Kerblam!

Kerblam! is a card and dice war game in the spirit of RISK™, but for people who don't have a bazillion hours and want to have a clear winner and just be done with it stop hiding alll the way over there in Australia. Seriously.

Disclaimer: Kerblam is highly irreverent, ridiculous, historically inaccurate, and built on pop stereotypes. If you take all things literally, are uncomfortable playing war games like RISK, or would never be caught playing Cards Against Humanity, you will dislike this game very much. The authors of the game hate war, nuclear weapons, and nationalism.

Note: Please file issues if anything seems unclear or if you think there is an aspect of gameplay that could be improved or simplified. My goal is to play test this a bit more, collaborate with Amy on the final card set, and publish this game with her beautiful artwork. Mostly because what the heck. Why not?

Object of the game

Your goal is to be the last player standing from an all-out global war. You win when all other players' armies are decimated.

Your deck represents the whole of your country's Civilians. The cards in your hand are your Armies, which are drafted from the deck of Civilians.

Players are eliminated when their entire Army and their Civilians are in the Graveyard. (The Graveyard is your discard pile where cards are laid face up.) The last nation standing wins.

What you need to play

2–8 players
5 dice: 3 red dice (attacking), 2 white dice (defending)
Cards: One 54-card deck (52 + 2 jokers) per player

How the game works

Lettered cards (K/Q/J/A) are Officers and have Officer Points that determine who has the upper hand in battles.

Each player has in their deck the number of Nukes determined by the number of players in the game.

Spent Nukes (which cannot be recovered) are laid sideways underneath the Graveyard so other players can see.

Every player has one super-nuke called a Kerblam! which is immediately available once all of their Army is in the Graveyard. A Kerblam! is capable of having a dramatic, game-changing impact.

Cards

The playing area is set up like this.

Civilians

Civilians are cards that have not been drawn. They become part of your Army when they are drafted (drawn into your hand).

Army

All drafted Civilians are now in your Army—including officers and soldiers. Your Army is divided into 2 parts:

Front Line — Army cards laid down face up in front of you (red cards and spent Officer cards, plus Generals (K) either used to retreat or revived).
Covert Forces — Army cards hidden from opponents' view. (black cards and all Nukes) Once an officer from Covert Forces uses their special ability, they join the Front Line, turned sideways to indicate they are spent.

Soldiers

Non-officer, non-nuke cards are simply Soldiers. These are the first to die in battle, since you (usually) have a choice of which among your Army to send to the Graveyard. Soldiers are usually cards numbered 2-10.

Note: Be sure to keep an awareness of which of your Soldiers have been appropriated for Nukes in multiplayer scenarios.

Officer Cards

Officers each have Officer Point (OP) value associated with them and allow you to perform special feats of skill. Each Officer Card can be doubled for an Officer Combo (see Officer Combos).

Aside from Generals (K), which have abilities that can be used each round, each cards' abilities can only be used once per game, so turn them sideways and place them in your Front Line to show they are spent.

Officers can be resurrected (brought out of Graveyard) and can once again be used.

General (K), 10 OP — Allows you to retreat anytime in a battle, discarding half your Army, rounding up. Must have at least a General and one other card to retreat. Among officers, only Generals can be used multiple times.

Medic (Q), 5 OP — May instantly save a General from a successful snipe attempt. Medics cannot save any other . In the event of a Nuke or a Kerblam, you may save one General for each unused Medic in your Army. (In this case, the Medic is discarded.)

Sniper (A), 5 OP — May snipe an opponent’s General or their Nuke. Each party rolls two dice, if Sniper’s roll is higher or ties, the Snipe is successful. Can be used to snipe Covert Generals, but only if the Sniper’s Army has played a Spy this turn.

Spy (Jack) - 5 OP — Allows you to look one time at one opponent’s Covert Forces.

Nuclear Weapons

Nukes

Jokers are Nuke cards. Nukes can be used at any point in the game, as long as it is your turn or someone has announced they are attacking you. (They merely need to state that they are attacking you for this option to be immediately available. These may be deployed on only one of your opponent's Armies.

When a Nuke is deployed:

Play the Nuke. — lay down Nuke card and state who you are nuking.
Determine countermeasures — If your opponent plays a Nuke to counter, the nukes do not eliminate each other. Both play out their consequences.
Identify Target Army — Opponent's Front Line or Covert Forces?
Roll 2 dice. Outcome determined below:

2–3 destroys your Covert Forces
4–6 destroys half of Target Army
7–11 destroys all of Target Army
12 destroys opponent’s Entire Army. (Not Civilians)

Kerblam! Nukes

A Kerblam! is a Super-Nuke that is only available to be played once a player has no Civilians left. (It is not necessary to have a card for this, but it should be announced to all players when

When a Kerblam is deployed:

Play the Kerblam! — State who to Kerblam!
Determine Counter-Measures — Attacked player may counter only with their own Kerblam!
Roll 2 dice. Outcome determined below:

2–6 destroys all your remaining Armies.
7 destroys half of your remaining Armies and half of your opponent's largest force (Civilian/Covert/Front Line)
8–11 destroys all of opponent’s Civilians.
12 destroys all of opponent's Civilians and Armies

Getting Started

Roll to see who goes first. (Turns progress clock-wise.)

