Espada Negra: Juego de Mesa – Edición Dormenia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Manual
  • What you need
  • Card icons
  • Victory
  • Production
  • Attack
  • Espionage
  • Initial condition
  • Starting the game
  • End of turn
  • Attack
  • Espionage
  • End of the game
• Reglamento
  • Tie-break options

Manual

What you need

You will need something to keep count with. In a desperate case paper and pencil will do, but for comfortable play it is best to have counters. The cheapest and most suitable option may be dried beans.

These beans are used to keep track of how much gold each player has at any moment. On the first turn each player has ten of these points.

Card icons

Now look at the icons that appear on each card. These are the only things you need to worry about during your first games.

Victory

This is the value included within the banner icon. The goal of the game is to accumulate cards with victory points. At the end of the game each player adds up the total victory values of all cards in their possession. The player with the most will win.

Do not let victory cards pass by; they are the only way to win.

Production

This is the value included within the coin icon. At the start of each turn each player gains as many gold points as the total production of the cards in their possession.

Having cards with production is very important because it lets you keep buying more cards.

Attack

This is the value included within the shield-with-two-crossed-swords icon. Players with attack cards can obtain one card per turn by skipping the ordinary auction. This has its own rules, which appear later.

Attack capacity is extremely important and must be analyzed with great care.

Espionage

This is the value included within the hand icon. Players with espionage can prevent other players from acquiring cards. This is explained later.

Using espionage wisely can completely block an opponent.

Initial condition

This is the text that appears in the lower box of each card. It is used to create different games so that experienced players face different challenges. It is applied by drawing a number of cards from the deck and applying their conditions for the whole game. Do not use it until you are accustomed to the basic game.

Starting the game

First, give ten gold points to each player. This is their initial reserve, which will change over the turns, and it is what they will use to buy cards.

Next, reveal six cards.

Auction each card in the order in which it was revealed. Each player moves a closed fist forward holding the amount of gold they want to offer, and the amounts are revealed once everyone is ready.

It is important to also cover the remaining gold, since otherwise a player's offer could be deduced.

The total amount of gold each player holds at any moment is public.

Once all players have moved their hand forward with their offer, everyone reveals it. The player with the highest bid obtains the auctioned card and pays the gold offered. The other players keep their gold.

In case of a tie, the player with the most remaining gold obtains the card. If the remaining gold is also tied, the card is discarded.

Cards obtained during a turn do not function that turn. This only matters for attack cards, so you may turn them ninety degrees to indicate this.

End of turn

When all the cards of the turn have been auctioned, you must carry out a series of steps:

Each player gains as many gold points as the production of their cards indicates. This gold will be used to bid on other cards.

Each player straightens their turned cards.

The auctioneer passes their position to the player on their left.

Six new cards are revealed.

A new turn begins.

Attack

At some point in the game one or more players will normally obtain attack cards. In this case they may declare their intention to attack a card after the previous card has been auctioned and before this one is auctioned.

If a player decides to attack a card, the game waits for other players who also want to join the attack. When everyone who wishes to join the attack has done so, the card goes to the player with the most total attack. In case of a tie, the card is auctioned among all players.

It is only possible to attack once per turn, whether or not a card is obtained, so it is good practice to turn all attack cards ninety degrees to show and remind that the player has already attacked.

If a card's attack symbol is reddened with blood, that card is a "Berserker", a type of warrior who does not protect themselves adequately in combat. As a result, a card of this type that attacks cannot attack again in the same game.

Espionage

When a player obtains a card, a player with espionage may prevent that card from passing to their control. To do this they must mark cards under their control whose combined espionage is equal to or greater than the gold invested or their total attack at that moment (not counting, of course, berserkers that have already attacked).

In this case the first player must pay the corresponding resources (they lose the gold if it was an auction, or lose their attack for that turn if it was an attack), and does not obtain the card.

The player who marked their espionage cards may not use them again for the rest of the game to perform this action or any other espionage action. For all purposes it is as if they had no espionage. The player must mark these cards clearly, for example by separating them into another area of the table.

It is also possible to cancel an espionage action by using cards whose combined espionage is equal to or greater than the espionage used for the first espionage action. The espionage marked by both players may not be used again in that game.

End of the game

The game continues turn after turn until there are not enough cards left to auction a full turn. For example, if only four cards remain, they are not auctioned but discarded.

At that point each player adds up the victory of all their cards. The player with the most total victory wins the game.

Reglamento

Note from the Reglamento: if what you are looking for is how to play Espada Negra, consult the Manual above. What follows is the detailed explanation of the particular rules. The basic rules are those printed on the back of the game box, which are reproduced here updated.

1. Each player begins the game with ten gold points.
2. At the start of each turn, six cards are revealed.
3. At the start of each turn each player gains as much gold as the cards they have acquired indicate.
4. Cards are auctioned in the order in which they were revealed. In case of a tie a tie-break rule must be applied (see below).
5. Before the auction of each card, players with attack cards may decide to attack it. In this case the card is obtained by whoever has the most attack. In case of a tie the card is auctioned normally.
6. Each player may attack only once per turn.
7. Cards acquired during the current turn may not be used during that turn.
8. The game continues until there are not enough cards left to carry out a complete turn of auctions.
9. At the end of the game the winner is the player with the most victory points, adding those of all the cards they have acquired.
10. Optionally, at the start of the game one or more cards may be removed at random to apply their initial conditions.
11. Berserker cards (attack value printed between exclamation marks) may attack only once per game.
12. When a player obtains a card, another player may mark cards under their control whose combined espionage is equal to or greater than the gold invested or the first player's total attack at that moment. In this case the first player does not obtain the card, and the resources invested are lost.
13. It is possible to cancel espionage actions in the same way, by marking cards whose combined espionage is equal to or greater than the espionage invested in the action to be cancelled.
14. Espionage cards may only be marked once.

As can be seen in this version of the Reglamento, ties must be resolved to avoid an indefinite tie situation. The Hermandad proposes the following ways of doing so:

The way ties are resolved greatly changes the perception of the game itself. The internal auctioneer creates a certain social play and brings about certain confrontations with a dynamic that is dull. The external auctioneer is also fun, but keeps one player out of the fun. It may be interesting in certain tournaments where a referee is available. The secret auction method is very competitive and extremely objective, but it is less dynamic than the other two.

You may try different approaches to see which fits your play group best, or you may even invent your own, which the Hermandad would be glad to receive on its forum.

Tie-break options

Internal auctioneer: One player is designated at random to act as auctioneer. This player starts the game with one less gold point, but decides the assignments in case of a tie, and will normally do so in their own favor. At the end of the turn this privilege passes to the player on their left, who in turn passes it on at the end of the following turn, and so on indefinitely.

External auctioneer: In this mode a referee or auctioneer conducts the auction. Ties are not possible, and the referee simply indicates who spoke first.

Secret auction: Players make their bids in secret. In case of a tie the card is obtained by the player with the most remaining gold. If this criterion is also tied, the card is discarded (no one obtains it). To make the auction truly secret, the simplest way is to keep the amount bid in a closed hand, but the total amount of gold is public. For this reason you must also hide the gold you do not bid.