Vazerneiros Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview and Objectives
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Phase 1: Auction
  • Phase 2: Tricks
    • Transformation Potions
  • Phase 3: Scoring
  • Phase 4: Preparation for Next Round
• End of Game
• Appendix — Rumor Cards
  • 1 — The Unexpected Challenger
  • 2 — The Test of Spirits
  • 3 — The Weight of Ancestors
  • 4 — The Hidden Artifact
  • 5 — The Choice of Fate
  • 6 — The Scoundrel's Strike
  • 7 — The Beggar's Play
  • 8 — The Alchemy Elixir
  • 9 — The Mysterious Veil
  • 10 — The Favor of the Gods
  • 11 — The Ritual of Paths
  • 12 — The Price of Greed

Components

• 48 Character Cards, numbered 0 to 11 in four suits: Barbarians, Druids, Mages and Paladins.
• 18 Rumor Cards
• 20 Potion Tokens
• 4 Suit Tokens
• 1 Hierarchy Track

Overview and Objectives

Vazerneiros is a trick-taking game with rules that change each round.

To earn the right to choose the new rule for the round, you will have to win an auction among players, but this may cost you some of your strongest cards. Usually, winning tricks is what earns you points, but new rules can change that, altering the scoring method.

The player with the highest sum of points at the end of the fourth round will be the winner.

Setup

1. Place the Hierarchy Track in the center of the table within reach of all.

2. Shuffle the Suit Tokens and place them face up randomly in the spaces indicated on the Hierarchy Track.

3. Shuffle the 48 Character Cards and, depending on the number of players, deal to each player:

   • 3 players: 13 cards for 3 players
   • 4 players: 11 cards for 4 players
   • 5 players: 9 cards for 5 players

   The remaining cards are placed face down beside the play area, unseen. The cards dealt to a player form that player's hand. Players may look at their cards but may not show them to opponents.

4. Shuffle all Rumor Cards and place the deck face down in the play area. For the first game: it is recommended not to use Rumor Cards with negative points: cards 16 to 18 (with the negative-points symbol).

5. Each player receives 2 Potion Tokens. Form a general supply with the remaining Potion Tokens within reach of all players.

How to Play

A game of Vazerneiros is played over 4 rounds. Each round is divided into 4 phases:

1. Auction
2. Tricks
3. Scoring
4. Preparation for Next Round

Phase 1: Auction

In this phase, an auction will determine who will choose the Rumor Card to be used this round.

Reveal the top three Rumor Cards from the deck.

Each player must carefully read the three revealed Rumors and analyze carefully the Character Cards in their hand.

Now, an auction is held to determine who will select the Rumor Card to be applied this round. This auction proceeds as follows:

• Simultaneously, each player chooses a Character Card from their hand and places it face down in front of them.
• Once all have made their choices, cards are revealed.
• The player who played the highest numbered card wins the auction.

In case of a tie, the tied card whose suit is higher in the Hierarchy Track wins the auction.

The auction winner immediately receives a Potion Token and chooses one of the revealed Rumor Cards to be used this round.

Each Rumor Card has an effect that will change the game rules for the trick-taking phase of the current round. But only one of the three revealed cards will have its effect applied.

The two Rumor Cards not chosen are removed from the game and may be returned to the game box.

Example: the Mage 9 and Barbarian 9 tied in the auction, but since the Mage suit ranks higher than the Barbarian suit on the Hierarchy Track, the Mage 9 wins the auction and their player chooses the Rumor The Ritual of Paths to be active during the round.

Golden Rule: If the text of the current Rumor Card contradicts the rules in this manual, the card text prevails. See more details of Rumor Card effects in the Appendix.

Phase 2: Tricks

The player who won the auction starts the first trick by playing a Character Card face up from their hand in the center of the table. The suit (color) of this card will be the suit of the trick.

In clockwise order, each of the other players plays a card in the center of the table. Players must play cards of the trick's suit. If they do not have cards of the trick suit, they may play any card.

After everyone has played one card on the table, the player who played the highest card of the trick's suit wins the trick.

The winner takes all cards played in the trick and places them face down in front of them, forming a pile. Keep piles of won tricks separate to ease scoring.

Then, the trick winner starts a new trick by playing a card from their hand. Continue playing tricks this way until players have no cards left in their hands.

Transformation Potions

When playing your card to the trick, you may spend Potion Tokens to change the color or the number of the card played:

• Spending 1 token: you may increase the value of your card by 0.5 (half) or decrease its value by 0.5 (half);
• Spending 1 token: you may change the suit of your card. If a player who did not start a trick uses this effect, the card they played may be of any suit (even if they have cards of the trick's suit in their hand), but the resulting suit of this effect must be the trick's suit.
• Spending 3 tokens: you may change the number of the card played to any number between 0 and 11.

