The Curse of Candelabria Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Game Board
  • 5X Score Tokens
  • 1X Tactics Board
  • 1X Curse Board
  • 1X Upgrade Board
  • 5X House Boards
  • 5X War Boards
  • 25X House Candle Cards and 50X Advanced Candle Cards
  • 90X Tactic Cards
  • 5X Explorer Candles, 5X Pilgrim Candles and 5X Warrior Candles
  • 5X Wandering Castles
  • 60X Candle Flames
  • 125X Land Flames
  • 9X Curse Cards
  • 9X Curse Standees and 9X Stand Holders
  • 15X Curse Flame Tokens
  • 50X Gold Resource and 50X Wax Resource
  • 36X Upgrade Tiles
  • 18X Temples
  • 10X Region Tokens
  • How to Build the Standees
• 3-5 Player Mode Setup
  • General Area
    • Set the Curse
  • Player Area
  • Turn Order and Starting Pieces
• How to Play
  • Game Flow
  • Mist Season
    • Example: Corrupted Regions
  • Kindling Season
    • Deploy
    • Example: Deploy a Candle
    • Maneuver
    • Example: Maneuver the Game Pieces
  • Territory Actions
    • Example: Activate a Territory
  • Extinguished Land Flames
• War Season
  • War Preparation
    • Grant Control of Curses (Deploy a Curse)
    • Example: Deploy a Curse
  • War Resolution
    • Example: Battle Opponents
  • War Epilogue
    • Example: War Epilogue
• End of the Game
• 2-Player Mode
  • Introduction
  • How to Play Differences
    • Setup and House Choice
    • Mist Season
    • Territory Actions
    • Extinguished Land Flames
    • War Season
    • End of the Game
• Icons
  • Candle Roles
  • Tactic and Candle Cards Effects
  • Curse Card Effects
  • Map Effects
  • Castle Upgrades
  • Temple Effects on the Map
  • House Icons and Castle Upgrades
• Mission and Decay Expansions
  • Components
  • Missions Expansion
    • Yearly Missions
    • Ranking Missions
    • Receiving Missions
    • Mission List
  • Decay Expansion
    • Receiving Decay
    • Decay Effects

Components

Game Board

This Game Board represents the lands of Candelabria. On it the candles, flames, and castles will line up and battle during the game. This board is divided into:

1. Map of the Regions: Numbered from 1 to 10. Each Region features a color and a number, and each Region is then divided into three Territories, each characterized by an action icon. Each Region is separated from the others by a continuous line, and is considered adjacent to the neighboring ones, or to those connected by bridges. The territories in the same Region are divided by a dashed line.
2. Score track: Numbered from 0 to 100. This is used to keep track of the victory points achieved by the players. The Score Tokens are the only element that will be present on this track (one for each House that's playing).
3. Turn Order track: Indicated by the initiative icon (green flag), numbered from the first position to the last. This will show which order the players will take action during the Kindling Season, along with being a good reference in case of a tie (e.g., the player with the higher initiative always wins).

The starting positions of each House are set by default, as well as the initiative order for the First Year. You can find them in the 'Start to play' section of this rulebook or on the back side of each House Board.

Note: The Game Board is double-sided. One side is for 2-3 player games, the other for 4-5-6 player games. The difference can be seen both in the number and composition of the Regions, and in the turn order track (which on the one hand, does not allow having more than 3 spaces, and on the other does not allow more than 5).

5X Score Tokens

One for each House. These tokens are used to keep track of how many Victory Points every House is collecting.

1X Tactics Board

This board is used as a physical support to better display the Tactic Cards that are available for the players to acquire during the game.

1X Curse Board

This board is used as a physical support to better display the Curses that will be manifested at the beginning of the War Season to the players for the current Year.

1X Upgrade Board

This board is used as a physical support to better display the Upgrade Tiles that are available for the players to acquire during the game.

5X House Boards

The House Boards are each player's main boards. They are divided into:

1. Seal slots: Candle Cards must be placed above these during a Deployment action. Each card slot corresponds to a candle role: Explorer, Pilgrim or Warrior, that gives deployed candles a unique power (see section 'Candle cards'). See the legend at the end of this rulebook to view all of the possible effects.
2. Warehouse to put Gold and Wax resources (1 for each of the 10 slots).
3. Castle upgrades area: Each House has 3 unique powers and 6 free slots for upgrades. Upgrade Tiles are placed here (1 for each of the 6 slots). (See the legend of the icons to view all of the possible effects). Each of these effects and powers has an activation time, which is indicated by the Year icon represented on the Upgrade Tile.

5X War Boards

Each House has a War Board determined by its emblem. This has 2 sides.

1. Front: Contains the logo and a space to put the Tactics deck on during the Mist Season and the Kindling Season.
2. Back: During the War Season the board is flipped and it's used as a base to put the active Tactic Cards. This side shows two different effects of reduced versions of common Tactic Cards related to the House (each house has a different combination of those). These are effects that the House will bring to combat if the related Tactic Cards played by the player are countered or not available (by choice or possibility; whatever the case).

25X House Candle Cards and 50X Advanced Candle Cards

Candle Cards play a key role in the Curse of Candelabria.

These depict the loyal agents and expert fighters who will fight for the glory of the Houses and ultimate victory. House Candle Cards include 5 for each faction. Advanced Candle Cards are instead free candles that, depending on the choice or fate, may join one or another House.

A Candle Card has (most of) the following elements:

1. House icon: The symbol of the House. This element is present only to distinguish House Candle Cards from Advanced Candle Cards, since the latter are missing this element.
2. Cost: How much Wax must be spent to deploy the Candle on the map.
3. Year in which the effect is usable: The Year from which the effect of the Candle Card will be usable. Playing a Candle Card without having reached the Year in question means that it does not generate the effect linked to it when it is deployed. Remember that once you have reached the Year indicated, the card can be played in later Years and still apply the effect listed.
4. Effects: Each Candle can have one or two effects that trigger when the candle is played. The effects are listed on the card itself and each one is determined by an icon or, a number and an icon. The number indicates how many times the effect is performed.

