Penny Dreadfuls of Victorian London

Penny Dreadfuls of Victorian London Rulebook

Table of Contents

Getting Started

Start here! The Blood Red Series of Penny Dreadfuls of Victorian London begins with three Gripping Horror Stories. Before facing them, the designers invite you to retrace the dark, damp alleys of the Whitechapel district, where in the darkness the clatter of sewing machines and the rumble of trains combine in a strange echo with the notes of "Men of Harlech" played on Buck's Row. Join the walk all the way to one of the many slaughterhouses of the infernal East End, in its singular desolation, far from the dimmed lights of the pubs.

Learn without studying. Get a feel for the game with the Introduction Story to learn the basic rules and discover the latest chapter of the famous Victorian saga with Letters from Whitechapel or Funny Little Games. Because Penny Dreadfuls of Victorian London is easier to play than to explain, unpack the first 18 cards and keep the materials (board, pawns, tokens, markers...) within reach. You can already start playing!

Introduction Story: Letters from Whitechapel or Funny Little Games (18 cards). London, 1888. Some call this district "Hell": a labyrinth of crowded alleys with a foul smell. Unfortunately, the most destitute simply call it "home". Welcome to the East End! Playing this short story will teach you the main rules and help you understand how the mechanisms work.

The following pages explore the rules in more detail, in the thorough way that fans are used to. Everything is presented with the usual precision and clarity that for ten years has encouraged players around the world to play games such as Letters from Whitechapel or The Mystery of Whitehall. Your enthusiasm and that of our partners has inspired us to develop new ideas.

Background: The Penny Dreadfuls

Penny dreadfuls were short, illustrated serial novels, very popular in the United Kingdom in the second half of the nineteenth century. They were very cheap booklets, costing only one copper penny, offering short stories with gripping themes in an emphatic, sensational style. Despite their low cultural value, penny dreadfuls gave birth to a genre that has continued to evolve up to the present day.

During the nineteenth century London became one of the largest cities in the world and the capital of the British Empire. Its population grew from about one million inhabitants in 1800 to nearly seven million at the end of the century, that is, between 1850 and 1899, the period in which the Gripping Horror Stories take place. The majority of the population was forced to live in poverty, in overcrowded and unsanitary housing. In 1829 the Metropolitan Police was established, and its officers were nicknamed "bobbies" after Robert Peel, the Home Secretary who had founded it. London was rapidly transformed by the underground lines, which allowed the suburbs to develop. However, this rapid growth worsened the class struggle, which pushed the middle classes to settle in the suburbs, leaving the city centre to the most destitute.

London also quickly had to face difficult sanitary conditions. The sewers discharged directly into the Thames. This led to bacterial proliferation during the particularly hot and dry summer of 1858, when the level of the river was low; a foul odour spread through the city, known as the Great Stink. The polluted waters, which were also used for drinking, caused an epidemic in the population, forcing Parliament to build a sewer system. As the capital of a powerful empire, London was very attractive to many immigrants: Irish, Jewish, Asian, and in particular Chinese. Many famous buildings were built in the nineteenth century: Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the Royal Albert Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and even Tower Bridge.

Prepare yourselves, because this metropolitan landscape is going to be the theatre of our authors' Gripping Horror Stories!

The following penny dreadfuls of the period have survived in print (the list is reproduced as printed in the rulebook):

Lives of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Footpads and Murderers (1836), The Flying Dutchman or The Demon Ship (1839) and Ela the Outcast or The Gipsy of Rosemary Dell (1841), by Thomas Peckett Prest
Black Bess or The Knight of the Road: a Tale of the Good Old Times (probably between 1866 and 1868), by Edward Viles
Cockney Adventures and Tales of London Life (1838), by Renton Nicholson
Gentleman Jack or Life on the Road (1852), by James Malcolm Rymer
Jack Harkaway's Schooldays (1880), by Bracebridge Hemyng
The Black Band or The Mysteries of Midnight (1876-77), by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The Lambs of Littlecote (1894), by Edwin Harcourt Burrage
The Mysteries of London: Lights and Shadows of London Life (1849), by Thomas Miller
Wild Will or The Pirates of the Thames (1865), by Percival Wolfe
The String of Pearls or The Barber of Fleet Street (1850), by James Malcolm Rymer
The Work Girls of London: Their Trials and Temptations (1865), The Boy Detective or The Crimes of London (1866), The Poor Boys of London or Driven to Crime (1866), and The Wild Boys of London or The Children of Night (1866), all by unknown authors.

