Bloodborne: The Board Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Campaigns
• Setup
  • 1. Campaign Setup
  • 2. Hunter Setup
  • 3. Hunt Board Setup
  • 4. Chapter Setup
• Advancing Through the Hunt
  • Beginning the Hunt
  • Reading a Mission Card
  • Hunt Missions and Insight Missions
  • Mission Rewards and Collecting Insight
• Winning and Losing the Hunt
  • Winning the Hunt
  • Losing the Hunt
• Playing the Game
  • The Game Round
  • 1. Hunter Turn
  • 2. Enemy Activation
  • Consumables, Rewards, and Firearms
• Starting a New Round
• Combat
  • Trick Weapon Dashboard
  • Resolving Combat
  • Effects Linked to Attacks
  • Combat Specifics
• Boss Enemies
• NPC Enemies
• Hunter's Dream
• Advancing the Hunt Track and Resetting the Map
• Additional Rules
  • Intelligent and Cruel
  • Final Space Resetting
  • Fog Gates
• Progressing the Campaign
• Saving Progress
• Glossary
• Iconography
• Credits

Components

• 4 Hunters: Saw Cleaver Hunter, Threaded Cane Hunter, Ludwig's Holy Blade Hunter, Hunter Axe
• 4 Counter Bases
• Enemies: 4 Male Beast Patient, 4 Female Beast Patient, 4 Huntsman's Minion, 4 Church Giant, 4 Scourge Beast, 4 Church Servant, 4 Hunter Mob
• Bosses: Father Gascoigne, Father Gascoigne Transformed, Blood-Starved Beast, Vicar Amelia, Cleric Beast
• 20 Map Tiles
• 1 Hunt Board
• 4 Hunter Dashboards
• 4 Double-Sided Trick Weapon Dashboards
• 11 Firearm Cards
• 48 Basic Stat Cards
• 60 Upgrade Cards
• 36 Consumable Cards
• 25 Reward Cards
• 14 Enemy Cards
• 6 Enemy Action Cards
• 50 Boss Action Cards
• 1 Rulebook
• 5 Boss HP Cards
• 250 Campaign Cards
• 4 Player Aid Cards
• 2 Broken Lamp Tokens
• 8 Consumable Tokens
• 15 Insight Tokens
• 5 Corpse Tokens
• 5 Survivor Tokens
• 7 NPC Tokens
• 12 Blood Echo Tokens
• 6 Fog Gate Tokens
• 4 Frenzy Tokens
• 4 Poison Tokens
• 40 HP Tokens (in 4 kinds)
• 1 Hunt Track Token

Campaigns

There are 4 Campaigns to choose from in Bloodborne: The Board Game. Each Campaign features its own unique story, revealed over the course of its 3 Chapters. Each Chapter has its own unique missions, enemies, and surprises to uncover.

Before setting up the game, players must select the Campaign they wish to play:

• THE LONG HUNT: An infestation of Scourge Beasts has descended into Central Yharnam. The Hunters must find where these beasts are originating from and put an end to this threat.
• GROWING MADNESS: A frenzy has begun to overtake the city. Worse, it appears the Hunters are not immune to this madness.
• SECRETS OF THE CHURCH: Cathedral Ward has locked its gates from the rest of Yharnam. From inside, the howls of beasts can be heard as the bells of the Grand Cathedral ring throughout the city.
• FALL OF OLD YHARNAM: The Ashen Plague threatens to overtake all of Old Yharnam. The Hunters must act swiftly to prevent its spread.

The Campaigns are not meant to be played in any particular order, but we recommend starting with The Long Hunt.

Players do not have to complete all the Chapters of a Campaign in one gaming session: all information can be tracked for future plays, so players can stop after any Chapter and then pick up where they left off. See Saving Progress.

Setup

1. Campaign Setup

Once players have chosen a Campaign, they should gather that Campaign's deck. Each Campaign deck is composed of the following cards, in order:

• 1 Introduction card, to be read at the start of the Campaign.
• 3 Chapter cards, displaying the rules and setup for the three Chapters of the Campaign.
• Mission cards that form the Mission deck. Do not shuffle or read these cards in advance! Only reveal them when instructed to do so.

2. Hunter Setup

Choosing a Hunter

Each player chooses a Hunter and takes that Hunter's Trick Weapon dashboard, Firearm card, and miniature. Each player also takes 1 Hunter dashboard and its color-matching counter base, which should be attached to the Hunter's miniature. Finally, each player takes 6 HP (Health Points) and 1 Player Aid card.

Each Hunter has a unique set of weapons and abilities. A player will control the same Hunter throughout the entire Campaign, so choose wisely!

Setting up the Hunter Deck

Each Hunter has a Hunter deck containing 12 Stat cards. These cards represent the core abilities and skills of a Hunter. While each Hunter begins the Campaign with the same starting Hunter deck, they will change and evolve via various upgrades acquired through the Campaign, making them unique to each Hunter!

Construct 1 starting Hunter deck for each Hunter and place it facedown near their Hunter dashboard. A starting Hunter deck is composed of the following cards:

• 3 Basic Endurance cards
• 3 Basic Skill cards
• 3 Basic Strength cards
• 3 Basic Vitality cards

Setting up the Hunter Dashboard

Each Hunter dashboard should be set up as indicated on the dashboard. The dashboard shows the Blood Echoes Area, Max HP Value, HP Area, Firearm Card Slot, and Trick Weapon Dashboard Slot. NOTE: Players can freely choose what side their Trick Weapon begins on.

