Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Chapter One: Components
  • Contents
• Chapter Two: Assembly
• Chapter Three: Prepare
  • Phases Chart
  • Characters
  • For Fewer Than Five Players
  • Cards
• Chapter Four: The Stories
  • The Object
  • The Master
  • The Judge
  • The Mayor
  • Adam
• Chapter Five: Playing
  • A Note About Dice
  • Turn Order
  • What a Character Can Do During a Turn
  • Moving
  • Special Spaces in Sunnydale
  • Play Card(s)
  • Weapon Cards
  • Research Cards
  • Help Cards
  • Evil Cards
  • Draw Card
  • Artifact Cards
  • Trading Cards
  • Fighting
  • Life and Death
  • Rebirth
  • The Movement Dice and the Phase Chart
• Chapter Six: Vampires & Werewolves
  • Sunrise
  • Entering a Private Home
  • Siring
  • Restoring Angel's or a Sired Vampire's Soul
  • Werewolves

Chapter One: Components

Contents

• Gameboard
• Cardboard Phases Chart
• Pewter Buffy Talisman
• 5 Good pawns: Buffy, Willow, Xander, Oz, and Angel
• 4 Good character sheets/card holders: Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Oz
• 5 Pawnstands for Good pawns
• 4 Evil villain scenario cards
• 4 Evil villain pawns: The Master, The Judge, The Mayor, and Adam.
• 1 Evil cardholder
• 5 Pawnstands for Evil pawns
• 9 Evil servants: Drusilla, Spike, Darla, Mr. Trick, Bad Faith, Vamp X, Veruka, Kathy the demon roommate, and Angelus
• 4 red Fight dice
• 3 yellow Majik dice
• 2 blue Movement dice
• 1 black Evil die
• 18 Evil cards
• 18 Weapon cards
• 18 Research cards
• 18 Help cards
• 12 Artifact cards

Chapter Two: Assembly

Before playing the game the first time, you must assemble a few parts.

1. Carefully punch out all of the cardboard components and discard the waste.
2. Place the Good cardboard pawns in their matching colored pawn stands.
3. Punch out and assemble the Evil card holder as shown. Fold the Evil card holder as shown, inserting the tabs into their corresponding slots and clips.
4. Peel off the stickers and apply them to the dice.
   • Each red die has one each of: Punch, Kick, Jab, Fangs, Stake, and one blank side.
   • Each yellow die has three Majik symbols and three blank sides.
   • The blue Movement die has a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and the 6 with a moon.
   • The other blue die has a 1 with a moon, then a 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
   • The black die has the six black stickers.

Chapter Three: Prepare

EVERY TIME YOU PLAY the game, you MUST prepare the following:

Phases Chart

• Place the four plastic clips into the board as shown.
• Fold the Phase Chart and place it in the center of the board, into the plastic clips.
• Put the pewter Buffy talisman onto the first New Moon space.

Characters

Willow: "You're the Slayer and we're like the Slayerettes."

1. Decide who will control the forces of Evil and who will play each Good character.
   • If there is a dispute, roll for it.
   • Sit in front of your character's name on the board and take the character's card holder.
2. Place the Good pawns on that character's START space.
   • Set a white life token next to each Good character's name on the life track. (Place a white token on 12. This is how much life Buffy starts with.)
3. The Evil player chooses one of the 4 villain cards and places it next to the Evil card holder, faceup.
   • Look up the goal for Good and Evil for that story (see Chapter Four: The Stories).
   • We recommend starting with The Master's Story for your first game.
4. The villain card lists the Evil servant pawns used in that story.
   • Place these servant pawns on their START spaces (for example, the Master starts with Darla, Drusilla, and Spike).
   • For the villain and each servant in this story, set a black life token on each life track, next to that character's name. (In The Master's story, place a black token on 20. This is how much life the Master starts with.)

For Fewer Than Five Players

• For a four player game, someone plays both Xander and Willow.
• For a three player game, one player plays Xander and Oz, one player plays Buffy and Willow, and the third player controls the forces of Evil.
• In a two player game, one player controls all the Good characters and the other player plays the forces of Evil.

Cards

1. Separate each of the five decks of cards.
   • Place the Artifact cards to the side for a moment.
   • Shuffle and place each of the remaining decks (Weapons, Research, Help and Evil) on its matching space in the center of the board, under the Phase Chart.
2. Each character starts with one card, determined by the instructions on their card holder.
   • Evil starts with one Evil card.
3. Find the special story Artifact card that goes with that villain (e.g., the Mark of the Anointed is always used with the Master).
   • Remove the other three special story Artifact cards from the game. Place the rest of the Artifact cards facedown and mix them up.
   • Draw three, without turning them over or revealing them and place the scenario Artifact card with them.
   • Shuffle these four cards and tuck one under each corner of the game board, facedown.
   • The remaining Artifact cards go back in the box.