Depending on the role they are deployed with, Candles gain an additional ability linked to their movement and are always applied whenever they activate:

• The Explorer has two flames. When the Candle with this role moves, it may skip 1 territory and land on the next one.
• The Pilgrim has three flames. When the Candle with this role moves, it may move from one territory to another with the same effect/icon.
• The Warrior has four flames. When the Candle with this role moves and enters a territory, 1 enemy Candle in that territory retreats to an adjacent one, chosen by the active player.

90X Tactic Cards

Tactic Cards represent the schemes put in place by the House to prevail over their enemies during the battle for a territory. Each Tactic Card has one or more effects, and each effect is represented by an icon. If an icon appears multiple times, the effect is performed 1 time for each icon.

Remember, the effects of Tactic Cards are always applied in the contested Region in which a battle is currently taking place (see the legend of the icons to view all the possible effects).

Note: Some Tactic Cards have a symbol in the upper right corner, a circle with a slash. Normally, you can cancel other Tactic cards during a battle, but a card with this symbol cannot cancel other cards (but it could be canceled by other cards).

5X Explorer Candles, 5X Pilgrim Candles and 5X Warrior Candles

These models represent the Candles that the players will deploy into battle. Every time a Candle Card, a House or an Advanced card, is deployed, a corresponding miniature is placed on the board.

The choice of which model to use is determined by the role in which the player has decided to deploy the Candle Card, considering that each player can only deploy one candle per role.

These roles are:

1. The Explorer role: Allows you to create a Candle with two flames.
2. The Pilgrim role: Allows you to create a Candle with three flames.
3. The Warrior role: Allows you to create a Candle with four flames.

The miniature has as much Combat Power as the number of flames present on it (lowering the number of flames on a candle will reduce the Combat Power of the candle itself). Candle Models (be it Explorer, Pilgrim, or Warrior) are the units, along with the Wandering Castle, that can be maneuvered during the Kindling Season.

5X Wandering Castles

The Wandering Castles are the capital cities of the Houses. From these giant walking fortresses Candles and Land Flames are deployed. Every House owns 1 Wandering Castle during the entire game. This unit cannot be destroyed or removed from the map, and it has a Combat Power of 4. The castle is deployed for each faction for free during setup. A Wandering Castle is one of the two kinds of units that can actually be moved with a Maneuver action during the Kindling Season.

60X Candle Flames

This piece is used as a physical support to display the remaining flames on a Candle Model (be it an Explorer, Pilgrim, or Warrior). The number of flames on a Candle is extremely important as it determines the strength of the Candle (1 for each flame). If the strength of a candle is dropped to 0, the Candle is turned off and stays on the board, but it will provide no Combat Power.

125X Land Flames

These models are the local garrison deployed by the Houses to keep control over the territories. While unable to move from the territories in which they are deployed, Land Flames are able to defend themselves, and provide 1 Combat Power in the region to which they are deployed.

Remember, each territory can have a maximum of one Land Flame per House.

9X Curse Cards

These cards represent the essences of the Curse that are haunting the Houses, and that some of those are attempting to bend to their will. A Curse Card is composed of the following key elements:

1. Region: The number of one of the Regions on the Game Board. This element is used throughout the game to define Regions where no conflicts take place, as the Curse is too strong there.
2. Effects: The effect that the card performs in the territory where its model is deployed in battle by one of the players (see the legend of the icons to view all of the possible effects).

9X Curse Standees and 9X Stand Holders

While a Curse Card simply instructs about the effect that a Curse bears, the Curse standee (or miniature) incarnates the physical prowess manifested by the Curse, and the embodiment of terror and pain that it brings onto the inhabitants of Candelabria. While the Curse is despised, many Nobles and Houses have decided to turn a blind eye on it for the sake of gaining even a slightly better chance of conquering the throne. The Curse standee (or miniature) is a model with 3 combat power. Its control and deployment are decided at the beginning of the War Season. (For more details, see the appropriate section of the rulebook.)

The Curse standee, instead, has 2 side holders and 2 long pieces to be inserted into the slots of the side holders.

15X Curse Flame Tokens

These tokens are used to indicate which player owns which Curse once it has manifested on the Game Board at the start of the War Season.

50X Gold Resource and 50X Wax Resource

These are the resources acquired during the game. They are used to deploy Candles and obtain Upgrade Tiles and Temples. While Wax is used only to deploy Candles, Gold is used to acquire the Temples and Upgrade Tiles.

36X Upgrade Tiles

Upgrade Tiles are improvements that a House acquires to modify its approach to the game, by obtaining immediate benefits, or aspiring to future riches.

These have (like the Candle Cards) an indicator of the Year in which the effect of the upgrade takes place. This is also the Cost required to buy such an upgrade (1 Gold for an upgrade of the First Year, 2 Gold for one of the Second Year, and 3 for one of the Third Year). An upgrade can be bought even when its effects are not currently active, but those effects will manifest only when the Year indicated on the Upgrade Tile is reached.

18X Temples

These are territorial enhancements applicable to an entire Region. Each will interact in various ways with the combat conditions or simply provide a linear increase in Victory Points. There are three types of Temple, the effects of which are briefly summarized below:

• White Temple: Whoever deploys and whoever destroys this Temple scores 4 Victory Points.
• Grey Temple: In a Region occupied by this Temple, victory is awarded during the War Season to the House with the lowest combat strength (with at least one model in it).
• Black Temple: In the Region occupied by this Temple, the Curse cannot be deployed.

When buying a Temple, it has to be placed on the round area that indicates the number of the Region (the region token goes on the top of the temple). The Region needs to have at least one of its pieces present. If there's already another Temple, the one bought will stand on top of the other and it will cancel the effect of the Temple below. Only the upmost temple provides its effects.

10X Region Tokens

These markers are used to indicate the number and status of each Region. Each marker has two sides, one to indicate the Region number and the other to indicate that the Region is not considered to be in a state of war. During the Mist Season it is determined which side the marker should be placed on. When you build a temple in a region, place the token on it.

How to Build the Standees

Building the Upgrade and Tactics Board standees is very simple. Each one of these is composed of a central part (the holder to keep horizontally) and the additional parts to be inserted into the slots in the central part (vertically).

