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FAQ
RoboRally
These questions and answers are intended to clarify the rules of RoboRally. They are not meant to supersede or substitute the game rules. If any answer below actually modifies or corrects the original published rules, we will make that clear to you.
Q: When you retrieve an archive copy, is that copy real unless a condition makes it virtual, or is it always virtual?
A: Robots are always real when you retrieve an archive copy unless a robot is forced to appear on a square occupied by another robot or forced to appear on a space where another robot is also appearing. In those cases, the robot begins the turn virtual.
Q: How do you decide where the checkpoints should go?
A: You can place checkpoints anywhere you want. Since all players have to go to the same checkpoints, there is no way for one player to gain an advantage by checkpoint placement. The only rule about placing checkpoints is you may not place one in a corner with two adjoining walls. We suggest that you not place checkpoints on conveyor belts. Keep in mind when placing checkpoints that the more difficult you make a checkpoint to reach, the longer the game will be.
Q: When does a robot on a turning conveyor belt turn?
A: When a conveyor belt moves a robot onto a turning conveyor belt, the rotation of the robot (90 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise) is simultaneous with the conveyor belt's movement of the robot. Remember, turning conveyor belts only rotate robots that are moved onto them by other conveyor belts, not when robots move onto them on their own (during the "Robots Move" phase).
Q: Do "T" intersection conveyor belts always rotate a robot?
A: No, they only rotate a robot when a robot is moved onto it from the base of the "T" (the base of the intersection that turns). Treat it as a straight conveyor belt when moving on the belt from the base of the straight section.
Q: Can a powered down robot gain optional equipment if it is sitting on a double wrench at the end of a turn?
A: No, a powered down robot does not have the option of taking optional equipment. The robot remains powered down until the entire turn is over, after end-of-turn board effects.
Q: If your robot is destroyed, can you bring back an archive copy on any checkpoint you have touched, or only the last one?
A: Only the last one.
Q: The checkpoint flag has a wrench on it. Does it remove a point of damage if you are on it at the end of a turn?
A: Yes, the checkpoint marker repairs a point of damage in the same manner as a single wrench space.
Q: What happens if an express conveyor belt moves your robot onto a normal conveyor belt? What happens if a normal conveyor belt moves you onto an express conveyor belt?
A: Check the Timing Summary on the Factory Floor Guide under "Board Elements Move." Express conveyor belts move robots one square first. After that, all normal conveyor belts AND express conveyor belts move one square simultaneously. This means an express conveyor belt moves a robot onto a normal conveyor, and the normal conveyor will also move the robot. If a normal conveyor moves a robot onto an express conveyor belt, the express conveyor belt has already gone through both its moves and will not move the robot further.
Q: When a robot locks a register with Fire Control, how do you unlock that register? Do you have to power down to unlock the register or can you repair it like a point of damage on a repair site?
A: Treat the Fire Control damage as regular damage; you can choose to unlock one register for each point of damage you remove at a wrench site. If you power down, it of course will unlock all registers.
Q: What can a robot do when it is powered down?
A: Nothing. A powered down robot cannot fire weapons, receive option cards, tag checkpoints (if pushed onto them), update archive locations (ditto), or use turn programmed cards (for example, Shield). It cannot use any options unless the options specifically say they can be used while a robot is powered down. The robot basically becomes a lump that can be pushed around and suffer damage.
Q: Can locked registers be altered by either an Abort Switch or a Scrambler? If so, do they return to the original cards on subsequent turns or do the new cards replace the old ones in the locked registers?
A: Yes. The new cards replace the old ones in the locked registers.
Q: If you have the Extra Memory card, do you stay alive until you take 11 points of damage?
A: Your robot is destroyed when it receives 10 points of damage.
Q: If you are under the effects of the Radio Control card, can you use your Abort Switch? Conditional?
A: Yes, whichever option was activated most recently takes precedence.
Q: If you have triggered your Abort Switch, can you use your Conditional?
A: Yes. After Conditional is used, the Abort Switch is still active until the end of the turn.
Armed & Dangerous
Q: Do bridges work over drains like they do over pits? How does a bridge work over water?
A: Since drains are functionally identical to pits, they should be treated as pits for all purposes; therefore you may place bridges over drains. Bridges may only be placed over troubled water, so you may not place bridges over other water squares.
Q: Goo versus water: Do you count the penalty or not?
A: Goo cannot be dropped in water (A&D p. 14).
Q: Can Retro-Rockets, Big Jet, and others break goo?
A: Any additional movement counts toward destroying the goo, but nothing more.
Q: Goo versus Robo-Copter: Can you fly out of it?
