A horde of ravenous Undead led by a Strigoi Master besieges a small town at the gates of Tismana. Will the Werewolves and Powerwolf be able to hunt down the Strigoi Master and save the village before the sun rises?
Alive or Undead is a cooperative card game in which each player takes on the role of a Werewolf who will try to annihilate the Undead—because each of them, if defeated, contributes to the exhaustion of the Strigoi Master’s vital power. Likewise, every Villager Infected by the Undead will increase the Strigoi Master’s power, so it will be very important to save as many Villagers as possible from the Master’s claws!
Place the Villager tokens at the center of the table. This represents the besieged village.
Shuffle the 4 Strigoi Master cards, then draw 1 and place it face down on the table.
Shuffle the deck of Assault cards. Depending on the number of players, deal them 5, 4, or 3 cards.
Alive or Undead lasts 5 rounds, called “Assaults”, and each Assault consists of the following phases, played in order:
- Phase 1: The Undead Attack the Village!
- Phase 2: Werewolves Defend the Village
- Phase 3: Werewolves Counterattack
- Phase 4: Battle Line Resolution
- Phase 5: Recover
PHASE 1: Draw a number of cards from the Assault deck equal to the number of players plus 1 and place them around the village. These are the “Undead cards”.
PHASE 2: each player places 1 card from their own hand on any of the Undead cards.
PHASE 3: each player plays 2 cards from their own hand on any of the Undead cards.
PHASE 4: Each Battle Line is resolved individually by calculating the value of the forces deployed
PHASE 5: all players must now draw as many Assault cards as they need to reach their original full hand size.
But:
Before the Phase 2 each of the Undead will Mesmerize a Villager—by placing a random token from the village next to them.
After Phase 2 each unopposed Undead (visible or hidden) will Infect its Mesmerized Villager (flip the Villager token and place it on top of the Undead)
Infected Villagers can add their blood points to the Strigoi Master value.
The difference between the values of Undead and Werewolves will determine the outcome of the battle.
1) Villagers can be saved or, if werewolves loses the battle, can be put close to the Strigoi’s card increasing his Value.
2) If defeated, the Undead are placed face down below the Strigoi Master card.
At the end of the fifth Assault it is finally time for the Showdown with the Strigoi Master who is at the head of the hordes of Undead!
Each Strigoi Master has a variable Resistance value according to the number of players.
The Damage that the Werewolves have inflicted on the Strigoi is equal to the value of all the Undead defeated during the Assaults.
If the Damage is equal to or greater than the Strigoi Master’s Resistance, the Werewolves have defeated it!
The world has been corrupted by the Nephilim, who have left behind their henchman, the Tyrant of Konstrukts, to reign over the once lush and peaceful lands.
The march against the Tyrant is not a co-operative game: Each adventurer follows their own path, dictated by their own way of solving dilemmas; but the combined choices of the players will contribute to the outcome of the quest and provide the Tyrant with the key to make their victory a chimera! Will you follow the Dark Path or the Footsteps of Justice?
The winner is the one who, at the end of the game, has the highest value in Glory Points, bringing freedom back to the world corrupted by the horrible Nephilim. Glory Points can be earned in the course of the adventure from:
- Shields of Kreel (3-6 points each)
- Power cards (1-4 points each)
- Soul Arches (0-4 points each)
- Dilemmas (3 points for each kind of Magic Sign)
- Line of Rage (as indicated by the space on which the Hero stands at the end of the game).
Choose a Hero and take their miniature and tile.
Take 4 Life markers and place them next to your Hero tile, turning 3 to the Drop of Life side and 1 to the Wound side.
Draw a Power card (keep it secret from the other players).
Place the Book of Konstrukts in the middle of the table and open it to the Prologue.
Draw a Conundrum cardand turn it over (so the Conundrum side is showing) in the space provided in the Book.
It will present the narrative theme, epic quest, and plot of this part of your adventure.
Depending on the number of players, put 1 random Dilemma tile in each corresponding space with the Dilemma side visible.
In order for a Dilemma to be solved, it must be “read” by adding the Forces indicated by the Dilemma tile to those in the Book.
Each player must choose 1 of the Dilemmas placed on the Book, declaring whether they will tackle it by following the Footsteps of Justice or by following the Dark Path.
Dilemmas can only be tackled with the help of the three primal forces.
- Roll the dice provided by their Hero and Soul Arches
- Play Power cards from their hand, applying the effects (if they want to)
- If the forces are equal to or greater than those indicated on the chosen side of the Dilemma, the Hero has successfully solved the Dilemma and immediately gains all the rewards provided, both those indicated in the Book and those on the tile.
- If the forces are less than those indicated on the chosen side of the Dilemma, the Hero has failed to solve the Dilemma and immediately loses 1 life point (turns over a Drop of Life to the Wound side), but still gains the rewards indicated in the Book (but not those on the tile).
After each player has resolved both Dilemmas in Part I and Part II, or in the case of the Prologue the only Dilemma, you now assign Soul Arches based on the Reward indicated on the Conundrum card.
Your Hero’s Morality is determined by your Soul Arches: It matches the color that appears on the majority of your Soul Arch spaces.
Once each player has placed the Soul Arch related to that Conundrum around their Hero, turn the Conundrum card over to the Outcome side.
The Outcome of the Conundrum will differ depending on whether the majority of the Heroes followed the Footsteps of Justice or the Dark Path. This will greatly influence how the Tyrant can be defeated.
After the Conundrums of the Prologue, Part I, and Part II have been completed, you can move on to the Epilogue and start the clash against the Tyrant!
The Clash Against the Tyrant
In turn order, the players attack the Tyrant (once per turn). To fight, you must choose 1 of the 3 combinations of the Tyrant’s Primordial Forces (see the example) and carry out these operations in order:
- Roll the dice provided by their Hero and Soul Arches
- Play Power cards from their hand, applying the effects (if they want to)
Then, add up the symbols on the Hero’s dice, Soul Arches, and Power cards played:
- If the forces on the dice, Soul Arches, and Power cards played are equal to or greater than those required by the Force Combination they have chosen to face, the Hero takes 1 of the Shields of Kreel from the board.
- If the forces on the dice, Soul Arches, and Power cards played are less than those required by the Force Combination they have chosen to face, the Hero immediately loses 1 life point if they follow the Footsteps of Justice or 2 life points if they follow the Dark Path. Then, they advance their miniature 1 space on the Line of Rage for their Hero’s Morality.
Defeating the Tyrant
If the last Shield of Kreel on the board is taken (and consequently the last Conundrum card removed), the Tyrant is defeated and the game ends!
