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ITABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................ ....................................... .......................33 Introduction .................................... ......................................................... .........................4 .....4 Weaving the Tapestry ..................................... ........................................................ .........................6 ......6 1. A Strange World ..................................... 2. The Rotten Rotten Apples ...................................... ......................................................... ...................... ...88 ........................................................ .................12 12 3. The Rent in the Sky ....................................... 4. History of Venice .................................... ....................................................... ........................14 .....14 .................................................18 ...........18 5. The sestieres of Venice ...................................... ........................................................ ..................22 22 6. Masks and Carnival ...................................... ......................................................... ...................................... .....................24 ..24 7. Magic ...................................... ........................................................ ..................................2 ...............288 8. The Gifted ..................................... 9. Shards of the World ..................................... ....................................................... ..................32 32 ....................................................... ...................................... .........................36 ......36 The Rules .................................... .......................................................... ......................38 ...38 10. Basic concepts concepts .......................................
Game components ..................................... .....................................................3 ................388 Basic game concepts concepts .................................... .................................................40 .............40 Basic rules................................... rules...................................................... ................................42 .............42 .......................................................... .............................46 ..........46 11. Movement ....................................... Basic Movement ..................................... ......................................................... ....................46 46 Advanced Advanced Movement.................................... ..................................................47 ..............47 ........................................................ .................................... .................48 48 12. Combat ..................................... Combat Combat essentials .................................... ..................................................... .................48 48 Advanced Advanced combat...................................... ....................................................... .................49 49 13. Shooting ..................................... ......................................................... ..................................52 ..............52 ......................................................... ..................................56 ...............56 14. Wounds ...................................... ....................................................... ..................58 58 15. Universal ablilities ..................................... 16. Weapons and equipment ...................................... ............................................64 ......64 ........................................................ ...................................... ..................68 68 17. Terrain .................................... Water Water and canals .................................... ....................................................... ...................69 69 ......................................................... ...................................... ...................70 70 18. Magic ...................................... Spells .................................... ........................................................ ....................................... ...................72 72 ........................................................ ....................76 76 19. Playing Carnevale .................................... Adventures Adventures ....................................... .......................................................... ..........................76 .......76 Events...................................... ......................................................... .................................... .................78 78 Campaigns...................................................................79 ..........................................84 .....84 20. Adventures and Campaign ..................................... The fragment of the Black Statue ............................84 ............................84 Adventures Adventures ...................................... ......................................................... ...........................86 ........86 The Squads ..................................... ........................................................ ...................................... .....................90 ..90 ........................................................ ........................92 .....92 21. Squad creation ..................................... 22. Doctors of the Ospedale .................................... .............................................94 .........94 Plague doctors ..................................... ......................................................... ......................96 ..96 Madmen of the Ospedale .................................... ..........................................98 ......98
Pets of the Ospedale .................................... .............................................. ..........100 100 Doctors of the Arsenale ..................................... ......................................... ....102 102 Alchemist Doctors...................................................103 Doctors...................................................103 Morgue Doctor and the Being ................................ ................................104 104 Nurses ...................................... ......................................................... ................................ .............106 106 Wardens Wardens ..................................... ......................................................... .............................. ..........107 107 .......................................................... ..................... 108 23. The Patricians ....................................... Nobles ..................................... ........................................................ ................................. ..............110 110 Venice City Guard.....................................................112 Guard.....................................................112 Barnabotis................................................................114 Gambling Nobles ...................................... ..................................................... ...............115 115 Syphilitic Nobles ....................................... ......................................................116 ...............116 White-Collar White-Collar Thieves Thieves ...................................... ............................................... .........117 117 The Black Specter.................................... ....................................................119 ................119 Butlers...................................... ......................................................... ................................ .............120 120 Maids .................................... ........................................................ ....................................121 ................121 .......................................................... ....................... ....122 122 24. The Rashaar ....................................... Magi-Rashaar....................................... .......................................................... ..................... 124 Cult of Dagon ...................................... .......................................................... ...................... 126 Ugdru-Rashaar ...................................... ........................................................128 ..................128 Hybrids ...................................... ......................................................... ............................... ............130 130 Citizens of Venice ..................................... .................................................... ...............131 131 Morgraur-Rashaar Morgraur-Rashaar ....................................... ................................................... ............132 132 Agláope-Rashaar...................................... .....................................................134 ...............134 Radru-Rashaar...................................... .........................................................135 ...................135 25. The Guild ...................................... ......................................................... ............................. ..........136 136 Capodecimes..................................... ......................................................... ....................... ...138 138 Pulcinellas ...................................... ......................................................... .......................... .......140 140 Butchers..................................... ........................................................ .............................. ...........142 142 Barbers....................................... .......................................................... .............................. ...........143 143 Harlots.................................... ........................................................ .................................. ..............144 144 Dog Keepers..................................... ........................................................ ........................ .....145 145 Citizens of Venice ..................................... .................................................... ...............146 146 Baba-Y Baba-Yaga..................................... ........................................................ ............................ .........149 149 .........................................150 150 26. Independent Characters .......................................... The Duke............................. Duke................................................ ......................................152 ...................152 White Dove..................................... ......................................................... .......................... ......153 153 Rialto Assassin ..................................... ........................................................154 ...................154 The Aberration..................................... ........................................................ ..................... 155 Harlequin.................................... ........................................................ .............................. ..........156 156 Fadhila-Bint-Dahab Fadhila-Bint-Dahab.................................... .................................................. ..............157 157 Appendix.............................................................................158 ©
Designed by David Esbrí. Background: David Esbrí, David Llop. Additional rules: David Llop, Chema Pamundi, Stephen Radney-Macfarland. Proofreading: Vanessa Carballo, Marta López. Cover art: David Esbrí, Alex Gallego. Layout: David Esbrí. Web: Satori Produccions. English translation: Jaume Muñoz, Sinead Kelly. English proofreading: Jean Brown, Andy Frazer, Stephen Radney-Macfarland. Art: Luís Czerniawski, David Esbrí, Joan Guardiet. Miniature sculptors: Thomas David, Jacques-Alexandre Gillois, Patrick Masson, Ángel Terol, Rémy Tremblay, Tremblay, Lee-Sang-Wook, Lee-Sang-Wook, Iván Santurio, Drew Williams. Miniature painters: David Esbrí, Raúl León, Jorge Noriega, Fernando Ruiz. Terrain: WorldWorks Games, La Mazmorra del Androide. Playtesting: Josue Acevedo, Miguel “Reverendo” Arnaiz, Alejandro Benitez, David Caldentey, Vanessa “Wed” Carballo, Adolfo Castellano, Juanjo Cumplido, Sergio De la Fe, Sergio “Sethelan” González, Pere Macià, Jonathan Marrero, Adrián Montaña, Jordi Ribas, Ayose Viera. Special thanks to: Keith Baker, Massimiliano Berchioni, Beasts of War, Club Krítik, Jordi Cañellas, Ricard Ibáñez, Jon Hart, Chema Pamundi, Stephen Radney-Macfarland, Jordi Ramírez Bové, Alessio Cavatore, and Alberto Martínez Ruiz & Rafael Vidal Altabert from La Mazmorra del Androide for the amazing Carnevale gaming board. Vesper-On Games are: David Llop, Jordi Ribas. VESPER-ON GAMES Carnevale, the miniature game is Vesper-on Games. C/ Roger de Flor, nº 320, 5º-2ª 08025 - Barcelona, Spain Depósito legal:
[email protected] ISBN: 978-84-615-3207-0 www.vesper-on.com
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INTRODUCTION ◊ 1792
A group of adventurers and treasure hunters return to Venice from Tripoli with a mysterious artefact. A medium-sized sculpture of a bizarre creature, carved in a dark and unknown material. They take it to L’accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, but in the following days, both professors and students from the newly created created art restoration restoration department start to feel
ill and end up suering nightmarish visions, or in the worst cases insanity. Two Two months later they decide to get rid of the
ghoulish trinket, but it is nowhere to be found; it seems like it has melted and leaked into the very founding stones of the city state of Venice itself. ◊ 1793 A mysterious man appears and presents himself simultaneously in the political centres of the dierent world religions.
He carries dark news of cosmic entities ready to invade our world; he says he comes in peace and asks for help in this upcoming hour of dire need. His words words represent a threat to each organized organized religion, so none have a positive reaction. He is ignored in Tibet. He is cast away from Jerusalem. But in Vatican Vatican City, fear of his ideas, mean he is stabbed and killed. Rome, along with a good part of Italy are destroyed and fall submerged in the waters of the Mediterranean. ◊ 1795
The city state of Venice Venice is located on the edge of the ‘Rent in the Sky’. These are times of turmoil and angst. Some individuals have developed supernatural abilities. The decadent decadent elites of the city enjoy these times of chaos, dedicating themselves to violence and murder. murder. Aquatic alien creatures emerge from the depths of the Mediterranean to mate and gorge themselves on the human cults built up to worship them. Madmen and lunatics draw mystical energies from the Wound and some scientists without qualms take advantage of them t hem to fuel vile experiments. Meanwhile, the underdogs and commoners do their best to simply survive. The water in the canals of Venice Venice runs red with the blood of the fallen. The time for artists and dilettantes dilettantes has passed, now it is time for survival.
‘The thing is to dazzle’ - Giacomo Casanova These are the words of Giacomo Casanova, writer, adventurer, mystic and celebrity of Venice in the Baroque period. His words will accompany some passages of this book. Casanova’ Casanova’s aim was to dazzle, a mission he shared with the city of his birth. Venice Venice remains a place that arouses the imagination of travellers, poets and painters. Its streets, churches, canals and masks have fascinated everyone everyone who has ever set foot in the t he Serenissima. Carnevale is a miniature game set s et in late eighteenth-century Venice. Venice. It has a simple yet complex system of rules, which allows you to play exciting combats following following a game system you will learn in no time. But the more important thing is the
background that features in the game itself; each eac h roll of the dice is a reection of this magical m agical and mysterious city of Venice. The book you hold in your hands is a game, and it is the rst step on an exciting journey of adventure that unfolds before
your eyes. Join us, please.
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10
BASIC CONCEPTS
Welcome my friend to the city of Venice. I take it you’re aware of the many pleasures this place has to oer? More pleasures than you can imagine! Trade, vice, gambling, and the best parties in Europe—they’re all here. Maybe, though, you’re here searching for something you can’t nd anywhere else but in the Serenissima. Maybe you’re searching for the thrill of adventure? Don’t be fooled by its posh and decadent disguise, Venice is a town where death lurks like a hunter, and it’s been worse since the Rend in the Sky. You You can choose to listen to me and survive the most m ost wondrous and most awful city in the world or you can ignore me and die. In any case, I suggest that you confess confess your sins, and scribble your last will and testament, just in case
C
arnevale is a thrilling game where squads of
warriors ght in desperate d esperate battles battles and participate
in dangerous adventure within and around the city of Venice. In order to play with your gorgeous Carnevale models (which, of course, you have painted) it is necessary for you to become familiar with a few simple game concepts.
IGAME COMPONENTS Carnevale is a miniatures skirmish game, and as such uses some components that are not included with the game, or that you may not be used to. The following following is an overview of the various components of this game.
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THE MODELS
Carnevale requires requires each participant to build a small sm all army—or squad—of miniatures that represent your Venetian forces. These miniatures, sometimes called characters or models in the game rules, are 30 mm scale,
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size categories: Medium size (e.g. Venetian Citizen), Large size (e.g. Ugdru-Rashaar) and Huge size (e.g. the Rhinoceros).
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DICE AND HOW TO READ THEM
During the course of a game, your characters perform many actions. Often the success or failure actions is determined by the roll of a number of 10-sided dice, called a dice pool. The rolls of such dice pools determine if a character is able to jump from one roof to another, if an attack hits home, or if a character can resist the compulsions and energies of magic. Each of the dice in a pool has sides numbered from 1 to 0 or 10 (the 0 is read as 10), and are often referred to as “d10”, where the “d” stands for die or dice. Sometimes the rules will ask you to roll a 5-sided die or a d5. You determine the results of a d5 by rolling a d10 and divide the result in half, rounding up. The number of dice within a dice pool is noted directly before the die type, so that if a pool has one 10-sided
EXAMPLES OF BASE SIZE CATEGORIES CATEGORIES
Huge Size
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and are set in round plastic bases with three dierent
Large Size
Medium Size
dice, the rules will ask you to roll 1d10, if a dice pool has
READING THROUGH
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We are going to try to unravel the rules of Carnevale following a logical path of growing complexity, in a gradual and coherent way, but since this is a quite complex set of rules we will eventually have to make reference to some rules which we haven’t talked about yet. For example, in the Universal Abilities section we will talk about Magicians, but we won’t go deeply on the ways of the Magic until its own chapter. We advise you to continue reading, and learn about those rules when
ve dice, the you will be asked to roll 5d10, and so on.
THE DESTINY DIE
Each time you roll a dice pool consisting of d10s, one die within that pool is special. This special die is called
the Destiny Die. The Destiny die triggers dierent special eects in the game, and can produce p roduce extraordinary extraordinary levels of success or failure. The specics on how particular
instances of Destiny Die work depend on the situation and are covered within that situation’s relevant rules entry. When a die pool only consists of one d10, that one die will also be a Destiny Die. Each time you roll a dice pool,
the moment comes. You’ll You’ll nd yourself reaching a state
of epiphany in which suddenly everything makes sense.
one die should be dierent than the others. This dierent
die is the Destiny Die.
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MEASURING DISTANCES DISTANCES
Some eects within Carnevale, like explosions or the strange eects of magic, c an aect large areas of play
You measure movement and range of eects (both
eect, Carnevale use one of two dierent templates: the circular template and the cone template. template. You can nd
mundane and magical) in inches. Furthermore, the rules use the double apostrophe as a symbol for inches, so when a model is capable of moving four inches, we will express that like this: 4’’. We will learn the details of the Movement process and any other rule that deals with measurements in the relevant chapter. It is worth mentioning at this moment that t hat in Carnevale you are allowed to measure distances within any element of the game at any time. ALWAYS. For measurements during the game, we suggest using a measuring tape with inches, though you could also use a ruler. You can
TEMPLATES
instead of single character. To determine these areas of
them both at the end of this book and at www.vesper-on. com. You have permission to reproduce them for your personal use. It is a good idea to print them on sturdy transparent material (like the plastic used with overhead projectors), so you can overlay these templates and
clearly see which characters charac ters are aected by the area of eect they represent.
nd measuring tape in an y game or hobby store, in DIY
stores, or even larger supermarkets.
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COUNTERS
Carnevale uses four types of counters: Activation counters, Hidden counters, Stunned counters, and At the Ready counters. You use Activation counters to show which characters have already gone during a Round. You use Hidden counters, Stunned counters and At the Ready counters to mark temporary states within the game. You can use coloured crystal tokens as counters or print the ocial counters at the end of this book or at www. vesper-on.com . You can reproduce the ocial counters for your personal use. If you use the ocial counters, we
recommend that you print them or stick them on sturdy material (like card stock), so they will last for many games.
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TERRAIN
Terrain is a key element of this game. Especially that scenery detailing streets of Venice—buildings, canals, bridges, gondolas, barrels or crates that clutter that
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MINIATURES AND SQUADS Miniatures group together in squads. Squads are
composed by characters of the same aliation and,
occasionally, can incorporate other independent characters willing to sell themselves to the best bid. When preparing for your games of Carnevale, you and your partner will have to agree up to the points limit that you both will be able to spend in your squads. Those points will include the cost of models and their equipment options, and other elements that you might want to include in your squads, such as Events for example. As you can see, models are worth an amount of points
indicated in their proles. Also, in some cases there will be
a few equipment options for you to “buy”, like alternate weapons or magic items. These options will have a cost in points that you’ll have to pay for when building your
squad and that will add up to the nal cost of your model.
cityscape. You can obviously play your games on at
You will have to nominate one of the models in your squad as the Leader, and tell your opponent about that. Leaders will have the Command Universal Ability (as we will see in the Universal Abilities chapter).
I BASIC GAME CONCEPTS
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surface without any scenery at all, but Carnevale is a dynamic game, set in a dynamic city, and scenery makes the game more exciting and the city more evocative.
Before getting into too much detail with heavier rules, we would like to go over a few conventions and agreements all players should have in mind while playing.
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ROUNDS, TURNS AND ACTIVATIONS
The game of Carnevale is divided in Rounds, in which the characters will be playing their Turns. The group of actions done by a character during his Turn is called activations, and once he’s used up all his actions allowance, that
model will count as activated. An activated model will not activate again until the next Round. A Round begins with all the models ready to act, and it ends when all the models have been activated. The rst player will activate one of his characters, starting
that character’s Turn in doing so, and when he’s done with all his actions the player will set an Activation counter next to the model to mark that as an activated model. Afterwards the adversary will activate one of his characters, starting this new character’s Turn and placing another Activation counter next to it when he’s done. And this you-go-I-go will continue until all the models have been activated. It will be at this point when the “End of Round” Turn takes place, and players will solve the game
eects ending at this moment, check if Victory conditions
are met, clean the table of Activation counters, reset
Action Points and ocially close the Round. Immediately
afterwards a new Round begins. As long as one player has less un-activated models than his opponent, he will be able to decline playing his Turn, forcing the other player to play another Turn right after the one he’s just played. This can be repeated always as long as a player has less activated models than his opponent.
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ACTION We will dene as action any activity done by a model
with a cost in Action Points linked to it (AP to make that short, as we’ll see in a few pages in the Basic rules section). An action ends at the moment when the next action is announced. For example, a character with 3 AP that jumps, shoots and moves will have carried out three actions. We will go in depth with Action Points in a minute, but it is worth noting that there are 0 AP, 1 AP or 2 AP actions, or actions involving even more than 2 AP, but any of them will still count as one single action. Characters in Carnevale have an Action Points (AP) value in their proles, which indicates the number of AP he can
invest in his actions each time the model is activated. We will learn the mechanics of this value very soon, but at
this stage we can establish that this denes the reexes
and capability of carrying out actions in a short lapse of time. There will be characters able to Jump from one roof to the other, hit an enemy and get the price in the same amount of time that other characters will barely be able to cross the street. All these actions have a cost in Action Points, and the player will invest them on the go until the character runs out of them, o decides to stop acting with that character for the time being.
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BASE CONTACT
One model will be in Base Contact with another model when both bases are touching each other. In order to have one model attacking in close combat another model, they must be in Base Contact with one another. When a model is standing on top of an obstacle, an element of terrain or similar, being up to 1’’ above the
ground, it will still be considered to be in base contact with any model in base contact with such obstacle.
