Resident Evil 3: The Board Game
Resident Evil 3: The Board Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Contents
- Cards
- Character Profiles
- Item Cards
- Tiles
- Enemy Reference Cards
- Gameplay – The Basics
- Player Turns
- Introduction Scenario: Escaping the Warehouse
- Additional Game Rules
- Tiles and Encounters
- Terrain Elements
- Characters
- Enemies
- The City Danger Level
- Playing the Game
- Setting Up
- Advanced Rules
- Advancing Through the Campaign
- The Tension Deck and Running Out of Time
- Narrative Events
- Removing Cards from the Game
- Nemesis
- Bosses
- Alternate Play Modes
- Quick Reference Sheet
Game Contents
Characters: Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, Mikhail Victor, Nikolai Ginovaef.
Bosses: Grave Digger, Nemesis Stage Two.
Enemies: Nemesis Stage One, 4x Zombie Dogs, 2x Drain Deimos, 15x Zombies.
Tiles: 1x 4x4 Tile, 4x 2x4 P Tile, 4x 4x4 L Tile, 4x 3x3 Tile, 4x 2x3 Tile, 4x 2x2 Tile.
Terrain Elements: 4x Stairwells, 16x Open/Closed Doors, 10x Barricades/Archways, 3x Typewriters, 10x Corpses/3x Explosive Barrels, 18x Fire, 1x Item Box.
Gameplay Tokens: 16x Wounds, 2x Narrative/Fixed Events, 1x Exit, 1x Scenario Objective, 2x Campaign Progression Paths, 13x Items, 16x Unexplored Rooms, 1x Danger Level Tracker, 4x Sustained Effects.
Cards
Items: 26x Item A Deck cards, 39x Item B Deck cards, 12x Item C Deck cards, 12x Starting Item cards.
Doors: 8x Locked Door cards.
Campaign Paths: 9x Campaign Path cards.
Character Profiles: 4x Character Profile cards.
Enemy Reference: 8x Enemy Reference cards.
Narrative: 14x Narrative Event cards.
Tension: 56x Tension cards.
Boss: 2x Boss Reference cards, 9x Grave Digger Behaviour cards, 9x Nemesis Behaviour cards.
Health Tracks and Player Tokens: 4x Player Health Tracks, 4x Health Tracks/Poison Condition tokens, 14x Scenario Complete tokens, 4x Ink Ribbon tokens.
Dials: 10x Weapon ammunition dials, 1x Boss health dial.
Scenarios: Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game Scenario Booklet, Raccoon City Dashboard.
Dice: 3x Blue Attack dice, 2x Red Attack dice, 1x Encounter die.
Character Profiles
Profile Cards
Each character in Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game has a unique profile card to represent their characteristics.
- The character's name.
- This is how many blue dice the character's player rolls when making an evade roll.
- Each character has an inventory limit—the maximum number of items they can hold.
- Each character begins the game with fixed starting items in their inventory, pictured here.
- Every character has special rules. Players should read them carefully to get the best out of their character when playing the game.
Example — Jill Valentine: evade roll 2, inventory limit 3. Starting items: Knife, Handgun, First-Aid Spray. Special rule, Reposition: If Jill rolls a Reposition symbol when performing an attack, after the attack is resolved she may be placed in an adjacent square. Special rule, Last Escape: The first time Jill becomes unconscious during a scenario, place her health track on Danger instead, then place her in an adjacent square.
The Health Track
The health track represents how injured a character is, and has 5 levels from Fine to Danger, as shown below. Every time a character suffers damage, move the marker right one or more levels. Each time a character is healed, move the marker left one or more levels. A character's health track marker cannot move beyond Fine.
Inventories
Players should make a space underneath their character's health track and profile card to place items. This is their inventory. Any time a character searches for an item, it is placed in their inventory.
A character may discard a card from their inventory at any time during their action phase without spending an action. Do not resolve any text on a card discarded this way.
Item Cards
Item cards belong to a specific deck. There are five types of item cards.
- Weapons allow characters to make attacks.
- Ammunition is used to reload weapons by the amount indicated on the card.
- Recovery items are used to heal characters.
- Scenario items are typically required in order to progress during each scenario, although they include other important items too.
- Special items are important objects which are crucial to progressing through the game, or invaluable items players won't want to leave behind.
Example item cards: Handgun (15, LOS range, blue die attack)—weapon. Handgun Bullets—increase this character's Handgun or Eagle 6.0 ammunition dial by 8 points. First-Aid Spray—heal this character or another character in the same or an adjacent square by three levels, or resuscitate an unconscious character to Caution. Toolbox—flip an archway token in this square to the barricade side (scenario item). Battery—unlocks Downtown 3 scenario (special item).
Tiles
- Tile
- Square
- Spawn Point
- Wall
The playing area of Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game is made up of a series of tiles. These tiles have rows of squares on them, used for determining movement and range. Each tile edge has a red line along it, indicating a wall. Characters can move between tiles only by using an open door, an archway, or stairwell.
Square Model Limits
Multiple models may fit in the same square, provided there is sufficient space for them. If there is no space in a square, a model cannot move or be pushed into it. A square may contain the following, at most:
- Four small models, or
- One medium model and two small models, or
- Two medium models, or
- One large model.
Range
All attacks in Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game have a range, representing how many squares away they may be used. An attack with range 0 can only be used in the same square as the target, whereas a range 2 attack can be made from up to two squares away, for example.
Line of Sight
A model has line of sight to another model if an uninterrupted line can be drawn between the centres of the two squares without crossing an intervening wall, corner, closed door, or barricade.
Enemy Reference Cards
Each enemy type has a reference card which details their characteristics. At first, we won't need to know all of the information on these cards, only the highlighted areas. Once we've made it through the introduction scenario, we'll look at enemies again in more detail.
- This is the type of enemy.
- This is the Zombie's threat level. Enemies with higher threat level are faster and more dangerous than enemies with a lower threat level.
- Whenever the Zombie performs a move reaction, it moves 1 square.
- This is the Zombie's hit points. If it suffers 1 or more damage, it is killed and removed from the playing area.
- This is the Zombie's basic attack, listing the range of the attack and the effect if it hits.
Gameplay – The Basics
This rulebook is designed to teach the basics of Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game and walk you through the introduction scenario before introducing more advanced rules.
We're sure you want to jump straight into the action, so let's not waste any more time! First up: learning how to take a turn with your character.
Player Turns
In Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game, gameplay is divided into player turns, moving clockwise around the table.
A player's turn is made up of three phases, which must be completed in this order: Action Phase, Reaction Phase, and Tension Phase. During their turn, a player's character is the active character.
1. The Action Phase
The Action Phase is when the player's character may move around, attack, search for items, and interact with their environment. A character may perform up to four actions during this phase. Possible actions are:
- Move
- Open/Close Door
- Search
- Trade
- Use Item
- Attack
A character can perform an action any number of times, providing they make only four actions in total (i.e., a character may make up to four moves but cannot make four moves and then open a door). A character may skip one or more actions unless they are in the same square as an enemy, corpse, or boss.
A character may discard a card from their inventory at any time during their action phase without spending an action. Do not resolve any text on a card discarded this way.
