Sporz Original Outbreak Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Scenario
  • In practice
• The Onboard Computer
• Roles
  • The Mutants
    • The base mutant
    • The astronaut mutated during the game
    • Actions of the Mutants
    • Mutant Gestures
  • The Doctors
  • The Computer Scientist
  • The Psychologist
  • The Geneticist
  • The Spy
  • The Hacker
  • The Astronaut
• The Genomes
  • Normal
  • The Resistant
  • The Hosts
• Before the First Night
  • Distribution of roles
  • Designation of hosts and resistants
  • Election of a leader
• How a Night Plays Out
  • Start of the night
  • Turn of the mutants
  • Turn of the doctors
  • Turn of the computer scientist
  • Turn of the psychologist
  • Turn of the geneticist
  • Turn of the spy
  • Turn of the hacker
  • End of the night
• How a Day Plays Out
  • The election
  • The investigation
  • The vote
  • The execution
• End of the Game
  • Important!

Scenario

In practice

Each player is secretly assigned a role. The game then proceeds through a succession of turns made of two successive phases: day and night.

Each night, all players close their eyes, then the player who plays the onboard computer calls each role one by one, so that each can discreetly carry out their secret actions.

Each day, players spontaneously form small groups that communicate, investigating, to try to find out who is who, and above all who is a mutant or not. At the end of the day they may choose to eliminate one suspect astronaut.

The Onboard Computer

The Onboard Computer (OdB) manages the running of the game. It is the absolute God; it does not play directly, but must manage all the roles, the genomes, the votes by day, and run the night. This particular role is obviously hard to hold, and it is advised to leave this difficult task to an experienced player. It is possible to do it as two people, or to take notes (take care that they stay secret!).

Roles

In Sporz every player has a role; those who have none are called simple astronauts. There are many roles in Sporz; some are indispensable to be able to play, others are there only to spice up the game!

The Mutants

The composition of the mutant side evolves during the game, but they always act together, at the start of the night. There is never a conflict of interest among them because they have exactly the same goal (that only mutants remain aboard), and being killed by one's friends is not a problem in itself if it lets their side win.

If despite everything a disagreement remains among the mutants and they do not want to decide during their turn in the night, the astronauts win the game by forfeit.

The base mutant

A very controversial role, the base mutant is for some the source of all trouble, the incarnation of evil, and for others a spiritual father sent like a prophet to spread the good Spore. A matter of point of view.

Concretely, the base mutant is a mutant host astronaut when his autopsy is performed. This means he has no main role. He is also the first and only mutant aboard at the election of the leader.

The astronaut mutated during the game

He has the same attributes as the base mutant but is not necessarily a host. He takes part in deciding the night's actions.

Actions of the Mutants

The mutants wake first each night. They can perform two actions:

• Mutate or kill one person AND
• Paralyse one person.

Important remark: the mutants do not each perform two actions, but perform two actions IN TOTAL (whatever the number of mutants). This is why they must confer in silence.

Mutation. This is the mutants' primary action. The mutants can mutate only one person each night. That person then becomes a mutant, unless he is resistant. The mutants do not know whether the mutation succeeded until the following night, when the new mutant wakes at the same time as the others.

Assassination. The alternative to mutation is to kill any player, who is permanently removed from the game. The onboard computer then announces: "I am going to designate the person killed." That person may open his eyes; the other players who wake during the night see that he has been killed. The dead player's role is revealed in the morning.

Paralysis. The paralysed person cannot perform his action during the current night. If the person is a doctor, he does not open his eyes, and so there is only one doctor for the night, who therefore does not know whether his colleague was mutated or paralysed.

Note: Mutants are not forbidden to paralyse one another, or to mutate and paralyse the same person.

Mutant Gestures

Each night action of the mutants has a specific gesture for communicating silently with the OdB.

• Mutate: point at the person with the index finger, and point the thumb up.
• Kill: point at the person with the index finger, and point the thumb down.
• Paralyse: point at the person with the index finger, and hold the thumb horizontal.

