AVGhost: Paranormal Investigation
AVGhost: Paranormal Investigation Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
(Page 3 of the draft is an illustrated component spread with no text. It shows: 6 case folders (each containing a case file), double-sided boards, overhead transparencies, 4 investigator boards with flashlight trackers, 4 investigator portrait cards, 4 investigator miniatures with light bases, ghost miniatures (large, medium and small types), a Clues & Events deck, clue/item tokens, a timer/time track board, investigator tokens, and coloured cubes in blue, red, purple, green and yellow.)
Set Up
1: Choose the case you want to investigate and open that case's folder. Inside it, you will find the case's file. Follow the instructions on the first page.
2: Place the boards as shown on the first page of the case's file. Place the overhead transparencies as indicated by the picture. Place all game elements as shown by the picture. Once set, you may start the game.
The investigators are: Africa Seems, Vincent Wood, Helen Czajkowski, Robert Hugher (as captioned).
Goal of the Game
You must solve each case by achieving the objectives described on the case's file (first page). Each case will have specific conditions to solve the investigation successfully.
How to Play?
There are two different ways to play AVGhost. By using the game's APP (included with the game), or without the APP, by replacing the APP with the investigation booklet.
NOTE: Playing with the APP will give you the full game experience, since it includes ambient music to play in the dark, you can listen to the investigators, ghosts and spirits' voices, as well as your recordings of electronic voice phenomenon and other clues, or even allow the APP to surprise and startle you with paranormal events that you must solve too. *To play without the APP, follow the steps from page 1 of the case's file, in the "Playing without the APP" section.
The AVGhost APP is available for Android and IOS. You only need to download it once. Internet connection is not required to play the game, so once you have download the APP, you may play AVGhost anywhere you want.
The game is divided in two main phases:
Meeting Phase
Each investigation starts with a Meeting Phase, during which the client comes to the agency to give you the details of the case, and the AVGhost team visits the allegedly haunted site for the first time during daytime, to place their equipment and gadgets for an initial data collection. During this narrative section, one of the players will read aloud the description from the case's file. It is very important to stay alert for every possible detail of these descriptions that may give the players a hint for placing their gear.
As an example, if the client says "I've heard voices in the kitchen..." it might be a wise to place an audio recorder in the kitchen. These hints will be easier to identify in the first cases, but will get more obscure as the game progresses. You can find information about the different gadgets and holy items that the investigators can use in the Paranormal Investigator Guide, as well as useful tips on how and when to use them. Aside from the narrative description, the players will find other documents inside the case's folder, such as maps, pictures, forensic reports, files, etc.
You must examine everything thoroughly in their search for clues (there can be important clues here, sometimes) to solve the case. Once the players have read the text and examined the files closely, you may proceed with the second phase of the game.
Investigation Phase
You may start the game's APP once you've read all the case's information and placed your gear on the board. In the APP, you must first select the case you are investigating. Then, select the gear you've placed on the board and the specific locations where you put it.
After all 4 investigators have placed their gadgets and objects on the appropriate locations of the map, press START on the APP.
The APP's main page will show on your screen. It has 3 sections:
Investigators
You can see all 4 investigators here. The APP will assign a number to each of them, according to the selection order. That is, player 1 will be the one who first selected its character and placed its gear during the previous step, and so on. This will be the turn order until the end of the game.
Use these buttons to collect the results of your holy object or gadget. When an investigator arrives at the location where their gear's token was placed, it may check if the gadget or object has captured any clues, by pressing on the character's button. The app will then play an audio file, and will often show images on the screen as well. If you found a useful clue, the audio will tell you more about what was registered by your gear. If it did not register anything, you will hear static noise and the APP will return to the gear selection menu for you to place a different gadget or object.
Once you have found a useful clue, the investigators may listen to it as many times as they want during the game, just by pressing the appropriate button on the screen.
