Labirynt Czarnoksiężnika
Labirynt Czarnoksiężnika Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
The goal of the players is to lead their team out of the labyrinth. This can be done in two ways:
- by collecting a full set of 18 gems, which will free the heroes from the magical prison;
- by using a powerful artefact called the Glove of Doom to eliminate all characters belonging to the other players.
As soon as one of the players fulfils one of the above conditions, the game ends immediately.
Components
Inside the box of Labirynt Czarnoksiężnika you will find the following components:
- 4 double-sided boards;
- 12 character cards, three for each team;
- 13 two-part figures representing characters;
- 30 plastic markers in two colours, representing gems;
- 144 tokens: 88 Finds, 10 Life (2 spare), 5 Gloves of Doom (1 spare), 8 Special (3 spare), 21 Crystals, 12 Runes;
- 2 help cards;
- 2 unique six-sided dice (k6);
- this rulebook.
The boards form the playing field over which the characters move. They are double-sided and divided into chambers with numbers. The chambers differ from one another in their layout and in the Quests to be completed. In addition, three of the chambers have no number; they are specially marked instead. These chambers are the Camp, the Teleport and the Runes. The rules for moving around the board and for using the special chambers are described in the chapter on Movement.
On the character cards, a Life token (a heart) marks the current number of Life Points (LP) of the character, as well as, using the appropriate tokens, the Armour the character has, the Weapon the character holds in hand, and the items in the Backpack. The cards also show the character's special ability, sometimes with a space for the appropriate Special token, which is kept there until its effect enters the game.
[Figure 2: diagram of a character card. Omitted.]
The character figures are two-part: they consist of a shorter base and the actual figure. The two parts must be joined by sliding the base onto the lower part of the figure.
[Figure 1: placing the figure in its base. Diagram omitted.]
Tokens are divided into six types: Finds (Weapon, Armour, Scroll, Elixir), Life (heart), Crystals, Runes, Special and Glove. Finds should be placed together (for example in a bowl) and mixed. They are drawn from this pool during the game. Crystal tokens should lie separately. If a Quest is completed, the player places one on their character card. The same applies to Rune tokens. Special tokens are placed on the cards of the appropriate characters. The remaining cards and tokens are set aside.
Plastic gem markers come in two colours. The colours have values of 5 (10 pieces) and 1 (20 pieces). They are used to mark the current number of gems a player has.
The two six-sided dice, later called "k6", have the Glove of Doom symbol on the face where the six would normally be. Therefore, if a "glove" is rolled on a die, it counts as a six.
Setup
Each player draws or chooses one of the four teams: Undead, Dwarves, Ratmen or Elves. The player then places their figures and takes the three corresponding character cards. Next, each player takes the Special tokens corresponding to their characters and two Life tokens. Finally, each player receives one gem marker, which they place beside their character cards.
Each player draws one of the four boards and chooses the side on which they want to play. They place the board in front of them. The player then chooses two characters (out of the three available to them) with which to start the game. They place the figures of these characters on the Camp chamber of their board. The character cards are placed in front of the player. On each of them, in the first window from the right of the life bar, the player places a Life token. In addition, on some cards a Special token must also be placed in the proper place. The third character remains dormant and enters the game when one of the other two is eliminated. Its card may be kept on the side for tidiness.
Note: If two participants take part in the game, an additional third, neutral board must also be drawn so that the characters have a larger area in which to complete Quests.
The players form separate piles of: Find tokens, from which they will draw during the game; Crystals, which are the rewards for completing Quests; Quest tokens (the tokens with runes); and plastic gem markers. They then place the help cards on the table: the Encounter Table and the Finds Table. All cards and tokens that are not used in the game are returned to the box.
To determine the order of play, the players roll a k6. The one with the highest result begins the game. The remaining participants join the game in turn, clockwise. In the event of a tie, the rolls are repeated until the tie is broken.
Playing the Game
The game is divided into turns of successive players. On their turn, a player makes one move with one of their characters (or, in special cases, with several characters), fights monsters or characters of other players that they meet in the labyrinth, and explores further chambers to gain new items and spells and to complete Quests. When they have carried out all available actions, they inform the other participants, and the next player begins their turn. This continues until one of the participants wins.
The general order of play is given below, and its elements are described in more detail in the following sections.
Turn order:
- I. Movement.
- II. Exploration.
