Hi all,

I've played TI:3 a few times and just got 4, and will be leading a game with some new players I shoehorned into it. As I've been going over the rules though, I have some questions, and probably will have a couple more the next few days.

First, when you set out the 5 of each set of public agendas, are those the only ones, or do you deal more out once those have all been revealed? That should make for a hard limit of 10 turns?

Secondly, I'm kind of confused by the Arborec. They get infantry from planets, and their infantry can build more infantry? Or other things? I read a bit on BGG saying that when they have a build capacity of 1 they can build only one, still at the cost of one, but once there are two you can build two? Can each build two, or each two infantry can only build two infantry? Does this interact with the build or support capacity of other elements?

Thanks!

I think you mean Public Objectives, not Agendas. Might seem a minor thing but it is always important to call everything what they are named to avoid confusion. This also makes it easier to look things up.

As to the amount, yes. 5 Stage 1 PO's followed by 5 Stage 2 PO's is all there is, same as in TI3. So yes there is kind of a hard limit on 10 ROUNDS (Each round consisting of many TURNS - Calling things what they are), same as in TI3. If noone has managed to get to 10 VPs before that, however, all players are focusing on the wrong things.

As to the Arborec Infantry, they can build anything. They are also the only way for the Arborec to BUILD more Infantry as their Space Docks cannot build Infantry. They have a starting build capacity of 1 (Upgrades to 2 with Leitani Warriors II tech). However, they can now, unlike in TI3, pool their capacity so that 2 Infantry can build 2 more Infantry (or Fighters) for 1 resource. Otherwise they can only build 1 new Infantry/Fighter for 1 resource until upgraded. Also worth noting is that they can now, also unlike in TI3, build in the same activation that they moved iIrc.

Thanks that helps a lot, and I'll try to watch the terminology difference. Netrunner has me thinking of agendas

Ok, this is not about the rules but I've spent way too much time being bothered by these questions. A lot. I know I'm weird. Anyway. What do Hylar look like? There's a large neck under their head, but then what? A tiny humanoid body? A bunch of octopus-like stuff so they're like a little tree? It would be so much simpler if they were fish.

Then, what are the Embers of Muat anyway? Humanoid, or some other shape? Do they gradually burn through their material and then die, or just produce a lot of heat from some crazy metabolism? What were they enslaved to build that wouldn't have been destroyed by the heat? Just a bunch of metalwork? Were the Hylar able to interact with them because of their own little suits? I get that they're supposed to be vaguely like the Tholians, but those have at least a crystal structure or something.

Then, the Barony of Letnev. I also get that they're Space Drow, but clearly their random rogue planet isn't their origin, unless it got spun off from another solar system by some catastrophe, right?

Do the L1Z1X have babies, like the cute little Borglets we saw in Star Trek, or are they just the old decaying cyber-corpses like in the picture, which I assume is the old leader they spoke of?