Karmaggän Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Assembling the Karmaggän
• The Game
  • Objective
  • Game Modes
  • Dead or Alive
• Setup
• Board
• Setup, Continued
• Turns
  • Movement
• Tiles
  • Blank Tiles
  • Abyss Tiles
  • Object Tiles
  • Invocation Tiles
  • Temple Tiles
  • Blood Tiles
  • Passage Tiles
  • Which Tiles Spawns Activate
• Traps
  • Ring Traps (Traps in the Walls)
  • The Rollers
  • Other Traps
    • The Piston
    • Rotations
    • The Ram
    • The Flash
• Objects
  • Object Effects
• Combat
  • Rounds
  • Comparing Combat Values
  • End of Combat
• Spawns
  • A New Life
  • Controlling the Swarm
• The Alien Egg
  • Passing the Egg
  • Throwing the Egg
• Final Moments of the Game
• The Characters
• Example Turns
  • Team Game Example
  • Free-for-All Example
  • Spawn Team Example
• Summary

Components

• 1 Jungle Base
• Ring supports: 1 Middle / 1 Inner / 1 Central
• 1 Central Cross
• Rings: 1 Outer / 1 Middle / 1 Inner / 1 Central
• Wall pieces: 4 Small / 4 Large
• 60 Blood Coins
• 9 Golden Medallions
• 20 Temple Tiles
• 8 Character tokens
• Roller: 2 Tokens / 2 supports
• 9 Blood Tiles
• Invocation tiles: 6 Illuminated / 6 Dark
• 6 Double Illuminated Spawner pieces
• 6 Double Dark Spawner pieces
• 75 Object cards
• 73 Temple cards
• 2 Dice
• 1 Alien Egg

Assembling the Karmaggän

1. Once the Jungle is unfolded, first anchor the Large and Small Wall Pieces to the edge of the Temple.
2. In the centre of the Jungle Base, anchor the Central Cross. Once it is fixed, insert the Middle Ring Support, then the Inner Ring Support, and finally the Central Support.
3. Then place the Rings on their respective supports.
4. Finally, place the Night and Day hatches on their corresponding tracks, the full Blood Tiles on the empty Blood Tile spaces, and the Alien Egg on the Central Tile.

The Game

Objective

The objective of a KARMAGGÄN game is to steal the Temple Egg. The player or team of players who achieves it wins.

To do so, one must take the Egg on the Central Tile or forcibly take it from another Plunderer. Then one must leave the Temple through a hatch that is open and endure one last turn before fleeing into the jungle.

Game Modes

There are two ways to play Karmaggän: Team and Free-for-All (Todos Contra Todos).

Playing in teams, games are faster and make use of all the game's mechanics. Free-for-All games tend to be longer and more chaotic. It all depends on whether you want the glory for yourself alone. By default, this manual explains the rules in the Team mode (in Free-for-All there are no interactions between allies).

Dead or Alive

When a Plunderer loses all of their Blood Coins, they die.

Inside the Karmaggän, however, death is only a threshold: from then on, they can control a mass of tar Spawns (Engendros de alquitrán) together with the other players whose Plunderers have died, and they will try at all costs to keep the Egg from leaving the Temple.

In a Team game, there will be two groups of Spawns fighting for their team's victory (dark vs. light).

Setup

Once the board is assembled, place the Egg in the centre. For a balanced game, it is recommended to alternate a Player from each Team around the board. Play proceeds clockwise.

All Rings must begin aligned on the brightest embroidery (the bordado más luminoso), as shown at the top of the illustration.

All Blood Tile tokens are placed face down in the 9 corresponding spaces.

Then each player places their Plunderer on one of the eight Starting Points, next to the hatches.

The player with the least honour starts the game.

Board

The Karmaggän board is made up of FOUR concentric RINGS and a Jungle with eight paths (day and night). The only way out of the Temple is to cross the threshold of an open hatch. For this, it is important to be alive.

All walls are impassable. They cannot be crossed in any way.

The Temple is divided into Sectors, marked with golden embroidery. When a Ring turns in one direction or the other, it turns as many sectors as a D6 die roll shows.

