Ghost Stories: White Moon Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Setup
  • Preparing the Ghost Deck
• Playing the Game
  • New Losing Condition
  • New Game Elements
    • Su-Ling
    • Placement and Movement
    • Effects
    • Villagers
      • Movement
      • Saving a Villager
      • Death of the Villagers
      • Ghost Abilities
        • New Effect of the Haunter Ability
        • Fleeing
      • Haunting a Tile
• New Tile: Kung-Fu School
• New Action for the Cemetery Tile
• New Incarnations of Wu-Feng
  • Gate Keeper
  • Voracious
  • Howling Ondine
  • Root Master
  • Time Keeper
  • Shapeshifter
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Turn Sequence

Contents

24 Villager tiles 1 Shelter board 1 Graveyard board 8 Artifacts 10 Ghost cards 6 Incarnation of Wu-Feng cards 4 Moon Crystals 1 Kung-Fu School tile 4 Receptacle figurines and 4 corner boards 1 Portal figurine 1 Su-Ling figurine 1 Su-Ling play aid

Setup

The basic game is set up according to the normal rules. For your first few games, replace the Night Watchman's Beat with the Kung-Fu School. Afterwards, you can simply draw 9 tiles randomly from those available to create your village.

The Graveyard and Shelter boards are placed near the village. The 4 Receptacle figurines are placed at the corners of the Village on their boards and the portal on the central tile of the village.

Make 8 stacks of 3 Villager tiles (face down) and place them on the 8 Village tiles which do not have the portal.

Then turn the top tile of each stack face up.

The Su-Ling figurine, the Moon Crystals and the Artifacts are put in the reserve.

Preparing the Ghost Deck

Add the 10 new Ghost cards to the basic game's deck, shuffle the deck and remove 10 cards randomly (they must remain secret; just leave them in the game box), so that the size of the Ghost deck remains the same as that of the base game. If you are playing with 1, 2 or 3 players, remove extra cards as you would in the base game (15, 10 or 5 cards respectively).

The Incarnation of Wu-Feng is then added according to the rules of the basic game. If you are playing with Nightmare or Hell difficulty, it is up to you to choose whether you want to use the new incarnations only or stay in familiar territory using those from the basic game.

Playing the Game

The game proceeds the same way as it would in the basic game, with the exception of the following rules.

New Losing Condition

A new situation will result in the players' defeat: if 12 villagers are killed, the players lose the game. Defeat is immediate at the instant the 12th villager is killed. The other losing conditions and the victory condition from the basic game remain unchanged.

New Game Elements

Su-Ling

Su-Ling was a young villager who sacrificed herself long ago to allow the imprisonment of Wu-Feng's ashes. She now lingers in the village to grant her protection to the inhabitants and support the Taoists in their struggle.

Placement and Movement

Su-Ling comes into play after one of the following negative events has occurred:

• a villager is killed (see section about Villagers);
• a Curse die is rolled (no matter which result is rolled);
• a Village tile is haunted.

Each time one of those negative events occurs, the players can place or move Su-Ling. Su-Ling is placed on one of the 12 Haunting icons at the end of the Yang phase of the active player or of the neutral board's turn. This movement is optional, as players may decide not to move Su-Ling.

So that players do not forget to perform this movement during the Buddha placement phase, the player takes the Su-Ling tile as soon as one of the 3 negative events occurs. At the end of the player's turn, that player must return the Su-Ling tile even if the figurine has not been moved. Be careful – even if more than one negative event has occurred within a single turn, only one movement for Su-Ling is allowed.

Su-Ling cannot be placed in front of an incarnation of Wu-Feng (she is not powerful enough to face him). If a Wu-Feng ends up in front of Su-Ling, she is returned to the reserve and will come back into play only after the next negative event.

Effects

Su-Ling cancels out the abilities of the central stone of the ghost in front of her.

• ghost with the Haunter ability: the Haunting figurine does not move during the Yin phase.
• ghost with the Tormentor ability: the Curse die is not rolled during the Yin phase.
• ghost with the Devourer ability: the devourer does not kill a villager during the Yin phase.

Not only that, but all other abilities found in the central stone of a ghost are neutralized (resistance to Tao dice, etc.)

Moreover, each time Su-Ling is placed on a haunting icon adjacent to an empty Receptacle, the players can take a Moon Crystal token from the reserve (if one is available) and place it in that Receptacle.

Villagers

Prisoners in their own village, the villagers are easy prey for Wu-Feng's hordes. The Taoists will therefore have to protect them and attempt to lead parents and children to shelter. Each family saved will support the Taoists, but each person killed by the ghosts will penalize them...

