Medium: The Hand of Fate
Medium: The Hand of Fate Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 15 Divider cards (14 for Medium card sets, 1 for Crystal Ball and ESP cards)
- 252 Medium cards (14 sets of 18 cards each)
- 1 Crystal Ball card
- 16 Extra Special Power (ESP) cards (8 Divination, 8 Incantation)
- 60 Mind Meld tokens (20 1st Attempt, 20 2nd Attempt, 20 3rd Attempt)
- 8 Prediction tokens
- 50 Hand of Fate tokens
Setup
- Select sets of cards. Randomly choose sets of cards (either from Medium: The Hand of Fate or any other Medium game). Use one set fewer than the number of players* and shuffle them all together into one deck (i.e. 3 sets for a 4-player game, 4 sets for a 5-player game, and so on).
- Add the Crystal Ball card. Separate the deck into 3 roughly equal piles. Shuffle the Crystal Ball card into one of the piles, then place the other 2 piles on top of it.
- Deal cards. Deal 6 cards to each player from the deck to form their starting hand. Keep your hands private.
- Prepare Mind Meld tokens. Make separate piles for the 3 types of Mind Meld tokens, with their "hand" side facing up, and place them in the center of the table:
- 1 pile of 1st Attempt tokens (5 & 6 points)
- 1 pile of 2nd Attempt tokens (3 & 4 points)
- 1 pile of 3rd Attempt tokens (1 & 2 points)
- Select the first player. The player who most recently had a paranormal experience or had their fortune told starts the game.
*For a 2-player game see the 2-Player Variant.
How to Play: Finding the Medium
Step 1: Your partner and you each play a card
On your turn, team up with the player on your left. Your partner plays 1 card from their hand face up in front of you. Look at their card, then choose 1 card from your hand and play it next to your partner's card. You'll use these 2 words to find the "Medium".
What is the "Medium"? It's the word that connects the 2 words on your cards.
Step 2: Attempt to say the same word at the same time
Mentally connect with your partner. Look them in the eye, make sure they're ready, then count down out loud, together:
THREE… TWO… ONE… [you both say whatever word you think the Medium is at the same time].
Example: RUBBER and PENCIL - Maybe it's ERASER? SALAD and PANTS - How about DRESSING?
If you match on your 1st attempt
If you and your partner say the same word, take a 1st Attempt Mind Meld token. Your turn ends.
Note: Mind Meld tokens are taken at random from their pile and placed between you and your partner in a shared team pile. When you take a Mind Meld token, flip it and reveal its points to all the players.
If you don't match
If you and your partner didn't say the same word, you now make a second attempt, using the words you just said instead of those on the cards.
Example: The cards were SHEEP and CLOTHING. You said WOOL and your partner said WOLF. WOOL and WOLF now become the words you'll use for your second attempt.
IMPORTANT: you can't say any words that have already been used during your team's turn (those on the cards and attempted Mediums).
If you match on your second attempt, take a 2nd Attempt Mind Meld token. Your turn ends.
If you don't match on your second attempt, you now have one last chance using the words you said for your second attempt. Remember, you can't say any previous words. If you match, take a 3rd Attempt Mind Meld token. Your turn ends. If you don't match on your third attempt, your turn ends and you don't collect any Mind Meld tokens.
Refill Your Hand
Once your turn has ended, put your played cards in the discard pile. You and your partner each draw a new card to have a full hand of 6 cards.
Order of Play
Play progresses clockwise. Your former partner will team up with the player on their left and take a turn and so on. Each round, every player will team up with 2 partners.
Round turn structure (4-player example): 1st turn: Player 1 & 2 > 2nd turn: Player 2 & 3 > 3rd turn: Player 3 & 4 > 4th turn: Player 4 & 1. Each pair of neighbouring players keeps its own team pile (Player 1 & 2 team pile, Player 2 & 3 team pile, Player 3 & 4 team pile, Player 4 & 1 team pile).
End of the Game
The Crystal Ball Shatters
Once you draw the Crystal Ball card, it shatters and breaks the psychic connection in the room. Finish the round you're playing, ensuring each team has had an equal number of turns. If you drew the Crystal Ball and still have a turn left to play, refill your hand as normal.
Scoring
Determine the Winners
Add up the points on the Mind Meld tokens in each team's pile. Each player will have two team scores; one with the partner on their left and one with the partner on their right. The team with the most points wins!
If there's a tie, the team with the most 1st Attempt Mind Meld tokens wins. If still tied, how about it's just a tie. Would that be so bad?
Optional Game Modules
Once you've played a few games, you might want to add one or both of the optional modules. Extra Special Power (ESP) cards grant players one-time-use powers. Prediction allows players to foretell how their opponents will fare!
Extra Special Power Cards
Give each player 1 card from the chosen set(s) of ESP cards that they place in front of them color-side up. Each card can be used once per game. To use an ESP card, flip it to its black-and-white side.
Divination — Steal a team's words. Play after an opposing team fails to match on a third attempt. You and your partner (to your left or to your right) may attempt to match, using the last 2 words they said. If you succeed, take a 1st Attempt Mind Meld token.
Incantation — Banish a cursed word. Play on an opposing team's turn, before they attempt to match. You may prohibit them from saying any 1 word of your choice.
IMPORTANT: only 1 ESP card can be played per turn. If multiple players attempt to play one, whoever flipped their card first gets to use it.
During scoring, add 2 points to both of your team piles for each ESP card you haven't used.
Prediction
Give each player a Prediction token and place the Hand of Fate tokens (1 point each) in a pile in the center of the table.
Whenever you're not involved in a turn, use your Prediction token to predict how the current team will do on their first attempt only.
As soon as both cards have been played, secretly place your Prediction token on one side to predict a successful match, or on the other side to predict an unsuccessful match.
After the attempt, reveal your Prediction token. Each player with a correct prediction takes a Hand of Fate token.
During scoring, add 1 point to both of your team piles for each Hand of Fate token you have.
2-Player Variant
You and a partner will be taking on the wise Madame Fortuna.
Set up the game as you would a regular game, but use 3 sets of cards (instead of using 1 set).
You play as a team and follow the same steps and rules as in a regular game (taking the appropriate Mind Meld token when you match). HOWEVER, whenever you fail to match on your first attempt, you must randomly select a 1st Attempt Mind Meld token from its pile and place it into a special pile for Madame Fortuna.
Note: Madame Fortuna doesn't receive any tokens when you fail to match on your second or third attempt.
The game ends when the Crystal Ball card is revealed OR when there are no 1st Attempt Mind Meld tokens remaining. Continue playing until you've both had the same number of turns.
If you have more points than Madame Fortuna, you win! Otherwise, Madame Fortuna wins, as she so wisely foretold.
General Rules of Play
- You can use proper nouns.
- You can say more than one word — as long as it's just one idea. Words like GRANOLA BAR or TIME MACHINE or DEEP SEA DIVER are totally acceptable.
- You MUST say a word. If you count down, "3... 2... 1..." and you don't say anything, your turn ends immediately. Make sure your partner is ready before starting the countdown.
It's up to the other players to determine whether 2 words are a match or not. If the other players can't come to a consensus, you can flip a coin or better yet, be cool about it. The official rule is: let's just have some fun, ok!
HINT: you might have more matches if your guesses are more "general" rather than super specific. You might be more likely to match on WIZARD than on MERLIN, or on FLOWER rather than HYDRANGEA.
Content from any Medium game can be combined with this one and vice versa. It's up to you to explore the possibilities!