Setup, Continued

Then each player receives:

• 4 Object cards
• 1 Golden Medallion
• A number of Blood Coins according to the number of participants:
  • 7-8 players: 5 Blood Coins
  • 4-6 players: 4 Blood Coins
  • 3 players: 3 Blood Coins
  • 2 players: 2 Blood Coins

Finally, all the hatches of the Temple are closed, and the game can begin.

There are two types of hatches: Day hatches and Night hatches.

Turns

A Player who controls a Plunderer may move, use Objects, enter Combat and manipulate the Egg if it is within reach.

Movement

Plunderers may move forward, backward and sideways. Never diagonally. In fact, no action in the game can be performed diagonally; it simply does not occur to them.

To determine how many Tiles a Plunderer may step on during its turn, the Player who controls it rolls 2 dice. The higher result indicates the maximum number of Tiles it may step on that turn (from 1 to 6).

It may move fewer Tiles if it wishes, or even stay completely still; the roll determines only the maximum number of Tiles it may step on. In NO case may a Plunderer or a Spawn end its turn on a Tile occupied by another.

Important: every Tile must be stepped on one at a time during movement. This way, the effects of the Temple take place at the right moment and in the right place. No counting Tiles and making a miraculous leap. Step by step.

The Player who controls the Spawns and decides to move them through the Temple may divide the result of the roll among as many Spawns as they wish. (For example: if they roll a 5, they may move 3 Tiles with one Spawn and 2 with another, or 1 Tile each with five Spawns.)

The turn of a Player who controls the Spawns does not end because they lost a combat.

Tiles

There are several types of Tiles in the Karmaggän, and you should know what happens when you step on each one.

Blank Tiles

Nothing happens when they are stepped on. You may run across them without fearing for your integrity.

Abyss Tiles

They cannot be stepped on. They have broken off over a bottomless void. There may be more than one Abyss Tile together, but each one counts separately.

Object Tiles

When a Plunderer steps on an Object Tile, it automatically draws an Object card (if possible) and continues its movement.

Invocation Tiles

They appear wherever the body of a dead Plunderer or a sacrificed Spawn (page 16) falls, transforming that Tile, whatever its type, into an Invocation Tile. This applies even if it is a full Blood Tile, which loses the Coins it may hold.

Important:

• The same Plunderer cannot activate the same Tile twice in one turn.
• A Tile on which a Plunderer already stands is considered activated, and it cannot be activated again until no one is standing on it. Therefore, if a Plunderer starts its turn on a Tile it wishes to activate, it must first get off it.
• The Starting Points are Blank Tiles for all effects.

Temple Tiles

When a Plunderer steps on a Temple Tile, it stops its movement and the Tile is activated automatically. To activate a Temple Tile, flip the top card of the Temple Deck and resolve its effect. Once the effect is resolved, the Plunderer may resume its turn.

The Centre is a large Temple Tile.

Blood Tiles

When a Plunderer steps on a full Blood Tile, it consumes it automatically, if it so wishes. Consuming it yields as many Blood Coins (MdS) as indicated on the reverse of the Tile: 2, 3 or 4 Blood Coins, or an extra Golden Medallion. The Plunderer may then resume its turn normally.

Once a Blood Tile has been consumed, it becomes a Blank Tile for all effects.

Passage Tiles

The four Passage Tiles are connected to one another. When a Plunderer activates one of them, it may resume its movement from any of the others. This does not count as an additional move.

They are four distinct Tiles, so a Plunderer may activate two different ones in the same turn.

Which Tiles Spawns Activate

Spawns do NOT activate Temple Tiles, Blood Tiles or Passage Tiles, but they do activate Object Tiles.

Traps

Ring Traps (Traps in the Walls)

You will have noticed that the walls of the Rings contain things that seem to want to kill you. These are the Ring Traps.

The Ring Traps are the Arrows, the Acid and the Fire. They can only be activated by Temple Tiles. When one of these traps is activated, all traps of the same type fire from the wall outward, toward the outer edge of the Temple. If you are in the path of one of these traps when it activates, you will suffer the corresponding damage:

• Arrows: you lose 1 Blood Coin.
• Acid: you lose (1D6) − 2 Blood Coins.
• Fire: you lose 2 Blood Coins.

