Nightfall
Nightfall Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Clash by Night: Them
by Kenneth Hite
The frontage road strung out below him, Franz Orlok wheeled in circles on leathery wings and watched the humans weaken. They had set up a defensive line in the sawgrass behind a chain link fence: pickup trucks, a panel van, a few concrete highway barriers, even a semi-trailer. The mowed grass, and the road, and then the interstate made for a wide-open field of fire. He could see the muzzle flashes sparkle in the darkness below, heard the thin pop-pop-pop of the rifles and the more guttural boom of the shotguns. He could smell the blood—coppery and peppery—of the wounded, too.
The ghouls had torn down the fence fifteen minutes ago. In the last ten minutes, Franz had heard fewer and fewer shots, and smelled more and more blood.
Now he banked and turned, diving out of the night sky and into the last thick knot of muzzle flashes, where a fistful of men and women in down jackets and camo vests fired almost continuously into the dead things that attacked them. The ghouls went down, shots to the head telling at close range, just like in the zombie movies.
Then Orlok struck, flitting over the panel van and tearing out some pink-cheeked boy's throat, blood spraying all over his Falcons jersey. The scent poured out into the chill air; Franz was drunk on it almost immediately, rending and clawing in an ecstasy of homicide. None of the meat had stakes handy, and even if they'd had axes, none of them could get to his throat before he tore out theirs. Vampire speed made certain of that.
But even at vampire speed, muscles singing with hunger, nostrils gaping wide with blood-scent, it took time to kill all six of them. Gunshot wounds might knit themselves back together in seconds, stab wounds close up of their own accord almost immediately, but those "seconds" and "almosts" added up. One of the humans even got in a point-blank shot with a .357 Magnum, a hit that knocked Orlok back almost a dozen feet—his new body was a lot tougher, but to fly it had to be at least a little bit lighter, too. Franz knew some vampires who could shrug off even that kind of hit and keep coming… but then, they couldn't fly.
Some of those vampires were coming up now, leaping over the trucks and hurling aside the concrete barriers. But they found nothing alive to feed on here. The humans defending the panel van had bought the rest time to pull back, across the parking lot to the apartment complex.
But time enough to hold off a clutch of vampires, with blood fumes pulling them into blurs of horror in motion? Not enough time for that—and even as Orlok formed those words to himself, he saw the lead vampires smashing through the front doors of the activity center, where before tonight maybe the humans who lived here had gathered to play pool or watch something on the big-screen TV. They'd go through that building like it was paper and then would come the enjoyable job of peeling humans out of their nest family by family, morsel by morsel, like tearing into a box of chocolates had been back when he had been human himself.
Then the activity center exploded.
A pillar of flame erupted, nearly carbonizing Orlok in midair. Yes, the humans had been busy in the activity center—but not playing pool! No, they had been playing with matches. The howls of the vampires in the building changed from triumph to agony in a sudden fortissimo. The incendiaries had gotten them all—almost all, Orlok reminded himself. He was, for the time being, not on fire, and he hadn't seen Travail go blood amok either. He climbed for a better view, not hard at all with all that heat boiling up into the night sky.
A whole line of fire stretched across the front of the complex; possibly a gas line, Franz thought. That's going to burn for a while. The middle of that line slowly folded down from a fireball to a mere inferno. Behind the fire, Orlok could hear shots—spaced out a bit. Aimed. At him, likely.
Orlok tried to get at the other buildings, the ones actually holding the humans—the buildings that had to be holding the freshest meat—but the updrafts from the fire were too strong. And the sniper fire from those buildings was a little too accurate, especially if the humans had any more tracer bullets squirreled away. They'd shot off most of them killing the ghouls, but you never knew. One thing Franz Orlok knew: he didn't wake up after Nightfall immortal just to burn up a few weeks later. So he turned his latest climb into a roll and landed back by the panel van, where Travail was meditatively running his fingers across the bloodstained leather bucket seats.
"I don't think we can get around that fire any time soon, Travail."
A flash of feral rage broke across the other vampire's face, but he mastered himself quickly. So quickly that Franz couldn't tell if the other was more vexed by the fire or by Orlok's casual use of Sir John Travail's last name. Travail covered by studying the blood drying under his talons, then looked up.
"Very well, then. I want you to fly back up the highway until you find that werewolf pack we slipped past earlier. Find them and bring them here. Tell them there's fresh meat here, if they can take it. They're always barking about how tough they are. Let them prove it here."
Briefly, Orlok shuddered. Regeneration didn't do much when some wolfed-out psycho beast tore your arms off and threw them a block away. He made a mental note not to casually piss off Sir John Travail again, but he had to say something to try and avoid this horror show play.
"But Tra—Sir John, even if they do show up, they'll eat everything in sight. There won't be any blood left for us, except what we can get from our kills so far." Not that there are nearly so many of us left to share it, he thought but didn't say.
Travail gazed at Franz steadily until Orlok dropped his eyes. Then he spoke, in a voice that chilled the very memory of those fiery updrafts out of Orlok's body. "This isn't about blood. It's about dominance. Our dominance over the human cattle… and, if the weres come when we call, when we ring the dinner bell for them… our dominance over the pack.
"Consider this a lesson in how a true immortal uses patience, 'Franz Orlok.' A lesson we learn ourselves… and one we teach to the humans. We want them to learn this lesson." Travail's voice grew, if anything, colder, grating like steel on bone in midwinter.
"We can wait. Fires burn down. And morning is never coming."
Welcome to Nightfall!
