Vampire: The Masquerade – Rivals Expandable Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Glossary
• What is this Game all About?
  • Prestige
  • Blood
  • The General Supply of Tokens
• How to Win
• Set Up
• Anatomy of a Vampire
• Agenda
• Havens
• The City Deck
• Turn Sequence
  • Beginning Phase
  • Action Phase
    • Vampire Actions
    • Moving to The Streets
  • End Phase
• Detailed Rules on Actions
  • Unhosted Action - Draw 1 Card
  • Unhosted Action - Recruit a Vampire
  • Action - Claim the Prince of the City Title
  • Action - Play an Action Card
  • Action - Attack
• Playing an Attack Card
  • A Typical Attack Sequence
• Ranged Attacks
• Blocking an Attack
• Playing a Reaction Card
• Using Abilities and Game Text in Combat
• Resolving Effects and Determining Damage
• Mitigating Damage
• Attack Sequence, Step by Step
  • Attack Sequence Example
• Aggravated Damage
• Activated Abilities and Costs
• Exhaust Abilities
• Ability Source
• Torpor
• Mending
• Forming Parties
• Disciplines
• Influence
• Influence Modifiers
  • Spending Prestige for Influence
• Schemes
  • Scheme Rules Summary
  • Resolving an Influence Conflict
  • Example of Playing a Scheme
• Titles
  • Example of Playing a Title
  • Prince of the City
• Conspiracies
  • Conspiracy Rules Summary
  • Example of Playing and Resolving a Conspiracy
• Mortals and Retainers
• Attachments
• Ongoing Cards
• Miscellaneous Rules
  • Discarding Cards
  • Running Out of Cards
  • Beware of Low Prestige
  • Rare End of Game Circumstances
• Customizing Your Deck
  • Vampire Uniqueness
• The Golden Rule
• Specific Card Clarifications
• Quick Reference
  • Turn Sequence
  • Attack Sequence (Player Aid)

Contents

• 4 Pre-Constructed 49-Card Player Decks
• 27 San Francisco City Deck Cards
• 4 Player Aid Cards
• 4 Leader Tokens
• 24 Agenda Tokens
• 1 '1st Player' Token
• 80 Blood/Prestige Tokens
• 4 Rival Tokens
• 10 'No Influence' Tokens
• 12 Card Dividers
• 63-Card Crypt Pack (for customizing decks — don't open until you've played a game or two)

Glossary

Active Player: The player who is currently taking their turn.

Agenda: Your chosen mission in the game. Be the first to score 13 Agenda points and you win the game!

Blood: Akin to health. When a vampire takes damage, remove that many Blood tokens from them. When a vampire's Blood tokens are all removed, they are defeated and go into torpor.

Blood Potency (BP): A vampire's BP is their recruit cost, maximum blood, and prowess. A vampire may only play cards with a BP equal to or less than their own BP stat.

Burn: To remove a card from the game.

Character: A vampire under a player's control. Mortals are not characters. This rulebook uses the word vampire to maintain the theme of this game. Cards use the generic term "character."

Control: A card you have in play, whether it came from your deck or you acquired it during the game.

Coterie: All of the vampires you control outside of torpor.

Discipline: These are icons that denote abilities vampires have. They have no inherent effects, but having these icons allow vampires to be more effective when playing certain cards.

Foe: Other players in the game. Your foe during a conflict is the opposing player in that conflict. Not to be confused with Rival.

Haven: The location where your vampires enter play and where they return to at the start of each of your turns. Your Haven offers more protection than The Streets.

Prestige: Your main resource used to recruit vampires, etc. Prestige can also be spent to gain Influence. If you run out of Prestige, your agenda is reduced to 0 and the game ends.

Rival: The player you are trying to knock out of the game. Knock them out and you win!

Torpor: Where defeated vampires go. They slowly heal up while there and will eventually rejoin the fight.

Trigger: A circumstance or event that causes an effect to happen. Mostly found on Agenda and vampire cards.

Wounded: A vampire with blood equal to half or less of their Blood Potency is Wounded. For example, a vampire with 5 Blood Potency is Wounded if it has 2 or less blood remaining.

What is this Game all About?

In this game, you control a group of vampires who seek to dominate the city of San Francisco. You do this by attacking your foes, gaining Titles, advancing your Agenda, hunting mortals, etc. Two of the most important concepts in this game are Prestige and Blood.

Prestige

These tokens are a resource and your power in the game. If any player's Prestige is reduced to 0, the game ends. You will use Prestige to recruit vampires, play certain cards, and enable or fight Schemes. Spend your Prestige wisely so you don't end up being an easy prey, but be sure to recruit enough vampires to fulfill your strategy and Agenda.

When Prestige is spent to recruit a vampire, flip those tokens over and place them on that vampire. Those tokens become the blood (health) of that vampire.

Blood

A vampire's blood is their health. When a vampire takes damage, remove an equal number of Blood tokens from that vampire and place them into the general supply. Make change if necessary. When a vampire has no Blood tokens remaining on them, they go into torpor (a deep sleep), but they will return… eventually.

The General Supply of Tokens

Extra Prestige/Blood, Agenda, and 'No Influence' tokens are kept in a general supply near the middle of the table. If you need to collect Prestige/Blood tokens from the general supply, grab only ones that match your chosen color. It is possible that your foes might give you some of their Prestige or Blood. Spend/remove your own tokens before spending other tokens. Agenda and 'No Influence' tokens are all generic and are not colored to match the player colors.

How to Win

The game ends when any player is knocked out or any player reaches 13 Agenda points. There are 3 ways to win:

• You win if you are the first player to reach 13 Agenda points.
• You win if you knock out your Rival.
• Have the most Agenda points when a foe gets knocked out that doesn't fulfill an above win condition (i.e., Special Affairs Division or another player knocks out your Rival, etc.).

To knock out a foe, you must do one of the following:

• Cause their Prestige to drop to 0.
• Defeat the last active vampire in their coterie (vampires in torpor are not active).

If you knock out a foe other than your Rival (or they are knocked out by effects not controlled by any player), the player holding their Rival token gains 3 Agenda points. A player who is knocked out has their agenda permanently set to 0. Then compare agenda scores. The player with the most agenda wins! See tiebreakers and 'Rare End of Game Circumstances' if you encounter a situation not covered above.

Set Up

Inside this box you will find 4 individually-wrapped player decks, which are ready to be played right out of the box. Punch out all of the tokens, but leave the Crypt Pack sealed until you have played with the basic decks a few times.

1. Find the City Deck, with the Golden Gate Bridge motif on the cardback. Remove the 10 Event cards from the City Deck. Shuffle the Event cards and put 4 of them back into the box without looking at them.

2. Take the rest of the 17-card City Deck, add in the 6 Event cards you did not put back in the box and shuffle, then place the 23-card City Deck near the middle of the table.

3. Each player chooses a different color and grabs 20 value worth of Prestige tokens in that color. Place them in front of you with their blue globe side face up. This becomes your personal supply of Prestige. Leave all of the remaining tokens in a general supply of tokens near the middle of the table.

4. Each player selects the clan they wish to play. You can determine the clan of each deck by looking at the facing card in each wrapped deck: The clan name and clan symbol can be found at the top of each vampire card. After opening the wrapper, look at the cardbacks and separate the cards into four stacks: Library (40 cards), Faction Deck (7 cards), Haven (1 card), Agenda (1 card).

   Here is a little about the strategies in case you have a playstyle preference:

   • Brujah: Brute force punks and warrior poets. All about dominating the streets, even at the cost of their own blood. They specialize in Physical and Ranged conflicts.
   • Toreador: Artists, club-hoppers, and seekers of beauty. They are the jack-of-all-trades. They fight, scheme, and steal Prestige with panache. They specialize in Social conflicts.
   • Ventrue: Tyrants and kings. All about politics. They play the long game, gaining power and Titles, and then make their move. They use a mix of Social and Mental conflicts. This player should read the section on Titles in this rulebook.
   • Malkavian: Madmen and conspiracy theorists. They specialize in Mental conflicts. They will be playing Conspiracy cards, and might seek to involve other players in their crazy plans. This player should read the rules on Conspiracy cards.

   Note: If you are playing with fewer than 4 players, your first few games should use the clans in the order presented above. Once you understand the game, feel free to use any clan vs any clan or modify your deck. You can even create a deck that mixes clans! If you would like to reset your decks to their original contents, you may find the decklists online.

5. Each player grabs their chosen 40-card Library, Haven, Agenda, and set of 7 vampires. Place your Haven and Agenda side by side in front of you, but leave a gap between them and the edge of the table.

6. Find your vampire with the highest Blood Potency value in the upper left corner and place it face up in front of you. In later games, you may choose your own starting vampire.

7. Your starting vampire is your Leader. Place a Leader token of your color on them. This token grants your Leader +1 Influence, which allows them to participate in various political activities. This token is never removed from your Leader.

8. Take Prestige tokens from your starting 20 equal to the Blood Potency of your Leader and place them on your Leader. As you place them, flip them so the Blood icon is showing. Prestige tokens you move onto your vampire become their blood.

