Endangered Orphans: House of Rath Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Player's Turn
  • Roll Phase
  • Boogeyman Phase
    • Boogeyman Movement
    • Boogeyman Attack
• Run Away Roll and Fate Board
  • Run Away Roll Failure
  • Run Away Roll Success
• Run Away Cards
• Secret Passages
• Revealing an Adoption Card
• Shrinking House Rule
• Elimination Rules
• The Creator's Variants
  • The Boyden Boogey
  • Team Play

Components

• (1) 12-sided die (Options die)
• (1) 6-sided die (Fate die)
• (1) Fate board
• (1) Count Rath (Boogeyman) mini
• (7) hexagonal Room tiles
• (18) Adoption cards
• (18) Orphan tokens
• (8) Lock tokens
• (7) Run Away cards
• (1) rule book

Object of the Game

Endangered Orphans: House of Rath is all about survival. Each player begins the game with three orphans under their care. When Count Rath successfully attacks an orphan, they're removed from the game. The player with the last surviving orphan(s) wins!

Setup

Place the Room of Mourning tile in the middle of the table (art side up).

Place the remaining Room tiles around the Room of Mourning tile—art side up and side flush with side—with tiles having the same border color directly opposite one another.

Randomly place three Orphan tokens (art side up) in each of the six outer rooms.

Place Count Rath on the Room of Mourning tile.

Shuffle the 18 Adoption cards and flip the top three cards faceup. Locate the three matching Orphan tokens and flip them (art side down); these three begin the game "hidden" from Rath. Reshuffle all 18 Adoption cards.

For games with 2-4 players: Deal four Adoption cards facedown to each player. Each player must then choose one Adoption card from their hand to remove from play. Put it back in the box; you won't need it for the current game. You may look at all your cards before choosing which one to remove. If you're lucky enough to have an Adoption card matching an orphan that was randomly hidden during setup, you'll likely want to hold on to it. It's completely your decision, but you'll find starting the game with a hidden orphan can give you a strategic advantage!

For games with 5-6 players: Deal three Adoption cards facedown to each player. (Players won't remove any cards from their hands.)

Each player then places their Adoption cards facedown in front of them.

NOTE: Players may look at their own Adoption cards at any time, but they may not show them to any other players unless a card is "revealed." (See "Hide" in the "Roll Phase" section on p. 8 and "Revealing an Adoption Card" on p. 16.)

Shuffle the Run Away deck. Draw the same number of Run Away cards as there are players. (For instance, if there are four players, draw four Run Away cards.) Stack them facedown; these are the only Run Away cards that will be available during the game. Place the remainder of the deck facedown in the box. (These will not be used.)

Place all Lock tokens to the side for use throughout the game.

Decide among yourselves who will go first (youngest player, previous winner, etc.). The Options die goes to the first player, who is ready to begin their turn.

How to Play

Player's Turn

A player's turn consists of two parts: the Roll phase and the Boogeyman phase.

• Roll Phase - Roll the Options die. Choose to either complete the action rolled or do nothing. (See Roll Phase below.)
• Boogeyman Phase - Move Rath and select an Orphan token for him to target. (See Boogeyman Phase on p. 9.)

Roll Phase

To begin your turn, you'll roll the Options die. You're then faced with a decision: Either complete the action rolled or choose not to take any action. The actions represented on the die include the following:

Rotate (rotate symbol): 4 sides - Rotate one room twice or two rooms once.

Player selects a room and rotates it a single time. Player must then rotate the same room a second time or rotate a different room once.

A "rotation" is a single room pivoting around another room (60 degrees) once. (Illustrations: Single Rotation, Double Rotation.)

• Rooms cannot be rotated in such a way that would result in "islands" being formed (i.e. disconnected rooms separated by space).
• Rooms containing "locked" passageways may not be rotated. (See Lock rules on p. 8.)
• Rooms that are surrounded by other rooms and cannot freely move without first lifting or moving other rooms are referred to as "landlocked" rooms. (For instance, the Room of Mourning is landlocked at the beginning of the game.) Landlocked rooms cannot be rotated.
• A hidden orphan becomes "unhidden" (and thus visible) if the room they're in is rotated.

Move (move symbol): 3 sides - Move one orphan to another room.

• Any Orphan token is eligible to be moved to an adjacent room using a passageway that is not locked. (See Lock rules on p. 8.)
• A hidden orphan becomes unhidden if they're moved to another room. (See Hide rules on p. 8.)
• Only tokens for "revealed" orphans (orphans whose Adoption cards are faceup) may travel via "Secret Passage." (See Revealing an Adoption Card on p. 16 for details.)

