Manual

This game is a free fan-created tribute to the Castlevania series,
and is not licensed or in any way affiliated with Konami.

Contents
● Introduction……..……………………...…………………........2
● How to Play………………………………………………….3-19
○ Quick Start Guide……………………...………………...…......3-4
○ Setup (Standard)...................................................................4-5
○ Movement………………………………………………..………...6
○ Curse Clock……………………………………………...……..….7
○ Monsters………………………………………………...……….8-9
○ Combat………………………………………………...……...10-12
○ Events………………………………...………………...………...12
○ Map Deck……………………………………………...……...12-13
○ Leveling Up…………………………………………...…………..13
○ Equipment……………………………………………...……..14-15
○ Status Effects………………………………………...……….….15
○ Bosses and Dracula Relics…………...…………...………..15-16
○ Difficulty………………………………………………...………...17
○ Death……………………………………...……………...……....18
○ Dracula and Breaking the Curse……………...…………...18-19
● Variants……………………………………...……………...20-26
○ Classic mode………………………………………..……….20-23
○ Lord of the Castle Mode……………………......…………..23-26
● Characters………………………………...………………..26-32
● Glossary and Card Clarifications…………..………...…..32-53
● FAQ………………………………………………………….53-57
1
Introduction
The object of this game is loosely based on Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. For the uninitiated,
in the year 1691, Simon Belmont defeats Dracula, but unbeknownst to Simon, Dracula placed a curse
on him that begins to slowly kill him over the next 7 years. One night in 1698, Simon is visited by a
woman who tells him that he can break the curse and destroy Dracula forever by collecting the 5
parts of Dracula’s body being guarded by his minions, taking them to the ruins of Castlevania and
burning them, at which point Dracula will be resurrected, and Simon will be forced to slay him a
second time.
Unlike Simon’s Quest, in this game, Simon is not alone. This is a cooperative game featuring
playable characters from throughout the series. All characters are “cursed”, and working together to
collect the 5 parts of Dracula’s body and defeat him before time runs out. As the Curse Clock
constantly ticks away, you will have to help each other fight through the castle, survive traps, stock up
on weapons and armor, defeat countless monsters, 5 bosses, and ultimately Dracula himself,
possibly in several forms, in order to win.
Whether this is your first time playing, or you’ve been around since the beginning, I would
recommend reading through this new, much more thorough manual. Don’t let the page count
intimidate you, you don’t need the read the whole thing. The entire standard game is explained on
pages 4-19, mostly after that is just a reference guide with specifics on each character, FAQs, and
card clarifications. If you are ever confused by any terminology used in the game, or aren’t sure how
to handle a particular card, you should find the answer here. Try just searching the document for a
card name, all of the cards that have typically caused the most confusion in the past are explained in
the reference section, but if there is still something I’ve neglected to mention in the manual, just email
me: castlevaniaboardgame@gmail.com I’m always happy to answer questions, and can usually get
back to you within a few hours. Thank you for playing!
-Brandon
2
Quick Start Guide (Standard Mode)
(This guide is for experienced players who need a quick refresh on the gameplay. If you are new to
the game or uncertain about anything, move on to the next section - Setup)
1. Select difficulty level, shuffle the corresponding number of curse cards into the encounter deck,
place the 5 relics randomly face-down in each of the first 5 boss rooms. Place 5 boss cards
face-down near the board, and the Dracula deck near the end of the 6th stage. If you are using
the optional Map Deck, draw one location card for each of the 6 stages and place them
face-down nearby as well. (See: Map Deck, p.12 for more info)
2. Select a character, place your token outside of the castle. Take your character’s skill deck and
character sheet. All players start with 16 health, 0 xp, and 0 hearts.
3. Find your character’s first (or only, for some characters) primary weapon , place it in front of
you, along with one secondary ability, weapon, or special item.
4. First player takes the leader token , sets the curse clock to XII and the stage clock to 1 and
reveals the first Location card, if applicable.
5. Roll movement dice, move the number of spaces rolled, take 1 for each rolled, heal 1
hp for each and if you roll a , take an encounter card and either fight the monster
by rolling the combat dice, or spending to use secondary abilities. If you cannot defeat a
monster in one turn, do not roll movement dice on your next turn, you must continue fighting,
or run away. If doubles are rolled during movement, draw an item card. You may give one
item to another player within 2 spaces of you on each of your turns.
6. Once each player has taken a turn, at the start of the leader’s next turn, the stage clock
advances by 1. Once it reaches 7, players have one more round to finish the current stage. On
each subsequent round until the stage is completed, the curse clock will then advance one
hour every round (at the beginning of the starting player’s turn) instead of the stage clock.
7. When a player reaches the boss room of a stage, they may engage the boss immediately, or
they can choose to wait one turn for the other players to catch up. On the next turn, they must
begin battle.
8. When players level up, they can either unlock their next primary weapon in sequence, or
unlock any secondary ability. You level up by reaching 6 XP (6 monster kills), by defeating a
boss (1 level for being in the room when the boss dies, 2 for actually inflicting the final blow), or
from an event. Full levels gained from events or bosses do not reset any xp gained so far.
9. If a player dies, they return to the beginning of the current stage. They may keep any equipped
items, but lose all unequipped items. They must also sacrifice one of their skill cards, either
their most recent primary weapon, or any secondary ability, players should always have at
least their starting primary weapon and one secondary ability. The curse clock advances by 1
hour each time a player dies. If the clock strikes XII again, the players lose the game.
10. When a boss is defeated, the killing player takes that boss’s relic, and gains the relic’s bonus
(See: Bosses and Dracula Relics, p.15). The players who level up may select and equip their
new weapons and abilities before proceeding into the next stage. The stage clock is reset to 1,
the curse clock stays where it is. Draw items for all players in the game, each takes one.
3
11. Refer to the difficulty sheet for any new conditions for the next stage, reveal the next Location
card if applicable. Pass the Leader token to the active player, (The player after the one who
killed the previous boss.) and proceed into the next stage.
12. In order to win the game, all players carrying relics (relics cannot be traded between players)
must reach the end of the 6th stage before the curse clock strikes XII. Once all 5 relics are on
the final space, one player must use a attack or item of some sort to destroy the relics.
This breaks the curse and removes the clock from the game, but players also lose the bonuses
associated with the relics, and Dracula appears immediately to engage with the player who
summoned him. Battle with Dracula is the same as any other boss, except that if he kills any
player, they are permanently dead and out of the game. When Dracula is defeated, roll the
combat dice to determine if he will resurrect in a different form (See: Dracula and Breaking the
Curse, p.18). Once Dracula has been defeated and fails the resurrection roll, the players win.
Setup - Standard Game Mode
4
1. Choose a difficulty level and place the difficulty reference sheet where it can be easily seen by
all players. If you are using the Map deck, draw 6 of these cards as well, kept face-down for
now. (See: Map Deck, p.12 for more info)
2. Place the appropriate number of curse cards (see right) for the selected difficulty
in the encounter deck, then shuffle the encounter deck and item deck
separately, and place them in reach of all players.
3. Randomly place the 5 Dracula Relic tokens face-down in the large boss room
space at the end of stages 1-5. Shuffle and place the Dracula deck near the end of the 6th
stage, and draw 5 random Boss cards and either place one face-down near the end of each
stage, or lay them out face-down clearly ordered from 1-5.
4. Each player chooses a vampire hunter to play as. Take your character’s token, character
sheet, and skill deck.
5. Separate the primary weapons from secondary abilities. Primary weapons
will have a small icon in the lower right corner. A few characters only
have one primary weapon, in which case, you can set that aside as your
starting primary weapon. Most characters have an assortment of primary
weapons, which are numbered and unlocked in order, for those characters,
the “1” will be your starting primary weapon. Some characters have special
starting equipment or conditions, which are indicated on the character
sheets. If your character sheet does not indicate otherwise, then assume that in addition to
your starting primary weapon, you may choose only one secondary ability to begin the game.
This can be a subweapon, spell, or conditional ability such as a double jump or whip swing,
whatever you feel will be most beneficial to help you survive the early game. It is a good idea
to discuss your choices with the other players, and try to have an assortment of different
abilities to complement each other. Place your starting equipment in front of you, or on the
appropriate spaces of the optional character mats.
6. All hunters have a max health of 16, but different heart limits, as indicated on the character
sheets. Everyone starts with full health, 0 experience, and 0 hearts. If using the character
mats, take a marker for health, hearts, and experience. If you use the small character sheets,
just use a small plastic clip to track health, and set aside piles of individual heart and
experience tokens within reach of all players.
7. Give the Leader Token to the player who has most recently been bitten by a
vampire bat, mosquito, or other blood-sucking creature. (Or agree on a slightly
less stupid way of deciding the first player, your call.)
8. Give the Curse Clock to the leader. Set the Curse Hand (Outer circle) to XII, and
the Stage Hand (Inner circle) to 1. The leader will be in charge of advancing the clock, at least
for the first stage of the game.
9. Place all character tokens at the castle entrance in the lower left corner of the board. Players
start outside of the doorway, not on the first space. Set 5 combat dice aside in reach of all
players. A 6th combat die is included with the game, but is only used in certain circumstances,
which will be indicated on cards when necessary. Leave the 6th die in the box unless it is
needed. If applicable, turn over the first Map card, read its effects aloud, then give the 3
movement dice to the leader to begin the game.
5
Movement
The game begins with the leader rolling the movement dice. Before rolling for movement, at the start
of each player’s turn, as long as they are not still in combat from a previous turn, they have the option
to change their equipment as needed, including swapping your primary weapon for another you have
already unlocked, changing a piece of clothing/armor, changing to a different subweapon (Again, only
if it has already been unlocked by leveling up), etc. There is no heart cost to change equipment at the
start of a turn, unless you are already engaged with a monster from a previous turn. At the beginning
of the game, you will not have much equipment to change, but you will start picking up items and
unlocking new abilities as you go. As a result of the movement roll, the leader moves and/or gains
hearts, and if a bat is rolled, he/she will draw an encounter card. The encounter is resolved (See:
Monsters, Combat, or Events, p.8-12) and the movement dice pass clockwise to the next player.
Once each player has taken a turn, and it is the leader’s turn again, the leader must advance the
Stage Hand of the clock (inner circle) by 1, and then proceeds to take his/her next turn.
Move the appropriate number of spaces either forward or

backward. Must move the full amount of the roll in either
direction. You may only stop your movement short if you
choose to stop on a space next to another player, or on a
space with an event marker. (See: Events, p.12) You may
just stop your movement next to an event or player without
actually attempting the event or assisting the player if they
are in battle, these are always optional actions.
Gain one heart, if not currently at your character’s max.
Draw a card from the encounter deck.
Gain 1 HP if not currently at max health.
If you roll doubles of a number, or double candles during movement, draw

an item from the item deck. You may also, optionally, reroll one die in
order to either move a little further in the same direction, or gain a heart.
6
Curse Clock
The two hands of the Curse Clock

represents both the passage of
time and the severity of Dracula’s
curse. The inner circle of numbers
1-7 (Stage Clock) indicate the
current turn. This hand advances
after each full round, once every
player has taken a turn and the
leader begins his/her next turn.
Players have 7 full rounds to
complete each stage without
consequence.
Once the Stage Hand reaches 7,

