JEDI KNIGHTS(tm) Trading Card Game What is a Trading Card Game? Most card games have just one deck of cards that never changes, but a TRADING CARD GAME (or TCG) works differently. In a TCG, you personalize your playing deck using cards from your collection. Since your opponent does the same thing, you never know how the game will end! What is the Jedi Knights Trading Card Game? The Jedi Knights Trading Card Game puts you in control of the action-packed Star Wars(tm) universe. Set in the classic trilogy timeline, Jedi Knights delivers a Star Wars movie experience like you've never seen before. You direct either the brave forces of the Rebel Alliance or the Empire's evil minions in a struggle for ultimate control of the galaxy. Heroes like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo cross wills and weapons with their powerful adversaries, Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. Will the light side of the Force prevail, or will the galaxy shiver beneath the shadow of the dark side? How The Game Is Played Each game of Jedi Knights writes its own thrilling Star Wars story. Battles rage across the galaxy as players clash in space with orbiting starships and on planets in character-to-character firefights. Win control of three planets, and you control the universe -- and win the game! But if your opponent steals away one or two planets, the game enters a dramatic Final Conflict. Combining resources won from the first three planets with the remaining cards in their decks, both sides battle until only one player's characters remain on the fourth and final planet. That player wins the game! You can play Jedi Knights as either a two-player game or a four-player team game. Each player needs his own deck (either one of the Preconstructed Starter Decks or a customized deck). Your first game will probably be a two-player game, so the rules describe that first, before describing the four-player version. As you read these rules, you will find many words and phrases printed in BOLDFACE to let you know that they are defined in the Glossary. If this is your first experience with a trading card game, you may want to start with the Play Guide on the playmat that came with your Starter Deck. Card Types The next few pages introduce the various card types in Jedi Knights. Each introduction covers the type's main features and function in the game. Character Character cards represent personalities vital to the story of Star Wars. One of the characters in your deck, your HERO, determines the THEME of your deck. (Some Heroes are called Dark Heroes, but the two terms are interchangeable.) Black squares show the deploy cost for that character. That's how many credits you must spend to bring this card into play. The POWER number represents this character's strength in battle, while the DEFENSE number shows his protection against weapon fire. Some important characters, called "leaders," have LEADERSHIP icons, showing their ability to lead other characters in battle. Starship Like a character, a starship has deploy cost, POWER, and DEFENSE, and may have one or more LEADERSHIP icons showing its ability to lead other starships in battle. Conceptually, all starships already have pilots aboard (so it is not necessary to have character cards aboard them). However, some starships have game text that allows specific characters to play aboard (if the starship is very small, then conceptually the built-in pilot temporarily leaves to make room if necessary). Theme You always use one Theme card. It creates a "Theme pile" -- a holding area for one of your Hero cards as well as characters, starships, and weapons you can use during the FINAL CONFLICT. Some cards allow you to place cards in your Theme pile (stack them face up beneath the Theme card), while other cards and certain rules allow you to play cards from that pile. The THEME NUMBER on your Theme card breaks ties in certain situations. Your starter deck includes Theme cards for two different Heroes. Before you play, be sure to remove one of the Theme cards (and its corresponding Hero). For example, if you've selected the Alliance starter deck, you have to choose between Luke Skywalker (with The Force Is Strong With This One) and Han Solo (with You Like Me Because I'm A Scoundrel). Location Battles take place at LOCATIONS. One side of the location card shows a SITE on the ground, and the other side shows a view of the planet within its SYSTEM. Characters fight each other at sites; starships battle each other at systems. Starships never go to a site, but sometimes a character plays aboard a starship at a system. Force Each player begins the game with a Force deck containing eight different Force cards of the same color, numbered 1 to 8. During the game, Force cards determine who goes first in a turn, how many credits the players can spend to bring cards into play that turn, and how many cards the players draw when the turn ends. Selecting the right Force card for each turn becomes an important part of your Jedi Knights strategy. Just as a Jedi apprentice learns how to use the Force, so you must master your Force deck. Weapon Characters and starships use weapon cards to target and destroy specific enemy cards during battle. A few weapons have black squares showing their deploy cost. That's how many credits you must spend to bring those cards into play. (Most weapons have no deploy cost.) Event EVENTS change the course of the game, often surprising your opponent. They have a variety of effects, and play at different times during the game, according to their KEYWORDS. You do not have to spend credits to put Events into play. Each time you play an Event, you choose to use either its game text or its TACTICAL BONUS (but not both), as described later in the rules. Important Game Concepts ALLEGIANCE. The symbol in the upper right corner of most cards identifies that card as part of the ALLIANCE (white) or the EMPIRE (black). If your game deck has any cards belonging to the Alliance, it may not have any belonging to the Empire (or vice versa). Independent cards (gray) may go into either type of deck. THEME icons appear on many cards. Your Hero character and Theme card determine your deck's Theme. For example, if you choose Luke as your Theme, you'll have a Theme card for Luke and one or more Luke cards with the keyword HERO, and you'll want to include many other cards with the same Theme. (Cards from other Themes can be in your deck, but they cost you more to play.) Some characters, weapons, and starships have no Theme (indicated by gray). Luke, Han, Vader, and Tarkin are the available Themes in the first Jedi Knights card set. KEYWORDS identify card characteristics and create relationships between cards. For example, a