Death Show TV Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Objective of the Game
• Setup
• Location Cards
• Ability Cards
• Show Cards
  • Generic Rules
  • Types of Show Cards
  • Colour Guide
  • Running Out of Show Cards
• Starting the Game
• Phases of a Turn
  • Example of a Turn
• Combat Rules
  • When Does Combat Happen?
  • How Combat Is Resolved
  • Fighting an Event
  • Multiple Combat
• Death and Elimination
  • When a Contestant Dies
  • Killing a Contestant in Combat
  • Killing a Contestant by Other Means
  • The Island Shrinks
• Two-Player Games
• Rules Disputes
• Let the Show Begin!

Components

• 8 Contestant cards
• 8 Ability cards
• 82 Show cards
• 9 Location cards
• 8 tokens
• 2 dice

Translator's note: the source component line is garbled ("8 CARTAS DE 8 CARTAS DE 82 CARTAS CONCURSANTE HABILIDAD DE SHOW"). The counts above are read from the labels that remain and should be checked against the final edition.

Objective of the Game

The goal of Death Show TV is to survive the show, but only one contestant will manage it, so make sure it is you (eliminating your rivals will help). Vitality Points (the Vitality icon) represent your contestant's health. If you lose all of them you "die" and are eliminated from the game. The contestant who remains in play when all others have been eliminated is the winner. Be careful, though: if the last contestants are eliminated simultaneously there is no winner, because after all there is no glory for the dead.

Setup

1. Place the Location cards in the centre of the table, using the order shown in the image.
2. Deal each player one Contestant card at random.
3. Give each player the Ability card that matches their Contestant, and one token.
4. Shuffle the Show cards and place them face down as a draw deck. The Show cards have two different backs; shuffle them together into the same deck.

Location Cards

The Location cards represent the map of the island and act as the board. During the game, contestants move between them (see Action Phase). The type of location (shelter, beach or forest) affects which Show cards can be played there.

The nine Location cards are arranged as a 3 x 3 grid, as in the map image:

Forest of Screams	Dense Forest	Monkey Forest
The Lighthouse	The Bunker	The Caves
Bloody Beach	Paradise Beach	Turtle Beach

Translator's note: the source gives the location names in the order shown above. Location type labels (shelter, beach, forest) are printed in the source only as the heading "TIPO DE UBICACIÓN" with no extracted entries, so the type of each location is not transcribed.

Every Location card has a special rule on one of its sides. These rules are optional and allow players to configure the island as they like. Before starting, arrange the Location cards so that the special rule is visible only on the locations you are going to use.

For your first games, the recommended special rules are those of The Bunker, The Lighthouse and Bloody Beach.

Translator's note: the special-rule texts themselves did not extract from the source and are not transcribed here. The source rule-name heading "NOMBRE DE LA REGLA / UBICACIÓN OPCIONAL" is printed with no entries.

Ability Cards

Ability cards are used to keep count of what your Contestant has, by moving a token along the card's number track.

Translator's note: the source sentence omits the noun being counted ("contabilizar los que posee tu concursante"). Given the Vitality Points tracked elsewhere, it most likely refers to Vitality Points, but the word is not printed.

Like the Location cards, Ability cards have two sides. One side shows the special ability your Contestant has, which you may benefit from as many times as you like, unless the card itself says otherwise. If you do not want to use the special abilities of the Contestants, simply use the other side.

Show Cards

During the game you will gain Show cards, which you keep in your hand. These cards represent both events of the programme and gifts obtained by your contestant. The type of Show card and its own description tell you when and how you may play it. The symbol in the upper right corner shows its generic rule.

Generic Rules

• APPLAUSE: This symbol means the card is single-use. Discard it after playing it.
• ON AIR: The card has an ongoing effect. Apply it from the moment it is played until the start of the turn of the player who revealed it. Place it face up in front of the last player affected by it, to remember when its effect ends. Discard it when its effect ends.

Types of Show Cards

• Weapons: Used during Combat (see Combat Rules). There are 3 levels of Weapons. At the start of the game ONLY LEVEL 1 WEAPONS MAY BE USED, although you may keep higher-level Weapons in your hand. The Rule Change card "New Weapon Level Activated" allows all Contestants, from that moment until the end of the game, to use Weapons one level higher.
• Equipment and Unexpected Twist: These CAN BE PLAYED AT ANY TIME, including during other players' turns, and you may combine as many as you like. They are restricted only by their own description.
• Trail: Play 1 Trail during your Action Phase to Hunt.
• Event: You may play 1 Event during your Event Phase.
• Rule Change: These cards share a different back from the other Show cards, so you will recognise them before drawing them. They MUST BE PLAYED AS SOON AS YOU DRAW THEM FROM THE DECK, and their effect applies immediately. After drawing a Rule Change card and applying its effect, draw a new card from the Show deck.

Colour Guide

The coloured dot at the top of each card is a quick guide to when it is used:

• Red: during Combat.
• Blue: on your turn.
• Green: at any time.
• Cyan (Rule Change): when drawn from the deck.

Translator's note: the source's "GUÍA DE TIPO COLOR DE CARTA" table (generic rule, card name, description) did not extract beyond its column headings, so the individual Show card names and descriptions are not transcribed.

Running Out of Show Cards

If the Show deck runs out, shuffle the discarded Show cards and put them back into play. They can then be drawn in the usual way.

Starting the Game

The player who rolls the highest result on the die goes first. If several players tie for the highest result, those players roll again until one of them remains highest.

Play then proceeds in turns. When a player finishes their turn, the player to their left may begin theirs.

