Dracula's Curse Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Card Anatomy
• Setup & Turn Order
  • 1. The Castle
  • 2. The Decks
  • 3. Slayer Setup
  • 4. Dracula Setup
• Role Overviews
  • Slayers
  • Dracula
• Playing as a Slayer
  • Drawing Cards
  • Slayer Character Features
  • Slayer Turn Structure & Hand Limit
• Slayer Actions
• Exploration & Underground
  • Underground Crossroads
• Room Events
  • Event Types
• Movement and Events
• Staircase Tokens
• Companions
• Combat
• Combat Resolution Sequence
• Full Combat Example
• After Combat Effects
  • Multiple Slayers Present
  • Multi-Phase Combat
• Character Cards & Equipment
  • Character Slots
  • Equipped Items
  • Traits
  • Spellcasting
• Signature Slots & Team Synergy
  • Signature Slots
  • Team Synergy
• Becoming a Vampire
  • Vampire Reminders
• Vampires and Quest Holders
• Playing as Dracula
• Shadows
  • Shadow Deployment
  • Moving and Stacking Shadows
  • Shadow Interaction
  • Shadow Removal, Reset, and Redeployment
• The Soul Well
  • Using the Soul Well
• Throne Room & Final Battle
  • Entering the Throne Room
  • Final Battle Rules
  • Ascent Bonus
  • Throne Room Resolution
• Win Conditions
• Blood Dojo: Solo & Cooperative Mode
  • Game Setup
  • Dracula's Turn
  • Blood Dojo Deck
  • Organization
  • Dracula's Shadows (Blood Dojo)
  • Slayer Defeat
  • Defeating Dracula (Blood Dojo)
• Icon Reference
• Updated Player Aids & Cards
  • Dracula Cloak - Front
  • Dracula Cloak - Back
  • Pentagram - Front
  • Pentagram - Back
  • Updated Cards

Objective

Slayers: Reach the Grand Staircase, climb the Ascent in the Upper Castle, and defeat Dracula in the Throne Room.

Dracula: Eliminate all Slayers by killing them or turning them into Vampires.

Vampires: Complete the hidden objective on your Vampire Quest card. These objectives may override standard win conditions.

Components

• 7 Slayer/Vampire cards
• 19 Subclass cards
• 7 Character tokens
• 46 Curse cards
• 60 FORCE cards
• 60 SPEED cards
• 60 MIND cards
• 40 Blood Point tokens
• 29 Combat cards
• 6 Boss Combat cards
• 76 Castle tiles
• 35 Life tokens
• 1 Dracula Cloak card + Bat meeple
• 1 Dracula Keep + 10 Dracula Keep rooms
• 4 Shadow tokens
• 5 Dracula Trap cards
• 1 Castle Starter tile
• 1 Underground Crossroads tile
• 10 Vampire Quest cards
• 7 AR Trackers + 7 AR tokens
• 25 Blood Dojo cards
• 18 Staircase tokens
• 2 Portal tokens
• 6 "X" tokens

Some copies of Dracula's Curse include a bonus sticker sheet. The stickers are included as a bonus item and are not used during play.

Card Anatomy

Combat Card

1. Card Name
2. Card Ability
3. Attack Rating (AR)
4. Soul Value

Curse Card

1. Card Name
2. Curse Effect
3. Removal Conditions

Trap Card

1. Card Name
2. Trap Effect

Note: Traps are always played facedown. When a Trap's condition is met, reveal and resolve it. Only one Trap may be active per player at a time.

Force, Speed, and Mind Cards

1. Card Name
2. Attack Rating (AR) gained when equipped
3. Type of equipment slot used
4. Card Ability

Blood Point Icon: Whenever this icon is revealed, gain 1 BP. If it appears on a Force, Speed, or Mind card, discard that card after gaining the BP.

Essence Icon: Whenever this icon is revealed, Dracula gains 1 Essence. If it appears on a Force, Speed, or Mind card, discard that card after Dracula gains the Essence.

Quest Card

1. Card Name
2. Quest Effect

Setup & Turn Order

Follow these steps to prepare the castle and characters for play.

1. The Castle

a. Set the Castle Starter Piece in the center of the table. Place the Underground Crossroads beneath the blue Underground doorway, locked side up (no top doorway).

b. Separate Castle Room tiles by door color: Gold (Main Floor), Blue (Underground), and Red (Upper Castle). Shuffle each group separately and place them facedown within reach.

c. Set aside all Room tiles with Dracula on the back. These will form Dracula's starting hand and room deck.

Note - Underground Access: The Castle Starter Piece has a blue Underground doorway on its far-right edge, so players may explore into the Underground immediately.

2. The Decks

a. Slayer Decks: Shuffle Force, Speed, and Mind decks separately.

b. Combat Deck: Combine all Tier I, II, and III Combat cards into one unified deck.

c. Other Decks: Shuffle the Curse and Vampire Quest decks. Place the Trap deck and Boss Monsters nearby.

Note - What to Include: Use only content for the Legend being played. When playing against Dracula, exclude Cthulhu's Curse content.

3. Slayer Setup

a. Choose a Character Card and place 3 Life tokens on it. Slayers begin the game with 3 Life, but this is not a maximum.

b. Place the character's 3 Subclass Cards face-up near the player board, but not connected (identified by your character's initials in the top corner).

c. Place the character's token on the Castle Entrance area shown in diagram 1A.

d. Resolve any starting bonuses that appear on your Character Card.

Turn Order: Previous winner chooses role/character first. If tied, the oldest tied player chooses; if there is no previous winner, the oldest player chooses. Play proceeds clockwise from Dracula's left. Dracula takes the final turn each round.

4. Dracula Setup

a. Gather Dracula's Cloak, Shadow tokens, Trap deck, Keep board, and Keep Rooms. Place them nearby.

b. Place 5 Life tokens on Dracula's Cloak.

c. Set Dracula's starting Essence with the bat meeple.

