Vampire Village Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Course of the Game
• I. Building Phase
  • Buildings
    • Residents appearing in a building
  • Heroes
• II. Monster Phase
• III. Attack Phase
• Monsters
  • Demons
  • Witches
  • Werewolves
  • Vampires
• Order of Attack
  • A. Determine attack strength
  • B. Determine village defense
  • C. Compare attack strength and defense
  • Example of a Monster Attack
• End of the Round. End of the Game
• Demon Misdeeds
  • Discard 1 hero
  • Lose 1 resident in each yellow building
  • Discard the building with the fewest residents
  • Get 1 witch / werewolf / vampire from your right neighbor

Object of the Game

The game lasts 2 rounds, during which each player chooses cards to build their village and then exchanges monster cards with the other players. At the end of each round the monsters attack and discard the most vulnerable buildings and residents.

After 2 rounds, the player with the most residents and neutralized monsters wins.

Components

• 66 village cards: 6 starting village cards, 30 round 1 cards, 30 round 2 cards
• 60 monster cards: 30 round 1 monsters, 30 round 2 monsters
• 4 monster initiative tokens: demons, werewolves, witches, vampires
• 125 tokens: Resident (front side) / Threat (back side). 100 tokens with value 1, 25 tokens with value 3.

Setup

1. Divide the village cards into two decks: round 1 cards and round 2 cards. Shuffle each separately and place them face down.
2. Do the same with the monster cards: separate them into round 1 and round 2 cards and place them in separate face-down piles in the center of the table.
3. Each player receives a random starting village card, places it face up in front of them and puts 2 resident tokens on it (the threat value on the back of the token does not matter).
4. Place the remaining resident tokens in the center of the play area as a general supply.
5. Create a row of monster initiative tokens. It shows the order in which monsters attack in phase 3 of a round. Demons always attack first: place the demon initiative token in the center of the play area. Shuffle the remaining 3 initiative tokens (werewolves, witches, vampires) face down. Reveal them one at a time at random and add them to the row from left to right (in the shape of an arrow).
6. Deal each player 6 village cards from the round 1 deck. Players take these cards into their hands. Return the remaining round 1 village cards to the box.

Course of the Game

The game lasts 2 rounds. Each round is divided into 3 consecutive phases: Building phase / Monster phase / Attack phase.

I. Building Phase

In this phase players build their villages and improve their defenses.

Each player chooses 1 village card from their hand, places it face down in front of them and passes the remaining cards to a neighbor.

• In round 1, players pass the remaining cards clockwise.
• In round 2, players pass the remaining cards counterclockwise.

There are 2 types of village cards: Buildings and Heroes.

When everyone has chosen a card and passed the rest to their neighbors, each player reveals the chosen card and adds it to their village according to these rules.

• You must place the village card adjacent to at least 1 other village card (adjacent horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally).
• There cannot be more than 4 cards in any column or row of the village.

Repeat these actions 6 times. Each time, players choose a card, pass the remaining ones to their neighbors, reveal the chosen card and place it in their villages.

The 6th and last time, a player receives only 1 card from the neighbor, which must be placed in the village as usual.

When everyone has placed their last (6th) card in their village, the Building phase ends and the Monster phase begins.

Buildings

Buildings are defensive structures that help protect the village from monster attacks. A building shows which monsters it protects against.

The game has three kinds of monsters, each attacking the village from a particular side:

• Witches attack from the left.
• Werewolves attack from the top.
• Vampires attack from the right.

Demons do not attack the village, but commit misdeeds: negative effects aimed at players.

A building card shows: the building type, the defense against witches, the defense against werewolves, the defense against vampires, and the number of resident tokens placed on the building.

Residents appearing in a building

As soon as you place a building, a certain number of residents appear in it. According to the condition on that building card, take the indicated number of tokens from the general supply and place them on the building you just placed, resident side up.

• +1 resident for each building of the indicated type (including this building).
• +1 resident for each hero in the village.
• +1 resident for each building in the same row as the building just placed (including this building). They do not have to be adjacent to this building.
• +1 resident for each building in the same column as the building just placed (including this building).

The building you just placed is immediately counted when determining the number of residents. Some buildings have better defense but no residents appear in them.

