Mission type

Flavor text

Challenge

Requirements

A game of starship combat and exploration for 2-4 players

Introduction............................................................... 1

Components............................................................... 1

Academy Training (Introductory Game) ................... 1

Set Up........................................................................ 2

Order of Play............................................................. 2

Mission Selection....................................................... 2

Challenges................................................................. 2

Death of a Crew Member .......................................... 3

Completing a Base Mission....................................... 4

Graduating the Academy........................................... 4

Five-Year Mission (The Main Game) ........................ 4

Core Missions............................................................ 5

Special Event Cards .................................................. 5

Bonus VP Markers .................................................... 5

Mission Control......................................................... 5

Game End.................................................................. 6

Introduction

Boldly go where no one has gone before! In Final Frontier, you

are in charge of a starship crew exploring new worlds and charting

the unexplored quadrants of deep space. Build your crew from

humans, aliens, and robots and then head out into space to face

challenges and take on Basic and Core Missions. Relationships can

form among your crew members and fame and experience is

waiting to be won. Points are assigned for successes, and after the

deck of challenges has been completed, count up your scores. The

player with the most Victory Points has achieved the greatest

success and wins the game!

Components

Final Frontier includes the following components:

Mission Board (1)

The mission status for each

player is tracked on this

board. The board is also used

to select the next mission.

Crew cards (28)

These cards represent the

various humans, aliens and

robots in your crew. The

skill numbers are used when

resolving challenges.

Challenge cards (24)

There are four challenges per

card. The flavor text is for

fun and has no gameplay

effect.

Basic Mission VP counters (10)

These Victory Point (VP) counters

are awarded when a player

completes a Basic Mission.

Core Mission VP counters (44)

More challenging, but more

rewarding, Core Missions become

available once a Basic Mission is

completed.

Crew markers (24; 6 each in four

player colors)

These are assigned to individual

crew cards. Some of the reverse

sides are for civilian skills.

Bonus markers (16; 4 each in four

player colors)

These markers track bonus

progress.

Mission markers (16; 4 each in

four player colors)

Use these to track progress along

the mission track for each mission

type.

Mission Selection markers (4)

Players place these on the Mission

Board to select the next mission.

Relationship markers (6)

These are used for tracking

relationships between characters.

Bonus VP counters (8)

There are two each of four different

bonuses.

Plus One “+1” counters (25)

These are earned by doing well on

missions. They can add +1 VP or

+1 to the skills of a character.

Special Event cards (8)

The Special Event cards are

included in the Challenge deck.

They are resolved when drawn or

held to play later by the active

player.

First Player marker (1)

The First Player for each round

takes this marker and becomes the

envoy to the Galactic Council.

Not Included: One 6-sided die is required. The game will also play

quicker if each player has 1-2 dice.

Academy Training (Introductory Game)

The Academy Training game is included as a way to teach

players the basic rules of the game. Additional rules and

features are then added for the advanced game: the Five-Year

Mission. Players can skip right ahead into the Five-Year

Mission but should note that the first few games may take a

longer time.

Name

Skills

Crew Icon

Card Number

Name

Rules Text

Card

Number

© 2010 Tom Decker and Victory Point Games

Final Frontier Rules – v1.0 1

Set Up

Core Mission VP counters, Relationship markers, Bonus

VP counters, Bonus markers and the Special Event cards

are not used in Academy Training. Also, only a third of the

Challenge cards are used in this introductory game.

Place the Mission Board in the center of the table within reach

of all players. Place the four Mission Selection markers on the

Miss-ion Board on the matching spaces of the Mission

Selection box.

Sort the Basic Mission VP counters into four piles, one pile for

each of the Basic Missions represented on the Mission Board.

The piles must be ordered by Victory Point value, with the

lowest value on the bottom and the highest on top. Place each

pile next to the MISSION COMPLETE box for its matching

mission.

Place the Plus One “+1” counters by the side of the board for

easy access.

Take the 24 Challenge cards and shuffle them into one deck.

Take the top eight cards from the deck; these represent the

Challenge deck. The remaining 16 cards are removed from the

game.

