La Maldición: Héroes de Lorthar
La Maldición: Héroes de Lorthar Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Characters
The game includes eight heroes. Each is shown with their name and class.
- Allard — Knight (Caballero)
- Trea — Sorceress (Hechicera)
- Everard — Barbarian (Bárbaro)
- Sigourney — Archer (Arquera)
- Buckminster — Cleric (Clérigo)
- Odilia — Thief (Ladrona)
- Brishen — Necromancer (Nigromante)
- Emma — Alchemist (Alquimista)
Glossary
- "Elements": Fire, Water, Plant and Lightning. (Elementos: Fuego, Agua, Planta y Rayo.)
- "HP": Health Points (PS, Puntos de Salud).
- "Players": refers to the total number of people present in the game.
- "Opponents": refers to the players who are not the person whose turn it is.
- "Play" (a card): when a card is placed on the Discard Pile, its effect is activated.
- "Discard" (a card): when a card is placed on the Discard Pile, its effect is NOT activated.
- "Reflex": when a player is not on their turn and has in hand a card IDENTICAL to the last card on the Discard Pile, they may Discard it. The discarded card does NOT cause any effect or change in the round, and the game continues as if nothing had happened. This action cannot be taken during a Hero's Ability.
- "Mirror": during their turn, any player holding two IDENTICAL cards may Play/Discard them together as one.
- "Penalized": a penalized player cannot take their turn.
- "Deck" (Mazo): a pile of cards placed face down in the centre of the players, from which they draw cards during the game.
Instructions
La Maldición is a family-friendly card game with a fantasy medieval style and several modes of play. Compete with up to 8 friends at once, and enjoy the Heroes of Lorthar as you see who will be the first to free themselves from the terrible Curse.
Before starting the game, shuffle the Hero, Curse and Action cards separately. Deal to each player, at random and without showing the others, 1 Hero card, 1 Curse card and 7 Action cards.
Return any leftover Hero and Curse cards to the game box. Place the leftover Action cards face down in the middle of the players; this is the Deck. Turn the top card of the Deck face up onto the Discard Pile; it is the game's starting card.
- If the first card turned up is an Attack card, its consequence applies to the starting player.
- If it is an Effect card, it only defines the starting element.
Each player keeps their 7 Action cards in hand. Face down in front of them, after looking at them, each player places their Hero and Curse cards. The player to the right of the dealer starts.
The objective of the game is to free yourself from the Curse Card. To do so, players must first discard all the cards from their hands before they can be freed from it. The player who first frees themselves from the Curse will be the winner.
Players play one card at a time on their turn, following the direction of the round, and throw it onto the Discard Pile. The card played must match the same figure or element as the card thrown onto the Discard Pile by the previous player.
If the player whose turn it is has no card to play, they must draw a card from the Deck. If it can be played, they may play the newly acquired card. If it cannot be played, they add it to their hand with the rest of their cards and pass the turn.
The Curse Card will be the last one to be discarded, since before doing so the player must first rid themselves of all the cards in their hand. The moment a player is left with no cards in hand, they must say out loud "MALDICIÓN" ("CURSE"), indicating that the last card they have left is the Curse card.
If a player does not say this word, then once the next player in the round has played, any player who notices this oversight may point it out and punish the player who committed the error by giving them two cards from the Deck.
The Curse Cards also correspond to an element, and they can only be discarded if the last card on the Discard Pile allows it.
However, there are also Effect cards with unique qualities, as well as abilities of each character, which can alter the elements, the direction of the round and other aspects of the game to make the game more entertaining and complicated.
(Clarification: no Hero ability allows the Curse to be discarded.)
Cards
Deck of 140 cards (Mazo de 140 cartas).
Action cards — Object cards: 80
Each Object card is listed below with its HP effect ("PS" is Puntos de Salud, Health Points), with 2 cards of each element per Object type.