You may not use the same effect more than once on the same card, but you may use different effects.

With Potion effects, ties for trick wins may occur. In these cases, the tied player who did not use a Potion effect wins. If all tied players used Potions, the player who played their card first wins.

Important: each player may not hold more than 4 Potion Tokens at the same time.

Example (part 1): Maria started the trick with a Paladin 7 and Carlos played a Paladin 4. Nestor has a Paladin 6 in his hand but decides to play a Druid 2, spending a Potion to change its suit to Paladin, and spends three more Potions to change its number to 11.

Example (part 2): Finally, Aline plays the Paladin 11. Nestor and Aline tie with their cards, but Aline wins the trick because she did not use Potion effects.

Phase 3: Scoring

Once all cards from players' hands have been played, players score points for the tricks they won.

Each trick won is worth 1 point.

Register each player's points on paper.

Phase 4: Preparation for Next Round

If this was the fourth round, skip this phase and go to "End of Game".

Return the Rumor Card used this round to the game box.

Gather the Character Cards used in the previous round (including cards used in the auction) with those set aside, shuffle them, and deal the following amounts among players:

• 3 players: 13 cards each
• 4 players: 11 cards each
• 5 players: 9 cards each

The remaining cards are set aside.

Shuffle the Suit Tokens again and place them face up randomly in the spaces of the Hierarchy Track.

All players, except the one(s) with the highest points, receive a Potion Token from the general supply. In the rare case all players are tied, everyone receives a Potion Token.

End of Game

At the end of the fourth round, the player with the highest total points sum wins the game!

In case of a tie, the tied player with the most remaining Potion Tokens wins. If the tie persists, tied players share the victory.

Appendix — Rumor Cards

Each Rumor Card changes the game rules for the round, introducing new restrictions and opportunities for players.

For the first game, we recommend not using Rumor Cards with negative scoring: cards 16 to 18 (with the negative-points icon).

Below you will find a detailed explanation of each card's effect:

1 — The Unexpected Challenger

Card 0 beats card 11 (and 11.5) of its own suit.

If a card 0 and a card 11 (or 11.5) of the trick's suit are played in the same trick, card 0 wins the trick.

The 0 card only wins the trick if it is of the trick's suit. If it is of a different suit, it loses to cards of the trick's suit even if the 11 card of its suit was also played.

2 — The Test of Spirits

The first and last players cannot use Potions.

You may only use Potion effects if your card is not the first or last played in the trick.

3 — The Weight of Ancestors

Each trick won is worth 1.5 points.

Do not round player scores at the end of the round.

Example: if a player wins 3 tricks this round, their score will be 4.5 points.

4 — The Hidden Artifact

All cards 0 are considered Trumps.

Trumps are cards that beat all cards that are not Trumps. When determining the winner of the trick, if a Trump was played, it wins the trick, even if it is not of the trick's suit.

If more than one player plays card 0 (Trump), the card 0 with the highest suit on the Hierarchy Track wins the trick.

5 — The Choice of Fate

Choose a suit to be Trump.

Trumps are cards that beat all cards that are not Trumps. When determining the winner of the trick, if a Trump was played, it wins the trick, even if it is not of the trick's suit.

The player who won the auction immediately chooses one of the four suits to be Trump during this round. Place a Potion Token next to the chosen suit on the Hierarchy Track. If more than one player plays cards of the Trump suit in a trick, the Trump card with the highest number wins the trick.

6 — The Scoundrel's Strike

The second highest number of the trick's suit wins.

If there are not two cards of the trick's suit, the winner is whoever played the only card of the trick's suit, that is, the player who started the trick.

7 — The Beggar's Play

The lowest number of the trick's suit wins.

In case of a tie due to Potion effects, the card whose suit/number was modified by a Potion is considered lower and wins the trick. If the tie persists, the tied card played last wins the trick.

8 — The Alchemy Elixir

Keep this card. Use it to change the number or the suit of a card. Do not gain a Potion for winning this auction.

The player who won the auction takes this card and places it in front of them, but does not receive the Potion Token they would have gained for winning the auction.

The owner of this card can use it when playing a card to change the card's number to any number between 0 and 11 OR change the card's suit to the trick's suit (or any other suit if starting the trick). You may combine this card with Potion effects.

After using this card, discard it. If this card is not used until the end of the round, discard it.

9 — The Mysterious Veil

Except for the starting player, all players must play their cards face down.

As usual, players must play cards of the trick's suit (if possible). Cards are played clockwise normally, as players can use Potion effects on them (declaring which effects will be used and placing tokens on the card until it is revealed). Once all cards are played, reveal the face-down cards and determine the trick winner normally.

