![[Graphic]](Rez.gif){kind=small}
(a number on a tab like this
indicates that rez cost)![[Graphic]](Bit.gif){kind=small}
(a
number in a star on a tab like this indicates
that play cost or installation cost)From: R. Garfield <nr_develop@wizards.com>
To: WotC Belgium <custserv@wizards.be>
Subject: Survivor List-Project Run Runner
LEAD DEVELOPER AIs
Jim Lin, Paul Peterson, Tom Wylie
SUPPORT DEVELOPER AIs
Charlie Cuteno, Skaff Elias, Dave Pettey
PROJECT COORDINATION CPUs
Mike Davis, Karen Hewitt, Herman Vroom
ART DIRECTOR CPU
Craig Hooper
CARD ART DIRECTION AI
Maria Cabardo, Tom Wylie
CARD DESIGN PROCESSORS
Craig Hooper, Christopher Rush, Jonnie Wilder
NETRUNNER LOGO AUTOMATA
Craig Hooper, Christopher Rush, Mike Russo
MANUAL DESIGN PROCESSORS
Jeremy Bills, John Casebeer, Kim Francisco, Sue Ann Harkey,
Dave Hill, Christopher Rush
PACKAGE DESIGN UNIT
Craig Hooper
MARKETING CONSTRUCTS
Jean Flynn, Thea Maia, Kevin Maples
PRINT COORDINATION DSPs
Keith Kentop, Tom Wänerstrand
EDITING UNIT/ PROOFING DAEMON
Bob Kruger/Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
FLAVOR TEXT PROCESSORS
Ed Bolme, Mike Davis, Richard Garfield, Rhias Hall, David
Kizzia, Bob Kruger, Marc Schmalz, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Jana
Wright, Tom Wylie
OFF-SITE-PAD-SETUP CYBORGS
Alan Jenn, Monique Schmierer
PLAYTEST COORDINATION UNIT
Rich McGatha
Overview of Netrunner
Netrunner is a two-player Deckmaster®. game set in the world of R. Talsorian's
Cyberpunk(TM)roleplaying game. There are two roles in Netrunner: the Runner, who is a
high-tech data thief; and the Corporation. Using a computer that feeds output from a
telecommunication link directly to his or her brain, the Runner navigates the virtual-reality
environment of a global computer network known as the Net. Established to facilitate legal
commerce, the Net also presents opportunities for the savvy Runner to raid stores of
Corporate data.
The Corporation has access to research and development facilities, an executive headquarters,
and netspace data forts. The goal of the Corporation is to score "agendas" despite the
Runner's attempts at theft and vandalism.
The Runner, despite a general lack of financial resources and the paranoid tone of his or her
existence, has reliable access to street contacts, legal and illegal hardware and software, and
assistance from other runners in the Net. The goal of the Runner is to liberate agendas from
the Corporation and expose its operations.
Each starter pack contains one Corporation deck and one Runner deck. Players should know
the rules for both sides and should experiment with playing both roles.
| Action Advance Agenda Archives Bit Bit bank Bit pool |
Damage Data fort Hardware HQ Ice Install Keywords |
MU Node Operation Prep Program R&D Resource |
Rez Run Stack Subroutines Tag Trace Trash Upgrade |
|
1 bit (a number in a star like this indicates that many bits) |
|
An action is required. |
|
Trashing this card is required to generate the effect that follows this icon, or if the icon contains a number, that number is the cost for the Runner to trash this card. |
|
|
Subroutine marker |
|
1 difficulty (a number in an arrow like this indicates that much difficulty) |
|
1 agenda point (a number in a circle like this indicates that many agenda points) |
|
Rez cost of (a number on a tab like this
indicates that rez cost) |
|
Installation cost or cost to play of (a
number in a star on a tab like this indicates
that play cost or installation cost) |
) from the bank and put them in a handy area
to serve as his or her bit pool. Each player shuffles his or her deck and then gives the other
player the option of shuffling it. Each player draws five cards--the starting maximum hand size
for both players. The Corporation takes the first turn. The Runner begins with 4 MU (Memory
Units) for installing programs.
) to put
an advancement counter on the card.) [See Scoring Agenda.]
) from the Corporate bit pool to destroy one of the Runner's resource cards
if the Runner has a tag [See Tags.] Cards in play might let the Corporation perform actions not listed here or give it additional actions.
actions. The Runner can do any one of the
following things for each of his or her four actions:
) to lose a tag. [See Tags.]Cards in play might let the Runner perform actions not listed here or give him or her additional actions.