9. Randomly determine who goes first and give them the '1st Player' token. Each player has a number based on where they are sitting. The player with the '1st Player Token' is Player 1. The player to their left is Player 2, etc. In a 2-player game, your only foe is your Rival. In a 3p game, grab Rival tokens 1-3. In a 4p game, use tokens 1-4. Place the tokens face down in the middle of the table and mix them up. Starting with player 1 and continuing clockwise, each player in turn grabs a token and flips it over. If you grab a token with your player number on it, grab a new one and then throw yours back in face down and mix them up again. When there are 2 players yet to grab a token, if either of their numbers have not been revealed by the earlier players, flip the remaining tokens over and each player who doesn't have a token grabs one that isn't their own. This prevents these players from being left with their own token. Compare your token to the turn order (clockwise from player 1). The player whose number is on your token is your Rival for the game. So if you grab token #2, your Rival is player #2 — the player one seat clockwise from player 1.

10. Shuffle your 40-card deck (your "Library") and place it under your Agenda card. Shuffle your remaining 6 vampires and place them under your Haven card. These remaining vampires are your "Faction Deck."

11. Draw 4 cards from your Library and 1 card from your Faction Deck. Players 2, 3, and 4 draw 1 additional card from their Faction Deck. So, player 1 starts with 5 cards in hand, while the other players each start with 6. Though they have different cardbacks, all of these cards are held as one hand of cards. Unlike some card games, there are no mulligans or reshuffles in this game.

Anatomy of a Vampire

A vampire's name is in the upper middle of the card. To the right of that is their clan symbol. You can find that clan name written out under the vampire's name along with the word "vampire." Vampires are characters.

The spiky red blood drop in the upper left corner is the vampire's Blood Potency (BP). This is the amount of Prestige it takes to recruit that vampire into your coterie. Once that Prestige is on a vampire, flip it over and it becomes their blood. A vampire's Blood Potency is also their maximum blood (health) and prowess: a vampire cannot play a card with a BP requirement higher than their BP value.

Note: A vampire's BP value remains constant, unlike their current blood which can be reduced by damage and other effects.

The three icons and numbers in the art box are the vampire's attributes:

• Physical attribute. This amount is added to all Physical attacks (and Physical Reactions that strike back) made by this vampire. It is also their defense against Physical and Ranged attacks. Reduce all Physical and Ranged damage dealt to this vampire by the amount listed.
• Social attribute. This amount is added to all Social attacks (and Social Reactions that strike back) made by this vampire. It is also their defense against Social attacks. Reduce all Social damage dealt to this vampire by the amount listed.
• Mental attribute. This amount is added to all Mental attacks (and Mental Reactions that strike back) made by this vampire. It is also their defense against Mental attacks. Reduce all Mental damage dealt to this vampire by the amount listed.

The diamond-shaped icons on the left edge of the game text box are the vampire's disciplines. These don't have any inherent effects, but are referenced on many Action and Attack cards. If your vampire (or often, their party) has the discipline(s) listed on a card, they might gain extra benefits for playing it.

Vampires have game text under their illustration. This gives them a special ability that only they can do. If there is bold text followed by a colon (:), it's an activated ability, where you pay a cost to gain an effect. If there is no bold text or colon, that game text is always on, or might be triggered by a certain circumstance.

Agenda

Your Agenda card is your game plan and path to victory. You win the game if you are the first player to have 13 Agenda on your Agenda card. Your Agenda's text may trigger during any player's turn. Each Agenda card has its own unique way to score Agenda, but Agenda may be scored in other ways as well. All Agenda points you score come from the general supply of tokens and go onto your Agenda card. Agenda cards are neutral, so no matter what clan (or mix of clans) you play, you may choose any Agenda.

Defeating Citizens and Special Affairs Division can also score Agenda. You can see their Agenda value under their Blood stat on the left side of their card. Their game text also alerts you to their Agenda value when you defeat them.

When you defeat or burn a vampire in your Rival's coterie, you earn 1 Agenda. You do not earn Agenda when you defeat vampires controlled by other foes, unless a card says otherwise.

Havens

Your Haven is your coterie's (somewhat) safe space. It's a place where your vampires gather at dusk to discuss plans for the night. Where things go from there is up to you. Haven cards are neutral, so no matter what clan (or mix of clans) you play, you may choose any Haven. All vampires at your Haven are a single "party," which is simply a group of vampires.

Haven cards grant +1 Secrecy to each vampire in your Haven, but not to your vampires in The Streets. Having Secrecy means that a vampire cannot be attacked unless a foe can generate enough "Intel" against them. 1 Intel overcomes 1 Secrecy. 1 Intel does not overcome 2 Secrecy. Your foe would need to generate 2 or more Intel to overcome that.

Each Haven also has a special Leader Ability. The Leader Ability text is treated as if it were game text on your Leader, whether they are in your Haven or not. If your Leader is out of play, your Leader Ability turns off until they return.

The City Deck

The City Deck is a random deck of 23 cards (after 4 random Events were removed during setup) that populates the city of San Francisco with mortals for you to attack and feed upon, provide events to overcome, and Special Affairs Division to deal with. As the game continues, the number of cards in The Streets may grow and there is no maximum number of cards that can be out there at once. "The Streets" is the middle of the table. It is a shared zone where players can move their vampires to perform certain actions.

Six of the cards in the City Deck are Events. Some Events are Ongoing and remain in The Streets for exactly 1 round of play. When an 'Event - Ongoing' appears, the active player (the one whose turn it is) puts a Prestige token of their color from the general supply onto it. When their turn comes around again, burn each 'Event - Ongoing' in The Streets that has a token of their color on it. Return these tokens to the general supply. Events that don't have the word Ongoing resolve immediately (with all players potentially affected) and are then burned.

When a player needs to draw a City Deck card and there are none in the deck, shuffle the City Deck discard pile to form a new City Deck. The City Deck discard pile should be face up next to the City Deck. Events and burned Mortal cards are not placed into the discard pile. Place them into the City Deck burned pile instead, which should be far away from the play area.

Turn Sequence

• Beginning Phase
• Action Phase
• End Phase

Beginning Phase

1. City Deck Step

Burn each City Deck 'Event - Ongoing' with a token of your color on it. Then place the top card of the City Deck into The Streets face up. If it's an Event, resolve it and then burn it. If it's an Ongoing Event, place a token of your color from the general supply on it.

IMPORTANT: If you have the '1st Player' token and it is your first turn of the game, place a number of face-up City Deck cards equal to the number of players in the game instead.

2. Start of Turn Step

"At the start of your turn" effects can be found on some cards. These abilities all happen for you now, in the order of your choosing. The Prince of the City - San Francisco card is one example. Remove all 'No Influence' tokens from your vampires.

3. Ready and Return Step

Ready (turn upright) all cards you control (including attachments) and return your vampires to your Haven.

Action Phase

You get to perform 2 actions during each of your turns. There are 5 options to choose from and you may perform the same action twice during your turn if you are able. A vampire may perform an action whether at their Haven or in The Streets, unless a card or action specifies a particular location.

Actions require a vampire to exhaust (turn sideways) in order to perform the action. Unhosted Actions do not, but they still cost an action to use. Exhausting a vampire does not remove it from its party. These actions are explained more fully later.

• Draw 1 card (Unhosted Action)
• Recruit a vampire (Unhosted Action)
• Claim the Prince of the City Title
• Play an Action card
• Make an attack

Vampire Actions

In addition to the standard actions listed above, a vampire may have access to additional actions granted by cards. For example, a vampire with the Seneschal Title gains:

Action: Target foe loses 1 Prestige. If no one controls the Prince of the City, they lose 2 instead.

As this is an action, it costs 1 of your 2 actions for the turn. It also requires the vampire to exhaust, as a vampire is required to exhaust when performing any action that is not an unhosted action. Actions may be used while a vampire is in any location.

Moving to The Streets

Ready vampires in your Haven may move to The Streets at any time and for any reason (or no reason) during your Action Phase, but not during your Beginning or End Phase. Moving to The Streets does not cost an action. Vampires in The Streets cannot move to your Haven or any other location. The Streets is a neutral area in the center of the table, away from your Haven.

Ready vampires in your coterie already in The Streets may join any party of your coterie in The Streets. You may rearrange your ready vampires as much as you wish into any number of parties, unless an action is underway.

End Phase

Once you have completed both of your actions, it's time for your End Phase. During this phase, you cannot play any cards, resolve any Conspiracies, or use any exhaust abilities except those that specifically mention an End Phase step. End Phase steps happen in this strict order:

1. Torpor and Mending Step

Put 1 Blood token from the general supply on each of your vampires in torpor. Torpor abilities also happen now, such as on Bad Penny.

Then, choose any number of vampires you control (possibly including ones in torpor). You may discard 1 card for each chosen vampire to mend 1 Blood on that vampire. This blood comes from the general supply.

