Disclaimer: What follows is a comprehensive listing of the contents of my personal (home-made) Cosmic Encounter set and the rules for its use. You may e-mail me to request copies ("jpg" scans, 8.3Mb) of all of my printable materials (obviously excluding the Mothership, Carriers, and Tokens) which were not posted here in order to conserve space. Information on Alien Powers was gleaned from various sources on the net (primarily The Warp), and the Rules were obtained from the Avalon Hill website. All of this data was edited for uniformity and a few minor changes made to the game mechanics and terminology. This is a simplified version of "pure" Cosmic Encounter (played without moons, flares, lucre, etc.) meant for larger games with up to ten players. For those desiring a greater degree of complexity, the optional Zodiac rules (by Bryan Bowe) should more than suffice. This page is in no way intended to infringe upon the rights of any trademark and/or copyright holders of the "Cosmic Encounter" license(s), such as Hasbro/Avalon Hill. That said...

THE LEGEND
       Some called them The Ancient Ones. Others referred to them as Guardians. They called themselves, simply, elders. For eons the elders had watched the cosmos evolve. They saw matter, popping into existence, unevenly coalescing into gases and condensing into gravitational anomalies. And, everywhere, they saw signs of fledgling life.
       As these alien beings evolved, absorbed in their own accomplishments, each believed itself unique. The elders, however, studied them all, watching them develop and extend their control over nearby parts of the cosmos. The elders watched with particular care, knowing that their own evolution was taking them beyond this universe. They knew that one of these new forms of intelligent being must be selected to replace them.
       The new Guardians must be able to spread their bases widely throughout the Universe. To do this they must know how to wield power, but also how to use diplomacy. They must conserve resources by attracting support, but be able to act alone when necessary. To find the alien life form most capable of this leadership, the elders devised a plan. They shared knowledge that the Universe contained many alien life forms. They provided technology so each alien life form could spread out over interstellar distances and colonize new worlds. Lastly, they made available a variety of Artifacts featuring effects that could be used by those clever enough to recognize an opportunity to help themselves in a rapidly deteriorating situation.
       Thus prepared, multitudes of alien life forms were turned loose to seek their destiny, alone or in combination, among the worlds of the Cosmos. With each alien firmly convinced that they alone were destined to guide the future of the Universe, the age of Cosmic Encounter had begun.

GOAL
In Cosmic Encounter, you play the leader of a colonization effort whose ships (represented by tokens) are traveling throughout the Cosmos to prove their worthiness for Cosmic leadership. You will use force, cunning, and diplomacy to win success for your unique form of alien intelligence. This game is best played with four to six players, but anywhere from two to ten may play. The two-player version is very strategic, but omits the alliances found in the multi-player games. The winner(s) will be the first player(s) to have FIVE BASES on any planets outside his or her home system.

EQUIPMENT

• Planet Systems: There are 10 Planet Systems, one for each player. Each is a different color (black, white, crystal/clear, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, or pink) and shows five planets.
• The Warp: This is the center of the gameboard where defeated tokens go to wait to be freed. Tokens in the Warp cannot be used in challenges. These tokens are out of the game until you retrieve them and return them to your bases.
• Tokens: 200 tokens, 20 of each color.
• Destiny Cards: 30 cards with colored circles, 3 of each color.
• Card Deck: 99 cards, including 81 Challenge Cards (63 Attack and 18 Compromise) and 18 Artifact Cards.
  • 63 Attack Cards: 40(x1), 30(x1), 20(x2), 19(x1), 18(x1), 17(x1), 16(x1), 15(x4), 14(x2), 13(x1), 12(x6), 11(x2), 10(x10), 9(x3), 8(x10), 7(x4), 6(x8), 5(x2), 4(x2), and 1(x1)
  • 18 Artifact Cards: Back-Zap(x1), Cosmic Zap(x4), Emotion Control(x1), Force Field(x2), Glitch(x1), Mobius Tubes(x3), Plague(x2), Rebirth(x2), Stellar Gas(x1), and TimeGash(x1)
• Alien Power Cards: 90 cards, each describing a unique Alien Power.
• Mothership: The large craft that moves offensive tokens (colonizing ships) between planet systems.
• Carriers: 10 defender craft, one for each of the players.

SETUP

• Systems: The Warp is placed on the center of the playing space. Each player selects a Planet System and places it in front of him or her, forming the gameboard around the Warp.
• Alien Power Cards: Each player takes the role of an alien race determined to gain control of the universe. The Alien Power Card describes the unique power that each race possesses. Players can use the unique power of their race to break certain rules in the game. Exactly how and when the alien powers can be used is described on each of the Alien Power Cards. These powers may contradict existing rules. That's OK; the text of the Alien Power Card takes precedence over the rulebook. Some powers are automatic and are triggered by specific situations. Other powers are optional allowing their player to decide when they should be used. Optional powers say "may" or "can" to indicate that their use is at the player's discretion. Each player is given an Alien Power Card, using any one of the following methods agreed upon by the players:
  1. Random Deal: Shuffle the Alien Power Cards and give one at random to each player.
  2. Best of Three: Deal 3 Powers randomly to each player. Each player chooses one of the three he or she will play and sets the others aside, out of play.
  3. Pass and Pick: Deal 3 Powers randomly to each player. After reading all of their options, each player must keep 1 and pass 2 to the left. From the new selections, each player then keeps 2 and passes 1 to the left. After this pass, each player picks thier power for the game from the 3 cards they now hold and removes the other two powers from play.
  4. Blind Bluff: Each player takes turns holding up a power so that everyone but that person can see what power it is. Each player votes whether or not they would want to have that power (they may lie). When all of the other players have voted, the player holding the power (still without knowing what it is) decides to keep it, or give it to any player who said they wanted it. Once a player has a power, they no longer may vote. Go around the table until every player has a power.
• After reading your Alien Power Card, place in face up beside your Planet System. Before play begins, you should describe to the other players what your Alien Power does. Set aside all unused powers, outside the play area.
• Establish Home Bases: Take the twenty tokens of your system's color and place 4 of them on each of your planets, forming 5 bases. These are your home bases.
• Carrier: Place your Carrier next to your Planet System.
• Destiny Pile: If you are playing with fewer than ten players, remove all Destiny Cards of the colors that are not being played. Shuffle the remaining Destiny Cards (three cards of each color being played) and randomly turn one over. Note its color (it determines which player will go first). Reshuffle the cards and place them in a pile face down next to the gameboard. This is the Destiny Pile.
• The Deck: Shuffle the 63 Attack, 18 Compromise, and 18 Artifact Cards together and deal each player a hand of seven cards face down. Players may look at them but may not show them to other players. The remaining cards are placed face down to one side, making the Deck. As cards are played they are placed face up in a separate Discard Pile.

At the start of the game, each player has the following:

• 1 Home Planet System
• 4 Tokens on each home planet
• 1 Carrier
• 1 Alien Power Card
• 7 Cards from the Deck

The player whose color matched the Destiny Card turned over in the "Destiny Pile" step above goes first.

OVERVIEW
       You are the leader of a colonization effort. You are responsible for your alien life form's future. Players will take turns trying to establish bases. A base consists of one or more tokens of the same color on a planet. The object of the game is to establish bases in other players' planetary systems, called external bases. The winner(s) will be the first player(s) to have FIVE BASES on any planets outside his or her home system. If two or more players gain a fifth external base simultaneously, then a joint win is declared for those players that have five external bases. You do not need to have bases in all systems, just bases on five planets outside your own system. These bases may all be in one system or two may be on one player's system and three in another's, etc.
       On your turn, you are the offensive player. You must challenge another player (the defensive player) on a planet by moving a group of your tokens in the Mothership to that planet. Then you and the other player will play Challenge Cards face down. The combination of tokens, Challenge Cards, and other effects will determine the outcome. You may establish a base on the planet; you may lose tokens to the Warp, or some other outcome may result! Remember: both players can see how many tokens each side has in the challenge, but neither side knows what card the other will play or what other effects will be brought to bear on the outcome. You will be able to make alliances with other players during a challenge, jointly risking your tokens to gain or defend a base. You will also have an Alien Power that will give you the advantage of breaking a specific rule of play, causing your own special brand of mayhem in the game.
       If you lose your first challenge, your turn ends and play passes to your left. If you complete a first successful challenge, you may choose to have a second challenge. Your turn will then end, and play will pass to your left.

