As an analog precursor to this here bloggo, I used to keep a hand-written board game diary as far back as the early aughts, up until around 2009.
The classic hidden movement game Fury of Dracula makes three appearances in this diary, with the first being March 25'th, 2006. This was not long after the burgeoning game giant Fantasy Flight published their second edition in 2005, after the original 1987 Games Workshop version languished out of print since the early 90's.
Here's how that particular session played out:
Me as Dracula, Andrew as Lord Godalming, Deaner as Dr. Seward, Cheryl as Van Helsing and Claudia as Mina Harker.
As with any game with new mechanics, this one took a bit to get started. The Hunters spread out in Europe with Harker in Edinburgh. I opted to start my flight in Zagreb, moving swiftly to Munich, Milan and Genoa. I managed to seed a new Location with a Vampire as the Hunters stumbled upon my Trail in Munich.
My Wolves there had their desired effect as the other Hunters closed in. Mercifully, I got a “Play Immediately” Event that allowed me to flee anywhere in Europe, so I chose Santander in Spain.
The Hunters kept running around in central and southern Europe while I took a tour of Spain, avoiding Saragossa, which was now “Consecrated Ground.” The Day passed, scoring me a new Vampire Point.
Eventually a card revealed that I was recently in Madrid and the Hunters swarmed towards my general location. Realizing I was trapped, I decided to go to Sea just before I matured a Vampire, which scored me two more points.
The Hunters picked the wrong port to try and kill me at, allowing me to embark in Lisbon. Then disaster struck as Cheryl forced me to turn up both of my Sea Locations, revealing my intent to land in northern Europe.
As I docked in Hamburg I was forced to flee from Mina’s "Stake" attack. After suffering a “Killed” result, I decided to "Wolf" out. I made for Nuremberg, hoping to convince my pursuers that I was heading to Castle Dracula and throw them off. Another Day came, bringing me to 4 Vampire Points.
Unfortunately, another card forced me to declare my intended destination, so I had a nasty reception in Nuremberg. I managed to survive with five Blood, crawling off to Prague in secret. Andrew managed to puzzle out where I was going and caught up to me, anxious to challenge me at Night.
Tempted by the Bat's 2-city movement, I lost the die roll and got "Staked" into oblivion.
Despite some occasional fits and starts, we all enjoyed this one. I may attempt an alternate strategy next time by attacking someone right off the bat (no pun intended) at Night to try and score a few quick and easy points.
As well, when I was surrounded in Nuremberg, I should have played “Hide” to cause everyone to leave town, but since I wasn’t clear on how it worked, I dropped that idea.
Next time I will try being more “furious” and wily and less, we’ll say...“flee –ish.”
The next reference was November 8'th, 2009; a sad commentary about how long it takes for us to revisit games. Here's what I had to say that time out:
Hoping to make Fury of Dracula my game turn, I’m going to make an attempt to solo run this to get acclimated to the rules, some of which are a bit fiddly.
What follows is one of the most woefully-threadbare "examples of play" I've ever written. Between the low effort, and the fact that it's for the antiquated Second Edition, I'm just gonna jump to how the game with actual humans played. This occurred on November 22'nd, 2009, when I played it as Drac against Andrew and Dean. Here's what I had to say about that particular match:
Wow, this is sad. I originally wanted to do my game turn in October and run Fury of Dracula as a Halloween-y sort of theme, but this is the first chance for the heavens coming into alignment.
I take the hard-pressed Dracula role with Andrew helming Godalming and Van Helsing and Dean taking Seward and Mina Harker.
They cast a wide net in placing their Hunters. Godalming is in Spain, Van Helsing is in Northern Europe, Seward is in Italy and Mina is in Eastern Europe.
I try and pick a central place to start with the goal to be more aggressive and try to take out a Hunter quickly under the cover of darkness. I start in Munich and experience and almost immediate setback when I move to Zabreb and my starting location is revealed by a “Newspaper Report.”
Undaunted, I continue with my plan, softening Mina up with Ally Quincy P. Morris. I venture to Budapest then Szeged for the throw down with Mina. The resulting fracas is a joke, with me either mismatching tactics and / or rolling like shit.
This - coupled with the aid of "Holy Water" - soon has me slinking off with my tail between my legs. I flee to Belgrade, then Sophia, with the hopes of getting back to Castle Dracula to heal and make a premature last stand.
I make a nice strike back as a weapon-loaded Seward gets nailed with a "Customs Check." Unfortunately, the Hunters anticipate my move back to my crib, so I’m forced to double back to Sophia, battling again and only just managing to escape.
