Objective of the Game

Welcome to the Reach, fellow spacefarers! In Arcs: Conflict and Collapse in the Vertex, you're leading a burgeoning society through an epic space saga. Your ultimate goal? To amass enough Power to claim victory! Think of Power as your galactic influence points.

The game ends when a player reaches a certain Power threshold:

• 4 players: 27 Power
• 3 players: 30 Power
• 2 players: 33 Power

Once this threshold is met, the player with the most Power wins! You'll primarily gain Power by completing ambitions, which are objectives you declare during play and score at the end of each chapter. A game typically spans three to five chapters.

Preparation (Setup)

Alright, let's get this galactic empire off the ground! Here’s how to set up your game of Arcs:

1. Set Up Table
   1. Place the map in the center of your play area. Gather the 18 battle dice and 25 resource tokens nearby.
   2. Give the initiative marker to a random player.
   3. Shuffle the 20 action cards marked “2” through “6” to form the initial action deck.
   4. 4 Players Only: Shuffle the 8 action cards marked “1” and “7” into the action deck. (Otherwise, return them to the box.)
   5. Place the 3 ambition markers on their blue, lower-numbered sides in the "Available Markers" section of the map.
   6. Place the chapter marker on the “1” space of the "Chapter track" on the map.
   7. Place the zero marker in the "Ambition Declared" slot on the map.
   8. Shuffle all 6 Vox and 25 Guild cards to create the Court deck. Draw 3 cards (2 players) or 4 cards (3–4 players) from this deck to form a face-up Court row.
   9. Shuffle the setup cards that list your number of players. Draw 1 setup card.
   10. In the 2 clusters (2–3 players) or 1 cluster (4 players) on the map marked "Out of Play" on the setup card, place a path marker over its numbered gate and place 3 out-of-play markers over the planets touching that gate.
   11. 2 Players Only: Place the 6 resource tokens matching the 6 planets covered by out-of-play markers onto the ambition boxes:
       • Material and Fuel go on Tycoon.
       • Weapons go on Warlord.
       • Relics go on Keeper.
       • Psionics go on Empath.
2. Set Up Players
   1. Each player chooses a color, collects the matching player board, 5 cities, 5 starports, 15 ships, and 10 agents. Place your cities in the triangle slots along the top of your player board.
   2. Each player puts their Power marker on the “0” Power track space on the map.
   3. Players simultaneously place their starting pieces onto the map as follows. The player with the initiative marker goes first:
      • Place 3 ships and 1 city in the system marked 1A on the setup card. Use the leftmost city from your player board.
      • Place 3 ships and 1 starport in the system marked 1B.
      • Place 2 ships in the system (3–4 players) or 2 systems (2 players) marked 1C.

      Going clockwise from the player with initiative, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th players set up in the same way in the systems marked 2A–C, 3A–C, and 4A–C on the setup card, respectively.

   4. Each player gains the 2 resource tokens matching the planet icons in their A and B systems, placing them in the leftmost and next leftmost circle slots on their player board, respectively.
   5. Each player draws 6 action cards into their hand. 2 Players Only: The player without initiative may discard all 6 action cards in their hand and draw 6 new ones.
   6. Discard all action cards not in players’ hands into a facedown action discard pile on the map, then shuffle it.

The Game Turn

Arcs unfolds over several chapters, each made up of multiple rounds. In a round, each player takes one turn, starting with the player holding the initiative marker. Here's how it flows:

Step 1: Player with Initiative Takes Turn

If you have the initiative, you're up first! You must play one action card face up as the lead card. This card determines how many actions you can take:

• You may take one action for each action pip on the lead card, based on its suit:
  • Administration pips can tax, repair, or influence.
  • Aggression pips can battle, move, or secure.
  • Construction pips can build or repair.
  • Mobilization pips can move or influence.

Place the lead card in the "Lead" card slot on the left map edge for everyone to see.

Declaring an Ambition

Before taking any actions, if you have the initiative, you can declare the ambition shown on your lead card (unless it's a "1" card, which has no ambition, or a "7" card, which lets you declare any ambition in 4-player games).