Chapter Four: The Stories

The Object

Giles: "As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. Into every generation, a Slayer is born. One girl, in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the..."

Buffy: "...the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of Evil, blah, blah. I've heard it, okay?"

This game recreates struggles with four of Buffy's greatest enemies: the Master, the Judge, the Mayor and Adam. Depending on which story is being played, the goals of the Evil player and the Good players change slightly. In each of the four game scenarios, the winner will be either the Evil player or all of the Good players. If this is your first game, you can just read The Master's Story and skip over the others.

The Master

The ancient and powerful Master vampire has risen and he and his vampires will stop at nothing to destroy the Slayer.

Master: "You were destined to die. It was written." Buffy: "What can I say? I flunked the written."

Evil Set-up:	Place the Master, Spike, Drusilla and Darla on their START spaces.
Special Artifact:	Use the Mark of the Anointed and three other non-story Artifact cards.
Evil Objective:	Destroy or sire Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Good Objective:	Destroy the Master.

The Judge

It's Buffy's birthday. Spike and Drusilla have gathered the remains of the Judge, an ancient demon. All players race to find the last piece of the Judge, his arm. If the Judge is reassembled, it could mean the end of humanity.

Willow: "Do you think he's dead?" Buffy: "We can't be sure. Pick up the pieces and keep them separate." Cordelia: "Pieces? We get the pieces. Our job sucks!"

Evil Set-up:	Place Spike, Drusilla and Vamp X on their START spaces.
Special Artifact:	Use the Judge's Arm Artifact and three other non-story Artifact cards.
Evil Objective:	Destroy or sire all the Good characters.
Good Objective:	Destroy the Judge's arm with the Living Flame Research card or destroy the Judge if Evil animates him.

RESTRICTIONS: The Judge pawn does not go onto his START space until the Judge's Arm Artifact card is brought adjacent to his START space. Until this time, the Evil player does NOT roll the black die to determine which characters move but gets to move all three evil servants each turn.

The Mayor

It is the eve of the Mayor's Ascension and Sunnydale High's 1999 commencement ceremony. All characters race to find the Box of Garvok. If the Mayor recovers the box, he will transform into a pure demon, the likes of which the world has never seen.

Cordelia: "I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan." Oz: "We attack the mayor with hummus." Cordelia: "I stand corrected."

Evil Set-up:	Place the Mayor, Bad Faith, Mr. Trick, and Vamp X on their START spaces.
Special Artifact:	Use the Box of Garvok Artifact and three other non-story Artifact cards.
Evil Objective:	Destroy or sire all the Good characters.
Good Objective:	Destroy the Box of Garvok with the Living Flame Research card or destroy the Demon Mayor if the Mayor ascends.

RESTRICTIONS: The Mayor cannot be killed unless he ascends and becomes the Demon Mayor. The Mayor can take damage but will stay at a life point of ONE until he turns into the Demon Mayor.

Adam

The beast in Room 314 of the Initiative has killed his creator and broken free. He has mobilized the forces of Evil to kill his only threat, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Adam: "What am I?" Boy: "You're a monster." Adam: "I thought so."

Evil Set-up:	Place Adam, Spike, Drusilla, and Vamp X on their START spaces.
Special Artifact:	Use the Power Chip Artifact and three other non-story Artifact cards.
Evil Objective:	Destroy or sire Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Good Objective:	Destroy Adam.

Chapter Five: Playing

This chapter explains what happens during a turn, how to fight, cast spells, and lots of other good stuff.

A Note About Dice

All characters have two numbers on their pawns: Fight dice and Majik dice. These two numbers show how many dice that character uses when asked to roll those dice. (e.g., Buffy, a strong fighter, rolls 3 Fight dice, while Willow, not a strong fighter, only rolls 1.) Cards and other situations may increase or decrease this number during the game. Sometimes you may have to roll more dice than are available. Just roll them in groups, keeping track of the total number of successes rolled.

Turn Order

The forces of Evil go first. The Evil player rolls the black Evil die and sees how many of his characters can move this turn. The large white flame represents the villain and the small white flames represent the villain's servants. (It is possible for the villain to be unable to move on some turns.) After all Evil characters that can move have had their turn, then play proceeds clockwise around the board, according to the character's life track. Oz moves next, then Xander, Willow, and finally, Buffy.

