Way of the Samurai
Way of the Samurai Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Component Overview
- 60 Cards (Way of the Samurai)
- 25 Cards (Blood and Bushido Expansion)
- 2 Gauges Board (with Campaign mode)
- 1 Weather Card
- 6 Gauge Sliders
- 16 Life tokens
- 10 Ki tokens
- 2 Dice
Presentation of Cards and Gauges Board
Main Action Cards: These are your starting action cards. You have to play 3 cards to make a move: raise guard or land an attack onto opponents. They have 1-2 effects described in the Blue stripes.
Special Action Cards: These are stronger action cards, which you can gain and play during the game to form stronger moves. They have 1-2 effects described in the Red stripes.
Opponent Cards: These determine your enemy's Defense and Counter-attack moves. They have two parts: the upper part for Defense and the lower part (the upside-down part) for the Counterattack.
Wound Cards: These represent the injuries that you may suffer or cause to the opponent during the fight. They are in two parts: the upper part for level 1 Wounds and the lower part for level 2 Wounds.
Gauges Board
The gauge board has three rows that represent the characteristics of your move: Strength, Technique and Guard.
Levels of each characteristic cannot be more than 4 or less than -2.
Setting Up
- Place the gauge board next to you and place the 3 markers on the zero space of each row.
- Shuffle each card deck separately: Action, Special Action, Opponent cards and Wound.
- Choose a Character card to fight and place it near the opponent card deck. We recommend starting with Ishida or Takeshi.
- Choose a weapon card to use in the game. It is strongly recommended to start with Katana or Bokken (rules for the weapon cards are presented below, see The Weapon / Saber Cards).
- Take 8 Life tokens (red) and 5 Ki tokens (blue). Place them next to your gauge board as your reserve, then place the Life and Ki tokens next to the Enemy card you are fighting according to numbers indicated on the card as their reserve.
- Place the Main Action (blue stripe) and Special Action (red stripe) decks inside your reach, next to each other.
- Place the Wound deck next to the Opponent deck, then place the injury die starting at 1.
- Leave some space for the Action Zone. Now you're ready to play!
How To Play
The game is played in rounds until you or the opponent has no life tokens left. A round is divided into 2 attacks.
Playing a Round
One round is divided into 5 phases.
Phase 1: Place the three markers at ZERO space on your gauge board. Draw 6 cards from the Main Action deck. These cards are your hand for this round.
Phase 2: Select and play 2 Action cards from your hand to the Action Zone and apply ALL of their effects on the gauge board. You may NOT abandon any of each card's effects.
Phase 3: Uncover the first card of the Opponent deck. Place it to the left of the Enemy card. This upper portion of the card represents your enemy's Defense. This Defense tells you the necessary levels of the characteristics in your gauge board that you need to successfully land an attack. Your Action card combination is not complete.
Example 1: Here, the Defense of the Opponent card says: If the player's Technique level is 3 or +, the Enemy loses 1 Ki point.
Example 2: Here, the Defense of the Opponent card says: If the player's Strength and Technique level are 2 or more, the Enemy loses 1 life point OR 1 Ki point. The choice is up to the player.
Phase 4: Finalize your attack! Place a third Action card next to the other two. Once placed, you must resolve the Enemy Defense (revealed in Phase 3). The first two Action cards are chosen without really knowing the Defense of the Enemy. The third Action card allows you to finalize and adapt the attack, to cause damage to the Enemy or to defend yourself by increasing your Guard level (see Phase 5).
Phase 5: Draw another Opponent card and place it on the right side of the Enemy Character card, then resolve its lower part effect. It represents the Enemy's Counter-Attack. Since this lower part is printed upside-down, rotate the card 180 degrees and place it on the right side of the Enemy card.
Example: Here, the Counter-Attack of the Enemy says: If the player's guard level is less than 2, the player suffers a level 1 Wound.
Once the Counter-Attack is resolved, check if you have made a Combo with your 3 Action cards (see The Combos). If so, apply the bonus related to this Combo immediately. Always collect the Combo bonus after the Counter Attack step.
Then, discard the action cards used in the action zone. The first move has ended. Then repeat Phase 2 to Phase 5 again. When you finish phase 5 for the second time, the round is ended. Start a new round by returning to Phase 1, and repeat in this manner until the end of the game.