About the Series

Penny Dreadfuls of Victorian London is the third chapter of the saga begun by the hit games Letters from Whitechapel and The Mystery of Whitehall, forming an exciting Victorian collection full of history, mystery and apprehension.

The work is inspired by genre literature, but while playing, be aware that the authors have been faithful to their style of "historical accuracy" in their research and setting. Although the plots are bizarre and imaginative, fully respectful of the penny dreadfuls of the period, every reference is historically verifiable and tied to the period between 1850 and 1899. More Gripping Horror Stories will soon be available, using all the components and rules of this box for even more excitement and fun.

Not finished yet. The series is still in development; further Stories are planned.

Game Goal

In each Gripping Horror Story, specific characters living in ordinary Victorian society become caught up in shocking events that catapult them out of the conventions of reality and nature. Joining them, the players face strange scenarios, investigating, making deductions and choices, and facing trials that lead to unpleasant consequences or to magnificent rewards.

Each game has a different number of turns and several possible endings, ranging from total failure to the most resounding success, depending entirely on how the players interpret the story and share the fate of their stars.

Components

This box contains the material needed for all the Gripping Horror Stories, both those in this box and any future ones:

this rulebook;
one game board;
wooden pieces: 3 pawns in three different colours (yellow for Stars, orange for Co-stars, black for Villains), 60 black cubes and 15 white discs;
punch-out cardboard sheets, which you will find under compartment a2, containing: 30 double-sided Location tokens (16 yellow Exterior and 14 white Interior), 72 Object markers of different shapes and colours, and 18 hexagonal Confrontation tiles for use in Solo and 2-player modes;
three packs of 72 cards each, individually wrapped, narrating the first Gripping Horror Stories, ready to play. Attention: we suggest not unwrapping the packs before playing, to avoid spoiling the fun. When you unpack a Story pack, do not shuffle it or look at its contents in advance (see Setup).

Component detail as printed in the rulebook's inventory:

Board: 25 circular spaces named a to y, 16 numbered city blocks (Quartiers) lettered a to p, 7 markers for cards and 3 for tiles.
Storage: all pawns, markers, cubes and discs are kept in compartment a1 and must be within reach during play. All Stories, all tokens and all tiles are kept in compartment a2. The board and rulebook "close" the box; just replace the lid on top.
Story packs (Blood Red Series): three packs of 72 cards each, one for each Gripping Horror Story:
- Angoissant (Anguishing) difficulty: The Terrible Secret of the Broken Key or The Bloody Nights of the Beast (72 cards).
- Terrifiant (Terrifying) difficulty: The Blood-Stained Pearl Necklace or The Diabolical Mystery of Fleet Street (72 cards).
- Horrifique (Horrific) difficulty: Blood on the Thames or The Strange Case of the Mangled Corpse (72 cards).
Confrontation tiles (18), with a purple back. Each has a white or black front. Used only in Solo and 2-player modes.
Markers (16 of each of 4 types): each type exists in four colours and four Greek letters. Alpha (16 blue), Beta (16 black), Gamma (16 red) and Delta (16 yellow). The Delta markers are needed to play Solo or 2-player. 8 white markers have been added as spare pieces. (The printed inventory layout does not make it fully clear whether the "needed for Solo or 2-player" note refers to the Delta markers or to the Confrontation tiles; it is transcribed here as printed.)
Location tokens: (16 + 14) × 2, front and back. Examples of a yellow Exterior and a white Interior token are shown in the rulebook.
Cubes: black cubes (60 in the box). white discs (15 in the box).

Symbols

This game uses many symbols, in particular on the cards, so that once the basic rules are learned, players can see the relevant information at a glance without reading the text.

Circular space marked with a letter: one of the 25 circular spaces on the board, each with a letter of the alphabet.
City block number: one of the 16 numbered city blocks (Pâtés de Maisons) on the board.
Card number: the number of a card in the Story deck.
Symbols for the four types of Characters: Stars (yellow pawn), Co-stars (orange pawn), Extras (no pawn), Villains (black pawn).
Symbols for the four types of Objects: the four Object marker shapes (circle, square, pentagon, triangle).
Symbols for the three special card types: Choice (pointing finger), Check (key), and Trial (crossed swords).
Symbols for the two card destinations: the discard pile (grey, "Bin") and the archive pile (brown, "Archive").
Cubes and discs: black cubes and white discs.
Confrontation tile symbols (Solo and 2-player only): the Solo/2-player mode symbol, the generic tile symbol (X), the diamond (the six diamond tiles are set aside in both Solo and 2-player games until a Story explains how to use them) and the circle (the four circle tiles are set aside in Solo games only), and the three tile piles.

