JEDI KNIGHTS™ TRADING CARD GAME

What is a Trading Card Game?

Most card games have just one deck of cards that never changes, but a
trading card game (or TCG) works differently. In a TCG, you personalize
your playing deck using cards from your collection. Since your opponent
does the same thing, you never know how the game will end!

What is the Jedi

Knights Trading
Card Game?
The Jedi Knights Trading Card
Game puts you in control of
the action-packed Star Wars™
universe. Set in the classic
trilogy timeline, Jedi Knights
delivers a Star Wars movie
experience like you’ve never
seen before.
You direct either the brave
forces of the Rebel Alliance or
the Empire’s evil minions in a
struggle for ultimate control of
the galaxy. Heroes like Luke
Skywalker and Han Solo cross wills and weapons with their powerful
adversaries, Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. Will the light side of the
Force prevail, or will the galaxy shiver beneath the shadow of the dark side?

Jedi Knights TCG 1

HOW THE G AME IS PLAYED Character
Each game of Jedi Knights writes its own thrilling Star Wars story. Battles
rage across the galaxy as players clash in space with orbiting starships and Subtitle • • Destiny Number
on planets in character-to-character firefights. • Allegiance
Win control of three planets, and you control the universe — and win the
game! But if your opponent steals away one or two planets, the game Title •
enters a dramatic Final Conflict. Combining resources won from the first
three planets with the remaining cards in their decks, both sides battle until
only one player’s characters remain on the fourth and final planet. That
player wins the game! Theme • • Keywords
You can play Jedi Knights as either a two-player game or a four-player
team game. Each player needs his own deck (either one of the Deploy • • Leadership Icon
Cost •
Preconstructed Starter Decks or a customized deck). Your first game will Power •
probably be a two-player game, so the rules describe that first, before Defense • • Game text
describing the four-player version.
Lore • • Collector’s Info
As you read these rules, you will find many words and phrases printed in
boldface to let you know that they are defined in the Glossary.
If this is your first experience with a trading card game, you may want to start Character cards represent personalities vital to the story of Star Wars.
with the Play Guide on the playmat that came with your Star ter Deck. One of the characters in your deck, your Hero, determines the Theme of
your deck. (Some Heroes are called Dark Heroes, but the two terms are
CARD TYPES interchangeable.)
The next few pages introduce the various card types in Jedi Knights. Each Black squares show the deploy cost for that character. That’s how many
introduction covers the type’s main features and function in the game. credits you must spend to bring this card into play.
The power number represents this character’s strength in battle, while
the defense number shows his protection against weapon fire. Some
important characters, called “leaders,” have leadership icons, showing
their ability to lead other characters in battle.

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Starship Theme
Title • • Destiny Number Title •
• Allegiance

Theme •
Icon •
Theme • • Keywords
Deploy • • Leadership Icons
Cost •
Power •
Defense • • Game text Theme • • Game Text
Number •
Lore • • Collector’s Info • Collector’s Info

Like a character, a starship has deploy cost, power, and defense, and You always use one Theme card. It creates a “Theme pile” — a holding area
may have one or more leadership icons showing its ability to lead other for one of your Hero cards as well as characters, starships, and weapons
starships in battle. you can use during the Final Conflict. Some cards allow you to place
Conceptually, all starships already have pilots aboard (so it is not necessary cards in your Theme pile (stack them face up beneath the Theme card),
to have character cards aboard them). However, some starships have game while other cards and certain rules allow you to play cards from that pile.
text that allows specific characters to play aboard (if the starship is very The Theme number on your Theme card breaks ties in certain situations.
small, then conceptually the built-in pilot temporarily leaves to make room Your starter deck includes Theme cards for two different Heroes. Before
if necessary). you play, be sure to remove one of the Theme cards (and its corresponding
Hero). For example, if you’ve selected the Alliance starter deck, you have to
choose between Luke Skywalker (with The Force Is Strong With This One) and
Han Solo (with You Like Me Because I’m A Scoundrel).
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Location Force
• Title

Site (front)
Force •
Number •
• Bonus Credits
• Keywords
• Collector’s Info
• Game Text
Credit •
Number • • Draw Number
System (back)
• Collector’s Info

Each player begins the game with a Force deck containing eight different
Force cards of the same color, numbered 1 to 8. During the game, Force
cards determine who goes first in a turn, how many credits the players can
spend to bring cards into play that turn, and how many cards the players
Battles take place at draw when the turn ends.
locations. One side Selecting the right Force card for each turn becomes an important part of your
of the location card shows a site on the ground, and the other side shows Jedi Knights strategy. Just as a Jedi apprentice learns how to use the Force, so
a view of the planet within its system. you must master your Force deck.
Characters fight each other at sites; starships battle each other at systems.
Starships never go to a site, but sometimes a character plays aboard a
starship at a system.
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Weapon Event
Title • • Destiny Number Title • • Destiny Number
• Allegiance • Allegiance

Theme • • Keywords • Keywords

Deploy •
Cost • Tactical •
Bonus •
• Game Text • Game Text

Lore • • Collector’s Info Lore • • Collector’s Info

Characters and starships use weapon cards to target and destroy specific Events change the course of the game, often surprising your opponent.
enemy cards during battle. A few weapons have black squares showing They have a variety of effects, and play at different times during the game,
their deploy cost. That’s how many credits you must spend to bring those according to their keywords. You do not have to spend credits to put
cards into play. (Most weapons have no deploy cost.) Events into play.
Each time you play an Event, you choose to use either its game text or its
tactical bonus (but not both), as described later in the rules.

