WIXLIB

Rules of the Game2-514 60-90min A game by Maxime RambourgIllustrated by Naïade

For generations, the Elementary College has shaped aspiring magicians such as you in mastery ofthe arcane: water, fire, earth, and air. but your first year has been a little disappointing. So far,you can barely spark an ember a couple of inches. You spend more time memorizing books on theorythan exploring real spells that will make you the great magicians you are destined to become.Yet you know that the school’s basement hides the largest magic library in the world. The most powerfulspells are hidden from the eyes of apprentices like you. It is said that this library is home to the Big Bookof Madness, a huge tome with mysterious powers. You were warned that opening this book would be thebiggest mistake a magician could make but surely those are empty threats professors conjured to guardtheir best spells!Tonight, you decided to open the doors of the forbidden library so you can finally gain your rightful powers.Curious and excited, you lifted the cover of the immense book enthroned in the middle of the room. In a burst oflight, it seemed to come to life, the pages turning themselves.You immediately realized your error! The Big Book of Madness is a prison, trapping the worst magicalcreatures imaginable, each capable of wreaking tremendous havoc and you just released them. You must takethem down!You must quickly learn the best spells in the library around you, dominate the elements, and get away—if onlyyou’d paid more attention in class! But beware: The mere sight of these horrible creatures may well drive you mad!Introduction 56 Spell cards:GrowthYou take on the roles of student magicians, who have imprudentlyopened an ancient grimoire that imprisons powerful Monsters. Your goalis to reseal the pages of the book, one by one, and vanquish the finalboss, all without going completely mad.This is a cooperative game, which means all the players win or losetogether.IceCombustionPlace 1 card from yourhand in support.Draw 1 card.TelepathyOne other player takes1 Action.Destroy 1 cardfrom your hand 20 Basic Spells (white border, 4 per player)LevitationContentsplayer1 otherdsto six cardraws up hand.in herTelekinesisAdrenalineIce Touchwsplayer dra card1 other1n places1 card, thehand in support.from herEach playerdraws 1 card. 36 Library Spells (black border) 48 Curse cards 8 Magician sheets (with a player aid on the back)You can haveup to 4 cardsin Support.During your turn,you can discard 1 Madnesscard from your hand anddraw 1 card.During your turn,you can treat one value-1Air card as any Elementof your choice.11 136 Element cards 35 Madness(34 in each of 4 elements):cards 18 value-1333422311342432You can have upto 6 Spells.123During your turn, youcan exchange 2 cards inyour hand with 2 cardsin Support.Draw 1 card eachtime you destroy1 Curse. 10 value-2 6 value-332During your turn,you can draw 1 card.If it is a Madness card, cureit. Otherwise, discard it.122During your turn, youcan refresh 1 exhaustedSpell in front of you oranother player.4315211143311433Draw 2 cards, thencure 1 Madness fromyour hand or support.

vu 1 gameboardEach player who has a free supportslot places the top card of theirdeck in their support.Each player destroys the top2 cards of their deck.wEach player adds1 Madness to their hand. 17 20Grimoirecards:mm 4 cover pages (with a Monster on the back) u 12 interior pages (with effects on the frontpantone 258 Cand a Monster on the back) v15 mm 1 final page (with final Monster effect on the front and theback cover on the back)w.30 mm 1 Invocation marker (book)pantone 180 C The rules of the game22,5 mm 1 Round marker (hat) 1 Active Player token-1- 16 Element tokens (4 in each of 4 elements)Madness CardsDuring the game, you accumulate Madness cardswhenever your deck is empty, or when you are besetby Curses or Monsters. If you get too many Madnesscards, you risk going mad and losing the game.Anytime you must draw a card and your deck isempty, add a Madness card to your discard pilebefore shuffling it back to create a new deck.Note: You can get rid of your Madness cards byputting them in the support pool, by destroyingthem, or by curing them with Spells and Elements.3

