Horrific
Horrific Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components (1 set for each player)
- Deck of 39 cards, corresponding to character deck played.
- 1 card with Victory Conditions and any Special Rules.
- 1 card with A Strategy to Win.
- 10 cards representing Townspeople.
- At least 30 counters (pennies) to represent Trust - we think you can provide these yourself.
Reason for Being
In Horrific, you will play a character (represented by a deck of cards) who is engaged with your opponents in a contest for control of a town. You must all be careful, however, for if these townspeople know what you're up to, they'll destroy each of you! The system of this game is designed to foster sneaking strategy as opposed to blasting brutality, and be quick-playing - most two-player games can be completed within 30 minutes.
The Characters
Déla: a nomadic magician, using her "gypsy" wiles to gain a bit of power here, a touch of influence there, and a scapegoat to cement her control.
Huati: those knowledgeable of Voodoo know the word for this character. He uses Undead to terrorize those around him and to consolidate his hold on any town.
Lord of Bones: he doesn't care about anything except building an army of skeletons. Once this is complete, he knows he can defeat anyone.
Maal: an evil sorceress, through and through, she would like nothing better than to bring Undead spirits into this world. The more she has, the more powerful she is.
The Doktor: she's always been intrigued with the prospect of perfection, and believes a masterful Undead is the way to achieve that.
Vladimir: your classic vampire, all he wants is influence and power in the town, plus a little respect. As an Undead already, what does he need with more?
The Rules
Each player has 4 areas in her section of the table: her Trust Pool, Reserve, Minion Pool, and Mound. She also has a Deck and a Discard Pile, and, of course, her Hand. In between all of the players is the Town; to the side of this is the Destroyed Undead area.
To begin the game, each person places the townspeople from his deck in the Town area, living face up (Undead side down). Each player also places his Victory Conditions card on the table, face up - any player can inspect any of these cards at any time during the game. Then take 15 Trust counters and place them in your Trust Pool, shuffle your Deck (offer it to the opponent for cutting), place the Deck face down next to you, and draw 5 cards to start your Hand.
The Areas
Trust Pool: this is the stacks of pennies representing your Trust. We recommend keeping your Trust in stacks of five each - this enables each player (including yourself) to quickly determine how much Trust you have.
Reserve: this represents your lair and special powers you've built up. You may lay cards to your Reserve during your turn (see Order of Turn, below). You may play any number of cards from your Reserve in one turn - since you can normally play only one card from your Hand during a turn, having a well-stocked Reserve is very useful. However, you can't have more than 3 cards of the same type in your Reserve at the same time (e.g., no more than 3 Use Controls at one time). Cards in your Reserve are lain face up, alerting your opponent to what you have.
Minion Pool: this area is for your Minions (both Living and Undead). Controlling townspeople is easy (look into my eyes...), but keeping them is not. For one thing, if they're living, they have to trust you. At one point in your Turn, if you have less Trust than their Loyalty, they leave you! (See Order of Turn for details.) Ungrateful... but, you need them, for many reasons. You may need their Power or Influence to help you control the town (Victory Conditions), you can Use Control on them to help you play more cards or gain Trust, and you can Turn them to Undead. Heh.
Mound: this is the stack where you keep all the cards you have played in previous turns. You may end up retrieving some of these cards directly - see below for more details.
Town: this is where the townspeople start. Townspeople are the subjects, the sacrifices, the cattle, and your goal. A townsperson becomes a Living Minion when a player controls it. A Living Minion becomes an Undead Minion when a player Turns it to Undead. While living, townspeople have Power, Influence and Loyalty. Power is a measure of their own personal power, and can be used by you to play more cards in a turn. Influence is how much, well, influence they have in the town - this can be used to gain Trust for you. Loyalty is how easily they'll trust you. If your Trust is less than a Living Minion's Loyalty at a certain point in the turn (see Order of Turn), that Minion will leave your service and return to Town. Now, if you Turn a Living Minion to Undead, that Minion no longer has Power, Influence nor Loyalty - it won't leave you, but it can no longer help you in town. All it has now is Value, which is a measure of its physical usefulness, which you can use to bring back cards from your Mound. In addition to all this, you may need to have a certain amount of Power, Influence and/or Value to win the game, and having Minions is the only way to get what you need.
Destroyed Undead: sometimes, Undead do get destroyed. Place any of them here - they cannot be used for any effect in this game again.
Playing the Game
Play takes place in turns. Determine which player goes first (we'll let you decide how to do that). Each player completes a turn in its entirety, then play passes to the next person clockwise. There can be any number of players in the game, although each person must use a different character's deck. The more players, the bigger the town, and the longer it takes to win - we've found 2 or 3 players to make the best games.
Order of Turn
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Play: you may play 1 card from your Hand and any number of cards from your Reserve (in any order, but one at a time). Follow directions on each card as it is played, then place that card (face up) on your Discard pile. After you've played all your cards for this turn, put your Discard pile on top of your Mound. (Why do all this? See the Use Value effect, below.)