Liberated Guide with Annos
Compliments of Filched Radar Rig,
a Runner Consortium
Corporation Protocol:
Anti-intrusion Systems
for each piece of icealready on that data fort; if we want to
reduce the cost, we may first trashexisting ice without taking any actions.We rez a card by paying enough bitsfrom our bit pool to the bit bank to satisfy the rez cost,
which is in the upper right corner of the card. (Some cards have a rezcost of 
.) We never
partially reza card: at any given time, we either pay the entire rezcost and rez the card, or we
do not rez the card. Once rezzed, a card is turned face up and stays active until it leaves play.
Note that rezzing a card does not require an action.
Finding out what a card does by watching the Corp rez it usually amounts to finding out the
hard way, but fortunately that's not the only way to discover what the Corp has in store for
you. Some cards will exposethe Corp's face-down cards. If a face-down card is exposed, turn
it face up, but mark it somehow, to show that it has not yet been rezzed. If the Corp later
rezzes the card, remove the marker. Rezzed cards that are derezzed remain face up, but you
mark them in the same way.
INSTALLINGRUNNER CARDS: To get a program, resource, or hardwarecard into play, you
install it. To do so, you put down the card face up and immediately pay its installation cost,
which is in the upper right corner of the card; the card is then available for use. (Note that
some cards have an installation cost of .)
The combined MU cost of your installed programs cannot exceed your total MU, which starts
the game at 4. If you install a programthat causes you to exceed your total MU, you have to
trash enough installed programs to make room. Generally, you should install cards as follows:
program cards in a first row, followed by a row of hardware cards and then a row of
resourcecards.
OPERATION CARDS: In addition to cards that we install, we have operation cards, which have
some immediate effect when we play them. We play an operationcard by taking an action, and
the operation card is then trashed.
PREP CARDS: You have cards similar to operationcards, called prep cards. You play them by
taking an action, they have some immediate effect, and they are then trashed.
The following links will take you to examples of how the table might look in the middle of a
game of Netrunner. We have created two subsidiary data forts, and the Runner has installed
two programs, one hardware, and three resources.
[Corporation Example]
[Runner Example]
Examples:
A card reads:
, : Draw two cards. to draw two cards., : Remove up to three tags, at no cost.Resolving a card effect involves following the instructions for that effect before doing anything else in the game. If a player is instructed to do something that normally would take an actionto do, that player does not take any actions other than those required by the cost of the effect. However, other card costs associated with a card effect must be paid, unless otherwise indicated. For example, if we are required to rez a card, we must pay the rez cost.
Example Effects:
An operation card reads:
Add four advancement counters to any combination of installed cards that can be advanced.
Adding four counters is an extension of the action of playing this card: we do not have to take
any actions to do what this text says, other than the action to play the operation.
A program card reads:
: Make a run on the Archives. If run is successful, do not access cards from the
Archives; instead, treat run as a successful run on HQ.
If you have this program in play and you want to use this effect, you only take the action
required by the action-button icon ()--not one action to use the program and another to
make the run.
KEYWORDS: A card's keywords are the bold-face words in the first line of its text box. These keywords indicate what categories that card falls under.
Both we and the Runner have several cards that affect or are unaffected by other cards with certain keywords; these affected keywords are in bold-face text in a card's rules text. Note that a card's title is never used to determine whether it can be subject to a card effect.
Example:
A card reads:
Score 1 agenda point if you liberated any Black Ops agendas this turn.
If the Runner plays this card, and had stolen any agenda with the words "Black Ops" in its
keyword line during the turn, he or she would score 1 extra agenda point.
If there is no ice protecting a given data fort, the Runner can access its contents with impunity (if the data itself does not punish the Runner). With ice protecting a data fort, the Runner must deal in turn with each piece of ice, from outermost to innermost.
During a run, there are three stages in dealing with a piece of ice. First, you are approaching that piece of ice. If that piece of ice is not already rezzed, the Corp can rez it at this point. The Corp can only rez a piece of ice when you are approaching it. If that piece of ice is rezzed or was already rezzed, you encounter it, at which point you can break its subroutines, that is, prevent them from taking effect. If the ice is not rezzed, or if you break all of the subroutines that end your run, you pass that piece of ice. You can then choose either to approach the next piece of ice, or to jack out, which means to voluntarily end the run. This is the only time you can jack out.