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I MPORTANT GAME CONCEPTS determines the outcome, much like the roll of a die. After you determine
the result, place the card you drew into your hand.
Allegiance. The symbol in the upper right
corner of most cards identifies that card as Ready/rotate. Most of the time,
ready
part of the Alliance (white) or the Empire characters and starships are ready to act.
rotated
(black). If your game deck has any cards belonging to the Alliance, it may Sometimes you rotate them (turn them
not have any belonging to the Empire (or vice versa). Independent cards to the side) to show that they have done
(gray) may go into either type of deck. something during the current turn, and that
they are no longer ready. At the end of the
Theme icons appear turn you ready them again.
on many cards. Your
Hero character and When you ready or rotate a card that has other cards on it (such as a
Theme card determine your deck’s Theme. For example, if you choose Luke character with a weapon or a starship with a pilot), just ready or rotate the
as your Theme, you’ll have a Theme card for Luke and one or more Luke entire stack.
cards with the keyword Hero, and you’ll want to include many other cards
with the same Theme. (Cards from other Themes can be in your deck, but BUILDING YOUR GAME DECK
they cost you more to play.) Some characters, weapons, and starships have Each player must have his own Jedi Knights game deck. (A preconstructed
no Theme (indicated by gray). Luke, Han, Vader, and Tarkin are the available starter deck contains everything that one player needs.) A game deck has
Themes in the first Jedi Knights card set. two basic parts: setup cards and a draw deck. The setup cards must
Keywords identify card characteristics and create relationships between include the following:
cards. For example, a card with the keyword Rebel is a Rebel card, and is • one Theme card;
affected by things that refer to Rebel cards. Words in card titles, subtitles,
and lore are never considered keywords. • one Hero named on that Theme card;
Leadership icons (✦), found on character and starship cards, represent • four location cards (one from each of the four different planets); and
that card’s ability to lead another such card into battle. Cards with these • an eight-card Force deck with cards of the same color, numbered 1 to 8.
icons are “leaders.” Each Theme card names a special version of your Hero in its game text. This
Drawing destiny. When you do something that has an uncertain version of the character is called your “starting Hero” because you place that
outcome (like firing a weapon), you draw destiny to see if you succeed or character in your Theme pile at the start of the game.
fail. Draw the top card of your draw deck and reveal it to all players. The
number in the upper right corner of the card is your destiny number, and
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The draw deck may contain any cards except setup cards (Theme cards, these cards and then place them in their Theme piles (stacked face up
locations, and Force cards), and it must follow these rules: under their Theme cards).
• It must have at least 40 cards. (Most draw decks use around 60 to ➌ The players now build a stack of sites and a stack of systems as
80 cards.) follows: If you have the highest Theme number on your Theme card,
• It may contain more than one version of your Hero, but all of your Hero you go first. Choose one of your four sites and place it in the center of
cards must match your Theme card. the table. Your opponent takes his system that corresponds to your site
(the one that represents the same planet) and places it next to the site.
• It may have no more than five copies of each individual card. (However, Each card should be placed with its card title facing its owner.
note that a few cards say “limit one per deck” in their game text.)
Then your opponent chooses one of his sites, stacking it on top of your
The cards in your deck may have allegiance icons for the Alliance or the site. You take your corresponding system and stack it on top of his
Empire, but not both. (Cards with the Independent icon may be used in any system. (Make sure the title on each of these cards faces its owner.)
kind of deck.)
Continue choosing sites and systems in alternating fashion until both
If your deck represents the Alliance, find an opponent whose deck players are out of locations. There should be a stack of four sites and a
represents the Empire (or vice versa). You can’t play the Alliance against
the Alliance (or the Empire against the Empire). Your side of system site
Your starter deck comes with two different Heroes and Theme cards. Before you the table
play, choose which Hero you want to use, and set the other Hero (with its
weapon weapon
corresponding Theme card) aside.

GAME SETUP
Getting ready to play takes four steps (the playmat that came with your
starter can help, or you can refer to the illustration on the next page): starships characters
Event
➊ Place your Force deck face down on the table, off to your left. Your “starting Hero”
opponent does likewise.
➋ Both players place their Theme cards face up on the table in front
of themselves. Then each player takes their “starting hero” and looks
current Force draw discard
through their draw deck to find any other cards allowed by the Theme Force card deck Theme pile deck pile
card’s game text. When both players are ready, they show each other
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 corresponding stack of four systems. The site and system on top are the Force Phase — Each player looks through his Force deck,
first planet to be battled over and that planet now enters play; carry out
the game text on the topmost site at this time.
1 chooses a Force card and places that card face down on the table.
When both players have done so, reveal these Force cards at the same time
➍ Shuffle your draw deck, allow your opponent to cut it, and then draw and place them face up beside their owners’ Force decks. Players use the
the number of cards indicated in the game text of your Theme card numbers on these current Force cards throughout the rest of the turn (until
to form your starting hand. Place your draw deck face down on the covered up by next turn’s Force card). Your current Force card affects
table, off to your right. three things this turn:
• it sets your Force number (to determine which player goes first in
PLAYING THE GAME later phases);
Each turn of Jedi Knights has six different phases: the Force Phase, the • it specifies the number of credits you can spend playing cards during
Deploy Phase, the Starship Battle Phase, the Blockade Phase, the the Deploy Phase; and
Character Battle Phase, and the Draw Phase. During most of these • it determines how many cards you must draw into your hand during the
phases, players take a number of game actions such as playing a card, Draw Phase.
initiating a battle, firing a weapon, drawing a card, or using the game text
of a card already in play. When you choose a card from your Force deck, it is placed on top of the
Force card you used last turn. You can never choose a card from this pile in
Turns work differently in Jedi Knights than they do in many other games. your Force Phase — so it pays to plan ahead!
Instead of waiting for one player to go through all of the phases of a turn,
both players participate in each phase of every turn. There’s no “your turn” The player who reveals the Force card with the highest Force number
and “my turn” in Jedi Knights! becomes Player 1 for this turn, and the other becomes Player 2. (If there’s
a tie, then the player with the highest Theme number becomes Player 1.)
For example, during a single Deploy Phase, both the Alliance player and the
Empire player put characters and starships into play. After both players finish, The Force card you selected in the Force Phase provides you with
the Deploy Phase ends, and the game continues on to the next phase. a specified number of credits. This represents the amount of “virtual
currency” you have to pay for the cards you play from your hand in the
The following sections describe how to play Jedi Knights with the basic Deploy Phase. You cannot save leftover credits from turn to turn.
card types such as characters, weapons, and starships. After that, Using
Events and Game Text describes how to add more strategy to your game.

