that come up in your colony dice.
Quick Example Turn!
Example Turn: A player rolls a 4,4,3,2,1, and 6 (Morrigi). They can keep the Morrigi 6 as their Empire, but as they have no 5 to be their Admiral, so they must reroll the remaining five dice. This time they get a 4,5,4,3,1 – they have their Empire, Admiral, Fleet. If they choose to stop now, their leftover dice – 4,3,1 – are added up to a total of 8 colonies. The Morrigi die they got as their Empire doubles that total. Their proud Morrigi empire has 16 colonies! The player does have one roll left however, which they can use.
Let’s say the player does use it; they roll their three colony dice (leaving their Empire, Admiral, Fleet standing as they are) and get a 3,5, and a 6 (Zuul). The 3 and the 5 equal 8, meaning they could have 16 colonies when doubled , because of their Morrigi empire die, but the Zuul means the player gets no points this turn!
Because We Said So!
Remember, when applying the effect of an empire die, it’s more fun to talk like how each alien species sounds. You don’t have to, and you don't have to be good, but you do like fun, right?
The Empire Dice
SolForce - Repensum Est Canicula!
Get one extra roll when it’s your turn!
If you roll SolForce as your Empire die, then you have a total of four rolls in your turn. You do not have to use it, but it might be handy. If you roll SolForce in your colony dice, you also get one extra roll if you like, but if you manage to roll SolForce again in your fourth and last roll, you don’t get any extras. Four rolls maximum.
Morrigi – Gaze upon us! Now, let us trade!
Double your points for the round! Pretty straight forward. The Morrigi are unsurpassed in their mercantile dealings with other races, leading to a strong empire!
Hiver - Gate activated my queeeen!
Pick any one player that hasn’t rolled yet this round. We recommend pointing at them and in your best Hiver voice declare, “You are no match for our gate network!” You can adlib if you like, but you must openly declare the player you have chosen.
At the end of their turn – assuming they have managed to achieve Empire, Admiral, Fleet - note the lowest colony die they have. You get to add this number to your colony total for the round and they do not. If they didn’t get their Empire, Admiral, Fleet, or if they are struck by the Zuul and have a total of zero, then you get nothing.
Liir - We hear you in the black…
The modifier works the same as above with the Hivers, only instead of picking a player who hasn’t yet rolled, you pick a player who HAS rolled already. In your best Liirian telepathic drone, gently remind them to subtract the number of colonies you are taking from their total.
NOTE: Everyone (or a diligent scorekeeper) should keep track of what each players three colony dice were rather than a total. This helps keep track of any live modifiers you may have (like a Hiver die waiting to strike) as well as your low dice, so anyone playing a Liir die can see what they’re making off with.
Tarka – We will have no witches here!
Cancel out all other race die that apply to your turn. Meaning, a Tarka die only applies to any dice they have rolled or any Liir or Hiver dice other players may use against them. The Tarka die doesn’t affect any other player’s dice rolls (unless they roll the Tarkas themselves.) This can be a nasty setback if you have a great Empire die rolled, such as the Morrigi. But it can also pay off in unexpected ways, should you run into a Zuul, Liir, or Hiver attack!
Zuul – The Masters are hungry!
No points! Your colonies have fallen to the Zuul and your people serve the Suul’ka! Some will become slaves. The lucky ones will become food for the Masters…
Game Variations!
Currently there are none online, but we are looking to release the Tarkan variant of the game, Tar, Fane, Lai.
If you come up with any cool new rules, let us know!
Alea Iacta Est.
Stellae tua sunt.