Move
When a model moves, place it in any adjacent square (including diagonally) which is not blocked by an intervening wall. Models can move between tiles only by using an open door, or archway.
Example: Carlos may use one action to move to square 1 but cannot use it to move to square 2, as this would cross a corner. In order to move to square 2, Carlos must use two move actions, moving first to square 1 and then to square 2.
Open/Close Door
A character in the same square as a door token may flip the token to open or closed.
Search
A character may remove an item token in the same square and draw a card from the corresponding item deck. A character cannot use the search action if their inventory is full.
Trade
If a character is in the same square as another character or in an adjacent square, they may exchange any number of items between their inventories.
Use Item
A character may use an item in their inventory, allowing them to resolve the text on the card. After an item is used it is discarded, unless it is a weapon or scenario item.
Attack
A character with a weapon in their inventory may perform an attack against an enemy. If there are one or more enemies in the same square as the character, they can only attack one of those enemies.
When making attacks, follow the process below.
- Declare the target and which weapon is being used to make the attack. The target must be in line of sight and in range of the weapon being used to attack, and the weapon must have sufficient ammunition points to make the attack.
- Reduce the value of the ammunition dial by 1 point.
- Roll the attack dice indicated. If at least one hit, critical hit, or headshot symbol is rolled, the attack is successful. If no hits are rolled, the attack is unsuccessful.
- If the attack is successful, resolve any effects as shown by the symbols on the weapon card. Results are applied only to the target, even if there are multiple enemies in the same square.
- A push result allows a model to be placed in any adjacent square, as long as it does not cross an intervening wall or corner.
- A damage result indicates the target suffers damage equal to the number shown.
See the rapid-fire symbol on the Handgun card? This means it's a rapid-fire weapon. When making attacks with a rapid-fire weapon, a player may spend 1 additional ammunition point to roll an extra blue die, or 2 additional ammunition points to roll an extra red die during the attack.
Example: Mikhail declares an attack against the Zombie, using his Handgun. He has line of sight, and the Zombie is in range. He decides to use the rapid-fire rule on his Handgun, reducing his Handgun's ammunition dial by 2 and then rolling two blue dice. He scores a hit and a reposition result, and pushes the Zombie into an adjacent square, as shown by the arrow.
2. The Reaction Phase
In Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game, enemies do not have their own turn. Instead, they lurch forward to attack as nearby characters dash past or draw attention to themselves by making noise.
Once a player has completed their Action Phase, they must perform a reaction for all enemies which are on the same tile as the active character, or on a linked tile. Linked tiles are tiles connected to the active character's tile via one or more open doors or archways.
Enemy reactions should be resolved one at a time, in an order chosen by the player whose turn it is.
- If a character is in range and line of sight of an enemy, the enemy will perform a basic attack (see below). If multiple enemies are in range to attack a character, only the enemy with the highest threat level performs a basic attack. If all eligible enemies have the same threat level, the player whose turn it is chooses which enemy attacks.
- If the enemy cannot attack, it will move up to its movement value towards the closest character. Enemies observe the same limitations on movement as characters and must take the shortest route, ending in the same square as the character if possible.
Once all enemies on the same and linked tiles have performed a reaction, move on to the next phase.
Remember, during your turn only perform reactions for enemies on the same tile as your character or tiles linked to your character's tile! If other characters have enemies on their tile, but their tiles aren't linked to your character's tile, those enemies won't react… for now, at least!
Example: Tiles A and B are connected to Nikolai's tile via open doors and are both therefore linked. Tile C is connected to Nikolai's tile via a closed door and so is not linked. In Nikolai's Reaction Phase, enemies on the same tile and enemies on linked tiles will perform reactions. Because Tiles A and B are both linked to the active character's tile, enemies on those tiles will react. Enemies on Tile C will not react, as this tile is not linked.
Basic Attacks
Each enemy has a basic attack profile listed on their reference card which details the range of the attack and the effects of being hit.
When a player's character is attacked by an enemy, they must make an evade roll with the number of dice listed on their character's profile.
To successfully evade the attack, the player must roll at least one hit, critical hit, or evade symbol. If an evade roll fails, the character is hit and suffers the effects listed on the enemy's attack profile. If a character is hit by an enemy attack and the enemy is in the same square, after resolving the effects the character may push the enemy into an adjacent square.
If the enemy is on a medium base (such as a Drain Deimos, for example), evading it is more difficult. To successfully evade an attack from an enemy on a medium base, the player must roll at least one critical hit or evade symbol.
If multiple enemies are in range to attack a character, increase the difficulty of the evade roll by one for every additional enemy in range. This means that to evade an enemy on a small base when there is one additional enemy in their character's square, the player needs to roll at least one critical hit or evade symbol. If there are two additional enemies or the attacking model is on a medium base, the player needs to roll an evade symbol to avoid being hit. An evade roll of an evade symbol always succeeds, no matter how many enemies are in range.
After an attack is resolved, do not perform a reaction for any other enemies in range to attack the character—they have already contributed to the first attack.
Example: Jill is in the same square as two Zombies. During her Reaction Phase, one of them will attack her. As they both have the same threat level, Jill chooses one and makes an evade roll. She rolls one hit. Ordinarily, this would be successful as the Zombie is on a small base. Because there is an extra enemy, however, Jill requires a critical hit or evade symbol to be successful. Jill is hit and suffers 1 damage.
Jill moves her health track marker one level to the right, and then pushes the Zombie that attacked her into an adjacent square.
| Dice Roll | Successful Against |
|---|---|
| Hit | Small Base |
| Critical Hit or Evade | Medium Base or Two Small Bases |
| Evade | Medium Base and Small Base or Three Small Bases |
Out-of-Sequence Reactions
Although there is a specific phase for enemies to react, some enemies will perform additional reactions if they are provoked or have faster reflexes. These are called out-of-sequence reactions. The most common examples are included below. If multiple enemies would perform out-of-sequence reactions, the players may resolve them in any order they choose.
Performing an Attack
When a character performs an attack, after the action is resolved perform a move reaction for all enemies on the same or linked tiles which were not hit by the attack. An enemy already in the same square as a character will remain where it is—it is far more concerned with its unfortunate victim than with chasing the sound of a gunshot!
Although using a knife is much quieter than a firearm, the enemy you hit will still make plenty of noise, alerting any nearby enemies to your presence. Think carefully before committing to an attack—there isn't a silent option!
Performing an Action in the Same Square as an Enemy
Being close to an enemy is extremely dangerous! If a character declares any action other than an attack while in the same square as one or more enemies, before that action can be resolved the enemy with the highest threat level performs a basic attack.
If the evade roll is successful, the action is resolved as normal. If the roll fails the action is not resolved, and the character suffers the effects of the attack (remember, the character can push the enemy back after being hit!). Failing an action in this way still counts towards the number of actions the character has taken this turn.
Attacking an Enemy in the Same Square
Waiting to attack at point-blank range is dangerous and should only be attempted as a last resort! A character performing an attack against an enemy in the same square resolves the attack as normal. If the attack is successful, enemies in the character's square do not perform reactions (although other enemies on the same or linked tiles will still perform move reactions as detailed above). If the attack is unsuccessful, the targeted enemy performs a basic attack which cannot be evaded (the character can still push the enemy back after being hit).
