Leaders & Lore
Table of Contents
After playing a game or two, you're ready to play with Leaders and Lore! This mode gives players wild, unique abilities, but they can be hard to handle if you're starting out. Really, don't play your first game with Leaders and Lore.
- Your leader card gives you unique powers, starting pieces, and starting resources.
- Lore cards give persistent powers. They don't have a guild icon or raid cost, so they do not add to ambitions and cannot be stolen.
Setup
Replace Steps N-O of setup (page 5) with the following:
Lay out lore cards and leader cards in face-up rows, each with cards equal to the players plus one.
In reverse turn order—start with the player to the right of the player with initiative, and go counterclockwise—each player may take 1 leader or lore card.
Continue this until each player has 1 leader card and 1 lore card. You cannot take a leader card if you already have one, and you cannot take a lore card if you already have one.
Each player places their starting pieces onto the map in the systems marked on the setup card as shown in the A, B, and C boxes shown on their leader card. Pips under a ship icon show how many ships to place.
Each player gains the 2 resource tokens shown on their leader card, placing them in their 2 leftmost resource slots in the order shown.
Finally, if any leaders have extra setup steps, players perform them in turn order.
If you want to increase chaos and uniqueness even more, you can let players choose a second lore card. Just add 1 extra lore card per player to the starting row, and keep choosing cards until each player has 1 leader card and 2 lore cards.
You can set up with as many lore cards as you want, but you run the risk of overwhelming everyone. Be careful!