Stationfall

Welcome to the Launch Manual

This is the rulebook to start with if you have never played Stationfall before and want to learn how to play it. It also contains the solo version rules: “Station Automation.”

Where Are You?

Something’s wrong. The Station crew are hustling here and there but no one is answering my questions. Does this have anything to do with that weird noise earlier? Or that weird comm I got last night? Is that robot looking at me funny? Hey, that guy is wearing a helmet; do I need a helmet!? A glance out the window confirms the whole Station is tumbling… that’s odd, but is it dangerous? If there was danger there’d be an alarm or something, right? And has the Earth always looked that… big?

Who Are You?

Imagine a dozen or so random humans, robots, and none-of-the-aboves, each with their own Abilities, Agenda, and secret relationships, running wild on a space station because it is going to be incinerated in less than 15 minutes. You are one of them, and you have collaborators, forming a conspiracy together, ready to assist you in achieving your Agenda. And your conspirators may be allied with others on the station, without your knowledge, which may be problematic for you. There’s also definitely, probably, some sort of alien presence or murderous monster locked up on board, which may be problematic for all.

Stationfall is a box full of creative solutions, but that box is going to morph, twist, and grow teeth over the course of play. Your best turns will exploit the unique tactical freedom of utilizing your conspiracy to achieve your Secret Identity’s Agenda, as well as deductions about your opponents’ identities and Agendas. Stationfall is messy, intricate, and full of dangerous variables.

Good luck!

Rulebooks Guide

Stationfall comes with three rulebooks:

Stationfall Launch Manual

This is the book you are reading and it is the best place to start your journeys. In it you will find:

• The Components and a map with all related terminology indicated, located on the foldout part of the cover.
• A Tutorial game where you play following special game instructions. The rules are not altered or simplified but you are progressively introduced to the rules as you play and only a selection of characters are used. In addition you play with Lindsey, a scripted player provided by the rules. She is playing with her hand open so all can see and learn from her choices.
• Station Automation: A ruleset for playing with Bots, for either solo or cooperative play. Can also be used in any other game mode of Stationfall.

Stationfall Reference Manual

Useful to have available whenever you play Stationfall, including when you play the Tutorial game. It is written as a reference guide, in a deliberately condensed and formal way. It has an index and icon library on the back and is intended to work as a player aid.

Stationfall Character Dossier

In it you will find special rules that Characters add to the game. Characters’ Abilities and other rules found on the Character cards are in this book. You will also find rules that the components linked to a Character have. Each Character has a backstory also included in the Character Dossier. In addition the Project X cards are presented here.

Components

• 1st Player Marker: 1 pc. Placed in front of the starting player.
• Abandon Ship Marker: 1 pc. Shows if Abandon Ship has been declared or not.
• Activation Disc: 9 pcs (1 per player). Placed to Activate Character.
• Annihilated Marker: Back of Escaped. Placed to show who is Annihilated.
• Antimatter: 1 pc. Item.
• Artifact: 1 pc. Item.
• Asphyxiation Hazard: 16 pcs, back of Fire Hazard.
• Bludgeon: 16 pcs. Item, used to Rob/Attack or Sabotage.
• Bribe Marker: 12 pcs. +1 action or +1 Point at Stationfall.
• Briefcase: 1 pc. Item.
• Camera/Jammer Status: 2 pcs. Shows Cameras’ or Jammers’ statuses.
• Contamination Token: Back of Lock. Contaminated and takes up an Item slot.
• Cyborg Character: 1 pc. Human/Robot Character pawn.
• Damaged Token: 30 pcs, back of Grey Goo. Placed on Damaged Section.
• Digital Assistant: 20 pcs, back of X-Secret. This Character is Data.
• Down Marker: 20 pcs. Marks Downed Characters.
• Escaped Marker: 20 pcs, back of Annihilated. Marks Escaped Characters.
• Evidence: 20 pcs, back of NDA. Data. Manufactured in Security Station.
• Fire: 16 pcs, back of Asphyxiation. Hazard.
• Firebomb: 8 pcs. Item. Drop/Throw to set Sections on Fire.
• Fletcher: 1 pc. Item. Only in play if Billionaire is in the game.
• Grey Goo: 30 pcs, back of Damage. Placed on Sections, Project X: Grey Goo.
• Guilt Marker: 9 pcs (1 per player). Used on the Guilt Track.
• Gun: 6 pcs. Item, used to Rob/Attack or Sabotage.
• Helmet: 12 pcs. Item. Protects Humans from Bludgeons and Hazards.
• Human Character: 21 pcs. Human Character pawns.
• Influence Cube: 72 pcs (8 per player). Marks Influence over Characters.
• Kompromat Token: 26 pcs. Spend to do 1 Action with a Character.
• Lock: 20 pcs, back of Contamination. Prevents Steps through Corridors.
• Map/Ability Modifications: 18 pcs. Character-based Map customizations.
• Medical Marker: 1 pc. Tracks Medical’s Agenda progression.
• Minute Marker: 1 pc. Marks the turns left to Stationfall.
• Minute Markers for 2 Player: 9 pcs. Track Character order in 2 player games.
• Nanogel: 8 pcs. Item. Used to Revive Downed Characters.
• NDA: 20 pcs, back of Evidence. Data. Only if Legal is in the game.
• Power Status Marker: 1 pc. Tracks Damaged Power Sections.
• Project X Character: 1 pc. Project X pawn.
• Re-entry Token: 3 pcs. Randomize at setup, determines turn 0.
• Reveal Marker: 9 pcs (1 per player). Tokens that show who has Revealed.
• Robot Character: 6 pcs. Robot Character pawns.
• Rocket Wings: 1 pc. Item. Only if Daredevil is in the game.
• Telepathic Rat: 1 pc. This Character is an Item.
• Time Markers: 27 pcs (3 per player). Tracks future events.
• Trap: 3 pcs. Only if Operative is in game. Token that might be a trap.
• X-Secret Data: 20 pcs, back of Digital Assistant. Player may peek at Project X.

Station Map Features

• Minute Track: Where you track what Minute (turn) you are at using the Minute marker.
• Power Status Track: Reflects the number of Damaged Power Sections and the effect these have.
• Betrayal Box: Other players’ Influence cubes will go to the Betrayal Box after Revealing.
• Corridor: Paths between Sections that cost 1 Step Action to pass.
• Vent: Paths between Sections that only Characters with the Tunnel Rat Ability can Step through.
• Dark Section: Downing a Human in a Dark Section does not affect the acting player on the Guilt track.
• Power Section: Power Sections (bolt icon) affect the Power Status.
• Gravity Section: Blue Sections have gravity.
• Zero Gravity Section: Pink and Green sections do not have Gravity.
• Outer Space: Outer Space counts as a Section outside of the station. Humans need a Helmet.
• Cameras: Cameras witness the Downing of Humans in Lit Sections.
• Guilt Track: Tracks Players’ Guilt status. All players start Innocent.
• Section Name / Action Bubble: The name, Actions and Effects unique to this Section.
• Authorities: Place a copy of Data sent to the Authorities here.
• News: Place a copy of Data sent to the News here.
• Mesosphere: Escaped Characters and Pods are moved here until Stationfall.

Cards Overview

Stationfall features four primary card decks that define characters, identities, bot instructions, and special project events.

27 Identity Cards

• Influence Limit: Located at the top right of the card.
• Agenda: Listed statements indicating scoring conditions.
• Reveal Power: Ability granted upon revealing.
• Strategy Tip: Tactical advice for accomplishing the character’s agenda.
• Bonus Points: Points awarded when used as a Bonus Character (BC).
• Card Number: Reference identifier.

28 Bot Script Cards

• Script Conditions: Prerequisites triggering specific script routines.
• Bot Card Indicator: Identifies automated bot instructions.
• Focus Script & Default Script: Action priority sequences for bot turns.

27 Character / Bot Cards

• Abilities: Inherent character abilities and special actions.
• Influence Limit & Activation Disc Placement: Locations for placing influence cubes and activation markers.
• Start Position & Setup Instructions: Initial spawn location and special setup notes.
• Item Placement: Dedicated slots for carrying items.
• Reveal Power & Agenda: Character agenda and power once revealed.

8 Project X Cards

• Start Position & Setup Instructions: Placement and initial setup for Project X.
• Abilities: Monster / hazard rules and behaviors.
• Release and Resolve Instructions: Triggers for unleashing Project X and resolving end-of-turn effects.

Tutorial Game Setup

Use the Board setup shown in the Component and Section presentation at the start of this Launch Manual. It shows the setup as it is intended in the tutorial game. Start by placing the station board between all players.

Player Components

The Tutorial game is meant to be played by 3 players, using 12 specific Characters and 4 player colors (3 colors for the 3 players and one for a scripted player called “Lindsey”). If there are more than 3 players, some can play 1 Character together. If you are 2, or even only 1 player, play with the surplus players’ cards open and decide together what the surplus players do during their turns.