A trap continues extending toward the edge of the Temple if nothing stops it. The only things that can stop the path of a Temple trap are another wall, another Plunderer or a Spawn. Abyss Tiles do not hinder the advance of traps.

Do not think the only lethal traps are in the walls. There are many other things that will make you wish you had never entered.

The Rollers

Rollers are placed on the board when the Egg leaves the Central Tile for the first time, and not before. They are suspended between two rows of Tiles and reach only the Outer Ring.

Any Plunderer takes damage each time it crosses the space between the Tiles on which a Roller sits. This can happen when it is dragged by the turn of the Outer Ring, when it is controlled or pushed by a rival, or even voluntarily, if the situation is truly desperate.

The damage from crossing a Roller equals the result of one D6 minus one: (1D6) − 1. Each Plunderer makes an individual roll to determine the damage it has suffered (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 Blood Coins).

Other Traps

The Piston

The Piston is activated only by Temple Tiles. When it is activated, it affects only the Central Tile of the board and whoever is inside it.

When a Plunderer is crushed by the Piston, it loses half of its Blood Coins, always rounding in its favour (for example: if it has 7, it loses 3; if it has 1, it loses none).

Rotations

The Rings of the Temple may turn in any direction by 1 to 6 sectors, as shown by a D6 roll.

The Ram

The Plunderer who activates the Ram must discard from its hand and draw four cards.

The Flash

The Plunderer who activates a Temple Tile and activates the "Iris Flash" resumes its movement from another Temple Tile of the same Ring. It does not activate that Tile and does not count it as a move.

---

These are some of the most lethal traps in the Karmaggän, although there are many others waiting to make you feel the true meaning of the word "agony".

Spawns are immune to all damage from Temple Traps. However, they do stop the path of Wall Traps.

Objects

Only one card may be played per turn.

An Object card may be played at ANY MOMENT during the turn, except during combat (before or after rolling the dice, during movement, at its end, and so on). Cards drawn during the turn may also be played.

Object cards are drawn from the Object Deck when a Plunderer steps on an Object Tile, if the Player wishes.

If a Golden Medallion is paid, one additional card may be played this turn.

The maximum number of Object cards a Player may hold in hand is 8. New cards may not be drawn until others have been played.

When an Object card is played, the effect described on it is carried out immediately.

Object cards cannot be played during each Player's first turn.

You may try to look at other Players' cards. This Rulebook shields you in your malice.

Object Effects

• Greedy Fingers (Dedos de Avaricia): steal a random card from one or two different Players.
• Tumult (Revoltijo): draw 3 cards from the Object Deck.
• Pole (Pértiga): allows a Plunderer to step onto an Abyss Tile, but not to end its turn on it.
• Embedded Gaze (Mirada Incrustada): place the top card of the Object Deck and the top card of the Temple Deck face up. This way, everyone will know what the next cards will be.
• Unpronounceable Conjuring (Conjuro Inpronunciable): cancels the effect of the next Tile you step on this turn.
• Blood Stone (Piedra de Sangre): choose one effect: gain one Blood Coin, or transfer one of your Blood Coins to another Player.
• Helm of Contact (Yelmo del Contacto): after choosing a Ring and a direction in which to turn it, roll a D6 to determine how many sectors it will move in that direction.
• Stone of the Spark (Piedra del Chispazo): allows moving two additional Tiles.
• The Sword of Dh'Or Aegh Morn (La Espada de Dh'Or Aegh Morn): has no effect when played, but is extremely effective in combat.
• Saliva of Khaleidas (Saliva de Khaleidas): draw a new Object card and activate as many Temple cards as a dice roll dictates.
• Deliberate Eclipse (Eclipse Deliberado): the most powerful card in the game. The Player who activated it automatically closes all the hatches of the Temple and discards the rest of their hand.

Players who control Spawns cannot activate Object cards. They may only keep them for Combat.

Combat

Combat occurs when two Players coincide on the same Tile (Plunderer vs Plunderer, Spawn vs Spawn, Spawn vs Plunderer, or Plunderer vs Spawn).

Both Players may agree a truce or negotiate conditions so that combat does not take place. But if all negotiation fails, the moment of violence arrives. The Player whose turn it is counts as the Attacker, and the Player whose turn it is not counts as the Defender.

