Black Rose Wars

Black Rose Wars

Game Objective

In Black Rose Wars, each player embodies one of the powerful Mages of the Black Rose Order, seeking to becoming the New Grand Master by acquiring the power of the Black Rose Artifact. When the game begins, the mages are in their meditation rooms (cells) within the Black Rose Lodge. They will have to use their powers to battle their way through the Lodge and appease the sentient Black Rose Artifact itself to gain mastery over it. Each Mage has a Grimoire of Spell Cards from six different schools of magic. They will need to add spells to their collection if they have any hopes of crushing their opponents.

At the end of the battle, the Mage that has accumulated the most power, will be crowned by the Black Rose as a worthy successor and Grand Master of the Black Rose Order.

Components Overview

Boards & Trackers

1 Power Board

This board tracks several key pieces of information including:

• ( A ) The current level of Power Points. Each Player and the Black Rose itself will have a token on this track. Any time they gain any Power Points move the appropriate token up on this track.
• ( B ) Quest Card Deck
• ( C ) Quest Card Discard Pile
• ( D ) Evocation Cards

The advancement of the Power Points throughout the game will determine the Moon Phase: First Moon ( E ), Second Moon ( F ), or Third Moon ( G ).

The Moon Phase manages which decks of Quest and Event Cards are to be drawn from. At the beginning of the second Moon Phase ( F ) it is possible to activate the Black Rose Room by taking its Activation Token and placing it on the room ( H ). As soon as a Power token reaches the Black Rose symbol placed on 30 points, the end of the game is triggered (see Page 34).

1 Event Board

The Event Deck is placed in the first space ( A ), the next 3 spaces ( B ) will be used to display the Event cards that are currently in play, finally area ( C ) will hold the Event Deck discard pile. The Resources section ( D ) will hold the Black Rose’s Instability/Damage Tokens and the Trophy section ( E ) will hold any Trophy or Activation Tokens acquired by the Black Lodge during the game.

1 Crown Token

This token indicates the current First Player.

“No Black Rose, you don’t have any role in my performance. Do not bother me with your stupid tasks”
— Davide Schiavon

5 Power Points Tokens

These tokens are used to track the Mage’s and the Black Rose’s progression on the Power Board. The number 30 is stamped on the back of every token, flip the token to this side whenever a Mage or the Black Rose would exceed 30 and continue to move it from the starting position 1.

Rooms of the Lodge

4 Mage’s Cells

Each Mage has their own personal cell, where they can meditate, study, and rest. The color of the Cell’s banner will match the color of the wizard chosen by the player. These Cells are placed at the ends of the board, which is made up of all the rooms of the Black Rose Lodge.

Each Mage begins the game in their cell. The cell is the Mage’s haven and inside they are immune to all attacks and effects inflicted by their adversaries, they cannot be the target of traps, spells or room powers. The only exception to this rule is the Black Rose Event Cards, those may still influence the Mage’s cell.

If a Mage is ever reduced to zero Health points they will restart their next turn in their cell. It is not possible to enter the Cells voluntarily; a Mage can return to them only when they are out of Health Points. A Mage may not voluntarily remain inside their cell, they have to do everything to get out of it, through the use of Action Tokens or sacrificing a ready spell for a default move action (see Page 23). A Mage can never enter the cell of an adversary, for any reason.

18 Rooms and relative Activation Tokens

The Black Rose Lodge is divided in a series of hexagonal room tiles. Mages can move from room to room by normal or magical means.

Each room is identified by:

• ( A ) Name of the Room and relative color: There are 3 rooms for each color in the game, color will determine where certain effects can occur.
• ( B ) Activation Token: Each room has a corresponding Activation Token which represents an ability that can be triggered from within the room. A Mage may activate an Action Token (see Page 23) as part of their turn. Once a room is activated, the room’s Activation Token must be flipped to its darker side, this shows that it is no longer possible to activate this power again this turn. On each Activation Token is a Black Rose Icon with a number in it. This number represents the number of victory points to be awarded to the player who wins this token when the room is destroyed (see Clean Up Phase page 34). All points granted by the Activation Tokens will be calculated at the end of the game. Keep the Activation Tokens you gained within the appropriate space on your mage’s card, face-down (see Page 35).
• ( C ) Instability slots: These slots indicate the Room’s resistance to Instability. As the game progresses the rooms will become unstable, eventually being destroyed. (As Mages create instability they will place their Damage/Instability tokens in these spaces.)
• ( D ) Destroyed Room: When all of the Room’s Instability slots ( C ) are filled the room is destroyed (see Clean Up Phase page 34).

1 Black Rose Room and Activation Token

The Black Rose Room is the central room of the Lodge and is key to taking control of the Lodge. This room will give access to the powerful Forgotten Spells, through the Black Rose Room Activation Token. The Black Rose Room is activated like all the other rooms. However, the Black Rose Activation Token is not placed into the Black Rose Room immediately, it will be placed in the room when the Second Moon Phase begins on the Power Board, the room cannot be activated until the Token is in play.

Player Material & Tokens

4 Mage’s Sheets

Every Mage has their own sheet with the following details:

• ( A ) The maximum number of Spell Cards you may hold
• ( B ) Health Points

The following locations are place holders for their respective cards or tokens:

• ( C ) Quick Spell card
• ( D ) Spells cards
• ( E ) Action Tokens
• ( F ) Trophy Tokens
• ( G ) Activation Tokens of the destroyed rooms

Additional cards will be placed next to your Mage’s Sheet:

• ( H ) the player’s Grimoire (your Spell Card draw pile)
• ( I ) the player’s Memories (your Spell Card discard pile)
• ( L ) their Evocations (summoned creatures currently in play)

4 Mages

Each Mage uses their matching miniature to indicate their position within the lodge: Tessa, Jafar, Rebecca, Nero.

8 Action Tokens

Two Action tokens (of the appropriate color) are placed on each Mage’s sheet. These indicate the “physical” actions that a Mage can carry out during their turn. See Action Phase (page 23) for more information on how to use these tokens.

130 Damage/Instability Tokens

Instability is represented by small plastic cubes of varying color (one color for each Mage and the black ones for the Black Rose). These cubes are used to indicate damage dealt to the Mages and their summoned Evocations. These cubes are also assigned to the rooms when they suffer Instability. Each Mage has the same number tokens, this limit is intentional if you run out you cannot assign any more damage/instability until some of your cubes are no longer in play. This rule applies to the Black Rose as well.