3. Hunt Board Setup

1. Place the Hunt board in view of all players.
2. Take only the Chapter card corresponding to the Chapter you are playing and place it on the Chapter card slot on the Hunt board. Place the Mission deck facedown next to it. Then, place the Introduction card faceup within reach of all players. NOTE: The Mission deck reveals the story and events of the game! Do not read or reveal any of the cards until instructed to.
3. Shuffle the Upgrade deck and draw 4 cards from it, placing them faceup on the 4 Upgrade card slots on the Hunt board. Place the deck facedown next to it. NOTE: Be sure that any unused Basic Stat cards are not shuffled into the Upgrade deck! Basic Stat cards can be quickly differentiated from Upgrade cards by the symbol at the bottom of each card, as well as the "Basic" written at the top.
4. Shuffle the Consumables deck and place it facedown near the Hunt board, within reach of all players.
5. Place the Rewards deck near the Hunt board, with the text facedown.
6. Set out all the tokens and place them near the Hunt board, within reach of all players.
7. Take the Hunt Track token and place it on the first space of the Hunt Track.

4. Chapter Setup

Hunters begin every Chapter on the Central Lamp tile. Set out this tile and place it in the middle of your play area, within reach of all players. Place all the Hunter miniatures on it, in any space, chosen by their player.

Take the Chapter card specific to the Chapter you are playing and read its Setup side.

First, check if the Chapter card lists any Special Rules cards to be utilized. These cards can be found in the respective Mission deck for the Campaign. Take any listed cards and flip them faceup, placing them near the Mission deck. These cards might have rules that modify how to set up the Chapter, or contain additional rules to apply to the Chapter.

The Chapter card also lists 3 Enemies that appear during the Chapter. Take their matching Enemy cards. Note that Enemy cards all have 2 sides, each with different Attacks and Abilities. Randomly select which side to use of each card. Shuffle them together and place 1 Enemy card in each Enemy card slot on the Hunt board, in a random order.

Take all the miniatures matching the listed Enemies and set them aside near the play area. Shuffle the Enemy Action deck and place it facedown next to the Hunt board.

Finally, the Chapter card lists a number of tiles that will be used in this Chapter, in addition to the Central Lamp. This list includes tiles with Named Locations, as well as a number of random tiles based on the number of Hunters being played. See Named Locations.

Some cards indicate a variable number represented by the Hunter symbol. This symbol stands for the number of Hunters in the game.

Take the listed tiles, including the random ones, which can be any unused tile (with or without Named Locations). Shuffle them, stack them together, and place them facedown near the Hunt board. This is the tile deck. The tile deck is used to construct the game map which will be gradually uncovered and built once the game begins.

EXAMPLE: The first Chapter card lists 4 Named Locations (Courtyard Lamp, Occupied House, Oedon Chapel, and Ransacked House), as well as Hunter x2 random tiles. In a game with 2 Hunters, this would mean 4 random tiles. In a game with 3 Hunters, it would be 6. Take all the listed tiles, keeping them facedown, shuffle them together into a stack, and set them aside.

Setup is now complete and the Hunt is ready to begin!

Advancing Through the Hunt

Beginning the Hunt

Start every Campaign by reading the Introduction card. This card gives the players a brief summary of the threat facing the city and a starting point for their investigation. It is up to the players to uncover the source of the threat and how to solve it.

Each Campaign is composed of 3 separate Chapters, aka 3 separate games, that must be completed for the players to win the overall Campaign. Meanwhile, each individual Chapter will list various Missions. Completing these Missions is how an individual Chapter is won.

At the beginning of a new Campaign, after reading the Introduction card, read the Missions side of the Chapter 1 card for that Campaign. This card lists the criteria to start the different Missions in that Chapter. Usually, Missions are triggered when a Hunter ends a move on a specific tile, though sometimes other criteria can trigger a Mission to begin.

Once the criteria for a Mission has been met, take the indicated card from the Campaign deck and reveal it, placing it faceup near the Hunt Board.

Reading a Mission Card

Each Mission card represents an individual step that must be performed to either progress that Mission or complete it. When a new Mission card is revealed, read the story text first, then follow the card's instructions. In order to advance, players must meet the goals listed in red at the bottom of the card.

This text will also inform the players if completing that particular goal will Complete the Mission, earning them rewards, or merely advance it to the next step—so pay close attention!

The final step of the Hunt Mission will list that achieving the goal will instead "Complete the Hunt", aka winning the players the game.

Mission cards may also reveal special rules or instruct players to place tokens (such as Corpse, Survivor, or Insight tokens) or spawn new Enemies on the map. Once this step of the Mission is completed, any tokens or special rules generated by that Mission card must be discarded, unless otherwise specified by the next Mission card.

Hunt Missions and Insight Missions

There are 2 types of Missions in each Chapter: Hunt Missions and Insight Missions.

Each Chapter has 1 Hunt Mission. This is the primary goal of the Chapter and completing it is how players win that particular Chapter and progress in the overall Campaign. The goal of each Hunt Mission varies from Chapter to Chapter.

Insight Missions are side missions that reveal more of the events surrounding the Campaign. Completing Insight Missions not only grants powerful rewards to the Hunters, but also is the way that they will Collect Insight. Collecting Insight is usually necessary to progress and/or complete most Hunt Missions.

INSIGHT TOKENS: It's important to note the difference between Collected Insight and Insight Tokens. Throughout the game the players may be instructed to utilize Insight tokens—these are generic markers used to keep track of various effects created by Missions (such as an enemy having additional HP, or marking a special location on the board). Insight tokens have no relation to Collected Insight. Collected Insight are rewarded for completing Insight Missions and are usually required to progress the Hunt Mission. Insight tokens are just used to mark effects in the game!

Mission Rewards and Collecting Insight

Completing a Mission will reveal an Insight Card. This card not only grants various rewards to the players, but also represents 1 Collected Insight. In many cases, the Hunt Mission will only advance once the players have collected a number of Insight Cards, so try to complete as many Insight Missions as you can!

Insight Cards should be kept by the players through the entire Campaign, as they might affect other Missions later!

EXAMPLE: In the Long Hunt Campaign, the players are tasked with discovering the source of a Scourge Beast infestation overtaking the city. The Chapter card instructs them to reveal Mission card 1 at the start of the Hunt. Doing so, the players begin the first step of the Hunt Mission, Source of the Scourge. The goal of this Hunt Mission card is to collect 2 Insight, aka complete 2 Insight Missions, and end a move on the Central Lamp tile. It's important to note that this card does not state that doing this "Completes the Hunt", so the players know there will be additional steps that must be completed!

