r/bloodbornebg • u/OkAdhesiveness1523 • Jul 13 '26

Question Chalice dungeon help/tips.

Hey guys,

My brother and I are fairly new to board games like this, and we had a blast playing through the core box. We recently decided to try the Chalice Dungeon content, but it feels incredibly hard and even unfair.

For example, in our last run, on the very first turn, the first hunter revealed a tile (the Arena Lever). It contained two enemies, one of which was an NPC because of one of our two Rites, as well as a trap. The trap spawned a Merciless Watcher right on top of us, which immediately activated and used its Special Attack, killing the hunter in a single hit. Neither of us had drawn a Dodge card on turn one, so there was literally no way to avoid it.

Overall, we feel that the combination of traps and the high enemy density is just too much. You only have three cards each turn, and one is usually spent on movement. If another one has to be used because of a trap, you're often left almost defenseless against two enemies.

So are there any house rules you guys would recommend for chalice dungeon so it's less frustrating. We are almost at the point to ignore Traps or at least remove the Ambush type Trap

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u/finalattack123 Byrgenwerth Scholar Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

That’s a very cool “souls like” story. The Chalice Dungeon is designed to be brutal.

You’ve chosen or lucked into the only enemy in the game that can one shot you too. Awesome.

You don’t need a house rule - just don’t choose the most lethal enemy in the game to be the trap. If you want an easier time.

The solution is easy though. Wait for the trap to despawn and search for the other switch. Once the trap has despawned you can activate that switch much easier.

Another strategy - baiting enemies. One player can bait enemies away from key locations. While the second player goes in to activate the switch.

Another yet - suicide switch activation. If you think you can survive some attacks of opportunity. Flip the switch. Even if you die in the enemy phase you made progress.

Thanks for sharing though - it’s cool to hear some real Bloodborne experiences being had in the boardgame.