Description

This is a card game for 7 players. It is based around Space Pirates. Though similar to BANG!, there are several unique twists. Each player has his own unique objective, and his own unique card set based on his own unique alien race. Each player commands a ship that has 15 Hit Points. Hits are usually taken using Dice. However, while some players may have powerful attacks, the focus of the game for many players is not to destroy the other players but to accomplish an objective.

Samples:
Akzinal - A traditional thief. His goal is to capture all treasures.
Felian - A snakelike race, the Felian are tremendously territorial. Their objective is to be the last Faction standing.
Homin - This hominid race lived relatively peacefully until an alien race sent an explosive that destroyed many lives, not including the lives that were lost. The Homin Captain seeks to find and neutralize the alien menace.
Morph - As their name suggests, the Morph are a race of appearance-altering people who have developed their ships to transform as well. Always seeking to attain transcendence, the Morph try to do so by learning from other people. Their objective is to acquire technologies from all other factions.
Ralyk - Wolf Men. Because their genetics prevent their reproduction, the only way they can continue as a race is to (naturally) turn others into Wolf Men. They prominently seek out the Alphas of each species. This said, their objective is to capture all opposing Captains through duel or by kidnapping.
Var*por - A squidlike race who travel aboard live ships. These ships look like rays but hold solar powers. Thus they are called StarRay in first phase and SunRay in later phase. The objective is to raise a StarRay to its second phase and lead it to a New Birth phase where another StarRay is born.
Wallaboo - A small teleporting Kangaroo race who stow away on ships and influence the playing field. They maneuver game play while attempting to remain unnoticed and escape capture. Their objective is to be free aboard the winning ship.

Objectives that are well thought out with interesting back-story, only made more incredible by the fact that this game is so easy to play.

As stated, each faction has their own unique abilities, but a shared deck unites them all. In this shared deck are Detonator Cards (the central card which allows players to make basic attacks or to play their faction cards), Evasion Tactics which protect ships from attack, Quick Fix cards to restore Hit Points, Steal cards that allow players to steal Faction abilities from other factions (including Captains and Treasures), Void cards which return continuous abilities to their decks, and other (more unique) abilities.

Dueling, a major factor of Traditional Bang, is now done exclusively in battle for captains. (All players may Duel for opposing captains, as Captain cards hold unique abilities. This was also true of Traditional Bang). This does not require the use of cards. Any player can Duel with an opponent that has less than 1/2 Hit Points. Each Captain has his own HP rating, and a series of D6 Dice Rolls resolves a Duel. The winner retains the opponent's captain along with his unique ability.

Another new feature of Shores of Heaven is a mini game called Common Threat, wherein 2 D6's are rolled and the values are multiplied. Players must work together to destroy the Common Threat before returning to play. Each player who fails to neutralize the threat loses 1 HP. The Victor redeems all lost HP.

FOLLOWING IS A SIMPLE RULE SET. SOON, WITH PRINTABLE CARDS TO BE UPLOADED, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY THE GAME WITHIN A FEW MINUTES...