The villagers, 24 in total, are spread over 12 families, as follows:

• 4 families of 3 people (the Hua, the Zhou, the Li and the Sun);
• 4 families of 2 people (the Miao, the Xiang, the Sheng and the Wu);
• 4 families with only 1 person (Chang, Teng, Long and Weng).

They are represented by square tiles. When many villagers are on the same village tile, their tiles are stacked: only the villager on the top of the stack is visible to the players.

Golden rule: there can never be more than 3 villagers on a given tile.

Much information is provided about a villager:

• the villager's name;
• the size of the villager's family (1, 2 or 3 people);
• a negative effect on the left, applicable upon the villager's death;
• a positive effect on the right, applicable when the villager's entire family is saved.

Movement

Villagers will only move when accompanied by a Taoist and never alone. A villager will move with a Taoist, which means that the villager is on the Taoist's tile before the Taoist's movement and on the same tile as the Taoist after the latter's movement.

Only the villager at the top of the stack can be moved. The golden rule of "limit of 3 villagers per Village tile" must always be respected. Moreover, the Villagers can never be on or move through a haunted tile.

When a villager leaves a tile, the next villager in the stack is revealed (its tile is turned face up).

Clarifications:

• The "Dance of the Peaks" powers of the red Taoist can be used to move a single villager two tiles or to go back and forth to bring a villager to the starting tile.
• The "Dance of the Twin Winds" power of the red Taoist and the "Pavilion of the Heavenly Winds" tile allow the moved Taoist to bring a villager with it (but the action cannot be used to move a villager alone).
• Moving a Villager during a Taoist's movement is optional.

Saving a Villager

A player whose Taoist is on the Village tile which contains the Portal has a new action available: "Save a villager".

The Village tile's original action is still available, the player now has the choice between:

• the tile's action (= action);
• saving the villager at the top of the stack (=action);
• or performing an exorcism.

A saved villager is placed on the Shelter board.

The moment all members of a family are saved, the active player applies the corresponding reward.

Some rewards have a permanent effect, others have a temporary effect, either immediate or taking place later on.

Clarifications:

The "Heavenly Gust" power allows the blue Taoist to make, in the order of his choice, an exorcism and can also:

• perform the action of the tile;
• or save a villager.

This power DOES NOT allow a player to both perform the tile's action AND save a villager.

The «Second Wind» power allows the blue Taoist to:

• attempt two exorcisms;
• or perform the tile's action twice
• OR save two villagers.

Example: the blue Taoist saves two villagers by using his "Second Wind" power: the sole member of the Long family and one of the members of the Hua family. The Long family is therefore fully saved and the active player receives the reward for that (the Life Potion Artifact). The Hua family still isn't fully saved; therefore no reward for that is given to the players.

Death of the Villagers

Many situations can cause the death of a villager: the inability of a villager to flee, the «haunt a tile» ability (of the curse die, the Sheng family and the Shapeless Evil ghost), the «devourer» ability of the new ghosts and the negative effect of the Xiang family. When a villager is killed, it is placed on a free space of the Graveyard board and the active player (or the neutral board) must apply the negative effect corresponding to the villager's family. It is possible for more than a single villager to die at once. In this case, to avoid confusion, remove them from the tile and apply the negative effects one after the other, starting from the villager at the top of the stack to the one at the bottom.

Example: The movement of a Haunting figurine causes the death of a Zhou family member. The active player places the villager tile on the Graveyard board and applies the negative effect: one of the Taoists or a neutral board must lose a Qi token.

Ghost Abilities

Important: from now on, when multiple ghosts with an ability in their central stone (Haunter, Tormentor or Devourer) are present on a board, the effects of the ghosts must be applied from right to left. This is because when using the White Moon expansion, the resolution order becomes important.

New Effect of the Haunter Ability

Ghosts with the Haunter ability now have a new effect they can use: fleeing.

Fleeing

The movement of a Haunting figurine from the card to the board causes a villager to flee.

This affects the villager at the top of the first stack in front of the Haunter ghost. This can therefore be the 1st, 2nd or even the third tile of the village in front of the ghost. This villager is moved to the next tile in the direction opposite to the Haunter Ghost's. If this tile already has 3 villagers, then fleeing is impossible – the villager dies and is placed in the Graveyard.

If fleeing would cause a Villager to leave the village, the Villager is killed and placed in the Graveyard.

If fleeing would cause a Villager to enter a haunted tile, the Villager is also killed.

