Bill & Ted's Riff in Time

Bill & Ted's Riff in Time Rulebook

Table of Contents

Gameplay

In Bill & Ted's Riff in Time, players take on the role of members of Wyld Stallyns tracking down all the Personages of Historical Significance who have become lost at the wrong points in history. After they have been located, the players need to return them to their correct points in time, only then can a rift be closed. And quickly! As the game progresses, time cracks a little more - with dire consequences!

Object of the Game

In Bill & Ted's Riff in Time, players win the game if they can return all of the Personages of Historical Significance to their correct points in history and close the time rift found there, all before the rift in San Dimas fractures beyond repair.

Players immediately lose the game if they are unable to either draw cards from the Riff Deck or raise the rift in San Dimas when required (see "Raising/Lowering & Fixing Rifts").

Sequence of Play

Draw Riff Card and perform required Actions
Assemble Dice Pool
Roll Dice
Use The Booth (if required)
Perform Actions
Check for completed Objectives and gain rewards
Raise the rift in San Dimas (end of round only)
Play passes to the next player

Components

1 x This Rule Book
1 x Game Board
4 x Wyld Stallyns Player Miniatures
4 x Player Character Cards
10 x Personages of Historical Significance Standees
10 x Personages of Historical Significance / Location Cards
10 x Plastic Slot Bases
10 x Historical Location Discs
1 x San Dimas Disc
4 x Objective Tracking Tokens
3 x Wyld Dice - YELLOW
4 x Character Dice - BLUE
4 x Triumphant Dice - PINK
3 x Bogus Dice - BLACK
60 x Riff Cards
16 x Objective Cards

Set Up

Unfold the board and place it in the centre of the table within easy reach of all players. Shuffle the Riff Cards and place this Riff Deck onto the game board. Place the San Dimas disc in its location, aligning its arrow to the number of players.

Need more of a challenge? Try starting with San Dimas at a higher number!
Shuffle the Historic Location discs and place them with their Unfixed face upwards into the numbered locations on the board, starting with position 1 and ending at 10, aligning their arrows to the number 5. (The location number can be found on the board.)
Shuffle the Personages of Historical Significance cards and then reveal them in turn. Again, starting at position 1 and ending at 10, place the figure's standee shown on the card on top of the next empty Historical Location, repeating until all figures have been placed.
Give each player one Character Card and Tracking Token, placing the corresponding player miniature onto San Dimas. Return any unused player items to the game box.
Place the dice within easy reach of all players.
Shuffle the Objective Cards and deal 2 to each player. Players should choose one of the cards to keep and discard the other; the chosen card is then placed under the player's Character Card with its Objective showing.
Shuffle the undealt and discarded Objective Cards, deal one card to each player. This card is then placed under the player's Character Card with its Action icon showing. This bonus Action will be available for the player to use each turn.
Shuffle the Personages of Historical Significance cards again and then, for each player, reveal a card. Locate the Personage of Historical Significance on the card and raise the rift at their current Historic Location by one level.
Gather up all Personages of Historical Significance cards. These cards can then be placed face up next to the game board.

THE PLAYER WHO CAN PLAY THE MOST EXCELLENT RIFF ON AN AIR GUITAR (OR THE YOUNGEST) IS THE STARTING PLAYER.

Raising / Lowering & Fixing Rifts

Throughout the game, players will be instructed to raise and lower various rifts. To do this, simply rotate the rift disc one number clockwise (to raise) or one number anti-clockwise (to lower).

When a rift has been lowered to 0 the Historic Location disc is flipped over to its Fixed side (see Fix Rift in the Using Actions section).

Sometimes a Riff Card will instruct you to raise the rift in multiple locations, this will either be specific numbered locations or a rift where the player's miniature is located. When raising the rift in each player's location, always start with the Active player's miniature and then proceed clockwise until all players' locations have been raised. This can cause a location to be raised more than once.

If a Historic Location's rift dial is at its maximum (10) and a player is asked to raise it, the rift in San Dimas is raised by the same amount instead - This can cause players to lose the game!

Whenever a Historic Location needs to be raised, but the location has already been Fixed (unless there is a Fixed rule on the card) this instruction can be ignored.

Whenever the rift in San Dimas needs to be lowered but it is already at zero, the instruction is ignored.

Rounds / Turns

A full game of Bill & Ted's Riff in Time is made up of a varying number of rounds. Every round consists of each player taking their turn and then finally the rift in San Dimas advances by one level.