- Encounter
- Chamber penetration
- Quests
I. Character Movement
Each player has one move per turn. It must be made with one of the two characters they control. A move consists of shifting a character's figure from one chamber to another. When moving a character, the following rules apply:
- a character may only move into chambers to which there is a passage (a gap in the wall);
- characters may not pass through walls;
- on their turn, a player must move one of their characters, unless this is impossible for some reason, in which case they lose the turn; a player may not voluntarily give up the move;
- a character may not enter a chamber in which three other characters already stand, regardless of which teams they belong to;
- characters may not enter the Camp chamber of a board other than their own (the one belonging to the player controlling them);
- upon entering a Teleport chamber, the board to which the character is transported must be determined immediately by a random roll of a k6; the character always moves to the Teleport chamber on the new board, but does not teleport again from there. To teleport again, two moves must be made: leaving and returning to the chamber. The player may spend 2 gems to choose the board to which the character teleports, instead of a random determination (see Crystals and Gems).
After making a move with one of the characters, the phase of Exploration must immediately begin.
II. Exploration
This is the longest phase of the game. During it, a character, among other things, fights monsters or other heroes and acquires items.
At the start of this phase, a character may change the configuration of its equipment, for example move Armour from the Backpack to the appropriate place on the card, exchange or put down a Weapon, and so on. This action may also be performed at the end of this phase, after the chamber has been penetrated.
The player may not, at this point, exchange tokens between the characters of their team.
1. Encounter
Next, the player chooses one of two options:
- if there is a character of another player in the chamber, they may (but need not) start a fight with it;
- if there are no other characters in the chamber, they make a roll on the Encounter Table.
For this purpose, they must roll two k6, add together the number of pips, and add to the result the number printed on the chamber. If there is no number on the chamber (for example in the Runes, Camp and Teleport chambers), no roll on the Encounter Table is made. The final result of the roll determines what happens. It is read in the Encounter Table under the heading "Result", and the effect of the roll is resolved. If the result indicates an encounter with a monster, a fight takes place (see Combat).
[Figure 3: diagram of the Encounter Table. Omitted; the table itself is a separate help card.]
2. Chamber Penetration
After a fight, regardless of its result, the character may penetrate the chamber:
- after defeating most monsters, a Find token is drawn from the pile;
- the player may also look at the tokens left in this chamber by other characters. These may be exchanged freely with the items in the character's Backpack (see Equipment).
3. Quests
Now comes the turn of Quests. On each board there is a Runes chamber, in which a Quest token marked with an elemental rune may be drawn, and four chambers marked identically to the Quest tokens, in which they may be completed. A character must bring the Rune to a chamber marked with the same element as the Rune it carries. The whole difficulty lies in the fact that a Quest may be drawn only on one's own board, and completed only on the board of another player.
For completing some Quests, some boards are better suited than others. However, regardless of where the Quest is completed, once a character has reached a chamber marked with the appropriate Rune, the character discards the Rune token (it is returned to the pool) and adds a Crystal token to its Backpack (see Crystals and Gems).
Runes and Crystals, like Equipment, may be freely exchanged between characters of the team, provided they stand in the same chamber.
After a character has completed Exploration, the player may either end their turn and let the next person play, or spend 1 gem and carry out a Movement and Exploration again, with the same or another character. This may be done only once per turn (see Crystals and Gems).
Combat
A fight occurs when the character of the active player (that is, the one carrying out their turn) enters a new chamber. A fight may take place between a character and a monster drawn on the Encounter Table, or between characters from two different teams.
In the first case, the monster is rolled for by the person sitting to the left of the active player. The combat always proceeds in the same way. The players add their Strength with the appropriate modifiers resulting from the Weapon or spells being used, and roll a k6, adding the result. The side that obtains the higher total wins.
If a player rolls a one on the die, they automatically lose, unless the opposing player (or the monster) also rolled a one, in which case it is a tie.
If there is a tie, nothing happens: neither side loses or gains anything.
[Formula printed in the rulebook: Character Strength + modifiers + k6.]
A character that loses a fight receives one or, sometimes, two wounds (certain beasts, for example a dragon or the Glove of Doom, inflict greater damage).
If a character has defeated a monster, the effects of the victory are determined, for example by drawing Finds. If a monster has defeated a character, the character normally loses one (or sometimes two) Life Points. Some monsters do not inflict damage, but, for example, rob the character; each of the monsters has its own unique special ability (see the Encounter Table).