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 Deploy Phase — During the Deploy Phase, you play your Transferring weapons — You may use a game action in this phase to
2 cards to the scene of the upcoming battle. Players alternate taking
game actions in this phase. If you are Player 1, you take the first action.
transfer a weapon from one of your cards to another. You may transfer a
Shipboard weapon from one starship to another, or a Personal weapon from
one character to another if the characters are both at the site or aboard the
After you complete your action, then Player 2 takes a game action, and so
on. If you do not want to take an action when your turn comes up, just say same starship. You do not have to spend credits for the transfer, but the
“pass.” card the weapon transfers to must be able to use that weapon. Each
weapon card may be deployed or transferred once per turn only.
Playing characters, weapons, and starships — When you
may take a game action in the Deploy Phase, you may play one character, Play continues back and forth until both players consecutively pass. (If you
starship or weapon from your hand to the table. (Note that your “starting pass but your opponent takes another action, you then take another action
Hero” has game text allowing it to be played from your Theme pile rather yourself or pass again.) When both players pass consecutively, the Deploy
than from your hand.) Phase ends (and any unused credits from that turn are lost).
• A starship plays only to the system.
• A character plays to the site. Some characters may also play aboard
certain starships at the system, as allowed by the cards’ game texts.
3 Starship Battle Phase — Opposing starships at the
system attack each other during this phase. Players alternate taking
game actions in this phase; if you are Player 1, you take the first action.
The most common action in this phase is initiating a starship battle, and
• A weapon plays only under a character (for each Starship Battle Phase often includes several different battles
Personal weapons) or under a starship (for initiated by both players.
Shipboard weapons). Place the weapon under
the character or starship with its title To initiate a starship battle, select one of your ready starships, declare
showing. A character or starship may have that starship as the attacker, and then select any one of your opponent’s
any number of weapons played under it starships to be the defender. (You may select a rotated starship to be the
(although each character and starship can fire defender.) Rotate the attacker (but not the defender).
only once in each battle). Each battle contains three steps: Support, Weapons, and Power. During each
If the card has a deploy cost, you must have the step, play alternates as each player takes one game action (or passes).
credits to pay for it, and that card “uses up” some of Each step ends after both players pass consecutively.
your credits for that turn. Support Step — In this step, players can add other starships into the
Important: if you play a card with a Theme icon different from your deck’s battle to support the attacker and defender. Supporting cards act like
Theme, that card’s deploy cost increases by 1. bodyguards, protecting the attacker or defender from enemy weapon fire
(the attacker or defender cannot be fired at while it has support). However,

