1. How does Prison work?

If a player is sent to Municipal, District, Superior, or Federal Court they must go to the Prison District for Trial. The Prison District is located on the platform inside the box. There are three different types of verdicts: Dismissal, Probation, or Sentence.

Rolling for verdict – Look at your applicable court and read the verdict for your offense number, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. (Use the 3rd offense for more than 3 offenses.) Roll the 4-sided die to determine the length of Probation/Sentence. (Ex: If you were sent to Superior Court on your 1st offense, you see it says on the board: Superior Court 1st offense (3-6) roll sentence, this means roll the 4-sided die to determine the length of the sentence. If you were to roll a 1, you would have a 3 roll sentence in Prison. If you were to roll a 2, you would have a 4 roll sentence in Prison. If you were to roll a 3, you would have a 5 roll sentence in Prison. If you were to roll a 4, you would have a 6 roll sentence in Prison.

*note* You will notice all the numbers on the Prison District are a range of 4 numbers, you simply roll the 4 sided die to determine the exact number in that range. Below is a table for all the courts and rolls.

Municipal Court
Roll the 4-sided die:
1st Offense= Dismissal This means the charges were dropped and you may remain on your space on the board, however this counts as an offense.
2nd Offense= (1-4) roll Probation Probation simply means miss that many turns and remain on the board.
roll the 4-sided die, the number you roll is the number of turns you must miss.
3rd Offense= (1-4) roll Sentence You must move your game pawn to the Start space in Prison. roll the 4-sided die, the number you roll is the number of turns you are sentenced to. You must roll the 4 –sided die to move in Prison. The Government must move your game pawn while you are in the Prison District. You must roll the number of times ordered by your sentence before you may exit the Prison District. You must also pull a Prison card whenever your game pawn lands on a Prison space, the Government will read the card and you must follow the directions on the card

District Court
Roll the 4-sided die:
1st Offense (2-5) roll Probation
Roll a 1=2 roll Probation
Roll a 2=3 roll Probation
Roll a 3=4 roll Probation
Roll a 4=5 roll Probation
2nd Offense (2-5) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=2 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=3 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=4 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=5 roll Sentence
3rd Offense (4-7) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=4 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=5 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=6 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=7 roll Sentence

Superior Court
Roll the 4-sided die:
1st Offense (3-6) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=3 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=4 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=5 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=6 roll Sentence
2nd Offense (7-10) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=7 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=8 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=9 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=10 roll Sentence
3rd Offense (11-14) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=11 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=12 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=13 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=14 roll Sentence

Federal Court
Roll the 4-sided die:
1st Offense (10-13) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=10 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=11 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=12 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=13 roll Sentence
2nd Offense (15-18) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=15 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=16 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=17 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=18 roll Sentence
3rd Offense (21-24) roll Sentence
Roll a 1=21 roll Sentence
Roll a 2=22 roll Sentence
Roll a 3=23 roll Sentence
Roll a 4=24 roll Sentence

2. How do I obtain/use Transportation?

There are 5 different forms of transportation in Life As A BlackMan the Game: No Car (Bus Pass), Bucket, Used Mid-Size, New Sub-Compact, and New SUV. All players are required to have transportation while moving downtown. Players can buy or trade cars at anytime during the game. Players can move either right, left or forward when their game pawn rests on the gray area of the board, better known as ….DOWNTOWN. Below is a chart detailing the speed each player can move Downtown, based on their transportation.
Car Type                Price Trade        Value Speed
No Car (Bus Pass) Free of Charge $0

Moves 1/4 4-sided die roll downtown. A player has to roll a 4 to move 1 space. The player can move their full die roll only after they have rolled 3 times without moving.
Bucket $2,000 $500 Moves 1/2 4-sided die roll downtown.
This car will breakdown if you pull a “your car breaks down card”.
1=can’t move
2=move 1 space
3=move 1 space
4=move 2 spaces
Used Mid-Size $5,000 $1,200 Moves full 4-sided die roll.
This car will breakdown if you pull a “your car breaks down card”.
1=move 1 space
2=move 2 spaces
3=move 3 spaces
4=move 4 spaces
New Sub Compact $8,000 $4,000 Moves full 4-sided die roll.
This Car will not beak down.
1=move 1 space
2=move 2 spaces
3=move 3 spaces
4=move 4 spaces
New SUV $18,000 $9,000 Moves double your 4-sided die roll.
This Car will not beak down.
1=move 2 spaces
2=move 4 spaces
3=move 6 spaces
4=move 8 spaces

3. Can the Government Play too?

Absolutely, the Government is the player who handles the Bank, Cars, Lawyers and Prison. This player is also playing the game as well.