You win a fight immediately when the Enemy loses all of their life tokens. When the Enemy loses their last Life token, you must not resolve their counterattack.
When there are less than 6 cards left in the Action Deck BEFORE STARTING A NEW ROUND, combine the Action Deck and discard pile, then shuffle to form a new Action Deck.
When there are less than 2 cards left in the Opponent deck AT ANY TIME, combine the Opponent Deck and discard pile, then shuffle to form a new Opponent Deck.
Ki
Ki is represented by the blue tokens. You always start with 5 Ki tokens (unless otherwise specified). The enemy's Ki is not used. However, you can reduce the opponent's Ki tokens through your attacks to deal more damage.
- If the opponent does not have a Ki point in his reserve, he loses 2 life points at each end of the round!
- If you do not have a Ki point in your reserve, you lose 2 life points at the end of each round!
Ki points can be used by the player. The fight will be very difficult if they are ignored. There are 3 ways to spend your Ki points to improve your strategy:
- You can discard a Ki token at any time to draw an extra card from the Main Action deck. If you use the Ki this way, the cards that will remain in your hand at the end of the round will be discarded (a round is never made of more than two attacks. An attack is never composed of more than 3 cards).
- You can discard a Ki token before playing the first Action card to reveal the Enemy's Defense. This can put you at an advantage during a fight. Knowing the Enemy's Defense in advance will allow you to land an attack easier.
- Before revealing the Enemy's Counterattack, you can discard a Ki token to increase your Guard level by 1 on the gauge board (2 Ki tokens for 2 additional levels, 3 Ki tokens for 3 additional levels etc.). This use is the rarest, but with experience you will know how to use Ki this way with great efficiency.
The Combos
On each of the Action and Special Action Cards, there is a little symbol on the top left corner (there are 3 different black symbols and a red symbol). When all 3 cards in an attack have 3 matching symbols, you have scored a combo and receive a bonus.
If you place 3 Action cards and have any of the three matching-symbol combos, you have the opportunity to utilize one of the following bonuses:
- Receive a Ki token. However, you can't have more than 5 Ki tokens in your reserve.
- Draw a special action card and keep it next to the gauge board. You can store them as much as you want, and you can play them in any order, or even play several cards in a move. Then they will be discarded and shuffled with other main action cards for the rest of the game.
Wounds
The Wound Deck consists of 5 cards. Each card describes a level 1 injury and a level 2 injury (upper part and lower part respectively). The enemy causes you wounds easily with his counterattacks. However, you will have to do more than that to hurt them.
When you make the red-symbol combo during an attack, you do not win a Special Action card. Instead, you add +1 to your dice level. For each combo of this type, you add +1 to your dice level!
You can activate the injury die and resolve the bonus corresponding to the level on the die:
- Level 1-2: No effects
- Level 3: The enemy loses 1 life token.
- Level 4: The enemy loses 1 life token OR 1 Ki token.
- Level 5: Draw a wound card and resolve the Level 1 wound effect.
- Level 6: Draw a wound card and resolve the Level 2 wound effect.
Important: You can only activate the die bonus after an Enemy's Counterattack. When you decide to activate a die bonus, you must imperatively replace your die to level 1!
When you cause a Wound to the Enemy, you must draw the first card from the Wound Deck and resolve it. Resolve the top half of the card for a Level 1 Wound and the bottom half for a Level 2 Wound. When you draw a card from the Wound deck, you must immediately shuffle it back into the Wound deck after using it. The same is true when the enemy uses a Wound against you. When drawing a card from the Wound deck, there should always be 5 cards present in the Wound deck (even against KEMPO!).
One of the 5 wound cards is different from the others: "The Fatal Wound." This specific Wound Card causes no wounds in the level 1 effect: this is the lucky dodge. However, there is a kanji that means "death" in the level 2 effect (beheaded). It means an instant defeat for those who received this wound!
The Weapon / Saber Cards
Before each game, you have to choose a weapon from the weapon cards. Each of them will give you an advantage and a disadvantage during the fight. Here are their characteristics:
1. KATANA - No advantages or disadvantages.
2. KATANA & KODACHI
- Positive: You start the fight with the injury die at level 3.