The Hunters cast a wide net, trapping me in Valona. I heal one Blood there, take some solace with a Maturing Vampire and break a second New Day with a “Time Runs Short" Card.
Unfortunately, that makes me even more powerless. My holiday and healing sows some doubt and, for a moment, Dean and Andrew suspect I’ve snuck away somewhere off to the north west. When they reveal yet another hidden Location with "Hypnosis", they parse out that I can only be in Athens or Valona.
It gets worse. I realize that even using "Wolf Form" is useless since I can’t double back through Zagreb and I can’t go to sea because Andrew played an Ally called "Rufus Smith" and it’s too bloody expensive to move by sea.
I’m cornered in Athens during the daylight and get dusted.
The Hunters have a stark advantage in this one in my opinion. I think there’s too many cards that reveal Drac's Location and the fact that I got my ass kicked when fighting Mina at Night is just fucking sad.
Having said that, I still have an irrational love for this game. Dean said he liked it better this time out while the jury is still out for Andrew. He seems to think he had nothing to do all game, when I think he meant he didn’t fight anything during the game. In his defense, he did get stalled quite a bit by "X" die results or me playing "False Tip Off."
Still, I can’t help but think about the next time I play to try and improve my showing. I was only two points away from victory, so I can’t wait to tackle it again to try and score a "W" for Drac.
In 2015 I sold the Second Edition of the game, upgraded to the Third Edition...and then proceeded never to play it.
But that drought ends now.
***
EXAMPLE OF PLAY
Preamble: to help you Kind Readers track what's happening, here's the Round Summary and some rough rules:
Hunter's Phase
Dawn: Time advances from a night space to a day space on the track. If a Hunter is in the same city as Dracula at Dawn, Combat occurs immediately.
Day Actions: Each Hunter performs one Action during the day. The options include:
- Move (the only time Hunters can travel. If a Hunters ends up in a space along the Trail, it's Revealed and Dracula must decide if he keeps the matching Encounter Card face down in an attempt to "Mature" it - see below - or reveal it to Ambush the Hunter.)
- Supply (either turf the top Event - if it's for Drac - or take it into your hand. If the Hunter is currently in a Large City, they also get one Item Card)
- Rest (heal one damage)
- Search (challenge Encounters and look for Lairs)
- Reserve a Ticket (for Train movement)
- Trade (exchange items/tickets with a fellow Hunter located in the same city)
- Perform a Hunter-Specific Special Action.
Dusk: Time advances from a day space to a night space on the track. If a Hunter is in the same City as Dracula, Combat occurs.
Night Actions: Each Hunter performs one action during the night. Hunters cannot move during the Night, so they must use this time to Rest, Search, Trade, Supply, or play Event cards. If they opt to Supply, they get an Item but must draw the Event from the bottom of the deck, risking the appearance of a card for Dracula!
Dracula Phase
Once all Hunters have completed both their Day and Night actions, the Count takes his turn:
Movement Step: Dracula slides all existing Location Cards down one space on his Trail. If the oldest card falls off the end of the Trail, any seeded Encounters "Mature," typically advancing Dracula's Influence Track. Dracula then picks a new Location Card connected by a red line to his current position and places it face down at the front of the Trail. Not that he can't move by Train or to a City currently on his Trail.
Encounter Step: Dracula places one face-down Encounter Card from his hand on top of his new Location Card.
Hunter Starting Locations: Godalming begins in Bucharest, Seward in Toulouse, Van Helsing in Amsterdam and Mina in London.
Random Dracula starting location: 1 - U.K., 2 - Spain, 3 - France, 4 - Germany, 5 - Italy, 6 - Eastern Europe, 7 - Balkans. Roll is "6"...the Balkans! Random City (not adjacent to Bucharest): 1 - Varna, 2 - Valona, 3 - Salonica, 4 - Athens. Roll is "2"...Valona! That Location Card is placed on the first step.
ROUND ONE
Hunter Phase
1) Dawn - Monday
No Combat.
2) Day: Lord Godalming (located in Bucharest, a Large City) decides to use his "Wealth" to procure "Dogs" and a "Knife." He also pulls "Blood Transfusion" from the Event Deck. Dr. Seward does the same, but Toulouse is only a Small City, so no Item for him. His Event Card draw is "Great Strength." Van Helsing (starting in Large City Amsterdam) also Supplies, procuring another "Rifle" and snagging an "Escape Route." Mina in Large City London also needs some defense, so she gets "Silver Bullets" and her Event is "Sister Agatha", which she immediately plays as an Ally.
