Bewere Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Content
• Goal of the Game
• Cards
  • Moon and Cloud cards
  • Bite Cards
  • Villager Cards
• Set Up
• Game Play
  • A. Draw Cards
  • B. Play Cards
• End of a Round
• Scoring
• End of the Game
• Special Rule for a Two Player Game
• Optional Special Rule
• Glossary
  • Astronomer
  • Beggar
  • Mayor
  • Private Investigator
  • Thief
  • Druid
  • Jester
  • Duchess
  • Doctor
  • Witch
  • Huntsman
  • Grocer
  • Nun

Content

• 12 moon cards
• 10 cloud cards
• 15 bite cards
• 19 villager cards
• (19 villager cards in German. You can remove them from the game and use them to learn German.)
• 16 silver bullets
• 20 werewolf tokens

Note: the German content list on page 1 gives 9 cloud cards, not 10. The English list (10 cloud cards) is transcribed as printed; the discrepancy is in the source.

Goal of the Game

Each player slips into the role of a werewolf who tries to enlarge their pack by biting innocent villagers and turning them into werewolves as well. Whoever transforms the most villagers in the end, wins the game.

Cards

Moon and Cloud cards

Moon cards may be played to push the game forward and to allow the player to pass any card to another player. They are placed in the middle of the playing field (see Game Play - B. Playing Cards). Four moon cards result in a full moon and lead to the end of the round and the intermediate scoring.

Cloud cards work similarly to moon cards. They can be placed on top of moon cards and delay the game. Moon and cloud cards both are placed at the action "Playing cards".

Bite Cards

Bite cards in combination with villager cards give you victory points at the end of a round (see End of a Round). But be careful! Too many bite cards do not transform your villagers - they kill them!

Villager Cards

Villager cards in combination with bite cards will give you victory points at the end of the round (see End of a Round). But be careful! Too many villager cards in your hand make you vulnerable.

While you bite one villager, the other one shoots you and you'll get a silver bullet! Each villager card has a special effect. If you pass a villager card to a player during the action "Play cards", this effect is triggered.

Set Up

Before you begin to play, your group has to decide on the amount of rounds that will be played. We recommend at least 2 rounds. Depending on how long you want to play, you can also play more or less rounds. Each round usually lasts about 10 minutes.

• Take the playing cards and shuffle them well.
• Each player is dealt 5 cards. The rest of the cards are placed next to the playing field as a draw pile.
• Reveal one card of the draw pile and place it face-up next to the draw pile.
• Each player receives a werewolf token. Place all other tokens as a supply next to the playing field.
• Also lay out the silver bullets as a supply.
• The hairiest player starts the game.

Game Play

Bewere is played over several rounds. A round ends when the moon is completed (see Playing Cards) in the middle of the playing field or the draw pile is empty.

Bewere plays clockwise in turns. On your turn you can choose between 2 actions:

• A. Draw cards.
• B. Play cards.

A. Draw Cards

When you draw cards, you may take either the face-up card or two cards from the draw pile into your hand.

If you draw the face-up card, you draw only that card. You may not draw another card from the draw pile. Then a new card from the draw pile is dealt face up, and it is the next player's turn. This face-up card is called the "display".

Some card effects allow the display to grow to multiple cards side by side. Often, cards of the same type are stacked on top of each other so that the display consists of several stacks. These stacks count as one card on display. Only when the last card (or last stack) is removed from the display, a new card is placed in the display from the draw pile.

If you draw cards from the draw pile, you may only draw 2 cards from the draw pile. Neither of these cards is the face-up card. You may not draw a card from the draw pile and then decide to take a card from the discard pile as a second card.

B. Play Cards

Instead of taking cards, you can also pass any of your hand cards to any of your fellow players. To do this, however, you must first place a moon or cloud card!

Moon or cloud cards are placed in the middle of the table in one of 4 positions (2x2 grid, see Fig. 1). Moon cards must be placed so that they match already placed moon cards (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) and may not be placed over already placed moon cards (Fig. 4). Cloud cards can always be placed - even on already placed cloud or moon cards (Fig. 2 and Fig. 5). Cloud cards can then be covered by a moon card.

[Figures 1–5 show the placement examples described above.]

Afterwards you must pass one of your hand cards openly to any other player. This card can be of any type. The player who received the card takes it into their hand. If you pass a villager card, you immediately use the effect of that card.