NOTE: Secret Passages allow you—and only you—to move any revealed orphans in your care directly to a room with a same-colored border, no matter how far away. (See "Secret Passages" on p. 16.)

Hide (eye symbol): 2 sides - Hide an Orphan token, unhide an Orphan token, or reveal an Adoption card.

"Hide" any orphan from Rath by flipping their token (art side down); they are now invisible to him.

• Rath cannot attack hidden orphans.
• Rath cannot count hidden orphans when determining room size for movement. (See Boogeyman Movement beginning on p. 9.)

"Unhide" an Orphan token.

• Unhide any hidden orphan by flipping their token (art side up).
• A hidden orphan becomes "unhidden" if either: a) the room they're in is rotated, or b) they're moved to another room.

Reveal an Adoption card.

• Choose one Adoption card from one player to be "revealed" (turned faceup) for the rest of the game.

Lock (lock symbol): 2 sides - Either lock or unlock a passageway between rooms.

Lock a passageway by placing a Lock token on the "seam" between two connected rooms.

• It's possible for multiple passageways leading to the same room to be locked. In other words, a single room may have multiple Locks (but there's never more than one Lock on a single seam).
• Orphans cannot move through locked passageways. However, Locks do not interfere with an orphan's movement through a Secret Passage. (See Secret Passages on p. 16.)
• A room with one or more locked passageways cannot be rotated.
• Rath will only break locks when no more visible orphans are left in any of the unlocked rooms.

Unlock passageways by removing and discarding a Lock token on the board.

Wild (wild symbol): 1 side - Player selects any one of the above options.

Boogeyman Phase

The Boogeyman phase accounts for the second half of each player's turn. Though there is still some decision-making at play, this phase is guided by one underlying principle: Count Rath is always compelled to occupy the closest room with the most orphans.

• A) Boogeyman Movement - Move into the closest, most crowded room—or stay in the one you're in if it's the most crowded—disregarding hidden orphans and taking into account locked passageways. (See detailed Boogeyman Movement rules below.)
• B) Boogeyman Attack - Select an unhidden orphan (when there is one) in the room the Boogeyman is occupying. The orphan may make a "Run Away" roll in an attempt to escape. (Learn more about the Run Away Roll beginning on p. 13.)

Boogeyman Movement

Count Rath can move a maximum of one room per turn. This means he can only target the room he's currently occupying or an adjacent room. Since Rath cannot see them, hidden orphans are not counted. (See Hide rules on p. 8.)

Though there are more detailed rules below regarding which room Rath will target, most of them can be summarized by the phrase, "the closest (with the mostest)." Sure, we could be grammatically correct and say, "the closest (with the most)," but it's just not as much fun to say!

This means Rath will prioritize proximity over numbers. If there's an adjacent room (which he could reach in one move) with one orphan and a room that's two moves away with seven orphans, he's heading in the direction of the room with one orphan. (Rath is a "bird in the hand" kind of guy.) When he's in equal proximity to multiple rooms with one or more orphans, then he'll take the number of (unhidden) orphans into account; he must choose the room with the most(est).

One caveat—really, more of a clarification: By Rath's reasoning, "proximity" is defined by how many turns it'll take him to reach a particular room. Though the room he's in is technically closer than the room next to him, they're equal in terms of how many turns (one) they'll take him to reach.

• If two or more eligible rooms are tied for most orphans, the player will choose which one for Rath to occupy.
• Rath must choose to stay in the room he's in if it has the most orphans.
• Rath may choose to stay in the room he's in if it is not empty, is tied with an adjacent room for the most orphans, and the current player chooses not to move him.
• Rath will never stay in an empty room, even if all adjacent rooms are also empty.
• Rath cannot utilize Secret Passages. (See Secret Passages on p. 16.)
• If a passageway to a target room is locked (see Lock rules on p. 8), Rath targets the next adjacent room with the most orphans, still disregarding hidden orphans.
• If all adjacent unlocked rooms are empty (or appear empty due to hidden orphans), Rath will move in the direction of the closest unlocked room containing one or more unhidden orphans. An important reminder: Rath will not target locked rooms—no matter the number of orphans inside—unless there are no unhidden orphans in any of the unlocked rooms. Rath will expand his search outward (one room at a time) until a qualifying target room is found.