Marker Shapes and Colours

Object markers have one of four shapes and one of four colours:

Circles: common, easy-to-manage items (for example a pocket watch, an annoying insect, a hangover, etc.).
Triangles: items with a specific function (for example a firearm, a hunting dog, a task to complete, etc.).
Squares: bulky items, or items that need special handling (for example a book to study, a tiger to tame, a scam to thwart, etc.).
Pentagons: items that depend on other factors (for example a garment or accessory to wear, a pet cat, one-sided feelings, etc.).

Object marker colours indicate the kind of item:

Red: potentially dangerous items, such as weapons, venomous animals, or a dangerous situation.
Blue: limited items, such as a bottle of brandy, the sight of a wild animal, a well-deserved rest, etc.
Yellow: everyday items in the context of the story, such as a newspaper, a pet, a usual condition, etc.
Black: particularly rare items, such as a precious relic, an exotic insect, an exceptional stroke of luck, etc.

Each marker bears one letter of the Greek alphabet (α alpha, β beta, γ gamma or δ delta) so that they can be managed easily and each one is unique.

Setup

Set up the game:

Board. Place the board in the centre of the table. It represents a "map" made up of 16 numbered city blocks (Pâtés de Maisons). Its corners show 25 circular spaces identified by the letters of the alphabet, from a to y, linked by dotted lines.
City blocks (Pâtés de Maisons). City blocks are areas of the map completely enclosed by dotted lines. During play, the Story tells you in which city block to place the various Location tokens with which Characters can interact. The circular spaces surrounding a city block also belong to it. For example, city block e is surrounded by circular spaces e, h, i and m.
Adjacency. For example, circular spaces r, u, v and x belong to city block o. When the yellow Star pawn occupies one of these circular spaces, it is adjacent to that block's Location and to the Characters found there.
Dotted lines and crossings. The dotted lines joining the circles also carry crossings, shown as small black squares. A Story may ask you to place certain items on a crossing, under certain conditions, during play.
Coloured piles. Around the outer edge of the board are 7 coloured markers showing where to place the Story deck and every card played according to precise instructions:
- White pile (Story deck): place the whole deck here. Do not shuffle it and do not look at its contents in advance. Place it on the white pile marker.
- Yellow pile (Stars): Star cards are played here, face up. The yellow pawn identifies them on the card, and they move together across the circular spaces along the dotted lines.
- Red pile (Extras): Extra cards are played here, face up.
- Orange pile (Co-stars): Co-star cards are played here, face up.

Notes on the Story deck:

Attention! When you unpack a Story pack, be careful not to shuffle it or look at its contents in advance. Place it on the white pile marker. If you do not follow this procedure precisely, it could spoil your game.
Many cards bear an identification number on the back that makes them easy to recognise.

Location tokens: there are 16 yellow Exterior tokens and 14 white Interior tokens, each double-sided (front and back). The Interior and Exterior Location lists are given at the end of this rulebook.

Object markers: the Object markers come in four shapes (circle, square, pentagon, triangle) and four colours (red, blue, yellow, black), each with a Greek letter. See Marker Shapes and Colours above.

The Story is now set up. The first card of the Story is then played as described below.

Playing the Game

Active Player Powers

In this game, the active player is the one who reads the page of the Story (that is, the card), which grants them special "powers".

The most strategic power is the ability to break ties arbitrarily. For example, if no majority is reached in a vote, or if two or more players are competing for the bonus disc having bid the most cubes, the active player breaks the tie by choosing the player they prefer.

The active player may also change the distribution of Object markers before revealing the front of the card that has "entered play", because this can affect the development of the plot and the final result. If you fear unpleasant consequences, you may take responsibility for them, just this once!