Example: In this building 1 resident appears for each building of the indicated type (with a yellow roof). Counting the building just placed, Seryozha now has 2 buildings with a yellow roof. So he gets 2 resident tokens, which he places on this building.

Heroes

Players place hero cards the same way as building cards. Hero cards give no defense and no residents appear on them. They have the following properties.

• Each hero has up to 3 combat symbols. Each symbol denotes a monster against which this hero is effective (see Order of Attack).
• A hero can destroy a demon, but dies in doing so (see Demons).
• Movement. Most heroes have movement points. Each movement point lets you move a resident from one village card to another adjacent card (building or hero). You may distribute movement points among residents and move them in any direction (even onto a card not adjacent to the hero). But every resident being moved must, before the movement begins, be on a card adjacent to this hero.

Example: Vanya places his hero, which gives him 5 movement points. Vanya has 4 residents on buildings adjacent to this hero. The resident on the building at upper right cannot be moved, since that building is not adjacent to this hero. Vanya decides to move 3 of his residents to the building at lower right, spending 3 movement points. He spends the remaining 2 movement points moving the 4th resident from the top.

II. Monster Phase

In this phase terrible monsters gather around the villages and prepare to attack.

The Monster phase takes place in 2 stages: players twice distribute 3 monsters among the villages.

Deal each player 3 monster cards from the round 1 pile. Each player looks at their cards and does the following.

• Gives 1 card of their choice face down to the neighbor on the left.
• Gives 1 card of their choice face down to the neighbor on the right.
• Keeps the remaining card face down in front of them.

Note: In a 2-player game each player gives their opponent 2 cards.

When players have disposed of the monster cards, each reveals the 3 cards lying in front of them (2 received and 1 kept) and places them next to their village depending on the monster kinds on them:

• to the left of the village, if it is a WITCH;
• above the village, if it is a WEREWOLF;
• to the right of the village, if it is a VAMPIRE;
• below the village, if it is a DEMON.

Deal each player 3 more cards and repeat the distribution of monsters. After 2 stages, when each player has received 6 cards, the Monster phase ends and the Attack phase begins.

III. Attack Phase

In this phase monster attacks are carried out, unleashing their fury on the villages.

The Attack phase takes place simultaneously in all villages. Monsters attack each village in the following order.

• Players who have at least 1 demon in front of them apply its misdeed.
• Monsters attack in the order of the initiative tokens (left to right) laid out in a row during setup. Each of the three attacks must be fully resolved for every village before moving on to the next attack.

Example: After the demons' effects have been applied, werewolves attack first, then witches, and finally vampires.

Monsters

There are 4 kinds of monsters in the game.

Demons

Demons always act first.

They have 2 effects: Hero's Death or Misdeed (see Demon Misdeeds).

When a demon attacks you, choose ONE of the two: defend against the demon by discarding any hero card from your village, OR apply this demon's misdeed. After that, discard its card.

If one of the effects cannot be applied (for example, you have no hero, or the misdeed would not affect your village), you must apply the one that is possible.

If neither effect can be applied, the demon lets out an evil cry into the night and is discarded without any effect.

Witches

Witches attack the village from the left side. There are 3 types of witches.

• Witches with attack strength "2".
• Witches with attack strength equal to the number of witches attacking your left neighbor's village.
• Witches with attack strength equal to the number of witches attacking your right neighbor's village.

The attack strength of each witch is determined after the demons' attack and does not change throughout the whole Attack phase (even if some witches were destroyed). Place threat tokens on the witches to mark their attack strength. This way you will not need to check the number of witches at your neighbors during the Attack phase.

At the end of round 1, remove the threat tokens from each remaining witch. Their attack strength will be determined anew in round 2.

Werewolves

Werewolves attack the village from the top. There are 2 types of werewolves.

• The attack strength of each gray werewolf equals 1 x the number of gray werewolves attacking this village.
• The attack strength of each black werewolf equals 1 x the number of black werewolves attacking this village.

Example: 3 gray werewolves attack. Each of them has attack strength 3, their total attack strength is 9.

