Dread Draw
Dread Draw Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Cards
Each card has the following parts:
- Card Strength: the number in the top left corner of the card.
- Card Damage: the red damage icons on the card. Each icon is one point of damage.
- Card Name: the name printed at the top of the card.
- Card Type: the type of card, printed on the lower left of the card.
- Card Ability Text: the ability printed on the card, along with its keyword (see Abilities below).
Setting Up a Game
Choose randomly who will go first. That player must shuffle all the cards into a Draw Deck and deal ten cards to each player, face-down. These cards form each player's Life Deck. You can never look at the cards in your Life Deck unless the game or a card effect allows you to.
Playing the Game
The game is played in a series of rounds. During each round, players take turns in trying to summon cards. A round ends when only one player remains, making that player the winner of that round. A new round then begins.
At the end of the round, each eliminated player will take damage, which is represented by discarding cards from their Life Deck. If you are eliminated and have no cards in your Life Deck, then you are defeated and are out of the game. The last player remaining in the game wins!
The Turn
The player who was randomly chosen to go first takes the first turn of the opening round.
On your turn, you must try to summon a card. Initially, you'll try to summon a card from the Draw Deck, but as the game progresses you might be able to summon cards from your reserves as you accumulate them.
To summon a card from the top of the Draw Deck, reveal that card. If its strength is greater than the strength of the last card you summoned, then you've successfully summoned that card. Place it to the right of the last card you summoned. This is known as Escalating.
If you summoned the card successfully, you may use any Summon ability that it may have, though using it is entirely optional.
If the card's strength is not greater than the last card you summoned, then discard the card you drew from the Draw Deck, and you are eliminated from the round. Discard any other cards you summoned this round.
After a player summons a card, or fails to summon a card, play passes to the player with the lowest total strength among their summoned cards. If there is a tie, and the current player is one of the tied players, then the current player takes the next turn. Otherwise, play passes to the next player to your left that is tied for lowest.
If the Draw Deck runs out of cards, shuffle the cards in the discard pile to make a new Draw Deck.
Example: Summoning
It's Amanda's turn to summon a card, and she already has a 2-strength card she summoned in an earlier turn. She has two opponents: one with a combined strength of 6, and the other with 8.
She reveals the top card of the Draw Deck, finding The Oracle, a 4-strength card. Because its strength is greater than the last card she summoned this round, she successfully summons The Oracle. The card has a Summon ability that allows her to look at the top card of the Draw Deck and discard it if she wants.
She places The Oracle to the right of her other summoned card and checks to see who to pass the turn to. Her new total strength is 6, which ties with another player for lowest total. This means that the turn stays with Amanda, and she must summon another card. She reveals The Puppet, a 3-strength card. Because this card's strength is not greater than the last card she summoned this round (The Oracle), she fails to summon it and cannot play its Summon ability. She is also out of the round and must discard all of the cards she summoned so far in the round.
Ending the Round
A round ends when only one player remains in the round. The winning player adds up the damage values of their summoned cards. Each damage icon on a summoned card represents a single damage point. Each opponent takes that much damage, starting with the player to the winner's left, and going around the table. Once each player has taken their damage from their Life Deck, the winner discards their summoned cards and becomes the starting player for the next round.
The Life Deck
Whenever you take damage, draw that many cards from your Life Deck and choose one of them to go to your reserves. Discard the other cards.
If you're out of cards while drawing, you are still in the game. You don't get defeated until you take damage while having no cards in your Life Deck.
If an ability allows you to gain life, put that many cards from the Draw Deck on top of your Life Deck without looking at them.
The Reserves
Whenever you place a card in your reserves, put it next to your Life Deck so you don't confuse it with the cards you summon during the round. If the card has a Reserve ability, you may play it now.
Whenever you must summon a card, you may choose to summon one from your reserves instead of revealing a card from the Draw Deck. You can choose any card with strength greater than the last card you summoned this round and put it to the right of that card. If it has a Summon ability, you may play it. Play then passes per the normal rules.
Cards in your reserves don't add their strength to your total until you summon them. They can be the target of abilities, unless that ability specifically targets summoned cards.
Here is an example of a player's play area: a Summon Area where summoned cards are placed in order, a Reserve Area for reserved cards, and the Life Deck.
Abilities
Most abilities on cards have a keyword that tells you when to play that ability. Playing Summon, Reserve, and Aftermath abilities is always optional.
- Summon: Play this when you successfully summon the card.
- Reserve: Play this when the card is placed into your reserves, regardless of where it came from.
- Aftermath: Play this when you are eliminated from a round or at the end of the round that you won.
- (Fourth icon, no keyword printed in the rulebook: a green icon.) These cards have special abilities that do not fall under any other ability category. These cards are considered to be "always on," even while they are in your reserves. These abilities are not optional.
Telling the Fortune
Once the game is over, if the winner had any cards left in their Life Deck, they use those cards to divine the future. That player shuffles those cards and lays them out, face-up, one at a time. The first card represents the present, the second represents the immediate future, and the rest divine the far future. It's up to the players to interpret what those cards mean.
First Printing Promo Card
In appreciation of obtaining a first printing of Dread Draw, an alternate art version of Domination has been added to this game set. During set-up, feel free to either replace one of the current Domination cards with this alternate version or add it to the game as an additional, powerful Domination card!
Players' Turn Order Reference
- Summon a card from either the Draw Deck or your reserves.
- If the summon is successful, then you may resolve the card's Summon ability. Proceed to step 4.
- If the summon is not successful, then the current player is eliminated from the round, discards all summoned cards and may resolve any Aftermath abilities. Proceed to step 5.
- Add up the strength of your summoned cards.
- Play passes onto the player with the lowest total strength. If there is a tie, and the current player is one of the tied players, then the current player takes the next turn. Otherwise, play passes onto the next player to your left that is tied for lowest.