3) Dusk: the Time Marker Advances. No Combat.
4) Night: Godalming uses his "Privilege" to draw two Train Tickets. All the Hunters get one each as well.
Dracula Phase
1) Movement Step: He secretly plays the Sarajevo Location Card.
2) Encounter Step: He plays the "Reckless Vampire" Encounter Card on it along with a Rumor Token! He then draws a new Card (rules note: Drac always has five Encounter Cards in hand at all times).
ROUND TWO
Hunter Phase
1) Dawn: Tuesday. No Combat.
2) Day: Godalming opts to move via Train. Random Destination: Vienna (1-2) or Sofia (3-6). The roll is "1" so he travels through Szeged and Budapest to get to his destination. (Rules note: Dracula only reveals his Location based on where the Hunters end up, not where they pass thorough by Train.) Seward's random Move: 1 - Bordeaux, 2 - Clermont-Ferrand, 3 - Marseilles, 4- Barcelona, 5 - Saragossa. Rolls is "4"...off to Barcelona! Van Helsing either goes to Brussels (1-3) or Cologne (4-6). He Travels by Road to Brussels with a roll of "1." Mina performs another Big City Supply Action, getting a "Crucifix" and flushing the top Dracula Event Card ("Summon Storms").
3) Dusk: No Combat.
4) Night: Godalming reserves two more Tickets. Seward - now in Big City Barcelona - risks a Supply Action, snagging "Garlic" and drawing an Event Card, but blind picks it from the bottom of the deck because it's Night. He gets "Johnathan Harker" as an Ally, which replaces Sister Agatha. Van Helsing and Mina both snag Train Tickets.
Dracula Phase
1) Movement Step: The Count plays the "Belgrade" Location.
2) Encounter Step: After seeding Belgrade with "Rats" he draws a new card.
ROUND THREE
Hunter Phase
1) Dawn on Wednesday. No Combat.
2) Day: Godalming could either Move towards 1- Prague, 2 - Munich, 3 - Venice or 4 - Zabreb. Roll is "3". Spends a Train Ticket and moves to Genoa, but no leads turn up there. Seward could either go to Saragossa (1-3) or Alicante (4-6). He rolls a "3" and travels by Road to Saragossa. With everyone streaming towards the west, Van Helsing opts to go east, spending a 3/2 Train Ticket to go from Brussels to Leipzig. Does Mina stay in the U.K. (1-2) or go to sea to join her compatriots (3-6)? On a roll of "1" she either goes to towards Plymouth (1-2), Swansea (3-4) or Manchester (5-6). A roll of "4" sees her travelling by Road to Swansea.
3) Dusk: No Combat.
4) Night: Godalming risks a Supply in Genoa, a Large City. Gets a "Pistol" and a "Holy Circle" and turfs "Dogs" to drop down to his three card maximum. Picks up the "Rufus Smith" Ally Card and plays it immediately, naming "Dublin" (determined by rolling percentile die randomly) but it's not on the Trail! Seward and Van Helsing both get Train Tickets. Mina gets a 2/2 ticket and turfs her mediocre 1/1.
Dracula Phase
1) Movement Step: Drac secretly moves to Klausenburg.
2) Encounter Step: The Count drops a "Reckless Vampire" down on his current Location and draws a new card.
ROUND FOUR
Hunter Phase
1) Dawn on Thursday. No Combat.
2) Day: Does Godalming move towards Florence (1), Milan (2) or East? (4-6) Roll is "6" so he spends a 2/2 Ticket and back-tracks to Vienna. Does Seward move towards Bordeaux (1), Santander (2), Madrid (3) or Alicante (4)? Roll of "3"...Madrid! Van Helsing will either make for Berlin (1-3) or Nuremberg (4-6). With a "3", he spends a 3/2 Train Ticket and ends up in Prague. Mina will either go to Liverpool (1-2) or into the Irish Sea (4-6). A roll of "4" has her embark!
3) Dusk: No Combat.
4) Night: Godalming gets two Train Tickets and puts a crappy 1/1 back into the pool. Seward risks a Supply and gets "Holy Bullets" and "Heroic Leap." Exploring Large City Prague, Van Helsing does the same, picking up "Dogs" and a "Chartered Carriage." Since Mina is At Sea, she must pass.
Dracula Phase
1) Movement Step: Off to Bucharest.
