This game is a free fan-created tribute to the Castlevania series,and is not licensed or in any way affiliated with Konami.

Contents ● Introduction……..……………………...…………………........3

● How to Play………………………………………………….4-24

一 Quick Start Guide……………………...………………...…......4-5

○ Setup (Standard)...................................................................6-7

○ Movement………………………………………………..………...8

○ Curse Clock……………………………………………...……..….9

○ Monsters………………………………………………...……..10-12

○ Combat………………………………………………...……...12-14

○ Events………………………………...………………...……..14-15

○ Map Deck……………………………………………...……...15-16

○ Leveling Up…………………………………………...………..…16

○ Equipment……………………………………………...……..16-19

○ Status Effects………………………………………...……….….19

○ Bosses and Dracula Relics…………...…………...………..19-21

○ Boss Tiers….………………………………………...……….….22

○ Difficulty………………………………………………...………...23

○ Death……………………………………...……………...……....23

○ Dracula and Breaking the Curse……………...…………..24-25

● Variants……………………………………...……………...26-32

○ Classic mode………………………………………..……….26-29

○ Lord of the Castle Mode……………………......…………..30-33

● Characters………………………………...………………..33-40

● Glossary and Card Clarifications…………..………...…..40-64

● FAQ………………………………………………………….64-68

2

Introduction

The object of this game is loosely based on Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. For the uninitiated,

in the year 1691, Simon Belmont defeats Dracula, but unbeknownst to Simon, Dracula placed a curse

on him that begins to slowly kill him over the next 7 years. One night in 1698, Simon is visited by a

woman who tells him that he can break the curse and destroy Dracula forever by collecting the 5

parts of Dracula’s body being guarded by his minions, taking them to the ruins of Castlevania and

burning them, at which point Dracula will be resurrected, and Simon will be forced to slay him a

second time.

Unlike Simon’s Quest, in this game, Simon is not alone. This is a cooperative game featuring

playable characters from throughout the series. All characters are “cursed”, and working together to

collect the 5 parts of Dracula’s body and defeat him before time runs out. As the Curse Clock

constantly ticks away, you will have to help each other fight through the castle, survive traps, stock up

on weapons and armor, defeat countless monsters, 5 bosses, and ultimately Dracula himself,

possibly in several forms, in order to win.

Whether this is your first time playing, or you’ve been around since the beginning, I would

recommend reading through this new, much more thorough manual. Don’t let the page count

intimidate you, you don’t need the read the whole thing. The entire standard game is explained on

pages 4-24, mostly after that is just a reference guide with specifics on each character, FAQs, and

card clarifications. If you are ever confused by any terminology used in the game, or aren’t sure how

to handle a particular card, you should find the answer here. Try just searching the document for a

card name, all of the cards that have typically caused the most confusion in the past are explained in

the reference section, but if there is still something I’ve neglected to mention in the manual, just email

me: castlevaniaboardgame@gmail.com I’m always happy to answer questions, and can usually get

back to you within a few hours. Thank you for playing!

-Brandon

3

Quick Start Guide ( Standard Mode)

(This guide is for experienced players who need a quick refresh on the gameplay. If you are new to the game or uncertain about anything, move on to the next section - Setup)

1. Select difficulty level, shuffle the corresponding number of curse cards into the encounter deck,

place the 5 relics randomly face-down in each of the first 5 boss rooms. Place the boss deck(s)

next to the board, and the Dracula deck near the end of the 6th stage. If you are using the

optional Map Deck, draw one location card for each of the 6 stages and place them face-down

nearby as well. (See: Map Deck, p.15 for more info)

2. Select a character, place your token outside of the castle. Take your character’s skill deck and

character sheet. All players start with 16 health, 0 xp, and 0 hearts.

3. Find your character’s first (or only, for some characters) primary weapon , place it in front of

you, along with one secondary ability, weapon, or special item. Some characters start with

specific secondary abilities, refer to your character sheet.

4. First player takes the leader token , sets the curse clock to XII and the stage clock to 1 and

reveals the first Location card, if applicable.

5. Roll movement dice, move the number of spaces rolled, take 1 for each rolled, heal 1

HP for , take an item card for . Then, as long as you are not already in combat

from a previous turn, you will draw an encounter card on every turn.

6. Once each player has taken a turn, at the start of the leader’s next turn, the stage clock

advances by 1. Once it reaches 7, players have one more free round to finish the current

stage. On each subsequent round until the stage is completed, the curse clock will then

advance one hour every round (at the beginning of the starting player’s turn) instead of the

stage clock. (The clock works a little differently in Morning Sun difficulty, refer to the Morning

Sun difficulty sheet for details)

7. When a player reaches the boss room of a stage, they may engage the boss immediately, or

they can choose to wait one turn for the other players to catch up. On the next turn, they must

begin battle, drawing a boss from the appropriate tier, according to the difficulty sheet.

8. When players level up, they can either unlock their next primary weapon in sequence, or

unlock any secondary ability. You level up by reaching 6 XP, by defeating a boss, (everyone

who is in the boss room when the boss dies gains a level) or from some events. Full levels

gained from events or bosses do not reset any xp gained so far.

9. If a player dies, they return to the beginning of the current stage. They may keep any equipped

items, but lose all unequipped items. They must also sacrifice one of their skill cards, either

their most recent primary weapon, or any secondary ability, players should always have at

4

least their starting primary weapon and one secondary ability. The curse clock advances by 1

hour each time a player dies. If the clock strikes XII again, the players lose the game.

10.When a boss is defeated, the killing player takes that boss’s relic, and gains the relic’s bonus

(See: Bosses and Dracula Relics, p.19). The players who level up may select and equip their

new weapons and abilities before proceeding into the next stage. The stage clock is reset to 1,

the curse clock stays where it is. Draw items for all players in the game, each takes one. The

completed boss room now functions as a warp room.

11.Refer to the difficulty sheet for any new conditions for the next stage, reveal the next Location

card if applicable. Pass the Leader token to the active player, (The player after the one who

killed the previous boss.) and proceed into the next stage.

12.In order to win the game, all players carrying relics (relics cannot be traded between players)

must reach the end of the 6th stage before the curse clock strikes XII. Once all 5 relics are on

the final space, one player must use a attack or item of some sort to destroy the relics. This

breaks the curse and removes the clock from the game, but players also lose the bonuses

associated with the relics, and Dracula appears immediately to engage with the player who

summoned him. Battle with Dracula is the same as any other boss, except that if he kills any

player, they are permanently dead and out of the game. When Dracula is defeated, roll the

combat dice to determine if he will resurrect in a different form (See: Dracula and Breaking the

Curse, p.23). Once Dracula has been defeated and fails the resurrection roll, the players win.

5

Setup - Standard Game Mode

1. Choose a difficulty level and place the difficulty reference sheet where it can be easily seen

by all players. If you are using the Map deck, draw 6 of these cards as well, kept face-down

for now. (See: Map Deck, p.15 for more info)

2. Place the appropriate number of curse cards (see right) for the selected difficulty

in the encounter deck, then shuffle the encounter deck and item deck

separately, and place them in reach of all players.

3. Randomly place the 5 Dracula Relic tokens face-down in the large boss room space at the

end of stages 1-5. Shuffle and place the Dracula deck near the end of the 6th stage, and

draw 5 Boss cards (refer to difficulty sheet, most difficulty levels use tiered boss decks) and

either place one face-down near the end of each stage, or lay them out face-down clearly

ordered from 1-5.

4. Each player chooses a vampire hunter to play as. Take your character’s token, character

sheet, and skill deck.

6

5. Separate the primary weapons from secondary abilities. Primary weapons

will have a small icon in the lower right corner. A few characters only

have one primary weapon, in which case, you can set that aside as your

starting primary weapon. Most characters have an assortment of primary

weapons, which are numbered and unlocked in order, for those characters,

the “1” will be your starting primary weapon. Some characters have special

starting equipment or conditions, which are indicated on the character

sheets. If your character sheet does not indicate otherwise, then assume that in addition to

your starting primary weapon, you may choose only one secondary ability to begin the game.

This can be a subweapon, spell, or conditional ability such as a double jump or whip swing,

whatever you feel will be most beneficial to help you survive the early game. It is a good idea

to discuss your choices with the other players, and try to have an assortment of different

abilities to complement each other. Place your starting equipment in front of you, or on the

appropriate spaces of the optional character mats.

6. All hunters have a max health of 16, but different heart limits, as indicated on the character

sheets. Everyone starts with full health, 0 experience, and 0 hearts. If using the character

mats, take a marker for health, hearts, and experience. If you use the small character sheets,

just use a small plastic clip to track health, and set aside piles of individual heart and

experience tokens within reach of all players.

7. Give the Leader Token to the player who has most recently been bitten by a

vampire bat, mosquito, or other blood-sucking creature. (Or agree on a slightly

less stupid way of deciding the first player, your call.)

8. Give the Curse Clock to the leader. Set the Curse Hand (Outer circle) to XII, and the Stage

Hand (Inner circle) to 1. The leader will be in charge of advancing the clock, at least for the

first stage of the game.

9. Place all character tokens at the castle entrance in the lower left corner of the board. Players

start outside of the doorway, not on the first space. Set 5 combat dice aside in reach of all

players. A 6th combat die is included with the game, but is only used in certain

circumstances, which will be indicated on cards or character sheets when necessary. Leave

the 6th die in the box unless it is needed. If applicable, turn over the first Map card, read its

effects aloud, then give the 2 movement dice and the bonus die (3rd movement die) to the

leader to begin the game.

7

Movement The game begins with the leader rolling the 2 movement dice and the bonus die. Before rolling for

movement, at the start of each player’s turn, as long as they are not still in combat from a previous

turn, they have the option to change their equipment as needed, including swapping your primary

weapon for another you have already unlocked, changing a piece of clothing/armor, changing to a

different subweapon (Again, only if it has already been unlocked by leveling up), etc. There is no

heart cost to change equipment at the start of a turn, unless you are already engaged with a monster

from a previous turn. At the beginning of the game, you will not have much equipment to change, but

you will start picking up items and unlocking new abilities as you go. As a result of the movement roll,

the leader moves and/or potentially gains hearts, HP, or items. After moving, he/she will draw an

encounter card. The encounter is resolved (See: Monsters, Combat, or Events, p.10-15) and the

movement dice pass clockwise to the next player. Once each player has taken a turn, and it is the

leader’s turn again, the leader must advance the Stage Hand of the clock (inner circle) by 1, and then

proceeds to take his/her next turn.

Movement die effects:

Move the appropriate number of spaces either forward or

backward. Must move the full amount of the roll in either

direction. You may only stop your movement short if you

choose to stop on a space next to another player, or on a

space with an event marker. (See: Events, p.14) You may just

stop your movement next to an event or player without

actually attempting the event or assisting the player if they

are in battle, these are always optional actions.

Gain one heart, if not currently at your character’s max.

Gain 1 HP if not currently at max health.

Gain 1 item card.

. Optional extra 3 movement.

8

Curse Clock

The two hands of the Curse Clock

represent both the passage of

time and the severity of Dracula’s

curse. The inner circle of numbers

1-7 (Stage Clock) indicate the

current turn. This hand advances

after each full round, once every

player has taken a turn and the

leader begins his/her next turn.

Players have 7 full rounds to

complete each stage without

consequence.

Once the Stage Hand reaches 7, the players have one last round before the curse level begins to

increase. At the start of the leader’s 8th turn in a stage, the Stage Hand stays at 7, but instead, theCurse Hand advances by 1 hour after each full round until the current stage is completed. When the boss of the current stage is defeated, the Curse Hand stays where it is, the Stage Hand

returns to 1, and the Leader Token is passed to the next active player after the player who defeated

the boss. Example: if the players are, in clockwise order, Simon, Shanoa, Alucard, and Maria, and

Shanoa inflicts the finishing blow on the boss, then Alucard would take the next turn, so he would be

the first to enter the next stage, and would become the leader for that stage. The Stage Hand of the

clock then advances as before on each of Alucard’s subsequent turns. Whether the players move into

the next stage immediately or not, the clock continues to advance, time does not stop if you decide to

linger in the previous stage for a few turns.

The Curse Hand of the clock begins at XII (noon). Players have 12 “hours” to complete the game. If

at any point, the Curse Hand goes completely around the clock and comes back to XII (midnight).

The players immediately lose the game. The Curse Hand can advance in the following ways:

● If the Stage Clock has expired before the boss of the current stage is defeated, the

Curse Hand advances one hour on the leader’s turn each round until the stage is

completed.

● If a player is killed, the Curse Hand advances by one hour.

● If a Curse Card is drawn, the Curse Hand advances by one hour.

● Various other events can cause the Curse Hand to move either forward or backward.

9

Monsters One of the two types of cards you will find in the encounter deck are Monster cards. When a player

draws a monster card, they must immediately either fight or run from the monster. Here is a

breakdown of the information on the monster card, and how it relates to combat.

1. These are the monster’s attributes, which represent how the monster attacks. In the case of

Malachi, it is a flying monster which also attacks with darkness. You may have gear that protects you

from attacks with certain attributes. If for example, a monster only attacks with fire , and you are

wearing a Fire Mail , you do not take any damage in the battle, no matter how many times the

monster hits you. However, if the monster has both Fire and Flying attributes, the ability to fly

gives the creature a slight advantage. In such cases, when you can defend against one but not all

attributes, you only take half of the total damage, rounded up to the nearest whole number. Example:

A monster has an ATK of 3, with Ice, Poison, and Flying attributes. If you are wearing a Blue Cape

(immune to Ice ) , and the combat roll results in the monster hitting you 3 times. Normally this

would result in 9 damage to the player, but because of your Ice immunity, the damage is halved, and

then rounded up to the nearest whole number. Therefore in this case, the player only takes 5

damage. Important Note: Remember to always cut the total damage in half after adding all of the hits

in the roll together, not before. Otherwise, with an ATK value of 3, the hits would be 1.5 each,

rounded to 2, and 3 hits would result in 6 damage. Instead, just add the 3 hits of 3 damage each first,

and then divide the total of 9 in half to get 4.5, which rounds up to 5 damage.

10

Attributes

2. HP: Monster’s base HP (This may vary depending on the difficulty level you are playing, and which

stage you are currently in. Refer to the difficulty reference sheet to see if you need to add to this

number.)

ATK: Monster’s attack power. Indicates the base amount of damage done to the player’s HP

per hit. Like the monster’s HP, this may be affected by the difficulty level and stage, refer to the

difficulty reference sheet.

