Septima: Shapeshifting & Omens Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Shapeshifting
  • Player Setup
  • Gameplay
  • Shapeshift
  • Rules of Animal Form
  • Turning Back to Human
  • End of Season
• Omens
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
• Solo Rules
• Animal Tiles
• Appendix: Omens
  • The Alchemist's Gift
  • Broken Memories
  • Confused Memories
  • Empowering Constellation
  • Era of Epidemic
  • Era of Healing
  • Golden Cauldron
  • Festival of Guilds
  • Friendly Hermit
  • Paranoia
  • Search Warrant
  • Spiritual Link

Components

In player colors

• 8x Animal tiles
• 8x Animal Leader pawns
• 4x Shapeshift Action card

Omens

• 18x Omen cards

Shapeshifting

Playable with the Full Game only.

Shapeshifting is one of the more advanced techniques that a Coven Leader masters; it gives them greater flexibility when trying to avoid Suspicion.

Player Setup

Set up a Full Game, then:

1. Add the Shapeshift Action card to your hand, and return the Chant Action card to the box.
2. Take the two Animal Leader pawns of your color into your personal supply.
3. Take the two Animal tiles of your color into your personal supply:
   • a. Green: Serpent and Toad
   • b. Orange: Fox and Squirrel
   • c. Purple: Cat and Owl
   • d. Gray: Goat and Hare

Gameplay

Along with the Shapeshift Action card, a new concept is introduced: now, each player has a Human Leader pawn and two distinct Animal Leader pawns. Whenever an icon for the Leader or any text references the "Leader," it applies to both Human and Animal Leaders, even though the icon shows a human form.

Shapeshift

Main Ability: Change your Leader into an Animal and return all discarded Action cards to your hand.

Matching Bonus: Also, lower your Suspicion by 1.

When you change into an Animal, you can choose between the two available Animals.

1. Place the Animal tile on top of any 1 Witch tile. The ability of the covered Witch immediately becomes unavailable to you.
2. Replace your Human Leader on the Main board with the Animal Leader corresponding to the Animal tile.
3. When playing Shapeshift, also return all discarded Action cards into your hand. When you finish your turn, also return the Shapeshift Action to your hand. This means that at the end of the turn after playing Shapeshift, you should not have any Actions in your discard pile.

Shapeshift has the same icon as Chant in the base game. Any ability that refers to the Chant icon applies when you play Shapeshift.

When you Match, do not raise Suspicion for it.

Rules of Animal Form

When starting your Moon Phase in Animal Form, different rules apply to you:

• You can only select and play the four Actions that are listed on the Animal tile.
• You cannot use the ability of the Witch tile covered by your Animal tile.
• You can use the ability of the Animal tile when playing the leftmost Action.

When in Animal Form, you cannot raise your Suspicion in any way and have options to lower it:

• If you do not Match an Action, lower your Suspicion by 1.
• If you Match an Action with a player or the Septima, do not raise your Suspicion.
• You cannot use any effects or abilities that would require you to raise your Suspicion.

Turning Back to Human

At the end of each turn, each player in Animal Form may decide to shapeshift back to Human Form. If they do, they must replace their Animal Leader with their Human Leader on the Main board and remove the corresponding Animal tile from their Coven.

End of Season

You must always skip step 4 of the End of Season (regardless of what Form you are in), meaning you do not return your discarded Action cards to your hand at this point. If you want to return Actions to your hand, your only option is to play the Shapeshift Action. Note that you can turn back into your Human Form at the end of the same turn in which you played your Shapeshift Action, if you only need your discarded Action cards.

EXAMPLE (Shapeshifting): Green player is in a Toad Animal Form (a). Toad's ability can be used with the Brew action (b), allowing them to brew Potions using no Mushrooms when adjacent to an area with the river (c). They take a Brew Action (d), spending 1 Berry to brew 1 Flying Ointment (scoring 3 Wisdom), 1 Herb to brew 1 Infection Remedy, and 1 Berry and 1 Root to brew a Paralysis Remedy.

Omens

Playable with the Full Game only.

Omens are mystical events that heavily influence an entire Season and are represented by the Omen cards.

Setup

Set up a Full Game, then prepare the Omens deck.

1. Find the Witches' Sabbath Omen card (the one showing a small icon in the corner), and place it face up close to the Main board.
2. Shuffle the rest of the Omen cards, then randomly select 3 face-down cards to form a deck. Flip this entire deck face up (so only the bottom card is revealed instantly), and place the deck on top of the Witches' Sabbath Omen card.
3. Return all other Omen cards to the box.

Gameplay

In each Season of the game, a different Omen will be active, except the Autumn (1st) Season, where none will be active. The active Omen is always placed under the Main board, with only one half visible, either a positive effect (bright) or negative effect (dark), which applies to all players. The positive effects are optional for each player, while the negative effects are mandatory for everyone throughout the whole Season.

New Omens come into effect as the last step of each End of Season, with either the positive or negative effect. To determine which, calculate the total amount of Suspicion that all players have. If you reach 8/12/16 total Suspicion in a 2-/3-/4-player game then the negative (dark) effect will apply to the next Season; otherwise the positive (bright) effect will apply.

Discard the previous Omen (if there is one) from under the Main board and place the new Omen there, showing the correct half. Note that the upcoming Omen on the top of the draw deck is already face-up.