Each player takes:

• 8 Influence cubes
• 1 Activation disc
• 1 Bribe token
• 1 Reveal marker
• 1 Guilt marker
• 3 Time markers

in a color of their choice. Randomly assign a starting player and give that player the “1st player marker.”

Character Cards

Normally the Character cards are randomly drawn from all available Characters. This time we will play using a specific set of 12 Characters; place the following Character cards on the table next to the board:

• Astrochimp
• Counselor
• Cyborg
• Daredevil
• Engineer
• Exile
• Medical
• Security
• Station Chief
• Stowaway
• Stranger
• Troubleshooter

NOTE: These 12 Characters provide less complexity and in most cases a more balanced and less chaotic game than a game with randomly selected Characters. It may be used when introducing the game to new players, or at anytime when these qualities are desired.

Find the Identity cards, Character pawns and Kompromats (Kompromat is short for “compromising material”) for the 12 Characters in play.

Secret Identities and How to Win

In this game Lindsey is playing with her cards open. Give her the Identity cards for Engineer and Station Chief.

From the 12 Identity cards, deal 2 random cards to each player, face down. You can look at them but keep them secret.

On the Identity cards, some of the information is identical to the Character cards. And some of the information is new. The Agenda is found on both. It is a list of statements with stars in front of them. The Agenda tells you how you get the main portion of your points in Stationfall. The scoring procedure is explained at the end of the tutorial game in the Chapter “Stationfall.”

Lindsey chose the Engineer as her Secret Identity, and has the Station Chief as her Bonus Character (called BC). This means that she will get points from the Engineer’s Agenda + Bonus points if the Station Chief is Down at Stationfall (the end of the game is called Stationfall). She rotates the Station Chief 180 degrees to mark her choice.

Now it is your turn to choose your Secret Identity. The winner is the one who gets the most points from their Secret Identity’s Agenda. There are strategy tips on the Identity card on how you can achieve your Agenda. Consider them if you want. But if this is your first time playing Stationfall, choose a Secret Identity with your gut feeling.

• Of the two identity cards you received, you will choose one to be your Secret Identity and the other will become your bonus character (BC) which score Friend or Grudge points for you.
• Keep your Secret Identity as it is and rotate the BC 180 degrees, both still secret to the other players.

Sections, Items and Pawns on the Station

Put components on the map following the list below:

• Map modifications: Place the 4 Pods Alcatraz, Hail Mary, Houdini and McQueen, arrow side up, on their places, connected to Aft Airlocks in the top of the map. In addition, place other map modifications according to the Character cards in the game. In our chosen mix of 12 characters, this means:
  • Counselor adds Shred Room to Therapy Garden.
  • Daredevil adds the Rocket Wings Launch Action to Outer Space.
  • Engineer adds a modification rule to Reactor.
  • Station Chief adds Medevac Pod to Forward Airlocks.
  • Troubleshooter adds Cargo Claw to Forward Airlocks.

• Kompromat: Normally you would shuffle all Kompromats face down and place them on the icons on the board, starting at the bottom of the map (only on the purple ones).
  For this Tutorial game, place Astrochimp’s Kompromat on the green Kompromat spot in Therapy garden. Place the remaining 11 shuffled Kompromats face down on purple Kompromat icons, starting from the bottom. Leave one purple location in Pod Houdini without a Kompromat.
• Markers: Place the following on the board:
  • Each player’s Guilt marker on “Innocent”.
  • The 3-9 player Minute marker on the Minute track’s slot 13.
  • Randomize the 3 Reentry tokens face down, and place 1 on the slot on the Minute track.
  • The “Abandon ship marker” on the “Abandon Ship” box in top right of the board.
  • The Cameras’ and Jammer’s markers with their “ON” side up in the Cameras and Jammer boxes.
  • The Power Status marker on “Normal Power.”
• Pawns: Place the Characters’ pawns according to their starting location, written on their Character cards.
• Character Items starting on the map: Place Daredevil’s Rocket Wings in Print Shop.
• Project X: Place 1 random face down Project X card on its place near Vault X.
• Items: Artifact in Physics Lab, Antimatter in Magnetic Containment, and Briefcase in Suite.
• Helmets , Bludgeons , Nanogel where there are such setup icons.
• Locks on the corridors, covering the open lock icon , leading to Reactor, Vault X and Shred Room.
• An Asphyxiation token in Magnetic Containment.
• All remaining punch out tokens sorted and available where every player can reach them. This is referred to as the supply.

NOTE: You put the “Minute” marker on 13 in a 4 player game. In Stationfall each turn represents 1 minute of the hectic final moments of the Station. So in this game it simulates what you do when you realize that the station is going to disintegrate in…13 minutes.

You can find this complete game set up on the fold-out page at the beginning of this book. Note that for this tutorial set-up only, Houdini’s Kompromat has moved to Therapy Garden.

The Turns in Stationfall

by Jon Manker — “The sun is new each day.” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

This Tutorial game is a learning experience. It is meant to be played twice. The first time you play, continue on your own until 9 turns, called minutes to Stationfall. The second time you play, the tutorial runs until 7 minutes to Stationfall. At Stationfall you Score points. As mentioned, these are described in the chapter “Stationfall” at the end of the tutorial game.

The Component list and the Map illustrations on the cover fold out in the beginning of this book are helpful when you play the Tutorial game. The Actions you take are relatively simple in Stationfall but the multitude of Items, Sections, Characters etc, may seem overwhelming. But you do not have to study all those beforehand, you can enjoy exploring them while playing instead. And after a while the mechanics start to blend into a fascinating movie, with a new story each time.

Turns are called Minutes in Stationfall. Each Minute as a player you do the following, in this order:

1. Reveal your Secret Identity, if you want.
2. Place Influence Cubes , if you want.
3. Activate a Character with your Activation disc OR Renegotiate:
   • If you Activate you have the potential to do each of the following things in any order:
     • 1 Action (Actions can be Basic, Section or Character specific).
     • 1 Extra Action (if the Character was not Exhausted).
     • 1 Free Pick Up or Drop, if you want.
     • Kompromat Action: spend a Kompromat to do 1 Action with a specific Character indicated on the Kompromat.
     • Bribe: spend a Bribe to do 1 Action with any Character.
   • If you Renegotiate you return your Activation disc and 1 of your Influence cubes from any of the Character cards to your supply.
4. Resolve Time markers and Project X actions.

Tutorial Game Layout

This Tutorial text is separated into chapters called “Minutes.” Each chapter has three parts:

• The first part describes the concepts explained in this chapter.
• The second part written in this style tells you what Lindsey does separated into Lindsey’s strategy, and Lindsey’s Actions. Lindsey will never accept Bribes or Kompromats. You will learn during the game what those are.
• • The third part written in this style tells you what you are supposed to do during that minute.

Because of Lindsey: There are some things that you are not allowed to do, due to Lindsey. Such things are noted in red, like this.

13 Minutes to Stationfall (Turn 1)

“Your character is your fate” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

One special feature of Stationfall is that, even though your Secret Identity is one specific Character, you take actions using several Characters. You place your Influence cube on Characters (at the feet of the portrait) to make them your Conspirators. Then you place your Activation disc (above their portrait) on any one of your Conspirators to take your actions with that Character.

A Character is your Conspirator when you have at least one Influence cube on it and at least as many cubes as any other player. (You do not need the most cubes, just be tied for most cubes.) So if you have 1 cube on a Character and another player also has 1 cube on the same Character, that Character is a Conspirator to both of you. In addition the Character has to be Live to be possible to Activate. All Characters in this Tutorial game are Live at the start of the game. We’ll come across other states, such as Down or Escaped, later on in this tutorial.

When you Activate a Conspirator you get:

• 1 Action with that Character if it is Exhausted = it has at least 1 Activation disc on it at the start of your turn.
• 2 Actions with that Character if it is NOT Exhausted = it has no Activation disc on it at the start of your turn.

NOTE: All player’s Activation discs count, including your own.

Example: You activate Troubleshooter turn 1 by placing the first disc on her Character card, and do 2 actions with her. The next turn she is Exhausted to all players since your disc is on her card, if you decide to activate her again, this time you can only do 1 action with her (unless you use a Bribe or her Kompromat).

In addition you always get 1 Free Pick Up/Drop Action when you Activate a Character.

In this first turn we will focus on the Actions “Step” and “Pick Up.” Step is to move a Character’s pawn between the Sections in the station, following the Corridors.