You and your opponents control terrifying forces—creatures long thought to be mere folklore—each seeking to destroy the others. Your minions and actions seek to wound your rivals so that you can seize your rightful place as ruler of a ruthless, darkness-choked world. The one who proves himself the strongest when the ashes finally settle is the victor!
Game Components
- 228 Order Cards (60 starting minions, 84 additional minions and 84 actions)
- 60 Wound Cards
- 24 Draft Cards
- 31 Card Dividers (to help organize the cards)
- 3 Extra Card Dividers (for promotional cards)
- This Rulebook
Setup
Unpacking the Game
Separate the wound, draft, and order cards into separate piles. The wound cards (right) have a type (bite, burn, or bleed) as well as bullet holes and blood. Draft cards (below right) have "DRAFT" watermarked across the artwork.
Next, separate the order cards by name. You should have 30 piles of order cards: 18 of minions and 12 of actions.
Locate the 6 starting minion piles. Each of these piles should have 10 cards. The cards' names are printed in yellow, and they have a cost of 0. The starting minions are: "Bad Smoke", Charlotte Reyes, Enraged Wight, "Genesis One", J.J. McTeague, and Yuri Koroviev.
Use these to create five 12-card starting decks, each containing 2 copies of each of the six starting minions.
Place the wound, draft, minion (12), action (12) and starter deck (5) piles into the box, using the included card dividers to sort them however you like.
Now that you've unpacked, the world of Nightfall awaits you!
Alternate Draft. For 2-player games, we recommend you draft as follows: First card: Removed. Second and third cards: Private archive. Last card: Commons.
Quick Start. If you want to skip drafting, give each player one of these sets for their archives:
- Alton Hickman + Ghoul Summoning
- Death Grip + Ivan Radinsky
- Blood Rage + Lilith Lawrence
- Flank Attack + Franz Orlok
- Grim Siege + Vulko
- Marcus Toth + Rend and Tear
- Shock and Awe + Zacharias Sands
Preparing to Play
Shuffle all the wound cards and place them face down in a stack near the middle of the table. Count off cards from the top of the stack equal to ten times the number of players (i.e., 30 cards for a three-player game) and turn them face up, leaving them on top of the wound stack.
Give each player one starting deck, which must have 2 copies of each of the six different starter minions. The rest of the starting cards will not be used in the game.
Shuffle all the draft cards together and deal 4 draft cards face down to each player. Set the remaining draft cards aside, face down.
Each player chooses one of his four draft cards and places it face down in front of him. This card determines each player's first private archive. Players pass their remaining 3 draft cards to the player on their left.
Each player chooses a second draft card from the 3 that were just passed, placing it face down next to the first card. This determines each player's second private archive. Players pass their remaining 2 draft cards to the left.
Each player takes one of these 2 passed cards and places it face down in the center of the table, forming the commons. Place the final draft card in each player's hand back in the "DRAFT CARDS" section of the game box.
Take the deck of draft cards set aside earlier and deal additional draft cards into the commons until there are 8 cards total in the commons. Place the rest back in the "DRAFT CARDS" section of the box.
Turn all draft cards in the commons and private archives face up. Replace each of those draft cards with the corresponding pile of seven order cards to create the archives. The draft cards are not used during play; they are simply used to help set up the game. Return them to the box at this time. Keep the order cards in separate stacks, sorted by name, making sure to keep private archives separate from the commons. Players will be able to add these cards to their decks over the course of the game.
Each player shuffles his starting deck and draws five cards to form his hand.
Determine a first player by any mutually agreeable method. You are now ready for Nightfall!
"It's not dead 'til you take its head."
—Hunter catchphrase, attributed to "Shadow Seven"
How to Play
Nightfall is a game of the near future, a game of resolute humans and fierce creatures of horror struggling to seize control of a perpetually darkened world.
Overview
Each player has his own personal deck of cards that he uses during the game. Your deck begins with a dozen weak cards. You strengthen and improve your deck by "claiming" orders from your private archives—cards that you will select—and the commons. All players can claim cards from the commons, but only you have access to your private archives.
Players take turns, with play always passing clockwise (to the left). On your turn your minions attack your opponents. Then you may create a "chain" of orders from your hand. However, your opponents may add their own cards to your chain when you are done. The cards in the chain then resolve in the opposite order that they were played.
Your minions and actions inflict wounds on your opponents. The player with the fewest wounds at the end of the game has proven he is the strongest, and wins the game!
Anatomy of the Cards
The diagram below shows the key pieces of information found on every Nightfall card. Note that minion cards (such as the one shown on the right) have a strength number and health on one or more sides; action cards have neither, and use a steel-colored card frame.
A minion card is labeled with: Card Color (the moon icon in the top left corner), Link Color(s) (one or two smaller moons beneath the card color), Health (red slash marks along the top edge), Strength (a number in the upper right corner), Cost to Claim (a number beside the card name), Card Name, Keyword Line (the card's race/type), Text Area (the card's game text), and Kicker Color and Kicker Area (at the bottom of the card).
The Basics of Nightfall
There are several key concepts that are fundamental to Nightfall:
Decks, Discard Piles, and Archives
You have your own deck of cards. You can only draw cards from your own deck. You also have your own discard pile. You may look through your discard pile at any time, but not your deck. You may not look through any other player's discard pile or deck unless a card allows you to do so.
If at any time you need to draw cards and there are not enough cards left in your deck, draw as many cards as you can, shuffle your discard pile to make a new deck, and then finish drawing cards as needed. If you empty your deck but do not need to draw any more cards, leave your deck empty. Do not shuffle your discard pile until you need to draw another card.