Overview

In Penny Dreadfuls of Victorian London, you reconstruct a story by interacting with its narration. To do so, players must make choices on behalf of the Stars, often competing through a simple system of secret votes and bids which allows everyone to express their personal choice to influence the development of the plot, with both immediate effects and impacts on the Epilogue. Players must also check who contributed most to the result obtained at the end of the game.

Golden Rule: each Story has its own rules, introduced by its cards, which take priority. Always apply this golden rule: the effects of cards always take priority over the rules, even if they contradict or modify them. Furthermore, if an element must enter play or intervene but is already in play for some reason, that effect must be ignored, as must effects that require moving an element to a location where it already is.

Turn Order

Players take turns in clockwise order (to the left). The active player begins their turn when a card "enters play", after the previous player has "passed their turn", and ends their turn when one of the cards they resolve applies the effect "pass your turn".

Important: an effect ends at the full stop at the end of a sentence and must be applied in full before the next effect is read and applied, and so on for as long as there are effects printed on the card, following the sequence as precisely as possible to fully guarantee your experience of the game.

How a turn unfolds depends entirely on the cards and not on the number of participants: on their turn one player may resolve a single card while another player resolves several. This depends on many factors dictated only by the effects shown on the cards. You must follow the instructions.

Front and back: the procedure to be applied by players on their turn to all cards that "enter play" or "intervene" is divided into two consecutive phases:

Back: after a player receives their card, they must fully resolve the effects on the back before revealing the front.
Front: after a player has resolved all effects on the back of their card, they reveal the front and, after reading the important narrative passages, must apply all the effects on that side until they are all resolved, which is confirmed by the effect "pass your turn".

Entering play versus intervening: a very important concept to understand is the difference between cards that "enter play" and those that "intervene".

The effect of a card that enters play links the end of the turn just played and the start of a new turn, which will be played by another player (except in Solo mode).
The effect of an intervening card is not linked to the end of the turn being played. It concerns a condition in which the card currently being resolved is momentarily interrupted until the intervening card has been completely resolved. At that point the active player resumes the resolution of the card left pending. This chain of events may happen several times, but should not be a problem: each time a previous card is pending, its resolution resumes as soon as the intervening card has been fully resolved.

Objects: Back of the Cards

After resolving all the effects on the back of the card that "entered play" (before revealing the front), the active player may have the Stars interact with the Object markers in play with them, or with adjacent Characters (that is, in the Locations of the city blocks to which the circular space occupied by the yellow pawn belongs). The player may change how the Object markers are distributed as they wish, as long as they respect the limitations described on the cards.

Resolving a Story

In addition to game effects, the cards contain narrative text and explanatory diagrams. These are not just atmosphere: they are important game information that the authors have precisely woven into the plot. These elements hide clues which must be correctly interpreted to make the best choices and steer the plot towards the best possible Epilogue.

Every pack of cards, whatever story it tells, contains 3 types of card: Choices (pointing finger), Checks (key) and Trials (crossed swords). The Stars must confront them, and the players untangle the threads of the plot by using their black cubes.

Manage your black cubes wisely to influence Choices and Trials as effectively as possible.

Important: clues have been scattered everywhere: in the text, in the images and even in the components. They are not always obvious; they must first be identified and used judiciously when voting or bidding. Be careful to set aside misleading and false clues that create reasonable doubt and leave you unable to make a choice. Never forget the strange situation in which the Characters find themselves and their state of mind: immerse yourself in the Story!

Endings

Negative ending: Stories can have tragic endings. Making the wrong choices may lead the Stars to the worst possible ending, in which case all players lose the game. By replaying the Story from the beginning you will probably learn from your mistakes.
Neutral ending: this ending is not the best, but some players will still stand out. At the end of this type of game, you may determine a winner among the players who hold the most black cubes: this identifies the player who contributed least to reaching this unglamorous result. Before counting points, players who have collected white discs must add 1 black cube (from the box) to their supply for each white disc they hold.
Positive ending: the credit for this result must certainly go to the most judicious player. After a positive ending, players check who has the fewest black cubes: this identifies the player who contributed most to reaching this goal. Even in these conditions, before counting points, players holding white discs discard 1 black cube per white disc they hold.

In every ending that determines a winner among the players, all ties are broken in favour of the player with the most white discs. If the tie persists, the players share the victory.

Front of the Cards

The rulebook illustrates these card types with captioned excerpts: "What you see above is part of the back of a card. When the active player receives it, they must resolve all the effects printed on it before revealing the front." Further captions read: "What you see above is part of a Choice card", "...part of a Check card" and "...part of a Trial card". Each is described in the sections below.