Players choose colors and place their four Mission markers in

each of the four START boxes on the Mission Board for each

of the four Basic Mission types. Players take their Crew

markers for their chosen color and put them in a play area in

front of them.

Crews in the introductory game have a pre-determined initial

set up. Each player takes a complete set of seven Crew cards

(those with matching Crew Icon shapes in the lower right

corner of the card) and places them on the table in front of

them. Players then assign their crews by placing the Crew

marker corresponding to the letter inside the Crew Icon onto

the respective card. The letters are as follows: c = Captain, 1 =

1st Officer, m = Medic, e = Engineer, r = Red-shirt and the two

blank ones are the Ensigns. Both Ensign cards are placed face

down with the Ensign Crew marker placed on top of them.

The oldest player takes the First Player marker.

Order of Play

The game is played in a series of rounds.

At the beginning of each round, players jointly choose the

elements of the challenge to be faced in that round by placing

the Mission Selection markers onto spaces in the Mission

Selection box on the game board.

Each player then resolves the selected challenge (see

“Challenges” below).

After all players have completed the challenge, the First Player

marker moves to the player to the left. The Mission Selection

markers are returned to their start positions, and a new round

begins.

When the last Challenge card has been drawn and resolved in

this manner, the game ends and final scores are tallied. The

player with the most Victory Points is declared the winner!

Mission Selection

Each challenge comprises four elements:

1. Destination: Planetary

or Deep Space

2. Purpose: Hostile or

Exploratory

3. Crew Members: 1 or 2

4. Challenge Leader:

Captain, 1st Officer,

Medic or Engineer

The First Player takes any one

of the Mission Selection

markers and places it on one

of the choices shown on the

Mission Board in the Mission

Selection box. For example,

if the player takes the

Destination Mission Selection

marker, they must place it on

either the Planet or Deep

Space box of the Mission

Selection area.

The next player (clockwise) then selects any one of the

remaining Mission Selection markers and places it on one of

the choices next to that challenge element. Selection continues

in this way until all four choices have been made; the challenge

is then ready to begin.

Note that in games with 3 players, the First Player will make

two of the choices (first and last). In 2-player games, each

player will make two choices (first-third and second-fourth).

Challenges

After Mission Selection, each player tries to overcome a

challenge and progress toward completing a mission.

Players first choose who amongst their crew members will face

the challenge. If the selected challenge requires one Crew

member, all players must push forward the crew card of the

Mission Leader chosen during Mission Selection. The Mission

Leader will face the challenge alone this round.

If the selected mission requires two crew members, all players

must push forward another Crew card in addition to the

Mission Leader. The second crew member may be any other

crew member (including the Red-shirt) except an Ensign. The

choice of the second crew member will be based on the

likelihood of which skills will be challenged during the

mission, together with knowledge of those skills already

challenged for the same mission type in previous rounds.

2

© 2010 Tom Decker and Victory Point Games

The First Player then draws

the top card from the

Challenge deck and reveals it

to all the other players. Each

Challenge card has four

challenges, one for every

combination of mission

destination and purpose. All

challenges list the skill to be

used, known as the Challenge

Skill and two numbers,

known as the Challenge

Goals.

The first number with the

picture of the single

spaceman is used for one

crew member missions, while the number by the picture of the

two spacemen is used for two crew member missions.

For example, based on the Challenge card illustrated, if the

selected challenge is a Deep-Space Explore mission for two

crew members, the challenge will be to navigate an asteroid

belt using a Challenge Skill of DEX (Dexterity) and to achieve

a Challenge Goal of 15.

The Challenge Skills most commonly tested are listed next to

each mission type on the game board. Example:

This signifies that for a Deep Space-Hostile mission INT

(Intelligence) is the most likely Challenge Skill, STR (Strength)

second-most likely, and only a few challenges will be testing

WIL (Willpower). Only one card in the entire deck (Space

Anomaly) uses DEX for this mission type.