Slayers	Dracula's starting Essence
2 Slayers	0
3 Slayers	1
4 Slayers	2
5 Slayers	3

d. Form Dracula's starting room hand:

• The Grand Staircase (Gold room)
• One Gold room of your choice
• Two additional randomly selected Gold rooms

e. Shuffle all remaining Gold, Blue, and Red Dracula Rooms into one facedown Dracula Room deck.

f. Select 2 Boss Monsters, add them to the Combat Deck, then shuffle.

Role Overviews

Slayers

On your turn as a Slayer, you will draw cards, take actions, and manage your character. Each turn follows three steps:

Step 1: Draw a Card and Manage Items. Draw 1 card from the Force, Speed, or Mind deck. You may equip or unequip items and traits.

Step 2: Take Actions. You may perform any number of actions in any order:

• Move - Travel through the castle
• Trade - Exchange cards with nearby players
• Combat - Fight monsters, Dracula, or Vampires
• Explore - Reveal new rooms
• Play Cards - Play cards from your hand at any time during your turn. If a card's text conflicts with the rulebook, the card takes precedence.
• Investigate Shadows - Resolve Shadow encounters
• Transmute - Convert cards into Blood Points
• Purchase Subclass - Unlock new abilities

Step 3: End of Turn. You may again equip or unequip items and traits, then resolve any end-of-turn effects.

Play passes clockwise. Dracula always takes the final turn of the round.

Dracula

Dracula follows a structured turn, focused on expanding the castle, controlling Shadows, and building power over time. Each turn follows these steps:

Step 1: Gain Essence. Gain Essence, which is used to fuel your abilities and powers.

Step 2: Place a Dracula Room. Add a Dracula Room from your hand to the castle facedown.

Step 3: Use Keep and Traps. Build Keep Rooms, activate abilities, and deploy Traps.

Step 4: Move Shadows. Move your Shadows through the castle to pressure and attack the Slayers.

Step 5: Deploy Shadows. Place new Shadows into the castle.

Step 6: End of Turn. Play passes clockwise to the next Slayer.

Note: Dracula is a Legend, not a Vampire. Effects that refer to Vampires do not apply to Dracula unless they specifically name Dracula or Legends. Other Legends are available as expansion content.

Playing as a Slayer

As a Slayer, your goal is to explore the castle, grow stronger, and ultimately defeat Dracula. You will gather equipment, unlock powerful subclasses, and work with other players to survive the dangers of the castle. Careful positioning, resource management, and timing your actions are key to success.

While teamwork is essential, the threat of Vampirism means alliances may not always last. Stay aware of your surroundings and be prepared to adapt as the game evolves.

Drawing Cards

Draw from the appropriate deck without choosing unless stated otherwise. If a Slayer/Vampire effect and a Dracula effect would modify the same draw, the Slayer/Vampire effect takes precedence.

Slayer Character Features

Each Slayer has a unique Character Feature printed on their Character Card. This ability defines how your character plays and may grant passive bonuses, special actions, or unique effects.

Character Notes: Character Features are always active unless stated otherwise, and their effects apply as described on the card.

Raiden Only: Raiden begins with his large gray 6-ability subclass card equipped. If Raiden loses all Life, he does not respawn as a Vampire.

Slayer Turn Structure & Hand Limit

Each Slayer turn is divided into three steps:

Step 1 - Draw a Card & Manage Items: Draw 1 card from the Force, Speed, or Mind deck. You may equip or unequip eligible cards.

Step 2 - Take Actions: You may perform any number of the following actions in any order.

Step 3 - End of Turn: You may again equip or unequip eligible cards, then resolve any end-of-turn effects.

Hand Limit: Your hand limit is 5 cards unless increased by a trait or item.

• Equipped cards and active Traps do not count toward your hand limit.
• Outside combat, if you exceed your hand limit, immediately reduce to that limit by equipping eligible cards, Transmuting, or discarding.
• During combat, ignore your hand limit. When combat ends, immediately reduce to your limit using the outside-combat options above.

Slayer Actions

Move: Move orthogonally up to your Movement value, shown on your Character Card. Each point of Movement lets you move 1 room.

• You may only move between rooms through connected doorways of the same color.
• Movement ends for the turn if you enter combat or trigger an event.
• Slayers/Vampires may move through rooms with other players unless the active player chooses to initiate combat.
• Vampires (and Quest holders) may move through Shadow-occupied rooms as Dracula allows.

Trade: You may trade with another willing adjacent player or any player within your synergy range, measured from the active player. For each card you give, the other player must give one card in return.

• Equipped cards may not be traded.
• Note: A player is adjacent if they are in the same room or in a room reachable by spending 1 Movement.

Play Cards: You may play Force, Speed, and Mind cards at any time during your turn, or when their text allows. Playing a card does not trigger effects that require a discard.

Transmute: You may Transmute outside of combat: discard one equipment or trait card to gain 1 Blood Point.

• Equipped cards may not be transmuted.

Purchase Subclass: Spend Blood Points to purchase a Subclass:

• First Subclass - 3 BP
• Second Subclass - 5 BP
• Third Subclass - 7 BP

Free subclasses still count toward this progression. If you gain a subclass for free, your next subclass still costs the next amount in the sequence.

Investigate a Shadow: Entering a room with a single Shadow forces the Slayer to investigate immediately. Flip the Shadow token, resolve its hidden icon, then remove it. Investigating a Shadow is considered an event and ends turn movement.

Shadow hidden icon results: When a Shadow is investigated, resolve its hidden icon as follows.