card with the keyword Rebel is a Rebel card, and is affected by things that refer to REBEL cards. Words in card titles, subtitles, and lore are never considered keywords. LEADERSHIP icons (<>), found on character and starship cards, represent that card's ability to lead another such card into battle. Cards with these icons are "leaders". DRAWING DESTINY. When you do something that has an uncertain outcome (like firing a weapon), you draw destiny to see if you succeed or fail. Draw the top card of your draw deck and reveal it to all players. The number in the upper right corner of the card is your DESTINY NUMBER, and determines the outcome, much like the roll of a die. After you determine the result, place the card you drew into your hand. READY/ROTATE. Most of the time, characters and starships are ready to act. Sometimes you ROTATE them (turn them to the side) to show that they have done something during the current turn, and that they are no longer ready. At the end of the turn you READY them again. When you ready or rotate a card that has other cards on it (such as a character with a weapon or a starship with a pilot), just ready or rotate the entire stack. Building Your Game Deck Each player must have his own Jedi Knights game deck. (A preconstructed starter deck contains everything that one player needs.) A game deck has two basic parts: setup cards and a DRAW DECK. The setup cards must include the following: * one THEME card; * one HERO named on that Theme card; * four LOCATION cards (one from each of the four different planets); and * an eight-card Force deck with cards of the same color, numbered 1 to 8. Each Theme card names a special version of your Hero in its game text. This version of the character is called your "starting Hero" because you place that character in your Theme pile at the start of the game. The draw deck may contain any cards except setup cards (Theme cards, locations, and Force cards), and it must follow these rules: * It must have at least 40 cards. (Most draw decks use around 60 to 80 cards.) * It may contain more than one version of your Hero, but all of your Hero cards must match your Theme card. * It may have no more than five copies of each individual card. (However, note that a few cards say "limit one per deck" in their game text.) The cards in your deck may have ALLEGIANCE icons for the Alliance or the Empire, but not both. (Cards with the Independent icon may be used in any kind of deck.) If your deck represents the Alliance, find an opponent whose deck represents the Empire (or vice versa). You can't play the Alliance against the Alliance (or the Empire against the Empire). Your starter deck comes with two different Heroes and Theme cards. Before you play, choose which Hero you want to use, and set the other Hero (with its corresponding Theme card) aside. Game Setup Getting ready to play takes four steps (the playmat that came with your starter can help, or you can refer to the illustration on the next page): (1) Place your Force deck face down on the table, off to your left. Your opponent does likewise. (2) Both players place their THEME cards face up on the table in front of themselves. Then each player takes their "starting hero" and looks through their draw deck to find any other cards allowed by the Theme card's game text. When both players are ready, they show each other these cards and then place them in their Theme piles (stacked face up under their Theme cards). (3) The players now build a stack of sites and a stack of systems as follows: If you have the highest THEME NUMBER on your Theme card, you go first. Choose one of your four SITES and place it in the center of the table. Your opponent takes his SYSTEM that corresponds to your site (the one that represents the same planet) and places it next to the site. Each card should be placed with its card title facing its owner. Then your opponent chooses one of his sites, stacking it on top of your site. You take your corresponding system and stack it on top of his system. (Make sure the title on each of these cards faces its owner.) Continue choosing sites and systems in alternating fashion until both players are out of locations. There should be a stack of four sites and a corresponding stack of four systems. The site and system on top are the first planet to be battled over and that planet now enters play; carry out the game text on the topmost site at this time. (4) Shuffle your DRAW DECK, allow your opponent to cut it, and then draw the number of cards indicated in the game text of your Theme card to form your STARTING HAND. Place your draw deck face down on the table, off to your right. Playing the Game Each turn of Jedi Knights has six different phases: the FORCE PHASE, the DEPLOY PHASE, the STARSHIP BATTLE PHASE, the BLOCKADE PHASE, the CHARACTER BATTLE PHASE, and the DRAW PHASE. During most of these phases, players take a number of game actions such as playing a card, initiating a battle, firing a weapon, drawing a card, or using the game text of a card already in play. Turns work differently in Jedi Knights than they do in many other games. Instead of waiting for one player to go through all of the phases of a turn, both players participate in each phase of every turn. There's no "your turn" and "my turn" in Jedi Knights! For example, during a single Deploy Phase, both the Alliance player and the Empire player put characters and starships into play. After both players finish, the Deploy Phase ends, and the game continues on to the next phase. The following sections describe how to play Jedi Knights with the basic card types such as characters, weapons, and starships. After that, Using Events and Game Text describes how to add more strategy to your game. (1) Force Phase Each player looks through his Force deck, chooses a Force card and places that card face down on the table. When both players have done so, reveal these Force cards at the same time and place them face up beside their owners' Force decks. Players use the numbers on these current Force cards throughout the rest of the turn (until covered up by next turn's Force card). Your CURRENT FORCE CARD affects three things this turn: * it sets your FORCE NUMBER (to determine which player goes first in later phases); * it specifies the number of credits you can spend playing cards during the DEPLOY PHASE; and * it determines how many cards you must DRAW into your hand during the DRAW PHASE. When you choose a card from your Force deck, it is placed on top of the Force card you used last turn. You can never choose a card from this pile in your Force Phase -- so it pays to plan ahead! The player who reveals the Force card with the highest Force number becomes Player 1 for this turn, and