Kanata: The First Sacrament Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objective
• Setup
• Difficulty Level
• How To Play
  • 1. Take up to 5 actions on your player board
    • Move or Stay (mandatory)
    • Player board (mandatory)
    • Shoot (optional)
    • Search (optional)
  • 2. Move the Sheriff and Any Abominations on the Board
  • Turned Players
    • Turned board side
  • Winning or Losing
  • Some helpful advice when trying to escape Kanata The First Sacrament! ✅
• Additional Notes
  • Special main board locations
  • Discarding & Reshuffling Event Decks
  • Notes About Items
  • Vehicles
    • 4-wheeler
    • Van

Game Objective

Players must work together to escape by searching the town and locating four unique items that are crucial for tearing down the hellish roadblock trapping everyone inside this forsaken place. These items can be delivered to the roadblock in any order or all at once to clear the mysterious obstruction. Once this objective is completed, all surviving players win, allowing them to leave the abominations and strange phenomena in this twisted town far behind! However, if all players are captured, they will be trapped here forever!

Setup

1. Place the main game board in the center of the play area. Place 4 cubes on each numbered property from 2-12. Note: there will only be one cube placed on property 1.
2. Place the Barn at the top of the game board where the symbol is located and a fence on either side of the Barn.
3. Place 1 Abomination on top of the Barn, 3 Abominations directly behind each fence, and position the remaining Abominations behind the Abominations at the fence. Additionally, arrange the hanging corpses behind the Barn.
4. Shuffle each deck separately and place them at the bottom of the game board.
5. Place all tokens, dice, range finder, extra trackers, turned player standees, and the sand timer beside the card decks.
6. Place the roadblock standees in the designated location in the bottom left corner of the main board and place the possessed Sheriff's car on the first road space in front of the roadblock.
7. Place the van at the scrap yard (property 1) and the 4-wheeler at the hidden campsite.
8. Give each player a player board (use the character side with health bar, "turned side" face-down), 2 six-sided dice, 1 green cube, 1 red cube, and 6 black cubes. Place the green cube on the Barn space on the top-left corner of your board. Place the red cube on the 20 space of your health tracker at the bottom of your board. Place 4 black cubes one each on the 4 action spaces and 1 black cube on each of the horde symbols.
9. Each player will pick a character to be and place their player standee at the B&B in the top right corner of the main board.

Difficulty Level

Before starting your game, decide on your difficulty level, then add/remove the Ruth and Swirling Mass cards as indicated and shuffle the indicated number of Road Block Item Cards into the Search Deck: ✅

• EASY: 12 Roadblock Item Cards: 6 saws and 6 extinguishers. Also, remove Ruth from the Interior Event Deck and Swirling mass card from the Exterior Event Deck.
• EASY/MEDIUM: 10 Roadblock Item Cards: 5 saws and 5 extinguishers. Also, remove Ruth from the Interior Event Deck and Swirling mass card from the Exterior Event Deck.
• MEDIUM: 8 Roadblock Item Cards: 4 saws and 4 extinguishers. Also, remove Ruth from the Interior Event Deck and Swirling mass card from the Exterior Event Deck.
• MEDIUM/HARD: 6 Roadblock Item Cards: 4 saws and 2 extinguishers. Also, include Ruth from the Interior Event Deck and Swirling mass card from the Exterior Event Deck.
• HARD: 4 Roadblock Item Cards (how it was meant to be played!): 3 saws and 1 extinguisher. Also, include Ruth from the Interior Event Deck and Swirling mass card from the Exterior Event Deck.

We recommend starting on the Easy/Medium level and then adjusting the difficulty level in future games based on the challenge you want to face.

How To Play

Determine the first player by a method of your choice. The starting player will take their turn and then players will continue clockwise taking turns until the game is either won or lost.

Note that any mention of rolling dice refers to 6-sided dice unless otherwise specified.

On your turn:

1. Players will take up to 5 actions on their player board per turn.

1. Take up to 5 actions on your player board

A player may take up to 4 different player actions (maximum once each) in any order, however, some actions are mandatory (shown in green) and others are optional (shown in grey). The 5th action is an enemy action (shown in red) and mandatory.

The 4 player actions you can take are:

• Move or Stay (mandatory)
• Player board (mandatory)
• Shoot (optional)
• Search (optional)
• Sheriff Abomination (mandatory enemy action)

Move or Stay (mandatory)

Choose either 1 or 2 dice to roll if you choose to move through the town on the main board or choose not to move and stay instead.

