BANG!: The Walking Dead
BANG!: The Walking Dead Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
7 role cards, 16 character cards, 80 action cards, 7 summary cards, 7 player boards, 30 Health tokens and 1 rulebook.
Object of the Game
Each player has a precise goal:
Survivors' Leader: their job is to eliminate all the Saviors and the Loner, restoring order and the law.
Survivors: help and protect the Leader, and pursue his own goals, even at the cost of their own lives!
Saviors: want to eliminate the Leader, but have no scruples about eliminating each other to get rewards.
Hilltop Loner: is a loner who wants to become the new Leader; his job is to remain the last character in the game.
Preparation
Before your first game, carefully remove the Health tokens from the frames.
Each player takes a player board (use it in front of you to hold your role, your character, your weapon and your Health tokens).
Depending on the number of players, take the following roles:
4 PLAYERS: 1 Survivors' Leader, 2 Saviors and 1 Hilltop Loner
5 PLAYERS: 2 Survivors (1 is the Leader), 2 Saviors and 1 Hilltop Loner
6 PLAYERS: 2 Survivors (1 is the Leader), 3 Saviors and 1 Hilltop Loner
7 PLAYERS: 3 Survivors (1 is the Leader), 3 Saviors and 1 Hilltop Loner
1. Shuffle them and deal one, face down, to each player. The Leader reveals their own card and keeps it face up. Everyone else looks at their own card but keeps their role secret.
2. Shuffle the characters and deal one, face up, to each player. Each player announces the name of their character, and explains its abilities. Each player takes as many Health tokens as are shown on the character card.
3. The Leader plays the whole game with one extra Health token: if their character card shows 3 Health tokens, it is as if for all purposes they had 4; if it shows 4, the Leader plays with 5.
Put unused roles, boards, characters and tokens back in the box.
4. Shuffle the playing deck. Each player receives a hand of as many face-down cards as they have Health tokens. The remaining cards form the deck to draw from. Leave room for the discard pile.
5. Every player starts the game with a Hatchet. This is the only weapon players can never lose. Once you get a new weapon, place it on top of the Hatchet.
The Characters
In BANG! The Walking Dead you have a character ("character" and "player" are used interchangeably in the rules) with special abilities that make you unique. You begin the game with a certain number of Health tokens; these represent your life points, i.e. how many hits you can take before being eliminated from the game. The tokens also indicate the maximum number of cards you can hold in hand at the end of your turn.
Example. Glenn has 4 life points: he can therefore be hit four times before being eliminated. Glenn can also hold up to four cards in hand at the end of his turn. If during the game Glenn drops to 3 life points, he can hold a maximum of three cards in hand at the end of his turn. But don't worry — life points can be recovered (see The Cards on page 6).
The Game
The Leader starts. Play proceeds clockwise, in turns.
Each turn is divided into three phases:
1. draw two cards; 2. play cards; 3. discard excess cards.
1. Draw Two Cards
Draw the first two cards from the top of the deck. When the deck runs out, reshuffle the discards to form a new deck to draw from.
(Some character abilities let you draw from other places too — see "The Characters" on page 11.)
2. Play Cards
Play cards to your own advantage or against the others, trying to eliminate your opponents. You may only play cards during your own turn (exception: First Aid and Missed!, see further on). You are not obliged to play cards during this phase.
You may play as many cards as you want; there are only 3 limits:
- you may only play 1 ATTACK! CARD per turn; this applies only to cards named Attack! and not to cards that merely carry the Attack! symbol
- you may only have 1 COPY OF EACH CARD in play; a card is a copy of another if it has the same name.
- you may only have 1 WEAPON in play; whenever you play a new weapon, you always discard the previous one.
Example. If you have Riot Gear in play, you cannot put another one into play, because you would have two cards with the same name.
There are two kinds of cards: cards with a brown background (= play and discard) and cards with a blue background (= weapons and other objects).
Brown background cards are played by putting them straight into the discards and applying the effect described in the text or by the symbols (illustrated in detail in the next paragraphs).
Blue background cards instead are played by putting them face up on the table in front of you (exception: Captured). Blue cards in front of you are therefore said to be "in play." Their effect lasts until they are removed somehow (e.g. by playing a Walker), or until a special condition occurs (e.g. in the case of Contagion). There is no limit to the cards you can have in play in front of you, provided that, as stated, they do not share a name.
3. Discard Excess Cards
Once the second phase is over (when you don't want to, or can't, play any more cards), discard from your hand any excess cards. Remember that the maximum number of cards you can have in hand, at the end of your turn, is equal to your current life points (i.e. your Health tokens). At this point the turn is over and play proceeds clockwise.