Example: Moritz plays a moon card. Since no other moon card has been placed yet, he is free to choose which moon card he will place. Then he passes the villager card "Mayor" to Melanie. The Mayor's effect now allows Moritz to draw 3 cards from the draw pile and keep all of them or put all of them back. Moritz looks at the cards, decides to put them all back onto the draw pile, because they do not match his current hand. Melanie takes the Mayor into her hand and may now pass him on in her next turn, provided she can place a moon or cloud card before that.

End of a Round

A round can end in 2 different ways:

• Four moon cards form a full moon on the table.
• The draw pile is empty.

The player who placed the last moon card still has to pass one card to another player. Then all players reveal their hand cards. The scoring begins.

Scoring

For each villager/bite card combination you receive 1 werewolf token.

Other bite cards must also be distributed among the villagers. A villager who has 2 bite cards does not give you a werewolf token. You were too bloodthirsty and bit your victim to death instead of just transforming them.

In case you have more villager cards than bite cards, you will get 1 silver bullet for each villager that could not be bitten.

If you have too many silver bullets you lose and the game ends immediately. The number of bullets needed to kill players is dependent on the number of rounds you agreed to play at the beginning (see Set Up):

• Playing 1 round: 2 bullets kill players.
• Playing 2 rounds: 3 bullets kill players.
• Playing 3 rounds: 4 bullets kill players.

Be careful! Players might survive a round, but bullets are carried over from round to round and can only be discarded through card effects.

Example: Melanie has 4 villager cards, 5 bite cards, one moon card, and one cloud card in her hand at the end of the round. Each of her villagers gets one bite, but one of them gets 2, so she only gets 3 werewolf tokens. The moon and cloud cards play no role in the scoring.

After the points are distributed, all cards are shuffled, and the player with the fewest points starts the new round. If there is a tie, the player with more silver bullets starts the new round.

End of the Game

The game ends after you played the amount of rounds you agreed upon (see Set Up).

The winner is the player who owns the most werewolf tokens. In case of a tie, the winner is the one who has less silver bullets. If there is also a tie, the winner is determined in a real life duel under the full moon. (No biting.)

Special Rule for a Two Player Game

If you play the game with two players, you follow the same rules, but instead of cards being passed to another player, they are removed from the game for that round. The effect on villager cards is of course still triggered.

Optional Special Rule

Players who are into strategy can choose to play with the following rule:

Before your actual turn, there is an optional action. The active player has the opportunity to expand the display. To do so, place the same type of card on the face-up card in the display and reveal a new card from the draw pile next to it, also face up. The drawn card always forms a new deck, regardless of the type of the card.

After that, you make your move as usual. If you choose "Option A: Draw Cards", however, you now have the additional option of selecting between two face-up piles in the display. Each card pile counts as "one face-up card", so you always pick up one of the face-up piles. There is no maximum number of piles placed in the display. During the game, it is possible for the display to have several piles of the same kind of cards.

Glossary

Card-effect glossary from the English half of the source; the printed heading is "Glossar / Glossary". Entry names are the English names as printed.

Astronomer

When you place cards, you must have them in your hand. The cards you take away are discarded. You have to choose an option. Don't place and take away cards at the same time.

Beggar

The cards are only shown after everyone has chosen a card.

Mayor

If you don't want the cards, put them ALL side by side into the display.

Private Investigator

If you guess for example that the player has more villagers, but they have as many villager cards as bite cards, you have also guessed wrong and nothing happens.

Thief

Each player from whom you draw may shuffle their cards first.

Druid

If no bite card is included, you put all 5 cards into the display.

Jester

You do not necessarily have to switch with the player you give this card to.

Duchess

If the player from whom you want 2 cards only has one or none of your chosen cards, they give you only one - or no card of that kind. You are not allowed to choose another player.

Doctor

You can also choose to remove silver bullets if you do not have one. In this case nothing happens.

Witch

The witch cannot belong to the combination you evaluate. All the cards you have evaluated are placed into the display.

Same types on top of each other.

Huntsman

If the player has no bite card, nothing happens.

Grocer

You can not look at the cards you draw from the draw pile before you do so. Place the cards you have exchanged into the display side by side.

Nun

If you name a villager that nobody possesses, nothing happens.

Priest

If he has no victory point, he can't lose one.

Princess

The direction of play remains reversed until the round is over or the princess is activated again.

Professor

If the player has fewer bite cards than have been discarded by you, they must discard all of them. You will not receive a victory point.

Seer

Place the unselected cards on the draw pile in any order.

Undertaker

The cards are drawn openly for everyone to see. If the first card is a bite card, you can only keep one card.

Policeman

If you have requested more villagers from one player than they have in their hand, you may not request another villager from another player.