When a vampire in torpor has Blood tokens equal to its Blood Potency, ready them and place them back into play at your Haven. If this occurs outside of the End Phase, they can move to The Streets and/or act if it is your turn. If it's your End Phase, they cannot move to The Streets at this time, as that is only allowed during the Action Phase.

2. End of Turn Step

Any card that reads "at the end of your turn" resolves now. These can include Events (The Hunger), Havens (Artist Lofts), and vampires (Bong-Cha Park).

3. Second Inquisition Step

Special Affairs Division units are members of the Second Inquisition: a secret organization within the world's Intelligence agencies seeking to exterminate vampires. S.A.D. are paramilitary hit teams that are gunning for vampires. Each card deals 1 Aggravated damage to a vampire of your choosing in your coterie. Each S.A.D. card has "+1 Intel" that stacks with other S.A.D. For example, if there are 3 S.A.D. in The Streets, they each have +3 Intel, which would allow them to shoot into even the most secure of Havens.

Aggravated damage is not reduced by attributes. This is not Ranged damage. This is not an attack and you can't play any Reactions to it. However, you can use damage prevention methods, such as attached Vagrant Retainers. All damage you choose to apply to a single vampire is applied all at once, but you cannot assign more damage to a vampire than it has blood.

4. Draw Step

Draw 2 cards to end your turn, then play proceeds to the player on your left (clockwise).

Each time you are called on to draw a card via a game rule or card effect (outside of setup), you choose whether to draw it from your Library or from your Faction Deck. You may split your draws between the two decks. You do not have to decide where your second draw will come from until after drawing your first card. If your Library or Faction Deck is reduced to 0 cards, you cannot draw from that deck anymore. There is no maximum hand size.

Detailed Rules on Actions

Each of the Actions below cost 1 Action to use.

Unhosted Action - Draw 1 Card

Choose whether to draw 1 card from your Library or your Faction Deck. As an unhosted action, do not exhaust a vampire to perform this action.

Unhosted Action - Recruit a Vampire

Put 1 vampire card from your hand into play face up in your Haven.

During your first turn of the game, it is typical to recruit a vampire. A lone vampire is an easy target and losing your only vampire would end the game immediately.

Move Prestige tokens equal to its Blood Potency value from your personal supply to that vampire. Those tokens are then flipped and become their blood. As an unhosted action, do not exhaust a vampire to perform this action. You may play vampires of any clan. They do not need to match the clan of your Leader.

Action - Claim the Prince of the City Title

Additional Cost: Exhaust a vampire you control in The Streets. They are now a claimant to the Prince Title.

If the Prince of the City card has emerged from the City Deck and is not attached to a vampire, you may announce your claim to the Title of Prince of the City. Your foes might try to stop you.

In turn order from you and one at a time, your foes may each exhaust one ready vampire they control (no matter their location) to attack the claimant as if it were their own turn. These Attacks cannot be Blocked or reacted to, but damage prevention abilities and attributes will mitigate damage. The claimant is not protected by any Secrecy during these Attacks. The player who has that foe as their Rival is allowed to play an Attack card if they choose to, but other foes cannot play an Attack card with their attack. Each attack against the claimant is resolved separately. See below for rules on making attacks.

If the damage dealt by these attacks is enough to defeat the claimant, they do not gain the Title of Prince of the City and it remains in The Street. If they survive the attacks, attach the Title to the vampire. When the Prince of the City is attached, discard a previous Title on the character (if any). This is the only Title that does this.

Action - Play an Action Card

Additional Cost: Exhaust a vampire in your coterie (unless it's an unhosted action).

There are 2 types of Action cards: Actions and Unhosted Actions. To play an Action card, reveal it from your hand, choose a ready vampire in your coterie (in any location) and exhaust them. If the card is an Unhosted Action, do not exhaust a vampire when you play it.

Do what the card says to do. Once the action has resolved, discard it unless it has the word "Ongoing" in its card type bar. If it does, place that card in play near your Haven. The Ongoing ability listed on the card is immediately active and continues to be active for as long as the card is in play.

Clan-Specific Cards: Some Action and Attack cards have a clan icon, linking them to a specific clan. You may only play these cards if you have at least 1 vampire from that clan in your coterie. These cards may be played by any ready vampire from any clan with a sufficient Blood Potency value, as long as you have an active vampire from the matching clan in your coterie (and not in torpor).

Action - Attack

Additional Cost: Exhaust a vampire in your coterie in The Streets. They are now an Attacker.

This is an action you perform against a City Deck mortal in The Streets (not attached to a vampire) or an opposing vampire.

IMPORTANT: You cannot attack vampires controlled by a foe who has yet to take their first turn.

Prior to any attack, all ready vampires you wish to have in the attacking party must leave behind all exhausted (sideways) vampires, who remain a single party. When a member of a party makes an attack, that vampire exhausts (and remains in the party). Other members of the party remain ready.

Choose a target for the attack in The Streets or at their Haven. A target in The Streets has no protections. To attack a vampire in its Haven, you must have Intel equal to or greater than their Secrecy. All players have a special unhosted non-action ability — "Discard X cards: The active player has +X Intel vs their target during this action." Any player may use this ability to help any attack, so you could ask another player to pay discards for your Intel or they can offer to pay for yours. Attacking a vampire in its Haven does not move the attacking party to that Haven. The party remains in The Streets.

Announce what type of attack your attacker is making (Ranged, Physical, Social, or Mental). As part of your attack action, you may play one Attack card face down next to your attacker. The card must match the type of attack you declared. The Attack card must also have a Blood Potency equal to or less than the Blood Potency of your attacker (their current Blood token count is irrelevant, but modifiers to their BP do count). If your target is a solitary vampire (a party of one), the battle is immediately underway. Otherwise, the other vampires in the target's party may be able to block (see below).

Playing an Attack Card

An Attack card has a Blood Potency (BP) requirement in the upper left and an inherent damage value inside the skull under that. The Blood Potency requirement is the minimum BP the attacker must have to play that card. For example, a vampire with a BP of 3 cannot play a card with a Blood Potency value of 4 or higher.

The card also shows its Name, Clan Requirement, Attack Type, Game Text, and Set Icon.

Each Attack card has an attack type listed in its card type bar (under the art): Ranged, Physical, Social, or Mental. After declaring the type of attack, you may play a card of that attack type face down. If you do not play a card, your vampire's damage is based on the attribute chosen (don't choose Ranged or you'll be firing blanks), plus any ability modifiers from the attacker and their party. You do not have to play an Attack card if you don't wish to. You must flip your Attack card if you played one. When an attack ends, discard all Attack and Reaction cards played during the attack.

Some Attack cards show 0 damage inside the skull icon. This means that it does not deal any inherent damage, but your attacker's relevant attribute still increases the damage. Game text might also increase the damage or might be worse than actual damage!

Warning! If you flip a card with a Blood Potency higher than your vampire is able to play or a card that does not match your stated attack type, that card is discarded. The attacker remains exhausted and the attack continues without aid of the card. If this happens, the defending player may ready a Blocker to have the attack resolve against the original target and/or may return their Reaction card to their hand (if any). If a defending player plays an illegal Reaction card, it is discarded without effect and the attack continues without aid of the Reaction.

A Typical Attack Sequence

Most attacks are very simple affairs: An attacker, an Attack card, and a defender. Here is an example:

Muhammad Zadeh and Iris Lokken move to The Streets and form a party of 2. Muhammad exhausts to attack Hydra, who is also in The Streets. The attacking player announces a Social attack and places 1 Social Attack card face down. The defending player declines to Block with a ready vampire, and also declines to play a Reaction.

The Social Attack card Humiliate is revealed. The attacking party has 2+ of the card's discipline, so the damage is increased by 1. Muhammad's 2 Social and +2 damage from the Attack card makes for 4 total damage. Hydra's 1 Social attribute reduces the damage to 3, so the defending player removes 3 Blood from Hydra and places it into the general supply.

Ranged Attacks

Ranged attacks have a few differences:

• There is no Ranged attribute, so do not add any attributes to the damage.
• Ranged attacks cannot be blocked, except by vampires with the specific ability to do so. "Guards" all have the ability to block Ranged attacks (this is mentioned on their cards).
• Ranged damage is reduced by the target's Physical attribute.

Blocking an Attack

If the target of an attack has one or more other ready vampires in their party, one of them may exhaust to block the attack, unless it's a Ranged attack. Ranged attacks may only be blocked by vampires with the "Guard" keyword. The blocker becomes the new target instead of the original announced target. The attack continues against this new target.

The defending player may choose to let the attack resolve against the original target instead of employing a blocker. A vampire cannot block an attack targeting itself. If the attack ends up hitting another target instead (e.g. via Sucker Punch), the blocking vampire is still considered a blocker for the duration of the attack.

Playing a Reaction Card

Once the attack type and the target has been determined, the defending player may play a Reaction card of the relevant type. Only the target of the attack may play a Reaction card. If you choose to play a Reaction, place it face down next to your defending vampire.

