STAR WARS Dark Side Rising Instruction Manual
- June 5, 2024
- STAR WARS
Table of Contents
STAR- WARS- Dark -Side -Rising
OVERVIEW / OBJECT OF THE GAME:
Dark Side Rising is a cooperative card and dice game for 2-4 players who take command of the Rebel forces in a tense battle against the Galactic Empire. Driven by the Dark Side, the evil Empire is constructing the first Death Star with which they plan to ruthlessly control the galaxy. Players will recruit members of the Rebel Alliance to their teams and work together to fight Imperials, destroy enemy ships and face off with Darth Vader himself. Difficulty level can be adjusted for players’ familiarity with the game and the degree of challenge desired. For more on difficulty level and variations of game play see END OF THE GAME on page 9 and GAME PLAY DIFFICULTY VARIANTS on page 12. May the Force be with you.
COMPONENTS
- 1 Darth Vader Die
- 1 Death Star Die
- 15 Rebellion Dice
- 1 Darth Vader Centerpiece
- 1 Deployment Zone Tile
- 4 Team Deployment Tokens
- 30 Alliance Tokens
- 30 Death Star Operation Counters
- 60 Damage Counters
- 1 Death Star Centerpiece Tile
- 6 Death Star Component Tiles
- 4 Team Base / Summary Cards
- 51 Asset (Rebel and Imperial) Cards
- 1 Instruction Manual
SET UP
- Lay out the Death Star Centerpiece Tile with the six Death Star Component Tiles nested into it (directive facedown). Place the Death Star Operation Counters nearby.
- Each player chooses a team (or assign at random), and collects a Team Base Card with its matching Team Deployment Token. The card indicates that player’s starting dice pool as well as the starting Rebel (team leader) for that player’s team, which is collected from the deck of Asset Cards.
- Shuffle all of the other Asset Cards (all remaining Rebels and all eleven Imperials), into a deck and place it near the Deployment Zone.
- Place all the dice, the Damage Counters and the Alliance Tokens (face-down) within easy reach of all players. Note: Dice are shared amongst all players.
- Place the Deployment Zone between the players with Darth Vader in the center facing a random sector.
- Deal out the top nine Asset Cards face-up (three for each location sector) and place them around the Deployment Zone.
- Death Star Centerpiece Tile with the Death Star Component Tiles nested in place – directive side face-down for the beginning of the game
GAME PLAY
The player who most recently watched a Star Wars movie goes first, and play
proceeds clockwise.
TURN ORDER OVERVIEW SUMMARY – This also appears on the back of each Team
Base Card as a reminder.
- Place Team Deployment Token.
- Roll and Resolve Death Star and Darth Vader Dice.
- Roll and Assign Rebellion Dice.
- 4. Resolve Rebellion Dice and Conclude Turn.
TURN ORDER DETAILSs
PLACE TEAM DEPLOYMENT TOKEN:
The active player chooses where to deploy their teamby placing their
Deployment Token in one of the three location sectors of the Deployment Zone.
During their turn, players can only interact with the three face-up Asset
Cards at this location and the Rebels on their team (who are also present in
the chosen location). unless an ability says
otherwise.
ROLL AND RESOLVE THE DARK SIDE DICE (DEATH STAR AND
DARTH VADER):
First roll the Death Star Die which represents the Empire’s progress toward making the Death Star fully operational. This is indicated by adding an Operation Counter to the Death Star Component Tile matching the color of the die roll. If a Death Star Component’s completion track (counter spaces) is filled, it cannot receive any more counters.
If it remains filled at the end of the turn it wil be turned over and become operational. If the color of an already operational Death Star Component is rolled on the Death Star Die, the effect described on that component is activated. See DEATH STAR on page 11 for more details. Next, roll the Darth Vader Die which represents his actions and movement between locations. Two faces of the dierotate Darth to the location to his left, and two to his right. The final two faces depict Darth Vader’s Helmet and the Death Star Die, both of which keep him at his current location, but have additional effects.
Darth Vader will then attack the Rebels in his current location, adding a Damage Counter to each of them(see DAMAGE on page 10). This includes Rebels on the active player’s team if their team (as indicated by their Deployment Token) is where Darth Vader is present.