TO PLAY
Each challenge has 10 steps, which happen in order. You may end up performing all or just some of these steps during a challenge. Also, your Alien Power may cause a special kind of havoc with these steps. Artifact Cards can also interrupt or negate some of these steps, but use these steps as your guide. (Note: During a challenge, the offensive player and the defensive player are the Main Players in the challenge. Allies are not Main Players. This term is used on cards and Alien Power Cards.)

1. Regain One Lost Token: Throughout the game, tokens will go to the Warp when challenges are lost. At the start of a challenge, if you have any tokens in the Warp, you may move one token from the Warp to one of your bases (a home base or external base). If you don't have any bases, you may move a token directly from the Warp to the Mothership.
2. Reveal Destiny: Turn over the top card in the Destiny Pile. The color of the card indicates the planet system in which you will now have a challenge. For example, if your color is red and you turn over a green card, you must have a challenge somewhere in the green system. The player who owns the green system is the Defensive Player. If you turn over your own color you have two options: you can draw again (until you draw another color) or you can attempt to drive a foreign base off of your home system, possibly re-establishing a base on one of your home planets. The player whose base you point the Mothership at is the Defensive Player. (see: Driving a Foreign Base from your Home System, below).
3. Gather Tokens and Move Them to Mothership: Take 1 to 4 of your tokens from any of your bases and place them onto the front center row of the Mothership. You may take tokens from your home bases or from bases you have established elsewhere. You may take them all from the same base or you can take them from different bases in different systems. Be careful not to remove all tokens from a base. If you do, you no longer have a base on that planet because you no longer have a presence there (see: Stripping a Planet of Tokens, below).
4. Point Mothership at Target Planet: Move the Mothership and point it at one planet in the system that Destiny has directed you to attack. The player who owns that planet is now the defensive player and will try to defend the planet. The defending player can neither add nor subtract tokens from his or her planet. Note that, on a home planet, a player may have no tokens there, but still has an obligation to defend the planet.
5. Offense Invites Allies: You may now invite offensive allies to help you gain a base. Announce which color players you wish to have as allies. These players do not answer yet. As tempting as it is for them to answer, they should stay quiet. Really. That's the rule. Those players must wait for the defensive player's invitations (if any) before deciding whether or not they will ally with you.
6. Defense Invites Allies: The defensive player may now invite defensive allies. He or she may invite: any players who have been asked by the offensive player, those ignored by the offensive player, a combination, or no one.
7. Allies Accept/Decline: Starting with the player to the left of the offensive player and proceeding clockwise, players accept or decline invitations to ally. You may only ally with one of the main players. Players allying with the offensive player place one to four tokens (taken from any of their bases) into the empty slots of the Mothership, or attach their Carriers to the Mothership if it is already full. Players allying with the defensive player place one to four of their tokens into their Carriers and then move their Carriers behind the defensive players' planet to help defend it. Players may choose not to ally at all. Only after a player has allied with a side (if at all) and after he or she has committed tokens does the next player accept or decline an invitation.
8. Play Challenge Cards: After alliances have been formed, the offensive player and the defensive player each choose a Challenge Card (Attack or Compromise) from their respective hands and place them face down.
9. Reveal Challenge Cards: Challenge Cards are turned face up simultaneously. (Or as close to simultaneously as possible in this imperfect universe.)
10. Determine Outcome: There are three different outcomes to a Challenge, depending on what type of Challenge Card (Attack or Compromise) is played by each player. After Challenge Cards are revealed, the challenge is resolved, then Challenge Cards are discarded. The details of challenge resolution are:
    • If Both Players Play Attack Cards: Each player adds the number on the card he or she revealed to the number of tokens on his or her side. If you are the offensive player, you add your card number to the number of your tokens on the Mothership plus any allied tokens on or attached to the Mothership. If you are the defensive player, you add your card number to the number of your tokens on the planet involved in the challenge (if there are no tokens there it is a 0) plus the number of tokens on Carriers protecting the planet. The player with the higher total wins, with ties going to the defender.
      • If the offensive player wins:
        • All the tokens on the Mothership (both the offensive player's tokens plus any allies' tokens) are placed on the planet, thus establishing (or possibly adding to) a base for the offensive player and each offensive ally.
        • The defensive player's tokens on the planet plus any defensive allies' tokens in Carriers go to the Warp.
        • Other tokens on the planet do not go to the Warp. They were not involved in the challenge. Carriers also do not go to the Warp.
      • If the defensive player wins:
        • The tokens forming the already established bases on the defensive planet stay there.
        • All the tokens on the Mothership (both the offensive player's plus any allies' tokens) go to the Warp. (The Mothership itself does not, and any attached Carriers return home.)
        • Defensive allies return their allying tokens to any of their bases (even if they are different from where they came from) and move their Carriers back to their home systems. Defensive allies do not get to land on the planet just defended.
        • Defensive allies also get a special bonus called Defender Rewards. For each token that you contributed to the defense, you must draw a card from the deck or take a token from the Warp. Tokens removed from the Warp may be placed on any of your bases. You may mix the options, e.g. drawing two cards and moving two tokens from the Warp (provided that you had committed four tokens to the successful defense).
    • If Both Players Play Compromise Cards: An attempt is being made to reach a deal. Attacks have been put aside in favor of talk. All allies on both sides return their tokens to any of their bases and move their Carriers back to their home systems. They get nothing. The main players have one minute to make a deal. At this point, you can negotiate a mutually agreeable deal or play hardball and try to negotiate a sweet deal (for you) that your opponent can't refuse.
      • Making a Deal: In a deal, you may trade cards and/or allow your opponent to establish one base on any one planet where you already have a base. In this way you both may gain a new base and/or new cards. Any of your tokens not in the Warp can be used to establish this base. Cards must come from the players' hands, not from the Deck. In addition, deals can include promises to perform any action that a player can normally perform. These promises are not binding; you can later refuse to perform the action if you wish (but other players will be hesitant to negotiate with you in the future...). In all deals, at least one player must receive something beyond the promise to perform an action. The deal need not be equitable; one player could gain nothing, but at least one player must gain something tangible. Any tokens remaining in the Mothership afterward return to any of the offensive player's bases. Allies are never included in a deal. If no agreement is reached within one minute, you both lose three of your tokens of your choice to the Warp. If there is no agreement, the offensive player's turn ends.
    • If One Player Plays a Compromise Card and the Other Plays an Attack Card: If you played a compromise card, your side loses. Automatically. Your tokens and your allies' tokens go to the Warp. However, you now claim Compensation from your belligerent opponent. You must take at random, from your opponent's hand, one card for each token you lost to the Warp (not counting your allies', they get Warped without Compensation). If your opponent doesn't have enough cards to provide you full Compensation, you take only the cards he or she has.

SUMMARY OF CHALLENGE STEPS

1. Regain One Lost Token
2. Reveal Destiny
3. Gather Tokens and Move Them to Mothership
4. Point Mothership at Target Planet
5. Offense Invites Allies
6. Defense Invites Allies
7. Allies Accept/Decline
8. Play Challenge Cards
9. Reveal Challenge Cards
10. Determine Outcome
    • IF OFFENSE WINS: Offense and allies get a base moving all of their tokens from the Mothership onto the planet. Defensive player and allies' tokens involved in the challenge go to the Warp.
    • IF DEFENSE WINS: Defensive player has prevented colonization of the planet. Defensive allies return tokens to bases and get Defender Rewards (collect one card from the deck or token from the Warp for each of their defending tokens involved in the challenge). Offensive player's tokens and allies' tokens go to the Warp.
    • IF TWO COMPROMISES WERE PLAYED: Main players have one minute to make a deal. Allies go home. A deal may involve gaining one base and/or trading or giving card(s) or promises of favors. If no deal is reached, the two players each lose three tokens to the Warp.
    • IF ONLY ONE COMPROMISE WAS PLAYED: The Attack card wins. Compromising player loses but gets Compensation of one card from the winner per token lost.