24 Trap / Protection Tokens

These tokens should be placed on the corresponding spells once activated, to report to the other players that the covered spell is a Trap or a Protection and is ready to be triggered. See Trap and Protection Spells (page 27).

40 Trophy Tokens

Each player starts with 10 Trophy Tokens that match their Mage. These tokens will be given as a trophy to any player that inflicts the last wound on a Mage, if a Mage runs out of Trophy Tokens, no further Trophies are awarded for defeating them.

Cards & Figures

216 Spell Cards & Magic Schools

Each school of magic deck is made up of 3 copies of 12 different spells, 36 cards in total per school. The Spells are drawn from the Library during the game to create your own Grimoire.

There are 6 main Schools of Magic: Destruction, Divination, Necromancy, Transmutation, Illusion, and Conspiracy.

Spell Card Anatomy

The spell cards are key components of Black Rose Wars. Each Mage starts with 6 Spell Cards in their Grimoire. During the game each mage will draw new spells from the Library (the set of Magic Schools decks and their stack of discards). The deck you draw from must be wisely chosen to fit your strategy.

A Spell Card is composed by:

• ( A ) The title of the Spell (to be pronounced loudly when you cast it!)
• ( B ) Standard and Reverse effects: Spell cards can have two different sides to them, their normal effect, or if you spin the card its “reverse” effect. When casting you will choose which side of the card to play. The spell effect is chosen during the Preparation Phase (see Page 21).
• ( C ) Spell Type: Each effect has 3 symbols under the name that identify:
  • Combat: All Damage Spells
  • Contingency: Spells to evoke, to gain Power, to quickly shift, to draw quests etc…
  • Protection: Spells that are triggered when a Mage is the target of an effect
  • Traps: Spells that, once activated, trigger when a target fills a specified trigger condition. The trigger is listed on the card, for example entering a room of a certain color.
• ( D ) Elements: Elements are used in the Event Cards and Quests to give bonuses or restrict the use of certain spells:
  • Any
  • Air
  • Earth
  • Fire
  • Water
  • Magic
  • Sacred
  • Profane

  The “Any” element is declared when the spell is revealed. This can be any of the other elements and once revealed will remain the same until the end of the turn.

• ( E ) Type of Target and Spell range: The type of Target the spell will affect. Additionally a number represents the maximum range of the spell effect (0 is the room where the Mage is located, * means at any distance):
  • Oneself: The Spell allows you to select your mage as the target.
  • Single: Opponent’s Mage or Summoned creature at the indicated distance (you cannot target yourself or your room).
  • Area: The Spell will affect the room at the indicated distance (if specified, one or more models within the same room can be targeted).
  • Special: An element of the game not previously mentioned (Power Board, Event Board, Library, etc.).
• ( F ) Instability symbol: In the middle of the card, between two effects, you can find the symbol of Instability: . If present, it will generate 1 Instability in the room where the Mage casts the spell.
• ( G ) Reverse side indicator: An arrow shows you the reverse side of the card.

6 Reference Cards of the Magic Schools

Each Magic School has its own bigger Reference Card. On the Reference Card you can find information on the elements of the spells included in the deck, on the initial Grimoirs available for the Mages and on the list of spells of that specific school existing in the game.

10 Forgotten Spell Cards

This deck consists of 10 unique Cards and it is released when the Second Moon is reached. From that moment these powerful spells can be drawn thanks to the use of the Black Rose Room special power.

30 Evocation Cards & Miniatures

This Deck consists of 30 cards that represent the Evocations available to the Mages for summoning models through spells or effects of the rooms. The front side of the card shows the colored image of the chosen Evocation. On the back you find the features of the Evocation:

• Movement
• Attack
• Heath points

The features are reported on the longer side of the card in order to be inserted in the appropriate spaces of the Mage’s sheet.

The miniatures include:

• 8 Undead
• 3 Superior Undead
• 5 Divine Altars
• 5 Mutant Altars
• 3 Cerbero
• 3 Andromeda
• 3 Malacoda

24 Rose Pins

Each Mage has 6 rose-shaped pins available. These pins are inserted on the Evocation bases to connect the miniature to its matching Evocation card. Every player will insert one pin on the base of their first Evocation, two on the base of their second Evocation and three on the third.

1 Bull Token

This Token is used when the Bull-o is summoned by the Bull-o Forgotten spell, it represents a minotaur that attacks and destroys everything he touches.

60 Quest Cards

These 3 decks contain the challenges that the Mages have to overcome to gain rewards from the Black Rose Lodge. When a new Moon Phase is reached on the Power Board (either by a Mage or the Black Rose Token entering that space on the Power Board), the current Quest deck is replaced with the one that corresponds to the new Moon Phase. Each new Moon Phase will reveal quests that become increasingly difficult but also more rewarding. Each deck contains 20 unique quests.

The Quest Cards represent the challenges that the Black Rose Lodge subjects the Mages to, to prove that they are worthy of becoming the next Grand Master.

All Quests are secret and it is not possible to have more than 2 of them at the same time. If at any time you draw a quest and you have more than 2 cards, you must discard down to 2. Each time a quest is drawn, the Black Rose gains power points equal to the amount listed on the quest card:

• First Moon = 1
• Second Moon = 2
• Third Moon = 3

A Quest card consists of:

• ( A ) Title of the Quest
• ( B ) Resolution goal of the quest: There are several kinds of quests in the game, some require the activation of a particular room (indicated by the illustration of a door handle) while other quests require a different type condition to be fulfilled (e.g. playing particular spell cards, using spells of specific elements, undergoing some indicated effects, etc..).
• ( C ) Reward effect: Any text listed here should be applied as soon as the quest conditions above are met, often times the trigger condition is some type of action and the quest effects will replace the normal game effects that action would do. (For example, replacing the standard room activation with the listed effect).
• ( D ) Reward in Power Points

The completed quests must be kept visible and close to the Mage’s sheet. At the end of the game they will be essential to get additional Power Points!

Note: The player count symbol in the lower left, if present, shows that the quest can be played only if there are 4, 5 or 6 players. These quests must be removed before play if you are playing in a 2 or 3 player game.