A combat is resolved in 3 Rounds (Asaltos). When a Player loses a Round, it gives one Blood Coin to the winner.

A Plunderer or Spawn that dies during a combat has lost the combat.

If there is no victim, the Player who has won the most Rounds at the end of the combat is considered the winner. In case of a tie in the number of Rounds won, the Defender has won the combat.

Rounds

A Round is resolved as follows: the two Players involved in the combat reveal, AT THE SAME TIME, an Object card from their hand. The Combat Values of each card are then compared.

There are four types of Combat Values:

• Nothing (Nada)
• Attack (Ataque)
• Counterattack (Contraataque)
• Absolute Power (Poder Absoluto)

Each Round that does not end in a tie: the loser must give 1 Blood Coin to the winner, and the cards that took part are discarded.

Each Round that ends in a tie: the cards that took part return to their owners' hands when the combat ends.

Comparing Combat Values

• An Attack card beats a Nothing card.
• A Counterattack card beats an Attack card.
• An Absolute Power card beats Nothing, Attack and Counterattack.
• All other results tie: Nothing vs Nothing, Attack vs Attack, Counterattack vs Counterattack, Absolute Power vs Absolute Power, and Nothing vs Counterattack.

End of Combat

The defeated Player is thrown by the Winner a total of 3 Tiles away (not necessarily in a straight line), without activating any of them. If there is already another Plunderer or Spawn on a Tile, one additional Tile may be thrown, or as many as necessary.

The defeated Player loses the Egg if it has it, and the Egg passes automatically into the hands of the Winner.

If a Plunderer dies in combat, it is first thrown, and wherever its body falls, the necessary Spawn effects are carried out.

If a Plunderer is thrown and crosses the threshold of a Roller, it suffers the corresponding damage.

If a Player cannot or does not wish to play cards during a combat, it pays 1 Blood Coin to its opponent for each Round in which it did not play a card.

At the end of a combat, both Players draw cards until they have a minimum hand of 3.

If a Plunderer loses a Round to a Spawn, it discards 1 Blood Coin instead of giving it to the rival. Each Spawn has only 1 Life point, so it will die as soon as it loses a Round.

Spawns

Inside the Karmaggän no life is wasted. Plunderers who die within its walls are transformed into a shapeless mass of tar; more terrifying, and multiplied. They are known as the Spawns, and they are the definitive nightmare of the Temple.

A New Life

When a Plunderer loses all of its Blood Coins, it is removed from the Temple. On the Tile where its body used to be, an Invocation Tile is placed. (If it was the first to die, or the first of its team, place a second Invocation Tile on an adjacent Tile.)

All Players whose Plunderers have died will now control a same swarm (Enjambre) of Spawns.

In a Free-for-All game, the objective of the Spawns is to avoid at all costs that the Power Gem leaves the Temple. In a Team game, there will be two rival swarms (dark and illuminated), who must watch over the victory of their surviving allies. The maximum number of Spawns per team is 6.

Translator's note: the booklet's Spawns page (p. 16) calls the object the "Power Gem" (Gema de Poder) in this one sentence, while everywhere else the booklet calls it the Egg (Huevo). It is transcribed as printed; the context makes clear it is the same object.

Controlling the Swarm

At the start of the turn of a Player who controls the Spawns, that Player may choose between two actions: INVOKE or MOVE.

• If they choose to INVOKE, they must place a new Spawn on an unoccupied Invocation Tile.
• If they choose to MOVE, they roll the dice normally and keep the higher result.

They may distribute the movement points as they wish (for example: if they roll a 5, they may move 2 Tiles with one Spawn and 3 with another, and so on). Unlike Plunderers, the turn of the Spawns does not end when a combat is lost.

At any moment during the turn (except during combat), a Spawn may be sacrificed. When it is, an Invocation Tile is placed on the Tile where it was sacrificed, cancelling the previous Tile type.

Also at any moment during the turn (except during combat), a Player who controls the Spawns may play a Golden Medallion to invoke a new Spawn.

When a Spawn attacks, it is the Player whose turn it is who takes part in the combat. However, when a Spawn is attacked, the Players who control the swarm decide which of them defends the combat.

