Dracula's Feast: New Blood
Dracula's Feast: New Blood Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's in the Box
- 10 guest cards
- 10 accusation cards
- 16 whisper cards
- 8 double-sided reference cards
Reference Cards
Before starting the game, give every player a reference card. One side lists the actions available on your turn. The other side lists all 10 guests. This card has almost everything you need to know, so after reading the Setup and Gameplay sections, you'll be ready to party!
If you're ever unsure how a card works, refer to the Guests section.
Choosing Guests
Choose Guest cards, which must include Dracula. Guests can be chosen at random, or you can pick your favorites as a group. Return all unused Guests to the box.
- 4-5 players: 6 guests
- 6 players: 7 guests
- 7 players: 8 guests
- 8 players: 9 guests
Advanced Guests
When learning (or for a faster game), don't include any Advanced Guests (Alucard, The Witch, or Zombie). For a longer game or for experienced players, multiple Advanced Guests can be used in a single game.
Preparing the Feast
Accusation Cards
Place the Accusation cards (with the matching symbol) for all chosen Guests in a face-up display in the middle of the table, so everyone can keep track of who is in the game. These will also be used during accusations.
Whisper Cards
Each player takes 2 Whisper cards: 1 Yes, 1 No. These should be held in your hands, so players cannot track which card is which.
Mystery Guests
Shuffle all the chosen Guest cards except Dracula. Place 1 Guest card face-down in the center of the table. In a 4-player game, place an additional Guest card face-down in the center of the table.
Face-down cards in the center of the table are Mystery Guests. (Dracula cannot be the Mystery Guest — it's his feast, after all!)
Player Guests
Shuffle Dracula in with the remaining Guests and deal 1 to each player, face-down. This is your Guest card. You may look at your card, but don't show it to anyone else.
Gameplay
The player who most recently hosted a party goes first, and play continues clockwise. (If you play more than one game, the winner of the previous game goes first.)
Your Turn
On your turn, you must either Inquire, Dance, or Accuse.
Many guests have special effects that relate to specific actions. When you're first learning the game, it's a good idea to regularly check your Guest card when other players take their turns to see if you need to do anything special, or if you can use an ability.
For example, Boogie Monster must accept all dance requests. They may Accuse after any two players dance, even if it is not their turn.
Inquire
Choose another player and ask if they are a specific Guest.
They must Whisper their response by secretly passing you a face-down Whisper card. Look at their card and pass it back.
The player must Whisper Yes if your guess was correct, and No if it wasn't. Unless their Guest card says otherwise, they must respond honestly.
Do not answer out loud! Passing a Whisper card ensures only the player that made the Inquiry knows your response. If you accidentally answer out loud, you must still pass a Whisper card.
Dance
Choose another player and ask them to Dance. They must declare out loud whether they accept or refuse.
If they accept: Secretly look at each other's Guest cards.
If they refuse: Choose a different player and make an inquiry of them (not a dance request). You may not choose the player who just refused your dance. If there are no eligible players to Inquire, your turn ends immediately.
Accepting a dance can be a great way of getting information when it's not your turn, but don't be afraid to say no — refusing a dance can be a useful strategy!
Accuse
Accusing is the main way to win the game!
First, reveal your Guest card. Then, place an Accusation card face-up in front of each player who has not yet been revealed. (This may trigger another player's special effect; for example, Alucard wins immediately if given Dracula's accusation card.)
Choose carefully! Once you have placed an Accusation card in front of a player, you can't take it back.
Example: Dr. Jekyll reveals herself and accuses each of the other Guests. She leaves the Swamp Creature's Accusation card in the center (as well as her own), because she believes he is the Mystery Guest.
All unrevealed players must then pass you a face-down Whisper card: a Yes if the Accusation card matches their Guest card, a No if it doesn't. Players must respond honestly to accusations.
Shuffle the Whisper cards passed to you so that you won't know which response came from which player. Then, reveal them to everyone.
If every card is a yes: You win, and the game is over!
If any card is a no: Your turn is over and the game continues. Shuffle together all the Whisper cards (both those passed to you and the remaining cards held by players) and deal everyone a Yes and a No. This ensures that no one can tell what everyone answered.
Whether or not they have an alternate win condition, every Guest can win by making a fully correct accusation!
Details & Clarifications
Revealed Guests. Once a Guest is revealed, they continue to play face-up. Keep their accusation card in front of them. A revealed Guest may not ask other players to Dance or accept dance requests. When another player makes an accusation, they do not pass a Whisper card. Otherwise, a revealed Guest plays as normal. They may still inquire, accuse, and use their ability.