- Club (Garrote), 2 of each element: -1 HP
- Dagger (Daga), 2 of each element: -2 HP
- Small Potion (Poción chica), 2 of each element: +3 HP
- Bow (Arco), 2 of each element: -4 HP
- Hand Axe (Hacha de mano), 2 of each element: -5 HP
- Large Potion (Poción grande), 2 of each element: +6 HP
- Sword (Espada), 2 of each element: -7 HP
- Great Axe (Gran hacha), 2 of each element: -8 HP
- Cleric's Sceptre (Cetro de clérigo), 2 of each element: +9 HP
- Sorcerer's Staff (Bastón de hechicero), 2 of each element: -10 HP
Action cards — Attack cards: 20
Paralyse card (Carta Paralizar): 8 cards (2 of each element), -10 HP. May be played if its element is the same as the element in play, or if the card previously played is another Paralyse card. It cancels the turn of the next player in the round.
Double Shot card (Carta Doble Flechazo): 8 cards (2 of each element), -15 HP. May be played if its element is the same as the element in play, or if the card previously played is a Double Shot card. The next player in the round draws 2 cards from the Deck and is Penalized. If the attacked player holds a Double Shot card, they may play it; in that case the player after them draws 4 cards. The attack may be repeated until a player cannot answer with the same card and must draw from the Deck the total number of cards indicated by the accumulated attacks.
Rain of Spears card (Carta Lluvia de Lanzas): 4 cards (1 of each element), -20 HP. May be played if its element is the same as the element in play, or if the card previously played is a Rain of Spears card. The next player in the round draws 4 cards from the Deck and is Penalized. If the attacked player holds a Rain of Spears card, they may play it; in that case the player after them draws 8 cards. The attack may be repeated until a player cannot answer with the same card and must draw from the Deck the total number of cards indicated by the accumulated attacks.
Action cards — Effect cards: 24
Shield card (Carta Escudo): 8 cards (2 of each element), +15 HP. May be played if its element is the same as the element in play, or if the card previously played is a Shield card. It reverses the direction of the round, and returns to the previous player any Attack (Double Shot, Rain of Spears, Paralyse) that they use against you, including the accumulation of attacks.
Elemental Gem card (Carta Gema Elemental): 4 cards (neutral element), -25 HP. May be played with any element in play. The player who plays this card may choose which element it changes to.
Bonfire card (Carta Fogata): 4 cards (1 of each element), -30 HP. May be played if its element is the same as the element in play, or if the card previously played is a Bonfire card. It allows the player to play a second card of their choice. If the player has no card in hand to play, it allows the Curse to be discarded, always provided that "MALDICIÓN" is said before discarding it.
Ability card (Carta de Habilidad): 8 cards (2 of each element), -10 HP. May be played if its element is the same as the element in play, or if the card previously played is an Ability card. It allows the player to use the Ability of their Hero. NOTHING can cancel the use of the ability.
Abilities do NOT allow the Curse to be discarded.
Curse cards (Cartas de Maldiciones): 8 cards (2 of each element), -50 HP. Each player is dealt one card at random. Each card corresponds to an element, and can only be discarded if the element in play is the same as the Curse card's element, or if an Effect card that enables its discard was played earlier. After being seen by its player, the Curse card is placed face down next to the Hero card, and is not revealed until the moment it is discarded. It will be the last card to be discarded, since the prerequisite for doing so is having no other card in hand.
Hero Cards
Hero cards: 8
Knight (Caballero) – Allard. Ability: Circular Thrust (Estocada Circular). Allard paralyses the first half of the opponents and forces them to draw one card. The second half draws two cards and adds them to their hand. If the number is odd, the leftover opponent also draws two cards. (Example: 6 players. 2 opponents lose their turn and draw one card; 3 draw two cards.)
