The Big Book of Madness: The Vth Element
The Big Book of Madness: The Vth Element Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Presentation
The Big Book of Madness: The Vth Element is an expansion for The Big Book of Madness. Your goal remains the same: close this book before madness takes you, but the appearance of Dark Matter and Phobias could well complicate the task...
Dark Matter and Phobias are two separate modules that can be played together or separately.
Dark Matter Module
This module adds the Vth Element, Dark Matter, and the following game elements: the Black Book, the Dark Curses, the Dark Monsters and new Magicians. You will also need the Dark Matter tokens and the Dark Matter cards.
It can be played with or without the Phobia module.
Components
- 4 Magician sheets (with a play aid on the back)
- 16 Phobia cards
- 5 Dark Matter tokens
- 20 Black Book cards (4 Cover pages, each with a Black Spell on the back; 12 Inside pages, each with a Black Spell on the front and the back; and 4 Back pages with a Black Spell on the front and the back of the book on the back)
- 12 Dark Curse cards
- 28 Dark Matter cards (value 1)
- 13 Grimoire cards (3 Cover pages, marked with icon 1, with a Monster on the back; 10 Inside pages, marked with icon 2, with an effect on the front and a Monster on the back)
The component illustration also shows sample card faces: a Magician sheet whose ability reads "During your turn, you spend 1 Dark Matter to move 1 Phobia from a support slot to any other"; a Black Book page reading "Add a Dark Matter card to your discard pile"; a Black Book page reading "Add 1 Element card of value 3 to your draw pile"; and Grimoire effects reading "Add 2 tokens at random to the third Curse card", "A player cures all the Madness in their discard pile and draw pile, then shuffles them to rebuild their draw pile" and "All players place 1 Madness on their draw pile". These are the printed sample card faces, shown here for identification only.
Phobia Module
This module adds Phobia cards. It can be played with or without the Dark Matter module.
Phobias are Madness cards with an additional permanent constraint. They are treated as Madness cards for all effects of the game.
Note: Phobias can be cured using 2 Element cards.
Setup
During setup step 2, build the Madness deck as indicated in the table below. Shuffle this deck, then place it face up on the space of the board provided for this purpose.
| Number of players | Deck composition |
|---|---|
| 2 | 10 Phobias + 10 Madness cards |
| 3 | 12 Phobias + 13 Madness cards |
| 4 | 14 Phobias + 16 Madness cards |
| 5 | 16 Phobias + 19 Madness cards |
Gameplay
Phobia cards behave exactly like Madness cards, except for the rules below. Since the Madness pile is placed face up, you know at all times whether the next Madness is a Phobia, and can therefore anticipate its effects. When you must receive a Madness card while a Phobia is on top of the pile, place it normally on your discard pile.
- During the Recuperation Phase, after drawing your 6 cards, immediately place any Phobias you have in support. Do the same whenever you receive a Phobia directly into your hand.
- If you must place a Phobia in support but that support already contains a Phobia, you are eliminated.
- If you no longer have a free support slot, place your Phobia on one of your support cards that is not a Phobia. That card is then crushed and will no longer be available until your Phobia is cured or moved.
- The text of a Phobia applies to you only, from the moment you place it in support. Its effects do not concern the other players, but they are permanent for you, including during their turn. The text of a Phobia remains active until it is cured.
- If several players must receive a Madness at the same time, distribute them in turn order to the players concerned, starting with the Active Player.
- When a Madness or a Phobia is cured, it is placed face up under the Madness pile on the board.
Setup
The setup remains identical to that of the base game, with the exception of the following elements:
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At step 3, also shuffle the Dark Curse cards and place them in a pile next to the other Curses.
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At step 4, form a 9th pile with the Dark Matter cards in the Element supply.
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At step 6, add the new Magicians to those of the base game, then each player chooses their Magician.
Some Magicians are more or less interesting depending on the modules you play with.
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At step 7:
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Place the End page of the base game on the right side of the altar, Failure/Bonus side up. Shuffle the Inside Dark Monster pages and draw them at random according to the desired difficulty level (table below). Complete with Inside pages from the base game so that you have 5 pages in total. Shuffle them and place them without looking at them, Failure/Bonus side visible on the End page.
Number of Dark Monsters Difficulty level 3 Easy 4 Intermediate 5 Difficult -
Add the new Cover cards to those of the base game and draw one at random. Place it on the other pages, face down.
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Reading the Black Book
The diagram in the rulebook labels four parts of the Black Book:
- Left page (Bookmark)
- Right page (Arrow)
- Dark Matter cost
- Effect of the Black Spell
The pages of the Black Book are Black Spells, not Spells. A Spell has a variable X, whereas a Black Spell does not have one.
Gameplay
The base game rules apply normally and are supplemented by the rules concerning Dark Matter presented below.
Dark Matter is not an Element and does not behave as one.
Acquiring a Dark Matter Card
There are only value-1 Dark Matter cards, so it is not possible to acquire Dark Matter cards of value 2 or 3.
To acquire a Dark Matter card, you must spend 2 Element cards of different colours. The card thus acquired is placed directly in your hand. You cannot discard Dark Matter cards in order to acquire others.
Using Dark Matter
Dark Matter can only be used to perform the following Actions:
- Destroy Dark Curses;
- Use the Black Book.
Destroying Dark Curses
When you reveal a Monster with a Dark Matter symbol, place a Dark Curse card following the usual placement rules.
A Dark Curse is presented exactly like a classic Curse. It can only be destroyed with 4 Dark Matter cards.
You cannot take a Dark Matter card as a reward after destroying a Curse, whatever its colour.
Using the Black Book
Once during your turn, during the Action phase, you may use the Black Book and activate one of the two visible Spells.