As your cards are discarded or destroyed, place them face up on top of your discard pile. Any new cards you claim are also added to your discard pile.
Archives are stacks of order cards that are not owned by any player. You can acquire these cards during the claim phase of your turn. Archives are always kept face up and visible to all players. There are two types of archives. The eight archives in the center of the table are called the commons, and they are available to all players. You also have two archives in front of you, called your private archives. Only you can claim cards from these archives.
Exiled cards are removed from the game and do not return to any discard pile, deck, or archive. This includes wounds that are exiled.
Setup Diagram
A diagram on this page illustrates the table layout during play: your chain sits in the center where cards you play are linked together; your minions in play sit in front of you; your private archives and your deck sit to one side; and your discard pile grows next to your deck.
The Order Cards
Your deck is composed of order cards. There are two varieties of orders: minions and actions.
All order cards have a color, which is indicated by the moon icon in the top left corner of the card. Beneath the card's color icon are one or two smaller moons. These icons indicate the link colors for that card. See Chaining Cards on page 13 for an explanation of how link colors are used.
On the right edge of the order card, next to the card's name, is a large number. This is the influence cost that you must pay in order to claim that card during your turn (see Claim Phase on page 16).
Every card in Nightfall has some game text that explains the effects of the card when played. If the text on a card seems to contradict these rules, the card's text always takes priority over the rules.
Game text that starts with "Chain:" is called chain text, and appears on both minions and actions. This text takes effect when that card is resolved as part of a chain. Game text that starts with "Your Chain:" only takes effect if you started the chain. Game text that starts with "In Play:" appears only on minions. This text takes effect after the card is resolved and the minion is in play.
Friendly & Opposing
Your private archives, the minions you control, the orders you play, and any game text on those cards are all considered friendly to you. Private archives, minions, orders, and game text belonging to the other players are all considered opposing.
Archives in the commons are neither friendly nor opposing. Individual cards stacked in any archive (whether it is a private archive or an opposing archive) do not belong to anybody and are considered neither friendly nor opposing.
Minions
Minion cards represent followers that you bring into play and control. In addition to the normal features of an order card, every minion has a strength value in the upper right corner. This is the amount of damage that the minion inflicts when it attacks (see The Combat Phase on page 11). Each minion also has a keyword that describes which species it is.
Finally, each minion has health, which is the amount of damage it can sustain before it is destroyed. Health is indicated by a number of red slashes on the sides of the card. The highest health value is at the top of the card. Minions come into play with their highest health value showing at the top. For each point of damage inflicted on a minion, rotate its card 90° clockwise. This reduces the minion's health (shown on what is now the top edge of the card) by one.
Some card text restores health; rotate the card counter-clockwise to restore health to a minion.
"Do not assume you can see the major threat. In fact, the more major the threat, the less likely you are to see it…."
Starting Minions
Each player begins the game with 12 starting minion cards in his deck. These minions can be identified by the yellow color of their card title. Starting minions also have a claim cost of 0 next to their card name.
All starting minions have the in-play text "Exile when destroyed or discarded," or "Exile when destroyed." Exiled cards are removed from play and do not go to your discard pile or deck. Thus, barring card effects, a starting minion can only be put into play once; when it gets destroyed or discarded from play, remove it from the game.
Target
Some order cards require you to choose which specific player, minion, archive, wound, or order in the chain is affected. The game text on these cards always uses the word "target." However, you never target cards in your hand or your deck.
Cards that require no choice (e.g., "damage all opposing minions") do not target individual minions or players. Any card effects that alter or prevent targeting do not affect these cards.
Simultaneous Events
Nothing in Nightfall happens simultaneously, though sometimes the game text on a card may make actions appear to occur at the same time. If multiple events are happening at once, the player whose card triggered the event chooses the order in which events resolve. For example, if a card deals damage to every player, the player of the card chooses the order in which the players take that damage.
"… That said, eliminating lesser threats is a great way to pass the time."
—"Indigo Six," posted on www.hunting-by-night.com
Taking a Turn
Players take turns in clockwise order. On your turn you must play through four phases. Each phase must be completed before the next phase begins. All phases must be played in order as follows:
Combat Phase. All your minions in play must attack other players. After attacks are resolved, discard your minions from play.
Chain Phase. You may create a chain of orders by playing a card, and possibly linking additional cards. Once you are finished, your opponents may extend your chain by adding their own cards.
Claim Phase. You may acquire cards from the commons or your private archives by spending influence.
Cleanup Phase. You must draw cards, and you may resolve one wound effect. All card effects end.
Once you have completed all four phases, your turn ends. The player to your left now begins his turn.
Play Tip. Be aggressive. You cannot dominate the savage world of Nightfall by sitting around and waiting.
The Combat Phase
If you have any minions in play at the start of your turn, you must use them to attack other players. Each minion attacks one of your opponents. You can send multiple minions against the same opponent, or divide your minions among opponents as you see fit.
You must send all your attackers at once. Once your attackers are assigned, resolve each combat in the order you choose.
Example: It's Scott's turn and he has three minions: Vulko, Ivan Radinsky, and "Big Ghost". He decides to send Vulko and Ivan Radinsky to attack Brad, and "Big Ghost" to attack Janet.
If the defender has minions in play, he can assign one or more of them to block attacking minions. A blocking minion can only block a single attacking minion. However, multiple minions may block a single attacking minion.