Each piece of ice you encounter will have one or more subroutines on it. Each subroutine will take effect unless you break it. To break an ice subroutine, you need a particular kind of program in play called an icebreaker. Each icebreaker affects whatever keyword categories of ice it references (there are three primary types of ice: walls, code gates, and sentries), but you won't know what kind of icebreaker you'll need to break a piece of ice until that ice is rezzed or revealed. An icebreaker can only break subroutines on a piece of ice if its strength (located in the icon on the lower right corner of the icebreaker equals or exceeds the ice's strength (located in the icon on the lower left corner of the ice, or lower right if the card is viewed on its side). If the icebreaker is strong enough, you may use it to break one or more subroutines of the ice encountered, paying the stated cost for each subroutine you break. Most icebreakers allow you to increase their strength. If you increase an icebreaker's strength, the increase ends when you finish encountering that piece of ice. Usually a single icebreaker is used to break all the subroutines of a given piece of ice, but you may break each subroutine with a different icebreaker.
If you don't break all of the subroutines of a piece of ice, you suffer the effect of each of the unbroken subroutines, in the order they appear on the card. A subroutine that ends the run does so immediately, and any following subroutines do not take effect. If a subroutine requires a trace attempt (see Traces), make that trace attempt when the subroutine takes effect. If none of the unbroken subroutines end the run, you pass that piece of ice.
If you pass all the ice on a fort, you have one more opportunity to jack out before the Corp decides whether to rez any nodes or upgrades. If you choose not to jack out at this time, your run is considered successful.
If you make a successful run on:
In any of these cases, you access any upgrades installed inside that fort.
If you access an agenda, you are considered to have liberated it, and you set it aside and score the number of agenda points indicated on it. If you access a node or an upgrade, you may pay the trash cost (located in the trash can in the bottom right corner of the card) to trash it, even if it is stored in a central data fort. Otherwise, the cards are returned to where they were accessed from, in the same order.
|
Run Protocol -- OVERVIEW * For each piece of ice on the data fort: If the ice is unrezzed, we may rez it as the Runner approaches it. If we do, or if it is already rezzed, the Runner encounters it; otherwise, the Runner passes that piece of ice and can approach the next piece of ice or jack out. * For each piece of ice encountered:
* If the Runner passes all of the pieces of ice (or if there is no ice to be passed in the first place), he or she gets one last chance to jack out. If the Runner doesn't jack out, we have one last opportunity to rez any of the nodes and upgrades inside the fort, and unless these end the run, the run is considered successful, and the Runner accesses the appropriate cards. |
, compared to the Corp's 
. Now
you take your last action to jack in, and meet the Corp on its
own turf once again.
The first piece of ice the Runner approaches is our Neural
Blade. Though the sword cannot stop the Runner on its own, it
can deliver a shock to the Runner, who will be at the mercy of
any ice appearing later in the fort. Also, the Runner cannot
afford to break both Neural Blade and Triggerman, so if we rez
Neural Blade and the Runner chooses to breakboth subroutines,
the Runner will not be able to deal with Triggerman later in
the run. Rezzing Neural Blade will cost us 
, but it will cost
the Runner this much to break both subroutines, so we decide
to activate it.
After defeating the simple code locks on the outside of the fort, you turn the first corner, only to find a Neural Blade rezzing in front of you. Sword programs like the blade are bad news; while they can't force you out of the Net, they will give your gray matter a healthy shock, leaving you temporarily vulnerable to any nastier ice patrolling the fort.
Quickly, you select Black Dahlia from the main menu. The
Neural Blade is a sentry, after all, and Dahlia was designed
to attack such ice. Rising up in front of Neural Blade, your
icebreaker absorbs most of the feedback (and you spend to
break the subroutine that prevents you from breaking the next
ice in the run). However, you don't want to run out of bits
later in the run, so you choose to leave the first subroutine
unbroken, and therefore discard one card at random.
Although the Neural Blade was able to shock the Runner, it was not sufficient to repel the intrusion. The Runner is now approaching Filter, so we must decide whether to rez it. As the code gate is no threat to Tinweasel, we decide not to. With any luck, the Runner will assume that the ice is a powerful one that we can't yet rez, and will be more cautious in the future when we have a larger bit pool.
Shaking off the residual effects of the Neural Blade, you continue into the data fort. Looks like you caught a break, since the Corp doesn't rez the second piece of ice. However, you're not out of the virtual woods yet, since you still have to pass the innermost piece of ice.