Players may now replace one of their chosen crew members

with their Red-shirt. If a Red-shirt was already chosen during

Crew Selection (as part of a 2-crew challenge) then no

replacement can take place. A player may choose not to replace

any crew members. If a crew member is replaced, the Crew

card is pushed back alongside the other crew members while

the Red-shirt crew member is pushed forward. A replacement

Red-shirt has all skill levels on its Crew card reduced by -3 for

the challenge to be performed (but not to be reduced lower than

1). Note that a Red-shirt who was chosen during crew selection

(before the Challenge Card was drawn) does NOT have his/her

skill levels reduced. Strategically, replacing a crew member

with a Red-shirt is done for a challenge that cannot be won, and

it is almost always better to “sacrifice” a Red-shirt than lose

one of the four main crew.

Each player now participates in the challenge by rolling one 6-

sided die. The number rolled is added to the participating

crewmember’s Challenge Skill number (along with any

bonuses for Plus One “+1” counters or subtractions for

replacement Red-shirts). If there are two crew members, both

of their Challenge Skill numbers are added to the die roll, along

with bonuses or subtractions for both of them.

The resulting number is called the Status Report.

Play hint: Players may want to roll simultaneously to establish

their Status Report numbers to save time.

Success: If the Status Report number is greater than the

Challenge Goal, then the challenge has been overcome and the

player may move the Mission marker for the selected mission

type forward one space.

Example: Jane uses Suzuki, her Captain, in a Deep Space-Hostile mission challenge for one crew member. The card shows STR as the Challenge Skill and 10 as the Challenge Goal. She rolls a die and gets a 5. She adds 5 to Suzuki’s Strength (which is 6) to get 11 for her Status Report. Because 11 is greater than the Challenge Goal of 10, she has succeeded in the challenge. She now can move her Deep Space-Hostile Mission marker ahead one space.

The player who has overcome the challenge and achieved the

single best Status Report (highest number) is the Challenge

Champion and receives an additional reward. If there is a tie

for the best Status Report, then nobody is awarded the

Challenge Champion title for that round.

The Challenge Champion chooses one of these benefits:

1. Take a Plus One “+1” counter and either:

a. place it Skills side face up on the card of one

of the crew members involved in the

challenge (player’s choice if more than one

crew member) to be used as a skill bonus on

further challenges (i.e. that crew member will

add 1 to each skill).

b. place it VP side face up in front of the player,

representing 1 Victory Point at the end of the

game.

2. Move the Mission marker ahead one additional space

for that mission type. Note this cannot push the marker

beyond the Mission Complete box.

Failure: If the Status Report number is equal to or less than the

Challenge Goal, then the player has failed the challenge and

rolls a second die to add to the Status Report number. This new

number is called the Code Red Rating. If the Code Red Rating

is less than the Challenge Goal, the challenge has failed

disastrously and one of the crew members involved in the

challenge has died (player’s choice if more than one). (See

“Death of a Crew Member”, below.) If the Code Red Rating is

equal to or greater than the Challenge Rating, then the

challenge fails, but disaster has been narrowly averted, and the

player gains no benefit or suffers no loss.

This may help in remembering these challenge goals: the Status

Report number must exceed to succeed, while the Code Red

Rating needs to at least tie not to die.

Death of a Crew Member

If a crew member dies, the Crew card is discarded (along with

any Plus One “+1” counters) and replaced with a Crew card

Final Frontier Rules – v1.0 3

© 2010 Tom Decker and Victory Point Games

from under the Ensign Crew marker. If there are two cards the

player has the choice. The Crew marker of the deceased crew

member is placed on the new Crew card to indicate that the

Ensign has now been promoted to the role previously occupied

by the dead crew member.

If there are no Ensign cards remaining, the Crew marker of the

deceased crew member is flipped to its civilian side. It retains

the role displayed on the front of the marker but as the Crew

card has been discarded, the skills listed on the civilian side of

the marker are used from now on. The Crew marker will be

pushed forward to indicate participation in any challenges.

If a civilian crew member dies, the Crew marker remains in

play (they have been replaced by another civilian on board the

starship) but any Plus One “+1” counters gained by the

deceased civilian crew member are discarded.

Strategy hint: It is best to try to ensure that the only civilian

crew member is the Red-shirt as they can be sacrificed in place

of the other four crew members.

Each time a crew member dies, the player may additionally

choose to reassign the crew roles. To do this the player swaps

the Crew markers amongst the surviving Crew cards in front of

them. However, they may not reassign the Ensign marker or

any civilian crew markers.

