Playing as a Human in Battlestar Galactica

If you want to win the game as a human player, your mission is to successfully guide the fleet to Kobol by making enough jumps. Once the fleet reaches Kobol, you instantly win!

If you’re curious about the objectives for Cylon players, check out the Cylon Objective.

The fleet can jump to a new location in one of two ways:

1. The fleet token is moved to the “Auto Jump” space of the Jump Preparation track.
2. A player activates the “FTL Control” location. But be careful, jumping this way may result in population loss.

Jumping the Fleet

In Battlestar Galactica, when we travel at faster-than-light (FTL) speed, we call it “jumping”. Whenever we jump, I draw Destination Cards to figure out where we’re going. Here’s how I choose our destination:

1. Remove Ships: I take all the ships off the game board.
2. Choose Destination: I draw two cards from the Destination deck, pick one, and put the other on the bottom of the deck.
3. Follow Instructions: I put the chosen card faceup next to the Kobol Objective Card and do whatever it tells me to do.

When it comes to playing the game, one thing you should keep in mind is the importance of following the Kobol Instructions. These instructions are found on the Kobol Objective Card, and they can have a big impact on the game. If the total distance on Destination Cards next to the Kobol Objective Card adds up to four or eight, then you need to follow the instructions on the card.

Another important step is to reset the Jump Preparation Track. You can do this by moving the fleet token back to the start space of the track. This ensures that everything is ready for the next jump.

Now, let’s talk about using abilities in the game. Abilities can be found on various cards, such as Character sheets, Skill Cards, Loyalty Cards, and Quorum Cards. Some abilities are labeled as “Action” abilities, which means they can only be used as your action during your turn.

On the other hand, there are abilities that don’t require an action and can be used anytime they are specified. If multiple players want to use an ability at the same time, the current player gets to decide the order. This adds an extra layer of strategy and decision-making to the game.

So remember, when playing the game, it’s important to pay attention to the Kobol Instructions and reset the Jump Preparation Track. And if you have abilities, make sure to use them wisely and consider the order in which they are used. Have fun and enjoy the game!

So, picture this: An autonomous viper ship is getting attacked by a raider, and oh boy, they’re in trouble! But guess what? Starbuck swoops in and plays this awesome piloting card called “Evasive Maneuvers.” And you know what that does? It lets her roll the dice again!

Jumping through Space

Alright, listen up! If the fleet marker has made its way to one of those blue spaces on the Jump Preparation track, we can make the fleet jump by heading over to the “FTL Control” location. Now, here’s the thing: jumping isn’t always a piece of cake. If someone activates this location, there’s a chance that we might lose some population.

It goes like this: the current player rolls the dice, and if they roll a “6” or less, we lose a bunch of people equal to the number on the space we’re currently on in the Jump Preparation track. After that, we gotta follow all the steps for “Jumping the Fleet” on this page.

The fleet token sits on the second-to-last space of the Jump Preparation track (the -1 population space). When it’s my turn, I activate the “FTL Control” location to make the fleet jump.

I roll a die, and it comes up as a “5” (which is “6” or less), so the fleet loses 1 population.

Let’s talk about Destination Cards.

Each Destination Card has two important pieces of information. In the middle of the card, you’ll find the special effects that happen when you travel to that destination. These effects can include losing fuel or other resources, or following special instructions. When the fleet reaches a destination, we immediately experience the effects listed on the Destination Card.

At the end of each Destination Card, you’ll find a number that tells you the distance. Once you’ve resolved the card’s effects, you’ll put it face-up next to the Kobol Objective Card. This way, you can keep track of how far the fleet has traveled.

Kobol Objective Card

The Kobol Objective Card is very important because it tells you some key information. First, it lets you know when you’ll get more Loyalty Cards. When the fleet has traveled a total distance equal to or greater than a certain number, you’ll get more cards. This is called reaching a distance total. The exact instructions for when to deal out the cards are summarized on the Kobol Objective Card.

There’s also something called Sleeper Agents. They come into play when you’ve traveled a distance of four or more units. At that point, any remaining Loyalty Cards are dealt out to the players.

Finally, we have something called Reach Kobol. When you’ve traveled a distance of eight or more units, the humans are really close to winning the game. They’re just one jump away! And when they make that jump, they don’t draw a Destination Card like they normally would. Instead, they automatically win the game, but only if every resource they have is above 0.

So, here’s the deal: I have 1 population resource left, and I’ve already traveled 8 units of distance. It’s crunch time, and I need to make a move. That’s where “FTL Control” comes into play. If I jump the fleet using this location, we win the game – easy peasy – as long as we don’t lose any population while doing it.

Skills Matter

When my turn begins, I get to draw a certain number and type of Skill Cards based on my skill set, which is listed on my character sheet. It doesn’t matter how many cards I already have in my hand; I always get to draw these new ones. These Skill Cards are really handy because they help me pass skill checks and give me special actions and abilities to use. They’re like my secret weapon!

Watch Out for that Hand Limit

But here’s the thing: if I end up with more than 10 Skill Cards in my hand by the end of another player’s turn, I have to get rid of some of them. I get to choose which ones to discard until I’m back down to only 10 cards. Now, this hand limit doesn’t count any other cards I might have in my hand, like Quorum Cards or Super Crisis Cards.

