…They were fantastically complex quantum computing constructs, growing their intelligences through endless iteration, budding out new processes and subroutines. Sometimes she had to prune a defective growth. Other times she had to break open the pot of Network protocols and defenses that kept her “plants” from learning.

:: WELCOME TO THE NETWORK.

__Jacked into the virtual world, did you? Picked up your Android: Netrunner Core Set, maybe played a game or two. Maybe you're a top-tier tournament RUNNER ace… Well, bub, you ain't seen nothing yet!

Terminal Directive, the first CAMPAIGN expansion for Android: Netrunner will soon reshape your undersanding of the net. You'll find a new take on SERVER DEFENSES and what it means to be a runner. You'll find deadly ICE and other snares waiting for you in the virtual realm and cold-blooded killers after you in meatspace. And it's not just one run anymore either. Finding those seven agenda points doesn't mean much anymore, and it won't solve this mystery. You've got many more contests ahead of you. The question is: Can you SURVIVE them all?

// Runners' World

In our earlier previews, we looked at the campaign mechanics and the campaign experience, and we ran SURVEILLANCE on the Corporations most likely to frag you while you're out trying to solve this salacious MURDER mystery. So when your failure pretty much guarantees your DEATH, why do you still want to run?

The ANSWER, of course, depends on who you are. Every Runner in Android: Netrunner has his or her own motive. We clump them into three larger categories (aka: "Factions"): CRIMINAL, SHAPER, and ANARCH. But the truth of it all is that there's as much variety between the game's Criminals—or its Shapers—as you'll find between the three factions.

So as we move into the seedy mysteries of Terminal Directive, it's only natural that our two new Runners are really only similar in the sense that they both excel at navigating the Network's back-channels and finding the DATA they desire.

__So… why RISK your brain and body for the secrets of Terminal Directive?

:: If you're running as Master Grifter STEVE CAMBRIDGE (Terminal Directive, 1) it's probably because you smell the sort of payout that might make for a luxurious early retirement. :: On the other hand, if you're running as Simulant Specialist AYLA "BIOS" RAHIM (Terminal Directive, 12), it's probably because your instincts suggest your investigation may lead you to a new understanding of bleeding-edge artificial intelligences—the sort of intelligent distributed network you've been working on in grad school. Plus, you must sate your curiosity.

// The Criminal Toolkit

In Android: Netrunner, the Criminal TOOLKIT is loaded with cards that bypass and derez Corporate ice. Terminal Directive does nothing to shift this focus. Instead, it ensures that Criminals looking to exploit these tools enjoy an ABUNDANCE of riches. And it complements the Core Set beautifully as a second purchase for any player looking to explore more of the Criminal approach to the game.

:: If you like the gratification of a successful Inside Job (Core Set, 21), you'll probably like SPEAR PHISHING (Terminal Directive, 3), too.

:: You might also like the new breaker suite that comes in Terminal Directive. Like ABAGNALE (Terminal Directive, 6), each of the three standard breakers that the expansion makes available to Steve Cambridge and the game's other Criminals comes with a built-in TRASH ability. For example: "[TRASH]: Bypass a piece of code gate ice currently being encountered, even if it has strength greater than Abagnale."

:: And the coup de grâce? After you use all these new Criminal tricks to bypass the Corp's ice—and tricky new cards like CHARLATAN (Terminal Directive, 10) and BRUTE-FORCE HACK (Terminal Directive, 2) to derez it—Steve Cambridge's ability forces the Corp to return one of your tricks from your heap to your hand.

Will the Corp player give you back your ACCOUNT SIPHON (Core Set, 18) or the Charlatan she worked so hard to trash? Will he give you your Inside Job or your Spear Phishing? You can make the Corp player pick her poison, or you can give him a choice that's no choice at all: If Abagnale's the breaker you need, pick two in your heap, and make the Corp give you one.

__The important thing, here, is this: ALWAYS have the right tool for the JOB.

// Advanced Research

Approach the mysteries of Terminal Directive from the vantage point of grad student Ayla "Bios" Rahim and you'll find yourself anxious about the FUTURE. Your advisor, Professor Atoc, has been arrested. The funding to his project—your project—has been cut. You're uncertain how his legal troubles may impact any of the DISCOVERIES you make.

And yet?

You find yourself on the cusp of something massive. One of your intelligent distributed networks, the one you told to "learn how to think," has suddenly BLOSSOMED. Its tendrils have expanded into an impossible thicket, all stemming from a single branch… Most curious.

How does all of this CONNECT to the Terminal Directive campaign and its series of grisly murders? That's what remains to be discovered. But as Ayla, you excel at discovery. Your "plants" need room on the Network to grow, and if there are layers of ice getting in the way, those layers need to go. Let the roots and branches shoot through into the space they need.

So if there are layers of ice around Corporate research into new ways to think? You might have to do some pruning. Cut some ice. Open up some new connections. With some CAREFUL PLANNING (Terminal Directive, 13), you'll clear the path for your "plants" to continue their DEEP DATA MINING (Terminal Directive, 14).

And if you find something troubling? Well, then, in the time-honored tradition of Shapers everywhere, you'll find and INSTALL the program you need to get the job done—whether it's a breaker or a more specialized program like EGRET (Terminal Directive, 19).

__The key is the DISCOVERY. Find something profound enough, and there's no way they'll strip your funding. You were meant to be at LEVY ADVANCED RESEARCH LAB (Terminal Directive, 21), and you need to take some steps toward SECURING your future.

Secure Your Future

Run to retire. Or run to keep working. Either way, you can secure your future now by heading to your local retailer to PRE-ORDER your copy of Terminal Directive!