Root Access Path Rules

Root Access Path (RAP) is a solo journey built around Victory Point Race (VPR). Build and reshape a temporary run-deck, earn rewards, and reduce the opponent's available card pool until it cannot supply a legal four-card hand. You must still have at least four run-deck cards to win the run.

Losing a VPR round ends the entire run, not just the current path. Losing a Bonus game does not. Completing a ten-node path earns a Certification, but does not by itself mean you have won the run.

1. Sign in and choose Short, Long, or Super Long.

2. Select four eligible cards from your collection, or choose an available named starting deck.

3. Start the run. Your first path is free.

4. Tap the next available VPR node to begin its round.

Your collection supplies the starting pool once. Cards acquired outside RAP after setup do not join this run. Ordinary combat, bans and temporary deck changes do not destroy your permanent collection cards. Only explicitly identified collection rewards change your permanent collection.

Named starting decks loan four Basic cards for this run only. You do not need to own those four cards, and starting the run does not add them to your permanent collection. You still need enough eligible owned cards to supply the opponent pool. Unavailable loan decks cannot be selected. Short and Long loan decks contain four different cards; Super Long loan decks may repeat cards. A Skill Up reward can still earn a permanent copy of a loaned card through the Inbox.

Starting decks, Convenient Store base prices, and run-completion rewards are configured by the administrator. A run keeps the configuration captured when it starts. Refresh starting decks if settings changed before you begin. Each run-completion reward is delivered through the Inbox when you win the entire run, not merely when you finish a path.

Format: Short; Pool and duplicates: One copy of each eligible owned card. Your four starting cards must be different.; What the opponent can draw: Unbanned cards outside your run-deck.

Format: Long; Pool and duplicates: One copy of each eligible owned card. Your four starting cards must be different.; What the opponent can draw: Unbanned cards, including run-deck identities. Every hand must include at least one card outside your run-deck.

Format: Super Long; Pool and duplicates: Individual owned copies, up to five per card. Duplicate starting cards are allowed.; What the opponent can draw: Unbanned copies that are not in your run-deck or removed from the run.

Short and Long run-decks cannot contain duplicate identities. In Super Long, individual copies are tracked separately. These formats affect how quickly the pool can run out; their names do not promise a fixed number of rounds.

Each trace leaves the central chip in its own lane. It contains ten VPR nodes, with separate reward, Merchant, Store and possible Bonus nodes along the way. Its endpoint is a Certification.

- Drag with one finger, or click-hold-and-drag, to move around the map.

- Use the mouse wheel, pinch with two fingers, or use the minus/plus buttons to zoom. The percentage shows the current magnification.

- Tap or click the next unfinished node on an unlocked path to activate it. You cannot skip ahead to a later node. Dragging or pinching does not activate a node.

- You can inspect completed, future and locked nodes without playing them.

- A travelling pulse lights the completed trace and leads to the current node. The unreached trace stays dim. Reduced-motion settings turn off travelling animation.

Resolve the current encounter and all earned rewards before changing paths. All paths share your run-deck, opponent pool, bans, Credentials and Certifications. Switching paths never resets those resources or creates a separate run.

How reward positions are assigned

Reward positions are fixed when a path is created, as though all previously created paths were completed first. The first path uses scheduled counts 1-10, the second normally 11-20, and so on. Playing another path first does not move existing rewards.

A Bonus win adds one to the count used for future paths. For example, after creating the first ten-node path and winning one Bonus, a newly unlocked path uses scheduled counts 12-21. Existing paths remain unchanged. The node number is a scheduled position, not the number of rounds you have actually played.

The game draws four random cards from your run-deck and four from the eligible opponent pool. Keep two of your dealt cards, discard one, and pass one to complete the VPR draft. Then play normal VPR against the CPU. Combat changes to VC and card effects reset between rounds.

Result: Win; What happens: Your consecutive-win streak increases. Report Out and the rewards connected to that scheduled node become available.

Result: Loss; What happens: The entire RAP run ends.

Result: Tie; What happens: Your streak resets to zero. Your four dealt run-deck cards are removed and banned; all four opponent cards return to the pool. No win rewards are granted. If you still have four run-deck cards, continue at the unfinished VPR node.