the players have one last round before the curse level begins to increase. At the start of the leader’s
8th turn in a stage, the Stage Hand stays at 7, but instead, the Curse Hand advances by 1 hour after
each full round until the current stage is completed.
When the boss of the current stage is defeated, the Curse Hand stays where it is, the Stage Hand
returns to 1, and the Leader Token is passed to the next active player after the player who defeated
the boss. Example: if the players are, in clockwise order, Simon, Shanoa, Alucard, and Maria, and
Shanoa inflicts the finishing blow on the boss, then Alucard would take the next turn, so he would be
the first to enter the next stage, and would become the leader for that stage. The Stage Hand of the
clock then advances as before on each of Alucard’s subsequent turns. Whether the players move into
the next stage immediately or not, the clock continues to advance, time does not stop if you decide to
linger in the previous stage for a few turns.
The Curse Hand of the clock begins at XII (noon). Players have 12 “hours” to complete the game. If at
any point, the Curse Hand goes completely around the clock and comes back to XII (midnight). The
players immediately lose the game. The Curse Hand can advance in the following ways:
● If the Stage Clock has expired before the boss of the current stage is defeated, the
Curse Hand advances one hour on the leader’s turn each round until the stage is
completed.
● If a player is killed, the Curse Hand advances by one hour.
● If a Curse Card is drawn, the Curse Hand advances by one hour.
● Various other events can cause the Curse Hand to move either forward or backward.
7
Monsters
One of the two types of cards you will find in the encounter deck are Monster cards. When a player
draws a monster card, they must immediately either fight or run from the monster. Here is a
breakdown of the information on the monster card, and how it relates to combat.
1. These are the monster’s attributes, which represent how the monster attacks. In the case of
Malachi, it is a flying monster which also attacks with darkness. You may have gear that protects you
from attacks with certain attributes. If for example, a monster only attacks with fire , and you are
wearing a Fire Mail , you do not take any damage in the battle, no matter how many times the
monster hits you. However, if the monster has both Fire and Flying attributes, the ability to fly
gives the creature a slight advantage. In such cases, when you can defend against one but not all
attributes, you only take half of the total damage, rounded up to the nearest whole number. Example:
A monster has an ATK of 3, with Ice, Poison, and Flying attributes. If you are wearing a Blue Cape
(immune to Ice), and the combat roll results in the monster hitting you 3 times. Normally this would
result in 9 damage to the player, but because of your Ice immunity, the damage is halved, and then
rounded up to the nearest whole number. Therefore in this case, the player only takes 5 damage.
Important Note: Remember to always cut the total damage in half after adding all of the hits in the roll
together, not before. Otherwise, with an ATK value of 3, the hits would be 1.5 each, rounded to 2, and
3 hits would result in 6 damage. Instead, just add the 3 hits of 3 damage each first, and then divide
the total of 9 in half to get 4.5, which rounds up to 5 damage.
Attributes
Axe Crushing Curse Dark Fire Flying Holy
Ice Lightning Slashing Poison Stone Undead Water Whip
8
2. HP: Monster’s base HP (This may vary depending on the difficulty level you are playing, and
which stage you are currently in. Refer to the difficulty reference sheet to see if you need to add to
this number.)
ATK: Monster’s attack power. Indicates the base amount of damage done to the player’s HP
per hit. Like the monster’s HP, this may be affected by the difficulty level and stage, refer to the
difficulty reference sheet.
RUN: This indicates the minimum roll needed to run from this monster. If you do not want to
risk fighting this monster, you may roll the movement dice to run. When running, candles count as 0s
and do not produce hearts. If the Run value is 5+, then a roll of 5 or higher is needed in order to
escape unharmed. If successful, discard the monster and end your turn. If the run roll fails (You roll 4
or less on a Run of 5+), you still escape the monster, but must take damage equal to the monster’s
ATK. (If applicable, refer to the difficulty reference sheet and add any modifiers based on difficulty or
location. For example, on the Despair difficulty level, in Stage 3, monsters have +1 ATK, so if you fail
your Run roll on a monster with a normal ATK value of 2, then you would instead take 3 damage as
you run away.) Then discard the monster and end your turn.
3. These are the monster’s weaknesses. If you use an attack with just one of these attributes,
you do 2x the attack’s normal damage to this monster. If a monster has several weaknesses, you are
not required to attack with all of them, only one is necessary in order to double your damage. Also,
weaknesses do not stack, meaning if you are fighting a monster who is weak to both fire and
slashing, and you attack with a fire sword, you still only do 2x damage, not 4x.
4. In some rare cases, a monster will be immune to a certain type of attack. This works just like
when you are wearing armor to defend against a monster’s attribute. So if a monster is immune to
Ice, and you are casting an Ice Spell that has no other attributes, it will have no effect at all, but if you
are using an Ice Whip, because it would also contain the Whip attribute, you still do half damage with
that weapon, and of course, still round up to the nearest whole number after calculating the total
damage of your roll and dividing in half.
5. This indicates what the monster drops when killed. Some will drop hearts, some drop random
items , drawn from the item deck. In the event that a monster card shows a specific item that is
dropped, once the monster is killed, the player keeps the monster card along with his other items.
Just treat the monster card as a normal item card, and discard to the encounter discard pile when
used.
6. If this icon is present, it indicates that the monster releases a soul on death. This is only
relevant to Soma Cruz. If no one in your game is playing as Soma, you may disregard this icon. If you
do have a Soma in your game, and a monster showing this icon is killed, Soma immediately gains the
corresponding soul from his Soul deck, whether he is the one who fought the monster or not.
9
Combat
When you draw a monster, unless you choose to run, you immediately begin fighting it. In most
battles, you will roll the 5 combat dice (as mentioned previously, the 6th combat die is not used
unless specifically indicated on a card). When rolling the combat dice, you are only attacking with
your currently equipped primary weapon. The dice results are as follows:
Player hits the enemy once, for the damage value of his/her equipped primary weapon,
plus any damage modifiers based on weaknesses (See: Monsters, p.8) or item bonuses.
Reduce the enemy’s HP accordingly (It is helpful for each player to have a calculator
handy to track their own monsters’ HP).
Enemy hits the player once, for its ATK value, again, adjust the total damage if you are
wearing equipment to protect you, or if the enemy’s ATK is altered due to difficulty level or
event/stage conditions.
Heal 1 HP immediately. This also acts as a shield of sorts, as all pot roasts rolled are
deducted from the total damage taken from enemy attacks. So if an enemy has an ATK of
3, and hits me once, and I also roll 2 pot roasts and 2 swords, I only take 1 damage
instead of the normal 3, and also hit the enemy twice.
Except in some cases when a card allows you to reroll, you will almost always only roll the combat
dice once per turn. This is where your secondary attacks come in. It is usually advisable to start the
game with an attack spell or subweapon as opposed to some sort of passive ability, because you will
want a secondary line of offense to help you get through the early stages, when you are still fairly
weak. Each use of a secondary attack costs a certain number of hearts, as indicated on the card. You
may use secondary attacks as many times as you like in a turn, as long as you have enough hearts to
do so, and may use them before or after your combat roll. Meaning if you have enough hearts to kill a
monster with only secondary attacks, you can end the battle without ever having to roll, and thus, not
risk taking any damage, because the monster can only attack during the combat roll, and secondary
attacks always hit automatically, you do not need to roll for them. Just spend the necessary hearts
and calculate the damage, again making sure to factor in any item bonuses or weaknesses.
If you are unable to defeat the monster in one turn, you remain engaged with it until your next turn
when you will roll again and continue where you left off, meaning you will be unable to move, obtain
hearts, or have another encounter on your next turn, you will just be locked in battle until either you or
the monster dies, or you decide to run away. Remember, the clock is ticking, so if you encounter a
powerful monster in an early level, and it will take you several turns to defeat it, sometimes it is best
to just run away rather than waste time and fall behind the other players. Another player may decide
to stop within two spaces of you and help out if you need it. If another player does stop to help you,
and they also roll a bat on their movement roll, your monster does not count as their encounter. They
will help with your monster first, either just throwing a few secondary attacks at it, or rolling for
combat, and whether they kill it or not, they still draw a separate encounter card after. Assuming the
second player does not kill your monster, they are not locked into combat with it. Only the person who
originally encountered the monster is required to either fight or run, anyone stopping to help out still
has the option to just walk away on their next movement roll.
10
Important note: This is a co-op game. Stopping to assist in combat should always be a mutual
agreement, if you are doing fine on time and think you can handle the monster easily on your next
turn, say so, and tell the other players to move on ahead. If a player refuses and proceeds to
kill-steal, they may choose to let you have the item drops, that is up to them, but the experience
always goes to the person who inflicted the killing blow, it is not shared. If you find yourself playing
with a person who would do something like this after you ask them not to, calmly explain to them how
friendship and co-op games work, and then, as is custom, roll up your sleeves, grab them by the
collar, lift...then escort them away from the table, through the foyer, and out of your house,
exchanging annoyed looks and/or obscene gestures through the shrinking gap as the door swings
shut. Did you lock it? Good, you never know with those kill-stealers...they’re a shifty bunch.
When a monster’s HP is reduced to 0, the monster dies, you gain 1 experience (You level up once
you have 6, (See: Leveling Up, p.13) if the monster drops hearts, take the # of hearts indicated in the
“drop” box of the card, if the “drop” box shows an item chest and a number, draw that number of
item cards from the item deck, and as mentioned previously, if it drops a specific item, keep the
monster card with your other items, treat it as a normal item card and discard when used. Your turn
ends after defeating the monster. Even if you had been fighting it for a few turns, you do not continue
moving until you start a new turn out of combat.
Here is an example of how combat will go. This is an idealized

scenario where the character is equipped perfectly, which rarely
happens, but for the sake of explanation, work with me, this
game requires some suspension of disbelief.
Sonia’s Vampire Killer has a base damage of 16. She is also

wearing a Bandana, giving her +1 to whips, a Bloody Glove,
which is +2 to whips, and Oxfords, which give a +1 for crushing
damage, which her whip also does. So her total primary weapon
damage is currently 20 per hit. This Spectral Sword is only weak
to ice, so the whip doesn’t give her any additional bonus there,
but with the roll shown, she hits twice, doing 40 damage, leaving
the Spectral Sword with only 5 HP.
With this roll, the Spectral Sword also hits her twice, for 2
damage per hit. However, she is wearing the Nun’s Robes,
which protect her from Dark attacks, so that alone would reduce
the damage taken by half, down to 1 per hit...but her Bandana
has another feature, it also protects from slashing damage,
which means that both of this monster’s attributes are useless
against Sonia. She takes no damage while wearing these items,
no matter how many times the Spectral Sword hits her. She also
rolled a pot roast, meaning she can heal 1 HP.
11
Now, with the monster having 5 HP left, Sonia could wait until the next turn to finish it off, but rather
than waste time, she has enough hearts to use her Ice Soul. She gets bonus damage with ice from
her Blue Cape, and the Spectral Sword is weak to ice as well, which would double the damage, but
that isn’t important in this particular case, because even without weaknesses or item bonuses, the Ice
Soul alone does 5 damage, which will finish off the Spectral Sword handily. Sonia gains 1XP, and
draws an item card. Upon use, the Ice Soul also automatically restores 5 HP to Sonia and anyone
within 2 spaces of her, thus ending her turn with full health.
Events
The blue-bordered cards in the encounter deck are Event cards. Some events happen automatically
when drawn, in which case they are discarded once they are resolved. Others require a test of some
sort. Sometimes you will need to roll to determine the outcome, and some events require a certain
ability in order to pass successfully. If an event requires a test or ability, the player who initially draws
the event card must attempt it. If this player is unsuccessful due to a failed roll, or not having the
necessary skill yet, the card may remain available for other players to attempt if it has a potential
desirable outcome (it is up to the players to decide if they want to keep it. If a card has only negative
outcomes, or the potential positives are not worth the time or risk, they are never required to attempt
it again, and may discard it after the initial attempt). If someone may want to attempt it again, place
one of the green Event markers on the appropriate space on the board where the card was
drawn, and place the matching marker (same letter) on the card, and set it beside the board for
reference. Players may now choose to stop their movement on or within 2 spaces of the event
marker, and may attempt it again if they wish. Once the best possible outcome is achieved, the card
is discarded. If you do decide to stop and attempt an event that is already on the board, and you roll
a bat on your movement roll, you still draw your own encounter as well. (If you are unsure about a
particular event, look for it in the Glossary and Card Clarifications, starting on p.32)
Map Deck
The Map Deck is an optional game mechanic which
introduces more chaos and provides unique
conditions for each of the 6 stages in the game. If
you use the Map Deck, you may either draw 6 of the
normal location cards, or 5, and one starting location.
Starting locations may only be used for the first stage
on the board, and are meant to ease the players into
the game, help with leveling up early, and if a player
is using Soma, it will ensure Soma obtains at least
one soul early in the game. The starting locations
show the castle entrance in the lower right corner of
the card back, see the image to the right.
Normal Location Starting Location
12
Note: Some locations will not work in the alternate game modes. See “Variants, p.20” for more info.
Also, if you are playing a solo game, most locations will work, but you will need to remove
Catacombs, as it requires other players in order to function properly.
Starting Locations: All starting locations work the same way. See the
example to the right. Each one guarantees you only fight one type of
monster while you are in the first stage of the game. All of these are fairly
weak monsters which drop hearts, and all have a soul for Soma. If you are
using one of these locations, when you draw a monster, no matter what it
is, refer to the location card, and use the stats, including drops, shown
there instead of what is on the actual monster card. As soon as the boss
of the first stage has been defeated, shuffle all discarded monsters back
into the encounter deck so that they can still be encountered later in their
true forms. If you return to the first stage later on, you will still only fight the
type of monster shown on the location, but do not reshuffle them again,
this is only done the first time the stage is completed. Also, once the Stage
1 boss has been defeated, you no longer gain XP for any monsters in Stage 1, should you decide to
return there later. (This only applies when using one of the starting location cards)
Leveling Up
Players receive 1 XP each time they kill a monster. Once you reach 6 XP, you level up and go back
to 0 XP. You also level up by defeating bosses, or sometimes as a result of an event card. In these
cases, you just instantly unlock a new weapon or ability, no XP is gained or lost. So if you have 5 of
the 6 XP needed to level up, and then an event or boss battle causes you to level up, you still keep
the 5 XP you had before, so only one more regular monster kill is needed to level again. When a boss
is defeated, all players who are in the boss room when it was killed gain 1 level, while the player who
inflicts the killing blow gains 2 levels.
Leveling up allows you to either select an additional secondary ability, or if your character has more
than one primary weapon, as most do, you unlock the next one in sequence, based on the numbered
crest at the bottom right of the card. After leveling up, you still keep all previously unlocked weapons
and abilities. They remain available to switch between, keep them separate from your equipped
weapons so it is clear which ones are equipped. The optional character mats indicate which abilities
can be equipped simultaneously to make this process simpler.
13
Equipment
Along with single-use attacks and healing items, you will find pieces of equippable armor in the item
deck, which comes in 5 types, as indicated by the icons in the upper right corner:
Headgear Body Armor Cape Accessory Footwear
Most characters can equip one of each type of armor at a time, unless a particular card changes that.
The Garbo Hat, for example, allows you to equip 2 accessories at once. The character mats only
have one space for accessories, so in this case, place the extra one off to the side. There is no limit
to the number of items you can carry, but you only benefit from the ones you actually have equipped.
If you aren’t using the character mats, be sure to position your cards in such a way that you and
everyone else can easily tell which cards are equipped, and which are passive items you are
carrying, either turn them sideways or face-down until you need to change. Non-equippable items,
such as food, single-use attacks, etc. do not need to be equipped or otherwise prepared prior to use,
they can be used directly from your stack of carried items.
The only characters who are an exception to the normal armor setup are Pumpkin and Trevor.
Pumpkin cannot equip headgear, but has his own special set of costumes in his skill deck. These
take the place of normal headgear for Pumpkin. Trevor comes along with Grant and Sypha, who each
have their own separate spaces for their 5 pieces of armor. (See Trevor in the “Characters” section
for more info.)
Armor and weaponry can be swapped in 2 ways. If you are not currently in battle, at the start of your
turn, prior to rolling for movement, you may change as many weapons or pieces of armor as you wish
at no cost. However, if you need to change equipment at any other time, such as during battle, or to
handle an event card that was just drawn, you may do so at the cost of 2 hearts per card.
Sharing Items: On your turn, you may give (not receive) one item to another player within 2 spaces of
you. On the other player’s turn, they may pass an item to you as well if they are still within range.
Example: Alucard encounters an Arachne. He currently has his