RUN: This indicates the minimum roll needed to run from this monster. If you do not want to

risk fighting this monster, you may roll the movement dice to run. When running, candles count as 0s

and do not produce hearts. If the Run value is 5+, then a roll of 5 or higher is needed in order to

escape unharmed. If successful, discard the monster, and you have the option of drawing a second

encounter card, but be careful, if you draw a second monster, you cannot run again this turn, so you

either have to kill it, or at least fight it this turn and run away on your next turn. If the run roll fails (You

roll 4 or less on a Run of 5+), you still escape the monster, but must take damage equal to the

monster’s ATK. Then discard the monster. On a failed run roll, you do not draw another encounter,

but if you started your turn fighting that monster from a previous turn, you may still roll for movement.

3. These are the monster’s weaknesses. If you use an attack with just one of these attributes, you do 2x

the attack’s normal damage to this monster. If a monster has several weaknesses, you are not

required to attack with all of them, only one is necessary in order to double your damage. Also,

weaknesses do not stack, meaning if you are fighting a monster who is weak to both fire and

slashing, and you attack with a fire sword, you still only do 2x damage, not 4x.

4. In some rare cases, a monster will be immune to a certain type of attack. This works just like when

you are wearing armor to defend against a monster’s attribute. So if a monster is immune to Ice, and

you are casting an Ice Spell that has no other attributes, it will have no effect at all, but if you are

using an Ice Whip, because it would also contain the Whip attribute, you still do half damage with that

weapon, and of course, still round up to the nearest whole number after calculating the total damage

of your roll and dividing in half.

11

5. This indicates what the monster drops when killed. Some will drop hearts, some drop random items

, drawn from the item deck. In the event that a monster card shows a specific one-use item that

is dropped, once the monster is killed, the player keeps the monster card along with his other items.

Just treat the monster card as a normal item card, and discard to the encounter discard pile when

used.

6. If this icon is present, it indicates that the monster releases a soul on death. This is only relevant to

Soma Cruz. If no one in your game is playing as Soma, you may disregard this icon. If you do have a

Soma in your game, and a monster showing this icon is killed, Soma immediately gains the

corresponding soul from his Soul deck, whether he is the one who fought the monster or not.

Combat When you draw a monster, unless you choose to run, you immediately begin fighting it. In most

battles, you will roll the 5 combat dice (as mentioned previously, the 6th combat die is not used

unless specifically indicated on a card). When rolling the combat dice, you are only attacking with

your currently equipped primary weapon. The die results are as follows:

(If you are using your character’s custom dice (From the “Morning Sun” expansion, these faces will be different, but are purely aesthetic, the effects are the same as the standard dice.)

Player hits the enemy once, for the damage value of his/her equipped primary weapon,

plus any damage modifiers based on weaknesses (See: Monsters, p.10) or item bonuses.

Reduce the enemy’s HP accordingly (It is helpful for each player to have a calculator

handy to track their own monsters’ HP).

Enemy hits the player once, for its ATK value, again, adjust the total damage if you are

wearing equipment to protect you, or if the enemy’s ATK is altered due to difficulty level or

event/stage conditions.

Heal 1 HP immediately. This also acts as a weak defense, as all pot roasts rolled are

deducted from the total damage taken from enemy attacks. So if an enemy has an ATK of

3, and hits me once, and I also roll 2 pot roasts and 2 swords, I only take 1 damage

instead of the normal 3, and also hit the enemy twice.

Except in some cases when a card allows you to reroll, you will almost always only roll the combat

dice once per turn. This is where your secondary attacks come in. It is usually advisable to start the

game with an attack spell or subweapon as opposed to some sort of passive ability, because you will

want a secondary line of offense to help you get through the early stages, when you are still fairly

weak. Each use of a secondary attack costs a certain number of hearts, as indicated on the card. You

may use secondary attacks as many times as you like in a turn, as long as you have enough hearts

12

to do so, and may use them before or after your combat roll. Meaning if you have enough hearts to

kill a monster with only secondary attacks, you can end the battle without ever having to roll, and

thus, not risk taking any damage, because the monster can only attack during the combat roll, and

secondary attacks always hit automatically, you do not need to roll for them. Just spend the

necessary hearts and calculate the damage, again making sure to factor in any item bonuses or

weaknesses.

If you are unable to defeat the monster in one turn, you remain engaged with it until your next turn

when you will roll again and continue where you left off, meaning you will be unable to move, obtain

hearts, or have another encounter on your next turn, you will just be locked in battle until either you or

the monster dies, or you decide to run away. Remember, the clock is ticking, so if you encounter a

powerful monster in an early level, and it will take you several turns to defeat it, sometimes it is best

to just run away rather than waste time and fall behind the other players. Another player may decide

to stop within two spaces of you and help out if you need it. If another player does stop to help you,

your monster does not count as their encounter. They will help with your monster first, either just

throwing a few secondary attacks at it, or rolling for combat, and whether they kill it or not, they still

draw a separate encounter card after. Assuming the second player does not kill your monster, they

are not locked into combat with it. Only the person who originally encountered the monster is required

to either fight or run, anyone stopping to help out still has the option to just walk away on their next

movement roll.

Important note: This is a co-op game. Stopping to assist in combat should always be a mutual agreement, if you are doing fine on time and think you can handle the monster easily on your next turn, say so, and tell the other players to move on ahead. If a player refuses and proceeds to kill-steal, they may choose to let you have the item drops, that is up to them, but the experience always goes to the person who inflicted the killing blow, it is not shared. If you find yourself playing with a person who would do something like this after you ask them not to, calmly explain to them how friendship and co-op games work, and then, as is custom, roll up your sleeves, grab them by the collar, lift...then escort them away from the table, through the foyer, and out of your house, exchanging annoyed looks and/or obscene gestures through the shrinking gap as the door swings shut. Did you lock it? Good, you never know with those kill-stealers...they’re a shifty bunch. When a monster’s HP is reduced to 0, the monster dies, you gain experience, which may vary

depending on the difficulty level, refer to the difficulty reference sheet. You level up once you have

6xp, (See: Leveling Up, p.16) if the monster drops hearts, take the # of hearts indicated in the

“drop” box of the card, up to your heart max, if the “drop” box shows an item chest and a number,

draw that number of item cards from the item deck, and as mentioned previously, if it drops a specific

item, keep the monster card with your other items, treat it as a normal item card and discard when

used. If you were fighting a monster from a previous turn, once you finish it off, you may then roll for

movement, but do not draw another encounter, that monster counts as your encounter for every turn

you continue to fight it.

13

Here is an example of how combat will go. This is an idealized

scenario where the character is equipped perfectly, which

rarely happens, but for the sake of explanation, work with me,

this game requires some suspension of disbelief.

Sonia’s Vampire Killer has a base damage of 16. She is also

wearing a Bandana, giving her +1 to whips, a Bloody Glove,

which is +2 to whips, and Oxfords, which give a +1 for crushing

damage, which her whip also does. So her total primary

weapon damage is currently 20 per hit. This Spectral Sword is

only weak to ice, so the whip doesn’t give her any additional

bonus there, but with the roll shown, she hits twice, doing 40

damage, leaving the Spectral Sword with only 5 HP.

With this roll, the Spectral Sword also hits her twice, for 2

damage per hit. However, she is wearing the Nun’s Robes,

which protect her from Dark attacks, so that alone would

reduce the damage taken by half, down to 1 per hit...but her

Bandana has another feature, it also protects from slashing

damage, which means that both of this monster’s attributes are

useless against Sonia. She takes no damage while wearing

these items, no matter how many times the Spectral Sword hits

her. She also rolled a pot roast, meaning she can heal 1 HP.

Now, with the monster having 5 HP left, Sonia could wait until the next turn to finish it off, but rather

than waste time, she has enough hearts to use her Ice Soul. She gets bonus damage with ice from

her Blue Cape, and the Spectral Sword is weak to ice as well, which would double the damage, but

that isn’t important in this particular case, because even without weaknesses or item bonuses, the Ice

Soul alone does 5 damage, which will finish off the Spectral Sword handily. Sonia gains 1XP, and

draws an item card. Upon use, the Ice Soul also automatically restores 5 HP to Sonia and anyone

within 2 spaces of her, thus ending her turn with full health.

Events The blue-bordered cards in the encounter deck are Event cards. Some events happen automatically

when drawn, in which case they are discarded once they are resolved. Others require a test of some

sort. Sometimes you will need to roll to determine the outcome, and some events require a certain

ability in order to pass successfully. If an event requires a test or ability, the player who initially draws

the event card must attempt it. If this player is unsuccessful due to a failed roll, or not having the

necessary skill yet, the card may remain available for other players to attempt if it has a potential

desirable outcome (it is up to the players to decide if they want to keep it. If a card has only negative 14

outcomes, or the potential positives are not worth the time or risk, they are never required to attempt

it again, and may discard it after the initial attempt). If someone may want to attempt it again, place

one of the green Event markers on the appropriate space on the board where the card was

drawn, and place the matching marker (same letter) on the card, and set it beside the board for

reference. Players may now choose to stop their movement on or within 2 spaces of the event

marker, and may attempt it again if they wish. Once the best possible outcome is achieved, the card

is discarded. If you do decide to stop and attempt an event that is already on the board, you still

draw your own encounter as well. (If you are unsure about a particular event, look for it in the

Glossary and Card Clarifications, starting on p.32)

Map Deck The Map Deck is an optional game mechanic which introduces more chaos and provides unique

conditions for each of the 6 stages in the game. If

you use the Map Deck, you may either draw 6 of the

normal location cards, or 5, and one starting

location. Starting locations may only be used for the

first stage on the board, and are meant to ease the

players into the game, help with leveling up early,

and if a player is using Soma, it will ensure Soma

obtains at least one soul early in the game. The

starting locations show the castle entrance in the

lower right corner of the card back, see the image to

the right.

Normal Location Starting Location

Note: Some locations will not work in the alternate game modes. See “Variants, p.25” for more info. Also, if you are playing a solo game, most locations will work, but you will need to remove Catacombs, as it requires other players in order to function properly. Starting Locations: All starting locations work the same way. See the

example to the right. Each one guarantees you only fight one type of

monster while you are in the first stage of the game. All of these are fairly

weak monsters which drop hearts, and all have a soul for Soma. If you are

using one of these locations, when you draw a monster, no matter what it

is, refer to the location card, and use the stats, including drops, shown

there instead of what is on the actual monster card. As soon as the boss

of the first stage has been defeated, shuffle all discarded monsters (but

not events) back into the encounter deck so that they can still be

encountered later in their true forms. If you return to the first stage later

on, you will still only fight the type of monster shown on the location, but

15

do not reshuffle them again, this is only done the first time the stage is completed. Also, once the

Stage

1 boss has been defeated, you no longer gain XP for any monsters in Stage 1, should you decide to

return there later. ( This only applies when using one of the starting location cards)

Leveling Up

Players receive XP each time they kill a monster. The amount of XP received depends on the

monster’s HP and the difficulty level you are playing. Refer to the difficulty reference sheet. Once you

reach 6 XP, you level up and go back to 0 XP. You also level up by defeating bosses, or sometimes

as a result of an event card. In these cases, you just instantly unlock a new weapon or ability, no XP

is gained or lost. So if you have 5 of the 6 XP needed to level up, and then an event or boss battle

causes you to level up, you still keep the 5 XP you had before, so only one more regular monster kill

is needed to level again. When a boss is defeated, all players who are in the boss room when it was

killed level up. The player who lands the killing blow also claims that stage’s relic as a bonus.

Leveling up allows you to either select an additional secondary ability, or if your character has more

than one primary weapon, as most do, you can unlock the next one in sequence, based on the

numbered crest at the bottom right of the card. After leveling up, you still keep all previously unlocked

weapons and abilities. They remain available to switch between, keep them separate from your

equipped weapons so it is clear which ones are equipped. The optional character mats have specific

spaces to indicate which abilities can be equipped simultaneously to make this process simpler.

Equipment Along with single-use attacks and healing items, you will find pieces of equippable armor in the item

deck, which comes in 6 types, as indicated by the icons in the upper right corner:

Headgear Body Armor Cape Accessory Footwear Shield

Most characters can equip one of each type of armor at a time, unless a particular card changes that.

The Garbo Hat, for example, allows you to equip 2 accessories at once. The character mats only

have one space for accessories, so in this case, place the extra one off to the side. There is no limit

to the number of items you can carry, but you only benefit from the ones you actually have equipped.

16

If you aren’t using the character mats, be sure to position your cards in such a way that you and

everyone else can easily tell which cards are equipped, and which are passive items you are

carrying, either turn them sideways or face-down in a stack until you need to change. Non-equippable

items, such as food, single-use attacks, etc. do not need to be equipped or otherwise prepared prior

to use, they can be used directly from your stack of carried items.

The first 5 types of armor all have their own separate equipment slot, as seen on the character mats.

Shields are slightly different. They are treated like any other equipment card, in that they have to be

equipped in order to function, and you may only use one at a time, however, shields do not have a

designated equipment slot. Instead, shields can be placed in any other equipment slot you wish. So if

you find a shield, but don’t currently have a cape that you care to use, the shield can fill your cape

slot. (Shields are a new addition as of the “ Morning Sun“ expansion.)

There are 6 colors of defense dice, all with a different combination of faces. Shield-type items

typically allow you to use a combination of 2 defense dice, as indicated by the colored shield icons on

the card. Some other items and abilities also give you defense dice. You can use as many defense

dice as you are able to equip in your item slots. Shields do not have a designated slot, but can be

equipped in any other unused armor slot.

There is a difference between actual shields, and other defensive items. If you are wearing body armor

or a helmet that gives you a defense die, it will only protect you. However, if you have a shield item

equipped, it may be used to defend another player in combat within 2 spaces of you. A player in

combat may defend him or herself with any defensive gear they have equipped, and if necessary, can

be defended by only one other player with a shield. So when 4 players are all fighting a boss together,

and you all have shields, decide which of you would be most helpful to the player you are trying to

protect. When using a shield to protect another player, if the shield has a counterattack or Karma Coin

effect, this effect applies to the player being defended. Examples:

The player being defended, not the one holding the shield, would gain the 1 heart

if a Karma Coin is rolled.

This shield does still break and the player holding it must discard it, but the defended

player would be the one to reroll the combat dice and take additional damage.Please

don’t try to defend your buddy with an Alucart Shield if you want to remain friends.

17

When rolling to defend yourself, you may only use 1 shield and 1 other defensive item at once. Any

non-item abilities your character has can add extra dice on top of a shield and armor, but unless the

card says otherwise, these extra dice are only for your own protection. So, shield + body armor,

shield + helmet, etc. When defending another player within 2 spaces, you can only use your shield,

or any abilities that specifically say they can target other players, your armor only protects you.

Also, if you have an item or ability that allows you to reroll combat dice, such as the Eye relic, those

rerolls must be done before you attempt to defend. Lastly, defense dice cannot be rolled to protect

you from damage taken while running away from battle or damage from events.

The only characters who are an exception to the normal armor setup are Pumpkin and Trevor.