In Super Long, a tie bans those four particular copies. In Short and Long, those card identities are excluded from future opponent draws.

After a win, choose rewards in any order. Complete or skip every earned reward before continuing. Interval rewards occupy their own map nodes but are resolved from the earned-reward list after their connected VPR win.

Reward: Report Out; When earned on the scheduled trace: Every VPR win; Action: Claim one card from that round's opponent hand for your run-deck, then ban a different card from that hand. First selection is the claim; second selection is the ban. Complete both or skip both.

Reward: Study Time; When earned on the scheduled trace: Every third scheduled win; Action: Select one run-deck card to remove and ban. Skipping gives no Fuel.

Reward: Skill Up; When earned on the scheduled trace: Every fourth scheduled win; Action: Select one run-deck card for permanent collection delivery. It leaves the active run.

Reward: R&D; When earned on the scheduled trace: Every tenth scheduled win; Action: Select an already-owned, eligible card from that round's original opponent hand for a permanent finish upgrade. The upgrade does not change its finish or position within this run.

Reward: Credentials; When earned on the scheduled trace: Prime-numbered scheduled wins: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, and so on; Action: Gain one Credential, up to the cap of two. Any excess is immediately discarded.

Reward: Certification; When earned on the scheduled trace: Completing a path; also winning a Bonus; Action: Gain one path-unlocking token. You must claim it; it cannot be skipped or exchanged.

Spend Credentials

During your VPR turn, spend one Credential instead of activating a card. The token and one available activation are consumed, and you immediately gain one VP for that round. This can supply the winning VP. You cannot use it during a pending card decision, the CPU's turn, or a finished round. Credentials do not grant starting VP and are not spent in Bonus games.

Spend Certifications

Unlocking a new ten-VPR path costs one Certification. The first path is free. Certifications have no cap. A new path is generated only when you unlock it; it uses the current scheduling count. A Certification can also be bought at the Convenient Store for an initial price of 10 Fuel.

Free Lunch

Free Lunch secretly selects another reward type. Confirm it now; the selected reward is revealed after your next won game node, including a Bonus win. It is not an immediate card or Fuel payment. Resolve the revealed reward normally. Skipping Free Lunch grants no Fuel.

Regular Merchants appear 6-9 scheduled VPR nodes apart. Their services are free. You may perform up to two different services, each at most once during that visit. You may leave without using either. Completing the second service ends the visit.

Service: Sign NDA; What you see: Up to five random run-deck cards and five random opponent-pool cards.; What you choose: Trade one run-deck card for one opponent card. The traded-away card returns to the opponent pool; it is not banned.

Service: Mitigate; What you see: Up to four random run-deck cards.; What you choose: Ban one of them, removing it from your run-deck.

Service: Clear-box Pentest; What you see: Up to four random opponent-pool cards.; What you choose: Claim one for your run-deck.

Service: Opaque-box Pentest; What you see: Up to four opponent cards and two run-deck cards, shuffled as indistinguishable cardbacks.; What you choose: Ban two hidden choices, or all available if fewer than two. You do not learn their identities or which pool they came from before choosing.

Offers stay fixed during a visit. If fewer cards are available, the Merchant offers as many as possible. A service is unavailable when it has no usable candidates; a trade needs a usable card on both sides. Already-used services cannot be repeated. In Short and Long, claims and trades must respect the one-copy run-deck limit.

An Opaque-box choice may remove a card from your own run-deck. Keep enough cards to play the next VPR round.

A Convenient Store appears after every fifth scheduled win. It stocks up to eight randomly selected reward or service types. A type appears only when enough eligible cards exist for its full offer. Unlike a Merchant, the Store requires Fuel and does not use the two-service limit.

