Bang! Star Wars (Russian edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• Abilities
• Turn Structure
  • 1. Draw Cards
  • 2. Play Cards
  • Encounter with Destiny
  • 3. Discard
  • Distance Between Players
  • Elimination
  • Penalties and Rewards
• End of the Game
• New Game
• Cards
  • Weapons
  • Lightsaber
  • BANG!
  • Missed!
  • Symbols
  • Bacta Tank
  • Symbols on the Cards
  • Repair
  • Respite
  • Unexpected Encounter
  • Deception
  • Ambush
  • AT-AT Attack
• Character Abilities
• Important Rules

Components

• 7 character cards: Darth Vader, 2 Imperial Stormtroopers, 3 Rebels, 1 Bounty Hunter.
• 7 reference cards.
• 7 player boards.
• 80 game cards.
• 16 ability cards.
• 30 energy tokens.
• The rulebook.

Goal of the Game

The goal of each player depends on the character they play:

• Darth Vader must eliminate all Rebels and the Bounty Hunter from the game, leaving the Empire as the only force in the Galaxy.
• Imperial Stormtroopers defend Darth Vader at any cost: they are loyal servants of the Empire.
• Rebels seek to defeat Darth Vader, risking their own lives for the good of the Alliance.
• The Bounty Hunter wins if they are the last one left standing in the shootout. They seek personal gain.

Setup

Each player takes one player board and places it in front of them. On it they will keep their character card, their ability card, their weapon and their energy tokens.

Choose the character cards according to the number of players:

• for 4 players: Darth Vader, the Bounty Hunter and 2 Rebels;
• for 5 players: Darth Vader, the Bounty Hunter, 1 Imperial Stormtrooper and 2 Rebels;
• for 6 players: Darth Vader, the Bounty Hunter, 1 Imperial Stormtrooper and 3 Rebels;
• for 7 players: Darth Vader, the Bounty Hunter, 2 Imperial Stormtroopers and 3 Rebels.

Shuffle the character cards and deal one to each player, face down. Darth Vader reveals himself (places his character card face up on his player board). The other players look at which characters they received but keep their roles secret from allies and opponents. For example, an Imperial Stormtrooper may not reveal their character card to anyone, including Darth Vader, even if they want to.

Shuffle the ability cards and deal 1 ability card face up to each player. On receiving the card, the player must read its text aloud. Then the players take energy tokens in the number shown on their ability cards and place them in the energy slots of their player boards.

Darth Vader receives 1 additional energy token: for example, if an ability card allows taking 3 energy tokens, Darth Vader takes 4.

Put the unused player boards, character cards and ability cards back in the box.

Shuffle the game cards and deal each player face down as many cards as they have energy tokens on their player board. Place the remaining game cards in a draw pile in the middle of the table. Leave room next to it for a discard pile.

Abilities

Abilities make the characters unique. The energy tokens shown on an ability card show how many energy points your character has at the start of the game, in other words how many hits are needed to eliminate you. In addition, the energy tokens set your hand limit: the number of cards you may keep in your hand at the end of your turn equals your energy tokens.

Example. The Fearless character is eliminated after the fourth hit. At the end of a turn they may keep no more than 4 cards in hand. If during the game they lose one energy point, at the end of a turn they may keep no more than 3 cards in hand.

Turn Structure

Darth Vader takes the first turn, and then the turn passes clockwise. Each turn consists of three phases:

1. Draw cards.
2. Play cards.
3. Discard.

1. Draw Cards

Take the top 2 cards of the draw pile into your hand. If the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile and form a new draw pile from it.

2. Play Cards

You may play any number of cards to help yourself or to harm your opponents. As a rule, you play cards only on YOUR OWN TURN (with the exceptions of the "Missed!" card and the "Bacta Tank" card). You may play as many cards as you like (including none), but you must observe three restrictions:

• You may play no more than 1 "BANG!" card per turn (this rule does not apply to other cards with the BANG! symbol).
• There must not be several cards with the same name in play (no more than one copy of each card).
• You may have only 1 weapon in play (when you play a new weapon card, discard the one already played).

Example. If you have "Cover" in play, you cannot play a second one: in that case two identical cards would be in front of you.