A: Robo-Copter's ability to generate extra movement can help destroy the goo, but nothing more.
Q: Scrambler Bomb: Does its effect end when you move out of range?
A: Any players with robots in range of the Srambler Bomb when it goes off should discard their hands and program randomly for the entire turn. (Note: Scrambler Bomb only goes off at the beginning of the turn, so it doesn't matter whether a robot moves out of the original blast range as part of its subsequent movement. The damage was done when the blast occured.)
Q: If you fire and move in front of a missle, can you hit yourself?
A: Theoretically, yes. It's fairly tough to get hit by your own missile, though, unless you are both unlucky and careless.
Q: Can you discard a card with spent tokens to prevent damage?
A: Yes (A&D p. 7).
Q: If you shoot the Big Gun in water, do you get pushed back a square?
A: Yes. Water only affects movement cards, not movement effects.
Q: Do effects like Tractor/Presser Beam work in water?
A: Yes. Water only affects movement cards, not movement effects.
Q: Can you drop/fire more than one phase-programmed option per turn? How about the same option more than once in a single turn?
A: You may only use one Phase Programmed -Movement per register phase and one Phase Programmed- Gadget per register phase, but there are no other limitations. You could, for example, drop a mine on the first register phase, drop a goo counter on the second register phase, drop another goo counter the third register phase, then drop another mine the fifth register phase. On any of those phases you could also use a Phase Programmed -Movement option (like Crab Legs) but not a second Phase Programmed- Gadget option.
Q: Can you have more than one Buzz Bomb flying at the same time?
A. No, only one Buzz Bomb can be in play at any time (A&D page 12). If you try to fire Buzz Bomb and you have another one in play, the Buzz Bomb will not fire.
Q: Teleporters with Crab Legs … how does that work?
A: Crab Legs do not work on teleporters (A&D p. 17). Treat the teleporters as if the Crab Legs are "de-activated," execute the movement card, and allow the teleporter to behave according to the movement card alone.
Q: If an archive copy is deposited on a mine, does it set the mine off?
A: Yes. It really doesn't matter why the robot is there, it just is, and that's enough for the mine. *BOOM*
Q: Does Proximity Mine go off if I drop one and then turn?
A: Yes, drop then do anything but run away during the phase of dropping since it will cause it to go off. If you like, treat it as if it read "be within 1 square" rather than "pass within 1 square."
Q: How can you tell Armed and Dangerous option cards from those that come with the basic RoboRally set?
A: Armed and Dangerous option cards have the following catalog number: Cat. XXX-020XXX. Option cards from the original set have this number: Cat. XXX-010XXX.
Crash & Burn
Life is never simple in the RoboRally factory, and the newest area to be converted into rally territory has introduced some new challenges to Twonky and his friends. In an attempt to be "robot-friendly," the Control-Computers decided to create a reference file of some of the stranger situations that have occurred during the latest round of rallies.
Q: What makes Machine Shop special?
A: Machine Shop is a great transition board. Robots can cross Machine Shop very quickly, which makes it a fun board to put in the middle of a game setup. Also pay special attention to the areas around portals. The combination of portals, conveyor belts, and pits can be quite entertaining.
Q: What makes Blast Furnace special?
A: Blast Furnace can be challenging to cross. Wind your way through the torturous heat, adjust your friends' courses to include a quick side-trip to a raging inferno, and you'll be unstoppable.
Oil Slicks
Q: If a robot moves onto an oil slick, how far does it slide?
A: A robot ends its slide on the first oil-free square it encounters in the direction of its slide. If another robot is occupying that square, then the sliding robot will not slide off the oil slick, and will not push the blocking robot out of the way.
Q: Do oil cans affect robots or devices?
A: No.
Q: Can oil catch fire?
A: No.
Q: Can a robot drop devices on an oil slick?
A: Yes.
Q: Will goo work on an oil slick?
A: Yes, it's quite messy.
Q: If a robot is pushed/pulled (Pressor or Tractor Beam) onto an oil slick, will that robot slide?
A: Yes.
Q: Can a bridge be laid over an oil slick?
A: No, bridges are only good for crossing pits.
Portals
Q: What happens if a robot rotates on a portal?
A: The robot will move normally. Portals are only activated when a robot moves onto them.
Q: If a robot flies onto a portal using Big Jet, Frog Legs, Retro-Rockets, or Robo-Copter, what happens?
A: Portals are composed of energy fields that fill the entire square, so flying robots will still be affected.
Q: If a robot moves onto a portal while using Crab Legs, Dual Processor, Fourth Gear, Overload Override, or Reverse Gears, what happens?