You can Pick Up two kinds of things on the Station:

• Items (square shaped) may enable certain actions and/or may score points. An Item is placed on the Item slots which are the dark areas at the right end of the Character card. Each Item slot holds max one item, unless otherwise noted on the Character card.
• Kompromats belong to the Player and not the Character that picked it up. They are held in your hand, kept secret until used.
• Contamination tokens are a special case that takes up one Item slot. Whether you want it or not, any Character that enters Bio Lab receives a Contamination token, placed on one of its Item Slots. It has relevance for some Characters’ Agendas but has no additional bad effect. (Well, no bad effects right now for the characters on the Station, but may of course have some really bad effects on people back on the ground if it gets there. But that’s a whole other movie…)

Lindsey’s Strategy

Note that Lindsey’s Secret Identity, Engineer, has an Agenda that is affected by Contamination. Because Engineer is Lindsey’s Secret Identity, she does not want any Contaminated Characters to Escape from the station. Escape is described at p. 11. Looking further at Engineer/Lindsey’s Agenda, the straightforward way to score many points is to blow up something called the Antimatter . Antimatter is an Item found in the section “Magnetic Containment.” The Antimatter will detonate 4 Minutes after being removed from Magnetic Containment, so Lindsey would like that to happen, and probably fast, to mess up other players’ plans. So, what to do?

The Antimatter is in a Section behind a locked corridor. Locked corridors can be passed by Characters that have the Officer Ability (which removes the lock). The Engineer has that Ability. But to make it harder for other players to guess Lindsey’s Secret Identity she will try to use the Station Chief for the Antimatter. Station Chief also has the Officer Ability. Antimatter is in a room with a Hazard token .

A Human needs a Helmet on their Character card to survive a Hazard. So somehow Lindsey needs to get a Helmet for Station Chief. Since she knows she will make use of Station Chief in the process.

NOTE: Outer Space represents space, immediately outside the station. In the game this is 1 Section and you move to and from it using Step Action following the Outer Space arrows. These are sometimes bidirectional and sometimes only allowing one direction. Moving to and from Outer Space takes 1 Step, just as any other movement between Sections. This way, a space walk into Outer Space can be a shortcut. To move from Forward Airlocks to Aft Airlocks for example only requires 2 Steps via Outer Space. Also note that Outer Space is Hazardous, so any Human Character has to have a Helmet to be able to go there.

Lindsey’s Actions

Lindsey will play with her Kompromats open since her hand is open in this Tutorial. She makes Station Chief a Conspirator.

• Place 1 Influence cube on Station Chief’s Character card. Since it is her first turn, Station Chief is her only Conspirator.
• Place her Activation disc on Station Chief. Station Chief was not Exhausted so Lindsey gets 1 extra Action = 2 Actions. Station Chief starts in Therapy Garden. Lindsey chooses to use the once-per-turn Free Pick Up there immediately.
• Pick Up the Kompromat. The Kompromat is Astrochimp’s.

Lindsey’s Strategy (Continued)

Lindsey’s plan was to move Station Chief to Storage to Pick Up the Helmet there, but since she got the Astrochimp Kompromat, it is probably a better idea to have Astrochimp help out with that during a later Minute.

Lindsey’s Actions (Continued)

Lindsey chooses to take the Action “Step” twice:

• Step Station Chief from Therapy Garden to Aft Hub and then to Reactor.

The Players’ Actions – Turn 1

Decide who goes after Lindsey and continue clockwise around the table. During this first turn:

Because of Lindsey: Do not place Influence cubes on Station Chief, Stowaway or Astrochimp to make Lindsey’s Actions work in future turns. Avoid Picking Up the Helmet in the Aft Airlocks to make Lindsey’s Actions work in future turns.

• Create your first Conspirator, by placing 1 Influence cube on any Character card. If one of the cards’ two abilities is in a purple box, there may be special rules on how to place Influence or discs there, it is written on the card in these cases.
• Place your activation disc on your Conspirator.
• Take 1-2 actions. (1 action if the Character was Exhausted, otherwise 2) Choose between Step and Pick Up in any combination.
• If you can, Pick Up a Kompromat. Try to have your activated Conspirator be in a Section with a Kompromat at some point during your turn, and pick this up, as your turn’s Free Pick Up Action.

12 Minutes to Stationfall (Turn 2)

“The unlike is joined together, and from differences results the most beautiful harmony.” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

A new turn means first of all that the Minute marker moves 1 step to the right, in this case to Minute 12. So, 12 minutes left until Stationfall, in game-story time.

• Move the Minute Marker from 13 to 12.

Some Actions require or are modified by Items. As you saw during setup, some Items are available from the start on Characters or in different Sections. Other Items can be manufactured in certain Sections, where it says “Manufacture.” Items are represented by square tokens, they are physical objects that are handled with the Actions Pick Up, Drop, Give, Throw and Rob. These names are rather self explanatory. (As always, check the Reference manual for exact details). Some of the Actions in the game require an Item to perform, such as Sabotage, which means that you damage a Section and disable any Section Actions this Section may allow. (Section Actions are described further in the next Minute.)

Actions might also be affected by Character Abilities. An Ability is written in colored spaces in the middle of the Character cards. They are often important if you want to create powerful combos with your Actions. Their colors indicate which kind of Ability it is: red for offensive Abilities, purple for Abilities that deal with Activation, Influence Cubes, etc. For more details on these colors, see the Character Dossier.

Lindsey’s Strategy

Lindsey wants to Activate a new Character in order to get 2 Actions. If she were to Activate the Station Chief again, she would not get the extra Action, since that Station Chief is Exhausted, which is shown by the fact that there already is an Activation disc on her at the start of Lindsey’s turn. Because of the Kompromat she received last turn, Lindsey thinks making Astrochimp a Conspirator is a good plan to be able to do things with him in preparation for using her Kompromat.

Her plan is to set Astrochimp up to be able to dramatically Throw the helmet in a later Minute to help Station Chief get it. So, focusing on this she chooses to NOT use the Free Pick Up to get the Kompromat in the Kitchen, but wait until after taking two Step actions and Free Pick Up a Helmet.

Lindsey’s Actions

• Place an Influence cube on Astrochimp and move her Activation disc to Astrochimp.
• Step twice, making use of Astrochimp’s Ability “Tunnel Rat.” It lets Astrochimp Step through Vents, which are the dashed yellow lines on the map. This Ability does not cost anything, it just lets Astrochimp have more paths to move along:
  • Step through the Vent that leads from the Kitchen to Reactor.
  • Then, as the second Step, move through the corridor to Aft Airlocks and Free Pick Up the Helmet. Place the Helmet token on Astrochimp’s Character card on one of the Item slots.

Players’ Actions – Turn 2

Same player order as before, this is valid for the rest of the game (and will not be mentioned again).

Because of Lindsey: As before, avoid placing cubes on Station Chief, Stowaway or Astrochimp and do not Reveal as Stowaway or Astrochimp (to make Lindsey’s Action work in future turns).

• Add a new Conspirator to your conspiracy: Place an Influence cube on a Character that is not a Conspirator of yours yet.
• Activate your new Conspirator: Move your Activation disc to that Character card. Remember that you get 1 extra Action if the Character is not Exhausted.
• Try to Pick Up an Item: Moving and picking up a Kompromat is a good thing to do, but also try to find Items to Pick Up this turn that you think can be useful for you.
• Try to utilize the Character’s Ability: If you can, try to make use of an Ability that your new Conspirator has, or at least check its Abilities and read up on them so you know what they mean.

11 Minutes to Stationfall (Turn 3)

“Abundance of knowledge does not teach you to be wise.” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

Start the turn by moving the Minute marker. It should now be on 11.

Apart from Basic Actions, such as Step and Pick Up, there are also Section Actions. All of them are written along with the Section’s name in the text bubble next to the Section (details are found in the Reference manual). Section Actions cost 1 Action to perform, just as the Basic Actions. But they are only available to perform by a Character with its pawn in the Section where the Action can be done.

A Section can be Damaged. Damage means that anything written in its white part of the Section’s text bubble is disabled, including Section Actions there no longer being possible to take. This is marked by placing a Damage token on the Section’s text bubble. Other characteristics of sections, such as Dark, are not affected by Fire.

A Section can be Damaged in several ways, the most obvious one is the Basic Action Sabotage, which requires the Conspirator who takes the Action to have the item Bludgeon or a Gun . Sections can have other attributes mentioned via text or icons, such as Dark or, as in Bio Lab, where Characters get Contaminated by entering.

Lindsey’s Strategy

Lindsey’s Secret Identity, Engineer, also wants to prevent any Contaminated Characters from getting back to Earth (this would give Lindsey 4 points). The Section that contaminates Characters is Bio Lab. A very important factor to consider, a common challenge you will have to deal with in Stationfall, is that other players may use Characters that you have set up for an Action during their turns and thus derailing your plans. We are making it easy for Lindsey, since you are told not to do anything using Station Chief, Astrochimp or Stowaway, but normally this could cause problems.