Pumpkin cannot equip headgear, but has his own special set of costumes in his skill deck. These

take the place of normal headgear for Pumpkin. Trevor comes along with Grant and Sypha, who each

have their own separate spaces for their 5 pieces of armor. (See Trevor in the “Characters” section

for more info.)

Armor and weaponry can be swapped in 2 ways. If you are not currently in battle, prior to rolling for

movement, you may change as many weapons or pieces of armor as you wish at no cost. However, if

you need to change equipment at any other time, such as during battle, or to handle an event card

that was just drawn, you may do so at the cost of 2 hearts per card.

Sharing Items: On your turn, you may give (not receive) one item to another player within 2 spaces of

you. On the other player’s turn, they may pass an item to you as well if they are still within range.

18

Example: Alucard encounters an Arachne. He currently has hisMorningstar equipped, which is a crushing weapon. Arachne is weak toslashing, so Alucard can spend 2 hearts to switch back to his Short Sword,which, while normally the Morningstar is the stronger weapon, theArachne’s weakness makes a sword a better choice for this battle. The Arachne also attacks with poison, and Alucard just happened to pick up an

Immunity Ring several turns ago, but currently has a Ruby Ring equipped

instead. If he wishes, he may spend another 2 hearts to switch to the

Immunity Ring for this battle, since he isn’t planning on using fire, the Ruby

Ring won’t help much at the moment, but the Immunity Ring will not only

prevent him from being poisoned during battle, it will protect him from

taking any damage at all against the Arachne, as she has no other attack attributes. Once the battle

is over, Alucard is free to change his equipment back, without spending hearts.

Status Effects There are 3 attributes which, when a monster hits you with them, inflict a lasting status effect. All

status effects begin on the turn after the current battle ends.

Curse - (This is not related to the curse clock) Take 3 curse status markers. On your

next 3 turns, you may only use your primary weapon. All secondary abilities,

meaning anything that is not a primary weapon, even non-combat abilities or

passive abilities such as Nathan’s DSS cards, are locked until this status wears off.

Discard one curse marker at the end of your next 3 turns.

Stone - Take 1 stone status marker, you are petrified on your next turn, you

may not move or take any action.

Poison - Take 3 poison status markers, and at the beginning of each of your

next 3 turns, remove one poison marker and lose 3 HP, but you cannot be

directly killed by poison. It will take you no lower than 1 HP.

Bosses and Dracula Relics (Relics are not used in Classic Mode)

You will face 5 bosses on your way to Dracula. These are selected at random at the start of the

game. Each boss is kept face down until at least one player enters the room and decides to begin the

19

battle. Depending on your difficulty level and current stage, you may draw from 3 different tiers of

bosses, refer to the difficulty sheet, and the tiered boss list below. When a player enters the boss

room, they have the option of starting the boss battle immediately, or waiting only one turn in order for

others to catch up and enter the room (If the player rolled an encounter as they entered the boss

room, whether they choose to engage the boss or not, the encounter is ignored.) Once entering the

boss room, you cannot leave, and cannot wait more than one turn before beginning the battle, even if

you are alone. Bosses typically have much higher HP and higher ATK than normal monsters, and

some even have special conditions for defeating them. You will all have to work together to survive.

Try to keep every player alive if possible, because when the boss is killed, only the players in the

room level up. If you inflicted a great deal of damage to the boss, if you are killed and sent back to

the start of the stage, and the boss dies before you make it back into the room, you will not level up.

However, whether you are in the room or not, all players are returned to full health immediately after

the boss’s death, (any status effects inflicted by the boss take effect after the battle is over, on your

first turn going into the next stage) and any players still earlier in the level may (but aren’t required to)

warp immediately to the boss room to join the rest of the group. Unlike normal monsters, if a roll

would result in the death of both the attacking player and the boss, the player survives, as his/her

health is instantly restored to full when the boss dies.

After defeating each boss, draw item cards equal to the number of players, lay them out for everyone

to see, and decide who will take which card. Everyone must take one of these cards, one player

cannot take more than one, and all players receive this boss treasure, even if they were not in the

boss room when the battle ended.

In addition to gaining a level, the player who landed the killing blow takes that boss’s relic. The relics

are the 5 parts of Dracula’s body needed to break the curse. Once receiving a relic, it is bound to the

recipient, and cannot be given to another player. When you reach the final room of Stage 6 to

confront Dracula, the curse cannot be broken until all players carrying a relic have reached the final

room.

(Relics continued on next page)

Each of the 5 relics also grants the owner a special ability, as follows:

20

Eye: If you would be killed by a combat roll, you may reroll once to attempt to survive.

Only applies to deaths during combat, not as a result of events.

Rib: You may reroll one scythe per battle.

Heart: Immune to both status effects and damage from Poison, Stone, and Curse.

Nail: +3 to primary attack damage.

Ring: Gain 1 heart at the start of each turn. If your character already automatically

gains hearts each turn, the effects stack, gain 2 hearts per turn.

When you are ready to move on after a boss fight, return the Stage Clock to 1, pass the Leader

Token to the player to the left of the one who killed the boss, and proceed into the next stage.

Remember to check the difficulty reference sheet for any new rules for this stage, and turn over the

next Map card, if applicable.

21

Boss Tiers

Tier 1 Bosses Tier 2 Bosses Tier 3

Adramalech Angel Mummy Behemoth Bone Golem Brachyura Carmilla Cerberus Creaking Skull Cyclops Death Dragon Flying Armor Gergoth Giant Bat Giant Merman Hellhound Hippogryph Legion Leviathan Medusa (CV1) 190/2Minotaur Mummies Necromancer Paranoia Phantom Bat Princess of Moss Puwexil Shaft Skull Knight Stained Glass Knight Water Dragon Werewolf(Rondo) 275/3Wyvern Zapf Bat Zephyr

Abaddon Aguni Arthroverta AstarteBalore Beelzebub Blackmore Brauner Death (CV1) 450/4Death (Bloodlines) 400/4Dragon Zombies Elizabeth Bartley Frankenstein & Igor Gobanz Headhunter Joachim Armster Medusa (Lament) 450/3Olrox Pazuzu Puppet Master Rahab Scylla She-WolfSlogra & Gaibon Succubus Water Magician Werewolf (PoR) 450/4

Death (OoE) 400/5Forgotten One Frankenstein (HC)Galamoth GoliathGraham Jones Keremet Koranot Maneater Menace Talos

22

Difficulty There are 5 difficulty levels for the standard game. As you are setting up a new game, decide which

difficulty level you want to play, and lay the appropriate reference sheet out for everyone to see.

Difficulty levels dictate the number of Curse Cards that are shuffled into the encounter deck, as well

as any changes to enemy HP or ATK as you progress to each new stage on the board, how much XP

is received for monster kills, and the difficulty of the bosses for each stage. Morning Sun is the

Beginner mode, and has a slight change to how the Curse Clock functions, and a few of the more

complex or especially cruel (see also: unfair) events are removed from the encounter deck for your

first game.

Difficulty levels are not used in Classic Mode. A difficulty level is selected for Lord of the Castle Mode,

but no curse cards are added to the deck, it only affects enemy HP/ATK, XP, and Boss selection, and

keep in mind, the higher difficulty level for the hunters, the easier it is for the Dracula player.

DeathWhen your health is reduced to 0, you are killed. However, the only time death is permanent is when

you are killed by Dracula himself. If you are killed at any other point in the game, you do get to return

to the game immediately, but a few horrible, horrible things happen first...

1. The Curse Clock advances by one hour.

2. You lose a level. You can choose to give up any one secondary ability, or your highest-

numbered primary weapon. (You never lose your starting weapons, so if you are killed near the

beginning of the game before you have leveled up, you still keep whatever you started the

game with)

3. You must discard all unequipped items. Any gear currently equipped may be kept, and you

also keep your current supply of hearts.

4. Place your character token back at the start of the current stage, (either in the previous boss

room, or back outside the castle entrance if in the first stage). If there is a save room

somewhere in the current stage, you may revive there instead if you like. Play proceeds to the

next player, and you may begin moving through the stage again on your next turn.

5. If you are killed by a monster, and you are the only one fighting it, the monster is discarded, it

does not stay in place for other players to attack later. However, if another player has already

stopped to help, and either player is killed, the monster does remain for the other to continue

fighting on their next turn. In this case, regardless of which player remains, their next turn is

spent fighting the monster, they do not draw a separate encounter.

(There are different rules for death if you are playing in Classic Mode. Refer to “Variants” for details.)

23

Dracula and Breaking the Curse The Curse Clock remains in effect until Dracula’s Curse has been broken. Once the 5th boss has

been defeated, the 5 relics will usually be divided between a few players. A relic cannot be

transferred, it is bound to the character who defeated the boss guarding it. In order to break the

curse, any player carrying at least one relic must reach the Castle Keep (the final room of the 6th

stage.) Once you reach the Keep, you no longer take turns, and will pass each turn until the

remaining relic-bearing characters arrive. You are free to continue passing until every player arrives,

but if you are running the risk of the clock striking midnight before the last player arrives, as long as

all of the relic-bearers are present, you may proceed while the rest of the party catches up. Once all

relics are inside the Keep, they must be destroyed with fire. This can be done with any sort of fire-

based attack or item, so be sure you are prepared for this in advance. If the only option is a fire spell

or subweapon, you must spend the hearts necessary to use this ability. If a fire item is used, it is

discarded, and if a primary weapon with a fire element is used, it must be equipped, but you do not

need to roll for success. At this point, the curse is broken and the curse clock is removed from the

game. So even if other players are still making their way through the final stage, and a curse card is

drawn, or they are killed by a monster or event, the advancing of the curse is no longer a concern.

Any perks the players have gained from the now-destroyed relics they were carrying are also lost

once Dracula is summoned.

In the process of destroying the relics, while successfully breaking the curse, Dracula is resurrected,

and immediately engages the character who ignited the relics. This character draws a random card

from the Dracula deck and begins the battle. Each Dracula form is unique, they will each have

different HP and ATK values, attack attributes, and some even have different weaknesses, although

Holy weapons are almost always a safe bet. Play proceeds similar to a normal boss fight from that

point, each character in the room will have an opportunity to roll the combat dice and spend hearts to

use secondary attacks, while any player not yet in the room continues rolling for movement and

resolving their encounters. Sometimes these stragglers can be helpful, doing their best to build up

hearts or collect healing items for the group before heading in to join the battle with Dracula. As with

any boss room though, once you enter, there is no going back.

Unlike the rest of the game, if you are killed by Dracula, you are permanently dead, and out of the

game. Any items you were carrying are lost, and cannot be taken by the remaining players as they

continue the battle. So if it looks like you’re going to die, you may want to pass a helpful item to

someone else before you make that last attack roll.

Once Dracula’s HP has been reduced to 0, unless you are very lucky, the game is not necessarily

over yet. Dracula has a chance to resurrect in a different form every time he is defeated. This can

sometimes happen several times in a single game, keep that in mind and try not to use up all of your

hearts and consumable items when fighting the first form unless it is absolutely crucial in order to

24

survive. It is very likely that he will return at least once. In a typical game, players will have to fight

Dracula an average of 3 times. To determine if Dracula will return, roll the 5 combat dice. If you have

only defeated one Dracula form so far, then on the first resurrection roll, even one in this roll will

cause Dracula to resurrect. If this happens, draw another Dracula card and continue the battle from

there. After 2 forms have been defeated, the second resurrection roll requires 2 for Dracula to

resurrect. Then 3 the following time, then 4, then 5, and can continue indefinitely if 5 are rolled

every time after that, but that is extremely unlikely, and even less likely that you will survive that long.

When any Dracula form has been defeated and Dracula is unable to resurrect...Congratulations! The

players (even the dead ones) have won the game!

25

Variants There are two alternate game modes, which will be explained in this section. The text for each is color-

coded, as you will find exceptions and slight rule variations throughout the manual for each of these modes. Once you understand the basics of the modes, you can skim the other sections of the

manual for the corresponding colors to find additional info about Classic Mode and Lord of the Castle

Mode.

Classic Mode is a challenging, stripped-down mode thatis meant to closer resemble the classic linear action-platformer games in the series, as opposed to Simon’s Quest and the later, more rpg-inspired ‘Metroidvanias’ that inspired the standard mode. I recommend playing this after you are already familiar with the standard game.

Note: This mode works best without the Map Deck, but you may include it if you like. Just be sure to first remove the following locations: Abandoned Mine, Alchemy Laboratory, Colosseum, Crystal Cavern, Garden of Madness, Long Library, Marble Gallery, Necromancy Laboratory, Reverse Clock Tower, Sandy Grave, Somnus Reef, Treasury, Tower of Dolls and Mirrors, Town of Veros.

26

The following items can be left in the box, they are not needed for this mode: ● Item Deck ● Curse Clock ● Dracula Relics ● Third movement die (bonus die)● Any special equipment in a character’s skill deck. These are treated as normal clothing/armor

items and cannot be equipped in Classic Mode. (Alucard Mail, Pumpkin’s costumes, Leon’s accessories, anything with an orange equipment type icon in the upper right corner of the card.)

● Curse Cards, Save Room Cards. ● Difficulty sheets. Classic Mode has its own scaling difficulty. ● Experience markers ● Event Markers

★ Lay out the 5 life tokens, crystal side-up. These represent the players’ shared pool of 5 extra lives. This is explained further down. Also place the Classic Mode reference sheet near the board for the players to see.

★ Set aside 3 Save Room markers at the beginning of the game. These can be placed anywherein the castle, at any time, but a save point is only activated once at least one player reaches it. Once placed, they cannot be moved. Simply passing the save room restores health to full and allows you to revive there if you are killed later in the stage, there is no need to stop on the save point as you pass, but you have the option of doing so for a turn if you wish. Warp rooms are still kept in the encounter deck, but all save room cards should be removed from the deck beforehand, or simply discarded when drawn. (If Save Room cards were not removed from thedeck, and one is drawn, draw a new encounter card in place of it)

★ All players choose a character and start with only their first primary weapon, no secondary abilities are chosen at the start of the game. (There are a few exceptions to this, refer to the Characters section to see if your character starts with any special equipment in Classic mode)Roll only the two # dice for movement. You will have an encounter on every turn if not already engaged with an enemy from a previous turn. Unlike the standard mode, you may not move backward, but you can still stop short of your roll next to another player, or in a save room. Event cards may still force you to move backward, but you may not purposely move backward.

