Cataclysm!A Steampunk Survival Game

(2-9 players)By Gary Cooper

Theme: Displacement and MeltingDescription:

The planet of Emeric is dying. Melting polar ice caps raising the sea level and flooding coastal regions, volcanic eruptions melting city after city, earthquakes rocking every region of the planet, and storms blowing down the tallest skyscrapers…disaster is around every turn and Cataclysm is headed your way! As a Captain of your own Vessel, your goal is to get all the displaced survivors you can safely to the shuttle while dealing with natural disasters and other players going for the same goal! There’s a catch… there is only one shuttle location and it’s on an island in the middle of the ocean! The player has to first travel to different cities and load passengers, then carry them to the middle of the map before the shuttles take off, all while trying to survive a cataclysm! The Captain who gets the most survivors to the shuttles and off the planet safely wins.

Goals: Transport citizens safely to the International Space

Terminal to earn Survivor Points.

Purchase Upgrades to your Vessel to enhance cargo capacity or speed (fuel capacity?)

Survive random disasters and get to the Interstellar Space Station before time runs out!

Rules:Setup Phase: “The Game Board” is set up with each city’s starting population according to the “City Population Chart.” Determine which player will act as Banker. Banker is non-competitive and keeps track of all Tokens, Currency, “Disaster Cards”, “Disaster Chart”, and the “Shuttle Timer.” (In a 2 player game, the banker duties will need to be shared by the two players.) Remaining players select one starting Captain from the eight available “Captain’s Cards”. Starting income and vessel tokens are handed out to each player depending on the Captain they selected. The order in which players select their Captain is determined by a roll of one 6-sided dice. Player with the highest roll selects their Captain first, then the player with the 2nd highest roll, and so on. Ties are rerolled. The player who selected their Captain last gets to start the first turn, then play is passed to the player to the right (Counterclockwise). Each Captain has his/her own player card, starting income, starting location (marked on the Game Board with the Captain’s name), and colored “Vessel Token” representing the vessel they manage. Each player places their vessel token on the map space where the Captain’s name is located. This is their starting location. Play begins.

Player Turn: Banker:

Round Count Phase: At the beginning of every round notate with tally marks on the “Banker Scorecard”. Disaster Phase: At the beginning of every round pick a “Disaster Card” from the top of the “Disaster Card” stack. Follow directions on card to determine which tiles are affected by disaster. Place Disaster Markers on board (see illustration…)Shuttle Phase: At the end of every 5th round (5, 10, 15, 20, 25) a shuttle leaves. One shuttle token is removed from the board.Bookkeeping/Banking Phase: As necessary, hand out or collect money, tokens, etc. and keep track of disasters and survivor points. Also oversee that the Captains are abiding by the terrain and disaster movement costs.

Captains:Step 1: Upgrade Takes Effect: (This step first occurs in round 2). Player receives any upgrade tokens that have been purchased from Banker and placed on the respective upgrade slots on their Captain’s Card. Captain may now choose to either pick up additional passengers at current city then move towards the International Space Terminal (IST), or move to another city within reach for additional citizens that need to be evacuated.Step 2: Movement/Load/Unload Phase: Travel to distant cities where citizens need to be evacuated from.

Travel (movement points) is determined on the Captain’s Card under Speed Rating. Load up passengers into your Vessel, earn base income fee of 3:1 (Income to Passengers) for every “Passenger Token” loaded. The amount of Passengers that can be loaded is equal to the number under the Cargo Capacity on the Player’s Captain Card. Players may always use remaining movement points to travel towards the IST or another city to pick up additional passengers. If a Player’s vessel reaches the International Space Terminal (IST), then it lands, unloads its passengers, and refuels automatically. Player receives a “Survivor Point” and bonus currency of 1:1 based on how many passengers survived the voyage and successfully loaded into the Shuttle.Step 3: Purchase Phase: Purchase upgrades to your Vessel based off of your income. Turn is ended. Upgrades take effect at the beginning of the players next turn.

Conclusion: After the 5th Shuttle blasts off, the game ends. The Captain with the most Survivor Points wins the game.

Notes/Additional Rules:

“Captains’ Card &Vessel Token”: 8 vessel Captains to choose from (4 airships, 4 amphibious ships). Each vessel has its own color, starting speed, starting cargo rating, and available upgrades.Movement & Terrain: Airship Captains are not affected by terrain movement costs except when affected by some disasters (noted on Disaster Card). Some Captains/Vessels will take multiple rounds to reach either a city or the IST; some movement points will possibly go unused if the Captain does not have enough to move to the next terrain. “Shuttle”: Shuttles are located on the International Space Terminal (IST) and leave the planet with survivors to the Interstellar Space Station to get routing to their new planet.

5-9 player game: Every 5 rounds, a Space Shuttle launches and leaves the planet. After 5 Shuttles launch, the game ends and the winner is determined. (Banker manages this)

2-4 player game: Shuttle launches every 10 rounds.“Population Token”:

White chips = 1 Citizen -> Passenger -> Survivor Red chips = 20

“Upgrade Tokens”: Upgrade tokens are mini poker chips given from the Banker to the Captain that purchased them and are placed underneath the Captain’s vessel.

Green chips = Speed Upgrade (Max 3) Coming Soon!

Blue chips = Cargo Upgrade (Max 3) Coming Soon!

“Survivor Points”: Banker makes a tally mark next to each Captain name on Banker Scorecard for every passenger dropped off at the IST at a ratio of 1:1.