Morningstar equipped, which is a bashing weapon. Arachne is weak to
slashing, so Alucard can spend 2 hearts to switch back to his Short Sword,
which, while normally the Morningstar is the stronger weapon, the
Arachne’s weakness makes a sword a better choice for this battle. The
Arachne also attacks with poison, and Alucard just happened to pick up an
Immunity Ring several turns ago, but currently has a Ruby Ring equipped
instead. If he wishes, he may spend another 2 hearts to switch to the
Immunity Ring for this battle, since he isn’t planning on using fire, the Ruby
Ring won’t help much at the moment, but the Immunity Ring will not only
prevent him from being poisoned during battle, it will protect him from
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taking any damage at all against the Arachne, as she has no other attack attributes. Once the battle
is over, Alucard is free to change his equipment back, without spending hearts, at the start of his next
turn.
Status Effects
There are 3 attributes which, when a monster hits you with them, inflict a lasting status effect. All
status effects begin on the turn after the current battle ends.
Curse - (This is not related to the curse clock) Take 3 curse status markers.
On your next 3 turns, you may only use your primary weapon. All secondary
abilities, even non-combat abilities, are locked until this status wears off.
Discard one curse marker at the end of your next 3 turns.
Stone - Take 1 stone status marker, you are petrified on your next turn, you
may not move or take any action.
Poison - Take 3 poison status markers, and at the beginning of each of your
next 3 turns, remove one poison marker and lose 3 HP.
Bosses and Dracula Relics

(Relics are not used in Classic Mode)
You will face 5 bosses on your way to Dracula. These are selected at random at the start of the
game, and kept face down until at least one player enters the room and decides to begin the battle.
When a player enters the boss room, they have the option of starting the boss battle immediately, or
waiting only one turn in order for others to catch up and enter the room (If the player rolled an
encounter as they entered the boss room, whether they choose to engage the boss or not, the
encounter is ignored.) Once entering the boss room, you cannot leave, and cannot wait more than
one turn before beginning the battle, even if you are alone. Bosses typically have much higher HP
and sometimes higher ATK than normal monsters. You will all have to work together to survive. Try to
keep every player alive if possible, because when the boss is killed, only the players in the room level
up. (The player who dealt the killing blow gains 2 levels) Even if you inflicted a great deal of damage
to the boss, if you are killed and sent back to the start of the stage, and the boss dies before you
make it back into the room, you will not level up. However, whether you are in the room or not, all
players are returned to full health immediately after the boss’s death, and any players still earlier in
the level may (but aren’t required to) warp immediately to the boss room to join the rest of the group.
Unlike normal monsters, if a roll would result in the death of both the attacking player and the boss,
the player survives, as his/her health is instantly restored to full when the boss dies.
After defeating each boss, draw item cards equal to the number of players, lay them out for everyone
to see, and decide who will take which card. Everyone must take one of these cards, one player
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cannot take more than one, and all players receive this boss treasure, even if they were not in the
boss room when the battle ended.
In addition to gaining 2 levels, the killing player takes that boss’s relic. The relics are the 5 parts of
Dracula’s body needed to break the curse. Once receiving a relic, it is bound to the recipient, and
cannot be given to another player. When you reach the final room of Stage 6 to confront Dracula, the
curse cannot be broken until all players carrying a relic have reached the final room.
Each relic also grants the owner special abilities, as follows:
Eye: If you would be killed by a combat roll, you may reroll once to attempt to survive.
Only applies to deaths during combat, not as a result of events.
Rib: You may reroll one scythe per battle.
Heart: Immune to both status effects and damage from Poison, Stone, and Curse-based
attacks.
Nail: +3 to primary attack damage.
Ring: Gain 1 heart at the start of each turn. If your character already automatically gains
hearts each turn, the effects stack, gain 2 hearts per turn.
When you are ready to move on, return the Stage Clock to 1, pass the Leader Token to the player to
the left of the one who killed the boss, and proceed into the next stage. Remember to check the
difficulty reference sheet for any new rules for this stage, and turn over the next Map card, if
applicable.
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Difficulty
With the latest update, there are now 5 difficulty levels for the standard game. As you are setting up a
new game, decide which difficulty level you want to play, and lay the appropriate reference sheet out
for everyone to see. Difficulty levels dictate the number of Curse Cards that are shuffled into the
encounter deck, as well as any changes to enemy HP or ATK as you progress to each new stage on
the board. Morning Sun also has a slight change to how the Curse Clock functions, and a few of the
more complex or especially cruel events are removed from the encounter deck for your first game.
Difficulty levels are not used in Classic Mode. A difficulty level is selected for Lord of the Castle Mode,
but no curse cards are added to the deck, it only affects enemy HP/ATK, and the higher difficulty level
for the hunters, the easier it is for the Dracula player.
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Death
When your health is reduced to 0, you are killed. However, the only time death is permanent is when
you are killed by Dracula himself. If you are killed at any other point in the game, you do get to return
to the game immediately, but a few horrible, horrible things happen first...
1. The Curse Clock advances by one hour.
2. You lose a level. You can choose to give up any one secondary ability, or your
highest-numbered primary weapon. (You never lose your starting weapons)
3. You must discard all unequipped items. Any gear currently equipped may be kept, and you
also keep your current supply of hearts.
4. Place your character token back at the start of the current stage, (either in the previous boss
room, or back outside the castle entrance if in the first stage). If there is a save room
somewhere in the current stage, you may revive there instead if you like. Play proceeds to the
next player, and you may begin moving through the stage again on your next turn.
5. If you are killed by a monster, and you are the only one fighting it, the monster is discarded, it
does not stay in place for other players to attack later. However, if another player has already
stopped to help, and either player is killed, the monster does remain for the other to continue
fighting on their next turn. In this case, regardless of which player remains, their next turn is
spent only fighting the monster, they will not roll for movement or a new encounter until it is
killed.
(There are different rules for death if you are playing in Classic Mode. Refer to “Variants” for details.)
Dracula and Breaking the Curse

The Curse Clock remains in effect until Dracula’s Curse has been broken. Once the 5th boss has
been defeated, the 5 relics will usually be divided between a few players. A relic cannot be
transferred, it is bound to the character who defeated the boss guarding it. (The only exception to this
is if Shanoa uses Dominus. See “Dominus” in the Glossary section for info) In order to break the
curse, any player carrying at least one relic must reach the Castle Keep (the final room of the 6th
stage.) Once you reach the Keep, you no longer take turns, and will pass each turn until the
remaining relic-bearing characters arrive. You are free to continue passing until every player arrives,
but if you are running the risk of the clock striking midnight before the last player arrives, as long as
all of the relic-bearers are present, you may proceed. Once all relics are inside the Keep, they must
be destroyed with fire. This can be done with any sort of fire-based attack or item, so be sure you are
prepared for this in advance. If the only option is a fire spell or subweapon, you must spend the
hearts necessary to use this ability. If a fire item is used, it is discarded, and if a primary weapon with
a fire element is used, it must be equipped, but you do not need to roll for success. At this point, the
curse is broken and the curse clock is removed from the game. So even if other players are still
making their way through the final stage, and a curse card is drawn, or they are killed by a monster or
event, the advancing of the curse is no longer a concern. Any perks the players have gained from the
now-destroyed relics they were carrying are also lost once Dracula is summoned.
In the process of destroying the relics, while successfully breaking the curse, Dracula is resurrected,
and immediately engages the character who ignited the relics. This character draws a random card
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from the Dracula deck and begins the battle. Each Dracula form is unique, they will each have
different HP and ATK values, attack attributes, and some even have different weaknesses, although
Holy weapons are almost always a safe bet. Play proceeds similar to a normal boss fight from that
point, each character in the room will have an opportunity to roll the combat dice and spend hearts to
use secondary attacks, while any player not yet in the room continues rolling for movement and
resolving their encounters. Sometimes these stragglers can be helpful, doing their best to build up
hearts or collect healing items for the group before heading in to join the battle with Dracula. As with
any boss room though, once you enter, there is no going back.
Unlike the rest of the game, if you are killed by Dracula, you are permanently dead, and out of the
game. Any items you were carrying are lost, and cannot be taken by the remaining players as they
continue the battle.
Once Dracula’s HP has been reduced to 0, unless you are very lucky, the game is not necessarily
over yet. Dracula has a chance to resurrect in a different form every time he is defeated. This can
sometimes happen several times in a single game, keep that in mind and try not to use up all of your
hearts and consumable items when fighting the first form unless it is absolutely crucial in order to
survive. It is very likely that he will return at least once. In a typical game, players will have to fight
Dracula an average of 3 times. To determine if Dracula will return, roll the 5 combat dice. If you have
only defeated one Dracula form so far, then on the first resurrection roll, even one in this roll will
cause Dracula to resurrect. If this happens, draw another Dracula card and continue the battle from
there. After 2 forms have been defeated, the second resurrection roll requires 2 for Dracula to
resurrect. Then 3 the following time, then 4, then 5, and can continue indefinitely if 5 are rolled
every time after that, but that is extremely unlikely, and even less likely that you will survive that long.
When any Dracula form has been defeated and Dracula is unable to resurrect...Congratulations! The
players (even the dead ones) have won the game!
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Variants
There are two new alternate game modes, which will be explained in this section. The text for each is
color-coded, as you will find exceptions and slight rule variations throughout the manual for each of
these modes. Once you understand the basics of the modes, you can skim the other sections of the
manual for the corresponding colors to find additional info about Classic Mode and Lord of the Castle
Mode.
Classic Mode is a challenging, stripped-down mode that is