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FREQUENCY
Some characters have a limited Frequency, which means that you will only be able to deploy a limited amount of copies of some particular models in your Squad. The most obvious case are the Independent Characters, all of them have a Unique Frequency: there is only one White Dove, so you will only be able to deploy just one of her in your Squad. Nevertheless, your opponent could deploy his own White Dove, which would mean that there would be two of her on the table at the same time (that’s probably a magic reflection of that character generated by the inscrutable ways of the Rent in the Sky). Other characters can have different Frequency values depending on the total points cost of the squad, as we will see in the Factions chapter.
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ADVENTURES
The games of Carnevale are played within adventures. Adventures suggest scenarios with a story line and some objectives, which will mainly determine the motives by which characters in both squads will be risking their lives. Adventures can be self contained or link with one another creating Campaigns. We will see about this in the Playing Carnevale chapter.
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THE CHARACTER SHEET AND THE SQUAD SHEET
For your convenience, throughout the game, a copy of your squad sheet will come handy. The squad sheet is made up with the character sheets of all the characters in the squad. Now we will introduce the dierent elements
of the character sheet, which will be developed in depth in their corresponding chapters, especially in the Factions section. At the end of this book, as well as on our website, you will nd a template to create your own squad sheet,
with empty sheets for you to complete.
◊ Action Points (APs). Here you must indicate the amount
of Action Points the character possesses in order to act every Turn.
◊ Name. You should create and a name for your character. ◊ Class. Here you must write down your character class,
for instance Independent Character, Magi-Rashaar, Pulcinella, etc.
◊ Descriptors. Here you will write down the aspects that dene the character, such as Human, Soldier, Mage, etc.
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◊ Command Points. Characters with the Universal Ability
uses, it is applied to the use of Magic, the Initiative or Morale.
Command will indicate here the amount of Command Points they have. Since it is a dynamic value which is spent during the game, write down the current value on the other side of the slash .
◊ Protection. The Protection indicates the character’s
ability to endure pain, as well as the protection bestowed by the equipment he may be carrying. By default, all Carnevale characters have a Protection value of 2, but this value may vary due to Universal Abilities (mainly Extra Protection), in which case the
◊ Cost. Write down this character’s total cost. ◊ Karma. Karma Points are used to boost characters’
actions during the game. Cross out the Karma Points your character uses during the game .
◊ Life Points. In this section you will nd your character’s
modier will already appear in the character sheet. ◊ Universal Abilities. Here you can write down the
character’s Universal Abilities. Universal Abilities are common concepts found in several characters. You will nd an explanation in the corresponding chapter .
current health; every time the character is hurt, tick the corresponding boxes. Every time you tick the last
box before the new modier, the character crosses a Pain
Threshold. As you will see in the Factions chapter, every character has a dierent amount of Life Points. ◊ Attributes. The following six concepts are known
generally as Attributes..
◊ Special Abilities. Here you will nd the rules and
abilities unique to this character, such as the Harlequin’s Multiple Presence.
◊ Equipment. Here you will nd the character’s basic
equipment. In case you modify the character’s equipment, write down the changes in the Notes section.
◊ Movement. This value indicates the basic distance
in inches the character can Move.
◊ Combat. This value indicates the amount of dice in
the character’s basic Combat dice pool.
◊ Dexterity. This value indicates the basic diculty
◊ Spells. If your character can use Magic, write down his
Spells (and their cost) in this section.
◊ Notes. Write down here any detail about the character
you need to bear in mind during the game.
the opponents will face to hit this character in Combat. It also applies to some other aspects of the game, such as Jumping.
◊ Shooting. This value indicates the amount of dice in
I BASIC RULES
◊ Mind. This value sums up the character’s will,
FRom now one, we will present the rules which are common to all the game’s phases, and which are applied to all the elements that take part in the game.
the character’s basic Shooting dice pool.
intelligence, perception and spirit. Among other
ACTION POINTS
3
KARMA
NAME CLASS DESCRIPTORS
COMMAND POINTS
Plague Doctor Human, Leader, Scientist, Mage
MOVEMENT
COMBAT
DEXTERITY
SHOOTING
MIND
PROTECTION
4
2
5
5
6
2
SPECIAL ABILITIES EQUIPMENT
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45
4/
UNIVERSAL ABILITIES Command (4), Healing (3), Cautious, Mind control, Mage (3)
SPELLS
COST
Channel Unarmed
NOTES
LIFE POINTS -1 -1
-1
-2
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PRIORITY OF RULES
KEEPING PEACE AND SANITY
In this section and in the following chapters you will
Carnevale is a complex game, which uses a combination of many Basic Rules, Special Rules, Magic, Powers and other elements which intersperse, collide and combine with
nd the rules that apply over a game of Carnevale. These
rules govern all characters, weapons and every other aspect in the game. However, some elements such as Magic, Universal Abilities or other rules that will appear in future expansions may contradict the basic rules.
each other. Our wish is that they all coexist, ow and work
coherently in a dynamic and amusing game atmosphere. However, the complications derived from all of this interaction may give rise to situations which seem unclear, contradictory or which aren’t covered by the rules at all. In this case, we advice all players to try to reach an agreement and; if that won’t happen, just roll a die and whoever gets the highest result will have it his way. This will do until
When this happens, specic rules (Universal Abilities and
Special Rules) will have priority over general rules (Basic Rules).
Example: The Swimming rules indicate that models may move in water at half their Movement value. On the other hand, a model with the Universal Ability Expert Swimmer can move using his full Movement value. The rule Expert Swimmer contradicts the Swimming rule, but since it is a Universal Ability, it overrides the Basic Rule.
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compare the result of the roll with a level of diculty.
After rolling the corresponding amount of dice, for every
die equal or higher than the diculty, you will obtain one
Ace. In any case, remember that a 1 will always be a fail and a 10 will always be an ace.
REROLLING
Some rules allow you to reroll. You must always bear this in mind: a die can never be rerolled more than once; after rerolling, you will accept the second result, even if it is worse than the rst one. You can never reroll the
Destiny Die unless you reroll the whole set of rules, and a result of 1 in the Destiny Die prevents any rerolling at all.
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If you are in a tournament, ask a judge or a referee for advice. In any case, you should focus on resuming the game and keep enjoying! If you have doubts, please visit our website and let us now, so that we can clarify them for you and, if necessary, include them on our FAQs.
DICE ROLLS
On the first pages, we have explained to you the type of dice used in Carnevale and how to interpret them. Now we will learn how they work within the mechanics of the game. Throughout the rules, you’ll see that we use concepts such as “dice pool”, “Dexterity pool”, “Mind roll” or “Combat dice”. This means you must gather in your hand as many d10s as the value indicated. For example, if a rule asks you to make a Dexterity roll, and your model’s Dexterity is 4, you must take 4d10 in your hand. Remember that one of them will always have to be the Destiny Die, so in your Dexterity pool you will have 3 ‘normal’ d10 plus the Destiny Die. Bear in mind that under no circumstance can a dice pool exceed the limit of 10 dice. To know whether a roll was successful, you will always
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you have time to nd a more solid solution.
TYPES OF ROLLS There are three kinds of rolls: basic rolls, attack rolls
and opposed rolls. The standard diculty of basic rolls
and opposed rolls will be 7, unless otherwise noted,
whereas the diculty of attack rolls will depend on the
opponent’s corresponding Attribute. Basic rolls are based on Attributes, and are used to solve concrete situations where only one model is involved.
For example, in a basic Dexterity roll, the character rolls as many dice as his Dexterity value; for every result of 7 or higher, he gets an Ace.
When the character makes a close Combat attack, he must make an Attack roll. In this case, the character rolls as many dice as his Combat Attribute, against a diculty
equal to his opponent’s Dexterity value (for more details, see the Combat chapter). The more Aces he obtains, the
more damage he will inict in his opponent. For example, a character with Combat 5 trying to hit an enemy with Dexterity 6 rolls 5 dice; for every result of 6 or more, the attacker obtains an Ace.
Finally, in opposed rolls two or more characters make a basic roll using the same Attribute, which may vary
according to the situation, and which will be specied in
every case. Whoever obtains the more Aces wins the roll.
For example, two characters make an opposed Mind roll; each must roll as many dice as his Mind value. Whoever obtains the more Aces in his roll (with a diculty of 7 or more of all basic rolls) will win the opposed roll.
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DESTINY DIE, CRITICAL ROLLS AND FUMBLES
In all dice rolls, the Destiny Die will work as one more die in the dice pool, except when you obtain a result of 10 or 1. If you roll a 10 in the Destiny Die (which is still counted normally as an Ace), it is treated as a Critical roll. On the other hand, rolling a 1 in the Destiny Die discards 43
one of the Aces obtained in the roll. If you didn’t get any Ace in your roll and you rolled a 1 in the Destiny Die, you just got a Fumble. The eects of Critical rolls and Fumbles in basic rolls
and attack rolls are explained in their corresponding chapters. In an opposed roll, a Critical roll eliminates one of your opponent’s Aces, and a Fumble adds an extra Ace to your opponent’s roll. Rolling a Critical roll means you have achieved something remarkable. In Combat, this usually means striking your opponent particularly eective way,
therefore dealing more damage. In the rest of situations, Critical rolls entail all kind of benets, such as ad ding
extra Aces to your roll, Jumping longer, Holding breath for
longer, etc. These eects are described in further detail in
the corresponding sections. Fumbles are especially catastrophic fails. Not only you didn’t get any Ace, but also you’ve really messed up big time! In Combat, the opponents may make free attacks against the model which just got a Fumble, a falling model who fumbles may receive more damage, etc. You will nd
Fumbles explained in further detail in their corresponding sections. In cases of basic, attack and opposed rolls where there isn’t any specified effect for Critical roll or a Fumble, you should use the following general rule. Critical roll.- The character who just rolled the Critical recovers a Karma point lost previously during the game. Fumble.- The character who fumbled loses an additional Karma Point.
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ROLL MODIFIERS
In some circumstances, the difficulty of a roll may vary due to several causes. For example, running across a square in a perfect weather is not the same as running through a blizzard. In these cases, we will add or deduct dice from our pool according to the situation. Remember that you can never roll more than 10 dice, so if for any reason you gather more than 10 dice in your pool, all dice above 10 will be lost. You must also bear in mind that any modifier that deducts dice from your pool will always take out conventional dice first: the Destiny Die must always be present in your pool. The only situation where you can deduct the Destiny Die from your pool is when it is the only remaining die, which means you will have no dice to roll!
is indicated in the every character’s sheet, according to the Pain Thresholds the character has crossed so far.
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ROUNDING OFF
Whenever you must divide your dice pool, the result of a roll or any other value, you will always round up. Example: If your dice pool of 7 dice is divided in half for any reason, it will become a dice pool of 4 dice.
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INITIATIVE
To determine which squad begins to play at the start of every Round, we must make an opposed Initiative roll. All players will roll as many dice as their squad leaders’ current Command value. Whoever obtains the more Aces will decide the order of action of the squads. In case of a tie, the player whose leader has the highest Mind value will win; in case of a new tie, just reroll the dice! As you will nd in the Universal Abilities chapter, Command is a
dynamic value which is spent throughout the game; when a character runs out of Command Points, he will always roll at least 1d10 for Initiative. If you get a Fumble in this roll, your opponent will automatically obtain the Initiative. If you get a Critical roll, you will automatically get the Initiative. If both players get a Critical roll, they will compare their results as per the usual procedure. If both of them get a Fumble, they must reroll (after all, someone must start playing!)
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ACTION POINTS (AP)
Threshold. As a character loses Life Points, he crosses
All of Carnevale’s models have an Action Points (from now on, AP) value in their character sheet. This value indicates the amount of actions the model can make during the Turn in which it is active. Every action undertook by a model will have an assigned cost in APs. For example: Moving the model’s Movement distance costs 1 AP, Shooting a gun costs 1 AP, Jumping over a canal costs 1 AP. The characters may receive extra Action Points during their Turn if their leader transfers them using his Command Universal Ability. A model which hasn’t been activated yet or one that has already been activated in this round can’t get extra APs by means of Command. We’ll see the way Command Points work in further detail in the Universal Abilities chapter. The player must announce the use of APs as he spends them, deducting them from the total amount of APs, until he runs out of APs or he declares that the model stops
amount of dice you must deduct from your dice pool in every roll. The amount of dice to deduct in every moment
next to the model to indicate it has already been activated and can’t activate again until the next Round. All of the characters which are still in the game at the End of Round will automatically recover the APs indicated in their character sheet.
Throughout this book you will nd situations where you must apply these modiers to your rolls; these modiers
will indicate how many dice you may add or deduct. One of the most common modiers is the Pain
dierent Pain Thresholds; you cross a Pain Threshold when you tick the last Life Points box containing a modier which is dierent to the next one (the last box with a -1, the last box with a -2, etc). This modier indicates the
44
acting. When a model has nished acting, place a counter
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KARMA The Karma value represents the character’s willpower
and spirit. It has two dierent applications in the game:
it is the matter that fuels magic and the supernatural, it’s the indispensable fuel to cast spells and activate powers; we’ll see this aspect in further detail in the Magic chapter. Besides, it is used to modify some of the characters’ rolls. The most interesting aspect at this stage is the capacity of all characters to modify their dice pools using Karma. Before making a roll that seems especially complicated or important, any character may decide to invest up to 2 Karma Points to add up to 2 dice to his pool (never exceeding the maximum of 10 dice); the cost is 1 Karma Point per dice. Example: The Aberration wants to hit the Pulcinella who’s blocking the way and crush him once and for all. His Combat value is 5, but since the Pulcinella has quite a high Dexterity (6), he wants to make sure he won’t miss. Before making his roll, the Aberration will invest 2 Karma Points in order to add two dice to his Combat pool; in total he will roll seven dice.
Characters may also invest Karma Points to protect themselves from attacks. After declaring an attack, but before the attacker makes the attack roll, the target may announce that he will spend up to 2 Karma Points to improve his Protection. Every Karma Point equals +1 Protection.
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RECOVERING KARMA POINTS Throughout the game, characters may recover Karma
Points by dierent means (up to their starting Karma
Points value, which can never be exceeded).
◊ When a character deals a blow that makes his foe fall
in combat, he will recover 1 Karma Point.
◊ When a character deals a blow that kills the leader of
the enemy squad, he will recover 3 Karma Points.
◊ A character may also recover Karma Points due to specic scenario rules, Spells or Events.
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RUNNING OUT OF KARMA When for any reason a character’s Karma Points are
reduced to 0, he will suer an additional modier of -1 to all of his rolls, cumulative with any other modier.
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TEMPLATES In Carnevale there are certain game eects, such as
Powers, Spells or unconventional weapons which can
cause explosions, volleys of shrapnel, blasts of re or gas clouds. One of the main dierences between a bullet shot with a pistol or a blast of ames is its eect area; this is
represented in the game using a template. When you place the circular template, you must centre it on the detonation point. The cone template emerges from a weapon’s cannon, from the caster of a Spell or from the model responsible for a Universal Ability; in this case, place the narrow side in Base contact with the model, facing the direction the model is shooting. In both cases, you must hold the template over the models to determine which models are aected.
All the models whose bases are partly or completely under the template will suffer the effects of the weapon, Spell or ability. These models must make a basic Dexterity roll; for every Ace they obtain in this roll, they will deduct -1 to the total damage inflicted by the attack. Template effects that don’t inflict direct damage on models (such as smoke bombs) can’t be avoided using the Dexterity roll; the models touched by the template will be completely affected.
Both the Harlot and the Capodecime
suer the eects of the blast. The
Pulcinella has better luck and he is safe from harm. 45
11
MOVEMENT
I
n an environment as dynamic as Carnevale’s, the way characters move across the board is a key tactical element in the unfolding of the adventure. Characters live in and move across the city of Venice, a three-dimensional space full of challenges for Combat, such as bridges, balconies, water ways and other Obstacles.
I BASIC MOVEMENT We will now detail the different Movement manoeuvres available to Carnevale characters. Unless otherwise stated, all of them have an activation cost of 1 AP.
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WALKING 5’’ Movement
1 AP. The character moves calmly, paying attention to
his surroundings. A character carrying out this action will able to move as many inches as his Movement Attribute at the most, in any direction or combination of directions. This movement will be carried out horizontally on Open Terrain, but other types of Terrain may confer several modifiers, as described in the Scenery chapter. When moving in water, the Swimming rules apply.
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RUNNING 1 AP. A character that runs can try to move faster than
walking. Before resolving his Move action, the character must make a basic Dexterity roll; for every Ace he gets, he’ll add +1 to his Movement value for this action. A Critical roll, apart from the Ace on the Destiny Dice, will allow him to add up to an extra 3’’ to the distance. A Fumble will cause an inopportune stumble and will prevent all Movement (including basic movement). The running will be carried out horizontally on Open Terrain; any other type of Terrain may confer a series of modifiers, as described in the Scenery chapter. When moving in water, the Swimming rules apply.
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JUMPING 1 AP. The character moves jumping as many inches as
half his Movement Attribute. Measure from the miniature’s location to the landing location (bearing in mind the variation in height).
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I
SWIMMING 1 AP. We assume that all characters can swim, at least
on a basic level. Unless otherwise stated by some skill in their profile, a character may move in water as many inches as half his Movement Attribute. If a character in the water is immobilized for any reason and can’t swim, he will drown (see Drowning rules on page 57). In mixed Movements that combine moving on the ground and in the water, every part of the movement is calculated separately. A model which is Swimming can not use its movement for any game effect that requires a previous movement (such as Running Jump, Charging, etc.)
For example, a character with Movement 7 that would walk 3’’ on open ground and continue swimming, he could use up to half of his remaining movement allowance: in this case 4, therefore he would swim up to 2’’ more.
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NO ROOM FOR MODELS
In the narrow lanes of Venice, it can sometimes happen that two or three people stash up in a corner (not to speak of monsters!), so it is impossible to make way. If a model can’t walk or run on the ground without its base knocking some other character’s base (both ally and enemy), an obstacle, wall, etc., then he won’t be able to make his way through that narrow spot. In this case, he can resort to more creative manoeuvres, such as Jump or Run on Walls.
IADVANCED MOVEMENT
I
Once you feel at ease with basic movement actions, try these advanced movement actions.
1 AP. Some gallant heroes used to climb to the balconies of their lovers to bring them flowers. Nowadays, they are more likely to do it to escape from a horde of raging monsters. A character can climb a wall or steep surface making a basic Dexterity roll. If he has climbing tools (see the Weapons and Equipment chapter), he can add one dice to his pool. Every Ace equals to climbing 1’’. The character must have arrived in a location where the model can be placed steadily at the end of his activation and before the end of his Turn; otherwise, he won’t be able to climb and he will stay at the point where he started to climb. A Critical roll will allow him to add up to 3’’ to the distance climbed, to his choice. A Fumble will mean the character stays at the point where he started to climb, losing 1 extra AP.