Hey there! Let me explain how Skill Card discarding works in a game. So, when you discard a Skill Card, it goes to a separate pile called the discard pile. This pile is right next to the deck of Skill Cards that you’re using.

Now, here’s the cool part. When the deck of Skill Cards runs out, instead of just ending the fun, we take the discard pile and give it a good shuffle. This creates a whole new deck of Skill Cards for you to keep playing with. It’s like getting a fresh start!

The Destiny Deck

When the game starts, I create a deck of 10 Skill Cards. There are two of each type, and I shuffle them up. Then, I take two random cards from this deck and place them face down into each skill check. This adds a bit of unpredictability and keeps things interesting.

Once we’ve played all the cards from the Destiny deck, it’s time to make a new one. As the current player, I deal out two cards of each skill type. I give them a good shuffle to mix things up and then put them in the appropriate space on the game board. This ensures that we always have a fresh set of cards to work with.

Skill Checks

A lot of Crisis Cards and locations on the game board require skill checks. These skill checks represent challenges and difficulties that we need to overcome. Each skill check has a number that shows how hard it is, followed by the skill types we’ll need to use (they’re shown as colored boxes). Here’s how we handle skill checks:

1. Listen up: I’m going to read the whole card to you all. After that, we can discuss what we want to do. If the card says the President, the Admiral, or I have to decide something, I’ll do it right then and there. But if it’s not a pass/fail thing, we have to follow the instructions instead of rolling dice.
2. Deck time: I’ll deal two cards from the Destiny deck and put them face down in one pile. We can put that pile on the Battlestar Galactica logo or anywhere else we can all reach easily.
3. Playing Skills: To play Skills Cards, we follow a specific order. Starting with the player on the left of the current player and going clockwise, each player has the opportunity to play as many Skill Cards as they want from their hand. The Skill Cards are placed facedown on the common pile. It’s important to note that the text on the cards doesn’t matter at this point. Only the strength and types of skills on each card are important for the skill check.
4. Shuffle and Divide Cards: First, everyone gets a turn to play Skill Cards. Then, it’s my turn to collect all the Skill Cards and mix them up so that no one knows whose cards are whose. Once they’re shuffled, I split them into two piles. Cards that have the same skill type as the Crisis Card go into one pile, and the rest go into the other pile.
5. Total Strength: I add up the total strength (the number in the top left corner) of each pile. Then, I subtract the total strength of the pile that doesn’t match the Crisis Card from the total strength of the pile that does match. This gives us the final strength.

Determining the Result

When you make a skill check in the game, there are two possible outcomes: pass or fail. The outcome is determined by comparing the final strength with the difficulty of the skill check. If the final strength is equal to or greater than the difficulty, you pass the skill check and the corresponding action is carried out. If the final strength is lower than the difficulty, you fail the skill check and the result is determined accordingly.

All Skill Cards that have been used in the skill check are then discarded into the appropriate discard piles.

Role of the Skill Supervisor

In some play groups, it is common to assign one player the role of the Skill Supervisor at the beginning of the game. The Skill Supervisor is responsible for ensuring that Skill Cards are discarded properly. This helps streamline the game and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Hey there! So, guess what? You got the important job of organizing all the skill cards that no one needs anymore. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to put these cards in the right discard piles. Easy peasy, right?

But wait, there’s more! When a skill card deck runs out, you’re the one who gets to shuffle the discard pile and make a fresh new deck. And to top it off, when the destiny deck runs dry, it’s your time to shine! You get to create a whole new destiny deck by mixing two of each type of skill card together.

What are Partial Passes?

Have you ever come across a skill check that has a partial pass number in between the “pass” and “fail” results? If you fail the skill check but manage to reach or surpass this partial pass number, then you’ll get a different result instead of the usual “pass” or “fail” outcomes.

Welcome to Game Board Skill Checks!

Hey there! Let’s talk about skill checks on the game board. You’ll find them in three locations: “Administration,” “Admiral’s Quarters,” and the “Brig.” When you land on one of these spots, get ready for a skill check! This means you’ll have to put your skills to the test and see if you succeed.

Each location has its own rules for skill checks. Here’s what you need to know:

• Administration: When you’re here, you get to choose any player to nominate for the presidency. To see if your nomination is successful, you’ll have to pass a skill check with a difficulty level of 5. You can use your politics or leadership skills for this. Here are the results:
  – If you pass, the nominated player becomes the President!
  – If you fail, nothing happens. Better luck next time! #image.jpg

In Admiral’s Quarters, you get to accuse any character you want. To determine what happens next, you have to pass a difficult leadership and tactics skill check with a difficulty level of 7. If you pass, the accused character will be sent to the Brig. If you fail, there won’t be any effect.

On the other hand, in the Brig, you can try to escape. You have to complete a politics and tactics skill check with a difficulty level of 7. If you pass, you can move your character to any location on Galactica. If you fail, there won’t be any effect.

Remember, the choice is yours! Good luck!

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