Player's turns are made up of three phases, each must be fully completed before proceeding to the next:

Draw a Riff Card and complete its instructions
Roll available dice and perform Actions
Complete Objectives and gain reward(s)

At the end of the round, after all Actions have been fully resolved, the rift level in San Dimas is raised by one level. If the rift in San Dimas cannot be raised, time has fractured too much and the game is immediately lost.

When a player is taking their turn, they become the Active Player. Play proceeds clockwise.

Phase 1: Draw a Riff Card

At the beginning of each turn, the Active Player draws and reveals the top card of the Riff Deck, performs the Action listed and then the card is discarded. Usually, this will entail raising the rift at a Historical Location. However as the game progresses different sections of the Riff Card might be followed. The Actions on each Riff Card must be fully completed before proceeding onto the dice rolling phase.

Each Riff Card consists of up to three sections; Main, Red/Green and Fixed. The Main section of each card is always followed, the other sections are situational depending on the current board state. Not all Riff Cards will contain all three sections.

After completing the Action in the Main section of the card, the Active Player should then check to see if any other section of the card needs to be followed.

Green / Red: If the number of the rift in question is currently in its green / red section, follow this instruction.
Fixed: If the rift in question is currently flipped to its fixed side, follow this instruction.

Phase 2: Roll Dice and Perform Actions

Active Dice Pool

In this phase players will take actions based on the symbols rolled on their dice. At the beginning of the game players only have access to 3 Wyld Dice, however as they travel through time picking up Personages of Historical Significance and fixing Time Rifts the number of dice they have available to them increases. Only while a Personage of Historical Significance is travelling in a Time Booth, will that player gain access to any extra dice and/or Actions shown on their information card.

Regardless of how many dice they have available to them, players have a maximum limit of rolling 4 dice a turn. Whenever a player ever has more than 4 dice available to them at the start of this phase, they must choose which ones they will roll for their turn. These dice make up the player's Active Dice Pool. Unfortunately, any Bogus dice the player has must be included in their pool (No Way!)

Use the Booth: Once per turn before taking any other actions, a player may travel back in time and reroll all of the dice in their Active Dice Pool. After deciding whether to do this or not, the Active Player can take actions based on their dice results.

Any Bogus Actions rolled must be completed before any Action other than Reroll is taken. After their completing Bogus Actions players may use any or all of the other Actions rolled, plus any Actions granted by cards. These other Actions may be taken in any order.

When a player has run out of Actions or there are no more Actions they wish to take, play passes to the next player clockwise and they become the new Active Player.

Assemble Dice Pool
Roll Dice
Use The Booth (if required)
Bogus Action(s) (Reroll actions may be taken before this)
Any Other Action(s)
Play Passes

Using Actions

After players have completed any Bogus Actions, they are free to complete other Actions in any order they wish. For each symbol rolled and for any Action icon on cards they currently have, they can take any of the following Actions:

MOVE: For each Move result rolled, players can move their Character one location. Each location on the board has several Circuits of History connecting them, players can only move to Historical Locations by following those circuits.

INTERACT: For each Interact result obtained, the player may take any one of the following Actions in any order: Pick Up / Drop Off / Pass a Personage of Historical Significance and Fix Rift.

REROLL: For each Reroll Action a player has, they can reroll any single die. Each die can be rerolled more than once, but the player must accept the outcome of their final roll. The reroll Action can be taken at any point during a player's turn - only unused dice may be rerolled in this way.

EXCELLENT: Nothing is more bodacious than being allowed to do what you want. Each Excellent Action can be used as any other Action (Interact / Move / Reroll).

BOGUS: Apart from Reroll, Bogus Actions must be fully resolved before any other Actions are performed. For each Bogus rolled, rotate the dial of the rift disc (either Historic Location or San Dimas) that the Active player is currently located at one position higher. If ever a Historic Location's rift dial can't be raised because it is at its maximum, the rift in San Dimas should be raised instead.

PICK UP PERSONAGE OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: When players arrive at a Historic Location that contains an incorrect Personage of Historical Significance, they can place them onto their Character Card using an Interact Action. That person is now travelling with them.

Each Personage of Historical Significance brings additional dice for their pool and/or extra Actions. Players should collect the corresponding information card from the pile and slide it under their Character Card with the Action/Dice section showing. Any extra dice/Actions granted to them are not available for use until that player's following turn.