★ Event cards in this mode may only be attempted once. If you fail, discard the card, it does not stay on the board and cannot be attempted again. Some events will not apply in this mode, such as a villager who requests certain items, or offers to turn items into something else, or thelibrarian, who accepts 2 items in exchange for the player leveling up, or basically anything else that refers to the curse clock, or requires the players to have items. However, if an event wouldresult in a player gaining an item or items, the player instead levels up. The same applies to event cards such as the Clock Tower Gap or Guardian Armor, which instruct you to distribute items amongst the players. If you are successful in one of these events, you may choose which players get to level up, rather than distributing items To save time, rather than going through the whole encounter deck and pulling out specific cards, just shuffle the entire deck, and during the game, if you draw something that you aren’t sure how to resolve, or which doesn’t make sense in the context of this mode, just discard it and draw the next card. See thelist of events to ignore at the end of this section.

27

★ When you roll doubles of any number, you have a few options:

○ Level up: Unlock either your next primary weapon in sequence, or unlock a secondary weapon/ability.

○ You may choose to restore any combination of HP or hearts in the amount of one die.

Example: if you roll double 4s, you can recover 4 HP or 4 hearts, or you can choose to

split it and take 1 heart and 3 HP, or 2 of each, etc.

○ One exception. Double candles allow you to level up, and will also give you exactly 2

hearts and 2 HP, these cannot be divided any other way, even if your hearts or health

are already full.

★ When monsters drop items, whether they are random chest items or a specific item, you level up. No items of any kind are ever kept in this mode. Monsters who drop hearts are treated as normal, and can only be taken as hearts, not HP. Monsters who drop any type of food or healing item can be used to restore the appropriate number of HP immediately and then discarded, or they can be treated as a level-up item as with any other item in this mode. Soma gains souls as usual, and may not unlock them any other way.

★ When pot roasts are rolled in combat in this mode, their healing value increases based

on how many are rolled. If only 1, you heal or cancel out 1 HP of damage. If 2, each

heals

2 HP for a total of 4. If 3, heal 3 per for a total of 9, and so on. ★ There is no curse or stage clock in this mode. No time limit, but all players have a

shared pool of only 5 extra lives for the entire game, represented by the 5 “1up”tokens. When a player is killed, flip one token to the “doll” side, showing it hasbeen exhausted. Once these 5 lives are depleted, the players may continue aslong as they can survive, but any player killed from that point on is out of thegame, and may then proceed to kick rocks while the more skilled and/or luckyplayers continue the game and probably get killed a few minutes later.

★ If you still have extra lives remaining, upon death, you will start at the beginning of the stage as

usual, but you will lose all of your upgrades, subweapons, etc. as well as all hearts, and go

back to only your starting equipment.

★ When you defeat a boss, the normal rules regarding leveling up, restoring health, and warping straight to the boss room if you are lagging behind still apply. The one change here is that after each boss, everyone’s hearts are reset to 0 before beginning the next stage.

★ In order for Dracula to resurrect after one form is defeated, 3 scythes need to be rolled each time, rather than starting at 1 and increasing after each form. If Dracula is defeated and less than 3 scythes are rolled on any resurrection roll, the players win.

Monster HP does not scale up in this mode, but all monster and boss ATK is predetermined by stage, as follows: Stage 1: Monsters ATK 1, Boss ATK 2 Stage 2: Monsters ATK 2, Boss ATK 3 Stage 3: Monsters ATK 3, Boss ATK 3

28

Stage 4: Monsters ATK 3, Boss ATK 4 Stage 5: Monsters ATK 4, Boss ATK 4 Stage 6: Monsters ATK 4, Dracula (Follow ATK on card)

★ Recommended events to ignore in this mode: Aeon the Village Chef, Broken Armor, Castle

Map, Ferryman, George the Minstrel, Graveyard (If only 1-2 players), Hammer, Headhunter,

Laura the Jeweler, Lisa, Locked Door, Locked Door 2, Lord of the Castle, Loretta Lecarde, What a Horrible Place to Take a Nap, Pachinko, Saint Germain, Stella Lecarde, Treasury, Zead, Zombies, Save Rooms.

29

Lord of the Castle Mode is an

asymmetrical variant, where one

player will take on the role of a

reincarnation of Dracula, who is in

control of everything the hunters encounter as they fight through the castle toward him. This is an

expanded version of the infamous “Lord of the Castle” event card which has been present in the

game from the start.

Note: If you have extraordinarily bad luck, this mode can be randomly initiated in the middle of a standard game by drawing the “Lord of the Castle” card and failing a die roll. In this case, if a player does randomly become Dracula, they exchange their character’s cards for the Dracula Powers deck, and place their character’s token in the Castle Keep (at the end of stage 6). From that point on, follow the rest of the rules shown here. You do not need to go through the encounter deck and remove all curse cards, if Dracula draws a curse card, just discard it face-up and redraw. The relics of the true Dracula are still placed throughout the castle, they provide the same bonuses

and must be used in the same way as the standard mode at the end of the game. No curse cards

30

should be placed in the encounter deck for this mode, and the Lord of the Castle card should also be

removed from the encounter deck, or simply discarded if drawn. The players should all agree on a difficulty level for this mode, keeping 2 things in mind:

➔ Do not add any curse cards to the encounter deck, regardless of difficulty level. ➔ As difficulty is increased for the hunters, the game is made easier for Dracula.

The Dracula player shuffles all decks except for the item deck and keeps them nearby. Dracula draws

3 cards from the encounter deck at the start of the game. This is Dracula’s starting hand, and is kept

hidden from all other players. Dracula’s starting hand limit is 3, and increases by 1 for every hour that

passes on the Curse Clock. Ex. if the curse is at 5, Dracula’s hand limit will be 8. If for any reason the

curse is reduced, Dracula must immediately discard down to the current level.

Depending on what is in Dracula’s hand, or if he is trying to save a particular monster or event for a

certain character who may be vulnerable to it, Dracula may be forced to occasionally play events that

are helpful to a hunter. There is usually little benefit for Dracula to play these events, but it can be a

strategic move at times.

Some events, such as the “Castle Map” event, instruct players to draw from the encounter deck until

they have 5 events to place throughout the castle. Should Dracula choose to play the Castle Map

event, this is handled as in a normal game, Dracula does not control where these extra events are

placed. The same applies for “Horde of Monsters”, the hunters will draw the monsters at random from

the encounter deck, shuffling any event cards back in once they find 5 monster cards, they cannot

come from Dracula’s hand.

Dracula also has a deck of special powers that can each be used only once per stage. If any power is

not used in a particular stage, it cannot be saved and used in a later stage. The powers are either

used before the stage is complete, or forfeited. Dracula will select 2 of these powers at the start of the

game, which are kept face-down along with his encounter hand, he may use these anywhere in the

first stage. He may select a number of new powers at the beginning of each stage going forward,

depending on the position of the Curse Hand on the clock when the stage begins. Once a power is

used in a stage, do not discard it with the encounter cards, just lay it out face-up in the Dracula play

area so it can be seen. With the exception of Trance, all powers must be used before a player rolls or

takes any action.

Curse XII-II……....Select 2 powers III-V………….…….Select 3 powers

VI-VII………….…..Select 4 powers

VIII-IX………….….Select 5 powers

X-XI…………….….All powers available

31

PowersBleed – Remove all hearts from one hunterMalediction – Give one monster or boss +3 ATK for one full roundNightmare – Return one event from the discard pile to your handRaise – Return one monster from the discard pile to your handRegenerate – Restore HP to one monster or boss (roll # dice)Trance – Force a hunter to reroll once during combatVanish – Discard hand and redraw Before the hunters enter each of the first 5 stages, Dracula draws 3 boss cards and selects which

one the players will fight at the end of the current stage, and discards the other two, face-up, so the

hunters can see which bosses were not selected. Discarded bosses are out of the game and cannot

be used again later. Once selected, the boss of the stage cannot be changed unless Dracula draws

and decides to play an event that will do so. If you are using the optional Map Deck, Dracula selects

the locations in the same way before the players enter each stage, but only draws 2 locations,

chooses one, and discards the other face-up. It should be agreed upon beforehand by all players if

the special Stage 1 locations will be used in this mode or not. If not, Dracula may remove the Stage 1

cards from the location deck before shuffling and drawing, also be sure to remove the Reverse

Clock Tower location from the Map Deck, as no curse cards are used in this mode.. (I recommend

not using the Stage 1 locations in this mode, as it will leave Dracula with very limited options in the

first stage, and potentially give the hunters an unfair advantage for the remainder of the game.) If

someone is playing Soma, in this mode only, he may begin the game with any one of the

following souls: Fleaman, Zombie, Skeleton, Medusa Head, Warg, Ghost, or Merman.

When hunters receive items, they draw one more item card than is needed, and choose one to

discard face-up before secretly taking the other(s). For example, if there are 3 hunters in the game,

and a boss is defeated, they draw 4 item cards, choose one to discard, and then decide who takes

the other 3 (as with the standard mode, each player must take only one). If a monster drops 2 items, 3

are drawn, the hunter discards one and keeps the other 2, etc. In the rare case that any of the decks

are depleted, shuffle and reuse the discard piles.

All of the hunter players’ unequipped cards should be kept face-down. They may be shown to other

hunters secretly, but never to Dracula. When an item or weapon is equipped, it is placed openly face-

up, in view of Dracula.

As soon as each boss is defeated, Dracula must show his remaining hand to the hunters, who may

choose up to 3 encounter cards (Not powers) to force Dracula to discard. Of these 3, 2 will go to the

discard pile, and the hunters choose one to remove from the game completely, so that Dracula cannot

retrieve it from the discard pile later. Dracula keeps the remaining cards in his hand, and redraws up

to his current limit before beginning the next stage.

32

Dracula can win one of two ways: If the Curse Clock strikes midnight, or if the hunters make it to the

battle with Dracula and are all killed. As with the standard game, the hunters can only win if they can

make it through the castle before the clock runs out, and then defeat Dracula. Dracula forms are

selected by drawing 2, selecting 1 and discarding the other. If all forms run out, reshuffle the discards.

Characters As of this release, the game contains 21 playable characters, 22 including Dracula (Lord of the

Castle mode only). Here is a brief summary of the play styles and unique benefits of each of the 21

hunter characters.

Albus

Appearances – Order of Ecclesia, Early 1800s

Primary – Agartha

Secondary – Glyph Magic

Special – Dominus, Agartha powers up with each Dominus glyph unlocked

Starting – Agartha, one secondary

Alucard Fahrenheit Tepes

Appearances - Dracula’s Curse, 1476; Symphony of the Night, 1797; Aria of Sorrow, 2035; Dawn of Sorrow, 2036; Judgment; Harmony of Despair Primary - Swords

Secondary - Subweapons, Dark Magic, Shapeshifting

Special - Gains 1 heart for every rolled in combat.

Starting - Short Sword, one secondary

Charlotte Aulin

Appearances - Portrait of Ruin, 1944; Harmony of Despair Primary - Magic Tomes

Secondary - Magic Spells

Special - Heart Regeneration (Gain 1 at the start of every turn)

33

Starting – Encyclopedia, one accessory, one spell

Classic Starting - Encyclopedia, one spell

Cornell

Appearances - Legacy of Darkness, 1844; Judgment Primary - Claws, Energy Scythes

Secondary - Werewolf Form, Subweapons

Special - Rampage Mode: Cornell takes no damage and maintains werewolf form for an entire battle. Sun and Moon Cards: Allow Cornell to turn the clock back an hour at the cost of 15 hearts, or turn the clock forward an hour to gain 15 hearts.

Starting - Claws, Werewolf Transformation, one secondary Classic Starting - Claws, Werewolf Transformation

Eric Lecarde

Appearances - Bloodlines,1917; Portrait of Ruin,1944; Judgment Primary - Alucard Spear

Secondary - Subweapons, Spear Abilities

Special - Mirror of Truth (Inflict 100 HP Damage on all currently engaged enemies in the entire stage) Starting - Alucard Spear, one secondary

Hector

Appearances - Curse of Darkness, 1479 Primary - Swords, Axes, Spears

Secondary - Devil Forgery

Special - Summons Innocent Devils to assist in battle. Once summoned, the Devil stays with Hectoruntil the current battle has ended. Hector will make a separate combat roll on behalf of the summoned Devil, counting only the hits. Innocent Devils do not heal or take damage.

Starting - Short Sword, one Innocent Devil

34

Henry Oldrey

Appearances - Legacy of Darkness, 1844

Primary – Flintlock Revolver

Secondary – Subweapons, Gun Abilities

Special – Save children for various bonuses. If all are saved, first form of Dracula has ½ HP.

Starting – Flintlock Revolver, one secondary

Jonathan Morris

Appearances - Portrait of Ruin, 1944; Harmony of Despair Primary - Assortment of whips

Secondary - Subweapons, Martial Arts

Special - Dual Crush. Jonathan can spend additional hearts when using a secondary attack in order tocombine it with another player’s secondary attack. The damage and attributes of both of these attacksare combined. The second player has the option to contribute 2 hearts to the attack as well, which willdouble the damage. (Triple if the monster is weak to the attack.) Dual Crush may only be used once per battle.

Starting - Leather Whip, one secondary

Julius Belmont

Appearances - Aria of Sorrow, 2035; Dawn of Sorrow, 2036; Harmony of Despair Primary - Vampire Killer Secondary - Subweapons, Martial Arts, Whip Abilities

Special - Julius’ Vampire Killer gains power with each subweapon he unlocks. Also, only he andSimon have the Whip Swing ability, which allows them to easily bypass certain traps. Starting - Vampire Killer, one secondary

Juste Belmont

Appearances - Harmony of Dissonance, 1748 Primary - Vampire Killer

Secondary - Subweapons

35

Special - Can augment the Vampire Killer with special tips to add damage and special attributes to

primary attacks. Magic Books serve the same purpose for Juste’s subweapons. Juste also possesses

the Fairy Journal, which gives him some control over the monsters he encounters.

In Lord of the Castle mode, the original monster is returned to Dracula’s hand, and Dracula must

choose another monster from his hand to replace it. If Dracula only has one monster in his hand at

the time, Juste draws from the encounter deck as normal, keeping the first monster and shuffling any

events back in.

Starting - Vampire Killer, one secondary

Leon Belmont

Appearances - Lament of Innocence, 1094 Primary Weapon - Whips

Secondary - Subweapons, Magic Orbs

Special - Magic Orbs add damage and special attributes to subweapons. Leon also has a few special accessories that grant him unique bonuses.

Starting - Whip of Alchemy, one secondary

Maria Renard

Appearances - Rondo of Blood, 1792; Symphony of the Night, 1797; Judgment; Harmony of Despair Primary - Doves, Owls Secondary - Summoning

Special - Heart Regeneration (Gain 1 at the start of every turn)

Starting - Doves, one secondary

Nathan Graves

Appearances - Circle of the Moon, 1830 Primary - Hunter Whip

Secondary - Subweapons, Magic Cards

Special - Can combine the Mercury, Neptune, and Pluto cards with any of the elemental DSS cards for various effects.