Imperials in Darth Vader’s location will then have their abilities
activated (see IMPERIALS on page 11). This usually results in more Damage
being applied to Rebels, Imperials being healed, or other restrictions that
will help advance the Empire’s goals to rise to total domination. If the
Death Star Die symbol is rolled, re-roll the Death Star Die and assign an
Operation Counter to the Death Star Component matching the color rolled. If
the Darth Vader Helmet icon is rolled, Darth Vader also activates the
abilities of ALL Imperials NOT at his current sector. In this case, after
resolving the Imperial Abilities in Darth Vader’s current sector, proceed
clockwise to Imperials in other sectors. See page 12 for a complete legend of
the Darth Vader Die faces and resulting actions.
After deploying, Ben rolls the Dark Side Dice, rolling the
blue Death Star symbol and a clockwise (R) rotation. Resolving the Dark Side
Dice:
- one Death Star Operation Counter is added to the blue Death Star Component Tile.
- Darth Vader is moved to face the adjacent (R for right) clockwise location sector.
- Darth Vader now attacks all the Rebels present in that location, adding one Damage Counter to each.
- Darth Vader triggers the ability of the Imperial in his current location, AT-ACT, which adds one Damage to all of the Rebels on Ben’s team.
GAME PLAY CONTINUED
ROLL AND ASSIGN REBELLION DICE:
After resolving the Death Star and Darth Vader Dice, the active player then
collects and rolls their Rebellion Dice pool – the four dice indicated on
their Team Base Card (Fig. A), plus any extra dice from Rebel abilities and/or
Alliance Tokens. The Rebellion Dice have different combinations of symbols
representing the Rebel traits – TACTICAL, INTELLIGENCE, SUPPORT, and
LEADERSHIP (Fig. B). Each die color is strong in one of the traits, including
a double symbol (2) which counts as 2 of that symbol. See page 12 for a legend
of Rebellion Dice faces. The active player reviews their opening Rebellion
Dice roll, and chooses to assign at least one die (but may assign more) to
match:
- the Symbols of characters in their location, to either recruit a Rebel or attack an Imperial.
- a character ability for a Rebel already on their team.
If a player cannot or does not want to assign any dice for a roll, they must select and forfeit (for the turn) one die from their unassigned dice pool.
The player then rolls the remaining dice in their pool, attempting to match more symbols. Usually, they will want it to be the same card(s) they assigned dice to for their first roll, but can choose another in their location or on their team.
After resolving the Dark Side Dice, Ben gets to act, attempting to recruit one of the Rebels in his location (Baze Malbus or Sabine Wren) and/or damage an Imperial (Stormtrooper). He rolls his Rebellion Dice pool of four Tactical (Red) dice, as indicated by his Team Base Card (Fig. A above).
- His first roll is TACTICAL, TACTICAL, SUPPORT, INTELLIGENCE. He now assigns one or more diceto cards in his sector, and decides to assign the two TACTICAL dice results to Sabine, hoping to roll one more TACTICAL symbol to successfully recruit her. He could have assigned them to the Stormtrooper instead in an attempt to attack it, but wants to try to add to his team for this turn.
- After assigning the two dice, he re-rolls theremaining two, getting an INTELLIGENCE and a SUPPORT. He didn’t get the last TACTICAL needed, so he assigns the SUPPORT to the Stormtrooper, instead of just forfeiting a die.
- He then re-rolls the last unassigned die and gets a 2 TACTICAL result. He could assign it to the Stormtrooper to attack it, but instead assigns it to Sabine Wren, successfully recruiting her and adding her to his team by collecting the card (and removing any Damage Counters on it).
RESOLVE REBELLION DICE AND CONCLUDE TURN:
When a player has assigned or forfeited all of their dice (or it becomes
impossible to assign dice to complete at least one available card), it is time
to resolve the Rebellion Dice.
When dice have been assigned to match all Symbols for a character, that
character is either successfully recruited (in the case of Rebels) or
damaged (in the case of Imperials) at the end of the turn.