To activate a Black Spell, you must pay its Activation cost by discarding enough Dark Matter cards.
Black Spells have no variable, so their effect can never be multiplied.
- When you cast the Black Spell on the left page (Bookmark), simply apply its effect.
- When you cast the Black Spell on the right page (Arrow), apply its effect, then turn the page to continue reading the Black Book. You cannot turn the page without casting the Spell beforehand. Right-page Spells can therefore only be used once per game.
- When you cast the Black Spell of value 5, the Black Book closes and you can no longer use it.
Creating a Spontaneous Element
At any time during one of your Actions, you may discard 2 Dark Matter cards to virtually create an Element of value 1. This Element is not added to your hand: it is only counted during your Action. You cannot keep this virtual Element for a later Action.
Example: To destroy this Earth Curse, you may spend 3 cards of value 1 [Earth Element] + 2 [Dark Matter] cards.
It is possible to cure Madness with Spontaneous Elements. For example, you can cure 1 Madness card with 1 Element card + 2 Dark Matter cards, or with 4 Dark Matter cards. 2 Dark Matter cards alone do not allow you to cure Madness.
Description of the Dark Curses
Curse with the text "All players lose their Ability until the next Monster."
- If you play with the blue Magician of the base game, she must discard support cards until she has no more than three. If there were Phobias in 4 or 5 of her slots, she is eliminated.
- If you play with the green Magician of the base game, he loses his sixth Spell (of his choice).
Curse with the text "All players discard 1 Element card of value 2 or 3 from their hand and place 2 or 3 value-1 cards of the same type on their discard."
- You may choose which card in your hand you destroy. Place the cards obtained on your discard.
- If there are not enough value-1 cards, distribute them one by one between the players concerned, in turn order, starting with the Active Player.
- If you have no card of value 2 or 3 in hand, do nothing.
Curse with the text "Add 1 Dark Curse to the next Curse space."
- Draw the next Dark Curse and add it to the next Curse space (if possible). If there is already a Curse on that space, place the new one on top of it, slightly offset so that the text of the one underneath remains visible.
- These Curses trigger normally and at the same time, starting with the one on top. You may destroy them in any order you like.
Description of the Phobias
Phobia with the text "Receive 2 Madness when you shuffle your discard pile."
- When your draw pile is empty and you must shuffle your discard pile, add 2 Madness instead of 1 to your discard pile.
Phobia with the text "Destroying a Curse costs you 1 additional matching Element."
- When you destroy a Curse, you must spend 1 additional Element card matching the type of the Curse. If it is a Multi-Element Curse, you may therefore spend 1 additional card of any Element.
- If you destroy a Curse with 1 token, the additional Element may be of the colour of the token.
Phobia with the text "Activating Spells costs you 1 additional Element."
Phobia with the text "You can no longer take the Cure Action (except for this card)."
- You can no longer discard Elements to cure a Madness (except this card), during your turn or during the turn of the other players. The others may cure you normally.
- The healing effects of Spells and of Monster bonuses work normally.
Phobia with the text "You can no longer use any card in support (even your own)."
- You no longer have access to the cards placed in support to take Actions, but you can still place cards in support.
- Your cards in support are still affected normally by the effects of Spells, Monsters, etc.
Phobia with the text "The Invocation marker advances 2 at the start of your turn."
- During the Monster phase, the Invocation marker advances 2 spaces. Apply the effects of any Curses you encounter. If the marker is on space 5, resolve the arrival of a new Monster normally, then advance directly to space 2.
Phobia with the text "At the end of your turn, refill your hand to 5 cards instead of 6."
- During the Recuperation Phase, draw or discard cards until you have exactly 5 cards in hand. If you have 5 Madness, you are eliminated from the game.
Phobia with the text "The effect of Curses targeting all players is doubled for you."
- Apply the effect of any Curse targeting all players twice, even during another player's turn.
- If this Curse applies to all players, everyone applies it normally except you, whether or not you are the Active Player.
Phobia with the text "You can only refresh one Spell during the Concentration phase."
- At the start of your turn, if several of your Spells are exhausted, you can refresh only one of them. The others remain exhausted.
- Once this Phobia is cured, your Spells remain exhausted until your next Concentration phase.
Phobia with the text "Acquiring 1 Element card costs you 1 additional identical Element."
- When you want to Acquire an Element card, you must spend 1 additional Element card of the corresponding type.
If you want to Acquire a value-2 Fire card, you must spend 3 value-1 Fire cards.
Phobia with the text "You can no longer take an Action using Fire."
- This Phobia prevents you from taking any Action that requires a card of the designated Element.
- You can neither destroy Multi-Element Curses nor cure yourself with a card of that Element. You also cannot create a Spontaneous Element of that Element.
If this Magician places in support the Phobia "You can no longer take an Action using the Air Element", its ability is no longer valid, until the Phobia is cured or moved.
The Magician sheet illustrated on this page has the ability: "During your turn, you may consider 1 Air card as 1 Element of your choice."
Phobia with the text "You can no longer use your Ability."
- As long as this Phobia is in your support, your Magician's ability no longer applies.
- If you play the blue Magician of the base game and have more than 3 cards in support, discard those that are not Phobias. If you have at least 4 Phobias, you are eliminated.
- If you play the green Magician of the base game, destroy your sixth Spell (of your choice).
End of the Game
The end of the game proceeds exactly as in the original game.
Supplementary Glossary
Active Player
- Certain Curses apply only to the player who holds the Active Player token when the Curse is triggered.
- If a Monster's arrival effect targets the Active Player, this effect applies only to the current turn, and not for the entire duration of the Monster's arrival.