Winning and Losing the Hunt

Winning the Hunt

When the final step of the Hunt Mission (indicated by the "Complete the Hunt" text at the bottom of the card) the game immediately ends in victory for the players. They then progress to the next Chapter of the Campaign.

Losing the Hunt

At the start of the round (and only the start of the round!), if the Hunt Track has reached its final space, the Final Round has begun. If the Hunt Mission is not completed by the end of this round, the Campaign ends in defeat for the players—They must start again from the very beginning of the Campaign, hopefully faring better this time!

Playing the Game

The Game Round

Each Chapter is played over a series of rounds, made up of individual player turns. The players can take their turns in any order they wish and can switch up the order each round, based on what they want to accomplish. Players take their turns one at a time, each followed by an Enemy Activation. Once all players have taken their turn, the round ends.

At the start of the first round, each player shuffles their Hunter deck and draws 3 cards from it. While a player may keep these cards hidden from their allies, the game is fully cooperative, so placing them faceup in front of your Hunter dashboard might be beneficial for the group! Once all players have done this, the first player can begin their turn.

Turn Sequence

1. Hunter Turn
2. Enemy Activation

1. Hunter Turn

The Hunter Turn is when an individual player is performing actions. To perform an action, a player must discard 1 Stat card from their hand, placing it in a discard pile, faceup, next to their Hunter deck (the exception to this is when a player Attacks, see Attack). There is no limit to the amount of times each action can be performed during a turn.

Note that a player does not have to use all their cards during their Hunter Turn. They may wish to save cards to use during Enemy Activation. The actions that can be performed during the Hunter Turn are:

Move

When a player uses a Stat card to Move, they may move their Hunter on the board up to 2 spaces. They do not need to move both spaces if they do not wish to, but must use any movement from that action before performing another action; e.g. a player may not move 1 space, perform another action, and then move 1 more space. Spaces on the map are separated by grey lines. Players can only move their Hunter from an adjacent space to another adjacent space separated by a grey line.

Other miniatures or tokens do not interfere with movement in any way. A Hunter can always freely move into and through spaces, but moving through spaces with Enemies can cause them to Pursue the Hunter!

ENEMIES IN PURSUIT

If, during a Move action (and only a Move action), a Hunter exits a space or tile containing Enemies, at the end of that Hunter's move, those Enemies will immediately Pursue the Hunter. This means those Enemies will move 1 space toward the Hunter, following the same path the Hunter took. Other non-Pursuing Enemies, or Hunters, do not interfere with Enemy Pursuit. (This also means cunning Hunters can lure Enemies away from their allies—a useful tactic!)

REVEALING AND POPULATING TILES

Players start each Chapter with only the Central Lamp tile revealed.

When on a space with an exit that is not connected to another tile, a Hunter may Move off that tile to an unexplored area. Take the top tile from the tile deck and flip it over. Connect any exit on that tile to the space the Hunter was on before the Move.

The spaces connecting two tiles are adjacent to each other and thus take 1 space of movement to cross. If only 1 tile has an exit and the other does not, the spaces are not adjacent and cannot be moved across!

Each tile displays various symbols, representing Consumables, Enemies, and Lamps. Place a Consumable token over any Consumables icon. On Enemy spawn points, spawn the specific Enemy linked to it, as indicated on the Hunt board, placing a miniature of that Enemy over the corresponding icon.

The player must then place their Hunter in the connecting space of the new tile. They cannot choose to stay on the previous tile! But, of course, if they have any movement left, they can always run away...

ALL EXITS BLOCKED

In rare cases, you might reveal a tile that would completely close off the remaining map from being explored. If this happens, draw a new tile and shuffle the previously drawn one back into the tile deck.

ENEMY SPAWNS AND MINIATURES

It might happen that an Enemy must be spawned and there are no remaining miniatures for that Enemy. In such situations, take 1 of those Enemies from the map that is farthest away from any Hunter and use that miniature.

NAMED LOCATIONS

Named Locations refer to a space within a tile. A Named Location space has the name of a Location (e.g. Courtyard Lamp) written on it. Throughout the Campaign, this may be used to identify a specific tile. For example, the Courtyard Lamp tile indicates the tile that has the Courtyard Lamp. However, when a Mission card refers to the Courtyard Lamp space, it refers only to that specific space.

Interact

There are two primary times a player will Interact: When a player wishes to pick up a Consumable on the map and when a Mission card requires that a player makes an Interact action.

When a player uses a Stat card to Interact with a Consumable token, they must discard that token from the map, draw 1 Consumable card at random, and place it faceup near their Hunter dashboard. A player may only pick up a Consumable if there is a Consumable token on the space. Consumables are used to help Hunters in their Hunt (see Consumables).

Some Mission cards also require that a player Interacts while on a specific space or with a specific token. The Mission card will instruct the player on what to do when they Interact.

When a player uses a Stat card to Interact on a space, they may Interact with any or all Interactable elements of that space. For example, if a player must Interact on a space for a Mission card and that space has a Consumable token on it, the player could discard 1 card to Interact with both elements.

ENEMIES AND INTERACTING: Enemies do not merely stand around while a Hunter explores the area. If a Hunter ever Interacts while there are Enemies in their space, those Enemies immediately Attack them! Before the Hunter completes the Interact action, flip an Enemy Action card for each Enemy on that space. (See Combat). The Hunter does not get to make an Attack or Dodge against those Enemies in response. If the Hunter is slain, they do not get to Interact.