Example: Ian’s initial crew set up (using the square Crew Icons) gives him Captain De Vaca and 1st Officer Lorgox. After the death of his Red-shirt, he decides to swap the two positions. Ian takes the Captain marker and places it on Lorgox’s Crew card. The 1st Officer marker is then placed on De Vaca.

COMPLETING A BASIC MISSION

When a player’s Mission marker moves onto the Mission

Complete spot after a challenge, the player takes the top Basic

Mission VP counter for that type of mission. If more than one

player completes the mission during the same challenge (even

by using the “Challenge Champion” additional space move to

complete it), then the player who defeated the challenge with

the highest Status Report number takes the top counter. If there

is a tie among players for best Status Report, then the First

Player chooses how to break the tie. If there are no more Basic

Mission VP counters, then the player takes a Plus One “+1”

counter instead and may use it for either Victory Points or

increased skills for any crew member.

As players complete Basic Missions, they move their Mission

markers back to the START space of that mission type. An

unused extra space gained through being the “Challenge

Champion” that turn is lost.

GRADUATING THE ACADEMY

After the eighth Challenge card is resolved, the game is over.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner. If there

is a tie, the player with the most Plus One “+1” counters used

on crew members for skill bonuses wins. Further ties are settled

with the ancient Trogg tradition of thumb wrestling.

STOP! After going through Academy Training, you are

now ready to experience the Five-Year Mission!

FIVE-YEAR MISSION (THE MAIN GAME)

The Five-Year Mission uses the same rules as the Academy

Training with the changes below. Most of them represent

additions and new features added to the game rather than any

rules changes.

Crew members can now form relationships and Victory Points

can be gained through special achievements. The Relationship

markers and Bonus VP counters are used for these purposes

and are placed near the board.

Bonus markers are used for tracking progress toward special

achievements and are placed near the Crew markers in each

player’s area on the table in front of them.

The full challenge deck is used in

the main game. Find the

Challenge card with four “Space

Anomaly” challenges on it and

remove it from the deck. Then

take the eight Special Event cards

and shuffle them into one deck

with the remaining 23 Challenge

cards. Now remove the bottom

five cards and shuffle the “Space

Anomaly” card in with those five.

Place the cards back on the

bottom of the deck. This

completes the Challenge deck

used in the game. Place it near the board.

Next, the Core Mission VP counters are stacked alongside the

Basic Mission VP counters, by their mission type and mission

number in order from top to bottom.

Example: The Destroyed Outpost Mission (Mission 1) is placed near the Hostile/Deep Space MISSION COMPLETE box. Then place the m1.1, m1.2, m1.3, and m1.4 counters stacked underneath it (representing Mission 1, challenges 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively). The Crew Icons are ignored when selecting a crew. Instead,

shuffle the 28 Crew cards and deal seven to each player. Cards

left over after dealing in a two- or three-player game are

removed from the game. An alternative method for two and

three-player games is to remove certain crew member types

from the Crew cards before shuffling and dealing the cards. In a

three-player game, remove the Robot Crew cards; in a two-

player game remove the Robot and Alien Crew cards from the

game. This will produce more balanced crew members.

After reviewing their hand of cards, a player chooses one Crew

card and places it in front of them with the appropriate Crew

marker placed on it to identify that crew member’s role on the

starship.

Example: After placing the “Garcia” card, a player might put the Captain Crew marker on it. Garcia would now be the captain of the starship.

4

© 2010 Tom Decker and Victory Point Games

After selecting one crew member in this way, players pass two

cards to the player on their left. Another crew member is

selected as above and then two more cards are passed to the

left. This continues until each player has filled the main five

crew slots (Captain, 1st Officer, Engineer, Medic and Red-shirt)

by placing the appropriate Crew markers. The remaining two

cards are placed face down under the Ensign Crew marker.

Players wanting to skip this initial crew selection process may

use the Crew Icon codes in the lower right corner to “pre-

construct” their crew as described in Academy Training.