When the front of a card is revealed, the active player must resolve it completely, reading each part and triggering all effects and options. You may not change the setup of the elements, unless expressly required by the text, until the card is completely resolved.

Do not underestimate any clues that may be hidden in the title and in all the other information on the card. Nothing is redundant. If you think only the game effects are important, you may leave aside crucial information needed to reach the best conclusion.

Decisive Choices

Many cards bear a "pointing finger" symbol indicating that the players are at a narrative crossroads and must confront each other to choose between the two options offered. All players, after reading the cards carefully, must secretly hide 1 of their black cubes in their left hand to vote for option G (left hand) or in their right hand to vote for option D (right hand), by evaluating the content of the text. The majority determined by the secret vote indicates the Choice, and the corresponding effects are applied by the card.

Ties are broken by the active player. Those who did not "win" the Choice vote take back the black cube they used to vote, while the others discard it and return it to the box.

Caution: do not waste your cubes, so that you do not run short prematurely. If someone finds themselves out of cubes when determining a Choice, that person temporarily takes 1 cube from the common supply in order to vote normally. Once the majority has been established, if the player who borrowed a cube "wins" the Choice, they give their opponents (or the game, in Solo or 2-player mode) 1 bonus white disc; if they did not win the Choice, they do not keep the "borrowed" cube and must return it to the common supply.

Carrying Out Checks

Some cards bear a "key" symbol and require the players to check whether specific Object markers are assigned to the cards in play so as to resolve a narrative obstacle. If the check fails, all players take 1 black cube from the common supply.

Facing Trials

Few cards bear the "crossed swords" symbol, and that is a good thing, because they force the Stars to face Trials, which may be combats or dangerous confrontations. To face them, the players must:

Calculate the cubes: how many black cubes are needed to pass the Trial. In our example, 3 players must collectively bid at least 6 cubes: this means that if everyone does their part by bidding 2 cubes, the Trial will succeed.
Bid cubes: as explained in the second part of this effect, each player must secretly bid a number of black cubes of their choice (this may be zero), hiding them in their closed fist (the others must be hidden so as not to compromise the secret). All black cubes bid in this way are discarded and returned to the box, whatever the outcome of the Trial (success or failure). Once everyone has bid their black cubes, these are revealed and counted: if the total is greater than or equal to the required amount, the Trial succeeds and the player who contributed most by bidding the largest number of black cubes (ties are broken by the active player) receives 1 white disc as a reward, which they keep until the end of the game. This disc will be used to improve their final score and to break ties for victory.
Apply the results: depending on the result of the Trial, the effect of the last two lines indicates whether the Trial is a success or a failure. The active player reads the success effect and applies it.

Example (from the rulebook): the players trust one another and each bids 2 cubes, so the Trial succeeds. To award the reward disc, the active player must use their power to break ties, since everyone bid the same. They choose themselves and therefore take the white disc from the supply.

Authors' note: whatever card they must resolve (for example a Choice or a Trial), players may talk and express their opinion to try to influence the other players' choices, although everyone is free to express their narrative vision and/or pursue a personal game objective.

The designers repeat that playing Penny Dreadfuls of Victorian London is a very different challenge from anything you may have experienced before. In this game you will be plunged into a narrative labyrinth designed to test you. In this Story you are the true protagonists, but you will also have to compete with your companions in this original "reading club" to be the most deserving at the Epilogue. You can have plenty of fun even if you do not win, but if you are competitive, the positive Epilogue is a very stimulating and rewarding goal.

At the end of the game, the last cards of the deck let you calculate the scores to determine the ranking according to the elements (discs and cubes) each player holds at that point. These factors "judge" each player's behaviour during the game, following the authors' original idea, giving rise to positive or negative scores when determining the winner.

Identification Markers

To introduce other information and crucial clues into the game, each Object marker has a particular shape and colour, as described in the Marker Shapes and Colours section above. Red, blue, yellow and black markers each identify a category of items. To make the Object markers "unique" and unambiguous, each bears a letter of the Greek alphabet (α alpha, β beta, γ gamma or δ delta) so that they can be managed easily.