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HIDING 1 AP. The character moves in a slower and more careful
way than with the Move action, because he is moving crouched down to avoid being seen, trying to be a more Difficult target against ranged attacks. If the character ends his movement 3’’ or less close to a scenery item behind which to hide, the player can declare that the model is making a Hide action. Place a Hide counter next to the model. A character will be considered Hidden with regard to another one if you can’t trace a Line of Sight towards him (see the Shooting chapter) without bumping into a scenery item and if he has declared a Hiding action. He won’t be able to be seen and he won’t be able to be shot at. In turn, a hidden character can’t fight, shoot or cast Spells without revealing his position and immediately lose his Hidden status. Any character will automatically detect any Hidden model if he is 3’’ or closer to the Hidden model.
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RUNNING JUMP 1 AP. If the character’s action previous to a Jump was
a Move or Run action and he has moved at least 5’’ in a straight line, he can make a Running Jump. In order to make the Running Jump, the character will make a basic Dexterity roll; for every Ace he obtains, he will add +1’’ to the distance of his Jump. A Critical roll, apart from the Ace on the Destiny Dice, will allow him to add up to 3’’ to the distance jumped, to his choice. A Fumble will mean the character stays in the location from where he wanted to Jump, losing his action.
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JUMPING DOWN 1 AP. The character lowers himself from an elevated
position, jumping deliberately and Jumping Down. You will have to check the Fall rules (see page. 57), but in this case it is a controlled fall. The character must make a basic Dexterity roll. For every Ace he obtains, he will lower the fall category one level. A critical roll will lower the category of the Fall to 0. A Fumble will raise in 1 the overall Fall category. This manoeuvre can be made at any time during a Move or Run action, temporarily interrupting the action, which can be resumed after resolving this manoeuvre. For example, a character with Movement 6 could declare that he is moving for a cost of 1 AP, move 4’’ up to the edge of a building, Jump Down (paying 1 AP), and once on the floor move the remaining 2’’.
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CLIMBING
RAPPEL 1 AP. The Rappel allows characters to descend more
safely from heights, but it’s slower than Jumping Down. The character must have climbing tools to Rappel; without them, he won’t be able to make this manoeuvre. He must make a basic Dexterity roll; every Ace represents a 3’’ progress. If the character making a Rappel doesn’t reach steady ground at the end of his activation, he will fall from his last location. A Critical roll will allow him to add up to an extra 3’’ to the distance. A Fumble will mean the character loses foot and falls from where he was when made the roll (check the Falling rules, page 57) and he will get a Stunned counter.
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RUNNING ON WALLS 1 AP. The character can gather momentum and run on
a vertical surface. This spectacular manoeuvre can be useful to Run from one balcony to another, or to Run vertically across a wall in order to get up speed for a special attack. If the character’s previous action was a Move or Run action and he has moved at least 3’’ in a straight line before touching the wall, he can try to Run on this wall starting from here, both vertically and horizontally. It is then necessary to invest 1 AP and make a basic Dexterity roll; every Ace equals 1’’ of Movement on the wall. This Movement must be made always on the same surface (never around a corner). A Critical roll will allow adding up to 3’’ to the result of the movement on the wall. A Fumble will mean the character falls from the point where he was when he started to Run on the wall, getting a Stunned counter. Upon reaching the point of maximum advance, the character can decide to keep running on the wall (+1 AP), Jump Down, or make a Running Jump (+1 AP, the last Movement counts as Running). The character must finish his activation with the model located on a steady surface.
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12
COMBAT I COMBAT ESSENTIALS
C
lose combat is one of Carnevale’s key aspects. In fact, we could say that most of the game evolves around Combat. In order for a model to attack another, it must be in Base Contact with its opponent, so either of them must have used its movement to place itself in that location. They are considered to be locked in Combat.
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CLOSE COMBAT
1 AP. The character’s Combat value will indicate his ghting skill. Pick as many die as the value indicated in
the character’s Combat Attribute. A character can never deliberately attack a friendly model in close Combat. Now we will see the diculty he must reach in his attack roll.
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APPLYING MODIFIERS
Allies can aid a character in close combat. In combat where there are three or more models in contact, an attack gains or removes dice from its Combat dice pool based on the relationship of the models in combat. Here are the basic rules governing such dice pool modiers.
◊ The attacker gains one die to their Combat dice pool for
every ally not in base contact with another enemy, but in base contact with the target of the attack (+2 dice maximum).
The Barnaboti have a +1 Combat modier while attaking the Venetian Citizen, who is engaged with the other Barnaboti at the same time.
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◊ The attacker loses one die to their Combat dice pool for
each enemy other than the target not in base contact another of the attacker’s allies, but in base contact with the attacker (-2 dice maximum).
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DIE ROLL The diculty of the attack roll is the target’s Dexterity
value. The attacker rolls the die he has in his hand. For every result equal or higher than the target’s Dexterity value (taking into account the corresponding Universal Abilities), the attacker will get an Ace.
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RESOLUTION The Aces obtained in the roll will indicate the damage
inicted to the foe.
After the roll, the attacker sees how many Aces he has obtained in his roll. He will add to the Aces any modiers from the weapon used in the attack or any
other intervening rules, and he will deduct the target’s
Protection value. The nal number is the amount of Life
Points the target loses.
Example: Roberto Mirigliano is a Barnaboti of the Patricians faction, and he is locked in combat with two Ugdru-Rashaar. Roberto’s Combat value is 3; there are two Ugdru-Rashaar in Base contact, so he must deduct a dice from his Combat pool. The situation looks dangerous, so he decides to invest two Karma Points in his roll to improve his odds; so he boosts his Combat pool to 4 dice.
The Venetian Citizen has a -1 Combat modier because he is engaged with a second foe, who is not engaged with anyone else at that time.
The Ugdru-Rashaar’s Dexterity is 5. Roberto makes his attack roll to hit one of them and he gets 7, 7, 8 and 8 (a very good roll: he got four Aces); since he is using a sword, he adds an extra Ace to his roll. Roberto gets a total of 5 Aces with his Combat roll; we the then deduct 3 due to the Ugdru-Rashaar’s Protection value, meaning the Ugdru-Rashaar has lost 2 Life Points from Roberto’s attack.
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CRITICAL ROLLS AND FUMBLES
If you Critical during close combat, the target of the attack gains a Stun counter.
If you Fumble, the attacking character suer an Attack
of opportunity from the target of the attack (see below).
I ADVANCED COMBAT The basics of close combat are easy, but there is more to learn. The following are a series of new and more complex manoeuvres that serve to create combats that are more dynamic. Weapons and other equipment can also aect combat. You can nd those rules in the Universal
Abilities chapter, on page 58.
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TWO-WEAPON COMBAT 1 AP. Some characters have the ability to fight
using two weapons at the same time. Models with the Ambidextrous Universal ability can wield two weapons at the same time as longs as neither weapon has the TwoHanded Weapon ability. When a character is ghting with two weapons, you
must always make clear which is the primary weapon when the character makes a close combat attack. Fighting with two weapons allows a character to reroll one missed dice in its Combat roll, as if it had the Reroll Dice [1] ability, but without having to spend 1 Karma Point.
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AT THE READY 1 AP. While in Combat, characters are looking around
them at all times in search of imminent dangers. The characters can enter the temporary state of At the Ready; to do so, place an At the Ready counter next to the model. A character can go into At the Ready at a cost of 1 AP; doing so will end his activation: going into At the Ready will be the last action in his Turn. He must place an At the Ready counter next to his model. This model can’t do anything else during the rest of the Round, until (and if ) it is attacked by a foe. The model will leave the At the Ready state if: 1) it is forced to move more than 3” by any reason (due to the eect of a Spell, or because it
is pushed from the top of a building, for example), 2) it crosses a Pain Threshold or 3) it is activated again.
Bear in mind that this state does not disappear at the End of Round. While in At the Ready, a character cannot do anything else until a foe attacks it with a close combat attack. When this happens, the attacking foe does not make the Combat roll normally. Instead, each combatant—the attacking foe and the character in At the Ready—make an Opposed combat roll. The diculty of the roll is
determined by the foe’s Dexterity. Whichever character
gains more Aces deals as much damage as the dierence
in Aces between the rolls. Like the normal close combat attack, Aces for the weapon are then added to this damage, and that total damage can be soaked by the target’s Protection. Here is an example of using At the Ready during play:
A soldier is in base contact with the Duke, who is in At the Ready. The soldier invests 1 AP to make a close combat attack against the Duke with his musket’s bayonet. Both players take their respective Combat dice pools and make an opposed roll. The Soldier gets a result of 3, 6, 6, 7 (against The Duke’s Dexterity of 6—so, three Aces); the Duke gets a result of 1, 2, 4, 6, 6 7, 7, 8 (against the Soldier’s Dexterity of 5—ve Aces). Therefore, the Duke is up two more Aces, is using a dagger so adds no Aces due to weapon, so the Soldier is dealt 2 Life Points, which, luckily, are soaked by his Protection.
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A model in base contact with one or more enemy models can’t go into At the Ready.
The At the Ready state also takes eect in the Shooting
phase; see more details on the Shooting chapter.
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ATTACKS OF OPPORTUNITY 0 AP . Sometimes, a character makes a mistake or takes
an action that leaves them exposed to a foe. Their foes take advantage of that opportunity, typically with an attack. Attacks of opportunity are typically triggered in three ways—because a character Fumbled on an attack, a character is trying to disengage from another character it is in base contact with, or a character is casting a spell. When an attack of opportunity is triggered, it costs no AP to make an attack against the triggering character. Attacks of opportunity are always close combat attacks, and in order to make an attack of opportunity, a character must be wielding a close combat weapon. Attacks of opportunity are resolved during the turn of the character triggering the opportunity, and immediately after the triggering action, but before resolving the triggering action’s eects.
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ENGAGING AND DISENGAGING FROM COMBAT In order for two characters to ght in close Combat,
they must be Engaged in Base contact. For this to happen, one of them must have invested part of his Movement to be in Base contact with his foe. Later on, if one of the characters can and wishes to step away from his foe (and he still has remaining APs for this Movement), he must make an Unengage manoeuvre, simply announcing his intention to Move. The ‘abandoned’ ghter can react in
two ways. 1: letting his foe go, and getting an Attack of Opportunity against the foe who’s leaving the Combat. 2: Trying to block his foe’s escape; let’s see how. ◊ Attack of Opportunity. The model that is abandoned
can make an Attack of Opportunity on the character that is trying to escape from the Combat. He can hit his foe with a cost of 0 APs before his foe steps away (regardless of whether the ‘abandoned’ model has been previously activated or is in At the Ready). Once this attack is resolved, the character leaving the Combat can move freely.
◊ Relocating. On the second case, the character wishing
to escape must invest the necessary APs for the Movement he wants to do; then, they both make a Dexterity opposition roll. If the Character trying to escape wins (or draws), he can move freely and continue his Turn normally. If the character that
wanted to keep ghting wins, he can relocate at no
cost anywhere in Base contact with the model that tried to escape; they are still Engaged in Combat and the model that tried to escape can’t move at all. In case the escaping character is Engaged to multiple foes, the character must declare a single Unengage from Combat action. In this case, his foes must declare their reactions separately, and he will have to resolve every roll separately before he can step away. In case the character that wanted to keep ghting is
also Engaged with another foe, the only reaction he can declare to the escape of one of his foes is an Attack of Opportunity.
If the attacker wins, the eects of the Drowning rule
apply immediately; the victim deducts as many die to his Hold Breath roll as the dierence in Aces obtained
in the opposition roll (see Drowning rules, page 57). The attacker may continue making Drown manoeuvres as long as he has available APs. The drown manoeuvre ignores the rule that limits the number of Stun counters a character may get in a Turn. If the attacker’s last action was a successful drown manoeuvre, the defender hasn’t been activated ever since and both models are still in Base contact at the end of round, the defender will be considered as still drowning and he will have to make a new Hold Breath roll during the End of the round turn. ◊ Low Blow (2 AP). A low blow is an attack to a specic
weak spot. You must announce that you want a character to make a low blow before making the Combat roll. When you make the roll, reduce the combat Dice pool by 1, as the character’s accuracy is reduced because it is trying to hit a specic spot. If
the attack gets to cause any damage at all (applying the target’s Protection), the target only loses 1 Life Point but receives a Stunned counter. ◊ Push (2 AP; Unarmed Attack). When you make a push
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COMBAT MANOEUVRES
Sometimes, a character may want to do dramatic things in close combat other than just make a simple close combat attack against a foe within base combat. These things are combat manoeuvres. What follows are the most common optional Combat manoeuvres. Some are very simple, some more elaborated, but all of them
cause very interesting eects and add more dynamic and
cinematic combats. All of these manoeuvres can be made in place of a close combat attack. All manoeuvres labelled as “Unarmed Attack” you can
not apply the eects of any weapon the character is
equipped with. To make these manoeuvres.
◊ Charge (1 AP). The character can make this attack if
it moved at least 5” or made a run action directly previous to this attack. It gains +1 die to its die pool with this attack.
◊ Drown (2 AP; Unarmed Attack). If both characters are
in the water and in Base contact, a character may try to drown his foe. The character trying to drown his foe must win a Dexterity or Combat opposition roll (attackers choice) to Drown the foe. If the target of the drown attack wins the opposition roll, it is released, can move up to 1” away from the character who made the drown attack (ignoring the Disengage from combat rules).
attack, you move a foe instead of dealing damage. Make the attack roll as normal, for each Ace obtained (before applying the target character’s Protection) the character pushes its foe 1” away from it. If the push causes the target to come into contact with impassable scenery (such as a building or the table’s edge), the target suers 1 damage for every inch
of movement beyond the point where he stopped (Protection is applied to this damage). A Push can
cause the target to fall into the water, o a building
or elevated scenery, in which case the Falling rules apply. A model that has been pushed is automatically disengaged (ignoring the Disengage from combat rules). If the push causes the target to come into base contact with another foe, it is then engaged with that new foe. ◊ Round-House Attack (2 AP). The character can make an
attack against each of the models with which he is in Base contact. Each attack will be resolved separately in the direction (clockwise or counter clockwise) determined by the attacker, starting by the model he chooses. If any of these Attacks doesn’t cause the loss of at least 1 Life Point, he can’t make any other attack
◊ Strike from Above (1 AP). The character can make this
attack if it made a running jump or a jump down action during the action previous The character gets a +1 to damage when it makes this attack.
◊ Trample (1 AP; Unarmed Attack). The models with a size
category of Large or larger may trample smaller models. The character obtains a +1 die to his Attack pool for each size category it is larger than target’s size. 51
13
SHOOTING
T
his chapter explores the power and eect of weapons
that cause damage from a distance. Often these weapons are propelled by gunpowder, but they can
also be thrown, or the eects of spells empowered by the
strange occurrence called the Rent in the Sky. No matter how a character shoots a ranged attack, it uses the following rules.
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BASIC SHOT 1AP. When a character wants to make a basic shot
with a ranged weapon, the character must spend 1 AP, announce the target, check for cover and line of sight, and them gather its Shooting pool and make a Shooting roll.
VOLUME PROFILE Models represent combatants who are in constant Movement, not inert and immovable metal pieces. Besides, we expect that the most talented players will
play with customized models, which will have capes y-
ing in the wind or spectacular bases on which models will stand, or even models half-submerged! This can distort in some way the some models’ game mechanics concerning what they can actually see or how exposed they are behind a scenery item. Thus, we have designed the concept of models’ Volume Prole in order to dispel
The diculty number is typically 7, unless the target’s
doubts on Lines of Sight. In 90% of the cases, it will be obvious if a model can see another model, even if it is behind Cover, and
Dexterity value determines the diculty. For each Ace
remaining 10% of cases, you can dispel all doubts by
Dexterity is greater than 7, in which case that character’s the shooter gains, it has the chance to deal 1 damage to
the target. This number of Aces is then modied by the weapon’s damage modier, and the target’s Protection value
is then subtracted from that total. Any remaining Aces are converted to Life Point damage against the character. A character can never deliberately shoot a friendly character.
the amount of Protection oered by the Cover. In the
using the Volume Prole templates. There are dierent prole sizes, corresponding to the three dierent bases
sizes and to the special cases such as dogs (if ever we
create models with dierent sizes or special cases, we’ll provide their corresponding Volume Proles).
When doubts arise concerning Line of Sight, place
the Volume Prole in base contact with the target
model, perpendicular to the attacking model. If you can trace a line from any point of the attacking model’s
Volume Prole up to any point of the target’s Volume Prole, it means a Line of Sight exists. In some cases, you need to place the proles both next to the attacker
and next to the target to make sure that there’s Line of Sight. Moreover, you can see that these proles have a
cross-shaped division. If a scenery item covers the prole in some way, the model will gain Cover.
Note. The strip on the top side of the template is not
part of the Volume Prole. It is there so you can hold it with your ngers comfortably.
This Harlequin model is jumping over a bollard, which might lead to some confussion about the actual size of the model. In this case we’ll use the Volume Prole template to gure out the real Line of Sight towards this model.
52
I
CRITICALS & FUMBLES
weapon’s range, the character suers a one die penalty to
When shooting, on a Critical, place a Stun counter on the victim, regardless of whether or not the shot deals damage. On a Fumble, roll a 1d10 and consult the following
table. If the weapon is not a rearm or magic, treat a 1 as a backre.
its Shooting roll for every 5” increment beyond the range (i.e., if the target is beyond the range but less than 5” beyond range, you reduce the Shooting pool by one die, if it is 5” but less than 10” beyond range you reduce the Shooting pool by 2 dice, and so on). You can never shoot a target that is beyond twice the weapon’s range away. Weapon rangers are found in Chapter 6.
◊ 6-10 Jam. The weapon is jammed or otherwise broken and can’t be red. To x the weapon, the shooting character must pay 2 AP. Once the weapon is xed, it
I
must be loaded again (see the Reload (X) Universal Ability).
◊ 2-5 Backre. The weapon backres and the wielder suers as much life point damage as the weapon’s damage modier. The weapon’s wielder’s Protection is
applied, as well as the weapon’s Universal Abilities. The weapon is also jammed (see above).
◊ 1 Explosion. The weapon explodes. Place the round
template centred on the attacker. All models touched by the template suer as much Life Point damage as the weapon’s damage modier. Any of the weapon’s
abilities are applied to this attack. Characters within the explosion gain the use of the Protection value against this attack. The weapon is useless for the rest of the game.
