Le Dernier Verset

Le Dernier Verset Rulebook

Table of Contents

Presentation of the Game

Although the structure of the game follows the rules of Blackjack very closely, it was essential to add modifications, additions and ways to affect the course of a game through different game effects, so as to move away from the strict casino Blackjack experience.

This section of the rules contains everything you need to know to play The Last Verse. The narrative is in a section titled "The Flayed Missal" (Le Missel Ecorché), which is strongly recommended reading to immerse yourself in the game's universe.

1) The Game Components

To play The Last Verse, you will need the following:

A deck of 52 playing cards. The 52-card deck was created entirely for the game. The question of how many 52-card decks to include in the shoe was considered, but it quickly became clear that this only matters in casinos, where real money is at stake, and that it is simply a way for a casino to make counting the remaining cards nearly impossible (only Rain Man could manage it!). On the contrary, letting you show an excellent memory is an interesting way to bring a little more control into the game.

Note: for those who prefer the print-and-play version, any 52-card deck can be used. Beautiful ones are even available commercially.
The 20 Verse cards. The Verses embody your sins, physically present in Abigail's saloon. You will have to confront all these regrets and remorse in a series of duels.
The special abilities: 16 cards to print. The player can acquire them over the course of the game. The abilities are described in detail below.
Optional cards: the game includes a number of "variants" that can be combined as you wish, and which include specific cards. For example, the "Bar" drink cards or the awe-inspiring and intimidating tunes of the "Cursed Organ".
Soul tokens. The tokens resemble casino chips. They are themed in an "Art Nouveau" style and are used to count how many souls the player has left.
A playmat. Those who know the designer well know how much he loves playmats for games, so one was created for The Last Verse, although it is of course entirely optional. Anyone who has bought the game will have access to the playmat file, which must be printed by your own means.

2) Card Overview

a) Verse Cards

These are the game's opponents. At each stage of your Redemption, you draw two of them and must choose one.

Description of the elements on the card:

The name, the illustration and the unresolved problem have no effect on the game itself. They explore the theme of the game. The unresolved problems give an idea of the troubles, mistakes and damage, including damage to oneself, that the Pistolero has left behind throughout his life, and which he must try to face in order to earn his absolution.
The difficulty. It is measured from 1 to 3 using an icon of a small blue demonic flame called the gall (Fiel). The number of icons simply indicates the difficulty of the Verse the player faces. This has direct consequences for the Blackjack hand, as explained later in the section on how a duel is played.
The ability. Each Verse has a unique special ability that changes the rules of Blackjack more or less when you face it. The abilities are explicit and need no special glossary.

b) Special Ability Cards

Special abilities will be a great help to the player. They can be obtained in several ways, the main one being to buy them by spending gall.

In general, you do not choose the special ability you gain; you draw it at random.

Description of the elements on the card:

The name and the illustration. As with the Verse cards, these two elements are there for thematic reasons and have no effect on the game itself.
The special ability. This is the most important part for the player. It is the effect triggered when the card is played. Most cards are discarded after use (see Type below).
The type. There are three types of special ability cards, represented by a logo with a different letter and colour.
Activatable special abilities: when you trigger them, you apply their effect and turn them face down. They will not be available in the next duel. They can therefore be activated every other duel.
Unique special abilities: few in number and very powerful, they are single-use. As soon as they are activated, they are consumed and removed from the game until the end of the campaign.
Permanent special abilities: they give the player an unlimited passive effect. These are valuable cards, constantly active.

WARNING! You may hold at most 4 special ability cards in hand; any excess must be discarded. A Permanent card played in front of you does not count toward your hand limit.

c) Playing Cards and Their Values

As explained earlier, The Last Verse contains a complete 52-card deck, split across the four traditional suits: hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds.

The value of cards in play is as follows:

Number cards: their point value equals their number. For example, a 7 is worth 7 points, a 3 is worth 3.
Face cards: the Jacks, Queens and Kings are all worth 10 points.
Aces: these cards are flexible, as their value can be 1 or 11, whichever suits you. For example, you have the following hand: 2, Ace, 4. At this stage your hand is worth 2+11+4=17. Feeling bold, you decide to draw one more card and get a 6. That would bust you with 23. You then decide that your Ace is worth only 1, and the new value of your hand is 2+1+4+6=13. You can then keep drawing if you wish!

d) Other Cards

There are other cards in the game that may be important.

