Roll Camera!: The B-Movie Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• New Rules and Highlights
• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Genres
• Genre Tokens
• Genre Symbols on Scene Cards
• The Middle of the Script and Genre Requirements
• Changing the Middle of the Script
• Finishing a Scene and Genre Tokens
• New Actions on the Game Board
  • Change Genre / Choose Genre
  • Remove Storyboard
• Equipment Cards
• New Scene Cards: Scene Character and Colour Scheme
• End of the Game
• Difficulty Levels

New Rules and Highlights

This is a large expansion to Roll Camera!. It uses the basic principles and components of the base game and introduces new rules and various features that make games more varied.

Follow the base game's rules in all cases except those described in this booklet.

Note: Most components of this expansion are marked with a special expansion icon.

Goal of the Game

Your goal remains the same as in the base game: film 5 scenes without letting the rating marker fall into the mediocre zone. In addition, there is one more condition: your film must contain certain genre components listed on a special script card.

So you win only if you meet all 3 conditions. Unlike the top and bottom halves of the script, the middle-of-script condition is mandatory. So if by the end of the game there is no required combination of genre tokens in the Editing Room, you lose immediately!

Components

• 6 player boards
• 2 action tokens
• 30 genre tokens (6 of each type)
• 75 scene cards
• 16 idea cards
• 15 problem cards
• 15 equipment cards
• 6 player reference cards
• 10 script cards (top and bottom halves)
• 20 script cards (middle)
• 5 production company cards

Setup

During setup, follow the normal rules, except for the following changes.

1. Choose or randomly determine which of the 12 player boards (including the 6 boards from this expansion) each participant gets. Each player also receives the reference card that matches their board.

2. Place all genre tokens next to the Storyboard area to form a common supply.

3. When forming the Problem, Idea and Scene decks, take the following into account:

   • Add the idea and problem cards from this box to the corresponding decks.
   • Take all scene cards from this box and the base game box, shuffle them, then randomly select 25 cards. Use the selected cards to form the scene deck, and return the rest to the box.
   • Place the resulting scene deck face up in the Storyboard area, then take 2 cards from the top of this deck and place them in the cells below. If any of the 3 available scene cards bears the ANY GENRE symbol, shuffle those cards back into the deck and replace them with new ones. Remember that at the start of the game no available scene card may bear the ANY GENRE symbol.
   • If the available scene cards show special symbols marking their genre, place the matching genre tokens on them.

   Translator's note: the printed text in this step says "take 2 cards" and then refers to "3 available scene cards." The source does not make the placement of the third card explicit in this sentence; check against the setup diagram on page 5 of the printed rulebook.

4. Shuffle all cards that form the middle of the script, then randomly select 5 cards and form them into a stack. Place the resulting stack face up in the script area between the stacks for the top and bottom halves of the script (see the picture above). Your film's title will now be formed from 3 parts instead of 2.

5. Place the action tokens "Change Genre / Choose Genre" and "Remove Storyboard" in any free areas of the game board (see the suggested layout in the picture above).

Genres

Most B-movies are genre films with a style and subject matter characteristic of the genre. This expansion contains 5 popular genres:

• HORROR
• CRIME FILM
• SCIENCE FICTION
• FANTASY
• WESTERN

You will find special symbols for these genres on special tokens, and on scene cards and cards that form the middle of the script.

Genre Tokens

The box contains 6 genre tokens of each type. When you place such a token on a scene card, take it from the common supply.

Remember that genre tokens are needed to meet the requirement of a special script card and so fulfil one of the winning conditions. There are various ways to place or move these tokens, swap them, or even remove tokens from a scene card.

A scene card cannot hold more than 2 genre tokens. Even if an effect tells you to place a genre token on a scene card that already has 2 such tokens, do not place it.

When you move a scene card, also move all genre tokens lying on it.

When you remove a scene card, return all genre tokens lying on it to the common supply. You may remove a genre token from a scene card only through a special effect; you cannot remove it voluntarily.

A genre token is marked with the GENRE symbol, which appears on many components of this expansion.

Genre Symbols on Scene Cards

In the upper left corner of a scene card, next to the scene character icon, you will find 0, 1 or 2 genre symbols. Scene cards from the base game have no such symbols.

When you lay out a new scene card, check whether it has genre symbols. If it does, immediately place the matching genre tokens on it from the common supply, if possible.

Example: when you lay out a new scene card in the Storyboard area, you see 2 genre symbols in its upper left corner: Western and Crime Film. Immediately place the matching genre tokens on this scene card.

If the upper left corner of a laid-out scene card shows the ANY GENRE symbol, the active player takes any genre token from the common supply and places it on that card. If the scene card also shows other genre symbols besides the ANY GENRE symbol, first place the tokens matching the other symbols, and only then choose a genre token from the common supply.

Pay attention to genre symbols only when you lay out a scene card. Afterwards, ignore these symbols. In other words, when determining a scene's genre, rely on the tokens lying on the card, not on the symbols in its upper left corner.

The Middle of the Script and Genre Requirements

During setup, the stack of cards that form the middle of the script is placed between the 2 other stacks: the top and bottom halves of the script. At the start of the game the cards in it are in random order.

Each card that forms the middle of the script shows one part of the film's title and the genre requirements that must be met by the time filming of the film is complete.

If, when the game ends, the requirements of the middle-of-script card are not met, you lose immediately!