Starting - Hunter Whip, Mercury, Neptune, one secondary (Can be either a subweapon or any DSS card)Classic Starting - Hunter Whip, Mercury and Neptune

36

Pumpkin

Appearances - Lament of Innocence, 1094; Curse of Darkness, 1479 Primary - Vampire Killer

Secondary - Pumpkin Subweapons

Special - Unable to equip any type of normal headgear due to his massive pumpkin head, but instead has his own unique set of costumes, each with its own special ability.

Starting - Vampire Killer, base Pumpkin Subweapon

Richter Belmont

Appearances - Rondo of Blood / Dracula X / Vampire’s Kiss, 1792; Symphony of the Night, 1797; Harmony of Despair Primary - Vampire Killer

Secondary - Subweapons, Martial Arts

Special - Subweapon Crashes - Much more powerful versions of each subweapon. Any bonuses forsubweapons also apply to crashes, such as the Brilliant Mail, which grants +1 damage for all subweapons. Richter also has the highest starting primary attack of all characters, making him very powerful in the early game, however, his primary weapon cannot be upgraded later.

Starting - Vampire Killer, one secondary

Shanoa

Appearances - Order of Ecclesia, Early 1800s; Judgment; Harmony of Despair Primary - Weapon Glyphs

Secondary - Glyph Magic

Special - Shanoa can equip any 3 glyphs at once, as long as at least one is a primary weapon, meaning that she is the only character in the game who has the ability to equip more than one primaryweapon. If 2 or more primary weapons are equipped, you must choose which you are attacking with for each combat roll, and use 6 combat dice. The only time Shanoa can equip 3 secondary glyphs is when she intends to use Dominus. To use Dominus, she must equip Dominus Anger, Dominus Agony,and Dominus Hatred together. With all 3 of these glyphs equipped in combat, rather than making a combat roll, she can instantly kill any monster or boss in the game, even Dracula, but Shanoa will alsobe killed in the process, with a few changes from normal death. An hour does not pass on the Curse Clock. she still loses a level and all unequipped items, but also, all pieces of Dominus are lost back to her upgrade deck and must be unlocked again if you wish to use Dominus again later, so this should

37

only be used when there is no other hope. If Dominus is used against Dracula, as with any other death during the Dracula battle, death is permanent.

Starting - Confodere, one other glyph

Simon Belmont

Appearances - Castlevania / Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Chronicles, 1691; Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, 1698; Judgment; Harmony of Despair Primary - Vampire Killer

Secondary - Subweapons, Whip Abilities

Special - With a combination of brute strength and holy weapons, Simon has the potential to be the strongest character in the game, but his arsenal is not quite as versatile as most others. Also, only heand Julius have the Whip Swing ability, which allows them to easily bypass certain traps.

Starting - Leather Whip, one secondary

Soma Cruz

Appearances - Aria of Sorrow, 2035; Dawn of Sorrow, 2036; Harmony of Despair Primary- Handguns, Swords, Axes, Spears, and let’s not forget Terror Bear! Secondary - Dominance

Special - Soma starts with only a primary weapon. All of his secondary attacks come from his ability

to absorb souls from enemies. When any monster or boss with the icon is killed, Soma immediately unlocks that ability, and can equip up to two souls simultaneously. Soma does not have to be the one who killed the monster, or even be nearby. When Soma levels up, he only upgrades his primary weapon, souls have to come directly from monsters. Likewise, when Soma is killed, only his primary weapon is downgraded, souls are never sacrificed. Keep in mind that Soma is the

reincarnation of Dracula, and though it is very unlikely, there is a chance that during the final battle, Soma could be possessed by Dracula again and turn on the rest of the hunters. If this happens,

Soma will have to sit this battle out, however, if the rest of the team is able to defeat evil Soma, andDracula then resurrects in another form, an all-powerful version of Soma will emerge and rejoin thehunters to finish the fight.

Starting - Handgun

Classic Starting - Handgun, one of the following souls (only if not using starting locations): Fleaman, Zombie, Skeleton, Medusa Head, Warg, Ghost, or Merman. Lord of the Castle Starting - Handgun, one of the following souls (only if not using starting locations):

Fleaman, Zombie, Skeleton, Medusa Head, Warg, Ghost, or Merman.

38

Sonia Belmont

Appearances - Castlevania Legends, 1450 Primary - Vampire Killer

Secondary - Soul Weapons

Special - Burning Mode: Sonia takes no damage for one entire battle, similar to Cornell’s Rampage Mode.

Starting - Leather Whip, one secondary

Trevor Belmont / Grant Danasty / Sypha Belnades

Appearances - Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, 1476; Curse of Darkness, 1479; Judgment (Note: Trevor is one of the more complicated hunters to play, there are special rules for him, and he requires essentially managing equipment on 3 separate characters simultaneously. I recommend waiting to use him until you have played a few games and are familiar with the gameplay.) Primary - Vampire Killer/Short Dagger/Warakiya Staff

Secondary - Subweapons, Spells

Special - Trevor is accompanied by Grant and Sypha, who can each equip their own 5 pieces of armor. The skill deck for the trio has the same card back, but at the lower left corner of each, the card shows which character(s) use that ability. A few of the subweapons are shared between the 3 characters, but only one may equip them at a time. Example: The axe subweapon may be used by both Trevor and Grant. If Grant has the axe equipped, Trevor cannot use it unless you actually transfer it to him, which follows the same rules as normal equipment changes. However, all 3 characters are considered to be active together, so you may switch between them at any time at no cost. You may even do so during battle, so you can roll to use Trevor’s Vampire Killer as your primary attack, and then switch to Sypha to throw a few spells before your turn ends. Each character has shared HP and hearts, if one of them dies, they all die. Upon death, you only need to sacrifice one ability or upgrade, not one for each character, and the curse clock still only advances by 1 hour. If you are using the character mats, the HP, hearts, and XP indicators are only on the Trevor mat, but keep the Sypha and Grant mats in front of you as well to manage their separate equipment. Each characteralso has a different combat bonus:

Trevor may reroll a single die during combat against a monster who is weak to his primary attack,Grant gains 1 heart per hit Sypha gains 1 HP per hit.

You are still limited to one combat roll per turn, but may use secondary attacks from any of the 3 at once.

Starting - Leather Whip (Trevor), Warakiya Staff (Sypha), Short Dagger (Grant), and one secondary ability.

39

Yoko Belnades

Appearances - Aria of Sorrow, 2035; Dawn of Sorrow, 2036; Harmony of Despair Primary- Belnades Staff Secondary - Magic, Healing

Special - Primary attack gains power for every new spell unlocked. Heart Regeneration (Gain 1 at the start of each turn)

Starting - Belnades Staff, one secondary

Glossary and Card Clarifications

“Aeon, the Village Chef” Event - Place this card to the side of the board when

drawn. Players may at any time place 3 food items on this card, all players may

contribute, and it does not need to be on their turn. When Aeon receives 3 food

items, discard those 3 item cards and heal every player for the combined value of

the foods used. Aeon remains on the side of the board and is always available,

players do not need to go back to the space where he was encountered. Ignore

and redraw in Classic Mode.

ATK - Amount of damage the monster does to the player for each scythe rolled in combat.

Attribute - “Attribute” refers to the qualities of every attack in the game, both for monster and hunter

attacks. Some possible attributes are Fire, Ice, Holy, Slashing, Flying, Poison, etc. These are

important because they factor into enemy weaknesses, and can also correspond with certain items to

give attack bonuses or immunities to attributes.

Battle - Refers to one full battle with one enemy, regardless of the number of turns it takes to defeat

the enemy. In the case of a boss, if you are killed and then re-engage the boss again later, it is

considered a new battle. For Dracula, each Dracula form is considered an individual battle. This is

especially important in the case of Sonia’s Burning Mode or Cornell’s Rampage Mode. These

characters can be invincible for the entirety of a boss battle, or a battle with one Dracula form, but if

Dracula resurrects in a new form, these abilities end, and the character is once again able to take

damage. The same applies to Hector’s Innocent Devils, which, once summoned, remain in play for

the remainder of only the current battle.

40

“Behemoth” Event - Player takes 2 damage every turn in which they move 3

spaces or less. This is not limited to movement rolls, it also applies if a player is

locked in battle for a turn, held in place by another event, or decides to stop their

movement short of 3 spaces for any reason. Once you reach the boss room, you

are safe from the Behemoth, but the Behemoth remains active until the boss is

defeated, in the event that a player is killed and has to start the stage over, they will

continue to be chased by the Behemoth. If this event happens to come up in the

stage where the Entrance to Demon Castle location was drawn, both effects are happening

simultaneously, as if the players are being chased by 2 Behemoths, one which always attacks the

player at the back of the line at the end of every round, and the other attacks anyone who moves 3

spaces or less on a turn. Can also occur simultaneously with the Garden Maze location.

“Black Ink” Item - This item is only seen as a drop from a specific monster. It has no use on its own,

but you may encounter a certain character at some point in the game who is looking for it. (See also:

Eagle Feather, Horse Hair)

“Blood Cloak” Item - Receive 1 heart each time you take damage. Meaning in

combat, even if you are hit several times, the entire roll that causes damage to you lets

you take 1 heart. Same for damage from events or any other cause, if you need to

reduce your health, whether it is by 1 or by 15, you receive 1 heart.

Boss - The final enemy of each of the first 5 stages in the game. Upon defeating a boss, the person

who inflicted the killing blow receives the Dracula relic that boss was guarding, everyone currently

inside the boss room gains one level immediately, any earned XP is kept. All players, whether in the

room or not, regain all health and if they wish, may move directly to the boss room before beginning

the next stage. Also, item cards equal to the number of players are drawn and laid out for everyone to

see, and decide who will take which item. Each player must take one of these cards. Bosses are

divided into 3 tiers of difficulty, refer to the difficulty sheets for when to use each tier. Once a boss is

defeated, its boss room is treated as a warp room.

“Broken Armor” Event - If you are not currently wearing a piece of armor matching

the 3 types shown on the card, this card has no effect. You may not pay hearts

to remove a piece of armor after drawing this card, but if you are wearing more than

one of the types shown, you may choose which to discard. Ignore and redraw in

Classic Mode.

41

“Castle Map” Event - The 5 events drawn, even if they would typically happen

immediately, can be avoided by placing them behind you, possibly in a previous

stage, so they are out of the way. These events, unlike normal event markers, are

automatically encountered if your movement ends on the space where the marker is

placed, but you may also stop short to attempt the event if you wish.

Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode. In Lord of the Castle Mode, if Dracula plays this

event, the hunters draw from the encounter deck and place the 5 events as in standard mode,

shuffling monsters back in. The events may not come from Dracula’s hand.

“Catacombs” Location - In this stage, when a player runs from a monster, it

moves onto the next player (by turn order, not board position). This may lead to a

pileup of monsters all attacking one player, in which case they must either attack

each individual monster on their turn, or run away. Once the player decides to

attack one monster, they may no longer run away on this turn, they must attack

each other monster as well. On the next turn, they may then run away rather than

continuing to attack. Regardless of the number of monsters, only one run roll is

made, and based on the result, the player may take damage from some

monsters, and not from others. Even if damage was done to one or more of the

monsters prior to running, all monsters are restored to full health when they

approach the next player. If a player is killed by the monsters, they automatically move to the next

player as if the previous player ran from them.

“Chaotic Realm” Location – In this stage, and are reversed. Keep

in mind are more common, so you are more likely to take damage in this

stage. No change to .

Combat Dice - 5 dice used when fighting enemies. Sword = Player hits the enemy with his/her

primary weapon. Scythe = Enemy hits the player for its ATK value. Pot Roast = Player heals 1

HP or cancels out 1 HP of damage done by the enemy on this roll. A 6th combat die is included with

the game, but is only used under special circumstances.

42

Curse Card - When you see any reference to “curse cards”, this is referring to the cards showing an

image of the curse clock and the words “Another hour has passed. Advance the curse counter.”

When one of these cards is drawn from the encounter deck, you must automatically advance the

large hand (outer ring) of the curse clock by one hour. The number of curse cards in the encounter

deck varies depending on the game mode and difficulty level selected. Curse cards, and Curse

Clock, are not used in Classic Mode. Curse Cards are not used in Lord of the Castle Mode.

D6 - Some cards will instruct you to roll a D6, other cards refer to the movement dice, or # dice.

These are all the same thing, it just means to roll the 2 matching movement dice with #s 1-5 and a

candle. Candles typically count as a zero when rolling to resolve an event. There are a few

exceptions when candles count as 6, but these will always be specifically stated on the card. Unless

the card says otherwise, always assume = 0.

Damage - The base amount of damage an attack will do to an enemy. For primary weapons, the

damage value counts for the number of swords rolled in combat. For secondary attacks, the damage

counts for each individual use of that attack. Damage may be altered by weaknesses or immunities to

certain types of attacks. (See: Attributes)

“Death Carriage” Event - The player who draws this event moves back to the

start of the current stage, and then immediately moves 5 spaces, and rolls a

single combat die. Each of that player’s subsequent turns in this stage will be

the same, automatically move 5 spaces, roll one combat die. If the player rolls a

3 times before reaching the end of the stage, they succeed. If they reach

the end of the stage before 3 are rolled, they fail. As soon as the third is

rolled, the event ends, and the player may begin rolling for movement again on

their next turn. If the rest of the players decide to engage, and defeat the stage’s boss while one

player is still riding the carriage, they have the option to abandon the Death Carriage event if they

desire, or they may continue it if it looks like they may succeed as the remaining players move into

the next stage. In the event that the rest of the players engage the boss, which happens to be Death,

in the same stage where Death Carriage is taking place, if the event succeeds or fails before the

boss battle ends, the effects of the event are applied immediately, which means if the Death Carriage

player succeeds, and the other players have already done more damage than the amount of HP

Death now has, he is instantly killed. This is the only case when someone outside of the boss room

would gain 2 levels, as this player technically killed Death remotely. Any damage already done by

Death to the players fighting him remains, but any damage that occurs after the success of Death

Carriage is calculated with an ATK of 3. The 200HP and 3 ATK is before any modifiers based on

difficulty level, be sure to add these. While a player is riding the Death Carriage, if they happen to

43

land close enough to another player in combat, they may still use secondary attacks to help out as

they go by, but cannot make a primary attack roll.

“Death Doll” Item - Death Doll will protect you from dying one time no matter the

cause. Destroyed (removed from game) after one use. Does not need to be equipped,

only carried.

“Death’s Robe” Item - Death’s Robe will protect you from dying one time no matter the

cause. Destroyed (removed from game) after one use. Unlike Death Doll, this item has

to be equipped in order to work.

“Devil Ring” Item - Increases your primary weapon damage based on your current

HP as it stands before you roll for combat. So for example, if your base primary weapon

damage is 10, and you currently have 12 HP, then because you have lost 4 of your 16

total HP, add 4 to your weapon. You now do 14 damage per hit, until you either heal or

lose a little more HP.