Note that the number of dice you choose to roll will also be the number of dice rolled to Determine your fate on the player board, along with the number of dice used to move the Sheriff and Abominations (if present) set to a minimum of one die. Choose wisely as this can have an impact on all players.

Players may roll one die first, then have a choice to decide whether they want to roll a second die or not.

Players may share the same space as another player. They may also pass through the space another player occupies. This includes paths, road spaces, and properties.

If you choose to stay instead, you will not move on the game board, however you will still need to roll one die for the Player board and one die for the movement of the Sheriff and Abominations (if present).

Players can move any number of spaces they choose up to the total dice roll in any orthogonal direction (not diagonally) on the game board, as long as they stay on the roads or pathway. They can also travel through properties, which count as one space.

Players cannot pass through spaces that are blocked by the Sheriff's car, an Abomination, the Ambulance, or a Hanging corpse.

If a player lands in front of a roadside cross, they may choose to move behind it to hide and will be safe from the Sheriff's car, ambulance, and any abominations.

Player board (mandatory)

Players will move their green cube clockwise around the spaces on the playerboard starting from the Barn space as this will play a part in determining their fate. The player will choose either 1 or 2 dice to roll for the Player board action. If moving on the player board is done before the Movement action, the number of dice rolled for the player board will also be the number of dice rolled to move, along with the number of dice used to move the Sheriff and Abominations (if present).

After rolling for the player board, move the green cube clockwise around on the player board a number of spaces equal to the total of the dice roll.

• Fence Space: If you end your movement on a fence space, you are safe from any events.
• Event Card Space: If you end your movement on an event card space, draw from one of the event Card decks. If you are inside a property location, you will draw from the Interior Event Card deck, otherwise, you will draw from the Exterior Event Card deck.

Note: The Graveyard space, Cornfield, Junkyard, and Lone Grave are considered exteriors.

These event card decks are filled with all types of interactions the players will have to deal with, that range from unexplained phenomena to demonic manifestations to town folk who may help or harm you depending on their level of sanity.

• Mystery Space: If you end your movement on a mystery space, draw a card from the Mystery Deck.
• Pillars of Creation Space: If you end your movement on the Pillars of Creation space, an Abomination will be released from the barn and any dormant abominations that may be on the main game board.
• The Barn Space: If you end your movement on or pass the Barn space, an Abomination will be released from the barn and a black cube will be removed from the horde space of your player board.

When all the black cubes are removed from every player's horde symbols, the horde (the 6 abominations closest to the fence) will be released from behind the fence onto the designated spaces in front of the fence as well as one from the top of the barn onto the space directly in front of the barn. Replace the spot closest to the fence with 6 new abominations and one on top of the barn.

When this occurs, players go into panic mode and gain one of the black cubes that was on the horde symbol. This additional cube can be used to take one additional optional action (a second search or second shoot) per turn for the rest of the game.

Once all black horde cubes are removed from all player boards, players will place one black horde cube back on one of their player board horde spaces. Each time all black horde cubes are removed from all player boards, this process will repeat.

Shoot (optional)

This action allows players to use a weapon from their inventory and target either an Abomination, the Possessed Sheriff's car, a Hanging Corpse or the Ambulance. Each weapon card shows its ammo and range.

Ammo: When a weapon is found, a tracker is placed on the card over the last grey ammo symbol with the number 1. As ammo is used, move this tracker down. If no ammo remains, the weapon is discarded from the game. Return this to the game box.

Range: The range is determined by the number of spaces away on the main board that a weapon can reach. i.e., 12 Range = 12 board spaces.

To hit a target it must be in range. In this example the Abomination is only 7 spaces away and within range for the Machine Gun (range of 12).

If the player and the target are not directly on the same path, use the rangefinder to determine if the target is within range. The line of sight must also be clear, meaning there can be no buildings obstructing the line of sight.

Players may collect ammo and Scope Tokens. The scope token will add the additional range indicated to your weapon. The Ammo token will add the additional ammo to your weapon.

• Only one scope token can be used on a weapon at a time.
• Ammo and scope tokens cannot be used with the Abominator.

Once a scope is added to a weapon, it can be removed and used on another weapon.

An ammo token can only be added to one specific weapon and cannot be split.

You may take as many shots as you choose at one target, one at a time (unless otherwise specified) as long as you have sufficient ammo. In order to take a shot, roll a die.