If there's any confusion about how orphan placement and Locks influence Rath's movement, the following illustrations should help to clarify things.

Illustration 1: There are two rooms adjacent to Rath's location containing orphans. In one room are Tanya and Johnny; in the other are Bronson and Jimmy. Since Jimmy is hidden, Rath only sees one orphan in that room and will therefore target the room with Tanya and Johnny. (If Jimmy were unhidden, Rath would be able to choose which of the two rooms to target.)

Illustration 2: In this scenario, the positions of the tiles, the orphans, and Rath are identical to the previous scenario. There's only one difference, but it's a big one: This time, there's a lock cutting off Rath's path to the room with Tanya and Johnny. He'll instead target the room with Bronson and Jimmy, even though (to his eyes) there's only one orphan there.

Illustration 3: The room with Courtny and Doug is adjacent to Rath's location. Since there's a Lock between Rath's only path there, though, he'll move toward the room with Tanya and Johnny, as it's the "closest (with the mostest)."

Boogeyman Attack

Once the Boogeyman's movement phase has ended (when he's moved one room only or did not move), the current player must select one unhidden orphan in the room for Count Rath to attack. If the room is empty (no unhidden orphans), the player's turn ends.

The owner of an attacked orphan may "claim" it by permanently revealing their orphan's Adoption card (see Revealing an Adoption Card on p. 16) and may then make a "Run Away" roll. (Learn more about Run Away rolls beginning on p. 13.)

If an attacked orphan is not claimed, it is declared an "extra" and eliminated. Remove that Orphan token from the board.

NOTE: Why would a player ever NOT claim one of their orphans? To be clear, it's hard to go wrong by claiming your orphan. If Rath targets one of your orphans and you do claim it, you'll reveal it and can make a Run Away roll, giving you a chance at escaping. And even if you don't escape, you'll earn a Run Away card to use later, assuming:

1. Rath didn't just attack your last surviving orphan (in which case you're now out of the game).
2. there are any Run Away cards left.

So the question remains: Why would a player choose not to? The simple answer is that it makes things a bit more interesting. There are some players who get a kick out of being sneaky, and opting out of claiming their orphan gives them some interesting options. Let's say, for instance, that Rath targets one of your orphans and you choose not to claim it. It's then declared an extra and removed from the board. If at some point later in the game someone rolls the "eye" symbol and chooses one of your Adoption cards to be revealed, there's a chance they'll pick the one belonging to that orphan instead of one still under your protection. Is it risky to choose not to claim an orphan? Definitely. Is it worth it? Debatable. But you do have the option!

Run Away Roll and Fate Board

When an orphan is under attack by Count Rath, a player may attempt to escape by "running away." It's important to understand that running away, either by making a Run Away roll or playing a Run Away card (see Run Away Cards on p. 14), equates to an ATTEMPT to escape from Rath and is not a guaranteed escape. Players may run away through either (or both) of the following means:

• Player permanently reveals that orphan's Adoption card (if they haven't already) by turning the card faceup and may roll the Fate die (once per attack) to try to escape.
• Player uses a Run Away card or cards (earned after losing a previous orphan or orphans) if available.

Remember: "Running away" is an attempt—not a guarantee.

These two options may be used together when available, granting multiple chances to run away in one turn. (See Run Away Cards on p. 14 to learn more.)

NOTE: Revealing an orphan's Adoption card also bestows the ability FOR THAT ORPHAN ONLY to utilize Secret Passages as long as it's alive. (See "Secret Passages" on p. 16 to learn more about the conditions and timing of using them.) For a player's other orphan(s) to gain the ability to utilize Secret Passages, it/they must first be revealed.

To make a Run Away roll, roll the Fate die. The number rolled corresponds to an option on the Fate board.

Run Away Roll Failure

Options 1-4 on the Fate board end in failure. If you roll one of these options, Count Rath has captured your orphan.

• Read your fate aloud—it's part of the fun!
• Remove the Orphan token from the board.
• Discard the orphan's Adoption card.

NOTE: We've created a few alternate Fate boards, and we've included them as bonuses with various other Certifiable properties. You don't have to purchase anything to enjoy them, though; you can get the PDFs free of charge at certifiablestudios.com!

If you roll a failure on the Fate board and still have orphans remaining in the game, draw one Run Away card from the Run Away deck (if any remain). Run Away cards offer you the option of either running away or using the special one-time-use ability on the card. Run Away cards cannot be used on your current turn; they're only eligible to be used during a future turn. (See Run Away Cards on p. 14.)