Transform Trick Weapon

Each Hunter's Trick Weapon dashboard has 2 sides, representing the 2 forms of their weapon. When a player uses a Stat card to Transform their Trick Weapon, they will Clear all slots on their Trick Weapon dashboard, discarding all Stat cards on it. Then, they will flip the Trick Weapon dashboard to its opposite side. Note that when a player Transforms their Weapon, they must flip it to its opposite side. Transforming a Weapon is the only way to Clear the slots. They are never otherwise Cleared unless an effect or Ability specifically allows you to do so!

Go to the Hunter's Dream

The Hunter's Dream is where the players can upgrade their Hunter deck, Heal, and generally recover their Hunter from the chaos of Yharnam. When a player uses a Stat card to perform this action, they must remove their Hunter miniature from the map and place it on the Hunter's Dream section of the Hunt board. There are additional steps that will be taken when this is done, but they will be covered in their own section later (see Hunter's Dream). Players may use the Go to the Hunter's Dream action from any space on the map, regardless of other miniatures or tokens that may be in that space.

Attack

When a Hunter is on the same space as an Enemy, the player may use 1 Stat card to Attack that Enemy, thus starting a Combat (see Combat).

Unlike other actions, the Stat card used to Attack is not discarded. Instead, the player places it in an empty Attack Slot of their choice, on their Trick Weapon dashboard. Cards can only be placed in empty slots of the dashboard, so if a Trick Weapon has no empty slots, the player cannot perform Attack actions!

2. Enemy Activation

Once a Hunter Turn is completed, Enemies that are within Activation Range of that Hunter will Activate. Enemies Activate after each individual Hunter Turn.

• Determine Activation Range: All Enemies on the Hunter's tile or on tiles connected to it are within Activation Range and will Activate. Any Enemies further away are not aware of that Hunter's presence and therefore don't Activate.
• Activate Enemies: Enemies Activate in order based on the Hunt board: all Enemy 1 will Activate first, then all Enemy 2, and finally all Enemy 3. When Enemies Activate, the following steps are taken, in order, for each Enemy:
  • Move Enemy: Select 1 of the Activating Enemies (in the order shown above) and move that Enemy 1 space toward the player's Hunter. If the Activating Enemy is in a space containing another Hunter, they must move only if moving will bring it to the same space as the player's Hunter. If the Activating Enemy is already in the same space as the player's Hunter, they do not move.
  • Enemy Attacks: After moving, if the Activating Enemy is then in the same space as the player's Hunter, they will Attack, starting a Combat (see Combat).

Once this is done, that Enemy's Activation ends. Select another Enemy within Activation Range and Activate them until all eligible Enemies have Activated.

Once all Enemies that would Activate have done so, the Enemy Activation is over and the next player will take their turn.

SURPRISE ENEMIES!

Sometimes an Enemy that was not previously in Activation Range may be spawned and/or moves into Activation Range. If this happens, that Enemy activates as well, even if its normal opportunity has passed!

Additionally, sometimes an effect or Mission might spawn a new Enemy Type (such as a Boss Enemy). In these events, these Enemies activate after the normal Enemies have Activated.

SUDDEN DEATH

It might also happen that a Hunter is slain by an Enemy before all Enemies have had a chance to Activate. In this case, no further Enemies are Activated, as their target is no longer on the map.

Consumables, Rewards, and Firearms

Consumables

Consumables are powerful one-time-use items representing various tools available to the Hunter. Consumables are not added to a player's hand or Hunter deck, but instead are kept off to the side of the Hunter dashboard.

All Consumables specify when they can be used, either during the Hunter Turn or during Combat. If the Consumable card states "Hunter Turn", then the player may use it at any moment during their turn (before or after an action). If the card states "On Attack", it may only be used during Combat, specifically, when the player chooses which Attack they will use. When the Hunter uses a Consumable card, they gain the benefit listed on the card, then discard it forming a discard pile.

If a player should ever need to draw a card from the Consumables deck and it is empty, they should shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck and then draw their card.

Reward Cards

Reward cards are gained from completing Missions throughout the Campaign. They also specify when they can be used. Unlike Consumables, however, Reward cards are not discarded when used. Instead, they are Exhausted and flipped with the text facedown. They cannot be used until they are refreshed. Reward cards are refreshed when a Hunter goes to the Hunter's Dream.

There are two types of Reward cards: Hunter Tools and Caryll Runes. Each player may have a maximum of 2 Hunter Tools and 2 Caryll Runes at any time. If they would gain a 3rd one of either of these, they may immediately give any 1 to another player. If no player wants it, place it to the side. Reward cards are kept throughout the entire Campaign and may be switched out between Chapters (see Progressing the Campaign).

Firearms

Finally, all Hunters carry a Firearm, which has a dedicated slot on the Hunter dashboard. Each one specifies when it can be utilized. When used, they are also Exhausted and cannot be used until they are refreshed. Each Firearm specifies how the player can refresh it, though just like Reward cards, Firearms also refresh automatically when a Hunter goes to the Hunter's Dream.

A Hunter may only carry 1 Firearm at a time. If they would gain a new Firearm, they may replace their previous one with it. Place any unused ones to the side. Hunters keep any collected Firearms throughout the entire Campaign, and may switch them out between Chapters.

NOTE: A Hunter's starting Firearm cannot be exchanged or utilized by other Hunters.

Starting a New Round

Once the last Hunter Turn and Enemy Activation have been completed, the round ends and a new one begins. Take the following steps, in order:

• Advance the Hunt Track by 1: Move the Hunt Track token 1 space on the Hunt Track. If, after this move, the token has reached the final space of the Hunt Track, the Final Round has been triggered: the players have until the end of that round to Complete the Hunt Mission or lose the game (also, see Final Space Resetting). If it has advanced onto a Reset space, see Advancing the Hunt Track and Resetting the Map.
• Refresh Hands: All players may then discard any cards they wish from their hands, then draw cards from their Hunter deck until their hand contains 3 Stat cards. If their Hunter deck doesn't contain enough cards, they should take all their discarded cards, shuffle them together to form a new Hunter deck, then draw.