Stars, Co-stars, Extras and Villains

Stars: the Characters the players must identify with. The yellow pawn places them all together on the map and moves from one circular space to another along the dotted lines when a Story card requires it. The cards revealed in the yellow pile each describe a Star, determining their characteristics and any limitations. The markers attributed to these cards represent the Object markers in their possession; the active player may have them interact with one another and with adjacent Characters (that is, in the Locations of the city blocks to which the circular space occupied by the yellow pawn belongs).
Co-stars: these Characters are secondary in importance. The cards in the orange pile represent them and determine their characteristics. The orange pawn places them all together in one Location of the map; if they move, they do so from one Location to another only through the effect of other cards.
Extras: these are the only Characters without a pawn. Their dedicated cards in the red pile assign them a specific Location which they never leave. It is important that the Stars interact with them when the yellow pawn is adjacent to the Location in which they are.
Villains: these Characters are dangerous to the Stars. When the black pawn appears on the map in a Location, according to the instructions on the black pile cards, they are a threat and may take to task anyone on circular spaces adjacent to their block. Run, you poor fools!

Object Markers

Each card in the Story has a particular Object marker that must be taken from the common supply and placed according to the instructions and conditions of the card.

"Remove it" means that the Object may be irrevocably lost for the rest of the game, so the active player must think carefully before giving something up.

You may come across effects that require Objects you do not recognise: in that case the Story has taken a direction that did not allow you to discover those Objects, so the Stars have not yet found them. This is how the game gives you clues without disclosing any details, so that you can enjoy your future games even more.

When Object markers enter play, they are attributed to cards or to the game board, and must be taken from the supply and placed according to the Story's instructions. The active player has the right to exchange them between compatible Characters, respecting the following restrictions, unless otherwise stated:

they can always be exchanged between Stars;
they can be given to Co-stars only if the two pawns (yellow and orange) are adjacent;
they can be given to Extras if they are in a Location adjacent to the yellow pawn.

If the Story indicates it, Objects can also be negatively affected by Villains.

Important: part of the game is correctly deducing how best to make use of a specific Object given to the Stars.

As you play, you will understand that managing markers is crucial, especially when new cards enter play. If the active player wants to give an Object to a Star and, in doing so, that Star exceeds the maximum limit imposed by the Story, after the assignment they must remove from play one of the markers already assigned to keep within the maximum capacity (this may be repeated several times).

Attention: some cards require assignment to a particular Character. Unlike markers, cards do not change assignment once they have entered play.

Ready to Begin

Whoever has most recently read a novel (or a randomly chosen person) becomes the first player and brings into play the first card of the white pile, reading and applying first the effects on the back and then the printed information on the front, and so on. The cards will now tell you everything you need to know...

We wish you a gripping experience!

Difficulty Levels

The Gripping Horror Stories are divided into three difficulty levels, which may also influence the number of black cubes the players have at the start of the game to play and compete for victory:

Anguishing Stories are the most accessible, such as The Terrible Secret of the Broken Key or The Bloody Nights of the Beast.
Terrifying Stories are of intermediate level, such as The Blood-Stained Pearl Necklace or The Diabolical Mystery of Fleet Street.
Horrific Stories are the most difficult, such as Blood on the Thames or The Strange Case of the Mangled Corpse.

Be careful, however: do not underestimate any type of Story. Even behind the simplest choices there may be deadly traps.

Solo and 2-Player Mode

Special Rules

The authors devised the following special rules to guarantee the fun of play for 2 players or solo. Do not be afraid of these rules: they will be easier to follow as you play the game. You need only follow a few simple global precautions; everything else proceeds normally as you have already learned.

Confrontation Tiles

These special rules use the 18 hexagonal Confrontation tiles, which represent "support" for the decision-making process you will need when voting in Choices and bidding in Trials. At the end of the game, the tiles are also used to determine the winner, whether that is a player or the game itself. In this way you will not miss worthy opponents.

All tiles have the same back, so that they can be shuffled and revealed at random in order to produce unexpected consequences. On the front, however, each tile has three different characteristics:

Turn: if the tile has a white background, the player reading the card is considered the active player and may use the standard powers of that role to their advantage (for example, resolving ties arbitrarily). If the tile has a black background, the game is considered the active side and applies those powers to its own advantage, to the detriment of the players. Do not cheat!
Symbols: for better contrast, cubes and symbols are printed in white on black-background tiles, but their meaning is exactly the same.
Centre line: six tiles bear a diamond on the centre line, four bear a circle on the centre line, and eight bear neither.