Neighbors. Your Neighbors are the players sitting to your immediate left and right.
Mystery Guests. Mystery Guests do not return Whisper cards during accusations. You may not make an inquiry of them or ask them to dance.
Table-Talk. Players may say whatever they like out loud, but Whisper cards responding to inquiries and accusations must be honest (unless your Guest ability allows you to lie).
Tie-Breakers. If multiple Guest abilities would happen at the same time, start with the player whose turn it is, and resolve the ability of each Guest going clockwise around the table.
The Guests
Dracula — it's Dracula's feast, and he'll die if he wants to. He's in every game and can never be the Mystery Guest. When his first accusation of the game fails, he accuses again at the end of his turn.
Boogie Monster — is a good-time ghoul. She must accept all dance requests. She may accuse at the end of any turn where players dance (whether she's in the dance or not).
Doctor Jekyll — has something to hyde. She must accept all dance requests. At the end of her turn, she may reveal to take a face-down Mystery Guest card, placing her Doctor Jekyll Guest card face-up in its place. She plays the rest of the game as the new Guest.
Swamp Creature — will muck you up. When he accuses, he only gives accusation cards to his 2 neighbors. If he gets both correct, he wins. If either or both of his neighbors are revealed, he must instead accuse all players when he accuses.
Van Helsing — doesn't tolerate missed stakes. After an accusation by any player (including herself) reveals all No cards, she must immediately reveal and accuse using only Dracula's accusation card. If she is correct, she wins. If not, this does not trigger her special power again, and play resumes as normal. Note: She may not use the accusation cards of revealed players, except for Dracula's.
The Trickster — is having an identity crisis. He whispers Yes to every inquiry. He must still respond honestly to accusations.
The Ghost — is on the haunt. She must accept all dance requests. If she is given an incorrect accusation card, she may immediately (as soon as she's given the card) reveal to make an accusation. If she is correct, she wins. If she is incorrect, the current player may start their accusation again.
Advanced Guests
Alucard — really, really wants to be Dracula. He whispers Yes when someone inquires if he is Dracula. If he dances with Dracula or someone accuses him of being Dracula, he wins immediately (as soon as he's given Dracula's card).
The Witch — is brewing trouble. When a neighbor inquires her identity, she whispers No if they ask if she is the Witch, and Yes if they ask if she is anything else. She responds honestly to accusations, and to inquiries from all players who are not her neighbor.
Zombie — doesn't have a mind of her own. If a dance occurs on the turn before hers, she must request a dance as her action. If her dance request is refused, she may force the player who refused to reveal. If she does, she must then immediately accuse.
Example Round
In this example 5-player game, the six Guest cards chosen are Dracula, Alucard, Boogie Monster, the Trickster, Doctor Jekyll, and the Zombie. One of them (not Dracula) is the Mystery Guest; the rest are held by players.
1st Turn: Fred. Fred takes the first turn. He asks Scooby to dance. Scooby accepts, and they see each other's cards.
2nd Turn: Daphne. Daphne is next. She inquires whether Fred is Dracula. This tells the rest of the table that Daphne is not the Zombie, because she would have been required to ask for a dance. If Fred returns a "Yes," this will tell Daphne that Fred is either Dracula, Alucard, or the Trickster, who must all answer "Yes" in this situation.
3rd Turn: Velma. On Velma's turn, she asks Shaggy to dance. Shaggy refuses. This tells everyone that Shaggy is not the Boogie Monster or Doctor Jekyll, who must both accept all dances. Velma may now make an inquiry of any other player. She asks Daphne if she's the Boogie Monster.
4th Turn: Shaggy. Shaggy goes next. He also inquires Daphne, asking whether she's the Zombie. If Daphne returns a "Yes," this will tell Shaggy that she's either the Zombie or the Trickster.
5th Turn: Scooby. Scooby takes the next turn. He asks Velma to dance. Velma accepts. Once the dance is over, Scooby reveals his role - Alucard! Velma's role is also revealed - Dracula! Alucard wins if he ever dances with Dracula, so Scooby wins the game!
If Scooby hadn't won, the game would continue with Fred taking the next turn.
The gang decide to play again with the same roles, this time keeping in mind that Dracula shouldn't be quite so eager to dance when Alucard is in the game. They shuffle and redistribute the roles and start another game.