Clues
By pressing the "CLUES" button on the screen you will access the clues' menu, where a list of all the clues to be searched for on the board can be found. The first 4 clues will be assigned to the four investigators by turn's order. I.e., if Helen is player 1, she will be in charge of searching for clue 1 on the board, as well as opening that line of investigation. When you read a clue, a green check mark will appear next to it in the APP's main menu. From that moment on, the players may view and read revealed clues again anytime they want during the game.
(Example clue screen: "CLUE 1 / CASE 1 / AINSWORTH" - "The cradle seems new, despite the thick layer of dust covering it. When you look under the mattress you find some empty Super 8 film tins. The box they are in has "basement" written on it. You also see markings on the cradle's bars. If you want to investigate the film tins, you must go to the basement and search for clue 13. If you decide to investigate the marks on the cradle's bars, put a purple filter on your flashlight. Once on, take clue number 21.")
Events
During the investigation, the app will surprise the players by launching random events. When a paranormal event is triggered, you will see an image on the screen while listening to the event's sounds. It is very important to take a good look at the screen since it will often show you where the event is happening. The investigators must solve every event before they can complete their investigation, as well as finding the right clues on the board and with their gear. After listening to a triggered event's audio, a new button for the event will appear on the APP's menu at the lower right corner of the screen. Once an investigator reaches the correct location, or finds the event's object, it can solve the event by using one action. Press the event's button and a new page will open with a narration of the event and a description of the event's immediate effect.
(Example event screen: "You see scratch marks on the floor. The room's temperature suddenly drops. The door slams shut." All the doors in this floor are closed. To exit the room you need the picklock. You need to find the key to open the basement door again. The investigators in the basement are now trapped.)
You may save the game at any time, to continue playing from that point some other time.
Solving the Case
A case will be solved once the investigators have found the right clues with their equipment and gadgets, they have solved all the random paranormal events and have found on the board all the clues from the correct line of investigation (the APP or the investigation booklet will tell you if that's the case).
Defeat
The players lose the game if:
- All investigators are in shock.
- All investigators run out of batteries for their flashlights.
- The investigation is blocked. I.e., if an investigator is locked in a room with a Witch ghost (who can only be banished by 2 investigators together), and no one can unlock the door, the game is lost.
Game Turn
Following order selection, each investigator will take their turn. As a rule, investigators must always keep their flashlights on. Under normal circumstances, each investigator can perform up to 3 any actions per turn (as long as their flashlights are on), at their choice. It is not mandatory to perform all 3 actions. Any unspent actions are lost; on their next turn, the players will have 3 actions again.
Actions with Flashlight On (Batteries Remaining)
Moving to an adjacent location: An investigator can move from one location to an adjacent one, if there are no ghosts or blocked/locked doors on their current location.
Placing/switching the flashlight's color filter: During the game, the investigators will use different types of filters for their flashlights, to banish the different ghost classes or to reveal certain clues. *Blue Filter: Can be used with all types of ghosts and can banish any number of them with just one flashlight burst. The investigator will be immune to the ghosts while using it.
Flashlight burst: An investigator can perform a flashlight burst while using the correct color flashlight filter to banish a ghost. If the color filter is the right one when performing this action, the ghost is banished from the board.
Investigating a numbered clue/event/gadget or equipment data: When an investigator reaches or finds a clue on the board and decides to investigate it, spend one action to reveal that clue. Do the same to reveal paranormal events or collect data from your gear. For this, press the "CLUES" button on the screen and look for the revealed clue's number, press the investigator's number button to collect the data from their gear or press an event's button on the main screen to unveil it. You may then read the clue's text, view the image shown on the screen, or listen to the audio if you are collecting data from your gear.
Searching: When an investigator finds a colored letter on the board and is using the same flashlight color filter, they can search that letter. The player takes the search deck and looks for the letter of the appropriate color to reveal it. By searching, investigators can find new batteries and filters for their flashlights. Sometimes, important items can be found this way, too. When a player finds new filters, take them from the general reserve immediately and discard the search card, leaving it face up in a discard pile, hiding its letter and color. Batteries can be saved for later use, after which, their card is also discarded. Players cannot check the search card discard pile under any circumstances.