Reminder: each villager killed causes a negative effect!

Be careful, Rapid Haunters cause villagers to flee upon their arrival.

Haunting a Tile

The haunting rule is changed as follows: when a tile must be haunted after the movement of a Haunting figurine, upon the death of a Sheng family member, as the result of the Curse die or the arrival of a ghost, two situations may occur:

• if one or more villagers are present on the tile targeted by the haunting, all these villagers are killed, but the tile remains NOT haunted.
• if no villager is present on the targeted tile, the tile is haunted according to the rule in the basic game.

Example: a ghost with the Haunter ability causes the death of a stack of villagers. The villagers are removed from the tile and their negative effect applied in order. The Sheng haunts the tile as it is now empty, the Sun adds a ghost and the 3rd Sheng does nothing as the tile is already haunted.

Devourers

During the Yin phase of its board, a ghost with the Devourer Ability kills a villager - the villager at the top of the first stack on the tiles in front of him. If no villagers are to be found on the three tiles in front of the ghost, the players must choose any other villager visible elsewhere; this villager is devoured.

In the rare cases where there would no longer be a villager left to be devoured, the active player (or neutral board) loses a Qi point.

Note: one specific ghost (Grey Hunter) devours a villager as soon as it comes into play (left stone's ability).

Example: it's the green Taoist's turn to play. A devourer is present on his board and must therefore kill the first villager visible on its board. The tile directly in front of the ghost is empty, the next tile in the ghost's row must therefore be considered. A villager is present on that tile and is killed; the player must apply the negative effect...

Moon Crystals

4 Moon Crystals, transparent, are added to the reserve.

Players can gain these through three different ways:

• With the support action of the "Herbalist's Shop" Village tile with a white result on the Tao die – they must take a Moon Crystal instead of a Tao token of their choice. If no Moon Crystal is available in the reserve, the benefit of the white die result is lost.
• As a reward for the exorcism of certain ghosts and certain incarnations of Wu-Feng.
• Through the use of the Chang family reward (Moon Dust Artifact).

The Moon Crystals can be spent by the players during exorcisms and, in that case, count as Tao tokens of the color of their choice. However, they are not considered to be Tao tokens: the abilities of the yellow Taoist (Bottomless Pockets) and the rewards of the ghosts in the base game do not allow a player to choose a Moon Crystal, just like it is impossible to place one on the "Circle of Prayer" Village tile. They are not affected by the ability of Black Widow ghosts (they can still be spent despite the presence of such a ghost in the game), nor by the effect of the "loss of Tao tokens" Curse die result (they are kept).

Moon Crystals also have a second use. They can be placed on the Receptacles by the Taoists or by Su-Ling to begin a new game phase: the Mystic Barrier. A Taoist who has a Moon Crystal can place it in an empty Receptacle if he is in a Village corner tile adjacent to that Receptacle during step 3 of his Yang Phase (Buddha placement). In the same vein as the Buddhas, the Moon Crystal must have been acquired by the Taoist during a previous game turn and placing it does not count as an action.

The Mystic Barrier

At the edge of the village, four statues which have been standing since the dawn of time bear witness to the existence of a magic ritual in honor of the Moon. By returning the Moon Crystals to the receptacles, the Taoists will gain the strength of the Celestial body to push back the ghosts.

To stand against the increased strength of the forces of darkness, the Taoists have a new weapon: the Mystic Barrier.

The Taoists and Su-Ling have the opportunity to place the 4 Moon Crystals in the 4 Receptacles made for that. At the end of the Yang phase where the fourth Crystal is placed, the Mystic Barrier is set in place. A special game phase then takes place. It takes place after the Yang phase of the active player (or neutral board).

For each board, starting with the one to the left of the active player, the players have the following choices:

• return a Moon Crystal to the reserve from the Mystic Barrier to save the villager at the top of the stack on the tile with the Portal. If no villager is on that tile, the players may save any villager visible on any other tile.
• roll 4 Tao dice to try to exorcise one or more ghosts on his board. The players can spend the 4 Moon Crystals like Tao tokens on all four rolls. The abilities and Tao tokens of the Taoists can not be used for those rolls. The Circle of Prayer and the mantra are taken into account. Abilities in the right Stones (curses, rewards) are not activated for ghosts exorcised during this phase. Wu-Feng incarnations cannot be exorcised by the Mystic Barrier

Once all 4 boards have been faced with that choice, any remaining Moon Crystals and Su-Ling are returned to the reserve. The player's (or neutral board's) turn is over and the game resumes its normal course.