(The manual illustrates the assembly of the Upgrade and Tactic standees with diagrams that are not reproduced here.)

The Curse standee, instead, has 2 side holders and 2 long pieces to be inserted into the slots of the side holders.

3-5 Player Mode Setup

General Area

To set up a game for 3-5 players:

1. Take the Game Board and unfold it in the center of the table. If a 3-player game is being played, place it on the side with 8 Regions and the turn order track limited to 3 (the 3-player side); otherwise, place it on the other side (the 4-5 players side; 10 Regions and a turn order track limited to 5).
2. Place the Curse Board nearby the Game Board.
3. Place the Curse miniatures (or standees and stand holders) and the Curse Flame Tokens next to the Curse Board.
4. Place the Tactics Board nearby the Game Board.
5. Take the 75 Tactic Cards without the house logo, shuffle them, and place 6 face up on the Tactics Board. Place the remaining Tactic Cards without the house logo next to the board face down to form the Tactics Deck. Every time one or more Tactic Cards is picked from the Tactics Board, replace them with cards from the Tactics deck.
6. Build the Upgrade Board as instructed and place it nearby the Game Board.

Set the Curse

7. Take the 36 Upgrade Tiles, shuffle them, and divide them into 9 piles with 3 tiles each. Place them on the Upgrade Board in the appropriate spaces.

   Take the 9 Curse Cards, shuffle them, and divide them into 3 piles with three cards each. Then take the House Candle Cards separated from the Advanced Candle Cards and divide them by Year.

8. Place the 18 Temple Levels near the Upgrade Board, divided by color.

9. Take the 50 Advanced Candle Cards (you will recognize them because they don't have the House logo on the front top right), shuffle them, and place them in a pile face down next to the Game Board.

   Set aside the Year 1 House Candle cards, they will be used during the player area setup. Then stack the 5 piles obtained (3 of Curse Cards and 2 of Year 2-3 House Candle Cards) into a single deck: One pile of Curse Cards on the top, then the House Candle Cards of Year 2, Curse Cards, House Candles of Year 3, and finally the last pile of Curse Cards on the bottom. This will create the Curse Deck.

10. Take the Resources (Gold and Wax), divide them by color (Wax is white; Gold is gold) into 2 piles and place them next to the Game Board in a place accessible to all to form the Reserve. From here, resources will be taken and dropped during the game whenever an effect does not specify where to place or from where to take them.

    If you are playing with 3 players however, 2 Curse Cards are not needed (those from Regions 9 and 10) and are removed and placed back into the game box. This means that, given the instructions unchanged, the 3 piles of Curse Cards that will be created are 3, 2 and 2 respectively.

11. Take the Region Tokens and place them on their corresponding number on the Game Board, with the side that shows the number of the Region up. In a 3 player game, two of these tokens (the ones with the number 9 and 10) are not necessary and will be returned to the game box.

    When building the Curse Deck with this number of players, place the stack of 3 Curse Cards so that it will be on top. The two piles of 2 cards will be placed in the two remaining ranks (at the center and bottom of the deck).

Player Area

Assign a House to each player (this can be done by mutual agreement, randomly, or in any other way the players prefer). Each player will then take (corresponding with the color of their House):

• 1 House Board
• 1 House War Board
• 1 Wandering Castle
• 3 Candle miniatures (1 Explorer, 1 Pilgrim, 1 Warrior)
• 12 Candle Flames
• 25 Land Flames
• 5 House Candle Cards
• 3 House Tactic Cards

Each player then prepares their area and initial deployment on the Game Board by following these steps:

1. Place the House Board in front of you.
2. Place the War Board on the right side of it.
3. Put the 3 House Candle Cards with the icon of Year 1 in hand.
4. Place the House Tactic Cards in their space on the War Board.
5. Take 2 Wax and 2 Gold and place them in the warehouse area of the board.
6. Place the Candle Flames in the holes on the Candles miniatures, then place the Candles in their respective spaces in front of the House Board.
7. Place the Land Flames in front of the House Board, where they are easily accessible.

Turn Order and Starting Pieces

Depending on the House, each player must therefore place the starting models of their faction on it within the starting Region of their respective House. Listed in the table are the houses and info needed to complete deployment.

Temples are placed in regions 4 and 9 only if the respective Houses are present.

Once all of the models have been placed in their respective spaces, you have to set the turn order initiative track. To do so, place a Land Flame in the section of the Game Board related to the Turn Order. Then, if there are any empty spaces between flames, move them towards the head of the Turn Order track in order to not have any empty spaces.

House name	Turn Order	Starting Region	Starting pieces
CINIS CLAN	2	8	Place Land Flames in each territory of the Starting Region and the Wandering Castle in the territory with the Forge (gear) icon.
ROTA AUREA GUILD	3	2	Place Land Flames in each territory of the Starting Region and the Wandering Castle in the territory with the Curse icon.
SATORES ORDER	4	3	Place Land Flames in each territory of the Starting Region and the Wandering Castle in the territory with the Curse icon.
NOVA VITA COVEN	5	4	Place Land Flames in each territory of the Starting Region (except for the one with a Portal) and the Wandering Castle in the territory with the Inn. Place a White Temple in the Region.
LUMINIS KNIGHTS	6	9	Place Land Flames in each territory of the Starting Region (except for the one with a Portal) and the Wandering Castle in the territory with the Inn. Place a Black Temple in the Region.

How to Play

Game Flow

The game takes place over three years, and each Year is divided into three seasons, which follow one another in order. At the end of the Third Year, the players tally up their Victory Points to determine the winner. The seasons are:

1. The Mist Season: In which the Curses are revealed and new Candles join the fray.
2. The Kindling Season: In which players perform their actions.
3. The War Season: In which conflicts are resolved and the Candles end their lives.

Mist Season

In this Season the players assign the areas in which they will fight in the current round and discover which aspects of the Curse they will be able to bend under their control.

The first player in the turn initiative draws cards from the Curse Cards deck until 3 Curse Cards have been drawn. Every House Candle Card drawn before 3 Curse Cards will be placed in the Hand of the Player that plays that Candle's House (look at the symbol on the card to identify at which faction the candle's related). Every Curse Card will be placed instead on the Curse Board, face up, filling one of the 3 spaces.

