Transylvania: Curses & Traitors

Components and Setup

Transylvania: Curses & Traitors is an adventure and exploration game for 3 to 6 players lasting 45 to 60 minutes.
The aim of the game is to either defeat the forces of darkness or to join with them and defeat the Adventurers.
There are three ways to win the game:
1. Solve the Curse. Be the first Adventurer to return to the Church Tile with five Knowledge Cards including one for
each of the Monsters (a Wild Card knowledge card can replace any of the Monster Knowledge Cards).
2. Become a Monster and kill Adventurers. You must kill a number of Adventurers equal to half the number of
Players in the game rounded up.
3. Attack and kill one of the Monsters. An Adventurer collects enough Quest Cards that they are powerful enough
to attack and defeat a Monster.

12 Dice
6 Player Pawns
3 Monster Pawns
9 Adventurer Character Cards
3 Monster Character Cards
16 Board Tiles
Deck of 69 Quest Cards
Deck of 56 Event Cards

6 Player information cards

3 Monster information cards
57 Quest Tokens
6 Sliders
20 Lock Tokens
18 Trait Tokens
13 Blood Spatter Tokens
2 Mirror Tokens

Find the Church Game Board Tile. Lay this tile in the center of the table then shuffle the rest of the tiles laying them
face down nearby.
Each person draws one player pawn at random and then finds the Character Card of the matching color. This is the
Adventurer used by each player to start the game. Place the pawn on one of the starting spaces on the Church Tile.
A slider should be placed on the bottom of each players Character Card on the bolded heart shaped space indicating
the characters starting Health. Set all remaining Character Cards and pawns aside.
Shuffle the Quest Deck and the Event Deck and set both decks near the area of play.
Place the Quest Tokens face down (so the gear and footprint side is face up) in stacks next to the board.
Determine who will go first: The person who has most recently read a book or watched a movie or TV show about
vampires, werewolves, or zombies goes first.
Each player then draws a Quest card to start the game. In a 5-6 player game the 5th and 6th players draw 2 cards and
choose which one to keep. The other card is discarded.
1

Each card shows a picture of the character and the role that he/she plays and
has a series of Character Traits that may be modified up or down by Quest Cards, Event Cards or Monsters.
Use the pawn that matches the border color
Health indicator:
Place the slider
on 6 to begin the
game. Keep
track of events
that increase or
decrease the
characters
health. The
character dies if
his/her health
drops to zero.

The role of the Adventurer that you are playing

The number of spaces this Adventurer may move
The number of dice used when a player makes an Attack roll
The number of dice used when a player makes a Mind roll
The number of dice used when a player makes a Spirit roll

The starting Health for this Adventurer

A Player takes any or all of the Actions he/she is capable of doing. The order in which actions are
done is determined by player taking the turn.
Improve a Character Trait on a turn in which an Adventurer attempted but did not
receive at least one Quest Card. Choose a Character Trait and roll the number of dice specified by the Character
Card with any modifications currently in effect. If the die roll is 2 or less the player may take a Trait Token for
that trait and add it to his/her card. This permanently increases the trait. No player may have more than two
trait tokens for any single trait (for a max of 6 trait tokens per player).
Any Player who has collected more than four Quest cards
in his/her hand during turn a turn must discard down to the hand limit of four cards before ending his/her turn.
Activated Quest Cards bearing the
symbol may increase the Players hand limit to six cards.

Move on existing board tile paths and place new board tiles upon reaching Entry/Exit points
Collect Quest Cards by:
Rolling for Quest Tokens on board tiles
Challenging another Adventurer on the same space for a Quest Card
Picking up Quest Cards dropped by dead Adventurers
Resolving Event cards
Activate a Quest card (once per turn)
Discard one Quest card or one Event card (once per turn only)
Attack Monsters

Characters move along the paths indicated by the footprints on the Game Board Tiles.
Each footprint icon along the path counts as one space.
A player may move the number of spaces indicated by his/her Character Card and modified by any
active Quest and Event cards.
Movement spaces may proceed in any direction regardless of the direction of the footprint icons.
Players may backtrack over spaces already traveled on this turn.
Spaces may be forfeited, but at least one step must be taken on each turn.
Movement does not have to be continuous. It may be paused to perform other actions and then
resumed once the action is complete.
Up to two Players may inhabit a single footprint space. Other players may not move through a space
already occupied by two players.
Locked Secret Passage
PPPPPPPPPPpPaPPpP

