Dracula Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Contents
• Setup
• Action Cards
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Moving your figure
  • Both figures on the same location
  • Looking at the encounter card at a new location
    • Target: Victim or Coffin
    • Enemy: Vampire or Vampire Hunter
    • Power Symbol
  • Running out of encounter cards in hand
  • 2. Playing an action card
• Barriers
• Detailed Example of a Turn
• End of the Game
  • Early End
• Explanation of the Special Actions
  • Van Helsing's Cards
  • Dracula's Cards

Objective

The goal of the game is to find all of the opponent's "target" cards. Dracula must find all his victims; Van Helsing must find all the vampire coffins. However, the game can also end early if a player loses his last life marker.

Contents

• 1 board
• 30 encounter cards
• 20 action cards
• 2 figures
• 8 life markers (4 per player)
• 4 colored barriers

Setup

• One player takes the role of Count Dracula, the other the role of Dr. Van Helsing.
• The 12 spaces on the board represent 12 locations in the suburbs of London (10 houses, and in the two opposite corners, a harbor and a carriage station). The board is placed between the two players so that Dracula sits in front of the harbor and Van Helsing in front of the carriage station.
• Dracula takes the black figure, 4 black life markers, his 10 action cards, and his deck of 15 encounter cards (9 vampires, 1 Amulet, 5 coffins).
• Van Helsing takes the brown figure, 4 brown life markers, his 10 action cards, and his deck of 15 encounter cards (9 vampire hunters, 1 crucifix, 5 victims).
• Both players separately shuffle their action cards. Each then takes the top 5 cards of his pile and places them face down in front of him. These are his current action cards, and he may look at them at any time. The other 5 cards are set aside for now.
• Both players take their 15 encounter cards and secretly choose 6 of them. These 12 cards (6 from each player) are combined, shuffled together, and dealt randomly, face down, onto the 12 spaces on the board. The remaining 9 cards of each player form his respective hand of encounter cards.
• Note: in your first game, you should include 2 or 3 target cards (that is, victims or coffins) among the 6 cards you choose.
• Dracula places his figure on the encounter card at the harbor, while Van Helsing begins at the carriage station. Neither player may yet look at the card on which he stands.
• The colored barriers and the players' life markers are placed near the board.

Action Cards

Each player has 10 action cards. These are different for Dracula and for Van Helsing.

Note: for your first game, do not dwell on all the text. Save that for later, and focus instead on how the cards are used during play.

All action cards show 4 pieces of information that describe what a player may do:

1. In the upper left corner, a number that indicates the maximum number of spaces a player's figure may move.
2. In the upper right corner, a battle strength symbol (1-4). Note: in each player's deck, one card has no battle strength.
3. Text at the bottom describing a special complementary action.
4. A colored bar below the card's name that indicates which barrier may be placed or moved on the board.

On each turn, a player must play an action card after moving his figure. The number in the upper left of the action card must be at least as high as the move he made. When the move ends in a battle, the battle strength symbol on the action card is used. For this reason, a player must carefully consider which action card he will use after his move.

After playing an action card, the player places it on his discard pile.

When, during the game, a player has used his 5 current action cards, he takes the ones he set aside at the start and uses those instead. Once all 10 cards have been used, they are shuffled and 5 new cards are drawn.

Playing the Game

Dracula starts the game. In subsequent games, the loser of the previous game starts. Players alternate turns throughout the game.

A turn consists of two actions:

1. Move your figure
2. Play an action card

1. Moving your figure

• Figures move from location to location. Movement may be vertical or horizontal, but not diagonal.
• At each location, the player decides whether or not to look at the encounter card there.
• A player may visit the same location several times in a turn.
• The encounter card at the location where a player begins his turn cannot be looked at immediately. That location must be visited again in order to do so.
• Every move to a neighboring location must be "paid for" at the end of the move with a correctly numbered action card. The action card is played after the figure has moved.
• A player must move at least one location.

Both figures on the same location

It is possible to move to the same location as the opposing figure. In that case, the active player (the one who moved) decides whether both players must show each other the encounter cards in their hand. He is not obliged to do so. Whether he does or not, he must still decide whether to look at the encounter card at that location.

Looking at the encounter card at a new location

If a player does not want to look at an encounter card, he simply places his figure on it and ends his move there.