If you are playing with 3 players however, remember that after the First Year you only have to draw 2 Curse Cards instead of 3 before interrupting the draw.

In addition, each Curse Card indicates a Region where the Curse strengthens. These Regions are to be considered overflowed with the Curse and there will be no fighting in these Regions. The central Region (number 6) can never be affected by this, but all other Regions will be affected at least once during the game. To represent this, simply flip the Region Token of the corresponding Regions from the side showing the number of the Region to the side that shows the Region is corrupted.

Note: You can still interact in a corrupted Region. While it is impossible to engage in battles, you can still use the action present in the region and models can be deployed or moved into them without any other impediment.

Example: Corrupted Regions

The Curse Card with Region 5 is revealed, thus Region 5 is corrupted and there will be no fights there during the War Season. The numbered token here is flipped to the X side.

Kindling Season

During this season, players take actions in preparation for future conflicts. This season is divided into rounds following the Turn Order, starting with the player placed in first position and continuing to the last, then resuming from first again, until the end of the Season.

When indicated by the Turn Order, a player will choose whether to perform an action. This could be 1 among these 2:

• Deploy
• Maneuver

A player cannot decide to pass their turn (e.g., not to perform one of the two actions indicated above) until they have run out of the Candle Cards in their possession.

When every player passes their turn (e.g., all the players have exhausted their respective hands of Candle Cards) this season's phase is over.

Deploy

A player may choose to place a new Candle on the map and activate its effects.

To do so:

• Choose one of the Candles in your possession and decide which role to give to it, placing the card on the related slot of the House Board. There are three roles available (Explorer, Pilgrim, and Warrior), which determine the number of flames the Candle has and their unique movement ability.
• Pay the card's Wax cost by removing as many Wax Cubes from the House's stock as indicated by the Candle Card you wish to deploy.
• Take the model of the Candle role you are deploying and place it in the same territory where your Wandering Castle is located.
• Perform the effects printed on the deployed Candle Card if the Year listed has been reached or beyond.
• Draw a new Candle Card from the Advanced Candle Card deck and put it in your hand.

Depending on the role they are deployed in, Candles have that many flames and gain an additional ability linked to their movement that is always applied whenever they activate.

• The Explorer has two flames. When the Candle with this role moves, it may skip 1 territory and land on the next one.
• The Pilgrim has three flames. When the Candle with this role moves, it may move from one territory to another with the same effect/icon.
• The Warrior has four flames. When the Candle with this role moves and enters a territory, 1 enemy Candle in that territory retreats to an adjacent one, chosen by the active player.

Once the miniature is deployed on the Game Board with the appropriate number of flames on it and its effect resolved, this action is over.

Example: Deploy a Candle

It's the first Year and the player that plays the Cinis clan decides to deploy a candle with the Pilgrim role. So they pay 1 Wax (the cost of the candle) and put the chosen card in the slot number 2 (the pilgrim space) of the player's board.

Then, they take the pilgrim miniature and place it on the territory where the Wandering Castle is located.

At this point, they perform the effects on the Candle Card, that in this case is to obtain 1 VP and 1 Tactic Card if the card it's played the first Year or later. Finally, they draw a new Candle Card from the Advanced Candle Card deck and put it in hand.

Maneuver

With this action, a player may move twice (the same model or 2 different models) and activate the effects of the territories. Only Wandering Castles and Candles can move on the Game Board: all other pieces are placed on the map (in one way or another) and eventually removed, but never moved.

To execute a maneuver action, a player must:

1. Discard a Candle Card from the hand to the left side of the House Board, face up.
2. Select a model on the Game Board that is able to move and move it from the territory in which it is located to any neighboring territory, meaning a territory that has at least a minimal part of the border adjacent with that of the territory from which the model started moving, or connected by a bridge.
3. Place a Land Flame of your own in the territory in which the piece has been moved if there are no other flames of your house.
4. If the Land Flame has been placed in the territory with this movement, the player must activate the action related to the territory (see 'Territory Actions').
5. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 again (you can select the same model to carry out another movement, or you can select a different one).

That said, both Candles and Wandering Castles have a unique interaction with maneuvers, detailed below:

• Wandering Castles: when a Wandering Castle enters a territory through the maneuver action, it can destroy a single enemy flame present in that territory, whether it is a Land Flame or one of the flames of an enemy Candle.
• Candles: during a Maneuver action, the active player may decide to remove (only 1 time) a Candle Flame from the moving Candle to make an additional movement. This is resolved exactly like any other movement, thus placing Land Flames to activate actions.

After considering these parameters, the Maneuver is concluded and the player passes the turn to the next player in the Turn Order.

Example: Maneuver the Game Pieces

The Cinis player decides to Maneuver, so they discard a candle from the hand and put it to the left side of the House Board, face up.

Then they decide with the first move to move the Wandering Castle to the territory with the mine action. There they place a Land Flame and execute the territory action (in this case getting resources, see the next section), and destroy the green flame, because each time the Wandering Castle enters a territory it destroys an enemy's Land or Candle Flame.

For the second move, they decide to move the Pilgrim Candle that was deployed before. They move it to the green Region, in the territory after the bridge. And as before, they place a Land Flame and execute the territory action (in this case receiving a Candle Card, see the next section).

Because they moved a Candle, they choose (because this is optional) to move the Pilgrim another time: the Cinis player removes a flame from the Pilgrim to move it again. So, they move the Pilgrim to the green territory with the mine action, place an additional Land Flame and execute the territory Action. They must then end the turn and pass to another player.

Territory Actions

There are six different actions that a player can trigger by moving between the lands of Candelabria, each with different advantages and merits.