I
LINE OF SIGHT
When a model wants to shoot on a target, you must be able to trace a Line of Sight between the attacker and the target. Models have a visual angle of 360º (so it
DARKNESS Darkness aects a shooter’s ability to hit its target.
Some Adventures or some characters’ special abilities create zones of darkness. When a shooter is within a zone of darkness, its weapon’s range is reduced to half.
I
DIFFERENT HEIGHTS
A character may shoot over a target which is on high ground, for example on the roof of a building; the mere fact of being on high ground may oer a good Cover or
make it impossible for the attacker to shoot. If the target model is beyond the shooter’s Volume Prole height and can place its Volume Prole horizontally in contact with
its base so that it doesn’t stand out from the scenery item on which it stands, the shooter won’t be able to trace a Line of Sight towards the target. In case the template sticks out the item, the target gets the corresponding Cover (see diagram). However, if it is the shooter who’s in high ground and he’s able to trace a Line of Sight on his target, he may shoot normally.
doesn’t matter where they are facing). The rst thing to
bear in mind is whether the model “can see” the target; in order to know that, you must lean over the table until you are “at eye level” with the model. You need to trace at least one line from any point of the attacker’s Volume
Prole until any point of the target’s Volume Prole. If this
line can’t help but cross any scenery item, the target can obtain a certain Cover (see below), or can be completely out of the Line of Sight if the target is Hidden (see page 47). The only exception is when the shooting model is in Base contact with such Cover; this means the attacker can shoot over the obstacle or through the obstacle, without being aected by it.
I
RANGE
In Carnevale, you can measure distances, including range, at any time. To calculate range, measure the distance from the closest edge of the shooter’s base to the closest edge of the target’s base.
The further a target is, the most dicult it is to shoot.
Shooting a target that is within the weapon’s range
doesn’t suers no penalties. When shooting beyond the
53
I
COVER
I
A character benets from Cover when he’s position way
A character may try to aim to make a more accurate shot. Aiming costs 1 or 2 extra AP. For every additional AP spent on the aimed shot, the character ignores one
that a pieces of scenery stands between it and the its attacker. In terms of game: if the attacker’s Line of Sight crosses some scenery item on the way to the target,
the target benets from Cover. In the case of explosions and similar eects, Cover will only have eect if it stands
between the center of the explosion (that is, the center of the circular template) and the target. Scenery items often have certain theses modify the shooter’s roll. These
characteristics are grouped into two categories. Modiers
from the two categories stack. Size: ◊ Medium. covers up to half the model’s Volume Prole. ◊ Big. Covers more than half the model’s Volume Prole.
-1
Hardness: ◊ Light. (e.g. bushes) ◊ Blunt. (e.g. boxes or barrels) ◊ Heavy. (e.g. walls or rocks)
-1 -2 -3
I
-2
TARGET ENGAGED IN COMBAT
When a shooter designates a target in base contact with at least one enemy, he must deduct a die from his shooting pool for every model (friend or foe) in base contact with the target (applying all other corresponding modiers normally). If the attack roll is successful, the
Shot is resolved normally. If the roll fails, it means the attacker didn’t have the nerve to shoot putting an ally’s life in danger, or simply that the shot missed the target.
I
SHOOTER ENGAGED IN COMBAT A character may make a ranged attack even when it is
AIMING
negative modier to the shot or one point of the target’s
Protection. It must chose which option it will ignore before making the roll. It is not possible to aim while engaged in Combat or Shooting in movement.
I
SHOOTING IN MOVEMENT
A character may momentarily interrupt its movement to shoot, even if it is Running, Running on a Wall, Running, making a Running Jump. It can even do so while Climbing if the weapon has the Short Weapon ability. Its weapons must be loaded and ready to shoot; Ambidextrous characters can shoot up to two Short Weapons, one with each hand. The process works as follows: the player must declare his character will shoot in movement and the type of movement he wants to make. The player must calculate the maximum distance the character may Move, pay the cost in APs and then move the model. At any stage during the Movement, the character can stop temporarily, position the and shoot from there (paying the corresponding APs). After resolving the shots, the character may resume the character’s move normally. In case the character is shooting while Jumping or Jumping Down, you must determine the jump’s trajectory and the point from where the character shoots (to do so, you can use a tape measure or some string). The trajectory will be in a straight line from the location of the model at the beginning of the Jump (a point in his base) until the location where he wants to land. Mark a point along this trajectory; from here, trace the Line of Sight until the target and shoot applying all corresponding modiers.
Shots in Movement reduce the Shooting pool by 1 or by 2 if the character is Jumping or Jumping down.
I
THROWING THINGS AND SCATTER
Characters may throw objects using a mechanics similar to Shooting. Objects that may be thrown will have the Throwable (X) Universal ability; the number in
brackets is the modier to the attacker’s Shooting value.
The object’s damage value and any special rules are also specied.
Example:
in base contact with an enemy. The shot is more dicult,
meaning that the shooter must reduce its Shooting pool by 1 for each enemy in base contact with it. While the shot is more dicult, it can often be devastating if made against a
target the shooter is currently in base contact with. If the shooter makes this attack against such a creature, it is considered to have Penetration (3) for such a shot. 54
Weapon
Damage
Abilities
Range
Grenade
1d10
Throwable (-2), Explosion, Flames
6’’
The Thrower places the object to throw on the intended landing spot; he may also mark a target point, such as the model representing a character. Then, he makes the basic roll using his Shooting value. If he obtains at least one Ace, the object will land on the chosen landing spot. Otherwise, the object will disperse from the chosen landing spot as per the Scatter rule.
I
SCATTER
Roll a d10 near the chosen landing spot. The die’s upward facing tip indicates the direction of the scatter from the chosen landing spot. The result of the die, reduced by a number equal to the throwing character’s Shooting value, indicates the distance in inches the throw scatters from the chosen landing spot. Wherever the object scatters to, is where its eect are resolved.
For more details on this rule, see the diagram and the example.
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AT THE READY 1AP. For the cost of one AP, a character can kneel down
and be At the Ready. This will be that character’s last action during his activation. Place an At the Ready counter next to the model. Being on At the Ready allows the character to interrupt any enemy character’s activation when the enemy’s movement ends an action within Line of Sight of the character on At the Ready, which will then shoot. You don’t need to invest APs on this Shot. All of
his next activation. Models bearing weapons with Multiple Shot or more than a ranged weapon ready to shoot may make more than one Shot, but never more than one Shot for every action taken by the target enemy model. The model will leave the At the Ready state if: 1) it is forced to move more than 3” by any reason (due to the eect of a Spell, or because it is pushed from the top of a
building, for example), 2) it exceeds a Pain Threshold or 3) it is activated again (for example, to reload again). A model in base contact with one or more enemy models can’t become At the Ready. This temporary state can also be applied in Combat; see the Combat chapter.
I
RELOADING WEAPONS Firearms must be reloaded between shots; this is a
slow and cumbersome process, and often dicult to do in the middle of close combat. If the weapon is a rearm,
it is process that involves shoving the ammunition and gunpowder down the barrels, and weapon sometimes checking the state of the spark that detonates the gunpowder. Weapons that require reloading have the Reload (X) Universal ability.
◊ Reload (X). A weapon with this ability must be reloaded
after each shot. The number in the brackets is the number of AP it takes to reload the weapon. At the start of an adventure, all weapons are considered loaded
the corresponding modiers are applied, except that a
character on At the Ready can’t Aim. The character on At the Ready must have a loaded weapon; after shooting, the character can’t reload until more APs are invested in
3’’
B
A 1’’
The Magi-Rashaar throws a grenade at the White Dove, but fails. Using point A as the original landing point, he then uses the Scatter rules. He rolls a d10 and gets a 3. Following the vector indicated by the tip of the dice, the grenade scatters 3’’ minus the Shooting value of the Magi-Rashaar (2). The grenade scatters 1’’ from point A in the indicated direction, nally exploding on point B.
55
14
WOUNDS
C
ombat is a key element of Carnevale, as are its consequences are a key element in Carnevale.
Through the course of the game, character will suer
wounds from attacks and other calamities. This chapter looks at what happens when they do.
I
LIFE POINTS AND FALLEN IN COMBAT Close combat, shooting, and other eects in the game
deal damage to a character’s Life Points. Life Points measure a character’s health and resistance to damage. Each character has a set number of Life Points. The more
points a character has, more dicult it is to kill. For each
point of damage a character takes, you cross out a Life Points box. When you cross out the last Life Points box, the character Falls in Combat. Remove it from the game. If you are using the campaign rules, Falling in combat can have a number of outcomes.
I
DEATH
This section is short. As soon as you cross out the last Life Point of a character, he is considered to have Fallen in Combat and you must remove it from the game. If you’re playing with the Campaign rules, you’ll see what happens with the character by following the Fallen in Combat rules.
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HEALING / REGENERATION
Models with the Healing or Regeneration abilities, or models bearing objects that confer such Universal Abilities, can restore some of their Life Points. The Universal Abilities Healing and Regeneration are followed by a number in brackets; this number indicates the dice pool needed to make a basic roll. The Aces obtained will indicate the Life Points healed. If you obtain a Critical roll when healing, recover the model to his starting health level; if you obtain a Fumble, not only the model won’t heal, but it will lose one extra Life Point. A model may never be healed above its starting Life Points value.
I
PROTECTION Most of the reckless characters that get involved in
ghts every night in the streets of Venice are not SO
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PAIN THRESHOLDS
As you cross out Life Points boxes, some boxes contain negative values (-1, -2, -3, etc.). Every time you cross out the last Life Points box containing one of these negative values, the character has crossed a Pain Threshold. First, place a Stun counter next to the model. Second, the negative number indicates the amount of dice deducted from all of the character’s Dice Pools from that point forward during the Adventure. For example, if a character has a Combat ability of 5, it will usually have a Combat pool of 5d10, not counting any other modiers based on the action it is performing or
any equipment it has. When that character crosses the
rst Pain Threshold (the Life Point box with the -1), when
you gather the dice for its Combat pool, you will grab 4d10 instead of 5d10 to make the Combat roll. When the character reaches the -2 Pain Threshold, its Combat pool will be 3d10, and so on.
The Pain Threshold modier stacks with any other modiers that may aect the wounded character’s rolls. If,
by means of healing, a character recovers his health and steps back into a less harmful Pain Threshold, he won’t get any Stun counter for this. 56
reckless as to do it without protection. The metal amours used all around Europe may be a deathtrap in Venice when you are a slip away from falling into a canal, so the most common protections in town are lighter options such as leather or padded clothes; besides, of course, the thick hide of the Ugdu-Rashaar is as protective as any boiled leather armour. Every time a model suers physical damage from a
Shot, a close Combat attack or any kind of source, you can deduct the model’s Protection level from the nal amount
of Aces obtained in the Attack roll, before determining the damage inicted. The remaining amount of Aces
in the attack roll after applying Protection will indicate
the amount of damage levels inicted on the target. By
default, all characters have a Protection value of 2, which can be modied by the character’s gear or Universal
Abilities.
I
STUNNED
Combat is not only wears on the body; it can also wear on the senses. A powerful blow can make a character temporarily loses its senses. When this happens, the character is Stunned. Place a Stun counter next to that character’s model.
A model is Stunned when: 1) it crosses one Pain
Threshold, 2) it suers damage from a fall in inches equal
or higher to its Dexterity value, or 3) it is the target of an
attack, Spell or game eect that indicates specically that
the victim is Stunned. While a character is stunned, it reduces all Dice rolls it makes by 1. A character is stunned until it spends 1 AP to clear its head. If a Stunned character is in the situation of receiving a second Stun counter, he will suer 1 automatic damage
level (ignoring Protection) instead. A model may only get one Stun counter per Turn.
victims of the combat manoeuvre Drowning). Drowning characters must pass a basic Dexterity roll in order to Hold Breath. If they fail, they get a Stun counter.
I
MORALE Keeping a cool head in the most extreme situations
may be quite dicult. Characters in Carnevale must often
resort to courage; the success of the mission will usually depend on their ability to keep calm. Otherwise, they might as well ee in panic.
There are two types of Morale rolls: single rolls and group rolls. The single roll works just as a basic Mind roll (applying all necessary modiers) and the result only aects the model which made the roll. The group roll
works just as the single roll, with the exception that the result of the roll aects all of the squad’s models; the
model in the squad with the highest current Mind value will be responsible for making the roll.
There are two Universal Abilities that may aect Morale rolls: Fear and Command. You’ll nd more details on their
I
FALLING When a character is pushed o high ground or he falls
down for some other reason, you must check the following table. This table describes the height categories and the damage received when falling from such height. The falling character can make a basic Dexterity roll to lower one level the category of the fall. Fall Category
Distance
Damage
0
>1’’
0
1
1-4’’
1
2
4-6’’
2, Penetration (1)
3
6-8’’
4, Penetration (2)
4
9-10’’
8, Penetration (5)
5
10+
Fallen in Combat
* Check the rules for Penetration (X) in page 61.
I
DROWNING
At the End of Round, you must check if there are characters drowning (immobilized for some reason or
mechanics in the Universal Abilities chapter. After making a successful Morale roll (either single or group), the model(s) involved in the roll may keep on acting normally. After a failed group Morale roll, all of the squad’s models must make single Morale rolls using each model’s Mind value (with all corresponding modiers) and resolving the resulting eects.
If a model fails a single Morale roll, place a Stun counter next to the model. If you obtain a Fumble on a Morale roll, the model obtains a Stun counter and must use all of its AP in his next activation to remove the Stun counter and move as fast as possible through the shortest route towards the closest edge of the table. Bear in mind that if the character that must ee is Engaged in Combat, he
must try to Unengage, applying all of the corresponding rules (see page 50). If the character hasn’t still left the table, he can make a single Morale roll in the next End of Round: if he succeeds, he will recover control over his actions; if he fails, he may roll again in his next activation to see if he keeps running or recovers control over his actions. If the character reaches the table’s edge, treat it as Fallen in Combat. Every time you nd yourself in one of the following
circumstances, characters must make a Morale roll. When some of the following circumstances happen at the same time (for example, an ally falls within 5’’ and the model becomes the only survivor of the squad), you only need to make one Morale roll. Single Rolls ◊ When an ally Falls in Combat within 5’’ from the model. ◊ When the model is the last survivor of the squad. Group Rolls ◊ When the squad Leader falls in Combat.
57
UNIVERSAL ABILITIES
U
niversal Abilities are a series of rules that serves as exceptions to the basic rules of the game. Therefore, if there is a conflict between a Universal Ability and the general rules of the game, the Universal Ability prevails. These rules may apply to characters, weapons, objects, powers, or events. The effects to two or more different Universal Abilities are cumulative. For example, the flamethrower is a weapon with both the Fear and the Flame Universal Ability. However, if a character obtains the same Universal Ability twice from different sources, it can only benefit from one application of the Universal Ability at a time, and always the best of all versions of that Universal Ability it has. For instance, a character has Extra Protection (1) and gets an equipment item that grants it Extra Protection (3), the character will have Extra Protection (3).
I
UNIVERSAL ABILITIES
◊ Ambidextrous. A character with this ability can wield a
weapon in each hand and use them at the same time. See the rules for two-weapon combat in the Combat chapter.
◊ Berserk. When a character with this ability crosses its
last Pain Threshold, it gains a +3 bonus to its Combat
value, and ignores any and all negative modiers from Life Point loss (including Pain Threshold). This eect
lasts until the character Falls in combat or is healed to a point where it is no longer within its last Pain Threshold. ◊ Blast (X). Some weapons let lose blasts of dierent materials (such as re, gas, acid, etc.). Since they are
very imprecise shots, the attacker’s shooting skill is not applied. These weapons use the cone template; when a character shoots a weapon with this ability, place the narrow end of the template in Base contact with the shooter. Then, the controlling player faces the template in the shooting direction and he rolls 1d10, applying the weapon’s Blast value (the number in the brackets). This roll is made with the Destiny Die; you must treat Critical rolls and Fumbles (before applying the Blast
modier) as described in the Shooting chapter. The nal
number obtained is the amount of inches the template moves in that direction. In case of obtaining a negative number result, the template stays in Base contact with the shooter, not moving at all. All the models other than the shooter whose bases are touched (even partly) by the template at some point of its movement suer the eects of the blast.
◊ Brave. A character with this ability can always use its unmodied Mind value on both single and group morale
rolls.
58
15
THE X When you see an “X” in brackets after a Universal Ability, this means that applications of the universal ability granted by its source will always have a value associated with the ability. Have a quick lookt at the Factions chapter to see how the X is applied.
For example, the Extra Protection (X) ability could be an Extra Protection (1), Extra Protection (2) or an even higher value based on the equipment or the character it comes from.
◊ Bodyguard. When a character with this ability is in base
contact with a foe that successfully attacks one of the bodyguard’s allies, the bodyguard can choose to take the eects of the attack itself, deecting the attack
away from its fellow squad member. The bodyguard applies its Protection against the damage normally instead of the Protection of the original target.
◊ Cautious. A character with this ability knows how to make the most from cover. When it benets from cover,
it is always considered to be one higher cover level than it actually is.
◊ Companion (character, X). A character with this ability
gains a bonus equal to the number in the brackets to its Combat pool when engaged in the same Combat as the character indicated in the brackets.
◊ Defensive Combat (X). When a character with this ability
is about to be the target of a close combat attack (but before the attacker makes the Combat roll),it can spend a number of Karma Points up to the number equal to the number in brackets to raise its Dexterity value. It raises its Dexterity value by a number equal to the Karma Points spent to use this ability for the rest of this turn.
◊ Elusive. A character with this ability can disengage from
base combat by making an opposed Dexterity roll with the model/s he is in base contact with. If the character with this ability wins the opposed roll his opponent cannot make an attack of opportunity or try to block the disengaging character’s move.
◊ Engage. When an opponent in base contact with a
character with this ability wishes to disengage from
close combat, he must rst win an opposed Dexterity
roll. If the opponent loses the opposed roll, the character cannot disengage during this action; otherwise, the normal disengage from combat rules apply. A character
with this ability is not forced to apply it if he does not want to. The Universal abilities Engage and Slippery counter each other. ◊ Erratic Movement (X). A character with this ability moves
in such an erratic way that it is hard to shoot at it. It gains a Cover value equal to the number in the brackets even with its on open ground. This cover aects ranged
attacks targeting it. If the character is actually behind
cover, it benets only from the best of the two sources
of cover.
◊ Ethereal. A character may ignore obstacles while moving,
but can never move through an impassable terrain item. Having this universal ability also grants the Spiritual protection (1) Universal ability.
