How to Play Deep State: Global Conspiracy

Objective of the Game

In Deep State: Global Conspiracy, players are trying to extend their experience of Deep State by incorporating various modules and mini-expansions. The game is themed around secret organizations vying for control, with modules like Superiority Doctrine focusing on military superiority, global finance, or international agreements, Strong-Arm Tactics on counter-terrorism and black operations, Fourth Estate on media control and social trends, and Reptiloids introducing a fictional element of alien influence. While the ultimate victory condition isn't explicitly detailed in the provided text, the game involves gaining Influence, particularly at the end of the game, through various projects and captured trends.

Preparation (Setup)

Step 1. Treaties

• You may add the Counter-Terrorism Committee, Interpol, and OSCE Treaties (marked with the SF tag) to the deck. These work best with COUNTER-TERRORISM and Black Operations. If not playing with these modules, you can remove them by name or SF tag, or draw a new card if one is drawn.
• You may add the European Development Fund, USIA, and Wellcome Trust Treaties (marked with the FE tag) to the deck. These interact with Trend cards. If not playing with GLOBAL MEDIA or Trends, you can remove them by name or FE tag, or draw a new card if one is drawn.
• You may add the Area 51, Babylonian Brotherhood, and Project Blue Book Treaties (marked with the R tag) to your Treaty deck. These interact with Reptiloid cards. If not playing with the Reptiloid module, you can remove them by name or R tag, or draw a new card if one is drawn.

Step 2. Objectives

• Take the Reptiloid Objective cards with no number in the bottom-right corner.
• Depending on the number of players, add Reptiloid cards with the number ‘3+’ for 3 players, ‘3+’ and '4+' for 4 players, or all cards for 5 players. Return the remaining Reptiloid cards to the game box (for 2–4 players).
• Shuffle the selected Reptiloid cards in with the Objective deck.
• When laying out the Infiltration Zone, draw cards one by one from the Objective deck. Each time a Reptiloid card comes out, continue drawing and put the next regular Objective card (not a Reptiloid) on top of it. Only one Reptiloid card can be under a regular Objective card.
• If the last card laid out for the Infiltration Zone is a Reptiloid card, and the next card drawn is also a Reptiloid card, put the extra Reptiloid card aside and keep drawing until a regular Objective card is found. Place that regular Objective card on the last Reptiloid card in the Infiltration Zone. Shuffle any extra Reptiloid card(s) back into the Objective deck.

Step 3. World Domination Projects

• Add one, two, or all three Projects from the Superiority Doctrine module. Each of these Projects replaces a specific Project from the base game:
  • NUCLEAR POWER replaces COMINTERN.
  • WORLD, INC. replaces UNIFIED NATIONS.
  • WORLDWIDE BANK replaces SPYWARE.
• You may add the COUNTER-TERRORISM Project as a fifth Project. This Project cannot be added together with the GLOBAL MEDIA Project.
• You may add the GLOBAL MEDIA Project as a fifth Project. This Project cannot be added together with the COUNTER-TERRORISM Project.
• Add the REPTILOIDS Project in place of the DEEP STATE Project.

Step 4. Covert Operations

• Separate the Black Operation cards into 3 stacks: Blackout (1 card), Eco Terrorism (2 cards), and Cyber Threat (4 cards).
• Place all 3 stacks on the table face-up next to the Covert Operation cards.

Last Step. Trends

• Shuffle the Trend cards and place them face up as a stack. The top Trend card is visible to all players. No one is allowed to see what card is under it.
• If you decide to add the UFO Hysteria Trend (from the Reptiloids module) to the game, randomly remove 1 Trend card face-up and put it back in the game box. Shuffle the UFO Hysteria card into the deck.

Men of Action (mini-expansion)

• Randomly remove 3 cards face-up from the Men of Action deck and put them back in the game box. Shuffle all 3 Contactee cards into the deck.

Fluxo do Jogo

Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção.