• Combat: When resolved, player will discard the first combat card on top of the deck and draw and fight the next monster card.
• Dracula Gains Essence: When resolved, Dracula will gain 1 Essence.
• Curse: When resolved, player will draw a Curse card.
• Master Shadow: When resolved, Dracula loses 1 Life.
  • Master Shadow Removed: If the Master Shadow is removed from the castle for any reason, immediately remove all other Shadows.

If Shadows are stacked, only the stack size is relevant. The hidden icons beneath no longer matter, and combat ensues. See Dracula's Cloak for Shadow stack Attack Rating (AR), based on the number of Shadows in the stack.

Explore: When a Slayer or Vampire moves through a doorway into an unexplored room, they must explore it. Follow these steps:

1. Declare the doorway you are entering.
2. Spend 1 Movement.
3. Draw a Castle Room tile of the matching color (Gold = Main floor, Blue = Underground floor, Red = Upper Castle).
4. Place the tile in any orientation, as long as the door you moved through connects to a matching-color door on the new tile. Other doors do not need to align.
5. Move your character into the new room.
6. If a Shadow is present, resolve Shadow Interaction first.
7. Resolve all room events if applicable.

If the exploring player is defeated during a Shadow interaction or room event, the room remains explored and all yellow events on it are considered resolved.

Exploration & Underground

Underground Crossroads

• The Underground Crossroads starts locked, with no doorway on its top edge.
• When the Crypt is explored, flip to its unlocked side. Its top doorway now connects to the Castle Starter Piece's blue Underground doorway.
• Until unlocked, treat its top edge as a wall. Players must use another legal route through or out of the Underground.

Room Events

Resolve event icons from left to right when the room name is upright. Yellow events are resolved once per game. Place an "X" on completed optional events. White events refer to the Pentagram reference sheet.

Event Types

Yellow Events: Trigger only once, the first time the room is explored.

White Events (Persistent): Trigger every time a Player enters. Refer to the Pentagram sheet. Passing or failing a persistent challenge does not end turn movement.

White Events (Optional): May be completed once per game and are persistent until completed. Place an "X" token to mark it complete. Refer to the Pentagram sheet. Completing an optional challenge ends movement for the turn.

Force / Speed / Mind Challenges: Discard a matching card to succeed. If you cannot or choose not to, lose 1 Life. White-icon challenges are resolved entirely according to the Pentagram sheet.

Curse Icons: Draw a Curse card and resolve it immediately.

Combat Icons: Draw and resolve a Combat card of the shown tier immediately.

Movement and Events

Unless otherwise stated, encountering an event immediately ends your movement for the turn, even if a card or ability would grant additional movement.

Occupied Rooms: A room is occupied if it contains a player, Shadow, or persistent challenge.

Relocation Rule: If a player is moved into a room by any effect, they still resolve persistent events as if they entered through a doorway.

Vampire Exploration Bonus: If a Vampire explores a facedown Dracula Room, they feed on the room's dark energy and gain 1 BP.

Staircase Tokens

• If a castle floor has no legal doorway left to explore, you may explore through a blocked doorway of that floor's color instead.
• Place a matching Staircase token on the doorway being explored. Draw a Castle Room tile of that color and place it in any available table space to begin a new castle section. Place the matching numbered Staircase token on the new room.
• Matching Staircase tokens count as connected doorways for all movement and event purposes. Once a new section begins, that floor must be explored normally again until no legal doorway remains.

Companions

Companions fight by your side and add their SV to your base Attack Rating (AR) total. Unless otherwise stated, they remain with you until you lose a combat or run out of Life. There is no limit to the number of Companions a player may have.

Combat

You may initiate combat against a Vampire, Dracula, a Slayer holding a Quest card, or when directed to by a room event or Shadow effect. Slayers cannot typically attack other Slayers.

Combat can also be triggered by several sources: room icons, Shadow tokens, Curse cards, attacks involving Vampires, and the Throne Room finale.

In all combat, the defending player wins ties in Attack Rating (AR). Slayers are always the defenders in combat against monsters or Dracula.

During combat, players may exceed the normal hand limit. When combat ends, they must immediately reduce to their limit using the options on page 11 (see Slayer Turn Structure & Hand Limit).

Note: Attack Rating (AR) is the strength of an individual and determines the winner of a combat.

Combat Resolution Sequence

Follow these steps when resolving combat:

1. Draw Combat Cards. Depending on what triggered combat, determine the enemy as described below. If you would draw from an empty Combat Deck, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

• Room Combat Icon: Discard cards from the top of the deck face down until a Combat card matching the room's tier is found.
• Combat Shadow Token: Discard the top Combat card face down, then draw and fight the next Combat card.
• Curse Card Combat: Do not draw from the Combat Deck. Resolve the monsters listed on the Curse card.

2. Apply Passive Effects. Apply all passive effects that modify combat. This includes effects from items, traits, subclasses, Keep Rooms, and other ongoing abilities.

3. Dracula's Soul Well. If a Combat card is drawn, Dracula may spend 1 Essence to play the top monster from the Soul Well.

• This may be done once per combat.
• This occurs before the player plays cards or abilities.
• If no Combat card is drawn, Dracula may not use the Soul Well.

4. Cards, Abilities & Synergy. Players may play cards and use abilities to increase their Attack Rating (AR). Slayers/Vampires are always defenders against monsters and Dracula. In player-vs-player combat, the player who initiated combat is the attacker.

The attacker declares their final AR first, including all cards, abilities, and other effects they wish to use. The defender then declares their final AR using any cards, abilities, or other effects they wish to use. Once declared, combat does not continue back and forth.

A player's base AR from revealed cards and passive effects is open information and must be shared when asked.

Unless otherwise stated, each non-passive ability (from Character Features, subclasses, equipment, traits, or other effects) may only be used once per combat, even if the combat has multiple phases. Only one Team Synergy may be applied per combat. If multiple are available, the receiving player chooses one.