the other becomes Player 2. (If there's a tie, then the player with the highest THEME NUMBER becomes Player 1.) The Force card you selected in the FORCE PHASE provides you with a specified number of credits. This represents the amount of "virtual currency" you have to pay for the cards you play from your hand in the Deploy Phase. You cannot save leftover credits from turn to turn. (2) Deploy Phase During the DEPLOY PHASE, you play your cards to the scene of the upcoming battle. Players alternate taking game actions in this phase. If you are Player 1, you take the first action. After you complete your action, then Player 2 takes a game action, and so on. If you do not want to take an action when your turn comes up, just say "pass". PLAYING CHARACTERS, WEAPONS, and STARSHIPS -- When you may take a game action in the Deploy Phase, you may play one character, starship or weapon from your hand to the table. (Note that your "starting Hero" has game text allowing it to be played from your Theme pile rather than from your hand.) * A STARSHIP plays only to the system. * A CHARACTER plays to the site. Some characters may also play aboard certain starships at the system, as allowed by the cards' game texts. * A WEAPON plays only under a character (for Personal weapons) or under a starship (for Shipboard weapons). Place the weapon under the character or starship with its title showing. A character or starship may have any number of weapons played under it (although each character and starship can fire only once in each battle). If the card has a deploy cost, you must have the credits to pay for it, and that card "uses up" some of your credits for that turn. Important: if you play a card with a Theme icon different from your deck's Theme, that card's deploy cost increases by 1. TRANSFERRING WEAPONS -- You may use a game action in this phase to transfer a weapon from one of your cards to another. You may transfer a Shipboard weapon from one starship to another, or a Personal weapon from one character to another if the characters are both at the site or aboard the same starship. You do not have to spend credits for the transfer, but the card the weapon transfers to must be able to use that weapon. Each weapon card may be deployed or transferred once per turn only. Play continues back and forth until both players consecutively pass. (If you pass but your opponent takes another action, you then take another action yourself or pass again.) When both players pass consecutively, the Deploy Phase ends (and any unused credits from that turn are lost). (3) Starship Battle Phase Opposing starships at the system attack each other during this phase. Players alternate taking game actions in this phase; if you are Player 1, you take the first action. The most common action in this phase is initiating a starship battle, and each STARSHIP BATTLE PHASE often includes several different battles initiated by both players. To initiate a starship battle, select one of your ready starships, declare that starship as the attacker, and then select any one of your opponent's starships to be the defender. (You may select a rotated starship to be the defender.) Rotate the attacker (but not the defender). Each battle contains three steps: Support, Weapons, and Power. During each step, play alternates as each player takes one game action (or passes). Each step ends after both players pass consecutively. SUPPORT STEP -- In this step, players can add other starships into the battle to support the attacker and defender. Supporting cards act like bodyguards, protecting the attacker or defender from enemy weapon fire (the attacker or defender cannot be fired at while it has support). However, if the attacker or defender loses the battle, all supporting starships suffer the same fate, so it's a calculated risk. Players alternate taking game actions, but this time you do not begin with Player 1; instead, the defending player takes the first game action. The most common game action in this step is adding support. To add support to your starship, that starship must have one or more leadership icons (<>) and you must have another ready starship available. Rotate that ready starship in order to support your attacker or defender, then slide it over next to the attacker or defender to indicate its support. Supporting starships may not be supported; only the attacker and defender may be supported. The Support Step ends when both players pass consecutively. The attacker, the defender, all supporting starships, and any characters aboard those starships are now IN A BATTLE. (Other starships currently at the system are not in that battle.) WEAPONS STEP -- Players alternate taking game actions, but during this step the attacking player goes first. The most common action in this phase is firing a weapon. When you fire a weapon in a starship battle, declare which Shipboard weapon is firing and its target. The weapon must be fired by one of your starships in the current battle. (Each starship may fire only once per battle, no matter how many weapons it has.) Don't rotate the weapon card. In a character battle (which will come later), Personal weapons such as lightsabers and axes are "swung" rather than fired. Firing and swinging are considered the same thing in Jedi Knights (the two terms are interchangeable). The target you select must be one of your opponent's starships in the current battle. You may not target the attacker or defender while it is supported. You must now draw destiny to determine if your weapon fire hits the target. Draw the top card of your draw deck and reveal it to your opponent; the number in the upper right corner of the card is your DESTINY NUMBER. (Sometimes this destiny number is modified by game text like "+1 to hit".) If your destiny number is greater than the target's defense number, then the target is HIT. Immediately discard that starship (and any cards played on or under it). That starship and any characters aboard are DEFEATED. Otherwise, your shot has missed. Either way, don't forget to take the card you drew for destiny into your hand. The defending player now takes a game action, and players alternate taking actions until the Weapons Step ends by both players passing consecutively. If weapon fire removes the last starship on one side, the battle ends immediately and the other side wins the battle. POWER STEP -- Players alternate taking game actions, beginning with the attacking player. When both players pass consecutively, you must determine who wins the battle. Compare the power of the attacker and the defender. (Do not add the power of supporting starships or the power of characters aboard starships.) The one that has the most power wins the battle. (If they tie, the