Copyright Scott Mansfield

Mission Rules

Dear Project Leader,You are tasked with exploring the Solar System to claim

interesting discoveries. Space exploration is full of mystery, and Project Discovery has been given funding for 20 years to discover some of these mysteries. Because time is tight, you've been tasked with four destinations to explore, uncovering new science as you probe each site with your vehicle and its instruments.

Before developing a costly vehicle without fully knowing what you'll need, we've developed two small, self-contained vehicles called The Explorer Missions. Send them out to explore first, ahead of your main vehicles, to help shed some light on your four destinations. This will better inform your instrument choices during vehicle construction.

We've also launched an orbiting Space Observatory. Unfortunately, time on the instrument is tight with so many exploration needs, but we've been able to secure four time slots for your project. Use your telescope time wisely and it will further help your projects success.

Good Luck,

Scott MansfieldLead Project Designer

Turn Sequence & Victory Points

Object, Components & Setup

Actions

Mission RulesTable of Contents

Space Observatory

Movement

Missions

Discoveries & Destinations

Alarms

Instrument Cards

Icon Glossary

Victory Conditions

Each successfully claimed Discovery by a Vehicle Mission has a Victory Point value attached, your job is to find 18 Victory Points OR successfully claim 6 Discoveries, whichever happens first within the Project's 20 year timeline. Project Discovery fails otherwise.

Object

The object of the game is to gather information on the 4 destinations drawn to the map by performing a Space observatory & Explorer Mission. And then sending Vehicle Missions with instruments to the destinations to claim Discoveries, acquiring victory points when successful.

Mission RulesObject & Components

Component List

Map board 3 vehicle sheets 22 destination cards 20 instrument cards 2 explorer mission cards 18 discoveries 6 explorer mission pieces

(3/mission) 9 vehicle mission pieces

(3/mission)

4 Space observatory tokens 20 modifier # chits Action marker 12 red cubes 20 black cubes 6 gray cubes 1 blue cube 6-sided die 10-sided die

Map Board Setup: gray cube on 0 year on the project clock track gray cube on 0 VP space gray cube on the 15 space of the funding track

funding limit is 45, no additional funding 3 gray cubes are for marking Glory VP Discoveries blue cube on VP track to mark # of decommissioned cards place the Action Marker chit along the top of the VP

track to mark which action youre on

Draw 1 Destination Card face up to each destination space on the map, pay 5 funding to redraw 1 card if desired. These are the 4 active destinations for the game, no other map locations can be explored.

Place 1 Discovery face down on top of each destination card.

Place all 4 Space Observatory tokens on the Space Observatory space

Put all the Red & Black Cubes in a cup

Place all the Vehicle Pieces, Explorer Mission Pieces, Vehicle Sheets and Modifier # Chits to one side

Mission RulesSetup

Card & Map Board Setup

Place the Discoveries & Destination Cards face down in a single pile next to the board

Group the Instrument Cards and Explorer Mission Cards by color and place face up along the top edge of the board

Mission RulesTurn Sequence

Turn Sequence

Each turn is comprised of 2 action types, all actions can be taken in any order: Free actions

used to build and launch missions Choice actions

choice of 3 to perform various mission operations

After all available actions have been performed, the turn ends and the project clock marker is moved forward 1 space.

If the project marker lands on a funding year, increase the funding track by the bottom number.

If it lands on the project review year, perform a project review.

if # of VP is less than the # of decommissioned cards, reduce the funding track by the difference

Roll Types

There are 3 roll types in the game:1. Space Observation Roll uses a D102. Explorer Roll uses a D103. Discovery Roll uses a D6

Discovery Roll Modifiers

Max 1 modifier chit per modifier box typeAdd to the destination Orbital Roll Modifier

use the Space Observatory, 1/2 successful roll (rounded down)

Add to the destination Surface Roll Modifier use an Explorer Mission, 1/2 successful roll (rounded down) use a Orbital Probe (if not claiming an Orbital Discovery), 1/2 successful roll (rounded down)

Mission RulesVictory Points

Glory VP Points

Glory points are VP bonus points for matching 2 claimed glory Discoveries from any destination with matching star colors. Must find both to claim the glory

If both have been successfully claimed place a gray cube on the corresponding glory VP spot on the map, adding the VP to the VP track

See Discoveries Section for detailed information

Victory Points

Victory points are only claimed by instrument cards that perform a successful discovery roll at a destination.

