Samurai Sword

Samurai Sword is a new game based on the proven Bang! mechanisms and set in feudal Japan. In this game, the familiar features of Bang! are enhanced by more dynamic and fast-paced game play, and thanks to a new scoring system – based on honor points and resilience points – there is no player elimination. Everybody gets to fight to the very end! Also, weapons and attacks are fused into a single card. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHO2xr87HMI Summary of the Gameplay

The object of Samurai Sword is for your team to earn the most Honor Points.

Setup: Each player is given a character (who offers a special power) and a hidden role. The player with the Shogun role reveals himself, but everyone else keeps their role secret.

The roles are vitally important because they form teams in the game. Players who get the Shogun and Samurai roles work together; players who get ninja roles work together; and the ronin stands alone. The catch is that you don't know who's who: you have to try and figure it out from their actions (and in particular, whether they attack the Shogun or not).

Each player also gets resilience based on his character. These are health points that other players are trying to take away. Finally, each player gets an allocation of honor, which is what the players will be fighting over.

Draw & Play: The gameplay of Samurai Sword is quite simple. You draw a few cards at the start of your turn, then you play cards, which can be weapons, properties (which have semi-permanent effects), and actions (which have instant effects).

Weapons. The core of the game is beating up other players with weapons. Each weapon has a "difficulty" (which is how far away a player can be) and damage. The player you're attacking can parry, but otherwise he's wounded. Your weapon is then discarded.

Defeated Players. If your damage drops a player to 0 resilience points, they're "defeated". You get an honor from them, and they're out of play until their next turn.

Harmless Players. Players can also make themselves "harmless" (just like defeated players) by emptying their hand of cards. In either case, the player can't be attacked or otherwise targeted by damaging cards. It also becomes easier to attack past them with shorter range weapons.

Ending the Game: A player can theoretically win by being the only standing player with resilience points. I suspect that doesn't usually happen.

More commonly, the game will end if someone runs out of honor points. To speed this up, everyone loses honor points whenever the playing deck is emptied.

When the game ends due to a player running out of honor, everyone reveals their role and the teams count up their honor points. There's a catch! Depending on the player count, it may be better for some players in a team to have honor points than others (e.g., they get to multiply their honor count).