Sorceress (Hechicera) – Trea. Ability: Multiple Conjuring (Conjuro Múltiple). All opponents must draw two cards from the Deck and add them to their hand; or Trea may choose a single opponent, who must draw from the Deck the number of cards equal to the total number of players.
Barbarian (Bárbaro) – Everard. Ability: War Cry (Grito de Batalla). Everard decides the next player in the round and the direction of the round. He then plays a card of his choice. The card played CANNOT be evaded.
Archer (Arquera) – Sigourney. Ability: Directed Arrows (Flechazos Dirigidos). Sigourney draws from the Deck the number of cards equal to the total number of players. Without looking at them, she deals them as she chooses among the opponents.
Cleric (Clérigo) – Buckminster. Ability: Absolution (Absolución). Buckminster discards any card of his choice. The opponents, following the order of the round, may discard a card from their hand, respecting the element of the card discarded by the cleric. Buckminster discards another card of his choice after each discard by an opponent.
Thief (Ladrona) – Odilia. Ability: Cross Robbery (Robo Cruzado). Odilia steals one card at random from each opponent's hand and adds them to her own. She then returns to each opponent one card from their hand, and finally discards one card of her choice. If an opponent has no cards, Odilia draws one card from the Deck.
Necromancer (Nigromante) – Brishen. Ability: Raise the Dead (Levanta Muertos). Following the order of the round, each opponent must draw an Object card from the Discard Pile and add it to their hand. If the card to be drawn is not an Object card, it is ignored and the card beneath it is drawn instead. At the end of this action, Brishen discards a card of his choice.
Alchemist (Alquimista) – Emma. Ability: Transmutation (Transmutación). Emma chooses an element to change to. She then plays up to two cards of that element. Only the last card played is taken into account if any attack or effect is activated. The card played CANNOT be evaded.
Game Modes
The banner on the rules page shows three modes of play: Duelo de Héroes (Hero Duel), Batalla Campal (Pitched Battle) and Guerra de Clanes (Clan War). The text below names the modes Battle Royale, PvP and Guild War; the printed text does not state which banner icon belongs to which mode, so the names are kept as printed.
Battle Royale: a mode for 2 or more players that follows the general rules of the game. The first player to free themselves from the Curse card wins. Each time a new game is started, the Hero and Curse cards are dealt again.
PvP: this mode is for 2 players only. It follows the general rules of the game, except for the following variants:
- Each player begins the duel with a Life Counter of 100 HP (Puntos de Salud).
- Each time a player finishes a game by freeing themselves from the Curse, their opponent must add and subtract HP from their Life Counter according to the numbers on each card in their hand. Red numbers subtract HP, and green numbers add HP.
- After some games, the first player to reach 0 (zero) HP is the loser of the duel.
- Before the first game, each player takes a hero, either by choice or at random, as both opponents decide. The hero stays the same from the start to the end of the duel. The only cards dealt again in each game are the Curse cards.
Guild War: this mode is for 4, 6 or 8 players. Play is by teams of 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 4 vs 4. It follows the general rules of the game, except for the following variants:
- The participants must sit in the round interleaved between one team and the other.
- One Curse card is dealt at random to each team. After looking at it, the team places it face down on opposite sides of the Deck.
- 7 Action cards are dealt at random to each player. Players may NOT show these cards to the rest of their team.
- The team whose member is the first to discard the Curse, according to the general rules of the game, wins.
- Whenever a participant plays a Double Shot or Rain of Spears card, they may choose which opponent to attack, including in accumulated attacks.
- The Penalized player is taken as the starting point for continuing the round.
Difficulty
Difficulty of play:
- Easy (Fácil): players may check the element of their Curse as many times as they like during the game.
- Medium (Medio): players may check the element of their Curse only at the moment the cards are dealt, before the game begins.
- Hard (Difícil): players may never check the element of their Curse at any point during the game. The colour is known only once the card has been played. If it does not match the element in play, the Curse returns to the player, who must draw two cards from the Deck as a penalty.