Item: Report Out; Initial Fuel price: 1

Item: Sign NDA; Initial Fuel price: 1

Item: Study Time; Initial Fuel price: 2

Item: Mitigate; Initial Fuel price: 2

Item: Clear-box Pentest; Initial Fuel price: 2

Item: Credentials; Initial Fuel price: 3

Item: Skill Up; Initial Fuel price: 4

Item: Opaque-box Pentest; Initial Fuel price: 4

Item: Free Lunch; Initial Fuel price: 4

Item: Certification; Initial Fuel price: 10

Item: R&D; Initial Fuel price: 15

Buying is optional. Each stocked type can be bought once per visit. Resolve a purchase before buying another item or leaving. Each purchase raises that type's next price by 50%, rounded up, across the run: a 2-Fuel type costs 2, then 3, then 5, then 8. A purchased Certification still cannot be skipped.

Each newly unlocked path has a 67% chance of containing one Bonus node. Its position is assigned at path creation, even when your current deck is too small to play a Bonus game.

On arrival, the game checks the current run-deck and selects a legally supported alternate mode. Cards are not added to make the mode legal. You may pass an eligible Bonus without a reward. If no mode is legal, the node is immediately spent as a Bonus loss; you cannot leave it waiting for a larger deck.

- War Room currently requires a run-deck divisible between two players, with at least 20 cards. Lowest VC wins its rounds; its VPR scoring thresholds do not apply.

- Hack Back requires a legal individual deck of 20-40 cards, including its copy-limit rules, and a legal opponent deck. It uses its own Hero and action rules.

Bonus result: Win; Outcome: Claim one mandatory Certification. A free Merchant branch connected to this Bonus becomes accessible. The win also increases the scheduling count for paths created later.

Bonus result: Tie; Outcome: Receive Free Lunch. The Merchant branch remains inaccessible.

Bonus result: Loss, including an unplayable Bonus; Outcome: No reward, no Merchant and no RAP penalty. Continue the run.

Bonus play does not ban or remove your RAP cards, change the opponent pool, increment the VPR-round counter, reset your VPR streak, or grant an ordinary Hack Back booster. A Bonus Merchant uses the normal optional two-distinct-service rules and does not change regular Merchant spacing.

Skipping Report Out, Skill Up or R&D can grant Fuel. The payment is 120% of the highest eligible card's Forge-to-Fuel value, rounded up. The screen shows the base plus bonus: a base of 12 pays 12 + 3 Fuel. Study Time, Credentials, Certification and Free Lunch do not exchange for Fuel. If no R&D upgrade is available, its Fuel alternative uses the original opponent hand.

Permanent collection cards, finish upgrades, Fuel and whole-run completion awards are delivered through your inbox. Use the displayed balances and reward choices rather than assuming an unclaimed delivery is spendable. Claims within RAP are temporary unless the reward explicitly says they go to your permanent collection.

- Banning an opponent card excludes it from later opponent draws. It does not remove an already-held matching run-deck card.

- Banning a run-deck card removes it from that deck and excludes it from later opponent draws.

- In Short and Long, bans affect a card identity. In Super Long, they affect only the selected copy.

- Cards from an opponent hand that are neither claimed nor banned return to the pool. Skipping Report Out returns all four.

- Long can continue drawing run-deck identities, provided its hand includes at least one outside identity. Claiming does not necessarily shrink its pool.

- Inspect Run Deck and Inspect Banned Cards show those cards. The opponent pool remains hidden; only its count is public.

A VPR loss ends the entire run immediately. After resolving rewards or a tie, fewer than four run-deck cards also ends the run as a loss. A below-four warning during reward selection is not yet final: another pending reward may restore your deck.

If your run-deck still has at least four cards but the opponent cannot produce a legal hand, you win the run. In Long, a legal hand needs at least one card outside your run-deck. Choices that remove pool cards can shorten the journey. The map is a reward schedule, not a promise that every shown node must be completed before winning.

Default whole-run awards are one Digital Booster Pack for Short; two Digital Booster Packs and one Digital Holographic Booster Pack for Long; and six Digital Booster Packs and four Digital Holographic Booster Packs for Super Long. The configured award bundle may differ. Path completion alone grants a Certification, not this whole-run award.

Keep at least four run-deck cards after rewards. Self-bans, collection claims and hidden bans can all reduce that count. Use Credentials when their immediate VP is worth more than a card activation. Resolve rewards in an order that preserves eligible choices. Save Certifications for paths you want to open, and distinguish a harmless Bonus loss from a run-ending VPR loss.