In addition, mutants can communicate with each other by signs.

The Doctors

There are two doctors, and they know each other. On their turn they try to heal crew members, but they do not know, a priori, who is a mutant. Each has the right to one syringe. They wake just after the mutants. If a doctor is a mutant or paralysed at the moment he is due to wake, he does not wake, but can be healed (he is the only role in this case). Each designates, thumb up, the person he wishes to heal (if only one doctor wakes during the night, only one person is healed).

Instead of healing, the doctors can kill a single player by designating their victim thumb down. There is then no healing at all. Like the mutants, they can agree on night actions by gestures.

Note 1: Paralysis cannot be healed; a paralysed player who receives healing remains paralysed.

Note 2: It is often preferable for the doctors to heal players. But in some cases killing can be a better choice:

• When they have found a host mutant whom they cannot heal and whom they were unable to kill the previous day.
• When one of the two doctors is relentlessly paralysed or mutated for several nights, his colleague is forced to always heal him. The doctors' hands are tied. To avoid this, he can kill his colleague.

The Computer Scientist

When called, the computer scientist wakes (unless paralysed) and the onboard computer indicates with fingers the current number of mutants (i.e. after the mutations and healings of the current night).

The Psychologist

The psychologist studies people's behaviour and can know whether a person is a mutant. On his turn, if not paralysed, he designates a person to the onboard computer, who indicates his state by gestures (mutant or healthy).

• If the person is a mutant: the OdB mimics a mutant (with an aggressive expression).
• If the person is healthy: the OdB shakes his head or arms to say "normal".

The Geneticist

The geneticist takes DNA samples and can know each person's degree of resistance to the spore (see Genomes). On his turn, if not paralysed, he designates a person, and the OdB indicates the target's genome by gestures.

• If resistant, he shows a biceps to say "strong".
• If normal, the OdB shakes his head or arms to say "normal".
• If host: the OdB takes a fearful expression to say "easily mutable".

The Spy

Thanks to the small camera he hid in the room of the person he designated to the onboard computer, the spy, if not paralysed, can know everything that happened to that person during the night, that is, whether she opened her eyes, whether she was mutated, paralysed, infected, healed, and whether she was inspected by the psychologist or by the geneticist.

In practice, the OdB announces aloud the list of the above events, and nods yes or no for each of them.

The Hacker

The computer hacker, at night on his turn (if not paralysed), hacks the files of one of these roles: computer scientist, psychologist, geneticist. He thus gets access to the information that role had during this turn, but does not know a priori which player holds that role. He indicates to the OdB the role he wants to hack:

• Computer scientist (makes the gesture of typing on a keyboard): the OdB gives him with fingers the number of mutants aboard.
• Psychologist (makes the Greek letter Ψ (psi) with his fingers): the OdB designates the inspected person to him, and gives him the result of the inspection.
• Geneticist (crosses index and middle fingers, to represent a DNA double helix): same principle as for the psychologist.

Note 1: He cannot ask for a role again unless he has previously asked for all the other living roles. For example, if he hacks the computer scientist on the first turn, he must hack the two other roles before being able to ask for this role again.

Note 2: If the person who holds the hacked role is paralysed, the OdB tells the hacker that no information is available, by showing his thumb horizontal, or by crossing his arms over his body. He cannot ask for any other information.

The Astronaut

Astronauts are the lifeblood of the crew. The fact that they cannot obtain information other than by communicating with the other players makes them the spearhead of the fight against the mutants!

Paralysis has no effect on them since they do not open their eyes at night, and their death does not deprive the crew of a vital source of information, which is why they can afford to take every risk to find the mutants. Finally, it is they who can swing a crucial vote.

The Genomes

Not all astronauts react the same way to the spore... There are three categories of genome, which the geneticist can learn (or sometimes the person concerned; see How a Night Plays Out).

Normal

The great majority of the occupants of the ship are. They can be mutated, and healed, as many times as the mutants or the doctors wish. The doctors always have a normal genome.

