Terra Prime V1.5

Terra Prime V1.5 [last updated 2/17/06]
A game of interstellar exploration and colonization for 2-5 players

Goal:
The goal of Terra Prime is to explore the space surrounding the Terra Prime outpost, Colonize and harvest the resources produced on the nearby planets, and protect the colonies from hostile aliens. Players gain Leadership (score points) by placing colonies, delivering resources to Terra Prime, and driving off or befriending hostile aliens. The value of colonies and the resources they produce increase the farther away from Terra Prime you get, but so do the dangers of exploration and the likelyhood of alien attack. Earth uses the harvested resources at a steady rate, and the value of each resource fluctuates depending on how much Earth has in supply.

Components:
14 green Space tiles depicting planets or deep space at each vertex
14 yellow Space tiles depicting planets, space, asteroids, or hostile aliens
14 red Space tiles depicting planets, space, asteroids, or hostile aliens
2 Outpost tiles depicting Terra Prime (one for 2/3 players, one for 4/5 players)
1 Earth board depicting Tech Upgrade tracks, Supply/Demand tracks for each resource, and a Leadership scoring track.
4 Cargo Ship tiles with spaces for 6/7/8/9 resources (for 2/3/4/5 players)
[I might incorporate this into the earth board]
15 Green resource cubes [need cute name]
15 Yellow resource cubes [need cute name]
15 Brown Uranium resource cubes
15 Red Einstienium resource cubes
15 Blue Dihydrogen Oxide resource cubes
5 Command Ships, 1 in each player color
5 Cargo Shuttle tiles
10 Shield tiles
10 Fuel Cell tiles
10 Cargo Hold tiles
10 Weapon tiles
5 Command Ship boards depicting a command ship, with slots for ship upgrades
80 Colony markers (glass stones), 16 in each player color
Supply of Credit chips labelled 1, 5, and 10
3 six-sided dice
Might add a deck of Mission cards for bonus scoring opportunities

Setup:
Place the appropriate Cargo Ship and Outpost tile (depending on the number of players) in the center of the play area. Sort the Space tiles into stacks by color, shuffle each stack, and deal them face down onto the play area as shown (see picture). Sort the supply of resource cubes and upgrade tiles by type and place them within reach of all players. Each player chooses a color and takes the Colony markers and Command Ship board of that color, placing 1 marker on the first space of each Tech Upgrade track. Place one player pawn in each players color on the Outpost tile, and the other on the scoring track. Randomly determine a start player.

Each player begins the game with 1 Fuel Cell, 1 Cargo Hold, and 1 Colony marker on their Command Ship, and 2 Credits. The Cargo Hold and Fuel Cell are considered 'built in' (as if pre-printed on the ship - indeed they may be in the future) and cannot be lost - they are not considered modules.

Rounds of Turns:
At the beginning of each round - that is to say each time it's the start player's turn - Earth consumes 1 of each resource. Remove the top cube in each of the Supply/Demand tracks on the Earth board. If there are no cubes on a track, then skip it. Turns then begin with the start player and pass from player to player clockwise around the table.

Player Turns:
At the beginning of each player's turn, before choosing actions, each Colony belonging to that player produces a resource cube of the appropriate type. Each colony can only hold 1 cube. If there is already a cube at a Colony, leave it there instead of producing. The player then chooses actions from the following list. Choose a number of actions equal to 1 plus the number of Fuel Cells on your Command Ship. Players must take all of their allotted actions.

Action List:
MOVE: Move from sector to sector along edges of the hex tiles. A sector is the vertex of three adjacent tiles. Treat the edges of the board as if they were tiles with nothing but deep space in their vertices. Move only to a sector that is fully explored, you cannot enter an unmapped sector with a Move action.

EXPLORE: A Move action into an unmapped sector. An unmapped sector is a sector containing a face down tile. Note that a player will never be presented with the opportunity to move to a sector with more than 1 face down tile in it. Turn over the face down tile and choose it's orientation to complete the sector. This could result in being attacked by hostile aliens, or having to brave an asteroid field, see Hostile Aliens and Asteroids below. Only 1 Explore action is allowed per turn.

When choosing orientation of a newly explored tile, the following rule applies: No two adjacent sectors may contain planets. Asteroid Fields may be placed in sectors adjacent to planets, and there can be multiple planets or asteroid fields in the same sector, but planets may not be placed in adjacent sectors. The sectors that comprise Terra Prime are considered planets for purposes of placing tiles.

COLLECT RESOURCES: Your Command Ship must be in the same sector as the colony to Collect Resources. Pick up the resource cube at the colony, and place it on one of your Cargo Hold tiles on your Command Ship board. If there is not enough room for the resource or upgrade in your cargo hold, then you may not collect it without first discarding something else. Discarding can be done at any time.