ARTIFACT CARDS
Artifacts are devices developed by the elders and distributed throughout the universe for possible use by enterprising life forms. These powerful items allow players to even further alter the outcome of challenges and the game. Artifact Cards are clearly marked. They cannot be played as Challenge Cards but are played at other times. Artifact Cards are always played face up, (often with an optional dramatic flourish). All Artifact Cards are discarded after they have been played. Each Artifact card tells you when and how you may play it. (A full Artifact List can be found at the end of this document.)

THE ALIEN POWERS
Now that the rules have been explained, here is the part where you, as a unique alien, get to bend the rules to your own advantage. Your Alien card explains how you are different from all other aliens in the universe. How and when you use your power is explained on the Alien card. Some powers must be used when appropriate, but others are optional. Read the cards carefully. (A full List of Alien Powers and their descriptions follows these game rules.)

• Losing Your Power: When three or more of your home bases are eliminated, you lose your Alien Power. Immediately. Place your Power Card face down. You cannot use your power "one last time" before losing it. Continue to play in the normal manner. If you draw your own color card from the Destiny Pile, you may attempt to re-establish a base in your home system. If you regain your Power by having a base on at least three of your home planets, you again display your Power Card face up, and may resume using it.
• Timing Conflicts: In all cases of timing conflicts (when two players invoke contradictory special effects simultaneously) between Powers, Artifacts, etc. resolution takes place as follows: the players who are not the Main Players, in order, to the left of the offense, get to use their effect first. Then the offensive player plays, and then finally the defensive player plays. This rule is only in effect if players are unable to determine who played their Power or card first.

OTHER DETAILS AND REFINEMENTS

• Second challenge: If, on your first challenge, you either win an Attack or successfully compromise, and you have at least one Challenge Card (Attack or Compromise) left in your hand, you may choose to make a second challenge or you may pass and end your turn. If you have no more Challenge Cards, you may not draw a new hand, you may not make a second challenge, and your turn ends. If you choose to have a second challenge, start over at Step 1 (Regain One Lost Token) and treat the second challenge the same as the first. After your second challenge, your turn ends no matter what the outcome. When your turn ends, the player on your left becomes the offensive player.
• Playing Challenge Cards: Once both Challenge Cards are played face down, neither can be changed. Artifact Cards are never played face down in an challenge.
• Destiny: If you turn over your own color card, you have a choice. You can turn over the next card or you can attempt to drive foreign bases from your Home System and re-establish (or strengthen) a home base. If you draw your own color and one of your home planets has no tokens of any color on it, you can regain a base simply by placing one or more of your tokens on the planet. This counts as one of the two challenges for your turn and is considered a successful challenge. If there is ever only one card left in the Destiny Pile, reshuffle it with all the discards before turning over another card.
• Driving a Foreign Base from your Home System: If you turn over your own color when revealing Destiny, you may try to eliminate a foreign base in your home system. Perhaps that foreign base is threatening to win or you want to protect yourself by maintaining three bases in your home system so you can keep your Alien Power (see above). This type of challenge is similar to those described above, except you point the Mothership at another player's base in your own planet system. Choose which player's base you are attempting to remove from your planet. That player becomes the defensive player for that challenge. Remember that all tokens of one color on any planet make up only one base. All other bases on the planet are not involved in this challenge.
• Other Bases on a Defending Planet: Bases on the defensive player's planet which are not part of that home system (that is, they are not the color of the home system) do not count towards the defensive total and are not affected by the outcome. They are simply bystanders. When a player is attempting to drive a foreign base from his or her home system, only one player's base can be targeted to be the defensive base in the challenge, all others are ignored.
• Home Planets Without Bases: If you have no base on a home planet that you are defending, you defend the planet normally except your token count is zero (0).
• Getting New Cards: If you are the offensive player and have no Challenge Cards (no Attack or Compromise Cards) at the start of your tum, play (if possible) or discard any Artifacts, draw seven new cards, and continue your turn. If you run out of Challenge Cards during your turn as offensive player and you need to play one, your turn ends immediately. (This might happen due to an Alien Power or because of an Artifact Card, both of which are explained above), or due to paying Compensation after your first challenge. If this happens, return any tokens in the Mothership to your bases. Allies also return their tokens to any of their bases. If you are the defensive player, and must play a Challenge Card, and have none, play (if possible) or discard your Artifacts, draw seven new cards. You can have an unlimited number of cards in your hand, but you may not discard cards unless specifically required to.
• Stripping a Planet of Tokens: As soon as you remove the last of your tokens from a planet, whether a home planet or not, you no longer have a base on that planet. Any tokens involved in the challenge cannot return to that planet. Tokens coming from the Warp cannot return to that planet. You have no base there. If you have no tokens left on one of your home planets you must still defend it (with 0 tokens). If a situation arises where you must relocate tokens but have no bases anywhere on the board, you must put your tokens in the Warp.
• Shared Wins: It is possible, through alliances and successful compromises, to have more than one player gain five external bases at the same time. In this case, the players share a win.

STRATEGY

• Gathering Tokens: When gathering tokens for an offensive challenge or in an alliance, it is wise to take them from several bases in order not to leave any one base weakly defended. As the game progresses, you will often gather tokens from bases which you have established outside your planet system - making sure that at least one token is left behind on each to hold the base.
• Defending Home Planets: You should try to keep your home planets well defended, because if you are forced off too many home planets you will lose your Alien Power. Usually, one or two tokens are enough to hold a foreign base and extra tokens are used to secure the homefront.
• Challengeing a Planet Defended with no Base: The planet where the defensive player has no bases will often be your best target. In this case, the defensive player's total will be 0 + allies' tokens + Attack Card. Or, if he or she plays a Compromise Card there will be no Compensation.
• More than Four Tokens in a Base: While it is permissible to have more than four tokens in a base during play, it is usually best to keep your bases evenly defended.
• Playing Your Hand: It is not always wise to play your best cards at first. Because you must discard each card you play, you may soon be left with a very weak hand and have to play it out to severe disadvantage. Of course, if you save your best cards, you run the risk of another player taking them (as Compensation, etc.). Remember that most Attack Cards have a value between 4 and 12.
• Claiming Compensation: You may sometimes want to play a Compromise Card in the hope that your opponent will play an Attack Card and you will therefore be able to take cards from your opponent's hand as Compensation. This is a good move against an especially strong attacking Power such as the Virus, because that player would then lose some cards and be less powerful. But your opponent may have a good hand and, suspecting that you will use this strategy, counter by also playing a Compromise Card hoping to force a deal situation. Then again, taking too many cards from a player just means he or she is that much closer to drawing a whole new hand.
• Making a Deal: When both players play Compromise Cards in an challenge, they have one minute to try to reach a deal. One easy bargain is granting a base for a base. (Remember that you can allow your opponent only onto a planet where you already have a base, even if it is outside your home system) Also, key cards may be traded with one another because some cards appeal to certain aliens more than others. As the game progresses, however, an easy deal may be harder to achieve, because some players are ahead of others. In some cases you may wish to wait out the one minute and force your opponent to lose three tokens to the Warp (while sacrificing three of your own). By this maneuver you can also end your opponent's turn when it is that player's first challenge. At the end of the game, a deal can lead to a double win as each player simultaneously gains a fifth external base.
• Choosing Offensive Allies: As the offensive player you should ask for allies only if you think extra help is necessary for victory. Otherwise you will be needlessly helping other players establish bases. It is wise to check how many bases a potential ally already has before extending an invitation. Of course, sometimes a show of force convinces the defending player to play a Compromise Card and you can play one too, trade bases with just the defending player, leaving your "allies" out in the cold.
• Choosing Defensive Allies: As the defensive player you should weigh your allies’ potential gain. A defensive victory will provide them with Defender Rewards (extra cards and or retrieved tokens) which may later be used against you.
• Deciding Whether or Not to Join an Alliance: When you are invited to ally you should weigh the following: Do you want to help that player win this challenge, and if so what are the chances for success? Is the player who invited you to ally really trying to win or simply decoying in the hopes of taking some allies along to the Warp? Will other players already in the alliance gain undue advantage through a victory? When asked by the defense, consider whether or not you really want several additional cards in your hand at this time. Would you be better off letting your hand run out in order to get seven new cards? If so, do you have enough tokens in the Warp to retrieve in lieu of taking cards? Do you want tokens instead and is it worth the risk of losing more to the Warp?