2) Encounter Step: Seeds the location with a cloud of "Bats."
ROUND FIVE
Hunter Phase
1) Dawn of Friday. No Combat occurs.
2) Day: Godalming will either go to Zabreb (1-2) or via rail through Budapest (3-6). Gets a "2" and enters Zabreb. Seward will either check out Santander (1), Lisbon (2), Cadiz (4), Granada (4) or Alicante (5). Rolls a "1"...off to Santander! Van Helsing spends a 3/2 Train ticket and gets as far as Budapest! Mina moves into the North Atlantic.
3) Dusk: No Combat happens.
4) Night: Content with both Tickets and Weapons, Godalming opts to pass. Seward gets a 2/2 Train Ticket and discards his 1/1. Van Helsing gets a valuable 3/2 Ticket. Stuck At Sea, Mina must pass.
Dracula Phase
1) Places the "Sofia" Location Card.
2) Populates the card with "Wolves."
ROUND SIX
Hunter Phase
1) Dawn of Saturday. No Combat.
2) Day: Godalming will either venture to Sarajevo (1-4) or Szeged (5-6). Rolls a "3"...takes the Road to Sarajevo! This reveals the Location Card second to last on the Path. He reveals a "Reckless Vampire" in an Ambush! Seward heads to Bordeaux. Van Helsing spends a 3/2 Train Ticket and rushes off to Bucharest, which is Revealed...along with "Bats!" Nina docks in Nantes!
3) Dusk. the Time Marker moves and Combat occurs!
Combat
Round One
The "Reckless Vampire" takes five Combat Cards into hand. Godalming takes one each of "Punch", "Dodge" and "Escape" plus his "Knife", "Pistol" and "Holy Circle."
Godalming reveals "Dodge" versus the Reckless Vampire's "Fangs", the latter of which is nullified thanks to the matching Fangs Icon.
Round Two
The "Reckless Vampire" picks up a new card.
Godalming reveals a "Knife" versus the Vampire's "Strength." This time there is no Icon match, so Godalming takes two Damage and the Weapon Card is not just cancelled, it's also discarded because it's Night!
Round Three
The "Reckless Vampire" picks up a new card and Godalming retrieves his Dodge.
Godalming reveals "Punch" and the Reckless Vampire turns up another "Strength"! (rules note: a Vampire can't play an Escape Card before the fourth round!) Godalming takes two more Damage!
Round Four
The "Reckless Vampire" picks up a new card.
Godalming produces a "Pistol" and the Vampire attempts a "Claw." With an icon match, the Vampire takes two Damage!
Round Five
The "Reckless Vampire" picks up a new card and Godalming gets his "Punch" back.
The chosen cards are flipped and the Vampire "Escapes as a Bat" since the "Punch" has no icon match.
The Combat ends!
4) Night: Godalming Rests and Heals one Damage. Sewards draws a dud Train Ticket (a white "1") and immediately throws it back. Van Helsing draws a great 3/2 Ticket and Mina chances a Supply, procuring a Rifle and - unfortunately - handing Drac a disastrous "Darkness Returns" Card!
Dracula Phase
1) He advances the Hideouts, dropping his starting Location off the Path. The Count would love to make this a Lair, but the Hunter's Ally, Johnathan Harker, forces him to Reveal this Location as Valona! The undead fiend then speeds off to Salonica.
2) He drops "Rats" onto the Lair and seeds his current Location with an "Aristocratic Vampire"!
In an incredibly vicious move, Drac plays "Darkness Returns" to cancel the Hunter's next Day Phase! Even worse, the two discarded Dracula Events go back into the draw deck!
To be continued...?
***
REVIEW
THE GOOD
- Save the decent miniatures, the game doesn't really have much of a "toy factor", but the production is lush nonetheless. The art design is incredible, the character portraits are all evocative, the tokens look great and the map board is literally suitable for framing.
- Once you get used to the turn structure, the game clips along at a breezy rate. It's a vast improvement over the second edition, IMHO.
- As a fan of the Stoker novel and its various cinematic permutations, the game definately delivers the goods. As a Hunter you're desperately trying find hide and / or hair of any bloodsucking ghouls whilst Drac is doing what he can to sow discord, pestilence and death.
- On a more micro level, all of the Items, character abilities and Events perfectly replicate the story's thematic elements in game terms that make sense. For example, the ability to sic a pack of "Dogs" on Rats, Spies, Saboteurs and Wolves just cracks me up.