◊ Explosion. A weapon with this ability uses the round template with its eect. ◊ Expert Marksman. A character with this ability may aim
using Karma Points instead of Action Points.
◊ Expert Swimmer. A character with this ability can move
using his full Movement Attribute when in the water, but can be Drowned as normal.
◊ Extra Protection (X). A character with this Universal
ability adds X to the base Protection value (which is 2). This Extra protection can’t be used to prevent damage from Falling or Drowning. If the character has dierent
sources of Extra protection, he will always use the best available one, but they will not stack. Bear in mind that the characters you will see in the Factions chapter already have the Extra protection values included in their proles.
◊ Fascination (X). Each time a foe attacks or makes an action that aects a model with this universal ability, he
reduces its dice pool by a number equal to the number in the brackets. Characters with the mindless ability are immune to this ability.
◊ Fear (X). When a character or a weapon with this ability
attacks an enemy, the target of the attack must also
make a Morale roll. The roll is modied by the number in
the brackets.
◊ Fireproof (X). A character or item with this ability is protected from ames. It reduces the damage by a
number equal to the one in the brackets when he is the target of an attack with the Flames Universal ability.
◊ First Strike (X). A character with this ability gets a bonus to the rst close combat attack it makes each
Round equal to the number in the brackets.
◊ Flames. A character or weapon with this ability makes attacks with ame. Flame ignores a target’s cover and
COMMAND (X) We highlight this Universal Ability because we consider it especially important, given that at least one model in every squad will possess this ability. On the character sheet of a character with this Universal Ability there is a box divided by a slash; on the left-hand side you must write down the character’s absolute Command value; on the right-hand you must write down the current Command value, which keeps dropping as you spend Command points. Command points spent during the game can’t be recovered, unless a special rule says otherwise. All characters which possess the Universal Ability Command (or who obtain this ability through Experience) will have the descriptor Leader. This Universal Ability has several dierent uses:
A character with this Universal Ability may hand over Command Points to other characters (but not to himself); these Command Points turn into APs. This action has no cost at all in APs, and is made during the activation of the target character who receives these extra APs. For each Command Point spent, the target character obtains 1 extra AP. A single character may only receive a maximum of 2 Command Points per Turn. The squad Leader may hand over Command Points to as many dierent models in his squad as he wishes, until
he runs out of Command Points. Moreover, once per Round the Leader may spend one Command Point to make a character from his squad act immediately after another character of his squad, before the other player starts his Turn. The leader of an enemy squad with the same Universal Ability may invest one of his Command Points to cancel this eect.
When a player makes a group Morale roll, the squad Leader may add his current Command value to his Mind dice pool. If there are two characters with this Universal Ability in the same squad, the player must specify which of them is the main Leader; the main Leader is the only character who can carry out all the actions just described; if the main Leader Falls in Combat, the second character with Command becomes the main Leader. Protection, except for characters with the Universal abilities Flameproof and Universal protection. ◊ Fly. A character with this ability can y. It ignores all
scenery items during its movement, but can’t end its movement within impassable scenery. This character doesn’t take into account vertical movements; for example, if the character is in Base contact with a three-story building, it can move onto the building’s roof spending only 1’’ of its movement.
◊ Grow Through Adversity. A character with this ability adds
+1 to its Combat value if it is in base contact with two enemy characters. It adds a +2 to its Combat value if it is in base contact with three or more enemy characters.
59
He also ignores all normal negative modiers for ghting
multiple foes at the same time.
◊ Hand Weapon. A weapon with this ability can be used
to make close combat attack that does not modify the Combat roll.
◊ Healing (X). A character with this ability can spend 2 AP
to heal a character that it is in base contact with (not himself). When it does so, the character with healing makes a basic roll with a number of dice equal to the number in the bracket. For every Ace, it heals the target creature 1 Life Point. On a Critical, it heals the creature up to its starting Life Points. On a Fumble, it deals 1 point of Life Point Damage to the character. See Healing/ Regeneration on page 57. Natural Weapon. A weapon with this ability is part of the character’s body and is consider a hand weapon.
◊ Heavy Armor (X). Armour with this ability is so heavy
that it takes a penalty to its Dexterity rolls equal to the number in the brackets. Furthermore, if a character wearing heavy armour falls into the water, he must succeed a basic Dexterity roll or he will be immobilized until the end of the Round
◊ Heavy Weapon (X). A weapon with this ability is so heavy
and hard to manoeuvre that the wielder takes a penalty
60
to its Combat or Shooting skill equal to the number in the bracket ◊ High Jump. A character with this ability can make a
Dexterity roll before making a Jump. For every Ace obtained, it can add +1 inch to its Jump. This ability cannot be combined with Running Jump.
◊ Incorporeal. A character with this ability may ignore all
scenery while moving, however it can never end its move within a piece of scenery. A creature with this ability also gains the Spiritual protection (3) Universal ability.
◊ Inltration. A character with this ability who is part of
a squad’s reinforcements, may roll 2d10 when making his deployment rolls (see page 77) and keep the best result.
◊ Limited Movement (movement type). A character with
this ability can’t use some form of movement. They type of movement is given between the brackets. This character’s Movement is limited for some reason. The kind of Movement this character can’t make is in brackets, such as Swimming or Jumping; besides, the character can’t have access to any of the advanced Movements.
◊ Life Drain. When a character with this Universal Ability
causes damage in close Combat, he immediately recover as many Life Points equal to the number of Life Point damage the target creature took with the attack.
◊ Long Reach (X). Some close combat weapons have a
greater reach than conventional weapons. The number in brackets indicates the distance in inches a model equipped with this weapon can attack from. It is not necessary to be in base contact when making an attack with a weapon with this ability as long as the distance separating both models is not higher than the number in brackets.
◊ Ointment. Items with this ability must be applied on
swords, axes, halberds, bayonets or hand weapons. The Ointment’s other Universal Abilities will add to the
weapon’s Universal Abilities. A weapon can only benet from the eects of a single Ointment at the same time. ◊ Partners (character). If a character with this ability and
the character named in brackets are within 5” from each other at the beginning of the character with this ability’s activation, they can both activate at the same time, using both their AP pools at any time during this shared turn. When all AP are spent, mark both characters as activated.
◊ Mage (X). A character with this ability is well versed
in the world of magic. He can buy and can know a maximum number of spells equal to the number in the brackets, which he chooses and pays for while building his force.
◊ Mighty Blow (X). When a character with this ability deals
any damage in close combat, it deals extra damage equal to the number in brackets.
◊ Mind Control. A character with this ability may control
the actions of friendly models that have the mindless ability. These models act normally during play using their own APs and they appear to act autonomously. When a Mindless creature Falls in Combat, the character that controls it must pass a basic Mind roll or receive a Stun marker. If there is more than one character with Mind Control in the same squad, write down on a piece of paper which Mindless models each character controls. If the character with this universal ability falls in combat, all of the models he controlled must success on a basic Mind roll every time they are to be activated; if they fail the roll, these models will count as activated but their Action Points will be reduced to 0 until the next End of Round turn
◊ Penetration (X). The damage caused by a weapon or
character with this ability ignores as much of the target’s Protection value as the value in brackets.
◊ Mindless. A character with this ability is immune to the eects of the Fear and Fascination Universal abilities.
◊ Rebellious. A character with this ability cannot receive any benet from his squad leader’s Command ability.
◊ Multiple Shot (X). A weapon with this ability can be shot
◊ Reckless. A character with this ability doubles its Mind value –without applying other modiers- when making
a number of times equal to the number in the bracket before it has to be reloaded.
◊ Multiple Targets (X). When a character with this ability
makes a Shot, it can designate as many targets as the number in the brackets. When it makes its Shooting roll it uses 7 or the highest Dexterity value among the
various targets as the diculty. The shooter can then divide any Aces (modied by the weapon type) obtained
from its roll freely among the targets. If a weapon deals Aces + a number (Aces+3, for example), the total number obtained will then be distributed among the targets. ◊ Night Vision. A character with this ability ignores the
restrictions of Darkness.
a single Morale rolls during an adventure. This character doesn’t apply any kind of positive or negative modiers
to its Morale rolls.
◊ Regeneration (X). A character with this ability may spend
2 AP and make a basic roll with a number of dice equal to the number in the bracket. With each Ace, it regains 1 Life Point. On a Critical it regains all its Life Points. On a Fumble, it takes 1 Life Point damage. See Healing/ Regeneration on page 57.
◊ Reload (X). A weapon with this ability must be reloaded
after each shot. The number in the brackets is the number of AP it takes to reload the weapon. At the start of an adventure, all weapons are considered loaded. 61
◊ Slippery. This character is never engaged in close combat,
even though he can attack and be attacked in Combat if in base contact with other models. He can just leave the combat freely at any time. The Universal abilities Engage and Slippery counter each other.
◊ Slow. A character with this ability cannot activate until
everyone in its squad has activated. If there is more than one character with this ability in a squad, once the other models have been activated, the controlling player decides the order of activation of the characters with the slow ability.
◊ Sniper (X). A character with this ability excels at
shooting characters that have not yet activated. When it does, it gains a bonus to the Shoot roll equal to the number in brackets.
◊ Short Weapon. A ranged weapon with this ability only
requires one hand to use, so a character with the Ambidextrous Universal ability can carry a short weapon in one hand and another one-handed weapon in the other.
◊ Spiritual Damage. An attack with this Universal Ability
ignores the Protection value of the target.
◊ Spiritual Protection (X). A character with this ability has
a level of protection equal to the number in brackets against weapons, characters or eects that cause
◊ Reroll All Dice. A character with this ability can spend 1
Karma Point may force an enemy, ally, or himself to reroll and entire roll, including the Destiny Die. This ability can only be used once per roll.
◊ Reroll Dice (X). A character with this ability may spend 1
Karma Point and make an opponent (or himself) reroll a number of dice in a roll equal to the number in the bracket brackets. The Destiny Die cannot be rerolled with this ability. When using this ability, the player must declare how many die is he going to reroll, and it can only be used once per roll.
◊ Rickety (X). A character with this ability reduces its
Protection value by a number equal to the one in the brackets.
◊ Save (X). When an opponent makes a close attack
against a character with this ability, it must reduce its dice pool by a number of dice equal to the number in the bracket.
◊ Savage. When a character with this ability crosses its
last Pain Threshold, it gains 1d5 extra APs each round. Make this roll when activating the character. These
eects will apply until the character Falls in combat or is
healed above its last pain threshold.
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Spiritual damage.
◊ Spiritual spill (X). When a character with this ability
loses Life Points as a result of a close combat attack, the attacker also suers as much Life Points damage as the
number in brackets; this damage is Spiritual Damage.
◊ Stun. A character with this ability Stuns a creature when
it deals at least one Life Point in damage to it.
◊ Swift. A character with this ability can spend 1 Karma
Point. The character can then double its Movement attribute for the next Action he makes.
◊ Sworn Enemy (character or descriptor, X). A character with
this ability has a bonus to its Combat and Shooting values equal to the number in brackets when attacking a character with its name in the brackets, or, in the cases where a descriptor is given, any character with a descriptor given within the brackets.
◊ Throwable (X). A weapon of this ability is thrown rather
than shot. When using this weapon, you use the
shooting rules, and apply a modier to the Shooting
roll equal to the number in the brackets. Throwable weapons can be used quickly and opportunistically, so a character can use a throwable weapon while wielding other weapons
◊ Triing. A character with this ability is not counted when
determining Victory Points. They can never be taken into account while checking an adventure’s victory conditions, and they cannot receive improvements by way of experience.
◊ Two-Handed Weapon. A weapon with this ability requires
a character to use both hands to wield this weapon, so he can no longer wield other weapons at the same time.
◊ Vampiric Attack (X). A character with this ability recovers
X life points each time it deals at least one Life Point in damage in close combat. This Universal ability does not work against models with the Ghost or Undead descriptors.
◊ Universal Protection (X). The character has a level of
Protection equal to the number in brackets against Physical Damage, Spiritual Damage or Flames.
◊ Water Creature. A character with this universal ability
moves full speed when it swims, can use the Run rules to swim faster, and can make a Running jump while being in the water. Furthermore, water creatures breathe water, so they cannot drown. Lastly, a water creature can make the drown manoeuvre by spending 1AP instead of 2 AP, gain a +2 bonus to their dice pool for the manoeuvre, and can always choose the Attribute to use in the roll.
I
DESCRIPTORS
Descriptors don’t have any rule on their own, but they talk to some abilities. For example, due to the Spell They Sleep Underwater , all creatures with the Rashaar descriptor on the table recover one Life Point. Individual characters can have several dierent descriptors. The following are a list of
descriptors is the game. ◊ Human
◊ Priest
◊ Monster
◊ Animal
◊ Rashaar
◊ Nexus
◊ Soldier
◊ Crazy
◊ Leader
◊ Scientist
◊ Noble
◊ Gifted
◊ Mage
◊ Undead
◊ Catholic
◊ Ghost
◊ Muslim
◊ Thief
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WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT 16
T
his chapter describes the various weapons and items you can equip your Carnevale characters with. In the Factions chapter you can see the weapons each model starts with, already counted on the model’s basic cost. In basic adventures (not in a campaign), you can only buy elements from the Basic Equipment and Magical Items table. However, squads can also access the rest of items by means of the special rules included in some Adventures and in campaigns. For weapons that require some sort of ammunition, this is included in the basic cost. It is understood that a character equipped with a ranged weapon will have enough gunpowder and bullets to last them for the whole adventure. These tables show the modifier applied to the damage roll (in the case of weapons) and the Universal Abilities or other abilities conferred to the character that uses them. For complete information on the use of Universal Abilities, see the corresponding chapter. When a character is equipped with a weapon or an equipment item, the player must display it somehow on the model. The player must always make sure that his opponent is aware of the character’s equipment, with the exception of magical items. Bear in mind that there can only be one magical item in a squad, and that its effects are only valid during one Adventure (not during the whole campaign), although you can buy the item again before your next Adventure.
Close Combat Weapons Cost
Weapons
Damage
Abilities
10
Halberd
Aces +1
Long Reach (2), Two handed weapon
5
Hand Weapon
Aces
-
5
Bayonet
-1 Aces
Long Reach (2), Must be attached to a musket
10
Sword
Aces +1
Save (1)
N/A
Claws
Aces
Penetration (1), Natural Weapon
8
Axe
Aces +1
Penetration (1), Hand Weapon
8
Whip
Aces
Long Reach (4)
7
Club
Aces
Stun
Unarmed
Aces -1
Natural Weapon,
N/A
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Shooting Weapons Cost
Weapons
Damage
Abilities
Range
12
Bow
Aces
Reload (1)
12’’
15
Crossbow
Aces +1
Reload (3)
10’’
10
Smoke bombs
N/A
Throwable (-2), Explosion, Extra*
6’’
7
Throwing daggers
Aces-1
-
5’’
15
Grenade
1d10
Throwable (-2), Explosion, Flames
6’’
20
Flamethrower
1d10 +2
Fear (-2), Blast (-5), Flames
Cone template
20
Musket
Aces +3
Reload (3)
10’’
15
Pistol
Aces +2
Reload (2), Hand Weapon, Short Weapon
8’’
* The smoke bomb generates a terrain item of the size of the round template; the smoke blocks Line of Sight but characters can walk through the cloud without problems (it is intangible).
Armor Cost
Basic Equipment Armor
Abilities
7
Armbands
Extra Protection (1)
10
Shield
15 18
Cost
Item
Abilities
10
First-aid kit
+1 dice in Healing rolls.
Save (2), Hand Weapon
8
Climbing tools
See Climbing and Rappel rules.
Leather breastplate
Extra Protection (2), Heavy Armor (-1)
8
Lantern
Ignores Darkness.
Metal breastplate
Extra Protection (3), Heavy armor (-3)
12
Narcotics
Ointment, Stun
18
Venom
Ointment, Penetration (2)
65
Magical items Cost
Item
Abilities
10
Cagliostro’s Diamond
Once per game the bearer can cast a Spell without investing Karma Points.
15
Devil’s Mask
The bearer has the Fear (-2) Universal Ability
15
Newt Gill Potion
The bearer can breathe under water and is immune to the eects of Drowning.
I
20
Mother Hidra’s Tiara
The bearer obtains the Universal Ability Water Creature
20
Infusion of the Rent in the Sky
The bearer may drink the infusion once per game at a cost of 1 AP. He can make a roll on the Powers table; he will have the power obtained until the next End of Round Turn.
20
Pope Clement XIII’s ring
The bearer has Spiritual Protection (2)
20
The Errand Jew’s life elixir
The bearer can make a Regeneration (6) roll once per Adventure.
DEVIL’S MASK
The origins of this sinister mask are unknown. What is known is that the mask arrived in Venice from the heart of Africa more than a century ago, and was kept -like the rest of other military trophies- at the home of the Clausis, a wealthy noble family whose home was a few streets away from St Mark’s Square. A few weeks after the appearance of the Rend in the Sky, Maximiliano Clausi, the family’s patriarch, was imprisoned after going mad and murdering his whole family. When the mask was eventually removed from him, Clausi kept repeating that the Black God that lived in the mask had made him do it.
66
I
NEWT GILL POTION
Only the most powerful witches are able to distill this bitter syrup. Only they know the components needed to prepare it, but it is widely known that whoever drinks it develops the ability to breath under water for a few hours.
I
MOTHER HIDRA’S TIARA
At rst sight, this ivory tiara doesn’t look special at all. However, the delicate gures carved all along its surface
tell stories of death and seawater: sinister underwater creatures and human beings worshipping nightmarish monsters. The bearer of Mother Hidra´s Tiara will be in communion with sea creatures and will become one of
them for a while, maybe sacricing his own mortal soul in
the process.
I
CAGLIOSTRO’S DIAMOND
Count Alessandro di Cagliostro is a mystic well versed in several disciplines. A friend of Casanova, his knowledge of dark matters could rival those of the Supreme Sorcerer, but his fondness of hyperboles has earned him fame as a chatterbox. His reputation as a thief and a counterfeiter has led him to end up behind bars on many occasions. His
implication -about a decade ago- on the sordid aair of the
diamond necklace (which involved Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, king of France) allowed him to lay his hands on the rst white diamond ever brought from the Americas,
I
INFUSION OF THE RENT IN THE SKY
which he substituted for a worthless piece of glass. Those who have been able to examine this piece closely say that it can lter the energy poured from the Rent in the Sky.
Among the people that perceive the energy poured from the Rent in the Sky, some can collect and concentrate a tiny amount of the magic matter. By means of complex and expensive rituals, they are able to distill a concoction of uncertain eects.
