Boomtown Bandits Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set-Up
• Grab Some Dice!
• Start Player
• Game Play
  • Rounds
• Shootout!
  • "3-2-1-DRAW!"
  • Resolving Hits
  • Misfires
  • In the Event of a Tie
• Example #1: The Shootout
• All Other Turns
  • New First Player
  • Playing Loot Cards
  • Loot Cards (anatomy)
• Own This Town!
• Example #2: The Loot Cards
• Game End
  • Bonus Cards
• Location Reference

Components

6 town location boards, 15 dice (5 player sets), 15 tokens (5 player sets), 42 loot cards (red backs), 7 bonus loot cards (blue backs), 1 marshal's badge, 1 "first player" whiskey bottle.

Set-Up

Choose the boomtown you'll rob today:

• 2 players - 3 locations
• 3 players - 4 locations
• 4 players - 5 locations
• 5 players - 6 locations (all of 'em)

Make a row of selected locations (in any order) as shown in the sample boomtown below.

Place the 7 loot cards for each chosen location face down in a pile above the location.

Set aside the bonus cards relevant for the selected locations and the "Own this Town" bonus card until end game scoring.

Sample boomtown for 4 players (locations = players + 1): Train, Bank, Brothel, Stagecoach and Mine, each with its pile of 7 loot cards above it.

Grab Some Dice!

Each player chooses a color and takes the 2 shooter dice, 2 shooter tokens, 1 coward die and 1 coward token.

Each player should have 3 tokens and 3 dice (their camp of bandits).

Start Player

To determine the start player, flick and spin the bottle using the whiskey bottle token. The player it is pointing to (or closest) will take the bottle and be first to play.

As the start player, you are also the first to place the marshal badge. Place it on a location tile. That location is unavailable for this round of play.

Game Play

Rounds

There are three phases to each round:

Placement

Each player, starting with the first, places one token face down at any available location. Each player keeps placing one token face down in clockwise turn order until all tokens have been placed. You may peek at your tokens at any time.

Note that more than one token of the same color can be placed at the same location - just not at the same time (since tokens must be placed one at a time).

Reveal

Once all tokens have been placed by all players, all the tokens are revealed by flipping them so that the symbols are visible.

Shootout

Resolve each location one at a time going from left to right. If there is only one player's tokens at a location, they win a loot card from the top of that location's pile.

If there is more than one player competing for the loot, a shootout occurs! See page 4.

Shootout!

"3-2-1-DRAW!"

This is a REAL TIME, WILD WEST shootout!

During a shootout, players simultaneously roll all of the dice corresponding to the tokens revealed at that location for a real time shootout! All players at that location roll at the same time.

NOTE: If there is a player or players not involved in the shootout, they will act as the judge. One of the non-shooting players should say, "3-2-1-DRAW!" to start each shootout. If every player is involved in the shootout, choose one player to say the countdown.

Rolling starts on the word, "DRAW!" Rolling as fast as possible, players roll and reroll until anyone rolls ANY icon. That person needs to immediately shout "HIT!" Rolling immediately stops as soon as someone shouts, "HIT!"

(You must roll it AND call it to freeze the action).

Resolving Hits

IF A BULLET ICON IS ROLLED: This is a hit. Only the player who rolled the hit, and called it first, counts. That player can also count all other hits they rolled, declaring which token they target per hit. The target token(s) are removed from the location.

IF A RUN AWAY ICON IS ROLLED: You still call a "hit." The coward token associated with your roll (and also any other coward showing on anyone's die) are removed from the location!

After hits are resolved, the countdown restarts with the remaining players' dice and tokens until only one player's tokens remain at the location. The last player gets to draw the top loot card, and that location is resolved this round.

Misfires

If a player jumps the gun (rolls early), players should stop and start over. If a player misses their RUN AWAY icon, any other player can call it. In the event someone declares a HIT where there is none, they must stop rolling while every other player continues until they count to "3" aloud. Once they have counted to "3", they can rejoin the shootout.

In the Event of a Tie

If more than one player rolls a bullet icon at the same time, and neither the judge nor the players can decide who was first, the hits are ignored and rolling restarts after a new "3-2-1-DRAW!" countdown. If there's a coward RUN AWAY icon shown in any tie event, those coward tokens are removed immediately.

Note on dice rolling and live play: Remember, playing games is for super happy fun times, so don't be a jerk. It's no fun for anyone.