THE ZODIAC
All beings in the Universe are inextricably bound to the forces of "Karma", and the alien races of Cosmic Encounter are no exception. The following rules (created by Bryan Bowe) can be used to represent the effects of Universal Karma and spiritual awareness on the struggle for Cosmic supremacy. These rules are entirely optional, and should be used only when all players agree to do so before the game begins. Use of The Zodiac will increase player interaction and game complexity, as well as "yield a lot of entertaining crisis situations". The Zodiac is more effective (and more fun) with a larger number of players, and is not recommended for use in a two-player game.

• Additional Equipment: Fifteen Zodiac cards -- twelve Zodiac Sign cards (one each of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces), two Zodiac Cusp cards, and one Zodiac Nemesis card. At least one Zodiac Chart is also needed -- a diagram showing the twelve signs arranged in a circle and in zodiacal order, as listed above (i.e., like a clock face, with Aries at the 1 o'clock position, Taurus at 2 o'clock, and so on to Pisces at 12 o'clock).
• Additional Setup: After Alien Power selection, shuffle the 12 Zodiac Sign cards and deal one face up in front of each player. Add the remaining Zodiac cards (Cusp, Nemesis, and undealt Sign cards) to the Deck when it is created, then shuffle and deal hands as usual. The face up Zodiac cards are not considered part of players' hands. Each player places two of their tokens on the face up Zodiac card in front of them and distributes the remaining tokens among their home planets as evenly as possible. Place the Zodiac Chart in a convenient location, accessible to all players.
• Overview: Zodiacal signs have "psychic relationships" to one another, called "Yin" and "Yang", which affect game play. To determine the relationship between two signs, refer to the Zodiac Chart. The signs are "Yin" if they are less than three apart (measured around the circle in either direction, whichever is shorter) and "Yang" if they are more than three apart. For example, Taurus is Yin to Aries, Cancer, Gemini, and Pisces, while Yang to Capricorn, Libra, Sagittarius, Scorpio, and Virgo. Taurus has no psychic relationship to Aquarius or Leo, which are exactly three from Taurus. A player's zodiacal sign is indicated by the face up Zodiac card in front of them. Each player begins with a particular sign, but it may change during the course of the game as other Zodiac cards are played. If the Zodiac card in front of a player is a Cusp or Nemesis card, then they have no sign and are instead "in cusp" or "Nemesis", respectively. Tokens on a face up Zodiac card represent "Karma". Each player begins with 2 Karma, but gains and loses Karma at various times throughout the game. Normally, Karma tokens are not available for other purposes (e.g., participation in a challenge) nor subject to any other game effects (e.g., the Plague Artifact). Because Karma tokens are effectively (albeit temporarily) out of the game, players will usually try to keep their Karma as low as possible. However, if one player manages to acquire more Karma than any other player, the inspiring display of self-sacrifice earns them the title of "Spiritual Leader", which brings with it certain privileges, described later.
• Playing Zodiac Cards: At the start of their turn, an offensive Main Player may play one or more Zodiac cards from his or her hand. They may play a Zodiac card on any player, including themselves, with the following restrictions:
  • No Zodiac card can be played on the Spiritual Leader or Nemesis.
  • A Sign card can only be played on a player Yin to it or in cusp.
  • A Cusp card cannot be played on a player already in cusp.
  • The Nemesis card cannot be played if there is currently a Spiritual Leader.
  • The Spiritual Leader or Nemesis may play a Zodiac Sign or Cusp card on ANY player, ignoring the first two restrictions above.
  The player of the Zodiac card draws two cards from the Deck into their hand. The target of the Zodiac card discards his or her current face up Zodiac card and replaces it with the new one. They must release one of their Karma tokens, if any, to one of their bases, and the rest are transferred to the new card.
• Gaining and Losing Karma: A player loses 1 Karma when a Zodiac card is played on them, as described above. The psychic relationships between players also affect Karma changes during the game. Relationships between the players are defined as follows:
  • The Spiritual Leader, Nemesis, and any players in cusp have no psychic relationships.
  • Otherwise, all players are Yin to the Spiritual Leader and Yang to Nemesis (regardless of their sign).
  • Players have no psychic relationship to players that are in cusp.
  • For all other players, the psychic relationship between them is the same as that of their respective signs. For example, if your sign is Taurus, you are Yin to a player whose sign is Gemini, Yang to one whose sign is Scorpio, and have no psychic relationship to a player whose sign is Leo. If the Scorpio player happens to be the Spiritual Leader, however, you are Yin to him or her, not Yang.
  Once the outcome of any challenge is determined, all players (except those in cusp, the Spiritual Leader, and Nemesis) must adjust their Karma as follows:
  • A Main Player who loses a challenge or successfully makes a deal gains 1 Karma. Players Yin to him or her also gain 1 Karma; players Yang to him or her lose 1 Karma.
  • A Main Player who wins a challenge or fails to make a deal loses 1 Karma. Players Yin to him or her also lose 1 Karma; players Yang to him or her gain 1 Karma.
  To gain 1 Karma, a player takes a token from any of his or her bases and places it on the face up Zodiac card in front of them. To lose 1 Karma, they release a token from their face up Zodiac card to any of their bases. Note that it is possible to gain or lose as many as 2 Karma because of the outcome of a challenge, depending on the psychic relationships with the Main Players. For example, if you are a Main Player and Yang to your opponent, and you win the challenge, you lose 2 Karma; 1 for being the winning Main Player, and 1 for being Yang to the loser. If a player must both gain and lose 1 Karma as a result of a challenge, they cancel each other out and their Karma is unaffected. For example, if you are Yin to one Main Player and Yang to the other, and they make a deal, your Karma does not change. Players in cusp, the Spiritual Leader, and Nemesis do not gain or lose Karma due to challenge outcomes (even when they are Main Players).
• The Spiritual Leader: The player with the most Karma at any given time is the Spiritual Leader. If two or more players are tied for that honor, there is no Spiritual Leader until the tie is broken. The Spiritual Leader enjoys the following privileges:
  • They may play a Zodiac Sign card on anyone, regardless of that player's current sign. They may also play a Sign or Cusp card on Nemesis, thus eliminating him or her (their status as Nemesis, that is... they are not eliminated from the game).
  • They do not gain or lose Karma as a result of challenge outcomes. Other players may gain or lose Karma when the Spiritual Leader is a Main Player, however, since everyone else is Yin to the Spiritual Leader (except Nemesis and those in cusp).
  • They may place tokens on and take them from their face up Zodiac card as though it were a base, as long as they maintain enough Karma to remain Spiritual Leader. (It does not count AS a base, however.)
  • They retain the use of their Alien Power(s) even if they fall below the required minimum of three home bases.
  • They win the game with only FOUR BASES on any planets outside their home system instead of the usual requirement of FIVE.
  • As mentioned before, no one can play the Zodiac Nemesis card while there is a Spiritual Leader.
• Nemesis: Nemesis enjoys privileges complementary to those of the Spiritual Leader:
  • They may play a Zodiac Sign card on anyone, regardless of that player's current sign, including the Spiritual Leader.
  • They do not gain or lose Karma as a result of challenge outcomes. Other players may gain or lose Karma when Nemesis is a Main Player, however, since everyone else is Yang to them (except the Spiritual Leader and those in cusp).
  • They may place tokens on and take them from their face up Zodiac card as though it were a base, as long as they do not make themselves the Spiritual Leader or depose the current Spiritual Leader (if any) by doing so. (It does not count AS a base, however.)
  • They retain the use of their Alien Power(s) even if they fall below the required minimum of three home bases.
  • They win the game with only FOUR BASES on any planets outside their home system instead of the usual requirement of FIVE.
  • Although Nemesis cannot give itself enough Karma to become the Spiritual Leader, it is possible for Nemesis to become the Spiritual Leader anyway if everyone else's Karma drops below Nemesis'. If this happens and one player holds both positions simultaneously, the game ends immediately and that player wins!
• Other Details: If a player must gain Karma and has no available tokens, or must lose Karma and has none, or nowhere to place the returning token(s), then their Karma remains unchanged. Powers and Artifacts do not apply to or affect Karma tokens. For example, a Macron token on a face up Zodiac card counts as 1 Karma, not 4. Fungus may take a fungoid stack as Karma, but only the top (i.e., Fungus's) token is placed on the Zodiac card; the rest are released to the Warp. The Conjurer may not discard Zodiac cards from its hand to trade for tokens. When a player must draw a new hand at the start of thier turn, they may choose to either play or discard any Zodiac cards they are holding first (similar to Artifact cards). Spiritual Leader and Nemesis are special positions, not Alien Powers. A Cosmic Zap, for instance, does not prevent either from using the privileges of their position (though it DOES stop them from using their Alien Power(s), as usual).

