This is a card game that someone I live with owns. I found it compelling even tho I've never actually played Touhou, though I have only had the opportunity to play with the minimum number of players (4). I am motivated to mod it to see how the mechanics for the game play out with more people and to give others the chance to try the game out. I will be scanning and using the much prettier real cards for the real game (relative to the sample cards scattered throughout this post) provided that there's enough interest for it to run.
Complete:
[Game 1] 1. JDGA 2. piegirln 3. GuyInFreezer 4. Gammagooey 5. Blackberry 6. Mewtaph
Game Overview
"In Danmaku!!, players take on characters from the Touhou Project series of games. Every player has a role card, each with its own goal. In the beginning, only the Heroine is revealed. Based on who attacks whom, players must figure out who is on their team and work together to achieve a common goal, or risk being taken down one at a time."
-- Danmaku!! Game Rules
Winning
To win, players need to stay alive long enough to defeat certain other players per their individual goal. The game ends as soon as at least one player meets their goal. If everyone dies simultaneously, the game is a draw.
Life
Players begin with 4 life by default. They may lose life by (a) being successfully attacked by another player, (b) indirect effect, or (c) paying life to activate an effect. One can pay life so long as they are not reduced below 0 life.
When a player loses life for any reason, they draw one card for each life lost.
Defeat
When a player's life reaches 0, they are not defeated immediately; players have the opportunity to play certain Reaction cards, such as 1Up. If there are any ongoing Action cards, players may continue to respond to that Action or any other cards played, even if their current life is 0. Once all players have indicated that they have no responses to the ongoing Action card, all players at 0 life are simultaneously defeated, and cannot gain life thereafter. Defeated players are not considered active, do not take turns, and are not counted when determining distance from one player to another. Once a player is defeated, that player discards all cards in hand and Item cards in play. Then their role card is revealed.
Attacking
Some cards and abilities allow a player to attack another player. Unless the defending player avoids the attack, the defending player loses 1 life. Players cannot attack themselves.
Each player has a certain
distance
from each other living player, based on order of the player list +- any distance modifiers. (e.g. if a group of players is seated in alphabetical order, Players A and E are considered to have 2 distance from Player C.) Some attacks require that the target player be in range
, meaning that the distance between the attacker and the target is less than or equal to the attacker's range. The default range is 1. Range cannot be reduced below 1, though modifiers may increase range. Sequence of Play
Setup
- Each player is randomly assigned a Role.
- Each player is randomly assigned two Character choices and chooses one to play as; the other is discarded.
- Characters are simultaneously revealed, as is the Heroine's Role card. Each player begins with 4 life, except for the Heroine, who has 5.
- Each player draws cards from the Main Deck equal to their max hand size. The default max hand size is 4 cards. (The Heroine's default max hand size is 5 cards.)
- Play begins with the Heroine's turn.
Turn Order
- Start of Turn: Any effects for that player that last "until your next turn" end. Limits on how many cards of certain types a player can play reset at the start of their turn.
- Incident Step:
- At the beginning of the Incident Step, if there is no incident card in play, put the top card of the Incident Deck into play.
- Whether or not a New Incident card was played this turn, the current player then performs and actions listed that take place during the Incident step.
- If the current Incident card is resolved during the Incident Step, do not play a new Incident card until the next player's Incident step.
- At the beginning of the Incident Step, if there is no incident card in play, put the top card of the Incident Deck into play.
- Draw Step: The current player draws for the turn. By default, players draw two cards per turn from the Main Deck.
- Main Step: Most interaction happens on the main step.
- Players can play Action cards or Item cards only on their own Main Step.
- There is no limit to the number of cards a player can play on their turn, with two exceptions:
- By default, players can only play one Danmaku card per round.
- Players can only ever activate one Spell Card per round. This includes activating your own Spell Card, or another player's Spell Card. There are no effects that increase this.
- By default, players can only play one Danmaku card per round.
- Players can play Action cards or Item cards only on their own Main Step.
- Discard Step: During each player's discard step, ALL players discard down to their max hand size. This is the only time players must discard due to max hand size.
- Then it's the next player's turn.
Roles
Roles are kind of like alignments in mafia; they determine your goal (win condition) independently of your Character.