What a Character Can Do During a Turn

At the start of each character's turn, the player controlling that character rolls the Movement dice whether that character plans to move or not. These dice must be rolled as they affect the Phase Chart (see page 10 for effects). The Evil player will be able to move several of his characters in any order of play (which characters are determined by the black die roll). The Evil player declares which character's turn it is before the Movement dice are rolled.

After rolling the dice and adjusting the Phase Chart (see page 10), a character may perform any or all of the following actions. The order of these actions is unimportant other than fighting ends a character's turn. A character may split an action, such as moving, playing a card, then continuing to move.

During a turn, a character may:

• Move
• Play card(s)
• Draw card (ends a character's movement)
• Attempt to Recover an Artifact (ends a character's movement)
• Trade card(s) (ends a character's movement)
• Fight (ends a character's turn)

Moving

Xander: "You up for a little reconnaissance?" Buffy: "You mean where we all sculpt and paint and stuff?" Xander: "No, that was the Renaissance."

Characters may move any number of spaces up to the total number rolled on the Movement dice, including not moving at all.

Characters cannot move diagonally.

Characters can move through allies but not enemies.

Characters may not share the same board space.

Characters cannot move over or through black walls.

Special Spaces in Sunnydale

Card Spaces

Spaces with circles on them are spaces where characters may draw a card. Drawing a card ends a character's movement.

Manhole Covers

There are Research and Evil cards that let a character take a shortcut through the sewers. Moving between any two manhole covers with these cards counts as one space.

Tunnels

Sunnydale has two tunnels that all characters may use. When characters land on a tunnel space, they may continue their move on the other side of the matching tunnel. This counts as moving one space.

Artifact Squares

There are four spaces on the board with an Artifact symbol where characters may try to uncover an Artifact, if one is still there (see Artifact Cards, page 8). Attempting to uncover an Artifact ends a character's movement.

Outdoors vs. Indoors

Grass and pavement spaces are outside. The rest of the board is inside. This is important for vampires caught outside during Sunrise, as explained later.

Uninvited Areas

There are areas in Sunnydale that vampires may not enter unless invited (demons may go anywhere). They have a blue background. Beware: there are Evil cards that allow vampires to be invited into these homes.

The Hellmouth

The Hellmouth is a source of evil in Sunnydale and the place where new Evil servants can be brought into the game. Good characters may not pass over or land on the Hellmouth space.

Play Card(s)

You may play any and all types of cards on your turn. Note that certain cards are used only at certain times. The Evil player can use Evil cards for any of his characters. Artifacts can only be used by the character holding that Artifact card.

Cards and Card Holders

Good Characters

Good characters may have up to five cards — one Artifact card and four others. The character's card holder shows which cards may be carried. Good characters place their cards FACEUP.

Evil Characters

The Evil player may have up to four Evil cards, kept secret in the special card holder. Each Evil character may also carry an Artifact card. Artifacts held by servants are placed face-down near that character's life track. Artifact cards held by the villain are placed faceup near the Evil card holder.

Discarding

Discard cards off to the side of the board. If you run out of cards in a deck, shuffle and place the discard deck back in its place at the center of the board.

Weapon Cards

Buffy: "Do we really need weapons for this?" Spike: "I just like them. They make me feel all manly."

Weapon cards are used to improve a character's attack (see Fighting, page 9). Use a Weapon card immediately before rolling Fight dice. A character cannot use more than one Weapon card per turn.

Research Cards

Most Research cards are spells. When a character plays a spell, you roll that character's yellow Majik die or dice to see if that character successfully casts that spell. If the number of Majik symbols is equal to or greater than the number listed on the Research card, then the spell has been cast. After a character tries to cast a spell (whether successful or not), discard that card.

Some non-spell Research cards do not have to be discarded, nor do Majik dice need to be rolled. A character can play any number of Research cards during a turn.

Help Cards

Most Help cards let you roll extra dice. Discard a Help card after playing it.

Evil Cards

The Evil player uses these cards to do many nasty things. Evil cards are discarded after they are played. Some cards let the Evil player summon extra servants. These servants appear on the Hellmouth space in the High School.

Draw Card

Willow: "Goody! Research party!" Xander: "Will, you need a life in the worst way."

When a character is moved onto a card space, you may or may not draw a card that matches the color of the circle on that space. This will end that character's movement. Evil cards can only be drawn by Evil characters while Weapons, Research and Help cards can only be drawn by the Good characters. All characters may move onto any card space.

When a Good character picks up a card, it goes on the space on the character's card holder matching that type of card. If the character has no empty slot for the card, the player must discard one of the cards, either the old one or the new one.