Example: Brad also controls three minions. He assigns his "Indigo Six" and his Alton Hickman to block Ivan Radinsky, and his Zacharias Sands to block Vulko. Janet has no minions in play, so the attack by "Big Ghost" is not blocked at all.
WEREWOLF VOICE [IDENT AS ALPHA 'BIG GHOST']: You said, 'Go in first,' and that's what the Pack is going to do.
Each attacking minion now inflicts damage equal to its strength. If the attacking minion was blocked, the damage is first inflicted on the blocking minion. If there are multiple blocking minions, the defender chooses the order in which the blocking minions take damage. One minion must absorb as much damage as possible (i.e., until all the damage is absorbed or the minion is destroyed) before the next blocking minion takes any damage.
Note. Defending minions do not inflict any damage on the attackers. They only absorb damage.
The defending player receives one wound for each point of damage that is not absorbed by blocking minions.
Example: Brad gets to decide the order in which his minions block the attacking Ivan Radinsky (who has 4 strength). He wants to save Alton Hickman to attack with later, so he chooses "Indigo Six" to absorb damage first. "Indigo Six" has 2 health, so it absorbs 2 damage and gets destroyed (it goes to Brad's discard pile). The remaining 2 damage from Ivan Radinsky is applied to Alton Hickman. Brad rotates Alton Hickman 180°, reducing his health to 1.
Meanwhile, Vulko has a strength of 3. Zacharias Sands, who blocked it, only has a health of 2, so Zacharias Sands is destroyed and the 1 remaining damage is inflicted directly on Brad.
Damaging Minions
The current health of a minion is shown by the red slashes on the top edge of the card. Each point of damage reduces the health of the minion by one. When a minion takes damage, rotate the card clockwise 90° for each health lost. This reduces the number of red slashes on the top edge of the card by one. If your minion rotates clockwise off its last point of health (away from the side with only one red slash), it is destroyed and placed in your discard pile.
Some card text restores health; rotate the card counter-clockwise to restore health to a minion.
Damaging Players
Players do not have health. Instead, wound cards represent the damage a player suffers during the game. When damage is inflicted upon you, you receive one wound card from the top of the wound stack for each point of damage you take. Always place wound cards on top of your discard pile.
Example: Scott's "Big Ghost" attacks Janet without being blocked, so all of its damage is inflicted directly on the unfortunate player: Janet takes 5 wound cards from the top of the wound stack and puts them in her discard pile!
UNKNOWN VAMPIRE [NOT RECORDED, TRANSCRIBED BY OPERATIVE]: I tell you the situation has changed. They've seen you now. With the helicopter. You do remember helicopters, don't you?
Blocking Direct Damage
A small number of minions, such as Vulko, have an in-play ability that allows them to block damage inflicted directly on the player who controls them. This includes damage from chain effects and damage that gets past blocking minions after resolving attacks. These minions have in play text that says: "This card blocks damage inflicted on you." If you have one of these minions in play when a card inflicts damage on you, the minion must block it just like it was blocking an attacking minion.
These minions do not help you when you "receive wounds" as a card effect.
Discarding Minions
After all damage is resolved by all your attacking minions, you must discard all of your minions in play. Your combat phase is now complete.
Note: Some minions, such as "Bad Smoke", are not discarded at the end of your combat phase. These minions have the in-play text: "This card stays in play until destroyed."
The Chain Phase
Once all your attacks have been resolved, you may play orders from your hand for various effects. You can bring minions into play, inflict damage on opposing players or minions, or help your cause in a variety of other ways.
Chaining Cards
Order cards are played from players' hands to form a chain. A chain is one or more cards played in a sequence.
At the beginning of your chain phase, you can play any one card from your hand for free, without restriction. This is called "starting a chain."
You can add more cards to the chain, but each card you play must link to the latest card played in the chain. Each card has a large moon icon in the top left corner. This signifies the card's color. Beneath the color icon are two smaller moon icons. They show the link colors for that order. You can only link a card to a chain if the color of your card matches a link color on the last card played in the chain.
Example: This Alton Hickman is a white card. It can only be linked to a card with a white link color symbol. Only red and green cards can be linked to the Alton Hickman card in a chain. Janet begins her chain by playing the Alton Hickman card for free. Next she adds a Furious Melee card to the chain. She can add the Furious Melee because it is a red card.
'BIG GHOST': Helicopters are your problem, mosquito man. The Pack goes in for the kill now.
—digital tape record, parabolic mike A228, transcribed by "Overwatch Two"
You can only link a card to the most recently played card in the chain. You cannot "jump" over other cards to link to a card played earlier.
When you are done adding cards to your chain, each of your opponents has a chance to link one or more cards from his hand, as long as he has a card that can link to the last card in the chain. Start with the player to your left and proceed around the table. All cards added to the chain must link to the last card played (even if it was played by another player).
Example: Scott begins his chain with a Blaine Cordell card. Since that's his only card, he can add nothing else to his chain. Brad links a Franz Orlok to Scott's chain (he can link because the Franz Orlok is purple, which matches one of the link colors on Blaine Cordell). Now Janet can link her Ivan Radinsky (white) to Brad's Franz Orlok, and link a Charlotte Reyes card to her own Ivan Radinsky.
Each player has only one opportunity to link cards to a chain. Each opponent may link as many cards as they like, following the requirements for linking a card to the chain. After each player has had a chance to play cards, the chain is complete.
If you do not play any cards during the chain phase of your turn, there is no chain, and no one else can play cards.
