Fall of the Empire

The **Fall of the Empire** Variant was introduced in the Shards of the Throne Expansion for Twilight Imperium and allows players to play through a unique game Scenario involving the fall of the Lazax Empire

All other Game Variants may NOT be used with this scenario, with the Exception of Mechanized Units

## Setup

Fall of the Empire is played over 8 game rounds. During setup, the Lazax Control Marker is placed on the “0” space of the Victory Point track. At the end of each Status Phase, it is advanced 1 Space

### Game Board

The Game Board is created based on the number of players playing (Setups are seen in the gallery below)

### Selecting Factions

Certain factions must be chosen in this scenario. They are the following:

* 4 Players: The Lazax, The Federation of Sol, The Barony of Letnev, The Emirates of Hacan
* 5 Players: + The Universities of Jol-Nar

* 6 Players: + The Xxcha Kingdom
* 7 Players: + The Sardakk N'orr

The Lazax player always sits to the left of the Federation of Sol player and cards that refer to a player to the left or right of a player ignore the Lazax player

### Agenda cards

In this scenario, all Political Cards are replaced with Agenda Cards. Agenda Cards are considered Political Cards for the purpose of other cards and abilities.

There are 34 Agenda Cards in total

Some Agenda Cards have an icon:

* : This Agenda targets a player
* : This Agenda targets a planet (does not include Home Systems)
* : When this card is drawn, players resolve the effects of the card, then discard it and another Agenda card is drawn

### Strategy Cards

Base Game Strategy Cards are used, however 3 - Civilization and 8 - Industry are used instead

This leaves: 1 - Initiative, 2 - Diplomacy, 3 - Civilization, 4 - Logistics, 5 - Trade, 6 - Warfare, 7 - Technology, 8 - Industry

### Objective Cards

Each player (except Lazax) receives one randomly distributed Scenario Objective Card out of the following:

* **Anarchist**: You win the game if you control your Home System and the Lazax player has not fulfilled their objective at the end of Round 8
* **Opportunist**: You win the game if you control the Quann system (Immediate Victory)
* **Power Hungry**: You win the game if you control the Mecatol Rex system (Immediate Victory)
* **Traitor**: You win the game if you control an enemy Home System (excluding Mecatol Rex) (Immediate Victory)
	+ Any treaty cards of yours this enemy possesses at the moment of victory are nullified.
* **Unstoppable Army**: You win the game if you have 60 plastic pieces on the game board (Immediate Victory)
* **Support of the People (5+ Players only):** When you give away your fourth Treaty Card, reveal this objective.
	+ If at least 3 other players have your Treaty Card in hand at this time, you win (Immediate Victory)
	+ If less than 3 other players have your Treaty Card, you discard this objective card and continue playing (Can no longer win the game by fulfilling this objective)
* **Loyalist (5+ Players only):** You also win the game if the Lazax player wins

The Lazax player receives the Lazax Objective Card instead. This card is kept face up for all players to see:

* **Emperor of the Galaxy**: You win the game if each Home System is controlled either by you or its starting race at the end of Round 8

A player is never allowed to show an opponent their Scenario Objective Card, however, the ability on a Scenario Objective Card may be discussed as long as all discussion is public

### Treaty Cards

During Setup, each player takes their race’s Treaty Cards

There are 31 Treaty Cards in total (4 for each playable race, 3 for Lazax)

* #1: You also win the game if <Insert Race> Player wins
* #2: You also win the game if <Insert Race> Player wins AND no other player is holding the <Insert Race> #1 Treaty Card
* #3: You also win the game if <Insert Race> Player wins AND no other player is holding the <Insert Race> #1 or #2 Treaty Card
* #4: You also win the game if <Insert Race> Player wins AND no other player is holding a <Insert Race> Treaty Card

During the Active Player’s turn, they may attempt to form an alliance with another player using Treaty Cards by following these steps:

1. The Active Player activates any other player’s Home System (excluding Mecatol Rex). Instead of following the steps when activating a system, they may choose to give a Treaty Card to the owner of the Home System instead.
2. The Active Player chooses one of their race’s Treaty Cards and secretly gives it to the owner of the Home System. The owner may then read the Treaty card but not show it to other players
3. The Active Player and the player given the Treaty Card may make any number of verbal agreements with each other. All agreements, with the exception of the immediate exchange of Trade Goods, are non-binding.
4. Secretly Accept/Reject Treaty: The player given the Treaty Card shuffles the card into their hand of Treaty Cards. They then discard one Treaty Card of their choice, face down, to the Treaty Card discard pile (adjacent to the Action Card Deck in the Common Play Area). Since a player can only win if they have a single alliance, hiding the discarded Treaty Card gives them the possibility to bluff, backstab, and change sides

The Lazax player can give Treaty Cards to other players but cannot accept Treaty Cards from other players

## Winning the Scenario

The game ends when a player or players fulfill their Scenario Objective OR as soon as the Lazax Control Marker enters the “8” space of the Victory Point Track.

A player does not need to control their Home System in order to fulfill their Scenario Objective (unless specifically mentioned)

Each player reveals their Scenario Objective Card and all Treaty Cards. Each player who fulfills their Scenario Objective Card wins the game. If no player fulfills their Scenario Objective Card by the end of round 8, there are no winners

## Winning the game with an alliance

When a player wins the game, it is possible that 1 other player may win the game as well due to an alliance

At game end, each non-winning player must reveal their hand of Treaty Cards.

If a player's hand contains Treaty Cards belonging to more than one opponent, that player loses the game

The player who has the lowest numbered Treaty Card belonging to the winning race also wins the game (they have forged the strongest alliance)