Only a Ranged Reaction may be used against a Ranged attack; Only a Social Reaction may be used against a Social attack; etc. Some Reactions can respond to multiple attack types. Wait for the attacker to flip their attack card before flipping your Reaction. You must flip your Reaction if you played one.

Most Reactions give the defender Shields against damage. The amount listed inside the Shield icon is how much damage the card or ability prevents, though that can be modified by game text. Your relevant attribute still reduces the damage further, even when you have played a Reaction.

If your Reaction card deals damage to the attacker, add in the reactor's appropriate attribute to determine the total damage. A Reaction only deals damage to the attacker if it has a skull below the Blood Potency. If a Reaction has a Shield icon, it does not deal any damage to the attacker, unless the game text says otherwise.

A Reaction may be played even if the target is not able to take advantage of the game text on the card. For example, if a Toreador vampire is attacked Physically, they may play a Steal the Spotlight Reaction even if they did not block the attack. They still receive the 2 Shields, but do not cause the attacker to lose Prestige.

Using Abilities and Game Text in Combat

All members of the attacking and defending parties are in the conflict and can apply their game text to the fight when relevant. Abilities are active whether a vampire is ready or exhausted.

If an ability begins with the word "Attacker -" that ability is only relevant if that vampire is the attacker. If the ability starts with the word "Party -," the ability is relevant whether that vampire is the attacker, the target of the attack, or a supporting vampire in the party. For example, Zhang Wei reads, "Party - While this character has a Title, when this party defeats a character, that foe loses 1 Prestige." Zhang's ability is active whether he is in the attacking or defending party, and whether or not he is the attacker or the target.

Your vampire's attributes are only added to the damage shown inside the skull (the damage icon) you deal to the target of your attack. If a card's game text creates new damage against new targets, that number is not increased by the attribute used during the attack. Nor is that number increased by abilities that increase damage. For example, if Beretta tosses a Molotov Cocktail and adds 1 damage to this Ranged attack, the bonus damage only increases the damage to the target. Her ability does not increase the 1 damage stated in the card's text box against other targets in the defending party.

Resolving Effects and Determining Damage

1. Resolve the game text of all relevant vampire and card abilities. For many Attack cards, this means counting the number of vampires in the party with a certain characteristic (discipline, Title, etc.).

2. Add up all of the damage you generate. This includes any damage from the Attack card you played, your attacker's appropriate attribute, and any modifiers that were generated by vampire abilities, Ongoing cards, and other effects. Only the attacker's attribute is added to the attack. The attribute that you add to your attack is based on the type of attack you made:

   • Add your attacker's Physical attribute to the damage if the attack was Physical.
   • Add your attacker's Social attribute to the damage if the attack was Social.
   • Add your attacker's Mental attribute to the damage if the attack was Mental.
   • Do not add any attribute to the damage from a Ranged attack, as there is no Ranged attribute.

3. If a defender's Reaction card deals damage to the attacker (has a skull below the BP value), follow the steps above for them as well, adding their appropriate attribute to the damage.

Mitigating Damage

When a vampire takes damage, that damage is reduced by damage prevention abilities, Shield protections, and their appropriate attribute:

• Reduce Ranged & Physical damage by the vampire's Physical attribute.
• Reduce Social damage by the vampire's Social attribute.
• Reduce Mental damage by the vampire's Mental attribute.

Damage that surpasses damage prevention and mitigation is the final damage dealt. Remove that much blood from the vampire and place it into the general supply. If their blood is reduced to 0, they are defeated (or burned if the damage was Aggravated). If the target is a mortal, they do not take damage. They are defeated only if the damage equals or exceeds their stat.

Note: Losing/Stealing is not damage, so it is not mitigated by attributes or damage prevention.

Attack Sequence, Step by Step

1. Move any ready vampires you desire away from exhausted vampires to form an attacking party. Choose a ready vampire you control in The Streets and exhaust them. They are now the attacker.
2. Choose your target.
3. Acquire Intel if needed to overcome Secrecy.
4. Announce the Attack Type (Ranged, Physical, Social, or Mental).
5. You may play an Attack card of that type face down (or announce that you aren't playing one).
6. The player being attacked may block the attack with a ready vampire in the same party, exhausting them to do so (Ranged attacks may only be blocked by Guards).
7. The player being attacked may place a Reaction card matching the attack type face down.
8. The attacking player reveals their Attack card (if any), then the defending player reveals their Reaction card (if any). Make any choices required by your card only after both cards (if any) are revealed.
9. The attacker may activate abilities on their cards, vampires, etc. Then the defending player may do so as well. The attacker cannot use additional abilities after the defending player has.
10. Add up all damage, including the attacker's relevant attribute. Game text effects now resolve as well (such as blood stolen by Seduction or damage increasing abilities). All damage resolves during the subsequent steps, even if an attacker or defender is defeated during this step. A player cannot win the game before the conflict ends.
11. Reduce damage to your vampire by their relevant attribute and any Reaction bonuses or damage prevention abilities (such as The Dockyards).
12. Damage that surpasses defenses and reductions is the total damage dealt. For each damage dealt, remove 1 Blood from that vampire and place it into the general supply. Mortals must be dealt lethal damage in one blow to be defeated, as they do not have Blood tokens to lose.
13. Resolve any abilities that count "damage dealt."

Attack Sequence Example

Step 1: The Brujah player decides to move Skunk and Brother into The Streets during the Action Phase, then exhausts Skunk to start an attack.

Step 2: The chosen target of this attack is Lixue Chen, who is in her Haven.

Step 3: The Brujah player discards 1 card from their hand to gain +1 Intel, which overcomes the +1 Secrecy of Lixue's Haven.

Step 4: The Brujah player announces the attack type is Physical.

Step 5: The Brujah player places a Physical Attack card face down next to Skunk.

Step 6: The Toreador player also has Bella Forte ready in her Haven. All vampires in their Haven are a single party, so she exhausts Bella to block and become the new target of the attack.

Step 7: The defending player decides to place a Physical Reaction card face down next to Bella.

Step 8: Now that both players have placed a card (either player may decline to do so by announcing that fact), the attacker flips their card, and then the defender flips their card.

• The attacker reveals Sucker Punch, a legal card. As a Targeted attack, the attacker may retarget the attack to any legal target despite the block, so he chooses Lixue as originally intended.
• The defender then reveals Steal the Spotlight, a legal card.

Step 9: The attacker chooses to exhaust Brother to add 1 damage to this attack. The defending player declines to use any abilities.

Step 10: The Sucker Punch damage is 2, Brother's ability adds 1, and Skunk's Physical attribute is 1, for a total of 4 Physical damage headed towards Lixue. Steal the Spotlight now resolves. Skunk loses 2 Prestige. Even though the attack was redirected away from Bella, she was still a blocker during this attack.

Step 11: Lixue is about to take 4 damage, but her 1 Physical reduces that to 3. The defending player decides to exhaust a Vagrant attached to Lixue, further reducing the damage to 2. The 2 Shields from Steal the Spotlight does not apply to Lixue, as it was played by Bella to give Bella 2 Shields.

Step 12: The 2 damage from the attack is applied to Lixue, who removes 2 Blood, leaving her at 4.

Step 13: The Brujah player points to his Drain Them Slowly Agenda, noting that he gains 1 Agenda because at least 1 non-Aggravated damage was dealt in this attack and the target was not defeated.

Aggravated Damage

This is damage from sunlight, fire, claws, phosphorus rounds and other sources deadly to vampires. Aggravated damage is not reduced by a vampire's attributes. However, it can be prevented or reduced by Shields and damage prevention abilities. If a vampire drops to 0 blood due to damage from an Aggravated source, that vampire is burned along with all cards attached to them.

Activated Abilities and Costs

An activated ability is game text that features a cost to gain an effect. Costs are always in bold type, as in "Cost: Effect." Costs can include Prestige, blood, discarding cards, exhausting, etc., and sometimes in combination. If you choose to use an activated ability, announce that you are doing so, pay the cost, and then resolve the text after the colon (:). You must have the resources available to pay the cost. Prestige costs always come from your personal supply, while blood costs always come from the vampire performing the task. Blood costs (and blood loss) are not damage, so they cannot be mitigated by damage prevention abilities.

A cost or effect of one card cannot pay the cost of another card. For example, if you discard a card as an effect or to pay a cost, that discard cannot be claimed as the payment for another cost.

Activated abilities may only be activated once during each of your turns.

IMPORTANT: Activated abilities are not usable during a foe's turn, unless the card states: "You may use this ability during any player's turn." Exceptions include during a foe's claim to the Prince of the City Title or defensive abilities used in reaction to an attack or damage.

You cannot spend the last Blood token on a vampire or spend your last point of Prestige to pay a cost, even if doing so would cause you to win the game. Note that you must still place 1 Prestige onto a vampire in your coterie as it enters torpor, as that is not a cost: It's a side effect of entering torpor. If bolded text above an ability is not followed by a colon, it is a one-time cost to play that card. This is typically found on Conspiracy cards, Titles, and Ongoing cards. The cost is only paid when you play the card. You do not pay this cost each time you use the card.