TWO-PLAYER GAME
In a two-player game the Destiny Pile is not used, except to determine the first player. Challenges are made, as you wish, on your opponent's planets or on your own system where your opponent has a base. There are no alliances. Also, you lose the use of your Alien Power when you no longer have FOUR home bases. Paticular care should be taken during Alien Power selection to ensure that one player’s power does not "cancel out" or have a grievous advantage over the other player’s Power. As a general rule, if each player has no complaint against the other’s Power, there shouldn’t be a problem.

TEAM PLAY
If there are 4, 6, 8, or 10 players, Cosmic Encounter can be played in teams. (In fact, team play is recommended for 8 or 10 player games, just to make play easier.) Players should be divided (before setup begins) into 2-person teams, randomly or by choice, with teammates seated opposite each other around the gameboard. Game play is the same, except that drawing your teammate’s color from the Destiny Pile is treated the same as drawing your own, including the option to drive a foreign base out of your teammate’s home system. Players should naturally be partial to their teammate when inviting allies, negotiating a deal, etc., but this is not mandatory. Teammates may talk openly or secretly without restriction, but they may not trade cards, tokens, etc. without some legal game mechanic for doing so (an Alien Power, part of a successful Compromise, etc.). For a team to win the game, one player in the team must have FIVE EXTERNAL BASES, as usual, OR both players combined must have SEVEN EXTERNAL BASES between the two of them (on at least seven different planets). Note that any bases a player may have in his or her teammate’s home system do not count at all toward the total external bases required to claim victory, and any single planet (outside both their home systems) on which BOTH teammates have a base will only count as ONE external base toward the SEVEN combined total required for victory.

CAMPAIGN PLAY
Cosmic Encounter can be played as a unique individual game with absolute success. It's always different and it's always fun. That's how it is designed. However, it can also be played as a campaign, where players or teams play a series of games and keep a running score. Gameplay is identical to individual games with the following exceptions:

• At the end of a game, scoring is as follows (teams score as a unit, not individuals):
  • A player or team who wins a clear victory (no shared win) gets 8 points.
  • Players or teams in a shared win with other players/teams each get 4 points.
  • Non-winning players with four foreign bases (or teams with six) each get 1 point.
• Players use new Alien Powers for each game. The player (or team) with the lowest score starts the next game. In the case of a tie, the player with the lowest score closest to the left of the last winner starts.
• The tournament campaign is over when one player (or team) has 15 or more points. If, at the end of a game, more than one player or team has at least 15 points, the one with a higher score wins. If it is a tie, the player with the most cards left in his hand wins. If it is still a tie, then the player who was born closest to the start of the year wins. If it is still a tie then the universe has demanded a shared win and there is nothing we can do about it.

Alien Powers, from A to Z...

AMBUSH - REMOVES ATTACKING TOKENS
You have the power to lie in wait. You receive all Destiny Cards that have been flipped or discarded by other players. Whenever you are a main player or ally, anytime before the outcome of the challenge has been determined, you may discard one of your Destiny Cards and remove one token of this color from the Mothership to the Warp. When the Destiny Pile is reshuffled, you must shuffle all your cards into the pile.

AMOEBA - UNLIMITED TOKEN MOVEMENT
You have the power to ooze. After you and your opponent play Challenge Cards face down, but before they are revealed, you may increase or decrease the number of your tokens in the challenge. You may remove some or all to your bases, or you may add as many more as you want to your side in the challenge from any of your bases (as long as you have some in the challenge to start with).

ANARCHY - REDISTRIBUTES POWERS
You have the power of disorder. Whenever you are a main player or ally, you may force all players to shuffle their powers together (including auxiliary powers such as those with the Reincarnator or Pentaform). Each player then randomly receives one power; auxiliary powers (if needed) are dealt after main powers have been determined. Remove any leftover powers from the game.

ANGEL - COMPROMISES AT WILL
You have the power of love. As a main player in a challenge, you may always choose to Compromise even if you have no Compromise Cards left. Select a Challenge Card and place it face down, normally. Your opponent turns his Challenge Card up before you reveal yours. If you wish to Compromise, state that you are doing so and return the card that you played to your hand without revealing it. You do not have to decide whether or not to Compromise until your opponent reveals his card, but if you choose not to Compromise, you must use the card that you selected.

ANTI-MATTER - LOWER TOTAL WINS
You have the power of negation. If both you and your opponent play Attack Cards in a challenge, instead of your total being "card plus your tokens", it is card minus your tokens (including allies). Your opponent's total is figured normally except that allied tokens on his side are subtracted from his total. The player with the lower total wins.

ASSASSIN - REMOVES OTHERS' TOKENS
You have the power to execute. Whenever any other player's color comes up in the Destiny Pile, you must remove one token of that color from any base to the Warp. You select which token to execute.

ATROPHY - REDUCES OPPONENTS' HANDS
You have the power to degenerate. Whenever you are a main player in a challenge, you may draw a card at random from the hands of all players opposing your side. You must draw the cards before Challenge Cards are played. If the offensive player has no Challenge Cards left, his turn ends. You may keep any card drawn or discard it.

AURA - MAKES OTHERS REVEAL HANDS
You have the power of honesty. All other players must keep their regular hand of cards face up, in full view. When a player is one of the two players in a challenge and must play a Challenge Card, he then takes up his hand, selects a card to play, etc. Once the challenge is concluded, he must again reveal his hand. Artifacts may be played by their owner directly from a revealed hand.

BELCH - REMOVES TOKENS FROM SYSTEMS
You have the power to pollute. Whenever another player's color is flipped on the Destiny Pile, and if you have at least one base in that player's system, that player must lose a number of tokens from his system to the Warp equal to the number of tokens on the largest base you have in that system.

BERSERKER - REMOVES DEFENDING TOKENS
You have the power of fear. As a main player in a challenge, when you attack a planet with the Mothership, one token of each color on that planet goes to the Warp before allies are called for. If there was only one defending token on that planet, you win the challenge immediately and gain the base.

CALCULATOR - REDUCES HIGHER ATTACK CARD
You have the power to equalize. When you are one of the main players in a challenge, once cards are played down but before they are revealed, you may equalize the cards. If you do so and both cards are revealed as Attack Cards, the value of the higher one is reduced by the value of the lower one. (Thus if a 15 and an 8 are played, the 15 becomes worth only 7, but the 8 is still worth 8.) The challenge is then concluded normally.

CARNAGE - DOUBLES OPPONENTS' TOKEN LOSSES
You have the power to slaughter. Whenever you are a main player or ally and win, your opponents must lose a number of additional tokens equal to the number of tokens they lost from the Mothership, Carriers, or defending planet. (Tokens lost because of the Plague are not affected by your power.) Your opponent determines from where to take the additional tokens lost.

CHAMELEON - USES PROTECTIVE COLORATION
You have the power of camouflage. When attacked on a planet where other players have tokens, you may have all of your tokens change color to that of one other player who has tokens on that planet. That player then becomes defensive player using his powers. He defends his own tokens as well as yours. Your tokens count for the defensive player in the challenge. If the offensive player has tokens on the planet where you are being attacked, you may change to his color and have the challenge cancelled.

CHANGELING - EXCHANGES POWER WITH OPPONENT
You have the power to change form. When you are one of the two main players in a challenge, you must take your opponent's Alien Power Card and give him yours. You do this as soon as the defensive player is determined. The challenge is now carried out. The Changeling power may be used only once per challenge.