Game cards come in two kinds: single-use cards (with a red border) go to the discard pile after use, and permanent cards (with a blue border) stay in play.

Once you play a single-use card, place it face up on the discard pile and apply all of its effects (those given in text or by symbols).

Once you play a permanent card, place it face up in front of you (a "Carbonite" card is placed in front of another player). The cards lying in front of you are in play; their effects apply constantly until the card is discarded (for example, by an "Ambush") or leaves play in another way (for example, as a "Trash Compactor"). You may keep any number of cards in play, but they must all be different.

Important: during this phase you cannot simply discard a card from your hand without applying its effect. You may discard cards only in the discard phase and only if you exceed your hand limit.

Encounter with Destiny

Some "BANG!", "Missed!", "Bacta Tank" and "Repair" cards carry symbols in grey frames (to the right of the ordinary effects). These are additional effects, which apply under certain conditions.

If your character has 2 energy points or fewer, you may apply the additional effects of Encounter with Destiny. The basic effect and the additional effect of a card may be applied in any order: for example, make an opponent discard a card from hand (hoping that they get rid of a "Missed!" card) and then shoot them with a "BANG!" effect. Effects of other cards and character abilities apply only after both effects of the played card have been resolved, not between them.

• If you discard a card instead of playing it, the Encounter with Destiny effect does not apply.
• Both effects must be applied. If you have 2 energy tokens or fewer, you cannot refuse the Encounter with Destiny effect (just as you cannot refuse the basic one).
• If you have 2 energy tokens and play a "Bacta Tank" card with an Encounter with Destiny effect, the order in which you apply the effects on the played card matters. If you first restore one energy point with the basic effect of the "Bacta Tank", you can no longer apply the Encounter with Destiny effect, because it does not work at 3 energy points for your character.

3. Discard

If you no longer want or cannot play cards, the play phase ends and you must discard any excess cards from your hand. The hand limit equals the number of energy tokens you have at the end of your turn. Discard all cards above this limit; after that, the turn passes to the player on your left.

Distance Between Players

The distance from one player to another equals the number of gaps between them, counting along the nearer side around the table (see the diagram). Many cards act only at a certain distance. For example, at the start of the game your only weapon is the E-11 rifle (drawn on your player board) with the range symbol 1, so you can reach a target, player or card, only at distance 1.

Eliminated players are not counted when determining distance: if a character leaves the game, the remaining players become closer to each other.

Elimination

When your character loses its last energy point, you may immediately play a "Bacta Tank" card (see below) and stay in the game. If you have no "Bacta Tank" card, your character is eliminated. In that case you must reveal your role card and discard all your cards from hand and from play.

Penalties and Rewards

• If Darth Vader eliminates an Imperial Stormtrooper, Darth Vader must discard all of his cards from hand and from play.
• If any player eliminates a Rebel (even if that player is a Rebel themselves), that player must draw 3 cards from the draw pile as a reward.

End of the Game

The game ends in one of the following cases:

a) Defeat of Darth Vader. If only the Bounty Hunter is left in the game, they win; otherwise the Rebels win.

b) The Empire triumphs. If all Rebels and the Bounty Hunter have been eliminated from the game, Darth Vader and the Imperial Stormtroopers win.

Example 1. All Rebels have been eliminated, but the Bounty Hunter remains in the game. The game continues: now the Bounty Hunter must face Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers alone.

Example 2. Darth Vader has been eliminated, and so have all the Rebels. Only the Bounty Hunter and the Stormtroopers remain in the game. The game ends with a victory for the Rebels: they have achieved their goal and defeated the enemy!

New Game

If you survived the previous game, you may keep your ability card. Those who were eliminated draw new ones. Everyone must discard all cards from hand and from play.

If you want to give every player a chance to play as Darth Vader, pass his character card clockwise in each new game, and distribute the other characters at random.

Cards

Weapons

You start the game with the E-11 rifle. It is not represented by a card; it is simply drawn on your player board. With it you can attack only targets at distance 1, that is, your neighbour on the right or on the left.