Dominus - Dominus is a special ability only available to Shanoa and Albus. It is comprised of 3

separate glyphs, which must all be equipped together in order to cast Dominus. No hearts or die rolls

are necessary, the Shanoa/Albus player simply declares they are using Dominus. This instantly kills

any enemy, even Dracula, but the player is killed along with the enemy. Shanoa or Albus must die in

order for Dominus to work, so items like the Death Doll or Death’s Robe cannot be used to save them

in the process. Death due to Dominus is a little different from a normal death. First, the clock does not

advance. Second, you must forfeit all 4 Dominus cards back to your deck. They can be recovered

later as you continue to level up. Aside from that, the player also loses one other level in addition to

the Dominus glyphs, as with a normal death, and all unequipped items are discarded as well. As with

any death against Dracula, if Dominus is used against Dracula, death is permanent.

Doubles - In Classic Mode, doubles of any number allow you to either level up, or take any

combination of HP or hearts in the amount of one die. Example: If you roll double 4s, you may level

up, or you may take 4 HP, 4 hearts, 1 HP and 3 hearts, etc. If double candles are rolled in Classic

Mode, you level up, and gain exactly 2 hearts and 2 HP, these cannot be split differently. 44

Dracula - Dracula is the final boss of the game. Once the 5 relics are collected, they must all be

brought to the Castle Keep (the final space on the board) and burned to break the curse, and in turn,

summon Dracula, who immediately begins battle with the player who summoned him. Each time

Dracula is defeated, he has an opportunity to resurrect. (See the Dracula section for details)

Drop - What you receive for killing this monster. Some will drop a number of hearts, some will show a

numbered chest icon, indicating to take that number of cards from the item deck. If a monster drops a

specific item, keep the monster card along with your other items until it is used, and then discard to

the encounter discard pile.

Dual Crush - Special ability for Jonathan, which allows him to spend extra hearts in order to combine

one of his secondary attacks with that of another player, combining both the damage and all

attributes of both attacks. The other player has the option of contributing 2 hearts as well in order to

double the damage of the combined attack. If the enemy is weak against any of the attributes from

either attack, damage is instead tripled. In the event that one of the abilities used in a Dual Crush

requires a roll to determine damage, as with subweapons like Wrecking Ball, Agunea, Ricochet Rock,

etc. do so prior to adding up the total of the combined damage. If both attacks require a roll to

determine damage, roll both separately, then add the results together.

“Eagle Feather” Item - This item is only seen as a drop from a specific monster. It has no use on its

own, but you may encounter a certain character at some point in the game who is looking for it. (See

also: Horse Hair, Black Ink)

Encounter – On your turn, after your movement, you draw a card from the encounter deck, which will

be either a monster or an event. The only exceptions to this is either if your movement will land you in

the boss room, in which case you encounter the boss instead of drawing a card, or when you start

your turn in combat from a previous turn. In this case, you finish the fight, then you may roll for

movement, but do not draw an additional encounter.

45

“Entrance to Demon Castle” Location - If 2 or more players are on the same

space, and there is no one else behind them, they all take the 4 damage. If all

players are inside the boss room together, they are safe, unless one of them is

killed and has to move through the stage again, in which case it will continue

taking damage each round. If the Behemoth event happens to come up in the

Entrance to Demon Castle location, both effects are happening simultaneously,

as if the players are being chased by 2 Behemoths, one which always attacks

the player at the back of the line at the end of every round, and the other attacks anyone who

moves 3 spaces or less on a turn.

Equipped - Cards must be positioned in such a way that it is obvious which cards are currently

“equipped” and which are simply being carried. A player may equip one of each of the 5 types of

armor at a time, in addition to their own special equipment, for which each character has different

rules. See the character sheets or “Characters” section of the manual for more detail.

Event - Events are the blue-bordered cards in the encounter deck.

“Ferryman” Event - Discard one item card in order to move anywhere within the

current stage. Player who draws this event initially may choose not to use it, in

which case it remains available. Once used, discard. Ignore and redraw in Classic

Mode.

“Floating Garden” Location - Any monster with the attribute takes 1

additional damage per hit in this stage, meaning per rolled. In addition, all

players are now , and also take 1 additional damage per . Only applies

to combat rolls, do not take additional damage as a result of events, poison, etc.

46

“Forest Graveyard” Location - As soon as the boss of this stage is defeated,

shuffle all monsters (only monsters, not events) from the discard pile back into the

encounter deck. If for any reason you re-enter the stage later, even if you do not fight

any new monsters while you are there, upon exiting the stage again, all monsters

must again be shuffled back in.

Gaps - If an ability allows you to “cross gaps”, this refers to event cards requiring you to jump over a

pit of spikes or something similar. Sometimes you have the option to roll to succeed for these events,

but a special gap-crossing ability grants instant success.

“George, the Minstrel” Event - Place this card to the side of the board when

drawn. George is looking for a few rare items, which you will not find in the item

deck. They are only available as drops from specific monsters, and have no other

use. George remains on the side of the board and is always available, players do

not need to go back to the space where he was encountered. If at any point in the

game, all 3 rare items have been given to George, this card may be discarded.

Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.

“Graveyard” Event - When another player stops within 2 spaces of the target

player being held by this event, the target player is immediately released, the

event is discarded, and play continues. Otherwise, when the stage is completed,

the player is released and may warp to the boss room or continue moving

through the stage normally if they wish. If you draw this event in a solo game,

discard and draw a new encounter card. In Classic Mode, players are unable to

move in reverse to help the trapped player, and must continue through the level

without him/her. If the stage is completed, the player is released, or if another player is killed and

starts the stage over, they may help on the way back through. If playing Classic Mode with

only 2 players, ignore this card and redraw.

“Guardian Armor” Event - Roll the 5 combat dice 5 times, keeping track of how

many are rolled. If at least 15 are rolled over the 5 rolls, you succeed.

Search the item deck from the top to find one of each type of armor indicated on

this card. Shuffle all other item cards back into the deck. The 3 items received

may be kept by the player who completed the event, or shared with other players

who could benefit from them. For Classic Mode, if you succeed, in place of items,

choose 3 players to level up. One player may level up more than once, all 3 can

even be used by one player if you prefer. 47

“Hammer” Event - You must first decide on an item to give up, and shuffle it back

into the item deck, then draw 5 new item cards. One must be kept, the rest are

discarded. If you do not have any items, or do not wish to give one up, the event

remains on the board, and is discarded once used. Ignore and redraw in Classic

Mode.

“Headhunter” Event - If you do not have headgear equipped when this card is

drawn, there is no effect, discard the event. You may not pay hearts to remove

headgear after the event is drawn, the item is discarded immediately. Ignore and

redraw in Classic Mode.

“Healing Mail” Item - Heal 1 HP when you move 6 or more spaces in one turn, not a

cumulative count of spaces moved.

Hearts - Each character has a different heart limit shown on the character cards. This has no relation

to the character’s life. As in the early Castlevania games, hearts are treated as mana, or ability

points. You will spend hearts for each use of a subweapon, spell, or most other secondary abilities.

Hearts are mostly gained by rolling candles during movement, or from monster drops.

High Places - Similar to crossing gaps, some abilities allow you to “reach high places”. If you see an

event requiring you to jump onto a high ledge to retrieve an item or upgrade, usually you will need to

have one of these abilities unlocked in order to succeed.

“Horde of Monsters” Event - Each player who is behind the player who drew this

card may not move beyond the space where the card was drawn until 5 random

48

monsters drawn from the encounter deck are defeated. Any player on or 1-2 spaces behind the

“Horde” space may continue rolling for movement, but may not move beyond the Horde space.

These players will also continue drawing their own encounter cards when applicable, but must also

roll to attack at least one of the 5 Horde monsters on each turn. Players ahead of the “Horde” space

may move back to help, but are not required to do so. If some players are able to move ahead and

defeat the boss while others are still dealing with the Horde, the Horde event and all associated

monsters may be discarded. If a player is killed by any of these monsters, the monster is not

discarded, it continues to block that space until it is killed. Otherwise, normal rules for monsters still

apply, even if you draw the Dodo Bird, or Chronomage, these monsters will still run away if you fail

to kill them in one roll. In Classic Mode, as you are unable to move backward, any players ahead of

the Horde space have no choice but to continue ahead without their companions, until the Horde is

dealt with. If played in Lord of the Castle mode, the hunter players draw the monsters from the

encounter deck, shuffling events back in, the monsters may not come from Dracula’s hand.

“Horse Hair” Item - This item is only seen as a drop from a specific monster. It has no use on its

own, but you may encounter a certain character at some point in the game who is looking for it. (See

also: Eagle Feather, Black Ink)

HP - Hit Points. This represents a character or enemy’s total health. All hunter characters have 16 HP,

while monsters, bosses, and Dracula can span anywhere from 1 to several hundred HP.

Immune - The opposite of a weakness, some enemies can be immune to certain attributes. If you

attack only with the attribute it is immune to, you will be unable to do any damage at all, regardless of

how many times you hit it, whereas if the enemy is only immune to one of several attributes you

attack with, you still do half damage (for odd numbers, divide in half, then round up to the nearest

whole number) Example: You are fighting an enemy that is immune to fire, and you are attacking

with a fire sword with a base damage of 13. Because the sword has two attributes, fire and slashing,

you can still cut the enemy even if it doesn’t burn. You hit it once for half damage. 13 / 2 = 6.5,

rounded up to 7. You do 7 damage. The same rule applies if your character is wearing a piece of

armor making him or her immune to a particular attribute.

Item - Item cards consist of single-use items such as food, potions, or disposable attack items, and

also different types of armor. Items are not used in Classic Mode.

49

“It’s Me, Pumpkin!” Event - When drawn, place to the side of the board, can be

called upon when needed. One use only, discard the current boss and draw a new one

at random. This event still functions the same way if there is a player currently playing

as Pumpkin. If this event is used in Lord of the Castle mode, the replacement boss is

still chosen at random from the deck, Dracula has no choice in the matter in this case.

“Konami Man!” Event - No, seriously, the points have absolutely no value. Don’t

email me and ask about this. They do literally nothing. There are no points in this

game. It’s a joke. Everyone does get an item though...so you’ve got that going for you,

which is nice. In Classic Mode, everyone levels up instead of getting an item. The 5000

points, however, still do nothing. In fact, here’s what you do: take out a piece of paper,

and a pencil, or pen. Write down each player’s name, and underneath it, write, in nice big, bubbly

lettering – “5000 points!!!”. Then…take that piece of paper, fold it in half, fold it in half again, and then

set it on fire. Then take your next turn.

“Laura, the Jeweler” Event - Place this card to the side of the board when drawn.

Players may give any unwanted accessories to Laura, and when she has 3, the

traded items are discarded, and all players draw a new item from the deck, even if all

players did not supply an item for crafting. Laura remains on the side of the board and

is always available, players do not need to go back to the space where she was

encountered. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.

“Let’s Live Here Together” Event - You must stay on your current space on your

next turn. You still roll the movement dice, because you can still get hearts, healing,

and items, and you also still draw your encounter card, you just can’t move, unless

your encounter happens to be an event that forces you to move.

Level Up - When you level up, you can unlock either your next primary weapon, or any of your

secondary abilities. You level up once you get 6 XP from killing monsters, by defeating or being in the

room when a boss is defeated, or as a result of an event. Levels gained as a result of events or boss

50

battles do not reset your XP, you just unlock a new ability and keep all XP you have gained from

normal monster kills so far.

“Librarian” Event - This card allows you to either trade item cards, or sacrifice

abilities you have unlocked in exchange for a random upgrade. If you do not wish to

barter with the Librarian, the event remains on the board, and is discarded once used.

(See also: Random Upgrade) Can be used in Classic Mode, but as there are no

items, the card is optional, but you would have to give up two other unlocked

weapons/abilities in exchange for one new weapon/ability drawn at random from your skill deck, if

you decide to take a chance on it.

“Lisa” Event - Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.

“Locked Door” Event - These doors are unlocked by keys found in the

Item Deck. There are 2 keys in the deck, either key works for any normal

locked door (not blue doors), and may be used again if another locked door

is found later, but the player at the door must have the key in their

possession. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.

“Lord of the Castle” Event - Each player only rolls once for this event. Once all

players have rolled, if no one has rolled 5 , the event is discarded and the

game continues as normal. If a player rolls 5 , the game transforms to Lord of

the Castle Mode. Refer to “Lord of the Castle” in the Variants section for details. Ignore and redraw

in Classic Mode.

51

“Loretta Lecarde” Event - Keep this card off to the side of the board. If both Loretta

and Stella are found, follow the instructions on the Stella card. Ignore and redraw in

Classic Mode.

“Madness” Event - If you fail this roll, once you change your character, start on the

same space of the board, with the same amount of HP you had before, and the

same number of hearts. If your previous character had more hearts than your new

character allows, just take the max for your new character. You also unlock the same

number of abilities/weapon upgrades you already had with your original character,

keep all XP and items, you should not actually lose any progress as a result of this

event, it is only meant to cause chaos and confusion, not directly hinder the player’s effectiveness.

Magic - Magic attacks function similarly to subweapons, but can usually be equipped simultaneously

with other abilities. Magic attack cards are labeled as such in the lower left corner.

“Magical Ticket” Item - Cannot be used if you are being held in place by an

event, the event prevents all movement, and overrides the ticket.

Map Deck - An optional deck of “location” cards. One is drawn for each of the 6 stages in the game,

and provides special conditions for its corresponding stage.

“Marble Gallery” Location - The effects of this location happen regardless of the

reason the clock is advancing, whether it is a curse card, a player death, an expired

stage clock, or some other event, roll for the location effect. If for any reason several

hours are about to pass at once, and a 0-2 is rolled, do not double the passage of time,

instead, add 1 hour. For example, if as a result of an event, 3 players are killed at once,

roll for this location, if the roll is 0-2, 4 hours pass. If 3-5 is rolled, no time passes. 52

Martial Arts - Martial arts attacks are like magic attacks, in that several can be equipped

simultaneously, they do not need to be swapped out like subweapons. Martial arts attack cards are

labeled in the lower left corner.

“Martyr” Event - There are two Martyr events in the encounter deck, which are slightly

different. The first allows a player to sacrifice a level in order to let everyone else level

up. The other gives a player the option to kill themselves in order to restore all players

to full health and retreat the Curse Clock by 2 hours. If you choose to do so, follow the

normal rules for death, but do not advance the Curse Clock by an hour this time, just

move it back 2 hours. Martyr cards are optional, but may only be used by the person

who draws them, they do not stay available for another player to use if the first passes.

Items like the Death Doll and Death’s Robe cannot save you from dying if you choose

to take advantage of the second Martyr card, you are required to die for this to work. If

the second Martyr card is drawn in Classic Mode, you may still sacrifice yourself to restore all other

players’ health, but ignore the Curse Clock effect.