CHAOS - SHUFFLES HANDS AND DECKS
You have the power to disrupt. Whenever you are involved in the challenge, you may shuffle two of the following together: the hand of a player in the challenge, the hand of another player in the challenge, the Deck, and the Discard Pile. Any player whose hand is shuffled receives the same number of cards that he had before shuffling. If you shuffle the Deck and Discard Pile, start a new Deck.

CHILL - HALTS TOKEN MOVEMENT
You have the power to freeze. In any challenge immediately after the Destiny color is determined you may freeze any or all planets where you have a base. When you freeze a planet, no player (including yourself) may remove tokens from that planet for the remainder of the challenge except to put them in the Warp. If you freeze all of the offensive player's bases, he is permitted to place one token in the Mothership from any one of his bases.

CHRONOS - MAY REPLAY CHALLENGE
You have the power of time travel. After you and your opponent reveal Challenge Cards, you may avoid the outcome. If you do so, you pick up the card you played and return it to your hand. Your opponent leaves the card he played face down and to one side (unless he shows you that it is his last Challenge Card). Now, you both play the challenge again starting from the point at which you selected cards to play. You both can use any cards in your hands, and this time the outcome is final. When the challenge is over, your opponent takes back the card that was set aside.

CLONE - KEEPS OWN CHALLENGE CARD
You have the power to replicate. You need not discard any Challenge Card that you play. Instead, if you wish, you may keep it.

COLLECTOR - KEEPS AT LEAST ONE OF EACH CARD
You have the power to gather. Whenever you draw cards from the Deck (including the beginning of the game), continue drawing until you have an Attack Card, a Compromise, and an Artifact.

CONJURER - TRADES CARDS FOR TOKENS
You have the power to resurrect. Once per challenge in which you are a main player, before cards are revealed, you may discard any cards you choose from your hand and retrieve tokens from the Warp to your bases. Retrieve one token for each Challenge Card discarded, and two tokens for each Artifact Card discarded.

CONSCRIPTOR - GAINS ALLIES FROM WARP
You have the power to draft. As a main player in a challenge, after allies have committed, you may take other players' tokens from the Warp and use them to supplement your forces. These tokens are in addition to any normal allies you or your opponent receives. You may not draft tokens belonging to you or your opponent, although you may use tokens belonging to his allies, and you may not take more than four tokens of any one player. The owners of the tokens you revive gain rewards or the base if you win. If you lose or must deal, drafted tokens return to the Warp.

CRYSTAL - TELLS ALLIES NUMBER TO COMMIT
You have the power of arrangement. Whenever you are a player or an ally in a challenge, you may determine how many tokens each other ally brings (up to 4). They may refuse to ally at all, but if they come in with one or more tokens, you can alter how many each must commit to any number from one to four.

CULT - COUNTS OTHERS' TOKENS AS ALLIES
You have the power of conspiracy. When challenged, all tokens on the challenged planet (whether yours or those of another player you share the planet with) count toward your side's total (even those tokens owned by your opponent and his allies). Whenever you challenge another player, any tokens on that planet not owned by that player count toward your side.

DEFLECTOR - DECIDES WHERE TO DEFEND
You have the power to divert. When you are the defensive player, you may make the offensive player attack you on any planet base in any system, so long as you have tokens there.

DISEASE - SPREADS TO OTHER PLANETS
You have the power to spread. Whenever a color other than your own is flipped in the Destiny Pile, if you already have a base of at least 3 tokens in that system you may take one or more of those tokens and move them to any one other planet in that system.

DOPPLEGANGER - TAKES CARDS TO PLAY
You have the power to haunt. You are not dealt a hand. When you are a main player in a challenge, take the hand of any player in the game except your opponent, or draw a new hand. When the challenge is over, return cards to their owner or discard the hand if you drew it from the Deck.

EMPATH - MAY CHANGE ATTACK TO COMPROMISE
You have the power of harmony. Whenever you are one of the two main players in a challenge, if you play a Compromise Card, it changes your opponent's card into a Compromise Card.

ENIGMA - MIXES CHALLENGE CARDS
You have the power of ambiguity. Whenever you are the main player in a challenge, after cards are played but before they are revealed, you may collect a Challenge Card at random from any other players and mix them together with your opponent's card. You then hand them back randomly. Your opponent must now play the card he is given (he may look at the card). You do not mix your own card.

EQUALIZER - BALANCES ALLIES
You have the power to even the odds. As a main player or ally in a challenge, after allies are committed, you may force one other player who has voluntarily allied in the challenge to commit an equal number of tokens to the other side.

EVOLUTIONARY - REPLACES CARDS FROM HAND
You have the power of efficiency. When you are a main player, before cards are played, you may discard one card for each token you have involved in the challenge, replacing each with a card from the Deck.

FATE - DETERMINES DESTINY
You have the power of destiny. Before the game starts, after the first player has been determined, you arrange the Destiny Pile as you wish. During the game, when the Destiny Pile must be reshuffled, repeat this process. You may look through the Destiny Pile at any time.

FILCH - TAKES OPPONENT'S USED CARD
You have the power of theft. After you and your opponent have played Challenge Cards you may pick up his card, once discarded, and put it in your hand for future use.

FILTH - DRIVES OTHERS' TOKENS AWAY
You have the power to reek. When you land on a planet, all other tokens on that planet must leave and go to other bases. However, your allies in a winning offensive challenge are permitted to land on any other planet in the defensive system. No player can remain on a planet where you have tokens, and a player who somehow has a base there must immediately leave. When you agree to trade bases in a deal, you and that other player must each vacate a planet for the other player to land on. Players who win an offensive attack against your tokens on a planet do not gain a base, but must return their tokens to their other bases. Your losing tokens go to the Warp normally and the planet is "fumigated". Any player may target the vacant planet normally in another challenge later and gain a base there if successful.

FLAK - AIDS WHILE UNINVOLVED
You have the power to bombard from a distance. Whenever you are not involved in a challenge, you may play an Attack Card on either side of the challenge. This card is added to that side's total in the challenge.

FUNGUS - ATTACHES TO OTHER TOKENS
You have the power to adhere. Whenever you win an attack as a main player or as an ally and have tokens in the challenge, your tokens adhere to all of the tokens of your opponent(s). Your opponents' lost tokens do not go to the Warp. Instead, you stack one or more of them under at least one of your tokens which was in the challenge. Captured tokens do not have special characteristics (e.g. Macron tokens are not worth four). These Fungoid stacks are controlled by you. Each stack is considered to be one token for purposes of play (e.g. taking compensation, going into the Mothership, etc), but when your total force is counted in a challenge, each token in each stack counts separately as one of your tokens. Tokens lost to the Fungus are released (to the Warp) when the Fungoid stack is sent to the Warp. If you lose your power, each stack counts as one token but they stay fixed until separated by the Warp.

GHOUL - GAINS REWARDS FOR OTHER'S DEAD
You have the power to plunder. Whenever you are a main player, for each token any of your opponents loses to the Warp, you may immediately either draw a card from the Deck or receive one of your tokens from the Warp.

GHOST - REVIVES TOKENS FROM WARP
You have the power to cheat death. As a main player in a challenge, you may place up to 4 of your tokens from the Warp onto the Mothership or Carrier to ally with you. If you are the offensive player and you win the challenge, dead tokens join the living on the base. If you are a winning defender, dead tokens return to bases and you collect rewards as a winning ally. If you lose the challenge, must make a deal, or your allies are forced to return home, dead tokens return to the Warp.

GITH - WARP COUNTS AS A BASE
You have the power of limbo. When you have tokens in the Warp, it counts as a base towards the win. You must have tokens in the Warp to win the game. You may only move tokens into and out of the Warp as any player normally would. Other players may challenge your Warp tokens as if they were a base on one of your home planets. If you win the challenge, proceed as if you won defensively on a regular base. If you lose the challenge, your opponent and his allies get a base anywhere in your system, and all your tokens are released from the Warp. Return them to bases.

GORGON - HOLDS TOKENS ON SHARED BASES
You have the power to petrify. Any other players' tokens on planets where you have a base can not be removed from those planets for any reason except to be placed into the Warp.