To hit a target from farther away, you must play a card of a more advanced weapon: when played, place it on your board on top of the E-11. Weapon cards can be recognised by their blue border and by the range symbol, where X is the maximum attack distance. A played weapon replaces the E-11 until it leaves the game. A played weapon card can be stolen (with the "Deception" card) or discarded (with the "Ambush" card). The reliable E-11 rifle cannot be lost under any circumstances.

You may keep only one weapon in play: if you play a new weapon, the weapon card lying on your board must be discarded.

Important: a weapon does not change the distance between players; it sets the maximum distance at which you can hit another player.

Lightsaber

The "Lightsaber" allows you to play as many "BANG!" cards as you like in one turn against one or several targets at distance 1.

BANG!

The "BANG!" card is the main way to strip a player of energy. By default, if no specific target is named, the target of your "BANG!" may be any player of your choice who is within reach of your weapon. If you want to play such a card against a player, determine:

a) the distance to that player, and

b) whether your weapon can reach the target at that distance.

Some "BANG!" cards have an Encounter with Destiny effect. Its symbols, from the legend on page 7:

• draw a card from the draw pile;
• take a card for yourself from the attacked player (from their hand or from play);
• discard a card from each other player: a random card from hand or a card of your choice from play;
• instead of the basic effect: each player other than you receives one hit (unless they play a "Missed!" card). This Encounter with Destiny effect applies instead of the basic effect of the "BANG!" card.

Example 1. The players sit as shown in the illustration on page 5. Artyom (A) wants to shoot Dmitry (D), that is, play a "BANG!" card against him. The distance between the players is 2, and Artyom needs a fairly good weapon: an ion blaster, a crossbow, a DLT-19 or an A280. The E-11 rifle and the lightsaber will not help him. However, Artyom has a "Droid" in play, which reduces distance by 1, so he can shoot Dmitry with any weapon. Had Dmitry had a "Speeder Bike" in play, the effects of the two cards would have overlapped and the distance would have stayed at 2.

Example 2. Between Galina (G), on a "Speeder Bike", and Artyom the distance is 4: to hit her, Artyom needs a serious weapon.

Missed!

If a "BANG!" or an "AT-AT Attack" card has been played against you, you may cancel the hit immediately by playing a "Missed!" card (even not on your own turn!). Otherwise you lose an energy token: place it in the middle of the table. When you lose your last energy token, you are immediately eliminated from the game, unless you immediately play a "Bacta Tank" card (see page 9). You cannot prevent hits on other players. A "BANG!" card goes to the discard pile even if its effect was cancelled.

Some "Missed!" cards have an Encounter with Destiny effect:

• draw a card from the draw pile;
• the attacking player loses one energy point. This does not count as playing a "BANG!" card;
• exchange all cards in your hand for all cards in the hand of the attacking player. This acts only against the player who made you play this "Missed!" card. If two players play such an effect against an "AT-AT Attack" at the same time, the one who placed their "Missed!" card first exchanges hands first.

Symbols

The effect of many cards is given by symbols. Here is what they mean:

• Hit (BANG! symbol): the target loses one energy point.
• Miss (Missed! symbol): cancels the effect of a hit.
• Restore (energy symbol with a plus): restores one energy point. Unless stated otherwise, it applies only to the player who played the card.
• Draw: take a card into your hand from the draw pile. If a target symbol is shown next to it, take a card from the target player instead: a random card from their hand or a card chosen from their play area.
• Discard: the target discards a card. You decide whether it is a random card from their hand or a card of your choice from their play area.

Bacta Tank

This card restores one energy point. You cannot receive more energy tokens than you had at the start of the game! You always play "Bacta Tank" on yourself (except with an Encounter with Destiny effect).

"Bacta Tank" is played in one of two ways:

• on your own turn, as an ordinary single-use card;
• immediately after your character has lost its last energy token (only a fatal hit allows playing "Bacta Tank" on another player's turn). In this way several "Bacta Tank" cards can be played, but they cannot raise energy above 1.

"Bacta Tank" does not work if only two players remain in the game. You can still play the card, but you do not receive an energy token. (However, you may use the Encounter with Destiny effect, as long as it is not an energy-restoring effect.)