The Stowaway is a flexible Character that can appear at different Sections at the start of the game. It is also an example of a Character that has special rules when it comes to Activation. Stowaway’s pawn starts on her Character card. Her 1st Action in the game HAS to be to move her pawn from her Character card to any Dark Section on the board. Lindsey has her mind set on dealing with Bio Lab using a Firebomb , so she decides that Stowaway’s 1st move will be to Forward Exhaust.

Lindsey’s Actions

Make Stowaway a Conspirator and Activate her. Stowaway is not Exhausted so Lindsey gets to take 2 Actions.

• Move Stowaway from her Character card to Forward Exhaust.
• Then take a Step Action to move Stowaway to Chem Lab. There Lindsey uses her Free Pick Up to take the Kompromat in Chem Lab (if no one else has taken it already, that is).

Players’ Actions – Turn 3

Because of Lindsey: Still, avoid placing any Influence cubes on Station Chief, Astrochimp or Stowaway.

• Add more Conspirators (if you want): More Conspirators is useful if you want to have more Characters to select from when you Activate.
• Have a Conspirator work towards your Agenda: This time, try to be a bit Creative in what you choose to do, preferably starting to work towards your Secret Identity’s Agenda. Look at the Tip-section on your Secret Identity card for inspiration. Remember to check in the Reference manual and Character Dossier if there are terms you do not understand.

10 Minutes to Stationfall (Turn 4)

“Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

Now that you are more familiar with how to act and move around we will go a bit deeper into some details in the game. This turn we will see an example of how to take more than 2 actions in a turn and cover how to Escape from the station in Pods.

To arm the Antimatter you have to move it out of the Magnetic containment. As mentioned previously, other players’ Actions may (and probably will) interfere with your Actions. If you want something specific to take place, making it happen in one turn before the others predict it is a good idea. Kompromats and Bribes can give you such possibilities. Kompromats add 1 Action for a specific Character and Bribes 1 Action for any Character. In both cases for the current minute.

Lindsey’s Strategy

Lindsey will not be able to get the Antimatter out in 2 Actions (step into Magnetic Containment, Pick Up Antimatter and Step back to Reactor). It requires 3 Actions in this case. And Station Chief does not have a Helmet and has to spend her Free Pick Up on getting that instead of potentially using it for a Free Pick Up of the Antimatter. But she has Astrochimp’s Kompromat and the Bribe token left so she will use these.

Lindsey’s turn in cinematic interpretation:

Astrochimp, floating in zero Gravity in Aft Airlocks, swings his Helmet in a Hail Mary pass through the corridor to Reactor. In Reactor, Station Chief floats towards the incoming Helmet, receiving it (using her Free Pick Up). She floats onwards to Magnetic containment and when reaching the locked door she unlocks the door mid air with her Officer credentials. Station Chief floats into Magnetic containment (taking her first Action “Step”, being protected by the helmet in this Hazardous Section). In Magnetic Containment, Station Chief takes the Antimatter (using “Pick Up” as her second action, moving the Antimatter token to Station Chief’s Item slots). Then Station Chief makes an extra effort, and manages to direct herself out of Magnetic Containment, back to Reactor, (Lindsey spends her precious Bribe token, placing it on Station Chief, symbolizing a Bribe paid earlier, to have Station Chief do an Action, which Lindsey chooses to be “Step”). The Antimatter container has exited the Magnetic containment, it starts blinking red and a warning signal from it tells us it is now armed and unstable and will inevitably detonate in 4 minutes.

Lindsey’s Actions

Don’t add any Influence cubes.

1. Activate Station Chief (move the Activation disc to Station Chief).
2. Use Astrochimp’s Kompromat (place it on left side of Astrochimp’s card) to take the Throw action to move the Helmet from Astrochimp to Reactor.

3. Free Pick Up Helmet with Station Chief, Step into Magnetic Containment (removing the Lock to the supply because of her Officer ability) and Pick Up Antimatter.

4. Use Bribe on Station Chief to Step to Reactor and arm Antimatter, flip it and place one of Lindsey’s Time markers on the Minute track, 4 turns into the future (Minute 6).

Speaking of future turns, did you remember to advance the Minute marker this time? It should now be on slot 10 on the Minute track. (Gold star to you all if you remembered to do so!)

Lindsey did 5 things in 1 turn (including the Free Pick Up). Planning such moves is smart to prevent others from messing with your plans. You only have 1 Bribe and it is worth 1 point at the end, so use it with care and only when it really makes a difference. Furthermore the Bribe is placed on the left side of the Character card (Station Chief in this case). If this Character is another player’s Secret Identity, that player will get 1 point for that Bribe during scoring.

Antimatter & Abandon Ship

Arming the Antimatter means a few things:

• The Antimatter token is flipped to its armed side .
• Abandon Ship is triggered, mark this at the top right of the board by flipping the Abandon ship marker . This also removes all locks from the board. Remove them now.
• Place one of the acting player’s time markers (as you just did for Lindsey). When the Minute marker reaches the time marker, at the end of that player’s turn, the Antimatter will detonate.

If the Antimatter is still on the Station when it detonates, the game ends triggering Stationfall (the game end sequence, described later). If the Antimatter is elsewhere when it detonates, other things may happen, check the Reference manual in these cases.

So, right now there are only 4 turns left. If you need more turns for your agenda, you should try to get the Antimatter off the station when it detonates, in which case the game continues after the Antimatter detonates.

Time markers are placed on the Minute track or on Sections. They indicate that something will occur at the end of a player’s turn: at the end of a specific Minute if it is placed on the Minute track, or at the end of the next Minute if it is placed on a Section. Several different effects involve Time markers, Pod launch is one of them, described below.

Escape and Pods

Many Character’s Agendas understandably deal with Escaping the station. It is also important for BC Friend points . To Escape means that a Character has been moved to the Mesosphere. Characters in the Mesosphere are marked with the Escaped marker , which is placed on the Character card. They cannot be Influenced or Activated any more. The most common way to do so is to use a Pod. The Pod finds its way to the Mesosphere by itself but setting it up for launch may be a challenge.

Each Pod has requirements written in their information text. These need to be met. For most of them this includes Abandon Ship to have been triggered. Because the Antimatter got armed, this has now been taken care of.

A Pod needs at least 1 and can have no more than its maximum number of occupants. The maximum is indicated by silhouettes . Some Characters are not Humans or Robots, Data or an Item. These do not count as occupants. In this tutorial however all included Characters are Humans or Robots.

A Pod is launched by using a Section Action. There are three Section Actions that do this:

• Timed Launch: performed by a Character inside a Pod. The player doing this places one of their Time markers on the Pod. The Pod launches at the end of their next turn.
• Section Launch: performed by a Character in the Section a specific Pod is attached to. This Character is left behind, but the Pod launches immediately, no time marker needed.
• Bridge Launch: performed by a Character at Bridge. This is similar to Section Launch but simultaneously launches all Occupied Pods that have met their Launch requirements.

NOTE: Abandon Ship is automatically triggered at Minute 1, but it is not certain that there is a Minute 0. Two times out of three, there is no Minute 0, this is determined by the Reentry token (the token you placed on the 0 spot on the Minute track during setup). To be certain to be able to launch a Pod from inside it, using the Timed Launch Section Action, you should make sure to trigger Abandon Ship somehow before Minute 1. Causing Blackout from Damaging two Power Sections or taking the Actions Abandon Ship or Self-Destruct from Bridge are examples of ways of doing so. These have other effects too, see Reference Manual for complete information.

Players’ Actions – Turn 4

Because of Lindsey: Do not put Influence cubes on Stowaway. All other Characters are now free for you to use.

• Review your situation: Many things changed because of the arming of the Antimatter and so should your plans. Have a look at your Agenda and the Tip, and see what could be your best course of Action. Stationfall is an ever changing beast, where the other players’ Actions constantly change the conditions for your plans. This is a good example and a good opportunity to practice that.
• Spend a Kompromat: If you have one or more Kompromats, spend 1 of them, like Lindsey did. Just to test using Kompromats. Remember that a Kompromat Action does not come with a Free Pick up/Drop.

9 Minutes to Stationfall (Turn 5)

“This world, which is the same for all, has not been made by any god or man, but it always has been, is, and will be an ever-living fire.” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

Move the Minute marker 1 step.

Here the Tutorial game splits into two paths. If this is the first time you are playing this tutorial keep reading. If it is the second time please skip ahead to the next paragraph, “The 2nd time you play the tutorial.”

The 1st Time You Play the Tutorial:

Continue playing on your own, finish the game and try to get as many points as possible, using what you know so far. When Stationfall occurs, either by the Antimatter detonating On Board or by the Minute marker reaching “Stationfall” look at the “Stationfall” chapter at the end of this tutorial for scoring.

Lindsey’s scripted Actions are over for this game. From Minute 9 and onwards, decide together what Lindsey will do on her turn, being creative on her turns, using variants of the things you’ve learned so far and discussing her options.