Because the Runner saved by not breaking Neural Blade's
first subroutine, the projection is that our agenda will be
stolen. Even if we rez Triggerman, the Runner can simply spend
to keep the run from being ended. However, rezzing the
killer will also force the Runner to choose between losing a
program (namely, the Black Dahlia, which is what we would
choose to trash, as the Runner well knows) or running out of
bits by spending another to break that subroutine, so we
decide to activate it.
Frack! Your cyberdeck slips a low buzzing noise into your feed, indicating that a sentry is rezzing somewhere nearby....
The first assault from the killer almost severs your
connection into the Net. However, you quickly recover, and
call up Black Dahlia again. With disturbing efficiency, the
icebreaker blocks Triggerman's advance, and causes Triggerman
to release its hold on your connection (that is, you pay to
break the second subroutine). The ice and icebreaker then
battle it out, and by keeping on top of things, you patch
Dahlia's code back together fast enough to keep her from
crashing (that's another , to keep the ice from trashing a
program; the Corp could choose a program other than Black
Dahlia, but we both know what the source of its pain is).
And look what the Corp was hiding! It's the details behind its bid to construct an extension to the Tycho lunar colony. Without a second thought, you download the files, erase the originals, sell the data to the highest bidder (recorded as 4 agenda points rather than as bits), and retire to a quiet evening of bushwhacking Netwatch agents.
from our bit
pool and place an advancement counter on the card. agendas
cannot be advanced further after they are scored, but nodes
can be advanced before and after they are rezzed.
If we score an agenda card, we remove the card from the data fort, set it aside and clear it of advancement counters, score its agenda points (the number in the symbol in the lower right corner of the card), and receive whatever bonus it gives, as indicated in its text box. agenda points exist independently of agenda cards, and we may choose to represent them with counters, since we may sometimes pay them out to fulfill card conditions, or increase them through special card effects. The bonus we receive for scoring an agenda is active as soon as applicable.
Scoring an agenda does not require an action, but we can do it only at the start of our turn or after any of our actions. We can, however, choose to put off scoring an agenda that has been advanced to its difficulty rating (certain card effects may make this desirable).
Your goal is to liberate agendas from the data fort(s) they're hidden in. If you access an agenda card, then you've liberated its data. You remove the card's advancement counters and set the card aside, and you score the number of agenda points stated on it, though you don't get the bonus described in its text. You may want to keep track of agenda points with counters: they exist apart from agenda cards, and card effects may increase them, or strip them away.
In this diagram, the agenda card shown is the agenda card being advanced in the data fort shown. If two more advancement counters are placed on it, the agenda card can be removed from play; we then score 1 agenda point, and the bonus of an extra action each turn. If the Runner liberates this agenda, he or she simply scores 1 agenda point.
Trace Value: Our trace value starts at 0 for each trace attempt. We can increase our trace value for that attempt by paying bits,
Sometimes a Corporate card will allow the Corporation to perform a trace on you. If the trace succeeds, the card could do something hideous to you, or might just blow up your apartment's electrical system. To evade a trace, you need a card installed that gives you links, which are connection points along your line into the Corp (a lot of links gives you a maze-like trail that's tough to follow). Your link value is the sum of two parts: a base link, and any modifiers to your link. If you can't manage to get your link value above 0, the Corp's trace succeeds automatically, unless its trace somehow ends up less than 0. You calculate your link value as follows:
Link Value: You start each trace attempt with a base link of 0, and no modifiers to your link. For a given trace attempt, you can choose to use one installed base link card. That card will set a new base link value. You can use that card, if applicable, and/or any number of cards that aren't base link cards, to modify your link value further. There is no limit to how much you can spend on modifying your link value, other than what you can afford. Any bits you spend setting your base link or modifying your link value are lost, regardless of whether or not you succeed in evading the Corp's trace attempt.
|
TRACE ATTEMPT 1) We and the Runner secretly note how many bits we are spending to establish our trace and link value, respectively. 2) The Runner states which base link card in play, and which cards that aren't base link cards, he or she is using to establish link value. 3) We and the Runner simultaneously reveal how many bits we are spending. We compare our trace value to the Runner's link value. If our trace value equals or exceeds the Runner's link value, the trace is successful. |
Let us say that while running one of our data forts, the Runner has the base link card Baedeker's Net Map in play and encounters our ice Homewrecker.
