FAQ and Errata

Galactic Boosts - Difficulty Adjustments

Want some help in building a Federation? Take a boost! The Zibzab branch of the Department of Fun has made the following options available, if you'd like to adjust the difficulty of the game. During the first turn's Gather step, gain the following benefits. In a 2P game, split the dice as you desire.

Smol Boost: Gain 2 Fleets, and roll two black Ultratech dice.

Medium Boost: Gain 4 Fleets, one Probe, and roll one die of each color (including black).

Supernova Boost: Gain 6 fleets, two Probes, and roll one die of each color (including black). Also gain a black Ultratech die with value 6.

Milestones

There are effectively two types of Milestone - passive and active. Passive milestones, like "Have 12 Science" or "End the Results phase with no cards in the Discovery Zone" can be claimed when their conditions are fulfilled. Active milestones, like "Spend 7 [Tech Star]" or "Exile Colonies with three different resources" can be claimed by performing the action described. Each Milestone is claimed independently. In particular, the following changes would make some Milestones clearer:

Guardians (1 and 2P): Each of the milestones should start wth "At any time:", to indicate that you can exile the indicated colonies at any time to satisfy the milestone's requirements. Each milestone is achieved independently by exiling one or more colonies.

Scientists (1 and 2P): The Scientists' third milestone should start with "Action:", to indicate that you spend the Tech Star tokens during the Action Phase to satisfy the milestone's requirements.

Mathematicians (1 and 2P): The third milestone for discarding dice should start with "Action:", to indicate that you discard the dice during the Action Phase to satisfy the milestone's requirements.

Errata

Explorers (1P) First Milestone: This milestone should read "Anytime: Have 5 of one resource type." It's a little too hard to achieve this early, and if paired with a Homeworld that has a longer-term Milestone, it can block early progress

Mathematicians (1P and 2P) - First Milestone This milestone should read "End of Turn: Have exactly 15[influence] at Discovery Zone Locations." Having 5 at each of three locations was sometimes dependent on too much luck, so we adjusted it to give players a bit more leeway.

Mathematicians (1P and 2P) - Precise Calculations Precise Calculations should read "Roll a die from the supply and place it in the space above. You may spend [FLEET] to calibrate it.". The second tier ability allows you to spend up to [FLEET][FLEET] instead. The third tier ability allows you to place and set the die, instead of rolling it. This is a slightly different reworking of the Mathematicians ability, we've tried it out and hope you enjoy the new version.

Preservation Authority Confrontation Card (Liberation side): The bottom of the card should say "May fill" not "May flip". The number of rows you can fill on that side is limited by the adversary's current [X] value.

Rulebook, p35 (Resolve: Starbase) - should read: "Spend dice from the Research Lab to pay for one or more Study/Probe actions according to the costs shown there, to tuck cards face-up under the right edge of the starbase as Science. Launching a Probe tucks the top card of the deck. Studying a Location tucks the Location card (Influence there provides a discount, then is discarded)."

The second paragraph as-is in the v1.0 rulebook is the wrong version of the text. We'll probably revise it further to make it even more clear in the future.

FAQ

How does the Research Lab work?

The Research Lab on the Starbase is an area where you can put leftover dice, which can be spent to earn Science during the Results Phase. When resolving that part of the Starbase, you can choose how to spend all those dice. Choosing to Launch a Probe costs 2-3 dice (depending on Starbase Class), which allows you to flip the top card of the deck face-up and tuck it under the right edge of the Starbase, showing it's science icons. Choosing to Study a Location costs 0-4 dice. The base cost is the science value of the location, and it's reduced by 1 for each Influence you already have there, and reduced by an additional 1 on the class 4 Starbase. The cost can't go below 0. When you Study a Location, you discard all the influence there, and then tuck the card under the right edge of the Starbase, showing it's science icons.

If you put many dice on the Research Lab, you can potentially launch several probes / study multiple locations. Each Starbase Class lists the limit of probes per turn, and there is no limit to the number of studied Locations. You cannot, however, study an Encounter in this way.

Can the Mathematicians ignore Restrictions?

No, dice placed using the Mathematicians ability still must obey the Restrictions on the card. They only ignore the color/number rules.

If a Location gains enough influence during the Action phase, can you claim it?

No - Locations are only claimed during the Results phase.

Can you upgrade the Starbase's Class during the Action phase?

No - even when resolving dice on the Starbase with Adaptive Research or gaining Science via other means, you can only upgrade the Starbase during the Results phase.

Discard: Discarded dice and discs are sent to the general supply.