“Maybe if you Stand Completely Still” Event - If you do not move on your next

turn, you gain an item. You may still roll the movement dice to attempt to gain hearts,

HP and additional items, and you still draw your next encounter, you just ignore

movement for that turn only.

“Merchant” Event - Spend 5 hearts to draw one item from the item deck. If the

player who initially draws the event does not wish to use it, it remains on the board.

Discard after someone uses it. In Classic Mode, you may spend 5 hearts to level up,

but as with any event in Classic Mode, only the player who draws it gets a chance to

use it, otherwise it is discarded.

53

Mist - If you see an event that refers to mist, such as passing through a grate or dodging falling

spikes, only a few characters have an ability to turn to mist or pass through solid objects. These are

Alucard-Form of Mist, Shanoa-Paries, Cornell-Teleport, and Julius-Omnia Vanitas.

Monster - The standard enemies (red-bordered cards) in the encounter deck you will fight throughout

each stage.

Movement Dice - 3 dice which determine movement and actions. The roman numerals I-V on the

main two movement dice show the number of spaces moved. Candles give you a heart. The third die

is a bonus die that can give you a heart, 1 HP, 1 item, or an optional +3 movement.

In Classic Mode, only the 2 # dice are used, as you will automatically have an encounter every turn. “Munitions Factory” Location - Receive 1 heart for every 2 spaces moved in this

stage. This is not a cumulative effect, only add up the spaces moved in one turn. If

5 spaces are moved, take 2 hearts, the extra space is not added to a future roll.

“Nest of Evil” Location - Miniboss is selected from the same boss tier as thecurrent stage.

“Nightmare” Location - Every encounter card drawn while in this stage is taken

from the bottom of the encounter deck. Once the card is resolved, it is placed back

on top of the deck, meaning you will encounter these events/monsters again after

exiting the stage. This applies to all events, even curse cards. If you re-enter the

stage again later, any encounters drawn while you are there must be handled the

same way.

54

“Pachinko” Event - Remains on the space where it was initially drawn. Can be

attempted an unlimited number of times on that space, but requires the player to

gamble one item for every attempt. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode

“Possession” Event - The player closest to the possessed player takes 1 damage

every time the possessed player does damage to an enemy. This means a full

combat turn, not each individual die result or use of a secondary attack. So if the

possessed player rolls 3 hits, and also uses a subweapon twice, the closest player

to them still only takes 1 damage for all of that. If 2 or more players are an equal

distance from the possessed player, all of them take 1 damage. Players may not

attack each other to attempt to lower the possessed player’s health and free them,

but you may find some items to help serve that purpose.

Primary Weapon - Your character’s main attack. It is used by rolling the combat dice. Multiply the

damage value of the weapon by the number of (swords) rolled to calculate the damage done to the

enemy, remembering to factor in bonus damage from items, events, or the monster’s weaknesses.

Primary weapons can be differentiated from the rest of your skill deck by looking for the icon in

the lower right corner. Most characters have multiple primary weapons, in which case, the icon will be

numbered, with the “1” being your starting weapon, and unlocking them in ascending order.

Random Upgrade - If a card tells you to select a random upgrade, shuffle all of the skill cards that

you have not yet unlocked, this includes both primary and secondary abilities, and draw one at

random. Sometimes you will get lucky and unlock one of your strongest primary weapons early, but if

you level up your primary weapon again later, you may only unlock the lowest-numbered primary

weapon you have yet to obtain. For Soma, only draw from his primary deck, souls cannot be

unlocked in this way.

“Resurrection” Event - “Most Powerful” is determined by highest HP. If tied, highest

ATK. If still tied, highest RUN. If there is a tie with all 3 stats, just pick one.

55

Relic - The 5 parts of Dracula needed to break the curse. The relics are randomly placed face-down

in the 5 boss rooms at the start of the game. The player who inflicts the final blow on a boss takes the

relic that boss was guarding. Relics are bound to the recipient, and can never be transferred to

another player. All 5 relics must be present in the Castle Keep at the end of the game in order to

successfully break the curse before time runs out. Each relic also provides a bonus to the character

carrying it, as follows:

Eye : If you would be killed by a combat roll, you may reroll once to attempt to survive. Only applies to

deaths during combat, not as a result of events.

Rib : You may reroll one scythe per battle.

Heart : Immune to both status effects and damage from Poison, Stone, and Curse-based attacks.

Nail : +3 to primary attack damage.

Ring : Gain 1 heart at the start of each turn. If your character already automatically gains hearts each

turn, the effects stack, gain 2 hearts per turn.

Relics are not used in Classic Mode. “Rest Here for a While” Event - This event simply restores your health to full, you are

not actually required to wait there. If you do not want or need to restore your health,

you may leave this event on the board for another player to take advantage of on a

later turn.

“Rinaldo” - Rinaldo will allow you to look at 5 item cards from the item deck, choose

one to keep, and discard the rest. To do so, you must sacrifice all of the hearts you

currently have. You must have at least 1 heart to trade. If you have no hearts, or

choose not to barter with Rinaldo, he remains on the board for another player to

encounter, but discard after one use. In Classic Mode, you may sacrifice all hearts to

Rinaldo in order to level up once.

“Room of Illusion” Location - All of the enemy’s weaknesses become their

attack attributes, and vice versa. This is also the only location card that requires

you to draw an additional location to add to this effect. If the second location

drawn is related to enemy attributes or weaknesses, such as the Anti-Chapel,

Sky Walkway, Floating Garden, Lost Village or Burning Town, the Room of

56

Illusion’s effect is always applied first. So for example, if the Room of Illusion and Sky Walkway

are drawn together, then you encounter a monster which normally has Flying and Fire attributes,

and Ice is its weakness. Room of Illusion causes Flying and Fire to become the monster’s

weaknesses, and Ice is now its only attack attribute. Therefore, because it no longer has the Flying

attribute, the Sky Walkway effect does not apply to it. Or in the case of the Anti-Chapel, if a monster,

let’s say Erinys for example, normally attacks with Holy, it is swapped with its weaknesses (Dark

and Poison), so the monster is now weak to Holy, and attacks with Dark and Poison. However,

because of the Anti-Chapel, it still attacks with Dark and Poison, but is now once again weak to

Dark. If Town of Veros is drawn with the Room of Illusion, the ATK attribute (Dark) and weakness

(Fire) are swapped, but a Holy attack is still required in order to cure the villager, this is not a

weakness, it is unaffected by the Room of Illusion.

Round - A round is a full rotation around the table. A new round begins once every player has taken a

turn and play comes back around to the starting player. The Stage Clock (or Curse Clock once the

Stage Clock has expired) advances at the start of each new round.

“Saint Germain” Event - Must be attempted immediately when drawn. Can either

help or hurt the players. Roll the 5 combat dice. For each , the Curse Clock moves

back an hour, for each , the Curse Clock moves forward an hour, and have no

effect. You may reroll any number of dice only once, and then apply the results to the

clock. Discard after use, cannot be attempted again. The positive and negative effects

are added together, meaning if your result is to move the clock forward 3 spaces and back 2, then

you would just move the clock forward 1 space. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.

“Sandy Grave” Location - Only secondary abilities may be used to attack the boss

from outside of the boss room. Primary weapons can only be used inside the room.

Save Room - Health is fully restored upon drawing the event. Place a save room marker

on your current space. Any player may stop on this space to restore health, and when a

player is killed, they have the option to revive at any save room on the board rather than

starting at the beginning of the stage. In Classic Mode, ignore Save Room event cards, and

redraw. In this mode, players are given 3 save tokens at the beginning of the game, which

they may place anywhere on the board at any time, but once placed, they cannot be

57

moved. These save rooms are not active until at least one player reaches them, and health

is restored simply by passing the save room, there is no need to stop, but you may do so if

you wish.

Secondary Ability - This refers to anything in your character’s skill deck that is not a primary

weapon. Some characters have subweapons, some have spells, passive abilities, or even pieces of

armor unique to that character. Secondary attacks almost always require the use of hearts, and

unless the card has special instructions, the attacks will automatically hit without needing to roll, and

can be used as many times in a turn as your heart supply will allow, unless the card specifically

states that it can only be used once per turn or per battle. If a character starts with a “secondary

ability”, unless the character sheet says otherwise, you may select any non-primary weapon card. For

example, though it is not technically an ability, Alucard has the option of selecting the Alucard Mail as

his starting “secondary ability”, but in most cases, it is recommended to begin the game with an

attack of some sort as your secondary.

Soul - Monsters or bosses showing the icon release a soul when they are killed. This only

matters if a player is using Soma in your game, otherwise you can disregard this icon. When a

monster releases a soul, Soma immediately unlocks that monster’s soul from his soul deck, whether

he was the one to kill the monster or not. Soma can equip up to 2 souls simultaneously.

Spikes - Some items protect you from “spikes”. You will only encounter spikes in event cards. For

example, if you are attempting to cross a gap, without a special ability to do so automatically, you

would have to roll. If the roll fails, normally you would fall into the spikes and take damage, but if you

are wearing the Spike Breaker Armor, while you still fail the event, and do not gain the rewards from

it, you would not have to take the normal spike damage shown on the event card.

Stage Clock - The small hand (inner ring) of the clock, tracking time through each stage. Players

have 7 full rounds to complete a stage, then, starting with round 8, the Curse Clock (outer ring)

begins to go up one hour per round instead. Stage Clock/Curse Clock are not used in Classic Mode.

Status Effects - The 3 status effects are poison, curse, and stone. (See: Status Effects, p.19)

58

“Stella Lecarde” Event - Keep this card off to the side of the board. If both Loretta

and Stella are found, follow the instructions on the Stella card. Ignore and redraw in

Classic Mode.

Subweapon - A secondary weapon used by some characters, including most of the Belmonts. Any

secondary attack which is a physical weapon of some sort, rather than a magic spell or martial arts

maneuver, is considered a subweapon. For reference, here is a complete list of all of the

subweapons in the game:

Alucard - Agunea, Holy Book, Holy Water

Cornell - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Holy Water

Eric - Axe, Boomerang, Holy Water, Mirror of Truth, Spear Head

Henry- Axe, Cross, Dagger, Holy Water

Jonathan - Axe, Bwaka Knife, Grenade, Paper Airplane, Shuriken, Wrecking Ball

Julius - Axe, Boomerang, Dagger, Grand Cross, Holy Water, Holy Book, Javelin, Ricochet Rock Juste

- Axe, Dagger, Holy Water

Leon - Axe, Cross, Crystal, Dagger, Holy Water

Nathan - Axe, Boomerang, Dagger, Holy Water, Stopwatch

Pumpkin - Grand Pumpkin, Large Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Missile, Rampage Pumpkin, Shock

Pumpkin

Richter - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Holy Water, Holy Book

Simon - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Garlic, Holy Water, Stopwatch

Trevor - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Holy Water, Stopwatch

“Take a Rest” Event - This is optional, discuss it with the other players, and if you are

not ready to fight the boss yet, you may discard the event. If you all decide you are

ready, the player who drew this card is able to stay on his/her current space and

either wait through their turns without taking any action, or may remain stationary but

continue rolling for hearts/hp/items, and continue drawing encounters while they wait.

Once all other players arrive within 2 spaces of the player who drew the event, you

may all move directly to the boss room and engage immediately. If this card is drawn in Classic

Mode by the player who is furthest ahead in the stage, it may be used as normal, but if anyone

59

else draws it, discard and redraw, as it would require reverse movement, which is not possible

in this mode.

“The Morning Sun Has Vanquished the Horrible Night” Event - The effects of this

card also apply to bosses, but only if the player who drew the event card is the first to

engage with the boss. The same applies to the “What a Horrible Night to Have a

Curse” card. If the same player who drew Morning Sun also draws Horrible Night

before Morning Sun wears off, or vice versa, the cards cancel each other out. Discard

both immediately.

“Tornado” Event - If you do not move on your next turn, you may begin your following

turn anywhere on the entire board, but remember, it is a one-way trip. Don’t go too far

from your companions, or somewhere you won’t be able to escape. You may still roll

the movement dice on the turn after drawing this card to attempt to gain hearts, HP, or

another encounter. If you are locked in battle with a monster when the turn ends, the

monster is swept along in the tornado with you.

“Town of Veros” Location - (See: Villager)

“Treasure Hat” Item - Only applies to item cards drawn directly from the item deck, not

items given to you by other players, or a specific item dropped by a monster. You must

decide immediately after the item is drawn if you want to use the Treasure Hat, you

cannot keep an item until your next turn and then decide to exchange it.

“Treasury” Event - You may recover any one item from the discard pile. If there are

not currently any items in the discard pile, this card has no effect, discard. Ignore and

redraw in Classic Mode.

Turn Clock - (See: Stage Clock)

60

“Unholy Fortification” Event - If 3 are rolled for this event, for the remainder of

the game, ignore holy weaknesses of any monster or boss, including Dracula.

Villager - If another card, such as the Town of Veros location, refers to a “villager”, this means any

event card featuring a friendly NPC, including neutral NPCs such as Zead or Saint Germain, who can

sometimes be helpful to the players. In most cases, the NPC’s name will be in the title of the card,

with a few exceptions, like the second Librarian card, titled “What can I do for you?”. Also applies to

non-specific titles such as Librarian or Merchant. Does not apply to events featuring a purely evil

character, such as Succubus or Headhunter. Optionally, the game now includes new versions of

these cards with a icon for easy reference.

Here is a list of the events considered Villagers:

George, the Minstrel

Lisa

Laura, the Jeweler

Zead

Merchant

Hammer

Wind

Rinaldo

Aeon, the Village Chef

Saint Germain

Loretta Lecarde

Stella Lecarde

Librarian

“It’s me, Pumpkin!”

“What can I do for you?”

Malus

Warp Room - If you draw a Warp Room card, place a Warp Room marker on your

current space. If there is only one Warp Room on the board, it has no effect, but once

at least one other Warp Room is found, you may move between them freely. Once a

stage is completed, that stage’s boss room is used as a warp room. Warping from one room to

another does not count as a movement space, nor does it end your movement, you may stop at the

Warp Room if you wish, or continue moving after warping until you have used up your movement

roll. Warp Rooms are available in Classic Mode, but keep in mind you are not able to move

backward, and events also do not remain on the board, so it may be a one-way trip, be sure you

have a way back to your friends, and only warp if there is a very good reason to do so.

61

Water Magician - are counted cumulatively, and any type of ice attack will slow the water's rise

by 1, but this effect does not stack if an ice spell is cast several times. All players in the entire

stage are killed if the water reaches the top, not just the ones fighting the boss. Water Magician

does not actually attack, so shields and other defensive items are useless.