Choice (upper half of each tile): the number of black cubes the game uses to vote for the chosen option (G, D, or divided between the two options).

Trial (lower half of each tile): the number of black cubes the game bids secretly, which must be added to those of any other tile that the X symbol (when present) asks you to reveal. You may never reveal more than 3 tiles.

The rulebook shows all 18 tiles as follows. The purple hexagon on a tile is read here as the generic X symbol: it appears on exactly the tiles whose Trial asks for another tile to be revealed. (The printed text names the X symbol but does not separately label the purple hexagon, so this reading is the transcriber's.)

No.	Group (centre line)	Background	Choice	Trial
1	Diamond ◆	Black	1 cube D and 1 cube G	the Trial of another tile (X)
2	Diamond ◆	White	2 cubes D	1 cube + the Trial of another tile (X)
3	Diamond ◆	Black	1 cube D and 1 cube G	1 cube
4	Diamond ◆	White	2 cubes G	1 cube + the Trial of another tile (X)
5	Diamond ◆	Black	1 cube D and 1 cube G

Numbering of the tiles is added for reference only; the rulebook does not number them.

Setup for Solo and 2-Player Games

In both Solo and 2-player games:

Take the 18 tiles and set aside the 6 bearing the diamond on the centre line, until the Story explains how to use them.
Solo only: take the 4 tiles bearing the circle on the centre line and exclude them from the game.
Turn the remaining tiles face down and shuffle them to create the available pile (s).
2-player only: exclude 4 of the covered tiles from the game, so that a total of 8 remain.
Move 1 tile from the available pile to the discarded pile (u). The setup is correct if there are 7 tiles in the available pile, 1 in the discarded pile and none in the used pile (t).

Keep the tiles face down in all piles at all times. Keep the piles separate using the violet markers on the board so they do not get mixed up: their number affects the Epilogue!

The Three Piles

In Solo or 2-player mode the rules are similar to the standard mode. The only difference is the use of the 18 purple hexagonal tiles, which must be handled carefully during setup and placed correctly in one of the three piles during play.

s, Available tiles: tiles in this pile are revealed to apply the resolution effects of Choice votes and Trial bids.
t, Used tiles: a discarded tile is placed here each time a Check (g) fails. A revealed tile is also placed here when the game does not "win" a Choice. All tiles in this pile are reshuffled when the available pile (s) must be recreated because it is empty.
u, Discarded tiles: tiles from the available pile (s) are placed here once revealed to apply their effects. The only exception is when the game does not "win" a Choice, in which case the tiles are placed in the used pile (t) instead of the discarded pile (u).

Note that tiles may also be considered as used (t). If, during play, you run short of available tiles (s), reshuffle the used tiles (t) and turn them into available tiles (s). Whatever their status, all tiles must always be kept face down. Remember that the diamonds (o) always wait for the Story to explain how to use them.

Resolving a Choice

When you vote in a Choice h (D or G), in addition to the standard procedure you must also reveal 1 tile from the available pile (s):

if the game "wins" the Choice h, the revealed tile is placed face down in the discarded pile (u);
otherwise it is placed face down in the used pile (t).

As in a standard game, the players who do not win the Choice keep the black cubes they used to vote. This rarely happens, but if you cannot resolve a Choice h, the active player's power is given to whoever is reading the "page" of the Story.

After a Choice card, each player votes in the standard way. The first tile of pile (s) is then revealed and the effect printed on its upper part is applied. Example from the rulebook: the game has voted with one cube to the Right (D) and one cube to the Left (G); the chosen option is the one with the most votes, which is the Left (G). Since the game also voted for the choice that did not win the majority, the tile is placed in pile (t).

Caution: if the game runs out of available tiles (s) and used tiles (t) when determining a Choice h, reveal a tile from the discarded pile (u). After the majority has been determined, if the game has "won" the Choice h, each player gains 1 white disc as a reward; if it has not "won", the tile still returns to the discarded pile (u).

Resolving a Check

During play, when a Check g fails, a discarded tile (u) becomes a used tile (t) and must be moved to the corresponding pile. When a Check card is revealed, the players realise the conditions are not met. Therefore the first tile of pile (u) is moved on top of pile (t). The Story may turn into a nightmare, and the game may become a tougher opponent to beat.