If the defeated character belonged to another player, it loses one Life Point. If it has any Armour tokens, the controlling player discards one of them; if not, the Life token on the card is moved one window to the left.
[Figure 4 (Loss of a Life Point) omitted.]
In rare cases, monsters are more resilient (for example gnolls or a dragon). In such a case, to obtain the reward, the monster must be defeated twice in a row. If even one of the clashes ends in a tie or in a loss for the character, there is no reward. Some beasts, for example the Acid Monster, also cause specific effects after combat. For example, if a character wins a fight against the Monster, the weapon that was used during the fight must be discarded (it is dissolved by the creature's acid digestive fluids). When a character wins a fight against a monster, then in most cases it may take as a reward the Find token(s) whose number is given in the Encounter Table. Sometimes it may also add a gem to its "treasury" (the pool of gems lying beside the character cards).
During the game, it may happen that the character of one player enters a chamber occupied by two characters of another player. If the active player decides to attack one of the characters, the defending player may decide that the two characters fight together. In such a case, the Strength of both characters is added together when determining the result (the defending player still rolls only one k6!), but in case of defeat, both defending characters lose one Life Point each. If they win, they still inflict only one wound, not two!
Characters from different teams may not defend together. Two characters may not attack together. If in a chamber there is one character each of player A and player B, and a second character of player A enters it, then that character may fight the opponent's character only alone.
Three chambers have a special influence on combat:
- the Camp chamber on a board controlled by a team is a place which the characters of other players may not enter. No roll on the Encounter Table is made there, so a fight never takes place there;
- the Runes chamber is also not marked with any number, so encounters are never drawn there, but a fight with characters belonging to hostile teams may take place there;
- the Teleport chamber differs from the Runes chamber in that, at the moment a character enters it during the Movement phase, it is immediately transferred to another Teleport chamber on one of the other boards. If a character from another team is in the entry Teleport chamber, it may not be attacked: the active character is transferred before it can explore the chamber. The exit Teleport chamber, however, is treated normally: a fight may take place there, and tokens may be collected from it, and so on. Since the Teleport chamber bears no number, an Encounter is never drawn there either.
A character that has lost all of its Life Points is removed from the board. When this happens, the third character of the same team that was set aside "wakes up" in the Camp chamber: the figure of the dead character is taken off and the figure of the new one is placed in the Camp. The same character may be reborn any number of times, unless it died by means of the Glove of Doom. In that case it dies permanently and is removed from the game.
In the chamber where a character died, all Find and Crystal tokens which it carried at the moment of death must be left behind. A Rune token it carried is returned to the Rune pile.
If the character was using a Special ability, it must be removed from the board (for example, if the Elven Druid had previously created a Tree of Life, the Tree is removed from the board).
Equipment
The game contains several kinds of items, represented by Find tokens. They are:
- Weapon;
- Armour;
- Scrolls of Spells and Incantations (see Magic);
- Elixir.
A character may carry all items in its Backpack and is able to use most of them. The exceptions are the Incantations and Spells and, sometimes, Armour. Items also include the Crystals earned for completing Quests. Tokens placed in the Backpack may be laid so that other players cannot see what the character carries. The size of the Backpack is characteristic for each character: no more items may be kept in the Backpack than there are windows on the card. Only one item may be kept in each window. If a character has a full Backpack and acquires another item, it must make room for it by placing a discarded item in the chamber where it stands.
Any number of identical items may be kept in the Backpack, for example two helmets and two swords; the only limit is the space. In addition, the card has a separate place for the "actively" used Weapon (always) and Armour (depending on the character, 0, 1 or 2 windows).
The configuration of items used and carried in the Backpack may be changed at the beginning and at the end of one's turn, so that, before the k6 is rolled in a fight, it is known which weapon the character uses, what armour it wears, and so on.
During chamber penetration, a character may discard and pick up any number of items, and characters of the same team may freely exchange items with each other, provided they are in the same chamber.
When a character dies, all the item tokens it carries are left in the chamber where it died.
Items may be left in the Camp chamber, where they are safe from theft. A dormant character entering the game may immediately add them to its equipment.
In addition, when a character carrying a Crystal enters its Camp, the Crystal automatically turns into 5 gems, and its token returns to the pile.
If an item is destroyed or used up (for example a drunk elixir or a used-up scroll), its token must be put back into the Find pile. Nothing is lost in the labyrinth.