If a player runs out of ammo on a weapon, this weapon is discarded completely from the game. This player may then use another weapon in their inventory to continue shooting.

To eliminate an Abomination, the player must get a headshot by rolling a 1. If you're successful, remove the Abomination and place it behind the Barn.

To shoot out a tire on the possessed Sheriff's car, the player must target the Sheriff's car and roll an odd number to shoot out his tire. If you're successful, the Sheriff's car will not move at the end of this player's turn, as the Sheriff's car will take time to reinflate its tire.

To temporarily remove a hanging corpse, the player must Shoot the hanging corpse and roll an odd number. This will allow the player to move through this space, however, the hanging corpse will be returned to this space at the end of the player's turn.

To disable the Ambulance, the player must Shoot the Ambulance and roll an odd number to take out one of the 4 tires (move the tracker to indicate the number of tires remaining). If you roll an even, you may not shoot at the Ambulance again this turn. Once no tires remain, the Ambulance is removed from the board.

Melee Weapons: The Axe and Katana can be used to destroy an Abomination by rolling an odd number, however, they must be within 2 spaces (the range) and only have one chance (one die roll) to do so. These may also be used to take out the Sheriff's tire and ambulance tire as well.

Search (optional)

There are 12 locations that the players must search in order to find the 4 items needed to take down the hellish roadblock (as well as some helpful weapons and health items!).

In order to search a property, a player must end their movement on a property or stay on the property they are in, then remove one black cube from this property and draw a card from the search deck.

Once a property has no black cubes remaining, it is empty and no longer searchable.

Players may keep a maximum of 4 items in their inventory at any time. If they gain a new item that puts them over 4 items, they may discard one of their items and place it in the cornfield or consume it if it is a health item and discard it from the game to keep the new one.

Note that items in the cornfield may be picked up by any player moving through this location without stopping without using an action.

Special Items: Ammo tokens, Scope tokens, and Special inventory cards such as the NDE and Talisman are kept separately from your inventory and are not counted as part of your 4 item inventory limit. These items are also not affected if you are caught by the possessed Sheriff's car.

Gaining health: Players can use any number of health items in their inventory for free on their turn. Gain the specified amount of health when used, then discard the card from the game.

Trading items: Players can either give away, take or trade inventory cards on their turn if they are within 3 spaces of the other player.

2. Move the Sheriff and Any Abominations on the Board

After a player has completed their action, they must now move the Possessed Sheriff's car (unless a tire was shot out on this turn) and any Abominations on the main board. If the ambulance is on the board, it also moves at this time.

Roll 1 or 2 dice depending on how many dice you used for the game / player board movement (1 die if you rolled 1 die; 2 dice if you rolled 2 dice) to determine the total spaces of movement for the Possessed Sheriff's car and any Abominations on the main board.

The possessed Sheriff's car can only travel on road spaces and will always go after the closest player who is on a road space. If no player is on a road space, the possessed Sheriff's car will go after the closest player on a path space, It will always take the shortest distance to the closest player. If tied, these players each roll a die and the Sheriff's car will go towards the player who rolled lower (if tied, roll until one player rolls lower). If the closest player is on a path, the Sheriff's car will stop as close as it can to that player if it has enough movement to do so. If no players are on the road or a path (they are all inside properties), the Sheriff will drive towards the hellish roadblock to prevent people from leaving.

Player's Tip: Players can act strategically to lure the Sheriff's car away from a certain player.

If the Sheriff car catches a player by entering the same space, the player will lose 2 health points and all their inventory cards (which will be placed in the cornfield) and the player will then be moved to the B&B. The Possessed Sheriff's car will remain in the space where he caught the player on and continue after other players.

Abominations move similar to the Sheriff's car except they can also move along pathways (as they float) and may pass over properties which will also count as a space for their movement. They will also move towards the closest player (if tied, determine by rolling a die and move toward the player with the lower number) unless they are targeting a specific player, in which case they will always move towards that player.

If you are inside a location and an Abomination arrives there, they stop on the space in front of the property and you must roll again to determine if the Abomination is able to break down the door and enter the building. If you roll an odd, the Abomination is successful in entering. If this happens, the player is caught and turned into an Abomination (see Turned Players next).

If you are on a path or roadway and an Abomination reaches your space, you are caught and turned into an Abomination (see Turned Players next).

If the ambulance is on the board, now roll one die to move the ambulance towards the player who discovered the ambulance. If the ambulance reaches the player, the player is captured and moves with the ambulance and skips their actions on their turn. The Ambulance will then pursue the next closest player on the board, similar to the Sheriff and Abomination. The Sheriff and Abomination will ignore any player in the Ambulance.