- Negative: In opposing attacks, level 1 Wounds are replaced by level 2 Wounds.
3. NAGINATA
- Positive: Before revealing the opponent's counter-attacks, you get a 1 additional Guard Level bonus.
- Negative: You start the game with 2 Ki. You cannot have more than 2 Ki in your reserve.
4. NODACHI
- Positive: You can spend a Ki Token to increase your Force or Technique level by 1 at any time.
- Negative: For each Life Token you lose, you also lose 1 Ki Token.
5. TANTO
- Positive: All damage to the Enemy is doubled.
- Negative: You cannot have your Guard level more than 2.
6. KUSARIGAMA
- Positive: If your Technique level is at 4 when resolving a counter-attack, the counterattack is cancelled. (As long as you mastered this, you can disarm the opponent easily.)
- Negative: If your Guard level is at -1 or -2 at the end of a round, you will always draw a Wound Card and resolve the level 1 effect. (The chain of your weapon is entangled... The opponent benefits.)
7. BOKKEN The Bokken is a special weapon. It is a wooden sword widely used in samurai training. Miyamoto Musashi frequently used it in real deathmatches to taunt his opponents, but also to convey a message: the way of the samurai is a lifelong learning process.
The Bokken only has a positive ability. It allows you during combat to transform your Life points into Ki points. At any time you can discard a red token against a blue token. Very effective when your Ki reserve is empty. Be careful, you cannot use this effect when there is only one Life point left in your reserve.
Like the Katana, the Bokken is recommended for your first fights.
Presentation of the Enemies
ISHIDA
- 8 Life Tokens
- 5 Ki Tokens
- Ability: None
TAKESHI
- 5 Life Tokens
- 5 Ki Tokens
- Ability: If you have no more Ki Tokens during the fight, Takeshi broke your blade, technically defeated you. You lose the game.
ODA
- 6 Life Tokens
- 5 Ki Tokens
- Ability: For each Life Token that you lose, Oda recovers them in his reserve. He becomes stronger as you make mistakes...
KEMPO
- 8 Life Tokens
- 5 Ki Tokens
- Ability: Kempo is immortal! The only way to kill him is to cut off his head. He can lose lives during combat, but never dies. When he has no more life, he recovers 8 life and receives a level 2 wound.
When you choose to face the Colossus there is a rule change:
When you make a combo of the red-symbol type with an attack, you do not raise the die level. Instead, you roll the die! If the result is 1, 2, 3 or 4 nothing happens. If the result is 5, the Colossus receives a level 1 wound. If the result is 6 he receives a level 2 Wound. The secret of victory against the colossus is level 2 wounds, hoping to fall on the card that will cut off his head! Patience and concentration.
(Kempo cannot be associated with "Storm" and "Fire" climates.)
The Samurai Clan (Infinite Mode)
The samurai clan is a game mode in which you will have to fight a group of enemies one by one. Before each fight you must roll the Blue die, then assign Life and Ki Token(s) to the Opponent according to the result. The objective of this mode is to defeat as many opponents as you can. Special Action Cards you gained will be kept in your Main Action Deck for the rest of the game. The more opponents you fought and defeated, the stronger you will become!
Scale of scores with the Samurai Clan
| Samurai defeated | Results |
|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | Go back to training! |
| 6 to 10 | Good samurai! |
| 11 to 15 | Great samurai! |
| 16 to 20 | Samurai of the Emperor's Guard! |
| 21+ | The Way of Musashi "The Samurai" is inside you!! |
Joker
This is a special card, it offers you the choice of a "symbol" of your choice when you play it. You may also add +1 to the gauge of your choice when playing it (Force OR Technique OR Guard).
Get It Right
Opponent cards have two parts, a Defense part and a Counterattack part. In order to not get confused, there is an illustration on the back of these cards. The illustration should ALWAYS be facing the proper direction when you prepare the Opponent deck of cards.
In addition, the Defense part of the Enemy is ALWAYS accompanied by Force and/or Technique symbols, while the Counterattack part is ALWAYS accompanied by the Guard symbol.