Some "Bacta Tank" cards have an Encounter with Destiny effect:

• draw a card from the draw pile;
• to another player: any other player of your choice gains one energy point. This effect does not work when only two players remain in the game.

Example. Bad luck: the "Trash Compactor" makes you lose 3 energy tokens with only two players left. If you play 2 "Bacta Tank" cards, you survive with one energy token (2 − 3 + 2 = 1); one "Bacta Tank" card is not enough in that situation.

Symbols on the Cards

The targeting symbols on cards mean the following (the heading's left edge is cut off in the printed scan; the visible text reads «НА КАРТАХ», "on the cards"):

• Any player: the effect may be directed at any other player regardless of distance between you (you may also choose yourself).
• All other players: the effect applies to all other players regardless of distance, that is, to everyone except the player who played the card.
• Distance: the effect may be directed at any player at the indicated distance or closer.

Note: the "Droid" and the "Speeder Bike" change the distance between players, but a weapon does not.

Repair

Draw 2 cards from the draw pile.

Some "Repair" cards have an Encounter with Destiny effect: draw a card from the draw pile.

Respite

Each player restores one energy point. If you lose your last energy point, you cannot play "Respite", neither on your turn nor on another player's turn.

Unexpected Encounter

Reveal from the draw pile as many cards as there are players still in the game. Starting with you and continuing clockwise, each player takes one of the revealed cards into their hand.

Deception

Take into your hand a card from a player at distance 1 from you (either a random card from their hand or a card of your choice from their play area). Remember that the "Droid" and the "Speeder Bike" change the distance between players, and a weapon does not.

Ambush

Force any player, regardless of distance, to discard a card. You decide whether it is a random card from their hand or a card of your choice from their play area.

AT-AT Attack

Each other player, regardless of distance, receives one hit (unless they play a "Missed!" card). Despite the BANG! symbol, the "AT-AT Attack" is not a "BANG!" card, so it is not caught by the ban on playing more than one "BANG!" card per turn.

Jawas

Each other player must either discard a "BANG!" card from their hand or lose an energy token. "Missed!" and "Cover" cards do not help against "Jawas". Discarding a "BANG!" card is not counted as playing it, and no Encounter with Destiny effects apply. If a Rebel player is eliminated because of "Jawas", nobody receives a reward for it.

Duel

Challenge any player to a duel (regardless of distance). The challenged player may discard a "BANG!" card, even though it is not their turn. Then you may discard a "BANG!", then they again, and so on. As soon as one of you cannot or does not want to discard a "BANG!", the duel ends in defeat for that player, and they lose an energy token. "Missed!" and "Cover" cards do not help in a duel. The "Duel" is not a "BANG!" card, and "BANG!" cards discarded during a duel are not counted as played (including for Encounter with Destiny effects). Therefore these cards are not subject to the ban on playing more than one "BANG!" card per turn.

Speeder Bike

While this card is in play, the distance to you increases by 1 for all other players. However, you see other players at the usual distance.

Example. Artyom has put a "Speeder Bike" into play. Now Boris and Egor see Artyom at distance 2, Viktor and Danila at distance 3, and Galina at distance 4. For Artyom, all players remain at their previous distances.

Droid

While this card is in play, for you the distance to all other players decreases by 1. Other players see you at the usual distance. The "Droid" cannot reduce the distance to zero: distance 1 remains the minimum.

Example. Artyom with a "Droid" sees Boris, Viktor, Danila and Egor at distance 1, and only Galina is somewhat farther away (distance 2). The distance at which other players see Artyom does not change.

Check

Some cards ("Cover", "Carbonite", "Trash Compactor", "A New Hope") contain the words "Make a check". To make a check, you must reveal the top card of the draw pile and see whether the symbol named in the check text appears in its lower left corner. If it does, the check is passed and the effect of the card that called for the check applies. Otherwise nothing happens. The card you revealed for the check is discarded in any case, without effect.

Cover

While this card is in play, whenever you are hit (by a "BANG!" card or a similar effect), you may make a check:

• if the lower left corner of the revealed card has the Cover symbol, cancel the hit (as with the "Missed!" card);
• if this symbol is absent, the "Cover" effect does not apply.