5. Traps. When a Trap's condition is met, reveal and resolve it.

6. Resolve Combat. Compare Attack Rating (AR) totals to determine the winner. The defender wins ties. See below for combat outcome results.

Outcome	Victory	Defeat
Slayer	+1 BP	Lose 1 Life
Vampire	+1 BP (and +1 Life vs. Slayer)	Lose 1 Life
Monster	Place in Discard pile	Place face up on top of the Soul Well

Note: If a Soul Well monster was used, move that monster to the Out-of-Game pile.

Full Combat Example

Jess enters a room with a Combat Tier II icon, so she draws from the Combat Deck until she finds a Combat Tier II enemy - in this case, the Blood Raven.

Jess' starting AR is 4. She has the Magician's Mantle equipped, which adds +2 AR. She also chooses to spend 1 BP to use the Incision ability on her Surgeon subclass, and an Arcane Dart attack card from her hand, which add +5 and +3 AR respectively, bringing her total AR to 14.

Jess' AR of 14 beats the Blood Raven's AR of 12, so Jess wins! She gains 1 BP as a reward. The defeated monster is placed face up in Dracula's Soul Well.

After Combat Effects

7. After Combat Effects

a. Resolve any "after combat" cards or abilities. b. If multiple effects apply, resolve the attacker's effects first, then the defender's. c. Check each combatant's hand size and reduce to the hand limit if necessary. d. If a Slayer is reduced to 0 Life, resolve Vampirism. e. If a Vampire is reduced to 0 Life, they are defeated and eliminated from the game.

After combat, the active player may not move or initiate another combat that turn.

A player who begins their turn sharing a room with another player or one or more Shadows may leave the room without initiating combat or resolving a Shadow interaction, unless an effect states otherwise.

Multiple Slayers Present

If multiple Slayers occupy the room when combat begins, only one Slayer is the combatant at a time. Only that Slayer is affected by the combat's outcome unless a card or effect states otherwise.

Multi-Phase Combat

Each phase begins immediately after the previous phase; no turns or effects occur between phases, and combat rewards or penalties are resolved only once, after the final phase.

• Temporary AR bonuses and single-use effects used during a phase do not carry into the next.
• "For the next combat," effects, ongoing traits, subclass powers, and synergy bonuses continue through all phases of the encounter.
• You must win every phase to succeed; losing any phase counts as a defeat.
• Regardless of the number of phases you win or lose, you only ever gain +1 BP for victory or lose 1 Life for defeat unless a card or effect states otherwise.

Character Cards & Equipment

Your Character Card shows your base Attack Rating (AR), Movement, Character Feature, and Team Synergy.

Character Slots

Each Slayer has the following slots:

• Standard: 1 Helm, 1 Body, 1 Boot, 1 Accessory, 1 Consumable
• Weapons: Two 1-handed weapons or one 2-handed weapon
• Traits: Maximum of 2 traits equipped
• Signature Slots: Maximum of 1 Attack and 1 Spell, if granted by an ability

Equipped Items

Equipped Items provide their listed effects and do not count toward your hand limit. Unequipped Items return to your hand. Consumables may be played from your hand or while equipped; discard after use.

Traits

Traits represent enduring physical or mental advantages.

• Equipped Traits remain active; unequipped Traits return to your hand.
• Trait bonuses combine with equipment and subclass effects unless noted.
• Some Traits modify slot limits or hand limits.

Spellcasting

Spells allow players to unleash powerful magical effects.

• To cast a Spell, you must have an equipped item with the Magical Focus symbol.
• Casting a Spell requires paying its Blood Point (BP) cost, if applicable.
• Once cast, the Spell card is discarded.

Unless stated otherwise, each Spell card may only be used once per combat.

Signature Slots & Team Synergy

Signature Slots

Some effects grant Signature Slots, allowing Attack or Spell cards to be equipped.

• Signature Attacks and Signature Spells count as Equipment, and any listed costs must be paid.
• Signature Attacks and Signature Spells are not discarded when used.
• Like other abilities, each Signature Attack and Signature Spell may be used only once per combat. In multi-phase combat, this limit applies across all phases.
• If a multi-type card is equipped in a Signature Slot, only the effect matching that slot may be used. For example, an Attack/Utility card equipped as a Signature Attack may use only its Attack effect.

Note: If a Signature slot is removed, the Signature card returns to the player's hand and must obey hand limit rules.

Team Synergy

Each Slayer has a unique Synergy ability printed on their Character Card.

• You may give your Synergy ability to any willing adjacent player or any player within your synergy range.
• Synergy range is measured from the player granting the Synergy ability.
• Vampires may receive Synergy if a Slayer chooses to extend it.
• Synergy may still be given even if you are skipping your turn.

Note: In multi-phase combat, a Synergy ability lasts for the entire combat.

Becoming a Vampire

The curse takes hold, and the Slayer rises again as something far more dangerous. When a Slayer loses their last Life, they die and are reborn as a Vampire. Follow these steps in order:

1. Flip your Character Card to the Vampire side. You now gain the Vampire Feature listed there.
2. Remove your character token from the castle.
3. Discard all cards and Blood Points except one card of your choice. Flip your subclasses to reveal the three Vampire subclasses that are now available for purchase (purchased subclasses are removed).
4. Reset your Life total to 3. This is your starting Life as a Vampire, not your maximum.
5. Draw a Vampire Quest card and keep it hidden. You can tell players anything you'd like about your quest in an attempt to deceive. You may not reveal the card unless an effect instructs you to.
6. Lose your next turn.
7. At the start of your first turn as a Vampire, place your character token, Vampire side up, on the Castle Entrance shown in Setup 3c.
8. Follow the standard turn sequence for Slayers, beginning with drawing a card and proceeding with any actions as usual.

Vampire Reminders

Feeding on Rooms: When a Vampire explores a facedown Dracula Room, they feed on its dark energy and gain 1 BP after flipping it. Room events must still be resolved.