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if the attacker or defender loses the battle, all supporting starships suffer You must now draw destiny to determine if your weapon fire hits the
the same fate, so it’s a calculated risk. target. Draw the top card of your draw deck and reveal it to your opponent;
Players alternate taking game actions, but this time you do not the number in the upper right corner of the card is your destiny number.
begin with Player 1; instead, the defending player takes the first game (Sometimes this destiny number is modified by game text like “+1 to hit.” )
action. The most common game action in this step is adding support. If your destiny number is greater than the target’s defense number, then
To add support to your starship, that starship must have one or more the target is hit. Immediately discard that starship (and any cards played
leadership icons (✦) and you must have another ready starship available. on or under it). That starship and any characters aboard are defeated.
Rotate that ready starship in order to support your attacker or defender, Otherwise, your shot has missed. Either way, don’t forget to take the card
then slide it over next to the attacker or defender to indicate its support. you drew for destiny into your hand.
Supporting starships may not be supported; only the attacker and defender The defending player now takes a game action, and players alternate taking
may be supported. actions until the Weapons Step ends by both players passing consecutively.
The Support Step ends when both players pass consecutively. The attacker, If weapon fire removes the last starship on one side, the battle ends
the defender, all supporting starships, and any characters aboard those immediately and the other side wins the battle.
starships are now in a battle. (Other starships currently at the system are Power Step — Players alternate taking game actions, beginning with the
not in that battle.) attacking player. When both players pass consecutively, you must determine
Weapons Step — Players alternate taking game actions, but during this who wins the battle.
step the attacking player goes first. The most common action in this phase is Compare the power of the attacker and the defender. (Do not add the power
firing a weapon. of supporting starships or the power of characters aboard starships.) The
When you fire a weapon in a starship battle, declare which Shipboard one that has the most power wins the battle. (If they tie, the attacker wins.)
weapon is firing and its target. The weapon must be fired by one of your The participating starships (even starships that only supported) on the
starships in the current battle. (Each starship may fire only once per battle, losing side (and any characters aboard them) are defeated.
no matter how many weapons it has.) Don’t rotate the weapon card.
Remember, any starships or characters removed from the battle before the
In a character battle (which will come later), Personal weapons such as Power Step are also defeated.
lightsabers and axes are “swung” rather than fired. Firing and swinging are
considered the same thing in Jedi Knights (the two terms are interchangeable). Any game text that depends upon who wins the battle, or who was
defeated during the battle, can be used at this time.
The target you select must be one of your opponent’s starships in the current
battle. You may not target the attacker or defender while it is supported. All defeated cards are now discarded, including any cards played
under them.
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The Power Step (and the battle) now ends and the other player gets to Control Check — If this is the second turn at the same planet, then it’s
take a game action in the Starship Battle Phase, usually to initiate time to determine who controls that planet. Total the power of all your
another starship battle. Play continues back and forth until both players characters at the site. (Do not count cards at the system.) Double your
consecutively pass, which ends the Starship Battle Phase. total if your Hero is there. The player with the highest total controls the
planet. (If there is a tie, neither player controls it.) If this is the third planet
4 Blockade Phase — During this phase, starships at the
system can cut off opposing resources to the site and can send down
characters to reinforce their own troops. Players alternate taking game
controlled by the same player, that player immediately wins the game.
Otherwise, both players take their characters, weapons, and starships
actions, beginning with Player 1. remaining at the site and system and place them in their Theme piles. The
player controlling this planet places his version of that location under his
Intimidation — You may “intimidate” your opponent’s troops (except his used Force card stack, site side up, with the bonus credits number sticking
Hero) by rotating one of your ready capital starships. Your opponent must out. (These bonus credits are used when that player reaches the Final
now choose one of his own ready characters at the site and rotate that Conflict.) The losing player — or both players in case of a tie — places his
character. However, your opponent’s Hero may never be intimidated. version of the location in his Theme pile, where it simply remains out of the
Shuttling — You may move one of your characters currently aboard a way for the rest of the game.
starship at the system down to the site (immediately ready that character The planet represented by the newly revealed site and system now enters
if its starship was rotated). play; carry out the game text on the new site. If this is the fourth and last
When both players consecutively pass, the Blockade Phase ends. planet, the Final Conflict rules (see below) are in effect.
Draw cards — Now, Player 1 must draw cards from his draw deck
5 Character Battle Phase — Opposing characters at
the site attack each other during this phase in an attempt to seize
control of the planet. Players alternate taking game actions beginning with
equal to the draw number on his current Force card, then Player 2 does
likewise. Drawing cards is not optional.
Player 1. One of the most common actions is initiating a character battle, When your draw deck runs out of cards, you don’t lose the game — just
which follows all the same rules as a starship battle but using characters at continue playing with the cards you have in your hand. If you’re required to
the site instead of starships at the system. draw one or more cards and you can’t, just draw as many as you can and
Play continues back and forth until both players consecutively pass; this ignore the rest. If you’re required to make a destiny draw when you have no
ends the Character Battle Phase. cards in your draw deck, your destiny draw result is automatically set to zero
(no destiny draw modifiers apply to this result).

6 Draw Phase — During this phase, players do the following

three things, in this order: check for control of the planet, draw
cards, and ready cards.
Ready cards — Both players then ready all of their rotated cards. This
ends the current turn, and the next turn begins with a Force Phase.

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Final Conflict • Play a Deploy Phase Event when it is your turn to take an action during
that phase. A Deploy Phase Event remains in play indefinitely, unless it
If you have controlled all three planets, you win the game (and the Final says it should be discarded.
Conflict does not take place). Otherwise, both players fight it out on one
last planet (the fourth) to determine the final winner. • Play a Battle Phase Event when it is your turn to take an action during
one of the Battle Phases. In general, a Battle Phase Event can work
When players fight for the last planet, the phases of the turn work during the Character Battle Phase or the Starship Battle Phase, although
differently. In the Final Conflict, the first four phases (Force, Deploy, some of them have effects that only work during one or the other.
Starship Battle, and Blockade) occur only once each. Battle Phase Events remain in play until the end of the phase in which
• In the final Force Phase, you have two remaining Force cards to choose they are played, then they are discarded.
from. The card you choose determines your basic credits for the final Battle Phase Events do not play when a battle is in progress (that is, you
Deploy Phase, and establishes the Force and draw numbers you use for may not use your action during the Support Step or Weapons Step to
the rest of the game. play a Battle Phase Event).
• In the final Deploy Phase, each player increases the credits number • Play a Weapons Step Event when it is your turn to take an action during
on their Force card by the bonus credits from the planets they have that step. Weapons Step Events remain in play until the end of the
controlled (the ones placed under their used Force card stack). battle in which they are played, then they are discarded. A Support Step
In addition to playing cards from hand, players may play starships, characters, Event or Power Step Event works in the same way.
and weapons from their Theme piles. • Play a Response Event whenever the condition described in its game text
• The final Starship Battle Phase and Blockade Phase occur normally. happens. If that condition describes a game action, play your Response
Event when that action is declared (before it has its result). Discard the
Play then follows a repeating cycle of Character Battle Phase, Draw Phase,
Character Battle Phase, Draw Phase, and so on. This cycle continues until Response Event after use (unless its game text says otherwise).
only one player’s characters remain at the site. That player wins the game! Each player may respond any number of times to the same condition
(even playing multiple copies of the same Response Event). If there are
Using Events and Game Text two or more responses to the same condition at the same time, the
response(s) made by the player who has the higher Force number will
Events take effect first.
Event cards can add a lot of strategy and surprise to your deck. Events Tactical Bonuses — During the Weapons Step, you may play any Event
have special keywords to make it easy to tell when you can play them: face up under your attacker or defender, with its tactical bonus showing.
This bonus adds to that card’s power for the rest of the battle. In this case,