If, however, Rath's victim was your third and final orphan, remove your Orphan token from the board and discard the Orphan's Adoption card, just as if you had orphans remaining. You're now out of the game. If you're the first player to lose all their orphans, you've triggered the "Shrinking House" mechanic. (See Shrinking House Rule on p. 17.)

Run Away Roll Success

If you roll options 5 or 6 on the Fate board, your orphan has successfully escaped Count Rath! (For now, anyway.) Move your Orphan token one adjacent room or use a Secret Passage (where applicable) to move to the corresponding room. (See Secret Passages on p. 16.)

NOTE: The only Fate board that doesn't adhere to the standard failure/success convention (1–4 = Failure; 5–6 = Success) is the one that comes in the Who Goes There? 2nd Edition box. In that one, every number is an automatic failure except the one corresponding to the room you're currently in!

Run Away Cards

Run Away cards are earned whenever a player's orphan suffers their untimely demise at the hands of Count Rath. When a player draws a Run Away card, they may look at it and refer to it at any time throughout the game. A Run Away card cannot be used by a player immediately after it's earned. (See below for more details.) Each Run Away card offers a player two options from which to choose:

Run Away

Roll the Fate die and refer to the Fate board to see if your orphan escapes Rath.

To reiterate: A Run Away card cannot be used to run away immediately after it's earned. A player choosing to use the Run Away card to run away must do so when one of their orphans is attacked by Rath during a future turn. (Though this will usually happen during someone else's turn, it could happen on yours if your orphan is the only one in the room with Rath!)

Sample Scenario: Howie's orphan is attacked during Marie's turn. Howie claims the orphan, reveals it by flipping its Adoption card faceup, and makes a Run Away roll. The Run Away roll fails, and Howie's orphan token is eliminated from the game. This earns him a Run Away card (if any are still available). He cannot use the Run Away card as a "second chance" to regain the Orphan token he just lost. To reiterate: If Howie wishes to use the Run Away card to run away (as opposed to using its special ability), he must do so when one of his orphans is attacked in the future.

Special Ability

Use the special one-time-use ability on the card.

When choosing to use a Run Away card's special ability, it must be played on YOUR turn, after the end of the Roll phase and before the start of the Boogeyman phase. (The card doesn't have to be played on the next turn after it's earned. You may choose which turn to play it as long as it's YOUR turn and it's played at the right time.)

To recap…

• Run Away: used during a future turn (either yours or someone else's) when one of your orphans is under attack.
• Special Ability: used during your turn only, after the end of the Roll phase and before the start of the Boogeyman phase.

When a Run Away card has been used, it's discarded. When all Run Away cards have been used, there will be no more available. (Don't refresh the deck with unused Run Away cards.) For instance, in a four-person game, there will be four Run Away cards available. Once all four have been used, there will be no more available.

A Run Away roll and a Run Away card (or cards) may be used in succession when necessary (and available), granting a player multiple chances to run away in one turn.

Sample Scenario: Rath attacks one of your orphans. You flip your Adoption card faceup to reveal the orphan is yours. If you've earned a Run Away card earlier in the game, there's no need to use it yet, as the act of revealing your Adoption card (or having previously revealed it) gives you an automatic Run Away roll. If you fail that Run Away roll, THEN you'd likely want to use your Run Away card. There's no scenario in which you'd want to use a previously earned Run Away card before you use your Run Away roll.

Secret Passages

Once one of your Adoption cards has been revealed (turned faceup on the table), you may use Secret Passages when rolling Move (move symbol) on the Options die or immediately after you've escaped Rath (had a successful Run Away roll).

1. Move your Orphan token from its current room to the room with the same border color, regardless of the distance or the presence of any locks between the two. (For instance: If you are in a room with a brown border, you may move to the other brown-bordered room, even if it's the farthest tile away and there are two locks on the board that would normally impede your movement.)
2. You may move only your Orphan tokens through Secret Passages; you may not move other players' Orphan tokens or extras (non-player orphans on the board).

NOTE: The Room of Mourning tile (center room tile) does NOT have a corresponding room, so it has no Secret Passage.

Revealing an Adoption Card

At any time, a player may choose to "reveal" one of their own Adoption cards by flipping it faceup. This action is permanent; the card cannot be returned to its facedown position.