A: Portals and options function normally.
Q: Are flying devices affected by portals?
A: Yes. Watch out for that Buzz Bomb popping in from nowhere …
Q: Can I drop goo on a portal?
A: Yes. Goo prevents a robot from moving out of the goo square until the goo is destroyed. However, goo does not prevent a portal from transporting a robot to a different hex. So if your robot moves onto a goo/portal square, it is transported to the corresponding portal square just like normal. However, if your robot is transported to a goo/portal square, it cannot move out until the goo has been destroyed.
Flamers
Q: Do the flamers that cover two spaces on the board function the same as the single-space flamers?
A: Yes, the double-space flamers damage robots during the same phases listed on the flamer.
Q: Will options such as Ablative Coat, Shield, or Power Down Shield prevent flamer damage?
A: Yes, though the Shields will prevent only 1 damage per register phase.
Q: Can a robot jump over or fly through an active flamer without taking damage?
A: No, flamers fill the entire square.
Q: Will Converter utilize flamer damage to augment robot movement?
A: Yes, all damage is translated into energy. If a robot takes 2 points of flamer damage in a single phase it will get two energy counters.
Q: If a robot spends an entire phase on a flamer, how much damage will it take?
A: The robot will take 2 points of damaage: 1 point during the Robots Move phase, and 1 point during the Resolve Laser Fire phase.
Q: If a robot moves off a flamer during a phase that it becomes active, will the robot take a point of damage during the Robots Move phase?
A: Did the Millennium Falcon take damage when it flew out of the exploding Death Star in Return of the Jedi? Nope, so neither does the robot.
Q: Will an active flamer set off or destroy laid or flying devices?
A: No, devices cannot take damage (page 10, Armed and Dangerous). Only crushers will destroy devices.
Grand Prix
Repulsor Fields
Q: What happens when a robot backs up into a repulsor field?
A: When a robot backs up into a repulsor field, it gets "repulsed" one square.
Q: Can robots shoot lasers through repulsor fields?
A: No, repulsor fields act just like walls for weapons and laser fire.
Q: What happens when a robot gets pushed into a repulsor field?
A: The pushed robot gets "repulsed" the number of squares equal to the pushing robot's movement card, moving both robots away from the field.
Q: What happens when an option card moves a robot into a repulsor field?
A: If a robot gets moved into a repulsor field other than by a movement card or a pushing robot, the repulsor field simply acts like a wall.
Trap Door Pits
Q: If a robot leaves a dropped weapon on a trap door pit, does it fall? When does it fall?
A: Any dropped device will fall (and be removed from the board) at the beginning of the phase the trap door pit opens.
Q: Can a robot leave a bridge from the Bridge Layer on a trap door pit?
A: Yes, a robot may leave a bridge on a trap door pit.
Chop Shops
Q: Can a robot "tag" a chop shop with the Robotic Arm?
A: No, the Robotic Arm can only "tag" checkpoints.
Q: When a robot reloads an option, can it end up with more "shots" than counters? For example, if my robot drops two mines, can it reload and drop three more mines for a total of five even though there are only three mine counters?
A: The counters provided for the various options are not meant to imply a maximum number of shots that may be on the board at one time. If your robot gets more mines (or whatever) on the board at one time than you have counters for, just substitute some other counter you are not using.
Ramps
Q: The Canyon board has ramps in the corners of the lower section. Can a robot climb those ramps from the side?
A: Robots can enter those squares from the side, but they can't get out except on the side where the ramp meets the upper section.
Q: If a robot moves off the edge onto one of the ramps in the corner, does it take 2 points of damage?
A: Yes. Unless the robot enters the ramp square where it meets the upper level, the robot will drop and take the damage.
Q: If a robot moves across a ramp, as opposed to climbing one, does that affect its movement?
A: No, ramps only reduce movement when a robot climbs up to the upper section.
Q: If a robot is on a ramp, what level is it considered to be on?
A: The robot is considered to be on the lower level.
Portals
Q: What's with all the different colored portals?
A: When a robot enters any portal, it immediately moves to the other portal of the same color. The colors are meant to make this movement clear.
Oil Slicks and Conveyors
Q: What happens when a conveyor belt dumps a robot onto an oil slick?
A: Basically the same thing happens as when a robot moves onto an oil slick any other time; the robot will keep going until it hits a non-oil space, a robot, or a wall. If an express conveyor belt moves a robot onto an oil slick, and the oil deposits the robot on another conveyor, the second conveyor will still move the robot (moving it a total of three spaces).
This information was originally published at the website of Wizards of the Coast.