Example. Another player plays a "BANG!" against you. You have "Cover" in play and decide to use it. You turn over the top card of the draw pile and put it in the discard pile. It has the Cover symbol: lucky! The hit is not counted. If the revealed card had no Cover symbol, the hit could not be cancelled by "Cover". In that case you could play a "Missed!" card to avoid the wound anyway.

Carbonite

You may play this card on any player, regardless of distance. Its target is frozen in carbonite! A player in carbonite makes a check at the start of their turn (before the draw phase):

• if they reveal a card with the Carbonite symbol in its lower left corner, they are freed: they discard "Carbonite" and continue their turn;
• if they reveal any other card, they also discard "Carbonite", but skip their entire turn.

Even in carbonite a player can become the target of a "BANG!" card or a similar effect. In that case they keep the right to play response cards ("Missed!" and "Bacta Tank").

"Carbonite" cannot be played on Darth Vader!

Trash Compactor

You may play this card in front of you. At the start of your next turn, before the draw phase, you must make a check:

• if the lower left corner of the revealed card has the trash-compactor symbol, brace yourself for a dunking: lose 3 energy points and discard this card;
• if the lower left corner of the revealed card does not have that symbol, pass the "Trash Compactor" to the player on your left: at the start of their turn they will make the same check.

Players pass the card around the circle until the check is passed. The "Trash Compactor" can be taken with "Deception", discarded with "Ambush", and also removed with some Encounter with Destiny effects.

If a Rebel player is eliminated because of the "Trash Compactor", nobody receives a reward for it.

A New Hope

You may play this card in front of you. At the start of your next turn, before the draw phase, you must make a check:

• if the lower left corner of the revealed card has the A New Hope symbol, loyal friends come to your aid: you receive two energy tokens and discard this card;
• if the lower left corner of the revealed card does not have that symbol, pass "A New Hope" to the player on your left: at the start of their turn they will make the same check.

Players pass the card around the circle until the check is passed. "A New Hope" can be taken with "Deception", discarded with "Ambush", and also removed with some Encounter with Destiny effects.

Order of Checks

If you have several cards in play that require a check at the start of your turn, always draw for "Carbonite" last. The checks for "A New Hope" and "Trash Compactor" may be made in any order.

Character Abilities

The number in brackets shows the maximum number of energy tokens of your character.

• Fearless (4): all other players are at distance 1 closer to you than usual. If you have a "Droid", the distance to players is reduced by a further 1 (to a minimum of 1).

• Lucky (4): on each hit against you, you may make a check: if you reveal the Cover symbol, the hit is cancelled. If you have "Cover", you may make a second check. If neither check was successful, you may play a "Missed!" card.

• Resilient (4): at any moment you may discard 2 cards from hand to restore one energy point. This ability may be used several times in a row, but you cannot have more energy than at the start of the game.

• Tempered (4): once per turn, you may discard a "BANG!" card to replay the effect of the card with a red border that you have just played. This may be a "BANG!" effect. Each effect may be repeated only once. An Encounter with Destiny effect does not trigger when repeated.

• Thrifty (4): as soon as you have no cards left in hand, draw a card from the draw pile.

• Inventive (4): you may play "BANG!" cards as "Missed!" cards and vice versa (in that case the Encounter with Destiny effects are not played).

  Having played "Missed!" as a "BANG!" card, you may not play a "BANG!" card on the same turn (unless you have a "Lightsaber").

• Accurate (4): to cancel your hit (including Encounter with Destiny effects), 2 "Missed!" cards are needed. A successful "Cover" check or the "Lucky" ability counts as one "Missed!" card.

Important Rules

• Any card with the Missed! effect (target symbol) may be played to cancel any card with the BANG! effect (hit symbol).
• Only one "BANG!" card may be played per turn, but as many other cards with the hit symbol as you like may be played.
• You cannot have two identical cards in play.
• You may have only one weapon in play. If you have no other weapon, you use the E-11 rifle.
• A weapon does not change the distance between players. The number on a weapon card is the maximum distance at which you can hit a target (for example, with a "BANG!" card).
• "Bacta Tank" does not work if only two players remain in the game.
• When you lose your last energy point, you may play "Bacta Tank", but not "Respite".