3. The Tension Phase
Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game utilises a unique tension deck, representing the growing sense of unease felt by the characters, and the unexpected events which might befall them.
During a player's Tension Phase, they must draw the top card from the tension deck and resolve any text on the card. If a player is required to draw multiple cards, resolve effects in the order in which the cards were drawn.
The tension deck is made up of three types of cards: green, amber, and red.
- Green cards make up most of the tension deck and are non-hostile, indicating nothing presently seems to be amiss or threatening the characters.
- Amber cards represent strange noises, sudden movement, or an unusual situation nearby. These cards typically force players to make difficult decisions about how to proceed.
- Red cards include dire events such as Zombies breaking through windows or doors, or nearby enemies unexpectedly lurching into action. They nearly always spell disaster, and players will soon come to fear them!
If a player is unable to resolve the text on a tension card (for example, if a card would spawn additional enemies when none are available) place the card in the discard pile and draw two more cards from the tension deck.
Some tension cards have additional effects on them, with a symbol next to them. Don't worry about the additional effects for now - we'll cover those later!
Longer Lasting Effects
Some cards refer to an effect lasting for a round. A round is from the time the effect begins until the end of the current player's next turn.
Some cards require a sustained effect token to be placed on a tile or next to a character. The rules that apply to these tokens remain in effect until the token is removed from the playing area.
Now that we know how to activate characters, how enemies react, and can use the tension deck, it's time to set up the first scenario!
Introduction Scenario: Escaping the Warehouse
The characters have been chased off the streets by undead monsters and have taken refuge in an abandoned warehouse—but they can't stay here. Even now they can hear fists pounding at the doors and windows, low groans increasing in volume as the horde grows larger…
The Playing Area
See the brief below for the number and shape of the tiles needed to make up the playing area and lay them out as shown. Don't worry about the orientation of the tiles—the exact position of the spawn points doesn't matter.
Once the tiles are laid out, place tokens for the exit, doors, and items in the positions shown, ensuring the item tokens display the item A side, and all doors are closed. Next, place Zombie models in the positions shown on the brief. When placing a model, the exact placement within the square isn't important, as long as the model is in the correct square.
The scenario map legend: Character Start (positions 1 and 2), Zombie, Item A Token, Door, and Exit Token. The map shows a connected suite of rooms built from tiles, with Zombies placed throughout, Item A tokens scattered through the rooms, and the two character starting positions at opposite ends of the map from the Exit token.
Choosing Characters
Each player selects a character and places the corresponding profile card in front of them. Each player then places a health track next to their profile card with the health track marker set to Fine.
Each character begins the game with their starting equipment. Players should place a card for each of these items underneath their character profile card.
Each player then places their character on one of the two starting positions shown, 1 and 2. It doesn't matter which characters start in each position, as long as each position has at least one character on it.
Example — Jill Valentine: evade roll 2, inventory limit 8. Starting items: Knife, Handgun, First-Aid Spray. Special rule, Reposition: If Jill rolls a reposition symbol when performing an attack, after the attack is resolved she may be placed in an adjacent square. Special rule, Last Escape: The first time Jill becomes unconscious during a scenario, place her health track on Danger instead, then place her in an adjacent square.
Card Decks
Search the item A cards for two Green Herb and two Handgun Bullets cards, then shuffle these cards together and place them face down beside the playing area. Return the rest of the item A cards to the box.
Search the tension deck cards for fifteen green cards, one Lurching Gait card, one Cornered card, and one Death Rattle card. Shuffle these cards together and place them face down beside the playing area.
At this stage, don't worry about the effect boxes at the bottom of the tension deck cards as they won't be used during this scenario.
Playing the Demo
Now that setup is complete, it's time to start the game!
To successfully complete this scenario each character must leave the playing area by spending an action while in the same square as the exit token. When a character has left the playing area, their player cannot take any more turns—they have reached safety and can only cheer on their allies behind them.
If the tension deck runs out during this scenario, shuffle the discard pile and place it face down to refresh the deck.
Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game is a fully cooperative game. If any character's health track marker drops below Danger, the players fail this scenario and must reset and try again—so they have to work together in order to succeed.
Pick a player to go first and, using the rules you've learned so far, see if the characters can make it to safety!
Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game is a game of survival horror, which means defeating enemies isn't the only way to survive. Sometimes, the best option is to avoid dangerous situations…you don't always have to go into every room in a scenario or eliminate every enemy!
Equidistant Targets and Rules Conflicts
On occasion, two or more characters will be the same distance from an enemy that is performing a move reaction; multiple characters will be in range of an enemy's basic attack; or there are multiple options for a game effect. In situations like these, the active character is always prioritised as the target. If the conflict cannot be resolved using this rule, the player whose turn it is may choose how to proceed, selecting one of the available options so the game can keep moving.
Example: During Jill's Reaction Phase, the Zombie will perform a move reaction, but is equally close to Jill and Carlos. However, because Jill is the active character, the Zombie will move towards her.
Additional Game Rules
Well done! It looks like you survived your first scenario and now have some experience of playing the game. Next, we're going to move on to some more advanced rules in preparation for the opening scenarios.
Tiles and Encounters
Now that the players are familiar with moving characters and enemies around, it's time to look at the tiles in a little more detail.
Exploring Tiles
Raccoon City has very few safe places left. Even the most secure buildings have been broken into, and the inhabitants torn limb from limb. As every door creaks open, the survivors can only hold their breath and listen carefully, hoping that nothing is waiting on the other side.
At the beginning of each scenario some of the tiles which make up the playing area are unexplored, shown by one of the colours below. During setup, players should place a token with the corresponding colour on each unexplored tile.
During the scenario, when a player places their character on an unexplored tile, they must remove the tile's unexplored token and roll the encounter die to see what awaits them. Once the token has been removed, that tile is considered explored for the remainder of the scenario and there is no need to roll the encounter die again.
Tiles are colour-coded according to how dangerous they are likely to be. Each scenario has unique encounter tables for each colour of tile listed in the scenario brief. When a player rolls the encounter die, they should reference the corresponding encounter table for the tile their character has been placed on and follow the instructions in the table entry.
- Green tiles are explored tiles, and players do not have to roll the encounter die when they are placed on them.
- Yellow tiles are eerily quiet, likely to either be empty or have only one or two enemies prowling through them.
- Amber tiles are potential danger areas, with several enemies lurking in the darkness—or perhaps a single, more powerful foe awaiting.
- Red tiles are extremely hazardous places, and characters entering them should be prepared for the worst!
When spawning enemies, use the squares on the tile with a biohazard symbol, starting with the one closest to the character and dividing enemies as equally as possible between each biohazard symbol. Do not spawn enemies in the same square as a character unless there is only one biohazard symbol on the tile and the character is unlucky enough to be in the same square!
If there isn't enough room to place an enemy in the correct square when it's spawned, spawn it in an adjacent square to that square instead.
If the encounter table result cannot be fully resolved, resolve as much as possible. If it cannot be resolved at all, reroll the encounter die.