Distance Between Players
The distance between two players is the smallest number of seats between them, counting clockwise or counter-clockwise, as in Figure A.
Distance matters because every card with a scope symbol (Figure B) depends on it. Normally you can only reach targets (players, or cards belonging to them) at distance 1 (like the Hatchet on your player board). When a player is eliminated they are no longer counted for distance, so it can happen that some players become "closer" because of another's elimination.
Elimination of a Character
When you lose your last life point, unless you immediately play a First Aid (see further on) you are eliminated and your game ends! In this case, reveal your role to everyone and discard the cards you have in hand and those in play in front of you.
Penalties and Rewards
- If the Leader personally eliminates another Survivor, the Leader must discard all the cards they have in hand and those in play in front of them.
- Whoever eliminates one of the Saviors (even if they are a Savior!) is entitled to immediately draw a reward of 3 cards from the deck.
End of the Game
The game ends when one of the following conditions occurs:
a) the Survivors' Leader is eliminated. If only the Hilltop Loner remains alive, they win; otherwise the Saviors win. b) all the Saviors and the Hilltop Loner are eliminated. Victory goes to the Leader and the Survivors.
Example. All the Saviors are eliminated, but the Hilltop Loner is still alive. In this case the game continues. The Hilltop Loner will now have to deal with the Survivors still alive, who will try to eliminate them while protecting the Leader.
Playing Multiple Games in a Row
If you play several games in a row, whoever is left alive can decide to keep the same character (but not their cards!) for the next game as well, while eliminated players must draw a new one. To give everyone a chance to play the Leader, you can also decide to "rotate" that role from game to game before starting, assigning the other roles at random.
The Cards
Now that you're familiar with the rules, let's get to know the cards of BANG! The Walking Dead.
Weapons
You start the game with a Hatchet, which is not represented by any card, but is drawn on the player board. With the Hatchet you can only hit targets at distance 1, i.e. only the players immediately to your right or left. To hit targets at a greater distance, you must play a more powerful weapon, putting it on top of the Hatchet. The number in the scope (see page 7) indicates the maximum firing distance reachable. The weapon played replaces the Hatchet until it is removed somehow. Even while sitting on the player board, weapons can in fact be stolen (for example with a Surprise Attack) or made to be discarded (for example with a Walker). The only weapon you can never lose is the old and faithful Hatchet.
You can only have one weapon in play at a time: you must discard the weapon you have in play every time you play a new one.
Attention: weapons never change the distance between players, they only indicate the firing range.
Machine Gun: with this card you can play any number of Attack! cards in your turn. These can be aimed at the same player or at different players, but only at distance 1.
Attack! and Missed!
Attack! cards are the best way to take Health points away from a player. If you want to play an Attack! card to take a life point away from a player you must check:
a) at what distance that player is; and b) whether your weapon reaches at least that distance.
Example 1. In the distance diagram on page 5, suppose player A wants to attack player C (for example A wants to play an Attack! card against C). Normally player C is at distance 2, so player A needs a better weapon to reach that distance: a Pistol, a Rifle, an Assault Rifle or a Sniper Rifle would work, but not the old and faithful Hatchet. If instead player A had a Scope in play, they would see player C at distance 1 and could attack them with any weapon. If in turn player C had an RV in play, they would be seen by player A at distance 2 anyway.
Example 2. If player D had an RV in play, they would be seen by player A at distance 4: only a weapon capable of reaching at least distance 4 would allow player A to attack them.
When you are hit by an Attack!, you can immediately play, even out of turn, a Missed! to cancel the hit; if you don't, you lose one life point (discard a Health token). Discarded Health tokens go to form a reserve in the middle of the table. When you run out of life points you are eliminated from the game, unless you immediately play a First Aid (see the First Aid paragraph on page 7). Remember you can only cancel Attack! cards aimed at you, not those aimed at others. The Attack! card is discarded regardless, even if it is cancelled.
The Symbols on the Cards
Every card carries one or more symbols specifying its effect.
Attack! symbol: counts as an Attack!: take away 1 life point.
Missed! symbol: counts as a Missed!: cancels the effect of an Attack!.
Heal symbol (+): recover 1 life point. Unless stated otherwise, only whoever plays this card benefits from the effect.
Draw a card symbol: draw a card. If "any player" is specified, you may draw a random card from their hand, or you may choose one of the cards they have in play in front of them. If nothing else is specified, draw from the deck. In any case add the drawn cards to your hand.