meant to closer resemble the classic linear
action-platformer games in the series, as opposed to
Simon’s Quest and the later, more rpg-inspired
‘Metroidvanias’ that inspired the standard mode. I
recommend playing this after you are already familiar with
the standard game.
Note: This mode works best without the Map Deck, but you may include it if you like. Just be sure to
first remove the following locations: Alchemy Laboratory, Colosseum, Garden of Madness, Long
Library, Marble Gallery, Necromancy Laboratory, Reverse Clock Tower, Sandy Grave, Treasury,
Town of Veros.
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The following items can be left in the box, they are not needed for this mode:
● Item Deck
● Curse Clock
● Dracula Relics
● Third (Bat/Pot Roast) movement die
● Any special equipment in a character’s skill deck. These are treated as normal clothing/armor
items and cannot be equipped in Classic Mode. (Alucard Mail, Pumpkin’s costumes, Leon’s
accessories, anything with an orange equipment type icon in the upper right corner of the
card.)
● Curse Cards, Save Room Cards.
● Difficulty sheets. Classic Mode has its own scaling difficulty.
● Experience markers
● Event Markers
★ Lay out the 5 life tokens, crystal side-up. These represent the players’ shared pool of
5 extra lives. This is explained further down. Also place the Classic Mode reference sheet near
the board for the players to see.
★ Set aside 3 Save Room markers at the beginning of the game. These can be placed anywhere
in the castle, at any time, but a save point is only activated once at least one player reaches it.
Once placed, they cannot be moved. Simply passing the save room restores health to full and
allows you to revive there if you are killed later in the stage, there is no need to stop on the
save point as you pass, but you have the option of doing so for a turn if you wish. Warp rooms
are still kept in the encounter deck, but all save room cards should be removed from the deck
beforehand, or simply discarded when drawn. (If Save Room cards were not removed from the
deck, and one is drawn, draw a new encounter card in place of it)
★ All players choose a character and start with only their first primary weapon, no secondary
abilities are chosen at the start of the game. (There are a few exceptions to this, refer to the
Characters section to see if your character starts with any special equipment in Classic mode)
Roll only the two # dice for movement. You will automatically have an encounter on every turn
if not already engaged with an enemy from a previous turn. Unlike the standard mode, you
may not move backward, but you can still stop short of your roll next to another player, or in a
save room. Event cards may still force you to move backward, but you may not purposely
move backward.
★ Event cards in this mode may only be attempted once. If you fail, discard the card, it does not
stay on the board and cannot be attempted again. Some events will not apply in this mode,
such as a villager who requests certain items, or offers to turn items into something else, or the
librarian, who accepts 2 items in exchange for the player leveling up, or basically anything else
that refers to the curse clock, or requires the players to have items. However, if an event would
result in a player gaining an item or items, the player instead levels up. The same applies to
event cards such as the Clock Tower Gap or Guardian Armor, which instruct you to distribute
items amongst the players. If you are successful in one of these events, you may choose
which players get to level up, rather than distributing items To save time, rather than going
through the whole encounter deck and pulling out specific cards, just shuffle the entire deck,
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and during the game, if you draw something that you aren’t sure how to resolve, or which
doesn’t make sense in the context of this mode, just discard it and draw the next card. See the
list of events to ignore at the end of this section.
★ When you roll doubles of any number, you have a few options:
○ Level up: Unlock either your next primary weapon in sequence, or unlock a secondary
weapon/ability.
○ You may choose to restore any combination of HP or hearts in the amount of one die.
Example: if you roll double 4s, you can recover 4 HP or 4 hearts, or you can choose to
split it and take 1 heart and 3 HP, or 2 of each, etc.
○ One exception. Double candles allow you to level up, and will also give you exactly 2
hearts and 2 HP, these cannot be divided any other way, even if your hearts or health
are already full.
★ When monsters drop items, whether they are random chest items or a specific item, you level
up. No items of any kind are ever kept in this mode. Monsters who drop hearts are treated as
normal, and can only be taken as hearts, not HP. Monsters who drop any type of food or
healing item can be used to restore the appropriate number of HP immediately and then
discarded, or they can be treated as a level-up item as with any other item in this mode. Soma
gains souls as usual, and may not unlock them any other way.
★ When pot roasts are rolled in combat in this mode, their healing value increases based on
how many are rolled. If only 1, you heal or cancel out 1 HP of damage. If 2, each heals
2 HP for a total of 4. If 3, heal 3 per for a total of 9, and so on.
★ There is no curse or stage clock in this mode. No time limit, but all players have
a shared pool of only 5 extra lives for the entire game, represented by the 5
“1up” tokens. When a player is killed, flip one token to the “doll” side, showing it
has been exhausted. Once these 5 lives are depleted, the players may continue
as long as they can survive, but any player killed from that point on is out of the
game, and may then proceed to kick rocks while the more skilled and/or lucky
players continue the game and probably get killed a few minutes later.
★ If you still have extra lives remaining, upon death, you will start at the beginning of the stage as
usual, but you will lose all of your upgrades, subweapons, etc. as well as all hearts, and go
back to only your starting equipment.
★ When you defeat a boss, the normal rules regarding leveling up, restoring health, and warping
straight to the boss room if you are lagging behind still apply. The one change here is that after
each boss, everyone’s hearts are reset to 0 before beginning the next stage.
★ In order for Dracula to resurrect after one form is defeated, 3 scythes need to be rolled each
time, rather than starting at 1 and increasing after each form. If Dracula is defeated and less
than 3 scythes are rolled on any resurrection roll, the players win.
Monster HP does not scale up in this mode, but all monster and boss ATK is predetermined by stage,
as follows:
Stage 1: Monsters ATK 1, Boss ATK 2
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Stage 6: Monsters ATK 4, Dracula (Follow ATK on card)
★ Recommended events to ignore in this mode: Aeon the Village Chef, Broken Armor, Castle
Map, Ferryman, George the Minstrel, Graveyard (If only 1-2 players), Hammer, Headhunter,
Laura the Jeweler, Lisa, Locked Door, Locked Door 2, Lord of the Castle, Loretta Lecarde,
What a Horrible Place to Take a Nap, Pachinko, Saint Germain, Stella Lecarde, Treasury,
Zead, Zombies, Save Rooms.
Lord of the Castle Mode is an asymmetrical variant, where one player will take on the role of a
reincarnation of Dracula, who is in control of everything the hunters encounter as they fight through
the castle toward him. This is an expanded version of the infamous “Lord of the Castle” event card
which has been present in the game
from the start.
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Note: If you have extraordinarily bad luck, this mode can be randomly initiated in the middle of a standard
game by drawing the “Lord of the Castle” card and failing a die roll. In this case, if a player does randomly
become Dracula, they exchange their character’s cards for the Dracula Powers deck, and place their
character’s token in the Castle Keep (at the end of stage 6). From that point on, follow the rest of the rules
shown here. You do not need to go through the encounter deck and remove all curse cards, if Dracula draws a
curse card, just discard it face-up and redraw.
The relics of the true Dracula are still placed throughout the castle, they provide the same bonuses
and must be used in the same way as the standard mode at the end of the game. No curse cards
should be placed in the encounter deck for this mode, and the Lord of the Castle card should also be
removed from the encounter deck, or simply discarded if drawn.
The players should all agree on a difficulty level for this mode, keeping 2 things in mind:
➔ Do not add any curse cards to the encounter deck, regardless of difficulty level.
➔ As difficulty is increased for the hunters, the game is made easier for Dracula.
The Dracula player shuffles all decks except for the item deck and keeps them nearby. Dracula draws
3 cards from the encounter deck at the start of the game. This is Dracula’s starting hand, and is kept
hidden from all other players. Dracula’s starting hand limit is 3, and increases by 1 for every hour that
passes on the Curse Clock. Ex. if the curse is at 5, Dracula’s hand limit will be 8. If for any reason the
curse is reduced, Dracula must immediately discard down to the current level.
Depending on what is in Dracula’s hand, or if he is trying to save a particular monster or event for a
certain character who may be vulnerable to it, Dracula may be forced to occasionally play events that
are helpful to a hunter. There is usually little benefit for Dracula to play these events, but it can be a
strategic move at times.
Some events, such as the “Castle Map” event, instruct players to draw from the encounter deck until
they have 5 events to place throughout the castle. Should Dracula choose to play the Castle Map
event, this is handled as in a normal game, Dracula does not control where these extra events are
placed. The same applies for “Horde of Monsters”, the hunters will draw the monsters at random from
the encounter deck, shuffling any event cards back in once they find 5 monster cards, they cannot
come from Dracula’s hand.
Dracula also has a deck of special powers that can each be used only once per stage. If any power is
not used in a particular stage, it cannot be saved and used in a later stage. The powers are either
used before the stage is complete, or forfeited. Dracula will select 2 of these powers at the start of the
game, which are kept face-down along with his encounter hand, he may use these anywhere in the
first stage. He may select a number of new powers at the beginning of each stage going forward,
depending on the position of the Curse Hand on the clock when the stage begins. Once a power is
used in a stage, do not discard it with the encounter cards, just lay it out face-up in the Dracula play
area so it can be seen. With the exception of Trance, all powers must be used before a player rolls or
takes any action.
Curse XII-II……....Select 2 powers
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III-V………….…….Select 3 powers
VI-VII………….…..Select 4 powers
VIII-IX………….….Select 5 powers
X-XI…………….….All powers available
Bleed Trance
Choose one hunter to Force one hunter to reroll all dice once
lose all hearts. during combat.
Malediction Vanish
Give one monster or boss Dracula discards his entire hand and
+3 ATK for one full round. redraws to current limit.
Regenerate Raise
Roll both movement dice, Dracula may take one monster (not
restore health to one monster event) from the discard pile and return it
or boss according to the result. to his hand rather than drawing a new
card from the deck.
Nightmare
Dracula may take one event
(not monster) from the discard
pile and return it to his hand
rather than drawing a new card
from the deck.
Before the hunters enter each of the first 5 stages, Dracula draws 3 boss cards and selects which
one the players will fight at the end of the current stage, and discards the other two, face-up, so the
hunters can see which bosses were not selected. Discarded bosses are out of the game and cannot
be used again later. Once selected, the boss of the stage cannot be changed unless Dracula draws
and decides to play an event that will do so. If you are using the optional Map Deck, Dracula selects
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the locations in the same way before the players enter each stage, but only draws 2 locations,
chooses one, and discards the other face-up. It should be agreed upon beforehand by all players if
the special Stage 1 locations will be used in this mode or not. If not, Dracula may remove the Stage 1
cards from the location deck before shuffling and drawing, also be sure to remove the Reverse
Clock Tower location from the Map Deck, as no curse cards are used in this mode.. (I recommend
not using the Stage 1 locations in this mode, as it will leave Dracula with very limited options in the
first stage, and potentially give the hunters an unfair advantage for the remainder of the game.) If
someone is playing Soma, in this mode only, he may begin the game with any one of the following
souls: Fleaman, Zombie, Skeleton, Medusa Head, Warg, Ghost, or Merman.
When hunters receive items, they draw one more item card than is needed, and choose one to
discard face-up before secretly taking the other(s). For example, if there are 3 hunters in the game,
and a boss is defeated, they draw 4 item cards, choose one to discard, and then decide who takes
the other 3 (as with the standard mode, each player must take only one). If a monster drops 2 items,
3 are drawn, the hunter discards one and keeps the other 2, etc. In the rare case that any of the
decks are depleted, shuffle and reuse the discard piles.
All of the hunter players’ unequipped cards should be kept face-down. They may be shown to other
hunters secretly, but never to Dracula. When an item or weapon is equipped, it is placed openly
face-up, in view of Dracula.
As soon as each boss is defeated, Dracula must show his remaining hand to the hunters, who may
choose up to 3 encounter cards (Not powers) to force Dracula to discard. Of these 3, 2 will go to the
discard pile, and the hunters choose one to remove from the game completely, so that Dracula
cannot retrieve it from the discard pile later. Dracula keeps the remaining cards in his hand, and
redraws up to his current limit before beginning the next stage.
Dracula can win one of two ways: If the Curse Clock strikes midnight, or if the hunters make it to the
battle with Dracula and are all killed. As with the standard game, the hunters can only win if they can
make it through the castle before the clock runs out, and then defeat Dracula. Dracula forms are
selected by drawing 2, selecting 1 and discarding the other. If all forms run out, reshuffle the discards.
Characters
As of this release, the game contains 19 playable characters, 20 including Dracula (Lord of the Castle
mode only). Here is a brief summary of the play styles and unique benefits of each of the 19 hunter
characters.
Alucard Fahrenheit Tepes

Appearances - Dracula’s Curse, 1476; Symphony of the Night, 1797; Aria of Sorrow, 2035; Dawn of
Sorrow, 2036; Judgment; Harmony of Despair
Primary - Swords
Secondary - Subweapons, Dark Magic, Shapeshifting
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Special - Gains 1 heart for every rolled in combat.
Starting - Short Sword, one secondary
Charlotte Aulin
Appearances - Portrait of Ruin, 1944; Harmony of Despair
Primary - Magic Tomes
Secondary - Magic Spells
Special - Heart Regeneration (Gain 1 heart at the start of every turn)
Starting - Encyclopedia, one secondary
Cornell
Appearances - Legacy of Darkness, 1844; Judgment
Primary - Claws, Energy Scythes
Secondary - Werewolf Form, Subweapons
Special - Rampage Mode: Cornell takes no damage and maintains werewolf form for an entire battle.
Sun and Moon Cards: Allow Cornell to turn the clock back an hour at the cost of 15 hearts, or turn the
clock forward an hour to gain 15 hearts.
Starting - Claws, Werewolf Transformation, one secondary
Classic Starting - Claws, Werewolf Transformation
Eric Lecarde
Appearances - Bloodlines,1917; Portrait of Ruin,1944; Judgment
Primary - Alucard Spear
Secondary - Subweapons, Spear Abilities
Special - Mirror of Truth (Inflict 100 HP Damage on all currently engaged enemies in the entire stage)
Starting - Alucard Spear, one secondary
Hector
Appearances - Curse of Darkness, 1479
Primary - Swords, Axes, Spears
Secondary - Devil Forgery
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Special - Summons Innocent Devils to assist in battle. Once summoned, the Devil stays with Hector
until the current battle has ended. Hector will make a separate combat roll on behalf of the
summoned Devil, counting only the hits. Innocent Devils do not heal or take damage.
Starting - Short Sword, one Innocent Devil
Jonathan Morris
Appearances - Portrait of Ruin, 1944; Harmony of Despair
Primary - Assortment of whips
Secondary - Subweapons, Martial Arts
Special - Dual Crush. Jonathan can spend additional hearts when using a secondary attack in order
to combine it with another player’s secondary attack. The damage and attributes of both of these
attacks are combined. The second player has the option to contribute 2 hearts to the attack as well,
which will double the damage. (Triple if the monster is weak to the attack.) Dual Crush may only be
used once per battle.
Starting - Leather Whip, one secondary
Julius Belmont
Appearances - Aria of Sorrow, 2035; Dawn of Sorrow, 2036; Harmony of Despair
Primary - Vampire Killer
Secondary - Subweapons, Martial Arts, Whip Abilities
Special - Julius’ Vampire Killer gains power with each subweapon he unlocks. Also, only he and
Simon have the Whip Swing ability, which allows them to easily bypass certain traps.
Starting - Vampire Killer, one secondary
Juste Belmont
Appearances - Harmony of Dissonance, 1748
Secondary - Subweapons
Special - Can augment the Vampire Killer with special tips to add damage and special attributes to
primary attacks. Magic Books serve the same purpose for Juste’s subweapons. Juste also possesses
the Fairy Journal, which gives him some control over the monsters he encounters. In Lord of the
Castle mode, the original monster is returned to Dracula’s hand, and Dracula must choose another
monster from his hand to replace it. If Dracula only has one monster in his hand at the time, Juste
draws from the encounter deck as normal, keeping the first monster and shuffling any events back in.
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Leon Belmont
Appearances - Lament of Innocence, 1094
Primary Weapon - Whips
Secondary - Subweapons, Magic Orbs
Special - Magic Orbs add damage and special attributes to subweapons. Leon also has a few special
accessories that grant him unique bonuses.
Starting - Whip of Alchemy, one secondary
Maria Renard
Appearances - Rondo of Blood, 1792; Symphony of the Night, 1797; Judgment; Harmony of Despair
Primary - Doves, Owls
Secondary - Summoning
Special - Heart Regeneration (Gain 1 (heart) at the start of every turn)
Starting - Doves, one secondary
Nathan Graves
Appearances - Circle of the Moon, 1830
Primary - Hunter Whip
Secondary - Subweapons, Magic Cards
Special - Can combine the Mercury or Neptune cards with any other card to either defend against that
card’s attribute, or add it to his whip.
Starting - Hunter Whip, Mercury and Neptune, one secondary (Can be either a subweapon or a magic
card to pair with Mercury or Neptune, if you prefer.)
Classic Starting - Hunter Whip, Mercury and Neptune
Pumpkin
Appearances - Lament of Innocence, 1094; Curse of Darkness, 1479
Secondary - Pumpkin Subweapons
Special - Unable to equip any type of normal headgear due to his massive pumpkin head, but instead
has his own unique set of costumes, each with its own special ability.
Starting - Vampire Killer, Pumpkin Subweapon
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Richter Belmont
Appearances - Rondo of Blood / Dracula X / Vampire’s Kiss, 1792; Symphony of the Night, 1797;
Harmony of Despair
Secondary - Subweapons, Martial Arts
Special - Subweapon Crashes - Much more powerful versions of each subweapon. Any bonuses for
subweapons also apply to crashes, such as the Brilliant Mail, which grants +1 damage for all
subweapons. Richter also has the highest starting primary attack of all characters, making him very
powerful in the early game, however, his primary weapon cannot be upgraded later.
Shanoa
Appearances - Order of Ecclesia, Early 1800s; Judgment; Harmony of Despair
Primary - Weapon Glyphs
Secondary - Glyph Magic
Special - Shanoa can equip any 3 glyphs at once, meaning that she is the only character in the game
who has the ability to equip more than one primary weapon at once. If 2 primary weapons are
equipped, you must choose which you are attacking with for each combat roll, and use 6 combat dice.
As a last resort, Shanoa can also equip all 3 Dominus glyphs to cast Dominus, which will instantly kill
any monster or boss in the game, even Dracula, but Shanoa will be permanently killed in the process,
so this should only be used when there is no other hope.
Starting - Confodere, one other glyph
Simon Belmont
Appearances - Castlevania / Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Chronicles, 1691; Castlevania II:
Simon’s Quest, 1698; Judgment; Harmony of Despair
Secondary - Subweapons, Whip Abilities
Special - With a combination of brute strength and holy weapons, Simon has the potential to be the
strongest character in the game, but his arsenal is not quite as versatile as most others. Also, only he
and Julius have the Whip Swing ability, which allows them to easily bypass certain traps.
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Soma Cruz
Primary - Handguns, Swords, Axes, Spears, and let’s not forget Terror Bear!
Secondary - Dominance
Special - Soma starts with only a primary weapon. All of his secondary attacks come from his ability
to absorb souls from enemies. When any monster or boss with the icon is killed, Soma
immediately unlocks that ability, and can equip up to two souls simultaneously. Soma does not have
to be the one who killed the monster, or even be nearby. When Soma levels up, he only upgrades his
primary weapon, souls have to come directly from monsters. Likewise, when Soma is killed, only his
primary weapon is downgraded, souls are never sacrificed. Keep in mind that Soma is the
reincarnation of Dracula, and though it is very unlikely, there is a chance that during the final battle,
Soma could be possessed by Dracula again and turn on the rest of the hunters. If this happens,
Soma will have to sit this battle out, however, if the rest of the team is able to defeat evil Soma, and
Dracula then resurrects in another form, an all-powerful version of Soma will emerge and rejoin the
hunters to finish the fight.
Starting - Handgun
Classic Starting - Handgun, one of the following souls (only if not using starting locations): Fleaman,
Zombie, Skeleton, Medusa Head, Warg, Ghost, or Merman.
Lord of the Castle Starting - Handgun, one of the following souls (only if not using starting locations):
Fleaman, Zombie, Skeleton, Medusa Head, Warg, Ghost, or Merman.
Sonia Belmont
Appearances - Castlevania Legends, 1450
Secondary - Soul Weapons
Special - Burning Mode: Sonia takes no damage for one entire battle, similar to Cornell’s Rampage
Mode.
Trevor Belmont / Grant Danasty / Sypha Belnades