The 2nd Time You Play the Tutorial:

Now that you have played through Minute 13-10 twice, continue three more scripted Minutes, 9-7 to get introduced to the rest of Stationfall’s concepts.

You continue on your own when the scripted parts are over, from Minute 6 onwards.

Reveal & Reveal Powers

Reveal is a very important Action. You may Reveal at the start of any of your turns. Revealing means that:

• You place your Secret Identity card face up for all to see for the remainder of the game. Your Secret Identity is now instead your PC (Player Character).
• Your Live PC is always a Conspirator to you.
• You place your Reveal token on the PC Character card, with its Character icon in the Reveal token opening.
• You remove all Influence Cubes from the PC Character card. Your Influence cubes go back to you, other players’ cubes are put in the Betrayal box next to the Minute track. Cubes in the Betrayal box are lost for the player!
• Activation discs remain on the Revealed Character, since it is still relevant if this Character acted recently and is Exhausted.
• Your Reveal power is now active (written at the bottom of your Identity card as well as next to the Reveal icon on the Character cards). There are three kinds of Reveal powers: one that happens instantly and only once , one that is persistent , and one that provides a new Action this Character can take .
• Your PC cannot be someone else’s Conspirator so no one can place Influence cubes on it anymore.
• Your Bonus Character remains secret.
• Your PC can still be Bribed but after knowing what the Action is, you may refuse the Bribe token and not do an Action. The Bribe is then returned to the bribing player.
• Your PC can also be the subject of a Kompromat use. It works in the same way as Bribes, it is your choice to accept this and act or not. But in the case of Kompromat, if you say no, the Kompromat remains on the Character card and you have to move your Guilt marker to Suspect, if you are Innocent. (We will return to the concept of Suspect soon).

Schrödinger Reveal: Instead of Revealing, you can Schrödinger Reveal. This means that you instead Reveal as your Bonus Character. The procedure is the same, with the difference that your Secret Identity is discarded (not showing it) and you no longer have a Bonus Character that may provide points during scoring.

Fire & Hazard Suppression

As with Sabotage, Fire is another way to change a Section’s attributes.

• When a Section catches Fire, place a Fire token as well as a Damage token on its text bubble.
• Characters that are Human need to have a Helmet in order to enter Sections that are on Fire. Any unhelmeted Humans that are in a Section that catches Fire are immediately Downed.

If you want to make a Fire disappear you have to do a Console Action called Hazard Suppression. Console Actions are done in Security Station or Mainframe. (Some Character Abilities let them do Console Actions elsewhere as well). This replaces the Fire token with an Asphyxiation Hazard token (same as the one found in Magnetic Containment earlier). Another Hazard Suppression Console Action is needed to remove the Asphyxiation token.

Suspect Status

Suspect was mentioned above. It means that your Guilt marker, the one you placed on “Innocent” during setup, is moved to Suspect. This in turn means that you risk becoming Guilty. Guilty is a concept in the game related to Data, which will be covered in Minute 7.

Lindsey’s Strategy

After a dramatic Minute 10, Lindsey shows no sign of stopping. Lindsey will Reveal, to show how Reveal is done (and to wreak even more havoc on you all). Engineer’s Reveal power triggers. It reads “Overload – Upon Reveal place a Time marker in any Section. When it resolves Damage that Section.” Lindsey chooses to place this Time marker in Vault X. If Vault X is Damaged, Project X is released. This means that at the end of her next turn Project X will be flipped and you will follow the instructions on that card.

Lindsey chose not to place any Influence cubes. She can Activate Engineer if she wants, since a PC is always a Conspirator, but she Activates Stowaway to acquire a Firebomb. Using the Firebomb she will be able to start a Fire to prevent Contamination and make life problematic in general on the station. It is optional if the Firebomb explodes or not when you Throw it. Of course Lindsey wants the Firebomb to blow up and ignite the whole Bio Lab!

Lindsey’s Actions

• Reveal as Engineer: Put her Reveal token on the Engineer Character card, move any other player’s cubes on it to the Betrayal box.
• Place one of Lindsey’s time markers on Vault X because of Engineer’s Reveal power.

• Activate Stowaway and take the Section action Manufacture Firebomb . Place a Firebomb on Stowaway’s Character card.

• Then take the Throw Action to throw the Firebomb into Bio Lab.
• Put the Firebomb back in the supply, put a Fire token on Bio Lab and a Damage Token on Bio Lab’s text bubble.

Players’ Actions – Turn 5

Now all the rest of the players take their Minute 9 actions.

Because of Lindsey: All Characters and Items are now free for all to Influence, Pick Up and Activate. No more Lindsey based restrictions.

Since this is the second time you are playing there will be no recommended Actions for the players from here on, other than to go for the win! Simple and straightforward. Try to act so that you end up with as many points as possible.

Influence Struggles & Limit

Remember that you can Activate any Character where you are tied for the cube lead. We have not touched upon this yet, to keep things simple, but during Influence you may put any number of Influence cubes, the limit is that you may only add your Influence to 1 Character each Minute.

That a player has several Influence cubes on one Character is an important mechanic of the game. It is a way to make it harder for others to try to derail your plan for a Conspirator you intend to do many things with. And it is a way to derail others’ plans, preventing them from using a Conspirator they seem very interested in. Note that you can put Influence cubes on one Character card and then Activate any of your Conspirators, not necessarily the one you put cubes on.

You have something called an Influence Limit on the top right corner of your Secret Identity card. You can place all of your 8 Influence cubes during the game if you want, but during scoring, any Influence cubes exceeding your Influence Limit will give you -1 point. Many Influence cubes on a Character is a bit of a risk due to Reveal, since cubes may be lost to the Betrayal box this way.

8 Minutes to Stationfall (Turn 6)

“Because it is so unbelievable, the truth often escapes being known.” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

Different Character States

Many Agendas, as well as the BC Friend and BC Grudge points, award points for Characters as being Downed or Escaped. Characters can have different states:

• Live: Live is one, basically meaning neither of the other three states. Live is in most cases the starting state of a Character.
• Escaped: Covered earlier in connection with Pods.
• Down: Fire Downs Characters. But the most common action used to Down a Character is Attack.
• Annihilated: Caused by for example if it is in a Pod that is Damaged when it Launches or if they are in Outer Space and the Antimatter detonates in Outer Space. Then nothing can bring them back. Place the Annihilated marker on their Character card. They can never take Actions or be Activated again in this game. But you can still Reveal, score points and win, even if your Secret Identity is Annihilated.

Combat: Rob & Attack

Apart from Downing a Character just because it is in your Agenda, or to get BC Grudge points, there is normally a competition over different Items on the station. In particular when things start to heat up. In this Tutorial game, the Rocket Wings may be a very desirable Item to fight over, since it is an alternative way of Escaping. The Basic Actions Rob and Attack can both be used to take Items from other Characters.

Both Rob and Attack require the Character to have a weapon to perform: a Gun if the victim has a Helmet or the Ability Armored; a Bludgeon if the victim has neither of these.

• Attack: Downs the other Character. This gives the Character the state Down and places a Down marker on the Character card. You also turn the Character’s pawn upside-down to show the Downed version of the Character icon.
• Rob: Take 1 Item from another Colocated Character. You can after an Attack use Pick Up to take an Item from a Downed Character. The advantage of Rob is it takes 1 Action less and Actions are a really valuable resource in this game. But sometimes you want to be sure that the Character doesn’t Rob you back.

You can Throw to Outer Space using the Section action Airlock (instead of Throw).

Characters can be Downed in many other ways too. All Characters have Self-Preservation, meaning they cannot take Actions that with certainty would immediately Down themselves.

Reviving Downed Characters

Characters that are Down may not take Actions or be Activated. To make the Character Live again you can take the Basic Action Revive with a Character that is in the same Section and has a Nanogel Item. Nanogel has two sides, numbered 1 and 2. This means they can be used two times each. Flip them to the “1” side after the first use.

One important factor when it comes to Downing other Characters is that, unless the Section where it occurs is Dark or if the Cameras are OFF, you become a Suspect. Cameras can be modified by the Section Action Cameras ON / OFF taken in Security Station.

Lindsey’s Strategy

Lindsey (being Engineer) wants to make sure that no Contaminated Characters leave the station and that the Antimatter is still on board when it detonates. Lindsey will focus on one of the two each Minute. She will use Troubleshooter (provided that Troubleshooter still is Live and has a Bludgeon or Gun) to move towards any Contaminated Characters and try to Down them. Plan B is to Activate Station Chief and try to run away from anyone that seems to be on their way to try to take the Antimatter from Station Chief.