If he does want to look, there are two possibilities:

A. It is one of his own cards. The player takes the card into his hand without showing it to his opponent. He chooses one of his own encounter cards and places it face down on the location. This may be the card he just picked up (this is called "bluffing")... Once he has done so, he may continue moving his figure or end his move there.

B. It is one of his opponent's cards. When a player looks at an opponent's card (regardless of its type), his move ends at that location. In this case, he must reveal the card and resolve it as follows:

Target: Victim or Coffin

If a player finds an opposing "target" card — in Dracula's case a "victim," or in Van Helsing's case a "coffin" — he takes the card and places it face up in front of him. He then replaces it on the board with one of his own encounter cards, face down. If a player thereby finds all 5 of the opponent's target cards, he wins the game.

Enemy: Vampire or Vampire Hunter

If a player finds "an enemy" (a vampire or a vampire hunter), he must fight. The enemy has a battle strength of 1-3. The player's battle strength is determined by the battle strength symbol on the action card he plays for his move.

• If the player's battle strength is higher than the enemy's, he wins the battle and places the enemy card on the discard pile. Beaten cards are then placed on each player's respective discard pile, so each player can always know which cards have been used. The winning player then places one of his own encounter cards face down on the location.
• If the battle strength on the player's action card is lower than the enemy's, he loses the battle. The enemy card remains at the location and is turned back face down. The losing player gives up one life marker.
• If the battle strengths are equal, the battle is a draw. The enemy card remains at the location, face down. Neither player loses a life marker.

Power Symbol

If a player finds an enemy power symbol (Dracula's Amulet or Van Helsing's Crucifix), there is no battle. Instead, the player immediately loses one life marker.

Exception: if Dracula plays the "Breath of Night" card, he does not lose a life marker.

The power symbol card is placed back face down.

Important: if a player loses his last life marker, he loses the game!

Running out of encounter cards in hand

It can happen (though rarely) that a player runs out of encounter cards. In that case, use the following rule: if a player must place an encounter card at a location but has none left in hand, he leaves that location empty. A player who later arrives at an empty location places one of his own encounter cards there.

• If a player ends his move by revealing an enemy Vampire or Vampire Hunter, he uses the battle strength on his action card for the battle.
• Some Special Actions take effect immediately; others take effect on the opponent's following turn. A player may decide whether or not to use a Special Action.
• To end his turn, the player places or moves the appropriate colored barrier.

2. Playing an action card

• Each player has different action cards. 8 of the 10 allow a special complementary action.
• On his turn, each player uses exactly one action card.
• Action cards are only played at the end of a move.
• A figure's move always ends either when an opposing encounter card is revealed, or when the player declares his move finished. He must then "pay" for the move with a correctly numbered action card.
• In principle, a player cannot move further than the values of the action cards currently in his hand allow, BUT...
• If a player has moved more locations (by mistake or intentionally) than his action card allows, he must pay one life marker for each additional location.
• It is permitted to move fewer locations than the number shown on the action card.
• Once "payment" for the move has been made, the action card's other functions come into play.
• Figures may not cross barriers.
• The following restrictions apply to barrier placement: the board may not be divided in two; every location must remain accessible; and it is also not permitted to enclose or isolate a figure.
• At the start of the game there are no barriers on the board. When a color is used for the first time, the player may choose where to place it. After that, that barrier can only be moved.

Barriers

Movement of the figures can be restricted using the 4 colored barriers. The action cards determine which barriers may be placed or moved on the board.

• The color of the bar on the action card played determines which barrier the player may place or move.
• Two action cards have a gray bar. The player may place or move a barrier of his choice.
• A barrier is always placed between two locations.
• Placing two barriers next to each other at the same location is not allowed.

Detailed Example of a Turn

It is Van Helsing's turn. He moves to the neighboring location (1) and looks at the encounter card. It is "a Victim." He takes the card into his hand and replaces it with a Vampire Hunter of strength 2. He could instead have put the Victim back — hoping, of course, that Dracula would not notice it was the same card! Once he has placed his card, Van Helsing moves to the next location (2), but does not look at the card there because he believes it is Dracula's Amulet and does not want to lose a life marker.

He moves to the next location (3) and looks at the card. It is a Vampire Hunter of strength 1. Since he has little chance against Dracula, he takes it into his hand and replaces it with the Crucifix card. It is still his turn. He moves to his fourth location (4) and finds a Vampire of strength 2. Since this is an enemy card, his move ends here.