[Side panel text in the printed rulebook:]
- Each Weapon adds to the strength of the character carrying it a specified modifier (+1 / +2 / +3), and may be destroyed only in specific circumstances (through the use of magic, the special abilities of monsters, spells, and so on). Each character may wield only one Weapon at a time.
- Each element of Armour (breastplate or helmet) may be worn by a character, provided the card has room for it. Only one identical element of armour may be put on at a time, i.e. one can never "actively" wear two helmets or two breastplates at the same time. When a character receives a wound, it first removes an Armour token, and only then reduces its LP.
- The Elixir of Life may be kept in the Backpack and used to recover 1 LP at any moment of one's turn, even right after a lost fight. If, however, as a result of a fight the character dies, it is not able to use the elixir.
- Scrolls of Spells and Incantations are carried in the Backpack and may be used at any moment, according to the specified rules. A description of all Spells and Incantations is given in the Finds Table on a separate card, and the general rules are set out in the chapter on Magic.
Crystals and Gems
Crystals and Gems, which the characters obtain in the labyrinth of Kha'il, are saturated with powerful magic. This power will allow one of the teams to break free from the sorcerer's rule and save its life. In the game, it is important to distinguish between Crystals, represented by tokens, and Gems, represented by markers.
Crystals are obtained by completing Quests: one completed Quest gives one Crystal, which is placed in the Backpack of the character that completed the Quest. At the moment a character carrying a Crystal enters its Camp, the Crystal automatically turns into five Gems.
Gems have several possible uses, the most important of which is, of course, victory in the game, and in addition:
- 1 Gem: an additional move of one of the characters of the team; may be used once per turn;
- 2 Gems: a single re-roll of any k6, including one rolled by an opponent;
- 2 Gems: choosing the board to which a character teleports, instead of the random determination by a k6;
- 3 Gems: are needed to create a Glove of Doom (see Glove of Doom).
Crystals are always kept in the character's Backpack and, until they turn into Gems, are useless. Gems, on the other hand, are never kept in the Backpack, but are controlled by the player, and nobody other than that player has access to them. At the moment a Crystal turns into Gems, or when a monster is defeated (which, apart from a Find, gives a Gem), the appropriate number of them is simply added to the player's "treasury".
Gems should be kept in a place visible to the other players, beside the character cards.
Magic
Some Finds enable characters to use powerful magic. These are the Scrolls of Spells and Incantations. Only characters whose cards bear the words "Incantations", "Spells" or "Incantations and Spells", respectively, may use these scrolls. Each character may keep them in the Backpack or use them to create a Special item.
Spells and Incantations may be cast at any moment of one's turn, or at the moment the character has been attacked. During combat, spells are cast in the following order: defending player, attacking player, defending player, attacking player, and so on, until the magic tokens run out.
Not more than one Spell or Incantation may be cast at a time, unless the opponent will not use any more of them during that fight. Any number of copies of the same scroll may be kept, and an identical Spell or Incantation may be used several times in one fight, provided one has a corresponding number of copies.
A cast Spell or Incantation is, after use, placed on the Find pile: scrolls are single-use. The exact way each scroll works is described on a separate card in the Finds Table.
Quests
The basic way to finish the game is to gather a sufficient number of Gems. To do this, characters must complete Quests, which are rewarded with Crystals, and the Crystals can then be exchanged for Gems. Each character that enters the Runes chamber on its own board draws from the pile one elemental Rune, which it must carry to the appropriate chamber (on another board). The player places it on the character's card in the space provided for it. The Rune token is placed face down, so that opponents do not know which Quest the character is pursuing. A character may hold only one Quest Rune at a time, and it may not discard it in order to draw a new one. Runes may, however, be exchanged between characters of the team on the same basis as items.
Quest tokens are marked with the same Runes as some of the chambers. After a Quest has been drawn, the character should go to another board and enter the chamber marked with the same element as the Rune it carries. The token is then returned to the pool, and the character takes a Crystal token, which turns into Gems upon delivery to its own Camp. If a character died before completing its Quest, it loses the Quest: the Rune token is returned to the pool.
Special Abilities and Special Tokens
Each character has a Special Ability described on its card, which it may use in specific situations. Some abilities work in every situation and their use requires no additional conditions. For example, Eriald the Hunter wins a fight automatically when he rolls a six on the die.