60 Event Cards

These 3 decks contain the Event Cards. You draw one during the Black Rose Phase each turn of the game. Like the quests, they vary with the passage of the Moon Phases.

The Event Cards represent the influence of the Black Rose on the fight between the Mages. Events can be both benevolent or malevolent, the desire of the Black Rose is unpredictable! Each time an event enters or leaves the board, the Black Rose gains as many Power Points as indicated by the event.

An Event Card consists of:

• ( A ) Title of the event, to be read aloud when you draw it.
• ( B ) Crown symbol: Some Event Cards have the symbol of the Crown (First Player Token). The Mage that draws this Event gains this token.
• ( C ) Moon Phase, indicated by a Roman numeral.
• ( D ) Description: In the center of the card, you find the description of the event effect for the current turn. Note that some effects take place during different phases of the game (Black Rose Phase, Action Phase or immediately).
• ( E ) Entry points: Number of points gained by the Black Rose when the Event comes into play.
• ( F ) Phase of resolution: Phase of the game when the card is resolved:
  • Black Rose Phase
  • Action Phase
  • Instant Effect
• ( G ) Board area: The area on the Event Board where the card must be placed, face-up.
• ( H ) Discard points: Number of points gained by the Black Rose when the event is discarded (see Black Rose Phase pg 19).

Credits

• Project manager: Andrea Colletti
• Production, Advertising and Fulfillment: Vincenzo Piscitelli
• Game design: Marco Montanaro
• Development: Ludus Magnus Studio
• Graphic Design: Paolo Scippo
• Art director: Andrea Colletti
• Concept artist: Giovanni Pirrotta
• Illustrations: Giovanni Pirrotta, Henning Ludvigsen
• Lead 3D sculptor: Fernando Armentano
• Additional 3D sculptor: Tommaso Incecchi
• Editor: Louis Angelli
• Customer Care and Social Media: Roberto Piscitelli
• Web editors: Marco Presentino, Luca Bernardini, Roberto Piscitelli
• Kickstarter manager: Andrea Colletti
• Translations: Silvia Franci, Flavia Frauzel
• Playtesters: Ilaria Pisani, Antonio Gentile, Enrico Savioli, Demetrio D’Alessandro, Mauro Baranello, Giuseppe Verrengia, Fabio Capelli, Andrea Compiani, Francesco Montanaro, Andrea Pomelli
• Special thanks to Collins Spanerger for helping us manage our web community.
• Thanks also to Oscar Andrés Schwerdt, David Martin and Michael James Bedggood
• Ludus Magnus Store: shop.ludusmagnusstudio.com

Setup Steps

1. Place Center Rooms: The first step is to prepare the Lodge. Place the Black Rose room and the Throne Room in the middle of the table adjacent to each other (orientation does not matter).
2. Place Remaining Rooms: Shuffle the remaining rooms and place them randomly as shown in the layout figure.
   Note: The layout shown is just one of the possible configurations of the Lodge, other new patterns will be introduced in future expansions; or feel free to experiment and find your own favorite layout. The only rule to preserve is that the Throne Room must be adjacent to the Black Rose Room.
3. Place Activation Tokens: Place the Activation Tokens in all of the rooms except for the Black Rose Room. The Black Rose Room activation token will be placed when a player or the Black Rose reaches the Second Moon Phase on the Power Board.

4. Place Mage Cells: Place the Mage’s Cells face down so that you do not see the color of their scroll and shuffle them. Randomly place them based on the number of players (2 players, 3 players, or 4 players). Do not flip them over yet. Now the Black Rose Lodge is complete on your table.

5. Place Boards: Place the Power Board ( A ) and the Event Board ( B ) on the side of the Lodge.

6. Prepare Power Board: On the Power Board place the Quest Cards ( A ) of the First Moon, the Activation Token of the Black Rose ( B ) and the Evocation Cards ( C ).

7. Prepare Event Board: On the Event Board place the Damage/Instability Tokens ( A ) of the Black Rose and the Event Cards ( B ) of the First Moon. Put aside the remaining Quest Cards and Event Cards until you need them for the next Moon Phases.

First Player: The player that most recently has given or received a rose, takes the Crown token (First Player).

8. Choose Mage: Starting with the First Player (proceeding clockwise from there) choose a Mage, take the matching miniature and Character sheet. Choose a color to assign to your Mage and take all Damage/Instability Tokens, Action Tokens, Protection and Trap Tokens, Rose Pins of the chosen color.
9. Choose Magic School and Grimoire: Starting with the First Player each Mage chooses their starting Magic School (every Mage must have their own school and it is not possible for two Mages to belong to the same school), then they choose their own Grimoire to start with. This choice is made from among those available (see: Reference Cards of the Magic Schools). Each Mage has their own favorite Magic School, that is indicated in the Arcane Archive book.
10. Place Mage Miniatures: Now you can turn the Cells over and place your Mage on the starting Cell whose scroll matches your starting color.
11. Set up the Library: Place the six decks of the Magic Schools near the board, reachable by all players. Put the Reference Cards under the decks to indicate the Magic schools. The deck of the Forgotten Spells should be set nearby, you will need it when the game enters the Second Moon Phase. These seven decks make up the Library.

Power Points and Moons

The game is marked by the passage of the 3 Moon Phases, the current phase is activated by whichever token (Mage or Black Rose) has the most points on the Power Point Board. In accordance with the current Moon Phase, the Event and Quest decks change, passing from First Moon to Second Moon and subsequently to Third Moon.

• First Moon Phase: Influences the game until 5 Power Points are reached.
• Second Moon Phase: Starts when a token achieves 6 power points and lasts until 17 power points (as soon as Moon Phase II is activated, place the Activation Token of the Black Rose Room on the Room Tile).
• Third Moon Phase: Starts when a token achieves 18 Power Points and remains in effect until the end of the game.

If a token on the Power Points Board ever changes to a new Moon Phase for any reason, you must change the Moon Phase immediately.

Forgotten Spells and the Black Rose Room

When you reach 6 Power Points, second Moon Phase begins and the Activation Token of the Black Rose is placed in its room, allowing that room to be activated by Mages.