Some Object cards can only be used on Plunderers, but others may be used on Players (drawing cards, and so on), whether they control a Plunderer or the Spawns.

Spawns may NOT step onto the Tile on which the Egg is, unless a Plunderer is carrying it.

Spawns CANNOT LEAVE the Temple.

The Alien Egg

This section details everything involving the marvellous Alien Egg that we all crave.

The Alien Egg begins every game on the Centre, or Central Tile.

When a Plunderer occupies the same Tile as the Egg, it picks it up automatically.

When the Egg leaves the Central Tile for the first time, the Rollers are activated (see page 10).

The Plunderer carrying the Egg may only roll the black die to determine its maximum movement.

Passing the Egg

To pass the Egg between Plunderers of the same team, it is enough that both are on adjacent Tiles with no wall between them, and it is the turn of one of them. (For example, the Pole may be used to stand on an Abyss Tile in order to take or hand over the Egg.)

The Egg cannot be handed over between diagonally adjacent Tiles.

To obtain the Egg by force, a combat must be fought and the carrier defeated.

Throwing the Egg

The Egg may be thrown to another Plunderer if there is a line of fire, as if it were a Wall Trap: from the inside outward, with no walls or other Plunderers in between.

The Egg may be thrown at any moment during the Plunderer's turn. (For example, the Dominion Dagger may be used to move the Plunderer carrying the Egg, reach a line of fire, and throw the Egg to another Plunderer.)

There is no line of fire if the Rings are in motion.

Spawns cannot end their turn on the same Tile as the Gem (Gema, as printed). Nor may they carry it or take possession of it in any way. If a Spawn kills a Plunderer carrying the Gem in combat, it throws the Plunderer 3 Tiles away and the Gem 1 Tile away. If there is already a Spawn on that Tile, it may throw the Gem one additional Tile, or as many as necessary.

Final Moments of the Game

A Plunderer has managed to leave the Temple with the Alien Egg!

NOT SO FAST.

To be able to declare victory, a Plunderer must begin its turn with the Egg in the Jungle. Therefore, the other Plunderers still have a chance to leave the Temple through that same hatch and take the Egg by means of one last combat.

A Player whose Plunderer is outside the Temple may not use Object cards, but is immune to all effects of Object cards and Temple cards.

When a Plunderer loses a combat in the Jungle, it is eliminated from the game, and the winner must endure one last turn in order to escape with the Egg.

The Characters

The booklet's character descriptions are transcribed below.

Julián Rodríguez del Almíbar. No one can resist the sensual gaze of Julián Rodríguez del Almíbar. With his Salsa moves and his captivating charm, he is willing to overcome every obstacle in the Temple to get the Egg, and to dazzle with his brilliance the love of his life this week.

Naya Sangaquix. The last descendant of the Piripkora, the people entrusted with guarding the Temple for millennia. All of them are being transformed into trees, reclaimed by the jungle corrupted by the Karmaggän. The eclipse is near, and Naya Sangaquix does not want to see her people disappear, so she will venture into the Temple to abduct the Egg and put an end to the Pact of Protection.

AX/t9.068StN-01. AX/t9.068StN-01 is an interplanetary probe that has spent thousands of years following the trail of the lost Organism. Its search has led it to Earth. This artefact is programmed to collect the remains it finds and bring them back to the space station beyond the Solar System, where they can be meticulously analysed.

Hiranyagarbha and Hati. After his years of glory as a treasure hunter, Hiranyagarbha piles up in his palace all kinds of antiquities of incalculable value. Nevertheless, Hati, his cockatoo, has not forgotten the most prized treasure. After ten years squawking "Karmaggän, Karmaggän!!", Hiranyagarbha is beside himself, and to get Hati to shut his beak, he is willing to embark on one last adventure.

The Ishikawa Family. The Ishikawa family's photo albums are the great pride of the household. They compile every holiday of the last century, and they can boast of the marvellous destinations they have visited. But lately the Tanaka family's albums are rivalling theirs, and the Ishikawa Family cannot tolerate it. So they are willing to venture into the heart of the jungle to make it clear who has the best holidays. And if they can bring back a souvenir of the trip, all the better.