Hydra has the ability, "Attacker - Pay 1 Blood: Draw 1 card." You may only use this ability if this vampire is currently an attacker. If an activated ability is not tied to an action (like an attack), you may use it at any time during your Action Phase, but it is still limited to once per turn.

Some costs include a discipline. Having that discipline pays the cost, but the vampire does not lose the discipline. A vampire who has that discipline may use that ability once, no matter how many times that discipline appears on their card. If a vampire does not have the discipline, they may still utilize the card, but not the text following the icon.

Exhaust Abilities

An exhaust cost (turning sideways) can be found on various types of cards. The cost to use such an ability is to exhaust that particular card, and not some other card, unless the card says otherwise. When you exhaust the card, you get the effect listed after the colon (:). These abilities do not use an action to perform, but the card must be ready to be able to pay the exhaust cost. Such abilities may only be used during your own turn, unless the card says otherwise.

The Madhouse Haven grants your Leader the ability — "Exhaust your Leader, Discard 1 card: Add 1 Agenda from the general supply to a face-down card you control." This activated ability requires you to exhaust your Leader and discard a card to perform it, but it does not cost an action. It may be performed at any time during the Action Phase of your turn, as long as you have a card in hand to discard and a ready Leader to exhaust.

The Brujah Brother has the ability: "Party - Exhaust: This attack deals +1 damage to the target of this attack." Brother may be exhausted during an attack to add 1 damage to an attack made by another member of his party. Brother cannot use this ability to strengthen his own attack because he had to exhaust in order to make the attack and cannot exhaust again to use an exhaust ability. Exhausting a vampire does not remove it from its party.

Ability Source

Some abilities reference "you." This means the player. For example, "Draw 1 card when you play an Ongoing card." This ability triggers each time the player plays an Ongoing card, whether a vampire performed the action or not. Some abilities only trigger when that particular vampire ("this character") performs an action. Some abilities reference "this party." Each vampire in that party is able to take advantage of that text, including the vampire with the ability.

Torpor

When a vampire you control has 0 Blood, exhaust them and place them into torpor. Each player has their own torpor: A nearby area to keep ailing vampires so that they cannot be mistaken for active vampires. Burn all attached Retainers. Then discard every attached card that is not a Title and remove every attached token that is not a Leader token. Those remain with your vampire. Immediately place 1 Prestige from your personal supply onto the vampire to start the mending process (then flip it to the blood side), even if that takes you to 0 Prestige.

Note: Vampires who are defeated by Aggravated damage do not go into torpor and do not cause you to put 1 Prestige onto them. They are instead burned, along with anything that was attached to them.

You control your vampires in torpor, but they have nothing but their Blood Potency and name. They have no disciplines, stats, clan, or game text, unless the game text specifically reads: "Torpor -". They cannot perform actions, are not a member of any party, and cannot be attacked.

During the End Phase of your turn, you have the option to mend any number of your vampires, including those in torpor.

Mending

When a vampire is mended, they recover Blood tokens from the general supply. During the "Torpor and Mending Step" of your End Phase, you may discard a card to mend 1 Blood on a vampire in your coterie or in your torpor. You may pick and choose which vampires to mend, and you don't have to mend all of them if you choose to mend any of them. Each vampire may only be mended this way once during this step. If you play a card or use an effect that mends a vampire prior to your End Phase, that does not prevent that vampire from mending this way. When a vampire in torpor mends to its maximum Blood Potency, ready it and return it to your Haven. If this occurs during your Action Phase, they can move to The Streets and/or act if it is your turn. If this happens during your End Phase, they cannot move as movement is only allowed during the Action Phase.

A vampire cannot have more Blood tokens than their current Blood Potency value. If a vampire increases its BP, that does not mend them — It allows them to use mending effects to have more blood than their printed BP. Even if they don't mend, their Blood Potency is still increased, allowing them to play more powerful cards.

Forming Parties

A party is a group of vampires together in a single location. A party can have any number of vampires from your coterie in it, and a player may have any number of separate parties at the same time. When forming a party, put all of the vampires in that party together and make sure it is clearly separated from any other parties in that location. A party is made up of only vampires from your coterie and their clan affiliations do not matter. Exhausted vampires cannot join new parties.

Note: All vampires in their Haven always form a single party there and cannot be divided into separate parties.

Ready (upright) vampires in The Streets may be rearranged during your turn into however many parties you wish. Exhausted (sideways) vampires cannot rearrange or change parties, though ready vampires in The Streets may join the exhausted vampire(s) to form a party. Vampires in The Streets cannot move to your Haven. Instead, all of your coterie moves back to your Haven at the start of your turn, unless a card says otherwise.

When an attack has concluded, ready members of the party may stay with the exhausted vampire(s), or rearrange to form new parties (to attack, for example), leaving behind all exhausted vampires. An exhausted vampire does not need to be removed from a party that is taking a non-attack action.

Disciplines

The disciplines in the game are: Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Potence, Presence, Protean, Blood Sorcery, and Thin-blood Alchemy.

Vampires have disciplines based on their clan. These disciplines don't bequeath any inherent abilities, but many cards in your Library reference disciplines. Look to the vampires in your coterie to determine which disciplines you currently have.

Sometimes, a card ability is modified by the number of different vampires in your party or coterie with a particular discipline. If a vampire has the same discipline more than once, they still count as only a single vampire when you are counting the number of vampires with that discipline. Other cards only count the disciplines of a single vampire. In these cases, a vampire with duplicate disciplines counts both instances of the discipline, but still only counts as one vampire with that discipline.

Some game text features a discipline icon within a sentence. This is a requirement for the acting vampire to perform the game text after the icon. For example, the card Irresistible Voice has game text that starts with a discipline icon. If your attacker does not have that Discipline, the entirety of the game text is not applicable. The second sentence offers a reduced cost if a member of the attacker's party has a second Discipline, but that is not applicable if you don't have the original requirement.

Influence

Influence is a measure of how much political sway a vampire has. It is not a tangible resource like Prestige or blood, but certain cards, tokens, and abilities will grant you Influence you can exert (temporarily use). Only your Leader starts the game with Influence. All other vampires will have to gain it via cards. When you spend Influence you have, it is called "exerting Influence." It is typically exerted to enable or hinder Schemes and for gaining Titles. When you are called on to exert Influence, you may choose how many and which vampires (if any) you wish to exert their Influence. Any vampires you do not choose can save their Influence to use later.

A vampire with Influence can exert that Influence when needed, but they must use all of their Influence or none of it — they cannot split their Influence between multiple effects. Place a 'No Influence' token on that vampire to show that the Influence has been exerted. As long as the token is there, that vampire has no Influence to exert and cannot use any gained Influence. At the start of your turn, remove all 'No Influence' tokens from vampires in your coterie. Your vampires have all of their Influence again and may exert it when needed. In this way, Influence regenerates and is never permanently lost as long as the conditions exist that gave that vampire Influence.

Influence Modifiers

This is a type of card that can be played any time you need to generate Influence. Cards of this type are written as "Influence Modifier (1)." The (1) in parenthesis indicates that you may only play 1 of these cards during an action, event, or for any other reason. If an Influence Modifier is played during a Scheme, play it face down. For all other reasons, such as exerting Influence for a Title, play it face up.

You can only play an Influence Modifier when you have a need for Influence. For example, you must reveal a Title to show how much Influence you need to generate before you can generate said Influence.

Influence gained this way is applied to your Influence total for that action or event. The Influence is not applied to a vampire, and any remaining is lost at the end of the action or event. To exert Influence you generate, simply announce that you are doing so. Discard the card at the end of the action.

Spending Prestige for Influence

Prestige in your personal supply can be spent to "buy" Influence any time you need Influence. When spent this way, place those Prestige tokens into the general supply. You gain 1 Influence for each Prestige spent. Influence gained this way is applied to your Influence total for that action or event. The Influence is not applied to a vampire.

Schemes

Schemes are cards that pose a Yes or No question to the players, who will exert Influence to decide the outcome. Each player is able to participate, whether they have any visible Influence or not. The active player must allocate any Influence they exert for "Yes." Other players may exert their Influence as they please or stay out of it. If a Scheme asks, "Should I gain…" it refers only to the player who played the Scheme. Players who say Yes want the Scheme to succeed and resolve. Players who say No want the Scheme to fail and not resolve. Whichever side exerts the most Influence wins.

Polling your foes for their thoughts on the matter and deal-making is allowed, but if you make a promise, you must keep it. You cannot give away Prestige, Blood, Agenda, or any cards. "I'll pay for your next Intel discard against your Rival" or "I won't attack you unless you have 9+ Agenda" are sample offers to make in exchange for a foe's Influence or for staying out of the process. If you promise to answer the question in a certain way, you must. Otherwise, you may bluff all the way up to the point when you announce your visible Influence total.