Weakness - Some enemies will be weak to a particular attribute. For example, an Ice Demon would

be weak to Fire, and naturally Dracula is almost always weak to Holy attacks. When you attack a

monster with any attack containing its weakness, the Damage value of that attack is doubled. Even if

the monster is immune to another attribute of your attack, if it is weak to any of the attributes, it

cancels out the immunity and damage is still doubled.

“What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse” Event - The effects of this card also apply to

bosses, but only if the player who drew the event card is the first to engage with the

boss. The same applies to the “The Morning Sun has Vanquished the Horrible Night”

card. If the same player who drew Horrible Night also draws Morning Sun before

Horrible Night wears off, or vice versa, the cards cancel each other out. Discard both

immediately.

“What a Horrible Place to Take a Nap” Event - Can be used in Classic Mode, but if 0-

4 is rolled, just draw a new encounter card, ignore the Curse Clock effect.

“What Can I Do For You?” Event - This event may be re-attempted until the Jewel of

Open is acquired. As soon as a player successfully rolls a 4 or 5, place this card to the

side of the board to indicate that the party has the Jewel of Open and it is available to

use at any time. At this point, this event cannot be attempted again to continue shaking

free items out of the poor librarian. Carry on.

62

“Wrecking Ball” Event - Roll one movement die 3 times, adding the results of each roll

together. If you have a total of 12 or more, you succeed, and level up.

XP - Experience points. You gain 1-3 XP for every normal monster you kill, the amount varies

depending on the difficulty level you are playing, and the monster’s HP. Once you reach 6, your

character levels up and your xp resets to 0.

“You Don’t Belong in This World” Event - Players may remove any one boss (Not

Dracula) from the game entirely, if they choose to do so. They are still required to

progress through that stage as normal even if the boss has been removed. The first

player to reach the boss room takes the relic, at which point all players’ health is fully

restored and they may warp to join the leading player in the boss room. As the boss

was not actually fought, no items are received at the completion of this stage, and no

one levels up.

“You Feel Like You Are Being Watched” Event - If the boss attacks mid-stage

as a result of this card, the player who was ambushed must immediately begin

battle. All other players may engage if they are within 2 spaces. Normal boss

rules apply for this battle, players level up and restore health to full afterward, and

may (optionally) move directly to the boss room after the battle ends, either to

collect the relic and begin the next stage, or to immediately begin the

confrontation with Dracula if in Stage 6. The boss is still guarding the relic, so

another player cannot move ahead to the boss room to collect it while the rest are

fighting the boss. If all players currently fighting the boss are killed, place an event marker on the

space where this card was drawn, it still remains in the same position until the players make it back

to continue the battle. If this card is drawn by a player who is backtracking in a previous stage, and it

results in the boss attacking, even though the boss of the stage they are in has been defeated

already, they are instead attacked by another random boss from the Boss deck. If they are killed,

they may revive in a later level and avoid having to continue fighting this boss alone, it is not

necessary to defeat it in this situation, but the player has no way to run from a boss battle, so the

only escape is to kill or be killed. If the event occurs in Stage 6, because Dracula has not been

resurrected yet, another random boss is drawn and treated as a mid-stage boss. The curse cannot

be broken, and Dracula cannot be resurrected until this boss is defeated. If playing in Classic Mode,

or otherwise prevented from moving in reverse, all players throughout the stage are considered in-

range, and must all immediately engage with the boss. The only exception being if they are already

63

in battle, in which case, once they defeat or run from their current monster, they attack the boss on

their next turn

“Zead” Event - Any number of players may willingly reduce their HP to 1 in order to

turn the Curse Clock back 1 hour for each. Once this is done, roll both movement

dice, and if you do not roll a number equal to at least the number of players who

reduced their HP to 1, then all of those players immediately die, the Curse Clock

moves back to where it was, and the affected players must lose a level, all

unequipped items, and go back to the start of the stage. Ignore and redraw in Classic

Mode.

“Zombies!!!” Event - Simplified, this event just requires you to roll all 5 combat dice

twice. For each , gain 1 XP, for each , lose 1 HP, and ignore all . Can only

be attempted once, discard after use. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.

FAQ● Q: Do I still gain a level/relic if I manage to kill the boss with a ranged attack from outside the

boss room?

○ A. Yes, but only if you are the one to inflict the killing blow.

● Q: Can items be freely shared between players?

○ A: No, on your turn, you may give only one item to another player who is within 2

spaces of you.

● Q: If I am playing Leon, or another player with special armor or items in their skill deck, can

these items be traded to other players?

○ A: No, these characters’ special items are equipped along with your other items, but are

treated just like the rest of your character’s weapons, spells, etc. They cannot be traded

to other players, however, you can use them to barter with certain merchants, in which

case, just return the items to your skill deck, don’t discard them to the item deck. Just

remember, items with a green border are only for your character.

● Q: If I am fighting a monster who is weak to several attributes, and I attack with a weapon that

includes more than one of the monster’s weaknesses, do the weaknesses stack?

64

○ A: No, an enemy is either weak to your attack or it is not. Whether you attack using one

of its weaknesses, or all of them, the damage only doubles, it does not multiply further.

● Q: The Iron Golem shows a question mark as its weakness. What does this mean?

一 A: The Iron Golem has no weakness. In the original version of the game I used a ‘?’ to

indicate this, which wasn’t as clear as I thought it would be. In the latest update, I’ve

changed it to simply “N/A”.

● Q: Is there a limit to how many items I can carry?

一 A: No, you can carry as many items as you like, as long as you only have one of each

type of armor equipped at a time, the rest of the unequipped or consumable items can

be kept in a separate pile.

● Q: If two or more players are fighting one monster, who gets the experience, and the drops?

一 A: The player who inflicts the killing blow on a regular monster always gets the

experience, and they can decide what to do with the drops as well, if they want to keep

them or let the other player(s) have them. Again, remember to only assist someone in

combat if they actually want you to.

● Q: What happens if a combat roll results in both the monster and the player dying? What if it is

a boss?

一 A: If a combat roll with a regular monster results in both the player and the monster

dying, both die, the player still gains xp, and if the monster drops hearts, he/she may

keep them, but if the monster drops an item, it is lost along with the rest of the player’s

unequipped items. However, if this happens when fighting a boss, only the boss actually

dies, the player will survive the last roll and immediately regain all health as usual.

● Q: If I just happen to land on the same space as another player, and draw a monster, does the

other player have to fight it with me?

一 A: No, only the person who originally drew the monster is required to fight it.

● Q: What if the encounter or item deck runs out?

一 A: With the number of both encounter cards and item cards, you shouldn’t even come

close to running through either deck in one game, but if you do, just shuffle the discard

pile and reuse it.

● Q: With items like the Ruby Ring for example, which doubles fire damage, does that stack with the already doubled damage if the enemy is weak to fire? ○

一 A: Yes. ● Q: Am I required to move every turn?

一 A: Yes, unless you are petrified, or staying in place due to an event, you are required to

at least make a movement roll, and then you have the option to stop your movement

short on an event on the board, or next to another player. If you start a turn in combat

from a previous turn, you can still roll for movement after the monster is defeated.

● Q: Once I am engaged in battle with a monster, am I required to fight it every turn?

一 A: Yes, unless you decide to run from it, you can attempt to kill the monster solely with

secondary attacks if you are able to do so, but if not, you have to make a combat roll

every turn.

65

● Q: When can I use healing items? What if I am in battle and about to die?

一 A: You can use healing items at any time, even in the middle of battle, but if you fail to

use a healing item before a combat roll would kill you, it is too late. Once the dice are

rolled, the damage is applied, and cannot be canceled out by healing items to save you

from dying. Note: Previously it was permitted to use healing items to prevent death after

the roll, which has been changed, because it was too easy to exploit and took most of

the tension out of combat.

● Q: If I have already unlocked all of my weapons/abilities, is there any point to gaining XP or

fighting monsters in general?

一 A: No use for XP once all of your abilities are unlocked, but fighting monsters can still be

beneficial, depending on what they drop, and of course you will still want to help out

your teammates with bosses, or other monsters if they need help. Also, you never know

when you might die and lose a level, then you can use the XP you have accumulated to

regain it immediately.

● Q: Is the “Flying” attribute a type of attack? Why does the flying attribute diminish my ability to

defend against a monster if I can defend against their real attack type?

一 A: “Flying” is not necessarily a form of attack in the same way that slashing or fire would

be, but the flying attribute is meant to give the monster another form of advantage, if it

also attacks with fire, which you have armor to protect you from, the fact that it can fly

still gives it an edge.

● Q: If I backtrack to a previous stage, do the current stage’s monster hp/atk still apply?

一 You always go by the stage you are actually in, even if other players are in a later stage.

● Q: If I am killed in a previous stage, do I revive in that stage or the current one?

一 A: It is your choice, you can respawn in the stage you died in if you still have work to do

there, or you are free to respawn at the beginning of the stage where the rest of the

players are, or on any Save Room on the board.

● Q: Can I stop on a save room any time to restore health, and if I die, am I required to respawn

at the save room?

一 A: You can stop on a save room to restore health any time. You are not required to

respawn at the save room if you would prefer to start at the beginning of the stage.

● Q: Can I split my movement? For example, if I roll a 7, can I move 6 forward and 1 back?

一 A: No, all movement must be in the same direction, but you are always free to stop early

as long as it is next to either another player or an event marker.

● Q: If I stop on a space with an event just because I don’t want to go too far ahead, am I then

required to attempt that event?

一 A: No, any event markers placed on the board are optional, you can attempt them if you

like, but you are welcome to just use them as landmarks to end your movement, but not

actually attempt the event.

● Q: What does this Toy Ring do?

一 A: Absolutely nothing. Seriously. Ok, fine, it’s worth 5000 points.

● Q: What do these Secret Boots do?

66

一 A: They make you exactly 1 pixel taller. (They do nothing.) If you really want to take the

immersion of the game up a notch, tape a penny to the bottom of your character token.

Well done. You’re now a little taller than everyone else. Now use your newly acquired

height advantage to go out there and find some more useful boots.

● Q: What happens if I’m wearing the Heart Cuirass and Astral Ring at the same time?

一 A: The effects of both items cancel each other out, and neither is effective.

● Q: Does Richter gain crashes automatically when he unlocks the corresponding subweapon?

一 A: No, the crashes require the corresponding subweapon in order to use them, but the

two are unlocked separately.

● Q: When using Pumpkin’s New Deli costume, are the food items still single-use?

一 A: Yes

● Q: If I have an ability that lets me clear gaps, and I draw a trap event that requires me to roll to

cross a gap, does that mean I automatically succeed without rolling?

一 A: Yes, that ability saves you from having to roll for these events, you succeed.

● Q: Does Blessed Ankh stack with Pumpkin’s Genius Chef costume to quadruple the

effectiveness of healing items?

一 A: Yes, but the Blessed Ankh may only be used once per turn. Genius Chef is an

ongoing doubling effect.

● Q: If I have both the Blood Cloak and Heart Cuirass, am I invincible?

一 A: The Blood Cloak only gives you 1 heart if you are actually taking damage. If the

Heart Cuirass is equipped, you are losing hearts instead of taking damage, therefore

the Blood Cloak would have no effect when paired with the Heart Cuirass.

● Q: Does Richter’s Holy Book and associated crash affect each hit (per die), or only the attack

as a whole?

一 A: Each hit (per die) Any card that says something like "per successful attack" means

per sword rolled during combat.

● Q: Do I have to use Juste or Eric’s books every time I use a subweapon?

一 A: No, the books are an optional add-on for the subweapons, you can have a book

equipped, but still use the base subweapon by itself.

● Q: What happens if I’m playing solo as Soma and I fight the Soma form of Dracula?

一 A: That is the only form that doesn’t work for solo play with Soma, just discard and draw

the next Dracula card.

● Q: If (Event) does have a possible positive result, but is extremely unlikely or risky, is it still

possible to reattempt?

一 A: Yes, no matter how likely it is that you will get the bad result, you always have the

option of trying it again if you want, but of course you are never required to do so after

the first attempt.

● Q: If I’m playing solo and draw the Graveyard card, or draw and fail the roll on the Lord of the

Castle card, is it an instant game over?

一 A: If you draw either of these cards when playing solo, just discard and redraw. Same

for Possession, or any event that makes any reference to other players.

67

● Q: If an event has several possible outcomes, and a few of them can be slightly positive, how

do we know when to discard it? Grabbing Portrait, for example.

一 A: If there are a few outcomes that are positive, as with Grabbing Portrait or “What Can

I Do For You?”, it is discarded once the best outcome is achieved, and again, always

optional to attempt it again if you would rather not take the risk. So Grabbing Portrait, if

the first player rolls a , they pass safely without taking damage, but there is still the

possibility that someone else could come along and roll a , which would let them

pass safely AND take an item. When someone has achieved that, the event goes away.

● Q: If an event requires me to stay in place, am I still allowed to roll for HP/hearts/additional

encounters?

○ A: Yes, just take your normal movement roll, but don’t actually move, only take hearts,

HP, and draw an encounter. The only time you would not be able to roll or take any

action at all is if you are petrified.

● Q: How can I find the attributes of a single-use weapon dropped by a monster without hunting

through the item deck to find a full card for that item?

○ A: There are currently only a few single-use weapons dropped by monsters. If any more

are added in the future, I’ll include an updated reference sheet for them.

Item Dropped By: Attributes

Pentagram Diplocephalus

Shuriken Flying Zombie, Jack O’ Bones

Javelin Scarecrow

Magic Missile Skeleton Gunman , (Magic)

68

Thanks

Thanks to Mandy for inspiring me to pursue this, for staying up late and testing half-broken

games with me hundreds of times, and for talking me down every time I’m ready to scrap an entire

project, which happens almost daily.

Joseph Torres (RichterBelmont12) for bringing my little game that only a hundred or so people knew

about to Tabletop Simulator and spawning a much bigger audience, and for continuing to update the

TTS mod almost immediately every time I add or change something.

To Esteban Sandoval for volunteering to painstakingly, perfectly recreate every last detail of the game

for a Spanish translation. (Castlevania: La Sinfonia del Tablero, available on the download page!)

To all of my friends who had the patience to playtest back in its early stages, for giving honest

feedback and suggestions, and most of all, for pretending to enjoy it even when the game was a

broken mess that took even longer to play than it does now.

To everyone on Tabletop Simulator, Reddit, Facebook, etc. and anyone who has emailed me just to

tell me they enjoy the game. All of the encouragement and continued interest after all this time drives

me to want to keep making it better, even if I’m putting other games on the back burner for a while.

When I first made this game, I honestly thought I would be the only one that would ever care to play

it. To see people still playing it years later, and actually excited every time I’m about to release an

expansion is unbelievable. I hope you enjoy this latest update, see you again soon.

Thanks,

Brandon

69