The symbols on this card show which genre requirements must be met by the end of the game:

• A genre symbol means that by the end of the game you must have a matching token in the Editing Room. You may have more genre tokens than the card states. Any excess has no positive or negative effect.
• A genre symbol with a crossed-out ban sign means that by the end of the game you must NOT have any matching tokens in the Editing Room.

Example: according to this card's genre requirements, by the end of the game you must have at least 4 Western tokens and no Fantasy tokens in the Editing Room.

Changing the Middle of the Script

At the start of the game, the card that forms the middle of the script is chosen at random. However, you may swap it using the effects of some problem cards, idea cards and/or special actions on player boards, since the same rules apply to it as to the other parts of the script.

Yes, it is a bit strange that we have 3 halves of the script, but anything can happen in this cinema...

So if an effect says you may interact in some way with one of the script card stacks, you may also choose the stack that forms the middle of the script.

• If an effect says to take 1 of the 2 script card stacks (for example, the star action "Script Co-Writer"), you may choose 1 of the 3 stacks (including the middle stack).
• If an effect says to take both script card stacks (for example, the effect of the problem card "The Script Accidentally Went Through a Shredder and Was Slightly Reworked..."), take all 3 stacks and perform the necessary manipulations with each of them.

Finishing a Scene and Genre Tokens

When you finish filming a scene, flip the card over and place it colour side up in the Editing Room. Also move to the Editing Room all genre tokens lying on it, and then place them on the colour side of the card.

As in the base game, when you finish filming certain scenes you receive a special bonus. Although the bonus symbol is shown on both sides of the card, you receive it only once. Now, as the bonus for finishing filming, you can receive not only 1 or 2 Audience Appeal points, but also, for example, $1.

As in the base game, receive the filming-completion bonus immediately after you move the scene card to the Editing Room.

Example: having finished filming a scene, you flip the card colour side up and move it to the lowest-numbered free cell in the Editing Room. The tokens lying on the card are also moved to the Editing Room; place them on the colour side of the card. Try to place the tokens so that they become part of the scene. After all, a zombie in a cowboy hat is so cool, isn't it? Finally, receive the filming-completion bonus: increase your budget by $1.

New Actions on the Game Board

With this expansion you can perform new actions on the game board. To do so, place the matching action tokens during setup.

Change Genre / Choose Genre

Choose ONE OF TWO:

• Spend $1 to replace 1 genre token lying on a scene card in the Storyboard area with any other token from the common supply.

OR

• Take any genre token from the common supply and place it on any scene card in the Storyboard area (remember that a scene card cannot have more than 2 genre tokens).

Remove Storyboard

Remove all 3 available scene cards from the Storyboard area, moving them in any order to the bottom of the corresponding deck. If there were genre tokens on them, return them to the common supply.

If at least 1 scene card in the Storyboard area has a downtime token on it, you cannot perform the Remove Storyboard action.

Equipment Cards

During setup, 3 random equipment cards are placed next to the game board. Each such card has a strong effect but can be used only once per game.

Any player may use an equipment card in step 3 of their turn. By placing the required die in the special slot, the player performs the card's unique action.

After removing the die placed on it (in step 4 of your turn or in some other way), flip the equipment card face down and set it aside. In this game it is no longer available, unless the effect text explicitly says otherwise. (Sorry, nobody wants to deal with the union.)

New Scene Cards: Scene Character and Colour Scheme

Some scene cards from this expansion show several icons reflecting the scene's character and colour scheme. The same colours predominate in the illustration. If at some point in the game the colour of such a scene must be specified, the active player determines it by choosing one of the icons shown.

At the end of the game, the players together choose 1 of the 2 colours shown on the card. After this the card counts as a regular scene card of the chosen colour. Consider only the chosen icon when checking whether you have met the script card conditions, and when applying any other effects that trigger at the end of the game (for example, the innovations of some production company cards).

Example: at any point in the game, the active player decides whether to treat this scene card as green or blue. At the end of the game all players choose 1 of the 2 colours, and from that point on the card is treated as only green or only blue.

End of the Game

As in the base game, if at any moment the arrow of the budget/schedule tracker lands on the "END OF FILMING!" space, you immediately lose!

Otherwise, the game ends as soon as the fifth scene card is placed in the Editing Room.

Do not forget to gain or lose Audience Appeal points according to the requirements of the top and bottom halves of the script. The amount depends on which scenes you filmed and in what order during the game.

You win if the rating marker is outside the mediocre zone AND all requirements of the middle-of-script card are met. In all other cases you lose!

Difficulty Levels

In the base game, difficulty could be changed by increasing or decreasing the size of the budget and the length of filming. You could choose 1 of 3 levels: easy, normal, hard. Now you have many more options for changing the difficulty level.

Use the table below if you want to try an intermediate difficulty level or a new game experience. Here are some ways to make your game easier or harder:

To make the game easier	To make the game harder
Increase your film's starting budget.	Decrease your film's starting budget.
Increase the starting filming schedule.	Shorten the starting filming schedule.
Lower the minimum number of Audience Appeal points needed to win.	Raise the minimum number of Audience Appeal points needed to win.
Take more equipment cards, or choose these cards yourself.	Take fewer equipment cards, or do without equipment cards altogether.
Choose script cards yourself.	Choose script cards that take away Audience Appeal points rather than giving them.
Play with people who are friendly and able to support each other.	Play with people you hardly know and who are hostile.

You can also make the game harder with production company cards. Use the production company cards from the base game or the new cards from this box. All of them are compatible with the components of the B-Movies expansion; only their difficulty differs.