| Baedaker's Net Map Program - Base Link - 1 MU : 1 link:+1 link |
HomewreckerTM Ice - Sentry - Black Ice - AP - Firestarter : Trace5 - If trace is
successful, end run, trash a
piece of hardware, and do 2
meat damage. This damage
cannot be prevented. |
The Runner has no icebreaker that can break Homewrecker, so we
attempt a trace. The most we can spend on the trace is ,
because that is our trace limit. We and the Runner
simultaneously reveal how much each of us spends during the
trace attempt. Let's say we have in our bit pool and decide
to spend it all; our trace value is then 4. The Runner, say,
spends 
, which increases his or her original link value of 1
by 3, so the Runner has a link value of 4. We both spend these
bits secretly and then reveal them. Since our trace value is
as large as the Runner's link value, the trace succeeds, and
we end the Runner's run, trash a piece of his or her hardware
(of our choice), and do 2 meat damage to him or her, which
cannot be prevented.
We have many cards that can only be used, or are more
effective, if the Runner is tagged. Also, while the Runner is
tagged, we can take an action to pay to trash any resource
card the Runner has in play.
If the Corp gives you a tag, it has gotten some information
about your identity and/or whereabouts: a tag could be a
description of you, either on or off the Net; it could be your
address, or perhaps your lover's address. You can remove a tag
by taking an action to pay .
If damage causes you to discard more cards than are in your hand, or if you have a maximum hand size of less than 0 at the end of your turn, then you are flatlined and have lost the game. If you take damage while liberating agenda, first resolve the damage, and if you survive, then score the agenda.
Note that if brain damage reduces your maximum hand size to 0, you are not automatically out of the game. You can still hold cards (for a little while), since you, like the Corp, normally only discard down to your maximum hand size at the end of the turn.
Sometimes the best solution to a problem is to remove the problem, permanently. Unfortunately, we can only deal damage to the Runner during a run (via ice, nodes, and so on), or through certain card effects if we have a tag on the Runner.
If a player can't meet the cost, or any other requirements stated on the card, to perform a function or play a card, the player cannot perform that function or play that card.
Cards to be trashed or discarded are chosen one at a time, either randomly or by the player initiating the trashing or discarding, as appropriate, and then are sent to the appropriate discard pile.
The effects of cards are cumulative, as applicable, unless the cards specify otherwise.
A counter placed on a card is removed from the game if the card it is placed on leaves play.
"Immediately" means before any other action is taken in the game.
If multiple events take place at the same time, the player whose turn it is chooses the order of those events.
Whenever cards conflict with the rules, the cards take precedence.
Corporation Deck Size Limits
| Agenda points in our deck |
Our maximum deck size |
| 18-19 | 45 |
| 20-21 | 50 |
| 22-23 | 55 |
| 24-25 | 60 |
| 26-27 | 65 |
| 28-29 | 70 |
| 30-31 | 75 |
| 32-33 | 80 |
| 34-35 | 85 |
| 36-37 | 90 |
| 38-39 | 95 |
| 40-41 | 100 |
| 42-43 | 105 |
| 44-55 | 110 |
| Etc. | Etc. |
In addition to the limit imposed by the chart above, we may not play with fewer than 45 cards.
In addition to our deck, we will also need a number of markers, to represent bits and other counters. We will probably need no more than 40 such counters, but there is no limit to the number of bits we have available for use in the game. Each bit represents approximately 500,000 eurobucks worth of company resources: personnel, information, and equipment, among other things. When out of play, bits are in our bit bank; when in play, they are in our bit pool. We maintain our bit bank of counters in a convenient location in the margin of our playing area; we establish our bit pool somewhere directly in front of us.
Our deck is R&D, short for "Research and Development." Our hand is HQ, short for "Headquarters." The Corporate discard area, or Archives, consists of two piles, one face up and the other face down. Whenever any of our cards are trashed, whether by us or the Runner, they go to the top of one of the piles in our Archives. When any of our cards on the table that are face up are trashed, they go to the face-up pile. When we discard a card or when a card that is face down in play is trashed, it goes to the face-down pile. When a card that is accessed is trashed, it goes to the face-up pile. Operations we play go to the face-up pile. The Runner can examine the contents of the face-up pile at any time, but may only examine the face-down pile when he or she accesses the Archives.
Our primary purpose is to advance our agendas, which involves keeping the Runner from stealing them. To protect our uninstalled agendas, we will need to install ice on, and upgrades inside, our HQ and R&D. To protect our installed agendas, or the occasional nodes, we will want to establish subsidiary data forts. In order to make sure we have enough ice to protect our data forts, we should, as a start, try a deck with at least 25% ice cards. Finally, we must remember to obtain enough bits to pay for rezzing our nodes, upgrades, and ice , and to pay for advancing our agendas and playing our operations.