These cards are OPTIONAL. They are variants that you can include as you wish. You may choose to use all of the variants, none of them, or only one or two.

These cards are as follows:

The Forgotten Psalm (Le Psaume Oublié): the name of the spiritual saloon in which you find yourself after your death. It is a strange place, and more active than one might think. Three sets of 6 cards can be activated during play: the Bar, the Cursed Organ and the Shadow Spectators. The detailed operation of these three variants is explained later, in the "Variants" part of the rulebook.
The Glass of Forgiveness (Le Verre du Pardon): this special card is linked to the proprietor of the establishment, Abigail Crowley. A mysterious and endearing person, she takes care of all the lost souls in her domain. For a donation, this card allows you to survive a duel without harm (see Variants).

3) Campaign Structure

a) Souls

You start the game with 13 souls. Souls represent the equivalent of hit points in many other games. If you drop to 0 souls, it is over for you: you will not have atoned for your sins, and hell and damnation await.

Managing souls is at the heart of the game and is absolutely essential. The difficulty is that at each round played against your opponents, you must stake your soul. If you lose too many rounds, you will end up lost in your remorse and regrets. Add to this the fact that you can spend souls at the Counter, or that some opponents, organ tunes or shadow spectators will make you lose them, and you will understand that a strong tension rests on you with regard to this key characteristic.

b) Choosing Variants

The game offers four variants: the Counter, the Cursed Organ, the Shadow Spectators and the Glass of Forgiveness.

When starting your campaign, you must choose the variant or variants you want to activate. As stated in the "Card Overview" chapter, you are free to use none of them, all four, or only some of them.

Tick on the campaign tracking sheet the variants you have selected.

See the details in the "Variants" part.

c) Difficulty Level

Three difficulty levels are offered, and you must choose your difficulty at the start of the campaign.

The difficulty level affects several elements of the game: the special abilities at the start of the game, your initial number of souls, and a possible bonus of additional souls if you win a duel.

Use the following table to choose your difficulty:

Difficulty	Mode	Initial abilities*	Initial souls	Duel won
Tenderfoot (Pied-Tendre)	Easy	2	15	+2 souls
Pistolero	Normal	1	13	+1 soul
Legend of the West (Légende de l'ouest)	Hard	0	11	0 souls

*Do not choose the initial special abilities; they must be drawn at random.

d) Sequence of Duels

Once these details are settled, you can begin the duels. There are 10 in total.

The game contains 20 incarnated Verses to face. Shuffle the Verse deck and the Special Ability deck at the start of the game.

At each stage of your journey, you must draw two Verse cards, choose one to fight, and remove the other from the game.

As a result, in each campaign you play you will not face the same opponents, and they will not appear in the same order. You may also land directly on very difficult Verses, or not. This random dimension is an integral part of the game.

An important point must be stressed: duels are played best of three rounds, but your campaign does not stop if you lose a duel against an opponent. Even after a defeat, you continue as long as you have souls left. Chaining defeats will eventually have a very negative impact and compromise your chances of redemption.

The Rules of The Last Verse

Steps of a Turn

Here, in detail, are the different steps that will let you play a turn from start to finish.

a) Step 1: Toward a New Opponent

Draw the next two opponents from the Verse pile.

Choose one of them, and remove the other from the game.

Tip: even if it is tempting to choose the "easiest" opponent, do not forget that the amount of gall is very important. In the long run, you will absolutely need to face harder opponents in order to acquire abilities and/or gain extra souls at the end of the game through the Spiritual Transfer mechanism.

b) Step 2: Activating Start-of-Round / Start-of-Duel Effects

Take the time to check your opponent's ability carefully. Some affect the start of a duel or a round. The same goes for you with your special abilities.

For example, the Three-Headed Wolf (Le Loup à Trois Têtes) requires you to "start" your duel with three cards instead of two, one of them face down. You must obviously take this specific feature into account at the very beginning of the duel, so as not to start playing normally against it.

c) Step 3: Staking Souls

This step is crucial, because you are forced to take risks when staking, without yet having drawn any card for yourself or your opponent (unless a special ability says otherwise).