Example: a mystic barrier has just been activated in a 3-player game. For the first board, the players decide to roll the 4 dice and complete that roll with 2 Moon Crystals to send ghosts to the discard pile. The second board is empty, so the players decide to use a third crystal to save the villager visible on the tile with the Portal. For the third board, the players roll the dice and spend the fourth and last Moon Crystal to send ghosts to the discard pile. For the fourth board, they no longer have any Moon Crystals and can therefore not save a villager. They roll the dice to attempt to send ghosts to the discard pile.

Death of a Taoist: Inheritance Rules

If a Taoist who has one or more artifacts dies (0 Qi), that Taoist must give the Artifact(s) to one or more Taoists still alive. Any Taoists so selected keep the Artifact until the end of the game... or their own death, at which point the Artifact must be given to a new Taoist again.

Score

In addition to the points given by the basic rules, players see their scores modified as follows:

Villagers : +1 per villager saved.

Position of the Portal in the village

• +0 if the Portal is in the Village's central tile;
• +2 if the Portal is in one of the tiles left, right, up or down from the Village's central tile;
• +4 if the Portal is in one of the Village's corner tiles.

Difficulty Levels: Position of the Portal

During your first few games, place the "Portal" figurine on the central tile of the village. In later games, you can increase the difficulty (whichever mode you're playing in: Initiation, Normal, Nightmare or Hell) by placing it on a peripheral tile.

In any case, there are never any villagers on the tile which has the Portal at the beginning of the game – they are placed on the other eight tiles of the Village.

Changes for Games with 1, 2 or 3 Players

Before starting the game, you must save 1 to 3 villagers from the top of the stacks. A game with 3 players begins with 1 saved villager, a game with 2 players has 2 saved villagers and a single-player game has 3 saved villagers when the game begins.

In a 1 or 2 player game, the villagers saved must come from different stacks and be from different families.

If a one-member family is saved this way, a player (chosen by the players) begins the game with the Artifact reward.

Once this step is done, reveal the villagers atop the modified stacks to that [sic: so that] the villagers at the top of all stacks are visible.

The game then proceeds normally.

New Tile: Kung-Fu School

The Kung-Fu School is a new village tile.

The action of this tile allows a Taoist to attempt a SOLITARY exorcism on:

• Either ALL ghosts of the color of his board;
• OR ALL BLACK ghosts.

The choice must be made before rolling the dice. The Circle of Prayer, the Enfeeblement Mantra and the powers of the Taoist still have their effect.

Once the dice have been rolled, the player is free to use them as he wishes and spend his own Tao and Crystals. Be careful though, as this is still a support action and the rule on sharing Tao tokens does not apply – the other monks present on the Tile cannot spend their Tao tokens and Crystals.

Note that the abilities in the Right stone (curses and rewards) are not applied by ghosts sent to the discard pile by this action.

The incarnations of Wu-Feng are not affected by the Kung-Fu School action.

Clarification for games with 1, 2 or 3 players: a Taoist can spend a Power token to not only use the power of the neutral board, but also to target ghosts of the same color as the neutral board when using the Kung-Fu School. (example: in a single-player game where the player controls the blue Taoist, the player could spend a Power token to be able to target red, green or yellow ghosts).

Note: if the power of a board is inactive, a player cannot target ghosts of that color by spending a Power token.

New Action for the Cemetery Tile

From now on the "Cemetery" Village tile from the basic game also allows the Taoists to bring back a killed villager back into the game. As in the case of a Taoist, the player undertaking the action must roll the Curse die and apply the result. The Villager (chosen by the players from among those killed) comes back into the game on the "Cemetery" Village tile (which must have room for it, keeping in mind the 3 Villager per tile limit). Bringing a villager back into the game may allow the players to save his entire family and thus gain the reward for it, but the curse suffered for the death of the Villager is at no point cancelled and will be applied anew if the villager is killed again.

New Incarnations of Wu-Feng

Gate Keeper

As soon as he comes into play and until his destruction, the Portal is removed from the village (place it on the incarnation's card). When this incarnation is sent to the discard pile, players must place the portal back on the tile where it was originally.

Voracious

This incarnation kills a villager, chosen by the players from among those visible in play, as soon as it enters play as well as at the beginning of each Yin phase of the player on whose board it sits (or of the neutral board, as the case may be).

Howling Ondine

As soon as it enters play and until it is destroyed, Su-Ling is removed from the village (place her on the incarnation's card). When this incarnation is sent to the discard pile, Su-Ling becomes available again in the reserve and can be placed into play according to her rules.