Encounter Dice Tables
Yellow Tile
| Dice | Enemies / Event Encountered |
|---|---|
| 6 | Empty |
| 5 | Unsettling Feeling – Immediately draw a card from the tension deck |
| 4 | 1x Zombie |
| 3 | 1x Zombie Dog |
| 2 | 2x Zombie |
| Biohazard | Roll on the amber encounter table instead. |
Here we can see Carlos has been placed on an unexplored tile from the Downtown 1 scenario, which is colour-coded yellow. He rolls the encounter die and the result is a 4, meaning a single Zombie spawns.
Terrain Elements
Some tiles contain terrain elements. These range from commonplace doors, stairwells, and walls, to much more sinister hazards.
1. Doors
All doors are closed when a scenario begins. In addition, some doors begin the game locked and require a character to have a specific item in their inventory in order to open them. These doors should have the corresponding locked card slid beneath them.
Once a locked door has been opened, remove the locked card and treat the door as a standard door for the rest of the scenario. Opening a locked door does not cost an extra action in addition to an open door action, or cause the corresponding scenario item to be discarded. Enemies cannot open doors.
2. One-Way Doors
Some doors are locked on one side and can only be opened from the opposite side. These doors have a locked card in the same way as a locked door, showing which side the door can be unlocked from. Once a one-way door has been opened, remove the locked card and treat the door as a standard door for the rest of the scenario.
3. Archways
Archways represent alley entrances, walls with holes large enough to climb through, or frames with missing doors. Archways function in the same way as an open door, but cannot be closed. Two tiles connected by an archway are permanently linked.
4. Barricades
A barricade connects two tiles, but blocks movement and line of sight in the same way as a wall. A character in the same square as a barricade token may spend an action to flip the barricade token to the opposite side, creating an archway. Once a barricade token becomes an archway, it cannot be flipped back to the barricade side unless a special rule enables a player to do so.
5. Stairwells
Stairwells, always in connected pairs, allow models to move between areas of the map. A character in the same square as a stairwell may spend an action to leave the tile they are on and be placed on the connected stairwell. Enemies cannot use stairwells.
6. Walls
Walls are shown on a tile by a thick black line with a red border. An intervening wall between two squares prevents any model from moving or being pushed across it. Walls block line of sight.
If a model must move towards another model that is obstructed by an intervening wall, they will move around the wall in a way which reduces the total distance between the two models.
7. Item Boxes
A character in the same or an adjacent square to an item box may spend an action to place any number of items from their inventory into the item box. Place the cards for these items in the item box slot on the Raccoon City dashboard, along with any corresponding ammunition dials.
A character in the same or an adjacent square to an item box may take any number of items from it into their inventory by making a search action. The item box counts as a medium model, and has an inventory limit of eight.
8. Corpses
A corpse is a tragic and sinister sight, but even more so in Raccoon City—the players never know if it's about to reanimate and attack! If a character performs an action or ends a move action in the same square as one or more corpses, their player must roll the encounter die after the action is resolved. If a biohazard symbol is rolled, replace one of the corpses with a Zombie.
A corpse counts as a small model. If an effect would cause a square to have four corpses in it, place one of these corpses in an adjacent square to keep the square clear for models to move through.
9. Fire
Models cannot draw line of sight through a square containing a fire token. If a model is placed in the same square as a fire token while moving or by a push, or a character performs an action while in the same square as a fire token, roll the encounter die. If the result is a biohazard symbol, 2, or 3, the model suffers 1 damage.
Enemies cannot move into a square containing a fire token as part of a move reaction. If an enemy must move towards a character that is obstructed by a square containing a fire token, they will move around the fire in a way that reduces the total distance between the two models. If an enemy would spawn on a square with a fire token in it, or a fire token would be spawned in the same square as an item, spawn it in an adjacent square instead.
10. Explosive Barrels
In some back alleys or storage areas, the characters will encounter barrels filled with highly volatile contents. Although a hazard, they also offer a powerful weapon against any nearby enemies!
Characters can target an explosive barrel with attacks as they would an enemy, and automatically hit without rolling any dice. When a barrel is hit, it explodes, causing 3 damage to enemies in the same square, and 1 damage to enemies in adjacent squares. The barrel is then removed from the playing area. An explosive barrel counts as a small model.
Characters
Remember the health track from the introduction scenario? From here on out things will be much more difficult—and it's entirely possible a character might find themselves overcome by their undead adversaries! Let's take a closer look at some more detailed rules for characters.
The Health Track
The health track represents how injured a character is. At the start of the campaign each character's health track marker begins on Fine. Every time a character suffers damage, move the marker right one or more levels. Each time a character is healed, move the marker left one or more levels. A character's health track marker cannot move beyond Fine.
If a character's health track marker would move beyond Danger, that character becomes unconscious. Their player places the model on its side, and skips their turn until the character is resuscitated. If the active character becomes unconscious, the turn ends immediately. An unconscious character is ignored when determining enemy reactions and boss behaviour cards but still occupies the same space in a square.
A character in the same square as an unconscious character may make a search action to take any item(s) from the unconscious character's inventory into their own.
Resuscitation and Character Death
If a character becomes unconscious, all is not lost—another character in the same or an adjacent square may resuscitate them with a First-Aid Spray. The resuscitated character's model is immediately placed standing up, and their health track marker is placed on Caution. Their player may resume taking turns as normal from this point on. The players cannot successfully complete a scenario if one or more characters are unconscious—they'll have to resuscitate their allies first!
If an unconscious character cannot be resuscitated (because none of the characters have a can of First-Aid Spray and there are none left in the item B deck or the item box), then the character dies and the scenario immediately ends in failure.
Items
The characters will find a wide variety of items throughout Raccoon City, each part of an item deck. In order to survive, characters must scavenge for these invaluable resources—without them, the way forward might be impassable or the enemies too strong to overcome.
Rare Items
At the start of the campaign, players should separate out items with the rare item symbol from the item A deck and place them to one side. These items will be added later on, at the start of certain scenarios.
Herb Items
Herbs are identified by the herb symbol. Unlike other items, herbs can be mixed and be placed in a character's inventory as a single item. If a character uses a mixed herb, apply the effects of each card and then discard the entire stack. During their Action Phase, characters may mix herbs in their inventory without spending an action. Once mixed, herbs cannot be separated again.
Example herbs: Green Herb—heal this character or an adjacent character by [amount]. Red Herb—discard when using a Green Herb to heal two additional levels.
Weapon Profiles
Weapons are used to make attacks and are a little more complicated than other items. They are essential to survival, of course, but players should think carefully about when to use them. Ammunition is limited, and even the most accurate character cannot defeat every enemy they encounter!
Each weapon in Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game is unique, based on its ammunition capacity, how it attacks, and how powerful it is.
- Each weapon has a limited ammunition capacity. When a weapon is first placed in a character's inventory, take the corresponding ammunition dial and adjust it to the number shown on the card. If a weapon is traded or placed in an item box the ammunition dial is not reset. If a weapon's ammunition dial is at 0 it cannot be used to make attacks. If a weapon is reloaded, it cannot exceed its ammunition capacity, and any ammunition points in excess are wasted.
- A weapon's range is the distance at which a weapon can attack. If a weapon is listed as range 'LOS', it is always considered to be in range if the character has line of sight to the target.