attacker wins.) The participating starships (even starships that only supported) on the losing side (and any characters aboard them) are DEFEATED. Remember, any starships or characters removed from the battle before the Power Step are also defeated. Any game text that depends upon who wins the battle, or who was defeated during the battle, can be used at this time. All DEFEATED cards are now discarded, including any cards played under them. The Power Step (and the battle) now ends and the other player gets to take a game action in the STARSHIP BATTLE PHASE, usually to initiate another starship battle. Play continues back and forth until both players consecutively pass, which ends the Starship Battle Phase. (4) Blockade Phase During this phase, starships at the system can cut off opposing resources to the site and can send down characters to reinforce their own troops. Players alternate taking game actions, beginning with Player 1. INTIMIDATION -- You may "intimidate" your opponent's troops (except his Hero) by rotating one of your ready capital starships. Your opponent must now choose one of his own ready characters at the site and rotate that character. However, your opponent's Hero may never be intimidated. SHUTTLING -- You may move one of your characters currently aboard a starship at the system down to the site (immediately ready that character if its starship was rotated). When both players consecutively pass, the BLOCKADE PHASE ends. (5) Character Battle Phase Opposing characters at the site attack each other during this phase in an attempt to seize control of the planet. Players alternate taking game actions beginning with Player 1. One of the most common actions is initiating a character battle, which follows all the same rules as a starship battle but using characters at the site instead of starships at the system. Play continues back and forth until both players consecutively pass; this ends the CHARACTER BATTLE PHASE. (6) Draw Phase During this phase, players do the following three things, in this order: check for control of the planet, draw cards, and ready cards. CONTROL CHECK -- If this is the second turn at the same planet, then it's time to determine who controls that planet. Total the power of all your characters at the site. (Do not count cards at the system.) DOUBLE YOUR TOTAL IF YOUR HERO IS THERE. The player with the highest total controls the planet. (If there is a tie, neither player controls it.) If this is the third planet controlled by the same player, that player immediately wins the game. Otherwise, both players take their characters, weapons, and starships remaining at the site and system and place them in their Theme piles. The player controlling this planet places his version of that location under his used Force card stack, site side up, with the bonus credits number sticking out. (These bonus credits are used when that player reaches the Final Conflict.) The losing player -- or both players in case of a tie -- places his version of the location in his Theme pile, where it simply remains out of the way for the rest of the game. The planet represented by the newly revealed site and system now enters play; carry out the game text on the new site. If this is the fourth and last planet, the Final Conflict rules (see below) are in effect. DRAW CARDS -- Now, Player 1 must draw cards from his draw deck equal to the draw number on his CURRENT FORCE CARD, then Player 2 does likewise. Drawing cards is not optional. When your draw deck runs out of cards, you don't lose the game -- just continue playing with the cards you have in your hand. If you're required to draw one or more cards and you can't, just draw as many as you can and ignore the rest. If you're required to make a destiny draw when you have no cards in your draw deck, your destiny draw result is automatically set to zero (no destiny draw modifiers apply to this result). READY CARDS -- Both players then ready all of their rotated cards. This ends the current turn, and the next turn begins with a FORCE PHASE. Final Conflict If you have controlled all three planets, you win the game (and the Final Conflict does not take place). Otherwise, both players fight it out on one last planet (the fourth) to determine the final winner. When players fight for the last planet, the phases of the turn work differently. In the Final Conflict, the first four phases (Force, Deploy, Starship Battle, and Blockade) occur only once each. * In the final Force Phase, you have two remaining Force cards to choose from. The card you choose determines your basic credits for the final Deploy Phase, and establishes the Force and draw numbers you use for the rest of the game. * In the final Deploy Phase, each player increases the credits number on their Force card by the bonus credits from the planets they have controlled (the ones placed under their used Force card stack). In addition to playing cards from hand, players may play starships, characters, and weapons from their Theme piles. * The final Starship Battle Phase and Blockade Phase occur normally. Play then follows a repeating cycle of Character Battle Phase, Draw Phase, Character Battle Phase, Draw Phase, and so on. This cycle continues until only one player's characters remain at the site. That player wins the game! Using Events and Game Text Events Event cards can add a lot of strategy and surprise to your deck. Events have special keywords to make it easy to tell when you can play them: * Play a Deploy Phase Event when it is your turn to take an action during that phase. A Deploy Phase Event remains in play indefinitely, unless it says it should be discarded. * Play a Battle Phase Event when it is your turn to take an action during one of the Battle Phases. In general, a Battle Phase Event can work during the Character Battle Phase or the Starship Battle Phase, although some of them have effects that only work during one or the other. Battle Phase Events remain in play until the end of the phase in which they are played, then they are discarded. Battle Phase Events do not play when a battle is in progress (that is, you may not use your action during the Support Step or Weapons Step to play a Battle Phase Event). * Play a Weapons Step Event when it is your turn to take an action during that step. Weapons Step Events remain in play until the end of the battle in which they are played, then they are discarded. A Support Step Event or Power Step Event works in the same way. * Play a Response Event whenever the condition described in its game text happens. If that condition describes a game action, play your Response Event when that action is declared (before it has its result). Discard the Response Event after use (unless its game