Appearances - Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, 1476; Curse of Darkness, 1479; Judgment
(Note: Trevor is one of the more complicated hunters to play, there are special rules for him,
and he requires essentially managing equipment on 3 separate characters simultaneously. I
recommend waiting to use him until you have played a few games and are familiar with the
gameplay.)
Primary - Vampire Killer/Short Dagger/Warakiya Staff
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Secondary - Subweapons, Spells
Special - Trevor is accompanied by Grant and Sypha, who can each equip their own 5 pieces of
armor. The skill deck for the trio has the same card back, but at the lower left corner of each, the card
shows which character(s) use that ability. A few of the subweapons are shared between the 3
characters, but only one may equip them at a time. Example: The axe subweapon may be used by
both Trevor and Grant. If Grant has the axe equipped, Trevor cannot use it unless you actually
transfer it to him, which follows the same rules as normal equipment changes. However, all 3
characters are considered to be active together, so you may switch between them at any time at no
cost. You may even do so during battle, so you can roll to use Trevor’s Vampire Killer as your primary
attack, and then switch to Sypha to throw a few spells before your turn ends. Each character has
shared HP and hearts, if one of them dies, they all die. Upon death, you only need to sacrifice one
ability or upgrade, not one for each character, and the curse clock still only advances by 1 hour. If you
are using the character mats, the HP, hearts, and XP indicators are only on the Trevor mat, but keep
the Sypha and Grant mats in front of you as well to manage their separate equipment. Each character
also has a different combat bonus:
Trevor may reroll a single die during combat against a monster who is weak to his primary attack,
Grant gains 1 heart per hit
Sypha gains 1 HP per hit.
You are still limited to one combat roll per turn, but may use secondary attacks from any of the 3 at
once.
Starting - Leather Whip (Trevor), Warakiya Staff (Sypha), Short Dagger (Grant), and one secondary
ability.
Yoko Belnades
Primary - Belnades Staff
Secondary - Magic, Healing
Special - Primary attack gains power for every new spell unlocked. Heart Regeneration (Gain 1 heart
at the start of each turn)
Starting - Belnades Staff, one secondary
Glossary and Card Clarifications
“Aeon, the Village Chef” Event - Place this card to the side of the board when
drawn. Players may at any time place 3 food items on this card, all players may
contribute, and it does not need to be on their turn. When Aeon receives 3 food
items, discard those 3 item cards and heal every player for the combined value of
the foods used. Aeon remains on the side of the board and is always available,
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players do not need to go back to the space where he was encountered. Ignore and redraw in Classic
Mode.
ATK - Amount of damage the monster does to the player for each scythe rolled in combat.
Attribute - “Attribute” refers to the qualities of every attack in the game, both for monster and hunter
attacks. Some possible attributes are Fire, Ice, Holy, Slashing, Flying, Poison, etc. These are
important because they factor into enemy weaknesses, and can also correspond with certain items to
give attack bonuses or immunities to attributes.
Battle - Refers to one full battle with one enemy, regardless of the number of turns it takes to defeat
the enemy. In the case of a boss, if you are killed and then re-engage the boss again later, it is
considered a new battle. For Dracula, each Dracula form is considered an individual battle. This is
especially important in the case of Sonia’s Burning Mode or Cornell’s Rampage Mode. These
characters can be invincible for the entirety of a boss battle, or a battle with one Dracula form, but if
Dracula resurrects in a new form, these abilities end, and the character is once again able to take
damage. The same applies to Hector’s Innocent Devils, which, once summoned, remain in play for
the remainder of only the current battle.
“Behemoth” Event - Player takes 2 damage every turn in which they move 3
spaces or less. This is not limited to movement rolls, it also applies if a player is
locked in battle for a turn, held in place by another event, or decides to stop their
movement short of 3 spaces for any reason. Once you reach the boss room, you are
safe from the Behemoth, but the Behemoth remains active until the boss is
defeated, in the event that a player is killed and has to start the stage over, it will
continue to be chased by the Behemoth. If this event happens to come up in the
stage where the Entrance to Demon Castle location was drawn, both effects are
happening simultaneously, as if the players are being chased by 2 Behemoths, one which always
attacks the player at the back of the line at the end of every round, and the other attacks anyone who
moves 3 spaces or less on a turn.
“Black Ink” Item - This item is only seen as a drop from a specific monster. It has no use on its own,
but you may encounter a certain character at some point in the game who is looking for it. (See also:
Eagle Feather, Horse Hair)
“Blood Cloak” Item - Receive 1 heart each time you take damage. Meaning in
combat, even if you are hit several times, the entire roll that causes damage to you lets
you take 1 heart. Same for damage from events or any other cause, if you need to
reduce your health, whether it is by 1 or by 15, you receive 1 heart.
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Boss - The final enemy of each of the first 5 stages in the game. Upon defeating a boss, the person
who inflicted the killing blow levels up twice and receives the Dracula relic that boss was guarding,
everyone else currently inside the boss room gains one level. All players, whether in the room or not,
regain all health and if they wish, may move directly to the boss room before beginning the next
stage. Also, item cards equal to the number of players are drawn and laid out for everyone to see,
and decide who will take which item. Each player must take one of these cards.
“Broken Armor” Event - If you are not currently wearing a piece of armor matching
the 3 types shown on the card, this card has no effect. You may not pay hearts to
remove a piece of armor after drawing this card, but if you are wearing more than one
of the types shown, you may choose which to discard. Ignore and redraw in Classic
Mode.
“Castle Map” Event - The 5 events drawn, even if they would typically happen
immediately, can be avoided by placing them behind you, possibly in a previous
stage, so they are out of the way. These events, unlike normal event markers, are
automatically encountered if your movement ends on the space where the marker is
placed, but you may also stop short to attempt the event if you wish. Ignore and
redraw in Classic Mode. In Lord of the Castle Mode, if Dracula plays this event, the
hunters draw from the encounter deck and place the 5 events as in standard mode,
shuffling monsters back in. The events may not come from Dracula’s hand.
“Catacombs” Location - In this stage, when a player runs from a monster, it

moves onto the next player (by turn order, not board position). This may lead to a
pileup of monsters all attacking one player, in which case they must either attack
each individual monster on their turn, or run away. Once the player decides to
attack one monster, they may no longer run away on this turn, they must attack
each other monster as well. On the next turn, they may then run away rather than
continuing to attack. Regardless of the number of monsters, only one run roll is
made, and based on the result, the player may take damage from some
monsters, and not from others. Even if damage was done to one or more of the
monsters prior to running, all monsters are restored to full health when they
approach the next player. If a player is killed by the monsters, they automatically move to the next
player as if the previous player ran from them.
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“Chaotic Realm” Location - The functions of and are reversed in this stage.
So each is an attack from the player to the monster, and a is the monster
attacking the player. Keep in mind are more common, so you are likely to take
significantly more damage in every battle during this stage, including the boss battle.
No change to .
Combat Dice - 5 dice used when fighting enemies. Sword = Player hits the enemy with his/her
primary weapon. Scythe = Enemy hits the player for its ATK value. Pot Roast = Player heals
1 HP or cancels out 1 HP of damage done by the enemy on this roll. A 6th combat die is included with
the game, but is only used under special circumstances.
Curse Card - When you see any reference to “curse cards”, this is referring to the cards showing an
image of the curse clock and the words “Another hour has passed. Advance the curse counter.”
When one of these cards is drawn from the encounter deck, you must automatically advance the
large hand (outer ring) of the curse clock by one hour. The number of curse cards in the encounter
deck varies depending on the game mode and difficulty level selected. Curse cards, and Curse Clock,
are not used in Classic Mode. Curse Cards are not used in Lord of the Castle Mode.
D6 - Some cards will instruct you to roll a D6. In these cases, simply roll one of the movement dice.
Candles typically count as a zero when rolling to resolve an event. There are a few exceptions when
candles count as 6, but these will always be specifically stated on the card. Unless the card says
otherwise, always assume = 0.
Damage - The base amount of damage an attack will do to an enemy. For primary weapons, the
damage value counts for the number of swords rolled in combat. For secondary attacks, the damage
counts for each individual use of that attack. Damage may be altered by weaknesses or immunities to
certain types of attacks. (See: Attributes)
“Death Carriage” Event - The player who draws this event moves back to the
start of the current stage, and then immediately moves 5 spaces, and rolls a
single combat die. Each of that player’s subsequent turns in this stage will be
the same, automatically move 5 spaces, roll one combat die. If the player rolls a
3 times before reaching the end of the stage, they succeed. If they reach
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the end of the stage before 3 are rolled, they fail. As soon as the third is rolled, the event
ends, and the player may begin rolling for movement again on their next turn. If the rest of the players
decide to engage, and defeat the stage’s boss while one player is still riding the carriage, they have
the option to abandon the Death Carriage event if they desire, or they may continue it if it looks like
they may succeed as the remaining players move into the next stage. In the event that the rest of the
players engage the boss, which happens to be Death, in the same stage where Death Carriage is
taking place, if the event succeeds or fails before the boss battle ends, the effects of the event are
applied immediately, which means if the Death Carriage player succeeds, and the other players have
already done more damage than the amount of HP Death now has, he is instantly killed. This is the
only case when someone outside of the boss room would gain 2 levels, as this player technically
killed Death remotely. Any damage already done by Death to the players fighting him remains, but
any damage that occurs after the success of Death Carriage is calculated with an ATK of 3. The
200HP and 3 ATK is before any modifiers based on difficulty level, be sure to add these.
“Death Doll” Item - Death Doll will protect you from dying one time no matter the
cause. The only exception is Shanoa’s Dominus, which she has no way to survive. (See
also: Death’s Robe)
“Death’s Robe” Item - Death’s Robe will protect you from dying one time no matter the
cause. The only exception is Shanoa’s Dominus, which she has no way to survive. (See
also: Death Doll)
“Devil Ring” Item - Increases your primary weapon damage based on your current
HP as it stands before you roll for combat. So for example, if your base primary weapon
damage is 10, and you currently have 12 HP, then because you have lost 4 of your 16
total HP, add 4 to your weapon. You now do 14 damage per hit, until you either heal or
lose a little more HP.
Dominus - Dominus is a special ability only available to Shanoa. It is comprised of 3 separate glyphs,
which must all be equipped together in order to cast Dominus, they have no other use individually. No
hearts or die rolls are necessary, the Shanoa player simply declares they are using Dominus. This
instantly kills any enemy, even Dracula, but it can only be used once, as Shanoa is permanently killed
along with the enemy, and out of the game. Even if she has an item that would normally prevent
death under other circumstances, it is ineffective with Dominus. It is usually best to save this ability for
Dracula as a last resort, and even then, Dracula still has a chance to resurrect as usual. If Shanoa
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does for any reason use Dominus prior to reaching Dracula, any relics she was carrying may be left
to any other player she chooses, and the curse clock still advances an hour.
Doubles - In the Standard and Lord of the Castle game modes, during movement, if you roll 2 of the
same number, or 2 candles, you gain one item card from the item deck, and optionally, you may also
reroll one die to attempt to move a little further, or gain an additional heart. If you do reroll a die, and a
number is rolled, you are required to continue movement in the direction you were moving on this
turn, but may still stop short next to another player or event if you wish. In Classic Mode, doubles of
any number allow you to either level up, or take any combination of HP or hearts in the amount of one
die. Example: If you roll double 4s, you may level up, or you may take 4 HP, 4 hearts, 1 HP and 3
hearts, etc. If double candles are rolled in Classic Mode, you level up, and gain exactly 2 hearts and
2 HP, these cannot be split differently.
Dracula - Dracula is the final boss of the game. Once the 5 relics are collected, they must all be
brought to the Castle Keep (the final space on the board) and burned to break the curse, and in turn,
summon Dracula, who immediately begins battle with the player who summoned him. Each time
Dracula is defeated, he has an opportunity to resurrect. (See the Dracula section for details)
Drop - What you receive for killing this monster. Some will drop a number of hearts, some will show a
numbered chest icon, indicating to take that number of cards from the item deck. If a monster drops a
specific item, keep the monster card along with your other items until it is used, and then discard to
the encounter discard pile.
Dual Crush - Special ability for Jonathan, which allows him to spend extra hearts in order to combine
one of his secondary attacks with that of another player, combining both the damage and all attributes
of both attacks. The other player has the option of contributing 2 hearts as well in order to double the
damage of the combined attack. If the enemy is weak against any of the attributes from either attack,
damage is instead tripled. In the event that one of the abilities used in a Dual Crush requires a roll to
determine damage, as with subweapons like Wrecking Ball, Agunea, Ricochet Rock, etc. do so prior
to adding up the total of the combined damage. If both attacks require a roll to determine damage, roll
both separately, then add the results together.
“Eagle Feather” Item - This item is only seen as a drop from a specific monster. It has no use on its
own, but you may encounter a certain character at some point in the game who is looking for it. (See
also: Horse Hair, Black Ink)
Encounter - When a (bat) is rolled, after moving the appropriate number of spaces, you draw a card
from the encounter deck, which will be either a monster or an event. The only exception to this is if
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your movement will land you in the boss room, in which case you encounter the boss instead of
drawing a card.
“Entrance to Demon Castle” Location - If 2 or more players are on the same

