Hypnose Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Story
• Goal
• Game Components
• Preparations
• Gameplay
  • 1) Buying phase
  • 2) Intermediate Phase 1
  • 3) Hypnotic Duel
  • 4) Intermediate Phase 2
  • 5) Refresh Phase
• Mental Resistance
  • Example
• Symbols

Story

Several hypnotists are vying for the title of Master hypnotists. In order to be victorious, they will have to study obscure knowledge from rare books and courses, gather the tools of their trade and call on legendary coaches and colleagues. In a battle of sharp minds and iron wills, only the best can be victorious and claim the coveted title of Master hypnotist.

Goal

The players try to hypnotize each other by competing in hypnotic duels. The player who loses the duel reduces his Mental Resistance, until they are fully entranced at zero Mental Resistance. The player who has Mental Resistance remaining at the end is the winner.

Game Components

164 cards:

• 40 yellow Value cards
• 16 blue Defense cards
• 16 red Boost cards
• 40 brown Book cards
• 24 grey Course cards
• 16 purple Expert cards
• 4 Target cards
• 8 Defense Modifier cards (+1/+2)

4 Resistance trackers

1 Game board

Preparations

1. Select the cards for this game, taking into account the number of players, and return the remaining cards to the box.

• For a two-player game: use only the basic cards (B) and remove all cards with a 3 or 4 in the lower right corner.
• For a three-player game: remove cards with a 4 in the lower right corner.
• For a four-player game: use all cards.

2. Give each player a set of 12 cards:

• 2 yellow Value cards with value 3
• 4 yellow Value cards with value 2
• 4 yellow Value cards with value 1
• 2 brown Book cards with Attack 2/Defense 2
• 1 Target card and 2 Defense Modifier cards (one +1 and one +2)

Note: the printed list above totals 15 cards although the heading says 12; the list is transcribed as printed.

Each player shuffles these cards to form his/her personal Draw pile. The players place this face-down in front of them. All played cards go face-up into the Discard pile, next to the Draw pile.

Each player now draws a full Hand of six cards from their Draw pile.

3. The other cards are now divided in two piles based on their color:

The largest stack is the Basic stack (blue Defense cards, red Boost cards, brown Books, grey Courses). The smaller Expert stack has only Expert cards (purple border).

Shuffle these stacks and place them face-down on the table, within reach of each player, to the right of the playing board.

4. Take five cards from the Basic stack and place them face-up, side by side to the right of the Basic stack. These cards are available for purchase.

Beware! At the start of the game, there must be at least as many books (brown)/courses (grey) available for purchase as there are players. If this is not the case, remove the Boost (red) and Defense (blue) cards and refill back to five cards. Repeat until the above condition is met. Shuffle the replaced cards back into the Basic stack.

5. Each player receives a Player token of their color, and places this on one of the green Start-fields of the Mental Resistance track on the game board. In order to play a shorter game, the players place their token on the same lower prime number on the track.

Gameplay

A starting player is chosen at random. After this player plays his/her turn, the turn goes to the player to the left. The game continues in a clockwise fashion.

A turn consists of three phases and two intermediate phases.

1) Buying phase

The active player chooses one or more of the following actions, discarding at least one card during this phase:

• Discard any number of cards from your Hand and draw new cards until you reach your Hand Limit. This action ends your turn. You can only perform this action, if it is the only one you perform during the Buying phase.

• Take one or two value cards from your hand and remove them from the game. This grants you a discount towards your next purchase, equal to the value of these cards.

• Purchase one or more basic cards from the available selection provided you can afford them. Discard yellow Value cards with a combined value equal to the price of the cards you wish to purchase. Additionally, you may also take brown Book cards from your hand and remove them from the game, granting you their resale value in order to purchase new cards (in combination with other Book/Value cards if necessary).

• Blind purchase: Pay a set value of 6 using any combination of yellow Value cards or removing brown Books from the game. Rather than selecting cards from the open selection, you may take the top card off the Basic stack. In this way, only you know what you have drawn. Take care to keep the purchased card hidden behind Value cards when placing it on your discard pile.

• You may also purchase a purple Expert card. These cost 8, payable with yellow Value cards and/or by removing brown Books from the game. You may privately inspect the top two cards from the Expert stack and choose one. The other card is placed at the bottom of the stack. Place any Value cards, together with the purchased Expert, underneath your Discard pile to hide the Expert from other players.

Note: When purchasing new cards, players are allowed to pay more than required only if they cannot pay the exact cost.

2) Intermediate Phase 1

This is an optional action. Play and discard a single card from your hand and perform the listed special action.

3) Hypnotic Duel

During this phase the active player may enter one hypnotic duel with an opponent of his choice that has not been attacked this turn.

a) The active player selects one or more Books or Courses to hypnotize their opponent. At most one Boost card may be added to this attack. The active player places these cards face down in front of them. The defending player also selects at least one Book or Course, and may supplement this with a single Defense card. These cards are also placed face down in front of them. The defending player may choose not to defend. In this case, the attacker wins by default. The attacker must still reveal his cards.

b) When both players have selected their cards, both sets of cards are turned face up.

c) Both players, first the active player and then the defending player, may play an expert and apply its effects to their current result. After use, experts are removed from the game.

d) The total attack of the active player is compared to the total defense of the defending player. The player with the highest value wins the hypnotic duel. The loser's mental resistance now drops by one point (or more if certain cards were played) and the loser sinks deeper into the hypnotic state. In the case of a tie, nothing happens. The Duel ends and the player continues to Intermediate phase 2.