Some destinations have a VP bonus (or penalty), which is applied to each claimed discovery

On a successful roll, you can choose to take the total VP earned as Victory Points recorded on the VP track, or Funding recorded on the funding track

Mission RulesDestinations

Destinations

Destinations are where you'll be sending your missions to 4 are randomly drawn in the beginning of each game, unless a redraw is paid for (at setup) by paying 5 funding, these are the only destinations you'll be exploring for the game

Each destination is marked with: Name Discovery box to place the flipped Discovery and add any Roll Modifiers acquired throughout play there's a space for each discovery type and their corresponding roll modifiers

Victory Point bonus (or penalty) applied to every Discovery successfully found.

There can be an unlimited number of vehicles at a single destination

If all Discoveries have been found, youre free to return the destination card to the deck to help organize the board

location

discoveriesare placed here by type, stack if 2 of the same type are drawn for site destination limit of 2

roll modifier chits +base card bonuses

Max 1 modifier chit per box

-Europa has 1VP bonus, and +2 added to it's surface discovery roll if a rover is brought

VP bonus or penaltyapplied to all claimed discovery VP

Graphic of the destination, matches the map color of the destination

Mission RulesDiscoveries

Discoveries

Discoveries are drawn face down, and are flipped by a successful Space Observatory Roll, Explorer Mission Roll or Blind Vehicle Mission

Each Discovery has a victory point value, which is added to the VP track or funding track if successfully found.

All discoveries are found by rolling D6 the instrument roll number + roll modifiers with the required instrument at the destination

There are 2 Discovery Types: Orbital & Surface Orbital Discoveries can only be found with orbital instruments

Surface Discoveries can only be found with the surface instruments

Some Discoveries have a specific card requirement: dust detector, rover, etc.

these have been abbreviated (d. detector = dust detector) Open and 0 VP cards can use any card that matches the Discovery Type

Only 2 Discoveries can be drawn onto a single destination 1 is drawn in the beginning of the game a 2nd can be drawn by an explorer mission on a successful roll at a destination

orbital discovery

surface discovery

VP value

required ins. or ins. type

Glory Points

Glory points are VP bonus points for matching 2 claimed glory Discoveries from any destination with matching star colors. Must find both to claim the glory

If both have been successfully claimed place a gray cube on the corresponding glory VP spot on the map

glory star

(2 red stars is the oort cloud proof glory)

orbital icon

surface icon

Mission RulesFree Actions

Free Actions

1. Launch is used to put Explorer Missions and Vehicle Missions in space to perform their missions. Only 1 vehicle launch each turn is allowed. To launch:

a. pay 1 funding, reduce funding track by 1b. place a same color vehicle piece on the:

a. HEO map space b. movement track at its burn rating numberc. on the target destination (for organization)

c. stop the vehicle piece in the red HEO space on the mapd. perform a systems check

2. Look through instrument cards at any time to evaluate which you might need for future or current missions

3. Purchase instrument cards onto a vehicle mission sheet in preparation for a launch

a. pay the funding cost associated with each card placed on the vehicle mission sheet, reducing the funding track by the amount

4. Purchase an explorer mission card and place on the map space marked Explorer Missions

a. pay the funding cost for the card

5. Pay 3 funding to fix 1 alarm

Free Actions Defined

Free Actions (any order) are used to build and launch your vehicle missions. Theres no limit to the number you can perform each turn, except where noted below.

cost

Mission RulesChoice Actions

Choice Actions Defined

3 Choice Actions (any order) may be used, split between all active missions. You can distribute however you want, but each vehicle may only perform one action type per turn