- Attack dice indicates the colour and quantity of dice rolled when the weapon is used to make an attack.
- The results rolled will have different hit effects depending on the weapon.
- The push result allows a model to be placed in any adjacent square, as long as it does not cross an intervening wall or corner. A player may choose not to push an enemy.
- The damage result indicates the target has suffered damage equal to the number shown.
- The burst result allows the other effects of the attack to be applied to every enemy in the same square as the target.
- Special symbols indicate that a weapon has unique rules.
- When making attacks with a rapid-fire weapon, a player may spend 1 additional ammunition point to roll an extra blue die, or 2 additional ammunition points to roll an extra red die during the attack, in addition to any other dice used to make the attack.
- Some weapons have an additional effect if the special hit symbol is rolled. This might inflict more damage, inflict a different effect than usual, or simply make the weapon more accurate.
When using a rapid-fire weapon and adding extra dice, remember that you're only rolling additional blue dice for each additional ammunition point, even if the weapon's base attack dice uses red dice!
Enemies
So far, we've only seen one type of enemy, but that will soon change. In Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game, characters will encounter a variety of enemies in every scenario, each offering a unique challenge.
Enemy Reference Cards
Each enemy type has a reference card which details their characteristics. Players will soon learn to pay close attention to these, as predicting and managing enemies is often crucial for survival!
- This is the type of enemy.
- Threat level indicates how dangerous an enemy is to the characters. Higher numbers signify more agile and powerful foes.
- Whenever an enemy performs a move as a reaction, it does so up to its movement value.
- An enemy's hit points indicate how much damage it can sustain. If an enemy suffers damage equalling or exceeding this number, the enemy is killed and is removed from the playing area. When an enemy is damaged but not killed, place a wound token next to the model to track how much damage has been sustained.
- Each enemy has a basic attack profile, listing the range of the attack and the effect(s) if it hits.
- The character suffers damage equal to the number shown.
- The character must be pushed into an adjacent square of their player's choice. They may not cross an intervening wall or corner during this movement. If there is no available square the character must remain where they are.
- If an attack has the assault symbol, place the enemy in the same square as the character before their player makes an evade roll. If there is no space for the enemy in the character's square, place the enemy in an adjacent square.
- Some enemies have special entries which provide them with additional rules.
Example — Diseased Zombie: threat level 1, movement value 1, hit points 1. Basic attack, range 0, damage 1. Special, Ruptured Flesh: When this enemy is killed, all models in the same square suffer 1 damage.
Special Attacks
Some enemies also have one or more special attacks, listed below their basic attack. If an enemy has a special attack, when performing attack reactions during the Reaction Phase, players should check the effect box on the last tension deck card to be drawn. If a special attack has a matching symbol the enemy will perform the special attack instead of its basic attack.
If there are no face up tension cards at the start of the Reaction Phase, the player should cut the deck in half and look at the effect box of the bottom card in their hand, before replacing the cards again. The effect box on the revealed card is used for this Reaction Phase.
Enemies always perform basic attacks as an out-of-sequence reaction, even if the current tension deck card has an effect box that matches the symbol of one of their special attacks.
Example — Drain Deimos: threat level 2, movement value 1, hit points 3. Special, Wall Crawler: This enemy ignores fire tokens when moving and determining line of sight. This enemy does not suffer damage from fire tokens.
Remember, enemies always need line of sight in order to make attacks!
The City Danger Level
The dead do not rest easy in Raccoon City. Unspeakable monsters lurk within the shadows, every footstep and gunshot attracting them in yet greater numbers. They are not the only danger, however—an inferno slowly consumes the city, with no hope of stopping or delaying its advance. It is against this backdrop the characters must make their escape, ever fearful of an untimely demise.
Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game uses a city danger level located on the Raccoon City dashboard to track how dangerous the characters' surroundings have become. At the start of the campaign, the danger marker is placed on the starting position, but it won't stay there for long. As the players progress through the game, effects from a variety of sources will tell the players to move the danger marker up or down and by how many levels. Changes to the city danger level should always be resolved immediately.
Additional Tension Card Effects
Some tension deck cards will have additional effects if the danger marker has reached a certain level. When one of these cards is drawn check the city danger level. If the danger marker is in a band that matches the symbol next to the effect, resolve the additional effect as well as the card's standard text.
Example — Death Rattle: An undead hand clutches at you from the darkness, accompanied by a hideous rasp… Spawn a Zombie in the same square as this character. After spawning, the Zombie performs a basic attack.
At the start of the game, the players can ignore the extra rules next to the level symbols, but as the danger level rises, they'll need to contend with those as well!
Losing the Campaign
If the danger marker reaches the final space of the city danger level, the players have until the end of their current scenario to try and reduce it. If they cannot do so, or the marker reaches the final space during a scenario's End Phase, they lose the campaign and must start all over again—the city has been overrun by enemies, and there is nowhere left to hide!
During the game, players will be able to reduce the city danger level through certain effects, but these choices will almost always be accompanied by less-than-desirable alternatives. Think carefully about how to proceed, before finding that you have to make dangerous decisions just to stay alive!
Playing the Game
Now we've completed the introduction scenario and gone over the additional rules you'll need, it's time to begin the campaign! Reset each character's health track marker to Fine, and their weapon ammunition dials to full.
Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game is a campaign game that allows players to choose which path to take as they explore, building their own narrative. There is no set order for playing each scenario—and because the location of every item is randomised, it will be different for each playthrough.
The objective of the campaign is to repair the cable car and escape to the outskirts of the city, where the players must complete the final two scenarios set in Raccoon City's iconic Clock Tower. If the players are able to overcome the Clock Tower 2 scenario, they are able to leave Raccoon City at last and have won the game!
Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game's campaign will take a long time to complete in its entirety so, unless players have a few days set aside, we recommend they take a more relaxed pace and play over several sessions, tackling a scenario or two at a time.
If you'd prefer to play each scenario as a standalone game rather than as part of a campaign, check out the alternate play modes section on page 31.
Setting Up
Choosing Characters
At the start of the campaign, each player selects one of the starting characters (Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, Mikhail Victor, or Nikolai Ginovaef) and places the corresponding profile card face up in front of them. Each player then places a health track next to their profile card with the health track marker set to Fine.
Each character begins the game with the starting items listed on their character card. Players should take the corresponding ammunition dial for any non-knife weapon their character has and set it to the ammunition capacity indicated on the weapon card.
The Raccoon City Dashboard
Set the Raccoon City dashboard to one side of the playing area, within easy reach of each player. Place the danger marker at the starting position on the city danger level track.
Shuffle the narrative event cards, then place them face down on the narrative event slot on the dashboard.
Separate out any item A cards showing a rare item symbol, and return them to the box for the time being. Shuffle the remaining item A cards and place them face down on the corresponding item A slot on the dashboard.
When item A cards are discarded during the campaign, place them in a discard pile next to the deck. If the item A deck runs out during a scenario, shuffle the discard pile and place it face down in the item A slot to create a new item A deck.
Take the item C cards and separate out the early, mid, and late level cards from each other. Shuffle the late level cards and place them face down on the item C slot on the dashboard. Shuffle the mid level cards and place them face down on top of the late level cards. Shuffle the early level cards and place them face down on top of the stack to create the item C deck.