Aiding an ally in shock: When an investigator will go into shock when it has gained enough fear points on the electrocardiogram track of their character sheet. When this happens, turn its flashlight off and the character remains in shock until an ally aids them, thus recovering 2 electrocardiogram points on their character sheet.
Exchanging items with other investigators: When in the same location, investigators may freely exchange items (filters, batteries, objects).
Actions with Turned Off Flashlights
When an investigator runs out of batteries (on the investigator's sheet flashlight track), turn off its flashlight. From that moment on, it can only perform 1 action per turn, from the following 3:
- Recharging the flashlight with new batteries (if the investigator has any).
- Moving to an adjacent location.
- Escaping the house: You may exit the board and recharge your batteries outside the house. The investigator will fully recharge the flashlight's batteries, and can turn it back on before reentering the house on its next turn. Until then, it remains outside the board. Investigators may always escape the house, regardless of their current position on the board. To reenter the house, access through the hall on their next turn. Investigators cannot perform this action if there are ghosts in their current location, or if that location's doors are blocked/locked.
Character Sheet
(Illustrated sheet labelled: Electrocardiogram track (fear); Flashlight Battery track; Available gear.)
At the beginning of their second turn, and until the end of the game, all investigators lose 1 battery point at the start of every new round. This rule does not affect investigators who have their flashlights off (the game will sometimes tell you to turn off your flashlight, despite having batteries left).
Ghosts
Ghosts block their current location. That is, investigators cannot exit that location. On the other hand, investigators may enter locations with one or more ghosts. Ghosts will not move, as a general rule. An investigator must solve the encounter with a ghost before it can continue moving. Investigators can perform most actions in the presence of a ghost, except for moving and escaping the house (if they ran out of batteries). Each ghost class harms the investigators differently. To avoid being harmed by a ghost, an investigator must be using the right flashlight color filter when the ghost appears, or when the investigator enters the ghost's current location.
If one or more investigators are in the same location where a ghost appears, and neither of them are using the correct filter for that ghost class, they will all be immediately harmed by the ghost. As a general rule, when an investigator begins its turn in the same location as a ghost, and they are not using the right color filter, their first action should be switching to that filter. Otherwise, if the investigator cannot or will not change the filter, it will be harmed by the ghost. To banish a ghost, an investigator must be in the same location, using the correct flashlight color filter and perform a "flashlight burst" action. Once done, the broken color filter is discarded back to the reserve, and the ghost is banished from the board.
Once there are no ghosts left in a location, the investigators there can move and continue playing normally.
Ghost Classes
Weeper: Affected by red filters. To banish a Weeper ghost, you must perform a flashlight burst with a red filter in the ghost's current location. If you are not using a red filter when in the presence of a Weeper ghost you must: Add 1 Fear Point to your electrocardiogram track. Lose 1 Battery Point from your flashlight battery track.
Twisted: Affected by green filters. To banish a Twisted ghost, you must perform a flashlight burst with a green filter in the ghost's current location. If you are not using a green filter when in the presence of a Twisted ghost, you must: Add 2 fear points to your electrocardiogram track. Lose 1 battery point from your flashlight battery track.
Bull-Ghost: Affected by yellow filters. To banish a Bull-Ghost ghost, you must perform a light burst with a yellow filter in the ghost's current location. If you are not using a yellow filter when in the presence of a Bull-Ghost, you must: Add 2 fear points to your electrocardiogram track. Lose 2 battery points from your flashlight battery track.
Witch: Affected by purple filters. To banish a Witch ghost, you must perform a light burst with a purple filter in the ghost's current location. Two investigators with purple filters must be present in a Witch's location to banish them. Once one of the two investigators performs a flashlight burst, the Witch is banished, and both purple filters break and must be returned to the reserve. If there are more than 2 investigators in the Witch's location with purple filters, every purple filter breaks. If you are not using a purple filter when in the presence of a Witch ghost, you must: Add 3 fear point to your electrocardiogram track. Lose 2 battery points from your flashlight battery track.
Each case will have special conditions and rules, which will be explained in the case's folder.
This is a provisional rulebook draft and is still subject to change.