Phases of a Turn

1. Draw a card from the Show deck.
2. Action Phase. You MUST perform one of the following actions:
   • Move: Place your Contestant card on any Location card that is not occupied by another player. It cannot be the same one you were on.
   • Hunt: Play a Trail card and move to a Location card occupied by one or more Contestants, to attack them in Combat (see Combat Rules).
   • Fight: Enter Combat against the Contestants in your same Location (see Combat Rules).
3. Event Phase. You may play 1 Event card.
4. Discard (for all players). Contestants holding more than 7 cards in hand must discard down to a maximum of 7.

Example of a Turn

It is Kelpie Miller's turn. Kelpie draws a card from the Show deck and hides it in her hand. During the Action Phase, Kelpie chooses to Hunt, so she plays a Trail card and moves to the Location where Jhon is, to attack him in Combat. After resolving the Combat we move to the Event Phase, and Kelpie plays the Incendio card against Elena, who is in a Forest location. The Discard Phase comes next. Nobody has more than 7 cards in hand, so play passes to the next player.

Combat Rules

When Does Combat Happen?

A player may enter Combat against another Contestant, or against an Event card that causes Combat.

Fighting a Contestant can be done in two ways, as attacker or as defender.

• As attacker: by moving to another Contestant's Location through a Hunt action, or by declaring a Fight action against the Contestants in your Location.
• As defender: because a player has performed a Hunt action against you, or because a player occupying your Location declares a Fight on their turn.

How Combat Is Resolved

1. The attacking player shows the cards they will fight with: ONE Weapon* and as many Equipment and Unexpected Twist cards as they wish (cards with the red dot).
2. The defending player does the same.
3. Each player rolls one die, starting with the attacker.
4. Each player adds to their die result the bonuses of the cards they used. The highest result is the Winner, and the Loser loses 1 Vitality Point. If any Contestant rolls a "1" on the die, it counts as a Fumble (Pifia) and that player automatically loses the Combat.** In case of a tie, or if both players roll a Fumble, nothing happens.
5. Loot: The Winner draws a random card from the hand of the Loser, provided that both Winner and Loser are Contestants.

* If a Contestant does not use any Weapon, they are considered to fight Unarmed (they use a Weapon +0 of Level 1). If you win an Unarmed Combat, in addition to any possible Loot, you draw a card from the Show deck.

** Some cards allow rolling two dice in Combat and adding both results. In that case, the player automatically loses the Combat if they roll a Fumble on either die.

Fighting an Event

Combat against an Event card that causes Combat works like combat against a Contestant, with one exception: the attacker is the card itself, which has a fixed and unchangeable Combat value (for example, Combat +4). Event cards fight a single Combat, so whatever the result, they are discarded afterwards.

Example: Elena plays the Killer Squirrels card (Combat +2) against Kelpie. Kelpie is the defender and the squirrels are the attacker. Kelpie decides to fight with the Katana Weapon (Combat +3) and the Ambush Unexpected Twist (Combat +2). Elena rolls the die for the squirrels' attack and gets a 3 (3 + 2 = 5). Kelpie rolls and gets a 2 (2 + 3 + 2 = 7). Kelpie wins the Combat, so nobody is hurt (except the squirrels, but nobody cares about them). Had the squirrels won the Combat, Kelpie would lose 1 Vitality Point but no card from her hand, because the winner of the Combat would be a Card and no Loot would take place.

Multiple Combat

A Multiple Combat occurs when two or more fighters are in combat in the same Location (for example, two Contestants and an Event). Multiple Combat follows the Combat rules with two exceptions:

1. There is one attacker and several defenders. They show the cards they will fight with in turn order, starting with the defender to the left of the attacker.
2. Each player rolls one die and adds their bonuses. The player with the highest result is the Winner of the Combat, and the player with the lowest result is the Loser.
   • If there is a tie for the highest result, it counts as though all those players had won the Combat. Loot is initiated by the Winner who is to the left of the Loser.
   • If there is a tie for the lowest result, all Contestants with that result are considered Losers.

Death and Elimination

When a Contestant Dies

When a player loses all of their Vitality Points, they "die" and are eliminated from the game. As a general rule, Contestants start with 4 Vitality Points, although you may agree on a different amount to change the length of the game.

Translator's note: the source does not print the Vitality icon in this passage, so the wording "loses all of their Vitality Points" is supplied from the rule on the first page.

Killing a Contestant in Combat

If a player takes another player's last Vitality Point in Combat (because they are the Winner of the Combat), they may keep the Show cards of the eliminated player. They discard any surplus during the Discard Phase.

In a Multiple Combat, several players may kill the same Contestant at the same time. In that case they roll the die, and the player with the highest roll keeps the Show cards of the deceased. If several players roll the same highest result, they roll again to break the tie.

Killing a Contestant by Other Means

If a player loses their last Vitality Point by any other cause (including an Event that causes Combat), they discard all of their Show cards. Their body remains hidden and abandoned until the clean-up crew arrives after the game has ended.

The Island Shrinks

When a Contestant is eliminated, the player who caused their death (even if it was the deceased player themselves) must choose a Location that is not occupied by any other player and remove it from the game. Take the card out. From then on, nobody may move to it.

Two-Player Games

The audience loves unexpected endings, and the writers of Death Show TV will do whatever is necessary to deliver them. To represent this, two-player games include an additional rule:

While a Contestant has more Vitality Points than their rival, that Contestant counts any die result of "1" or "2" as a Fumble in all Combats.

Translator's note: the source omits the noun after "tenga más que su rival" ("has more ... than their rival"). It is read here as Vitality Points, since the rule concerns the Contestant's health; this should be checked against the final edition.

Rules Disputes

Disputes about the rules can arise in any board game, even more so when players are playing psychopathic contestants thirsty for fame and blood. If, after consulting the rulebook, you cannot agree, apply the following rule: the owner of the game always has the final word.

Let the Show Begin!

Good luck, and don't forget to smile.