Core Missions

When a player completes a mission and is in possession of at

least one Basic Mission VP counter from any mission type (not

a Plus One “+1” counter used for Victory Points), that player

may, instead of taking a Basic Mission VP counter (or a Plus

One “+1” counter), take the mission name counter from a Core

Mission VP counter stack matching the Basic Mission just

completed. The player places the Core Mission name counter in

front of them to indicate the intention to possibly pursue the

challenges on this Core Mission in future rounds.

Players may look through the Core Mission

stacks before choosing one to select the one

they prefer. If there are no remaining stacks

of Core Mission VP counters for that mission

type with the mission name on top, then there

are no Core Missions available and this

option may not be selected. (Once you have selected a Core

Mission, nobody else can select any parts of that Core Mission.

It’s yours and yours alone.) A player may be on only one Core

Mission at a time.

When on a Core Mission, every challenge may, at the player’s

discretion, be replaced by the top counter (going in order) from

the player’s Core Mission stack at the player’s discretion.

However, the player must choose, before the Challenge card is

revealed, whether or not to replace the challenge with a Core

Mission challenge. If selected, the player places the top Core

Mission challenge counter in the stack on the Game Board to

signify that they are going on the Core Mission rather than the

selected mission. However, Core Missions require something a

little different than what is on the Challenge card. There are

four types of Core Mission challenges:

1. A certain crew member is required. If that crew member is

not part of the selected challenge team, then the Core

Mission challenge may not be selected.

2. The counter shows a skill type and then “plus high #.”

Replace the Challenge Skill on the card with the one on the

Core Mission VP counter instead. Also, instead of using

the Challenge Goal shown on the card, use the highest

Challenge Goal number on the card instead. (One-crew

member challenges never require numbers from the two-

crew member column, however.)

3. Some counters show a crew member type and then one of

the four mission types: Hostile, Explore, Planet, or Deep

Space. For these challenges, both the mission type and crew

member must have been chosen during Mission Selection and

crew selection. Otherwise, the Core Mission challenge may

not be selected.

4. The final challenge of a Core Mission always requires that

the Challenge Goal is to be increased from the number

shown on the Challenge card by a certain amount.

Success and failure of a Core Mission challenge is determined

in the same way as a Basic Mission challenge. If the Core

Mission challenge is successful, the player takes and keeps the

counter for Victory Points in their play area. The player trying

for a Core Mission challenge never moves any of the Mission

markers on the Basic Mission tracks. Players opting to go on a

Core Mission challenge are also ineligible for the Challenge

Champion title. If a player fails the challenge, the Core Mission

counter is placed back on the top of the stack from which it was

taken, and it may be attempted again on a future round.

Special Event Cards

When a Special Event card is drawn,

the First Player reads it aloud for

everyone to hear. The four

relationship Special Event cards will

require immediate action while the

others are held for later use. The

same First Player then continues to

draw until a Challenge card with the

four mission types is drawn. The

effects of Special Event cards are

explained on the cards themselves

with further explanations below:

• For the four relationship cards, the Relationship

markers may be placed on the cards of your own crew

members, or on those of an opponent. However, when

a card requires that two counters be placed, they

cannot be split between two different players. The

Relationship markers must be played on the Captain,

1st Officer, Engineer, or Medic. They cannot be placed

on the Red-shirt or Ensigns.

• The “most skilled crew member” means the crew

member with the most Plus One “+1” counters on it.

The Relationship marker cannot be placed on the

“most skilled crew member.” If there is a tie for “most

skilled crew member” then the player placing the

Relationship marker must immediately give a Plus

One “+1” counter to one of the other crew members,

thus breaking the tie and creating a “most skilled crew

member.” These Relationship markers are removed if

another crew member ties the current “most skilled

crew member” by gaining a Plus One “+1” counter.

• “Enemy” and “Friend” markers are removed if one of

the crew members dies. They can also be replaced if

the opposite card is played on the same two crew

members.

• When a jealous crew member replaces the “most

skilled crew member” on a one crew member mission,

a Red-shirt can still replace the jealous crew member

after the Challenge is revealed. The “To the Rescue!”

© 2010 Tom Decker and Victory Point Games

Final Frontier Rules – v1.0 5

card also allows these replacements after the

Challenge card is revealed

• The “Failure is not an Option” card cannot be played

after a “Transporter Failure.”

Bonus VP Counters

The Bonus VP counters are claimed as their conditions are met.