4.I pulled a Career Card that read, “College Degree Required” Engineer, Collect $5,000 every

Payday. Can I keep this Career if I’m in Hollywood?
Only if you received your College Degree when you were in University, otherwise you must return that Career Card to the bottom of the deck. To keep a Career Card that reads “Some College/Military” you must have been in either the Military or University for at least 1 turn.

5.When do I collect my Career Card Salary, when I land on Payday, or when I pass Payday?

You only collect your salary when you LAND ON the Payday space.

6. What is the significance of having a character type? What part of the game does it influence or what should be done with this character type?

A Players Character Type simply defines what that player’s special talent will be for that game, either Creative, Intellectual, or Athletic. In the beginning of the game all players must roll the 6-sided die to determine their Character Type, and the Government will hand the player the appropriate Character Type Card. This is important because many Action Cards will require a certain Character Type. For example if you pull a Career Card that reads:
*Athletic Only
Pro Football Player
Collect $15,000 for 2 Paydays
A Player would only be able to keep this Career Card if their Character Type is Athletic. Any other Character Type would have to discard this Career Card.
*note* Collect $15,000 for 2 Paydays simply means a player who has an Athletic Character
Type will be able to collect $15,000 on Payday only twice, after the second Payday, the player must discard the Career Card.
Another example is a University Card that reads:
*Creative, Athletic Only
You are expelled from school for bad grades.
Go To The Neighborhood.
If the player is Intellectual, they would NOT have to go to The Neighborhood, only the Creative, and Athletic Character Type would have to go to The Neighborhood .

7. Can you go to Church after picking a ‘Miss x turns’ card or do you have to wait until x lost turns have passed?

You have to wait until x missed turns have passed before you can carry out any action, other than buying transportation which you can do at anytime during the game

8. While Downtown can you move forward and sideways in the same turn? ex: roll a 4 and move 3 forward and 1 to the right

No, you may only move in 1 direction, either forward, left or right. players may never move their game pawn down or backwards on the game board unless instructed to do so by an Action Card.

9.After not rolling a 4 for 3 times while Downtown with a No Car Card(Bus Pass), is the 1/4 rule off for the remainder of your time Downtown?

No, only for your next turn, and the cycle starts all over again. Think of it as if you’re waiting at the Bus Stop.

10. Do you collect the trade in value of a stolen SUV since you paid to get it registered?

Yes, it is your vehicle once you pay to get it registered at the time of pulling that card.

11. Can a player spec out where his pawn will land and chose which spot suits him/her best?

Absolutely! That is the strategy. When you’re downtown you have options to try to avoid some of the obstacles, or position yourself to get to freedom.
*hint* purchase, or trade-in for a Bucket when you’re 1 space from freedom, it moves you half your roll, giving you a better chance of getting into Freedom.
ex: your game piece is on the blank space directly under Freedom. If you have a bucket and roll a 2 or a 3, allowing you to move 1 space you win. However if you had a SUV you wouldn’t be able to move 1 space because it moves you 2x your roll, and you’re required to move the number of spaces rolled, either left or right.

12. When you get married, you must pull a career card for your spouse. If the card does not pertain to your spouse (i.e. Career requires a College Degree) do you get to pull another Career Card or do they not have a career and therefore they would not receive a salary.. Also, can their career change as it can for the players?

Now that’s what I call a question! This is correct, if your spouse does not have a College Degree, just like the players they cannot keep that Career. Your spouse may always receive another Career Card or exchange their career when you pull a card that reads, “Pull Career Card for Spouse”, just like the players.

13. Are your offenses cumulative in each court, or are they applicable cumulatively in all courts?

ex. You have one prior Offense in Municipal Court and you are sent to Superior Court on a different offense, is it now your first offense in Superior Court or second? Your offenses are applicable cumulatively in all courts, so if you are sent to Municipal Court and are again sent to Superior Court you will read Superior court as your second offense. Each time you are sent to court it counts as another offense no matter which court you’re sent to.