Agendas: Agendas are data associated with our secret projects, generally projects to improve our Corporate infrastructure or advance our mission. In any case, agendas are highly sensitive data, theft of which could affect the value of our Corporation. Agendas are installed vertically and face down, and only in subsidiary data forts. Only one agenda or node card can occupy a given data fort at a time. If we wish, we can overwrite an existing agenda or node on our turn, which means to opt to trash it as part of the action of installing another agenda or node in its place. The number of advancement counters required to score the agenda, the difficulty of an agenda, is located in the symbol in the upper right corner of the card. The number of agenda points the card is worth is located in the symbol in the lower right corner of the card. Any bonus we might get for scoring the agenda is explained in the text box. Such a bonus is active as soon as it is applicable.
Nodes: Nodes are stores of data supporting projects that would be of little interest to marketplace competitors. If we were to run an advertising campaign, we might construct a node in netspace to contain the campaign's database. Nodes are installed vertically and face down, and only in subsidiary data forts. Only one of either an agenda or node card can occupy a given data fort at a time. If we wish, we can overwrite an existing agenda or node on our turn by trashing it and then installing a node from HQ in its place. Nodes are not active until we rez them. In general the effect of a node can extend beyond the data fort in which it is installed. If the Runner ever accesses one of our nodes, the Runner can pay its trash cost to put it on top of the face-up pile of our Archives. Occasionally nodes can be advanced; this will be indicated on the card. The further the node has been advanced, the more effective it will be, as indicated on the node.
Ice: We install a given piece of ice horizontally in front
of the data fort it is to protect, directly ahead of any ice
already protecting that fort. ice is anti-intrusion
programming that typically presents itself in netspace as
some sort of barrier or obstacle. We install the first piece
of ice on a data fort for free. After that, to install each
additional ice card on that fort we must pay for each ice
card already installed on the fort. As we install the ice,
we can trash one or more pieces of ice already on the fort,
and thus lower the cost to install the new ice; however, the
last piece of ice installed on a fort is always placed in
the outermost position, regardless of the position of any ice
cards trashed to reduce its cost. Trashing ice while
installing ice does not take additional actions.
The only time we may rez a piece of ice is when the Runner approaches that ice during a run on the fort. We may choose either to pay the rez cost of the ice, and thus activate it, or to let the Runner through. Once the ice is rezzed, it remains active and need not be paid for again. At the point that we rez a piece of ice, the Runner must break the subroutines of the ice, suffer their effect, or some combination thereof. When choosing ice, we need to keep in mind that only subroutines that actually end the run prevent the Runner from continuing the run.
Upgrade: We install upgrades vertically inside data forts, and we can install upgrades inside a fort whether or not an agenda or node currently occupies the fort. An upgrade represents an improvement to a data fort, perhaps a particularly competent sysop or a set of utility programs. There is no limit to the number of upgrades we can have in a given data fort. If we install an upgrade inside R&D or inside our Archives, we place it behind the appropriate pile(s); if we install an upgrade inside HQ, we put the card under or behind our bit pool. The Runner typically doesn't know whether a card inside a subsidiary data fort is an upgrade, an agenda, or a node, but since we cannot play an agenda or node on a central data fort, the Runner knows when we play an upgrade on one. When we wish to use an unrevealed upgrade's ability, we pay the rez cost of the upgrade and reveal it.
Operation: Operations represent some Corporate function of limited scope; we play an operation as an action, pay its cost, and then trash it. Operations are the only cards we trash after we play them. When we play operations, they go to the face-up pile in our trash.
Runner Rules
During the course of the game, you will have a draw pile, called your stack, a face-up discard pile, called your trash, and your hand. Whenever one of your cards is trashed, whether by you or the Corp, it goes to the top of your trash. Your trash is far less secure than any Corporate Archives: both you and Corp can rummage the trash at any time to see what's in it. If your stack ever runs out of cards, you just keep playing the game with any cards left in your hand and ignore any event that requires you to draw when your stack's running on empty.
Your primary goal is to make runs successfully in order to liberate agendas. Occasionally, you will want to make a run to shut down a particularly useful node that the Corp is using. If the Corp leaves one of its data forts unprotected, especially HQ or R&D, you should feel free to run it in the hopes of finding agendas, but beware traps that the Corp might be setting for you. Eventually, the Corp will install ice, which you'll have to deal with. You should have icebreakers that get past walls, code gates, and sentries, or else you may end up helplessly watching the Corporation score its agendas. In order to ensure that you get your icebreakers quickly enough, you will probably want to play either with several types of each category of icebreaker or with cards that let you dig through your deck. In general, you are fairly safe to attempt a run as soon as you have a killer or other anti-sentry icebreaker in play, because walls and code gates do not usually present a threat beyond ending the run. You can make a run without having any icebreakers in play, but if you don't have one and there is ice protecting the fort, you may be asking for trouble.
In addition to icebreakers, you also should have cards that allow you to avoid receiving tags, or at least get rid of them quickly, and cards that provide links, or you will more than likely end up flatlined. Of course, you will need to draw enough bits to pay for installing your various tools, and to pay for using them.
Program: You begin the game with 4 MU, or Memory Units. As the game progresses, you might install certain cards that increase your memory. The combined MU cost of your programs in play cannot exceed the number of MU you have. Since most programs take up 1 MU, this generally means you'll be limited to four programs, or three if you install one of the 2 MU hogs. The number of MU a program takes is indicated in the card's keywords.
Installing a program takes one of your four actions. As you install a program, you may choose to overwrite one or more programs you already have in play, whether or not you need to free up MU. This trashes the program.
If at any time you have too many programs in play for the MU you currently have (for instance, because you just lost some memory chips), you must immediately trash enough programs to correct the situation.
Different types of programs can be distinguished by the color of the dot located in the middle of the left side of the card, and by the icon on the bottom right corner of the card (within which the strength number on icebreakers is located). The following icons and colors are used:
Program Icons and Colors |
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| Program | Color | Icon | ||||
| Generic Program | Yellow |  |
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| Virus | Orange |  |
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| Icebreakers: | ||||||
| Code Gate | Purple |  |
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| Generic | Green |  |
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| Sentry | Violet |  |
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| Wall | Red |  |
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. Prep: You play a prep as an action, pay its cost, and
then trash it. Preps are the only cards you trash right after
you play them.)
from our respective bit banks. As per standard operating
procedure, we place our bit pool next to R&D, to represent the
HQ data fort.
Next, we draw five cards from R&D, and the Runner draws five from his or her stack. Our cards turn out to be the sentry ice Code Corpse, the wall ice Fire Wall, the code gate ice Keeper, the node Rockerboy Promotion, and the upgrade Red Herrings. We then make the mandatory draw to begin our turn, which produces the operation Accounts Receivable as our sixth card. Now we are ready to take our three actions for the turn.
Our first priority is to put ice on vulnerable forts to keep the Runner from stealing our agendas. We are never quite sure what R&D is up to, and for all we know, the next card of R&D could be an agenda. Therefore it makes sense to install ice on that data fort. And while we have no agendas stored in HQ, we do have a node and an upgrade that the Runner could trash if they were accessed, so we would like to protect HQ as well.
Having determined that we must protect both our forts if
possible, we consider the ice we have available. The first ice
card on each fort is installed for free, but if we can't pay
to rez a card, it won't stop the Runner if the Runner decides
to ignore it and run the fort, so our first concern is whether
we can rez our cards. Our Fire Wall costs to rez, Keeper
costs , and Code Corpse costs 
. Our starting does not
allow us to rez any two of these ice, but playing Accounts
Receivable will increase our bit pool to 
, giving us just
enough bits to rez Fire Wall and Keeper (as long as we don't
install them both on the same data fort, which would cost us
for the second ice installed). So we decide to spend our three
actions playing Accounts Receivable, installing Fire Wall on
R&D, and then installing Keeper in front of HQ.
Running Bit Total: Runner: ; Us:
While the Corp was going about its business, you were looking at your hand. The five cards you drew were The Short Circuit (a resource), the preps Score! and Livewire's Contacts, the program Force Shield, and Zetatech Mem Chip (hardware). Checking out the playing field, you see that the Corp has installed ice in front of R&D and in front of HQ, and has the bits to use them. Making a run on either fort right now would be risky, since either ice could be a sentry. Running into a code gate or wall wouldn't be too bad, though, as chances are the ice would simply end your run, but a sentry could easily trace you to your location or slap you with some Net damage--or do something just as depressing. Force Shield would help with the Net damage, but some sentries trash programs, and you wouldn't have any defense against that.