Surroundings Cards
Before a fight, you can define Surroundings, or where the fight will take place. There are four different Surroundings: Bridge, Forest, Rice field and Mountains. When you play the game with a Surroundings Card, you can exploit this Surroundings at any time by spending a Ki Token at any time during a round and roll the blue die. Then refer to the Surroundings Card bonuses or penalties according to the result of the die. The penalties are recognizable because they are associated with a splash of blood. When you win in Technique, Strength or Guard you immediately increase your gauge on the gauge board. When it is a bonus related to Wound die, you increase the Wound die.
Weather Cards
After choosing a Surroundings, you can add a weather to make the game harder and more intense by placing a small round Token on the chosen weather before starting a game. Weather bends the rules according to the effects described, so you must consider all rule changes from the selected weather. Good luck!
Campaign Mode
Different scenarios are printed on the back of each Gauges Board. One depicts Miyamoto Musashi's fights against the strongest disciples of the Yoshioka Dojo and the second depicts the Yoshioka dojo students' attack against Miyamoto Musashi in the village outskirts. Campaign mode plays out as one long fight, although there are multiple opponents. Special Actions cards won are kept until the end of the game. The level of the wound die is kept from one fight to the next. At the end of each fight, the "random events" card must be used (see Random Events).
Campaign 1 - Dojo Yoshioka
To win this first campaign, you have to defeat four opponents as well as the master of the Dojo. You start under the arch and you have to choose one opponent at a time to move along the path. Sometimes the path splits into two, which means you can choose one of the opponents before the next round. Each opponent has a specified number of Life and Ki points depicted on the Yoshioka Dojo Campaign Card.
Campaign 2 - Yoshioka Ambush
To win this campaign, you have to defeat eleven opponents. You start at the tree and you have to defeat opponents one at a time on the way to the torii. Before each fight, roll the Blue die to determine the opponent's health first, then place Life Tokens according to the result and 2 Ki tokens.
Random Events (Campaign Mode)
The Random Events card must be used in Campaign 1 and 2. After each fight, you must roll the blue die and refer to the Random Events card in order to resolve an event. If the result of the die is:
- You gain "+?" Technical level. The "?" on the events card must be replaced by a number that the blue die will determine. Example: at the end of a winning fight, I roll 1. So I have to resolve the "memory" event. I roll the die again, I roll 3. So I add 3 to my Technique level on the Gauges Board. This +3 technique bonus will be taken into account from the start of the new fight.
- You gain "+?" Strength level.
- "Rage" — you gain +3 to your damage die level. Increase your damage die level by 3. You cannot exceed level 6.
- You lose 1 Ki point.
- You lose 1 Life point.
- "Broken Sword" forces you to discard your weapon and choose another one from the available weapons (you pick up the weapon from the enemy you just defeated). Once broken you can no longer use it during the campaign. If there are no more weapons available, you lose the game.
Important note: The Blood and Bushido expansion offers you a second "Random Events" card. This second card will allow you to face the campaigns in "Normal" mode, while the map described above allows you to play in "Hard" mode.
Campaign Specific Rules
- One Mulligan authorized by campaign. When you draw 6 cards at the start of the round, you can discard the 6 cards and draw 6 new ones. Only once per campaign.
- Each opponent defeated with a Wound card earns you 1 Health point and 1 Ki point. (Max 5 Ki and 8 Life in your reserve.)
- Use of the random event card after each fight (except the last fight of each campaign).
- Surroundings cards and climate cards are not compatible with campaign mode.
Easy Mode
To play in an easier setting, you can apply any, several, or all of the rule changes as shown:
- When you draw an additional Action Card using a Ki token, you may draw 3 cards, choose one of them to keep in your hand, and discard the others.
- Start the game with the injury die at 2 points.
- During setup of the game, you may draw a Special Action card randomly from the Special Action deck and add it to the Main Action deck.
Hard Mode
To activate this mode, you must add the HARD MODE card to the Opponent deck when setting up.
- If this card is the Enemy's Defense, it is considered an impenetrable defense. You cannot hurt the opponent, no matter how hard you hit them.
- If this card is the Enemy's counterattack, draw two Counterattack cards from the Opponent Deck and resolve them one after the other. Prepare to bleed yourself out.
Find videos, documents to print, and the FanMade creation kit for new opponents on www.Aloneeditionsgames.com