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Lay: you may now lay 1 card from your Hand to your Reserve. If you didn't play a card from your Hand during this turn, you may also lay a second card from your Hand to your Reserve. (Build it, bide your time...) If you already have 3 of any type of card in your Reserve, and another of the same type in your Hand, you may Discard that card instead of laying a card to your Reserve.
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Lose Trust: lose 1 Trust for every Living Minion in your Minion Pool. (Yes, having people under your control makes others suspicious of you!)
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Return Minions: if you have any Living Minions whose Loyalty is higher than your Trust, return these Minions to the Town. (Note: this does not affect Undead.) Example: if you had 10 Trust when you controlled the Bishop (who has a Loyalty of 10), then ended up losing one Trust during the last phase (since he is a Living Minion of yours) you have 9 Trust now. Well, since the Bishop's Loyalty of 10 is higher than your Trust of 9, he won't follow you and returns to Town.
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Victory? Test for Victory Conditions.
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Replenish: if you have less than 5 cards in your Hand, draw enough cards from your Deck to replenish your hand to 5 cards. If your Deck is depleted, now shuffle the Mound and form your Deck again.
Special Rule
One deck, Maal, has a special rule for play.
Maal: for every Undead you have at the beginning of your turn, you may play one additional card from your Hand that turn. E.g., if you have two Undead at the beginning of your turn, you may play three cards from your Hand (and then still lay one to your Reserve)! If you start a turn with six or more Undead, draw enough cards so that you have as many cards in your Hand as you have Undead - you may play them all (if otherwise possible) in the same turn! (Note: do not draw these additional cards at the end of your turn; only draw them at the beginning of your turn. You may not shuffle your Mound at this time.) Remember that you may only lay two cards to your Reserve if you play no cards from your Hand, and having Undead does not increase the number of cards you may lay to your Reserve.
Effects of Cards
Now for the beating heart of the game - what happens when you play each card. Cards are named by the type of card, and most have their full instructions printed on them. Note that some decks will not have some of these cards.
Conceal: Your powers of misdirection are legendary - you can hide some of what you plan to do. This card is never played - it can only be lain to your Reserve. As long as one Conceal is face up in your Reserve, you may lay other cards to your Reserve face down! Face down cards are not in effect (such as face down Conceals and Monuments), but do still count against the maximum number of cards in your Reserve. You may turn over one or more of your face down cards at any time during any turn. Opponents may not look at face down cards, but face down cards may still be Destroyed by Opponents.
Control Person: Take 1 person (your choice) from the Town and place it in your Minion Pool - it's now your Minion! You may Control any person in the Town, not just the ones you contributed during the setup of the game. Gypsy Curse, Turn to Undead, Use Control and Zombie Powder may not be played on a person during the same turn as a Control Person (except via Use Power - see Use Control below). In other words: if you Control someone this turn, you have to wait until your next turn to play Gypsy Curse, Turn to Undead, Use Control or Zombie Powder on it.
Deny: You have access to people (or magic) which can stop your Opponent in his tracks, making him waste precious resources. Unlike other cards, this card is only played during an Opponent's turn. Play this card just after an Opponent plays a card - that card does not take effect, and is discarded instead. If you play a Deny from your Hand, you may only Deny cards an Opponent plays from his Reserve; if you play a Deny from your Reserve, you may Deny any card played by an Opponent.
Destroy Reserve: If you know what your Opponent is planning, you can stop her. Take 1 card (your choice) from an opponent's Reserve and place it on her Mound (that card is not played).
Good Works: You give some money to the local charity, support the Mayor in a political standoff, or some such. Gain 2 Trust.
Gypsy Curse: Rumors can be deadly, especially when spread by a person of Influence. This can only be played on one of your Living Minions, and it cannot be played in the same turn that you Controlled the Minion (except via Use Power - see Use Control below). Return the Minion to Town, and name an Opponent - that Opponent loses an amount of Trust equal to the returned Minion's Influence. See "Gimping" below for a twist on this card.
Heal: You have the wonderful power to restore someone, and take the credit! Take one Minion (your choice) from an Opponent and place it back in the Town. (If the Minion is Undead, flip it back to its Living side.) Gain Trust equal to the former Minion's Influence.
Liberate: Sometimes it is useful to release your Opponent's control over someone. Take one Living Minion (your choice) from an opponent and place it back in the Town.
Note on this transcription: the printed sheet refers to a "Gimping" section and to the card effects Use Control, Turn to Undead, Use Power, Zombie Powder and Monuments. None of these is explained on the front side of the sheet, and the "Gimping" section is not included here. The reverse side of the printed rules sheet (BGG file 102014, "Horrific Rules Sheet - Back") was not available to this transcription, so any rules printed there are missing. Card-printed instructions for these cards are not transcribed.