Ações e Como Jogar

Advancing in Projects

To Advance in Superiority Doctrine Projects, you need Mass Control, Finance, or Science cards (Secondary Objectives count) and Communists, Peacemakers, and Spies emblems. At Stages II, III, and IV, you do not send Agents to the Recruitment pool to Advance, but each active World War card adds the requirement of 1 Agent and reduces the number of emblems needed.

Advancing in the COUNTER-TERRORISM Project: Starting from Stage II, you need to discard cards. At Stage II you must discard 1 card, Stage III — 2 cards, and the last 2 Stages — 3 cards. You can discard ANY cards from your playing area, excluding Treaties. This includes Objective cards (Secondary Objectives count) and Covert Operations (and Black Operations). You may also discard Trend and Reptiloid cards. When discarding Covert Operations or Trends, remove them from the game. You discard cards only from the playing area, so you cannot discard Men of Action cards. Objective cards attached to Inner Circle cards are discarded together and count as 2 discarded cards. If there were Agents on your discarded card, they are sent to your Recruitment Pool. World War cards increase the number of Agents you need to lose when Advancing in COUNTER-TERRORISM, but you do not gain any benefits. Advancing in COUNTER-TERRORISM is not considered a mandatory Action when you have no other Actions available.

Advancing in the GLOBAL MEDIA Project: When leveling up to Stages II and III, you must discard one Treaty you have already made, and the last two Stages require you to discard 2 Treaties each. You discard Treaties that you have made, not the ones in your hand. World War cards increase the number of Agents you need to lose when Advancing in GLOBAL MEDIA, but you do not gain any benefits. Advancing in GLOBAL MEDIA is not considered a mandatory Action when you have no other Actions available.

Advancing in the REPTILOIDS Project: Starting with Stage II, you must have as many Treaties you have made as shown (or more). For example, to Advance to Stage III in REPTILOIDS, you must have made 4 Treaties. Treaty cards in your hand do not count for Advancing in REPTILOIDS. Requirements for a Project must be met only when you Advance. If later you have fewer Treaties than required by your current Stage in REPTILOIDS, nothing happens. Special Interest emblems are not required for Advancing in REPTILOIDS; they are only important for getting Influence points at the end of the game. World War cards increase the number of Agents you need to lose when Advancing in REPTILOIDS, but you do not gain any benefits.

Project Benefits

NUCLEAR POWER Project

• Permanent Benefit:
  • Nuclear Race I: 1 Ghost Agent for each World War card.
  • Nuclear Race II: 2 Ghost Agents for each World War card.
  • Nuclear Race III: 3 Ghost Agents for each World War card.
• If both World War cards are still in the Objective deck, the NUCLEAR POWER Project gives no Ghost Agents.
• As soon as the first World War card comes into play, you get 1/2/3 Ghost Agents if you have joined the Project. When the second World War card comes into play, the number of your Ghost Agents goes up to 2/4/6 respectively. If both World War cards appear in the same round, you immediately get 2/4/6 Ghost Agents.
• The benefit continues even when the World War card is discarded. Maximum of 6 Ghost Agents.

WORLD, INC. Project

• Immediate Benefit: As soon as your Shady Coordinator joins WORLD, INC. or levels up to the next Stage, immediately return all (or some) Agents from your Objective cards to your Active Reserve.
• Permanent Benefit: At the end of the game you get 2/4/6 Influence for each Project where you have a Shady Coordinator, including WORLD, INC. (Globalization I: 2 Influence, Globalization II: 4 Influence, Globalization III and on: 6 Influence).

