RULEBOOK

OFF TO STARCADIA!

A thousand years ago, citizens of The World launched federation of planets allied for mutual defense,
their first QTL-capable starship. Its Quicker-Than-Light assistance, and general goodwill. In time, their member
drive instantly hurled it across the vast gulf between worlds expanded to include swampy Glomp, spectacular
the stars, and found itself orbiting a frigid, snowy world. Melodram, and the easily impressed people of Amaze-
The crew scanned the snowball, and found: People! onia. Today, from the wild Frontier to The World itself,
the Starcadian Alliance keeps the spaceways safe and
Citizens of Baccahlanche welcomed the Worldians with stable, owing its thanks to the Navy, Marines, and
celebrations, bobsledding, and ice cream! (Lots and lots Expeditionary Corps.
of ice cream, which is pretty much the only food available
on Baccahlanche.) The Worldians introduced the woolly And all was right with the Galaxy!
Baccahlanchians to movies, hair brushes, and Taco
Tuesdays (a delicious, if somewhat odoriferous, weekly … For a time.
celebration of the finest food ever invented).
Rising through the Navy’s ranks with a record-shattering
The two civilizations became instant friends, and promotion every week was the man who would shake the
together founded the Starcadian Alliance, a loose Alliance to its very core: Supreme Commander Thorne.

2 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

As an ensign, Thorne seized command of his ship to The Navy became a sleek, efficient machine, capable of
lead a Starcadian task force against the Scolan Armada. stopping any threat before it began! In fact, so efficient
The next week as a lieutenant, Thorne seized command were they that Supreme Commander Thorne found
of his ship to capture the notorious Space Pirate Captain himself with plenty of time to spare, and began handing
Wet Willy. The next week as a lieutenant commander, out his schedules to planetary governors and civilian
Thorne seized command of his ship to defeat the leaders across known space. So long as they followed
enormous planet-eating world of Paccusmaann. The his instructions to the letter, peace and quiet would
next week the Starcadians just gave him command of reign, and all was right with the Galaxy!
the entire Navy, because things were getting ridiculous,
and courts-martial for his various mutinies were simply … Well, not exactly.
a waste of time. Thorne always got results, and his
extreme logic was unassailable. Supreme Commander Thorne’s power and influence
grew and grew. Indeed, who could stop him? He
Indeed, as Supreme Commander, Thorne kept the peace. foresaw any resistance and squashed it immediately
ALL the peace. ALL the time. There was much disorder in with precision squashing. He countermanded changes
the galaxy, disorder which only he, Supreme Commander to his orders by the civilian government with extreme
Thorne, could anticipate and prevent. Supreme logic and a flawless uniform. He even went so far as to
Commander Thorne’s infallibility was in itself infallible. cancel Taco Tuesdays, a disruptive ritual resulting in
unanticipated odors and far too much laughter.
In fact, if any fallibility existed, it was among his
imminently fallible subordinates. On rare occasion, one And that was the last straw!!
might not reload their weapon precisely when ordered,
or miss a shot at precisely the wrong time despite the Even for those in the Navy, fully accustomed to
very best odds to hit their target. precision, timing, and a sense of extreme order, this
latest grand directive was too much. Taco Tuesdays
Supreme Commander Thorne was not an unreasonable were a long-standing, vital backbone of Starcadian
man… actually scratch that, he’s insanely unreasonable, culture. Indeed, the entire Alliance had formed on the
but one can understand his frustration when a minion strength of that tasty, hilarious day!
has a 95% chance to eliminate an enemy and misses!
It’s as if the laws of probability themselves refused to Supreme Commander Thorne was relieved of duty…
stick to their averages! Can you imagine?? exactly as he had foreseen!

Supreme Commander Thorne imposed a series of Now, at the edge of known space, on the machine world
reforms in the Navy to reduce such inconsistencies of Teklawn, Supreme Commander Thorne masses his
to zero. All officers would receive their tactical plans fleets to strike back at the very Alliance which cast
direct from Supreme Commander Thorne. All crewmen him aside to bring them order and timing, all for their
would go about their duties as ordered by Supreme own good, of course. A new Empire shall be formed,
Commander Thorne’s master schedule, extended to with Supreme Commander Thorne at its head. His fleet
cover time on-duty, off-duty, and even on shore leave. of precisely 1337 ships (a number not even the most
Nothing was left to chance, from logistics trains to fire- elite of strategists can fathom) will sweep aside the
control calibrations, right down to how many times one Starcadian Navy, and deal with their pesky Freelancers
chewed their tacos and what flavor of ice cream they according to a timetable of Supreme Commander
should order on leave. (Vanilla. Always. Chocolate and Thorne’s personal design!
strawberry are too unpredictable, obviously, and don’t
even think about slurping it down quickly, or you’ll have Order shall come to the galaxy under his steely, glowing
a court-martial in addition to your ice cream headache.) red gaze!

Such measures may have seemed harsh, overbearing, We shall now indulge in megalomaniacal laughter for
micro-managing, dictatorial, dogmatic, stuffy, precisely 5.42 seconds! Muahaha! Muahahaa!
oppressive, and even a teensey-tiny bit bossy. But they
got results, precisely as Supreme Commander Thorne MAUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!
had foreseen.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 3

 CONTENTS

OFF TO STARCADIA....................................... 2 THE MONSTERS

GAME COMPONENTS...................................... 5 ◊ Monster Activation............................................... 20
Activated by an Event Card........................................ 20
GAME OVERVIEW............................................. 7 Activated by a Guard Reaction.................................. 20
Activated by a Payback Reaction............................. 22
CAMPAIGN AGAINST THORNE...................... 7
◊ Monster Attack...................................................... 22
CREW SETUP.................................................. 8 ◊ Monster and Monster Dashboard...................... 22
◊ Choosing Heroes......................................................8 Anatomy of a Monster Card....................................... 22
Advanced: Drafting Heroes........................................... 8 Anatomy of the Monster Dashboard.......................23
◊ Anatomy of a Hero...................................................9 ◊ Overkill.................................................................... 23
◊ Starting Equipment..................................................9 QUESTS.......................................................... 24
Quest Rewards................................................................ 24
SCENARIO SETUP.......................................... 10 Scenario Rewards.......................................................... 24
THE GAME BOARD......................................... 13 VICTORY TOKENS......................................... 24
THE PLAYER TURN....................................... 14 UPGRADE PHASE.......................................... 24
◊ Hero Activation.......................................................15
◊ Upwards!................................................................ 25
◊ Movement...............................................................15
Move.................................................................................... 15 ◊ Onwards!................................................................. 25
Hatches............................................................................... 15 EXPLORATION TOKENS............................... 25
Portals................................................................................. 15
◊ Gadgets................................................................... 26
Doors................................................................................... 15
Full Spaces......................................................................... 16 ◊ Victory Tokens....................................................... 26
◊ Attack.......................................................................16 ◊ Quest Tokens.......................................................... 26
Select Weapon Upgrade............................................... 16
Select Boost Upgrade(s)............................................... 16
UPGRADES..................................................... 26
Confirm Target.................................................................. 16 ◊ Anatomy of an Upgrade Token........................... 27
Line of Sight...................................................................... 17 ◊ Weapons................................................................. 27
Exhaust Attack and Boost Upgrades.......................18 ◊ Boosts...................................................................... 28
Attack Dice Pool...............................................................18
◊ Passives.................................................................. 28
Defense Dice Pool...........................................................18
Rolling Dice........................................................................18 ◊ Reactions................................................................ 28
Attack Results...................................................................18 ◊ Special Effects....................................................... 28
Special Effects.................................................................. 19 Extra Defense.................................................................. 28
Kills and Rewards............................................................ 19 Extra Life........................................................................... 28
◊ Rest...........................................................................19 Reroll Pool......................................................................... 28
Unexhaust Upgrades..................................................... 19 Self Sacrifice.................................................................... 29
Reorganize Upgrades.................................................... 19 Huge Characters............................................................. 29
Resurrect Heroes............................................................ 19 Daze.................................................................................... 29
◊ Event Deck.............................................................. 20 Shove.................................................................................. 29
THE CAMPAIGN SHEET................................ 29
◊ Campaign Finale.................................................... 30
OPTIONAL: EPISODIC MODE......................... 30
Drafting.............................................................................. 30
INDEX.............................................................. 31
CREDITS.......................................................... 31
RULES SUMMARY......................................... 32

