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Solitaire Rules

This variant of the game is for the solitaire player. You should familiarize yourself with the multi-player rules before reading this document. Being a CCG, the player may build his or her deck any way he or she wishes, with whatever cards he or she wants (or can), as long as there are no more than 4 copies of any one card (including those played during Set-Up). No two decks will be the same, so no two games will be the same. In a solitaire game, you may either play the villains (Enemies) attempting to reach Goals played on Spacetime cards to score points, or the Doctor and his Allies trying to Oppose Goals and score those points. The game's objective is to score 10 points before running out of cards in his or her draw deck.

*Last updated on 31/12/07

 

Card types

All card types may be used in a Solitaire game, except Plot cards.

 

Set-up

The solitaire player must play a minimum of 5 Spacetime cards on the table. Simply plop them down one next to the other in front of you in a line. You may not play more than one copy of the same Spacetime card (same title and date in parentheses).

Then play one version of the TARDIS, and then any version of The Doctor plus any other TARDIS Characters on your TARDIS. The total Cost of all these Characters (Doctor included) cannot exceed the TARDIS' Capacity's first number. Optionally, you may play up to 3 cards that specifically say they play during Set-Up, excluding cards "under" other cards (for example, under Mini-Scope, though Mini-Scope itself counts as a card), and cards played due to the effects of other cards (such as TARDIS - Secondary Control Room's Artifact or Telos' Cybermen). Then play a Goal card on one of your Spacetime cards.

 

Your draw deck is composed of no more than 30 pre-selected cards. If you're playing Good, do not include Enemies. If you are playing Evil, do not include TARDIS Characters or Allies.

 

You must also create an opponent deck of at least 30 cards (there is no maximum). It is recommended that you simply shuffle together every legal card in your collection (that you are not currently using), though you may use a "theme" as well. Legal cards are limited to: Characters (Enemies if you are playing Good, TARDIS Characters and Allies if you are playing Evil), Attack cards, Danger cards, Monster cards and Puzzle cards.

 

As usual, next to your draw deck will be your discard pile where your destroyed cards go. When a card from the opponent deck is destroyed, it will be placed under that deck instead.

 

Now draw a hand of 8 cards and you are ready to begin.

 

A Turn

Each turn proceeds in the following fashion:

1)      1) First, spend up to 6 points in Cost by playing Characters, Artifacts, Goals, TARDIS cards, Conditions and even Spacetime cards (there is no limit to the number that you can have in play by the end of the game). Then, flip over the same number of cards as you played from the opponent deck and play the first one on the Spacetime card with an unreached/unopposed Goal (or Purpose card that allows Enemies to play) closest to your left, the second on the next one over, and so on. (If there is only one such Spacetime card, then all opposing cards will be played on the same card). Any Attack card should be immediately resolved (see below).

2      2) In the next phase, your cards can be put into motion, either trying to Reach a Goal at the Spacetime card where they are located, trying to Oppose at the Spacetime card where they are located, use any of their game text, do something allowed by another card (such as fight), or move to another Spacetime card either through a card that allows this (the only means accessible for Enemies) or with the TARDIS card (for TARDIS Characters and Allies). The TARDIS may be moved to another Spacetime card only at the end of its owner's turn.

3)      3) When you have done everything you wanted to do, or when all your cards are frozen and thus unable to do anything else, you may discard one card from hand and then must replenish your hand back to 8 cards from the top of the draw deck.

4)      4) Bang! cards have no Cost and can be played at any time during the turn, according to each one’s game text.

4)      5) The game ends when you either reach or surpass 10 points, having Reached or Opposed at least one Goal (you win), or when you have no draw deck left and cannot legally play any card from hand (you lose).

 

Scoring Points

You score points normally, either Reaching (Evil) or Opposing (Good) Goals. The opponent deck cannot score points, but it may on occasion steal points from you. If all requirements on their side of the Goal are met, that Goal is considered to have been Reached/Opposed and you may no longer score points with it.

 

To prevent a solitaire player from diluting opposing forces across all Spacetime cards, there is a limit to the number of Goals in play at the same time. You may have no more than 3 unreached/unopposed Goals in play at any one time, or 2 unreached/unopposed Goals and a Purpose card that allows Enemies to play.

 

Nativity

Your Characters must respect Nativity as per the multi-player rules. The opponent deck, however, does not. Opposing Characters are played regardless of Nativity. Similarly, ignore any game text that would prevent an opposing Character or Condition from playing to a Spacetime card (for example, Binned would not require an Auton be present).

 

Playing Cards: Number of Copies

Opposing cards cannot exceed their number of u icons at any given Spacetime card, but may ignore similarly-titled cards at other Spacetime cards. For example, the opponent deck may have The Doctor at two different Spacetime cards. If a unique card is to be played where a card with the same title already exists, swap it in and destroy the original, placing it under the opponent deck.

Attack cards

You may use Attack cards the same way you do in multi-player games. When an Attack card from the opponent deck is turned over however, a fight is immediately started at the indicated Spacetime card. If the opponent's side does not have the requirements necessary to trigger the Attack, or if there is no valid target to fight with, destroy that Attack card (placing it under the opponent deck). In any case, all selections made by the opponent deck are random.

 

Dangers, Monsters and Puzzles

These Conditions also affect opposing Characters, thus:

-Danger cards: Any player that does not meet the card's requirements, including the opponent deck, suffers from the effects of this card.

-Monster cards: Opposing Characters are included in the Monster's selection process. Opposing Characters never destroy a Monster card.

-Puzzle cards: Opposing Characters never attempt to overcome a Puzzle card. As long as a Puzzle card exists at a Spacetime card, opposing Characters cannot Reach or Oppose a Goal there.

In any case, all selections made by the opponent deck are random.

 

Taking and Losing Control of a Character

When a card indicates that control of a card changes hands (through a Prisoner card, or Whodunit, for example), you may use it to turn an opposing Character into one of your Characters. If an opposing card makes you lose control of a card, it becomes a an opposing card and you may no longer use it. When these cards are destroyed, place them in their original owner's discard area (the discard pile if yours, under the opponent deck if not) regardless of which side is currently controlling it.

 

Character Special Abilities

Opposing Characters with game text that must be triggered (that "may" do something, and thus require a decision from their owner) never are. Similarly, opposing Characters' Vortex icons are never triggered.

 

Cards That Don't Work in Solitaire Play

You will no doubt find cards that have no use in Solitaire play since the game is designed to play with 2 or more players. The answer is simple: Don't use them!

 

However, as a general rule, consider the opponent deck to be an opposing player. That player has a draw deck (so you may use a card that affects its draw deck), but no hand (so you may not play one that affects its hand). Opposing Characters do not move, nor do that use Artifacts, so cards affecting these aspects of the game will be useless.


Game and all game materials TM Michel M. Albert

. Dr. Who and all related concepts and characters TM BBC. Comments, corrections or criticism? Write me!