Play Tip. Play cards in a chain at a 45° angle to show that they have not yet resolved. You can overlap your cards that are linked together in the chain. Straighten each order to vertical as it resolves. This makes it easy to tell which cards have resolved, which minions are in play, and which order was played last.
Resolving the Chain
Once all players have either linked cards to the chain or passed on the opportunity to do so, all cards played in the chain are resolved, starting with the last card played and ending with the first card.
Remember: Last in, first out.
Start with the very last card linked to the chain, regardless of which player played the last card. Follow the chain text on the card fully (the text that begins with "Chain:" or "Your Chain:"). Remember that "Your Chain" effects only happen if the card was played by the person who started the chain.
When an action is resolved, place it on top of its owner's discard pile. When a minion is resolved, place that minion into play in front of its owner.
Minions in a chain are not "in play" until after the card resolves. This means that any card that affects a minion cannot target a minion card that is still part of the chain.
After the last card played has been resolved, move on to the next card in the chain. Continue resolving cards in the reverse order that they were played (going back around the table counter-clockwise), until each player has finished resolving each of the cards they played. Resolve all orders played by a player before moving to the next player's cards.
Example: The last card played on the chain was Janet's Charlotte Reyes card, so it resolves first. Then her Ivan Radinsky, followed by Brad's Franz Orlok. Finally Scott resolves his Blaine Cordell card and the chain is finished.
If you cannot resolve all effects of the chain text (for example, if you must discard a card from your hand, but your hand is empty), obey as much of the text as you can. That card still resolves, and you continue with the rest of the chain.
You must resolve all chain text on a card even if you don't want to! It is possible that an earlier card in the chain changed the situation in such a way that the chain text on your card has become a disadvantage to you!
Often, the game text on a card will tell you to inflict damage on a player or minion. This damage is resolved the same as damage inflicted during the combat phase.
Play Tip. Since you can see the card colors of the next player's private archives, try to avoid leaving him link colors that he prefers so he can't add to the chain.
Kickers
Most orders show a kicker at the bottom. A color is shown to the left of the kicker text. If you link an order directly from a card of the color shown next to the kicker text, you receive the kicker bonus when the card resolves (even though the card you linked to has not yet resolved).
Example: Furious Melee has a white icon next to its kicker text. Since Janet linked her Furious Melee to a white Alton Hickman card, she must use this kicker when the Furious Melee card resolves as part of the chain. She exiles two cards from Scott's Blaine Cordell archive, even though it only has one card left.
An Example Chain
It's Janet's turn and she starts her chain:
- First she plays an Alton Hickman. Alton Hickman has red and green link colors.
- Then she plays Furious Melee. Furious Melee is a red card, so it can be linked to the Alton Hickman. Furious Melee has purple and yellow link colors.
- Janet decides not to add any more cards to her chain.
- Scott (sitting to Janet's left) adds a Shock and Awe card to Janet's chain. It's a purple card, so he can link it to the Furious Melee.
- Scott decides not to play any more cards. Brad declines to add any cards.
"It's quite simple. You eat what I serve you, or you spend a thousand years dying of thirst. I don't much care which."
—Lisaveta Florescu
Now that the chain is complete, the cards are resolved in reverse order:
- Scott's Shock and Awe resolves first. He must choose a minion to take 3 damage. He would love to damage Janet's Alton Hickman, but it hasn't entered play yet. He targets Brad's Zacharias Sands instead.
- Janet's Furious Melee card resolves next, doing 2 points of damage to each of one player's minions. She chooses to target Scott's minions.
- Since Furious Melee was linked to a white order (Alton Hickman), Janet gets to use Furious Melee's kicker effect: she immediately exiles two cards from Scott's Shock and Awe archive.
- Alton Hickman finally resolves, and comes into play. Janet places the Alton Hickman card upright on the table in front of her.
The Claim Phase
In this phase of your turn, you may claim cards from your private archives and the commons. You cannot claim exiled cards or cards from opposing private archives.
In order to claim a card, you must spend influence. You start each of your turns with two points of influence. You can earn additional influence from some card effects. You can also discard cards from your hand during your claim phase; each card you discard gives you one point of influence. Note that discarding a starting minion in this manner does not exile the card, because it was never in play.
You can discard cards even if you do not intend to spend the influence earned. This is a method of discarding unwanted cards from your hand.
The influence you must spend to claim a card is shown to the right of the card's name.
Play Tip. Pay attention to the link colors being passed your way, and draft some cards to transition from those colors to colors that will feed your chain.
Example: This Alton Hickman has an influence cost of 3. Brad needs 3 influence to add this card to his deck. Since he starts his turn with 2 influence, he only needs to discard 1 card from his hand to get all the influence he needs to claim Alton Hickman.
You may claim as many cards as you like, including multiple copies of the same card, as long as you have enough influence to pay for all of them. All cards that you claim are taken from the top of each archive and placed face up on top of your discard pile.
You cannot claim cards during other player's turns without a card effect.
Any unused influence is lost at the end of your turn.
Remember: Influence = 2 automatic + influence from card effects + 1 per discard.
"Wait until after combat to check your wounds. I really shouldn't have to say this, but exposing your fresh blood to night air is a great way to never get to 'after combat.'"
—"Indigo Six," posted on www.hunting-by-night.com
The Cleanup Phase
The last thing you do on your turn is draw cards. If you have fewer than 5 cards in your hand, you must draw cards from your deck until you have 5 cards in your hand.
After drawing cards, check your hand for wound cards. You may use one effect printed on one wound card in your hand. You may not use effects on any other wound cards you have in your hand, or on wound cards that you draw as a result of using the first wound effect.