The only way for a player to be freed from the ambulance is for another player to disable all 4 of its tires.

Turned Players

Once a player is caught by an Abomination, they are turned into an Abomination. Immediately flip your player board over and begin using the Turned side of the Player board. Your goal is to now prevent your friends from leaving and turn them into Abominations as well!

If you have an NDE card at the time of being turned, place this back in the Interior Event Deck and reshuffle the deck.

Turned board side

Place your green cube on the Barn space. You will move along this track clockwise, just as you did previously.

Replace your standee with the turned version of your character.

Turned players will have up to 4 actions to take per turn, like a regular player. Move or Stay and Playerboard are still mandatory and may be taken in any order.

• When you land on one of the Occult symbol spaces of the player board, roll the 4-sided die and carry out the action that is assigned to that number on your board.
• Turned players can drop a hanging corpse on any path or road space on the board that no player is occupying when they roll a 2 for this symbol.

Death Forest is a location abominations frequently visit to fuel up on hanging corpses before continuing to pursue their prey…

Turned players may also search houses and collect weapons and items to prevent players from acquiring them but must not have more than 4 items in their inventory. If a turned player discards an item or weapon without using it, the item will be placed in the cornfield. Energy & Protein drinks do not work on Turned players, as they have no health.

Turned players may also use guns to shoot players. Just like players, they can roll to shoot as long as they still have ammo. They need to roll a 3 to get a centre mass shot, which will reduce their health to zero and bring a player down (lay player standee down on this space).

Turned players can also use Katanas and axes to attack players.

If a player's health is brought to zero (a player's health can never go below zero), lay the player's standee down on that space. That player is downed. The player cannot take any actions, including moving the Sheriff's Car or Abominations. If they have an NDE card or one is given to them by another player or another player gives them a health item, they may stand back up and become active again. If an NDE card was used, discard this from the game. If an abomination reaches the player before they are saved, the player becomes an abomination.

If you are turned, you will not roll for the Sheriff and Abomination(s), however you will be able to choose one other Abomination on the game board (if there are any), roll the 4-sided die, and move the Abomination in any direction they choose, as they have gained a certain control over these types of Abominations.

Winning or Losing

You win if you are able to bring 1 fire extinguisher and 3 saws (of any type) to the hellish roadblock. These may be delivered at the same time or different times by any players. If you reach the space in front of the hellish roadblock, leave the item there to indicate it has been used, and remove part of the roadblock (saws take out the death monoliths and the fire extinguisher takes out the burning wall of bodies). Once all 4 parts of the roadblock are removed, you escape!

If all players are turned and/or caught by the ambulance or if all remaining players have been downed, you are captured and will never escape!

Some helpful advice when trying to escape Kanata The First Sacrament! ✅

Be wise with your choice of dice rolls. Choosing 2 dice is great as it will give you the best chance of moving more quickly to the next location BUT it may also move the possessed Sheriff's car and the Abominations further and put you more in danger! Also keep in mind that this will also advance you faster around the Player board as well, releasing more Abominations and Hordes sooner than later!

Also keep in mind where your friends are, as you might send Abominations or the Sheriff there way faster than they can handle!

Gather weapons as soon as you can. You're going to need them!

Manage your inventory wisely. There is often value in keeping a Baloney sandwich or Cold Pizza on hand, especially if you need to replenish your health after an unexpected run-in with one of the unexplained or unhinged Townfolk.

Also try to hang on to your Protein and Energy Drinks, as they can get you to the roadblock with a boost, especially when you need to make that last run at the end of the game!

Additional Notes

Special main board locations

Board spaces with this symbol on them have been affected by the unexplained phenomena and have special effects.

• Feeding Ground: Players may pass through this location but if they end their movement in the Feeding Ground, they will have to escape. Start the sand timer. The player must roll one die at a time and end with 6 dice of the same number before it ends.

  • If you succeed, you may move to the closest space on a connecting path.
  • If you fail, release an abomination from behind the barn and place it on a standee of your colour. This abomination will always chase you.

• Cornfield: Weapons are discarded here by the player's choice or if they have been caught by either the Possessed Sheriff's car, Abominations, Possessed Ambulance, or when they Die due to loss of health points. Players may pass through and pick up items for free and then continue moving. Players do not have to stop to pick up items here.