Combat

One cannot partake in the Hunt without expecting to face down the horrific beasts that prowl the streets of Yharnam. By slaying your foes, you will advance that much closer to uncovering the town's secrets and achieving your mission. You will also collect precious Blood Echoes from your fallen Enemies. These Blood Echoes can be utilized in the Hunter's Dream to increase your own power, furthering the ease in which you Hunt!

Combat is initiated in two ways: Either the Hunter Attacks an Enemy during their Hunter Turn, or an Enemy Attacks a Hunter during Enemy Activation. In either case, Combats are always resolved in the same way, and are always between the Hunter and a single Enemy. In Combat, the Hunter will combine the Attacks of their Trick Weapon and Stat cards to form powerful combos.

Trick Weapon Dashboard

There are 2 sides to each Trick Weapon dashboard, each representing one form of that Trick Weapon. Each side of the Trick Weapon dashboard has the following information: Hunter's Image, Trick Weapon Ability, attack Name, attack Speed, attack Damage, Trick Weapon Name, Reminder of Other Side, and Attack Slots.

• Trick Weapon Name: The name of that specific Trick Weapon.
• Trick Weapon Ability: Each form of a Trick Weapon has its own Ability. Each Ability will specify how it can be used.
• Attack Slots: Each side of a Trick Weapon has a number of Attack Slots, representing the various Attacks the Hunter can perform. Each Attack Slot has the following information:
  • Attack Name: The name of that particular Attack.
  • Attack Speed: At the top of each Attack there are a number of arrows representing the Speed of that Attack. Each Attack is also color-coded based on its Speed. The 3 Speeds are Fast, Medium, and Slow.
  • Attack Damage: Each Attack lists the amount of Damage it deals, represented by the Damage icon.
• Reminder of Other Side: Displays the Ability and Attacks on the alternate form of the Trick Weapon.

Knowing which situation each of your weapon's unique forms is best suited for (going after fast or slow Enemies, dealing lots of damage, defending yourself, etc.), as well as its unique strengths and weaknesses is paramount to your success when out on the Hunt! Now that you're familiar with your Trick Weapon, let's look at how to utilize this weapon to slay your foes.

Resolving Combat

All Combats are resolved the same way, taking the following steps, in order:

1. Select Stat card
2. Flip Enemy Action card
3. Dodge
4. Resolve Attacks

1. Select Stat card: The player selects a Stat card from their hand. This card is not discarded, but placed on an Empty Attack Slot on their Trick Weapon dashboard. An Empty Attack Slot is a slot that does not currently have any cards in it. A slot that currently has a card in it is known as a Filled Attack Slot and may not be used. This means that if all slots on a Trick Weapon have cards in them, the Hunter will not be able to perform an Attack! By placing the Stat card in an empty slot, the Hunter is committing to using this Attack against their foe.

UTILIZING STAT BOOSTS: Not only do Stat cards allow the Hunter to Attack and Dodge, but they can also modify these in various ways. Each Stat card works differently, but they usually follow some general guidelines:

• ENDURANCE: These cards allow Hunters to Dodge Enemy Attacks (see Dodge).
• SKILL: These cards focus on Staggering Enemies (see Stagger) and interrupting their Attacks.
• STRENGTH: These cards increase the raw Damage an Attack deals.
• VITALITY: These cards grant defensive options and extra card-draw to the Hunter.

Stat cards grant additional effects when used to Attack or Dodge, such as drawing additional cards or Clearing Attack Slots. If a Stat card does not specify the timing of these effects (such as Draw 1, Block X, Clear 1 Slot, etc), then the effect happens immediately when it is placed into an Attack Slot (whether from initiating an Attack or used to Dodge), before resolving any Attacks.

2. Flip Enemy Action card: Once a Hunter has placed their Stat card, flip the top card of the Enemy Action deck. It will state either Basic, Special, or Ability. This is directly tied to the Attacks or Ability listed on an Enemy card. If the Enemy Action card flipped is Basic, the Enemy will make a Basic Attack. If it is Special, the Enemy will make a Special Attack. Finally, if you flip Ability, the Enemy will use their Ability instead.

Enemy Attacks have the same information as Hunter Attacks (Attack Name, Attack Speed, and Attack Damage). All Attack effects follow the same rules as effects on Hunter Attacks.

Abilities are not Attacks, and thus contain only effects. They are resolved immediately when flipped, unless the timing or the Speed is specified. Abilities cannot be Staggered or Dodged, unless otherwise stated.

3. Dodge: Once an Enemy Action card is revealed, the Hunter has a chance to Dodge. If you have a card with the Dodge keyword in your hand, you may place it in an Empty Attack Slot of your Trick Weapon of the same Speed as the Enemy Attack or faster (e.g. to Dodge a Medium Enemy Attack, you must use a Fast or Medium Attack Slot). If you Dodge, your Hunter evades the Enemy's Attack entirely. However, Dodging does not prevent effects that do not directly impact your Hunter, such as the Enemy moving or dealing damage to another Hunter. Also note that Dodging does not impact the Hunter's own Attack in any way!

4. Resolve Attacks: Once it is known which Attack both the Hunter and the Enemy are utilizing, it is time to perform those Attacks! Attacks are resolved based on their Speed, with Fast striking before Medium, which in turn strikes before Slow. In the case of the Hunter's Attack and the Enemy's Attack sharing the same Speed, the Attacks strike simultaneously. When resolving an Attack, it will deal its listed Damage to its target and resolve any effects linked to that Attack. When Hunters suffer Damage, remove a number of HP tokens from their dashboard equal to the amount suffered. If this reduces them to zero, they are immediately slain! When Enemies suffer Damage, however, place a number of HP tokens near their miniature to represent the total Damage they have suffered, if they weren't slain outright.

• Enemy Slain: If an Enemy suffers the amount of Damage equal to their HP, that Enemy is slain. The Hunter who killed it gains 1 Blood Echo, placing it on their Hunter dashboard. The Enemy is then removed from the map.
• Hunter Slain: If the Hunter is slain, any Blood Echoes on their Hunter dashboard are discarded and they are immediately sent to the Hunter's Dream (see Hunter's Dream).