START
Along with cards, you will need a D4 and a D6 to play. (Unique sided dice are usually inexpensive and can be found on the internet or at specialty board game shops.)
After Starting Position has been determined, each player pulls a faction at random from the SPECIES deck. This card remains face up until the faction is removed from play. There are two SPECIES decks, only one of which has a WALLABOO card. If the WALLABOO card is chosen, the Wallaboo faction keeps the additional SPECIES deck to mark his current position. His position is revealed to only the player who plays the IMPRISONMENT card. (Each faction has an IMPRISONMENT card in his FACTION deck.) If the Wallaboo plays his TRUCE card, his position is then revealed to all players.
At this point, all players but the Homin also receive a THREAT card, distinguishing them as a Menace or as Benign.
OBJECTIVES:
Akzínal - Acquire all treasures. This can be done using a STEAL card from the SHARED deck or a FILCH card from your personal deck. The treasure is returned to your opponent if 1) It is VOIDED. 2) It is STOLEN. 3) It is taken back using 2 DETONATOR cards. 4) You are destroyed. (It is reshuffled into the FACTION deck.)
Felian - Be the last Faction standing. Your Treasure card can help, as it allows you to regenerate after 1 round destroyed. This card stays in effect until it is stolen or voided.
Homin - Hunt and neutralize the Menace. THREAT cards distributed at the start of play determine the Menace. If the Menace is destroyed by someone else, THREAT cards are redistributed. You must destroy the Menace yourself.
Morph - Steal and hold Faction cards from each opponent. These are considered learned abilities, and may be made Lasting Effects, regardless of status, as long as your treasure is in play. (See CARD SYMBOLS for details.) Addendum: Wallaboo movement cards effect range. Sabotage card (in Wallaboo deck) counts against your HP, and is returned to the Wallaboo deck as soon as acquired.
Ralyk - Acquire all Captains. This can be done using a Steal card, or by Dueling. (See CAPTAIN DUEL for details.) If an opponent’s ship is destroyed, his captain is left out, and a Steal card can acquire the Captain for you.
Vär·por - Raise your StarRay to New Birth phase. See SunRay gauge. (This is a narrow purple sheet marked with 15 movements and contains pictures of SunRays at all phases.)
Wallaboo - Remain free aboard the winning faction’s ship. If imprisoned (See Imprisonment cards), you cannot play any of your cards. You can, however, discard and collect cards each round until you hold the Escape card. (Since it has a cost of 2 Detonator cards, you will want those in your hand when you find it.)
CARDS You will start with 2 FACTION cards and 5 SHARED DECK cards. This is the maximum number of cards you will hold in your hand. However, both at the start and end of your turn you will be able to replenish your hand. (Thus Attack does not penalyze Defense.) You may only discard unwanted cards at the end of your turn, before replenishing your hand.
Cards of the same type may be stacked to boost effect. I.E. Because of this, a player who has 2 FOCUS cards may be able to roll a maximum value of 8 with a D4.
CARD SYMBOLS Each card likely has 1 or both of 2 symbols. The first is LE (Lasting Effect). The card may be played down to be in permanent use. The second is #D. This indicates how many Detonator cards must be played to use the card. If the LE has a #D over it, this indicates that there is a cost to make the card a lasting effect. If the card has LE and #D on opposite cards, it may be played as a Lasting Effect but you must play as many Detonator cards for each use.
CAPTAINS’ DUEL - Each Captain Card has a number in the upper right corner. This is how many hits a captain may take before he is defeated. Each time a Duel takes place, both captains start with full HP. Both captains roll a D6. When one opponent rolls higher, the opposite loses 1 HP. This is repeated until 1 captain is lost. Captains may only back out of a Captains’ Duel if a truce is agreed upon. The winner keeps the opponent’s captain as prisoner and can use the additional Captain’s ability freely. If you lose your Captain, you can only rescue the captain using a Steal card, or a Void card. Any captain can duel with an opponent’s captain so long as the challenged opponent has less than ½ HP.
VOID - This card usually means the opponent forfeit’s a card of his choice. However, if you play a VOID card with a DETONATOR card, you may roll a D4. Rolling a 4 or higher (using bonus cards) can give you the ability to choose which Lasting Effects are voided. This can prove a useful tool in recollecting Captains and Treasures as the VOID card returns cards to their Faction decks.
COMMON THREAT - When this card is found, it is played immediately. Roll 2 D6’s, and multiply the scores. Each player in succession uses their attack cards to destroy the common threat. If the player fails to destroy the threat, he loses 1 HP. This continues until the threat is destroyed. The Victor receives all lost HP. The player of this card may determine the initial opponent after the dice roll. (This means that some clever calculation can result in a quick HP boost for him.)
RANGE - Unless otherwise stated, all attacks have a range of 1 in either direction. Captains’ Duel is maximum range.
TREASURES - All opponents may steal treasures to use opponents’ treasure abilities.