When any Evil character picks up an Evil card, the card goes into the Evil card holder. If the Evil player has more than four Evil cards, one or more must be discarded so that Evil has no more than four.

Artifact Cards

Artifact cards are powerful objects. Some can be used only once, others many times. The cards have instructions on them explaining how and when they can be used. In two stories (The Judge and The Mayor), the Artifact cards are key to winning. (See Chapter Four: The Stories).

Recovering an Artifact

When a character lands on an Artifact space, roll that character's yellow Majik die or dice. If you roll at least one Majik symbol, then that character has recovered the Artifact card under that corner of the board. If there is no Artifact card under that corner, then you cannot gain an Artifact card from that space. If a character already has an Artifact, he or she cannot try to recover another.

Holding an Artifact

Evil servants keep their Artifact cards facedown on the special space near their life track. However, the villain always keeps his Artifact card faceup near the Evil card holder. Characters can only carry one Artifact at a time. Artifacts cannot be discarded but most can be given to or traded with another character.

Using an Artifact

Artifacts are all different. Read each card carefully to determine how to use it.

Trading Cards

If a character is adjacent (not diagonally) to an ally, the characters may trade cards. This does not have to be an even trade — one character may give cards to another without receiving any in return. A character must have an open space to receive a card, although you can discard cards to make room. A character's movement ends when exchanging cards.

Trading Cards Example: On Oz's turn, he moves his pawn adjacent to Xander's. They may now exchange cards. Oz gives Xander his Jonathan Help card and his Explosives Weapons card. Since Xander already has a Weapons card, he must discard it or give it to Oz. He gives it to Oz, who puts it on his Weapons card slot. Since they traded cards, Oz's movement is over.

Fighting

A character may fight an enemy adjacent to that character (not diagonally). To fight, announce which character you are attacking and roll that character's number of red Fight dice. Rolling the Fight dice and resolving combat ends a character's turn.

Punch, Kick, Jab

Any of these cause one point of damage to the adjacent enemy.

Stake

This only counts when trying to destroy a vampire with a wooden weapon. First determine the total damage to the vampire from Punches, Kicks, or Jabs and adjust the vampire's life. Now count the number of Stakes. An unwounded vampire needs two Stakes to be dusted. A wounded vampire only needs one (see Wounded, below). If the Stake symbol(s) shown do not dust the vampire, then ignore all Stakes rolled, they count as misses.

Fangs

If a werewolf rolls a Fang, it counts as one point of damage. When a vampire attacks with a Sire a Vampire card, then also count Fangs. A vampire needs two Fangs to sire an unwounded character but one Fang to sire a wounded character. See Chapter Six: Vampires & Werewolves.

Fight Example: On her first turn, Buffy attacks Mr. Trick with a pool cue, attempting to stake him. She rolls her Fight dice and scores a Stake, Fang, and Kick. First she moves Mr. Trick's life down by one (for the Kick), so it is now at a 6. Since Mr. Trick is not wounded yet, the one Stake on the die does not dust him. If Buffy's Fang roll (a miss) had been another hit, Mr. Trick's life would have been a 5 (wounded) and the one Stake roll would have dusted him.

Life and Death

The game board is surrounded by the characters' life tracks. These life tracks represent how much damage characters can take before being killed or destroyed. At the start of the game, a life token is placed on the number next to each character's name. As characters take damage, their life is reduced one number for each hit they take. Weapons and spells may cause further damage.

Wounded

When a character's life token drops into the lighter-colored area of their life track, that character is wounded. A wounded vampire is easier to stake while a wounded human is easier to sire.

Death

When a character's life reaches "X" (or lower) that character dies. Vampires reduced to "X" are injured to the point of incapacitation and out of the game.

When a character dies, all cards that character had except Artifact cards are put in the discard piles. Artifact cards are moved to any empty board corner, facedown. The person who killed the character determines where to place the Artifact card.

Rebirth

There are Evil cards that allow the Evil player to bring in new servants. The cards explain when these new servants can be brought into play.

The Movement Dice and the Phase Chart

At the beginning of each character's turn, the Movement dice are rolled, even if that character doesn't plan on moving. This is because the Movement dice affect the Phase Chart, and the Phase Chart affects the game.

The Movement Dice

When the blue dice are rolled, look to see if any "phase" symbols are face-up. For every phase symbol shown, move the Buffy talisman one space clockwise.

Movement Dice Example: On her turn, Willow doesn't plan on moving, but has to roll the Movement dice anyway. When she does, one die comes up with a moon symbol on it. She moves the talisman on the Phase Chart one space clockwise. It is now Sunrise and any vampires outside are in trouble....