GREMLIN - SENDS TOKENS BACK TO BASES
You have the power of mischief. Whenever you are a main player or ally, you may discard one Attack Card. If you do so, remove that many tokens from the Mothership to bases. You may not discard an Attack Card whose value is greater than the number of tokens in the Mothership. After you remove a token of one color from the Mothership, you may not remove another token of that color from the Mothership unless you have removed an equal number of tokens of each color from the Mothership.

HEALER - CAN SAVE OTHERS' TOKENS FROM WARP
You have the power to heal. Whenever any other player loses one or more tokens to the Warp, you can return to him all tokens he just lost and earn one card from the deck. (Being healed does not prevent a player from collecting consolation, if earned.) A healed player replaces his tokens on any of his bases. During a challenge you may heal several players, drawing one card for each.

INSECT - COPIES OPPONENT'S POWER
You have the power of metamorphosis. Whenever you are the offensive or defensive player, you must copy your opponent's power (offensive player has the chance to use it first, then defensive.) You may use his power even if he has lost the use of it. (If the Will is in the game, you may challenge it anywhere, without drawing from the Destiny Pile.)

JINX - CHANGES CARD INTO ATTACK 13
You have the power of bad luck. As a main player in a challenge, after cards are played but before they are revealed, you may choose one of the played cards (your choice) to become an Attack 13 when it is revealed.

JUGGERNAUT - FORCES ALLIANCES
You have the power of devotion. Whenever you invite other players to ally, if they do not commit to your opponent, they must ally with you, with at least one token.

LASER - MAKES OPPONENT PLAY BLIND
You have the power to blind. When your opponent must play a Challenge Card face down, you select the card at random from your opponent's hand. He then must play that card. (If he shows you it is not a Challenge Card, you select a different one.)

LEECH - PILFERS CARDS
You have the power to drain. At the start of each of your turns as offensive main player, you may borrow 1 card at random from each other player and put it in your regular hand. At the end of the turn, you must return all borrowed cards which are still in your hand.

LIMPET - CANNOT BE MOVED
You have the power to cling. Whenever you must lose tokens from a specified planet, you only lose one token. If the Filth, however, shares a planet with you, you still must vacate it.

MACHINE - CAN CONTINUE TURN
You have the power of continuity. Your turn is not limited to two challenges. As long as you have Challenge Cards, you may continue as offensive player, even if you lost the previous challenge.

MACRON - EACH TOKEN IS WORTH 4
You have the power of mass. Each of your tokens has a value of 4. You may take only one token in an offensive challenge or as an ally, but it counts as 4 towards the total. When collecting consolation or rewards, your token counts as one, just as any other player's.

MIND - SEES OTHER PLAYERS' CARDS
You have the power of knowledge. Anytime before cards are played face down in any challenge, you may look at the entire hand of one of the two players involved. (If you are one of the two players, you may look at your opponent's hand.)

MIRROR - REVERSES DIGITS OF ATTACK CARDS
You have the power of reflection. As a main player in a challenge, after cards are played, but before they are revealed, you may reverse the digits of the Attack cards. Thus, an Attack 12 becomes an Attack 21, an Attack 20 becomes an Attack 02, while an Attack 4 stays an Attack 4.

MUTANT - MAINTAINS 7-CARD HAND
You have the power to regenerate. When you are a main player and have less than 7 cards, you may fill out your hand up to a full 7 cards before playing one. To do this you draw cards one at a time, at random, from any player(s) or from the Deck. You may continue until you have 7 cards.

NULL - PREVENTS PLAYER FROM USING POWERS
You have the power to void. Whenever you are involved in a challenge, you may force one player not to use a power of your choice.

ORACLE - FORESEES OPPONENT'S CARD
You have the power to foresee. When you and your opponent must play cards in a challenge, before you place your card face down, your opponent must show all other players, including you, the Challenge Card he intends to play. He must play this card, face down as usual (unless prevented by another player). You may then select and play your card normally. (You may not use this power against the Insect, nor may he use his power against you.)

PACIFIST - WINS WITH COMPROMISE CARD
You have the power of peace. As a main player in a challenge, if you reveal a Compromise Card and your opponent reveals an Attack Card, you win. If you both play Compromise Cards, you attempt to make a deal, as usual.

PARADIGM - CHANGES SYSTEM CHALLENGED
You have the power to shift. When you are the defensive main player, before cards are revealed, you may change the system challenged. Immediately flip over the next card in the Destiny Pile. Move the Mothership to the corresponding planet in the system shown on the new flip. This new color is the new defensive main player, but they must use the Challenge Card you played.

PARAGON - ATTACKS THE STRONG & AIDS THE WEAK
You have the power of righteousness. When you are the offensive main player, you can only attack a base belonging to a player with the most (or tied for the most) external bases, excluding yourself. If this cannot be done in the system indicated by the Destiny Pile, then you may ignore it and attack a suitable base of your choice. Also, whenever any main player in a challenge has fewer external bases than his opponent, you may ally with that player (with 1 to 4 tokens), even if you were not invited, unless specifically prevented by a Force Field.

PARASITE - JOINS ALLIANCE AT WILL
You have the power to infest. Unless specifically prevented by a Force Field, you may ally (with 1 to 4 tokens) with one side in a challenge as if you had been invited, even when you were not.

PENTAFORM - POWER CHANGES WITH EXTERNAL BASES
You have the power to evolve. After drawing this power, draw five additional powers and stack them. The top power is used when you have no external bases. The next power is used when you have one external base, etc.

PHILANTHROPIST - GIVES AWAY CARDS
You have the power of giving. Whenever you are a player or an ally in a challenge, before cards are played you may give one card from your hand to either the offensive or the defensive player. He must keep the card or play it.

PIRANHA - FORCES PLAYERS TO LOSE BASES
You have the power to devour. When the Destiny Pile is flipped, if you share a planet in the system indicated, and you have more tokens there than another player, you may put all of his tokens on that planet into the Warp. The number of tokens other players have on that planet does not matter, but you may only use this power on one player on one planet per flip of the Destiny Pile.

PLANT - BORROWS OTHER PLAYERS' POWERS
You have the power of grafting. Whenever you are a main player, if you have a base in another player's system and that player has not lost his power, you may use his power and he may not. To do this, you announce before challenge cards are played that you are taking over the use of his power during the challenge. You may graft only once per challenge, and at the end of that challenge his power returns to him.

QUANTUM - TELEPORTS TOKENS
You have the power of teleportation. In any challenge involving you, before cards are played, you must teleport one token to or from the defensive planet. You either take one token from the defensive planet and put it on any other planet where the token's owner has a base, or you take a token from any other planet and add it to a base on the defensive planet. You may move a token of any color, including your own, but you may not create a base.

QUEUE - SELECTS ORDER OF PLAY
You have the power to order. At the end of each player's turn, you choose which player will next take a turn. You must give each player a turn in each "round" of play. For example, with four players A, B, C, D, you may choose any of them to go first -- say B; then you choose any of the remaining three next -- say D; then one of the remaining two -- say A; and finally C plays. You may then choose any of the four to play next, starting a new round. If you lose your power, play passes clockwise.

REINCARNATOR - GAINS NEW POWER WHEN DEFEATED
You have the power of reincarnation. Whenever you are involved in a challenge as a player or ally and you lose (or fail to deal), you must reincarnate. That is, just before the next challenge begins, you draw an Alien Power Card at random from the pile of those not in use and become that Alien. When you lose as that Alien, discard it and draw another, etc. The Reincarnator power stays with you while you use the others. In a game with the Plant or Insect, they may copy your current incarnation, but if they lose they must reincarnate, and the Plant or Insect power is out of the game.

ROT - TAKES OTHERS CARDS TO DISCARD PILE
You have the power to waste away. Whenever you discard cards to the Discard Pile, you must take along an equal number of other cards. You specify which player(s) must lose them, and how many the player must lose. Cards lost are chosen randomly. Cards lost to your power are in addition to any cards normally lost in a challenge.

SEEKER - ASKS "YES OR NO" QUESTION
You have the power of truth. Whenever you are involved in a challenge as a player or as an ally, you may ask one "yes or no" question of one of the two main players in the challenge. He must answer it truthfully, "yes" or "no". You may ask him the question anytime before cards are played, and he must answer it then. If it involves his intentions, he must decide then and subsequently abide by that decision.

