Twilight's Fall

Steps 1 through 6 of setup are replaced with a starting draft. Conduct the draft as follows:

DEAL FACTION CARDS: Deal three faction reference cards to each player. These cards will be used to determine seating order, home systems, and starting units. Each player chooses one of the faction cards and places it facedown in front of them. Then, each player passes the remaining two cards to the left and chooses another faction to place facedown in front of them. The final card is passed once again to the left and placed facedown. Each player should be left with three facedown faction cards.

DETERMINE SEATING ORDER: Each player chooses one of their faction cards and reveals it simultaneously. This card determines the speaker as well as player seating order. The player with the lowest priority number is the speaker (priority numbers can be found in the upper-right corner of each faction card, below the faction symbol). The next-lowest priority number will sit to the left of the speaker, and so forth.

CREATE GAME BOARD: Players create the game board as normal. Then, beginning with the speaker and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses a faction from their remaining two faction cards and places it faceup in front of them. This card determines which home system that player uses. Each player places that home system in their home system location.

If a player chooses the Council Keleres home system in this way, they instead draw a random unused faction card from the deck and use that faction’s home system instead.

If any player chooses the Ghosts of Creuss or Crimson Rebellion home systems in this way, they also set up the Creuss Gate or The Sorrow, respectively. They then take the Echo card that corresponds to their home planet; that card cannot be lost.

NOTE: If using a premade map, steps 2 and 3 are handled slightly differently. After the speaker is determined, the lowest priority player claims a home system location, then the next-lowest, and so on, with the speaker choosing last.

DETERMINE KING: Beginning with the player to the right of the speaker and proceeding counter-clockwise, each player chooses a Mahact King faction sheet. Each Mahact King has a unique flagship and a unique mech. Players then take the plastic units, Twilight’s Fall control tokens, Twilight’s Fall command tokens, and Twilight’s Fall faction technologies that match their sheet’s color. When playing without Prophecy of Kings, play with the side of the faction sheet that does not have mech units; the pink and orange Kings may still be used by substituting an unused color of plastic.

PLACE STARTING UNITS: Players use their last faction card to place their starting units. Players place the starting units indicated on their faction card in their home system.

RETURN FACTION CARDS: Finally, players return their faction cards to the faction reference card deck.

Additions have been made to the following steps. Setup is otherwise resolved normally.

• STEP 8—SHUFFLE COMMON DECKS: Shuffle the Twilight’s Fall action cards and the edict cards into separate decks and place them near the game board. Standard action cards and agenda cards are not used.
• STEP 9—CREATE SUPPLY: Set the benediction token and Twilight’s Fall Singularity tokens aside, near the game board.
• STEP 10—GATHER STRATEGY CARDS: Place each of the eight Twilight’s Fall strategy cards faceup in the common play area. The standard strategy cards are not used.
• STEP 11—GATHER STARTING COMPONENTS: There are no starting technologies, and starting units are placed during the starting draft.

As the final step of setup, players perform the inaugural splice using Twilight’s Fall components. This determines each player’s starting capabilities.

Deal a hand of three ability cards, two unit upgrade cards, and two genome cards to each player. Each player chooses one of these cards and places it facedown in front of them. Once each player has chosen a card to keep, they pass their hand to the right. This process repeats until each player has three ability cards, two unit upgrade cards, and two genome cards facedown in front of them; players cannot choose to keep a card if they already have the maximum number of that card type facedown. If there are no other options to choose from, a player will pass their hand without choosing a card.

After the splice is complete, each player considers the cards they drafted and picks two abilities, one unit upgrade, and one genome to keep; these are their starting cards. Unchosen cards are shuffled back into their respective decks. Finally, all players simultaneously reveal their starting cards.

This type of spliced card alters the core capabilities of a player’s Mahact King. They are placed in players’ play areas when gained, and count as technologies of the color indicated in the lower-right corner of the card.

This type of spliced card is placed over the top of a unit on a faction sheet and upgrades the capabilities of a unit type. If a player ever gains two unit upgrade cards that would be placed on the same slot on a faction sheet, they must choose one to keep and discard the other; this does not apply to mechs, as mechs can have multiple unit upgrades at once. These cards count as unit upgrade technologies. They do not have a color.

This type of spliced card represents the genetic material of one of the fallen species of the galaxy. They can be exhausted for an effect and ready each round during the status phase. They are placed faceup in players’ personal play areas when gained.

If a player captures a non-fighter ship or mech, they place it on their faction sheet. When such a unit is returned, it is placed in the reinforcements of the player who it was captured from. A captured non-fighter ship or mech can be returned, as follows:

• If the player who captured the unit agrees to return it as part of a transaction.
• If an ability allows a player to return a captured ship, typically as a cost for an effect.
• If the player whose unit was captured blockades a space dock of the player who captured the unit.

If a player captures a fighter or ground force, it is placed in its reinforcements instead of on the capturing player’s faction sheet. Then, the capturing player places a fighter or ground force token from the supply on their faction sheet instead. Captured fighters and ground forces do not belong to any player color. As such, they cannot be returned as part of a transaction and they are not returned because of a blockade. They remain on the capturing player’s faction sheet until an ability returns them. When returned, they are placed in the supply.