Force discard symbol: make a player discard a card. You may force "any player" to discard a random card from their hand. Or you may choose one of the cards they have in play in front of them and make them discard it.
Any chosen player symbol: specifies that the effect applies to "any player" of your choice, regardless of distance. Whoever plays this card is excluded.
All other players symbol: specifies that the effect applies to "all other players," regardless of distance. Whoever plays this card is excluded.
Any reachable player symbol: specifies that the effect applies to any player of your choice, provided they are within reach.
Distance "N" symbol: specifies that the effect applies to any player within the indicated distance. This distance can be modified by the RV and the Scope, but does not take weapons in play into account.
First Aid
This card lets you recover one life point (take a Health token from the reserve). You can never have more life points than the number you started with! You cannot play First Aid to have another player recover life points.
You can play the First Aid card in two ways:
- normally, during your own turn;
- out of turn, but only if you have just received a fatal hit, i.e. a hit that would take away your last life point (and not simply if you've been hit).
Example. You have 2 life points left, and you lose 3 because of Contagion. If you play two First Aid cards you remain at 1 life point (2-3+2=1), while if you play only one First Aid you would still be left at zero. The First Aid card has no effect if only 2 characters remain in the game; in other words, if you play the First Aid card you don't recover any life point.
Medical Supplies
You can never play the Medical Supplies card while losing your last life point: Medical Supplies is not First Aid. Medical Supplies makes all players (including you) gain Health.
Ammo Crate and Weapons Cache
The symbols indicate: "draw two cards" (three on the Weapons Cache card) from the top of the deck.
Supplies
Take from the deck as many cards as there are players still in the game, and lay them face up on the table. Starting with you and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses a card and adds it to their own hand.
Surprise Attack
"Draw a card" from "a player at distance 1." Remember this distance is not modified by weapons, only by cards such as the RV and the Scope.
Walker
"Make a player discard a card" for "any player," regardless of distance.
Grenade
The Grenade unleashes an Attack! against "all other players," regardless of distance. Even though the Grenade causes an Attack! against everyone else, it is not itself an Attack! card. In your turn you can play as many Grenades as you like, but you are always limited to a single Attack! card.
Herd of Walkers
Every player (except whoever plays Herd of Walkers) chooses whether to respond by discarding an Attack! card, or lose 1 life point. Missed! or the use of Riot Gear are not allowed against a Herd of Walkers.
Duel
Lets you challenge any player (looking them straight in the eyes), regardless of distance. The opponent chooses whether to respond by discarding an Attack! card. If they do, it's your turn to choose whether to discard an Attack! card, and so on: the first of the two who does not discard an Attack! card loses 1 life point, and the Duel ends. Missed! or the use of Riot Gear are not allowed during a Duel. The Duel is not an Attack! card. Attack! cards discarded during a Duel do not count toward the limit of playing a single Attack! card per turn.
RV
When you have an RV in play, you are seen by others at a distance increased by 1. You, however, continue to see the others at the normal distance.
Example. In the distance diagram (page 5), if player A had an RV in play, player B and player F would see them at distance 2. Player C and player E at distance 3, player D at distance 4, while player A would continue to see the others at the normal distance.
Scope
When you have a Scope, you see the other players at a distance decreased by 1. The others, however, continue to see you at the normal distance. Distances below 1 are treated as 1.
Example. In the distance diagram (page 5), if player A had a Scope in play, they would see player B and player F at distance 1, player C and player E at distance 1, player D at distance 2, while player A would continue to be seen by the others at the normal distance.
"Draw!"
Some cards (Riot Gear, Captured and Contagion) have poker suits and values next to an equals sign, followed by their effect. To get the effect indicated after the equals sign, you must first "draw!", i.e. reveal the top card of the deck, putting it into the discards. If the revealed card has, in the bottom corner, the suit (and possible value) specified, then you get the indicated effect. Otherwise you get no effect. If a particular range of cards is indicated, the drawn card must fall within that range, including both ends. The sequence of values is: 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A.
Riot Gear
This card lets you "draw!" when you are the target of an Attack!:
- if a Heart comes up, you are Missed! (as if you had played a Missed!);
- otherwise, nothing happens.
Example. Suppose you have Riot Gear in play and are the target of an Attack!. You reveal the top card of the deck and put it in the discards: it is a 4 of Hearts. The draw! succeeds and automatically cancels the Attack!. If the revealed card were not a Heart, Riot Gear would have no effect: you would still have the option of playing a Missed! to cancel the Attack!.