Pizza. Yes, a pizza. Very juicy. Nobody knows what it is doing in the Temple or how it manages to move, but it cannot be denied that a little bit of Alien Egg would suit it wonderfully.

Bietka. "Rid'n Hôghzanw!! Uzmh Plwoï Waotan'g!! Uta K'ar M'aggän!!!!" Bietka is part of the Worshippers of the Karmaggän, a cult that dates back to the purple night, according to the writings of its library in the Carpathians. Together they ventured into the jungle. One by one they have fallen, and Bietka is the last survivor. She is determined to abduct the Egg at any cost in order to perform the Ritual of Rebirth.

Abuyi the Ape. Doing business with Abuyi is always a pleasure, but being in debt to him can be really dangerous. For some time he has been speculating with the valuable shell of the Egg in his dealings, but since none of the couriers he has sent has managed to return, he is in serious financial trouble. He has decided on desperate measures, and will go to the Karmaggän himself to save his business.

Example Turns

Translator's note: the example pages use the terms "Egg" (Huevo) and "Gem" (Gema) interchangeably, as printed. The Ishikawa Family is printed as "Ishiwaka" in one sentence of the second example; it is transcribed here as Ishikawa.

Team Game Example

In a Team game, the Player who controls Hiranyagarbha and Hati rolls a result higher than 4 on the dice, but decides to move only 1 Tile. They are next to a Passage Tile, so in a single step they activate it and appear on another Passage Tile, having bypassed the Roller. They appear beside their teammate and grab the Egg. This allows their teammate to roll 2 dice instead of 1 to determine its movement, and to grab the Gem before starting to move.

However, the Passage Tile is already being activated by Hiranyagarbha and Hati, so that Passage cannot be activated again until it is unoccupied.

Free-for-All Example

In a Free-for-All game, Abuyi the Ape rolls a result higher than 5 and would like to approach the Centre to steal the Egg. On the second Tile stands the Ishikawa Family, but after a sharp negotiation they yield the way to Abuyi in exchange for a random Object card and washing the dishes after the game.

The Ishikawa Family is on an Object Tile, so Abuyi cannot activate it to draw a card. For the rest of its movement, it steps onto the Central Tile and activates a Temple card: the Acid. A D6 roll determines that the Acid will cause 3 damage, so AX/t9.068StN-01 and the Ishikawa Family, who are in its path, each lose 3 Blood Coins.

Spawn Team Example

Translator's note: the booklet uses "rounds" and "movements" interchangeably in this example; "rounds" is used here for combat rounds.

In a Team game, it is the turn of a Player who controls the Spawns (Illuminated). They decide to move instead of invoke, so they roll the dice and obtain a result higher than 6.

To begin, they move one Spawn 1 Tile to an Object Tile and draw a card. With another Spawn they move 3 Tiles until they engage in combat with Julián Rodríguez del Almíbar. They win the first two rounds, so the Plunderer loses 2 Blood Coins and 2 cards. However, they lose the third round and the Spawn dies.

Even so, their turn continues, and they use the 2 remaining movement points to kill a Dark Spawn (of the opposing team), to make it easier for the Plunderers of their team to pass.

Next, they sacrifice the winning Spawn to place a new Invocation Tile on that Tile. Finally, they use their Golden Medallion to immediately invoke a new Illuminated Spawn.

These are only some of the combinations, strategies and synergies that can be carried out during a game of KARMAGGÄN, but there are hundreds of them. You can consult the advanced guide on the internet.

Good luck!

Summary

Translated from the booklet's "En Resumen" page.

• Obtain the Alien Egg by trying to get the better of the Temple and your rivals.
• To move through the Temple, roll two D6 dice. The higher result marks the maximum number of Tiles you may step on during the turn. Choose how far you want to move within that limit.
• Know the Tiles you step on: some bring chaos and others hope.
• You may play an Object card at any moment during your turn, but this means not counting on it for combats.
• Fight in real time against the other Players, trying to get ahead of their tricks.
• Avoid traps and defeats. Losing all your Blood Coins means death.
• But death is not the end: the dead become part of the swarm of Spawns, as a single team.
• You may play Team or Free-for-All games.