space, and there is no one else behind them, they all take the 4 damage. If all
players are inside the boss room together, they are safe, unless one of them is
killed and has to move through the stage again, in which case it will continue
taking damage each round. If the Behemoth event happens to come up in the
Entrance to Demon Castle location, both effects are happening simultaneously,
as if the players are being chased by 2 Behemoths, one which always attacks the
player at the back of the line at the end of every round, and the other attacks
anyone who moves 3 spaces or less on a turn.
Equipped - Cards must be positioned in such a way that it is obvious which cards are currently
“equipped” and which are simply being carried. A player may equip one of each of the 5 types of
armor at a time, in addition to their own special equipment, for which each character has different
rules. See the character sheets or “Characters” section of the manual for more detail.
Event - Events are the blue-bordered cards in the encounter deck.
“Ferryman” Event - Discard one item card in order to move anywhere within the
current stage. Player who draws this event initially may choose not to use it, in
which case it remains available. Once used, discard. Ignore and redraw in Classic
Mode.
“Floating Garden” Location - Any monster with the attribute takes 1

additional damage per hit in this stage, meaning per rolled. In addition, all
players are now , and also take 1 additional damage per . Only applies to
combat rolls, do not take additional damage as a result of events, poison, etc.
“Forest Graveyard” Location - As soon as the boss of this stage is defeated,

shuffle all monsters (only monsters, not events) from the discard pile back into the
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encounter deck. If for any reason you re-enter the stage later, even if you do not fight any new
monsters while you are there, upon exiting the stage again, all monsters must again be shuffled back
in.
Gaps - If an ability allows you to “cross gaps”, this refers to event cards requiring you to jump over a
pit of spikes or something similar. Sometimes you have the option to roll to succeed for these events,
but a special gap-crossing ability grants instant success.
“George, the Minstrel” Event - Place this card to the side of the board when
drawn. George is looking for a few rare items, which you will not find in the item
deck. They are only available as drops from specific monsters, and have no other
use. George remains on the side of the board and is always available, players do
not need to go back to the space where he was encountered. If at any point in the
game, all 3 rare items have been given to George, this card may be discarded.
Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.
“Graveyard” Event - When another player stops within 2 spaces of the target
player being held by this event, the target player is immediately released, the
event is discarded, and play continues. Otherwise, when the stage is completed,
the player is released and may warp to the boss room or continue moving through
the stage normally if they wish. If you draw this event in a solo game, discard and
draw a new encounter card. In Classic Mode, players are unable to move in
reverse to help the trapped player, and must continue through the level without
him/her. If the stage is completed, the player is released, or if another player is
killed and starts the stage over, they may help on the way back through. If playing Classic Mode
with only 2 players, ignore this card and redraw.
“Guardian Armor” Event - Roll the 5 combat dice 5 times, keeping track of how
many are rolled. If at least 15 are rolled over the 5 rolls, you succeed.
Search the item deck from the top to find one of each type of armor indicated on
this card. Shuffle all other item cards back into the deck. The 3 items received
may be kept by the player who completed the event, or shared with other players
who could benefit from them. For Classic Mode, if you succeed, in place of items,
choose 3 players to level up. One player may level up more than once, all 3 can
even be used by one player if you prefer.
“Hammer” Event - You must first decide on an item to give up, and shuffle it back
into the item deck, then draw 5 new item cards. One must be kept, the rest are
discarded. If you do not have any items, or do not wish to give one up, the event
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remains on the board, and is discarded once used. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.
“Headhunter” Event - If you do not have headgear equipped when this card is
drawn, there is no effect, discard the event. You may not pay hearts to remove
headgear after the event is drawn, the item is discarded immediately. Ignore and
redraw in Classic Mode.
“Healing Mail” Item - Heal 1 HP when you move 6 or more spaces in one turn, not a
cumulative count of spaces moved.
Hearts - Each character has a different heart limit shown on the character cards. This has no relation
to the character’s life. As in the early Castlevania games, hearts are treated as mana, or ability points.
You will spend hearts for each use of a subweapon, spell, or most other secondary abilities. Hearts
are gained by rolling candles during movement, or from monster drops.
High Places - Similar to crossing gaps, some abilities allow you to “reach high places”. If you see an
event requiring you to jump onto a high ledge to retrieve an item or upgrade, usually you will need to
have one of these abilities unlocked in order to succeed.
“Horde of Monsters” Event - Each player who is behind the player who drew this
card may not move beyond the space where the card was drawn until 5 random
monsters drawn from the encounter deck are defeated. Any player on or 1-2
spaces behind the “Horde” space may continue rolling for movement, but may not
move beyond the Horde space. These players will also continue drawing their own
encounter cards when applicable, but must also roll to attack at least one of the 5
Horde monsters on each turn. Players ahead of the “Horde” space may move back
to help, but are not required to do so. If some players are able to move ahead and
defeat the boss while others are still dealing with the Horde, the Horde event and all associated
monsters may be discarded. If a player is killed by any of these monsters, the monster is not
discarded, it continues to block that space until it is killed. Otherwise, normal rules for monsters still
apply, even if you draw the Dodo Bird, or Chronomage, these monsters will still run away if you fail to
kill them in one roll. In Classic Mode, as you are unable to move backward, any players ahead of the
Horde space have no choice but to continue ahead without their companions, until the Horde is dealt
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with. If played in Lord of the Castle mode, the hunter players draw the monsters from the encounter
deck, shuffling events back in, the monsters may not come from Dracula’s hand.
“Horse Hair” Item - This item is only seen as a drop from a specific monster. It has no use on its
own, but you may encounter a certain character at some point in the game who is looking for it. (See
also: Eagle Feather, Black Ink)
HP - Hit Points. This represents a character or enemy’s total health. All hunter characters have 16
HP, while monsters, bosses, and Dracula can span anywhere from 1 to several hundred HP.
Immune - The opposite of a weakness, some enemies can be immune to certain attributes. If you
attack only with the attribute it is immune to, you will be unable to do any damage at all, regardless of
how many times you hit it, whereas if the enemy is only immune to one of several attributes you
attack with, you still do half damage (for odd numbers, divide in half, then round up to the nearest
whole number) Example: You are fighting an enemy that is immune to fire, and you are attacking
with a fire sword with a base damage of 13. Because the sword has two attributes, fire and slashing,
you can still cut the enemy even if it doesn’t burn. You hit it once for half damage. 13 / 2 = 6.5,
rounded up to 7. You do 7 damage. The same rule applies if your character is wearing a piece of
armor making him or her immune to a particular attribute.
Item - Item cards consist of single-use items such as food, potions, or disposable attack items, and
also different types of armor. Items are not used in Classic Mode.
“It’s Me, Pumpkin!” Event - When drawn, place to the side of the board, can be
called upon when needed. One use only, discard the current boss and draw a new one
at random. This event still functions the same way if there is a player currently playing
as Pumpkin. If this event is used in Lord of the Castle mode, the replacement boss is
still chosen at random, Dracula has no choice in the matter in this case.
“Konami Man!” Event - No, seriously, the points have absolutely no value. Don’t
email me and ask about this. They do literally nothing. There are no points in this
game. It’s a joke. Everyone does get an item though...so you’ve got that going for you,
which is nice. In Classic Mode, everyone levels up instead of getting an item. The 5000
points, however still do nothing.
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“Laura, the Jeweler” Event - Place this card to the side of the board when drawn.
Players may give any unwanted accessories to Laura, and when she has 3, the
traded items are discarded, and all players draw a new item from the deck, even if all
players did not supply an item for crafting. Laura remains on the side of the board and
is always available, players do not need to go back to the space where she was
encountered. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.
“Let’s Live Here Together” Event - You must stay on your current space on your
next turn, but may still roll the movement dice to attempt to gain hearts, HP, or an
encounter.
Level Up - When you level up, you can unlock either your next primary weapon, or any of your
secondary abilities. You level up once you get 6 normal monster kills, by defeating or being in the
room when a boss is defeated, or as a result of an event. Levels gained as a result of events or boss
battles do not reset your XP, you just unlock a new ability and keep all XP tokens you have gained
from normal monster kills so far.
“Librarian” Event - This card allows you to either trade item cards, or sacrifice
abilities you have unlocked in exchange for a random upgrade. If you do not wish to
barter with the Librarian, the event remains on the board, and is discarded once used.
(See also: Random Upgrade) Can be used in Classic Mode, but as there are no
items, the card is optional, but you would have to give up two other unlocked
weapons/abilities in exchange for one new weapon/ability drawn at random from your
skill deck, if you decide to take a chance on it.
“Lisa” Event - Roll one movement die. A candle is considered a 0, if 1-5 are rolled,
move the Curse Clock back that number of spaces. This event must be attempted
immediately after being drawn, and is discarded after the first attempt, it cannot
remain on the board to be attempted again. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.
“Locked Door” Event - These doors are unlocked by keys found in the
Item Deck. There are 2 keys in the deck, either key works for any normal
locked door (not blue doors), and may be used again if another locked door
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is found later, but the player at the door must have the key in their possession. Ignore and redraw in
Classic Mode.
“Lord of the Castle” Event - Each player only rolls once for this event. Once all
players have rolled, if no one has rolled 5 , the event is discarded and the game
continues as normal. If a player rolls 5 , the game transforms to Lord of the Castle
Mode. Refer to “Lord of the Castle” in the Variants section for details. Ignore and
“Loretta Lecarde” Event - Keep this card off to the side of the board. If both Loretta
and Stella are found, follow the instructions on the Stella card. Ignore and redraw in
Classic Mode.
“Madness” Event - If you fail this roll, once you change your character, start on the
same space of the board, with the same amount of HP you had before, and the same
number of hearts. If your previous character had more hearts than your new character
allows, just take the max for your new character. You also unlock the same number of
abilities/weapon upgrades you already had with your original character, keep all XP
and items, you should not actually lose anything as a result of this event, it is only
meant to cause chaos, not directly hinder the target player.
Magic - Magic attacks function similarly to subweapons, but can usually be equipped simultaneously
with other abilities. Magic attack cards are labeled as such in the lower left corner.
“Magical Ticket” Item - Cannot be used if you are being held in place by an
event, the event prevents all movement, and overrides the ticket.
Map Deck - An optional deck of “location” cards. One is drawn for each of the 6 stages in the game,
and provides special conditions for its corresponding stage.
“Marble Gallery” Location - The effects of this location happen regardless of the
reason the clock is advancing, whether it is a curse card, a player death, an expired
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stage clock, or some other event, roll for the location effect. If for any reason several hours are about
to pass at once, and a 0-2 is rolled, do not double the passage of time, instead, add 1 hour. For
example, if as a result of an event, 3 players are killed at once, roll for this location, if the roll is 0-2, 4
hours pass. If 3-5 is rolled, no time passes.
Martial Arts - Martial arts attacks are like magic attacks, in that several can be equipped
simultaneously, they do not need to be swapped out like subweapons. Martial arts attack cards are
labeled in the lower left corner.
“Martyr” Event - There are two Martyr events in the encounter deck, which are slightly
different. The first allows a player to sacrifice a level in order to let everyone else level
up. The other gives a player the option to kill themselves in order to restore all players
to full health and retreat the Curse Clock by 2 hours. If you choose to do so, follow the
normal rules for death, but do not advance the Curse Clock by an hour this time, just
move it back 2 hours. Martyr cards are optional, but may only be used by the person
who draws them, they do not stay available for another player to use if the first passes.
If the second Martyr card is drawn in Classic Mode, you may still sacrifice yourself to
restore all other players’ health, but ignore the Curse Clock effect.
“Maybe if you Stand Completely Still” Event - If you do not move on your next
turn, you gain an item. You may still roll the movement dice to attempt to gain hearts,
HP, or another encounter on the following turn.
“Merchant” Event - Spend 5 hearts to draw one item from the item deck. If the
player who initially draws the event does not wish to use it, it remains on the board.
Discard after someone uses it. In Classic Mode, you may spend 5 hearts to level up,
but as with any event in Classic Mode, only the player who draws it gets a chance to
use it, otherwise it is discarded.
Mist - If you see an event that refers to mist, such as passing through a grate or dodging falling
spikes, only a few characters have an ability to turn to mist or pass through solid objects. These are
Alucard-Form of Mist, Shanoa-Paries, Cornell-Teleport, and Julius-Omnia Vanitas.
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Monster - The standard enemies (red-bordered cards) in the encounter deck you will fight throughout
each stage.
Movement Dice - 3 dice which determine movement and actions. The roman numerals I-V on two of
the dice show the number of spaces moved. Candles give you a heart. The third die will either be
a bat (draw encounter card) or pot roast (restore 1 hp).
In Classic Mode, only the 2 # dice are used, as you will automatically have an encounter every turn.
“Munitions Factory” Location - Receive 1 heart for every 2 spaces moved in this
stage. This is not a cumulative effect, only add up the spaces moved in one turn. If
5 spaces are moved, take 2 hearts, the extra space is not added to a future roll.
“Nightmare” Location - Every encounter card drawn while in this stage is taken
from the bottom of the encounter deck. Once the card is resolved, it is placed back
on top of the deck, meaning you will encounter these events/monsters again after
exiting the stage. This applies to all events, even curse cards. If you re-enter the
stage again later, any encounters drawn while you are there must be handled the
same way.
“Pachinko” Event - Remains on the space where it was initially drawn. Can be
attempted an unlimited number of times on that space, but requires the player to
gamble one item for every attempt. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode
“Possession” Event - The player closest to the possessed player takes 1 damage
every time the possessed player does damage to an enemy. This means a full
combat turn, not each individual die result or use of a secondary attack. So if the
possessed player rolls 3 hits, and also uses a subweapon twice, the closest player to
them still only takes 1 damage for all of that. If 2 or more players are an equal
distance from the possessed player, all of them take 1 damage. Players may not
attack each other to attempt to lower the possessed player’s health and free them,
but you may find some items to help serve that purpose.
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Primary Weapon - Your character’s main attack. It is used by rolling the combat dice. Multiply the
damage value of the weapon by the number of (swords) rolled to calculate the damage done to the
enemy, remembering to factor in bonus damage from items, events, or the monster’s weaknesses.
Primary weapons can be differentiated from the rest of your skill deck by looking for the icon in
the lower right corner. Most characters have multiple primary weapons, in which case, the icon will be
numbered, with the “1” being your starting weapon, and unlocking them in ascending order.
Random Upgrade - If a card tells you to select a random upgrade, shuffle all of the skill cards that
you have not yet unlocked, this includes both primary and secondary abilities, and draw one at
random. For Soma, only draw from his primary deck, souls cannot be unlocked in this way.
“Resurrection” Event - “Most Powerful” is determined by highest HP. If tied, highest