If you are playing with Kerblam! Nations, the person who would normally go last gets to choose their nation first, followed by the second-to-last, and so on. Once finished choosing countries, draw cards. Only one Nation Card per person.

Everyone draws 10 cards to begin with, laying down Front Line cards (red) and keeping Covert Forces (black and all nukes) in your hand, out of sight.

After everyone has drawn their cards, follow the "Turn Progression" below.

Keep in mind throughout the game that for any rounding of numbers that takes place in the game, always round up--this includes dice rolls divided, armies divided, etc.

Turn Progression

1. Draw cards.

All players draw enough cards to have a total of 10 cards in their Army.
Roll 2 dice, divide total by 2 and draw that many cards, rounding up.
If the dice match, draw the total shown.

2. Announce Officer Point (OP) totals and advantages

Have everyone playing count officer points in their Front Line and Covert Forces and announce them to the group.
Any players whose Armies have been obliterated (not retreated) since their last turn should announce they have the advantage.

3. Attack, if you wish.

Once engaged in battle, either party may use any officers / nukes at any point.
Acts of War: a defender is engaged in battle by a dice attack, or a Snipe or nuke attempt, but is not engaged in battle by a Spy.
Any Officer Cards used must be put into Front Line. (This includes Generals used for retreat or saved by Medics.)

4. Attrition — If you choose not to attack this turn, roll one die. Discard that many from your Army.

5. Spoils of War:

Draw the 5 top Graveyard cards each time you obliterate an opponent's army.
Draw the 3 top Graveyard cards each time an opponent retreats.
If you obliterate an opponent's population, draw the top 5 Graveyard cards for destroying their army plus draw from the Graveyard cards equal to the total number of remaining players.

6. Draft Civilians:

Any player in the game who has less than 10 total cards in their entire Army must draw from their Civilian Deck until they do (or draw as many cards as you can, if you have less than 10 in your Civilian Deck).

7. End turn

Lay down all Front Line (non-Nuke red cards), end turn, pass dice.

Attacking

Dice battles determine the outcome of all battles.
The player attacking gets three dice, the defender gets two dice.
Neither attacker nor defender can roll more dice than they have cards left to lose.
Wins are determined by matching dice to dice, with two being the maximum number lost each dice roll.
Ties go to player with Officer Advantage. If OP totals are equal, the tie goes to person attacking. Officer Advantage shifts if OP count changes sufficiently.
The attacker can end the conflict at any point. Defenders must retreat, as outlined below.
You may attack as many opponents as you would like, so long as you still have an officer. If you obliterate an opponent or they retreat, you may not attack them again until your next turn.

Retreating

Defenders may retreat in one of three ways to end unwanted conflicts:

Rolling doubles — If the defender rolls doubles, they have the option to retreat without any further losses. (No damage is caused or taken by this dice roll.)
General Retreat — If the defender has a General and one other card, they may retreat, discarding half their Army, rounding up.
Super-General Retreat — If the defender has two Generals, they may retreat without incurring any loss.

Game options

Officer Combos (advanced play)

For Officer Combos, most of the same rules apply as using Officer Cards, primarily that used cards must be turned sideways to show they are spent and any given card can only be used once (unless resurrected)

Super-General (2 K) The Super-General allows you to retreat anytime without taking losses in the present battle. This can only be used once then marked as spent. (Because Generals can be used each turn, they retain their individual powers for leading normal retreats.)

Super-Medic (2 Q) Resurrect the top 5 cards from your Graveyard. May only be used once, then marked as spent.

Super-Sniper (2 A) Execute an irreversible Snipe of a General or a Nuke without needing to roll. May only be used once, then marked as spent.

Super-Spy (2 J) Look at everyone’s Covert Forces and your next 5 Civilian cards. May only be used once, then marked as spent.

Weapons Inspector (1 J, 2 A) Select one opponent to disable all nukes or their Kerblam!, if it is active. All 3 cards must be played simultaneously. May only be used once, then marked as spent.

Multiplayer modifications and notes

As you add 3+ players, remove numbered cards corresponding to the number of players you have in the game. For example:

3 players: remove 3s and 2s
8 players: remove 8s and below.

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