DROP OFF PERSONAGE OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: When a player moves into a Historic Location and is carrying its correct Personage of Historical Significance, they can return them from their Character Card and leave them by their location by using an Interact Action. Any dice and/or extra Actions that were gained from this Personage of Historical Significance are still available for the player to use until the end of their current turn and their Information card should be discarded.

Personages of Historical Significance can never be deposited at any Location apart from their own, unless instructed directly by a card.

If a Personage of Historical Significance is already in their correct location (because of the way the game was set up or as the result of a Riff Card), players only need to use a single Interact to return them.

FIX RIFT: When a player is at a Historic Location with an unfixed rift, plus the correct Personage of Historical Significance has been deposited there, they can attempt to close it. This is done by using Interact Actions to reduce the rift to zero.

Historic Locations have an arrow on their discs which, in turn, point to the current rift level printed on the board. As players use Fix Rift Actions they turn the disc to point at the new lower number. When it reaches zero the rift is closed - the disc is flipped over to its FIXED side - and the Personage of Historical Significance is left standing by it.

After an Historic Location has been fully fixed, the Active Player takes the corresponding Personage/Location card and places it under their Character Card with the Triumphant Dice symbol showing. This new die will be available for them to use from their following turn, still abiding by the four dice limit.

PASS PERSONAGE OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: When 2 players are in the same Historical Location, the Active Player can pass a Personage of Historical Significance to another player. Only Personages of Historical Significance that are currently in their wrong Historical Location can be passed in this way. The Active Player can never take a Personage of Historical Significance from another player.

DUPLICATE ACTIONS: A player may use any two duplicate Actions (including Reroll) that they have available as an Excellent Action.

For example, if a player has rolled one Interact, one Move, one Bogus and has a Move Action on a card - they may use their two available Move Actions as an Excellent Action, allowing them to choose which other Action they want.

UNUSED ACTIONS: At any time, a player may decide to stop performing any Actions and end their turn.

Final Decisions

Bill and Ted's Riff in Time is a cooperative game and as such players should work together to complete the common goal, however, sometimes players may disagree about which is the best course of action to take. In these cases, the Active Player has the final say about how their Actions are taken.

Phase 3: Complete Objectives and Gain Rewards

At the start of the game, players received two Objective Cards and chose one to keep. These cards give each player a non-compulsory task to complete at any point during the game. There is no requirement to keep an Objective secret from the other players and co-operation is encouraged (or sometimes required) when completing them.

Some Objectives will be completed over several turns. Players should use their Objective Tracking Token to mark which stage of the Objective they have completed.

At the end of each player's turn, check to see if they (or any other player) have completed the Task laid out on their card. Whenever a player completes their Objective, they complete the Lower San Dimas section of the reward and then put the card under their Character Card displaying any new Actions they now have available.

Any new Actions received will be available for that player to use on subsequent turns and they keep them for the rest of the game.

Riff Card Effects Explanations

(Icon key; each icon's description as printed.)

Perform each Action the stated amount of times, if an amount isn't stated then it is only performed once.
Move your Character to the depicted location.
Each player moves their Character to the depicted location.
All Personages of Historical Significance are ejected from each player's Time Booth, place Personages of Historical Significance at your current location.
Raise the Rift at the depicted Historic Location.
Raise the Rift at San Dimas.
Lower the Rift at San Dimas.
Raise the Rift at each of the numbered Historic Locations on the game board (e.g. Locations 1, 3 & 7).
Raise the Rift at each player's location.
Lower the Rift at your location.
A fixed Historic Location of your choosing becomes Unfixed again. Turn the disc over to its Unfixed side aligning the dial to the number 5. No fixed Historic Locations? Raise the Rift at San Dimas!
Choose which of the Actions to perform.
Draw a Riff Card from the top of the Riff Deck.
Discard a Riff Card from the top of the Riff Deck. Do not perform any Actions shown on it.
Look at the top 3 Riff Cards from the top of the Riff Deck, then place back on the top of the Riff Deck in any order.