To play a Scheme, exhaust a vampire you control and place the Scheme card face up for all to see. This immediately starts an Influence conflict. One at a time and clockwise from the active player, players exert their Influence and answer the question. Since the active player acts first, they won't know what their foes are going to do. The last player to exert Influence has the most information, but still won't know how much secret Influence the other players are holding.

When it is your time to act, you exert all of the Influence you wish to and can't add more later. The Influence of vampires in your coterie may be exerted by placing 'No Influence' tokens on them. Doing so adds their Influence to your visible Influence total. You may play 1 Influence Modifier card face down from your hand during a Scheme. You may also add Prestige to your Influence total by placing Prestige tokens from your personal supply into your closed fist and holding it over the play area. Do not announce the amount of Prestige you have in your hand, although bluffing is allowed. Face-down Influence Modifiers and secret Prestige in hand are not revealed until all players have allocated their Influence to the side of their choosing (and added any other modifiers they wish to use). Vampires in torpor cannot exert their Influence.

When you have exerted all of the Influence you wish to, total up your visible Influence, announce that total, and then say which side you are on: YES or NO. Never include secret Influence in this total. Only after this announcement does the player to your left start exerting their Influence.

Scheme Rules Summary

1. Exhaust a vampire in your coterie, play a Scheme face up, and start an Influence conflict.
2. If you wish to exert the Influence a vampire in your coterie has available, put a 'No Influence' token on them.
3. You may play 1 Influence Modifier card face down from your hand.
4. You may place Prestige from your personal supply into your hand, which becomes Influence when revealed.
5. Announce your visible Influence total and your choice of YES or NO to the question posed by the Scheme. Bluff all you want prior to this.
6. The player to your left repeats this process, but skips #1 of this summary.
7. When all players have answered the question, resolve the Influence conflict.

Resolving an Influence Conflict

Once all players have made their declarations, they reveal their Influence Modifier cards (if any) and open their hands to reveal any Prestige they added (if any). Add this additional Influence to the side they are supporting (Yes or No) and then make a final tally combining all Yes players and then all No players. No further modifiers can be used and players cannot switch their Yes/No choice. If the final result is YES, the Scheme succeeds: carry out the instructions on the card. If it is NO, the Scheme fails and is discarded without effect. A tie goes to the active player (which means YES). Either way, discard the Scheme at the end of the action.

All players on the winning side place each Prestige token they revealed into the general supply. The losing side players return the Prestige they revealed to their personal supply.

Example of Playing a Scheme

Player 3 decides to play the Scheme card Free Money, exhausting a vampire to do so, as it is an Action card. This Scheme asks the question: "Should each player gain 3 Prestige?" The players at the table all voice their opinions on the topic, hoping to ascertain how their foes are going to exert their Influence. Player 3 senses opposition to her Scheme, so she places a 'No Influence' token on her Leader (which grants +1 Influence) who also has the Primogen Title (also +1 Influence). That gives her 2 visible Influence. Player 3 also plays an Influence Modifier card face down. Lastly, Player 3 secretly grabs two '1 Prestige' tokens from her personal supply, placing them into her closed fist over the table. Her hand must remain extended until all players have had their say. Player 3 announces: "2 Influence for YES!"

Player 4 has their Rival on the ropes and doesn't want them to gain any Prestige. They put a 'No Influence' on their Leader for +1 Influence, then secretly places 3 Prestige in their hand, announcing: "1 Influence says NO!"

Player 1 could use that Prestige, but has no cards to play or Influence (their Leader is in torpor). Still, she secretly holds 1 Prestige in her hand over the table and announces: "0 for YES!"

Player 2 has a 'No Influence' token on his Leader and chooses not to bluff with Prestige tokens, as he is the last player to announce their answer. However, he removes 1 Blood from Flick to give her +3 Influence (from her ability), places a 'No Influence' token on her, then announces: "No for 3!"

Now each player simultaneously reveals their Influence Modifier cards and tokens in hand. Player 3 reveals Hedge Your Bets and 2 Prestige from her hand, adding +4 Influence to her previous 2 Influence for a total of 6. Player 1 reveals that she added 1 to the YES side, for a grand total of 7 for YES. The NO side reveals their Prestige tokens, which are only the 3 offered by Player 4. The grand total for the NOs are 7. It's a tie! When tied, the active player's side wins, so the final answer is YES!

Players 3 and 1 place their spent Prestige into the general supply as they are on the winning side. Player 4 retains the 3 Prestige he would have spent had the NOs won. Only the winning side loses their Prestige. Player 2 does not mend Flick, even though his side lost. Because the Scheme succeeded, each player gains 3 Prestige (in their own color) from the general supply. Player 3 discards Hedge Your Bets and its text does not trigger, as the Scheme succeeded.

Titles

Titles allow you to attach abilities to your vampires. A vampire may only have a single Title. A Title cannot be replaced by a Title other than Prince of the City, which always replaces a current Title on a vampire.

To attach a Title to a vampire in your coterie is an action. You must exhaust the vampire you wish to attach the Title to and exert the amount of Influence required by the card. Titles have a Blood Potency icon and an Influence cost to play. As with any other action, you can't play a Title if you can't exert enough Influence or the vampire taking the action has insufficient BP. For example, a vampire with a 3 BP cannot play a Title with a BP of 4 or greater.

You may use any vampires in your coterie to exert the required Influence to play the Title. The vampire who is gaining the Title is not required to be among those exerting Influence. Place a 'No Influence' token on any vampires that spend their Influence this way. You may also play an Influence Modifier and/or spend Prestige from your personal supply to generate the required Influence (Prestige spent this way goes to the general supply). After paying the Influence cost, attach the Title to the vampire. A Title is not removed from a vampire when they go into torpor (other than Prince of the City).

Most Titles are unique. Once a Title is in play, no other vampire of any clan may also have that Title. If a uniquely-Titled vampire is in torpor, you may now play that Title, and that Title is discarded from the vampire in torpor. The Primogen Title is different in that it is limited to '1 per player.' If a player does not have a vampire with the Primogen Title, they may play one.

Example of Playing a Title

A player decides to attach the Keeper of Elysium Title to Velvet, who currently does not have a Title. The card has a Blood Potency requirement of 4, which she qualifies for, so the player exhausts Velvet to play this Action card. The Keeper card requires the exertion of 4 Influence. Her Leader, Guv'nah, has +1 Influence from his Leader token. The player puts a 'No Influence' token on Guv'nah to show that his Influence has been exerted until the start of their next turn. Then, the player plays a Hedge Your Bets card for an additional +2 Influence. Because this action is not a Scheme, the Influence Modifier card is played face up, so neither Velvet nor Guv'nah's game text triggers. Lastly, the player spends 1 Prestige to gain the 4th Influence needed to pay the cost of this card. That spent Prestige is placed into the general supply. The Title has now been fully paid for, so it is attached to Velvet.

Prince of the City

If a vampire with the Prince Title goes into torpor or is burned, the vampire who defeated them immediately takes the Prince card and attaches it, becoming the new Prince of the City. Attaching this Title triggers the agenda gain on the Base of Power Agenda card. If the Prince is defeated by other means (such as S.A.D.), return the Prince card to The Streets — it can be claimed again by any soul brave enough to perform a Claim the Prince of the City Title action. A vampire with the Prince Title has 0 Secrecy. That means a foe need not gain Intel to attack the Prince, even if the Prince is in their Haven. The Prince is very vulnerable to the Special Affairs Division. If all of your other vampires are protected by Secrecy, all of their damage must go to the Prince.

Conspiracies

These cards allow you to spring some dirty tricks on your foes, unless they join the Conspiracy. To play a Conspiracy card, choose a ready vampire you control and exhaust it. Place the Conspiracy card face down in your play area. Then, place a '1 Prestige' token on the card from your personal supply. At any time during the game (and as many times as you wish), you may reveal this card to foes of your choosing and invite them to join the Conspiracy.

Each player the card has been revealed to (including the controller of the card) may add a '1 Prestige' token to it during each of the controller's turns. The controller may not use this ability to add a second token during the same turn that the card was played. But if they have a card or ability that adds tokens, that is permissible. It does not use up an action for any player to add this 1 Prestige to a Conspiracy that is already in play.

Each Conspiracy has a required amount of Prestige that must be on it before it can be resolved. Once the required Prestige amount has been achieved, the controller may resolve it during any of their Action Phases, immediately or in the future. Players who contributed to the Conspiracy cannot be targeted by it, unless a card says otherwise. This is why there are different colored Prestige tokens for each player in the game. A Conspiracy that has no legal targets cannot be resolved. It must remain face down. Once resolved, discard it, and place all Prestige on it into the general supply.

Conspiracy Rules Summary

1. Exhaust a vampire in your coterie, play a Conspiracy face down, and place 1 Prestige on it.
2. You may reveal it to any number of foes.
3. During each of your turns, any player the card has been revealed to may add 1 Prestige to it.
4. When a Conspiracy has the required Prestige on it, its controller may resolve it immediately or during one of their future Action Phases. It may only target a foe who did not contribute to it, unless a card says otherwise.