Lindsey’s Actions

This turn and the coming turns, Lindsey will follow the script below. Check the numbered alternatives in order, one by one. As soon as the action on an alternative can be taken, she takes it and ends her turn:

1. IF there are any Contaminated Characters: Influence (if needed) and Activate Troubleshooter if she is Live and Armed.
   • Step towards the closest Contaminated Live Character she can Down, and if the Actions are enough, Down them. Pick up any Bludgeon or Gun using Free Pick Up on the way.
2. Place 1 Influence cube more than needed to Influence Station Chief, Activate Station Chief and Step twice away from all other Characters (or once if Station Chief is Exhausted).
3. Renegotiate, taking 1 cube from Station Chief and her Activation disc back to her supply.

At the end of Lindsey’s turn, reveal the Project X card, and follow the instructions on it. From now on, follow the instructions on the Project X card at the end of EVERY player’s turn (meaning several times per Minute) starting now when it is revealed at the end of Lindsey’s turn.

Players’ Actions – Turn 6 & Renegotiating

One final note on what you can do during your turn that was briefly mentioned in Lindsey’s scripted actions above is Renegotiate. Instead of Activating, you can Renegotiate meaning you take your Activation disc back and, if you want, 1 Cube from any Character that is not Escaped or Annihilated. This is usually not done until the game has progressed a bit.

7 Minutes to Stationfall (Turn 7)

“Nothing endures but change” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

Data

Data is a concept in the game, separate from Items, and important to some Characters’ Agendas.

Data can be Manufactured using some Section Actions or Character Abilities. The different types of Data are:

• Evidence: Means you can affect someone who is a Suspect, and make them become Guilty. But it can also be used to free yourself from Guilt, placing you back as a Suspect, if you are Guilty at Stationfall. Evidence can be Manufactured in Security Station.
• X-Secret: Represents that this Character knows what Project X is. If you Activate a Character that has an X-Secret token, you may peek at the Project X card. X-Secret can be Manufactured in Bio Lab.
• Digital Assistant: Digital Assistant is one of the Characters in the game. This Data token represents Digital Assistant and gives the Character in Possession of it access to Digital Assistant in various ways. Digital Assistant can be Manufactured in Mainframe and wants to spread out among the Characters to gain points from its Agenda.
• NDA: Represents that a Character has signed an NDA which is important for Legal’s Agenda. NDA is Manufactured by Legal or his Conspirators.

Data is not an Item. It cannot be Picked Up or Dropped. Instead you can Manufacture it as a Section Action. It can also be Copied, Deleted, Transmitted (a Section Action in Array Control) or Robbed. Data is involved in different Agendas, including Transmitting the Data to different instances on Earth, called Offsites (Found on the bottom of the Board). Transmit adds a Copy of the Data token to that location on the Board.

Keep Data tokens on the upper part of the Character cards to show which Character Possesses which Data.

There are many combinations involving Data that you will discover as you play. The most generally applicable one is that if someone Manufactures the Data “Evidence” and sends it to the Offsite “Authorities”, then all Guilt markers on Suspect are moved to Guilty. As a Guilty player you can only win the game if your Escaped PC Delivers Evidence to Authorities at Stationfall.

Jammers can be ON or OFF. If they are OFF you can Copy Data to any Character on the station. If Jammers are ON, Copy only reaches Colocated Characters. Transmit is unaffected by Jammers.

Power Status Track

In the top left of the board you see the track called Power status. There are 3 Sections with a Lightning icon on it. Match the Power status marker with how many of these Sections that are Damaged. Read next to the track to see what it means. Note that the two last steps have the same effect. If these Sections are Repaired, move the marker back again and functionality on the Station is restored.

Lindsey’s Strategy

Since Lindsey is Engineer and since Engineer’s Agenda includes that he can win even if he is Guilty, she does not need to worry about becoming Guilty if Troubleshooter Downs Characters in plain sight. Otherwise this had to be considered in her strategy.

Lindsey’s Actions

• Repeat the same script she had in Minute 8.

Remember to continue doing the Project X actions after each player’s turn.

Players’ Actions – Turn 7

Continue playing the game on your own until Stationfall, try to win and have Lindsey follow her script’s 3 rows. Remember to continue moving the Minute marker.

Stationfall Resolution

“You will not discover the limits of the soul by traveling, even if you wander over every conceivable path, so deep is its story.” (Heraclitus 535-475 BCE)

When you come to Minute 0 flip the marker there. If it is a big ball of fire , Stationfall occurs immediately, if not you have 1 more turn, then Stationfall occurs.

At Stationfall three things happen:

1. You Reveal: All players that have not done so yet Reveal their Secret Identity. All players also reveal their BC.
2. You deliver Data: All players who have an Escaped PC that has Data may deliver each Data to any of News and Authorities. Place a copy of the Data on that location.
3. You score points: Primary points come from the Agendas (listed on both the Identity and Character card). Star icons are points. A row that starts with a “+” will only score if the closest row above it that has no “+” is fulfilled.

Example: Look at the Astrochimp’s Character card. It tells you that the Astrochimp wants to Escape. And that you get extra points if you have Briefcase, Artifact and a Gun, but only if you Escape.

Apart from Primary points you also score your Bonus Character’s Friend or Grudge points, points for Bribes and get point penalties if you have used more Influence cubes than your Influence limit. Follow the Reference Manual paragraph 16 “Stationfall” to do the scoring for each player.

Closing Remarks

The Tutorial game can play out in quite a lot of different ways since there are many different combinations of Characters that the three players in the game may have. Also different Project X cards will change the course of the Tutorial game. This is intentional to give the Tutorial game more replayability value.

One thing to note in this game is that Lindsey was Engineer, but apart from Revealing, she has done no actions with Engineer and instead used other Conspirators to fulfil the Engineer’s Agenda. This is very common in Stationfall. It is good to get used to thinking in those paths when playing this game.

Apart from the things mentioned in the Tutorial game, there are a few other details and edge cases for the normal gameplay, and there are many special rules for Sections and Characters. All of those are covered in the Reference Manual or in the Character Dossier. Hopefully you are now able to read these at ease, in their condensed format and discover them as you play more times.

Your Next Couple of Games of Stationfall

• In your 2nd game: Try to make an informed choice of your Secret Identity based on the Agenda and to have a strategy towards completing this Agenda when you play.
• In your 3rd game: Also try to start guessing what other players’ Agendas are and prevent them from completing them. Also try to be smart when you Reveal and consider how you can hide your intentions when you do your Actions before you have revealed.
• In your 4th game and all future games: Keep looking for those intricate, crazy and exciting combinations of Actions that makes Stationfall the unique experience it is. That will tell a new fascinating sci-fi story each time.

Have fun!

Stationfall Primer

What to do at the beginning?

• Read the tips on your Identity Card.
• Read all Characters’ Abilities carefully and find who can be helpful to you.
• Make a plan but expect that plan to fall apart; improvise!
• Pick up Kompromat early while you still can.
• Your first Actions should not make it obvious to other players who your secret identity is.

When shall I reveal?

• If others seem to have guessed your identity, it’s better to Reveal.
• Pros of revealing:
  • You can use your Reveal Power.
  • You get back your Influence and betray others’ Influence.
  • Except for Bribes/Kompromat, others can’t use your Character.
• Cons of revealing:
  • You paint a big target on your back.
  • You can’t Bribe yourself.
  • Other players won’t inadvertently further your goals.

What to do in the mid game?

• If your Influence limit is low choose your Conspirators wisely.
• Better to do things now rather than later, you might not get another chance.
• Helmets protect you from most dangers.
• You can Down Humans without penalty in Dark Sections or with Cameras OFF. And note that some Characters never suffer this penalty.
• If you need to Down someone with a Helmet, find a Gun, or make one in a Print Shop with a Character that has the Officer ability, or get them to remove their Helmet.

What to do in the end game?

• To Escape, trigger Abandon Ship either from Bridge with a Character that has the Officer ability, releasing Project X, or Damaging two Power Sections.
• You may not need to trigger Abandon Ship if Rocket Wings, Inspector’s Shuttle, Medevac Pod, or Boarder is in the game.
• You can launch a Pod from inside it, from a connected Section, or from Bridge.
• If you are over your Influence limit, Renegotiate to get Influence back or visit Therapy Garden.

Oh no, I am dead! (Downed)

• Humans and Robots can be Revived with Nanogel, Manufactured in Nanofactory.
• Robots can be Repaired in Machine Shop or by Characters with Jury Rig.
• Not all Characters need to Escape and their goals can be completed by others.
• You can still complete your BC’s goal.
• Try to prevent other players from scoring points or just cause general mayhem.
• You can always consider doing a Schrödinger Reveal.

Stationfall Station Automation

by Benjamin Schmauss, Jon Manker & Robin Spathon Ek.