4 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 GAME COMPONENTS

10 GAME TILES

4 SHUTTLES

1 RULEBOOK

1 MONSTER
1 CAMPAIGN
DASHBOARD
SHEET PAD

8 HERO CARDS

4 CREW
DASHBOARDS

8 MONSTER
CARDS

30 EVENT
31 QUEST CARDS
CARDS

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 5

 6 PORTAL 40 VICTORY 10 DOOR 11 QUEST
TOKENS TOKENS TOKENS TOKENS

30 WOUND 8 HOVERBOARD 10 RECHARGE 12 STIMPACK

TOKENS TOKENS TOKENS TOKENS

30 FIGURES

99 UPGRADE
TOKENS

8 COUNTERBASES
8 HEROES

4 SCUTTLEBUTTS 4 WEEBLES 4 OCTOCOLDS

1 SUPREME
COMMANDER
2 OCTOCRUELS THORNE

1 ICEHEART 4 PEEK-A-BOOMS 2 PEEK-A-ROUNDS

10 DICE

6 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 GAME OVERVIEW CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THORNE
Starcadia Quest is a campaign game for 2 to 4 players,
in which each player controls a Crew with two unique
Heroes, adventuring inside different space stations in a In order to stop Supreme Commander Thorne from
quest to defeat the Supreme Commander Thorne and assuming command, the Heroes will need to make their
his army. But these Crews are not quite in league with way throughout the galaxy. As they progress, they
each other: they are bitter foes who compete against diminish the authority of the Supreme Commander,
each other even as they pursue the same goals! while gaining more power themselves. Only after much
adventuring will they be ready to face the Supreme
The players will choose the path their campaign takes, Commander in the flesh.
following the game’s branching campaign system. As
they navigate their way through the campaign, the The Starcadia Quest campaign is unlike anything ever
players must choose which opportunities to pursue, seen before. It contains a total of 7 Scenarios. From
and which ones to leave behind—a decision that can those, players will forge through a series of 4 Scenarios.
have serious consequences later in the campaign. The first and the last Scenarios will always be the same,
no matter the choices made. Once Scenario 1 is played
In each Scenario, players pit their two Heroes against and conquered, the winner will be able choose between
the Heroes of the other players and the nasty Monsters Scenarios 2A or 2B. Similarly, Scenario 2A will lead to
that swarm over the station. By fulfilling specific Quests Scenarios 3A or 3B, while Scenario 2B will lead to 3B or
and killing their enemies, the Heroes will be able to find 3C. All campaigns end with the final showdown against
ever-more-powerful items and weapons. Thorne in Scenario 4!

2A 2B

3A 3B 3C

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 7

 CREW SETUP
The first thing players starting a new Starcadia Quest
campaign need to do is to create their Crews. Players
get to choose from four different Crews: Yellow (Lion),
Blue (Eagle), Red (Fox) and Green (Panda). Each player
receives the Crew Dashboard and Shuttle for their
chosen Crew, which will help them organize their
Heroes and starting Upgrades.

CHOOSING HEROES 
The players now have to carefully pick the 2 Heroes that
will defend their Crew throughout the campaign. Having
the right team can be a decisive factor in the upcoming
adventures. The players look through the Hero cards
and each chooses 2 of them to form their Crew.

The players then place their Hero cards face up in the

Hero card slots of their Crew Dashboard (the order
does not matter). They also take the corresponding
figures for their Heroes and carefully attach them to the
counterbases in their Crew’s color to help identify them.
These are the 2 Heroes that will defend each Crew
through the entire campaign, it is not possible to change
Heroes unless a new campaign is started.

ADVANCED:
DRAFTING HEROES
Once players are more familiarized with the
game and each Hero’s capabilities, they may
want to pick their Heroes in a more structured
fashion. If all players agree, they can choose
their Starcadia Quest Heroes at the start of a
campaign by using the drafting method. Place
all Hero cards faceup at the center of the table.
Then, starting with the first player, players will
pick 1 Hero from the cards shown, in clockwise
order until it reaches the last player. Once the last
player picks their first Hero, they pick another
one and in counterclockwise order players will
pick their last hero in order to finish their crew.
Any remaining Hero cards are removed from
the game and returned to the box.

8 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 ANATOMY OF A HERO  A B C
Every Hero in Starcadia Quest is unique with different
traits and special abilities; players should take these
into consideration when picking their Heroes. The Hero
cards all display the following characteristics:

A. Defense - This tells you how many dice this Hero

can roll for Defense to try to prevent an Attack from
inflicting Wounds.

B. Life - This number indicates how many Wounds are

necessary to kill this Hero.

C. Name - This is the name of the Hero.

D. Ability - This is the Hero’s Natural Ability, a special

characteristic that truly sets them apart from everyone
else. These Abilities are always in effect, following the D
parameters of their descriptive text.

STARTING EQUIPMENT 
Before starting the campaign, each Crew receives 7 Hero can only use the tokens in their inventory, not the
Upgrade tokens from the Starter Deck (see Upgrades on tokens of the entire Crew. Return any unused Upgrade
page 26) as starting equipment: Pulse Blade, Repeater tokens to the game box.
Pistol, Blaster Rifle, Iron Fists, Red Dot Sight, Kitty
Primed and Red Shirt. Each player can distribute their 7 Example: The player controlling the Red Crew has chosen
Upgrade tokens among their 2 Heroes in any way they Edge and Hannah Lone as their Heroes. They decide to
choose. give their Pulse Blade, Iron Fists and Red Shirt to Edge,
and their Repeater Pistol, Blaster Rifle, Kitty Primed, and
On the Crew Dashboard, each Hero has an inventory Red Dot Sight to Hannah.
of 6 Upgrade slots, located under their Hero card. Each

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 9

 SCENARIO SETUP Tiles – There are 10 Game Tiles. Each depicts a specific
room of a space station on one side, and all tiles share
a common back. Randomly take the amount of Tiles
required by the Setup card, shuffle them facedown and
Setup cards - The Setup Card in each Scenario instructs place them according to the Tile Placement diagram.
players how many Game tiles, which Monsters, Doors, Make sure the positions of the Hatches on each Tile
and other components will be used. match the layout of Hatches on the Quest Setup. If a
Tile's Hatches are not in the correct position, simply turn
A it 90 degrees in either direction.
B

C G

D H

ANATOMY OF A SETUP CARD

A - Scenario Title: The title of the Scenario.

B-S
 cenario Number: The order in which the Scenario
appears in the campaign.

C-T
 ile Placement: Indicates the amount of tiles and Gadgets – There are 3 types of Gadgets that Heroes
how to position them. (Some tiles display the number can collect while exploring: Stimpack, Hoverboard, and
sideways to indicate that their orientation is different Recharge tokens. Place the corresponding Gadgets in
from the others.) the printed indications on the Tiles (if any).

D - Shuttle slot: Indicates the available positions for Shuttles.

E-R
 ules: This area lists any setup and special rules for
the Scenario.

F-O
 rder: Indicates quantity and order of Quest cards
that the Scenario is comprised of. Victory Tokens – In addition
to Gadgets, some tiles may
G - Monster Designation: Indicates both the Class of also have printed indications
Monster (Trooper, Officer, or Villain) and which specific for Victory tokens. Place 1
Rank position it occupies on the Monster Dashboard. Victory token in each.

H - Monster Assignment: Indicates whether a specific

or a random Monster of the indicated Class should
be added to the Monster Dashboard.

10 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

Doors – Place Door tokens as indicated on the Setup Event Deck – Shuffle all Event cards to create the Event
card. All Door tokens start with the “Closed” side up deck and place it facedown within reach of all players.
unless otherwise specified.