Spoiler: Example
"Outright announcing your role unless it is revealed is considered bad manners and is against the spirit of the game. Keeping your role secret while still suggesting to others which team you're on is part of the fun of the game."
-- Danmaku!! Game RulesSpoiler: Summer Roles
Spoiler: Autumn Roles
Spoiler: Winter Roles
Spoiler: Spring Roles
Setups
The number of players determines which Roles are handed out.
- 4 players:1 Heroine, 2 Stage Bosses, 1 Winter role {Extra Boss, Phantom Boss}
- 5 players:1 Heroine, 1 Spring role {Partner, Partner, Ex Midboss}, 3 Autumn roles {Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Challenger, Anti-Heroine, Final Boss}, 1 Winter role {Extra Boss, Phantom Boss}
- 6 players:1 Heroine, 1 Spring role {Partner, Partner, Ex Midboss}, 3 Autumn roles {Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Challenger, Anti-Heroine, Final Boss}, 1 Winter role {Extra Boss, Phantom Boss}
- 7 players:1 Heroine, 2 Spring roles {Partner, Partner, Ex Midboss, One True Partner}, 3 Autumn roles {Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Challenger, Anti-Heroine, Final Boss}, 1 Winter role {Extra Boss, Phantom Boss}
- 8 players:1 Heroine, 1 Rival, 2 Spring roles {Partner, Partner, Ex Midboss, One True Partner}, 3 Autumn roles {Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Stage Boss, Challenger, Anti-Heroine, Final Boss}, 1 Winter role {Extra Boss, Phantom Boss}
Characters
One's character in Danmaku!! is comparable to one's
role
in Mafia (as opposed to one's alignment
). Everyone's choice of character is revealed at the start of the game.Spoiler: Example
Each character has:
- A name, picture, subtitle, and season.
- A passive Ability (top panel) that is always in effect.
- A Spell Card (bottom panel), which must be activated by invocation. When activated, all of the Spell Card's effects are performed in order. Spell Cards may be actions (in which case they must be activated during the player's main step) or reactions (the specific spell card will state when the Spell Card can be activated).
Main Cards
The Main Deck contains cards that make up a player's hand and that are played to perform actions in the game.
Spoiler: Examples
Card Types
Actions
are played during one's own Main Step when no other card is being resolved.
Reactions
and reaction Spell Cards can be played during any player's turn but only when specific conditions are met. Any number of players may react any number of times to a single event; some reactions may create additional effects that can be reacted to. Players add their reactions in clockwise fashion. Reaction effects are resolved in last-in-first-out order.
Items
are played during one's own Main Step when no other card is being resolved. They provide a constant effect for that player.
Invocation
cards allow a player to activate a character's Spell Card. Whether invocation is an action or reaction is dependent on whether the Spell Card in question is. A player can only activate one Spell Card per round, even if the activation is canceled or avoided by another player. 
Danmaku
cards allow a player to attack another player. By default, players have a limit of using one Danmaku card per round, regardless of whether the use of the Danmaku card is canceled or avoided.
Dodge
cards allow a player to avoid an attack.
Powerups
are a subtype of Items. When a player is hit by an attack, they must choose a Powerup card to discard (if applicable).
Artifacts
are a subtype of Item. A player may only control one Artifact at a time, and must immediately discard one of their choice upon acquisition of another.
Split
cards are split into two panes. The player chooses which to resolve and completely ignores the other pane.Incident Cards
Spoiler: example
Incident cards are drawn throughout the game and provide a constant change to the game's rules as long as they are in play. A new Incident is drawn when at the start of the Incident Step, no Incident is in play. The effects of an Incident last until the Incident is resolved.
Some Incidents resolve after "Collecting" a certain number of particular cards from the Main Deck. Cards that match what is being collected (e.g. Autumn
cards) are placed into a separate collection pile until enough are collected to resolve the Incident. The collection pile is then shuffled back into the discard pile.Other Terminology
Skipping Turns
If a player's turn is skipped, all phases are skipped except for the Start of the Turn phase. Players cannot have two turns skipped in a row; the effect is ignored completely in this case and their turn is taken as normal.
Canceling
If a card is canceled by another card, none of its effects are resolved.