• Curse Influence: Place a flame in front of one of the three Curse Cards for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame.
• Barracks: Draw one Tactic Card from the Tactics Board for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame.
• Forge: You may buy one Upgrade Tile or Temple from (or nearby for Temple Levels) the Upgrade Board for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame. You must pay the cost and you cannot take more Upgrade Tiles than you can afford (both in terms of resources and space on the House Board). The upgrade price depends on the Year in which the upgrade will be active. An upgrade whose effects are active from the First Year costs 1 Gold, an Upgrade whose effects are active from the second costs 2 Gold, and an Upgrade whose effects are active only in the Third Year costs 3 Gold. Temple Levels, on the other hand, always cost 2 Gold regardless of the Year, but their availability is limited.
• Mine: Collect 1 resource of any type of your choice from the reserve for each territory with this icon on which you have already placed a Land Flame. Place the resources in your Warehouse. Any resources that you cannot place are discarded. A player can choose to take any combination of the two basic resources, up to the number of Mines controlled.
• Portal: Take one of your miniatures (Candle or Wandering Castle) for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame and move them to any one or more Territories on the Game Board. This movement is not considered deployment or movement, and therefore does not allow you to place a Land Flame or perform the Actions relating to the territory into which the miniature is repositioned.
• Inn: Draw an Advanced Candle Card from the respective Deck for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame. Return as many Candle Cards (you may return House Candle cards as well) to the bottom of the deck as the number of cards drawn.

Example: Activate a Territory

The Satores player enters the territory with an Explorer Candle (they could also have skipped the territory because it's an Explorer) and places a Land Flame on a territory with the Forge icon.

They have to carry out the Forge Action, so they count how many forge symbols are already under their control. The total is 3, so they can buy any combination of a total max of 3 Upgrade Tiles or Temple Levels. The player decides to spend 2 Gold (price of the Temple Levels is always 2) to buy a Grey Temple and place it in the Region number 6.

Then, they spend 1 Gold to buy an Upgrade Tile (Upgrade Tiles whose effects are active from the First Year cost 1 Gold) and place it on their player board in a free space. The player could buy another Upgrade Tile or another Temple, but they have no more Gold, so they have to end the action.

Extinguished Land Flames

In addition to the flames added to the Curse Cards area via the Curse Influence action, or any Candle powers, any Land Flame extinguished by another player can be placed by a player in the Curse Cards area instead of being placed back in their supply.

Example: Use an Extinguished Land Flame

The Cinis Land Flame in the territory is extinguished by the power of a Candle just deployed by the Luminis player. So, the Cinis player takes the Land Flame and could place it in any Curse area. They decide to assign it to the third Curse, raising the number of their flames already placed to 4. If no other players' flames are assigned to the Curse Card, the Cinis player will earn that Curse during the War Season.

End of the Kindling Season

When all players have no more Candle Cards in their hand, this Season is concluded and play continues into the War Season.

If a player has run out of Candle Cards (between discards and deployment) but at least one other player still has one Candle Card, this phase continues until all players have run out of Candle Cards. The player who finished early will have to wait for the resolution of the other players' turns, and for the start of the next Season.

War Season

Conflicts take place in this season. The season is divided into 3 sub-phases:

• War Preparation
• War Resolution
• War Epilogue

As a reminder: Land Flames are worth 1 Combat Power, Curses are worth 3 Combat Power, Wandering Castles are worth 4 Combat Power, and Candles are worth as much Combat Power as the amount of Flames on them.

War Preparation

During this phase players prepare their Tactic Cards and Curses are deployed on the map. This phase follows the following steps:

1. Take all Tactic Cards (House or acquired) from your War Board and put them into your hand.
2. Flip the War Board to the Back side.
3. Grant control of Curses starting with the resolution of the leftmost one.

Grant Control of Curses (Deploy a Curse)

Each Curse is assigned control to the player with the most Land Flames placed in front of it. In case of a tie, the player first in the Turn Order gets the control.

Once a player has gained control of a Curse, players must get back all the flames they had put in front of that Curse, back into position next to their House Board.

The winning player also takes the Curse model (or standee), places their Curse Flame Token on it and decides in which territory to place the Curse. The Curse must be placed in a territory at war, and that territory must have at least one unit (Wandering Castle, Candle, or Land Flame) under the player's control.

Once placed, the Curse activates its unique effect and resolves it, then the next Curse will be assigned. Once no Curses are left to assign, the phase is over.

Note: In the case that the same player wins more Curses and uses the miniatures instead of the standee, they have to apply 1 Candle Flame on the first, 2 Candle Flames on the second and 3 Candle Flames to the third to identify them.

Example: Deploy a Curse

The Nova Vita player and the Cinis player have both 3 flames assigned to the Curse Card. But the Cinis player is first in turn order, so they win the tie and get the Curse, applying one Curse Flame on the standee (or a Candle Flame on the miniature). Hence, they decide to assign it to Region 9 (where they have at least one game piece) and the Curse's strength and effect are applied to that Region.

War Resolution

The battles take place one by one, in sequence, starting from the territory immediately following the number of the first Curse Card drawn (the left-most one on the Curse Board) and continuing with the numbering in ascending order. Then starting again from 1 until returning to the first Region where a conflict occurred. Each Region is solved individually only once.

Each battle is resolved by solving the following steps:

1. Determine which Houses will participate in the battle. All players who have at least one miniature (Land Flame, Candle, and/or Wandering Castle) in the Region at the start of the battle are considered to be participating in the battle.

   If only one player is participating in the battle, skip all the way to step 7. This player is the winner.

2. Each player participating in the battle chooses secretly which Tactic Cards to play during the battle. They can play up to a maximum of two Tactic Cards (and a minimum of 0), placing them on the War Board face-down to cover the appropriate slots.

3. All players reveal the cards at the same time.

4. Following Turn order starting with the first player, each participating player may discard without any effect one or both Tactic Cards they played to discard without any effect a Tactic Card played by another player that share at least one same symbol with the first one. (Some Tactic Cards have a symbol in the upper right corner, a circle with a slash. This symbol is used to indicate that the Tactic Card cannot cancel other cards, but this does not prevent it from being canceled by others).

5. Players then resolve any remaining Tactic Cards in Turn Order, discarding these after resolving them. Tactic Cards removed are discarded until the end of the season, when they will become available to players again starting during the following seasons. If a player has fewer than two Tactic Cards to resolve, they will instead resolve the effects on their War Board that are not covered by a Tactic Card. These minor effects cannot be negated or countered.

6. Combat powers are counted and the Victory is awarded to the player with the highest Combat Power in the Region. In the event of a tie, the winner is the first of those players in the Turn Order.