The bottom Omen, Witches' Sabbath, is special: it becomes active as the first step of the End of Game scoring and you resolve the benefit/penalty immediately.

EXAMPLE (Omens): In a 3-player game, Orange has 5 Suspicion, Green has 3 Suspicion, and Gray has 4 Suspicion at the End of Season. The total is 5 + 3 + 4 = 12. This means their total Suspicion is too high so the Omen's negative effect will apply next season. They discard the Omen currently under the Main board then take the face-up Omen from the deck, placing it under the Main board so the negative effect is visible.

Solo Rules

When playing with Shapeshifting, the Widow does not care what form you take and she does not change her or her Spiders' form. She will continue to pursue you regardless of what animal you become. She does not change her Chant Action card to a Shapeshift Action card at Setup, and her Chant will Match with your Shapeshift. However, if you have the mastery of Shapeshifting, it does set a higher level of acceptance towards you: You need to meet seven of the eight Tribulations to win.

When playing with Omens, the Black Widow does not gain the benefit of or disadvantage of Omens. However, add her Suspicion to the total count when determining either positive or negative effect of the upcoming Omen. The threshold in a solo game is 8.

Animal Tiles

SERPENT — Possible actions: Remember, Heal, Move, Recruit

Remember ability: You may take 2 different Crowd Picks instead of resolving the Main Ability of Remember. If you do so and have Matched, take 1 additional, different Crowd Pick, instead of resolving the Matching Bonus of Remember. The abilities of Aylana and Tommy still apply since you have played Remember.

TOAD — Possible actions: Brew, Ritual, Move, Remember

Brew ability: When you Brew adjacent to an area with the river on it, you don't need to spend any Mushrooms.

GOAT — Possible actions: Ritual, Brew, Move, Remember

Ritual ability: Spend 1 Herb to ready 1 Spell.

HARE — Possible actions: Heal, Collect, Move, Remember

Heal ability: Gain 1 Root for each Patient you have healed, even Patients from the Hospital or Patients healed by any Spell.

FOX — Possible actions: Move, Plead, Heal, Remember

Move ability: Move any number of steps to end up adjacent to an area with Root printed on it. If you do, gain 1 Skull.

SQUIRREL — Possible actions: Collect, Recruit, Move, Remember

Collect ability: Gain an additional 1 of each different Lunar Ingredient type that you have collected this turn, but no more than 2 in total.

Note: the printed text reads "additonal"; corrected here to "additional" for transcription.

CAT — Possible actions: Recruit, Brew, Move, Remember

Recruit ability: Send 1 additional Loyal Citizen to the Crowd, if you are adjacent to at least 1 Town area.

OWL — Possible actions: Plead, Ritual, Move, Remember

Plead ability: Send 1 additional Loyal Citizen from the Crowd into any Trial Chamber (same or different).

Appendix: Omens

This chapter contains clarifications for Omen effects that require additional explanation. The clarifications only make sense when read together with the Omen card effects themselves.

The Alchemist's Gift

This means that you can brew a Love Potion using any 3 Ingredients and all other Potions using any 2 Ingredients. If you use the Toad's ability, then Infection Remedy, Flying Ointment, and Love Potion cost 1 Ingredient less.

Broken Memories

The Serpent cannot use its ability, since it would require playing Remember.

Confused Memories

You cannot use any Animal ability either. You can, however, use the ability of the Witch from the Magic Mirror Spell, as they are not in your Coven.

Empowering Constellation

If you ready a Spell as a Crowd Pick after a Trial, you cannot ready another.

Era of Epidemic

To track which Witch you have selected, flip it face down in your Coven. When you exile it, return the tile to the box.

Era of Healing

When you heal a Patient with a different Remedy than usual, you can only advance on the Patient track corresponding to the Patient token, and not to the Remedy (except with Edith).

Golden Cauldron

If you brew 3 Potions in your turn, you may still gain the additional (free) Practical Potion as a 4th one.

Festival of Guilds

You may not use the abilities of Crystal outcrops and Shrines without being adjacent to them.

Friendly Hermit

An "Offering to the Spirits" is the Ingredient that you must spend to advance to a ribbon on the Ritual track.

Paranoia

Lowering your Suspicion immediately after raising it does not cancel this effect, you still must lose 2 Wisdom.

Search Warrant

This does not affect Crowd Picks during Moon Phases, only after the Trial(s). If you would normally be able to take 0 or 1 Crowd Pick, you cannot take any.

Spiritual Link

If Dragomir is on the First Trial, all players (not just the Trial Winner) may use the ability to lower Suspicion.

If Johanna is on Trial, the players cannot use her ability right after her Trial, because she is removed from the Chamber when the ability would take effect.

If Bryn is on Trial, and the Trial Winner decides to discard them, the Trial Winner may use the first part of their ability (recalling only 1 Loyal Citizen as the Trial Winner), but not the second part (not recalling after Crowd Picks).

Suspicious Allies

Reminder: Raising your Suspicion will trigger a Hunter Roll or Relocation later in your turn.

Vengeful Hermit

An "Offering to the Spirits" is the Ingredient that you must spend to advance to a ribbon on the Ritual track.

Wave of Sympathy

This does not affect Crowd Picks during Moon Phases, only after the Trial(s). You cannot take more than 4 Crowd Picks.

Witches' Sabbath

This is true for both Trials.