Other abilities (for example the trap of the dwarf Wolsung) allow the creation of certain lasting effects. However, they require that certain conditions be met: the use of a Find token (it is discarded to the Find pile) and a roll of a k6, as described on the card of the given character. There are four different kinds of Special tokens in the game, one for each team:
- Trap (two pieces);
- Zombie (figure);
- Corrosive Cloud (two pieces);
- Tree of Life (one piece).
If a Special token is in the game, it must be placed in one of the chambers on the board. If not, it remains on the character's card. The exception is the Zombie: while it is not in the game, its figure lies on the Necromancer's card; when it is in the game, the space on the card becomes the Zombie's Backpack (which may hold one Find token or one Crystal).
Unless the card states otherwise, the special abilities of characters may be used only at the end of the Exploration phase (i.e. if Wolsung wants to set a Trap, he must first explore the given chamber).
Note: The effects of Special tokens take place before all other actions. For example, if a Trap is in a chamber, a character of another player who enters that chamber must first check the effects of the Trap, and only then may it proceed to exploring the chamber, fighting, and so on.
Furthermore, if a character of one player is already in a chamber, and another character enters that chamber and uses its Special Ability, that ability does not work on the character that was already standing there. It will act only when that character returns to the chamber in which the Special Ability was used.
Abilities may not be used in the Camp and Teleport chambers. If effect tokens end up in these chambers, e.g. a Corrosive Cloud randomly lands on a Teleport, the tokens are returned to the character's card.
Glove of Doom
The Glove of Doom is a unique, very powerful magical artefact, capable of causing great destruction, delivering final death, and perhaps even killing the wicked sorcerer Kha'il. It may be created by any character in its own Camp from the following elements:
- 3 gems;
- 1 element of any Armour;
- 1 Weapon of any kind;
- 1 Spell or Incantation of any kind.
The elements used to create the Glove of Doom are discarded to the Find pile. Once created, the Glove grows permanently (until death) onto the body of the character that created it and may not be removed. It has the following properties:
- it is placed on the card instead of a Weapon;
- a character wearing the Glove of Doom may not actively use any armour;
- only one Glove of Doom may be present per team, which means that only one character of the team may use it at a time;
- it may not be discarded in any way, kept in the Backpack or given to another character;
- it is indestructible as long as the character wearing it lives; when the hero dies, the Glove crumbles (the token is set aside);
- it is not a Weapon, so no spells, Incantations or abilities that normally act on Weapons work on it;
- the character wearing it inflicts 2 wounds instead of one and receives +3 to Strength during combat;
- if a character deals wounds with the Glove that cause the death of another character, the character dies permanently and may not be reborn again in the Camp. It must be removed from the game and its figure and card set aside.
End of the Game
The game may end in two ways:
- the team that first gains 18 gems wins;
- the team that, using the Glove of Doom, eliminates all characters belonging to the other teams taking part in the game wins.
Once one of the above criteria is fulfilled, the game is considered finished.
FAQ
Q: To construct the Glove of Doom, must one collect one of the following elements or all of them? (3 gems, 1 element of any Armour, 1 Weapon of any kind, 1 Spell or Incantation of any kind)
A: All six elements must be collected.
Q: Does a Zombie occupy a chamber like an ordinary character?
A: Yes. The Zombie acts as a full character. It has its own move, a Backpack for one item on the Necromancer's card, and occupies a place in the chamber. It may fight characters of other players, and Special tokens act on it. The only difference is that it does not roll on the Encounter Table when entering a new chamber.
Q: When using the Haste spell and the Teleport spell, may one enter or pass through a chamber in which three characters already stand?
A: No. If three characters are in a chamber, then not even a momentary passage or appearance in it by means of magic is possible. There must be room for the character for it to be able to use the effects of these scrolls.
Q: May I use the Change of Fate spell to modify a roll on the Encounter Table?
A: Yes. With the help of this spell, any roll may be modified, even after it has been made. 2 may be either added to or subtracted from the result.
Q: Why are there so many Special tokens?
A: Losing any of these tokens would spoil the fun of the game, so just in case we added one extra Special token to each box (1 Trap, 1 Corrosive Cloud and 1 Trap) and 2 extra Life tokens.
[The printed answer lists "Trap" twice; transcribed as printed. The component list above gives the numbers of each token.]
Q: Should tokens left on the board be face up or face down?
A: Every time a token is left on the board, it should be "face up", that is, with the Backpack symbol facing down.
End of the printed rulebook.