Resolving a Trial

After the players have bid, reveal 1 available tile (s). If more tiles are revealed (never more than 3) as the result of effects, only the first one determines who is "active" for the turn, according to its background colour: white for the players and black for the game. All revealed tiles become discarded tiles (u).

As in a standard game, whoever has bid the most black cubes receives a disc as a reward. The game may therefore gain white discs, which are counted at the end of the game. If the game must decide who gets a white disc and cannot award it to itself, the disc goes to whoever is reading the "page" of the Story.

Solo example from the rulebook: the formula on the card requires a number of cubes equal to the number of players + 1, for a total of 2. The player bids 1 cube and reveals the first tile (s): it has a black background, bids zero cubes, but asks for another tile to be revealed. The second revealed tile bids 1 cube. The total of cubes bid is 2, so the Trial is a success. The game receives the reward disc, because the black background of the first revealed tile breaks the tie.

Final Tally (Solo and 2-Player)

At the end of a solo game the winner is determined as follows: the game compares the number of available tiles (s) plus the number of used tiles (t) with the number of black cubes each player has, also counting discs according to the standard rules. Can you meet this challenge?

Example from the rulebook: the game has ended and the Story has reached a neutral Epilogue. Player 1 has 2 cubes and 1 disc, and Player 2 has 3 cubes. The game, for its part, has a total of 3 tiles in piles (s) and (t) and holds no disc. As there is a tie (3 against 3 against 3), the player holding the most discs wins (1 against 0 against 0). The Story did not go very well, but Player 1 wins all the same!

Effects on Cards in These Modes

Story cards that add an effect for this mode are always preceded by the symbol Y. They concern the movement of Confrontation tiles between the three piles (s, t and u), generic tiles with the X symbol, or specific tiles with the diamond (o) or circle (p) symbol. This effect must be applied in addition, during the sequence in which it is inserted. Obviously, if you are not playing in this mode, ignore it.

Thank you for playing with us.

Turn Summary

This game consists of a series of turns during which the active player reads the card aloud before passing the turn to the next player clockwise (to the left). Your turn begins when a card "enters play", after the previous player has "passed their turn", and ends when one of the cards you resolve applies the effect "pass your turn". Apply this procedure to all cards that "enter play" or "intervene"* during your turn.

Back: after receiving your card, resolve the back in full before revealing the front. After resolving all effects on the back of the card that has "entered play", and before revealing the front, you may have the Stars interact with the Object markers in play that are accessible to them.
Front: after revealing the front, read the narrative passages, then resolve each passage up to an effect "pass your turn".

* When a card must intervene, "interrupt" the card being resolved until the intervening card has been fully resolved; then continue resolving the card left pending. Do the same if you create a chain of events.

Interpretation of Interior Locations

Here are the 28 Locations on the 14 white Interior tokens and their full meanings:

Garden shed: greenhouse, tool shed, pond, lake, barn, etc.
Balcony: mezzanine, terrace, etc.
Laundry: back kitchen, etc.
Cabinet: cage, kennel, cell, secret room, etc.
Cellar: catacombs, dungeon, basement, trapdoor, coal store, excavation site, etc.
Guest bedroom: hotel room, etc.
Master bedroom: boudoir, etc.
Chapel: church, altar, etc.
Corridor: vestibule, etc.
Kitchen: fireplace, etc.
Dormitory: barracks, etc.
Staircase: stairwell, etc.
Pantry: storeroom, etc.
Attic: garret, loft, etc.
Entrance hall: foyer, etc.

Interpretation of Exterior Locations

Here are the 32 Locations on the 16 yellow Exterior tokens and their full meanings:

Agency: company, firm, corporation, branch, etc.
Bank: commercial business, pawnshop, etc.
Library: bookshop, etc.
Office: practice, clinic, etc.
Offices: laboratory, workshop, shop, etc.
Castle: manor, fortress, tower, etc.
Cemetery: grave, headstone, ossuary, crypt, etc.
Club: smoking room, restaurant, bar, café, etc.
Police station: police post, barracks, armoury, police headquarters, etc.
Company: society, fraternity, congregation, order, etc.
Residence: house, home, flat, townhouse, villa, etc.
School: university, high school, primary school, etc.
Church: place of worship, temple, assembly, community, convent, monastery, abbey, etc.
Warehouse: depot, storehouse, etc.