- The rock / paper / scissors style combat is incredibly dramatic and tense. I don't miss the Second Edition's use of dice at all.
- Related to that, I'm glad they excised the Train movement die as well. Rolling an "X" result when attempting to move was beyond frustrating for a Hunter player.
- I know it's a minor thematic thing, but I love how the game gets tougher for the Hunters at Night and especially as Despair piles up. This can lead to an incredibly-frantic 11'th hour climax worthy of both novel and cinema.
- The Advanced Rules definately address my gripe about Second Edition Drac being kinda anemic. The Power Cards give the Count some amazing rule-breaking abilities, Lairs further endanger Hunters and Rumor Tokens can really accelerate the Influence Track.
- Fury of Dracula is what I like to refer to as a "pre-internet" game. I.E. it takes over three hours to play. Even though the Third Edition rules have several new end-game accelerants built-in, it's still far from a quick game. We played last Thursday night, starting in earnest around 7:30 and then called it around 11 pm when we realized that Chad's wily Drac would eventually win. I don't consider the play time to be "bad" per se, but gamers with short attention spans should be warned.
- Some may gripe about a Hunter's inability to heal while At Sea, but sea voyages in the 1890's were less than restful. Perhaps more baffling is the inability to travel by rail at night, which I know that was done to prevent the Hunters from becoming too agile on the board compared to Drac's Road-only route. Perhaps weaker Train Tickets, usable during day or night, might have been the solution.
- I've seen scads of people pick up the Stardew Valley board game, throw it down on the table and expect to just jump right into it, not realizing what kind of elaborate rules are required to simulate all of the raw code used to bring the video game to life. The same goes for Fury of Dracula: it's derived from a book that's so dense with lore and world-building that it virtually demands a chonky rules set. This is one of the first times Fantasy Flight included a separate "Learn to Play" and "Rules Reference" book, a model I've gone on record hating. What results from this if the hefty summary of fiddly rules listed at the end of this post. It might not be comprehensive, but it should be somewhat helpful.
.jpg)
BONUS: IMPORTANT RULES TO REMEMBER (THIRD EDITION)
- In the basic set up, Hunters are placed in specific locations. Dracula can't start in a sea zone, Castle Dracula or a City occupied by a Hunter.
- Dracula doesn't put an Encounter Card on his starting Location.
- Hunters perform one Day Action each (according to their Activation Order Number) and then one Night Action each.
- If a Hunter is At Sea during the Day they must Move. If a Hunter is At Sea during the Night they must pass.
- Supply Actions performed in a Large City (not a Small City) let Hunters draw the top card from the Item Deck. Then an Event is drawn. During Day, Hunters either either add their Events from the top of the deck into their hand or discard it if it's a Dracula card. At Night, Hunters take from the bottom of the deck and whatever is drawn goes into its respective owner's hand.
- Hunters in the same City together can use a Trade Action to swap as many Items and Tickets as they like among themselves.
- To Reserve a Ticket, players draw a random face down Ticket and place it in their play area. Hunters can have a maximum of two Tickets.
- Drac can't move by Train.
- Naturally, Dracula's newly placed Location Card has to be adjacent to the last one placed.
- Each time Drac moves into a Sea Zone (port to Sea or Sea to Sea), he suffers one damage.
- Drac is immediately Revealed if he moves into a City occupied by a Hunter (and vice versa). Note that Hunters moving by Train don't "move into" any City they pass through, which means those particular Hideouts along the Trail are not Revealed!
- After Drac moves, he places an Encounter Card on top of the Location Card just played. If revealed (or at Sea), he can't play an Encounter Card.
- Drac wins when the Influence Track hits 13. This track can be advanced by Maturing Vampires (the exact number of spaces specified on the card), resolving the "Fangs" Combat Card against a mesmerized Hunter (+1) or defeating a Hunter (+2 plus the number of Despair Tokens on the Time Track).
- The Hunters win when they've dealt 15 damage to Drac.
- Add a Despair Token to the board when a week ends.
- There can only be one Hunter and Dracula Ally in play at a time.
- Hunters have a hand limit of three Items and three Event Cards. Drac has a hand limit of four Event Cards. NOTE: in the Advanced game, Drac has no hand limit!
- Train Tickets without a yellow number prevents the Hunter from using Yellow Railways.
- Encounters that slide off the board have "Matured", the effect on the card resolves and the Location goes back into the deck.
- If a Vampire Encounter instructs a player to "Clear" a Hideout, the Location is returned to the deck, Encounters are discarded and counters go back into the pool unresolved.