This is a set of automated opponents, called ‘Bots’, that can take the place of human players at the table. Note the difference between a human player (a real human playing Stationfall) and a Human Character (one of the Character types in the game). The Bots allow a single player to experience Stationfall similar to a multiplayer game. In addition, Bots can be added to any multiplayer game to raise the player count (up to 9) as they will make the Station feel more alive and chaotic, as well as break up the use of repetitive strategies within groups. It is also possible to play cooperatively or using the team game rules against the bots.

Components

The Bots are found on the back of the Character cards. When you use a Character as a Bot, have that side up. In addition a 6-sided dice is included to handle some aspects of bot behaviour. Every Bot also has a script card listing what Manoeuvre the Bot will try to do each Minute.

How to Win

The human player or Bot with the highest score is the winner. Scoring is identical for human players, while the details for how Bots score is described in the Chapter “Stationfall” at the end of these rules.

Cooperative Mode

When playing cooperatively, the human players win if each human player has a higher score than each of the Bots.

Team Game

In a team game, during Scoring, put the two highest scoring Bots in a team and calculate their combined score. A player team has to have a higher score than that Bot team as well as being the highest scoring human player team, to win the game. The Bot team wins ties.

6+ Players

The scoring rules for 6+ players are only used if the number of human players is 6+. Bots are not included in this count.

Setup

• Decide how many Bots you want to use. The more, the more difficult to win. Assign each Bot and each human player a color, and a set of player components.
• Randomly decide the starting player, which could be either a player or a Bot.
  • There should be a minimum of 3 players (human or Bot) in a game of Station Automation.
• Choose or randomly select Character cards based on player count (all players + the selected number of bots, maximum of 9 in total) shuffle them and place them in 2 columns next to the board.
• Find the Identity cards for the Character cards that are placed on the board and shuffle them facedown:
  • Deal 1 to each Bot and 2 to each player. Each player chooses their Secret Identity and BC. Bots do not have BCs.
  • When all have chosen, reveal the Identity cards of the Bots and flip their Character cards to the Bot side and find their Bot Script cards (these are used when the Bots take Action instead of Identity cards which can be put back into the box). Custom Setup Variant: Choose which Bots you want in the game by choosing script cards or by dealing random script cards to Bots.
  • Place that Bot’s reveal token on the Bot’s character card. Bots start the game with their PC revealed, unless written otherwise on Bot card.
  • Place each Bot’s Script card next to their components.
  • In turn order each Bot places 2 of the Bot’s Influence cubes on the next 3 NPC Character cards in Character Order (this term is explained below). If a Character only allows 1 Cube to be placed (Helpful for example) the Bot only places 1 Cube there. Remember: each character that isn’t a revealed PC is an NPC. Skip Paranoid Characters, Drones, Down Characters and in some cases other Characters depending on rules on certain Bot cards.
  • Set up the game components as in the standard rules, including the components for the participating Characters, taking note of any special setup instructions on the Bots. Use the 3-9 players minute marker.

Differences Between Bots and Human Players

NOTE: The rules for individual Bots as noted on their Bot card may overrule this.

• Bots do not have a Bribe.
• Bots do not use Bribes or Kompromat (but they Pick Up Kompromat).
• Bots do not accept Bribes or Kompromat.
• Bots do not have a Bonus Character (BC).
• Bots start their game Revealed.
• Bots use the Bot Side of the Character Card and may have different persistent abilities and Agendas.
• Bots’ Activated Characters always have the Breach Ability.
• Bots’ Renegotiate works differently.
• Bots have an Influence Limit of 8.
• Any Character activated by a Bot gains the Breach ability during the Activation (may remove an adjacent Lock).
• Bots do not drag Downed Characters with them.
• Bots will not pick up another Item of the same type they already Possess.
• Bots only do the Manoeuvres listed in their Script and will not take other more beneficial actions.

A Bot’s Turn

All Stationfall rules apply when playing with Bots, unless stated otherwise. At the end of this solo rules chapter is a glossary of terms used in Station Automation. Refer to this when you encounter terms or icons you do not recognize.

Reveal?

A Bot starts Revealed so it always skips the Reveal step.

Bot Influence?

If a Bot has Influence on less than 2 Live NPCs, place Influence cubes enough to have as many cubes as any other player, on the next Live NPC after the last Character in Character Order that the Bot has Influenced.

Bots may also place Influence cubes as part of their Activation if a Manoeuvre is to be performed and the chosen Character does not have enough cubes to be a Conspirator (see below).

Bot Activate?

Follow the instructions on the script card and perform the first possible Manoeuvre in that script. Remember to place the Bot’s Activation disc on the Character it ends up Activating.

• If a Manoeuvre has an Eligible Character to Activate at the beginning of the line, this Manoeuvre is what the Bot will do this turn, and then end its turn. If there is no Eligible Character, continue to the next Manoeuvre. Remember a Character Activated by a Bot has the Breach ability.
• Place Influence on the Activated Character until it counts as Conspirator. Helpful, Loyal, and other Abilities still apply.
• If there are multiple Characters that can perform the Manoeuvre, the Bot will select the Character closest to the target, meaning the least number of non-Free Actions away (Characters’ Abilities apply). If tied, use the tied Character that will take the most Free Actions. If there is still a tie, use Bot’s General Priorities. Remember that if a Bot’s Character uses the Breach Ability, this costs 1 Action.
• Bots have 2 actions or 1 if Exhausted, as well as Free Actions, just like players. They always use Free Pick Up during their movement if they can, following Pick Up priority if more than 1 Item can be Picked Up during their turn.
• Bots do not attempt to maximize the use of their Actions and a Bot might complete their Manoeuvre using only a single Action and then skip the remaining Actions.
• If no Manoeuvre can be taken, the Bot instead skips to Bot Renegotiate.
• If there are multiple options with an equal number of Actions needed, they use a set of general priorities as tie-breaker.

Bot Renegotiate?

Bots only Renegotiate if they could not Activate this turn. Retrieve the Activation disc, all Influence cubes from Betrayal, all Cubes from Downed or Annihilated Characters, and all cubes from the last NPC in Character Order.

Resolve!

Bots follow the same rules as players when it comes to time markers. In case a Bot has to make a choice due to a Project X action, randomize what they choose following all targeting and priority rules. Bots never target their PC with negative effects from Project X cards.

Reading the Bot’s Scripts

The listed Manoeuvres use a specific terminology to explain the Actions they generate, apart from terms known from other parts of Stationfall’s rules:

• Brackets “[ ]”: Each Manoeuvre in a Script begins by listing conditions that describe which character the Bot is considering for activation, written in brackets. If there are multiple conditions they are separated by a colon “:” and all such listed conditions are considered.
• GOTO <SCRIPT>: Means that the Bot will shift to another Script mentioned by name.
• REPEAT: Repeat the Manoeuvre using all remaining actions. Being able to take the desired Action multiple times is not a factor when selecting which Character to activate.
• THEN: After the part of the Manoeuvre before THEN is completed, perform the part of the Manoeuvre after THEN (if possible). Only the part of the Manoeuvre before THEN is considered when selecting which Character to activate.
• Parentheses “( )”: Used for remarks and comments that are not part of the actual Script. And some Bots have Start of Turn / End of Turn Bots Scripts that may trigger at the start or end of their turn following the instructions.

Bot’s General Priorities

Bots use the concept of priority throughout their scripts, character cards, abilities, and rulebook. In all cases the multiple options are listed in order of priority. For example “A > B > C” would mean that A has the highest priority and C has the lowest priority.

Whenever there are multiple options to choose from, the Bot will use General Priority as a final tie-breaker. At no point are human players required to make a decision for the Bot. Keep in mind that the closest eligible target is always prioritized, both when selecting a Character to activate as well as a section to take the action in.

The Bot’s General Priorities are as follows (as seen from the Bot’s perspective):

• Activating a Character: Unexhausted Conspirator > PC > Conspirator with the most of any cubes on > Next in Character Order.
• Targeting a Character: Has the least of the Activated Bot’s Influence cubes > Has the most of non-Bot player’s Influence cubes > Last in Character Order from the Bot’s PC position.
• Choosing a Section: Zero Gravity Section > Pod with most Occupants > Top-most Section > Leftmost Section.
• Picking Up Items: Items Targeted in script > Kompromat > Purple Items > Red Items > Yellow Items > Green Items > Name A-Z.
• Dropping Items: Green Items > Yellow Items > Red Items > Purple Items > Items Targeted in script > Name Z-A.

Example: The Manoeuvre instructs to “Pick Up > Manufacture: Gun > Bludgeon”. This means the Bot will consider to Pick Up a Gun, Pick Up a Bludgeon, Manufacture a Gun, and Manufacture a Bludgeon. By default the Bot will pick the closest option. If there are multiple options within the same distance, the Bot will choose Pick Up over Manufacture, and Gun over Bludgeon…

Eligibility

The concept of Eligibility applies to all entities and actions in the game and is observed at all times. Bots will only consider characters, sections, items, and any other entity in the game as options if they can be used for the action following the rules. If an entity is not eligible, then the Bot will essentially pretend that it does not exist for the purpose of taking their turn.