Example of Playing and Resolving a Conspiracy

Player 1 exhausts Guv'nah and places a Conspiracy face down in their play area. Next, they grab a '1 Prestige' token from their personal supply and places it on the face-down card. Playing this card face down triggers the Guv'nah's game text, so the player draws a card. It would trigger even if Guv'nah wasn't the one to play the card.

The player decides to show the Conspiracy to Player 4, who secretly looks at the card and then returns it. Now that they have been shown the card, they may add 1 Prestige from their personal supply to it. Player 4 decides to do that.

On Player 1's next turn, they decide to place another 1 Prestige onto the card, which is not an action. They ask Player 4 if they wish to contribute again, but they decline. Player 1 decides to reveal the card to Player 2, who is their Rival. Player 2 realizes the danger and chooses to contribute 1 Prestige to it. There are now 4 Prestige tokens on the face-down card: 2 Blue, 1 Orange, and 1 Black. The Red player prepares for the worst, but Player 1 (Blue) chooses not to resolve it.

However, on their next turn, the time is right. They reveal the Conspiracy Lost Glory, causing the Red player to reduce their agenda from 10 to 8. This is not an action. The card is discarded, and all of the tokens on it are placed into the general supply.

Mortals and Retainers

Mortals will appear in The Streets via the City Deck. As long as they are not attached to a vampire, they are available for you to attack during your turn, just like you would attack a vampire. However, you don't need to play your Attack card face down against mortals, if you even need a card. Mortals don't have any defenses against damage. All mortals from the City Deck who are in The Streets form separate parties, so an attack that has the ability to damage additional targets only affects the single mortal targeted by the attack. Mortals are not "characters," so a card like The Spoils does not trigger when you defeat a mortal.

When you defeat (deal lethal damage to) a Vagrant or Citizen, choose Burn or Attach. Either way, you earn the agenda listed on the Citizen. If you choose Burn, mend your attacker by the amount listed on the card and place it in the City Deck burn pile, which is a single stack of burned cards outside of the playing area. If you choose Attach, attach it to your attacking vampire.

Retainers grant your vampire some cool abilities like extra disciplines, bonus attributes, and damage prevention. If a vampire increases its Blood Potency, that does not mend them. It allows them to raise their blood through mending effects to higher than their printed BP. Even if they don't mend, their Blood Potency is still increased, allowing them to play more powerful cards.

If an Attack card would have you steal blood from the target or cause the target to lose blood, these abilities do not work against mortals. Mortals are not vampires: They don't have Blood tokens to lose, just a blood value to meet or exceed. When attacking a mortal, you must deal lethal damage to them or the attack fails to defeat them.

Attachments

A vampire may be able to "attach" certain cards, such as Retainers or a Title, to acquire new abilities. When a vampire attaches a card, tuck the card slightly underneath the vampire card so that the text box of the attached card is still visible. As long as the card is attached, the vampire may use any abilities on the attached cards as if they were their own. You may burn an attached Retainer at any time during your turn (except during an action), but this does not activate the "Burn" option on the card. It just makes room for a new attachment.

Note: A vampire may have a maximum of 3 attached cards, only 1 of which can be a Title.

IMPORTANT: When a vampire goes into torpor, burn each attached Retainer. Then discard every attached card that is not a Title and remove every attached token that is not a Leader token.

Ongoing Cards

Cards with "Ongoing" on them remain in play when played. You cannot discard an Ongoing card from play unless an effect tells you to. Some Ongoing cards have a Prestige cost listed at the top of the text box. This is a one-time cost. The only ongoing effects are what appears after the word "Ongoing -".

Ongoing cards typically have a triggered effect or a cost to gain an effect. Some have an effect that is simply "always on." A triggered effect resolves as many times as the triggering event happens. A cost to activate an Ongoing ability may only be paid once during each of your turns, even if the card does not exhaust to be used. For example, Assert Authority does not feature a cost for effect or a trigger. Instead, the text is always on, and gives your Leader extra Influence. You don't have to do anything to "activate" this text, other than playing the card in the first place.

Miscellaneous Rules

Discarding Cards

When you see the word "discard," it means from your hand as the default. If the discard is to be made from another place, the card will specify exactly where that discard comes from. For example, if you have a Title attached to a vampire and you're able to "discard a Title" for an effect, this means from your hand and not the attached Title. If the attached Title were to be discarded, it would use the phrase "discard an attached Title" or something similar. Both vampires and Library cards are held in your hand, so when you need to discard a card, you may discard either a vampire or Library card. All discards are placed into a single discard pile next to your Library.

Running Out of Cards

If your Library or Faction Deck is reduced to 0 cards, you cannot draw from that deck anymore. Nothing happens if you run out of cards, but it will be harder to win.

Beware of Low Prestige

When your Prestige is very low (3 or less) you are in danger of being knocked down to 0 Prestige and losing the game! You cannot voluntarily spend your last point of Prestige. This means you cannot spend it to gain Influence, or pay for a card or ability effect, even if doing so would cause you to win the game. Note that you must still place 1 Prestige onto a vampire in your coterie as it enters torpor, where that Prestige becomes 1 Blood token.

Rare End of Game Circumstances

If two or more players can each claim a win at the same time, resolve with tiebreakers. It is very rare for players to win when it is not their turn. Example: Player 1 earns their 13th Agenda point (via the Turf War Agenda card) by knocking out Player 2's last vampire during Player 2's turn. Player 4 holds Player 2's Rival token, so they gain 3 agenda, putting them at 13 Agenda points as well. Players 1 and 4 each have a claim to the victory.

Tiebreakers:

1. Active player
2. Most Prestige
3. Player Order (Player 4 has the highest tiebreaker, while Player 1 has the lowest)

A player who is knocked out has their agenda permanently set to 0.

If 2 or more players are knocked out at the same time (and no win condition is met), the player with the highest agenda after all awards are given wins. If there is a tie for most agenda, follow the tiebreakers listed above.

Customizing Your Deck

As an expandable card game, Vampire: The Masquerade — Rivals allows you to create your own custom deck. Your deck can be made up of whatever cards you choose to include. But, there are a few rules that each player must adhere to when modifying or building their own deck:

• Your Faction Deck may not include any duplicate vampires and must contain exactly 7 cards.
• Your Library may not include more than 3 copies of a single card (by name).
• Your Library must contain a minimum of 40 cards and a maximum of 60.
• Agenda and Haven cards are not clan specific. Any clan (or mix of clans) may use any combination of Agenda and Haven cards.

There are a few things to keep in mind when customizing your deck. You are free to use vampires and cards from any and all clans in your deck. Keep in mind that clan-specific cards (like Brujah's Sucker Punch) require that you have at least 1 vampire in your coterie with that clan symbol in order for a vampire from a different clan to play that card. If your only Brujah vampire goes into torpor, you can no longer play a Brujah clan-specific card until they return.

When your playgroup starts customizing decks, the start of game procedure is slightly modified. All players should keep their chosen Haven, starting vampire, and Agenda face down. Only after each player has placed these 3 cards are all starting vampires and Havens revealed. Agendas remain face down until you choose to flip yours face up. Be sure to flip it when you would trigger your Agenda's game text! Even while face down, you may place Agenda tokens scored (via other effects) onto your face-down Agenda card. Havens and Agendas are not unique, but vampires are.

Vampire Uniqueness

During play, you cannot recruit a vampire with the same name as one that is active and in play. When a vampire goes into torpor, you then have the opportunity to use a recruit action during your turn to play your vampire of that name, if you choose to. If you do, the obvious fraud in torpor is burned (removed from the game along with any Titles it had).

If two or more players reveal the same starting vampire, determine turn order, then one round of bidding ensues involving players who revealed that starting vampire. The person closest to Player 1 (which could be Player 1) may make a Prestige bid of 0 or more. Continue clockwise. Each player gets one and only one bid and you must bid higher than the last bid or pass. The person who bid highest keeps their starting vampire and loses Prestige equal to their bid. If no one bids, the earliest player in turn order wins the tie and keeps their starting vampire. Each player who lost the bid keeps their Prestige, but must choose a vampire from their Faction Deck that does not match any at the table to be their Leader, then reshuffle the replaced vampire back into it.

The Golden Rule

When a card's text contradicts these rules, the card takes precedence! Consider every rule in the game to also have the text: "unless a card says otherwise." For example, when claiming the Prince Title, no Reaction cards are allowed. A Reaction card would need the text, "You may use this during a claim to the Prince Title" to supersede the game rule.

Specific Card Clarifications

All Tied Up: Any vampire may exhaust to play this card face down. To resolve it, you must have a Malkavian in your coterie.

Bad Penny: The 'Torpor' tag on her ability means it only works while she is in torpor. She heals up twice as fast as other vampires in torpor.

Balance of Power: You are automatically a chosen player. In a 2-player game you are 50% right there. In a 3 or 4-player game, you must choose 1 additional player. In a 4p, you may choose 2 additional players if you wish to really stick it to the unchosen player. If it succeeds, each chosen player chooses an unchosen player and steals 1 Prestige from them. This is done in clockwise order from the active player.