Entry/Exit Point
w/Event

Quest Token Space

Quest Token Space

Entry/Exit Point

Entry/Exit Point w/Event

Locked Quest Token Space

Locked Gate: This blocks the path of the

Adventurer unless he/she has a key

Tile Name

Entry/Exit Point

Quest Token Space with Event

Any Player who reaches an Entry/Exit point on one tile draws the next Tile from the stack, plays it on the board and
continues his/her remaining movement spaces on the new Tile.
The player who drew the Tile may choose its orientation keeping in mind that the new Tile must be laid so that it has
an entry point that matches up with the exit point from the Tile that the player is leaving.
As the new Tile is laid, the Quest Tokens and Lock Tokens are placed at the indicated spots on the tile.
Lock Tokens are placed on all Lock Icons on the tile. Lock Tokens are placed footprint side up on Quest
Token spaces and Secret Passageways and do not inhibit player movement along the path. Players may
move over the locked space, but may not access what is underneath it. Lock Tokens without a footprint
icon are placed on gates and block player movement over the path.
Secret passageways allow movement between tiles. There are four sets of Secret Passageways differentiated by
color (red, blue, green and yellow). A player on one Secret Passage icon can move directly to any other Secret
Passage icon of the same color without using a movement space. All Secret Passageways start out locked and
cannot be used until both sides of the Passage are unlocked.

 There are several types of Quest Cards: Knowledge Cards, Item Cards, and Transformation Cards.
Players may have a total of eight cards, up to four cards in their hand and up to four Active cards on the table.
Whenever a Quest Card is drawn it goes into the Players hand. Item cards have no effect as long as they are in
the Players hand.
Players may choose to Activate one Quest Card from their hand each turn. A Player Activates a card by placing it
on the table in front of him/her. Any trait modifiers on the card are now in effect.
Some cards say they MUST be Activated immediately. These cards count as one of the Players four Active
cards, but do not count as the Players one Quest Card Activation per turn.
Some cards say they must be ATTACHED to another card. These do not count as one of the four Active cards (as
it shares a slot with the card it is attached to and does not take up its own) nor does it count as Activating one
Quest Card on a Players turn.
If a player has four Active cards and wishes to Activate another, he/she must remove a card from the table
before the new card can be Activated.
Quest Cards can be removed from the table by being bumped back to a Players hand or discarded. (A player
may bump as many cards back to his/her hand as desired but may only Activate one Quest Card and Discard one
Quest or Event Card per turn).
Event Cards must be discarded when they are removed from the table, they may never go into a Players hand.
NO card may be discarded on the same turn it is drawn.
There are four types of Knowledge cards. Cards relating to the Vampire curse
, cards
relating to the Zombie Curse
, cards relating to the Werewolf Curse
, and Wild Card Knowledge Cards
.

Adventurers win the game by returning to the Church Tile with five Knowledge Cards including one for each of the
Monsters (a Wild Card Knowledge card can replace any of the individual Monster Knowledge Cards).

Knowledge Cards are distinguished by the K

Icons in the left hand corners
Positive and negative
effects on player traits
are listed in the upper
right hand corner and go
into effect as soon as the
card is activated

The title of the card

Green Bold text: Immediate

instructions to follow
Italic text: Flavor text

Red text: Conditional

instructions

: Do not have an Icon in the upper left hand corner. These items may be good, bad or have aspects of
both. Any effects on Character traits go into effect as soon as the card is Activated.

Helpful Items and Cursed Items

Positive and negative
effects on player traits
are listed in the upper
right hand corner

The title of the card

Green Bold text:

Immediate instructions
to follow

Italic text: Flavor text

Red text: Conditional

instructions

Are indicated by the

Icons in the upper left hand corner.