The first Nightfall release only has one type of wound effect, but expect other types to be released in expansions.
Play Tip. There is no hand size limit. A larger hand lets you chain more cards, get more kickers, and discard for more influence. Do all you can to get more cards.
Example: Brad draws 2 wound cards during his cleanup phase. He discards both of them and draws 4 more cards. One of these is another wound card, but since he already replaced wound cards once, he can do nothing more this turn.
Finally, all card effects end at the completion of each turn.
The End of the Game
When the last face-up wound card is taken from the wound stack and given to a player, the game ends. Finish resolving cards in the chain or damage from attacking minions, depending on which phase it is. Keep track of any additional wounds received by using the face-down cards in the wound stack (and previously exiled wounds if necessary).
Example: Brad linked a Death Grip card to Scott's chain. When that card resolves, he inflicts 3 damage on a player of his choice. He chooses to have Janet suffer the damage. She receives the last 2 face-up wounds from the wound stack (the game will therefore end after the chain is finished). Janet still receives the third wound from Death Grip, so she grabs a face-down wound. The players then continue to resolve Scott's chain.
Each player totals the number of wound cards he has in his deck, hand, and discard pile. The player with the fewest wound cards wins the game!
If there is a tie for the least number of wounds, count the number of bite, bleed, and burn keywords each person has on their wounds. Each player compares their highest count; the player with the lowest high count wins. If still tied, compare the second highest total.
If there is still a tie, the person closest to the right of the first player wins.
Example: Brad and Janet are tied at 7 wounds each. Brad has 3 bites, 3 burns, and 1 bleed. Janet has 1 bite, 4 burns, and 2 bleeds. Since Janet has 4 of her most frequent wound and Brad has only 3, Brad wins the tiebreaker.
Reference
Variants
Secret Archives. Do not replace the draft cards in your private archive with stacks of order cards. Instead, leave them face down until you want to claim one of those order cards. When you do, replace the draft card with the stack of matching cards.
Open Archives. Instead of filling the commons after drafting, fill the commons first with eight draft cards, face up. Then deal three draft cards to the players. This gives the players more knowledge when they draft their private archives.
Common Ground. Players do not have private archives. Instead, the first two cards they draft are placed in the commons. Draft cards not chosen are removed from the game.
End-of-the-World Series. Play a series of games, keeping track of each player's wound score at the end of the game. When the first person reaches 100 total wounds, the player with the lowest total score wins.
The Lexicon of Nightfall
Here you can find definitions for the terms used in Nightfall. You will find these terms used in the rules and in the game text of the cards. Refer to them as needed.
- Action: A subtype of order that has an instant effect when played in a chain.
- Attack: To send your minions to damage another player during your combat phase.
- Archive: Multiple copies of a single card type organized into a stack. Each archive starts with 7 identical cards.
- Block: To defend against another player's attacking minions with your own minions.
- Chain: A series of linked cards in the process of being played.
- Chain Text: Game text on a card that begins with "Chain." Chain text takes effect when the card is resolved as part of a chain. See also Your Chain.
- Claim: To buy a card from an archive by spending influence.
- Color: Each order has a color, represented by the moon icon in the top left corner of the card.
- Commons, The: The 8 central archives from which anyone can claim cards.
- Deck: Your personal deck of cards that you will expand and modify during the game.
- Destroyed: When a card is removed from play by taking excessive damage or by a card effect that uses the word destroy. When a card is destroyed, place it on its owner's discard pile.
- Discard: To place a card on top of your discard pile, face up.
- Draft Cards: Placeholders used to facilitate setup. Not used during the game.
- Draw: To take the top card from your deck and add it to your hand.
- Exile: To permanently remove a card from the game.
- Feed: A game effect coming in the first Nightfall expansion. You heard it here first.
- Friendly: A card under your control, including minions you have in play, orders you add to a chain, and your private archives.
- Game Text: The effect that a card has on the game when played. There are two types: "chain" text and "in play" text.
- Hand: The cards you are physically holding.
- Health: How durable a minion is, represented by red slash marks around the sides of the minion's card.
- Inflict: How damage gets from your fist to his face.
- Influence: A resource spent for claiming cards.
- In Play Text: Game text on a card that begins with "In Play," found only on minions. In Play Text takes effect the moment the minion enters play (by being resolved as part of a chain), and remains in effect until the minion leaves play (such as by being destroyed or discarded).
- Keyword: Special text on minion cards that tells which race the minion is.
- Kicker: Additional chain text that is only triggered if you link an order to the proper color.
- Link: To add a card to a chain by matching the card's color to another card's link color.
- Link Color: The color(s) of cards that can be linked to an order. Most orders have two link colors.
- Minion: A subtype of order that represents a follower you can bring into play and control.
- Opposing: Cards under your opponents' control, including their minions, orders, and private archives.
- Order: The cards that are linked to make a chain. There are two subtypes: minions and actions.
- Player: One of the fleshy humans sitting at the table. See also: Prey.
- Prey: Fleshy human. If they are track stars, they are termed Fast Food. See also: Player.
- Private Archives: The 2 archives from which only you can claim cards.
- Receive: How you get wounds from damage. When you receive a wound, transfer one wound card from the top of the wound stack to your discard pile.
- Starting Deck: A 12-card deck that holds 2 each of the six starting minions. Each player starts with this same deck at the beginning of the game.
- Starting Minion: One of the 6 types of starting minion cards that begin in each player's deck. All starting minions have only one link color and have a purchase cost of zero.