OPEN DOOR CLOSED DOOR

Portals - Portals of the same color connect different

Spaces enabling Characters to teleport between them,
whether they're printed on the board or tokens (See
Portals on page 15). You will find 6 Portal tokens that
you can set aside in the general reserve. Monster Dashboard – The Monster Dashboard is used
in every Scenario to indicate which Monsters are being
used and list their relevant information.

Quest tokens - Most Scenarios request that one or

more Quest tokens are placed faceup on the board to
track progression on Quests. Take the requested Quest
tokens and place them in the indicated Spaces.

Monsters – The back of each Setup Card lists the

Common Area - Place in a common area near the game Designation of Monsters that take part in the scenario.
board, within reach of all players, the piles of Wound, Gather the requested Monster figures and place them
Quest, Portal, and Victory tokens as well as the dice. in the Spaces indicated in the Rules portion of the
Return any unused Door, Recharge, Stimpack, and Setup card. Arrange the Monster cards in the Monster
Hoverboard tokens to the game box. Dashboard according to the indicated Designation.
Note that many Quests won't assign Monsters to all
spaces of this dashboard.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 11

Shuttles - Indicated in the Setup card are the 4 available Quest cards – Each Scenario has a set of PvE (Player
Shuttle slots. Beginning with the player who won the vs Environment) Quest cards that list the achievements
last Scenario and going clockwise, each player chooses that must be fulfilled in order to complete it. Take the PvE
1 of the available Shuttle slots to claim and places their Quest cards associated with the Scenario and arrange
Shuttle there, with the 2 Heroes from their Crew placed them in ascending order (Quest card 1, Quest card 2,
in any of the Spaces on their Shuttle. When playing the etc) next to the game board, so all the players can see
first Scenario, randomly choose a player to start claiming them. Then, take the PvP (Player vs Player) Quest cards
Shuttle slots. If there are fewer then 4 players on the related to the Crews that are being used and place them
game, the remaining Shuttles are returned to the box. near the PvE Quest cards.

Once all the setup has been executed, your gaming table
should look like the picture below. You are now ready to
start your adventure!

PLAYER 4
PLAYER 1 STARTING AREA
STARTING AREA

PLAYER 3 PLAYER 2
STARTING AREA STARTING AREA

12 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 THE GAME BOARD
IMPORTANT TERMS

Starcadia Quest is played on a game board consisting of CHARACTER - A Hero or a Monster.

several tiles arranged randomly together according to ALLY - For a Hero, this is another Hero of the same
the Scenario's Setup Card. These Tiles represent various Crew. For a Monster, this is any other Monster.
rooms of a space station. Each Tile is divided into 16 equal ENEMY - For a Hero, this is any Hero from a
Spaces, each with a dot marking its center. These Spaces different Crew and any Monster. For a Monster,
can be occupied by a maximum of 2 Characters each. A this is any Hero.
Space without a central dot is considered a Blocked Space.

Some Spaces are divided by walls which block Movement

and Line of Sight (see more on page 17). These blocking • Spawn Points: These slots indicate the Spaces in
elements are identified by solid gray shapes. which Monsters may appear.

The Game tiles also feature several other elements that

affect gameplay:

• Gadget & Victory slots: These slots indicate where

players must place the corresponding Gadget and
Victory tokens during Setup. There are slots for Stimpack
tokens ( ), Hoverboard tokens ( ), Recharge tokens
( ), and Victory tokens ( ). For more information on
Gadgets and Victory tokens, see page 26.

• Portal Spaces: Portal Spaces are printed directly on

the Tiles and come in 3 colors. For more information • Computer Terminals: Each Tile has 1 Computer
on Portals, see page 15. Terminal printed on it. Various game effects may
interact with these (ie. Setup cards, Quest cards,
Event cards, etc). Unless stated otherwise, treat these
Spaces as normal Spaces.

Armory Slot: The Armory Tile, if present, comes with a

slot for a specific Upgrade from the Armory Deck (see
Upgrades on page 26) to be placed during Setup. During • Hatch: Each tile has 4 printed Hatch spaces. When
the game, if a Hero is standing in the same Space as the tiles connect Hatch Spaces, an opening is created,
Upgrade, and there are no Enemies in that same Space, allowing characters to Move and draw Line of Sight
the Hero may collect the Upgrade. Only one Upgrade normally through it. Hatches also allow Movement
may be collected this way per Scenario. and Line of Sight when connected to Shuttles. Note
however that when a Hatch Space is met by a Wall on
the other side, there is no opening between them.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 13

 THIS IS THIS IS
THIS IS A SPAWN A GADGET
A HATCH POINT SLOT
CLOSE
Many rules and cards in the game refer to
something being Close to something else.
To be Close to something means to be either
sharing the same Space, or to be on any of
the four orthogonal Spaces that share an open
edge with it.
Spaces that are diagonal from it are not Close.
A Space that shares an edge that is blocked by
a wall or a Closed Door is not Close. THIS IS
A COMPUTER
TEMINAL

THIS IS THIS IS
THIS IS A BLOCKING A DECORATIVE
A PORTAL WALL ELEMENT

THE PLAYER TURN

A game of Starcadia Quest is played over a series of
Player Turns, in clockwise order. The first player takes
their turn, then the player to their left takes their turn,
and so on. This sequence goes on uninterrupted until
the scenario is completed, ending that game.

The first player to take their turn at the start of a Scenario

is the one who won the last Scenario. For the very first
Scenario of a campaign, however, the first player is
chosen randomly.

When a player takes their turn, they may do one of

two things:

• ACTIVATE a Hero.

OR

• REST their Crew.

Example: The green Spaces and any Each turn, the player can only do one or the other, never
characters in them are considered to be Close both. After either activating a Hero of Resting their
to Digits, while the red Spaces are not. Crew, the player must then draw the topmost card
from the Event deck and play it.

14 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 HERO ACTIVATION  immediately take his figure and teleport to any other Space
containing a Portal of the same color. If the destination
The player chooses one of their Heroes to activate Space is Full (see Full Spaces on page 16) the portal can
(activating the same Hero every turn is allowed). That Hero still be used, but the Character must be able to end their
is now considered “active” and may perform, in any order, Movement in a free Space (a Space with at most 1 Character
its Movement and one Attack. The Movement can’t be in it). Using a Portal does not trigger a Guard Reaction from
interrupted by the Attack and then resumed afterwards, a Close Monster. If a Portal is deactivated, it cannot be used
it must be performed all at once either before or after the as either the start or end point of a teleportation.
Attack. The Hero may also choose to perform just its Attack
or just its Movement. Doors
Door tokens can be flipped between their Closed or Open
Note: If an ability allows a player to activate an extra positions by spending one Movement point. The Door must
Hero during its turn, it must be used on a Hero that has be at the edge of the Space occupied by the active Character.
not yet been activated this turn. Closed Doors work just like a wall, blocking Movement and
Line of Sight. Open Doors create a passage between two
• MOVEMENT Spaces, allowing Movement and Line of Sight.
All Heroes have 4 Movement points available to use
on each activation. By spending its available Movement Example: Below we see Edge performing three possible
points, a Character is able to Move around the board. Movements:
The Character can spend 1 Movement point to:

• Move one Space.

• Use a Portal.

• Open or close a Door at the edge of the Space it is

currently occupying.

The Character doesn’t have to use all of its available

Movement points, but any remaining points do not
carry over to its next activation.

Move
Moving one Space means taking the active Character A: 1 - Move one Space; 2 - Move one Space across an
from its current Space to one of the 4 Close spaces Open Door; 3 - Use a Portal to go to a different part of the
that share an edge with it. Diagonal Movement is not board; 4 - Move one Space.
allowed. If there is a wall or a closed door between B: 1 - Move one Space; 2 - Flip a Door to its Open side;
the Character and the Space they wish to enter, that 3 - Move one Space across the now Open Door.
Movement is not possible.

Hatches
Each room has 4 Hatches in its outer walls. Hatches
that line up against other Hatches connect the Tile to
an adjacent Tile, allowing Characters to Move and draw
Line of Sight through them. When a Hatch meets a wall,
neither Movement or Line of Sight are allowed.