The Phase Chart

The 13-step clock in the center of the board is called the Phase Chart. The pewter Buffy talisman starts on the first New Moon space and moves clockwise as phase symbols are rolled on the Movement dice. There are also spells and artifacts that change its position. When the talisman is on the following spaces, something special happens.

New Moon

Evil characters may now draw two Evil cards when they land on any Evil space, instead of one.

Full Moon

Werewolf characters transform into their animal state (see Chapter Six: Vampires & Werewolves).

Sunrise

All vampires that are outside must run out of the sun (See Chapter Six: Vampires & Werewolves.) If the talisman moves onto and then past Sunrise in the same turn, all vampires still run and burn. The Sunrise space is not "skipped." As long as the sun is out, vampires may not move outside.

Chapter Six: Vampires & Werewolves

Giles: "The last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed - infected - by the demon's soul. He bit another and another... and so they walk the Earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind."

Sunrise

When the talisman moves to the Sunrise, all vampires that are outside must immediately move to the closest indoor space. This happens even if it is not the Evil player's turn. Count the number of spaces it takes to get a vampire out of the sunlight by the shortest route possible (in the case of a tie, Evil decides which route to take). Move the vampire to this space. The vampire takes damage equal to the number of spaces it moved to get inside. Vampires may not move outside again, until the talisman moves off "Sunrise".

Entering a Private Home

In Sunnydale, there are three special homes. No vampires can enter Giles' apartment, the Summers' house or Xander's parents' house unless the Evil player uses a "You are Invited..." card. The Evil player places this card next to one vampire's life counter. Now only this vampire can enter all three of these homes.

Note that demons may enter any of these homes freely, the restriction only applies to vampires.

A vampire may attack characters inside a house through the doorway. This is true even if the vampire may not enter the house.

Siring

Buffy: "To make you a vampire, they have to suck your blood and then you have to suck their blood; it's like a whole big sucking thing."

The Evil player can try to turn most Good characters into vampires by playing a Sire A Vampire card when attacking with a vampire (demons cannot sire). If a vampire successfully sires a Good character, then that character becomes one of the Evil servants. This new vampire discards all cards except Artifacts. The new vampire's life counter is set to its highest human number.

Flip a sired vampire's card holder over to the "Vamp" side. Note the different Fight dice and Majik dice for the sired vampire.

Oz, due to his werewolf blood, cannot be sired.

When the Evil player determines which of his servants can move, he must move sired vampires first, if possible. The Evil player moves the sired vampire, but the original player still rolls any dice for that character.

Restoring Angel's or a Sired Vampire's Soul

Angel: "You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done, and to care."

A Research card, the "Spell of Soul Restoration", can give a vampire its soul back and make it Good. This spell can turn Evil Angelus into Good Angel or make a sired vampire Good again. The character is still a vampire but can again collect cards, cast spells, etc.

If Angelus' soul is restored, replace the Angelus pawn with the Angel pawn. The player who restored Angel's soul gains control of Angel. Angel cannot draw cards or cast spells, but he can carry an Artifact card. Angel's turn happens after the Evil player has finished but before Oz's turn has begun.

Good vampires are still burned by sunlight. A Good vampire cannot be "re-sired". They are Good for the rest of the game.

Werewolves

In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Game, Oz is a werewolf, as is Veruka. These two characters transform into a wolf when the pewter Buffy talisman is on any Full Moon space.

Oz Becomes a Werewolf

When the Full Moon starts, do the following:

1. Flip the Oz card holder over, revealing the Werewolf Oz side.
2. Move Oz's life counter to 15.
3. Discard all cards Oz was carrying. Any Artifact Oz was carrying returns to an empty corner of the board (Oz's player's choice).
4. Oz cannot draw, recover, or use any cards but he does move DOUBLE the roll of the Movement dice.
5. Oz rolls 4 Fight dice when attacking and each die roll of "Fangs" equals 1 hit (in addition to Punch, Jab, and Kick).

Oz Becomes Human Again

When the Full Moon ends, do the following:

1. Flip the Werewolf Oz card holder over, revealing the Oz side.
2. Move Oz's life counter to 6, even if he was above or below 6.

Veruka

Veruka gains all the same powers as Oz when she is a werewolf. She cannot pick up or use an Artifact card while in her werewolf form and moves DOUBLE the dice. Her life counter jumps to 13 as a werewolf and reverts to 5 when she turns human again.

We will be happy to hear your questions or comments about this game. Write to: Hasbro Games, Consumer Affairs Dept., P.O. Box 200, Pawtucket, RI 02862. Tel: 888-836-7025 (toll-free). Customers in Canada may call 450-670-9820.