I
I
POPE CLEMENT XIII’S RING
THE ERRAND JEW’S LIFE ELIXIR
The Count of St. Germain, son of the last king of Transylvania (Francis II Rákóczi), allegedly died in 1784. Those who had met him knew he was a great adventurer, alchemist, musician, inventor and a member of the Rosicrucians. Some attribute to him the credit for having developed an elixir of eternal youth, and they say that –in fact- St. Germain, is not dead. Instead, he is an immortal being, known among the mystics as “The Errand Jew” or “The Transcended Master”. In any case, those who are lucky enough to taste this elixir regain their forces and feel they are able to perform all kind of feats.
Clement XIII was the last Pope born to a Venetian family.
Son of the inuential senators Giovanni Battista Rezzonico
and Vittoria Barbarigo, a stroke killed him in 1769. Some of his earthly possessions were returned to the Serenissima, among which was the ring he used to seal the canonization of Saint Joseph of Cupertino. Some say whoever bears this precious item is protected from evil. 67
17
TERRAIN
T
hroughout this rulebook, we have commented on the importance of terrain in the game. Terrain may be as important as the models themselves. Apart from being an attractive aesthetic element, the layout of
Here’s a brief list of the most common obstacles and their special characteristics. These objects have a standard size, but this can change if you pile them; in
strategy. Here we’ll see how it works on a gaming level. The players should agree the amount of Terrain to use. Each player rolls a die; the player with the highest
Obstacles; and, of course, you can create your own Obstacles for your games. You may want to review at this point the Cover rules from the Shooting chapter.
Terrain on the game table will have an eect on the game’s
roll will set the rst Terrain element. The next player will
set another element, and so on and so forth until all the elements are set. Other possible options are to agree in advance the display of Terrain, or to ask someone impartial to do it for you.
I
TERRAIN The ground where characters walk in Carnevale, called
the terrain, can be of three dierent types: open, dicult or impassable. The Terrain aects the characters capacity to move. The rst thing you must do before you start
playing is to agree with your opponent what kind of terrain every sector of the game table is, besides deciding Obstacles, Obstructions, etc. This little conversation will prevent you from stopping in the middle of the game to solve doubts concerning Terrain. ◊ Open Terrain. Streets, at rooftops or balconies. This
type of Terrain doesn’t have any obstructions and doesn’t aect the characters’ actions.
◊ Dicult Terrain. Unstable roofs, waterweed-covered
case of doubt, use the Volume Proles to determine their eects on Cover. In some scenarios you will nd special
◊ Pile of Barrels. Medium Size, Hardness: Blunt. ◊ Ship Ropes. Medium Size, Hardness: Blunt. ◊ Crates. Medium Size, Hardness: Blunt. ◊ Piles of Food/Straw/Cloth. Medium/Big size, Hardness:
Blunt.
◊ Carts. Big Size, Hardness: Heavy. ◊ Fountains. Medium/Big size, Hardness: Heavy. ◊ Bushes. Medium/Big size, Hardness: Light.
I
OBSTRUCTIONS
Obstructions are solid, unmovable Obstacles, such as statues or stone blocks. They are treated as Impassable Ground, Medium/Big size and Hardness: Heavy.
streets or slippery bridges. When a character moves through Dicult Terrain, his Movement Attribute is
divided by 2.
◊ Impassable Terrain. This is usually the inside of buildings, ground covered in ame, and solid objects.
Characters can’t cross this kind of terrain; they will stop or change direction when their movement makes them be in base contact with this terrain.
I
OBSTACLES
Obstacles are all those Terrain elements that are scattered around the game table, such as barrels, fences, carriages, mountains of fish, ship ropes, etc. Characters can use these elements as Cover or even Jump and stand on them (as long as the model can stand on the element with stability). All Obstacles are considered to be Difficult Terrain as far as Movement is concerned. The Cover rules we’ve seen in the Shooting chapter apply to Obstacles. 68
HOW MUCH TERRAIN DO I NEED? This will depend on the scope of the game and the way you like to play; this is something you’ll learn as you play. Some Adventures will indicate specifically the Terrain you’ll need; otherwise, you should use at least two buildings and a canal. In any case, Carnevale is a game that grows in complexity and fun the more Terrain you use. Once again, the table size will depend on the scope of the game and the amount of Open ground you need. However, the gaming surface should be at least approximately 30” by 30’’ in a small or medium-sized game. As for the maximum, it’s up to you!
I
BUILDINGS
In Carnevale buildings are considered Obstructions. Unless otherwise noted in the Adventure, you can not enter inside the buildings. You can, however, climb their walls, stand on their balconies and roofs, walk underneath their porches, etc. You just need to apply the corresponding Climb, Jump or Run on Walls rules. Buildings can be several stories or levels tall. In fact, the more variety you wish to incorporate in your buildings, the more dynamic your Adventures will be.
I
STAIRS
Stairs are Open Terrain, and characters don’t have any penalties when moving through them.
I WATER AND CANALS If there is something that denes the city of Venice
and makes it stand out among other cities in the world it is the t that it was built on a lagoon. This peculiarity makes it a unique place, cut through by waterways, full of bridges and inevitably dened by water. In Carnevale it is indispensable to nd water, in
some way or other, in all games. As you will see in the Adventures chapter, all of the Adventures will require you to include at least a canal in your set of Terrain elements. In the game, water can appear in two dierent ways:
water from the canals and Aqua Alta. If a character falls into the water of a canal, he must observe the Swimming rules (see page 46). On the other hand, if a character is immobilized in the water or a foe tries to Drown him deliberately, the Drowning rules apply instead (see page 57). If a model has at least half its base in between water and rm ground, the model will be on the ground to all
intents and purposes.
I
AQUA ALTA Venice experiences a very curious eect due to the
tides of the lagoon on which the city was founded. It is very common to nd water on the ground, temporarily ooding the streets and making it dicult to walk.
Aqua Alta can happen as a result of the Event Aqua Alta (see page 78), or due to the Adventure’s own rules (in which case, the scenario rules will specify the conditions for its eects to cease). In any case, the rules that apply
are the same:
All the models on the battleeld will get a -1 to their
Movement value for all of their movements on the ground.
I
GONDOLAS
Given the peculiarities of Venice, its inhabitants don’t ride horses; instead, they ride boats or gondolas (the typical Venetian boat). Gondolas are a voluntary Terrain item (unless otherwise noted by the adventure’s rules). Gondolas should be able to t at least two small-
sized models, or one medium-sized model. A character riding a gondola can Move on it in the water as if he had a Movement value of 4. If the character makes any kind of action ( jumping, close combat, shooting, casting spells, and so on) while on the gondola, he must pass a basic Dexterity roll before resolving the action If it gets a Fumble on that roll it falls into the water; a Critical hit doesn’t have any special eect.
I
BRIDGES
As you know, bridges are physical byways that allow characters to cross canals without getting wet. We are mentioning it to remind you that bridges are a very interesting Terrain item that you can include in your games. Bear in mind that characters can swim underneath bridges.
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18
MAGIC
S
ince the appearance of the Rent in the Sky, the people and creatures of Venice have gained the ability to
manipulate reality. Some can create ames from nothing, while others can drain a living being’s vital uids
from a distance. Others manifest more terrifying abilities. In Carnevale there are two ways of altering reality: spells and powers. While each create similar eects, their underlying structure and philosophy is dierent.
Some see the manipulation of magic as an activity similar to weaving a tapestry: you manipulate the threads of reality by means of a pattern called a spell. The magician (a creature with the Magician ability, see Chapter 5) uses his own essence to carry out to fuel his art, and that essence is consumed a little at a time each time he casts a spell. While most spells are imitations of patterns created by others, some powerful and crafty magicians mange to discern the secret patterns of the fabric of reality, and nd new
ways to manipulates its threads, inventing new spells, and creating new magical eects. There are dierent kinds of
magic that men can do—creation, invocation, manipulation. There are far older beings that have been toying with the threads of reality for centuries, and they can create more primeval and deadly form of magic that often defy category. Scholars have also found that the insane have a special connection with the Rent in the Sky, which allows them to fuel spellcasting with startling ease. Powers are simpler tricks, much more limited, but powerful nonetheless. Some people have spontaneously developed unique capabilities since the appearance of the Rent in the Sky. These people called the Gifted. No one knows why some people develop powers and others do not. The Gifted are usually able to use one or two Powers at best, and they rarely manifest new powers over time. Most powers are unique to the creature they manifest in, so they are detailed within the description of the character possessing them.
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MAGE (X) Characters able to cast spells have the Mage (X) Universal Ability, as detailes in the Universal Abilities Chapter.
I CASTING SPELLS Each spell has its own mechanics, described in its spell description. When a magician casts a spell, he must spend Karma Points to do so. The rst spell a magician casts
during a round costs 1 Karma Point (assuming its base Karma Points cost to cast is 1). When the same magician casts a second spell during the same round, he spends an extra Karma Point over the normal Karma Point casting cost to do so. When the same magician cast the third spell during the same round, he spends 2 extra Karma Points. In other words, the cost of casting a spell equals the Karma cost of the spell, plus a number of additional Karma Points equal to the number of spells already cast by the magician already that round. For example, if a magician wants to cast four spells during his Turn, at the end he usually spends 10 Karma Points: 1 for the rst spell, 2 for the second spell, 3 for the
third spell and 4 for the fourth spell (1+2+3+4=10). In order to cast a spell, a magician must spend 1 AP and then the Karma Points cost of the spell to make a Magic roll. A Magic roll is a basic Mind roll used to cast a spell. If a magician fails its Magic roll, it cannot cast any more spells until the end of the round. If a magician casts a spell while he is in base contact with one or more opponents, the act
of casting provokes attacks of opportunity from them after the AP and Karma Points are spent, but before the Magic roll is made. In other words, the magician resolves the eects of the spell after suering the eects of the attacks of
opportunity.
Spells with eects that modify a character’s attributes
(except for Life Points) are not cumulative. A character gains the best modication of all spells or eects that
modify those attributes. For example, if a spell improves a character’s Protection value, another spell that improves the same character’s Protection value will not be aective
unless it provides a greater increase to the Protection value or if it has a greater duration. Spells are described using the following characteristics: Cost, Diculty, Reach, Duration, Eect, Critical roll and
Fumble. Each is describe below.
◊ Cost. The number of Squad Points a player must spend
so that one character with the Magician ability can take that spell.
◊ Diculty. This is the diculty modier applied to the
Magic roll to activate the Spell; it may range between -3 dice and +3 dice. You either add or subtract these dice from the roll when casting the spell. ◊ Range. This indicates the maximum distance, typically in inches but sometimes with a word or term, that the spell can be cast. Usually the spell’s range is in inches, but range can also be one of the following: Caster: A magician can only cast this spell on himself. Line of Sight: A magician can cast this spell on a character within line of sight, no matter how many inches away the character is from the magician. Touch: A magician
can target a character with this spell only if it is in base contact with the magician. A magician cannot cast a touch spell on itself. Unlimited: A magician can cast this spell on any character or point on the play area of the adventure, regardless of range or line of sight.
◊ Duration. This indicates how long the spell’s eect
remains active. Normally, this value is a number of
rounds, which can be either x or variable. When a spell’s duration is given in rounds, its eect ends at the
end of the round , so that a spell with a duration of 1 round ends at the very next end of round; a spell with a duration of 2 rounds end on the second end of the round after it was cast, and so on. A spell with without a duration in rounds has one or the other of the following durations: Immediate : The spell’s eect is resolved immediately and then terminated. Permanent : The spell’s eect is active for the rest of the game.
◊ Efect. This is a description of what the spell does once
it is cast until the end of its duration. Some spells
have xed eects, whereas others have a variable eect depending on the amount of Aces scored with
the Magic roll
◊ Critical. This describes any additional eects if you roll a
Critical on the Magic roll. If the description is “Standard”, the Caster recovers the AP spent when casting the spell. Also, when a Mage scores a Critical on a Magic roll, its spell is immune to the eects of a Naach-Tith
Annulment.
◊ Fumble. This describes the eects if the magician
Fumbles the Magic roll. If the description is “Standard”, the Caster receives a Stun counter.
Magic has always been part of my life. My conjuring tricks were often useful to convince some reluctant lady to succumb to my charms or to free some patrician of the weight of his purse. My main occupation in life has always been to cultivate everything which is pleasant to my senses. I felt that my life made sense when in company of the opposite sex. I always adored women and I did all that was in my hands to be loved by them. However, years and experience made me come into contact with other worlds. Clergymen, Cabalists, Mystics, Occultists, Masons, Rosicrucians, Sus... I knew all of them. I read the works of Mirandolla, I can recite the Fama
Fraternitatis by heart, I am a member of honor of more lodges than I can remember, I possess the manuscript of Athanasius Kircher’s Oedipus Aegyptiacus... They all searched to know the mysteries of the universe. Stupid. They knew as much of the world surrounding us as a little kid peeping through a lock to see what’s on the other side. As it often happens, reality revealed itself at its most glorious some years ago, and no one measured up. The wound in
the skies appeared and nally gave sense to my life. When you see real magic rst hand for the rst time, you know immediately it’s not a trick of smoke and mirrors, it’s not an illusion. You feel a lump in your throat, your testicles are sti and reality around you stops making sense. Beyond the most obvious and showy eects, like lightings or the blood poured, every type of magic has its own
particular smell. You learn to distinguish them if you want to live another day. The kind of magic practiced by the lords of Bedlam smells like hot metal, that of the Magi from the Cult of Dagon smells like burned sugar and urine, that of the spirits smells like ice. The coarsest kind of magic can tear your leg apart or pierce your chest with a bolt of lightning; the most exquisite magic destroys your soul and turns your mind upside down like a sock. It’s not surprising that, in the twilight of my dissolute existence, I have nally found the reason why the name
Giacomo Casanova will be written in the pages of history. I am the only man who has walked on the other side, who has known the reality of the Ancient Ones. The only one who knows real magic in its whole spectrum. I have gone beyond the physical world. I am the supreme Sorcerer. From the book “Weaving the tapestry”, by Giacomo Casanova. Published undergound in December, 1794.
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I SPELLS This is the basic list of Spells. Before each Adventure, Magicians may “buy” those Spells they want to be able to use paying the cost indicated in each Spell.
I
BLESSING
Either if the Magician believes all souls are good, or if he is a sadistic bloodthirsty killer, he can make his allies improve their abilities in battle. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Cost. 5 points. Diculty.
+0d10
Range. 6’’ Duration. 1 Round
Efect. The target of this Spell will gain +1 to one of his
Spell, any new attempt to cast Blessing on the model will be considered an automatic failure, without even making a Magic roll. ◊ Critical. Standard ◊ Fumble. Standard.
I
Anger ows out of the mage’s body in the shape of a cloud of the blackest smoke, wrapping around his foes, clouding their senses and foiling their skill. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Attributes; bear in mind that an Attribute can never raise above 10. The Caster of the Spell chooses the Attribute, and he must do so before he makes his Magic roll. A model can’t be aected by more than one Blessing spell at the same time. If a model is under the eects of this
CURSE
Cost. 5 points.
Diculty. +0d10
Range. 6’’ Duration. 1 Round
Efect. For each Ace scored by the mage, this spells
target suers a -1 penalty to one of his attributes (the
attribute can’t end up below 1) of the mage’s choice.
The caster chooses the attribute to be aected before making the Magic roll. A character can’t be aected
by more than one curse spell at the same time. If a
character is under the eects of this spell, any new
attempt to cast curse on it fails, no matter the Magic roll. ◊ Critical. Standard ◊ Fumble. Standard.
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DISPEL MAGIC
The mage bites his own lip until blood runs down his chin. Then he raises a single hand, holding his ngers in an awkward and arcane position, and the spell that was plaguing him ends with a sound that some say resembles the popping of a cork. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Cost. 5 points.
Special Range. 12’’ Duration. Immediate Efect. When this spell is successfully cast, it immediately cancels another active spell chosen by the Diculty.
caster. The diculty of the Magic roll is a penalty equal
to half the Mind attribute of the target spell’s caster. ◊ Critical. Standard ◊ Fumble. Standard.
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IMMEDIATE HEALING
The mage’s hands glow with green and orange hues. A soon as he lays his hands on his friend’s body, that friend’s wounds seem to close. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
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Cost. 5 points.
+0d10 Range. Touch Duration. Immediate Diculty.
◊ Efect. The Caster chooses a target that has lost Life
Points but is still in the game. He applies the Universal Ability Healing (X), where X equals the amount of Aces obtained by the Caster in the Magic roll. ◊ Critical. Standard ◊ Fumble. The target suers 1 Life Point damage.
I
INFERNAL IMAGES
The victim’s mind is clouded by visions from beyond— impossible monsters with hundreds of tentacles, non- euclidean buildings, unholy temples in the heart of dead stars and promises of eternal nightmares. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Range. Unlimited Duration. 1 Round per Ace.
Efect. Designate a point on the game table and the
caster makes a Magic roll. If the spell is successful, the player places the round template centered on that point. All models whose bases are touched by the template
many rounds as Aces scored with the Magic roll. ◊ Critical. The caster may designate one of the models touched by the template; this model is aected by
darkness for the rest of the game.
◊ Fumble. The caster’s opponent may place the template
wherever he wishes.
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Efect. The Caster chooses a single target. That target is
The mage crosses his arms on his chest, his eyes blank, and he starts screaming in agony. Suddenly, he throws his arms towards the enemy and shoots his own ngernails, which pierce the esh of whomever they hit.
Range. 6’’ Duration. Immediate
stunned. Place a stun counter next to the model. as Aces scored with the Magic roll.
KRAKEN’S BREATH
After pronouncing a series of hideous sounds, that only a madman would dare to call ‘words’, the magician points at the sky. Immediately after this, a brown whirlwind of dust, rocks, and steam hits and drowns all of those within the magician’s sphere of inuence. Cost. 20 points.
Diculty. -2d10
Range. 18’’ Duration. Immediate
Efect. This Spell uses the circular Template. First, the
Caster must place the template in a point of the board where he wishes to cast the Kraken’s breath. Next, he must make the Magic roll. If he succeeds, the Kraken’s breath is activated on the chosen location. If he fails, the template moves as per the Scatter rules (see p. 55) and the spell activates in the new location. In any case, the Kraken’s breath makes a close Combat attack roll with 5d10 against all characters touched by the template (make a single roll and compare the result with all targets). ◊ Critical. The Kraken’s breath has the Flames Universal Ability. ◊ Fumble. The Kraken’s breath is activated centered on the Caster’s head.
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Diculty. +0d10
Diculty. -2d10
◊ Fumble. Standard.
◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Cost. 5 points.
suer the eects of darkness (seepage 53) during as
Cost. 5 points.
