Deals are the focus of New Angeles; each deal represents an opportunity for a corporation to make a powerful ally through services offered to the city.
During a deal, the active player proposes an action that benefits the board, and he attempts to convince the other players to support that action.
The other players can compete to propose alternative actions, then they can give support to the action they think is best. The player whose proposed action has the most support wins the deal.
The process of a deal consists of the following steps:
1. Asset
The active player reveals the rightmost asset card below the turn track (the card whose slot has the highest number), reads it aloud, and places it faceup in the "Revealed Asset" box of the board so all players can see it (asset cards are explained later).
2. Main Offer
The active player chooses one action card from his hand and places it faceup in the "Main Offer" box of the board. This is his main offer, and throughout the deal, he should try to convince other players of its importance.
Negotiation
Negotiation is the key to success in New Angeles since a player rarely wins a deal without the support of other players.
Players should do their best to gather support for their actions and are highly encouraged to do so through any means necessary. Sometimes a player can argue that his action is just what the city needs.
However, winners do not rely on necessity; a promised reward or thinly veiled threat can be just as persuasive, and nothing greases the wheels of industry like the simple exchange of capital.
3. Counteroffer
Starting with the player to the left of the active player and proceeding clockwise, each player has one opportunity to propose a counteroffer. To propose a counteroffer, that player chooses an action card from his hand and places it faceup in the "Counteroffer" box of the board.
A player can propose a counteroffer even if one has already been proposed. To do so, he must discard action cards from his hand equal to the number of faceup action cards in the "Counteroffer" box.
His counteroffer is placed on top of any other action cards already in the "Counteroffer" box, making it more costly for the next player to propose a counteroffer. The player who proposes the last counteroffer is the countering player.
After each player has an opportunity to propose a counteroffer (excluding the active player), play proceeds to the next step.
4. Support
If there is no counteroffer, the players skip directly to the Resolution step. Otherwise, the players who are not either the active player or the countering player become supporting players, who can use their action cards to determine the winner of the deal.
Starting with the supporting player to the left of the active player and proceeding clockwise, each supporting player has one opportunity to support an offer. To provide support, he chooses any number of action cards from his hand and places them facedown next to either the main offer or counter offer. If he does not want to support either side, he can abstain.
The active and countering players are highly encouraged to negotiate with the supporting players to garner support for their offers (see the "Negotiation" sidebar).
5. Resolution
The winner of the deal is the player whose offer has the most facedown action cards next to it. If the main offer and the counteroffer have the same number of action cards next to them, the active player wins the deal.
The winner of the deal resolves the action card he proposed for his offer. Then, he claims the revealed asset card, placing it faceup next to his corp sheet. All action cards played as offers or in support are discarded facedown to the discard pile.
Deal Example:
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Jinteki, the active player, reveals the rightmost asset card on the turn track, "Marco Cubrero", and places it in the "Revealed Asset" box.
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There are numerous illness tokens on the board, so Jinteki thinks he can convince other players to support the "Clean Slate" action card in his hand. He proposes "Clean Slate" as his main offer, placing it in the "Main Offer" box.
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The Counteroffer step begins, proceeding clockwise from Jinteki.
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Globalsec decides not to propose a counteroffer. Haas-Bioroid also passes.
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Weyland proposes "Vanity Project" as a counteroffer, placing it in the "Counteroffer" box.
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NBN wants to propose "Spin Doctors" as a counteroffer. To become the new countering player, she discards one card from her hand (placing it next to the slot of the board with the garbage can icon) and places "Spin Doctors" on top of "Vanity Project".
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The Support step begins, proceeding clockwise from Jinteki. Globalsec, Haas-Bioroid, and Weyland are supporting players.
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Globalsec plays one card to support the main offer. Haas-Bioroid plays one card to support the counteroffer.
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Since both the main offer and counteroffer have the same number of action cards supporting them, Jinteki (the active player) will win the deal unless Weyland supports the counteroffer.
Knowing this, NBN negotiates a trade with Weyland: two capital in exchange for one card in support of the counteroffer.
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The Resolution step begins. The counteroffer has more facedown cards in support of it than the main offer, so NBN wins the deal. She resolves "Spin Doctors". Then, she claims the "Marco Cubrero" asset.
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