Choice Actions: Choice of 3 Each Turn

1. MOVE a vehicle piece up to its burn number following all movement rules

2. Perform 1 explorer mission roll for each active explorer card on a destination

3. Perform 1 space observatory roll place a Space observatory token onto a destination card and roll

4. Perform 1 discovery roll for each vehicle mission on a destination, it may perform 1 discovery roll with an activated instrument

5. Activate a deactivated instrument activate 1 deactivated instrument by flipping it to its activated side

6. Fix 1 alarm perform an alarm fix on 1 alarmed card 7. Sell 1 VP for 3 funding reduce the VP track by 1 and increase

the funding track by 38. Decommission a vehicle

1. GNC Cards are returned to their stack2. All other instrument cards and explorer mission cards

are removed from the game, any alarms still on the cards are returned to the alarm cup

3. keep track of total decommissioned cards with the blue cube on the VP track

Mission RulesSpace Observatory

Space Observatory Exploration

Using the Space Observatory Observatory tokens place a token the destination being explored 4 total per game, 1 roll/use per piece D10 roll 7 if successful choose 1 for the destination being explored:

flip a Discovery Draw an additional facedown Discovery add 1/2 of the roll (rounded down) to the Orbital Modifier box on the destination explored Max 1 Orbital modifier chit per destination

remove the spent token from the game after its roll

Mission RulesMovement

Movement

Once launched vehicles cannot move back toward Earth this doesnt apply to staying in orbit at a planet

Movement uses burns as the movement number Explorer Mission Cards and Thrusters are rated by the number of burns they can perform per move action1. place vehicle marker on its burn rating2. as you move on the map, pay for the burn cost of each

space by reducing the marker on the movement track Movement stops at 0, or when you reach your destination

reset the vehicle marker to its burn rating only after it reaches 0

If youve entered a space that requires more burns than are available on the movement track stop in that space pay burn cost until reaching 0 reset to its burn rating pay for the number of burns left the next move action will have reduced movement starting from this burn number

Movement follows the track and is paid for when entering a space, its free to leave if all burns have been paid

There are 3 movement space types:1. Planet space (1 burn cost)2. Inter-planet spaces (labeled burn cost)3. Moons (1 burn cost)

Planet spaces & moons require 1 burn to visit, if staying in orbit at a planet system it takes 1 burn to move between moons. When leaving, move from any moon space to the next inter-planet space.

Slingshot past a planet by entering its space paying the 1 burn cost, bypassing all moons, move your vehicle to the next inter-planet space past the planet

All red spaces require a systems check, stop and perform

May continue movement if able to

Mission RulesMovement Example

Movement example 1: This space has a 2 burn cost

The thruster in these 2 examples has a burn rating of 2

Uses 2 burns, vehicle stops, then resets back to its burn rating of 2

Movement example 2: This space has a 3 burn cost

Uses its 2 burns, then resets back to its burn rating of 2, but a 3rd burn is required so it spends 1 more, ending on the 1 burn spot

The next move action, this vehicle will only have 1 burn to use before stopping

Lower Movement Track

Some spaces require more burns than a single thruster can use in 2 turns. Use the lower burn track by placing the vehicle marker on the number of burns the space entered requires, each move action reduce the thruster burn rating # until all the burns are paid for

Mission RulesExplorer Missions

Explorer Missions

The Explorer Missions are used to refine destinations there are 2 Explorer Cards for the game (A & B) when purchased and launched, place the explorer card on the

explorer missions space on the map (stacking when both are used)

unlimited time in orbit at any destination if moving between moons, must pay 1 burn for each moon

space As long as they dont move back toward Earth they can

continue on to multiple destinations to perform their Discovery Roll.

one roll per turn, per active explorer mission success roll is a D10 roll 6 Fixing an alarm on the Explorer Card