Example #1: The Shootout

Arya, Camille, Molly, James, and Sam are all in on a train robbery. Camille offers to call it. "3-2.."

Whoops! Arya has jumped the gun and started rolling early. After the countdown resumes, she'll need to count to 3 before she can rejoin the action.

"3-2-1 Draw!" The dice fly in every direction. All at once it seems, people shout "HIT!" James is showing 2 bullets, but players agree Molly and Camille shouted it first, together. Everyone calls it a tie, so no bullets count. Sam's white die is showing the run away icon, which will always trigger.

Sam removes his coward token from play. Camille, Arya, James and Molly all get a fresh start. Sam now offers to call the roll now. "Ready everyone?"

All Other Turns

Each player should have all of their tokens, (unless specified by a card), at the start of each turn. Generally, all other turns act just like the first except for the following:

New First Player

The first player rotates to the left at the end of a turn. Pass the whiskey bottle to indicate this change in player. The new first player selects a location to be closed by the Marshal (can be the same one) and then places a token first.

Playing Loot Cards

Once you rob a location, those loot cards become your hand. Cards are both end game points ($ value) and can be used one time (revealed) as a useful action.

• Turn use: Cards can be played on any turn following the one in which they are gained.
• Timing: Cards will indicate when it can be played. Typical timing is before or after placement, before shootouts or even during a shootout. Sometimes a card requires that it be played immediately. If so, it will be marked in red.
• Location: Cards may play in a location that differs from where they were gained. (e.g. grab from Train, use at Bank).
• Order of play: The cards' actions are resolved in the order they were played, if multiple players are playing cards.
• Money: The money value on the loot card WILL count towards your end point total whether they have been played or kept secret.
• No action: Cards that have no actions can be kept private or made public at the players discretion.
• Target: Cards that do not specify YOU or YOUR tokens may be played on any player to strategic effect.
• Count: The number of each type of card owned by each player is public knowledge.

Loot Cards (anatomy)

Each loot card shows: its $ value (points), its location info, its card timing (for example "PLAY DURING SHOOTOUT"), and its card power. Example card: "Liquid Courage" ($5, Saloon) - "Your placed coward acts like a shooter this round."

Played loot cards are placed in front of you. It helps to group cards by location.

Own This Town!

Players should keep track of which locations they have robbed. The first player to rob from each location and declares they have done so claims the "Own This Town" bonus card.

Example #2: The Loot Cards

Jessica and Leonard are duelling it out at the Bank. She has a shooter and he has a shooter and coward.

Jessica rolls a hit, and then plays her Double Barrel card so it can count as two hits against both of Leonard's bandits. She declares that his shooter and coward are shot.

Leonard responds by playing the Body Double card so that only one hit counts! With only one valid hit remaining, Jessica targets his shooter, and they will commence the shootout with her remaining shooter and his remaining coward.

Moments later, Leonard flees and Jessica's team loots the bank. She plays Brothel Inspector down in front of her (revealing $5 in loot) to draw two cards at the Bank and keep one.

Game End

Once any one loot stack is empty, that indicates that it is the last round. (e.g. if the left-most location is the first to run out of loot, the players will still resolve each other location where there are tokens).

At the end of the last turn, each player tallies up the value of loot cards won from each location.

Bonus Cards

The player with the most loot cards for each location claims the bonus for it. In the event of a tie, there is a sudden-death shootout to determine who can claim the bonus (using one shooter per tied player).

Once all bonuses have been accounted for, each player adds up all of their loot and bonus cards. The player with the most money wins!

In the event of a money tie, the players have a final shootout with all their dice. The winner of that shootout is the baddest bandit and wins the game!

Location Reference

Saloon: Your bandit camp's Coward is a bit of a drunk. You'll find that there are abilities that give your Coward some advantages here in addition to what money you can find.

Bank: The Bank is a great place to rob some cash, but it's also sometimes closed due to bank holidays and does not grant you any strategic advantages with its loot cards.

Train: The Train gets around, and with all of those passengers, there are rumors that spread. Timing is key. You also might get lucky and find a rich passenger on board with a safe.

Brothel: The Brothel is full of rumors, whispers, and beautiful ladies. You will find some money to steal, but there is also strategic advantage through information here.

Mine: There is great money to be had, but there is also some risk involved, so watch out for a cave-in while trying to get that big score.

Stagecoach: The Stagecoach is full of action in this Boomtown. There always seems to be weapons and some money lying around it for some crazy reason.