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only the tactical bonus matters; ignore everything ➌ Pay the deploy cost; and
else on the Event (including title, game text, ➍ Bring the card into play.
and keywords). Each attacker or defender may use
only one tactical bonus per battle. Discard tactical Most of the time, these steps happen naturally without the players having
bonuses when the battle ends (or when that to think about them in great detail. In the rare case of a question or
attacker or defender is defeated). argument about playing a card, consult the detailed steps below.
Game Text Step 1 — Declare
You may use the game text on one of your cards in play when it is your When you declare your card play, specify where you are playing it. The
turn to take a game action. That game text will describe when it may be type of card you play determines where you may play it.
used, with a time frame such as “once per turn,” “once per Deploy Phase,” Starships play only to the system.
“during the Support Step,” and “once per Weapon Step.”
Characters play to the site. A character may also play aboard a starship at
Some game text is automatic, such as “Adds 3 to his power when in a battle the system if the starship’s game text specifically allows it.
against Luke.” (You do not use a game action for this.) When game text
uses a phrase like “in a battle your side wins,” it takes effect during the Weapons play only under a character (for Personal weapons) or a starship
Power Step. (for Shipboard weapons). Place the weapon partway under the character
or starship with its title showing. A character or starship may have any
Just like with Response Events, if both players have automatic game text number of weapons played under it (although each character and starship
activated by the same condition (for example, one side’s game text says, can fire only once in each battle).
“in a battle you win” and the other side’s game text says, “in a battle you
lose”), the game text of the player with the higher Force number takes Some weapons, characters, and starships specify certain restrictions for
effect first. weapons use. You must obey these restrictions when playing, transferring, and
firing weapons.
More Details on Playing a Card Events play anywhere on your side of the table (or under your character
Whenever you play a card (during any phase of the turn, not just the or starship if using the tactical bonus instead of the game text).
Deploy Phase), you must follow these four steps, in this order:
Step 2 — Meet conditions
➊ Declare what card you are playing, and where you are playing it to;
There may be conditions listed in these rules, written in the game text of
➋ Meet any conditions that affect the play of that card (including observing the card you play, or noted in the game text of a card already in play either
uniqueness rules); on your side or your opponent’s side of the table.