SHUFFLING THE ENEMY ACTION DECK: The Enemy Action deck is only shuffled after the last card in it is flipped. The deck consists of 3 Basic cards, 2 Special cards, and 1 Ability card. This means that savvy Hunters can predict what Attacks their foe might be preparing to do by noting which cards have already been used from the deck! If a card would ever need to be drawn from the Enemy Action deck and it is empty, take all the discarded cards and shuffle them to form a new deck.

BLOOD ECHOES: Blood Echoes are used by Hunters when they go to the Hunter's Dream to gain Upgrades and become stronger. There are two important rules to remember about Blood Echoes: A Hunter loses all their Blood Echoes if they are slain, and a Hunter may only ever possess a maximum of 3 Blood Echoes at any time! If a Hunter would ever gain a 4th Blood Echo, this Blood Echo must be discarded.

SIMULTANEOUS SPEEDS AND EFFECTS: If an Enemy and Hunter's Attack/Ability happen at the same Speed, both the Hunter and the Enemy must apply any effects, as well as Damage, at the same time. In some situations, an effect resolving at the same Speed might cancel the opposing Attack/Ability. In this case, it would immediately apply, completely stopping the opposing Attack/Ability.

Effects Linked to Attacks

If Hunters, or Enemies, do not cancel or Dodge an Attack, they will suffer the effects linked to that Attack at the same time they suffer Damage from it. Here are 4 common effects:

• STAGGER: Attacks that have the Stagger effect cancel any opposing Attacks with a slower Speed, completely preventing all effects and Damage from that Attack.
• STUN: When a Hunter suffers Stun, they must discard 1 Stat card from their hand. If they cannot, they instead suffer 1 Damage.
• POISON: When a Hunter suffers Poison, they gain a Poison token. At the end of their Hunter Turn, poisoned Hunters suffer 1 Damage. The token is discarded when the Hunter goes to the Hunter's Dream. Hunters may only have 1 Poison token at any time.
• FRENZY: When a Hunter suffers Frenzy, they gain a Frenzy token. They will suffer +1 Damage from all Attacks. The token is discarded when the Hunter goes to the Hunter's Dream. Hunters may only have 1 Frenzy token at any time.

Combat Specifics

FASTER THAN FAST, SLOWER THAN SLOW

Sometimes, effects or Abilities may increase or decrease an Attack's Speed. If an Attack that is already Fast would gain additional Speed, simply count it as being however many steps above Fast it would be. For example, if a Fast Attack gains +1 Speed, treat it as a faster-than-Fast Attack when comparing it to other Attacks. If an Attack would be reduced to 0 Speed for any reason, then that Attack will only hit after all other Attacks.

NO ATTACK AND ATTACK SPEED

It may occur that a Hunter is Attacked and cannot or chooses not to Attack back. In this case, if the Enemy's Attack depends on the Speed of the Hunter's Attack, consider this Speed 0.

SIMULTANEOUS SLAYINGS

In the event that an Enemy and a Hunter slay each other at the same time, both will be immediately removed from the map. Unfortunately for the Hunter, the Blood Echo they would have gained from slaying this Enemy is discarded along with any others they have acquired.

ALL ATTACK SLOTS FILLED

There might come a situation where a Hunter is Attacked and has no Empty Attack Slots on their Trick Weapon. If this happens, then the player has no recourse! Their Hunter merely suffers the effects of the Enemy's Attack without being able to strike back or defend themselves. If a player finds themselves in this situation, it is recommended they spend an action (on their Hunter Turn) to Transform their Trick Weapon.

SLAIN OUT OF ACTIVATION!

In rare cases, a Hunter might be slain before they have taken their turn for the round. This is unfortunate and should be avoided at all costs, for if it happens, then the Hunter skips their turn for the round, forced to spend that time recovering in the Hunter's Dream!

MULTIPLE ENEMY ABILITIES

Sometimes an Enemy might list an Ability under Basic or Special instead of an Attack (identified by the white Ability background). This is an Ability in all ways and thus follows all relevant rules.

EXAMPLE: A player utilizing the Threaded Cane Trick Weapon makes an Attack against a Scourge Beast. In their hand, they have 3 Stat cards. Since the Scourge Beast has 4 HP, the player decides to use their Basic Strength card with their Deadly Thrust Attack, increasing the Damage dealt to 4. Taking the Basic Strength card and placing it into the Deadly Thrust Attack Slot, they have committed themselves to making this Attack. The player now flips an Enemy Action card for the Scourge Beast, revealing a Basic Attack card. According to its Enemy card, the Scourge Beast's Basic Attack is Quick Swipe: a Fast Attack that deals 2 Damage. The Hunter's Attack is Slow, meaning that the Scourge Beast's Attack will strike first. While the player has a Dodge card, they have no Empty Attack Slot, meaning they can't Dodge the Scourge Beast's Attack. The Hunter suffers 2 Damage from the blow, so the player removes 2 HP tokens from their Hunter dashboard. Now the Hunter's own Attack will strike. It deals 4 Damage to the Scourge Beast. Since the Scourge Beast only has 4 HP, it is slain and removed from the map, rewarding the Hunter with a Blood Echo.

Boss Enemies

Bosses represent the most dangerous threats the Hunters will encounter while on the Hunt. They are spawned when requested by a Mission card.

Bosses do not have the standard Enemy card. Instead, they have a Boss HP card, a double-sided card listing 2 Phases, and 2 unique Boss Action decks, each one tied to either Phase 1 or Phase 2 of that Boss.

When a Boss is spawned, take its miniature and place it on the requested space. Then, take its Boss HP card and both their Boss Action decks, placing them to the side of the Hunt board.

