A game of deduction and gothic horror
Hello again Fury of Dracula! When I first heard that Fantasy Flight Games was releasing a third edition of this classic deduction and secret movement game, I initially thought ‘leave it alone already!’, but I’m happy to report I was completely mistaken. The combat system has been simplified and streamlined, the turn structure improved, balance tweaked, and rules bloat introduced in the last edition has been largely excised. Some small changes ramp up the tension towards the end as Dracula gets a bit more powerful. In fact it’s reminded me that I didn’t really get the second edition to the table very often; not only because the game was drastically changed from first edition, but that the changes made the game an unwieldy beast. It’s still long, but this an evening’s experience, not a light filler.
This is without doubt the best version of the game so far, and an essential addition to every boardgamer’s library. It just feels right. And that special atmosphere of gothic horror the game has always had is still there, thanks in part to excellent graphic design and illustration. Sure, there was some outcry at the ‘laughing Liberace’ on the cover, but the game itself has matured into a wonderful balance of deduction, threat, and tense choices. It’s a cat-and-mouse chase that’s particularly good at giving the Dracula player a chance to practice their evil cackling and gloating skills. What are you waiting for? Get yourself a copy.
One minor typo on the rules summary: in the Setup section on p. 3, the last sentence of the penultimate paragraph runs “Dracula then” together as “Draculathen”.
Fixed (same version number).
Awesome!!
Awesome, as always. Thanks
Hello. Thank you for these. They were very useful for our first (3rd Edition) game last night. I only have one minor issue. 2 key pieces of information (or at least references to them) are not listed in Dracula’s “Movement” step (both in the rules summary and the play reference). Flow goes
1. Slide cards to right.
2. If hideout falls off trail, mature it or convert to lair
3. Choose a location card.
I’m referring to Step 2. here. It was super confusing reading through the turn summary (on either rules summary or play reference), and not see at least a reference to this part of the turn. I kept saying “I’m pretty sure i do this step here…but I can’t tell from either of these summaries if this is correct. Can I get back the card that just fell of the trail to use for this movement (answer=yes) or not?”
I get why you don’t have a references listed in that spot…the stupid rules book didn’t either. They present it exactly as your summary sheet does. You have to go to the reference guide to see where it actually lists this part of Dracula’s movement in the right order. I don’t know if you think it is worth an update…(I know ultimately you do list the timing of this info in your maturing/lair sections), but in the higher level summary areas it is really jarring to not see any reference to this important part of Dracula’s movement phase. I’m curious what you think about this. Thanks!
You’re absolutely right and I’ll improve this asap. I hate FFG’s new ‘two rulebooks’ system with a passion and this is a perfect example of why. They’re not only incredibly confusing, but it takes three times as long to make rules summaries from them!
In the setup. Does Dracula place an encounter card on the starting location?
No.
Any plans on an update for fourth edition?
Are there any significant changes?
There are several clarifications on things which were ambiguous in 3rd edition.
So it would be worth updating your summary.
Regards, Salman
Is there a list of them anywhere, to save me having to comb through the new rulebook to find them?
Great stuff as always. Thank you.
Silly question. How do the last three pages get assembled?
Play Reference x2 – do these have backs? Or just blank backside?
Tokens, Locations & Powers back/front x2 – do these get laminated together?
I’d have the play references with blank backs, and the last 2 references back to back; but really you can assemble them in any way that you prefer.
Is there a list of them anywhere, to save me having to comb through the new rulebook to find them?
Minor issue. Under “Even Cards” there is a typo
When a Dracula card is playedrtas an ally
Fixed!