text says otherwise). Each player may respond any number of times to the same condition (even playing multiple copies of the same Response Event). If there are two or more responses to the same condition at the same time, the response(s) made by the player who has the higher Force number will take effect first. TACTICAL BONUSES -- During the Weapons Step, you may play any Event face up under your attacker or defender, with its TACTICAL BONUS showing. This bonus adds to that card's power for the rest of the battle. In this case, only the tactical bonus matters; ignore everything else on the Event (including title, game text, and keywords). Each attacker or defender may use only one tactical bonus per battle. Discard tactical bonuses when the battle ends (or when that attacker or defender is defeated). Game Text You may use the game text on one of your cards in play when it is your turn to take a game action. That game text will describe when it may be used, with a time frame such as "once per turn," "once per Deploy Phase," "during the Support Step," and "once per Weapon Step". Some game text is automatic, such as "Adds 3 to his power when in a battle against Luke". (You do not use a game action for this.) When game text uses a phrase like "in a battle your side wins," it takes effect during the Power Step. Just like with Response Events, if both players have automatic game text activated by the same condition (for example, one side's game text says, "in a battle you win" and the other side's game text says, "in a battle you lose"), the game text of the player with the higher Force number takes effect first. More Details on Playing a Card Whenever you play a card (during any phase of the turn, not just the Deploy Phase), you must follow these four steps, in this order: (1)�Declare what card you are playing, and where you are playing it to; (2) Meet any conditions that affect the play of that card (including observing uniqueness rules); (3) Pay the deploy cost; and (4) Bring the card into play. Most of the time, these steps happen naturally without the players having to think about them in great detail. In the rare case of a question or argument about playing a card, consult the detailed steps below. Step 1 -- Declare When you declare your card play, specify where you are playing it. The type of card you play determines where you may play it. STARSHIPS play only to the system. CHARACTER play to the site. A character may also play aboard a starship at the system if the starship's game text specifically allows it. WEAPONS play only under a character (for Personal weapons) or a starship (for Shipboard weapons). Place the weapon partway under the character or starship with its title showing. A character or starship may have any number of weapons played under it (although each character and starship can fire only once in each battle). Some weapons, characters, and starships specify certain restrictions for weapons use. You must obey these restrictions when playing, transferring, and firing weapons. EVENTS play anywhere on your side of the table (or under your character or starship if using the tactical bonus instead of the game text). Step 2 -- Meet conditions There may be conditions listed in these rules, written in the game text of the card you play, or noted in the game text of a card already in play either on your side or your opponent's side of the table. For example, game text that requires you to reveal the top three cards of your draw deck may not be initiated unless you have three or more cards in your draw deck at that time. UNIQUENESS -- All character, weapon, and starship cards are UNIQUE, except the ones with the keyword TYPICAL. Unique cards represent special, one-of-a-kind people or things in the Star Wars universe. Typical cards represent common items found throughout the universe. For example, there are lots of blasters (card title Blaster) in Mos Eisley, but only one specific blaster in Han Solo's holster (card title Han's Blaster Pistol). Even if a person or thing is unique, it may be represented in the game by one or more different cards. For example, there is obviously only one Luke Skywalker, but in Jedi Knights you'll find both Luke Skywalker, Moisture Farmer and Luke Skywalker, Hero of Yavin. When you play a unique character, starship or weapon card, you must first check to see if a card that represents that unique person or thing is already in play. (Remember, cards in any player's hand, in a draw deck, or in a Theme pile are not in play.) All cards with the same card title, even if their subtitles differ, represent the same person or thing. If your opponent already has a card in play representing that unique person or thing, then you may not play your version. But if you already have a card in play representing the person or thing, then you may play the new one from your hand to replace the one in play, as long as the new one you are playing is a different version (that is, it has a different subtitle). In this case the earlier card being replaced is discarded. EVENTS are are not unique. You may play as many copies of an Event in one turn or phase as you wish, even if your opponent has already played copies of those same cards. When more than one card in play affects something, add the effects from those cards together. For example, if an Event in play adds 2 to the power of your Rebel characters and you play another copy of that Event, then each of your Rebel characters adds 4 to its power. Step 3 -- Pay costs Most character and starship cards (and even some weapon cards) cost credits to bring into play, but some have no cost. To bring a card into play from your hand, you must pay that card's deploy cost using the credits provided by your current Force card. If you cannot pay the deploy cost, then you may not play the card. The cost you must pay is shown as a number of square black icons on the card. Cards that have a particular Theme have their normal deploy cost when used in a deck of that Theme; but when used in a deck of a different Theme, those cards cost 1 additional credit to play. This is why it is to your advantage to use the cards that match your deck Theme whenever possible. Once you have paid to play a card, you do not have to pay for that card again (unless that card leaves play and you wish to play another copy, of course). You do not need any tokens to keep track of credits, because they do not accumulate from turn to turn (any credits you do not spend are simply lost at the end of the Deploy Phase). Just make sure that you don't spend more than the credits allowed by your Force card (plus modifiers to that number, if any) each turn. Step 4 -- Bringing your card into play When you have completed the three steps