Here are your three options for the round:

Stake 1 soul: you take the least risk. Place one soul on the table. If you win the round, you get no bonus, but rest assured: every round won is worth having, since you gain souls at the end of the duel if you are the winner. If you lose the round, you lose your stake.
Stake 2 souls: this is the medium risk, but it can hurt. Place 2 souls on the table. If you win the round, you get a +1 bonus, meaning you take back 3 souls instead of the 2 staked. In case of defeat, you lose your stake.
Stake 3 souls: this is the maximum risk, for maximum gain... or maximum damage! Place 3 souls on the table. If you win the round, you get a +2 bonus, meaning you take back 5 souls instead of 3. The gain is substantial, but the risk is just as great, because if you lose the round, 3 souls go up in smoke and bring you a little closer to damnation!

For those who like tables, here is the rule presented in that form:

Stake	Condition	Gain if victorious	Loss if defeated
1 soul (standard)	Minimum required	Soul recovered	Soul lost
2 souls (risky)	Optional	2 souls recovered + 1 soul bonus	2 souls lost
3 souls (all or nothing)	Optional	3 souls recovered + 2 souls bonus	3 souls lost

d) Step 4: The Initial Deal

Now it is time to confront your demons.

Here is the procedure:

Draw a card and place it in front of you.
Draw a card for the opponent and place it opposite you, face up.
Draw your second card and place it in front of you.
Draw a card for the opponent and place it opposite you, face down.

From this moment on, many things can happen. Certain abilities may be activated and affect the rest of the round. Choose carefully when you use them.

Blackjack Rule

There is a possibility, admittedly fairly small, of getting the famous "blackjack". This means that your first two cards add up to 21 points, which happens by combining an Ace with a face card or a 10. If this happens to you, you lose the right to adjust your stake, because you will not draw any more cards in any case. On the other hand, you DOUBLE your gains if you win the round. You read that right. If you had dared to stake 3 souls, you would therefore gain a total of 10 soul points after such a stroke of brilliance. Naturally, the probability of staking 3 souls AND then getting a blackjack is quite slim, but it is worth pointing out this extraordinary possibility!

Your opponent's hand is partly known, which lets you estimate your chances. But destiny is a fierce enemy, so be careful. Estimating your chances is crucial, because this is when you can adjust your stake (if you do not have a blackjack).

The "Small" Blackjack or Eagle Eye

There is another way to reach 21 points: by accumulating cards during the round until you hit exactly that number. In this case, it is no longer called a blackjack but an Eagle Eye (Œil d'Aigle). The Eagle Eye is powerful and some game effects may refer to it, but it remains below the 21 of a blackjack (except for special effects). Under normal conditions, a player with a blackjack wins the round against an opponent with an Eagle Eye even though both have 21 points.

e) Step 5 (Optional): Adjusting the Stake

Now that you know your initial hand and part of your opponent's hand, you may adjust your stake. In real Blackjack, this is called "doubling".

Here is the rule in The Last Verse:

You do not change your stake: you may then draw as many cards as you wish until you stop or go bust (exceed 21).
You increase your initial stake by 1 level: for the rest of the round you will receive only one additional card, so think carefully! Obviously, this only makes sense if you staked 1 or 2 souls; your stake then becomes 2 or 3 souls respectively. Initial stakes of 3 souls cannot be increased, but they keep all their interest, because a player who adjusts from 2 to 3 souls can then only draw one card.

f) Step 6: Player Actions

It is now the player's turn to act. Do not forget to activate certain card effects that could help you if you judge it necessary.

Apart from special effects to activate, you really only have two options: hit or stand.

Hit: draw a card. Warning: if you changed your initial stake in the previous step, you may draw only one additional card. Check the strength of your card and add its value to your two initial cards. If you exceed 21, you go "bust" and the round is immediately lost. The souls you staked vanish mysteriously, bringing you one step closer to damnation. If you are still allowed to, you may keep drawing cards by hitting.
Stand: when you decide to stand, you stop drawing, usually for one of two reasons. Either you are fully satisfied with your draw (generally by having exceeded 17), or you are aware that you will ruin everything if you keep drawing and that it is too risky. If you reach 21, you have an Eagle Eye, but unlike the blackjack, which doubles your stake, it only earns you 1 extra soul if you win the round, which is still very profitable! It is now time to pass to your opponent's turn.

