Blades & Rose
Blades & Rose Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Players are divided into two factions, (a) the White Rose Faction and (b) the Blood Blades Faction. By the end of the game, only one side will emerge victorious.
(a) White Rose Faction: For the White Rose Faction to win, they must ensure the White Rose card survives and a certain number of Buds are sacrificed.
(b) Blood Blades Faction: The Blood Blades Faction wins if they successfully kill the White Rose or decimate a certain number of buds.
Game Setup
- Place the board corresponding to the current player count in the center of the table.
- Each player takes 1 Ghost card, 1 Believer card, and 1 Book of Magic card.
- Place one Double Knife card in the center of the table for later use.
- Place the Book of Magic in front of you. Each player draws 1 Crystal without showing its number to others or revealing its effects.
- Give the Coin Token to the player who smells of flowers.
- Based on the player count, prepare a deck of character cards according to the chart below and shuffle them face-down. Each player draws one card without revealing it to others.
Number of cards by player count
| Player Count | White Rose | Bishop | Believer | Great Sword | Double Knife | Dark Knife |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Note: All players should have 3 cards. Players who draw the White Rose, Bishop, or Believer belong to the White Rose Faction; those who draw the Blood Blades belong to the Blood Blades Faction. Even after the card is played, your faction does not change. Players who initially draw from the Blood Blades Faction remain in the Blood Blades Faction until the game ends.
- Ensure other players do not see your cards, then move to the next phase.
During this preparation phase, all players close their eyes and should not give out any hints. Then follow the instructions to open their eyes or act.
Night Phase
Step 1
All players chant in unison, "The night falls, White Rose, Bishop, Double Knife, Giant Sword, please open your eyes. You have 3 seconds to look at each other, 3, 2, 1, close your eyes."
In this step, only those holding the White Rose, Bishop, Double Knife, and Giant Sword can peek at each other. They should not make any noise or give any information to others.
Step 2
All players tap the table to make noise and chant in unison, "Double Knife players, open your eyes. Exchange the Ghost card in your hand with the Double Knife card on the table. After exchanging, cover the card in your hand, 3, 2, 1, close your eyes."
In this step, the player holding the Double Knife card secretly exchanges a Ghost card from their hand with the Double Knife card on the table, making their hand consist of 2 Double Knifes and 1 Believer. After the game begins, the extra Ghost card can stay placed beside the board.
Source note: the Night Phase text above names the "Giant Sword" in Step 1 and the setup chart names the "Great sword"; the Book of Magic effect 9 names the "Dark Knife". All are reproduced as printed.
The Game Begins
The game is made up of multiple rounds, and each round has three steps that must be followed in sequence. If no winner has been determined by the end of a round, start a new one.
Step 1
The player with the Coin token gives it to another player with a Crystal token. That player must place their Crystal on the main board in accordance with Figure A, then activate the effect indicated by the Crystal token as described in the Book of Magic.
Order of placing Crystal tokens: Crystal Placement Area; Game ends after all Crystals are placed.
- In this step, players should discuss who should receive the Coin token, or opt to deny a nominee. However, they cannot explicitly reveal the number on their Crystal or its effect.
- Nevertheless, the player who currently holds the Coin token has the last word in deciding who gets it next.
Step 2
Beginning with the player who received the Coin token and proceeding in clockwise order, each player decides whether to play a card. In this step, you only have one opportunity to play a card (or choose not to). Players can choose to play a card face down on the table or declare that they are not playing a card. Then the next clockwise player makes a decision.
The player with the Coin goes first, and the player to their right will go last. Players can make their decisions based on earlier players' actions.
Step 3
All cards played this round are shuffled together face-down, so that nobody can tell who played which card. Then, reveal all cards and resolve the round according to the following three outcomes:
- If there is no Blood Blades card: remove all Ghost cards. Place the surviving Flower Bud cards in the Sacrifice Area and the White Rose card in the White Rose Placement Area.
- If there are any Blood Blades cards: remove all Ghost cards and place all Flower Bud cards in the Death Area.
- If the White Rose card is revealed alongside any Blood Blades cards, the Blood Blades Faction wins immediately.
After performing the above three steps, the round ends. If one side meets the victory conditions, the game ends immediately. If neither side has won, start a new round to repeat steps 1-3 until one side wins or all rounds are over.
Source note: Step 3 places the White Rose in the White Rose Placement Area; FAQ Q5 says to place it in the Sanctuary area to the top left of the main board. Both are reproduced as printed.
Game End and Victory Conditions
-
The game ends immediately when both the White Rose and Blood Blades faction cards appear simultaneously.
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The game also ends when every player has placed their Crystals on the Main board and finishes the round.
-
White Rose Faction wins immediately when the White Rose makes it safely to the Sanctuary without being killed and enough Flower Buds are placed in the Sacrifice Area.
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Blood Blades Faction wins immediately if they kill the White Rose or kill a certain number of Flower Buds.
White Rose Faction players should try to play all their cards before the game ends. If all Crystals are used and there are White Rose Faction players who haven't played all their White Rose/Flower Bud cards, then they will also lose the game.
In other words, within a limited number of rounds, the White Rose Faction aims to play all their faction cards while trying not to get killed. The Blood Blades Faction tries to play cards to kill the White Rose, Bishop, and Believers.