   As a reminder: Land Flames are worth 1 Combat Power, Curses are worth 3 Combat Power, Wandering Castles are worth 4 Combat Power, and Candles are worth as much Combat Power as the amount of Flames on them.

7. The winner receives an amount of Victory Points (VP) that varies according to the Year in which the conflict took place: 4 Victory Points in the First Year, 8 Victory Points in the Second Year, and 12 Victory Points in the Third Year.

Once the winner has been determined, proceed to the next battle, or to the War Epilogue if all conflicts have been resolved.

Example: Battle Opponents

It's the First Year. The Cinis, the Nova Vita and the Satores participate to the battle in Region 3, because they have at least 1 miniature present.

The Combat Power of the Satores is 6 (2 Land Flames + 4 given by the Wandering Castle);

The Combat Power of the Nova Vita is 6 (1 Land Flame + 3 given by the Curse + 2 Candle Flames);

The initiative, based on the Turn Order, is of the Cinis is 4 (2 Land Flames + 2 given by the flames on the Pilgrim candle).

The initiative, based on the Turn Order, is: Cinis -> Satores -> Nova Vita

All the 3 players get their War Boards, flip them, and place the Tactic Cards (face down, from 0 to 2) they want to play. Hence, they reveal their cards and starting from the first in initiative, they may discard one or both Tactic Cards they have played to remove a Tactic Card played by another player, if one or more symbols match.

The Cinis removes the card with the 1 Light/1 Extinguish symbols to cancel the 2 Light/1 Extinguish card of the Nova Vita. Then during the Satores' turn they have a 3 Extinguish card, and a 1 Light/2 Steal card which is a Tactic Card that cannot counter other cards. They decide to pass, and so do the Nova Vita.

The Satores' player extinguishes 3 flames (2 of the Nova Vita and 1 of the Cinis), adds 1 Land Flame and steals 2 resources from the Cinis.

The current Combat Powers are Cinis 4, Satores 6, Nova Vita 4.

Finally, it's the Nova Vita turn, they extinguish a Land Flame of the Cinis, and add 3 more flames. The current powers are Cinis 3, Satores 5, Nova Vita 7.

This concludes that Nova Vita is the winner, and they get 4 VP because it's the first Year. There is no turn initiative shift because the Nova Vita is already last.

War Epilogue

Each player in this phase must follow the steps below:

1. Flip the War Board on its Front side.
2. Place all the Tactic Cards owned on the War Board used, discarded or not used.
3. Discard all the Candle Cards deployed (Explorer, Pilgrim, Warrior) and place them on the bottom of the Advanced Candle Card Deck.
4. Remove from the Game Board every Explorer, Pilgrim and Warrior Candle miniatures.
5. Flip all the Region Tokens to the side showing the number of the Region they belong.
6. Discard all the Curse Cards and place them back into the game box.
7. Remove all the Curse miniatures (or standees) from the Game Board and place them back along the side of the Curse Board.
8. Add to the hand all the Candle Cards that were placed in the Maneuver (discard) area.

Example: War Epilogue

Now it's time to apply the effects in turn order. So the first is the Cinis that extinguishes a Satores' Flame and then adds 1 Land Flame and gains 1 VP.

The current Combat Powers are Cinis 5, Satores 5, Nova Vita 6.

End of the Game

When the Third Year has passed, the game is over and the player with the most Victory Points is considered the winner.

In the event of a tie, the first of those players in the Turn Order is declared the winner.

2-Player Mode

Introduction

The two-player mode of 'The Curse of Candelabria' follows the rules previously listed in the 3-5 player mode, however, making changes to certain aspects of the game. The differences are listed below, divided into groups based on the moment during the game where they appear.

Two-player mode is a face-to-face confrontation between two powers for control over Candelabria. This clash therefore sees an overturning of the ordinary logic of the conflict.

During the Mist Season the rules for drawing from the Curse deck are slightly altered and the outcome is modified.

The two elements of greatest change are related to the Curse and the Tactic Cards:

• Curses: They have no Combat Power anymore, and become, in fact, a mobile indicator of where the war takes place. Influencing the Curse will no longer be a way to take control of it but a way to shift the focus of the conflict from a Region where you are losing, to one where you are winning.
• Tactic Cards: They become consumables, disposable items, to be counted one-by-one and are acquired each turn. This shifts the strength and weight of Candles and their abilities, as well as the use of Upgrades.

How to Play Differences

Setup and House Choice

The game will be played on the 2-3 player side of the board. Randomly determine which player will choose first.

They will indicate a starting Region of the map of which they intend to take control and take the respective House (see the faction starting positions in the table in the section "Turn order and starting pieces"). Then, the other player will choose a Region (and a House) from the two available to them on the opposite side of the map.

Aside from this specific procedure in determining which player will play which House, the initial setup proceeds as normal with a single exception: The tokens indicating the number of Regions will all be placed on their numbered side.

The Curse setup will be the same as the one from the 3 player mode.

Mist Season

When drawing from the Curse deck you do not draw until you have drawn 2 Curses, but you draw until you have 3 Curses on the holder.

Instead of flipping the Region Tokens, each Curse is immediately placed on the map in the territory depicting the 'Mine' action of the Region where their appearance is indicated.

Combat will take place only in Regions where the Curses standees are at the start of the War Season.

The Curse that is left over from the previous turn is not repositioned but simply stays where it was (see War Season below).

Territory Actions

The 'Curse Influence' action is changed to 'move any Curse 1 territory (not Region) for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame'. This action now allows players to alter which Regions the clash between the two will take place.

Extinguished Land Flames

In addition to the 'Curse Influence' action, any Land Flame extinguished by the other player will move any Curse 1 territory.

This also makes it difficult to eliminate enemy Land Flames, since the more damage you inflict on the opponent, the more control they have over which Region to fight in.

War Season

During the War Season there are several changes to apply.

First of all, no Curses are assigned. Instead, Regions in conflict are determined by where the Curses are at the start of this Season (Region Tokens can be conveniently used to indicate this).

The second change relates to the Tactic Cards, which must be returned to the deck of Tactic Cards every time one of them is used or discarded. Essentially, while in the 3-5 player game they all become available again after each year, in comparison the Tactic Cards become disposable with two players.