Under no circumstances should the item C deck be shuffled during the campaign! Doing so might mean the players are unable to access vital areas of the city.
Tension Deck
Separate out any tension cards showing a rare item symbol and return them to the box for the time being—these are special event cards which the players will add to the deck at the start of certain scenarios. Shuffle the remaining cards and place them face down on the corresponding slot on the dashboard.
After a tension card is drawn, and any text on the card has been resolved, place the card face up beside the tension deck to form the tension discard pile.
Players will use the same tension deck throughout the campaign but should be aware that the deck will evolve over time, steadily becoming ever more dangerous…
Choosing a Scenario and Setting Up
At the start of the campaign, players can choose to play from a selection of three different scenarios: Downtown 1, Uptown 1, and Commercial 1. The briefs for these scenarios are included in the scenario booklet. If the players are beginners to the world of tabletop survival horror, we recommend starting with Downtown 1.
Setting up a full-sized scenario of Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game is just like setting up the introduction scenario. Once the players have decided which scenario they'd like to play, they should set up the playing area as listed in the corresponding brief, additionally placing unexplored tokens on each unexplored tile.
If the scenario has one or more locked doors, players should take the corresponding locked door card(s) and slide them under the doors shown in the brief, ensuring that the correct side of the card is showing.
Unlike the item A and item C deck, each scenario has a unique item B deck created from the cards listed in the scenario brief. This deck should be shuffled and placed in the corresponding item B slot on the dashboard, replacing any other cards which are already in this slot.
At the start of each scenario, each player places their character on one of the two starting positions shown. It doesn't matter which characters start in each position, as long as each position has at least one character on it.
Playing a Scenario
No matter which scenario the players select, gameplay is just like before, beginning with the first player to take their turn and then moving clockwise around the table.
Each scenario brief will tell players what they have to do in order to successfully complete the scenario. In addition, players should search for any item C tokens and campaign progression tokens, as finding these is essential to advancing through the game (see "Advancing Through the Campaign" on page 27).
Players can choose to abandon a scenario at any time, if they feel they're not ready to take it on. When the players abandon a scenario, follow the steps for Failing a Scenario on the next page.
From here on out scenarios will be longer and more difficult than the tutorial scenario, so good luck!
If you fail the scenario, don't worry! The campaign will continue, so read on to the next section…
Advanced Rules
Well done! Looks like you survived your first scenario and now have some experience of how to play the game. Next, we're going to move on to some more advanced rules to get the campaign underway!
The End Phase
At the end of a scenario, the End Phase begins. Players should follow the steps in one of the tables below, depending on whether they won or lost the scenario.
Successfully Completing a Scenario
When players successfully complete a scenario, follow the below steps in order. Characters are permitted to trade items during these steps.
- Reset the ammunition dial for each Handgun to 15. Each character may then use any ammunition items in their inventory to increase their other weapon ammunition dials by the printed amount.
- Heal each character by two levels. Characters may then use any recovery items in their inventory to heal by the printed amount.
- Discard any scenario items that are in a character's inventory or the item box.
- Shuffle any discarded item A cards into the item A deck.
- If there are no First-Aid Sprays in any character's inventory or the item box, place a First-Aid Spray from the starting item cards in the item box.
- Shuffle the tension deck draw and discard piles together to refresh the deck.
- Discard any remaining Ink Ribbon tokens.
- Increase the city danger level by 1.
After resolving the End Phase, the players now have to choose which scenario they want to attempt next. Once the players have decided their next scenario, they should set up and play the new scenario as normal.
Before the next scenario, each character may place any number of items from their inventory into the item box, and/or take any number of items from it into their inventory.
Failing a Scenario
If the players failed the scenario, follow the below steps in order.
- Increase each ammunition dial to the maximum capacity shown on the weapon card.
- Heal each character to Fine, including characters who are unconscious or have died.
- If the characters found any item B cards during the scenario, shuffle them back into the deck.
- Shuffle any discarded item A cards into the item A deck.
- If there are no First-Aid Sprays in any character's inventory or the item box, place two First-Aid Sprays from the starting item cards in the item box.
- Shuffle the tension deck draw and discard piles together to refresh the deck.
- Discard any remaining Ink Ribbon tokens.
- Increase the city danger level by 2.
The players can now either choose to attempt this scenario again, or attempt another scenario and return later in the campaign. If the players choose to retry this scenario, set up the scenario as normal.
Before the next scenario, each character may place any number of items from their inventory into the item box, and/or take any number of items from it into their inventory.
If players added cards to the item A deck at the start of a scenario and failed the scenario, leave the cards in the deck, even if the players choose to attempt a different scenario instead.
After resolving the End Phase, if you decide to take a break from the action, use the campaign sheet on the back page of the Scenario Booklet to record each character's current health track, any items they have in their inventory, and any items currently in the item box. When packing away, be careful to not shuffle the item C deck, and to keep the item A and tension decks separate from any rare cards that have not yet been shuffled into them!
Advancing Through the Campaign
At the start of the campaign only three scenarios are available to the players. As the campaign continues, however, they'll find new locations to explore, allowing them to attempt new scenarios.
The City Map
The Raccoon City dashboard shows a map of the city and lists each scenario in the game, split into districts. Scenarios that the players may explore are shown on the dashboard as unlocked, along with spaces for scenarios they haven't yet found access to.
In order to play a scenario, there must be a campaign path card in the scenario's slot on the dashboard, and this card must have its unlocked side face up.
The Item C Deck
In most scenarios, players will be able to find an item C token. Item C cards are nearly always valuable objects that allow players to unlock new scenarios.
Item C tokens can be collected by search actions in the same way as other items.
Campaign Progression Tokens
Just like item C tokens, most scenarios also have at least one campaign progression token, representing an entryway into an area of the city that is otherwise inaccessible.
Scenarios including a campaign path indicate the path's location with a token, and which scenario it leads to in the scenario brief. When a character is placed in the same square as a campaign path token, remove the token and place the corresponding campaign path card on the city dashboard. If the card has a locked side, this must be face up when it is added to the dashboard.
A character may unlock a campaign path by discarding the item(s) shown on the card from their inventory at any time during their turn, or during a scenario's End Phase.
It's possible to fail some scenarios and still find item C and campaign path cards—but doing this will raise the city danger level twice as fast, and prevent you from keeping any new weapons you've found in the item B deck…
Example: The players have successfully completed their first scenario of the game, Commercial 1. During this scenario, they found two campaign paths—one leading to Commercial 2 and the other leading to R.P.D. 1. Both of these cards require an item to unlock them but, fortunately enough, the players also found the Precinct Key item, which is the item required to flip the R.P.D. 1 card to its unlocked side.
This means that for their next scenario, the players have the choice of the Downtown 1, Uptown 1, or R.P.D. 1 scenarios. They'll need to keep searching for a way to unlock Commercial 2…
Completion Tokens and Replaying Scenarios
When players have successfully completed a scenario, and collected any item C and campaign progression tokens from that scenario, a completion token is placed on that scenario's dashboard slot to indicate that the players cannot return and replay it any more.