To activate the Black Rose Room:

1. Activate it following the standard room activation rules.
2. Discard 4 Spells from your hand.
3. Draw the first 3 cards from the Forgotten Spell School deck and choose one to add to your hand.
4. Place the other 2 at the bottom of the School Deck.

The Forgotten Spell Cards are all unique and extremely powerful, once they are played during the Action Phase they must be removed from the game.

Example: Advancing the Moon Phase

Tessa plays the Spell “Dismiss”. Dismiss lets her gain 1 power point in addition to the ability to remove one Evocation of her choice. This brings her previous 5 Power Points to 6, enough to advance the game to the Second Moon Phase. Immediately after this Tessa uses one of her Physical Actions to move into the Pleasure Room and activate it. She resolves the effect, drawing a Quest of the new Moon Phase, namely the Second.

Round Structure

The game takes place in different turns. Each turn is divided in 6 phases:

1. Black Rose Phase
2. Study Phase
3. Preparation Phase
4. Action Phase
5. Evocation Phase
6. Clean up Phase

All Mages will have to complete current phase, before they can move on to the next one.

Phase 1: Black Rose Phase

In this phase you use the Event Board and you check who has the Crown of the First turn player.

Important: Any change of the Crown occurring after this specific moment will not modify the order of play until the beginning of the next turn.

Follow these following steps in order:

1. Shift Events: Events already on the board shift one position (from 1 to 2, from 2 to 3, and any event in 3 is discarded). When an Event is out of the game and it is discarded, the Black Rose gains as many Power Points as indicated in the lower right of the card.
2. Draw Event: The last Mage to go on this turn draws 1 Event from the current Moon, he/she reads it aloud and places it on the appropriate space of the Event Board as indicated on the card ( A ). If the space where the card should be placed is already occupied by another Event, the previous event must be moved following the rules above ( B ). In this way an Event in play can be moved into the discard pile.
   Some Events are immediate, their effects are instantly applied and then the event is discarded. The Black Rose will always gain power points both for the Event coming into play and, potentially, when it is discarded.
   Crown Symbol: Some Event Cards have the symbol of the Crown (First Player Token) above the Moon Phase Roman numeral. The Mage that draws this Event gains this token but will actually become the first player on the start of the next turn.
3. Check Quests: Starting from the First turn player, each Mage that doesn’t have at least 1 Quest, draws 1 from the Quest Deck of the current Moon.

• If you dislike your Quest, you can discard it at the beginning of the Black Rose Phase. The Black Rose gains power points equal to the number of the Quest Moon Phase discarded.
• None of the Mages can have more than 2 active Quests at the same time, in case the Mage would exceed the maximum, a card must immediately be discarded to return having 2 Quests in hand.
• The first turn player is checked only at the beginning of the Black Rose Phase.

Phase 2: Study Phase

In this phase you use the Library to choose new spells to be added to your own hand. The new spells you draw will increase the available choice of the grimoire throughout the course of the game.

1. Draw from Grimoire: Each player, starting from the First turn player, draws 2 cards from their own Grimoire and adds them to their hand.
2. Draw from Library: Starting from the First turn player, each player draws 4 cards face down, choosing them from any Magic School they prefer. You can keep 2 of these 4 cards, which will be added to your hand; the other 2 cards shall be discarded in front of their matching school ( A ).

At the end of this phase, each player should have added 4 Spell Cards to their hand, 2 from their Grimoire and 2 from the Library.

• It is not necessary to draw all 4 cards of the same school; for example you can draw 2 cards from the Destruction school, 1 from the Necromancy school and the last one from the Transmutation school.
• If a Mage exceeds the maximum limit of cards that can be held in hand (as indicated on the mage sheet) they must discard the surplus cards to their memories (discard pile).
• When a player has to draw and does not have any more cards in their Grimoire, shuffle your memories to create a new Grimoire deck.
• At any point during the Study Phase, a player may remove a spell from their hand by discarding it to the discard pile of the school to which the spell belongs. Be aware that removing cards from your Grimoire in this fashion is a very important system as it allows you to “lighten” it from the less useful spells related to your strategy, making the following draws more efficient.

Study Phase Example

It’s the Study Phase of the player controlling Nero, whose maximum hand limit is 7 cards. At the moment he has 4 cards in his hand, that he has kept from previous turns.

1. First of all, he draws 2 cards from his Grimoire and adds them to his hand, taking his hand to 6 cards.
2. Immediately after, he draws 4 cards from the Library (3 cards from the Destruction Magic School and 1 from the Transmutation School), hoping to find a combat spell. He studies the 4 cards and decides which are the 2 to keep.
3. At this point the player would have 8 cards in hand, 1 more than Nero’s maximum limit. The player is required to discard the excess card, choosing it from any of the cards in his hand. The discarded card must be placed in his memories (discard pile).
4. He also decides to remove one of the cards from his hand, because it is no longer related to his strategy; he places that card on the discard pile of its relative Magic School.

Phase 3: Preparation Phase

In this phase each player chooses their strategy to carry out in their following Action Phase.

Each player must place from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 4 spell cards in front of themselves, face-down onto their Mage Sheet. If you recall each spell has two different effects/direction (standard or reversed). Play the cards face down in the order and orientation that you wish to play them.

( A ) The active side of the card corresponds to the orientation you choose:

• A mage must place one of these spell cards onto the Quick Spell position. The Preparation Phase ends when all Mages have placed the Spell Cards on their Mage’s sheet.
• Pay attention to the placement on the Mage’s sheet and which side or effect will be revealed. The chosen effect when the Spell is still covered is clearly indicated on the Mage’s sheet by the text “Active side”; and when it is revealed, by the text “Revealed Active side”.
• Once this phase is over it will be no longer possible to reverse or change the position of the Spells.

This Phase is one of the most important ones of the game. During this phase, by placing the cards, you decide the resolution order of the spells (from left to right: 1 to 3) and the effect that they will have in the next phase. You need to be clever and try to predict the moves of your adversaries in order to anticipate them.

The Quick Spell ( A ) is particularly important because it is the only spell allowing you to disregard the placement order of the spells during the Action Phase. It can be played at any time during your own activation in the Action Phase, respecting the rules described in the following paragraph.