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 For example, game text that requires you to reveal the top three cards of your When more than one card in play affects something, add the effects from
draw deck may not be initiated unless you have three or more cards in your those cards together.
draw deck at that time. For example, if an Event in play adds 2 to the power of your Rebel characters
Uniqueness — All character, weapon, and starship cards are unique, and you play another copy of that Event, then each of your Rebel characters
except the ones with the keyword Typical. Unique cards represent special, adds 4 to its power.
one-of-a-kind people or things in the Star Wars universe. Typical cards
represent common items found throughout the universe. Step 3 — Pay costs
For example, there are lots of blasters (card title Blaster) in Mos Eisley, but Most character and starship cards (and even some weapon cards) cost
only one specific blaster in Han Solo’s holster (card title Han’s Blaster Pistol). credits to bring into play, but some have no cost. To bring a card into play
from your hand, you must pay that card’s deploy cost using the credits
Even if a person or thing is unique, it may be represented in the game by provided by your current Force card. If you cannot pay the deploy cost,
one or more different cards. then you may not play the card.
For example, there is obviously only one Luke Skywalker, but in Jedi Knights The cost you must pay is shown as a number of square black icons on the
you’ll find both Luke Skywalker, Moisture Farmer and Luke Skywalker, Hero card. Cards that have a particular Theme have their normal deploy cost
of Yavin. when used in a deck of that Theme; but when used in a deck of a different
When you play a unique character, starship or weapon card, you must first Theme, those cards cost 1 additional credit to play. This is why it is to your
check to see if a card that represents that unique person or thing is already advantage to use the cards that match your deck Theme whenever possible.
in play. (Remember, cards in any player’s hand, in a draw deck, or in a Once you have paid to play a card, you do not have to pay for that card
Theme pile are not in play.) All cards with the same card title, even if their again (unless that card leaves play and you wish to play another copy,
subtitles differ, represent the same person or thing. of course).
If your opponent already has a card in play representing that unique person You do not need any tokens to keep track of credits, because they do not
or thing, then you may not play your version. But if you already have a card accumulate from turn to turn (any credits you do not spend are simply lost
in play representing the person or thing, then you may play the new one at the end of the Deploy Phase). Just make sure that you don’t spend more
from your hand to replace the one in play, as long as the new one you are than the credits allowed by your Force card (plus modifiers to that number,
playing is a different version (that is, it has a different subtitle). In this case if any) each turn.
the earlier card being replaced is discarded.
Events are not unique. You may play as many copies of an Event in one Step 4 — Bringing your card into play
turn or phase as you wish, even if your opponent has already played copies When you have completed the three steps listed above, bring your card into
of those same cards. play. Place the card where you declared you were playing it.
26 Jedi Knights TCG Jedi Knights TCG 27
Unique cards — If you play a unique card and must replace your other Force decks — Each player on a side has his own Force deck, and each
version of that card already in play, then player has his own place in the play sequence. Thus, in a multiplayer game
➊ discard the replaced version, and each turn has Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, and Player 4, according to the
players’ Force numbers. Each player gets to take their own game action in
➋ transfer all cards played on or affecting that version to the newer sequence; after Player 4 completes his action, then Player 1 gets to take
version (unless such transfer would be illegal, in which case you discard one again. Each phase ends when all four players pass consecutively. Also,
the inappropriate card). each player spends his own credits and draws his own cards.
You may not discard the card and then choose not to play another version. Location Setup — The sides take turns choosing sites to stack on the
Once discarded, you must bring the new version into play. table, beginning with the side that has the highest Theme number. When
Whether the card you play is unique or Typical, already in play or not, you your side takes a turn to stack a site, you may choose any site from either
must still follow all four steps of playing a card. Therefore, even when you team member, as long as that planet has not been put on the location
replace a character with another version of the same person, you must still stacks yet. (The other side then chooses one of their copies of that planet
declare, meet conditions, observe uniqueness, and pay costs. to place on the system stack.)
Each time a site and system are placed, the other players who have unused
Multiplayer Rules location cards for that planet place them in their Theme piles, where they
Jedi Knights may be played as a four-player game, with two players remain for the rest of the game.
working as a team on each side. One side plays the Alliance and the other Deploy Phase — You may play cards on your teammate’s cards, such as
side plays the Empire. The two players on each side must have different deploying your weapon on his starship. However, the owner of the starship
Heroes. Players on the same side sit next to each other and make plans or character determines when cards deployed on that starship or character
together. You may want to customize your deck to work well with your take a game action (such as firing a weapon). You must check your
partner’s deck. teammate’s cards when you observe uniqueness rules.
Generally, during most parts of the turn, players on the same side act as Battles — During the Support Step, the players on the defending side decide
individual players. Teammates may consult with each other at any time which one of them takes the first game action, then the players on the
(including when they choose Force cards), and they may show each other attacking side decide which one of them takes the next action, and so on.
their Force cards and the cards in their hands. However, when choosing Your cards may support your teammate’s cards, and vice versa. During the
sites and during both Battle Phases, players act as a team. One side Weapons Step, use the same process but begin with the attacking side.
attacks and the other defends. Any description in the rules referring to a Control Check — Instead of fighting for two turns on each planet, in a
“player” or “opponent” during either Battle Phase should be understood in multiplayer game you battle at each planet for only one turn (except for the
a multiplayer game as referring to a “side” or “opposing side.”
28 Jedi Knights TCG Jedi Knights TCG 29
Final Conflict). During the Control Check, you double your side’s total power Booster Packs — Each Booster Pack contains 1 rare card and a mixture
if one or both of the Heroes for your side are at the site. of 10 uncommon and common cards. Cards are randomized, and are mixed
Winning the game — If one team wins the first three planets, that between the Alliance, the Empire, and Independent cards.
team wins the game. Otherwise, the Final Conflict continues until only one “Flip Movie” cards — Some cards have an extra number before their
side has characters remaining at the site. Each player on the winning team collector number. In the Premiere set, these cards belong to one of two
shares in the victory (even if only one of them has characters remaining “flip movies.” Each flip movie is a sequence of eighteen cards, six in
in play). Premiere and the remainder in future expansion sets. When stacked
and riffled through, they form a moving animation sequence, showing a
COLLECTING AND TRADING JEDI KNIGHTS memorable scene from Star Wars!
You can buy Jedi Knights at toy stores, card and comic shops, game stores, Special Cards for Collectors — Some packs, in place of their
and bookstores everywhere. The cards come in 60-card Starter Decks (there regular rare card, randomly contain cards designed especially for collectors:
are two different ones) and 11-card Booster Packs. • About 1 in 7 packs contains a special hot-stamped silver foil version of
There are 154 different cards in the first expansion (some appear only in one of the rare cards.
Starter Decks, others appear only in Booster Packs, and still others appear • About 1 in 35 packs contains a special hot-stamped gold foil version of
in both). But not all cards appear in the packs with the same frequency. one of the rare cards.
Some are rare, others are uncommon , and still others are common. The cards
in your Starter Deck (see below) are fixed, since you get the same ones in Special Stereoscopic 3-D Cards — A Jedi Knights exclusive!
every copy of that particular Starter Deck box. A complete Premiere set of Because card images in Jedi Knights are fully 3-D computer modeled, we
Jedi Knights has 50 rare, 40 uncommon, and 40 common cards, plus 24 bring you true stereoscopic 3-D images of the Star Wars universe.
special fixed cards from the Preconstructed Starter Decks. Stereoscopic imaging works by pairing a “left” version of an image with a
You’ll also find Jedi Knights cards that come from other sources, produced “right” version of that image from a slightly different camera angle. Your
as premium or promotional cards which aren’t part of any set. brain then can interpret the two images as a single, three-dimensional
picture.
The design of each Jedi Knights card helps you keep track of your
collection. A set icon identifies which set the card is from (the Premiere set Most of the rare cards in Jedi Knights (and the Blaster
uses the Millennium Falcon). Below that are a number and letter describing Rifle cards in the Starter Decks) have a left version and
the card’s number in that set and its rarity (R = rare, U = uncommon, a right version, as indicated by a small “L” or “R” above
C = common, F = fixed, and P = premium or promotional). the expansion icon.