Some conditions are tracked using the Bonus markers. A player

may only have one of each of the four types of Bonus VP

counter. Once gained, the Bonus VP counter remains with a

player until the end of the game; it is not returned if the crew

member who earned the counter dies or the conditions that

were met to obtain the counter are subsequently lost. If two or

more players gain these conditions at the same time, the one

who achieved the best Status Report (or Code Red Rating, for

the Seasoned Survivor), makes the first choice. Further ties are

resolved by the First Player.

Universal/Galactic Hero: A player may

take one of the “Hero” Bonus VP

counters when a single crew member

earns his/her third Plus One “+1” counter.

Seasoned Survivor: When a crew member survives

any failed mission, the player may place the

“Survivor” Bonus marker on that crew member’s

card (either one if it was a two crew member

challenge, even if the other crew member did not survive). If

the crew member survives another failed mission, the marker is

turned onto its back side showing 2 of 3 survivals. For a third

survived mission, a “Seasoned Survivor” Bonus VP counter

may be claimed and the “Survivor” Bonus marker is removed

from the game. The “Survivor” Bonus marker may be moved

around to different crew members, but it will restart on its front

side if moved.

Prodigy: When a civilian is involved in a successful

challenge, the player may take one of the “Prodigy”

Bonus VP counters and two Plus One “+1”

counters, which must be used as skill increases for

that civilian. If the “Prodigy” Bonus VP counters are gone, then

the Plus One “+1” counters are not taken either.

Unbreakable Team: After a successful 2 crew

member challenge, the player may place the two

“Team” Bonus markers on the cards of the

successful crew members. If those two succeed on a

second mission, the Bonus markers are turned over to show

their 2 of 3 successes side. If they succeed on a third mission,

then an “Unbreakable Team” Bonus VP counter may be

claimed and the Bonus markers are removed from the game for

that player. Bonus markers are removed from the crew member

cards if either team member is involved in a two crew member

challenge without the other one, but will remain after a failed

challenge, as long as both members survive. If one member is

replaced by a Red-shirt or dies, then the Bonus counters are

also removed from the Crew cards. Bonus markers may be

moved to a different team as well, but will restart on their front

sides.

Mission Control

Players use Mission Control to help them gain

further Victory Points or to help them complete

Basic Missions.

The first player to take the top counter from any Core Mission

VP counter stack (the counter with the mission name) must

immediately turn over their Mission Control marker to earn an

additional +3 VP’s. The player may do this one time only. The

marker then remains in the player’s area showing these Victory

Points.

Players who subsequently take their first top Core Mission

counter may also flip the Mission Control marker to earn the

Victory Points.

However, these players may instead choose to use Mission

Control to complete a Basic Mission on a round when they are

the First Player (only). After the mission has been selected (but

before the Challenge card has been revealed), the player may

turn in the Mission Control marker (remove it from play and

not earn the Victory Points on the other side), move the

Mission marker to the Mission Complete box of the chosen

mission, and immediately claim the reward before anyone else.

Then that player sits out the challenge while the other players

finish it off. The player cannot be the Challenge Champion for

that round.

© 2010 Tom Decker and Victory Point Games

Game Credits Game Design: Tom Decker Development: Chris Taylor

Map Art: Chris Taylor, Scott Everts Playtesting: Marco Arellano, Peter Boddy, Alex & Hayden Decker,

Scott Everts, B.J. Henderson, Oliver Kretzmer, Chris Magoun,

Stephanie Newland, Mark O’Green, Dave Schueler, Chris & Mary

Taylor, Lucas Wan, Kim Wood

Proofreading: Hans Korting, Gary Sonnenberg, Leigh Toms, Ian

Wakeham

Game End

The game ends after the Space Anomaly Challenge card is

drawn and the challenge is completed. If nobody has

completed a Core Mission at this point, then play continues as

normal into “sudden death” until at least one player

completes a Core Mission. If the Challenge deck is

exhausted before a player completes a Core Mission, then all

discards are shuffled and play continues until a Core Mission

is completed.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner. If there

is a tie, the tied player with the most Plus One “+1” counters

played onto crew members for skill bonuses is the winner.

6