ATK. If still tied, highest RUN. If there is a tie with all 3 stats, just pick one.
Relic - The 5 parts of Dracula needed to break the curse. The relics are randomly placed face-down
in the 5 boss rooms at the start of the game. The player who inflicts the final blow on a boss takes the
relic that boss was guarding. Relics are bound to the recipient, and can never be transferred to
another player. All 5 relics must be present in the Castle Keep at the end of the game in order to
successfully break the curse before time runs out. Each relic also provides a bonus to the character
carrying it, as follows:
Eye: If you would be killed by a combat roll, you may reroll once to attempt to survive. Only applies to
deaths during combat, not as a result of events.
Rib: You may reroll one scythe per battle.
Heart: Immune to both status effects and damage from Poison, Stone, and Curse-based attacks.
Nail: +3 to primary attack damage.
Ring: Gain 1 heart at the start of each turn. If your character already automatically gains hearts each
turn, the effects stack, gain 2 hearts per turn.
Relics are not used in Classic Mode.
“Rest Here for a While” Event - This event simply restores your health to full, you are
not actually required to wait there. Discard after use.
“Rinaldo” - Rinaldo will allow you to look at 5 item cards from the item deck, choose
one to keep, and discard the rest. To do so, you must sacrifice all of the hearts you
currently have. You must have at least 1 heart to trade. If you have no hearts, or
choose not to barter with Rinaldo, he remains on the board for another player to
46
encounter, but discard after one use. In Classic Mode, you may sacrifice all hearts to Rinaldo in order
to level up once.
“Room of Illusion” Location - All of the enemy’s weaknesses become their

attack attributes, and vice versa. This is also the only location card that requires
you to draw an additional location to add to this effect. If the second location
drawn is related to enemy attributes or weaknesses, such as the Anti-Chapel,
Sky Walkway, Floating Garden, Lost Village or Burning Town, the Room of
Illusion’s effect is always applied first. So for example, if the Room of Illusion
and Sky Walkway are drawn together, then you encounter a monster which
normally has Flying and Fire attributes, and Ice is its weakness. Room of Illusion
causes Flying and Fire to become the monster’s weaknesses, and Ice is now its
only attack attribute. Therefore, because it no longer has the Flying attribute, the Sky Walkway effect
does not apply to it. Or in the case of the Anti-Chapel, if a monster, let’s say Erinys for example,
normally attacks with Holy, it is swapped with its weaknesses (Dark and Poison), so the monster is
now weak to Holy, and attacks with Dark and Poison. However, because of the Anti-Chapel, it still
attacks with Dark and Poison, but is now once again weak to Dark. If Town of Veros is drawn with
the Room of Illusion, the ATK attribute (Dark) and weakness (Fire) are swapped, but a Holy attack is
still required in order to cure the villager, this is not a weakness, it is unaffected by the Room of
Illusion.
Round - A round is a full rotation around the table. A new round begins once every player has taken
a turn and play comes back around to the starting player. The Stage Clock (or Curse Clock once the
Stage Clock has expired) advances at the start of each new round.
“Saint Germain” Event - Must be attempted immediately when drawn. Can either
help or hurt the players. Roll the 5 combat dice. For each , the Curse Clock moves
back an hour, for each , the Curse Clock moves forward an hour, and have no
effect. You may reroll any number of dice only once, and then apply the results to the
clock. Discard after use, cannot be attempted again. Ignore and redraw in Classic
Mode.
“Sandy Grave” Location - Only secondary abilities may be used to attack the boss
from outside of the boss room. Primary weapons can only be used inside the room.
Save Room - Health is fully restored upon drawing the event. Place a save room marker
on your current space. Any player may stop on this space to restore health, and when a
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player is killed, they have the option to revive at any save room on the board rather than starting at
the beginning of the stage. In Classic Mode, ignore Save Room event cards, and redraw. In this
mode, players are given 3 save tokens at the beginning of the game, which they may place anywhere
on the board at any time, but once placed, they cannot be moved. These save rooms are not active
until at least one player reaches them, and health is restored simply by passing the save room, there
is no need to stop, but you may do so if you wish.
Secondary Ability - This refers to anything in your character’s skill deck that is not a primary
weapon. Some characters have subweapons, some have spells, passive abilities, or even pieces of
armor unique to that character. Secondary attacks almost always require the use of hearts, and
unless the card has special instructions, the attacks will automatically hit without needing to roll, and
can be used as many times in a turn as your heart supply will allow, unless the card specifically states
that it can only be used once per turn or per battle. If a character starts with a “secondary ability”,
unless the character sheet says otherwise, you may select any non-primary weapon card. For
example, though it is not technically an ability, Alucard has the option of selecting the Alucard Mail as
his starting “secondary ability”, but in most cases, it is recommended to begin the game with an attack
of some sort as your secondary.
Soul - Monsters or bosses showing the icon release a soul when they are killed. This only
matters if a player is using Soma in your game, otherwise you can disregard this icon. When a
monster releases a soul, Soma immediately unlocks that monster’s soul from his soul deck, whether
he was the one to kill the monster or not. Soma can equip up to 2 souls simultaneously.
Spikes - Some items protect you from “spikes”. You will only encounter spikes in event cards. For
example, if you are attempting to cross a gap, without a special ability to do so automatically, you
would have to roll. If the roll fails, normally you would fall into the spikes and take damage, but if you
are wearing the Spike Breaker Armor, while you still fail the event, and do not gain the rewards from
it, you would not have to take the normal spike damage shown on the event card.
Stage Clock - The small hand (inner ring) of the clock, tracking time through each stage. Players
have 7 full rounds to complete a stage, then, starting with round 8, the Curse Clock (outer ring)
begins to go up one hour per round instead. Stage Clock/Curse Clock are not used in Classic Mode.
Status Effects - The 3 status effects are poison, curse, and stone. (See: Status Effects, p.15)
“Stella Lecarde” Event - Keep this card off to the side of the board. If both Loretta and
Stella are found, follow the instructions on the Stella card. Ignore and redraw in Classic
Mode.
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Subweapon - A secondary weapon used by some characters, including most of the Belmonts. Any
secondary attack which is a physical weapon of some sort, rather than a magic spell or martial arts
maneuver, is considered a subweapon. For reference, here is a complete list of all of the subweapons
in the game:
Alucard - Agunea, Holy Book, Holy Water
Cornell - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Holy Water
Eric - Axe, Boomerang, Holy Water, Mirror of Truth, Spear Head
Jonathan - Axe, Bwaka Knife, Grenade, Paper Airplane, Shuriken, Wrecking Ball
Julius - Axe, Boomerang, Dagger, Grand Cross, Holy Water, Holy Book, Javelin, Ricochet Rock
Juste - Axe, Dagger, Holy Water
Leon - Axe, Cross, Crystal, Dagger, Holy Water
Nathan - Axe, Boomerang, Dagger, Holy Water, Stopwatch
Pumpkin - Grand Pumpkin, Large Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Missile, Rampage Pumpkin, Shock
Pumpkin
Richter - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Holy Water, Holy Book
Simon - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Garlic, Holy Water, Stopwatch
Trevor - Axe, Cross, Dagger, Holy Water, Stopwatch
“Take a Rest” Event - This is optional, discuss it with the other players, and if you are
not ready to fight the boss yet, you may discard the event. If you all decide you are
ready, the player who drew this card is able to stay on his/her current space and either
wait through their turns without taking any action, or may remain stationary but
continue rolling for hearts, healing, or encounters. Once all other players arrive within
2 spaces of the player who drew the event, you may all move directly to the boss
room and engage immediately. If this card is drawn in Classic Mode by the player who
is furthest ahead in the stage, it may be used as normal, but if anyone else draws it, discard and
redraw, as it would require reverse movement, which is not possible in this mode.
“The Morning Sun Has Vanquished the Horrible Night” Event - The effects of this
card also apply to bosses, but only if the player who drew the event card is the first to
engage with the boss. The same applies to the “What a Horrible Night to Have a
Curse” card. If the same player who drew Morning Sun also draws Horrible Night
before Morning Sun wears off, or vice versa, the cards cancel each other out. Discard
both immediately.
“Tornado” Event - If you do not move on your next turn, you may begin your
following turn anywhere on the entire board, but remember, it is a one-way trip. Don’t
go too far from your companions, or somewhere you won’t be able to escape. You
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may still roll the movement dice on the turn after drawing this card to attempt to gain hearts, HP, or
another encounter. If you are locked in battle with a monster when the turn ends, the monster is
swept along in the tornado with you.
“Town of Veros” Location - (See: Villager)
“Treasure Hat” Item - Only applies to item cards drawn directly from the item deck, not
items given to you by other players, or a specific item dropped by a monster. You must
decide immediately after the item is drawn if you want to use the Treasure Hat, you
cannot keep an item until your next turn and then decide to exchange it.
“Treasury” Event - You may recover any one item from the discard pile. If there are
not currently any items in the discard pile, this card has no effect, discard. Ignore and
Turn Clock - (See: Stage Clock)
“Unholy Fortification” Event - If 3 are rolled for this event, for the remainder of
the game, ignore holy weaknesses of any monster or boss, including Dracula.
Villager - If another card, such as the Town of Veros location, refers to a “villager”, this means any
event card featuring a friendly NPC, including neutral NPCs such as Zead or Saint Germain, who can
sometimes be helpful to the players. In most cases, the NPC’s name will be in the title of the card,
with a few exceptions, like the second Librarian card, titled “What can I do for you?”. Also applies to
non-specific titles such as Librarian or Merchant. Does not apply to events featuring a purely evil
character, such as Succubus or Headhunter. Optionally, the game now includes new versions of
these cards with a icon for easy reference.

