Original booklet

Citadel of Blood rules

Citadel of Blood is SPI's 1980 dungeon crawl, the game Labirynt Śmierci was adapted from: a party enters the Citadel to find and destroy the Hellgate. These are the rules of the original booklet, which this site's Citadel of Blood game follows.

The rules are transcribed from the original English booklet, and the case numbers in them (6.4, 9.9 and so on) are its own.

1.0 Introduction
In the Valley of the Great Sword stands a massive fortress. It serves as the refuge for the most powerful Mage in the world, X the Unknown. With the aid of…
2.0 Equipment
General Rule: Citadel of Blood consists of a rules booklet and 200 die-cut counters. Three six-sided dice are needed in order to play the game. These are…
3.0 Dice Codes
General Rule: The players will often be required to roll a number of dice. The number and type of dice rolled is determined by a Dice Code.
4.0 The Starting Sequence
General Rule: Each player should be provided with a pencil and one copy of the Character Record for each of his characters. The playing pieces should be…
5.0 Sequence of Play
General Rule: The Sequence of Play in Citadel of Blood is a simple pattern that the players must follow to give order to the game functions. The actions…
6.0 Movement Through the Citadel
General Rule: In Citadel of Blood, there is no game map. Instead, the players construct a maze through which they move during the course of play by placing…
7.0 Traps and Detrapping
General Rule: When a party enters a room for the first time (only), a member of the party must check the doorway for a trap. Treasure chests must be…
8.0 Monsters, Negotiation and Bribery
General Rule: The Citadel is peopled by a horde of gruesome monsters and the one super-villain, X the Unknown. During play, the party will come upon…
9.0 Combat
General Rule: Combat may occur when a party encounters monsters. Combat between the party and a monster or group of monsters consists of a number of Combat…
10.0 Magic
General Rule: Characters with Magic Potential may cast spells. There are 3 suns, and each character has 3 Magic Potentials, one for when each sun is…
11.0 Resistance Checks
General Rule: A Resistance Check for a character or monster may be necessary if a spell is cast upon him, certain magic items are used against him, or if…
12.0 Gaining Experience Points
General Rule: Experience Points are gained by killing monsters in combat. These points may then be used at the end of the game to determine the winner of…
13.0 Room Features
General Rule: Some room segments contain unusual features, either a fountain, statue, trap door, furniture, staircase, mirror, or artwork. After the…
14.0 Treasure
General Rule: Once the party has killed a monster or group of monsters (or, sometimes, after a successful negotiation with them), a player must determine…
15.0 Monster Special Abilities
General Rule: Certain monsters have special abilities which they use during combat with the party.
16.0 The Hellgate
General Rule: The Hellgate is a large mountain-like device of tremendous magical power which the party must find and destroy in order to win the game. It…
17.0 Victory Conditions
General Rule: There are two types of victory: team victory and character victory. In order for the team, meaning the characters as a group, to win, the…
Charts and tables
The booklet's charts and tables.

What changes

Citadel of Blood calls the Black Gate the Hellgate and the Warlock the Evil Mage, among other names, and changes about two dozen rules. The Citadel of Blood page shows the biggest, and the comparison lists every one.

About Citadel of Blood → Every difference, rule by rule →

Credits and copyright notices →

Ready to enter the Citadel?

Start a solo game: Citadel of Blood is already selected on the set-up screen.