This means Damaged Sections are not considered as targets for Section Actions like Manufacture, fully Occupied Pods are not considered as targets to move into, Helmeted Characters are not considered as targets with a Bludgeon attack, and so on. Most importantly, Characters are only considered for Activation if they are eligible to take the action.

• Example: If a Manoeuvre says Attack a Character, Characters are only Eligible if they have a weapon, and other Characters are only considered as target for that Conspirator if they can be attacked by them (e.g. Unhelmeted if the weapon is a Bludgeon).
• Example: If an action instructs to take a Section Action, that Section Action needs to be available and usable. A Blackout would prevent Transferring Data from the Data Array and thus making no Character Eligible to take that action, the Manoeuvre would be skipped.
• Example: If a Bot cannot place enough influence on an NPC to activate them, the NPC isn’t eligible for activation and therefore not considered.

Running the Bots

Bots follow a Script to decide which Character to Activate. Some Bots will have multiple scripts and instructions on which script to use for individual turns. Each script consists of multiple numbered lines, each is called a Manoeuvre. Bots will attempt to resolve a single Manoeuvre in their Activation Phase. Starting at the first Manoeuvres and working your way down the list, attempting to resolve the first Eligible Manoeuvre.

Activation

The Bot will only consider Characters for Activation, if they are a Conspirator that has the means to complete the Manoeuvre in full (on this or later turns). If the Actions in the Manoeuvre cannot be completed by a Character, then that Character is not considered as an option for Activation. Eligibility for Characters is checked at the beginning of a turn before the Manoeuvre is taken, potential changes of the board state during the Bot’s turn are not considered.

Note: Characters can become a Conspirator during an Activation through the Activation command “Influence” see below.

Character Activation Terminology & Icons

First, in brackets [ ] is information on which Character to consider for Activation. If no Character that matches this is Eligible, continue to the next Manoeuvre until one that has an Eligible Character is found.

Activation terminology/iconography:

• [CON]: Only considers Conspirators or the PC itself. No special limitations other than Eligibility.
• [Influence] : Consider its Live PC and all Live NPC for Activation, regardless if the Bot already has Influence cubes placed on them. The Bot will add cubes to make the chosen Eligible Character a Conspirator if needed.
• [Character Icon] : Only considers a specific character for activation.
• [Ability]: Only considers Characters that have a certain Ability.
• [Possess Item/Data] / [Not Possess Item/Data]: Only considers Characters that Possess / do not Possess the specified Item or Data. Often Possessed by specific Characters.
• [Helmeted] / [Unhelmeted]: Only considers Characters that are Helmeted / Unhelmeted.
• [This Turn] : Only considers Characters that can complete the Action this turn.
• [Unexhausted] : Only considers Unexhausted Characters.

Example: Troubleshooter Bot Script

Below is a commented example of the complete Script of Troubleshooter Bot:

1. [This Turn] Jury Rig Pod (remember Talk Them Through It): Activate any of the Characters that the Bot has Influence cubes on (or the PC) IF there is a Damaged Pod that they can reach with their Steps and take the Action Jury Rig on during this turn. (With a note to remember that Troubleshooter’s Talk Them Through It Ability gives all Conspirators the Ability Jury Rig, and the Ability Tunnel which allows them to Step through Vents).
2. [CON] Hazard Suppression REPEAT (Ignore Magnetic Containment): Activate any of the Characters that the Bot has Influence cubes on (or the PC) IF there is a Section that has a Hazard token on it. Step towards the closest Section where Hazard Suppression can be taken (Mainframe and Security Station). Take the Hazard Suppression Action if possible. Otherwise spend the turn Stepping towards that Section. If Actions remain, Hazard Suppress again.
3. [Unexhausted] Remote Control [Drones] to Pod REPEAT: Only if Drones are in the game. Activate any Unexhausted Conspirators/PC IF Remote Control is possible. Step towards the Section where Remote Control can be taken, take Remote Control, and Step a Drone towards a Pod. REPEAT if actions remain.
4. [Troubleshooter:Unexhausted] Pod THEN Timed Launch: An Unexhausted Troubleshooter will Step towards a Pod following Eligibility and General Priorities. If launch requirements are met and actions remain, perform Timed Launch from within the Pod.
5. GOTO Abandon Ship Script: If Abandon Ship has not been triggered, check the standardized Abandon Ship Script. If no manoeuvre is eligible, continue to 6.
6. [This Turn] Launch [Pod:2 or more Occupants]: Activate Conspirators/PC IF there is a Pod with 2+ occupants reachable this turn to perform any Launch Action (Timed Launch preferred, otherwise Section Launch).
7. [Unexhausted] Pod THEN Timed Launch: Activate Unexhausted Conspirator/PC, Step towards closest Pod where Timed Launch can be taken, and Timed Launch if reached with actions left.
8. [Influence:Unexhausted] Pod THEN Timed Launch: Activate and Influence if needed any Unexhausted NPC/PC and Step towards the closest Pod where Timed Launch can be taken.
9. GOTO Revive Script: Only if Bot PC is Down. Check standardized Revive Script; if not possible, Renegotiate.

Standardized Scripts

There are standardized Scripts that are used by multiple Bots and found on extra cards. They are generally listed as Manoeuvres in Scripts. In this case follow the standardized Script when mentioned in the Manoeuvre, and return to the previous Script if no Manoeuvre could be taken on the standardized Script. “PC” in this case should be replaced by the Bot’s PC’s name.

• Skip Revive Script Manoeuvre if the Bot PC is not Down.
• Skip Abandon Ship Script Manoeuvre if Abandon Ship has been triggered.

Actions and Steps for Bots

When moving towards a target Section, the Bot will take Step Actions with the Activated Conspirator or controlled Character using the shortest route, spending the least Actions to get as close as possible to the target.

• The need to take Steps to reach a target is not explicitly noted in Manoeuvres but implied.
• Bots take Steps utilizing the Airlock Action to Step to or from Outer Space, treating Outer Space like any other Section with a Hazard.
• During a Bot’s turn, all characters have the Breach Ability (1 Action removes an adjacent Lock). Note that if other Abilities are more Action efficient, such as Officer, that Ability is used instead.
• Bots do not drag Down Characters with them.

Bot Stationfall

• Reveal: All Bots are Revealed already; all players that are not Revealed do so and perform any immediate effects.
• Deliver Data: At the Deliver Data step (after Stationfall) each Escaped Bot PC Delivers Data they Possess to Authorities and News as follows:
  • Evidence to Authorities if they are Guilty and Possess Evidence.
  • Any Data to the Offsite that would score points according to their own Agenda.
  • If they are not Guilty and/or if they cannot score any points for themselves or lower any human players’ points from Data delivery, they do not Deliver Data.
• Scoring: Scoring is identical to the Stationfall rules, but the Bots have their own scoring Agenda listed on their card. Bots do not have a Bribe and no Bonus Character (BC). The Bots never suffer point loss from cubes since they all have an Influence limit of 8.

Special Cases (Bot Rules)

• Bribes and Kompromat: Unless mentioned otherwise Bots will Pick up Kompromats but never reveal or use the ones they Picked up. Nor will they accept a Kompromat or a Bribe offered to them or become Guilty because of it.
• Character Order: The order in which the Character cards were placed during setup (2 columns, numbered row by row: 1 & 2, 3 & 4, etc.). When a Bot targets a Character based on Character Order, it means the next Character in order wrapping around from the Bot PC’s card position.

• Firebombs: When instructed to use the Attack or Sabotage Action, Bots will also consider the option of Throwing a Firebomb as an Attack or Sabotage.
• Character Specific Free Actions:
  • Free Pick Up: If not specified by the manoeuvre, the Bot picks up the highest priority Item along its path. Bots will not pick up a Helmet just to enter a Hazard unless instructed. If the item limit is reached, skip Free Pick Up.
  • ZeroBorn: Considered and used during Steps. Prioritizes reaching target using ZeroBorn before doing Free Pick Up.
  • Scientist Free Section Action: Considered and used during Steps. If not used, Free Pick Up is.
  • Emergency Response / Adrenaline: Taken into account when measuring distances using Steps.
• Legal, NDA: In games with Legal, Bots will ignore the Requirement of NDA to launch Pods and launch Pods as if Legal was not in play (applies only to Bots on their turn).
• Pods and Launch Actions: Pods fall under the Eligibility rule for launching and stepping into them. Bots only consider Pods that the Activated Character could launch.
• Self Preservation: Standard rules apply. Bots will not take Actions with an NPC to Down their own PC as an immediate result.
• Mistakes Were Made? Do not attempt to correct past mistaken bot actions; simply continue playing with correct rules going forward.