Preparation Phase Example

Tessa has secretly prepared a Protection as first Spell ( 1 ), two Combat Spells as second ( 2 ) and third ( 3 ), and an Acid Explosion as Quick Spell ( A ), in this way she can cast it as soon as she will have a target within range in any of her activations during the next Action Phase.

Action Phase Overview

During this phase the strategy, which has been planned in the previous phase, will take shape. Before starting this phase, it is important to check the active Events located on the Event Board and note when they will occur.

In addition to the Spells placed on the Mage’s sheet, each player has 2 Physical Action Tokens available:

1. Move: Move up to 2 rooms and activate (optional) the room where you are located at the end of the movement.
2. Attack: Inflict 2 damage to a target present in the room, and then activate (optional) that room.
3. Each time an Action Token is used, that token must be flipped.

Starting from the First turn player and proceeding clockwise, each Mage on their turn can perform one of these combinations:

• A. Physical Action
• B. Physical Action + Physical Action
• C. Physical Action + Standard Spell
• D. Physical Action + Quick Spell
• E. Standard Spell + Quick Spell
• F. Standard Spell or Quick Spell

Golden Rules of the Action Phase

• The only combination you cannot use is to cast two Standard Spells.
• Whatever combination you choose it can be performed in any order.
• Each action must be resolved and completed in sequence. It is never possible to divide a Physical Action in half (for example, to move 1 step, then cast a Spell and finally complete the movement).
• When using a Physical Action it is not possible to move and attack. You must choose either to move or attack, then optionally activate the room.
• None of the Mages can pass if they have the ability to play at least 1 spell or 1 physical action token.
• It is not possible to inflict damage on yourself or your evocations; when one of your spells would do so ignore the effect.
• A Mage may opt to discard an un-activated spell card to Move to one adjacent room (Note: they do NOT get to attack or activate this room, only move). This action may be mandatory if the Mage is in their cell and on previous turns they used all of their Physical Action tokens, since a mage can only finish their turn in their Cell if they have used all of their Action Tokens and their Ready Spells.

Action Phase Examples

EXAMPLE 1: It’s Nero’s turn, and he decides to use one of his two Physical Actions ( A ) so he flips the first action token. Using it, he can move 2 rooms to get closer to his enemy. Nero closes his combination by playing a Spell: “Fireball”! ( B ) Nero had already planned everything!

It’s now the turn of the next Mage in clockwise order from Nero, in this case Rebecca. She does not have any Physical Actions left to play and having already played her first Spell, she decides to reveal 2 of her ready spells, one “standard” spell and the Quick one. First she reveals the Quick spell “Summon Obscurity” ( C ) and resolves it to summon an Undead. Right after that she reveals the placed Spell “Obscurity Grasp” ( D ) and resolves its effects to have the undead act immediately!

EXAMPLE 2: Tessa decides this is not the right moment to reveal her spells. She decides to play only one Physical Action ( A ) to move and activate the room she moved into. She moves 2 steps into the Bibliotheca Room and then activates it ( B ) to resolve the effect, she decides then to draw 1 card from the Transmutation Magic School ( C ).

Room Activation Example

Activating the Throne Room grants the Mage the First player Crown token ( A ). The Activation Token of the Room is flipped ( B ).

In this case, it’s important to point out that even though the first player token has changed hands, the effects do not come into play until the beginning of the next Black Rose Phase.

Spell Mechanics

Spell Types

The first symbol on the Spell Card identifies its type:

• Combat: These Spells allow you to damage your adversaries directly.
• Contingency: Spells to summon, to gain Power, to move quickly, to draw quests, etc…
• Protection: Spells that, once activated, trigger when a target fills a specified trigger condition. The trigger is listed on the card, for example entering a room of a certain color.
• Traps: Spells that, once activated, trigger when the target performs something particular specified on the card, as for example entering a room of a certain color.

Trap and Protection Spells

The Trap and Protection Spells are activated only in certain situations.

• Protection: When a Mage activates a Protection Spell they do not reveal it, instead place a Protection Token on the card to show the other players that it has been activated. Each Protection card specifies the condition that must be met to use the spell (for example when the mage takes damages or if the mage is being moved by a spell). When the condition occurs (and only then) a mage can choose to reveal and resolve the Protection spell. The card can remain there activated until it is used.
• Traps: When a mage activates a Trap it is not revealed, instead place a Trap Token on the card to show the other players it has been activated, and from now on it can be triggered. Each Trap card specifies the condition that must be met to use the trap. When the condition occurs (and only then) a mage can choose to reveal and resolve the Trap. The card can remain there activated until it is used.

There are two types of Traps:

1. Effect Traps: Use the standard Trap rules listed above: when a certain condition occurs, they are revealed to apply their effect.
2. Room Traps: Unlike all the other Spells in the game, do not have a different card reading direction (no “reverse” side). Each Trap lists one or more colors. Whenever a Mage or Evocation enters a room (voluntarily or not) with a matching color the trap may be triggered. When this occurs flip the card and resolve any effects listed. Note that no matter how many colors are listed, only the room that triggers the trap is affected by it. If a model is already in a room which is target of the trap, or moves out of the room, the trap cannot be triggered. Once it is triggered for one of the two effects, the Trap is used and it cannot also be triggered for the opposite effect.

Resolution Rules:

• Traps and Protections will interrupt the turn of another player in response to their actions. The activation of traps and protections should be resolved entirely before the triggering player’s turn continues.
• If a mage is defeated by a trap on their turn, end their activation immediately. The game proceeds with the next player.
• Once triggered and with their effect resolved, Traps and Protections can no longer be used for the rest of the turn.
• During the Clean up Phase, if a Protection has not been activated yet, it should be discarded into the memories, as if it had been played. A Trap which is not triggered can be taken back in hand to be played in the next turn.

Trap and Protection Examples

EXAMPLE 1: It’s Rebecca’s turn and she plays her first spell ( 1 ) and her Quick Spell ( 2 ), respectively a trap and a protection. She declares them both activated and places their respective tokens on the back of the cards without revealing them. The Trap is “Blade Barrage”, which can affect red or green rooms. The Protection is “Obscure Armour”, it avoids the next damage and inflicts 1 Wound to her attacker. This ends her turn.