Root Master

When this incarnation enters play, put face down all Taoist figurines – they are immobilized and can no longer move. They will have to spend their next movement phase to get back up.

The use of the Pavilion of the Heavenly Winds and the "Dance of the Twin Winds" power of the red Taoist allows a Taoist to stand back up.

The "Dance of the Peaks" power of the red Taoist allows him to stand up and move one square instead of 2.

Time Keeper

When it enters play, the last 2 ghosts from the bottom of the Ghost deck are removed from the game.

At the beginning of each of the Yin phase of the player on whose board it is (or of the neutral board, as the case may be), one ghost is put into play.

Shapeshifter

This ghost takes the color of the board on which it is. Its color can therefore change if it moves around.

A ghost is immediately put into play as soon as this incarnation enters play.

At the beginning of each Yin phase of the player on whose board it is (or of the neutral board, as the case may be), the incarnation moves clockwise to the next free space for a ghost. If the incarnation cannot enter a new space, it does not move.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: The Uncatchable incarnation of Wu-Feng comes into play – what do we do? A: If the Buddhist Temple and the Pavilion of the Heavenly Winds are in play, keep it. In any other case, replace it with another Wu-Feng drawn randomly from the box.

Q: During the Mystic Barrier phase, can I use the Tao dice captured by ghosts? A: Yes. The mystic barrier is a special game phase. The 4 Tao dice are always used. At the end of this phase, the captured Tao dice are placed back on the ghosts if these are still in play.

Q: If a Hua dies during the turn of a neutral board, what happens? A: Nothing, the curse of the Hua has no effect on a neutral board.

Q: If a Hua family member dies after the first action of the blue Taoist, can I still perform the second action? A: Yes, only movement is affected by the curse of the Hua.

Q: Can I use the "Pavilion of the Heavenly Wind" tile or the "Dance of the Twin Winds" ability of the red Taoist to get a figurine back up after it has been knocked down by the curse of the Hua family or the special ability of the Root Master incarnation? A: Yes, getting a Taoist figurine back up is considered to be a movement.

Q: What happens if a Sheng family member dies due to a Haunt a tile effect? A: First, all the villagers die and then the tile becomes haunted, since it's empty. If the 2nd Sheng was in that stack, the 3rd "haunt a tile" effect is ignored.

Q: If a family is completely saved during the Mystic Barrier, how does its effect apply? A: The effect is applied at the end of the Mystic Barrier phase, before the active player finishes his turn.

Q: If a Taoist must move/place Su-Ling but dies before the end of his turn, what happens? A: The player can move/place Su-Ling, even if he dies during the turn.

Q: What happens if an Artifact is gained during the turn of a neutral board, during the Mystic Barrier phase? A: The next player, in the order of play, will be the one to gain the Artifact.

Q: My Taoist has the Vengeful Claw and during an exorcism in a village corner I miss one of the two ghosts present; can I take a Tao token of the color of the missed ghost? A: No, the exorcism must be a total failure for the benefit of the Vengeful Claw to come into play.

Q: Can I use the dice captured by ghosts when I make an action using the Kung-Fu School? A: No, only the Mystic Barrier allows the use of Tao dice captured by ghosts.

Q: Do the Divine Sword and the Vengeful Claw work with the Kung-Fu School action? A: Yes.

Q: The Shapeshifter incarnation of Wu-Feng moves to a space with a Buddha, what happens? A: The Buddha is removed from the space and the incarnation takes its place (the Buddhas do not affect Wu-Feng).

Q: Can I use my Yin-Yang to get a villager to safety? A: No, the Yin-Yang allows players to ask for the help of a distant village tile or to flip over a haunted village tile.

Turn Sequence

Yin Phase (Ghosts)

1. Ghosts' actions (from right to left): Ghost(s) with the Haunter ability; Ghost(s) with the Tormentor ability; Ghost(s) with the Devourers ability.
2. Board overrun? Lose 1 Qi token and skip 3. If not: (the sheet's Step 2 diagram asks "3 Ghosts?" – Yes: lose 1 Qi, no step 3; No: go to step 3).
3. Arrival of a ghost (Never performed for a neutral board!): +1 ghost.

Yang Phase (Taoist)

1. Move (optional).
2. Request help from a villager tile OR attempt an exorcism OR save a Villager.
3. Place Su-Ling, crystal, buddha (optional). Printed as "3) Place Su-Ling, Crystals, Buddhas (optional), take power tokens" on the turn-sequence sheet.
4. Mystic Barrier (when the fourth Moon Crystal has been placed on the Receptacles).