- Target: The chosen victim of a card's effect, or the act of choosing such a victim.
- Text: The writing on a card. Could refer to in-play text, chain text, or kicker text, depending on the context.
- Wound: Cards that signify damage you have endured that get shuffled into your deck.
- Wound Effect: An action you can take using wound cards in your hand at the end of the turn.
- Wound Stack: The stack of wound cards, which are acquired as players take damage. The wound stack contains 10 face-up cards per player, the rest being face down.
- Your Chain: Chain text that only takes effect if it is your turn.
FAQ
Charlotte Reyes. If you discard this card from your hand for influence or due to a card effect, it is not exiled because it was never in play.
Dark Awakening. This does not resolve kicker text, since the target card was never in the chain.
Death Grip. Yes, the kicker can deal less pain, but wounds received cannot be blocked by the likes of "Bad Smoke". If this is not what you want, don't chain to activate its kicker.
Enraged Wight. If you discard this card from your hand for influence or due to a card effect, it is not exiled because it was never in play.
Flank Attack. No, the chain text will not prevent a linked card from getting a kicker from the target. Yes, the kicker allows you to grab an order for free during someone else's turn.
"Genesis One". If you discard this card from your hand for influence or due to a card effect, it is not exiled because it was never in play.
Ghoul Summoning. This does not resolve kicker text, since the target card was never in the chain.
"Indigo Six". If more than one copy of this card's kicker resolves, your influence is still double; each version of the card sets the worth of your influence to double its base value.
J. J. McTeague. If you discard this card from your hand for influence or due to a card effect, it is not exiled because it was never in play.
Leave Me! You choose the targets for the chain text and the kicker text. If you get the kicker text on this card, it resolves both chain and kicker (if applicable) on the target card twice.
Marcus Toth. He does not go to your hand at the end of the attack phase, because at the end of your attack phase your minions are discarded, not destroyed.
Sir John Travail. Each copy reduces your costs by 1. His kicker text will resolve both chain and kicker text on the next card, if the next card qualifies to get a kicker.
Yuri Koroviev. If you discard this card from your hand for influence or due to a card effect, it is not exiled because it was never in play.
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Credits
- Design: David Gregg
- Development: Edward Bolme, Brent Keith, Todd Rowland, Mark Wootton, John Zinser
- World Development: Kenneth Hite, jim pinto, Todd Rowland, John Zinser
- Art Direction: jim pinto, Todd Rowland
- Graphic Design: Tonya Clarkston, Ronnie Dyer, jim pinto, Mark Quire, Paul Timm
- Writing: Kenneth Hite
- Editing: Edward Bolme, Ryan Metzler, William Niebling
- Typesetting: Edward Bolme, Todd Rowland
- Brand Management: Todd Rowland
- Production: David Lepore
- Art: Conceptopolis ("Big Ghost", Blaine Cordell, Blood Rage, Franz Orlok, Furious Melee, "Indigo Six", Lisaveta Florescu*, "Shadow Seven", Shock and Awe, Sir John Travail, Zacharias Sands), Andrew Hepworth (Death Grip, "Genesis One", Ghoul Summoning, Grim Siege, Ivan Radinsky, Lilith Lawrence, Marcus Toth, "Overwatch Two"), Aurelien Hubert (J. J. McTeague, Yuri Koroviev), Florian Stitz ("Bad Smoke", Enraged Wight, Flank Attack, Leave Me!, Mesmeric Presence, Tag Team Takedown, Vulko, Zombie Horde), Alberto Tavira (Alton Hickman, Dark Awakening, Rend and Tear), Daniel Vendrell Oduber (Charlotte Reyes). promo cards: look for them soon!
- Playtesting: Jon Angus, Daniel Baker, Andreas Böhm, Nicolas Bongiu, Zachary Boyd, Julien Braun, Ian Cameron, Gary Campbell, Adam Carey, William Collie, Trent Colwell, Teri Corbett, Matt Drake, Sébastien Duthu, Michael Eskue, Chaz Estell, Awna Gregg, Elizabeth Gregg, Sarah Gregg, Scott Hadsall, Benjamin Higgins, Jeremy Hoover, Loïg Jézéquel, Yves-Marie Le Carrérès, Franck Lopez, Steven Metzger, Ryan Metzler, Yann Miossec, Joe Mucchiello, Chris Nicoll, Jessica Presnell, Lori Presnell, Marty Presnell, Richard Proctor, Aaron Randol, Stéphane Redon, Jason Riedinger, David Short, Benoit Sigal, Emilie Sigal–Falgayras, William Simonitis, Cody Smallwood, Sean Stewart, Kevin Stone, Rick Villamil
- Special Thanks: To the gamers at BoardGameGeek.com who helped develop David's Chainmaster mechanic, upon which Nightfall is based.
"J.J., it's Marcus. I don't know what you've done now, but I'm at that bar you said to meet you at. Where it used to be, I mean. Did your mama not tell you that alcohol is flammable? I haven't found a fugly cycle jacket full of ashes, so you must have got out before you found out the hard way. Meet you at Neo in six, if you ain't burned your own ears off."
—voicemail message left on J.J. McTeague's cell phone
Clash by Night: Us
by Kenneth Hite
As his Humvee left the concrete of I-285 to bump across the waste ground toward his target, PFC Lance Patroccio watched the werewolves kill people. Technically, since he was using the infrared sight on the M82, he watched highly-magnified, really bright spots of orange blot out slightly dimmer spots of orange. But after a tour in Iraq, and then especially after Nightfall, he knew what he was seeing. Werewolves ran hotter than people, so they glowed brighter in infrared. Off to one side of the blobs, a duller yellow-orange washed out everything: a fire still stubbornly burning. Fire didn't stop werewolves, more's the pity. It didn't even slow them down, not much.
