Acts

Gameplay is divided into three basic phases of play along with a prologue and epilogue. Each prologue and epilogue are static and change only in as much as picking the listing for the race you have chosen.

Prologue

In many ways, these remain the same from one race to another, but they are meant to lead into the mindset of each race. Since the senses, values, and natures of each race will vary a bit, the prologue is meant to offer both a transition into the mind of these beings and to open your imagination for the scenes to come. Try to be immersed in what is there and hopefully it will ease you into the strange world of these future beings.

Where we came from

This is the phase of play meant to establish the characters and their relationships. The minimum number of rounds is 1, but it should rarely exceed 3 rounds of play. There is only one card drawn from Sickles and Society in this phase and no other cards are drawn until the start of phase 2. Something minor has changed in their world and new discoveries are on the horizon. They may not realize it, but everything is about to change and before we can see how that affects them, we need to see who they are. Each player should spend this phase working out the details of their relationships with other players. The phase ends when all players agree that they have established the interpersonal relationships of their characters and who they themselves are.

Who we were

At the beginning of this phase of play, every round is begun with a card is drawn for Social and Sickle. Each round is a number of generations later and these cards represent the culture that the players are now living in. Some Social cards will contain rules that adjust gameplay for that round and each Sickle earned is retained and may create permanent shifts in the rules. Drawing the same sickle as is already held can vary in effect and will be noted on the card.

This phase begins the allowance of token use, found in the token section. It is likely that in this phase, Structure cards will begin to be drawn, which will establish a location for the scene beyond simply an exposed wild location. Every second round, a Wild card is drawn, indicating some unexpected event that causes a rapid change. When a wild card is drawn, it will contain rules relating to how the game is played for that round and other affects on the players.

What we learned

This phase begins only in one of several cases. First, if every Sickle card has been drawn at least once, then play moves forward. Second, if no player has tokens left then phase three begins. Lastly, if the players buy more than 6 Sickle cards in a single round total between them using tokens, the final phase of the game is entered. When this stage is reached, you are in the final days before the arrival of humanity. It may be that the race developed slowly over time or perhaps that it hit a surge of innovations that have propelled it ahead as the industrial and digital ages have for humanity. Alternatively, it could be that the race has slowed down, carried more by the winds of change than by its own actions (lack of tokens). Whatever the case may be, this phase has exactly two rounds. Round one should be the climax in interpersonal relationships, resolving conflicts that have arisen through game play. Round two is a slowdown and tying up of loose ends in the plots. There should be a sense of having grown and gained here and when the last player has had a scene conclude in the final round, players each explain how their character reacts to the arrival of strange beings from space who claim this was always their world.

Epilogue

This is another static text where the one who told the story of the players finishes up and draws down the ending. After reading the epilogue, players can determine their degree of success by tallying dominion from their character sheets. How did your race score? There isn't a true winning or losing, but there can be a sense of accomplishment if the number is high.

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