• The Boss HP card lists the total HP in each Phase, scaling with the number of Hunters. Bosses begin on their Phase 1 side. When they suffer the Damage listed on Phase 1, remove all Damage and flip it to Phase 2. Excess Damage from an Attack does not carry over, and this transition has no effect on the Boss' current Attack.
• The 2 unique Boss Action decks represent the Boss' different Phases. The Boss Action decks function in similar ways to the regular Enemy Action deck: each time the Boss Attacks, flip the top card from their respective deck, depending on the Phase that Boss is in. Each card contains a different Attack or Ability.

NPC Enemies

In some occasions, a Mission card may require players to place an NPC token on the map. These NPC (non-playable characters) may be Enemies to the Hunters. When you encounter an NPC Enemy, take the respective Enemy card and place it to the side of the Hunt board. Represented by their tokens, NPC Enemies function in all ways as regular Enemies. The only exception is that the Enemy card for them does not have two distinct sides. Instead, they feature 1 side for when playing with 1-2 Hunters, and another for 3-4 Hunters.

Hunter's Dream

For Hunters, death is only a mild inconvenience. When slain, a Hunter will merely reawaken inside the realm of the Hunter's Dream, soon ready to rejoin the Hunt. Hunters may also voluntarily enter the Hunter's Dream, and upon doing so spend any gathered Blood Echoes to improve themselves. This all comes at a cost though, as time is the enemy of the Hunt as the Blood Moon's influence grows—and Hunters that spend too much time away from the waking world might return to find it beyond saving.

Regardless of if a player voluntarily sends their Hunter to the Hunter's Dream by performing the Go to the Hunter's Dream action or if they are slain in Combat, the player's turn is over. Perform the next steps, in order:

• Advance the Hunt Track by 1 space. This may cause a Reset (see Advancing the Hunt Track and Resetting the Map).
• Take all that Hunter's Stat cards (those remaining in their Hunter deck, their discard pile, their hand, and any on their Trick Weapon), and combine them back into a single deck.
• Discard all Blood Echoes on that Hunter's dashboard to gain Upgrades to their Hunter deck. This is not optional. For each discarded Blood Echo, the player must select 1 Upgrade card from the 4 available in the Upgrade section of the Hunt board. When a card is selected, a new one is immediately placed on its slot, becoming instantly available for selection. NOTE: A Hunter who was slain loses all Blood Echoes before they get to gain Upgrades.
• Once a player has selected their Upgrades, they may incorporate them into their Hunter deck. This is optional. For each Upgrade card the player chooses to incorporate, they must discard any 1 other card from their Hunter deck. The Hunter deck will always contain 12 cards. Any Upgrade card that is not incorporated into the deck should be discarded and will no longer be available during this Chapter.
• The player will then shuffle their new Hunter deck, refresh their Firearm and Reward cards, and discard Poison and Frenzy tokens, if any. Finally, Heal the Hunter, replenishing any missing HP tokens to a total of 6.
• At the beginning of the next round, the player will refill their hand as usual. On their turn, they may then select which side they want their Trick Weapon to begin on, and then place their miniature on any space containing a Lamp on the map, playing their turn as usual.

Advancing the Hunt Track and Resetting the Map

The Blood Moon's influence carries strange effects upon the waking world. Aside from causing players to lose the game when the token reaches the end of the Hunt Track, it is also responsible for returning formally slain foes to life.

Along the Hunt Track are special Reset Points, noted by the Reset symbol. When any of these Reset Points are reached, the following steps are immediately taken, interrupting anything else that might also be happening:

• All non-Boss Enemies are removed from the map.
• Replenish all Consumables tokens on the map.
• Respawn all Enemies related to Missions, if any. Then, replenish all spawn points on the map, beginning with those closest to Hunters.
• Boss Enemies are not removed from the map, but Heal all Damage. If they had entered Phase 2, they do not revert to Phase 1.

Additional Rules

There are a few additional rules that do not fit into the other sections explained previously. We will cover them here.

Intelligent and Cruel

There may be times when a game effect would allow a choice to be made in how it is resolved. In these situations, where there are multiple ways that effect could resolve, the players should always pick the resolution that would be the worst possible outcome for the players. This is to represent that the Enemies you are encountering are intelligent in their actions, as well as the fact that Yharnam is cruel and merciless towards the Hunters.

Final Space Resetting

The final space of the Hunt Track also contains a Reset Point. When the final space is reached, if the Hunt Track would be advanced for any reason, instead of advancing, reset the map again.

Fog Gates

Sometimes a Mission card will require to surround a tile with Fog Gates. These are special tokens used to isolate that tile from the rest of the map. When instructed, place a Fog Gate token covering each exit on that tile. If the tile has a Lamp, cover it with a Broken Lamp token. Finally, remove all Enemies from that tile, except any spawned by the Mission card that caused the Fog Gates.

While a tile is surrounded with Fog Gates, the following rules apply:

• Hunters may enter a tile surrounded with Fog Gates, but may never leave except by going to the Hunter's Dream.
• Lamps covered by Broken Lamp tokens cannot be used by Hunters. They may not return to that space from the Hunter's Dream.
• Enemies cannot enter or exit a tile surrounded with Fog Gates. If Pursuing a Hunter, they will stop in the space adjacent to that tile. Enemies ignore all Hunters separated from them by Fog Gates when they Activate.
• Enemies not listed under that Mission card do not spawn on that tile while the Fog Gates are active.

Fog Gates are only removed when the Mission card that created them is completed, or when specifically instructed to do so. When a Fog Gate is removed, also remove any Broken Lamp tokens caused by it. Enemies may now spawn on that tile as usual on the next Reset.

Progressing the Campaign

If the players have successfully completed the Chapter, all Hunters immediately go to the Hunter's Dream and acquire Upgrade cards with any of their remaining Blood Echoes.

If the players do not wish to go on to the next Chapter immediately, they may save their progress and continue the Campaign later (see Saving Progress below). If they wish to carry on:

• After the end of a successful Chapter, Upgrade cards are kept by the Hunter. Upgrade cards cannot be exchanged among Hunters.
• They also keep any Consumables, Firearms, and Reward cards they have collected during the Chapter, though between games these can be freely exchanged among Hunters.
• Players also keep all the Insight cards from Completed Insight Missions.
• Once this has all been collected, players take the next Chapter card and follow the setup instructions.