Finally, not all Curse Cards are discarded, only the first two from the left. This means that only two Curse Cards will be removed, while the third (without repositioning) will carry over into the following Year. This guarantees players that, during the course of the game, they will always have three active battles each Year.

End of the Game

When the Third Year has passed, the game is over. The player with the most Victory Points is considered the winner.

In the event of a tie, the first player in the Turn Order is declared the winner.

Icons

Candle Roles

Each time a Candle is deployed, it takes on a role and its passive effect.

• Explorer: When you move the Candle with this role, you may skip 1 territory and make it land on the next one.
• Pilgrim: When you move the Candle with this role, you may move it from one territory to another with the same effect/icon.
• Warrior: When you move the Candle with this role in a territory, choose one enemy Candle in that territory and move it to an adjacent one.

Tactic and Candle Cards Effects

If there is a number before the icon, the effect of the icon is repeated that number of times.

The effects of a Tactic Card are always performed in the territory where you are fighting. Alternatively, the effects of the Candles may be performed in any territory of the map.

• I: The effect icons that follow this icon are performed if you are playing the First Year or later.
• II: The effect icons that follow this icon are performed if you are playing the Second Year or later.
• III: The effect icons that follow this icon are performed during the Third Year.
• Score Victory Points (VP): Score a number of Victory Points, as specified by the number before the icon. If there is no number, you score 1 VP.
• Ignite: This effect allows you to add a flame to a Candle, or alternatively deploy one of your own Land Flames.
• Extinguish: This effect allows you to remove a flame from a Candle, or remove an enemy Land Flame from the board.
• Steal Resources: This effect allows you to remove a resource from a single opponent and add it to your warehouse.
• Draw a Tactic Card: This effect allows you to draw a Tactic Card, among those placed face up in the appropriate standee.
• Wax cost: The cost you have to pay to play a Candle.
• Destroy Temple: Remove the top layer of a Temple, and place it back in the Upgrades area, thus removing its effects from the board.
• Gold cost: The Gold you must pay to acquire the upgrades or the temples.

Curse Card Effects

Each effect takes place in the Region the Curse miniature or standee is deployed. It triggers when it is deployed.

• 4 (sword icon): This Curse has Combat Power 4 instead of 3.
• Perform again the effect of a Candle in the Region in which this Curse was just deployed. The flames on the Candle do not change.
• Take a Candle in the Region the Curse is deployed and place it anywhere on the main board.
• Place a Temple in the Region where the Curse is deployed, or get an Upgrade Tile for free. (Temple / gear icons)
• You become first in Turn Order.
• x2 (laurel icon): If the controller of the Curse fights at least one opponent in the Region where the Curse is deployed, they get a double amount of VP if they win.
• Extinguish all the Land Flames in the Region where the Curse is deployed.
• 2 (flame icon): Ignite 2 flames in the Region where the Curse is deployed.
• 2 (extinguish icon): Extinguish up to 2 flames in the Region where the Curse is deployed.

Map Effects

These effects are performed each time a Candle or a Wandering Castle enters a territory of the map and a Land Flame is placed on it.

• Curse influence: Place a flame in front of one of the three Curse Cards for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame.
• Barracks: Draw one Tactic Card from the Tactics Board for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame.
• Portal: Take one of your Candles or Wandering Castle for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame and move them to any one or more Territories on the Game Board.
• Mine: Draw any one resource from the reserve for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame.
• Inn: Draw an Advanced Candle Card from the respective deck for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame. Return as many Candle Cards to the bottom of the deck as the number of Cards drawn.
• Forge: You may buy one Upgrade Tile or Temple from the Upgrade Board for each territory with this icon on which you have placed a Land Flame. Temples cost 2 Gold, Upgrade Tiles cost 1 Gold per Year.

Castle Upgrades

• I: When you deploy a Candle, steal 1 Resource.
• I: Your Wandering Castle has +1 Fight Power.
• I: Your Explorer may skip one additional territory when moving.
• I: Your Warrior pushes enemy candles 1 additional territory.
• I: When you deploy a Candle, gain 1 VP.
• I: When you deploy a Curse, gain 1 Tactic Card.
• I: When you deploy a Candle, Ignite 1.
• I: When you deploy a Candle, Extinguish 1.
• I: Your Curses have +1 Fight Power.
• I: When you deploy a Temple, gain 1 VP.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Mine territory.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Curse Influence territory.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Barracks territory.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Inn territory.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Forge territory.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Portal territory.
• II: From the Second Year, your Curses have +1 Fight Power.
• II: From the Second Year, each time you place a Temple, Ignite 1.
• II: At the end of the game, you gain 2 VP for each Curse territory you control.
• II: At the end of the game, you gain 2 VP for each Barracks territory you control.
• II: At the end of the game, you gain 2 VP for each Inn territory you control.

Temple Effects on the Map

• White Temple: Whoever deploys and whoever destroys this Temple scores 4 Victory Points.
• Grey Temple: In the Region occupied by this Temple, victory is awarded (during the War Season) to the House with the lowest combat strength (but with at least an active model in it).
• Black Temple: In the Region occupied by this Temple, the Curse cannot be deployed.

House Icons and Castle Upgrades

The following upgrades belong to each House. The Roman numeral gives the Year from which the effect applies.

Cinis Clan

• I: When one of your Candles moves, it may ignore the territories with your Land Flames and skip them.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Inn territory.
• III: From the Third Year, your Warriors push away enemy Candles 1 additional territory.

Satores Order

• I: When you deploy a Candle you can deploy it in any territory.
• II: From the Second Year, each time you deploy a Candle, Ignite 1.
• III: At the end of the game, you gain 2 VP for each Curse territory you control.

Rota Aurea Guild

• I: When you discard a Candle Card to perform a Maneuver, you can perform a Forge action.
• II: From the Second Year, each time you deploy a Candle, steal 1 Resource.
• III: From the Third Year, each time you resolve a Tactic Card, you gain 1 VP.

Luminis Knights

• I: Each time a Temple is placed or destroyed in a Region, you can move a Candle you own to any territory of that Region. You don't place any Temples, flames, or perform territory actions with this ability.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Barracks territory.
• III: At the end of the game, you gain 1 VP for each active Land Flame you control.

