Shift structure
Rules · Match structure · 40 cards · 90 s per shift
A NARAMO TCG match is two operators each running their own shift of the plant. You have a private Reactor (Core Temperature track, SKALA panel, Power Order tally), a Roster (Personnel in play), a Site (Facilities), an Alarm Board (Incidents attached to your shift) and a hand. The opponent’s raiders and Incidents reach across to your shift; your guards and procedures hold them off.
- Both reactors are set to 1,420 K (nominal). SKALA panels at 0 HACK counters. Power Orders at 0. SCRAM available.
- Shuffle; draw 6. One Roster Review each: shuffle your hand back and draw 6 again (once).
- Random first player. The second player draws a 7th card.
- Both players start at Clearance Level D with 2 base Swipes.
The four phases
Section titled “The four phases”| Phase | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Shift Start (automatic) | Report in: all your EXHAUSTED Personnel become READY. Base Load: your core +150 K (+200 K with 3+ HACK counters; skipped while SHUT DOWN). Resolve every “SHIFT START:” effect you control in the order you choose (Coolant Pumps, Control Room, Reactor Hall). Draw 1 (the first player skips this on shift 1). Refresh Swipes = 2 + Facilities you control, max 6. |
| 2. Operations | Any number of times, in any order, while you can pay: play Personnel / Equipment / Facility / Procedure cards (pay Swipes, meet Clearance), station or recall Personnel, declare strikes, use Exhaust: abilities, SCRAM if in the Overheat band. |
| 3. Incident | Alarms: every Incident on your shift and every SITE-WIDE Incident resolves its ALARM text, oldest first. Then you may deploy one Incident from your hand onto a shift (yours or the opponent’s). Then you may pay CLEAR costs of Incidents on your shift. Incidents can only be deployed in this phase. |
| 4. Shift End (automatic) | Power Order check. Overheat effects if your core is ≥ 2,400 K. Decrement DURATION counters on your Incidents; discard those at 0. Discard down to 7 cards. Win/loss check. |
Timing words: a shift is one player’s full turn. “Until your next Shift End” spans the opponent’s shift.
Ending your shift from Operations runs the Incident phase and Shift End in one go. If an alarm needs a choice (Gubby’s discard-or-heat, for instance), the game pauses for the prompt and resumes on its own.
Limits
Section titled “Limits”| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Roster (Personnel in play) | 7 |
| Site (Facilities in play) | 6 |
| Alarm Board (Incidents per shift) | 3 — a fourth cannot be deployed |
| Hand at Shift End | 7 |
| Swipes per shift | 2 + Facilities, cap 6 (+1 on demand from Emergency Diesel Generators) |
| ACT Procedures | one per player per shift |
| DOCTRINE Procedures | one per player per shift (needs a COMMANDER) |
| SCRAM | once per player per match |
Deck rules
Section titled “Deck rules”| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| Deck size | Exactly 40 |
| Copies | Max 3 per card ID. Max 1 per Classified (Z) card; max 2 Z cards per deck |
| Bloc | Declare DEFENSE (DOE, SECFOR, Stratocracy) or ASSAULT (West Noobia, Bloxian). Only that bloc’s factions plus Neutral are legal |
| Uniques | Up to 3 copies in the deck, 1 in play |
| Rarity | Never a deck-building restriction |
The deck builder warns if a DEFENSE deck has no OPERATOR or an ASSAULT deck has no RAIDER; the rules do not forbid it.
The clock
Section titled “The clock”Every shift has 90 seconds (also for the Roster Review). When the clock runs out the shift ends automatically: open prompts get the default answer (keep the hand, no block, take the heat rather than hack, first option). Three consecutive timeouts forfeit the match. If your connection drops you have a 60-second grace to reconnect before the opponent wins by disconnect.
Where the drama is
Section titled “Where the drama is”The rest of this section takes the pieces one at a time: Core Temperature, Power Orders, Clearance and Swipes, the five card types, strikes and blocks, SKALA hacks, SCRAM, and the voice that narrates it all, the Shift Supervisor.