Pandemic: On the Brink

1 Overview

Pandemic: On the Brink is an expansion requiring the Pandemic base game. It adds three optional challenge modules that can be used individually or combined, plus new specialist roles and Event cards. Each module makes the game harder and more interesting in a different way.

2 Virulent Strain Challenge

One disease is designated the Virulent Strain at the start of the game. Shuffle a Virulent Strain deck into the Epidemic cards, each Virulent Strain card triggers an extra effect in addition to the normal Epidemic.

Virulent Strain effects include: skipping the Intensify step of the next Epidemic; placing extra cubes before the Infect Cities step; preventing players from using specific Event cards; and escalating spread rules. The specific effects draw randomly, so each game plays differently.

The Virulent Strain is harder to cure (requires discarding more cards to discover its cure) and spreads more aggressively when epidemics hit its cities.

3 Mutation Challenge

Adds a fifth purple disease to the game. Shuffle 12 Mutation Event cards into the Player deck. When drawn, place a purple cube on the featured city. Purple disease must be treated and cured like the other four.

Purple disease cannot be cured at a standard Research Station, it requires a special lab (placed during setup at a specific city). The mutation challenge adds a fifth disease track and a fifth cure to find under time pressure.

If the purple cube supply runs out, the game is immediately lost.

4 Bio-Terrorist Mode (5th Player)

One player secretly receives the Bio-Terrorist role before the game begins. They play against the team, their goal is to make the team lose by any of the standard loss conditions.

The Bio-Terrorist draws from a separate hidden hand and takes secret actions: placing disease cubes covertly, interfering with Research Stations, and sabotaging the team's efforts. The team does not know which player is the Bio-Terrorist until caught or revealed.

Capturing the Bio-Terrorist: If the team can correctly identify and "capture" the Bio-Terrorist (by being in the same city and using a specific card action), the Bio-Terrorist threat is neutralized. But if they accuse the wrong person, the team loses a valuable turn.

5 New Roles

• Archivist, keep 1 extra card; draw 2 Player cards and keep 1
• Field Operative, collect pathogen samples instead of treating disease; use them as wild cards for cures
• Containment Specialist, remove all cubes of one color from cities you treat
• Epidemiologist, take any City card from another player in the same city for free
• Symbiot, starts with a purple infection card; treats any color using purple samples
• Troubleshooter, see upcoming Infection cards and can play Event cards during Epidemics

6 New Events

18 new Event cards add to the Player deck, including: Decoy Supplies, local contacts, emergency protocols, and experimental vaccines. These provide new tools for players while adding variance to the card draw.

7 Mixing Challenges

Challenges can be combined, for example, adding the Virulent Strain and Mutation together creates a brutally hard game. The Bio-Terrorist works best as a standalone addition without the other challenges (adding all three at once is extremely punishing and recommended only for experienced players).