Feeding in Combat: When a Vampire wins combat against a Slayer, the Vampire feeds and gains 1 Life. The Slayer loses 1 Life.

Vampires and Quest Holders

When a Vampire or Quest Holder shares a room with a Shadow, Dracula first decides whether the Shadow engages them.

• If Dracula chooses to engage, treat that player as a Slayer and resolve the Shadow normally.
• If Dracula does not engage, that player may choose to engage or ignore the Shadow.

If a player chooses to ignore a Shadow, they may move through it freely with no penalty, and that Shadow will not interact with them again for the rest of that turn.

Playing as Dracula

Dracula follows a structured turn, expanding the castle, controlling Shadows, and building power over time. Each turn follows these steps:

Step 1: Gain 1 Essence. Gain 1 Essence and track it with the bat meeple on Dracula's Cloak.

Shadow Check: Then, if Dracula has placed at least four Dracula Rooms and no Shadows are in the castle, deploy all 4 Shadows for 0 Essence using the Shadow Deployment rules. Shadows cannot move or act on the turn they are deployed.

Step 2: Place a Dracula Room. Dracula must place 1 Dracula Room tile facedown each turn, connecting it to an open doorway. A facedown Dracula Room may not be placed next to another facedown Dracula Room unless both rooms connect by doorways to already explored rooms.

Stall Exception: If the Slayers do not explore and no explored room has a doorway that can legally be explored, Dracula does not draw or place a Dracula Room this turn. If no Shadows are in the castle, he deploys all 4 Shadows for 0 Essence. Otherwise, if Dracula has no legally playable rooms in hand, he draws from the Dracula Room deck until he draws one that can be placed. Any unplayable rooms drawn this way are kept in hand. Dracula has no room hand limit, so his hand may grow large if few doorways are open or available doorways do not match the rooms he draws.

Note: Essence fuels Dracula's powers. Spend it to build Keep Rooms, activate abilities, deploy Traps and Shadows, use the Soul Well, and more. Dracula can never hold more than 7 Essence.

Step 3: Keep Rooms and Traps. Dracula may perform any of the following during his turn:

• Build a Keep Room: All Keep Rooms are available to Dracula from the start of the game. He may build any room whose Essence cost he can pay, as long as he follows the normal build order. Rooms must be built from the bottom up, starting with a Hall. A Chamber cannot be built until its Hall is built, and a Spire cannot be built until its Chamber is built. Dracula may build only one room per turn.
• Activate a Keep Room Ability: Keep Room abilities may be activated at any time during Dracula's turn by paying their listed Essence cost. Passive effects apply without cost. Unless otherwise stated, activated abilities may be used multiple times per turn if their cost can be paid.
• Deploy a Trap: If the Alchemy Lab is built, Dracula may choose a Trap from the Trap pool, pay its cost, and place it facedown in his area. Only one Trap may be deployed at a time. The Trap remains hidden until its condition is met, then is revealed, resolved, and returned to the Trap pool.

Step 4: Move Shadows. Move Shadows in the castle.

• Shadows deployed this turn cannot move or use abilities.
• Each Shadow or Shadow stack that began the turn in the castle must move at least 1 room.
• Shadows move according to their type and may stack with one another.

See Shadows for full movement, stacking, and ability rules.

Step 5: Redeploy Shadows. At the end of his turn, Dracula may spend 1 Essence per Shadow to deploy any Shadows not currently in the castle, using the normal placement rules described in the Shadows section.

Step 6: End of Turn. Play passes clockwise to the next player.

Shadows

Shadows are manifestations of Dracula's influence throughout the castle. Controlled by Dracula, they can trigger events, deal damage, or initiate combat. Use Dracula's Cloak to reference Shadow movement, stack abilities, and AR values during combat.

Shadow Deployment

Whenever Shadows are deployed into the castle, they follow normal placement rules and cannot move or use abilities on the turn they are deployed.

After Dracula has placed his fourth Dracula Room, perform the Shadow Check during Step 1 of each Dracula turn. If no Shadows are in the castle, Dracula deploys all 4 Shadows for 0 Essence.

Shadows must be deployed on explored rooms and may not be placed in the same room as or adjacent to any player or other Shadow. Adjacent means in the same room or within 1 Movement.

If no legal placement exists:

• Dracula may place Shadows on unexplored Dracula Rooms.
• If still impossible, he may place a Shadow directly on a Slayer's room instead. Each Slayer in that room loses 1 Life, and that Shadow is then removed.

Moving and Stacking Shadows

When multiple Shadows move into the same room, they form a stack and can never be unstacked. When Shadows stack, ignore any hidden icons beneath them.

Each Shadow or Shadow stack that began the turn in the castle must move at least 1 room.

• Single Shadow - moves 1 room
• Master Shadow (Dracula portrait) - may move 1 or 2 rooms
• Shadow Stack - may move 1 room per Shadow in the stack

Each stack may use only one ability per turn. Stack abilities are shown on Dracula's Cloak and are cumulative. A stack has access to all abilities up to its current size. For example, a 3-stack may use abilities for 1-, 2-, or 3-stacks.

A stack of 4 Shadows becomes the fully manifested Dracula.

Note: A Shadow or Shadow stack must move before using an ability. When a Shadow stacks onto another Shadow, that stack may no longer move or use abilities that turn. Shadows move orthogonally through connected doorways.

Shadow Interaction

When a player shares a room with a Shadow, resolve the encounter based on the Shadow's stack size and who initiated the meeting. Investigating a Shadow is considered an event and ends movement.