Captured
Play this card in front of a player of your choice (regardless of distance): they have been Captured! If you are Captured, first of all during your turn you must "draw!":
- if a Heart comes up, you manage to escape: discard Captured and play your turn normally;
- otherwise, discard Captured and skip your turn.
Nothing else changes: while you are Captured you remain a possible target of an Attack! and you can defend yourself using response cards, such as Missed! and First Aid, if necessary. Captured cannot be played against the Leader.
Contagion
Play Contagion in front of yourself, where it stays harmless for a whole round. When you start your next turn, with Contagion in play, before even drawing you must "draw!":
- if a card from 2 to 9 of Spades comes up, Contagion begins. Discard it and lose 3 life points;
- otherwise, pass Contagion to the player on your left (who at the start of their own turn will make the same check, and so on).
Players keep passing Contagion around this way, until it either begins with the effects described, or is taken or discarded by a Surprise Attack or a Walker. If Contagion is in play together with Captured, Contagion must be checked first. If you lose life points (or leave the game) because of Contagion, this damage is not considered to have been caused by any player.
The Characters
Abraham (4 life points): in your turn, when you draw cards (phase 1), you show everyone the second card you draw. If it is a Heart or a Diamond, you draw one more card (without showing it).
Andrea (4 life points): it is as if you always had a Scope in play, that is, you see the others at a distance decreased by 1 right away. If you have an actual Scope in play too, it adds to your natural ability, decreasing the distance at which you see others by 2.
Carl (4 life points): in your turn you can play any number of Attack! cards. These can also be used against different players.
Dale (3 life points): it is as if you always had an RV in play, that is, you are seen by others at a distance increased by 1 right away. If you have an actual RV in play too, it adds to your natural ability, increasing the distance at which you are seen by 2.
Dwight (4 life points): as soon as a character is eliminated, take into your hand all the cards that character had in hand and in play.
Eugene (4 life points): in your turn, when you draw cards (phase 1), look at the top 3 cards of the deck: choose the two you draw, and put the one you do not draw back, face down, on top of the deck.
Ezekiel (4 life points): every time you must "draw!", reveal the top 2 cards of the deck and choose the result you prefer, discarding both cards.
Glenn (4 life points): in your turn, when you draw cards (phase 1), you can draw the first card from the top of the discard pile instead of from the deck. Then you draw the second card from the deck.
Hershel (4 life points): at any time, you can discard 2 cards from your hand to recover 1 life point, and you can use this ability as many times in a row as you like and are able to. Remember that you can never have more life points than you started with.
The Governor (3 life points): every time you lose a life point because of a card played by another player, you draw a random card from that player's hand (one for each life point lost). If that player has no cards in hand — too bad! — you do not draw. Remember that damage from a Grenade is not considered to have been caused by any player.
Jesus (4 life points): it is as if you always had Riot Gear in play, that is, you can "draw!" when you are the target of an Attack! and with a Heart you are Missed!. If you have actual Riot Gear in play too, it adds to your natural ability, letting you try twice to cancel the hit.
Maggie (4 life points): as soon as you are left with no cards in hand, immediately draw one card from the deck.
Michonne (4 life points): you may use Missed! cards as if they were Attack! cards and vice versa. If you use a Missed! as your Attack! for the turn, you cannot play another Attack! card in the same turn (unless you have a Machine Gun in play).
Negan (4 life points): in your turn, when you draw cards (phase 1), you can draw the first card at random from the hand of any player, instead of from the deck. Then you draw the second card from the deck.
Rick (4 life points): every time you lose a life point, immediately draw one card from the deck.
Tyreese (4 life points): 2 Missed! cards are needed to cancel your Attack! cards. The effect of a First Aid, if used successfully against one of his Attack! cards, only counts as 1 Missed!.
In Brief
- Every card with the Missed! symbol can be used to cancel the effects of a card with the Attack! symbol.
- You can only play a single Attack! card per turn, but there is no limit on cards that carry the symbol.
- You cannot have two cards with the same name in play in front of you at once.
- You can only have one weapon at a time; failing a better weapon, you always have a Hatchet available.
- Weapons never change the distance between players; they only represent the firing range.
- When only two players remain in the game, First Aid no longer has any effect.
- If you are losing your last life point, you can play a First Aid to avoid being eliminated, but not Medical Supplies.
Copyright © daVinci Editrice S.r.l. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the rules, materials or illustrations without prior written consent is prohibited. Please keep the box, it contains useful information.
BANG! designed by Emiliano Sciarra. Made in Belgium. Art. No. DVG9111. daVinci Editrice S.r.l., Via Bozza 8, 06073 Corciano (PG) Italy. www.dvgiochi.com