NOTE: Each Chapter is a separate game, so all usual setup instructions (shuffling Upgrades, Consumables, placing the Hunt Track token at the start of the Track, etc) should be followed as normal.

Saving Progress

Store each Hunter's Firearms, Consumables and Rewards together with their Hunter deck. Store all completed Insight cards together. Any Upgrade cards that were discarded should be shuffled back into their deck.

Glossary

• ADJACENT (SPACE): Spaces are adjacent to each other when they are connected by a grey divider-line or two connecting exits.
• ADJACENT (TILE): Tiles are adjacent to each other if they have spaces connected to each other by an exit.
• AT ATTACK SPEED: Refers to the Speed of the Attack. E.g. an effect resolving "At Attack Speed" on a Fast Attack would resolve at Fast.
• BLOCK (X): When an effect Blocks (X), reduce the amount of Damage suffered by X.
• BLOOD ECHO: Tokens used to enhance a Hunter in the Hunter's Dream. Gained from slaying Enemies and completing Missions. Lost if Hunter is slain. Hunters may carry a maximum of 3 Blood Echoes at any time.
• CANCEL ATTACK: Prevents all effects and Damage from an Attack, unless already resolved.
• CLEAR 1 SLOT: Discard any cards that are in any 1 slot of your Trick Weapon. These effects can target their own slots.
• DODGE: When Dodging, a Hunter evades an Enemy Attack of the same Speed or slower.
• DODGE (X): Means the player must place a Dodge card in an Attack Slot of at least the requested Speed, or suffer the indicated effects. E.g. Dodge (Fast).
• EMPTY (ATTACK SLOT): Any slot of a Trick Weapon that does not have a card in it.
• ENEMY: Anything that is not an allied Hunter or a non-Enemy NPC.
• ENEMY ACTION: Cards flipped to determine what an Enemy does during an Attack.
• ENEMY ACTIVATION: Refers to when Enemies Activate after the Hunter's Turn, in which Enemies move and Attack the current player's Hunter.
• EXHAUSTED: When a Reward or a Firearm card is used, it becomes Exhausted. It is flipped facedown and cannot be used again until it is refreshed.
• FILLED (ATTACK SLOT): Any slot of a Trick Weapon that has a card in it.
• FRENZY: Gain 1 Frenzy token. Hunter suffers +1 Damage from all Attacks. Remove the token when the Hunter goes to the Dream.
• HEAL (ENEMY): When an effect Heals an Enemy, remove that many Damage from them.
• HEAL (HUNTER): When an effect Heals a Hunter, restore that many HP tokens to their Hunter, noting that the most HP a Hunter can have is 6.
• HUNTER TURN: When the player is performing actions with their Hunter.
• INTERACT: One of the actions available to a Hunter. When a Hunter Interacts in a space, they Interact with every element in that space. If an Enemy is on the same space, they Attack the Hunter.
• MAP: Refers to all revealed tiles.
• ON ATTACK: These effects trigger when the player selects an Attack Slot, before Attacks are resolved.
• ON KILL: These effects trigger when the Hunter slays an Enemy.
• ON TRANSFORM: These effects trigger when the player Transforms their Trick Weapon.
• PHASE (BOSS): Bosses have 2 Phases, switching from Phase 1 to Phase 2 once they have suffered enough Damage.
• POISON: Gain 1 Poison token. Hunter suffers 1 Damage at the end of each of their Hunter Turns. Remove the token when the Hunter goes to the Dream.
• PURSUE: After a Move action in which a Hunter exits a space or tile containing an Enemy, that Enemy will follow them 1 space.
• REFRESH: When an effect refreshes a Reward or Firearm card, it is flipped back faceup, allowing it to be used again.
• RESPAWN: When a Reset is reached on the Hunt Track, all non-Boss Enemies on the map will respawn on their marked spawn points.
• REWARD CARD: Special cards that grant unique and permanent powers to the Hunters. They can be of 2 types: Caryll Runes or Hunter Tools.
• SPACE: Each tile is made up of a number of spaces, separated by grey divider-lines.
• STAGGER: Cancel opposing Attacks with a slower Speed, completely preventing all effects and Damage from that Attack.
• STUN: The Hunter must discard 1 card. If they cannot, they suffer 1 Damage.
• TELEPORT: If an effect teleports a Hunter to a space, that Hunter is placed on that space, ignoring all intervening spaces and miniatures. This counts as having moved onto that space.
• TRANSFORM WEAPON: All cards are Cleared from the Trick Weapon dashboard and then it is flipped over.
• WITHIN: If an effect refers to being within a number of spaces, it is counted from the space the effect originates in. Effects are always considered to be within range of themselves.

Iconography

• ATTACK SPEED (FAST): The fastest Attack Speed.
• ATTACK SPEED (MEDIUM): The middle Attack Speed.
• ATTACK SPEED (SLOW): The slowest Attack Speed.
• CONSUMABLE: Refers to a space on the map where a Consumable token must be placed.
• DAMAGE: Refers to how much Damage an effect deals or Heals.
• HUNTER: Refers to the number of Hunters in the game.
• LAMP: Refers to a space on the map containing a Lamp.
• RESET: Refers to the spaces on the Hunt Track that cause the map to Reset.

Credits

GAME DESIGN: Michael Shinall and Eric M. Lang. DEVELOPMENT: Leo Almeida (Lead) and Fábio Cury. WRITING: Michael Shinall. PUBLISHER: David Preti.

© 2021 CMON Global Limited, all rights reserved. Bloodborne™ © 2015-2021 Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Bloodborne is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, and of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. All rights reserved. Manufactured under license from Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, and Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. CMON and the CMON logo are trademarks of CMON Global Limited.