30 Jedi Knights TCG Jedi Knights TCG 31

You may view stereoscopic images unaided by focusing the left and right battle — A conflict involving one or more characters or starships from
eyes on the left and right images in a relaxed fashion until they converge in each player or side. Battles take place in the Starship Battle Phase or the
the middle in 3-D. Many people are familiar with this technique from the Character Battle Phase.
popular series of Magic Eye books. Battle Phase — One of the two portions of the turn in which battles
To see a 3-D Jedi Knights stereoscopic image, place a pair of cards on the take place. Each turn has one Starship Battle Phase and one Character
edge of a table, side by side with the “L” version on the left and the “R” Battle Phase. Also, a keyword found on some Event cards which indicates
version on the right. With your eyes about a foot or two away from the that you may play that card during a Battle Phase.
cards, focus on the floor. Look at the floor, then shift your attention to the battle alongside — A character (or starship) is battling alongside
images on the cards. When they are properly merged, you see three another character (or starship) when the two of them are in the same
images. The center card image is in 3-D. (Ignore the other two.) battle and on the same side.
It takes some practice but just about anyone can do it. If you would like Blockade Phase — The portion of the turn in which intimidation and
to get a special viewer to help you view the stereo pairs, please visit shuttling down take place.
www.decipher.com/jk for a list of recommended companies who have a
variety of viewers from about $2 and up. character — A type of card that represents a personality in the Star
Wars story.
Jedi Knights League — Watch for details on this exciting new experience
at your local game store or comic shop soon. And don’t forget to check out Character Battle Phase — The portion of the turn in which
our website at decipher.com for more Jedi Knights information. characters conduct battles at the site.
control — You control a planet when you meet the conditions of the
GLOSSARY Control Check for that planet.
allegiance — The symbol behind the destiny number on most cards in Control Check — A test performed as the first action in the Draw Phase
your draw deck identifies them as loyal to either the Alliance or the Empire. to determine who controls a planet.
Some cards have an Independent symbol instead. credit number – A number on your current Force card that determines
Alliance — Many cards have the Alliance as an allegiance. how many credits you may spend for the deploy cost of cards during the
See also allegiance. Deploy Phase.
at — At a site or at a system (orbiting). For example, a character “at Hoth” current Force card – The face-up Force card that you use during the
is either at a Hoth site or orbiting Hoth. See also on and orbiting. current turn.
attacker – The character or starship selected by a player to attack in defeated — A character or starship on the losing side in a battle. Also,
a battle. any card hit by a weapon or otherwise removed from a battle.
32 Jedi Knights TCG Jedi Knights TCG 33
defender – The character or starship selected by the attacking player to fire — A generic term describing the use of a weapon. “Swing” describes
defend in a battle. the “firing” of a lightsaber or vibro-ax, but the two terms mean exactly the
defense – The number on a character or starship which must be same thing.
exceeded by the destiny number for a weapon fire destiny draw targeting Force card – A type of card found only in a Force deck. Each player has
that card for that weapon fire to be successful. an eight-card Force deck, and chooses from that deck to determine their
Deploy Phase — The portion of the turn in which you play characters, Force number, credit number, and draw number.
starships, weapons, and Deploy Phase Events. Also, a keyword found on Force number — A number on your Force card that helps determine the
some Event cards which indicates that you may play that card during a order of play. The player with the highest Force number becomes Player 1
Deploy Phase. and goes first.
destiny number — A number found in the upper right corner of the Force Phase — The portion of the turn in which you select your
cards in your draw deck used to determine the outcome of certain actions, Force card.
such as firing a weapon. game deck — Your deck of all the cards you bring to play the game,
draw deck — The deck of at least 40 cards (it has no maximum size) which includes your Theme card, your starting Hero, four different
that you draw cards from to place in your hand during the game. locations, your eight-card Force deck, and your draw deck.
draw number – A number on your current Force card that determines Hero — A kind of character card. A Hero card has a Theme icon and is
how many cards you will have to draw during the Draw Phase. named on its matching Theme card.
Draw Phase — The portion of the turn in which players perform a hit — The target of a successful weapon fire game action.
Control Check, draw cards, and ready cards. in a battle — A character or starship is in a battle when it is the
Empire — Many cards have the Empire as an allegiance. See allegiance. attacker, it is the defender, or it is supporting the attacker or the defender.
Event – A type of card that represents a surprise occurrence. Any characters aboard a starship which is in a battle are also in that battle.
exchange — When you exchange a card in your discard pile with a in play — All the cards you play to the table during your Deploy Phase
second card from your hand, place the second card in the same place the are in play, and so are the site and system that are currently on top of the
first one came from within the discard pile. location stacks. Cards in your hand, draw deck, or under your Theme card
are not in play.
Final Conflict – a special game turn sequence used to determine the
winner of the game when neither player or side controls all three planets. Independent — A card that does not have allegiance to the Empire or
the Alliance, and may go into any type of deck.