Benefits: There are two major abilities that are available to revealed orphans:

• If the orphan is attacked, you may attempt a Run Away roll.
• If the orphan is moving or has a successful Run Away roll, you may use Secret Passages.

Consequence: Your orphan has been identified and is now an easy target!

Shrinking House Rule

When any player loses their third and final Orphan token, the Shrinking House rule goes into effect with the next player's turn:

For the remainder of the game, each player will remove one qualifying room at the end of their turn.

• Room must be completely empty (including no hidden orphans).
• Room must follow the "Rotate" rules of eligibility.
  • Room doesn't have any locked passageways.
  • Room is not landlocked (can move freely).
  • Room removal will not create islands (disconnected rooms).

(Illustrations: Locked (unable to remove); Connecting tiles (unable to remove); Landlocked (unable to remove).)

If no rooms meet the requisite conditions, no room is removed and the player's turn ends.

The Shrinking House rule will remain in effect as long as there are at least two rooms remaining. (Rath's house will never shrink to less than two rooms.)

Elimination Rules

If a player's final orphan is attacked and removed from the game, that player is eliminated and no longer gets a turn. If you've decided to be sneaky at some point(s) in the game by not claiming one or more of your orphans (see p. 12), that's fine. But once your last orphan has been attacked, sneaky-time is finished—and so are you! At that point, there's no more pretending; you're just out of the game.

If it's a two-player game, the other player wins!

If it's a game with three or more players, the "Shrinking House" rule goes into effect. The last player with at least one surviving orphan wins the game!

The Creator's Variants

House of Rath is the product of a collaboration between Joe Boyden and Certifiable Studios. When Joe pitched his game Clockwork Castle to us, we thought the mechanics and gameplay would work very well within the Endangered Orphans world. Throughout the process of fusing the two properties, a few rules were tweaked and gameplay was altered a bit, but we wanted to honor Joe's original vision with some alternate gameplay rules.

The Boyden Boogey

In the original Clockwork Castle rules, the monster takes a more aggressive stance on Locks than Count Rath does in House of Rath. To incorporate this variation into your gameplay, play according to the standard House of Rath rules, with the following exception in regard to how Locks are treated:

• Rath will break Locks if all other adjacent rooms are empty (or appear empty due to hidden orphans).
• If all adjacent unlocked rooms are empty (or appear empty due to hidden orphans), Rath will begin targeting adjacent locked rooms, breaking locks to enter the target room. The "closest with the most(est)" rule still holds true otherwise; given the choice of two adjacent locked rooms, Rath will target the one with the most orphans.

To expound a bit further on the differences between the standard and the Boyden Boogey treatment of Locks:

• In the standard game, Locks serve as more of a deterrent, resulting in a longer game. Rath may break Locks only if there are no visible orphans in any of the unlocked rooms.
• In the Boyden Boogey version, Locks serve as less of a deterrent, resulting in a shorter game. Rath may break Locks if there are no unhidden orphans in a room adjacent to him.

To illustrate this difference by way of a specific scenario, a diagram demonstrates Rath's movement as prescribed by the standard rules. Examining the same scenario under the Boyden Boogey rules: There are no unlocked rooms containing unhidden orphans in a room that's adjacent to the one Rath is currently occupying. There is, however, a locked room that satisfies all the other criteria. True to the more aggressive nature Rath exhibits under the Boyden Boogey ruleset, he'll break the Lock to reach them rather than travel further away to an unlocked room.

Team Play

Team play works almost identically to the standard game from a rules standpoint, but there's a wrinkle that can throw a bit of a wrench into things. You might assume that it would be incumbent upon the players to look out for the welfare of their teammate's orphans as if they were their own. You'd be right, but here's the rub:

• Teammates may not use any verbal or written communication to share with their partners which orphans are under their care. (They may, however, use whatever non-verbal means they devise to communicate with one another throughout the game.)
• When a player would normally be eliminated from the game (all of their orphans have been disposed of by Rath), the eliminated player continues to play. They'll take their complete turn—both the Roll Phase and the Boogeyman Phase. At the end of their turn, they will not receive a Run Away card. (A player with no more orphans no longer has a need to protect them.)
• The Shrinking House rule goes into effect and/or continues as normal during team play.
• The eliminated player will continue to attempt to protect their teammate's orphan(s) during their turn. But how will they determine which orphan(s) belong to their teammate so they can keep from offing them during their Boogeyman phase? Hey, that's their problem! (And it's one that, again, will need to be solved non-verbally.)