Nova Vita Coven

• I: When you have to draw a Candle Card, draw 3 instead and choose one.
• II: From the Second Year, it counts as if you control an additional Curse Territory.
• III: From the Third Year, your Curses have +1 Fight Power.

Common to All Houses

• There may only be one Wandering Castle in a territory at any time. Each time a Wandering Castle enters a territory, it removes a Land Flame belonging to an opponent in that territory.

Mission and Decay Expansions

The English section of the manual closes with the rules for the Missions and Decay expansions. They are transcribed here as printed. The product advertisements for the other expansions (6th Player, Armies of Candelabria, Solo Mode) that appear on the same pages are not reproduced.

Components

• 24 Mission Cards
• 16 Decay Cards

Missions Expansion

This expansion adds to the game 24 Mission Cards, divided into two types: Yearly and Ranking. Every Mission Card, no matter the type, has a requirement that once fulfilled will give the player a certain amount of Victory Points. The difference between the two types are when and how player can claim the rewards, other than the reward itself.

Yearly Missions

Yearly Missions are missions that can be completed by only one player each Year. When the player completes a mission, a flame of the player's color must be placed on the mission to lock it and avoid other players from taking it for that Year.

Then the player receives as many Victory Points as they win a battle in a Region (4 Victory Points the First Year, 8 Victory Points the Second Year, and 12 Victory Points the Third Year).

The flames from Yearly Missions are removed every Mist Season to show that, for the new Year, the goal is available again.

A player can complete the same mission multiple times in different years.

Example: Complete a Yearly Mission. In this example, the Cinis player just built a Temple and because the Mission Card was a public mission (and it was not completed by anyone yet in this Year), they earn it. So, the Cinis player places a flame on the Mission Card and earns 8 VP.

Ranking Missions

Ranking Missions are missions that last through the course of the entire game, and their rewards are available only to the first three players that achieve it. Every card has three spots to represent the three times that the mission can be completed each game.

When a player completes the mission, a flame of the player's House color must be placed on the spot to lock it and avoid other players from taking it. Then the player receives points based on their position on the quest board: 12 Victory Points are awarded for first place, 8 for second, and 4 for third. The Victory Points are received immediately once the player fills the spot with one of the flames.

A player can complete the same quest multiple times even in the same Year or Season.

Example: Complete a Ranking Mission. The Cinis player just deployed the Pilgrim, which is their third Candle in the turn. The Cinis player is the third player in the game that has deployed 3 Candles, so it earns the third place on the Mission Card. The other 2 spaces were already taken beforehand. They earn 4 VP, and since the Mission Card is complete, it may be removed from the game.

Receiving Missions

Depending on the game mode, missions are added in a different way.

• Standard (3-6 player): Both types of missions are available in this mode. Every player will receive two Mission Cards at the beginning of a game during setup. One of the two cards is taken by the player in the form of a private mission (a secret objective that they need to accomplish), while the other card is placed near the board thus creating a set of missions that all the players have access to.
• Solo Mode: This expansion is not compatible with the solo mode.
• 2-Players Mode: Both types of missions are available in this mode. The rules are exactly the same as Standard Game Mode, with two differences:
  • First: The second place of each Ranking Mission is blocked, and the points for that placement cannot be received. Use a flame from another, unused faction, to block off that place.
  • Second: During the First Year every Yearly Mission is blocked off as well. Place flames from the same unused faction as before to hinder that spot at the beginning of the Kindling Season (it will be cleared, as the rule states, during the Mist Season of the second Year).

Mission List

Yearly:

• Build a Temple.
• Destroy a Temple.
• Control the First Curse.
• Control the Second Curse.
• Control the Third Curse.
• Extinguish all the flames of a Candle.
• Buy a Tier-1 Upgrade.
• Buy a Tier-2 Upgrade.
• Buy a Tier-3 Upgrade.
• Extinguish a land Flame.
• Control the Region number 6.
• Counter a Tactic Card.

Ranking:

• Win a Battle with the help of a Grey Temple.
• Win a Battle in a region with a White Temple.
• Win a Battle in a region with a Black Temple.
• Deploy the third Candle in the turn.
• Extinguish the last flame of a Candle using a Castle.
• Extinguish the last flame of a Candle using a Candle.
• Win a battle with an enemy Curse in the Region.
• Win a battle with an allied Curse in the Region.
• Counter both the Tactic Cards of a player in the same combat.
• Acquire at least 6 resources from a single action.
• Buy 3 Upgrades or Temples with the same action.
• Acquire at least 3 Tactic Cards with the same action.

Decay Expansion

The ones closer to the power are the ones that first melt. Since the time when the Houses tried to subdue the Curse with sacrifice, Decay has spread into their ranks, changing their values and slowly changing them.

This expansion adds cards with specific effects, similar to Tactic Cards. Their usage although, is different. Decay Cards are received during the War Season, every time a player tries to win influence over a Curse but fails. These cards are placed on the War Board and modify the effect on it, giving a new tactical asset and effects to the Houses.

This expansion is not compatible with the solo mode.

Receiving Decay

During the setup, place the Decay Cards in a pile face down near the Curse Cards. Every House that arrives second in the rush to acquire the power of the Curse will instead draw a Decay Card. This card must be immediately placed on the War Board to change one of the regular effects with an enhanced one. This effect lasts until the current War Season is over.

If a player is eligible to draw a third decay, it's necessary to first discard one of the two others to place it. The discarded card must be placed on the bottom of the Decay Deck (there is no Decay discard pile).

Example: Receiving Decay. The Cinis player has only 2 Land Flames on the Curse Card, so they are second place in obtaining it and receive 1 Decay Card. They apply it on their War Board in the spot with the Extinguish icon. Now the War Board has a new effect.

Decay Effects

• Move an Allied Candle 1 territory.
• VP 1 or Ignite 1.
• Acquire a Tactic Card.
• Extinguish 1 or Steal 1.
• Steal 1 VP.
• Ignite 1 or Steal 1.
• Destroy a Temple.
• Steal 1 or 1 VP.