Note: blackjack may seem to be a game where players have a chance to beat the Casino, which may seem strange. It is indeed the case: of all the games in the casino, blackjack gives the player the best expectation. To still give the house an advantage, players act first, and that is where the difficulty lies. If the player busts, they lose their stake and the House does not even have to play! On top of this, there are six full decks of cards in the shoe in a casino, which makes card counting very difficult, even for someone who is very good at it. In The Last Verse, however, there is only one deck, and burned cards (placed in the discard pile) are not reshuffled into the deck between rounds, so count the cards and estimate your chances of drawing a good card!

g) Opponent's Actions

Now that you have chosen to "Stand" and know your score for this round, it is time for your opponent to counterattack.

Start by turning their face-down card face up if necessary (some effects may already have done so). Add up the total.
The opponent continues to draw until reaching a score greater than or equal to yours, unless they bust by exceeding 21, in which case they immediately lose the round.
"Soft 17" rule in The Last Verse: in casinos, the dealer may behave in two different ways if they obtain a 17 that includes an Ace. They may either stop there, or keep drawing, knowing that they can count their Ace as 1 to avoid a possible bust. In The Last Verse, your opponent will always try to beat you. If they have an Ace in their hand, reach 17, 18, 19 or even 20, and that is not enough to beat you, then they will continue drawing and count their Ace as 1 if they exceed 21.

h) End of Round

There are several possible outcomes at the end of a round:

Your score is higher than your opponent's and you have a blackjack: you recover double your stake, including any bonuses. Example: a stake of 2 souls with a natural blackjack yields 6 souls.
Your score is higher than your opponent's with an Eagle Eye: you add 1 soul to your gain. Example: a stake of 1 soul would yield 2 souls.
Your score is higher than your opponent's without a blackjack or an Eagle Eye: you recover your stake and the bonuses attached to it. Example: if you staked 3 souls, you recover 5.
Your score is tied with your opponent's: you take back your stake, nobody wins the round, and the round must be replayed.
Your opponent has a higher score than yours with an Eagle Eye: you lose your stake and one additional soul.
Your opponent got a blackjack at the start of their turn and you do not have a blackjack (which would have resulted in a tie): you lose double your stake! Example: you staked 2 souls, so you must lose 4.
Your opponent has a higher score than yours without a blackjack: you lose your stake.

A duel ends when one side has two round wins. If rounds remain to be played, return to step 2.

Place the cards of rounds 1 and 2 that you have won in front of you or beside your opponent.

Note 1: a blackjack beats an Eagle Eye.

Note 2: in the very rare case of two blackjacks, it is a tie.

Note 3: some effects affect ties, so check the abilities of each side carefully.

2) The End of a Duel

At the end of a duel, there are only two possibilities: victory or defeat!

In case of defeat, nothing happens as a general rule. You have probably lost souls, you have not managed to make peace with your past, and you move away from Redemption. Place the Verse card you did not defeat in the pile of Verses removed from the game.

Abigail's kindness may nevertheless help you. Indeed, if you lost the duel by two rounds to zero (your opponent holds both round 1 and round 2 cards), then Abigail, concerned, will offer you a drink at the bar. Draw one of the six Bar cards and place it beside you.

In case of victory, follow these three steps:

Gain additional souls depending on the chosen difficulty.
Place the Verse you have just defeated in a separate pile; it will be useful later so that you can "spend" your gall (see below).

3) Spending Gall

The small blue flames, also called gall (Fiel), indicate the difficulty level of the Verses you face. All defeated Verses are kept in a separate pile until you use them. Naturally, the more risks you take by facing strong opponents, the more gall you will have to spend, which will be a great help to you.

There are two ways to put them to use:

Acquiring a special ability: at any time, including during a round, you may spend 4 gall to draw a special ability at random, or spend 6 gall to draw two cards, keep the one you choose and shuffle the other back into the deck. The cards used for this acquisition then join the Verses removed from the game. Remember that you may hold at most four special ability cards. If you exceed this total, discard any ability you possess (including the one you have just drawn) to get back down to four cards.
Activating the Soul Transfer: only at the end of the game, the unspent gall on your defeated Verses is added to your end-of-game soul total to measure your level of success in the campaign.