Here is a list of the events considered Villagers:
George, the Minstrel
Lisa
Laura, the Jeweler
Zead
Merchant
Hammer
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Wind
Rinaldo
Aeon, the Village Chef
Saint Germain
Loretta Lecarde
Stella Lecarde
Librarian
“It’s me, Pumpkin!”
“What can I do for you?”
Warp Room - If you draw a Warp Room card, place a Warp Room marker on your
current space. If there is only one Warp Room on the board, it has no effect, but once
at least one other Warp Room is found, you may move between them freely. Warping
from one room to another does not count as a movement space, nor does it end your
movement, you may stop at the Warp Room if you wish, or continue moving after warping until you
have used up your movement roll. Warp Rooms are available in Classic Mode, but keep in mind you
are not able to move backward, and events also do not remain on the board, so it may be a one-way
trip, be sure you have a way back to your friends, and only warp if there is a very good reason to do
so.
Weakness - Some enemies will be weak to a particular attribute. For example, an Ice Demon would
be weak to Fire, and naturally Dracula is almost always weak to Holy attacks. When you attack a
monster with any attack containing its weakness, the Damage value of that attack is doubled. Even if
the monster is immune to another attribute of your attack, if it is weak to any of the attributes, it
cancels out the immunity and damage is still doubled.
“What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse” Event - The effects of this card also apply to
bosses, but only if the player who drew the event card is the first to engage with the
boss. The same applies to the “The Morning Sun has Vanquished the Horrible Night”
card. If the same player who drew Horrible Night also draws Morning Sun before Horrible
Night wears off, or vice versa, the cards cancel each other out. Discard both
immediately.
“What a Horrible Place to Take a Nap” Event - Can be used in Classic Mode, but if
0-4 is rolled, just draw a new encounter card, ignore the Curse Clock effect.
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“What Can I Do For You?” Event - This event may be re-attempted until the Jewel of
Open is acquired. As soon as a player successfully rolls a 4 or 5, place this card to the
side of the board to indicate that the party has the Jewel of Open and it is available to
use at any time. At this point, this event cannot be attempted again to continue shaking
free items out of the poor librarian. Carry on.
“Wrecking Ball” Event - Roll one movement die 3 times, adding the results of each roll
together. If you have a total of 12 or more, you succeed, and level up.
XP - Experience points. You gain 1 XP for every normal monster you kill. Once you reach 6,
your character levels up and your xp resets to 0.
“You Don’t Belong in This World” Event - Players may remove any one boss (Not
Dracula) from the game entirely, if they choose to do so. They are still required to
progress through that stage as normal even if the boss has been removed. The first
player to reach the boss room takes the relic, at which point all players’ health is fully
restored and they may warp to join the leading player in the boss room. As the boss
was not actually fought, no items are received at the completion of this stage, and no
one levels up.
“You Feel Like You Are Being Watched” Event - If the boss attacks mid-stage
as a result of this card, the player who was ambushed must immediately begin
battle. All other players may engage if they are within 2 spaces. Normal boss
rules apply for this battle, players level up and restore health to full afterward, and
may (optionally) move directly to the boss room after the battle ends, either to
collect the relic and begin the next stage, or to immediately begin the
confrontation with Dracula if in Stage 6. The boss is still guarding the relic, so
another player cannot move ahead to the boss room to collect it while the rest are
fighting the boss. If all players currently fighting the boss are killed, place an event
marker on the space where this card was drawn, it still remains in the same position until the players
make it back to continue the battle. If this card is drawn by a player who is backtracking in a previous
stage, and it results in the boss attacking, even though the boss of the stage they are in has been
defeated already, they are instead attacked by another random boss from the Boss deck. If they are
killed, they may revive in a later level and avoid having to continue fighting this boss alone, it is not
52
necessary to defeat it in this situation. If the event occurs in Stage 6, because Dracula has not been
resurrected yet, another random boss is drawn and treated as a mid-stage miniboss. The curse
cannot be broken, and Dracula cannot be resurrected until the miniboss is defeated. If playing in
Classic Mode, or otherwise prevented from moving in reverse, all players throughout the stage are
considered in-range, and must all immediately engage with the boss. The only exception being if they
are already in battle, in which case, once they defeat or run from their current monster, they attack
the boss on their next turn
“Zead” Event - Any number of players may willingly reduce their HP to 1 in order to
turn the Curse Clock back 1 hour for each. Once this is done, roll both movement dice,
and if you do not roll a number equal to at least the number of players who reduced
their HP to 1, then all of those players immediately die, the Curse Clock moves back
to where it was, and the affected players must lose a level, all unequipped items, and
go back to the start of the stage. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.
“Zombies!!!” Event - Simplified, this event just requires you to roll all 5 combat dice
twice. For each , gain 1 XP, for each , lose 1 HP, and ignore all . Can only
be attempted once, discard after use. Ignore and redraw in Classic Mode.
FAQ
● Q: Can items be freely shared between players?
○ A: No, on your turn, you may give only one item to another player who is within 2
spaces of you.
● Q: If I am playing Leon, or another player with special armor or items in their skill deck, can
these items be traded to other players?
○ A: No, these characters’ special items are equipped along with your other items, but are
treated just like the rest of your character’s weapons, spells, etc. They cannot be traded
to other players, however, you can use them to barter with certain merchants, in which
case, just return the items to your skill deck, don’t discard them to the item deck.
● Q: If I am fighting a monster who is weak to several attributes, and I attack with a weapon that
includes more than one of the monster’s weaknesses, do the weaknesses stack?
○ A: No, an enemy is either weak to your attack or it is not. Whether you attack using one
of its weaknesses, or all of them, the damage only doubles, it does not multiply further.
● Q: The Iron Golem shows a question mark as its weakness. What does this mean?
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○ A: The Iron Golem has no weakness. In the original version of the game I used a ‘?’ to
indicate this, which wasn’t as clear as I thought it would be. In the latest update, I’ve
changed it to simply “N/A”.
● Q: Is there a limit to how many items I can carry?
○ A: No, you can carry as many items as you like, as long as you only have one of each
type of armor equipped at a time, the rest of the unequipped or consumable items can
be kept in a separate pile.
● Q: If two or more players are fighting one monster, who gets the experience, and the drops?
○ A: The player who inflicts the killing blow on a regular monster always gets the
experience, and they can decide what to do with the drops as well, if they want to keep
them or let the other player(s) have them. Again, remember to only assist someone in
combat if they actually want you to.
● Q: What happens if a combat roll results in both the monster and the player dying? What if it is
a boss?
○ A: If a combat roll with a regular monster results in both the player and the monster
dying, both die, the player still gains xp, and if the monster drops hearts, he/she may
keep them, but if the monster drops an item, it is lost along with the rest of the player’s
unequipped items. However, if this happens when fighting a boss, only the boss actually
dies, the player will survive the last roll and immediately regain all health as usual.
● Q: If Shanoa is in possession of one or more relics, and decides to use Dominus prior to
reaching Dracula, what happens to the relics?
○ A: Since Shanoa is completely eliminated from the game after using Dominus, usually
you want to save it for Dracula, but on the rare occasion she does use it before then,
she may choose who she would like to take over her relic(s).
● Q: When Shanoa uses Dominus, after she dies, does the Curse Clock advance an hour?
○ A: Yes, as with any other death, advance the Curse Clock an hour if Shanoa uses
Dominus before reaching Dracula. If she uses it against Dracula, the curse has already
been broken, and this doesn’t matter.
● Q: If I just happen to land on the same space as another player, and draw a monster, does the
other player have to fight it with me?
○ A: No, only the person who originally drew the monster is required to fight it.
● Q: What if the encounter or item deck runs out?
○ A: With the number of both encounter cards and item cards, you shouldn’t come close
to running through either deck in one game, but if you do, just shuffle the discard pile
and reuse it.
● Q: With items like the Ruby Ring for example, which doubles fire damage, does that stack with
the already doubled damage if the enemy is weak to fire?
○ A: Yes.
● Q: Am I required to move every turn if I’m not in combat?
○ A: Yes, unless you are in combat, petrified, or staying in place due to an event, you are
required to at least make a movement roll, and then you have the option to stop your
movement short on an event on the board, or next to another player.
● Q: Once I am engaged in battle with a monster, am I required to fight it every turn?
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○ A: Yes, unless you decide to run from it, you can attempt to kill the monster solely with
secondary attacks if you are able to do so, but if not, you have to make a combat roll
every turn.
● Q: When can I use healing items? What if I am in battle and about to die?
○ A: You can use healing items at any time, even in the middle of battle, but if you fail to
use a healing item before a combat roll would kill you, it is too late. Once the dice are
rolled, the damage is applied, and cannot be canceled out by healing items to save you
from dying. Note: Previously it was permitted to use healing items to prevent death after
the roll, which has been changed, because it was too easy to exploit and took most of
the tension out of combat.
● Q: If I have already unlocked all of my weapons/abilities, is there any point to gaining XP or
fighting monsters in general?
○ A: No further use for XP once all of your abilities are unlocked, but fighting monsters
can still be beneficial, depending on what they drop, and of course you will still want to
help out your teammates with bosses, or other monsters if they need help.
● Q: Is the “Flying” attribute a type of attack? Why does the flying attribute diminish my ability to
defend against a monster if I can defend against their real attack type?
○ A: “Flying” is not necessarily a form of attack in the same way that slashing or fire would
be, but the flying attribute is meant to give the monster another form of advantage, if it
also attacks with fire, which you have armor to protect you from, the fact that it can fly
still gives it an edge.
● Q: If I backtrack to a previous stage, do the current stage’s monster hp/atk still apply?
○ You always go by the stage you are actually in, even if other players are in a later stage.
● Q: If I am killed in a previous stage, do I revive in that stage or the current one?
○ A: It is your choice, you can respawn in the stage you died in if you still have work to do
there, or you are free to respawn at the beginning of the stage where the rest of the
players are, or on any Save Room on the board.
● Q: Can I stop on a save room any time to restore health, and if I die, am I required to respawn
at the save room?
○ A: You can stop on a save room to restore health any time. You are not required to
respawn at the save room if you would prefer to start at the beginning of the stage.
● Q: Can I split my movement? For example, if I roll a 7, can I move 6 forward and 1 back?
○ A: No, all movement must be in the same direction, but you are always free to stop early
as long as it is next to either another player or an event marker.
● Q: If I stop on a space with an event just because I don’t want to go too far ahead, am I then
required to attempt that event?
○ A: No, any event markers placed on the board are optional, you can attempt them if you
like, but you are welcome to just use them as landmarks to end your movement, but not
actually attempt the event.
● Q: What does this Toy Ring do?
○ A: Absolutely nothing. Seriously.
● Q: What do these Secret Boots do?
○ They make you exactly 1 pixel taller. (They do nothing.)
● Q: What happens if I’m wearing the Heart Cuirass and Astral Ring at the same time?
○ A: The effects of both items cancel each other out, and neither is effective.
55
● Q: Does Richter gain crashes automatically when he unlocks the corresponding subweapon?
○ A: No, the crashes require the corresponding subweapon in order to use them, but the
two are unlocked separately.
● Q: When using Pumpkin’s New Deli costume, are the food items still single-use?
○ A: Yes
● Q: If I have an ability that lets me clear gaps, and I draw a trap event that requires me to roll to
cross a gap, does that mean I automatically succeed without rolling?
○ A: Yes, that ability saves you from having to roll for these events, you succeed.
● Q: Does Blessed Ankh stack with Pumpkin’s Genius Chef costume to quadruple the
effectiveness of healing items?
○ A: Yes, but the Blessed Ankh may only be used once per turn. Genius Chef is an
ongoing doubling effect.
● Q: If I have both the Blood Cloak and Heart Cuirass, am I invincible?
○ A: The Blood Cloak only gives you 1 heart if you are actually taking damage. If the
Heart Cuirass is equipped, you are losing hearts instead of taking damage, therefore
the Blood Cloak would have no effect when paired with the Heart Cuirass.
● Q: Does Richters Holy Book and associated crash affect each hit (per die), or only the attack
as a whole?
○ A: Each hit (per die) Any card that says something like "per successful attack" means
per sword rolled during combat.
● Q: Do I have to use Juste or Eric’s books every time I use a subweapon?
○ A: No, the books are an optional add-on for the subweapons, you can have a book
equipped, but still use the base subweapon by itself.
● Q: If (Event) does have a possible positive result, but is extremely unlikely or risky, is it still
possible to reattempt?
○ A: Yes, no matter how likely it is that you will get the bad result, you always have the
option of trying it again if you want, but of course you are never required to do so after
the first attempt.
● Q: If I’m playing solo and draw the Graveyard card, or draw and fail the roll on the Lord of the
Castle card, is it an instant game over?
○ A: If you draw either of these cards when playing solo, just discard and redraw. Same
for Possession, or any event that makes any reference to other players.
● Q: If an event has several possible outcomes, and a few of them can be slightly positive, how
do we know when to discard it? Grabbing Portrait, for example.
○ A: If there are a few outcomes that are positive, as with Grabbing Portrait or “What Can
I Do For You?”, it is discarded once the best outcome is achieved, and again, always
optional to attempt it again if you would rather not take the risk. So Grabbing Portrait, if
the first player rolls a , they pass safely without taking damage, but there is still the
possibility that someone else could come along and roll a , which would let them
pass safely AND take an item. When someone has achieved that, the event goes away.
● Q: If an event requires me to stay in place, am I still allowed to roll for HP/hearts/additional
encounters?
56
○ A: Yes, just take your normal movement roll, but don’t actually move, only take hearts,
HP, or encounters. The only time you would not be able to roll or take any action at all is
if you are petrified.

● Q: How can I find the attributes of a single-use weapon dropped by a monster without hunting
through the item deck to find a full card for that item?
○ A: There are currently only a few single-use weapons dropped by monsters. If any more
are added in the future, I’ll include an updated reference sheet for them.
Item Dropped By: Attributes
Pentagram Diplocephalus
Shuriken Flying Zombie,

Jack O’ Bones
Javelin Scarecrow
Magic Missile Skeleton Gunman

, (Magic)
57
Thanks
Thanks to Mandy for inspiring me to pursue this, for staying up late and testing half-broken
games with me hundreds of times, and for talking me down every time I’m ready to scrap an entire
project, which happens almost daily.
Joseph Torres (RichterBelmont12) for bringing my little game that only a hundred or so people knew
about to Tabletop Simulator and spawning a much bigger audience, and for continuing to update the
TTS mod almost immediately every time I add or change something.
To Esteban Sandoval for volunteering to painstakingly, perfectly recreate every last detail of the game
for a Spanish translation. (Castlevania: La Sinfonia del Tablero, available on the download page
now!)
To all of my friends who had the patience to playtest back in its early stages, for giving honest
feedback and suggestions, and most of all, for pretending to enjoy it even when the game was a
broken mess that took even longer to play than it does now.
To everyone on Tabletop Simulator, Reddit, Facebook, etc. and anyone who has emailed me just to
tell me they enjoy the game. All of the encouragement and continued interest after all this time drives
me to want to keep making it better, even if I’m putting other games on the back burner for a while.
When I first made this game, I honestly thought I would be the only one that would ever care to play
it. To see people still playing it years later, and actually excited every time I’m about to release an
expansion is unbelievable. I hope you enjoy this latest update, see you again soon. Thanks!
-Brandon McCool (SimonBelmont)
58
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This game is a free fan-created tribute to the Castlevania series,

and is not licensed or in any way affiliated with Konami.

Setup - Standard Game Mode

Move the appropriate number of spaces either forward or

Gain one heart, if not currently at your character’s max.

Draw a card from the encounter deck.

Gain 1 HP if not currently at max health.

If you roll doubles of a number, or double candles during movement, draw

The two hands of the Curse Clock

Once the Stage Hand reaches 7,

Axe Crushing Curse Dark Fire Flying Holy

Ice Lightning Slashing Poison Stone Undead Water Whip

Here is an example of how combat will go. This is an idealized

Sonia’s Vampire Killer has a base damage of 16. She is also

Normal Location ​Starting Location

Headgear Body Armor Cape Accessory Footwear

Example​: Alucard encounters an Arachne. He currently has his

Bosses and Dracula Relics

Each relic also grants the owner special abilities, as follows:

Rib​: You may reroll one scythe per battle.

Nail​: +3 to primary attack damage.

Dracula and Breaking the Curse

Classic Mode is a challenging, stripped-down mode that is

Alucard Fahrenheit Tepes

Trevor Belmont / Grant Danasty / Sypha Belnades

Glossary and Card Clarifications

“Catacombs” Location ​- In this stage, when a player runs from a monster, it

“Entrance to Demon Castle” Location ​- If 2 or more players are on the same

Event ​- Events are the blue-bordered cards in the encounter deck.

“Floating Garden” Location ​- Any monster with the attribute takes 1

“Forest Graveyard” Location ​- As soon as the boss of this stage is defeated,

“Resurrection” Event ​- “Most Powerful” is determined by highest HP. If tied, highest

“Room of Illusion” Location ​- All of the enemy’s weaknesses become their

“Town of Veros” Location ​- (​See: Villager)

Turn Clock​ - ​(See: Stage Clock)

these cards with a ​icon for easy reference.

if you are petrified.

Shuriken Flying Zombie,

Magic Missile Skeleton Gunman

-Brandon McCool (SimonBelmont)

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Normal Location Starting Location

Example: Alucard encounters an Arachne. He currently has his

Rib: You may reroll one scythe per battle.

Nail: +3 to primary attack damage.

“Catacombs” Location - In this stage, when a player runs from a monster, it

“Entrance to Demon Castle” Location - If 2 or more players are on the same

Event - Events are the blue-bordered cards in the encounter deck.

“Floating Garden” Location - Any monster with the attribute takes 1

“Forest Graveyard” Location - As soon as the boss of this stage is defeated,

“Resurrection” Event - “Most Powerful” is determined by highest HP. If tied, highest

“Room of Illusion” Location - All of the enemy’s weaknesses become their

“Town of Veros” Location - (See: Villager)

Turn Clock - (See: Stage Clock)

these cards with a icon for easy reference.