Remove the alarm, flip to its deactivated side Movement reduces to 1 burn while deactivated Cant perform any actions while deactivated if alarmed, plays normally, BUT a failed exploration

roll with an alarm will remove the card from the game Explorer Missions never move or come back to Earth. Once

theyve used all their available actions at all destinations they can travel to, they are removed from the game.

deactivated side

Mission RulesExplorer Missions

Explorer Mission Exploration Roll

Once at the chosen destination, choose the turn action Explorer Mission Roll to roll a D10, if the roll 6 choose 1 of the following: draw a face down discovery to the destination

to increase the destination VP possibility flip a discovery at the destination

to find out what's there already add to the destination surface roll modifier

1/2 of the successful roll, rounded down add a modifier # chit to the box next to the

surface discovery icon where it says roll modifiers

Max 1 Surface modifier chit per destination If no other option, and you decide not to use the roll

rolled as a modifier, deactivate Explorer Card and perform alarm check

On a failed roll: must wait 2 turns to perform another roll

with this explorer mission. as a way to mark this, place the third

explorer mission piece on the project clock, 2 spaces ahead

Mission RulesVehicle Missions

Vehicle Missions

Only Vehicle Missions can be used to acquire victory points (VP) by sending instrument cards to a destination and using the choice action Perform 1 discovery roll

if successful, claim the VP amount as victory points or funding deactivate (flip) the instrument card add 1 black cube to the alarm cup

if unsuccessful, flip the instrument card to deactivated and perform an alarm check on the card

Only 2 active Vehicle Missions in space at a given time Up to 4 instrument cards are placed on a Vehicle Mission Mat

to organize them, each mat is color coded with a corresponding color vehicle piece

Unlimited time in orbit at any destination Don't have to try and claim all possible Discoveries Can use a single vehicle mission for multiple destinations

as long as all instrument rules are followed

Building a Vehicle Mission

All vehicles need a thruster and at least 1 instrument cardas well as any GNC required

There are a maximum of 4 instrument slots for each Vehicle1 thruster, 1 GNC, 2 instrument card slots

Use free actions to look through and purchase (reducing the funding track the total cost) a thruster, GNC (if required) and the instrument cards you need onto the Vehicle Mission Mat the instruments you need are based on the known type (orbital discovery and/or surface discovery) at a given destination some discoveries also require a specific instrument card within their orbital/surface category

Vehicle Mission Mats/vehicle pieces can be reused after a mission has been decommissioned

Vehicle Mission ExampleVehicle Mission sheets can be reused after a mission decommission, but only GNC Cards go back to their draw pile.

Blind a Vehicle Mission

A blind Vehicle Mission can be sent to a destination with a face down discovery, to flip the discovery: pay 5 funding Perform a D10 roll # of cards on the Vehicle Mission Mat if unsuccessful

perform systems check on all cards if successful

no additional discoveries can be drawn to the destination by an Explorer Mission

Mission RulesVehicle Missions

Mission RulesAlarm Check

Alarm Check

Drawing alarms is called an Alarm Check To perform an alarm check, randomly draw 1 cube from the

alarm cup for each card being tested. a black cube is a pass, return it to the cup a red cube is an alarm, place on top of the card being tested

pay 3 funding to remove an alarm (free action)The starting ratio of alarm cubes is 60%/40% (black/red) for each successful discovery claim add 1 black cube

System Check

On every Red Map Space a vehicle enters, stop it there and perform a system check: Perform an alarm check on each card if burns left, may continue move

Failed Discovery Roll

When an instrument fails a Discovery Roll (except Orbital Probes which get removed) It deactivates (flip card) perform an alarm check on that card only cant perform another roll until de-alarmed and activated

Fixing Alarm Action

remove the alarm and flip the card to its deactivated side thruster & GNC cards dont flip, remove alarm

if card is deactivated already, remove alarm if a GNC card is in use with a de-alarm icon that matches the alarmed instrument type, it prevents 1 alarm on that card

Alarmed & Deactivated Instrument Cards

Alarms DONT deactivate(flip) cards An alarmed card from a systems check remains activated and can be used, BUT if an alarmed card fails a discovery or explorer roll it's immediately removed from the game

