Barbascura X: Bestie Bastarde
Barbascura X: Bestie Bastarde Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components and Card Reference
Beast cards (Carte Bestia). Each Beast card shows:
- Biome: the icon in the top-right corner. Beasts (and Challenges) belong to one of five biomes, shown by these coloured icons: a blue starfish icon, a red icon, a tan tree icon, a grey icon, and a green leaf icon. A pink star icon means the Beast belongs to no biome.
- Strength: the number in the top-left corner. The total Strength of your Beasts in play decides the winner of a Challenge.
- Ability: shown by a symbol or by text in the bottom panel. The meaning of the symbols is explained on the Help cards (Carte Aiuto).
Challenge cards (Carte Sfida). Each Challenge card shows:
- Biome: the icon in the top-left corner.
- Points: the number in the centre of the bottom edge. The Challenge card goes to the winner's Pile at the end of the Challenge, and its points count at the end of the game.
- Biome Bonus slots: the +1 slot and the +3 slot at the bottom of the card (see Biome Bonus below).
Help cards (Carte Aiuto). Each person receives one Help card at setup. It explains the ability symbols (see the list under Abilities below).
Merda cards. The Merda cards form their own deck. Merda cards in your Pile count against you at the end of the game (see End of the Game).
Piccantelle cards. Secret goal cards. Each person keeps two at setup.
Pile (Mucchia). Each person's own area where they keep the Challenge cards they have won and their Merda cards.
Discard pile (Scarti). Destroyed Beasts and discarded cards go here.
Beasts in play (Bestie in gioco). Each person's area in front of them, where they play their Beast cards.
Pack Leader (Capobranco). A card that marks the Pack Leader. The Pack Leader acts first in each Challenge and is passed on at the end of each Challenge (see step 5).
Setup (Where Everything Goes)
- Shuffle the Beast cards to form the Beast deck and place it on the table.
- Each person draws 5 Beast cards from the deck and 2 Piccantelle cards chosen at random (these are your secret goals!), then takes 1 Help card. Return the unused Piccantelle to the box.
- Form the Challenge deck in ascending order of points by taking 6 Challenge cards at random (without looking at the biome!): two 2-point cards on top, then two 3-point cards, then two 4-point cards at the bottom. Place the deck on the table, then reveal the top card (this is your first Challenge!). Return the unused Challenge cards to the box.
- Argue to decide who among you is the most quarrelsome person, and give them the Pack Leader card.
- Shuffle the Merda cards to form the Merda deck and place it on the table.
Overview (Summary of What You Must Do)
Play Beasts from your hand, activate their abilities, and try to have more Strength than your rivals. The strongest wins the Challenge. After six Challenges the game is over, and whoever has the most points wins. Easy? Not for you.
How to Play (Read Carefully, Otherwise You Won't Understand)
The game is divided into six Challenges, each resolved as follows.
1. Play One or Two Beasts
Starting with the Pack Leader and continuing clockwise, each person chooses and plays from their hand one or two Beast cards. The cards must be played face down (see the example below).
2. Activate the Beasts' Abilities
Reveal simultaneously the Beasts you have just played. Then, starting with the Pack Leader and continuing clockwise, each person takes their turn by activating all the abilities of their Beasts in play, in the order they prefer (see the example below).
3. The Player With the Most Strength Wins the Challenge
After everyone has taken their turn, add up the Strength of your Beasts still in play and add any Biome Bonus (see below). The person with the highest total wins the Challenge: they take the revealed Challenge card and add it to their Pile (see the example below).
If Strength is tied? In a tie for the highest total, the player who has more Beasts of the same biome as the Challenge wins. If there is still a tie, the Pack Leader decides which of the tied players wins the Challenge.
Biome Bonus. Do you have in play at least one Beast card of the same biome as the Challenge? Add +1 to your Strength if you have one such Beast, or +3 if you have two or more.
4. Draw 2 Beasts From the Deck
Each person draws 2 new cards from the Beast deck. If there are no more cards in the deck, shuffle the discard pile and form a new deck to draw from.
MAX 6 CARDS! If after drawing you have more than 6 cards in hand, you must discard down to 6.
5. Choose the New Pack Leader
The Pack Leader card passes to the person with the fewest points in their Pile. In case of a tie, the current Pack Leader chooses who receives the card (even themselves!).
6. A New Challenge
If there are still cards in the Challenge deck, reveal the one on top of the deck and start a new Challenge.
If you have resolved the sixth and final Challenge, the game is over.
Abilities (Help Card)
The Help card is titled "Aiuto che non ti meriti" ("Help you don't deserve").
You may choose whether to activate an ability only if its text says "Puoi" ("You may"). Otherwise you must activate it.
The Help card explains these ability symbols:
- Discard a Beast from your hand. (Icon: a card with a red cross.)
- Destroy 1 rival Beast in play of the indicated biome. The biome is shown by the icon on the card.
- Steal a rival Beast in play of the indicated biome, put it into play in front of you, then immediately activate its ability. (The biome is shown by the icon on the card.)
- Belongs to all biomes, but only for the purposes of the Biome Bonus. (Icon: a rainbow.)
- Take 1 Merda from the Merda deck and put it in a Pile of your choice. If there are no more Merda cards in the deck, take one from your own Pile instead. (Icon: a Merda.)
End of the Game (The Game Is Not Over Until You Have Won)
After resolving the sixth Challenge, reveal your Piccantelle cards. For each one, if you have met the objective written on it, add it to your Pile. Add up the points in your Pile (Challenges + Piccantelle) and subtract the Merda cards (the printed sheet shows "sottraete le [Merda icon] ..." here, with no number given for the subtraction; see the note below). The person with the most points wins the game!
Transcriber's note: the printed sheet reads "sottraete le [Merda icon] ..." with the point value missing. The sheet does not state how many points each Merda card is worth here, and it is not transcribed. Check the Merda cards' own printed value.
In case of a tie, who wins? The person with more Merda cards in their Pile. If there is still a tie, the person with more cards in hand. Otherwise, the victory is shared.
Examples
Example: "Play One or Two Beasts"
Nina, Rino and Lena challenge each other in the green biome for 3 points.
- Nina is the Pack Leader, so she plays first, and plays a single face-down Beast.
- Rino plays 2 Beasts, one face down, and the Drago di Komodo face up, visible because of its ability.
- Lena then plays 2 face-down Beasts.
Example: "Activate the Beasts' Abilities"
Nina is the Pack Leader, so she activates her abilities first. She played the Mantide, whose ability destroys the Drago di Komodo. Then she plays the Babirussa from her hand.
Rino, without the Drago now, activates the Giraffa (its ability), and plays the Scimpanzé from his hand. With its ability he chooses to throw 1 Merda onto Nina's Pile and 1 onto Lena's Pile.
Lena would have liked to steal the Drago, but since it has already been destroyed, she steals the Babirussa instead, and then, with the ability of the Onisco, discards the Merda she has just received from Rino.
Example: "The Player With the Most Strength Wins the Challenge"
Nina's Strength equals that of the Mantide, which is 2. Rino has Strength 3 (2 from the Giraffa + 1 from the Scimpanzé). Lena has Strength 8 (1 from the Granchio + 1 from the Onisco + 3 from the Babirussa + 3 from the Biome Bonus). Lena takes the Challenge card and adds it to her Pile.
Card Notes
- Beast abilities are shown as symbols or text on each card. The symbols are explained on the Help card.
- Puoi ("You may") on an ability means you choose whether to activate it. Any ability without "Puoi" must be activated.
- Biome Bonus counts only your own Beasts in play. A Beast that belongs to all biomes counts only for the Biome Bonus.