The Resistant

He cannot be mutated. Unless the geneticist told him, he does not know a priori that he is resistant, and will only learn it when someone tries to mutate him. There is only one per crew.

Note: He is not better protected than the others against paralysis.

The Hosts

Hosts, once mutated, can never be healed. Apart from the base mutant, who is automatically a host and knows it, the other does not know (except through information from the geneticist), and will notice if he is a mutant and someone tries to heal him. In addition to the base mutant, there is one host per crew.

Note: As long as he is healthy, the (useless) healing he receives seems "normal" to him.

Before the First Night

Distribution of roles

At the start of the game, the OdB must distribute the roles to everyone (usually by cards). They are distributed at random (not doing so at random can lead players to reasoning such as: he was a mutant last game so he won't be this time). The doctors must know each other before the first night, so the OdB asks everyone to close their eyes ("Night falls."), and calls the doctors, who recognise each other and close their eyes again, then the base mutant (so as not to assign him a particular genome).

Designation of hosts and resistants

The OdB secretly chooses, among the players who are neither mutant nor doctor, one host and one resistant (the base mutant is already a host; a host doctor gives victory to the mutants too quickly, while a resistant doctor is too powerful for the astronauts).

Election of a leader

Then the OdB invites the crew to elect a leader, who will break ties in votes. The vote is by show of hands, and the lucky winner is given an insignia, which can be a ridiculous hat, a scarf, or any other accessory that will do.

The first night can then begin.

How a Night Plays Out

IMPORTANT note: If a person is paralysed or if a doctor is mutated, he keeps his eyes closed, possibly makes the "paralysed" gesture (thumb horizontal) to the OdB, and the OdB pretends to carry out his action. The other players do not know he has been paralysed. The onboard computer must always say the same words, and make the same agreements in gender and number (mutants and doctors in the plural, everything in the masculine). Nevertheless, it is possible, and recommended, to punctuate the night with narrative texts (giving no information), and to invite the players to make noise to cover the sound of the nocturnal gestures.

Players begin by placing themselves in a circle around the onboard computer, taking care to be within reach of the person who plays it, and who will move around inside the circle.

The computer performs the following actions in order. The text it must say is shown between quotation marks.

Start of the night

"All astronauts fall asleep." All players close their eyes; the onboard computer checks this, and will watch for it throughout the night.

Turn of the mutants

"I call the mutants; they designate to me the person they want to mutate, and the one they want to paralyse." The mutants then wake and designate their victims.

Note: The mutants may choose to kill instead of mutating, but as the case is rare, the Onboard Computer omits it.

"The mutants go back to sleep. I am going to walk around and designate the person mutated..." He goes around the players, passes close to each of them, and touches the forehead of the mutated person. "...as well as the person paralysed." He does the same for the paralysed person.

Note: If the mutated person is resistant, instead of touching his forehead normally, the OdB touches his forehead several times in a row: thus the player (and that player only) knows that someone tried to mutate him, but that it failed. If the mutants choose to kill, the computer announces it, and the victim, when his forehead has been touched, may open his eyes.

Turn of the doctors

"I call the doctors; they designate to me the people they want to heal." The doctors wake and designate the people they want to heal.

"The doctors go back to sleep; I am going to walk among you and designate the people healed." He again goes around the players and touches the forehead of those healed, even if they are already healthy.

Note: If a person is a host mutant and is healed by the doctors, the OdB touches his forehead several times. Thus the player knows someone tried to heal him, but that he is a host. If a person is a healthy host and is healed, the OdB touches his forehead only once: he will know he is a host only if he is first mutated, then healed!

Turn of the computer scientist

"I call the computer scientist. I give him the number of mutants aboard the ship." The computer scientist opens his eyes, and the OdB indicates the number of mutants on his fingers.

Turn of the psychologist

"The computer scientist goes back to sleep; I call the psychologist. He designates to me the person whose behaviour he wants to study." The psychologist wakes, designates the person, and the OdB makes him the mutant or normal gesture.