Portals
Portals allow Characters to teleport over large distances
very quickly during their Movement. A Character standing
in a Space that contains a Portal (whether printed on C: 1 - Flip a Door to its Open side; 2 - Move one Space
the board or a token) can spend one Movement point to across the now Open Door; 3 - Flip the door back closed.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 15

 Select Boost Upgrade(s)
Boost Upgrade tokens are used to increase the effect
FULL SPACES of a Weapon in different ways. The player chooses any
number of Unexhausted Boost Upgrades that match
Each Space can contain a maximum of two the type of the chosen Weapon to add up any benefits
Characters at a time. A Space with up to one
they give. Boost Upgrades have a green background.
Character in it is still considered to be free, and
other Characters, Enemy or Allied, can enter it
and shoot through it normally.
Full - A Space with two Characters in it is
considered Full, and nobody else can end their
Movement in it. Characters can move through the
Full Space, and Full Spaces do not block their Line
of Sight.

Example: Red will perform an Attack and decides to use

the Pulse Blade. To improve her chances, she decides to
use her Iron Fists along with her Pulse Blade, which will
grant her an extra die.

Example: Edge (a Blue Crew Hero) is the active

Character. He can end his movement in any of
the green Spaces, but can’t end his Movement Example: If the only available Boost Red has is her Red
in the red Spaces (either because they’re Full or Dot Sight, she cannot choose to use it along with her Pulse
because he can’t reach them with 4 Movement Blade because their types are not compatible.
points).
Confirm Target
The player selects their target, making sure the Weapon
Upgrade they chose is able to reach it. There are two
• ATTACK basic types of Attack: Melee or Ranged. The type of an
The active Hero may attempt to Attack an Enemy Attack is indicated by the symbol on the token being
of their choosing, be it a Monster or an Enemy Hero. used to perform it.
There are several different kinds of Attacks that Heroes
can obtain throughout the game, with a variety of Melee - A Melee Attack can only target
capabilities and special effects. To perform an Attack, Enemies situated in a Space Close to the active
the player executes the following steps: Character (see Close rules on page 14).

Select Weapon Upgrade Ranged - A Ranged Attack can target Enemies

The player chooses one Unexhausted Weapon Upgrade on any Space on the board, as long as the
token located in the active Hero’s inventory to use. There active Character has a clear Line of Sight to it
are 3 types of Weapons: Melee    , Ranged    , and (see Line of Sight on page 17).
Special    . Weapon Upgrades have a red background.

16 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 Line of Sight
When using Ranged attacks, it is necessary to check
whether or not the active Character has a clear Line
SPACE WITHOUT
of Sight (LOS) to their target. A Ranged Attack has no THE CENTRAL DOT
limitation in regards to distance - the only requirement
for it is that there be a free Line of Sight to the target
(LOS to the same Space is always free). Finally, LOS can never cross an area that is not part of the
board. If it ever leaves the Tiles, it is blocked.
To check LOS, draw an imaginary line from the center
of the active Character’s Space to the center of their Example: Hannah intends to use her Repeater Pistol to
target’s Space. There is a clear LOS if this line is not make a Ranged Attack:
interrupted by any blocking element: a wall or a Closed
Door.

FULL SPACE
DOESN'T
AFFECT LOS

1 - She has LOS to Scuttlebutt through the open Hatch,

even though it skims the edge of the opening.
2 - She has LOS to the Octocold in a straight line across the
empty hallway. The distance is irrelevant.
3 - She has LOS to the Peek-a-boom through the corridor,
even though it skims the edge of the opening and crosses
a Full Space.
LOS is not blocked if it only skims a blocking corner, 4 - She does not have LOS to Edge because the line
passing at an angle exactly through the intersection of crosses a wall.
four Spaces where only one side is blocked.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 17

Exhaust Attack and Boost Upgrades Besides being a success itself, each CRIT result allows
Before resolving the Attack, the player must Exhaust an extra die to be rolled, adding its result to the total. If
the Weapon Upgrade and any Boost Upgrades being that roll also results in a CRIT, another extra die is rolled,
used by turning them all facedown, showing that they and so on. In some cases, rolling a CRIT also activates a
have been used. An exhausted token cannot be used special effect listed in the Upgrade tokens being used.
to perform an Attack or boost an Attack again until it is
Unexhausted. Example 1: Bahbaka rolls 3 dice for his Attack with a Pulse
Blade with no Boosts, getting , and . Since it’s a
Attack Dice Pool Melee Attack, that scores 2 misses and 1 Hit. He rolls an
The attacking player gathers a number of dice equal to extra die because of the CRIT and gets a , for a final
the number indicated on the Weapon Upgrade being result of 2 Hits!
used. If they are using any bonuses granted by Boost
Upgrades, those extra dice are also added to the pool. Example 2: Hannah rolls 2 dice for her Attack with a Repeater
Pistol with no Boosts, getting and . Since it’s a Ranged
Defense Dice Pool Attack, that scores 2 Hits. She rolls an extra die because of
If the targeted Character has any Defense listed on their the CRIT and gets another ! That’s 1 more Hit and another
card, the player controlling them gathers a number of extra die, which rolls a , which is a miss, for a total of 3 Hits.
dice equal to that Character’s Defense. If a targeted
Hero possesses any Upgrades with extra Defense Example 3: Edge is being attacked, he has 2 Defense, but
icons, those dice are added as well. the Red Shirt Passive Upgrade in his inventory gives him
+1 Defense and + 1 Reroll for a total of 3 Defense.
Rolling Dice
Dice are rolled to determine the effectiveness of the Attack At first, he rolls 3 dice for his Defense, getting , and
and Defense. Different symbols constitute a success on a  , scoring 1 Save. He decides to use his Reroll and rolls a
die roll depending on the type of roll being made: , for a total of 2 Saves. He rolls an extra die because of
the CRIT and gets a , which is a miss, so his total ends
These symbols score a successful Hit with 2 Saves.
in a Melee Attack roll.
Attack Results
This symbol scores a successful Hit in a Once all dice have been rolled, compare the number of
Ranged Attack roll. Hits scored by the attacker with the number of Saves
obtained by the target’s Defense (if they had any). Each
This symbol scores a successful Save in a Save blocks one Hit. If there are still any Hits remaining,
Defense roll. the target suffers a number of Wounds equal to the
number of exceeding Hits. Place that number of Wound
This symbol is a CRIT, and always counts as a tokens on the targeted Hero’s card, or in the case of a
success, no matter the type of roll. Monster, next to its figure.

Example: Col. Blaze McGunner attacks Digits, scoring 3

Hits, while Digits gets 2 Saves. The attack results in Digits
suffering 1 Wound.

18 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

Special Effects REST 
Some Upgrade tokens have special effects listed on
them. These take effect following the parameters Instead of activating a Hero, the player can choose to
described on the token. Some effects always happen, spend their turn allowing their Heroes to Rest. When
whenever they are used, while others need to be a Crew Rests, none of its Heroes are activated, they
triggered by specific circumstances. The timing of when are not allowed to perform any Movement or Attacks
these special effects take place can be very important at whatsoever during this turn. The resting player may
times. Unless stated otherwise, each special effect takes perform all of the following:
place immediately when its triggering event happens. If
two effects would happen simultaneously, the active • UNEXHAUST UPGRADES
player decides the order in which they are executed. Flip all Upgrades on the Crew’s dashboard faceup
Unexhausting all of them. The Upgrade tokens are
Multiple Targets: Some special effects may allow ready to be used once again in the following turns.
your attack to affect other Characters in addition to
your primary target. No matter how many secondary • REORGANIZE UPGRADES
targets an attack affects, you always make only a The player may reorganize their Upgrade tokens,
single attack roll, and it applies to all targets. If any moving any number of them between their Heroes.
special effects change the amount of dice you should
roll against a specific target, the amount is determined
by your primary target only, and is not affected by your
secondary target(s).