34 Jedi Knights TCG Jedi Knights TCG 35

intimidation — The use of your Capital starship during the Blockade Response — A keyword found on some Event cards that indicates
Phase to force your opponent to rotate one of his characters. you may play that card when a condition specified in that card’s game
keywords — Labels which identify cards and create relationships text happens.
between cards. You never find a keyword in a card’s title, subtitle or lore. reveal – To show a card face up to all players.
leader — A character or starship with one or more leadership icons. rotate – To turn a card to the side, indicating that it is no longer ready
leadership — Some characters (and starships) have leadership icons and may not be rotated. See also ready.
that indicate how many other characters (or starships) may support them Shipboard — A weapon with this keyword plays only on a starship.
in a battle. shuttle — A game action you may take during the Blockade Phase to
location — A type of card that has a site on one side and a system on move your character from aboard a starship to the site.
the other, both representing the same planet. side — When the game has four players, those players form a pair of
on — At a site. For example, a character “on Hoth” is at a Hoth site. See two-person teams, and these teams are often called sides.
also at and orbiting. site — A kind of location where characters battle each other. See
orbiting — Starships (and characters aboard those starships) that are at also planet.
the system location. See also at and on. starship – A type of card that fights only in starship battles.
pass — When you may take a game action and you cannot or do not wish Starship Battle Phase — The portion of the turn in which starships
to, you must pass; then it becomes your opponent’s turn to take a game conduct battles at the system.
action.
starting hand – The hand of cards you draw at the start of the game.
peek at — To show a card only to yourself and not to other players. Your Theme card tells you how many cards to draw.
Personal — A weapon with this keyword plays only on a character. swing – See fire.
planet — A collective term describing a site and its corresponding system. system — A kind of location where starships battle each other. See
See also site and system. also planet.
power — A number on a character or starship showing that card’s tactical bonus — A number on Event cards that you may use to
strength when it becomes the attacker or defender in a battle. increase the power of your attacker or defender in a battle.
ready – A card that is ready is available for certain game actions, such Theme – Your deck’s Theme is determined by your Hero and matching
as being selected as an attacker, supporting an attacker or defender, and Theme card.
so on. A card which is ready may be rotated. See also rotate.
36 Jedi Knights TCG Jedi Knights TCG 37
Theme card – A type of card that creates a holding area for your Holt; Liz Duffey; Roland Williams; Ronnie Thornburg; Dominiek Vermandere;
characters, weapons, and starships. Your Theme card names your Hero and and Marcus Sheppard.
also has your Theme number. CGI Artists: The staff of A. S. Imagined Inc. — Mark Asman, John Cayatano,
Theme number — The number on your Theme card used to break ties David Cooley, Bob Evangelista, Mark Wall, Debbie Weimer, Dale Wyatt,
in certain situations. and Peggy Sutherland; Arild Anfinnsen (Switzerland), James Bassett, Ron
topmost — Nearest the top of the specified deck or pile. The “topmost Bublitz, Jon Carroll, Harry Chang, Matt Clark (England), Iven Connery, Marc
Trooper in your discard pile” is the trooper closest to the top of that pile Eiland, Lukachuk Evgueni (France), Darren Robert Foster (Ireland), Jose
(it does not actually have to be the card on top). Gonzalez (Spain), Willi Hammes (Germany), Sebastian Hirsch (Germany),
Fabrice Holbe (France), Jay Hosfelt, Matt Hunt, Justin Jacobs, Gabriel
Typical — Any number of copies of a Typical card may be in play for any Koerner, Valerie Grandt Leeds, Mathias Lindgren (Sweden), Alexey Meerow
numbers of players at one time. (Russia), Lee Morrisroe (England), Daniel North (Australia), Justin Owens,
unique – All character, starship and weapon cards represent something Nicholas Pappas, Topias Salonen (Finland), Evgeny Sokolov (Russia),
one-of-a-kind in the Star Wars universe and are unique (except cards with Jannulis Tembridis (Germany), Ward Van Opstal (Belgium), Jeff Wilson, and
the keyword Typical). Matt Woung. (Artists are from the USA unless otherwise noted.)
weapon — A card that enables you to target specific enemy cards during Playtesters: Joe Alread, Greg Anderson, Brian Bosch, I-Ming Chen,
the Weapons Step of a battle. Jonathan Dunn, Doug Faust, Joseph Gaus, Michael Girard, Clint Hays, Joe
Helfrich, Preston Hunt, Larry Hutson, Christopher Janiak, Cheryl Kallenbach,
CREDITS Tim Leask, Steven Lewis, Kathy Lischke, Maarten Logghe, Matt Lush, Kevin
Martilla, Eric Olson, Mike Patterson, Erik Petersen, Jason Robinette, William
The Decipher Jedi Knights Team: Tom Lischke (lead game designer); Schmidt, Geoff Snider, Patrick Sullivan, Doug Taylor, Tim Wezner, Jason
Tim Ellington, Chuck Kallenbach II, Bill Martinson, Justin Pakes, and Sandy Winter, and Nick Zube.
Wible (additional design); Joe Boulden (3D project manager); Rob Burns
Special Thanks: Mike Reynolds, Jerry Darcy, John Kaufeld, Dan
(key 3D artist); Dan Burns (art director); Mike Schley; Ed Gartin; Leslie Bojanowski, Brian Kallenbach, Jonathan Quesenberry, Tom Braunlich, Rollie
Burns; Monica Jones; Dean Irwin; Evan Lorentz; Rich Loftus; Francis Tesh, Warren’s parents, Lucasfilm Ltd., Graphic Converting Inc., Teagle &
Lalumiere; Kendrick Summers; Kyle Heuer; Kevin Reitzel; Bruce Umene;
Little Inc., and all the Rebel Strike Teams across the galaxy!
Sean Smallman; Jennifer Ketterman; Warren Holland; Cindy Thornburg;
Anthony Vittone; Ross Campbell; Rick Eddleman; Walt Eley; Ryan © 2001 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization.
Honeyman; Calvin Sanders; Becky Higgerson; Angie Higgerson; Jennifer TM, ®, & © 2001 Decipher Inc., P.O. Box 56, Norfolk, VA 2 3501-0056. Decipher
Gilbert; Matt Holland; Kathy Eddleman; Kurt Luchtman; Lisa Brinn; Faye and The Art of Great Games are trademarks of Decipher Inc. All rights reser ved.

38 Jedi Knights TCG Jedi Knights TCG 39

PLAYERS’ LEAGUE
The Jedi Knights™ TCG Players’ League — Sign
up for a League at your local shop and receive an
exclusive Luke Skywalker Jedi Knights gameplay
card, and much, much more! As a League member,
you will play in Jedi Knights TCG games against
other League members or even in multi-player
games, so bring your friends to help you begin
your training.
You can earn additional Jedi
Knights TCG gameplay cards,
available only in this League, by
progressing through your Jedi
Levels. Train from the Apprentice
Level, to Jedi Knight, and finally Look for
to Jedi Master! Scum and Villainy,
Through the Jedi Knights Players’ League, you can the first exciting
Jedi Knights
become a member of the worldwide community
expansion set,
of players, so ask your local retailer to sponsor Summer 2001!
a League.
You must complete your training… It is your destiny…
J EDI K NIGHTS TCG ICON GUIDE
LUKE SKYWALKER THEME
HAN SOLO THEME
DARTH VADER THEME
GRAND MOFF TARKIN THEME
JABBA THE HUTT THEME
✦ LEADERSHIP ICON
D EPLOY COST ICON
ALLEGIANCE — THE ALLIANCE
ALLEGIANCE — THE EMPIRE
ALLEGIANCE — INDEPENDENT
PREMIERE SET I CON

Icon Guide Jedi Knights TCG