There is a transformation card associated with each type of Monster. A single Transformation Card does not
immediately turn an Adventurer into a Monster, there are additional cards needed to complete the Transformation.
However, if and Adventurer dies while in possession of a Transformation Card he/she becomes a Monster when the
Player regenerates at the beginning of his/her next turn (see Rules for Transformation and Player Death).
Transformation cards cannot be Activated, discarded, or traded (unless another card specifically says you may).
They must stay in the hand of the player that drew them until a Monster of that type is revealed on the board (all
Transformation cards for a Monster that is in play may be discarded and new Quest Cards are drawn to replace
them).
Transformation Cards are distinguished by the T Icons

The title of the card

Italic text: Flavor text

Green Bold text:
Immediate instructions
to follow

Red text: Conditional

instructions

Every time an Adventurer passes over a space on the game board marked
with the
symbol he/she must stop, draw and resolve a card from the Event Deck but
continues with his/her remaining movement spaces once the Event is resolved.
Most Event Cards describe a nasty creature or situation that the Adventurer stumbles
upon and must escape using their physical strength, mental acuity, or spiritual
fortitude. For these cards a Trait (Attack, Mind or Spirit) will be indicated. The
Adventurer makes a Trait Roll based on his/her character stats and modifiers from
Active cards and then checks the Event Card to see what the result is.
Some cards present conditions in which the Event Card is Activated and then modifies
the players traits. When the card is placed on the table its modifiers are in effect
immediately. This does take up one of the four slots for Activated cards (thus, if the
player already has four Active cards, he/she must discard a card or bump a card back to his/her hand to make room
for the new card). It does not count as the Players one Quest Card Activation per turn. An unlimited number of
Event cards may be Activated on a players turn.
Some Event Cards will negatively affect the players Traits. These cards can be discarded on a future turn, but may
not be discarded on the turn they are acquired.
Some Event spaces are attached to Quest Token spaces. These Event spaces do not require an Adventurer to draw
an Event Card unless the Quest Token has been removed from the board. If a player makes a successful die roll to
remove a Quest Token he/she draws a Quest Card and then must draw and resolve the Event Card. Any Adventurer
who crosses over that space in the future must draw an Event Card as well.
All-play Events: The Event deck contains a number of all-play Event Cards. These cards affect all Adventurers but
not Monsters. Many of these cards require that the card be Activated in the center of the Church Tile. The
modifiers of the card placed in the center of the Church Tile are in effect as long as that card is in play. These
modifiers may include increased or decreased of Health, Move, Attack, Mind, and Spirit, and should be noted by
players at the start of each turn (Cards Activated in the center of the Church Tile do not count towards players limits
of four active cards).

The Full Moon Knowledge Card is

distinguished by the K Icon in the left hand
corner and is the only Knowledge Event Card

The title of the card

Grey italic text: Flavor text

Green Bold text:
Immediate instructions
Red text: Conditional
instructions

Effects on player traits are

listed in the upper right
hand corner

Adventurers may roll one time per turn for each Quest Token they move onto and reveal (flip over) during their turn.
Each revealed Quest Token displays a trait icon and a number. The player uses the number of dice indicated on the
character card for that trait adding or subtracting dice for the effects of any Activated cards on the table in front of them
(and in the center of the Church Tile). If the sum of the die roll equals or exceeds the number printed on the Quest
Token, the roll was successful and the Quest Token is removed from the board and placed in the discard bag. The
Adventurer then draws a card from the Quest Deck for making a successful roll. If the sum of the die roll is lower than
the number on the token, the token is left where it is and the Adventurer does not get to draw a Quest Card.

If you find yourself on the same footprint space as another player during your turn, you may challenge that player to a
battle. The player who makes the challenge chooses which Trait will be used and both Adventurers make a Trait Roll.
The winner may take a Quest Card from the other Player. Event cards may not be chosen. This may be a card chosen at
random from the other Players hand or an Active card chosen from the table in front of the other player. Players may
challenge as many other Players as they can reach during their turn. Players may not challenge the same player more
than one time on a single turn.
Cards taken from the losing Players hand go into the winning Players hand. Active cards stolen from the table
remain Active, but are now moved to the new players row of Activated cards. This does not count as the
Players one activation per turn. If the Active card that is stolen has a cursed item attached to it, the cursed item
stays attached and also transfers to the new card owner.

Transformation Cards located in the Quest Deck are identified with the
corner and can result in an Adventurers transformation into a Monster.

icons in the top left

Transformation occurs when:

A player holds three Vampire Bite Transformation Cards.
o Holding an Active or Inactive Necronomicon counts as a Vampire Bite.
o An Activated Vladimirs Broadsword also counts as a Vampire Bite.
Therefore two Vampire Bite Cards and either the Necronomicon or Vladimirs Broadsword would cause the
transformation into a Vampire as would one Vampire Bite along with both an Active Vladimirs Broadsword and the
Necronomicon. Because a Necronomicon counts as a Vampire Bite it is possible for a player to become a Vampire by
drawing all three of the Necronomicon cards in the deck.
Transformation occurs when a player holds:
The Werewolf Transformation Card and a Full Moon Event/Knowledge Card.
Both Werewolf Transformation Cards (there are two in the deck).
o The Necronomicon also counts as a Full Moon for transformation so holding The Werewolf Transformation
Card and the Necronomicon would cause the transformation into the Werewolf.
Transformation occurs when a player holds:
The Biological Agent Transformation Card and the Super Serum Card.
Both Biological Agent Cards (there are two in the deck).
o The Necronomicon counts as Super Serum towards transformation so holding the Biological Agent and the
Necronomicon would cause the transformation into a Zombie.