If the players have successfully completed the scenario, but didn't collect the item C or campaign progression tokens, they'll have to replay the scenario to find them. When replaying a scenario after successfully completing it, the players set up the scenario and play through it as normal.
When creating the item B deck for a scenario the players are replaying, only include scenario items. After these items have all been collected, discard any remaining item B tokens still in the playing area.
Getting to the Clock Tower
In order to access the final scenarios in the Clock Tower, the players must find the Power Cable, Fuse, Machine Oil, and Oil Additive items. Once they have found these items, they can unlock the Clock Tower 1 scenario.
If the players successfully complete the Clock Tower 1 scenario, they can then attempt the Clock Tower 2 scenario. If the players successfully complete the Clock Tower 2 scenario, then they have completed the campaign and won!
Remember that while you're exploring, you'll always be racing against the city danger level. If the city danger level reaches the end of the track before you're able to complete Clock Tower 2, the campaign is lost and you'll have to start all over again as the city is completely overrun!
The Tension Deck and Running Out of Time
When the tension deck ran out during the introduction or one of the first three scenarios, players simply shuffled the discarded cards and refreshed the deck. From here on out, however, if a player has to draw from the tension deck and there are no cards left, the scenario immediately ends in failure for the players—they've spent too long exploring and have attracted a horde of undead which they'll have to retreat from.
To prevent this happening, players can use ink ribbons to refresh the tension deck, provided they're near a typewriter.
Ink Ribbons and Typewriters
Ink Ribbons
The number of ink ribbon tokens the players begin each scenario with depends on the number of characters taking part in the scenario. For one or two characters, the players begin with one ink ribbon. For three or four characters, the players begin with two ink ribbons.
Generate ink ribbons at the start of each scenario and place them to one side of the playing area. They may be used by any player during their turn.
Typewriters
A character in the same or an adjacent square to a typewriter may spend an action and discard an ink ribbon to shuffle the tension deck draw and discard piles together, placing the cards face down to create a new draw pile. After this is done, remove the typewriter from the playing area.
Typewriters are a terrain element and are identified in scenario briefs. A typewriter token counts as a small model.
Narrative Events
As the characters progress through Raccoon City, they'll encounter other survivors, face life-or-death situations, and find themselves with difficult decisions to make before they can continue. These are called Narrative Events and are represented by a deck of cards and a number of tokens which are set up at the start of the scenario.
There are two types of narrative event tokens - narrative events and fixed narrative events.
When a character is placed in the same square as a narrative event token, the player removes the token and then draws the top card from the narrative event deck.
- Some cards have a Nemesis symbol. Players resolve these cards as normal when they are drawn, but some special rules may interact with them during scenarios.
- This is the name of the event.
- The event description tells players what has happened.
- Some events force the players to make a decision before the game can continue.
- The rules for resolving the card are listed here.
When a character is placed in the same square as a fixed narrative token, the token is still removed, but the player refers to the scenario brief instead of drawing from the narrative event deck.
Narrative events reflect a variety of situations, but their resolution is always the same. First, the player that triggered the event should read the card or description aloud so the other players are aware of what happened. Then, if a decision is required before continuing, the players can discuss it amongst themselves. Players cannot select choices they are unable to fully resolve (i.e. if a choice would spawn enemies and none are available).
Once the players have made a decision, immediately follow the rules on the card or brief to resolve the event. Enemies spawned by narrative events are placed as normal—evenly distributed across biohazard symbols on the same tile as the active character, starting with the closest.
Once a narrative event card has been resolved it is removed from the game, and is not returned to the narrative event deck for the rest of the campaign.
Example — Out of Sight: Ominous footsteps sound close by. Your pursuer hasn't seen you yet… Sneak Away: Increase the city danger level by 3. Or, Confront the Monster: Spawn Nemesis Stage One on this tile, on the closest biohazard symbol. If a character kills Nemesis, their player immediately draws a card from the item A deck, then reduces the city danger level by 1.
It's up to each group how they arrive at decisions. Some players might want to completely immerse themselves and make a decision without reading the effects of resolving each choice beforehand, whereas others will definitely appreciate knowing the consequences of their actions first. It's entirely up to you!
For those of you really getting into character, we suggest limiting your discussion to two minutes or less to keep the action flowing and simulate the urgency of the situation!
Removing Cards from the Game
Some cards have a rule stating that they should be removed from the game under certain circumstances. If a card or model is removed from the game, it should be placed in the game box and cannot be used again for the remainder of the campaign, unless a specific rule allows it to return.
Nemesis
Several narrative event cards will spawn Nemesis, a truly terrifying enemy that will relentlessly pursue the characters throughout the game. Even if Nemesis is killed, he'll be back—the most the characters can hope to do with the weaponry at their disposal is stop him for a short while, so they can make their escape.
There are two Nemesis models in Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game—Nemesis Stage One, and Nemesis Stage Two.
Nemesis Stage One is an enemy, but has three different reference cards. When Nemesis Stage One is spawned, the players should use the reference card that matches the band of the city danger level the danger marker is currently in.
If Nemesis is killed during a scenario, flip the Nemesis reference and special rules cards face down, so they are not used for the remainder of the scenario.
Nemesis Stage Two is a boss enemy that is only encountered during the Clock Tower 2 scenario, and is never spawned by a narrative event card.
Bosses
Bosses are significantly more powerful than the other creatures stalking through the shadows. Players should always approach bosses with great care—they are formidable and resilient foes, and are capable of making extremely powerful attacks.
Bosses are enemies with the following special rules.
- Bosses are not affected by encounter table, tension card, or narrative card rules and effects.
- Bosses do not perform reactions.
- Bosses cannot be pushed.
- Bosses cannot leave the tile they begin on, or attack characters on a different tile.
- If one or more models block a boss's movement into a square, place the boss in the destination square and resolve a push against all other models in the square.
- When a boss suffers damage, record it on the boss health dial by counting down instead of using wound tokens. When a boss's health dial reaches 0, the boss is killed.
- Once a character is placed on a tile with a boss, they cannot leave the tile until the boss has been killed. A character cannot attack a boss if they are not on the same tile.
- When playing a scenario containing a boss, players ignore the normal restriction for not being able to successfully complete a scenario if there are one or more unconscious characters.
- Bosses ignore unconscious characters when resolving behaviour cards.
There are two bosses in Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game—the Grave Digger, and Nemesis Stage Two. Like enemies, each boss has a reference card listing its movement value, hit points, and special rules. Bosses can be targeted by and suffer effects from attacks in the same way as enemies.
Example — Grave Digger: movement value 0, hit points 30. Special, Burrow: After resolving a behaviour card where the Grave Digger was unable to attack, immediately resolve the From Below reference card.
Boss Behaviour Decks and Actions
Instead of performing reactions, each boss has a unique behaviour deck which dictates how it moves and attacks. When a character is on the same tile as a boss, instead of drawing from the tension deck in the Tension Phase their player draws from the boss's behaviour deck instead and resolves the sequence of actions on the card.
Resolve behaviour cards in vertical order, from the top of the card working downwards.
Example behaviour card — Nemesis Stage Two, Knockdown: Move action—Nemesis Stage Two moves towards the next character to activate on this tile. Attack action (evade difficulty 4). Special action—A character hit by this attack may only perform two actions during their next turn.