listed above, bring your card into play. Place the card where you declared you were playing it. UNIQUE CARDS -- If you play a unique card and must replace your other version of that card already in play, then (1) discard the replaced version, and (2) transfer all cards played on or affecting that version to the newer version (unless such transfer would be illegal, in which case you discard the inappropriate card). You may not discard the card and then choose not to play another version. Once discarded, you must bring the new version into play. Whether the card you play is unique or Typical, already in play or not, you must still follow all four steps of playing a card. Therefore, even when you replace a character with another version of the same person, you must still declare, meet conditions, observe uniqueness, and pay costs. Multiplayer Rules Jedi Knights may be played as a four-player game, with two players working as a team on each side. One side plays the Alliance and the other side plays the Empire. The two players on each side must have different Heroes. Players on the same side sit next to each other and make plans together. You may want to customize your deck to work well with your partner's deck. Generally, during most parts of the turn, players on the same side act as individual players. Teammates may consult with each other at any time (including when they choose Force cards), and they may show each other their Force cards and the cards in their hands. However, when choosing sites and during both Battle Phases, players act as a team. One side attacks and the other defends. Any description in the rules referring to a "player" or "opponent" during either Battle Phase should be understood in a multiplayer game as referring to a "side" or "opposing side". FORCE DECKS -- Each player on a side has his own Force deck, and each player has his own place in the play sequence. Thus, in a multiplayer game each turn has Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, and Player 4, according to the players' Force numbers. Each player gets to take their own game action in sequence; after Player 4 completes his action, then Player 1 gets to take one again. Each phase ends when all four players pass consecutively. Also, each player spends his own credits and draws his own cards. LOCATION SETUP -- The sides take turns choosing sites to stack on the table, beginning with the side that has the highest Theme number. When your side takes a turn to stack a site, you may choose any site from either team member, as long as that planet has not been put on the location stacks yet. (The other side then chooses one of their copies of that planet to place on the system stack.) Each time a site and system are placed, the other players who have unused location cards for that planet place them in their Theme piles, where they remain for the rest of the game. DEPLOY PHASE -- You may play cards on your teammate's cards, such as deploying your weapon on his starship. However, the owner of the starship or character determines when cards deployed on that starship or character take a game action (such as firing a weapon). You must check your teammate's cards when you observe uniqueness rules. BATTLES -- During the Support Step, the players on the defending side decide which one of them takes the first game action, then the players on the attacking side decide which one of them takes the next action, and so on. Your cards may support your teammate's cards, and vice versa. During the Weapons Step, use the same process but begin with the attacking side. CONTROL CHECK -- Instead of fighting for two turns on each planet, in a multiplayer game you battle at each planet for only one turn (except for the Final Conflict). During the Control Check, you double your side's total power if one or both of the Heroes for your side are at the site. WINNING THE GAME -- If one team wins the first three planets, that team wins the game. Otherwise, the Final Conflict continues until only one side has characters remaining at the site. Each player on the winning team shares in the victory (even if only one of them has characters remaining in play). Collecting and Trading Jedi Knights You can buy Jedi Knights at toy stores, card and comic shops, game stores, and bookstores everywhere. The cards come in 60--card Starter Decks (there are two different ones) and 11--card Booster Packs. There are 154 different cards in the first expansion (some appear only in Starter Decks, others appear only in Booster Packs, and still others appear in both). But not all cards appear in the packs with the same frequency. Some are rare, others are uncommon, and still others are common. The cards in your Starter Deck (see below) are fixed, since you get the same ones in every copy of that particular Starter Deck box. A complete Premiere set of Jedi Knights has 50 rare, 40 uncommon, and 40 common cards, plus 24 special fixed cards from the Preconstructed Starter Decks. You'll also find Jedi Knights cards that come from other sources, produced as premium or promotional cards which aren't part of any set. The design of each Jedi Knights card helps you keep track of your collection. A set icon identifies which set the card is from (the Premiere set uses the Millennium Falcon). Below that are a number and letter describing the card's number in that set and its rarity (R = rare, U = uncommon, C = common, F = fixed, and P = premium or promotional). BOOSTER PACKS -- Each Booster Pack contains 1 rare card and a mixture of 10 uncommon and common cards. Cards are randomized, and are mixed between the Alliance, the Empire, and Independent cards. "FLIP MOVIE" cards -- Some cards have an extra number before their collector number. In the Premiere set, these cards belong to one of two "flip movies". Each flip movie is a sequence of eighteen cards, six in Premiere and the remainder in future expansion sets. When stacked and riffled through, they form a moving animation sequence, showing a memorable scene from Star Wars! SPECIAL CARDS FOR COLLECTORS -- Some packs, in place of their regular rare card, randomly contain cards designed especially for collectors: * About 1 in 7 packs contains a special hot-stamped silver foil version of one of the rare cards. * About 1 in 35 packs contains a special hot-stamped gold foil version of one of the rare cards. SPECIAL STEREOSCOPIC 3-D CARDS -- A Jedi Knights exclusive! Because card images in Jedi Knights are fully 3-D computer modeled, we bring you true stereoscopic 3-D images of the Star Wars universe. Stereoscopic imaging works by pairing a "left" version of an image with a "right" version of that image from a slightly different camera angle. Your brain then can interpret the two