Captain Cards (Disclaimer: Art is licensed and only there for representation)

Airship Captains (Unaffected by Terrain Costs)Captain Vasco De Barros (Spanish descent)Vessel Name: The Raven Claw (Airship)Starting Income: 10Speed Rating: 4Cargo Capacity: 2Upgrades/Cost: Speed Upgrade: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36Cargo Capacity: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45

Captain Aya McCloud (Scottish descent, red hair)Vessel Name: The Nighthawk (Airship)Starting Income: 10Speed Rating: 6Cargo Capacity: 1Upgrades/Cost:Speed Upgrade: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36Cargo Capacity: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45

Captain Mathilda Krause (German descent, curly hair)Vessel Name: The Iron Vixen (Airship)Starting Income: 10Speed Rating: 3Cargo Capacity: 3Upgrades/Cost:Speed Upgrade: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36Cargo Capacity: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45

Amphibious Ship Captains (Affected by Terrain Costs)

Captain Quinn O’Cleary (Irish descent, merchant)Vessel Name: Big Bertha (Airship)Starting Income: 10Speed Rating: 2Cargo Capacity: 4Upgrades/Cost:Speed Upgrade: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36Cargo Capacity: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45

Captain Gustave LaSalle (French descent)Vessel Name: Mistral’s KissStarting Income: 10Speed Rating: 7Cargo Capacity: 5Upgrades/Cost:Speed Upgrade: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45Cargo Capacity: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36

Captain Marina Volkov (Russian descent)Vessel Name: The Sea WolfStarting Income: 10Speed Rating: 3Cargo Capacity: 9Upgrades/Cost:Speed Upgrade: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45Cargo Capacity: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36

Captain Kaito Masuyo (Japanese descent, military)Vessel Name: Dai Uzumaki (Maelstrom)Starting Income: 10Speed Rating: 5Cargo Capacity: 8Upgrades/Cost:Speed Upgrade: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45Cargo Capacity: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36

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Disaster ChartDisaster Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 Region 5 Region 6

Wildfire 2RForest tiles outside city: impassable for

2R. Spreads to adjacent.

Volcano 4RAsh makes +3 movement cost in 2 tile

radius.

Super Storm 3R+2 movement cost to all vessels in 2 tile

radius.

Earthquake 2RAll vessels cannot take off or land in

affected tiles.

Flood 2RAll adjacent forest, swamp, desert, and

grassland tiles are ocean and add +2 movement cost.

Tsunami (Global) 3RCoastal tiles are impassable for duration,

vessels cannot land or take off.

Global Warming (Global) 5R

Meteor Shower (Global) 2R

Captain Mehndi Kapoor (Middle Eastern descent, Gypsy)Vessel Name: The Maccha YantraStarting Income: 10Speed Rating: 9Cargo Capacity: 4Upgrades/Cost:Speed Upgrade: 1 = $15, 2 = $30, 3 = $45Cargo Capacity: 1 = $12, 2 = $24, 3 = $36

Sinkhole 3R

Steam Geyser 2R

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Cataclysm!City Starting PopulationsCity 1: 21City 2: 9City 3: 6City 4: 7City 5: 7City 6: 23City 7: 9City 8: 5City 9: 6City 10: 21City 11: 21City 12: 6City 13: 21City 14: 23City 15: 7City 16: 21City 17: 23

City 18: 5City 19: 7City 20: 5City 21: 23

G.R.A.T.I.S.Goals:

Transport citizens safely to the International Space Terminal Purchase Upgrades to your Vessel to enhance cargo space or

speed Survive random disasters and get to the Interstellar Space Station

before time runs out!

Rules:

Actions: Transport, Load, Unload, Travel, Survive, Purchase, Blasts, Travel, Hand Out, Launches, Refuels, Leaves, Manage

Transitions: After 5 Rounds a Shuttle Launches, After 5 Shuttles Launch the Game Ends

Setup: Game Board, Tokens, Currency, Vessels, Players, Captain’s Cards, Disaster Cards,

Meaningful Actions AnalysisExplicit Actions: Transport, Load, Escape, Unload, Travel, Survive, Purchase, Upgrade, Blasts, Launches, Refuels, Leaves, Manage

Transport: Vessels are used to transport the evacuated passengers to the shuttle. This is not a meaningful action or a choice. It automatically happens.

Load: The Players load up passengers to transport them to the Terminal. This is a meaningful action by the player because he chooses how many passengers he wants to take.

Escape: Passengers are trying to escape the dying planet. No choice for the player.

Unload: Vessels are unloaded automatically upon reaching the terminal or a city. Player has no meaningful choice here.

Travel: Players travel to pick up passengers. This is a meaningful action because they get to choose where and when to leave. They have to decide if they want to risk a storm or land when a volcano is erupting.

Survive: Both the captains and the passengers are trying to survive this ordeal. Meaningful action because everyone wants to survive.

Purchase: Captain purchases upgrades and provisions for his passengers and crew. This is a meaningful action since the captain can choose what to purchase for his vessel and when.

Upgrade: Same as Purchase. Thinking of adding more Purchase options to differentiate.

Launches: A Shuttle launches every 5 rounds. This is automatic and requires no meaningful player action.

Refuels: The ship refuels automatically every time it lands at a city. This is automatic and is not a meaningful action or choice. I am thinking of changing this.

Manage: The Captain manages his vessel and crew to be efficient and to help add survivors. This is a meaningful action for the player.

Flowchart: