This gameplay expansion for Syncanite Foundation allows you to master the CRIMSON PROTOCOL – the unofficial rules of power!
Pulling these hidden strings allows you to influence the game on a whole new level. Systems get deeper, allowing you to build long term advantages, what introduces new strategies and thus ways to trigger the crisis of your choice you aspire to win by.
Features of Crimson Protocol:
Area Majority Mechanic that gives 2 new resources:
Favours (from each of the three nations on the map)
Prestige (that can be lost by playing nasty operation cards)
Use favors to trigger up to three additional, unique effects of your role card or claim a doctrine of your choice and use prestige to level it to unlock another two unique, very strong game changing effects.
But be careful: Having negative prestige might activate maluses on your victory conditions what debuffs your momentum when trying to win or even punishes you right away if you hit -3 prestige!
On the other side, you can build networks through your buying choices to access new ways to play the game:
The establishment network to steer politics as you wish and manipulate the global courts
The criminal network to commit more precise criminal operations
The mercenary network to initiate piracy and sabotage operstions aka use lethal force even without the crisis "War"
All these networks can also enable access to buffs for your victory conditions, what – together with the debuff system – makes victory conditions asymmetric for all players – a lot of opportunities and challenges lie ahead!
All of this gets spiced up by another two, new system:
Corporations you can invest in to access their technology
The Syncanite Foundation Reserve System that ensures stability on the syncanite market to avoid greater chaos
Building a cooperation requires resources. Players can share this expensive investments to become joint shareholders. But by investing capital into foundation certificates, you can increase your amount of shares in a company to unlock even stronger technology. These certificates however need to be paid back to ensure the stability of the syncanite market as the Reserve system must ensure that the market is always within the legal trading range that all players change together by vocal vote.
This system can be used to push the crisis of your choice as using tech allows you to increase a crisis of your choice. The shares in companies also add to the area majority counting + create capital revenue so owning them builds long term advantages. And who knows ... maybe destabilizing the syncanite reserve system is exactly what you need to plunge the continent into the chaos you aspire? Or will you use it to avoid Tyranny from occurring that might end you all?
Because crisis get counted till 30 now unlocking multipe crisis events each time a crisis hits 3, 6 or 9 after initial activation. Whoever pushed the crisis over the next edge gets to decide what global effect will trigger … but not with Tyranny as it is the Ascendant – the Emperor – the tyrant himself who will decide what game mechanic will be eliminated before he gets rid of you winning the game all by himself when Tyranny hits 30.
So ... playing with fire has never been more dangerous. But also ... never been that rewarding!
Which hiding string of power will you pull to take over the Syncanite Foundation?
—description from the publisher
Expansion for Base-game, Economic, Fantasy, Negotiation, Novel-based, Political, Wargame · Area Majority / Influence, Auction / Bidding, Bribery, End Game Bonuses, Hand Management, Investment, Map Deformation, Market, Multi-Use Cards, Negotiation, Take That, Traitor Game, Turn Order: Auction, Variable Player Powers, Voting, Worker Placement, Different Worker Types
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