The attack strength of each werewolf is determined after the demons' attack. Place threat tokens on the werewolves to mark their attack strength. The attack strength will not change during the round, even if the number of gray or black werewolves decreases.

At the end of round 1, remove the threat tokens from all remaining werewolves. Their attack strength will be determined anew in round 2.

Vampires

Vampires attack the village from the right. There are 6 types of vampires. Each type has a fixed attack strength from 1 to 6.

Order of Attack

For each village the attack is resolved as follows.

A. Determine attack strength

Add up the attack strength of all monsters of the corresponding kind (vampires, witches or werewolves).

B. Determine village defense

The village's defense against a particular kind of monster equals the sum of the defense values of all buildings in the row or column closest to the monsters.

• Against werewolves: the sum of the defense values of the buildings in the top row.
• Against witches: the sum of the defense values of the buildings in the leftmost column.
• Against vampires: the sum of the defense values of the buildings in the rightmost column.

Example of determining defense against a witch attack: Witches attack from the left, so the leftmost column is counted. Add up the defense values against witches of all buildings in that column. In the example the defense is 3 + 2 = 5.

C. Compare attack strength and defense

If the attack strength is less than or equal to the village's defense: after a heroic defense the monsters retreat! Leave all monster cards in place; their attack ends.

• The remaining monsters will take part in the attack in round 2.
• At the end of round 2, a player gets 1 victory point for each monster remaining next to their village (they are considered neutralized).

If the attack strength is greater than the village's defense: one of the monsters has broken into the village and thirsts for blood!

• Discard any village card (building or hero) in the defended row or column. All resident tokens on that card are also discarded.
• Discard the weakest attacking monster.
• If you discarded a hero with a symbol matching the kind of the attacking monsters, then instead of the weakest monster, discard any monster of that kind among the attackers.

If at least 1 monster remains, carry out another attack. Determine the monsters' attack strength and the village's defense anew (steps A and B). Repeat attacks until the total attack strength is less than or equal to your village's defense (or there are no attacking monsters left).

If all cards in the defended row or column have been discarded, you must use the buildings of the next row or column.

Example of a Monster Attack

Witches attack Masha's village.

1. 5 witches attack. Four of them have attack strength "2"; one has attack strength equal to the number of witches of the player on the right, which is 4. Threat tokens are placed on the witch cards to show this. Total attack strength is 4 + (2 x 4) = 4 + 8 = 12. The defense against witches of the leftmost column is 3.
2. The monsters attack successfully! A building is discarded: Masha removes its card from her village and discards one of the witches with the lowest attack strength, 2.
3. The attack continues. Since all cards in the column have been discarded, the witches attack the next column. The village's defense is 5, and the total attack strength is 10. The witches have broken through the village's defense again!
4. Masha decides to discard a hero. Since it has a combat symbol against witches, she may discard any witch. She chooses to discard the strongest of them, with attack strength 4.
5. The total attack strength of the witches falls to 6, the village's defense is 5, so the attack is still successful. The building at the top of the column is discarded, the resident on that building is discarded too, and a witch with attack strength 2 is discarded.
6. The total attack strength of the witches is now 4. The defense is still 5, and the attack is repelled. Two witches remain next to the village.

End of the Round. End of the Game

After all attacks are resolved, the round ends. Start round 2, using the corresponding village and monster cards. The rules remain the same, except that in the Building phase each player now passes cards to the neighbor on the right. This is shown on the back of the village cards.

The game ends after the Attack phase of round 2 is completed. When counting points, each player gets 1 point:

• for each resident in their village (on tokens of 1 or 3 residents),
• for each monster remaining next to their village.

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the contender with the most buildings and heroes in their village wins. If the tie persists, the contenders share the victory.

Demon Misdeeds

Discard 1 hero

This is the only demon that leaves you no choice. You must discard one of your heroes.

Lose 1 resident in each yellow building

Remove 1 resident from each yellow building.

Discard the building with the fewest residents

Discard the building in your village with the fewest residents. Buildings with no residents are not counted. In case of a tie, choose yourself which of these buildings to discard.

Get 1 witch / werewolf / vampire from your right neighbor

Take any monster of the indicated kind from your right neighbor and add it to the monsters attacking you.