When a Slayer enters a room with Shadows:

• 1-Stack: Investigate the Shadow. Flip the token, resolve its hidden icon, then remove it from the castle. If the Master Shadow (Dracula portrait) is investigated, Dracula loses 1 Life.
• 2-4 Stack: Combat occurs using the AR on Dracula's Cloak card.
  • Slayer wins: Gain +1 BP; the stack is removed. If it is a 4-stack, Dracula also loses 1 Life.
  • Slayer loses: Lose 1 Life; the stack is removed. If it is a 4-stack, the stack remains instead.

When Shadows enter a Slayer's room: Do not flip or resolve the hidden event icons beneath the Shadow or stack. After resolving the encounter, that Shadow or stack cannot move or use abilities again that turn.

• 1-3 Stack: Each Slayer in that room loses 1 Life, and the stack is removed from the castle.
• 4-Stack (Dracula): Combat occurs using the AR on Dracula's Cloak card. Dracula may attack one or all players in the room, resolving each combat in any order.
  • Player wins: Gain +1 BP, Dracula loses 1 Life, and the stack is removed.
  • Player loses: Lose 1 Life, and the stack remains.

Note: Dracula may look at the hidden side of any of his Shadow tokens at any time.

Shadow Removal, Reset, and Redeployment

Master Shadow Removed: If the Master Shadow (Dracula portrait) is removed from the castle for any reason, all other Shadows are immediately removed.

Redeployment: If no Shadows are in the castle during the Shadow Check on Dracula's next turn, he deploys all 4 Shadows for 0 Essence.

At the end of Dracula's turn, he may also spend 1 Essence per Shadow to deploy any Shadows not currently in the castle.

The Soul Well

The Soul Well represents Dracula reaping and harnessing the souls of fallen monsters to empower future combats.

Whenever a monster from the Combat Deck is defeated, place it face up on top of the Soul Well. The Soul Well is kept in a single pile. Only the top card may be used. Dracula may review the Soul Well at any time, but may not change its order.

Using the Soul Well

The Soul Well is not used as a normal Dracula turn action.

It may only be used during combat when a Combat card is drawn. At that time, Dracula may spend 1 Essence to add the top Soul Well monster's Soul Value to the current combat's AR.

Dracula may use the Soul Well only during combat when a Combat card is drawn. At that moment, before the opposing player uses cards or abilities, Dracula may spend 1 Essence to play the top monster from the Soul Well.

• Only the top card of the Soul Well may be played.
• Only one Soul Well monster may be played per combat unless otherwise stated.
• Its Soul Value, shown in the lower-right orb, is added to the primary monster's AR for this combat.

After combat resolves, the Soul Well monster used to empower the combat is moved to the Out-of-Game pile.

If the primary monster in that combat is defeated, Dracula reaps its soul: place that monster face up on top of the Soul Well.

Throne Room & Final Battle

Entering the Throne Room

The Ascent is a Red Castle Room that connects the castle to Dracula's Keep board, which serves as the Throne Room.

When the Ascent is explored, attach the Keep by slotting the Ascent tile into the cutout at the Keep's bottom center. If table space or the castle layout does not allow this, place matching Staircase tokens on the Ascent and Keep instead. Moving between the Ascent and Keep costs 1 Movement.

When a player moves from the Ascent into the Throne Room, the final battle against Dracula begins. Then:

1. Flip Dracula's Cloak to its Final Battle side. Keep Dracula's current Life and Essence values.
2. Gather all 4 Shadows and place them in the Throne Room.
3. Remove any active Traps belonging to Dracula and the engaging player.
4. Begin the First Form combat phase immediately.

Final Battle Rules

The Final Battle is a multi-phase encounter.

• Trap cards cannot be played or triggered during, or as a result of, the Final Battle.
• Keep Room abilities cannot be used and provide no modifiers during the Final Battle.
• Dracula cannot use the Soul Well's normal combat ability during the Final Battle.

First Form: Dracula's AR is determined by his current Life, as shown on the Cloak. If Dracula is defeated, immediately begin Final Form without resolving rewards or after-combat effects.

Final Form: Dracula's First Form AR and current Life no longer apply. His Final Form AR is the sum of the Soul Values of all monsters currently in the Soul Well, plus the Soul Values of Combat cards drawn based on his current Essence. Do not remove or reorder the Soul Well monsters.

Check Dracula's current Essence without spending it, then draw Combat cards as follows:

• 0-1 Essence: Draw no cards.
• 2-3 Essence: Draw 1 card.
• 4-5 Essence: Draw 2 cards.
• 6-7 Essence: Draw 3 cards.

Use only Soul Values; ignore all printed AR and abilities on both the Soul Well monsters and the drawn cards. After the phase, place only the drawn cards in the Combat discard pile.

Ascent Bonus

Each player in the Ascent room may choose to grant the engaging player +2 AR for both phases of this combat. Bonuses granted by multiple players stack.

Throne Room Resolution

If Dracula's Final Form is defeated: The Slayers win immediately. For Vampires, follow the text on their Vampire Quest card to determine victory conditions.

If the engaging player is defeated: The engaging player is killed regardless of remaining Life. Slayers are turned into Vampires, and Vampires are removed from the game. The battle ends immediately.

• Restore Dracula's Life, Essence, Soul Well, and Cloak side to their pre-battle states.
• Set all Shadows aside. Dracula deploys them as normal on his next turn.
• Play continues from the next player in turn order.

Win Conditions

Slayer Victory: Slayers win by reaching the Grand Staircase on the Main Floor, climbing the Ascent in the Upper Castle into the Throne Room, and defeating Dracula. They also win if Dracula is reduced to 0 Life by any effect outside the Final Battle. The Slayers immediately claim victory, and the curse is lifted from the castle.

Dracula Victory: Dracula wins if all Slayers are eliminated or turned into Vampires.

Vampire Victory: Players who have turned into Vampires may win individually or with others by completing the objective on their Vampire Quest card. Vampire Quest cards are revealed immediately when their victory condition is met.