The owner of the colony receives 1 Leadership Point when an opponent collects a resource from their colony.

COLONIZE: Place a colony marker from your Command Ship on an unoccupied planet or asteroid field, and score Leadership points for the sector (see Scoring). Unoccupied means there is not already a colony in that sector. Your Command Ship must be in the same sector as the Colony.

Note that there can be only 1 Colony per sector, but there may be up to three planets/asteroid fields per sector. When placing the Colony, choose which planet to put it on, that will determine the resources the colony produces and the upgrades available at that Colony.

Asteroid Fields can be mined for valuable minerals. A Mine can be established in an Asteroid by placing a colony marker from your Command Ship there as a Colonize action. Your Command Ship must be in the sector with the Asteroid Field to do this. The Mine does not count as a colony and does not score Leadership points at the end of the game. Owning the mine makes the sector less dangerous for you to pass through.

When a planet occurs in the same sector as a mine, the sector is worth Leadership points as normal: 2 points per planet (Asteroid Fields don't count) plus 1 per sector back to the Outpost. A mine in a sector by itself scores nothing.

DELIVER RESOURCES: Place any number of resource cubes from your cargo holds onto the Cargo Ship and collect the appropriate Credit reward for each based on the supply and demand tracks. Each time the Cargo Ship fills up, it ships back to Earth and empties, and the S/D track for each resource is updated. Your Command Ship must be at Terra Prime to deliver resources. You may have more resources to deliver than there are available slots on the Cargo Ship. Only the resources that fit on the Cargo Ship may be delivered. When the Cargo Ship fills, it is not available again until the next turn.

UPGRADE SHIP/INSTALL MODULE:

Modules: Ship upgrade modules are available at planets*. Each color planet has a particular module it can supply. In order to install a module, discard the required Credits and place the Module tile in one of the appropriate slots on your Command Ship board. Modules cost 1 Credit, plus 1 Credit for each module of the same type already installed. For example, the first Shield module costs 1 Credit, while the third Weapon module costs 3 Credits. Players are allowed a maximum of 1 module per planet per visit.

The owner of the colony receives 1 Leadership Point when an opponent installs a module at their colony.

* Weapon Modules are purchased at Terra Prime, not at a planet. All other Modules are purchased at planets, not at Terra Prime.

Command Ships begin with the capacity to install 2 of each module. To install more than 2 of any module, players must invest in Tech Upgrades.

Tech Upgrades: Tech Upgrades are available at Terra Prime. In order to install a Tech Upgrade, discard the required Resources and move your marker to the next space on the appropriate upgrade track. Players are allowed 1 Tech upgrade per tech track per visit to Terra Prime

Available Modules and Upgrades:

Cargo Hold: Each Command Ship starts with 1 Cargo Hold, but the capacity to install only 2. Each cargo hold can store up to 2 resources. Command Ships have space for 4 cargo holds. Tech Upgrades: 1. Max 4 Cargo Holds, 2a. Cargo Shuttle (see below), 2b. Cryo Chamber (see below)

Fuel Cell: Each Command Ship starts with 1 Fuel Cell, but the capacity to install only 2. During their turn, players get 1 action plus 1 action per Fuel Cell. Command Ships have space for 4 Fuel Cells.
Tech Upgrades: 1. Max 4 Fuel Cells, 2. 1 Additional Explore action allowed per turn, 3. Additional action per turn

Weapons: Weapons help repel hostile aliens. Each Command Ship has space for 4 Weapons, but the capacity to install only 2.
Tech Upgrades: 1. Max 4 Weapons upgrades, 2. 1 Additional die per attack, 3. hits scored on 3+ (i.l.o. 4+)

Shields: Shields help avoid damage from asteroid fields and hostile alien attacks. Each Command Ship has space for 4 Shields, but the capacity to install only 2.
Tech Upgrades: 1. Max 4 Shield upgrades, 2. 1 Additional die per attack, 3. hits cancelled on 4+ (i.l.o. 5+)

Cargo Shuttle: A Cargo Shuttle requires 2 empty Cargo Holds (4 cargo slots), but can hold 3 Resource cubes. It can be sent to Terra Prime to deliver cubes. Play this ability as a Deliver Resources action, but your Command Ship need not be at Terra Prime. Discard the Cargo Shuttle after delivering resources.

If the resources delivered via the Cargo Shuttle fill the Cargo Ship, then any excess is moved to the Earth Board as well. Receive Credits for each resource as if they all fit on the Cargo Ship.

Cryo Chamber: Command Ships can normally carry 1 Colony marker at a time. A Cryo Chamber upgrade increases that capacity to 3 Colony markers. REFILL CRYO CHAMBER: Refill the Cryo Chamber on your Command Ship. Basic Command Ships can hold 1 Colony marker, while Upgraded Cryo Chambers can hold 3.