10 — The Favor of the Gods

The highest number wins the trick regardless of suit. It is not necessary to play the trick's suit. Gain an extra Potion.

The player who chooses this card immediately receives a Potion Token (in addition to the token received for winning the auction). Players do not have to play cards of the trick's suit on their turns and may play any card from their hand. The highest numbered card played wins the trick. In case of a tie, the tied card whose suit ranks higher on the Hierarchy Track wins.

11 — The Ritual of Paths

Each card played must be of a different suit from those already played in the trick.

During all tricks of this round, instead of playing the trick's suit, players must play a card of a suit that has not yet been played in the trick.

The highest numbered card wins the trick. In case of a tie, the tied card whose suit ranks higher on the Hierarchy Track wins.

If a player cannot play a card of a different suit, they must reveal their hand and the trick-taking phase ends immediately (the current trick is not finished, leaving no winner).

Games with five players: a single suit may have two cards played in the trick. As long as there are not two cards of the same suit in a trick, any player may play a card of a suit already present in the trick (even if they could play a card of a different suit). Once there are two cards of the same suit in the trick, players must play cards of different suits.

Change in Potions: If the effect of this card is active and a player uses a Potion to change the suit of the card they played, the resulting suit must be one that has not yet been played in the trick. In 5-player games, the resulting suit may be one that has only one card in the trick, as long as there are not two cards of the same suit in the trick.

12 — The Price of Greed

Each trick won is worth 2 points. The player who wins the most tricks scores zero points.

In this round, each trick won is worth 2 points instead of 1, but the player who won the most tricks receives no points.

In case of a tie, all players who won the most tricks receive no points.

13 — The Whispers of the Fallen

All players who lost the trick exchange one card from their hand with one card from the table.

After determining the winner of the trick, starting with the player to the left of the trick winner and going clockwise, each player except the winner must exchange one card from their hand for one of the cards on the table (which may include cards placed on the table in previous exchanges).

After all have exchanged, the trick winner takes the cards on the table and places them face down in front of them, forming their scoring pile.

Example (Part 1): Maria won the trick with her Barbarian 8. Carlos is next clockwise and exchanges the Barbarian 8 for a Mage 7 from his hand.

Example (Part 2): Nestor now exchanges a Paladin 1 from his hand for the Mage 7 placed on the table by Carlos.

Example (Part 3): Finally, Aline exchanges a Barbarian 1 from her hand for the Barbarian 5 on the table. Maria then collects the 4 cards on the table and places them in her scoring pile.

14 — The Turnaround of the Lessers

The player who wins the fewest tricks gains 2 bonus points.

Besides the points gained for tricks won, the player who wins the fewest tricks gains 2 bonus points. In case of a tie, all players who won the fewest tricks gain the 2 bonus points.

15 — The Game of Light and Shadows

Cards numbered 0 and cards numbered 7 to 11 are played face down.

Cards numbered 1 to 6 are played face up normally. As usual, players must play cards of the trick's suit (if possible).

When starting a trick with a face-down card, the player must declare the card's suit.

Even when playing a card face down, players may use Potion effects (declaring which effects will be used and placing tokens on the card until it is revealed).

Once all have played, reveal the face-down cards and determine the trick winner normally.

16 — The Cursed Crown

Each trick won is worth -1 point. The trick winner chooses who starts the next trick.

In this round, each trick won is worth -1 point instead of 1 point.

The trick winner chooses who starts the next trick, possibly choosing themselves if desired.

17 — The Echo of Discord

Every 2 Paladin cards in the won trick piles are worth 1 point, and every 2 Barbarian cards are worth -1 point. Tricks won do not count for points.

During the scoring phase, instead of the conventional scoring, players must count the number of Paladin and Barbarian cards in their won trick piles. For every 2 Paladin cards (rounded down), gain 1 point. For every 2 Barbarian cards (rounded down), lose 1 point.

Example: in your won trick piles, you have 3 Paladin cards (1 point) and 4 Barbarian cards (-2 points), so your round score is 1 - 2 = -1 point.

18 — The Arcane Rivalry

Every 2 Mage cards in the won trick piles are worth 1 point, and every 2 Druid cards are worth -1 point. Tricks won do not count for points.

During the scoring phase, instead of the conventional scoring, players must count the number of Mage and Druid cards in their won trick piles. For every 2 Mage cards (rounded down), gain 1 point. For every 2 Druid cards (rounded down), lose 1 point.

Example: in your won trick piles, you have 7 Mage cards (3 points) and 5 Druid cards (-2 points), so your round score is 3 - 2 = 1 point.