Details on the Book of Magic Effects
Each Crystal token carries a number from 1 to 12, which refers to the effect below. The effect must be activated when the Crystal is placed, if it can be done.
- Target player must play a card in this round. Select a player other than yourself. When it is their turn to decide whether to play a card, they must do so. This effect can only be used on players who still have cards in their hand.
- The cards played this round are revealed without shuffling. After everyone has played their cards, reveal them without shuffling. Everyone will know who played which card.
- The player on your right must play a card from their hand randomly. Randomly draw one card from the player on your right without revealing it to the others or yourself. This will be the card they played for this round. If they have no cards left, the effect is not activated.
- The player on your left must play a card from their hand randomly. Similar to effect #3, but the card is taken from the player sitting to your left.
- Bind two players. The first player to go may play a card, and the other must do the same. Select any two players who still have cards in their hands. Player A will be the one earlier in turn order. If Player A plays a card, Player B must also play a card. If Player A doesn't play, Player B cannot play either. If fewer than two players have cards left, the effect is not activated.
- You are the last player of this round, instead of going first. Normally, you are the first to decide if you want to play a card. Now, you will be the last player in turn order.
- Target player puts a Ghost card into their hand. Select a player other than yourself. They pick up a Ghost card from the table and immediately add it into their hand.
- Both players on your left and right must play a card from their hand. The players sitting to your left and right must play a card in this round, if they have any cards in their hands.
Note: Effect #10 is the only effect that may be chosen not to be activated (see FAQ Q11); other effects must be activated if possible.
Round Examples
Round Example 1
During this round, Player A gives the Coin token to Player B. Player B reveals their Crystal, which has the number 7. After Player B activates effect #7, they decide to play a card face-down. Proceeding clockwise to Player C, they decide not to play a card. Players D and E play cards face-down on their turns, but Player A doesn't. Player B gathers all the played cards, shuffles, and reveals them to everyone. The cards revealed are one Believer and two Ghosts. The Ghost cards are removed from the game, and the Believer card is placed in the Sacrifice Area, ending the round.
Round Example 2
This round, Player A gives the Coin token to Player D. Player D reveals their Crystal, which is number 6. This effect allows Player D to be the last to decide whether to play a card. Starting clockwise with Player E who decides not to play a card, then Player A plays a card, Player B does not, Player C plays a card. Finally, Player D decides to play a card face-down. Player D gathers all the played cards, shuffles, and reveals them to everyone. The cards revealed are two Believers and one Double Knife. The Believer cards are placed in the Death Area. Since the number of dead cards is equal to the limit of 4, the game ends with Blood Faction winning.
Other examples
- Cards revealed: White Rose, Believer, and Ghost. The White Rose is placed into the Sanctuary and the Believer is placed into the Sacrifice Area.
- Cards revealed: White Rose, Believer, and Dark Knife. All cards are killed.
FAQ
Q1. Can all players in a round pass and not play any cards, resulting in a total of zero cards played? A1. Yes, this is permitted in the game. But players from both factions need to carefully choose the timing to play their cards.
Q2. If the Blood Blades Faction doesn't play their Believer card, will they lose? A2. No, only the White Rose Faction players need to play their cards before all Crystals are played.
Q3. If I place my Crystal and can't activate the effect in full, what should I do? A3. The effect only works if it can be done. For example, if you use effect #4 but the person sitting to your left has no cards, then nothing will happen.
Q4. Is the Bishop card also a Flower Bud card like the Believer card? A4. Yes, the Bishop card counts as a Flower Bud card. If the Bishop survives, it's placed in the Sacrifice Area. If killed, it's placed in the Death Area.
Q5. If the White Rose card is played and not killed, where should it be placed? Is it considered a Flower Bud card? A5. Place it in the Sanctuary area to the top left of the main board. The White Rose is NOT considered a Flower Bud card.
Q6. If there are 2 Blood Blades after shuffling and revealing the cards, what happens? A6. Nothing special will happen. They will still kill the White Rose and all Flower Buds. But usually this is quite wasteful.
Q7. Can I know how many cards each player has left and whether they have a Crystal? A7. Yes, both are public information, and must be explicitly answered when asked.
Q8. I am just a plain Believer player, how can I help my team win the game? A8. You can use the Ghost cards to bait out the Blood Blades, act as if you were the White Rose to trick the Dark Knife player, and strategically apply Magic and reasoning to win the game.
Q9. If there are enough cards in the Sacrifice Area but the White Rose card hasn't been played yet, what should we do? A9. The game will continue until the White Rose is played, granting a victory to the White Rose Faction if it survives. Just keep in mind, when the White Rose is played it can still be killed by the Blood Blades.
Q10. Can I reveal the cards in my hand? A10. No. You can talk about them as much as you want, but whether anyone believes you is up to themselves.
Q11. When I place my Crystal, do I have to activate the effect? A11. Yes. Only the effect #10 may be chosen not to be activated; other effects must be activated if possible.
Q12. If no players have any Crystals left, yet neither side has met the victory conditions, what happens? A12. Check if the White Rose Faction still have any White Rose or Flower Bud cards in their hands. If they do, the Blood Blades Faction wins. If the White Rose Faction has played all of their White Rose and Flower Bud cards from their hands, then the White Rose Faction wins.
Source note: FAQ A4 is printed with a duplicated "A4." label; corrected here to a single label. Otherwise the FAQ is reproduced as printed.