Luckily you have the resource The Short Circuit, which allows
you to dig through your stack for programs, such as
icebreakers. You spend the first action of your turn
installing the Circuit, paying its installation cost of . As
your second action, you pay to use The Short Circuit's
ability to search through your stack, and you quickly settle
on Loony Goon, which is a relatively cheap, versatile
icebreaker designed to defeat sentries. You show Loony Goon to
the Corp before bringing it into your hand, as per The Short
Circuit's card text, and then shuffle your stack.
Sadly, you can't afford the icebreaker's installation cost of
anymore, and you certainly can't afford to use Loony Goon
once it's in play. So you spend your third and fourth actions
playing Livewire's Contacts and Score!, bringing your bit pool
first to and then .
Running Bit Total: You: ; Corp:
Turn 2:
As always, we begin our turn by drawing a card. This time we
draw the agenda Employee Empowerment, which is worth 3 agenda
points for the player who scores it. (It's a good thing we
protected R&D last turn!) However, we must now decide how best
to keep the Runner from accessing the data. Do we install it,
and hope to process it quickly, or do we keep the agenda in
HQ, and improve our defenses? If we install the agenda and
then install the Code Corpse to protect it, the Runner may get
the agenda, since the Runner can break sentries. We decide to
consolidate our resources before creating any new data forts,
so we spend our first action installing Code Corpse in front
of HQ, just outside Keeper. Since we aren't trashing Keeper,
we pay an installation cost of to do this. We're just a
couple bits shy of being able to rez Code Corpse, so we spend
our second and third actions drawing a total of from the
bank.
Running Bit Total: Runner: ; Us:
The Corp hasn't created a subsidiary data fort for you to
plunder yet, so your options for running are limited to R&D
and HQ, given that running the Archives is pointless. Since
the Corp just installed a second piece of ice in front of HQ,
it's unlikely that you'll have the right icebreakers to get
through, or that you'd be able to afford to break the ice even
if you did. You decide to run on R&D. But first, you install
Loony Goon, at a cost of , giving you an option for breaking
ice. This leaves you with , which is enough to use Loony Goon
to break almost any seentry with a single subroutine. However,
you could be in trouble if the ice is strong and has multiple
routines, so you spend your second action drawing from the
bit bank to give yourself more of a cushion. For your third
action, you run against R&D.
The Runner is making a run against R&D, and is fast
approaching Fire Wall. Rezzing Fire Wall would leave us with
only , and we need to plan ahead to the protection of HQ.
is enough to rez the Keeper ice on HQ, but not the Code
Corpse. However, the Runner still can't break Keeper, and we
have four cards in our hand, so even if the Runner gets
through to HQ successfully, we might not lose our agenda. We
decide to rez Fire Wall on R&D, paying its rez cost of .
Whoops! Sadly, Loony Goon can only break sentries, so you
can't break Fire Wall's subroutine. However (as is usually the
case with walls), the only subroutine is " End the run," so
the only penalty you suffer is that your run is ended.
For your last action, you are not sure what to do. Should you
use The Short Circuit to find a wall-buster that you can use
to break into R&D? Now that the Corp has fewer bits and might
not be able to rez both pieces of ice in front of HQ, maybe
you should run HQ. In the end, however, you decide to draw a
card. You hope to get a better source of income, but instead
you draw the prep Inside Job. Inside Job lets you get past the
first piece of ice you encounter, for free, so you could use
it to raid R&D, or to help you get into HQ. Drawing this card
is your last action this turn, but you are already thinking
about what you will do next turn. Maybe you should continue
your quest for more bits, or go search for that wall-buster.
So many options, so little time to stop the Corp's nefarious
plans....
Running Bit Total: You: 
; Corp:
Turn 3:
Well, R&D and HQ are relatively safe right now, but this won't
last long, since the Runner can continue to search for
programs with The Short Circuit. Loony Goon, however, is going
to be very expensive to use against Code Corpse, so the Runner
won't be able to get through to HQ very often; once we rez
Code Corpse, we should have more time to build up our
resources. With anticipation, we draw a card to start our
turn, and we get the operation Trojan Horse. Now we have a
nasty surprise waiting for the Runner! If the Runner does
manage to steal our Employee Empowerment or another agenda, we
can play Trojan Horse, which tags the Runner after he or she
steals an agenda. If we get a tag on the Runner, we could pay
to get rid of the resource The Short Circuit, which is
giving us real problems. And there's always a chance that
we'll draw a card that will enable us to deal with a tagged
Runner permanently....