SORCERER - CAN SWITCH PLAYED CARDS
You have the power of magic. When you are one of the two main players in a challenge, once cards are played, but before they are revealed, you may transpose them so that you play the card your opponent picked, and he plays yours.

STING - SWITCHES DYING TOKENS
You have the power to substitute. Whenever you must lose tokens to the Warp, you may designate another player to lose them instead. Your tokens return to bases and he choses which tokens he loses. He then may draw one card from your hand for every token he lost; if you have too few cards, he draws the remainder from the Deck.

TOXIN - REDUCES TOKENS ON SHARED BASES
You have the power of poison. At the start of each challenge (after the Destiny Pile is flipped), wherever the offensive player is sharing a planet with you, and has fewer tokens there than you, you remove one of them, sending it to the Warp (if possible).

TRADER - TRADES HANDS WITH OPPONENT
You have the power of transference. When you are one of the two main players in a challenge, you may exchange hands with your opponent, prior to playing Challenge Cards. You each then keep the new hand.

TROLL - REGENERATES TOKENS
You have the power of regeneration. During the interphase between each challenge, you may take one of your tokens from the Warp and put it on any of your bases.

VACUUM - TAKES OTHER TOKENS TO WARP
You have the power of catharsis. Whenever you lose tokens to the Warp, you take along an equal number of other tokens. You specify which player(s) must lose them, and how many the player must lose (he may decide from where to take the tokens you have demanded). Tokens lost to the Vacuum this way are in addition to any tokens normally lost in a challenge.

VIRUS - MULTIPLIES IN ATTACK
You have the power to multiply. When you play an Attack Card in a challenge, you multiply the number of tokens on your side (yours plus your allies') times the number on your card, instead of adding.

VISIONARY - DICTATES CHALLENGE CARD
You have the power of perception. As a main player in a challenge you may specify a Challenge Card which your opponent must play (example: "You will play an Attack six"). If your opponent does not have such a card, he may play any Challenge Card he wishes. If he does have the card, however, at the appropriate time(s) he must play it (unless prevented by another player).

VULCH - COLLECTS DISCARDED ARTIFACTS
You have the power to salvage. Whenever any other player plays or discards an Artifact card, you pick it up and take it into your hand. (After you play one, you must discard it.) If you collect a new hand, you keep your old Artifacts after revealing them. Then you take seven new cards.

WARLOCK - DRAWS CARDS FOR TOKENS LOST
You have the power over loss. For each of your tokens that goes to the Warp, you may draw a card from the top of the Deck.

WARPISH - ADDS TOKENS IN WARP TO TOTAL
You have the power of necromancy. When you are a main player, all tokens in the Warp add to your total in a challenge. They do not count toward consolation, however.

WASTREL - MAY DISCARD HAND
You have the power to discard. As a main player in a challenge, before cards are played, you may discard your entire hand and draw a new one.

WAVEBENDER - PUTS TOKENS IN CHALLENGE LAST
You have the power of invisibility. Whenever you are in a challenge, instead of revealing your tokens before the main players select their Challenge Cards, you (and your allies, if you are a main player) put your tokens in the Mothership (or Carriers) just before Challenge Cards are revealed. If you are defending your base in a challenge, only your allies may surprise.

WILL - NOT CONTROLLED BY DESTINY
You have the power of choice. You do not pick from the Destiny Pile. Instead, you may challenge any other player on any planet you wish (for example, you may challenge the Virus' tokens on the Mind's planet.)

WORM - REPOSITIONS MOTHERSHIP
You have the power to tunnel. When you are the offensive player, once cards are revealed you can move the Mothership, pointing it at any planet in the defensive player's system. Total the results as if you had originally challenged your opponent on that planet. Also, if a player challenges you on one of your home planets where you have a base, after cards are revealed you may move the Mothership to any other of your home planets where you also have a base, and total the results with that as the planet under challenge.

WRACK - TORTURES OPPONENT
You have the power to torture. As the offensive or defensive player, after alliances are formed, you may describe to your opponent a deal (see rules). If he refuses it you may torture him once for every token you have in the challenge. On each torture you put any one of his tokens into the Warp, or one of his cards (drawn at random) into the Discard Pile. If at any time he accepts the deal, stop the torture and conclude the arrangement. If he never accepts, you have lost the challenge and he has won. Follow through with the outcome normally. If initially you elect not to torture, proceed with the challenge normally.

WRATH - MULTIPLIES ATTACK TOTAL BY TOKENS IN WARP
You have the power of vengence. When you are the main player, you must multiply your Attack total by the number of your tokens in the Warp. Whenever a player retrieves more than one of his tokens from the Warp, he may instead take one of your tokens and place it on any of your bases.

XENOMORPH - CONTINUALLY CHANGES POWER
You have the power to shapeshift. When you draw this power, pick another power at random. After you have used that power once, discard it and immediately draw a new one at random. You may not "shapeshift" more than twice per challenge. If you have already changed powers twice in a challenge and use your current power, discard it. (You must then wait until the start of the next challenge to draw a new power.) Also, at the start of your turn, if you have not yet used your current power, you may discard it and draw a new one at random before the challenge starts.

XENOPHOBE - ADDS INTRUDERS' TOKENS TO ATTACK TOTAL
You have the power of animosity. Whenever you are a main player in a challenge, add the number of all opponents' tokens on planets in your home system to your Attack total when determining the outcome of the challenge.

ZEALOT - CONTINUES ATTACK UNTIL WIN
You have the power of fanaticism. If you lose a challenge as offensive player, you may continue to make challenges in the same system. You do not flip the Destiny Pile before each such challenge, but you do rescue a token. You may choose any planet in the system for each challenge. If you use your power, you must continue to make challenges until you win, make a deal, or run out of Challenge Cards.

ZEPHYR - MOVES POWERS AROUND TABLE
You have the power to gust. Whenever you are a main player, you immediately pass this Power Card to the player on your right. Every other player must then pass his Power Card(s) to the player on his right. This power may only be used once per challenge.

ZERO - ZEROES ATTACK CARDS
You have the power of nought. Once per challenge as a main player, after cards are played and before they are revealed, you may "zero" Attack Cards. If you do so, any Attack Cards that are played become Attack 0 Cards. If either main player played an Attack Card, he may discard it and play another Attack Card face down in its place, if he has one. Powers such as the Laser, Oracle, etc. apply to the play of this second card as well.

ZOMBIE - NEVER GOES TO WARP
You have the power of immortality. Whenever you lose tokens and should put them in the Warp, instead you place them on any of your bases and may keep using them. If you lose all of your tokens on a base, you lose that base and must move those tokens elsewhere. In addition, you can free any player's tokens from the Warp (back to any bases he has) as part of a deal.

Artifacts (and Compromises)...

Back-Zap: Play when another player uses a Cosmic Zap. The player of that Cosmic Zap is zapped by it as well.

Cosmic Zap: Play at any time. Stop one player from using his powers for the duration of the challenge.

Emotion Control: Play after cards are revealed in a challenge. Change both Challenge Cards played into Compromises. Players must now make a deal.

Force Field: Play before cards are played in a challenge. Nullify any or all alliances. Allies' tokens return to bases, and may not rejoin the challenge.

Glitch: Play when another player attempts to play an Artifact. Nullify the effect of that Artifact and discard it.

Mobius Tubes: Play at the start of your offensive challenge. All players with at least one base free all their tokens from the Warp, returning them to bases.

Plague: Play at any time. Force one player to lose three tokens to the Warp and discard one of each kind of card (Attack, Compromise, and Artifact) from his hand, if possible.

Rebirth: Play at the start of your offensive challenge. You may take up to 4 of your tokens from the Warp and/or other bases to re-establish a base in your home system that has been lost.

Stellar Gas: Play after cards are revealed in a challenge. No compensation may be claimed this challenge.

TimeGash: Play between challenges. Make a challenge anywhere (do not flip the Destiny Pile). After this challenge, normal play resumes.

Compromise: Make a Deal (if your opponent plays a Compromise Card) OR Claim Compensation (if your opponent plays an Attack Card)