Note 1: when acquiring a special ability card, unused gall is not returned. For example, if you use a difficulty 2 Verse and a difficulty 3 Verse to buy a special ability, you have 5 gall, you spend 4, and the remaining gall is lost.

Note 2: the tension between wanting to acquire a new special ability and keeping gall for the final score will be great! It is up to you to judge what you can afford to spend and what you must keep aside for your redemption!

4) End of Game & Score

Your game stops immediately if you run out of souls, at any moment EXCEPT during a final stake. You are in fact allowed to stake if you have 1 soul left; you will then be left with 0 souls in reserve, and this is the only moment when this is allowed. It is, in a way, your very last chance to get out of this.

If you manage to reach the end of 10 consecutive duels, you can already consider that you have accomplished something!

What determines your success is the number of souls remaining, and the ending you must read in the concluding episodes of the Flayed Missal.

To calculate your remaining souls, simply add up the soul tokens you have left and the gall on the defeated Verses still in your possession.

Use the following table to determine which ending to read:

Remaining souls	Symbolic ending (to be read in the Flayed Missal)
0 or fewer	Eternal Wandering (Errance éternelle)
1 to 10	Silent Song (Chant Muet)
11 to 20	New Verse (Nouveau Verset)
21 to 30	Forgotten Psalm (Psaume Oublié)
31 and more	Redemption (Rédemption)

Note: a short narrative text is associated with each different ending; you can find it in the Flayed Missal (provided only as a PDF).

5) Variants

There are 4 variants for The Last Verse, and you are completely free to use those of your choice, or none.

To get the full experience the game offers, it is nevertheless recommended to use them either right away or after a few games.

a) The Cursed Organ (L'Orgue Maudit)

The Cursed Organ is a strange instrument, at once fascinating, beautiful and disquieting.

You may activate it at the start of a duel, after looking at the two opposing Verses. You must then feed it a soul to power it: lose 1 soul. Then, draw at random one card from the 6 Cursed Organ cards and apply its effect. Warning: some effects are negative or ambiguous, so it is up to you to take the risk or not.

b) The Bar

The Bar belongs to Abigail Crowley. Between duels, you may go and see Abigail at the counter to chat with her and possibly buy a drink. Each drink costs 3 souls, so think carefully before buying one. In the long run, these missing souls may compromise your score, or even lead you to a complete defeat.

Note that some game effects also let you win a drink at random: in that case, simply draw a card at random and you get the drink directly.

The player may have several drinks at once, but only one type. As soon as a drink is consumed, it returns to its card deck.

c) The Shadow Spectators

When you play with this variant, there is a notable difference from the other variants: you do not choose when it triggers, and you do not choose whether it triggers or not!

The Shadow Spectators react to tense duels in which each opponent has won one round. If that is the case, at the start of the third round, you must draw a card at random to determine how the audience reacts, knowing that the effects are unreliable and can be as positive as negative.

Once the duel is over, the Shadow Spectator is shuffled back into the Shadow Spectators deck.

d) The Glass of Forgiveness (Le Verre du Pardon)

This special rule is linked to the bar and reflects the affection Abigail feels for the people who find themselves here. It is an enhanced version of the Forgiveness Liqueur that can be bought at the bar. The Glass of Forgiveness contains a special absinthe, hence its green colour, and nobody knows where Abigail can get this drink with its very powerful yet subtle taste.

The Glass of Forgiveness is not free, however: it requires a sacrifice, and it can only be used once in the whole campaign. It must therefore be used with great care.

Once per game, you may exchange a Unique or Permanent special ability for the Glass of Forgiveness. By drinking this glass, you completely cancel a duel you have just lost, and you recover all the souls you had staked during that duel. Then move on to the next duel; the cancelled duel is not considered lost or won for game effects.

Translator's note on the source: the French rulebook says the Glass of Forgiveness can be used "once per game" in this section but "only once in the whole campaign" in the same paragraph; both are kept as printed. The Bar section names the proprietor "Abigail Crownley" while the card section names her "Abigail Crowley"; the spelling "Crowley" is used throughout. The French rulebook calls the end-of-game mechanic "Transfert Spirituel" in Step 1 and "Transfert d'Âmes" under Spending Gall; both are kept here as "Spiritual Transfer" and "Soul Transfer" respectively.