Dr. McNinja's Legendary Showdown
Dr. McNinja's Legendary Showdown Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Each player controls a line of characters, but only the characters at the front of each line compete. Players can rearrange each others' lines, give their characters special advantages, and sabotage other characters. At the end of each round, the strongest character wins and the rest are eliminated from the game. The last player standing wins!
Types of Cards
There are two decks of cards in the game - character cards and playing cards. Both decks have different images on the back to help you tell them apart. Character cards and playing cards should be kept in separate drawing and discard piles. Character cards have a name, a point value, a character description, and occasionally special rules. Playing cards each have their own special attributes. Unless otherwise stated, any playing card can be played on any character in any line.
Illustrations: a character card (sample: Chuck Goodrich, 3 points, with the card text "Chuck Goodrich can be sacrificed to save another character in your line") and a playing card (sample: a Bonus card, "Replaces a bonus on any character. +1 point.").
Types of Playing Cards
Action cards: To play an action card, simply follow the instructions on the card.
Face down cards: Set these cards face down next to your line to add a secret bonus. These cards apply to whichever character is at the front of the line when the round ends. Face down cards that were played are discarded at the end of each round.
Weapon cards (Red title): Weapon cards have a red title and can be played on any character in any line to increase or decrease the total points. Each character can only have one weapon at a time. If a weapon card is played on a character that already has a weapon, the old weapon is replaced and discarded. Each weapon card adds the value denoted on the card unless otherwise specified. Weapon cards stay with the characters as they move through the line.
Note: Some weapons have special rules as specified on the cards. For example, the bazooka changes a character's base value to 10 points (it replaces the character's value as though the character card had "10 points" written in the top right corner). Eye Knives change a character's base value to 1. Dracula's Moon Laser eliminates all front characters, including the character who is using it.
Bonus cards (Blue title): Bonus cards have a blue title and can be played on any character in any line to increase or decrease the total points. Each character can only have one bonus card at a time. If a bonus card is played on a character that already has a bonus, the old bonus is replaced and discarded. Bonus cards stay with the characters as they move through the line.
Instant cards (Yellow title): Instant cards have a yellow title and may be played at any time during the game. Instant cards affecting an action must be played before the action is completed. For example, to cancel an "Unmask" action card, an instant card must be played BEFORE the new character is drawn.
Setting Up the Game
Place both decks on the table and designate two discard piles (one for character cards and one for playing cards). Deal each player 5 character cards. Each player then lays his or her character cards face up in a line in the order the cards were dealt. The first card is placed nearest to the player, the second card is placed second nearest, and so on. Most players prefer to turn their cards sideways so they require less space. See the illustration on page 4 for an example.
How to Play
At the beginning of each round, players draw playing cards until they have 5 playing cards in their hand.
Who starts the round: The player with the lowest points on his or her active character takes the first turn. If two or more players tie for the lowest points, the next character in each of the tied players' lines is considered, and so on. Complete ties are decided by the winner of the previous round.
Your turn: Moving in a clockwise direction, each player either passes or plays cards from his or her hand. You may play as many cards as you like on your turn.
When the round ends: The round ends when all players but one pass consecutively without playing any cards. In a five player game, for example, the round would end if four players passed in a row. This means that any turn could be your last.
Ending the round: Each player reveals his or her face down cards and calculates his or her front character's score by adding points from face down cards, weapon cards, and bonus cards to the front character's base value. The player with the highest total points wins the round. Everyone else must discard his or her front character and any attached cards unless they played a face down card that protects their front character. Surviving characters are then placed in the back of their line and face down cards used in that round are discarded. If two or more players tie for first, they engage in a sudden death round of rock-paper-scissors. At the end of the round, players discard any cards from their hand that they do not wish to keep for the next round.
Miscellaneous
How to advance your line in the reverse direction: Take the character card at the back of a line and move it in front of the line.
How to trade cards to get more playing cards: Any two cards with this symbol may be discarded to draw a new playing card.
How to trade cards to get more character cards: This symbol represents a credit that may be exchanged for a new character card. Cards with a total of 3 credits may be discarded to draw a new character card. New character cards are placed in the back of a player's line.
Cards in your hand: If asked, players must reveal how many playing cards they have left in their hand.
How to Win
When a player runs out of character cards, he or she is out of the game. The last player standing wins.
Illustrations
An example line: Your front character is near the center of the table. The diagram shows a line of cards, with the front character at the center and the back of the line nearest the player. The illustration labels read: "How to advance your line: Move your front character to the back of the line," "The back of the line (Near the player)."
The player's cards shown in the example demonstrate a line at a later point in the game. His front character, Sally, is worth 10 points (6 base points + 2 for the Katana + 2 for Lit on Fire). Ice Cream Cake is worth 0 points. Vengeful Dolphin is worth 105 points (Dracula's Laser adds to the 5 base points). The Temple Guard is worth 7 points (4 base points + 3 points for the Anti-Zombie Suit). Dr. McLuchador is worth 6 points.
How to Play a Shorter Game
Game play can be shortened by playing with fewer than five character cards.
Tips
Unless otherwise stated, any card can be played on any character in any line. This means you can use weapon and bonus cards to replace weapon and bonus cards on other characters. Playing weapon and bonus cards on characters in the back of your line allows you to increase your characters' total points for future rounds and clears your hand so you can draw more cards next round.
Many cards are not worth keeping. Carefully choose which cards to keep between rounds.
"Greetings from the future" only cancels action cards and instant cards. It cannot be used to cancel a weapon or bonus card.