Setup Place the gameboard u on the table. According to the number of players, place the Madness cards v onthe window space on the board. This is the Madness stack.NumberNumber ofof players Madness cards220325430535 Separate each Curse w according to type (Water , Earth , Fire, Air, or Multi-Element) and shuffle each type.Then place each type in a face-down stack beside the gameboard. Place the value-2 and value-3 Element cards face-up on the table,stacked by element and value to form 8 stacks x. Each player takes the four Basic Spells (Combustion, Ice, Growth, andTelepathy) y. Place your four Basic Spells face-up on the table infront of you. Each player chooses a Magician z. Feel free to discuss your choices,especially considering the distribution of Elements in the startingcards. Then each player takes Element cards indicated on their Magician sheet. Return all remaining value-1 Element cards to the box.Once you receive your starting Element cards, shuffle them to formyour deck, and place it face-down in front of you.The Round TrackThe Round track is set up like a chart. Therows on the chart mark the 6 Rounds of thegame. The columns represent the differentdifficulty levels (I: Easy, II: Medium, III:Difficult). You choose only one difficultylevel at the beginning of a game. For yourfirst game, we suggest that you start withEasy.The icons ( /) indicate the number of Multi-ElementCurses to add: 0 (if there is no icon), 1 card ( ),or 2 cards ().4Each player places1 Madness on top oftheir deck when thisMonster arrives. Compose the Grimoire {:Place the Final Page card on the right half of theLectern, with the Bonus/Failure side facing up.Shuffle the interior pages, and draw five random pages from them. Place them on top of theFinal Page, with their Bonus/Failure side facingup.Draw one random Cover Page, and place it face-down(cover-side-up) on top of the other cards on the Lectern.The Grimoire is ready. Sort the Library Spells by Element, face-down. Drawone random Spell for each Element of value 1, 2, and3. Use them to form four face-down decks (one per Element), with the value-1 Spell on top, and the value-3Spell on bottom. Flip over the top card (a value-1 Spell)of each deck so the top card is face-up. These are theLibrary Spells that you can learn during the game. Place the Round marker } on the Round track on the gameboardaccording to the difficulty level you want (see “The Round Track”below). For your first game, we suggest that you put the marker onthe first level (Roman numeral I). This determines how many Cursesyou face per round. Place the Invocation marker on the Invocation spaceof the Invocation track. Place the Element tokens near the board . You willneed them only for some Curses. Randomly select the first player, who takes the ActivePlayer token . Then each player draws 6 cards fromtheir deck to form a hand.You are ready to start the game.-You win the game!You lose the game.The Endto may destroy as manyes upplayerplayer cures 1 or 2 Madnessandr choosEachdesired,asEachEachtheplayer may destroy 1 card fromrd pileEach playediscatheir hand and/orfrom their handfromcards.Each playercardstheir discard pile. A playertheir deck.same number offrom theirtop ofsupport pool.value-who doesmay discard2 cardson then draw thereceives 1 higher-value card1 ofcard.places themreceives theA player who onesame Element intoone valuedoestheir hand.same3 card ofElementtheon top oftheir deck.all Airplayer discards their hand,rdEachsupportrs discas anddraws 5 cards.discards all their thenhandAll playe theirplayerOne3 Madness intoEach player receivesAll1playerMadnesspool. then receivescards from rtcards,s discarsuppotheir support.into their discardcardspile.from their d all Watersupport hands andpool.- MagicianuMagician’s AbilitywvStarting ElementcardswSlots for cardsin the support pool1wwDuring your turn,you can draw 1 card.If it is a Madness card, cureit. Otherwise, discard it.uv3521

}11joueurpeutjoueurpeutdéfausserdéfausser1 otherplayer takes11 cartecarteetet1piocherAction, then drawscarte.piocher 11 carte.1 card.{20 mm 30 one 180 C22,5 mmw11joueurpeutdéfausserjoueurpeutdéfausser1 cardPlace11 carteetet fromcarteyourhandsupport,11incarte.piocherpiocher1 card.thendraw carte.PuissancePuissanceduBrasierBrasierPower of sserOneplayer11 .piocherthen draw 1 card.xPuissancePuissanceBrasierEssence serdéfausser11 carteetetchooses1 otherplayercartecarte.piocher1 cardfrom11herdiscard,carte.piocherthen places it on her deck.dzDuring your turn,you can draw 1 card.If it is a Madness card, cureit. Otherwise, discard it.Deck 521IceCombustionyDraw 1 card.Place 1 card from yourhand in support.TelepathylGrowth3Destroy 1 cardfrom your handOne other player takes1 Action.5 thSpel1Play areafor a playerDisc ar vpantone 258 C15 mm5

Reading theGrimoirexu MonsterEach player may destroy as manycards from their hand as desired,then draw the same number of cards.vThe Monster’sArrival EffectwThe Monster’sxwwvEach player discardstheir entire deck.CursesuTo win, you must vanquish the Monster on the last page of theBig Book of Madness without going mad. You have 6 Rounds toaccomplish this. Each Round, a different Monster attacks you byplacing Curses on you. To defeat a Monster, you must destroyall its Curses before the page turns at the end of the Invocationtrack. If you succeed, you earn a bonus! If you do not defeatthe Monster in the number of turns allowed, the page turns, themonster escapes, and you suffer a penalty. Remember, youneed to defeat only the final Monster to win. But first, you have toget to it!Each player has a deck made of Element and (eventually) Madnesscards. Unless an effect says otherwise, you can only draw cards fromyour deck.When you must draw or destroy a card from your deck, and your deckis empty, you must add a Madness card to your discard, then shufflethe discard to form a new deck.zzwThe Next Monster’sCursesGameplayStarting with the player who has the Active Player card, players taketurns in clockwise order.On your turn, you are the active player. Your turn is made of fourphases: Concentration Phase Monster Phase Action Phase Recuperation PhaseAfter you complete these four phases, the player to your left takestheir turn, and so on, until either you turn the last page of theGrimoire to seal it, or you all go mad.1. Concentration PhaseRefresh the Spells that are in front of you.Exhausted SpellA Spell is exhausted when it is rotated a quarter turn (90º).You exhaust your Spellswhenever you activate them.An exhausted Spell cannot beactivated any more until it isrefreshed (righted again).AbundanceOne other playerdraws 2 cards.ExhausteOne other playerdraws 2 cards.To activate Spells at your disposal, you need Element cards. UseElement cards to destroy Curses, learn more powerful Spells, andbuy better Element cards. Each player must assemble the best deckpossible, while avoiding Madness cards.FailurePenaltydAbundanceYou have two other zones in your play area. One zone is indicated bythe slots around the edge of your Magician. These are your supportslots which form the support pool (see page 8, Your support andthe support pool). The other zone is for your Spells. Spells (whetherBasic or from the Library) are not part of your deck, but are availableface-up in front of you; you are their owner.yyOne player discards all their supportcards, then receives 3 Madness intotheir support.Overview6Success Bonus