A failed discovery roll deactivates (flips) the instrument and an alarm check is performed. CAN'T be used until both de-alarmed and activated (requires 2 choice actions)

A deactivated card can't be used for discovery rolls, requires a Card Activation action to activate

Mission RulesAlarmed Cards

Alarmed Explorer Mission Cards

Remains activated, but while alarmed if the card fails an exploration roll at a destination its removed from the game

When the card is deactivated(flipped) to fix an alarm, movement reduces to 1 burn per move action cant perform an exploration roll

Alarmed Thruster Cards

Card doesnt deactivate (flip), just remove alarm to fix when using the alarm fix action

Movement reduces to 1 burn until dealarmed Some thruster cards can handle more than 1 alarm, look for this icon

Alarmed GNC Cards

Any card requiring the GNC card becomes unusable until GNC alarm is fixed

A thruster requiring the GNC card is reduced to 1 burn per move action until GNC alarm is fixed

Surface Instrument Cards

The icon indicates it's an Surface Instrument and can only be used to find Surface Discoveries (which are also marked with the same icon)

All Surface Instruments remain at the destination of their first use, and are abandoned if the vehicle moves on

They discovery roll like the other cards Surface Instrument special rules:

1. Lander - Can roll/claim 1 surface discovery per site2. Rover - Can roll/claim 2 surface discoveries per site

Mission RulesInstrument Cards

Orbital Instrument Cards

The icon indicates it's an Orbital Instrument and can only be used to find Orbital Discoveries (which are also marked with the same icon)

All Orbital Instruments (except Orbital Probes) have unlimited use as long as they're activated and on a destination with a matching orbital discovery

Orbital Instrument Cards are:1. Scanners2. Detectors3. Cameras4. Probes (have separate rules)

Mission RulesInstrument Cards

Instrument Card Breakdown

GNC required

Dice type used (instruments use a 6 sided die)

Discovery roll base number, add all modifiers to this when making a discovery roll.

less than/equal to this final number is a success

Discovery type

flip todeactivate

(can't be used until activated)

Color code

Instrument Card Roll

All instrument cards perform Discovery Rolls with a D6 each instrument has a specific discovery type (Discovery & Card must match type) and target roll # which is added to any destination roll modifiers

If the roll is successful choose either the Discovery VP as VP or as Funding added to the funding track

deactivate the instrument (flip card) Add 1 black cube to the alarm cup

If unsuccessful, the instrument breaks, flip to its deactivated side and perform an alarm check on that card

Card type and specific kind within the type(Surface Instrument)(Lander)

cost

Thruster Burn Modifier, if present

The first inter-planetary space after the planet space marks the beginning of the adjusted burn rating, applied on the next burn reset

Mission RulesThruster Cards

Thrusters

Used to send Vehicle Missions to a destination, when decommissioned is removed from the game

If alarmed, thruster shuts down, movement burns are reduced to 1

thruster type

cost

burn modifier, this thruster has 2 burns until it passes Jupiter then it has 4 burns

surface lander capable, if this icon is not present, no lander can be broughtnumber of alarms it

takes to shut down the thruster

burn rating

GNC card required

burn rating modifier examples

The example on the right shows where those inter-planet spaces are for the thrusters that mark Jupiter as the adjusted burn mark

Jupiter example

Orbital Probe Instruments

Orbital probe cards work differently than the other instruments

One time use, after a single roll the card is removed from game

1 of these on a successful roll: Orbital Discovery Surface Roll Modifier

1/2 of the roll rounded down, add modifier chit to the destination card surface modifier box

Mission RulesGNC & Probe Cards

Along with the discovery base roll number, this also shows that its a one time roll, the card is removed from the game after its roll

GNC

Needed as a support for some thruster & instrument cards

Marked with which Instrument it prevents 1 alarm from happening

*an alarmed GNC card shuts down all cards that need it

cost

which instrument it prevents an alarm from

T: thrusterG: GNC

Mission RulesIcons