A Night in Deepwail Manor
A Night in Deepwail Manor Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
35 cards:
- 19 locations
- 12 encounters
- 4 characters
To build the game, print and cut the provided cards. The characters are double-sided; the rest of the cards have their own backs. Note that the Entrance location has a different back for easier identification.
Goal of the Game
The goal of the game is to help two children explore as many locations in Deepwail Manor as possible during three rounds before they successfully leave the mansion or they get absolutely terrified. To do this, the player reveals one card at a time (this is called a turn). Every Location is worth a number of Exploration Points (or EP for short). In addition, there are also a few Encounters, which have various effects.
Character States
Characters start on their CALM side and face up (unexhausted). Sometimes, you will have to exhaust one or both characters, either to use an ability or because of a card effect. To do this, simply turn them sideways. If at some point you have to unexhaust them, turn them again so they're back at their initial position. Keep in mind that characters can also be TERRIFIED via certain effects. To terrify a character, flip the character to its TERRIFIED side.
How to Play
At the start of the game, choose two characters and put them in front of you. Afterwards, put into play the ENTRANCE Location next to the deck. This will form the Location discard pile. Then, shuffle the deck thoroughly. You are now ready to begin.
Every turn, reveal one card from the deck. If it's an Encounter card, resolve the effect immediately and put it face up on the Encounter discard pile, next to the Location discard pile. If it's a Location card, put the card face up on the Location discard pile, on top of the Entrance (for your comfort, try not to cover the name of the previous location). Then, ONLY if there's already a card with the same name in the Location discard pile, resolve the effect on that Location, which can be seen after the arrow symbol. Note that the Entrance effect is active automatically while it's the current location (that is, while it's on top of the Location discard pile). If an effect could interact with several cards, the player must make the choice (for instance, if you have to shuffle one Location from the discard pile into the deck, you must choose which Location to shuffle).
After revealing a card and resolving its effect if necessary, the player can now choose to exhaust characters to use their abilities, in any order, if they are unexhausted. Then, the player decides whether he or she wants to go on exploring the mansion. If the player decides to leave the mansion, count the total EP of the visited locations (DO NOT count the points in the current location) and end the round. Otherwise, start a new turn.
Some cards have a PANIC effect. When it activates, choose and flip a CALM character to its TERRIFIED side. If at some point the player has to resolve a PANIC effect and both characters are already TERRIFIED, the round is immediately over and the player doesn't receive any points for that round.
Before you start a new round, unexhaust both characters and shuffle all the cards into the deck, except the Entrance Location.
End of the Game
The game ends after 3 rounds. Add up the scores from all 3 rounds and check your rank. Try to beat your personal record!
2P Game
In the 2P variant, players control one character each and take turns revealing cards. The player who reveals the card is considered to be the active player, and takes all the corresponding decisions regarding the revealed card, although table talk is possible and encouraged. Note that since each player controls one character, a player can't choose to use the ability of a character he doesn't control, but the other player can use his or her character ability even if he or she is not the active player.
Ranks
| Score | Rank |
|---|---|
| 1-15 | Cowardly Craven |
| 16-30 | Dubious Doubter |
| 31-45 | Passable Pathfinder |
| 46-60 | Showy Seeker |
| 61-85 | Wonderful Wanderer |
| 86+ | Manor Master |