Riff Card Examples

Raise the Rift at New York by one. If New York's Rift level is red, also: raise the Rift at San Dimas OR draw another Riff Card and perform its Actions.
Look at the top 3 Riff Cards from the top of the Riff Deck, then place back on the top of the Riff Deck in any order. OR Lower the Rift in San Dimas by one.
Each player moves their Character to San Dimas. Then all Personages of Historical Significance are ejected from each player's Time Booth.
Raise the Rift at Kassel by one. If Kassel's Rift level is red, each player moves their Character to Kassel. If Kassel is fixed draw another Riff Card and perform its Actions.
Raise the Rift at San Dimas five times. OR Discard five Riff Cards from the top of the Riff Deck. Do not perform any Actions shown on them.
Raise the Rift once at each of the numbered Historic Locations on the game board (Locations 2, 4 & 8). For each of the numbered Historic Locations that have been previously Fixed, lower the Rift in San Dimas by one.

Objective Card Tasks Explanations

Lower the Rift at any location with this Personage of Historical Significance in your Time Booth.
Complete 3 full rounds without this player using either a Reroll Action or Use the Booth.
Have this Personage of Historical Significance, as well as any other Personage of Historical Significance, in your Time Booth at the same time.
Lower the Rift at three unique locations.
Lower the Rift at any location with another player present.
Visit these Historic Locations (in the numbered order) with this Personage of Historical Significance in your Time Booth.
Visit San Dimas with at least two Personages of Historical Significance in your Time Booth at the same time.
Visit the depicted Historic Location with this Personage of Historical Significance in your Time Booth.
Pass this Personage of Historical Significance to another player.

Rewards

ONCE ONLY: Lower the Rift at San Dimas on completion of this task. If San Dimas is shown twice then lower it twice.
FOR THE REST OF THE GAME: This reward can be used by the player once per round.

Personage of Historical Significance Card Explanations

Players carrying Charlemagne gain one Character Die and one Bogus Die, as well as one reroll per round.

Winning the Game

If at the end of a player's turn all of the Historic Locations have been flipped to their FIXED side, the players immediately win the game.

Losing the Game

If the players are ever unable to draw a Riff Card or are unable to raise the rift in San Dimas when they are required to (either by a Riff Card or at the end of the round), they immediately lose the game.

Character Abilities

Each member of Wyld Stallyns has a unique ability to help them during the game - where an ability conflicts with the rules, the player ability rule always takes priority.

Example Turn

At the start of her turn, Natasha draws the top card from the Riff Deck and looks at its Main section. The card instructs her to raise the rift in New Mexico by one level. Looking at the board, she sees that the rift in New Mexico is presently at 6, and raising it by one level will put it at 7 and into its red numbered section (Most heinous!).

After rotating the disc Natasha checks to see if there is a Red section on the Riff card that she drew and sees that there is (non-triumphant!). Now Natasha has a decision to make, she can either raise the rift in San Dimas by one level or draw another Riff Card. After a quick discussion with the other players, they agree that at this point of the game drawing another Riff Card would be preferable to raising San Dimas. Natasha draws another Riff Card and this time is instructed her to raise the rift in Rome. Fortunately, the rift in Rome is currently at 5, so she advances it to 6 with no further effects and discards the card. Now Natasha can roll her dice and proceed with the Action Phase of her turn.

Currently, Natasha has Billy the Kid on her Character Card, so she must add his Bogus Dice to her pool. She rolls 3 Wyld and 1 Bogus Dice. Natasha gets the following results, one Move, one Interact and two Boguses! Natasha decides that she doesn't want these results and uses her 'Use the Booth' Action to reroll all of her dice. After she has rolled again, Natasha has the following Actions she can perform this turn - Two Interacts, a Move, and an Excellent (the Action granted to her from the card obtained at the start of the game). Luckily, the Bogus Dice came up blank so she will not need to raise the rift in her current location.

Determined to try and return Billy the Kid to the correct point in time, Natasha decides to use her Move Action. Natasha is playing as the character Bill and using his special character ability, she is able to move two spaces by using her single Move Action to travel along the Circuits of History from her current location to New Mexico.

Once there, she performs an Interact Action to take Billy the Kid from her Character Card and returns him to the board, placing him in the space next to New Mexico.

Now that Billy the Kid has been returned to the correct point in history, Natasha is able to use her remaining Interact Action to perform a Fix Rift Action, reducing the level of the rift in New Mexico from 7 back down to 6. Finally, using her last Action, the Excellent, Natasha chooses to perform a second Fix Rift Action to reduce the rift from 6 down to 5.

Natasha has no Actions left this turn, so play proceeds clockwise to the next player.