Kills and Rewards

As soon as combat is fully resolved, if a Character has
suffered a number of Wounds equal to their Life, they
are killed. A killed Monster is removed from the board
and placed in the common area, while a killed Hero is
placed on their Hero card.

When a Hero kills a Monster, their Crew immediately gets

the corresponding number of Victory tokens listed on
the Monster Dashboard. When a Hero kills an enemy
Hero, their Crew gets 1 Victory token. When a Monster
kills a Hero, all the other Crews each gets 1 Victory token.
If a Hero is killed by any other game circumstances, all
the other Crews also get 1 Victory token.

The credit for killing a Character goes to the Character

that inflicts the last Wound responsible for removing the
Character from the board. It does not matter if someone
else inflicted more Wounds to the killed Character, all • RESURRECT HEROES
the credit goes to the one who scores the final blow! Any of the player's Heroes that were killed are
resurrected and brought back into the game. Remove all
When a Hero is killed, any Gadget tokens or Quest Wound tokens from those Heroes only and place their
tokens they were carrying are dropped on the Space figure back on the board. The resurrected Hero can be
they were occupying, and they can then be picked up by placed either in that Crew’s Shuttle or Close to any allied
other Heroes. If the Hero was killed by an enemy Hero Hero that was already on the board at the beginning of
who's Close to them, the enemy Hero can automatically the turn.
take one of those tokens and place it on their Hero card.
Note: Heroes resurrected by special effects, instead of
Resting, are also always fully unexhausted.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 19

 EVENT DECK  Once both effects on the Event card are resolved, the
active player discards it faceup next to the Event cards
Event cards are an important aspect of Starcadia pile, forming an Event discard pile.
Quest, as they bring unexpected effects each turn,
representing various activities taking place around the Note: If the Event deck runs out of cards, shuffle all
space station. Event cards request players to activate or Event cards in the discard pile to form a new Event deck.
spawn monsters and resolve different types of effects.

After activating a Hero or Resting their Crew, the active

player must draw and play the topmost card of the
Event deck. To do so, the active player follows these two
THE MONSTERS
steps in order:

MONSTER ACTIVATION 
There is no “Monster turn” in the game. However, the
Monsters lurking around the station are voracious and
can be activated in 3 manners:
1
• by an Event card
2
• by a Guard Reaction

• by a Payback Reaction

• ACTIVATED BY AN EVENT CARD

A Monster that gets activated by an Event card is
1 - The top half of the Event card shows the Designation controlled by the active player and generally follows
of the Monster being activated. Check the Monster the same rules as a Hero being activated: they get to
Dashboard to see what Monster card is in that perform, in any order, its Movement and one Attack.
Designation space: The amount of Movement points a Monster has is listed
on the Monster Dashboard (or in the case of a Villain,
• If there are any matching Monsters on the board, the on their card), which they can spend normally to Move,
active player chooses one of them to activate (see use Portals and manipulate Doors. Activated Monsters
Monster Activation on the next chapter). don't use Upgrade tokens, Rest, nor pick up and use
Exploration tokens from the board, unless otherwise
• If there are no matching Monsters currently on the specified. Note that the active player controlling the
board, Spawn one of them on a Spawn Point of the Monster’s attack may choose any Hero as its target.
active player’s choosing instead. In the event that all Monsters do not trigger other Monsters' Payback or
Spawn Points are Full, Spawn the Monster on a Space Guard Reactions (see below).
Close to a Spawn Point instead.
• ACTIVATED BY A GUARD REACTION
• If there is no Monster card in the indicated Designation Every Monster in the game guards all Spaces Close
space of the Monster Dashboard, ignore this step and to themselves only (see Close Spaces on page 14),
continue to the next one. regardless of the Monster's Attack type and will Attack
any Close Hero that lowers their guard by trying to
2 - The player now reads and resolves the effect listed move past them. A Hero standing Close to a Monster is
on the bottom half of the Event card. Some effects might considered to be actively fending it off, until they decide
trigger another Monster spawn or add more tokens to to move.
the board, among other effects.

20 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

Entering a Space Close to a Monster does not trigger its
Guard Reaction, it is only triggered by moving from a
Close Space to the Monster, no matter the direction of
the Movement. When a Guard Reaction is triggered, it
causes the Monster to immediately Attack the active
Hero with its listed attributes and abilities. The Monster
does not Move, it can only Attack.

Whenever a Hero’s Movement would trigger a Guard

Reaction in one or more Monsters, the player to the
right of the active player must perform the Attacks of
all triggered Monsters before the Hero executes his
Movement. After all Attacks are resolved (including the
Hero’s Defense rolls), the Hero can then Move.

It is possible to trigger several consecutive Guard

Reaction attacks from the same or combination of
Monsters in the same turn, if each move the Hero makes
leaves a different Space guarded by the Monster(s).
Keep in mind that using a Portal or manipulating a Door
does not trigger Guard Reactions. 2 - On the second move, Iceheart’s Guard Reaction is no
longer triggered, but the Weeble’s is.
Example: Red is moving heedlessly across the board and
triggering Guard Reactions from several Monsters.

3 - On the third move, Red triggers Guard Reactions not

only from the Weeble, but from the Peek-a-round as well.
1 - On the first move she triggers Iceheart’s Guard Reaction, She suffers two simultaneous attacks. If she moves away
since she’s leaving a Space Close to her. The Octocruel is from that final Space, she’ll trigger Weeble’s one more time.
not triggered since a wall isolates it. Since Red is entering
a Space Close to the Weeble, that does not trigger a Guard Note: Some special effects might cause a Hero to be
Reaction from it. placed in a specific Space. As this is not a Move, it does
not trigger Guard Reactions.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 21

• ACTIVATED BY A PAYBACK REACTION MONSTER AND
Whenever a Hero attacks a Monster (even if their MONSTER DASHBOARD
attack roll completely fails), the Monster is triggered
and immediately attempts to strike back at its attacker. At the beginning of each Scenario, the back of the Setup
The difference with a Payback Reaction is that the card determines a set of Monsters (either specific or
triggered Monster may perform its Movement first random) to enter the game. Each Monster has their
before attacking. The player to the right of the active own Monster card, which contains valid information
player controls the triggered Monster and may choose exclusive to that particular Monster. The cards are then
how best to employ it. placed on the Monster Dashboard, which contains
information regarding the entire group of Monsters for
After fully resolving the Hero’s Attack, the Monster may the scenario.
Move and then attempt an Attack against the Hero who
attacked it, but cannot Move after if it wishes to Attack • ANATOMY OF A MONSTER CARD
first. A moving Monster may choose to manipulate A - Name - The Monster’s name.
Doors, use Portals and Move in any direction it wishes,
following the same Movement rules and restrictions B - Defense - How many dice the Monster rolls for Defense
as Heroes. The player controlling the Monster doesn’t to try to prevent an attack from inflicting Wounds.
have to Move it or even perform its Attack, if they so
desire, but any Attack made by the Monster must have C - Attack Dice - The number of dice rolled by the
only the active Hero as the primary target. Monster’s Attack. The die symbol corresponds to the
Attack Type.
If a Hero’s Attack targets more than one Monster at
once, only one of the targeted Monsters is triggered; D - Attack Name - The name of the attack the Monster
the player to the right chooses which one. Even if a performs.
Monster is killed, it may perform its Payback Reaction
before being removed from the board, unless it has E - Ability - Monsters have a special Ability that is
been Overkilled (see page 23). always in effect. They work very much like a Hero’s
Natural Ability or that of an Upgrade token.

F - Attack Type - Whether the Monster executes Melee

or Ranged attacks.