Blood Dojo: Solo & Cooperative Mode

The Blood Dojo is a solo or two-player variant against an automated Dracula. These rules override the core rules where they differ.

Game Setup

1. Set aside the Grand Staircase.
2. Shuffle the Dracula Castle Rooms and draw the first 3 Gold-door Dracula Rooms without peeking. Add the Grand Staircase, then shuffle the 4 tiles to form Dracula's starting room deck.
3. Shuffle the remaining Gold Dracula Rooms into the Main Floor Castle Room stack and the remaining Blue Dracula Rooms into the Underground Castle Room stack. Return all Red Dracula Rooms to the box. When drawn during exploration, place and reveal Dracula Rooms like regular Castle Rooms.
4. Without looking at their fronts, randomly select 2 Boss Monsters and shuffle them into the Combat Deck. Return the rest to the box.
5. Shuffle the Blood Dojo deck.

Complete normal Castle, deck, and Slayer setup. Skip core Dracula Setup, but place Dracula's Keep nearby to track Shadows.

Solo Mode: Draw 1 card from the Force, Speed, or Mind deck of your choice and gain 2 BP before play begins.

Cooperative Mode (2 Slayers): Each Slayer draws 1 card from the Force, Speed, or Mind deck of their choice and gains 1 BP before play begins.

Dracula's Turn

Dracula takes the final turn each round:

1. Place the Next Starting Tile Each Turn. At the start of each of Dracula's turns, if tiles remain in the 4-tile starting room deck from Setup Step 2, draw the top tile and place it facedown at any legal open Gold doorway, following normal Dracula Room placement rules.

If no legal Gold doorway is available, leave the tile on top of the deck and each Slayer loses 1 Life instead.

2. Draw a Blood Dojo Card. Draw 1 card from the Blood Dojo deck and resolve it according to its type.

Whenever an Essence icon is revealed, immediately draw and resolve 1 additional Blood Dojo card.

If the Blood Dojo deck is empty, shuffle its discard pile to form a new deck.

Blood Dojo Deck

The Blood Dojo deck contains two types of cards: Instant cards and Active cards.

Instant Cards: When drawn, resolve an Instant card immediately, then discard it. Instant cards may deploy Traps, summon monsters, manipulate Active cards, or produce other immediate effects.

Active Cards: Place Active cards face up in the Active slot. Only the top card is active; cards beneath it have no effect.

If an Active card is drawn while another is already present, place the new card on top. When the top card's condition is met, resolve and discard it. The card beneath it then becomes active.

Example Blood Dojo cards (printed on the Blood Dojo page):

• Cryptic Veil (Instant): Put a random trap card into play face up. Discard after the trap is triggered. Slayers lose 1 BP each if a trap is already in play (and this trap is discarded).
• Grim Reflection (Instant): Swap the position of the top two active cards. If not possible, draw an additional card.
• Spectral Surge (Active): The next door opened is a combat. 1 Shadow: Combat Tier I. 2-3 Shadows: Combat Tier II. 4 Shadows: Combat Tier III.
• Eternal Twilight (Active): Block next Slayer card draw.

Organization

During Blood Dojo play, Dracula uses three designated slots:

• Monster Slot (Soul Well): Place defeated monsters and any monsters added by Blood Dojo effects face up here in a single stack. This stack is Dracula's Soul Well.
• Active Slot: Place Active cards face up here, with the most recently drawn card on top. Only the top card is active.
• Trap Slot: Place Dracula's current Trap face up here. Only one Trap may be in play at a time. When its condition is met, resolve and discard it.

Dracula's Shadows (Blood Dojo)

Some Blood Dojo cards instruct you to place a Shadow on Dracula's Keep. Stack these Shadows together on the Keep. They are used only to track Dracula's manifestation and do not enter the castle.

When the fourth Shadow is placed, Dracula becomes fully manifested. If an effect would place another Shadow, each Slayer loses 1 Life instead. Leave all 4 Shadows on the Keep.

Slayer Defeat

If any Slayer runs out of Life, the Slayers lose immediately. Slayers do not transform into Vampires in the Blood Dojo.

Defeating Dracula (Blood Dojo)

As in the core game, the Slayers must reach the Grand Staircase, climb the Ascent in the Upper Castle, and enter the Throne Room to confront Dracula.

The Blood Dojo final battle is resolved as a single combat. Do not use Dracula's Cloak or the core multi-phase Final Battle rules. The Ascent Bonus applies as normal.

Dracula's Attack Rating (AR) equals the combined Soul Value (SV) of every monster in the Soul Well. Only their SV is used; ignore their printed AR and abilities. Do not calculate this total until the final battle begins.

If the engaging Slayer wins, the Slayers win immediately. If the engaging Slayer loses, the Slayers lose immediately, regardless of any remaining Life.

Icon Reference

• Movement Value - Adjacent: In the same room or within 1 Movement.
• Attack Rating (AR)
• One-Handed Weapon
• Two-Handed Weapon
• Blood Point (BP)
• Combat Tier I
• Combat Tier II
• Combat Tier III - When triggered, draw and resolve a Combat card of the indicated tier.
• Draw and resolve a Curse card
• Dracula gains 1 Essence
• Force Challenge
• Speed Challenge
• Mind Challenge - For challenges, discard a card of the matching type to succeed. If you cannot or choose not to, lose 1 Life.
• White Event (Persistent or Optional) - Refer to the Pentagram sheet.
• Special Event - Refer to the Pentagram sheet.

Updated Player Aids & Cards

These updated player aids and cards reflect the current rules and wording. Use these versions if any printed component wording differs from this rulebook.

Dracula Cloak - Front

Stacking Shadows: Stack abilities are cumulative. A stack may move 1 room per Shadow, regardless of which Shadows it contains.

