Variants and Optional Rules
The game comes with several optional rules and the counters necessary to play them out. Some of these were optional expansions in earlier editions of the game.
The simplest variant is the long game, where the winner must score 14 victory points. The scoring track included with the game has two sides, one for the 10-point game and one for 14.
Many players play a variant of the game where the Imperial strategy card only scores 1 victory point for its owner. This reduces the importance of the Imperial Strategy card and allows for slightly longer games. The Shattered Empire expansion fixes most of the problems seen in the original game and is seen by most Twilight Imperium players as a must have for the game to be playable.
The "Distant Suns" variant places random counters on each neutral planet. These counters are revealed when first explored and can have a variety of beneficial or detrimental effects to the explorer.
Three leader counters (either admiral, diplomat, agent, general or scientist) are included in the game for each race, each of which can provide special benefits for the ship or system they are present in.
Additional optional rules and variants are included in the rulebook.
Read more about this topic: Twilight Imperium
Famous quotes containing the words variants, optional and/or rules:
“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“Our father presents an optional set of rhythms and responses for us to connect to. As a second home base, he makes it safer to roam. With him as an ally—a love—it is safer, too, to show that we’re mad when we’re mad at our mother. We can hate and not be abandoned, hate and still love.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)
“The average educated man in America has about as much knowledge of what a political idea is as he has of the principles of counterpoint. Each is a thing used in politics or music which those fellows who practise politics or music manipulate somehow. Show him one and he will deny that it is politics at all. It must be corrupt or he will not recognize it. He has only seen dried figs. He has only thought dried thoughts. A live thought or a real idea is against the rules of his mind.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)