AMPUTHEATRE can accommodate 2 to 8 players in a single game (3 to 6 is best.)

As stated before, AMPUTHEATRE has no given objective; the rules only discuss the combat. The players are invited to create their own objectives for each game. Whatever the objective, it's bound to incur combat between the Slashers.

There are three ways to dispose of a Slasher in AMPUTHEATRE:

1. 1. Diminish their Bloodcount to 0 (zero) Pints through combat.
2. 2. Sunder them three times (arm, arm, head)
3. 3. Impale them when they are Armless (unable to escape, they bleed out)

Dead Slashers remain on the board, where they can be further vilified.

Intriguingly enough, each Slasher is imbued with a nanotechnological immune system. Dubbed Amputech, this medical breakthrough allows such miracles such as the reabsorption of blood through pores in the skin, and even the rebonding of severed limbs in seconds. If a player has been losing a number of fights, they can send their off to a splattered blood pool and regain lost health from it. They can even graft almost any one Slasher's severed arm to their own warrior.

As the Slashers deal fiercer and fiercer damage upon each other, they become more imaginative and begin unleashing their Evil Deeds (akin to the "special moves" featured in the previously mentioned fighting games.) Some Evil Deeds are available at the start of the game, but the more fiendish ones require their prey to be weak enough. (Some Slashers are more resilient than others.)

To further feed the bloodlust of the Slashers, the AMPUTHEATRE overseers will often throw various Weapons into the battlefield for the Slashers to wield. Loose pages from a powerful Spell Book also sift into the arena, but whoever reads their forbidden text will find themselves either assisted or asunder. Finally, floor hazards and torture devices ("Traps") regularly spring from the arena floor to mutilate prey.

One single turn in AMPUTHEATRE constitutes ten seconds of real time in the arena. Each turn consists of four phases.

The first phase of the turn is the Event phase. One player decides whether a Weapon or a Spell is tossed into the arena.(Even new Slashers can join at this time- ask your friends who may be watching.)

The second phase is the Run Around And Kill Things phase. Every Slasher gets two opportunities to act in this turn. They may move horizontally, vertically, and diagonally about the arena, engage any other Slasher in combat within range of an attack, cast a Spell if they have one, absorb a Blood Pool to regain lost health, etc.

The third phase is the Free Action. All Slashers receive one free defensive move now (rise from a knockdown, heal a Blood Pool, etc.)

The fourth and final phase is the Suffering phase, which concerns those Slashers currently bleeding to death. After the Suffering phase, the turn ends, and the Event Dice are rolled again.

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