MONSTER ATTACK 
A Monster’s Attack follows most of the same rules
as a Hero’s Attack. Since all of a Monster’s Attack
information is contained on the Monster card and
Monster Dashboard, they don’t exhaust any tokens to
perform an Attack and are always ready for combat.
Monsters can perform either Melee or Ranged Attacks
and are subjected to the same rules for proximity and B C
Line of Sight in order to be executed just like a Hero’s
Attack, that also includes any Abilities the Monster
may have. A Monster’s Attack is executed by the active
D F
player (when activated by Event cards) or by the player
to the right of the active player (when triggering Guard
or Payback Reactions).
E

22 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

• ANATOMY OF THE MONSTER DASHBOARD Enemy Rank – A classification of the Monster,
The Monster Dashboard holds 3 Classes of Enemies: referenced in the Event cards.
Troopers, Officers, and a Villain. Troopers and Officers
each have a shared set of characteristics among the Card Slots – Place Monster cards in these slots
monsters of their group, while the Villain’s stats are according to the back of the scenario’s Setup card.
dictated entirely by its cards.

Life - The number of Wounds the Monster has to OVERKILL 

sustain in order to be killed.
If the Hero's Attack is so powerful that it deals a number
Overkill - The number of Wounds a single attack must of Wounds equal to or higher than the Monster’s Overkill
inflict in order to eliminate the Monster instantly. rating, the Monster is immediately killed and removed
from the board without getting the chance to execute
Movement Points - The number of points the Monster its Payback Reaction. Note that it doesn’t matter how
can use to Move, manipulate Doors or use Portals. many Wounds the Monster already has: in order to
Overkill it, a single Attack must beat its Overkill rating.
Reward - How many Victory tokens are immediately
awarded to the Crew that kills the Monster.

ENEMY CARDS TROOPER

RANK SLOT AREA

LIFE

OVERKILL

MOVEMENT
POINTS

REWARD

OFFICER VILLAIN
AREA AREA

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 23

 QUESTS In case of a tie, the tied players each roll 1 die. Whoever
rolls a CRIT, wins! If nobody rolls a CRIT, or in case of a
tie, roll again.

Each Scenario includes a number of Quests that the In addition, players check the amount of Victory tokens
Heroes must accomplish in order to be victorious. The they have earned so far. For every milestone of 7 Victory
specific Quest cards for each Scenario are listed in their tokens reached, the player earns a Badge. Previously
description, and they’re divided into two kinds: Player reached milestones do not grant additional Badges at
vs. Player (PvP) and Player vs. Environment (PvE). the end of future Scenarios. Badges are tracked on the
PvP Quests relate to defeating enemy Heroes of the Campaign Sheet (see Campaign Sheet on page 29).
competing Crews. PvE Quests are specific feats related
to the Scenario at hand, such as defeating Monsters or
performing a specific task. During a Scenario, as soon
as a player accomplishes the task described in one of
the Quest cards, they fulfill that Quest. Turn that Quest
VICTORY TOKENS
card facedown to mark its completion. Each Quest
can only be fulfilled a single time per Scenario. Note
that PvE Quests must be resolved in order: a player During their adventures, heroes accomplish many
cannot resolve Quest card 2 until Quest card 1 has been deeds that earn them not only renown, but also wealth
completed and so on. and power. They gather Victory tokens for their Crew
that will help them acquire new equipment, weapons
When playing Scenario 4 of branching campaigns, the and abilities to help them in their ongoing campaign. A
first Quest is determined by the last Scenario completed. player’s Crew can earn Victory tokens in several ways:
For example, if the last Scenario completed was 3B, the
first Quest in Scenario 4 would be Quest 1B. • Every time a Hero kills a Monster, its Crew gets the
corresponding number of Victory tokens listed on the
Note: It is impossible for a player to accomplish the PvP Monster Dashboard.
Quest related to killing a Hero of their own Crew.
• Every time a Hero kills an Enemy Hero, its Crew gets
Note: When a Quest card instructs players to place one Victory token.
Monster figures and the specified Space is Full, place
the figure Close to it instead (the active player chooses • Every time a Hero is killed by a Monster or other
which Close Space). neutral game elements, all Crews - except the one to
which that Hero belongs - each get one Victory token.
• QUEST REWARDS
Every Quest card lists Victory tokens that are awarded • Every time a Hero completes a Quest, their Crew gains
to players who complete them. These rewards are the correspondent amount of Victory tokens.
assigned immediately upon completion of the Quest.

• SCENARIO REWARDS
The first player to complete a PvP Quest every Scenario
is awarded with a corresponding Upgrade token from
UPGRADE PHASE
the Scenario Reward Deck (see Token ID on page 27).

As soon as all the PvE Quests and at least 1 PvP Quest is Once the current Scenario is over, before the next one
completed the game ends and all players count up their begins, the Upgrade Phase takes place. During this lull
Victory tokens. The player with the most Victory tokens in the action, the Heroes improve themselves, get better
wins the Scenario, and is awarded 1 Badge! If it was the equipment, lick their wounds, and decide where they
final Scenario, the winning player is awarded 3 Badges will go next.
instead.

24 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 UPWARDS!  ONWARDS! 
In the course of the Heroes’ adventures in Starcadia, For the next Scenario to begin, remove any Exploration
they gradually become more powerful, learning tokens from the Heroes (Wound, Gadgets, etc). The
new tricks and getting hold of better weapons and player who won the previous Scenario chooses the
equipment. The better a Crew performs in a Scenario, next Scenario that will be played, obeying the campaign
the more resources it has to improve its Heroes for the progression rules (see page 7).
coming Scenarios.

THIS IDENTIFIES THE

BOX IT'S FROM

THIS IDENTIFIES THE

TOKEN'S UNIQUE ID

THIS INDICATES
THE TOKEN'S DECK (SEE
TOKEN ID ON PAGE 27)

Take the Deck of Upgrade tokens corresponding to

the number of the Scenario that’s just been completed
(Level 1 Upgrade token Deck after the first Scenario,
Level 2 Upgrade token Deck after the second Scenario,
and so on). Place all the tokens of that level in the center
of the play area. The player who won the Scenario
gets to pick any 2 Upgrade tokens of their choice.
Then, the player with the second most Victory tokens
gets to pick 2 Upgrade tokens and so on until the last
EXPLORATION
player gets their 2 tokens. Then, the last player gets 2
additional tokens, followed by the player with the third
TOKENS
most Victory tokens and so on until it’s back again to
the player who won the last Scenario to pick 2 Upgrade
tokens. Thus, with every Upgrade Phase each player During setup, several Exploration tokens are scattered
will have acquired 4 new Upgrade tokens for their Crew. around the board. These tokens represent useful things
the Heroes may find while exploring the station, and
Once all players have taken their 4 Upgrades, each even some important objectives they are trying to
player gets to pick an additional Upgrade for each Badge achieve on their Quest! Collecting an Exploration token
they just scored. Players that haven’t scored any Badges does not require a Movement Point or any other action,
aren’t eligible to receive these additional Upgrades. and you don’t need to end your Movement on the token
in order to take it. Whenever an active Hero is standing
In the same order as above, each player gets to pick 1 in the same Space as an Exploration token, and there
Upgrade token provided they have the required Badges. are no Enemies in that same Space, the Hero must
Continue this process until all players have taken the automatically collect the token.
Upgrades they’re eligible for or until all Upgrade tokens
are distributed. A killed Hero drops all of their Exploration tokens on
the Space they occupied. For more information, see
Each player then freely distributes their new Upgrade Kills and Rewards on page 19. Any Exploration token in
tokens among their Heroes and may completely possession of a Hero at the end of a Scenario is returned
rearrange all their tokens. If a Crew has more than 12 to the game. Nobody starts a Scenario in possession of
Upgrade tokens, it will have to discard any excess. Exploration tokens.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 25

 UPGRADES
The Upgrades acquired by each Crew as the campaign
progresses are what will truly set them apart from the
rest. Through the use and combination of different
Upgrades, Heroes are able to use their natural
characteristics to their full potential or build up a whole
new unique role for themselves in the game. There are
four basic categories of Upgrade tokens:

There are 3 types of Exploration tokens:

Gadgets
Gadget tokens can be freely exchanged among a Crew’s
Heroes whenever that Crew Rests.

 timpack: An active Hero may freely

S
discard this token during their turn to
recover all their Life, discarding any Wound
tokens they may possess. This token can’t Weapons Boosts
be used while an Attack is being resolved.