WORLDWIDE BANK Project

• Permanent Benefit:
  • Reserve Currency I: All Corporations cards in the Infiltration Zone are available for you to Infiltrate.
  • Reserve Currency II: All Key Connections, Inner Circle, and Supreme Power cards in the Infiltration Zone are available for you to Infiltrate.
  • Reserve Currency III: All Objective cards in the Infiltration Zone are available for you to Infiltrate.
• Normally, only the first 3 Objective cards in the Infiltration Zone are available for Infiltrating. This Project allows access to more cards regardless of their position.
• Over-Infiltrating: If you send Agents to the 4th, 5th, or later card in the Infiltration Zone, other players can Over-Infiltrate that card only if they also have access (e.g., by participating in WORLDWIDE BANK).

COUNTER-TERRORISM Project

• Immediate Benefit: When your Shady Coordinator joins COUNTER-TERRORISM or levels up to its next Stage, all other players immediately send 1 or 2 Agents from their Active Reserve to their Recruitment Pool (1 Agent for the first 3 Stages, and 2 Agents for the last 2 Stages). If a player must send 2 Agents but only has 1, they send 1. Agents on cards are not affected. You cannot send Ghost Agents.
• Permanent Benefit: Each time you send 1 or more Agents to Infiltrate (or Over-Infiltrate) an Objective card or to Carry out a Covert Operation (including Black Operations), you may add 1, 2, or 3 Agents (depending on your current Stage) from your Recruitment Pool to that card. You may add fewer or none. These Agents count like Agents from your Active Reserve. You must send at least 1 Agent to activate this effect. You can use Ghost Agents. Adding Agents from the Recruitment Pool this way is not Recruiting, so you cannot draw a Men of Action card instead. This effect does not apply to Advancing in a Project or Capturing a Trend card.

GLOBAL MEDIA Project

• Immediate Benefit: When your Shady Coordinator joins GLOBAL MEDIA or levels up to its next Stage, immediately take any Objective card belonging to the Mass Control, Science, or Finance group from the Infiltration Zone. This card becomes yours. If there were Agents on the card, they are returned to the Active Reserve of the respective player. This does not count as an Over-Infiltration, so that player does not receive a Treaty card. If no suitable cards are in the Infiltration Zone, nothing happens.
• Permanent Benefit: At the end of the game before the final calculation of Influence, choose one of your Supreme Power cards. This card will generate 1, 2, or 3 Influence more (Broadcasting I: 1 Influence, Broadcasting II: 2 Influence, Broadcasting III and on: 3 Influence). If you have no Supreme Power cards, this benefit has no effect.

REPTILOIDS Project

• Immediate Benefit: When joining the REPTILOIDS Project or leveling up to its next Stage, draw 2–3 Treaty cards (depending on the Stage) and put them in your hand. Then discard 1 Treaty card from your hand. You can discard any Treaty card.
  • Political Takeover I, II, and III: Take 2 Treaty cards, then discard 1.
  • Replacement of Leaders and Day of Nibiru: Take 3 Treaty cards, then discard 1.
• Permanent Benefit: At the end of the game you get Influence according to your Stage, but only if your cards have at least as many Special Interest emblems as shown at that Stage.

Black Operations

Black Operations are considered Covert Operations for all game effects and rules, with two differences:

1. If you use your Action to Carry out a Black Operation, you place the card in front of you and put the indicated number of Agents (including Ghost Agents) on it. Additionally, you discard the indicated number of cards. You may discard any card other than Treaty or Men of Action cards. You cannot Carry out a Black Operation card if you cannot discard enough cards.
2. You must have a Cyber Threat card to Carry out Eco Terrorism. You must have an Eco Terrorism card to Carry out Blackout. Cyber Threat has no special requirements. You cannot "skip over a step" (e.g., take Blackout if you only have Cyber Threat and both Eco Terrorism cards are taken). You can Carry out Eco Terrorism by discarding your only Cyber Threat, and similarly for Blackout.

There is no limit to the number of Black Operation cards you can have. Carrying out a Black Operation is not considered a mandatory Action when you have no other Actions available, even with the Supervisor token.

Capturing Trend Cards

Capturing Trend cards is a new Action. If you choose to Capture, you cannot perform any other Action (but free Actions are allowed). You may Capture a Trend even when you