Dice assigned to character abilities on a player’s team may be used to
activate these abilities immediately! For example, if a player assigns a die
to use a Rebel ability on their team that allows them to remove a Death Star
Operation Counter, they may immediately remove an Operation Counter from a
Death Star Component of their choice. To conclude the turn, any Rebels
successfully recruited on the turn (dice assigned to match ALL their
symbols)are added to that player’s team with all Damage Counters on them
removed. Any Imperials successfully attacked (assigned dice to match ALL their
symbols) have a Damage Counter added to them, AND the active player gains an
Alliance Token for each Damage Counter added to an Imperial. Note: players may
only assign one damage per Imperial per turn, unless an ability allows them to
do otherwise. All dice are then returned to the shared pool. Any Rebels and
Imperials with full Damage at the conclusion of a turn, are placed in a
discard area (see DAMAGE on page 10 for more details). All recruited and
defeated characters (from Deployment Zone locations) are replaced with the top
card(s) from the Asset Deck. Any Death Star Components that have all of their
Operation Counter spaces filled are turned over to reveal the operational
directive text. Then it is the next player’s turn, proceeding clockwise. Play
continues in this manner with the active player assigning their Deployment
Token, rolling and resolving the Dark Side Dice and then their team’s dice
pool, as they attempt to recruit Rebels and damage Imperials. As players add
Rebels to their team, they will also add abilities to their arsenal, including
rolling additional dice for their dice pool, manipulating and re-rolling dice,
and removing Damage Counters. See pages 10 & 11 for more details on REBELS,
DAMAGE, IMPERIALS, ALLIANCE TOKENS, and DEATH STAR COMPONENTS.
END OF THE GAME
If the players can defeat enough Imperials before the Empire accomplishes
their domination plans they will win!
For an easy game, players must defeat seven out of the eleven Imperials in the
Asset Deck. Difficulty can be increased by
trying to defeat more Imperials. For an expert game try to defeat all eleven
Imperials!
Players can lose the game in a few different ways, as follows:
- If the Death Star becomes fully operational (all six of the components are turned over to the Operational side), all players lose the game. With control of this fully operational battle station the Empire becomes unstoppable.
- If collectively ten (or more) Rebels are defeated, all players lose, as they have taken too many losses to successfully mount a coordinated attack on the Death Star and the Galactic Empire.
- If any one player has all the Rebels on their team defeated, all players lose, as Darth Vader has eliminated one of the Rebel’s key Bases of Operation.
Note: If players were to both win and lose the game at the same time (for example: the Empire completes making all six Death Star Components fully operational AND the final Imperial is defeated) the players win!
ADDITIONAL RULES
REBELS
- Rebel Type and Affiliation – this icon indicates the Rebel’s affiliation – and is important to note for resolving some Rebel abilities and Imperial attacks. Rebel types include Hero, Vehicle and Droid.
- Damage Capacity – this indicates how many Damage Counters a Rebel can have before being defeated (see DAMAGE below).
- Recruit Symbols – this is the required combination of symbols that have to be rolled and assigned to the card to recruit the Rebel and add it to a player’s team.
- Rebel Ability – details below. All Rebels have a special ability listed on their card. Some add additional dice to a player’s dice pool. Others allow a player to change the value of a die or re-roll dice before assigning dice. Additionally, some Rebels may be able to draw Alliance Tokens, or remove Damage or Death Star Operation Counters. Note that some Rebel abilities require a player to assign a specific symbol from their dice pool to use the ability. These are resolved immediately when the matching dice are assigned.
Remember, dice can only be assigned to use these abilities once on the
controlling player’s turn.
Rebel abilities that allow a player to change a certain symbol to a different
die face may be used to change both the single and double version of that
symbol to any other die face available on that die.
DAMAGE
Each Rebel and Imperial has an amount of Damage Counters they can have before
being defeated, as indicated on the right side of their card. When adding
damage to characters, place red Damage Counters on emptycounter spaces on the
card. Imperials are damaged by players assigning dice to match their symbols
(see IMPERIALS on next page).