- Table talk among the Hunters is out in the open but Trade actions are performed in secret.
- If a Hunter ends up in a City along the current Trail, Drac must reveal it and remains face up until returned to the deck. When this occurs, Drac can Ambush that Hunter with the Location's Encounter Card or keep it concealed (if they want to Mature the Vampire there, for example). A Hunter can also do a Search Action to resolve the Encounters, thereby nullifying the Matured effect.
- Combat occurs if a Hunter is in the same City as Drac at Dusk or Dawn.
- RE: Drac's "Pride" ability, he can't play "Escape as Mist" and "Escape as Bat" until the round after the number of Combat Cards already played is greater than the number of Despair tokens currently on the game board. I.E. if there's only one Despair Token on the board, he has to play three Combat Cards before an "Escape."
- Combat ends when: (1) Drac has played six Combat Cards (2) Drac advances the Influence Track to 13 (3) The Hunters defeat Drac (4) All Hunters are Bitten, Defeated or have Escaped.
- If there are multiple Hunters in the combat, Drac chooses a Hunter engage with before cards are revealed.
- Defeated Hunters are placed on the Hospital space on the board and all of their Event and Item Cards are discarded as well as Damage, Bite and Ticket Tokens. If two Hospitals are equidistant to one another, Drac pics the spot. When in the Hospital, a Hunter can do the Supply Action, but can only draw an Item Card. During the Day, the Hunter's first Move Action shifts their figure from the Hospital into the City.
- Bitten / Weakened Hunters must keep one Event and Item Card revealed, but are hidden during Combat.
- If forced to take a Bite Token they have no space for, that Hunter is Defeated.
- If a maturing Vampire minion is still alive after a Combat ends, the damage dealt to it stays on its card. Three Combat Cards must be played by a Vampire before it can play an Escape.
- "Bats" let Drac move Hunters to an adjacent City. The token is then discarded.
- "Consecrated Grounds" / "Heavenly Host" reveal Locations and Encounters along the Trail. Drac can't enter that Location and must move out at next opportunity. While Grounds are permanent, Hosts are removed at Dawn
- "Fog" Tokens prevent Searches in that City and Hunters can't enter, leave or pass through it. Drac can also choose to avoid Combat there. One Fog Token is removed at the end of every Dusk.
- "Roadblocks": Prevent Hunter travel along that line. Drac removes one of these at the end of every Dusk.
- "Storms": Hunters can't enter a Sea Zones with a Storm Token on it. One is removed at the end of dusk.
- "Castle Dracula": Drac Heals five damage and Hunters can't do the Supply or Reserve a Ticket Actions here.
- Lairs: Drac can either Mature a (non-Sea-based) Hideout or place it into one of the three Lair slots at the top of the board. When this happens, Drac can place another Encounter Card on it! When he moves back to a Lair it can be re-added to the first space on the Trail! This can add yet another Encounter Card! Drac can voluntarily Clear a Lair anytime, but this also happens automatically if there are no Encounter Cards on the Lair.
- "Feed": Drac places this card in the first Trail space, stays in his current Location and heals three Health!
- "Dark Call": Drac places this card in the first Trail space, stays in his current Location, suffers two damage and then draws five Encounter Cards.
- "Wolf Form": place a Location - and this card on top of it - in the first Trail space and suffers one damage. The concealed Location Card can be up to two Cities away by Road!
- "Misdirect": Drac Clears a Hideout on the Trail and then plays this card on the now-vacant space. Drac then plays a Location or Power Card on the first space of the Trail as per normal. NOTE: Drac can't use this card to clear a Hideout with a Power Card, Castle Dracula, his current location or a Location associated with "Hide."
- "Hide": Drac places this card face down in the first Trail space, places an Encounter on it and stays in his current Location. The Matured Effect on that card cannot be resolved. If a Hunter ends their movement on a Location associated with "Hide", Drac can Ambush a Hunter using Encounter Cards on that Location and the "Hide" Card itself. If the Location with the "Hide" Card is ever revealed, so is the "Hide" Power.
- Rumor Tokens: Drac starts with one but gains another every time a Despair Token is placed on the Time Track. Drac can place a Rumor Token on any of the first three Locations on the Trail. If a Vampire Token is Matured from that matching location he advances the Influence Track by an additional three spaces! The Rumor Token stays on Hideout / Lair until the Encounters are cleared off that site or the Lair goes back into Drac's Location Deck ant which time the token goes back into it's appropriate pool.