Blood for Blood: This Ongoing card does not feature an inherent activated ability. Instead, it grants an activated ability to attacking vampires, so it may be utilized by multiple attackers during your turn, but still only once per attack.

Brother: This party ability may only be applied to an attacker in his party. It cannot be used to increase the damage on a Slap in the Face Reaction, but it can be used while attacking a vampire trying to claim the Prince of the City Title, as that allows you to make an attack during a foe's turn.

Chinese New Year: This card is not shuffled into the City Deck when drawn from the City Deck. Only Events currently in the City Deck burn pile are shuffled in.

Coup de Grâce: This is not an attack. A vampire with blood equal to half or less of their Blood Potency is Wounded. For example, a vampire with 5 Blood Potency is Wounded if it has 2 or less blood remaining.

Distraction: When the Special Affairs Division would deal you Aggravated damage, you may discard this Ongoing card to redirect 2 of that damage to a single foe of your choice. That foe puts that damage where they please among vampires in their coterie, just as if it was the end of their own turn (and Secrecy will not protect them). Any additional damage is applied to your coterie as usual. This card is not the source of the damage.

Guard: Several vampires have the keyword 'Guard' in their text box. These vampires can block Ranged attacks. Other vampires cannot.

Hedge Your Bets, The Last Word: These cards have the cardtype: "Influence Modifier (1)." The (1) means you may only play one Influence Modifier during an action or event. If you need to generate 4 Influence to pay for a Title, you cannot play 2 Hedge Your Bets, as paying for a Title is a single action. During a Scheme, these cards are played face down and resolved after everyone has assigned their Influence. When played at any other time, play them face up.

Hydra: His draw ability cannot be used until Step 9 of the attack sequence, so you cannot use this ability to draw an Attack card and then place that card face down during that same attack. An Attack card must be played during Step 5.

Iris Lokken: Influence generated this way is automatically added to your total (and not to her) during the current Scheme. You don't need to put a 'No Influence' token on her, unless she has additional Influence you wish to exert.

Irresistible Voice, Liza Holt: If you steal a Retainer, it attaches in the same ready/exhausted state in which it was at the time of the taking. Stealing a Retainer is not the same as defeating one in The Streets. You do not gain Agenda listed on the Retainer. That is a reward for defeating it. However, if you have the Playthings Agenda, you gain 1 Agenda for attaching a stolen Citizen. You also gain the "attach" effects/abilities when you attach a stolen Retainer. With Irresistible Voice, the Retainer is stolen before damage is dealt/mitigated.

Late-Night Snack: If you have 3 vampires with Fortitude, and 1 of them has 2 Fortitude, you have 4 Fortitude "in your coterie." You now have 4 mending to spread around all vampires in your coterie and in torpor (but not foes' vampires). You can mend a single vampire for 4 or split it up among several vampires.

Long-Term Investment: For each Prestige you spend when you play this, add 2 Prestige tokens of your color to this card from the general supply. You cannot add more Prestige to it later.

Mercy: If this succeeds, each player chooses which of their vampires to mend. The location of that vampire does not matter.

The Mighty Fall: This card deals extra damage to vampires with copious amounts of blood. The Blood Potency of the victim does not matter.

Molotov Cocktail: The target of this attack takes 1 Aggravated damage from this card (from the 1 in the skull under the damage icon). If the attacker discards a card, each other member of the foe's party is also dealt 1 Aggravated damage. The original target does not take additional damage when their party does. A Reaction only aids the original target, unless the card says otherwise. While Aggravated damage is not reduced by attributes, Shields and damage prevention do mitigate the damage.

Montgomery White: His ability protects the party during Ranged Attacks and Ranged Reactions that deal damage.

Old Post Office Haven: You may use this ability once during each player's turn. Only Library cards have the Library icon. If you place a card using this ability, you cannot also place an Influence Modifier (1) card during that same action or event. If used during a Scheme, play the card face down. For all other purposes, play it face up.

Primogen: This Title is not unique, but it is limited to one per player. If your Primogen vampire is burned or your Primogen becomes Prince of the City, you may play another Primogen card.

Scoped .30-06: This card's text is able to resolve earlier than card text usually would, as it involves a specific attack step: Gaining Intel. Normally the effect text of an attack card doesn't resolve until after it is revealed during an attack.

Seduction: While Seducing mortals is easy for vampires, they don't have blood to steal. Only vampires have Blood tokens to steal. If the attacker is at maximum blood, the stolen blood is placed into the general supply. Stealing blood is not damage. The second option is only viable if your target is a mortal. An attack against a vampire does not also hit an unattached mortal in The Streets.

Sheriff: This ability can burn any card with Ongoing, which includes Ongoing Events, Actions/Unhosted Actions with Ongoing, a Special Affairs Division in The Streets, etc. Burning a S.A.D. this way is not defeating them (reducing their blood to 0), so you would not gain 1 Agenda from their game text, but you would gain 1 Agenda from the Hunt the Hunters Agenda card.

Slap in the Face: This is an aggressive defensive maneuver. It doesn't prevent any damage to the target of the attack. Instead, it deals damage to the attacker. Your defender's Physical attribute is added to the card's 1 inherent damage.

Street Preacher, Dragon's Roost Haven: As part of the Blocking process, this vampire exhausts just like any other blocker. This vampire may block an attack against any target, including mortals, vampires in other coteries, etc., but cannot block for a claimant to the Prince Title. If this vampire is in their Haven and blocks an attack against a member of their coterie in The Streets, this vampire becomes a member of that party. When blocking other attacks, they become a separate party of one. While a foe has these cards in play, it would be wise to play your Attack cards face down when attacking mortals.

Sucker Punch: This card has the keyword "Targeted." That means it can retarget this attack to any member of the opposing party (including the original target) when revealed. That vampire becomes the new target, even if the original attack was blocked. No new blocks may be announced. Even if the target changes, a blocker remains a blocker (though an ineffective one) for the duration of the attack and a Reaction still resolves. If a Reaction card with Shields was played by the blocking vampire, those Shields only apply to the blocker.

The Penthouse Haven: If a Retainer grants a +1 Blood Potency bonus, and The Penthouse Haven Leader Ability is active, a vampire at maximum blood attaching the Retainer immediately mends 1 to their new maximum blood. If not at full blood, they simply mend 1 Blood token.

Turf War: If you defeat a non-Rival character with 5+ Blood Potency, both effects trigger. If you defeat a Rival character with 5+ Blood Potency, the second effect triggers, and you gain 1 additional Agenda because of the game rule of "When you defeat or burn a Rival's vampire, gain 1 Agenda." Note that this card is not concerned with a vampire's current Blood token count.

Royal Retreat Haven: When you use the Leader Ability to discard a mortal in The Streets and draw a new City Deck card, place the old card in the City Deck discard pile and gain no benefit. These discarded mortals will be shuffled into the City Deck the next time a player needs to draw a City Deck card from an empty deck. Like any other activated ability, this may be used only once during each of your turns. Discarding mortals this way is not "defeating" them.

Wandering the BART Tunnels: All vampires outside their Havens must separate into parties of one vampire each. If a vampire leaves their Haven, they immediately become a party of one.

Yusuf Kaya, Emergency Blood Bag: Foes' vampires in torpor cannot be mended by these effects. A vampire with blood equal to half or less of their Blood Potency is Wounded. For example, a vampire with 5 Blood Potency is Wounded if it has 2 or less blood remaining.

Quick Reference

Turn Sequence

Beginning Phase

1. Burn Ongoing Events with tokens of your color on them. Then place the top card of the City Deck into The Streets, face up.
2. "Start of turn" effects happen now. Remove 'No Influence' tokens from your vampires.
3. Ready all cards you control. Return all of your vampires to your Haven.

Action Phase — Perform 2 of the following:

• Draw 1 card (Unhosted Action)
• Recruit a vampire (Unhosted Action)
• Claim the Prince of the City Title
• Play an Action card
• Make an attack

A vampire may have access to additional actions granted by cards (mainly Titles).

End Phase

1. Torpor and Mending: Put 1 Blood token from the general supply on each of your vampires in torpor. Then, choose any number of vampires you control (possibly including ones in torpor). You may discard 1 card for each chosen vampire to mend 1 Blood on that vampire. This Blood token comes from the general supply.
2. "End of turn effects" happen now.
3. Special Affairs Division in The Streets now shoot at you.
4. Draw 2 cards to end your turn. Each time you draw, choose either Library or Faction Deck. Play proceeds clockwise.

Attack Sequence (Player Aid)

1. Attack Declaration
2. Intel Step
3. Attack Type & (optional) Attack Card
4. Block Declaration & Reaction Card (both optional)
5. Reveal Cards
6. Activate Abilities (optional)
7. Damage Reduction & Resolution

Attack Types: Physical, Social, Mental, Ranged.

When you defeat or burn a Rival vampire, gain 1 Agenda. If defeated, that foe places 1 Prestige from their personal supply on that vampire, flips it to the Blood side, and places that vampire into torpor.