He has moved 4 locations. He must therefore play an action card with a Move number of at least 4. In addition, he must fight the Vampire. Among his current action cards, he has "Resistance" (Widerstand), "Deception" (Täuschung), and "Strength" (Stärke).

With the Strength card (Battle Strength 4) he could beat the Vampire, but it has only a Move number of 3, so he would have to pay a life marker for the difference with his actual move (4). With the Deception card, his move would be correctly paid for, but he would lose the battle (strength 1 against the Vampire's strength 2). So he plays the Resistance card (Move number 5, Battle Strength 2). This means the battle is a draw, so he must leave the Vampire on the board, but at least he does not lose a life marker.

Now he carries out the card's Special Action and turns the previously placed Crucifix card 90 degrees, hoping Dracula will fall for the bluff and think it is a Victim. Finally, Van Helsing moves the green barrier below location (4) so that Dracula's route to the presumed Victim is more difficult and the bluff more credible. Then it is Dracula's turn...

End of the Game

The game ends when a player can prove that he can no longer find any "target" cards on the board. That player is the winner.

The proof can take two forms:

1. A player locates and takes into his possession all five of the opponent's "target" cards from the board.
2. A player finds, in his opponent's hand, all of the opponent's remaining "target" cards.

Example: by moving his figure to the same location as Van Helsing, Dracula looks at Van Helsing's hand of encounter cards and finds the 2 remaining Victims, ending the game. Since these were "in hand," he could not have located them on the board. Thus Dracula wins.

Note that either player may play without ever placing a "target" card on the board. Bluffing to this extent is of course permitted, though extremely risky, since a player can immediately meet the victory conditions by examining his opponent's hand.

It is possible, by learning of the cards, for both players to meet the victory conditions at the same time. In that case, it is the player whose turn it is who is declared the winner.

Early End

The game also ends if a player loses his last life marker. This can happen during a battle, upon revealing an enemy power symbol, or through an inability to pay the correct movement cost.

To prevent this, a player may, at any time, give a target card from his hand to his opponent, who places it in front of him with the ones he has already won. The player may then take back 2 life markers. He must, however, do this before he loses his last marker, or it will be too late!

Explanation of the Special Actions

Van Helsing's Cards

Inspiration (Eingebung): The encounter card present at the location is ignored. Van Helsing does not take the coffin, does not fight a Vampire, and does not lose a life marker to Dracula's Amulet.

Composure (Gelassenheit): Van Helsing may look at all of his action cards — played or set aside — choose one (except Composure) and take it into his hand.

Rebellion (Kampfeslust): Dracula does not play his next turn. If Van Helsing beats a Vampire (a draw does not count!) while using this card, he immediately takes another turn.

Perception (Scharfsinn): Van Helsing may look at Dracula's hand of encounter cards to find the missing coffins. If he can prove he can no longer find any on the board, he wins.

Deception (Täuschung): By drawing a card at random from Dracula's hand, it is treated as if it were at a location. If the card is a coffin, Van Helsing keeps it. If it is Dracula's Amulet or a Vampire of strength 2 or 3, he loses a life marker. A Vampire of strength 1 has no effect. The Amulet or Vampires are returned to Dracula's hand.

Reinforcement (Verstärkung): Van Helsing may return to the carriage station even if there is no Vampire Hunter in the discard pile.

Vigilance (Wachsamkeit): Dracula's next Special Action cannot be used. The base Move number, Battle Strength, and barrier placement of the card are still valid.

Resistance (Widerstand): Dracula cannot go to the location with the turned card. Van Helsing turns the card back the right way on his next turn.

Dracula's Cards

Breath of Night (Der Atem der Nacht): If Van Helsing, on his following turn, plays the Deception (Täuschung) card and draws a Vampire, the increased strength also applies and remains in effect until Van Helsing's next turn. If Van Helsing plays the Rebellion (Kampfeslust) card and immediately takes an extra turn, the increased strength does not apply on the second turn.

Dark of Night (Das Dunkel der Nacht): This still counts as revealing an enemy card, so Dracula's move ends.

Wings of Night (Die Flügel der Nacht): Dracula cannot look at the card at the location to which he moves.

Whisper of Night (Das Flüstern der Nacht): If Van Helsing uses Rebellion (Kampfeslust) on his following turn and takes an extra turn, he may move a barrier only on his second turn.

Depths of Night (Die Tiefe der Nacht): Dracula may also exchange a card at a location where a figure is standing.