I have read up on various rival gang variants, but I have been unsatisfied with many of them. They lose much of the mafia-like intrigue of BANG!, which is why it is much loved. I have tried to incorporate some elements from these variants, while also adding many ideas of my own and combining it with the hidden characters house rule. I hope the outcome of my Rival Gangs is satisfying.

Rival Gangs Variant Rules:


This is a 4, 6, or 8 player variant (recommended for 6). Two gangs fight each other. Each gang has a leader, symbolized by the Renegade card, and 1 or more followers, symbolized by the Outlaw cards. The object of the game is for each team to eliminate the other team's leader.

Use the Dodge City buffalo symbol role cards for one gang, and the original game role cards for the other (if you do not have the Dodge City expansion role cards, you can use the Renegade and 1-2 outlaws as one team and the Sheriff and 1-2 deputies as another; with 8-player you can just write roles on slips of paper and hand them out). Shuffle the role and character cards and deal them out to the players. Character cards are kept face down. They are only revealed once a character uses his ability. In fact, even their amount of life point remains hidden if you are using the back of another character card as life point indicator. Until the character is revealed, place all characters on the indicator at 4 life points. Adjust accordingly when either the character is revealed or the hidden 3 life point character reaches 1 life point instead.

Each gang may get together and consult with one another before the game. To insure there is no cheating, gang members show each other their role cards, so they know they are in the same gang and who their leader is. Of course, each gang does not know who the other gang's leader is. The game involves deception in trying to determine the leader of the other gang while hidin te leader of your own.

The leader of the gang is given 1 extra life point like Sheriffs in the normal game. However, this extra life point is hidden, and only revealed when the leader would have died (when he is shot at his supposedly last life point with no last second Beer left). Eliminating any player gives a 2-card bonus, whether that player is on your team or not.

The player order in the game can be done 1 of 2 ways: (1) The order of the players is dependent on the original dealing of the roles, so that 1 gang member can be between members of the opposing gang, or (2) The order of the players is dependent on each gang. Each gang decides the order of their gang (half of the circle); which players are next to who. This allows player's to maximize setting up their hidden characters to be most beneficial for one another (placement of Pedro Ramirez, or Kit Carlson, could be crucial for instance), and maximize their abilities. This is the recommended set up.

To determine which player goes first, all players "draw!" The player with the highest value (with Poker ranking of suits, so that an Ace of Spades is higher than an Ace of Hearts that is higher than an Ace of Diamonds that is higher than an Ace of Clubs) starts the game. If there is a tie, those players "draw!" again. "Drawn!" cards are placed in the discard pile. The rest of the game procedes like normal BANG!, and the game ends when a gang leader is eliminated.