• 1 Shadow: Master Shadow: When alone, may move up to 2 rooms. Architect: Place 1 Dracula room adjacent to this stack's room, then remove the stack.
• 2 Shadows (AR 12): Eclipse: Pay 1 Essence. Adjacent players have 0 starting Movement until Dracula's next turn.
• 3 Shadows (AR 16): Bat Storm: Pay 1 Essence. Instead of its normal movement, move this stack up to 5 rooms. Movement modifiers do not apply, and no room may be entered twice. It does not engage players in rooms it enters; each player there loses 1 Life. It must end in a room with no players and may stack normally.
• 4 Shadows (AR 25): Fireball: Trace a straight path up to 3 Movement from this stack. The fireball cannot turn and stops in the first room with players; all players in that room lose 1 Life. Regenerate: Remove and redeploy all Shadows. Gain 2 Essence.

Essence track: 0 to 7 (MAX 7).

Dracula Cloak - Back

Dracula (Final Battle): When a player enters the Throne Room, use the values below based on your current Life and Essence:

Life	First Form AR
1	25
2	26
3	27
4	28
5	30

• First Form: When defeated in your First Form, enter Final Form. First Form AR and Life no longer apply.
• Final Form: AR equals the total SV of all monsters in your Soul Well, plus the SV of Combat cards drawn for your current Essence. Do not spend Essence. Use only SV; ignore printed AR and effects.

Combat cards drawn for Final Form, by current Essence:

• 2 Essence: Draw 1 Combat card.
• 4 Essence: Draw 2 Combat cards.
• 6 Essence: Draw 3 Combat cards.

Essence track: 0 to 7 (MAX 7).

Pentagram - Front

Layout note: the printed sheet has only three headings (Main, Underground, Upper), set at the left of the sheet. The right-column rooms are grouped under those headings by their position on the sheet; this grouping is a transcriber's reading of the layout.

Main

• Armory: Search the FORCE or SPEED deck for the next item card, keep it, then shuffle.
• Barracks: When this room's Tier I monster is drawn, a Vampire may take it as a Companion instead of fighting it.
• Colosseum: Team Synergy cannot be given or received in this room.
• Kitchen: Gain 1 Life. If holding Turkey Dinner, discard it to gain 1 more Life and draw 1 card from any deck.
• Laboratory: Draw 1 MIND card, or discard 1 MIND card to draw 2 MIND cards.
• Library: Choose item or Spell. Search the MIND deck for the next card of that type, keep it, then shuffle.
• Training Room: You may skip your next turn to gain a Subclass at no cost.
• Trapped Passage: Fall to the Underground Crossroads.
• Treasury: Search any deck for the next item card, keep it, then shuffle.

Underground

• Crypt: Flip the Underground Crossroads to its unlocked side. If you win this room's combat, double its BP reward.
• Waterfall: MIND Challenge (optional): If successful, search any deck for the next item card, keep it, then shuffle. Persistent until completed.
• Waterway: Persistent: You may pay 1 BP to move to the Castle Entrance. Your turn ends.

Upper

• Blood Cache: Gain 1 BP.
• Burial Chamber: Search any deck for the next item card, keep it, then shuffle.
• Clocktower: If you win the combat, search a deck for the next item card. Keep it, then shuffle.
• Hall of Mirrors: Fight your reflection at your current AR +6, including all equipped cards, traits, and passive abilities.
• Royal Quarters: Gain 1 BP or draw 1 card.
• Study: MIND Challenge (optional): Find the Ascent in the Upper Castle deck. Shuffle the deck, then shuffle the Ascent with the top 2 tiles and place all 3 on top. Persistent until completed.
• Torture Chamber: Lose 1 Life or 2 BP.

Pentagram - Back

Main - Dracula

• Bestiary: When this room's Tier I monster is drawn, a Vampire may take it as a Companion instead of fighting it.
• Chapel: Dracula chooses a FORCE, SPEED, or MIND deck and draws 1 card. Attack: lose 1 Life, then discard. Equipment or Trait: keep. Otherwise: discard.
• Infirmary: Gain 1 Life or 1 BP.
• Prison: Lose your next turn. Before then, another player in this room may end their turn to free you; if they do, you do not lose your turn.
• Poisoned Garden: FORCE Challenge (persistent): Resolve this Challenge each time you enter the room. If you fail, lose 1 Life.
• Sacrifice Chamber: If you choose, you may lose 1 Life to gain 2 BP.
• Summoning Circle: Before drawing a Combat card for this room, Dracula may spend 1 Essence to make it Tier II or 2 Essence to make it Tier III.

Underground - Dracula

• Merchant: Reveal the top card of each deck: FORCE, SPEED, and MIND. Buy any revealed cards for 1 BP each, or trade a card from your hand of the matching deck type. Discard the rest.
• Vault: SPEED or MIND Challenge (optional): If successful, search any deck for the next item card, keep it, then shuffle. Persistent until completed.

Upper - Dracula

• Blood Altar: Spend 1 BP, else lose 1 Life.
• Blocked Passage: FORCE Challenge (persistent): Until complete, treat all unconnected doorways on this room as walls.
• Hidden Staircase: Place a matching pair of Staircase tokens to connect this room to any other explored room. This passage stays open.
• Meditation Chamber: You may draw 2 cards total from any combination of the FORCE, SPEED, and MIND decks. If you do, skip your next turn.
• Room of Silence: Players cannot play or use MIND cards, including Spells, in this room.

Updated Cards

Pitfall (trap): This trap activates the next time a player explores a castle room with a Special Event icon. They must succeed a Speed challenge or drop to the Underground Crossroads. All other room effects are nullified.

Rebirth: You must reach the Sanctum in the Upper Castle and end your turn there to perform a ritual. If you remain there until the start of your next turn, rejoin the Slayer team, but remain a Vampire. You win if the Slayers win. You do not need to be defeated for Dracula to win.

You must keep this card secret, unless an ability compels you to reveal.