◊ Critical. The Caster may choose as many dierent targets
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◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
MIST FROM THE ABYSS
An oily smoke oozes from the ground, blinding friends and foes alike.
◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
MOTHER HIDRA’S CLAWS
Cost. 10 points.
-2d10 Range. 24’’ Duration. Immediate Efect. The Caster may choose a one target within Line of Sight for each Ace obtained in his Magic roll. Every target will be hit by a missile made from magic energy; Diculty.
the victim will suer as many levels of Spiritual Damage
as Aces obtained in the Magic roll. The Caster can’t pick the same target more than once. Besides, each chosen
target beyond the rst must be at most within 6’’ from
the other targets; all missiles which are not assigned to a target are lost. ◊ Critical. The Caster can choose the same target more than once. ◊ Fumble. The Caster generates a single claw, but the opposite player chooses the target, who automatically suers 3 levels of Spiritual Damage.
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NAACH-TITH ANNULMENT
The temperature suddenly droops. The Magician has stopped time in a whisper, has analyzed his opponent’s spell and has summoned all the right powers to cancel it. ◊ Cost. 5 points. ◊ Diculty. -1d10 per opponent’s Mind point. Example:
when trying to cancel as from an opponent who has Mind 3, the Mind roll for the Naach-Tith annulment has a -3d10 penalty. ◊ Range. Unlimited. ◊ Duration. Immediate. ◊ Efect. Unlike most other spells, the mage casts this spell on his opponent’s turn, after his opponent has spent the Karma Points and AP for the spell, and has 73
◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Cost. 10 points.
Diculty. -3d10
Range. 12’’ Duration. 1 Round
Efect. The Caster chooses a target; the target’s Action
Points go down to zero until the next End of Round Turn. ◊ Critical. The Caster may choose an extra target within range of the spell. That target also suers the spell’s eect. ◊ Fumble. Until the end of the adventure, when the mage
activates, it gains only half its normal APs (round down).
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PROTECTION OF THE EYE
The inuence from the Rent in the Sky pours from the mage’s hands, creating an invisible lm that protects him of all evil. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Cost. 5 points.
+1d10 Range. Touch or Caster Duration. 1 Round per Ace. Efect. This spell creates a magic barrier around the target, granting it the Universal Protection [2] ability. ◊ Critical. The spell’s duration is Permanent; the spell Diculty.
nishes if Dispel Magic is cast upon it. ◊ Fumble. Standard.
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SPIRITUAL BOND
Other people’s minds are just clay in the hands of those who know the secrets of this spell. It can make spirits dance.
made the Magic roll, but before resolving the eects of
the Spell. The mage spends no AP for casting this spell. When casting this spell, the mage does not follow the normal rules for spending Karma Points, but spends the number of Karma Points as his opponent spent on the triggering spell, plus one extra Karma Point. The mage then makes a Magic roll. Every Ace of this roll cancels an Ace of the triggering spell. If the opponent’s roll is reduced to 0 Aces, the opponent’s spell is cancelled. ◊ Critical. The opponent’s spell is cancelled and the opponent gets a stun counter. ◊ Fumble. Standard.
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PETRIFY
The mage points at his foe and yells insults in a dead language. A casual observer may deem it a nonsensical or ridiculous action, but the recipient of all those insults starts to feel his muscles sti until he’s temporarily paralysed.
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◊ Cost. 20 points (Plague Doctors pay 10 points) ◊ Diculty. 1d10 times the Mind value of the target. Example: When trying to establish a link with an opponent with Mind 3, the Magic roll for the Spirit Bond will be done with -3d10. ◊ Range. 8’’ ◊ Duration. Permanent ◊ Efect. The caster chooses a single target that does
not have either the Undead or Animal descriptor. If the caster gains at least one Ace, the target becomes controlled by the casting mage. This means the aected character is now part of the casting mage’s
squad. As long as this spell as active, the mage cannot perform any actions apart from the Walking action. If it performs any other action, it loses control of the target. Furthermore, if the casting mage crosses a Pain Threshold or Falls in combat, he loses control of the target. Besides, every time the target model is activated to act, the model’s original controller (in other words, the player that owned it at the beginning of the game) can spend one of the controlled model’s Karma Points to try and free it from the enchantment. If he does so, the Caster of the spell that binds him must immediately
make a new Magic roll for this Spell (without having to spend APs to do it); if he fails, this spell disappears. If either the Caster or the victim get a Stun counter while the Spell is active, the Caster must make a new Magic roll for this Spell (without having to spend APs to do it) to keep the Spell active. Bear in mind that every time the Caster rolls his Magic roll to keep the Spirit Bond active, he must spend 1 Karma Point before making the roll. Whenever this Spell stops being active for any reason, the controlled model gets a Stun counter. ◊ Critical. Standard ◊ Fumble. Standard.
I
will disappear. A character under the eects of this Spell
can’t control areas or targets in an Adventure. You can’t place any area eect to aect this model, unless the area eect aects another model of his squad at the
same time.
The character aected by this Spell may voluntarily cancel the eect of the Spell in order to be the target of Spells or Universal Abilities that can be benecial (such
as healing, etc). After this, the character needs to cast the Spell again with a new Magic roll if he wants to be
aected by the Spell again. ◊ Critical. Standard ◊ Fumble. Standard.
THEY SLEEP UNDERWATER
The canticle intoned in honour of dark and ancient entities sleeping in oceanic abysses, causes the air smell like rancid excrement. It is said that this foul change in atmosphere pleases the monstrous creatures known as Rashaar. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Cost. 18 points.
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WALK BETWEEN WORLDS
Diculty.
-2d10
Range. 8’’ Duration. Immediate
Efect. When this Spell is casted successfully, all
characters with the descriptor Rashaar within range (except for the caster) immediately recover as many Life Points as Aces obtained during this spells magic roll Magic roll. ◊ Critical. Standard ◊ Fumble. Standard.
The mage raises his arms while he chants a mantra with a deep voice. Little by little, his shape begins to icker, and his blurry contour blends with the city of Venice. His observers see him relax and smile gladly, before they lose sight of him. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Cost. 10 points.
Diculty. -2d10
Range. Caster Duration. 1 Round
Efect. The Caster becomes practically transparent.
Although enemies may vaguely guess his contour, they nd it very hard to attack him. To begin with, once the
Spell has been successfully casted, the Caster won’t provoke Attacks of Opportunity of any kind. Besides, all the enemies will get a -4 penalty in their close Combat or Range attack rolls to hit the Magician, as well as a -4 penalty to all Magic rolls to cast Spells targeting him. IF a character aected by this Spell makes any action
which entails interacting with another character (friend or foe) -such as making a close Combat attack, Shooting, casting a Spell, etc.- the eects of Walk between worlds
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PLAYING CARNEVALE
I
n this chapter, you will nd out how a typical game
of Carnevale is played. You will learn the basic characteristics of adventures, events and agendas, as well as the necessary rules to tie these together into your rst campaign.
I ADVENTURES When playing a Carnevale game, you could just place your models on the game table and attack your opponents until they are all dead. You can also play a scenario, which is called an adventure. An adventure can often be a straight-up brawl, but often an adventure
has a background, plot, and specic objectives. The ve adventures you will nd in the next chapter of this book
can be played independently as single game or you can link them, playing adventure after adventure as part of a Campaign. If you do, you should check the campaign rules later in this chapter.
19
Once you get the hang of how adventures work, you can make your own, and string them together into a
campaign of your own, but rst you need to understand
Carnevale’s adventure structure. Adventures have some key elements, they are: ◊ Introduction. This is descriptive text setting up the
adventure’s story. It allows the players to understand the adventure’s background.
◊ Duration. The duration of the adventure is the number
of full rounds that must be played to complete the adventure.
◊ Objective. This describes the things that squads are
trying to accomplish within an adventure point. It also describes how the dierent sides gain Victory Points.
It will also describe any special rules.
◊ Scenery Requirements. This section details any minimum
scenery requirements the adventure has. There is never any limit on the maximum amount of scenery you can use.
◊ Deployment Zones. This describes the areas where each
side sets up at the beginning of the adventure.
◊ Campaign Rules. If you are playing the adventure as
part of a Campaign, this describes any special rules or other campaign considerations that you must use.
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DEPLOYMENT OF THE SQUADS
Before starting an adventure, players must place their models on the game table in a certain way, according to the deployment zone requirements of the adventure they are about to play. All players must place at least half their models within the deployment zone—this is the advance party. There is no limit to the number of models in your advance party; you may even deploy all the models in your squad at this moment, if you wish to. Before each player starts placing models within their deployment zone, they roll a d10. The player with the highest roll (reroll ties) decides which player places a model in their deployment zone rst. After that rst model is places, the player to
the staring player’s right places a model, and so on until all advance party models are places. Once the advance parties have been deployed, players proceed to making the Initiative roll for the rst round.
All models that are not on the game table when the initial deployment are the reinforcement party. A player may deploy his reinforcements anytime from second round on, on any of his turns, instead of activating the models he already has on the table. Please note that, 76
since the reinforcements are not on the table, they
the game normally. If he fails, the model cannot enter the game now, but the player may activate any other model in his squad that is already on the game table; he cannot try to deploy any more Reinforcements until his next Turn.
must always spend their rst AP action, which allows
them to enter the table. They start this movement at the table’s edge of their deployment zone. A character in reinforcement cannot make actions until it enters the play area. When a model enters the game, it is no longer considered to be part of the reinforcements; from that moment on, the model can act normally. When the player decides to add a model from his reinforcements to the game, he has three options: ◊ Assault Order. The model may enter the game from the
table’s edge within the player’s Deployment zone. To do so, the player must just activate the model normally.
◊ Flanking. The model may enter the game from any
of the table’s edges (outside the opposing player’s Deployment zone), 5’’ away from any enemy model. To do so, the player must roll 1D10 and obtain a result of 7 or more. If he succeeds, the model enters the game normally. If he fails, the model cannot enter the game now, but the player may activate any other model in his squad that is already on the game table; he cannot try to deploy any more Reinforcements until his next Turn.
◊ Sneak Attack. The model may enter the game from any
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BASIC VICTORY POINTS The following list oers all the general ways that
characters can gain Victory Points in Carnevale games. These Victory Points measure the success of a squad during an adventure, and they allow players to gain
benets when they play campaigns. If the players decide
to use agendas, they can gain extra Victory Points using those special rules. ◊ Achieving the adventure’s main objective.
5 pts.
◊ Each enemy model killed.
2pts.
◊ Each character in your squad still alive at the end of the Adventure
1pt.
Apart from this, if players decide to use the Agendas system, they can obtain extra Victory Points.
point of the game table, 5’’ away from any enemy model. To do so, the player must roll 1D10 and obtain a result of 9 or more. If he succeeds, the model enters
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I EVENTS When building a squad, you can spend some of your Squad Points on Events. Events are random fortuitous occurrences that can aect the game. You can buy the
chance to make a single roll on the Event chart at some point in the game for the cost of 10 Squad Points. You can purchase up to two Events per adventure. You can attempt to play an Event at any time during one your character’s turns. To do so, roll 2d10 and consults the following table. Then apply the event generate. If it is not possible to apply the Event, it is lost. 2d10 Event 2 Aqua Alta. The water from the lagoon rises, oozing out of the ground, preventing combatants to move freely on the ground. All the models on the battleeld will
take a -1 penalty to their Movement value when the walk or run over the ground. At each end of turn, the player who played this event rolls 1d10. On a result of 7 or more, this event ends. 3 Bad Coordination. The enemy squad Leader gives his orders in a confusing, unclear way, causing one of his combatants to react ahead of time and in an ineective way. You can place an activation counter on a single
enemy model that has not been activated yet.
4 Combat Stress. A single enemy feels the stress of combat at an inopportune time. Chose a single enemy
character that is not stunned. That character is stunned. 5 Adrenaline Boost. Stress makes one of your combatants y into a frenzy. Remove an Activation
counter from one of your models; treat this model as if it has not acted in this round.
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6 Wake Up! The closest ally shouts at his friend, snapping him out of confusion. Remove the Stunned
condition from one of your characters.
7 Reload Weapons! Skill and practice with rearms bear fruits on the battleeld. You can automatically reload a single rearm wielded by a character in your squad
without spending APs.
8 Good Cover. It’s time to duck your head and pray all those shots won’t hit you. Designate a piece of scenery
on the game table that grants cover. It grants one better step of hardness in cover, or +4 cover if it is already heavy in cover hardness. 9 Anxiety. Our ferocity even in the face of adversity makes your opponent nervous. The opposing
squad must make a group Morale roll.
10 Battle Shock. An enemy combatant starts to ask himself what he is doing in a place like this, and w hy he has to risk his life. Choose a single enemy character that
is not a leader or an independent character. This character makes a Morale roll. 11 The Geyser. In occasions, the magical eects from the Rent in the Sky cause boiling water blasts to come out in several places around the city, surprising those unfortunate enough to be around for such an event. Place a Medium base counter (30 mm) on a spot on the battleeld, and make a scatter roll. Once you have
placed the counter, the Geyser will immediately ‘attack’ all the models from both sides within 5’’, with a Combat 4 attack (Penetration (4)). The Geyser makes this attack automatically in every subsequent End of the round Turn until the end of the game.
12 Miraculous Recovery. Drawing power from a divine blessing or from a dark god, your combatant draws strength from nowhere and manages to recover. Choose
a single character in your squad and make a roll with the Healing (6) ability without spending APs. 13 Evil Eye. For no apparent reason, one of your enemies starts to writhe in pain. Choose a character from
an enemy squad and make a Shooting attack (4) roll against it. Every Ace does a point of Life Point damage. On a Critical the target is stunned. On a Fumble, your opponent can end a single instance of Stun on any one of his characters, removing the Stun counter from that character’s model.
14 A Matter of Honor. Honor drives you to win this combat. Choose a single character in your squad and
make a basic Mind roll with it. This model recovers as many Karma Points as Aces obtained (up to its starting Karma Points). On a Critical, the character recovers enough Karma Points to bring it back up to its starting value. On a Fumble, the character loses 1 Karma Point. 15 We Will Never Beat Them. An enemy character loses its cool. Chose a single character from the enemy
squad. That model must make a basic Mind roll; if he does not get at least one Ace, the model loses half his current Karma Points. 16 Mad Minute. To the cry of, “open re!” all the shooters in your squad let loose a volley. All the models in your squad equipped with loaded rearms may make
20 Prestige Loss. The enemy leader seems confused, overwhelmed by circumstances. The enemy
squad leader loses immediately 1 Command Point.
I CAMPAIGNS The following campaign system allows you to take individual adventures and make each of them a serial within a longer-running story. Players must agree to the limit in Squad Points while playing a campaign, and can then build their squads according to the normal squad creation rules. A players squad is are composed of the same group of characters throughout the entire campaign. Characters gain experience after each adventure, which allows them to improve their Attributes and they can even gain new abilities. Furthermore, your squad earns Campaign Points between adventures, which you can use to purchase new characters for your squad, buy new equipment and events or pay the maintenance cost of independent characters, as per the normal Squad point rules. A squad obtains as many extra Campaign Points as the Victory Points you gain in the previous adventure and the winner of the adventure gains 5 extra Campaign Points. You cannot discard squad characters voluntarily during a campaign. Players must spend their Campaign Points before they start their next Adventure, or they can keep them to spend them after subsequent Adventures (note this on your squad Leader character sheet). Basic Carnevale campaigns are designed to span ve
adventures, but you can also apply the optional Legacy rules for longer-term games. Anyway, you can create your own longer campaigns if you wish to, or wait for us to publish ours in the future.
a Shooting attack immediately, without spending APs or activating the models. These weapons must be loaded before they can re again.
17 He’s Alive! Everyone thought he was dead after that brutal attack, but no one noticed his body isn’t where it was a few moments ago. Choose one of the
characters in your squad that was fallen in battle from your squad and make a roll with the Healing (4) ability without spending APs. If the character manages to recover some Life Points, it can enter the game on the next turn as a reinforcement. 18 Blend with Shadows. Right while his opponents are distracted, a combatant escapes amid the confusion.
Choose a character from your squad that is more than 3’’ from all enemy characters and remove it from the game table; that character becomes a reinforcement. 19 Charismatic Leader. The right words uttered on the right moment may reinforce your force’s resolve. Your
MAINTENANCE COST Independent Characters are mercenaries that join your squad for money. At the beginning of a campaign, you must pay their cost as with any other character, and include them on your squad characters sheet. These characters also have a Maintenance Cost you need to pay before each subsequent adventure after the rst, according to the character’s description.
If a player does not want to pay or cannot pay an Independent Character’s Maintenance Cost before an adventure, that Independent Character can no longer be part of the squad. If, in a subsequent Adventure, the player pays the corresponding Maintenance Cost, the Independent Character rejoins the squad.
squad leader immediately recovers 1 Command Point (up to its starting Command Points).
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I
AGENDAS When the groups of adventurers ght in the dangerous
streets of Venice, sometimes their objectives extend beyond their immediate adventure. Squads have their
own motivations, which make them ght with greater
determination when facing their enemies. When you play a Carnevale campaign, you may use the optional Agendas rule. Each player rolls 1d10 and keeps secret the Agenda obtained. At the end of the game, if the player has completed his Agenda, he must reveal it; he gains as many extra Victory Points as indicated by the Agenda. d10
Agenda
1 Something Between You and Me. This battle is a personal matter between the Leaders on the opposing sides of the adventure. Your Leader must personally
eliminate a sing enemy Leader. +4 Victory Points. 2
No One Survives. There can be no witnesses.
Destroy all enemy characters. +4 Victory Points
3 A Beating They’ll Never Forget. It’s necessary to set things straight. Half of the characters of the
enemy squad must be fallen in battle at the end of the adventure. +3 Victory Points. 4 Protect the Position. There is a key spot on the battleeld that you must protect at all costs. Designate
secretly a scenery item located 15’’ or farther from the edge of your Deployment zone and write it down on a piece of paper. At the end of the game you must have at least one model in contact with this scenery item, and there can be no enemy model within 5’’ of it. +3 Victory Points
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5 Recon Deployment. You must explore the terrain for future battles. At the end of the game, you must have
at least one model in each quadrant of the board. +3 Victory Points.
6 Bring War to the Land. Reaching the enemy’s homeland is the best symbol of superiority. At the end of
the game, you must have at least two models from your squad in the enemy Deployment zone. +3 Victory Points.
7 Make it to the End of the Day. The squad Leader’s survival is of the utmost importance for the success of the mission. Your leader must be alive at the end of the
game. +2 Victory Points.