USE SATELLITE SCANNER: Peek at any face down tile. Your Command Ship must be at Terra Prime to use the satellite scanner.

PASS: Do nothing. Your Command Ship stays were it is. Hostile Aliens:
Hostile Aliens lurk in the deep reaches of space, but they steer clear of Federation outposts. The green space tiles, which are placed nearest to Terra Prime, are safe from alien presence. When exploring Yellow space tiles it is increasingly likely that aliens will attack, and in the Red space tiles the aliens are more likely to appear and they are more vicious as well.

When a Space tile is drawn during the Explore action, it may or may not have any Alien symbols in the center of it. Alien symbols indicate a Hostile Alien attack.

Alien Attack: For each Alien symbol on the tile, roll 1d6. For each 4, 5, or 6 rolled, the Aliens score a hit. Then, for each Shield module roll 1d6. For each 5 or 6 rolled, cancel 1 Alien hit. For each hit that was not cancelled, discard 1 Module from your Command Ship. If you have no modules, then lose 3 Leadership Points. The starting Fuel Cell and Cargo Hold cannot be lost.

Fighting back: For each Weapon module, roll 1d6. For every 4, 5, or 6 rolled, score 1 hit against the Aliens. If you score at least as many hits against aliens as there are Alien symbols on the tile, you have defeated the aliens. Put one of your Colony markers from the supply on the Alien symbols, they no longer have any effect on the game. Score 3 Leadership Points per Alien Symbol on the tile.

When a tile is explored, the Alien attack occurs first. For tiles already mapped with Aliens present, a player may use their weapons (or diplomacy - see below) first. For each successful hit, the Aliens roll 1 less die for their attack, even if the player fails to defeat them.

Aliens only attack once, and players only get to fight back once per action. A player intending to defeat the Aliens may Pass as their next action and attack the Aliens again. Note that in this case, all the symbols are to be considered - even if one was 'hit' during the previous action.

Diplomacy: A player may try Diplomatic means to befriend the aliens. Instead of fighting back, a player may offer resources to the aliens. Discard any number of resource cubes from your Cargo Holds to attempt to befriend the aliens. Roll 1d6 per discarded resource cube. Each 4, 5, or 6 counts as 1 Successful Negotiation with the aliens. If you get as many Successful Negotiations as there are alien symbols on the tile, then you have befriended the aliens. Put one of your Colony markers from the supply on the Alien symbols, they no longer have any effect on the game. Score 3 Leadership Points per Alien Symbol on the tile. At the end of each action, if a Command Ship is in a sector adjacent to Hostile Aliens, the aliens attack as described above.

Asteroid Fields and Stray Asteroids:
Some space tiles have Asteroid symbols. Symbols may appear in the vertex of a Space tile, or in the center. Asteroid Fields occur in a vertex and are located in a particular sector. Stray Asteroids occur in the center of a Space tile and are only considered when that tile is revealed.

Treat Stray Asteroids as an alien attack. Roll as many dice as there are Asteroids depicted in the center of the tile. You may not fight back, irrespective of Weapon upgrades. You may not befriend Stray Asteroids. Shield modules do apply to cancel hits from asteroids.

Once the tile is explored, a Stray Asteroid has no effect on the game. Whenever a Command Ship enters a sector with an Asteroid Field in it, treat it as an alien attack. Roll 1 die for each asteroid depicted in the Asteroid Field. Roll one die less if you have colonized the sector containing the Asteroid Field. Every 4, 5, or 6 rolled is a potential hit. Then roll 1 die for each Shield module. For each 5 or 6 rolled, cancel 1 hit. Discard a module from your Command Ship for each uncancelled hit. If you have no modules, then lose 3 Leadership Points. The starting Fuel Cell and Cargo Hold cannot be lost.

Game End:
The game end is triggered by the following occurances...
1. Any player places a colony marker such that they have only 2 remaining between their supply and their Command Ship, or
2. When the last yellow Space tile is explored.

Once the game end is triggered, each player takes 1 more turn and then the game ends - the last player to play will be the player who triggered the game end.

Scoring:
During the game, players score Leadership points as follows:
For each colony placed, determine the shortest path to Terra Prime. Score 1 Leadership Point for each sector along that path - not including the sector the colony is in, but including the Terra Prime outpost - plus 2 Leadership Points for each planet in the colonized sector. Asteroid Fields do not add to the Leadership value of a colony. Mines without planets in the sector score no points. Mines with planets in the sector score normally as a colony.

For each Colony marker you have on a Hostile Alien tile, score 3 Leadership Points per Alien Symbol.

At the end of the game, score 1 Leadership Point per Credit chip.

There might be a Mission score as well, for bonuses from Mission cards

The player with the most Leadership is the winner, and gets promoted to Lieutenant!