images as a single, three-dimensional picture. Most of the rare cards in Jedi Knights (and the Blaster Rifle cards in the Starter Decks) have a left version and a right version, as indicated by a small "L" or "R" above the expansion icon. You may view stereoscopic images unaided by focusing the left and right eyes on the left and right images in a relaxed fashion until they converge in the middle in 3-D. Many people are familiar with this technique from the popular series of Magic Eye books. To see a 3-D Jedi Knights stereoscopic image, place a pair of cards on the edge of a table, side by side with the "L" version on the left and the "R" version on the right. With your eyes about a foot or two away from the cards, focus on the floor. Look at the floor, then shift your attention to the images on the cards. When they are properly merged, you see three images. The center card image is in 3-D. (Ignore the other two.) It takes some practice but just about anyone can do it. If you would like to get a special viewer to help you view the stereo pairs, please visit www.decipher.com/jk for a list of recommended companies who have a variety of viewers from about $2 and up. JEDI KNIGHTS LEAGUE -- Watch for details on this exciting new experience at your local game store or comic shop soon. And don't forget to check out our website at decipher.com for more Jedi Knights information. Glossary allegiance -- The symbol behind the destiny number on most cards in your draw deck identifies them as loyal to either the Alliance or the Empire. Some cards have an Independent symbol instead. Alliance -- Many cards have the Alliance as an allegiance. See also allegiance. at -- At a site or at a system (orbiting). For example, a character "at Hoth" is either at a Hoth site or orbiting Hoth. See also ON and ORBITING. attacker -- The character or starship selected by a player to attack in a battle. battle -- A conflict involving one or more characters or starships from each player or side. Battles take place in the Starship Battle Phase or the Character Battle Phase. Battle Phase -- One of the two portions of the turn in which battles take place. Each turn has one Starship Battle Phase and one Character Battle Phase. Also, a keyword found on some Event cards which indicates that you may play that card during a Battle Phase. battle alongside -- A character (or starship) is battling alongside another character (or starship) when the two of them are in the same battle and on the same side. Blockade Phase -- The portion of the turn in which intimidation and shuttling down take place. character -- A type of card that represents a personality in the Star Wars story. Character Battle Phase -- The portion of the turn in which characters conduct battles at the site. control -- You control a planet when you meet the conditions of the Control Check for that planet. Control Check -- A test performed as the first action in the Draw Phase to determine who controls a planet. credit number -- A number on your current Force card that determines how many credits you may spend for the deploy cost of cards during the Deploy Phase. current Force card -- The face-up Force card that you use during the current turn. defeated -- A character or starship on the losing side in a battle. Also, any card hit by a weapon or otherwise removed from a battle. defender -- The character or starship selected by the attacking player to defend in a battle. defense -- The number on a character or starship which must be exceeded by the destiny number for a weapon fire destiny draw targeting that card for that weapon fire to be successful. Deploy Phase -- The portion of the turn in which you play characters, starships, weapons, and Deploy Phase Events. Also, a keyword found on some Event cards which indicates that you may play that card during a Deploy Phase. destiny number -- A number found in the upper right corner of the cards in your draw deck used to determine the outcome of certain actions, such as firing a weapon. draw deck -- The deck of at least 40 cards (it has no maximum size) that you draw cards from to place in your hand during the game. draw number -- A number on your current Force card that determines how many cards you will have to draw during the Draw Phase. Draw Phase -- The portion of the turn in which players perform a Control Check, draw cards, and ready cards. Empire -- Many cards have the Empire as an allegiance. See allegiance. Event -- A type of card that represents a surprise occurrence. exchange -- When you exchange a card in your discard pile with a second card from your hand, place the second card in the same place the first one came from within the discard pile. Final Conflict -- a special game turn sequence used to determine the winner of the game when neither player or side controls all three planets. fire -- A generic term describing the use of a weapon. "Swing" describes the "firing" of a lightsaber or vibro-ax, but the two terms mean exactly the same thing. Force card -- A type of card found only in a Force deck. Each player has an eight-card Force deck, and chooses from that deck to determine their Force number, credit number, and draw number. Force number -- A number on your Force card that helps determine the order of play. The player with the highest Force number becomes Player 1 and goes first. Force Phase -- The portion of the turn in which you select your Force card. game deck -- Your deck of all the cards you bring to play the game, which includes your Theme card, your starting Hero, four different locations, your eight-card Force deck, and your draw deck. Hero -- A kind of character card. A Hero card has a Theme icon and is named on its matching Theme card. hit -- The target of a successful weapon fire game action. in a battle -- A character or starship is in a battle when it is the attacker, it is the defender, or it is supporting the attacker or the defender. Any characters aboard a starship which is in a battle are also in that battle. in play -- All the cards you play to the table during your Deploy Phase are in play, and so are the site and system that are currently on top of the location stacks. Cards in your hand, draw deck, or under your Theme card are not in play. Independent -- A card that does not have allegiance to the Empire or the Alliance, and may go into any type of deck. intimidation -- The use of your Capital starship during the Blockade Phase to force your opponent to rotate one of his characters. keywords -- Labels which identify cards and create relationships between cards. You never find a keyword in a card's title, subtitle or lore. leader -- A character or starship with one or more leadership icons. leadership -- Some characters (and starships) have