Recharge: An active Hero may freely

discard this token during their turn to
unexhaust all of their Upgrade tokens,
flipping them all faceup.

Hoverboard: The active Hero may freely

discard this token during their activation
to grant an Ally 4 Movement Points to
use immediately. Passives Reactions

Victory Tokens Through the combination of these Upgrades, players

Victory Tokens: When collected, Victory can create some powerful and unexpected attacks and
tokens belong to the Crew, not a single strategies!
Hero (place on the center area of the
Crew Dashboard). Each Victory token is
worth 1 Victory Point.

Quest Tokens

Quest Tokens: These are special Exploration tokens,

used in a multitude of ways. Their purpose is explained
in on the Scenario and Quest cards.

26 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 WEAPONS 
Weapons allow a Hero to make an Attack against an
Enemy. A Hero with no Weapon in their inventory
is generally incapable of executing an Attack when
ANATOMY OF AN UPGRADE TOKEN  activated. Heroes can only use one Weapon during an
Attack. However, since a Weapon is exhausted when
it is used (by flipping it facedown), having multiple
A D Weapons available in the Hero's arsenal gives them
not only more options, but also the ability to attack for
multiple turns before needing to Rest and Unexhaust
B E their Upgrades.

C F

A. Name - The name of the Upgrade.

B. Type - The type of Upgrade (Melee / Ranged

/ Special ) typically found on Weapons and Boosts.

C. Dice/Bonuses - Each Upgrade may offer different RANGED MELEE

combinations of dice and other bonuses to the Hero.
Weapons always have a base dice value that includes All Weapons are able to make either Melee or Ranged
symbols to indicate whether it is Melee or Ranged. Attacks. This is indicated by the icon shown on their
Boosts may offer extra dice and other bonuses like Dice value.
Rerolls. Passives may grant extra dice for Defense and
extra Life, etc.

SPECIAL
D. Category – Upgrade tokens are categorised TYPE
depending on whether it is a Weapon (Red background),
Boost (Green background), Passive (Blue background),
or Reaction (Yellow background).

E. Token ID - The code to identify the player's Upgrades

on the Campaign Sheet. The first alphanumeric
character, in bold, indicates the Deck the Upgrade
belongs to: Weapons with the ‘Special’ type may be able to perform
Melee or Ranged attacks. The Dice icon will indicate
• S: Starter Deck, used while setting up the first Scenario whether its attack is Melee or Ranged.

• 1/2/3: Level 1/2/3 Deck, used during the Upgrade While some Weapons offer only a simple attack, many
Phase have some form of special effect listed that enhances
their attack. This effect is only triggered when the
• R: Scenario Reward Deck, followed by the Scenario Weapon is used and the parameters stated in it are met.
number

• A: Armory Deck, placed during setup if there's an

Armory slot in a Tile used

F. Ability: Any special abilities the Upgrade offers.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 27

 BOOSTS  SPECIAL EFFECTS 
Boosts are attachments to Weapons. While they can Upgrade tokens offer a multitude of new resources to
never be used without a Weapon, they might be able the Hero who possesses them. Here are some of them:
to greatly improve the power of a Weapon being used.
• EXTRA DEFENSE
When a Hero is declaring their Attack (before rolling Tokens with this Extra Defense icon grant the

2
dice), they may choose to also use one or more Boosts Hero who owns them the number of extra dice
in their inventory. They Exhaust the Weapon and also
+ listed. Whenever the Hero needs to make a
any Boost(s) used along with it. The special effects Defense roll, add together their basic Defense and all
offered by the Boost tokens are then added to the the Extra Defense their Upgrades might grant them.
Attack being executed. Note that Boosts only work Extra Defense is always added to the Hero’s Defense,
with Weapons of the same Type. As is the case with even if the token that offers it is Exhausted.
Weapons, an Exhausted Boost cannot be used again
until it is Unexhausted. • EXTRA LIFE
Items with this Extra Life icon grant the Hero
Note: Special-type Weapons can come in either Melee
or Ranged forms, so Special-type Boosts feature a Blank
+4 who owns them the ability to sustain more
Wounds before being killed. Add together
die instead and will power up both Melee or Ranged the Hero’s basic Life and any Extra Life their Upgrades
Special-type Weapons! might grant them. It doesn’t matter whether the token is
Exhausted or not. This is their total Life, the number of
Wounds necessary to kill them.

• REROLL POOL
Items with this Reroll icon allow the Hero who

1
owns them to reroll the indicated number
+ of dice after their dice pool has been rolled.
The result of this new roll replaces the original result.
All of a Hero’s Upgrades with Reroll icons always add
to their Reroll pool, whether they are Exhausted or
not. Whenever a Hero makes a roll (be it an Attack or
a Defense roll) they have their full Reroll pool at their
PASSIVES  disposal to use in any order they’d like.

Passives work exactly like the Heroes’ Natural Ability: Example: Hannah has a Combat Exosuit which grants her
they give the Hero that possesses them bonuses and +2 Rerolls. Her total Reroll pool is 2. She makes a Ranged
special abilities that are always in effect, according to Attack against Iceheart with her Repeater Pistol, rolling
the parameters of the token’s text. Unless otherwise two Attack dice which result in and : two misses.
stated, Passives are never Exhausted, so their abilities She uses 2 Rerolls to reroll both dice, resulting in and
are always at the disposal of the Hero who has it in their : 2 Hits. She rolls the extra die granted by the CRIT,
Crew dashboard. which results in : a miss, for a grand total of 2 Hits.

Iceheart strikes back at Hannah with its Melee attack rolling

REACTIONS  , , , and : 1 Hit. Hannah rolls her 2 Defense dice,
getting a and : no Saves. She uses her Rerolls on
When a Hero is being attacked, they may use a Reaction the two misses and gets and : 2 Saves. The attack
Upgrade to immediately gain its ability. Reactions usually hit has been blocked!
weaken the incoming attack or allow Heroes to react to
it in some form. The Hero must choose whether to use a
Reaction before dice are rolled, exhausting the Upgrade.
Only a single Reaction can be used for each Attack.

28 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

• SELF SACRIFICE • DAZE
Some abilities require the active Hero to suffer a number Some abilities or effects are able to Daze a target, leaving
of Wounds in order to use them. The Hero must take the them open to future Attacks. When a Character is Dazed,
required number of Wounds before rolling any dice for lay its figure on its side to indicate their condition. A Dazed
the ability. However, a Hero cannot use such an ability Character is not allowed to roll any Defense dice against
if the Wounds taken would cause them to die. If they Attacks. Other than that, they may act normally, Moving
don’t have enough Life left, they cannot activate the and Attacking as usual. When a Dazed Hero Rests they
ability. Likewise, if a Hero is being kept alive by the Extra recover from the Daze effect. Place its figure back up to
Life granted by an Upgrade token, they cannot willingly indicate that. Monsters can't recover from Daze until killed.
move that token to a different Ally, thus killing that Hero.
• SHOVE
• HUGE CHARACTERS If an ability causes a Character to be Shoved, the Character is
Some Monsters have a base so large that they occupy a pushed into a Close Space chosen by the Shoving Character.
whole Space all by themselves. These Huge Characters In the event that there are no Spaces for a Shoved Character
count as two Characters on the board, and as such result to be pushed into, leave them where they were but they are
in their Space being Full. These huge Monsters Shove all still considered to be Shoved. Heroes being displaced by a
Characters out of each Space they enter. Shove do not trigger Guard Reactions from Close Monsters.

THE CAMPAIGN SHEET

The Campaign Sheet is a two-sided document that the tokens). During a campaign, after each Scenario is
players use during the campaign to keep track of game finished (but before the Upgrade Phase), players record
development and record important information. what they have just played.