Beware! If a player is selected as the opponent for a hypnotic duel, this player can no longer be targeted until after his/her next turn. The player can remind everyone of his status by clearly displaying his Target Card in front of him/her, until the end of his/her next turn. After defending in a hypnotic duel, it is not permitted to refill ones hand. Only refill your hand at the end of your own turn, during the Refresh Phase.

4) Intermediate Phase 2

Play and discard a single card from your hand and perform the listed special action. This action is optional.

5) Refresh Phase

• If fewer than three purchasable cards are available next to the Basic stack, restock these cards up to five.
• Draw cards from your Draw pile to refill your Hand up to six. If you already have six or more cards in your hand, do not draw additional cards. If your Draw pile is depleted at any point, shuffle your Discard pile into a new Draw pile.

Mental Resistance

Each player begins with a mental resistance of 12+ (or lower, for a shorter duration game).

Mental Resistance can be decreased as a consequence of losing a hypnotic duel. Mental resistance cannot drop below a prime number in a single turn. When a player lands on a prime number, he/she drops to a lower level of Mental Resistance, which has certain effects. These effects are executed immediately.

Mental Resistance 11: The player reveals the top card of his/her Draw pile until it comes up with any card that is not a yellow Value card. This card is given to the winner of the Hypnotic Duel. Unsuitable flipped cards are placed on the player's Discard pile. The player also draws a card from the Expert stack and places it underneath her discard pile without revealing it to the other players.

Mental Resistance 7: The player may refill his/her hand up to 6 cards. For his final card, the player may search his Draw pile or Discard pile, and select any one card. If this card is selected from the Draw pile, the Draw pile is reshuffled.

Mental Resistance 5: The player reveals the top card of his/her Draw pile until it comes up with any card that is not a yellow Value card. This card is given to the winner of the Hypnotic Duel. Unsuitable flipped cards are placed on the player's Discard pile. The player also draws a card from the Expert stack and places it underneath her discard pile without revealing it to the other players. Starting at Mental Resistance 5, the player gains a permanent increase of 1 to her defense. This is indicated by placing a Defense Modifier Card +1 in front of the player.

Mental Resistance 3: The player may refill his/her hand up to 6 cards. For his final two cards, the player may search either his Draw pile or Discard pile, and select any two cards. If these cards are selected from the Draw pile, the Draw pile is reshuffled.

Mental Resistance 2: The player reveals the top card of his/her Draw pile until it comes up with any card that is not a yellow Value card. This card is given to the winner of the Hypnotic Duel. Unsuitable flipped cards are placed on the player's Discard pile. The player also draws a card from the Expert stack and places it underneath her discard pile without revealing it to the other players. Starting at Mental Resistance 2, the player gains a permanent increase 1 to her defense for a total of 2. This is indicated by placing a Defense Modifier Card +2 in front of the player.

Mental Resistance 0: The player is hypnotized, and can no longer compete in the game.

Example

Benjamin is the active player and wants to challenge Rafaël in a hypnotic duel. He chooses a Book and Metronome from his hand and places these face-down in front of him. As defense, Rafaël chooses a Course and a Book which he also places in front of him face-down. Both players reveal their cards: Benjamin attacks for six, but Rafaël's defense is also six. Both players can now reveal an Expert: Benjamin doesn't have any in his Hand, but Rafaël plays an Expert to neutralize his opponent's attack. Benjamin's attack now equals zero, against Rafaël's 6 defense. Benjamin loses the duel, and reduces his Mental Resistance by one. Rafaël places the Target card in front of him, to indicate he cannot be challenged until the start of his next turn.

Symbols

The symbols page shows each card icon beside its meaning. Where the source prints no label beside an icon, none is supplied here.

• Value card (yellow): Play this card to use the listed value to purchase cards during the Buying phase.
• Value card (yellow, removed): Remove this card from the game and use the listed value to purchase cards during next Buying phase.
• +2 Attack: Play and discard this card during an intermediate phase. Look at the cards in a single opponent's (text cut off in the source)
• +3 Defense: Play and discard this card during any of your intermediate phases. An opponent of your choice chooses two cards from his/her hand and discards them.
• Max Trance depth 1: If you lose the duel, lose at most one point of Mental Resistance.
• (no label printed, blue Defense card with +2 icon): Play and discard this card during any of your intermediate phases. Examine the top six cards of your Draw stack and place them in the order of your (text cut off in the source)
• (no label printed, blue Defense card): When you defend during a hypnotic duel, play an additional Defense-card. (Not cumulative)
• Attack / Defense: Book card example showing Attack 4 and Defense 1.
• (no label printed, red Boost card +3): Play this card during the Intermediate Phase. Draw two additional cards from your draw stack.
• (no label printed, red Boost card +2): If the opponent loses the duel, he/she loses 2 points of Mental Resistance (in stead of only 1 point).