Looterz: Rigor Mortis
Looterz: Rigor Mortis Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 60 Looter cards, each showing: Hearts (top-left corner), Name, Power (top-right corner), and Skill
- 4 Rigor Mortis cards
- 44 Heart tokens
- 36 Coin tokens
- 6 dice
- 6 player reference cards
Setup
Choose the first player at random. Split the Looter card deck roughly in half, shuffle the 4 Rigor Mortis cards into one of the halves, and place it face down in the center of the table. Shuffle the other half of the Looter deck and place it on top, face down, so that a single deck is formed. Deal 3 cards to the first player and 4 cards to each of the other players.
Because the first player has to suffer!
The draw deck in the center of the table is called the Tower.
Ever since the Dark Overlord left the Tower of Dark Sorcery, many creatures have been flocking through the darkness toward his priceless treasure.
Leave room next to the Tower for a discard pile. When a player discards a card, place it here face up. The discard pile is called the Graveyard.
Here lie the infamous thieves — killed, sacrificed, or simply discarded from hand in the name of the lofty and underappreciated art of plunder!
The starting layout consists of: the first player's 3 cards and the other players' 4 cards each; a supply of Coin tokens; the Tower (draw deck); the Graveyard (discard pile); a supply of Heart tokens; and the dice.
Objective
You need to collect enough coins to get as far away from the Tower of Dark Sorcery as possible before the Dark Overlord catches you. How many, exactly? That depends on the number of players:
- 2 players — the first to collect 15 coins wins.
- 3–4 players — the first to collect 10 coins wins.
- 5–6 players — the first to collect 7 coins wins.
Important: the number of coins is calculated based on how long Rigor Mortis is away traveling around the world of Kragmorta.
You can change the victory conditions to make games longer or shorter. But in that case, we take no responsibility for the safety of your Looterz!
Remember: everything here is packed with magical alarms and wards that will sooner or later go off, howl, and draw the Dark Overlord's attention, wherever he may be.
Game Turn
Players take turns in order, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise. The game continues until one of the players collects enough coins to win, OR until the Dark Overlord returns from his trip.
If a player draws a Rigor Mortis card from the deck, they place it in the center of the table to assemble his fearsome likeness, then immediately draw another card. When players have drawn the fourth Rigor Mortis card and the Dark Overlord's image is complete, the game ends. Rigor will return to the Tower of Dark Sorcery and show the hapless little thieves lost in the maze of his treasury exactly where they stand.
Your Turn
Your turn is divided into four phases, in this order:
- First Recruitment Phase
- Dungeon Phase
- Second Recruitment Phase
- Sacrifice Phase
When the fourth phase ends, your turn is over. Pass the turn to the player on your left.
Phase 1: First Recruitment
In this phase you have one of two options to choose from:
- recruit one Looter
OR
- draw one card from the Tower
Recruit
To recruit a Looter, place one Looter card from your hand face up in front of you. Place as many Heart tokens on the card as shown in its upper-left corner. The Looter is now considered to have appeared in the dungeon.
Hearts show how many wounds a Looter can take before it ends up in the Graveyard. Such is life!
Draw a card from the Tower
Take the top card of the Tower into your hand.
You'll often have to do this over the course of the game, or you'll end up with no cards at all. But is a Looter in your hand really more useful than two Looterz in the dungeon?
Phase 2: Dungeon
Time to search the dungeon! Recruited Looterz head there for loot. Each turn, each of your Looterz in the dungeon may perform one of these actions:
- search for coins
- attack
- use its special "Activate" skill!
Life, alas, isn't fair — not every Looter can wield magic! Those without special skills choose between the first two actions. Choose an action for each of your Looterz — their actions can be different from one another. You may resolve your Looterz in any order. Just pick an action for each one and carry it out.
Search for coins!
To search the dungeon, roll as many dice as there are Heart tokens on the card of the Looter performing this action. Check how many dice show a result equal to or lower than your Looter's Power (the number in the card's upper-right corner). You get 1 coin for each such result.
Search for coins: example
Khal-Mar, Demon from Another Dimension, searches for coins. He has 3 Heart tokens, so he rolls 3 dice. The dice show 2, 3, and 5. His Power is 3, so the results of 2 and 3 each earn him 1 coin. The result of 5 is a miss.
The refined art of plunder requires two skills. A Looter must be sturdy enough to haul away the loot, and tough enough to survive the traps. Be careful: coins don't just lie around for the taking! Even the most pitiful Looter is always on guard!
Attack
Your Looterz may attack any other Looterz in the dungeon. You can even attack your own Looterz, if for some reason you want to.
True, the Dark Overlord is still far away, but who said surviving his dungeons would be easy?
To attack, you must first name a target. Then roll as many dice as there are Heart tokens on the card of the Looter performing this action. Check how many dice show a result equal to or lower than your Looter's Power: for each such result you deal 1 damage to the Looter you attacked (i.e., remove 1 Heart token from its card).
When a Looter runs out of Heart tokens on its card, it disappears from the dungeon and no longer belongs to its player. Place its card in the Graveyard face up.
Attack: example
The Viking Zakogtey attacks the worthless Rat King. Zakogtey currently has 2 Heart tokens, so he rolls 2 dice. 1 and 4! Only the 1 is below his Power (2), so Krystian IV loses 1 Heart token.
Remember: the game ends when someone has enough coins to win, or when Rigor Mortis returns to the Tower.