Now it’s Nero’s turn. He is in his cell and decides to use an Action to move 2 rooms to reach Rebecca’s side, he ends his movement in the “Evocation Room”. Unluckily for him this room is red and Rebecca decides to trigger her trap! She reveals the Trap Card ( A ) and inflicts 3 Area damage in the room, thus 3 damage to Nero. Rebecca cannot damage herself with her own spells so she gets out unharmed.

At the end of his action, Nero activates the room and summons Cerbero, then he decides to reveal his quick spell, “Destructive Bolt”. He places an Instability Token in the room where he cast the Spell and targets Rebecca to inflict 3 damage to her… At this point Rebecca triggers her Protection Card ( B ) that avoids the damage and inflicts 1 Wound to her attacker.

EXAMPLE 2: Tessa activates a Physical Action to move to the Forge room and she passes through the Laboratory to reach it. Rebecca has an active Trap card for the red rooms and she decides to activate it as soon as Tessa enters the Laboratory. Tessa must interrupt her current action to suffer the effect of Rebecca’s Trap, dealing 3 damage to her ( C ). Tessa had already suffered 8 damage prior to this, she is defeated and sent back to her Cell ( D ) (see Damage and Defeat pg 30). Due to her defeat, Tessa cannot complete her action and she ends her turn. She has to wait for the next turn to get out of her Cell and to continue her plans.

Targets and Spell Range

Every effect of a revealed spell has a target to select and a range within which this target is selected. There are 4 selectable types of targets:

• Special: Any element of the game which has not been previously listed. For example the Event Board or the Library.
• Oneself: The Mage who cast the spell.
• Single: A single target on the board, either Mage or Evocation. It is never possible to select yourself.
• Area: A room on the board. Notice that, according to the text of the effect, sometimes this type of spell will hit all targets within the room, while other times it may affect the room itself.

In the lower right of the target icon, either Single or Area, there is always a number (from 0 to *).

Calculating Range:

• The range is in a straight line from the room where the spell is cast (or triggered) and it is calculated by the number of rooms away from the target in a straight line.
• When the range is indicated as *, it means that any room or target can be selected on the board (ignoring straight lines and distance).
• It is important to remember that the Starting Cell of a Mage is never selectable.

Spell Cast Example

Nero plays the straight side of “Meteor Swarm”. Malacoda is the only available target for the spell as Tessa is not in the shooting line and Rebecca is out of range. Malacoda then suffers 4 damage and he is out of the game.

Damage, Defeat & Instability

Damage and Defeat

Every time a Mage plays a card with an effect like “Inflict X Damage” they have to take as many damage tokens of their color as the inflicted damage states. Place those tokens on the adversary’s life bar or on the Target Evocation Card.

When the Damage Tokens on a Mage’s life bar reaches the number of the Mage’s Health Points the Mage is considered defeated; the same is true for the Evocations that can take damage (at this point remove the Evocation from the board and discard the card).

When a mage is defeated, return them to their cell, count the damage tokens based on color and award power points based on the following chart:

• 1° place (most damage dealt): 4 Power Points
• 2° place: 2 Power Points
• Participation (any others that dealt any damage): 1 Power Point each
• Single attacker: If there are damages of only one mage, only himself takes points and in total 5.
• Ties: In the case of a tie, the players sharing the first or the second position will take 1 Power Point less than they should take.

After Defeat:

1. After all players have gained their power points, all Damage Tokens are removed and returned to the mages.
2. The defeated Mage is placed in their starting cell where they can begin to act again on their next turn.
3. They are still required to leave the room through a Physical Action if they still have Action Tokens available, or by discarding 1 ready card from their mage board to their memories (discard pile), to move 1 step to an adjacent room. A mage can only finish their turn in their Cell if they have used all of their Action Tokens and their Ready Spells.
4. The Mage who has launched the final killing blow takes a Trophy Token from the defeated Mage (Trophy tokens will award victory points at the end of the game!).

Optional Rule: To Rage

This rule removes the Health Point limit to damage that can be inflicted on a Mage. On the final blow, any inflicted damage that overcomes the value of the Health Points of the target mage, can exceed the number of health points indicated on the sheet.

This rule changes the tactical balance of the game, because the player inflicting the last damage could overtake the other players in the number of assigned wounds, enabling them to gain more Power Points.

Example: If the target Mage lacks 1 Damage to be defeated and suffers 4 more damage, the remaining 3 will add to the existing ones, even if they exceed the life bar, to calculate who gains the power points.

Defeat Example

Tessa inflicts 1 damage to Nero. With this damage Nero is defeated, at this point you proceed with the Power Points award:

• 1° place: Tessa with 6 damage tokens dealt is the first, she gains 4 PP.
• 2° place: Jafar and Rebecca have a tie for second place with 3 damage tokens each. Normally second place grants 2 PP. However in the case of a tie each player receives 1 less as stated above, so Jafar and Rebecca each get 1 PP.

Having inflicted the last damage with her killing blow, Tessa takes the Trophy token from Nero. Nero goes back to his cell, after having removed all the damage tokens he can begin again on his next turn.

Placing Instabilities

Some spells are so powerful that they generate Instability in the rooms from which they have been cast. To identify a spell that generates Instability, between the two effects in the middle of the card, you should find the symbol of the Instability vortex ().

The Instability is always produced by the mage who casts the spell.

When a Mage casts a Spell dealing instability, they take one of the Damage/Instability Tokens of their own color and place it in the room, in the appropriate space. Some spells have the ability to place extra Instabilities, in this case you follow the normal rules for target and range to target a room.

There are spells that can convert the Instability tokens. When you cast a spell (or other game effect) that does this, choose the specified number of instability tokens on the target room, of any color of your choice and replace them with your own colored instability tokens.

Destruction of a Room

When a room reaches its highest value of Instability Tokens allowed, the Mage who placed the largest number of them takes the Activation Token of the room as a reward to gain power points at the end of the game.

In case of a tie, the Activation Token of the room is taken by the Black Rose.

Remove all Instability Tokens and flip the hexagon tile to the opposite “destroyed” side, from this moment the room cannot be activated anymore, but you can still move through it.

Optional Rule: Overload

This rule removes the Instability limits that the mages can assign to a room. The Mages may continue to deal additional Instability to the room even if there is no space left. Since the destruction of the room is checked only during the Clean Up Phase it is possible for Mages to continue to deal instability in the attempt to secure the Activation Token of the room.