• Take the highest-number ambition marker from the "Available Markers" section and place it in the matching ambition box on the map.
• Place the zero marker over your lead card's number (not its pips), making its number 0 for the round.

You can declare an ambition even if it was declared in a previous round by placing another ambition marker in its box. Declaring an ambition doesn't change your card's action pips!

Passing Initiative

If you have the initiative but have no cards or choose to skip your turn, you must pass the initiative. Give the initiative marker clockwise to the next player with cards in their hand, and the round immediately ends. That player will then play the lead card of the new round.

Step 2: Other Players Take Turns

After the initiative player, other players take their turns clockwise. If a player has no cards, they skip their turn.

On your turn, you must play an action card in one of three ways:

• Surpass: Play an action card face up of the lead card's suit, with a higher number than the lead card. You can take actions equal to the action pips on your played card.
• Copy: Play any action card face down. You may take only one action of the lead card.
• Pivot: Play an action card face up that does not match the lead card's suit. It can have any number. You may take only one action on your played card.

Place your played card in the "Surpass, Copy, or Pivot" card slot on the left map edge.

Seizing the Initiative

Before taking actions on your turn, you can seize the initiative marker if you don't have it and no one else has seized it this round:

• Play an extra action card face down alongside your first (you don't get actions for it).
• Surpass with a "7" action card (4-player games only). You still get to take its actions.

If you seize the initiative, lay the marker down to show it's seized. No one else can seize initiative for the rest of the round.

Step 3: Check Initiative

After everyone has taken a turn, it's time to see who gets initiative for the next round:

• If someone seized the initiative this round, that player keeps it.
• If no one seized the initiative, give it to the player who Surpassed with the highest card number.
• If no one Surpassed the lead card, the initiative marker does not change players.

Step 4: Discard Cards & Check for New Round

Discard all played action cards (and any extra card used to seize initiative) into the facedown action discard pile.

• If any players still have action cards in hand, start the next round.
• If no one has cards left, the chapter ends.

Standard Actions Explained

These are the core actions you'll be taking on your turn:

• Tax (Administration): Choose one of your Loyal cities or a Rival city you control. Gain 1 resource of that planet type from the supply. If you tax a Rival city, you also capture 1 agent from that Rival's supply and place it in your Captives box.
• Build (Construction): Place 1 starport or city in an empty building slot in a system with a Loyal piece, or place 1 ship at a Loyal starport. If you build in a system controlled by a Rival, the piece is placed damaged.
• Move (Mobilization & Aggression): Move any number of Loyal ships from one system to an adjacent system. If moving from a Loyal starport, you can make Catapult moves, continuing to move ships until they reach a gate controlled by someone else or any planet.
• Repair (Construction & Administration): Stand up 1 damaged Loyal ship or flip over 1 damaged Loyal building anywhere on the map.
• Influence (Mobilization & Administration): Place 1 agent on any card in the Court.
• Secure (Aggression): If you have more Loyal agents on a Court card than each Rival, you can take it. Return your Loyal agents to your supply, and capture all Rival agents from the card into your Captives box. Resolve the card's "When Secured" action, then draw a new card from the Court deck to replace it.
• Battle (Aggression):
  1. Choose a battle system with your Loyal ships. These are your attacking ships.
  2. Choose 1 Rival whose pieces are in the battle system. These are their defending pieces.
  3. Collect dice: For each attacking ship, you can collect 1 assault, skirmish, or raid die (max 6 of each type). Raid dice can only be collected if there are defending buildings or if the defender has no Loyal buildings anywhere.
  4. Roll and Resolve Dice in this order:
     1. Hit any of your attacking ships once per Assault.
     2. If you rolled any Skirmish, the defender intercepts you – hit any of your attacking ships once per fresh defending ship (only once per battle).
     3. Hit any of their defending ships once per Assault. If no defending ships remain, hit defending buildings instead.
     4. Hit any of their defending buildings once per Raid.
     5. If any <