leadership icons that indicate how many other characters (or starships) may support them in a battle. location -- A type of card that has a site on one side and a system on the other, both representing the same planet. on -- At a site. For example, a character "on Hoth" is at a Hoth site. See also AT and ORBITING. orbiting -- Starships (and characters aboard those starships) that are at the system location. See also AT and ON. pass -- When you may take a game action and you cannot or do not wish to, you must pass; then it becomes your opponent's turn to take a game action. peek at -- To show a card only to yourself and not to other players. Personal -- A weapon with this keyword plays only on a character. planet -- A collective term describing a site and its corresponding system. See also SITE and SYSTEM. power -- A number on a character or starship showing that card's strength when it becomes the attacker or defender in a battle. ready -- A card that is ready is available for certain game actions, such as being selected as an attacker, supporting an attacker or defender, and so on. A card which is ready may be rotated. See also ROTATE. Response -- A keyword found on some Event cards that indicates you may play that card when a condition specified in that card's game text happens. reveal -- To show a card face up to all players. rotate -- To turn a card to the side, indicating that it is no longer ready and may not be rotated. See also READY. Shipboard -- A weapon with this keyword plays only on a starship. shuttle -- A game action you may take during the Starship Battle Phase to move your character from aboard a starship to the site. side -- When the game has four players, those players form a pair of two-person teams, and these teams are often called sides. site -- A kind of location where characters battle each other. See also planet. starship -- A type of card that fights only in starship battles. Starship Battle Phase -- The portion of the turn in which starships conduct battles at the system. starting hand -- The hand of cards you draw at the start of the game. Your Theme card tells you how many cards to draw. swing -- See FIRE. system -- A kind of location where starships battle each other. See also planet. tactical bonus -- A number on Event cards that you may use to increase the power of your attacker or defender in a battle. Theme -- Your deck's Theme is determined by your Hero and matching Theme card. Theme card -- A type of card that creates a holding area for your characters, weapons, and starships. Your Theme card names your Hero and also has your Theme number. Theme number -- The number on your Theme card used to break ties in certain situations. topmost -- Nearest the top of the specified deck or pile. The "topmost Trooper in your discard pile" is the trooper closest to the top of that pile (it does not actually have to be the card on top). Typical -- Any number of copies of a Typical card may be in play for any numbers of players at one time. unique -- All character, starship and weapon cards represent something one-of-a-kind in the Star Wars universe and are unique (except cards with the keyword Typical). weapon -- A card that enables you to target specific enemy cards during the Weapons Step of a battle. CREDITS THE DECIPHER JEDI KNIGHTS TEAM: Tom Lischke (lead game designer); Tim Ellington, Chuck Kallenbach II, Bill Martinson, Justin Pakes, and Sandy Wible (additional design); Joe Boulden (3D project manager); Rob Burns (key 3D artist); Dan Burns (art director); Mike Schley; Ed Gartin; Leslie Burns; Monica Jones; Dean Irwin; Evan Lorentz; Rich Loftus; Francis Lalumiere; Kendrick Summers; Kyle Heuer; Kevin Reitzel; Bruce Umene; Sean Smallman; Jennifer Ketterman; Warren Holland; Cindy Thornburg; Anthony Vittone; Ross Campbell; Rick Eddleman; Walt Eley; Ryan Honeyman; Calvin Sanders; Becky Higgerson; Angie Higgerson; Jennifer Gilbert; Matt Holland; Kathy Eddleman; Kurt Luchtman; Lisa Brinn; Faye Holt; Liz Duffey; Roland Williams; Ronnie Thornburg; Dominiek Vermandere; and Marcus Sheppard. CGI ARTISTS: The staff of A. S. Imagined Inc. -- Mark Asman, John Cayatano, David Cooley, Bob Evangelista, Mark Wall, Debbie Weimer, Dale Wyatt, and Peggy Sutherland; Arild Anfinnsen (Switzerland), James Bassett, Ron Bublitz, Jon Carroll, Harry Chang, Matt Clark (England), Iven Connery, Marc Eiland, Lukachuk Evgueni (France), Darren Robert Foster (Ireland), Jose Gonzalez (Spain), Willi Hammes (Germany), Sebastian Hirsch (Germany), Fabrice Holbe (France), Jay Hosfelt, Matt Hunt, Justin Jacobs, Gabriel Koerner, Valerie Grandt Leeds, Mathias Lindgren (Sweden), Alexey Meerow (Russia), Lee Morrisroe (England), Daniel North (Australia), Justin Owens, Nicholas Pappas, Topias Salonen (Finland), Evgeny Sokolov (Russia), Jannulis Tembridis (Germany), Ward Van Opstal (Belgium), Jeff Wilson, and Matt Woung. (Artists are from the USA unless otherwise noted.) PLAYTESTERS: Joe Alread, Greg Anderson, Brian Bosch, I-Ming Chen, Jonathan Dunn, Doug Faust, Joseph Gaus, Michael Girard, Clint Hays, Joe Helfrich, Preston Hunt, Larry Hutson, Christopher Janiak, Cheryl Kallenbach, Tim Leask, Steven Lewis, Kathy Lischke, Maarten Logghe, Matt Lush, Kevin Martilla, Eric Olson, Mike Patterson, Erik Petersen, Jason Robinette, William Schmidt, Geoff Snider, Patrick Sullivan, Doug Taylor, Tim Wezner, Jason Winter, and Nick Zube. SPECIAL THANKS: Mike Reynolds, Jerry Darcy, John Kaufeld, Dan Bojanowski, Brian Kallenbach, Jonathan Quesenberry, Tom Braunlich, Rollie Tesh, Warren's parents, Lucasfilm Ltd., Graphic Converting Inc., Teagle & Little Inc., and all the Rebel Strike Teams across the galaxy! (C) 2001 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. (TM), (R), & (C) 2001 Decipher Inc., P.O. Box 56, Norfolk, VA 23501-0056. Decipher and The Art of Great Games are trademarks of Decipher Inc. All rights reserved. PLAYERS' LEAGUE THE JEDI KNIGHTS (TM) TCG PLAYERS' LEAGUE -- Sign up for a League at your local shop and receive an exclusive LUKE SKYWALKER Jedi Knights gameplay card, and much, much more! As a League member, you will play in Jedi Knights TCG games against other League members or even in multi-player games, so bring your friends to help you begin your training. You can earn additional Jedi Knights TCG gameplay cards, available only in this League, by progressing through your Jedi Levels. Train from the Apprentice Level, to Jedi Knight, and finally to Jedi Master! Through the Jedi Knights Players' League, you can become a member of the worldwide community of players, so ask your local retailer to sponsor a League. You must complete your training� It is your destiny� Look for Scum and Villainy, the first exciting Jedi Knights expansion set, Summer 2001!