The fire had dimmed to a reddish-orange glow both in the scope and ahead of him by the time the squad pulled into position. The guys had their scopes out, but night-vision got washed out by the firelight and the wolves didn't stand out near as much in green-on-green. But you could see well enough by Mark One Eyeball to see that the civilians had put up one hell of a fight. And you could see that they were losing.
Patroccio had fought werewolves before. Vampires were bad enough, but you could at least count on them to stay shot long enough to shoot them again. Not werewolves: bullets just bounced off them, like Superman. If Superman were seven feet tall, covered with fur, and ate people. The one up on the roof there, tearing the rifle—and the arm that held it—off some poor redneck was eight feet tall if he was an inch.
Patroccio's palms sweated with eagerness to kill the thing. But eagerness didn't mean recklessness—not after three weeks of near-constant patrolling, not after Nightfall. The reckless ones in his National Guard unit were dead. So were the unlucky ones, the slow ones, and about half of the ones left over. His company was an over-strength squad now, and not much over-strength any more, either.
The Captain was already out of his Humvee and barking orders: "Hawk One and Two, get down there. Tracer load. And stay at range, dammit. Your job is to light the bastards up, not get yourself eaten. Kestrel One and Two, dismount and set up. You make sure Hawks One and Two don't get themselves eaten. Crow One and Two, move out. Stay downwind. Don't unsheathe until you get the word from Kestrel." Patroccio and his two crewmates—Kestrel Two—duly dismounted and set up. Unlimbering the M82 anti-materiel rifle was simple, and if you did it enough, it wasn't even particularly clumsy. Setting it up was always a little tricky, because you didn't want its recoil to bury it in the red Georgia clay, or knock its tripod off alignment. By the time Patroccio had picked a spot, Hawks One and Two had gotten down there.
And looking through the scope, it looked like they'd stayed at range. A stream of bright yellow light cross-hatched that evil orange blob, painting the target perfectly. Another stream lit up a second blob, but that was Kestrel One's problem.
Breathing a prayer and sweating ice into his helmet liner, Patroccio lined up the shot. And took it. A half mile away, the orange blob jerked. Patroccio swiveled the rifle and squeezed the trigger again. It jerked again, but still moved. A third squeeze, a third jerk. The M82 fired a 12.7x99mm round, the Mark 211. Each round hit with 15,000 foot-pounds of force, enough to blow through a foot of concrete or six inches of armor. Each round held a lethal cocktail of high explosive, accelerant, and incendiary mixer, wrapped around a depleted uranium core. Each round could kill a heavy truck, or a light tank. Patroccio fired his fourth such shell into the werewolf and it finally dropped.
Then he switched targets to the next one, and did it again. He had to swap out a new box of ammo, and then tap his first kill twice more to make it stay down until Crow Two could come in and finish it. A fire axe, hastily electroplated with silver once the Captain saw enough to make a believer out of him: that's what the Crow teams carried, because that's what it took. Silver bullets were all well and good in theory, but you couldn't hand load ammo and expect it not to jam up an assault rifle, and no factory in Georgia made silver cased shells. Yet. So Kestrel Two knocked the fight out of the dog, and Crow Two knocked the dog out of the fight.
When it worked right, that is. And this time, this fight, it seemed to. One guy in Hawk One had to be carried back, but he still had the leg. Even better, all the Crows came back, although the new kid still clutched a horrible gray triangle in his bloody fist—an ear, Patroccio thought. The kid was pretty stoked, high on adrenaline and giddy with survivor's luck. Maybe he bragged a little too loud about "our kills," or maybe the Captain thought that cold water was healthier than adrenaline in the long run.
"Before we start planning our attack on Stone Mountain, remember two things," rasped the Captain, in his best halftime coach cadence. "Thing one: those were the last of the Mark 211 rounds in our unit's arsenal. Maybe the last in all of Fort Gillem. Thing two: those rounds aren't made here. They're made in Ogden, Utah. You seen any trains come in from Utah yet? We're out of werewolf-killers in this unit. You think they're running out of werewolves?"
Quick Reference
Combat Phase. All your minions in play must attack other players. After attacks are resolved, discard your minions in play.
Chain Phase. You may create a chain of orders by playing a card, and possibly linking additional cards. Once you are finished, your opponents may extend your chain by adding their own cards.
Claim Phase. You may acquire cards from the commons or your private archives by spending influence.
Cleanup Phase. You must draw cards, and you may resolve one wound effect. All card effects end.
Cards in this Set
Starting Minions: "Bad Smoke", Charlotte Reyes, Enraged Wight, "Genesis One", J.J. McTeague, Yuri Koroviev
Promos: Get your Nightfall promos: visit nightfallthegame.com for full details!
Draft Minions: Alton Hickman, "Big Ghost", Blaine Cordell, Franz Orlok, "Indigo Six", Ivan Radinsky, Lilith Lawrence, Marcus Toth, "Overwatch Two", Sir John Travail, Vulko, Zacharias Sands
Draft Actions: Blood Rage, Dark Awakening, Death Grip, Flank Attack, Furious Melee, Ghoul Summoning, Grim Siege, Leave Me!, Mesmeric Presence, Rend and Tear, Shock and Awe, Tag Team Takedown