Example of Instability

Rebecca casts Maelstrom reversed (second effect) in the room where Tessa is located: the Oracle Room.

Rebecca places 1 Instability ( A ) in the room where she has cast the spell, the Garden, then with the second effect she inflicts 3 damages to Tessa and places 2 Instability tokens ( B ) in the room where Tessa is.

Summoning Evocations

The Evocation Spells are cast during the Action Phase. However, once summoned the Evocations act only during the Evocation Phase (unless otherwise indicated or due to the help of other spells). Some Contingency Spells (marked by the symbol ) played in the Action Phase allow the creation of Evocations.

Take from the reserve the Evocation miniature corresponding to the one described in the card and place it in a room according to the range indicated by the spell itself. If the Evocation is not present in the reserve, remove one of the matching Evocations in play of your choosing and re-evoke it under your control.

Two rooms (the Summoner Room and the Cemetery) permit a mage to summon a model to fight for them. This occurs when the mage uses the room’s Activation. Place the miniature in the activated room and take the Evocation Card corresponding to the summoned model from the Power Board and place it under the Mage’s sheet. But remember that each Mage can have a maximum of 3 Evocations in play at once.

Every Evocation space on the Mage’s sheet shows a set number of Roses, corresponding to the number of pins to be inserted on the model bases that corresponds to the Evocation card placed in that space. This helps to identify identical models under the control of the same mage.

If a mage wants to summon a new Evocation and already has three in the game, one of them can be replaced by putting the old one in the reserve.

Example of Evocation

Tessa plays the reverse effect ( A ) of the Spell “Demon’s Howl” to summon Malacoda in an adjacent room. Rebecca puts the Rose pin ( B ) in Malacoda’s base then takes the relative evocation card ( C ) and places it under the first evocation space of her Character Sheet.

Phase 5: Evocation Phase

The Evocations will act starting with the First player.

Each Evocation can move up to the limit indicated on its card ( A ) and then attack inflicting wounds equal to its attack value ( B ); it will never attack and then move.

When an Evocation inflicts damage, place the Damage tokens matching the controlling Mage’s color on the sheet or card of the target.

During their Evocation Phase, each mage can activate all of their Evocations in the order they prefer.

When an Evocation loses all its Health Points ( C ), it is removed. Remove the miniature from the board and place the corresponding card on the Power Board.

Phase 6: Clean Up Phase

This is the final phase of the turn. In this phase you will check if there are rooms which have become unstable, and if so assign the relative activation tokens and power points. You will also see if a mage, or the Black Rose, has obtained enough power points to end the game (30 Power Points).

The following steps should be executed in order:

1. Clear Spells & Reactivate Actions: The Mages remove the Spell Cards already played and place them in their Memories (discard pile), faceup, and reactivate the used Action tokens.
2. Reset Room Tokens: Flip the Activation Tokens of the Rooms you used, so that they can be activated again next turn.
3. Check for Unstable Rooms: If the number of tokens in a Room reaches the Resistance value of the Room, this Room should be considered Unstable. Count the number of Instability tokens of all the Mages that helped render the Room Unstable and assign the Activation Token of the Room to the Mage who has placed the most; they will gain the power points indicated on the token at the end of the game.
   In case of a tie, the Activation Token of the room is awarded to the Black Rose. Remove all Instability Tokens and flip the hexagon tile to the opposite “destroyed” side; from this moment the room cannot be activated anymore, but you can still move through it.
   Note: Nothing happens to the Mages and the Evocations in a room when it is destroyed, simply place them back on the destroyed side. The effects of the spells in a room will continue working even on destroyed rooms. There are only two changes to the way a room functions in the game when it is destroyed: first, mages can no longer use the room effect or activate it in any way; second, it is impossible to assign it new Instability tokens.
4. Check End of Game: Check if one of the Mages or the Black Rose has reached or exceeded the value of 30 Power Points. If so, the game ends and you start the End of the Game phase to count up all of the points and decree the new Grand Master.
   If no one has reached 30 power points yet, the game proceeds to the next turn. Each Mage keeps all of the cards that they still hold in their hand.

Counting Points

When the game is over you need to count all of the power points to find out which Mage will be the new Grand Master of the Black Rose Order! To the Power Points gained thus far each Mage will add the following bonus points:

1. Resolved Quests: Each Mage counts the number of Quests that they resolved during the game. Then check the following table to see which of them will gain more Power Points:
   • 1° place (Mage with the most completed Quests): 6 PP
   • 2° place: 3 PP
   • Participation (any other Mages with 1 or more completed Quests): 1 PP
2. Trophy tokens: Each Mage counts the number of Trophy Tokens they collected from other mages; it does not matter which Mage the tokens came from, only the amount of them. After that consult the following table:
   • 1° place (Mage with the most Trophy tokens): 4 PP
   • 2° place: 2 PP
   • Participation (any other Mages with 1 or more Trophy tokens): 1 PP
3. Unstable rooms: Each activation token acquired from destroying a room grants Power Points equal to the points indicated on the token.
4. Crown Bearer: Owning the Crown Token at the end of the game will let you gain 1 Power Point.

Ties: For Resolved Quests and Trophy tokens, in the case of a tie, the players sharing the first or the second position will take 1 Power Point less than they should take.

At the end of the count, in case of a tie between two or more players, the player who owns the crown will decide who is the new Grand Master among these.

Optional Rule: Extra Turns

If at the end of the counting, two or more Mages have the same number of power points, you continue with a playoff turn. All Mages play an extra turn following the normal rules of the game. If at the end of the turn there is no winner yet, you proceed with a new game turn, and so on until a winner arises.

At the end of every extra turn you count only points assigned by:

1. defeat of an adversary Mage
2. the assigned ones from the resolved Quests (when solved)
3. the points scored from destroyed room’s activation tokens earned during the Clean Up Phase.