One side is used to record the campaign itself. To the After players execute the Upgrade Phase for the
left, white spaces over each scenario allow players to Scenario that has just been played, the next step is to
write down the order in which they were played. On the turn the Campaign Sheet over and update the Crews'
right, a more detailed list allows players to record what inventories. Players will write down the Upgrade tokens
happened during each scenario, indicating how many their Crew possesses at this point. Note that the players
Victory tokens each Crew earned in the respective do not record new Upgrade tokens as they acquire
scenario. them, only Upgrade tokens currently in possession of
their Heroes after the Upgrade Phase. Finally, players
The reverse side of the Campaign Sheet is used to keep should also record any Badges they might have won
track of the Crews, indicating which Heroes each player at the end of the Scenario, by marking the appropriate
chose and their current inventory of Upgrade tokens amount of squares as well as listing the grand total of
(using the codes found on the bottom right corner of Badges they have.

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 29

 CAMPAIGN FINALE 
When the fourth and final Scenario of the campaign DRAFTING
has been completed, Starcadia is finally free from
Thorne’s grasp and all is good with the Galaxy! Well, at When drafting items for Episodic Mode,
randomly split all Upgrade tokens as equally as
least for now…
possible among players. From the initial hand
of tokens received, each player must choose
While destroying Thorne’s Missile Base is a lauded and reserve 2 tokens for their Crew, and pass
victory which earns the Crew that won the last scenario the remaining tokens to the player to the left.
some well-deserved publicity, the true Savior of the From the newly received hand of tokens, each
Galaxy is the player who accumulated the most Badges player again chooses and reserves 2 tokens for
by the end of the entire campaign! the Crew. Any remaining tokens are discarded
and the draft is completed for that Level. Once
all necessary Levels have been drafted, each
OPTIONAL: EPISODIC MODE  Crew must have no more than 12 Upgrades,
discarding any excess.
Starcadia Quest is intended as a campaign game, with
the scenarios being played from the beginning all the
way to the final showdown at Thorne’s base, with your
accomplishments in one scenario affecting the game in the 2 - Draft Upgrade tokens: After choosing a Scenario,
next, and with your group of Heroes becoming gradually players will draft from the Level Decks up to the
more powerful. However, if a group of players desires Scenario's number minus one. If players choose to play
to simply have some fun in a disconnected way, just scenario 3A for example, they would draft from Level
gathering some Heroes and playing a Scenario without Decks 1 and 2.
greater repercussions, they can play in Episodic Mode.
3 - Play a Scenario. Any Scenario can be played in
In Episodic Mode, players quickly set up their Crews, this mode. Alternatively, you may want to create your
with Heroes and Upgrade tokens in any level of their very own Scenarios, using the modular game Tiles and
choice and tackle any Scenario. To play in Episodic coming up with custom Quests!
Mode, follow these steps:
4 - Determine the Winner. Victory in Episodic Mode is
1 - Create your Crew: This is done in the normal way, determined exactly like in a normal Scenario: the winner
as detailed on page 8. Each player picks a Crew, two is the player whose Crew has the most Victory tokens at
Heroes, and the starting equipment from the Starter the end of the game!
Deck is distributed.

30 RULEBOOK • STARCADIA QUEST

 INDEX
Ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 22 Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 22, 23 Stimpack Token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Ally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Line of Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 13
Armory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,27 Melee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 18 Unexhaust Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Monster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Upgrade Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Boosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Monster Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Upgrade Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Campaign Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Monster Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 22 Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Campaign Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Monster Dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 23 Victory Token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 13, 26
Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Movement Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 23 Winning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Computer Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Multiple Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Wounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 22, 23
Crew Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Overkill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Critical (CRIT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Passives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Daze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Payback Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 18, 22 Player Turn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 13, 15
Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 15 Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Drafting Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Quest Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Enemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Quest Reward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Episodic Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Quest Tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 26
Event Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 18
Exhaust Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Exploration Tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Recharge Token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Extra Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Reorganize Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Extra Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Reroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Full Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 13, 26 Resurrect Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Guard Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 15 Scenario Reward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Hit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11, 12
Hoverboard Token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Shove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Huge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Shuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Kill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Spawn Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 13

CREDITS
GAME DESIGN ART GAME DESIGN DIRECTOR
Fred Perret, Eric M. Lang, Andrea Cofrancesco, Eric M. Lang
Guilherme Goulart, and Giovanna Guimarães, ART DIRECTOR
and Nicolas Fructus Mathieu Harlaut
Thiago Aranha
GRAPHIC DESIGN PUBLISHER
ADDITIONAL GAME DESIGN Louise Combal and Marc Brouillon David Preti
& DEVELOPMENT
SCULPTING PLAYTESTERS
Leo Almeida Benjamin Maillet Luiza Pirajá, Ricardo Kuma,
PRODUCTION MINIATURES DIRECTING Fabul Henrique, Pedro Ivo Costa,
Aaron Lurie (Lead), Vincent Fontaine Lucas Abreu, Violeta Bafile,
João Vitor Gonçalves, João José
Thiago Gonçalves, Thiago Aranha, MINIATURES PHOTOGRAPHY Gois, Bruna Petrocelli, Daniel Silveira,
Guilherme Goulart, Isadora Leite, Jean-Baptiste Guiton Caio Teixeira da Quinta, Daniel
Patricia Gil, Marcela Fabreti, WRITING Passos, Felipe Vergili, Pedro Vinicius
Safuan Tay and Rebecca Ho Eric Kelley and Fernando Costa

STARCADIA QUEST • RULEBOOK 31

 RULES SUMMARY

PLAYER TURN  MONSTER ACTIVATION 

1. Activate a Hero or Rest the Crew • Event Card: (Controlled by the active player)
Hero Activation (in any order): Perform in any order:

• Movement (4 Movement Points – To move 1 Space, use • Movement (use Movement Points listed on the Monster
Portal or open/close Door) Dashboard to move 1 Space, use Portal, or open/close Door)

• Attack (Select Weapon and Boosts, Exhaust Weapon and • Attack (roll Attack dice pool vs target’s Defense dice pool)
any Boosts, roll Attack dice pool vs target’s Defense dice)
•rightGuard Reaction: (Controlled by the player to the
Rest: of the active player)
• Unexhaust all Upgrades Attack any Hero Close to them that Moves out of their Space.
• Reorganize Upgrades •rightPayback Reaction: (Controlled by the player to the
of the active player)
• Resurrect killed Heroes
When attacked, may move and attack Hero who attacked it.
2. Draw an Event Card:
• Activate one Monster of the Designation shown. If none
on the board, Spawn that Monster on any Spawn Point of QUESTS 
your choice. Ignore if the Designation has no Monster card.
• Quest Rewards:
• Resolve the card’s effect. The player who completes a Quest is rewarded with Victory
tokens listed on the Quest Card.
OTHER RULES 
• Scenario PvP Reward:
• Exploration tokens: The first player to complete a PvP Quest gets a special
An active Hero must pick up all Exploration tokens in their Upgrade from the Scenario Reward Deck.
Space if there are no Enemies there (except Quest-specific
Quest tokens). • End of a Scenario:
When all PvE Quests and at least 1 PvP Quest are completed,
• Close: the Scenario ends.
To be Close to something means to be either sharing the The Scenario is won by the player who accumulates the
same Space or in a Space that shares an edge with it, as most Victory tokens during that Scenario.
long as that is not blocked by a wall or Closed Door

• Line of Sight:
Ranged Attacks need a clear LOS to the target. Draw a line
from the center of the active Character’s Space to the center
of the target’s Space. There’s LOS if the line does not cross
a wall or Closed Door

• Full Space:
A Space with two Characters is considered Full, and nobody UPGRADE PHASE 
else can end their Movement in it. Characters can move
through the Full Space, and it does not block LOS. • Draft Level Deck:
In descending and then ascending order of most VP gained
in that Scenario, players pick first 2 and then another 2
Upgrades from the current Level Deck. Then in the same
CAMPAIGN  order players pick 1 Upgrade at a time for each Badge they
• Starting with Scenario 1, leads to either 2A or 2B gained (1 for every 7VP).
• From 2A, leads to either Scenarios 3A or 3B
• From 2B, leads to either Scenarios 3B or 3C
• Remove all Exploration tokens from Heroes (Wounds,
Gadgets etc.)
• From all Level 3 Scenarios, leads to Scenario 4
• Record Progress on Campaign Sheet
• Winner of the last Scenario chooses the next Scenario