• RoadSide Crosses: Players may use a free movement from the space in front of a roadside cross and hide behind it by placing their character behind the cross to remain undetected by the Sheriff, Abominations or turned player(s). Multiple players may hide behind the same roadside cross.

• The 4 Wheeler can also be safely hidden behind a roadside cross.

Discarding & Reshuffling Event Decks

Should you survive long enough to make it through either of the event decks, reshuffle the discarded cards to form a new deck. Note that the Van, 4 Wheeler, Scope Tokens, and Ammo Tokens are discarded from the game once they are drawn.

Used Special Item Cards and used Mystery Cards do not form discard piles that need to be reshuffled.

Notes About Items

Sniper Rifle: Players can shoot the sniper rifle up to 30 spaces. Because of its accuracy, the player can roll any odd number to kill an Abomination or take out the Sheriff's car tire or ambulance tire. A clear line of sight is still needed to shoot a target.

The Abominator: The Abominator has a range of 100 but only two ammo bullets (representing belts of ammo). To shoot the Abominator, roll five dice at the same time. Each odd number will be able to take out an Abomination or tires on the Sheriff's car or Ambulance. There is no line of sight needed, as the Abominator shoots through anything!

Energy & Protein Drinks: Can be used immediately if a player has a full inventory (instead of discarding) after drawing this card from the search deck. If you drink this before moving, you may roll up to 3 dice for movement (you will then use 2 dice for Player board movement and sheriff and abomination movement).

Dynamite: While in your possession, you can only roll 1 die for movement. You cannot be in a vehicle while holding the dynamite.

Vehicles

4-wheeler

If you move to the location with the 4-wheeler, you may now drive this vehicle.

Remove your player standee from the board and move the 4 Wheeler standee whenever you move. Only one player can use the 4 Wheeler at a time.

When using the 4-wheeler, your movement becomes 4 dice. You will then only need to then roll 2 dice when you move on the Playerboard and when moving the Possessed Sheriff's car, Ambulance, and any Abominations. Because the 4 wheeler only has half a tank of gas, it can only be used 4 times. Move the tracker once each time it is used. Once it reaches zero, it will remain in that space.

The 4 wheeler can drive on road spaces and path spaces, as well as through locations (don't count the location as a space, the 4 Wheeler will go around the location).

Players may get off and back on the 4-Wheeler as they like. To do so, they will leave the bike on the space where they will leave to continue on foot using their player standee. They may later return to use the 4-wheeler or another player may use it. However, movement must be completely by 4-Wheeler or walking, not combined.

Players can go through the space with the 4 Wheeler if it is unoccupied.

The 4-Wheeler is treated like a player by the Sheriff's car and Abominations once moved from its initial location, whether a player is on it or not. If the 4 Wheeler is closer than other players to the Sheriff, the Sheriff will move towards it. If the Sheriff reaches the 4 Wheeler (lands on the same space), he will smash the 4 Wheeler, removing it from the game. You may park the 4 Wheeler on a path or behind a roadside cross to keep it safe. If an Abomination lands on the same space the player will be turned. The 4 wheeler will remain in the same space as the turned player cannot drive the 4 Wheeler.

If the Swirling Mass card is drawn, it will move any player off the 4 Wheeler but the 4 Wheeler will remain in its space.

The possessed Sheriff's car, Abominations, hanging corpses, and Ambulances will all block a 4 Wheeler from passing.

Van

In order to drive the van, you must first find someone who will give you the van keys. Once you have the keys, you can land on the space with the Van to take it. Players will remove their standee from the game board while they are in the Van.

Any number of players can be in the Van if they can reach it by foot on their turn. Players in the van can pick up other players if they end the movement on the space of that player.

When you are in the Van and it is your turn to move, roll 5 dice (you only need to then roll 2 die when you move on the player board and when you move the Possessed Sheriff's car, Ambulance, and any Abominations).

Players may get out of the Van when it is their turn and return to the Van as well.

Players may shoot while they are in the Van.

The Van is treated like a player by the Sheriff's car and Abominations once moved from its initial location if a player is in the Van. However, players are protected in the Van from the Sheriff and any Abominations, as they cannot enter the Van. Instead, they will stop as close as they can to the Van. The Possessed Sheriffs' car and Abominations will always go after a player first before the van no matter the distance.

Players are only protected from the Swirling Mass card if they are in the Van.

The possessed Sheriff's car, hanging corpses, and Ambulances will all block the Van from passing.