- A move action indicates the boss will perform a move action. The text box will indicate the character the boss moves towards, up to its maximum movement value.
- An attack action indicates the boss performs an attack, prioritising the active character as the target. If the active character is out of range but the boss may attack one or more other characters, the boss will attack the closest of those characters instead.
- A special action indicates that the boss performs a unique action, or special rules apply to another action on their card. The details of this are provided in the text box.
Boss attacks do not use model size to determine the results required to successfully evade an attack, and instead list an evade difficulty. This is the minimum result a character must roll in order to successfully evade the attack.
If a boss's behaviour deck is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile and place the cards face down to refresh the deck.
Powerful Attacks
Bosses are capable of making much more dangerous attacks than other enemies. In addition to the normal enemy attack effects, bosses use the following symbols:
- If the sweep symbol is displayed next to the range of a boss's attack, the boss performs the attack against each character in line of sight and range of the attack.
- A character hit by an attack with the unconscious effect is immediately rendered unconscious. Move their health track marker beyond Danger, and follow the standard rules for unconscious characters.
Alternate Play Modes
Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game is designed to be playable in a variety of different game modes and will provide hours of enjoyment however you wish to play. What follows are some alternate mode and play variants, including rules for solo and standalone games, as well as a way to adjust the difficulty level.
Easy Mode
This game mode is designed for those unfamiliar with the series or new to tabletop gaming. It allows players to play through Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game at a more relaxed pace and increases ammunition and healing to improve character survivability.
If the players are playing in easy mode, make the following adjustments to the core rules.
- At the start of a scenario, generate one ink ribbon per character.
- After using a typewriter, do not remove it from the playing area.
- When using an ammunition item to reload a weapon, restore the weapon to its maximum capacity instead of increasing it by the printed amount.
- When using a First-Aid Spray to heal a character, restore the character to Fine.
- After failing an evade roll, a character may push every enemy in their square, instead of only the model which made the attack.
- If a scenario requires players to replace ink ribbons with tension cards, add the maximum number of available cards.
Easy mode is fully compatible with both solo play mode and standalone mode, as well as with most expansions.
Solo Play Mode
This game mode allows a player to play on their own with only one character, so they can fully immerse themselves in the survival horror experience. It adjusts the health level of bosses so that they can be defeated by a single character.
If a player is playing in solo play mode, make the following adjustments.
- After choosing which of the four starting characters to play as, place the profile cards for the other characters to one side. At the start of each scenario, the player may choose which character to use. Transfer any items between each character's inventory.
- The item box can hold up to 24 items in solo mode.
- Reduce all boss health values by 10, to a minimum of 10.
- The character begins each scenario in square 1, and square 2 is not used.
- Any attack or effect with the unconscious symbol reduces the character's health track to Danger instead, unless their health track is already on Danger.
Solo play mode is fully compatible with standalone mode as well as with most expansions.
Standalone Mode
Although Resident Evil™ 3: The Board Game has been designed with campaign play in mind, each scenario can be played as a standalone game. When playing standalone games, item C and campaign progression tokens and cards are not used unless they are required to successfully complete the scenario.
To create the tension deck in a standalone game, take the tension cards and separate out any cards showing a rare item symbol. If the scenario specifically states to add one or more of these cards to the tension deck, add them to the remaining cards, then return the rest of the cards with that symbol to the box. Finally, shuffle the remaining cards and place them face down on the corresponding slot on the dashboard.
If the players are playing the Commercial 1, Downtown 1, or Uptown 1 scenarios, their characters are only equipped with the starting items listed on their cards.
If the players are playing the Commercial 2, Downtown 2, Uptown 2, or R.P.D. 1 scenarios, their characters are equipped with the starting items listed on their cards, and the players may also distribute two Shotgun cards and an Assault Rifle card between the characters as they choose.
If the players are playing the Commercial 3, Downtown 3, Uptown 3, R.P.D. 2, or R.P.D. 3 scenarios, their characters are equipped with the starting items listed on their cards, and the players may also distribute two Shotgun cards, an Assault Rifle card, and two Grenade Launcher cards between the characters as they choose. In addition, one character can replace their Handgun card with an Eagle 6.0 card.
If the players are playing the Clock Tower 1, or Clock Tower 2 scenarios, their characters are equipped with the starting items listed on their cards, and the players may also distribute a Shotgun card, a Western Custom M37 card, an Assault Rifle card, two Grenade Launcher cards, and a Magnum card between the characters as they choose. In addition, one character can replace their Handgun card with an Eagle 6.0 card.
When playing standalone scenarios, players follow the rules as normal, including how to successfully complete and fail a scenario.
Quick Reference Sheet
Activation Order
1. Action Phase
Characters may perform up to four actions during their Action Phase.
- Move – Place the character in an adjacent square, without crossing a wall or corner.
- Attack – Perform an attack with a weapon in the character's inventory.
- Open/Close Door – Flip a door token to open or closed.
- Search – Remove an item token in the same square and draw an item card.
- Trade – Exchange any number of items with another character in the same/adjacent square.
- Use Item – Resolve the text on an item card, then discard the card.
Discarding a card during the Action Phase without effect does not cost an action.
2. Reaction Phase
Resolve a reaction for any enemy on the same or linked tiles.
- If a character is in range and line of sight, the enemy will perform an attack.
- If the enemy model is not in range to attack, it will move towards the closest character.
When performing an attack, remember to check the effect box symbol on the current tension deck card.
3. Tension Phase
Draw and resolve a card from the tension deck.
Out-of-Sequence Reactions
Reactions which occur during a character's Action Phase.
- Making an Attack – Each enemy on the same or linked tiles performs a move reaction.
- Making an Action in the Same Square as an Enemy – Enemy performs an attack. If the evade roll fails, the action is not resolved.
- Attacking an Enemy in the Same Square – If the attack is not successful, the character is automatically hit by the target's basic attack.
Evade Rolls
Target results vs. models in the character's square.
| Dice Roll | Successful Against |
|---|---|
| Hit | Small Base |
| Critical Hit or Evade | Medium Base or Two Small Bases |
| Evade | Medium Base and Small Base or Three Small Bases |
Weapon Icons
Common icons used when resolving attacks and reading weapon cards.
- Push – Target may be placed in an adjacent square.
- Damage – Target suffers damage equal to the number shown.
- Rapid-Fire – Player may spend 1 additional ammunition point to roll an extra blue die, or 2 additional ammunition points to roll an extra red die during attack.
- Burst – Player applies effects to every enemy in the same square.
Enemy Attack Effect Icons
Common icons used when resolving enemy attacks.
- Damage – Target character suffers damage equal to the number shown.
- Push – Target character must be pushed into an adjacent square of their choice.
- Assault – Enemy is placed in the same square as the character before evade roll.
- Sweep – This attack hits all characters in range.
- Unconscious – Target character is rendered unconscious.
- Corpse – Roll encounter die if a character ends movement/performs an action in the same square. Replace token with a zombie if result is a biohazard symbol.
- Fire – Blocks LOS. Roll encounter die if a model is placed/performs an action in the same square. If result is a biohazard symbol, 2, or 3, model suffers 1 damage.