Endgame Example

The turn is over and you start counting the Power Points (PP) of the endgame:

1. Resolved Quests:
   • Rebecca: 3 Quests = 1° place = 6 PP
   • Nero: 2 Quests = 2° equal with Tessa = 2 PP
   • Tessa: 2 Quests = 2° equal with Nero = 2 PP
2. Trophy Tokens:
   • Nero: 4 tokens = 1° place = 4 PP
   • Tessa: 3 tokens = 2° place = 2 PP
   • Rebecca: 1 token = participation = 1 PP
3. Unstable Rooms:
   • Tessa: 2+3+3+2 = 10 PP
   • Rebecca: 3+2 = 5 PP
   • Nero: 0 PP
4. Crown Token:
   • Nero = 1 PP

Final bonus point totals:

• Tessa = 14 PP
• Rebecca = 12 PP
• Nero = 7 PP

The Power Points accumulated during the game should be combined with the Bonus End Game points to elect the winner, in this example:

• Nero: 34 in-game PP + 7 Endgame PP = 41 PP
• Tessa: 24 in-game PP + 14 Endgame PP = 38 PP
• Rebecca: 25 in-game PP + 12 Endgame PP = 37 PP

Nero wins this game!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• I played 2 identical traps that influence the same room, can both of them be triggered?
  Yes, both of them can be triggered, and they can be resolved in the chosen order.
• I move up one step and I activate multiple Traps from different mages, in which order do they activate?
  All Traps are resolved clockwise, starting from the player that will take an action after you. If a player has additional Traps that can be triggered at the same time, they can resolve them in the order they prefer.
• Can I keep casting spells on mages who have already lost all of their Health Points?
  No, as soon as a Mage’s damage equals their maximum life value (or exceeds it in the case of the optional rule To Rage), the Mage is immediately defeated. At that point you proceed to assigning the Power Points.
• I play an Evocation inside a Room with a Trap, is this Trap triggered?
  Yes, if the Trap can hit the Evocation, this can immediately be triggered.
• I have multiple Protection Spells activated by the same effect, what happens?
  You can decide in which order you can activate them and if you even wish to activate all of them. The only condition to take into consideration is that the effect that activates them must be present at every activation. (i.e. if there are 2 protections saying “avoid the next 3 damage and you gain one power point” and after the first protection there is no more damage left to be assigned, you cannot activate the second one to gain another power point).
• I have no more cards to reveal but I still have a “Quick Spell”, can I play it as a last card?
  Yes, the Quick Spell can be played like any other spell.
• An Area Spell that was going to affect multiple Mages is cancelled by a Protection Spell, do the other Mages suffer the effects?
  No, if the Spell is cancelled, none of the hit mages suffer the effects of it.
• An Area Spell that is going to affect multiple Mages triggers my protection saying “Avoid the effect”, are the other mages affected anyway?
  Yes, to avoid the effect means that you are the only one not affected by it.
• I have been defeated and I am back in my room, I only have one Spell card left to reveal and no Actions, can I stay in my room?
  No, it is compulsory to leave your room in any way that you are able. The Spell Card can be used to make a Movement Action of 1, you cannot activate the room at the end of this movement, since it is not a Physical Action. But you are not allowed to use the spell card in any other fashion in this instance.
• When a Protection Spell or a Trap have the Instability Symbol, when do I have to place it?
  As soon as it is being triggered, if you never reveal the Protection or the Trap you cannot place the Instability Token.
• I have just drawn a Quest that I don’t like, can I discard it and draw another one?
  No, you have to wait for the next Black Rose Phase.
• I have 3 Evocations in play and I played another Evocation Spell, what happens?
  You can immediately exchange one of your evocations already in play with the new evocation. You cannot add a 4th evocation, one must be removed.
• A Trap that affects rooms of 2 colors has been triggered by one of those colors. What happens?
  If the trap has already been triggered on a Room of one color, it can no longer affect rooms of the other color.
• I am the first turn player and I want to activate the Throne Room, may I?
  Yes you can do it, this is a tactical action that helps you to keep the crown.
• A mage in his/her cell resolves a Quest, can my Trap on Quests be triggered?
  No, a Mage in his/her cell is immune to any effect.

Glossary

• Attack: Attempt to inflict physical damages to a target. The mages, for example, inflict 2 base damages thanks to his/her Action Tokens.
• Avoid: The spell has no effect on the mage who avoided or ignored it, but it hits other possible targets (link Target room Spells).
• Cancel: The effects of a spell vanish completely, no model is affected.
• Convert X: A mage can choose X Instability Tokens, or damages, and change them with his/her own ones. It’s not possible to change them if no adversary’s Token is available.
• Discard: Put one or more cards in the specific discard stack, for example the Memories in case of played Spells, and the discarded Events in case of a played Event.
• Draw: Add to your hand one or more cards from the decks in game.
• Gain PP: Gain Power Points and shift the Victory Token to the corresponding positions.
• Heal X: It removes X Damage Tokens from the Mage’s card or from one evocation.
• Ignore: see Avoid.
• Instability: Token to be placed in the room, as the Card indicates.
• Movement/Step: It is the progression in the number of rooms, every room in the path is taken into account.
• Lose PP: You lose PP and move back the Victory Token from the corresponding positions. If you can’t lose PV, let’s ignore the effect. If a card says: “The mage loses 1 PV, you gain 2 PV”, even if the target has no PV to lose, the mage gains PV in any case. It’s also used for the Actions: losing an Action implies to turn the token, as if you have used it in the turn.
• Pay: Give away something to cancel the effect of a Card. Namely: “Pay 1 Power Point and Summon a Superior Undead”. It means that if you don’t have 1 Power Point, you can’t summon a Superior Undead.
• Remove: Remove permanently an object from the game, usually Spell Cards. It can also refer to Power Points’ loss.
• Steal: In case of PP: remove from the target mage as PP as indicated, to add them to the mage who’s subtracting the points. If the target has no PP, they can’t be subtracted.
• Shift: Progress through the rooms, without crossing the rooms on the path (it’s like a teleportation).
• Summon: Take from the reserve the creature indicated by the Spell Card, or the room’s Activation Token, and place it in the target room. If there are not enough Evocations of the indicated type, take one of those on the game board, belonging to any mage, and place it under your control (link Evocations).
• Transfer: Take the tokens and move them to another target, as indicated.
• Trigger: It refers to Traps and Protections. When a mage respects the conditions to use it, and chooses to proceed, he/she reveals the card and then the effects are resolved.
• Wound: Token to be placed on a Mage’s card or on an evocation card, after a spell or an attack with damages inflicted (heart).