Don't worry — when Looterz disappear from the dungeon, they're only going off for a brief rest, but (this being the Tower of Dark Sorcery, after all) it's said that they've gone to visit their aunt's grave. Who knows, maybe she'll be willing to share some wisdom from ages past.
Special skill: "Activate"
Some Looterz have unique abilities. If a Looter's card says "Activate," you may use this skill as an action during the Dungeon Phase. No dice rolling required — just follow the instructions on the card.
Few Looterz actually wield magic, but many style themselves mighty sorcerers. Such Looterz take a big risk. They have not a shred of real power, but boundless swagger! And the dungeon has no love for braggarts who dabble in magic without the respect it deserves.
Special skill: example
Ninja Nekota can use her special skill to send any Looter in the dungeon straight to the Graveyard, without rolling dice and regardless of how many Heart tokens the chosen opponent has.
Phase 3: Second Recruitment
Once all your Looterz have performed their actions in the dungeon, the Second Recruitment Phase begins. It works exactly like the first one (who would have guessed?).
Strange thing: for some unexplainable reason, many players forget to recruit new Looterz after finishing their dungeon actions. Maybe the thrill of the hunt for loot is bad for the memory? To avoid this, some people write on their hands in marker: "Don't forget the second recruitment!" But if you're not a fan of such drastic measures, just check the reference card.
Phase 4: Sacrifice
If you have more than three Looterz in front of you at the end of your turn, you must sacrifice some of them so that exactly three remain. Send the discarded Looterz to the Graveyard.
As the saying goes: too many Looterz spoil the loot! Or, put another way: fewer mouths, more coin for everyone.
How many cards can you hold in hand?
By the end of the Sacrifice Phase, you must have no more than 10 cards in hand. If you have more, discard any cards until you have 10.
Keywords
The keywords on Looter cards tell you when and how their special skills (if any) are used.
Activate — this skill works during the Dungeon Phase. (But why bother, when you could be searching for treasure or attacking?)
Recruit — the skill triggers the moment this Looter appears in the dungeon (when its card is placed in front of you). It doesn't matter where the Looter came from: your hand, the Graveyard, or the Tower. The Recruit skill does not trigger if the Looter simply "changes owner" during a turn.
Sacrifice — you must choose one of your own Looterz in the dungeon and put it in the Graveyard. Yes, sometimes this "cost" must be paid in order to use a skill. Some Looterz make you sacrifice just for the fun of it.
Last Wish — the skill triggers when a Looter card moves from the dungeon to the Graveyard, regardless of whether it was destroyed or sacrificed (but it does not trigger if the card is discarded from hand).
Decoy — if an opponent is bold (or foolish) enough to attack your Looterz (by attack, magic, or a Recruit effect), they must first attack a Looter with the Decoy skill (if you have one, of course). If you have several Looterz with Decoy, the opponent chooses which one to attack.
Some of them are always huffing and puffing. Others are as clumsy as elephants in a china shop, and clearly not the sharpest tools in the shed. Anyone would learn that drawing attention in a sorcerer's dungeon is a bad idea. Still, we have no doubt you'll find good use even for these guys!
Steal — take one coin from another player's loot for yourself (instead of taking one from the treasury).
Take coins from the wealthiest player. This sets back their victory. Besides, taking coins from players who are behind just isn't sporting.
Decoy: example
A Berserker, a Medic, and a Viking walk into a bar... no wait, into a dungeon! These three Looterz are together, but you may only attack Zakogtey, because he has the Decoy skill. We understand you'd rather go after the weak Medic, but such is life!
End of Game
The game ends IMMEDIATELY as soon as one player collects the number of coins needed to win.
If the fourth Rigor Mortis card is drawn before anyone has collected enough coins, the player with the most coins wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with more Looterz in the dungeon wins. If that is also tied, both of them lose, and the win instead goes to whichever remaining player has the most coins (if that is also tied, keep applying the same method).
Rigor Mortis does not accept ties. And he absolutely despises a double tie — in that case, he will unleash his wrath upon the unfortunate parties, both physically and mentally... The souls of such would-be winners will be imprisoned in the Tower of Dark Sorcery... forever!
Strange Situations That Can Come Up During Play
What if I recruit the Golem Gromykh, but I have no other Looterz under my command?
Then only other players' Looterz are affected by the golem. A clever move, honestly! You should be proud of yourself!
How does the Recruit skill work for the Golem and the sorceress Murrigan?
The active player (the one who played the card) resolves first, then the others follow in clockwise order. So, for example, a player who recruits the Golem sacrifices first, then the others do the same going clockwise.
Can I recruit a Looter, or activate the charming cat Murfa's skill, if doing so would leave me with more than three Looterz in play?
Of course! The number of Looterz is only checked during the Sacrifice Phase. You can even sacrifice the very Looter you stole from another player with Murfa's skill before giving it back (meaning your opponent won't get it back, since a sacrificed Looter can never be returned!).
Always follow the Looter's Code! Of course, there are no Code Wardens in the dungeon, so only your own conscience will eat away at you. And it will devour every excess Looter in your squad.
If two players are tied for the most loot, who do I steal from?
It's your choice. However, if you yourself are one of the players tied for the most coins, you cannot steal from anyone.
It's most advantageous to rob the most successful player!
Can I attack two different Looterz with Morgalo's failed-experiment skill?
Yes. Resolve these attacks one at a time, and choose the second target after you've finished with the first. Keep in mind that Morgalo only attacks twice, and cannot make the first attack and then search for treasure in the same turn!