If a Player draws the cards to become a Monster, the transformation occurs and the Players goal for winning the game
changes immediately (the Player can no longer win the game by collecting Knowledge Cards or killing a Monster).
However, the player does NOT have to reveal the transformation to the other players at that time. The player may
continue the game, playing the part of an Adventurer until he/she chooses to attack another player. At the time of
attack the transformed player discards all of his/her cards and turns in the old Adventurer Character Card and pawn,
replacing them with the appropriate Monster Character Card and pawn.
A Player may take their entire turn as an Adventurer, using all of his/her Adventurers movement spaces, then
reveal the transformation and begin the turn as a Monster-and take a full turn as a Monster with all associated
movement spaces.

If an Adventurers Health drops below 1 the character dies. When a player dies he/she regenerates as a new character
on his/her next turn (When players die during their own turn any remaining actions for that turn are lost). Depending on
what cards the Adventurer is holding at the time of the characters death, the Player may regenerate as another
Adventurer or as one of the Monsters at the beginning of his/her next turn.
At the time of the Adventurers death the Player turns in the Character Card and pawn of the Adventurer that died
and a Blood Splatter Token is placed on the board where the Adventurer was killed.
Any Quest Cards that the Player had Activated on the table in front of him/her are placed in a pile and the Blood
Splatter Token that matches the one on the board is placed on top of the cards. The next Adventurer who crosses
over that space my remove the Blood Splatter Token and pick up the Quest Cards (which go into that Players hand).
All Activated Event Cards are discarded. The non-activated cards from the Players hand are set aside. These will
not be revealed until the Players next turn when it is revealed if he/she will be coming back as an Adventurer or a
Monster.

If the Player does not have any cards that would transform him/her into a Monster upon the Characters death,
a new Character is selected at the beginning of the Characters next turn. This is the new Character that he/she
will play.
When an Adventurer regenerates, Quest Tokens are placed on all six of the Quest Token spaces on the Church
Tile. The Players new Character Pawn may then be placed on any space on the Church Tile. The player draws
two Quest Cards and keeps both. One card may be Activated immediately (this does NOT count as the
Activation Action for that players turn, which means that he/she may choose to Activate another card this turn).
The Adventurer then proceeds with his/her turn as usual.

 If an Adventurer dies while holding one or more cards that would cause him/her to transform into a Monster,
then the Player will regenerate as the appropriate Monster at the beginning of his/her next turn. If the Player is
holding more than one Transformation Card at the time of the Adventurers Death Example the Werewolf
Transformation Card and a Vampire Bite Transformation Card - the Player chooses which Monster to become at
the beginning of his/her next turn.
The Player places the appropriate Monster Pawn on the board at the site of the Adventurers Death. If the
Adventurer died on the Church Tile the Monster will regenerate on the closest footprint space outside the
Church Tile on one of the four adjacent tiles in the space of the Players choosing.
Players can only regenerate as a Monster if that Monster is available at the beginning of their next turn. For
example: if a Player is holding a Vampire Bite card at the time of the Adventurers death and is expecting to
become a Vampire at the beginning of his/her next turn, but before the Players next turn another Player
transforms into the Vampire, the dead player will now regenerate as an Adventurer on his/her next turn because
the Vampire is no longer available.

The Church Tile is the home base for Adventurers. An Adventurer that ends his/her turn on the Church Tile
gains one Health.
If all the Quest Tokens have been used, the Tokens in the Discard Bag are shaken up and stacked to create new
Token draw stacks.
As soon as the very last Board Game Tile is laid, all empty Quest Token Spaces on the entire board are filled
(including the six Quest Token Spaces Church Tile).
Lock Tokens are not replaced during Token Repopulation. Once a Lock Token is removed from the board,
that space is unlocked for the remainder of the game.