Note: Damage cannot be added in excess of a Rebel or Imperial’s damage capacity. If a Rebels damage capacity is full it cannot take additional damage from attacks or in order to activate abilities that require taking damage. At the end of each turn, if Damage Counters on a Rebel are equal to its damage capacity, that Rebel is defeated and placed in the discard pile. Remember, if too many Rebels are defeated, players will lose the game. Some abilities allow players to ‘heal’ Rebels by removing Damage Counters. This may require assigning a die to activate the ability.
IMPERIALS
The Asset Card deck includes Imperial villains like Grand Moff Tarkin, and
Death Troopers, as well as Imperial Vehicles like TIE Fighters and Star
Destroyers. After resolving the Dark Side Dice, the Imperials’ abilities will
be triggered if Darth Vader is present in (facing) their location sector. To
add a damage to an Imperial, assign Rebellion Dice to match the symbols shown
on the Imperial card.
NOTE: Only one Damage Counter may be added to each Imperial per turn by
assigning dice (unless a player has a special Rebel or Team ability).
For each Damage Counter added to an Imperial, the active player draws an
Alliance Token as a reward. When Damage Counters are added to a Imperial to
fill its capacity, they are defeated and discarded at the end of the turn.
Set defeated Imperials aside to keep track of progress towards victory.
DEATH STAR:
The Empire is trying to complete construction of the Death Star. Each time the
Death Star Die is rolled for a turn, note the color rolled and add a counter
to the matching Death Star Component Tile. At the end of each turn, any Death
Star Component with an Operation Counter on all of its spaces has been
completed and becomes fully operational. This is indicated by removing all the
counters and turning the tile over. This now grants the Imperials enhanced
abilities that will activate on every subsequent turn when that color is
rolled on the Death Star Die – instead of adding counters!
Death Star abilities DO NOT trigger on the turn they are completed. If
all Death Star Components become Operational, the players lose.
ALLIANCE TOKENS:
For each Damage Counter a player adds to an Imperial, they draw an Alliance
Token. Alliance Tokens have a variety of effects, and may be used on ANY
player’s turn except for the turn on which they are drawn. Players can assist
one another in their efforts by sharing tokens! Alliance Tokens may let a
player roll an extra Rebellion Die (A), remove Damage or Operation Counters
(B), or represent a Rebellion Dice symbol (C), which may be assigned to a card
for recruiting Rebels or attacking Imperials (in addition to assigning dice).
A player can wait until after rolling and assigning Rebellion Dice before
deciding if and how to use tokens. Once used, Alliance Tokens are discarded.
If the supply is depleted, turn all discarded Alliance Tokens face-down and
shuffle them to create a new draw pile.
LEGENDS AND GAME PLAY VARIANTS
DARTH VADER DIE FACINGS
- Darth Vader rotates clockwise one location sector, triggers Imperials in that location, and attacks all Rebels in that sector including each Rebel on your team IF your Deployment Token is in the resulting location sector.
- Darth Vader rotates counter-clockwise one location sector, triggers Imperials in that location, and attacks all Rebels in that sector including each Rebel on your team IF your Deployment Token is in the resulting location.
- Darth Vader remains in his current location sector, and will still attack Rebels and trigger Imperial abilities there. Also, activate the abilities of ALL Imperials NOT in the location sector with Darth Vader (as if he were there).
- Roll the Death Star Die again and resolve the result in addition to the result of the original roll. Darth Vader remains in the current location sector, and will still attack Rebels and trigger Imperial abilities there.
REBELLION DICE FACINGS
GAMEPLAY DIFFICULTY VARIANTS
As described in the END OF THE GAME section on page 9 there are three ways
that players lose the game: (A) the Death Star is completed and becomes fully
operational, (B) ten or more Rebels are defeated, or (C) any one player has
all the Rebels on their team defeated.For players’ first game it is
recommended that seven of the eleven Imperials must be defeated before any
oneof the above conditions is met in order to win the game. For a more
challenging game, increase the number of Imperials to be defeated in order to
win, up to all eleven! Players may elect to customize their own win condition
by agreeing to adjust any of the values listed above for winning or losing, or
starting the game with a counter on each Death Star Component, in order to
modify the difficulty.
References
- StarWars.com | The Official Star Wars Website
- The Op Games | usaopoly | Board Games, Puzzles, and More!