8 Overcome at All Costs. The survival of the squad is crucial success of this mission. At the end of the game,
at least half your squad’s models must be alive. +2 Victory Points. 9 Don’t Look Weak. Appearances are very important in the streets of Venice. You must end the
game with more living models than your opponent. +1 Victory Points. 10 They Can’t Beat Us!. Caution is not at odds with the success of a mission. At the end of the game, all of
your models must be alive. +4 Victory Points.
You may use this list of agendas or create your own, as long as your opponent agrees to use your list before you use them. You may also use the printable cards that you can nd at www.vesper-on.com. Draw one of these cards
at the beginning of the adventure and keep it in your pocket and reveal it at the end of the game.
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EXPERIENCE
The characters in your squad may evolve, improve their Attributes and even obtain new Powers after a while. After surviving a battle in the city of Venice, warriors are hardened, become aware of the dangers and learn to react in the best possible way. Experience works in two dierent ways, depending
on the quality of the combatant. It is necessary to
dierentiate those members of the squad who have the
Leader descriptor and those who don’t. Apart from this, each character may only obtain a maximum of three improvements during a Campaign; when a character has obtained his third improvement, he can’t roll again in the Experience tables ◊ Characters with the Leader descriptor who survive
an Adventure can make a roll on the Leaders’ improvements table if they get a 9+ in 1d10.
◊ The rest of characters who survive an Adventure can
◊ Independent Characters and characters that have
already obtained a Power previously may not obtain any more Experience improvements.
◊ Moreover, a player may try to obtain an improvement
with a model of his choice making an extra roll with 1d10 for every 5 Victory Points obtained. The player must determine a character in his squad without the Leader descriptor and which hasn’t obtained any improvement in this Adventure. If he rolls a 9 or higher, that character can make a roll on the Basic improvements table.
Let’s see the tables. All characters that get the possibility to obtain improvements must roll 1d10 on the corresponding table and apply the eects obtained. In
case a character obtains an improvement he already has (results 6 to 9 in any of the tables), he must reroll on the same table deducting 1 from the result obtained; if he gets a 1 in the new roll (thus obtaining a zero; 1-1= 0), the character will obtain no benets.
make a roll on the Basic improvements table if they get a 8+ in 1d10. Roll a die for every character separately to see which obtain an improvement and which don’t.
Basic Improvements table
Leaders’ improvements table
1d10
1d10
Eect
Eect
1
+1 Combat
1
+2 Combat
2
+1 Dexterity
2
+2 Dexterity
3
+1 Mind
3
+2 Mind
4
+1 Movement
4
+2 Movement
5
+1 Protection
5
+2 Protection
6
The character gets the Command (3) ability and the Leader descriptor.
6
The character gains a +2 bonus to his Command Universal ability
7
The character gets the Penetration (1) ability on all attacks.
7
The character gains Penetration (2) ability on all attacks.
8
The character gains the Spiritual Protection (1) ability.
8
The character gains the Elusive ability.
9
The character gains the Mighty Blow (2) ability.
10
The character gains a Power. Make a roll on the Powers Table.
9
The character gains the Swift ability.
10
The character gains Power. Make a roll on the Powers Table.
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I
POWERS
Your characters may obtain Powers by means of Experience. This means that the Rent in the Sky has awakened something inside of them, something which was latent and now reveals, conferring the character a power other men can only dream of. Sometimes these Powers take the form of Universal
Abilities, in other cases, Powers have completely dierent eects. Make a roll on the following table to know which
Power your character obtains. In case a character obtains an Power which confers a Universal Ability he already has, he must reroll on the same table deducting 1 from the result obtained; if he gets a 1 in the new roll (thus obtaining a zero; 1-1= 0), the character will obtain no Powers. Powers table 1d10
When one of your characters is removed from the
game, the character may suer from some aftereect,
even death. Any character that falls in combat while playing a campaign must roll 1d10 at the end of the adventure. If he rolls a 5+, the character recovers and is available for the next adventure; otherwise, make a roll on the following table and apply the result on the character’s sheet.
Fallen in Combat table Eect
1d10
Eect
1
The character obtains the Fly Universal ability.
1
The character dies and is removed from the campaign forever.
2
The character obtains the Vampiric Attack (1) Universal ability.
2
-1 Combat
3
-1 Dexterity
attack with the following rules: Shot (3d10), Blast (-9), Flames, Damage: 1d10.
4
-1 Mind
4
The character gains the Spiritual Protection (3) Universal ability.
5
-1 Movement
6
-1 Protection
5
The character gains the Spiritual Damage ability to all close combat attacks.
7
6
The character gains the Healing (3) Universal ability.
The character loses one ability or power at random. In the case of a Universal Ability with a (X)value, apply a -1 to that value. If that value is reduced to (0) the character loses that ability.
7
The character gains the Mighty Blow (2) Universal ability.
8
The character loses an equipment item (magical or not) at random.
8
The character gains a lightning bolt attack. It is treated as a ranged weapon with the following rules: Reload (3), Multiple Shot (2), Stun, Multiple Objectives (2), Damage: Aces +2.
9
From now on, this character has a compulsory Maintenance Cost of 10
3
82
FALLEN IN COMBAT
The character gains re breath. This special
9
The character gains the Stun Universal ability.
10
Roll twice again in this table, and apply both results. Ignore any other result of 10 that you roll.
Campaign Points. This cost is the rst thing
you must spend Campaign Points on. If this is not possible, the character will not take part in your next adventure. 10
Just like the result 9 from this table, only with a Maintenance Cost of 15.
I
CAMPAIGN OPTIONAL RULE: LEGACY RULES
In a game like Carnevale, with a limited set of skills and game attributes, experience can make certain characters become unstoppable weapons of destruction in a relatively short amount of time, with the risk of unbalancing the game. For this reason, our game Campaigns span a maximum of five Adventures. Of course, this is just our recommendation, which you can easily ignore in the games you play at home. However, players often identify with their squads and enjoy certain continuity from one Campaign to the next. To this end, you may apply these optional Legacy rules, as long as the majority of the players in the campaign agree to them. In any case, players are not forced to keep their previous squads, even if other players in the same Campaign have decided to use the Legacy rules. If a player’s squad has been so harmed in the previous campaign that the player isn’t motivated to play with it again, or if the player decides to create a completely different squad, he can design a new squad from scratch using the amount of points agreed. The players must decide how many points the next campaign will have; it is advisable to play with slightly more points per squad in every campaign so that the game’s complexity rises. If they use the Legacy rules,
the first thing they must do is to pay the Leader’s cost. With the remaining points, they must create the squad, using the members from the previous squad as much as possible, as explained later on. Otherwise, the process to make the next squad follows the normal squad creation rules, buying characters one by one, then equipment, events, etc. The only differences are the following.
When you finish playing a Campaign, the old leader from your squad must abandon his command position to devote himself to other matters, giving way to other squad members. In the next campaign, your squad needs a new leader; the player must pay any new leader as he would for any new model. However, the player may also decide to promote any of his previous squad members as a successor, who becomes the new Leader. If the successor has already obtained the Command ability (thus, the Leader descriptor) during the previous campaign, the character adds +2 to his Command value and may opt to the three normal improvements throughout the following Campaign. If the successor did not have the Command ability when he is promoted, he automatically gains Command (3) and the Leader descriptor. This, however, counts already as one improvement, so he can only gain 2 more improvements throughout the rest of the campaign. Once a new leader has been chosen, the player needs to check what happens with the rest of the squad members. The player may try to ‘retire’ as many squad members as he wants. The player must roll 1d10 for each member he is trying to retire; on a result of 5+, the character goes home (or is found floating on a canal at dawn). Otherwise, the character insists on accompanying the new leader in his adventures; the character must be part of the new squad, paying his cost normally. The player keeps in his squad all the members from the previous squad he didn’t want or manage to retire, paying an extra 10 points for every Experience improvement the model obtained in the previous Campaign (if the new Leader didn’t possess the Command Universal Ability, his cost will automatically increase in 10 points when he gets this Universal Ability). The equipment items carried by the characters must be paid again as per the normal rules, except for all special objects obtained without paying for them, because of reaching an Adventure’s objectives, or some similar eect.
The player may use the rest of points to spend them on new squad members, equipment items, or events. 83
ADVENTURES AND CAMPAIGN 20 I THE FRAGMENT OF THE BLACK STATUE
T
hree years ago, a group of adventurers brought to Venice a weird statue from distant lands. It represented a being that couldn’t be from this world. This being had many tentacles and a disquieting appearance. The professors at L’Accademia di Belle Arti studied it. During the course of their research, many of them were driven insane. One man persisted, one professor Guido de Lucca, a specialist in ancient sculpture and expert. What drew his interest was not the statue’s form, but its material. A certain Friday, late at night, de Lucca fought the fatigue of a long day to analyze the material composition of the statue. It was almost four in the morning when he accidentally dropped the black statue from his desk. Panicked at the thought of damaging the relic, he stood up too quickly, stumbled on his chair, then fell down and
upright on the on the oor, unscathed by the fall. That statue was looking at him with aming eyes.
consciousness, his eyes locked on the statue standing
the curtains. His wife slept placidly at his side.
hit his head on the oor. In the moment before he lost
84
When de Lucca regained consciousness, the statue
was lying beside him on the oor. It did not stand upright,
its eyes were not ablaze, and it did not survive its fall
unscathed—a little, one-inch chip had come o the side of
the base. As beams of sunlight illuminated the work area, and his head began to clear, de Lucca dismissed what he saw just before losing consciousness a delusion. He packed up the statue, slid the stone sliver into a pocket, and decided that on the following week he would use the sliver for alchemical experimentation, and see if he could not discover more about the statues mysterious stone. He got home as boatfuls of shermen casted o for their
daily labor. He went to bed holding the stone chip in his
hand, looking at it under the morning light ltered through
He did not rest for long and it was not restful. His wife woke him up a couple hours later. The Academy had sent a student to fetch him; something was amiss with the statue. De Lucca washed his face with cold water, trying
to forget the eerie images of starscapes that had ooded
him during his short rest, and followed the student. As he followed the student, the world was strange. The streets were waterlogged, but the sun shone as bright as it had during the whole of the month of April. When professor and student crossed the bridge on Capuzzi Street, de Lucca was struck by an idea that lled
him with dread. For some days, many professors have been toying with the possibility of getting rid of the black statue. They feared the power it had to warp minds and bend sanity. De Lucca fought against it; he would not let such a thing happen, no matter the price he would have to pay. When he reached the Academy, the dean of the recently formed Art Restoration Department welcomed him and walked him to the room where the statue was kept. The box was open and the sculpture was not there, even though that box and that place were exactly where de Lucca left it only hours before.
Furthermore, there was a big oily stain on the oor, which seemed to be inexplicably soaking through the oor, and down to the lower oor and the cellar. As de Lucca considered
whether to mention his clumsy accident of the previous night, the stain started to vanish before his very eyes, and in a matter of a few seconds, there was no trace of it on the
oor tiles. Silently de Lucca began to wonder about the state
of his own sanity. After a discussion with the city’s guard and seeing most professors’ ill-concealed relief about the lost of the hideous artifact, Guido returned home. It was on the walk home that he rst felt the piercing pain in his back. By the time
he arrived at home, the pain was so bad that he deiced that bed rest was the best thing for him. He undressed, lied down on his bed, and began to replay the recent events in his mind. He took a glance of his bedside table and he strangely surprised to see the sliver was still there. And while it was right where he left it Guido half expected it to inexplicably vanish, like the statue it was once a part of. He picked to put it in a drawer, lest someone threw it away by mistake, but he must have slipped, the sliver cut the palm of his hand. After the momentary rage of his stupid action ed his mind, he threw the chip inside the drawer, cleaned
THE SLIVER Some scholars believe there is a relationship between the strange disappearance of the statue in 1793 and the appearance of the Rent in the Sky some years later. The stone slier kept by Professor Guido de Lucca, which eventually destroyed his mind, is a tiny fragment of a world that is not ours. There’s no doubt an artifact like this one is a component of inestimable value for any practitioner of magic. Guido’s bizarre excuses and his wife’s feverish ravings before her death made it to the ears of those who wanted to listen carefully. Whenever an adventurer nds the fragment
of the black statue, he will be able to recognize it immediately and has no choice as to try to possess it.
knowledge from the planes beyond was so vast, so arcane, he soon ran out of paper, and then money, and then credit with the papermakers. When the papers were lled with
crammed text, he began writing on the walls of his house. We he ran out of ink, he wrote with his own blood Some days ago, a group of ashen-faced men showed up at house, asking for the fragment from the statue. Surprised and frightened, Guido sent them away and barred his door. Two days later, a group of robed men knocked on his door in the middle of the night; Guido saw them through the shutters of his bedroom window and did not answer. Last night, the wood and glass from his window were shattered, and through the ingress monstrous creatures crawled into his bedroom. Creatures he had seen in his bizarre journeys to worlds beyond. Creatures known there as the Ugdru-Rashaar. Guido ran out into the streets, carrying the stone chip with him, wandering aimlessly around the labyrinthine streets of Venice. He crossed bridges and canals in his insane race, soon becoming lost in his home city, it had become less real that the strange worlds beyond the pale. Upon reaching a certain square, he has suddenly stopped cold. Guido dropped dead on the spot, with just that strange sliver made of the stone he could never identify piercing the centre of his hand.
his wound with water from the washbowl and he lay down to an restless sleep. The rst night of many.
From that fateful day on, Guido de Lucca’s life was never the same. He became obsessed with the sliver, though he was never able to identify its material mineral. His sleep became clouded by nightmares. His wife fell into an inexplicable depression that resisted all remedies, and committed suicide exactly one year to the day the statue disappeared. None of this stopped Guido’s intense investigation. With the appearance of the Rent in the Sky, his nightmares stopped being blurred images of cosmic landscapes, only to become real trips to other worlds, where he discussed fascinating concepts with beings from other planes of existence. He decided to document these impossible experiences, getting them on paper as to not go entirely mad. But the 85
I ADVENTURES
I
The following section details five sample adventures for Carnevale, which you can play one after the other in the Campaign of the Statue’s Sliver. Each adventure has a narrative introduction that sets the action within the campaign.
The screams draw you to a nearby square. In the middle of the square, you find the body of a man, apparently dead. He has one arm reached out, the hand covered in blood. There’s a tiny object imbedded in his hand, which hard to make out. Could it be the last piece of the black statue?
I
FIGHT FOR THE FRAGMENT
UNEXPECTED CLASH
One squad is approaching rendezvous point when, all of a sudden, it come across a group of opponents. However, a cry rings out for help some streets further away which draws both groups’ attention. The best thing for each side to do is dispatch their rivals as soon as possible and investigate what is happening beyond the battleground. ◊ Duration. Five Rounds. ◊ Objective. Have more points of surviving characters
than the enemy, and your leader must still be alive.
◊ Special Rules. None. ◊ Minimum Terrain. Two buildings, two obstacles and one
canal.
◊ Deployment Zones. Divide the game table into four
quadrants and trace a circle with a 6’’ radius from the centre of the table. Players must make an Initiative roll. Whoever wins the roll can choose the quadrant to deploy in and place the first model of his advance party in that quadrant, outside the circle traced at the centre of the table. Then his opponent places one of his models from his advance party in the opposite quadrant, and so on until both advance parties are on the table. The first player to deploy a model starts playing. ◊ Campaign rules. This is the first adventure in the campaign. There are no special rules.
86
◊ Duration. Five Rounds. ◊ Objective. Both squads are looking for the last
fragment of the black statue. At the end of the adventure, the side that has the fragment within their deployment zone wins the adventure. ◊ Special Rules. Controlling the fragment of the black statue: Use some kind of counter to represent the fragment of the black statue (a coin or a little black stone will do), and place it at the centre of the game area. For a character to control the fragment of the black statue it must be in base contact with the counter and spend 1 AP. When it does, the fragment counter moves along with the character’s model, always in base contact. This sinister object makes its bearer dizzy, so the bearer will suffer a penalty
of -1 in all of its rolls while it possesses the. If the fragment bearer falls in battle, the counter is placed in the space occupied by the fallen model. Otherwise an character can attempt to steal the fragment from an enemy model. To steal it a character must be in base contact with the bearer; pay 1 AP, and make an opposed Dexterity roll. The winner of the opposed roll is the fragment bearer. ◊ Minimum Terrain. Two buildings, two obstacles, and one canal. ◊ Deployment Zones. Players make an Initiative roll; the winner chooses an edge of the game table. He can deploy his models in any spot within 5’’ of this edge; this area is his Deployment zone. His opponent can do the same within 5’’ of the opposite table edge. ◊ Campaign rules. The squad that won the Unexpected Clash adventure arrived first at the location of the fragment of the black statue, so they are in a more favourable position. Therefore, this squad can place the fragment counter at any point of the game table, on Open Terrain and more than 12’’ from any table edge before any model is deployed on the table.
I
THE FOUNTAINS OF LIFE
As soon as the connoisseurs of magic in your squad find out about the last fragment of the black statue, they tell you about a ritual to establish contact with beings from other planes of existence. The potential benefit from this contact can be crucial to prevail in the battle over the control of Venice. In order to complete the ritual, it’s necessary to collect the water that oozes from the ground in some key points of the city.
◊ Duration. Five Rounds. ◊ Objective. Besides the fragment of the black statue,
◊
◊ ◊
◊
you need to fill some vials with water from some water sources scattered in key spots around Venice. The objective of this adventure is to get more of this water than the opponent Special Rules. The fountains of life: Place four key fountains to fill the vials, marked by counters (coins or stones will do) on the game table. Each must be 5” or more from each other. Then each player may try to place an extra counter; to do so, each must roll 1d10. On a result of 7 or more (with an extra +1 for every Magician in his squad), the player may place an extra counter more than 6’’ from any Deployment zone. In order to fill a vial, a player must place a model next to the counter and spend 1 AP. Once the vial is full, remove the counter. The vial will be in possession of the player who claimed it. Every counter gives the squad that possesses it an extra Victory Point. At every end of round, the players must roll 1d10 for every counter still in play. On a result of 1, the fountain counter is removed from the game and no one can claim it. Minimum Terrain. Three buildings, two obstacles and one canal. Deployment Zones. Divide the game table into four quadrants and trace a circle with a 6’’ radius from the centre of the table. Players must make an Initiative roll. Whoever wins the roll can choose the quadrant to deploy in and place the first model of his advance party in that quadrant, outside the circle traced at the centre of the table. Then his opponent places one of his models from his advance party in the opposite quadrant, and so on until both advance parties are on the table. The first player to deploy a model starts playing. Campaign rules. The squad that won the previous adventure can place an extra fountain counter (apart from the one each player may obtain by means of the die roll). This counter must be placed following the restrictions described above. 87