Turn of the geneticist

"The psychologist goes back to sleep; I call the geneticist. He designates to me the person whose genome he will study." The geneticist then wakes, designates the desired person, and the OdB indicates her genome by gestures.

Note: The psychologist, the geneticist and the computer scientist can be swapped in order.

Turn of the spy

"The geneticist goes back to sleep; I call the spy. He designates to me the person he wants to spy on." The spy wakes and designates the person. "I tell him whether this person opened her eyes this night..., whether she was mutated..., paralysed..., infected..., healed..., whether she was inspected by the psychologist..., and whether she was inspected by the geneticist." Each time, the OdB gives thumb down if the answer is negative and thumb up if it is affirmative, or nods yes or no. The pauses allow taking one's time so that the gesture is clearly seen.

Turn of the hacker

"The spy goes back to sleep; I call the hacker. He designates to me the role he wants to hack." The hacker wakes and makes to the OdB one of the agreed gestures designating a role. The OdB then gives him, through the gestures of the role concerned, its information.

End of the night

"The hacker goes back to sleep, and day breaks." Everyone opens their eyes and the following day begins.

How a Day Plays Out

A very important rule to follow with beginner players (with experienced players it is no longer useful): the OdB says: "For safety reasons and to slow the spread of germs, any group of more than 3 people will be deprived of oxygen." This encourages discussion in small groups. For the same reasons, players are advised to stand up. It is of course still possible to hold global discussions if they do not drag on.

The election

If there is no leader (because he was killed in the night, or the previous day), a new election is held immediately as at the start of the game.

The investigation

The players, awake, stand up and talk to each other (discreetly or not). They may give each other true or false information, bluff, try to extort information, corrupt each other; all moves are allowed. They cannot communicate with the dead, and the Onboard Computer cannot give them any extra information. The latter can always liven up the discussions, encourage a solitary player to get involved in the debate, or cut short a discussion that lasts too long.

The vote

When they judge they have enough information, the players vote secretly in the OdB's ear (who notes or memorises the votes) for the person they want to eliminate. It is possible to vote "blank". A player may also not vote, as this has a different effect than voting blank. Players have the right to change their choice as long as the vote has not been closed. When the OdB has gathered all the votes, he announces the result.

Note: It is up to the OdB to limit the duration of the investigation. When players are caught up in the game they do not come to vote by themselves. The OdB can for example decide to close the votes without having collected them all, or threaten to do so.

The execution

The player obtaining the relative majority of votes is killed. The blank vote counts the same as an astronaut; no one is killed if it has the majority. In case of a tie, the leader decides. He may quickly listen to the arguments of each before making his choice. If there is a tie between the blank vote and one or more players, the leader may opt for a victory of the blank vote, and no one is killed.

The person killed is excluded from the game and has only a spectator role. He must no longer communicate any information to the other players once the result is announced. In addition, the OdB tells the other players the role and genome of the dead person, as well as his state, mutant or healthy (for example "he was psychologist, healthy, normal").

Note 1: If the base mutant is killed, one does not say "base mutant, mutant, host", but "astronaut, mutant, host".

Note 2: If the leader is killed, another must be elected the next day, in the same way as at the start of the game.

The following night can then begin.

End of the Game

Days and nights alternate until the end of the game. It ends when there are only healthy people or only mutants. The side remaining at the end of the game is declared the winner.

For a victory of the healthy, the game stops when there is no living mutant aboard.

For a victory of the mutants, the game is stopped when the living doctors are mutated and there are at least two mutants when evening falls. Indeed, the number of mutants at that point can only grow (if the astronauts manage to kill one mutant per day, the mutants mutate one per night), while the number of healthy astronauts decreases. The only possible hope remains the resistant, if he happens to be mutated at night and the mutant is alone: during the day, the astronauts may manage to eliminate the single mutant and thus win the game.

Important!

A player's membership of a side is only defined if he stays on the same side the whole game (for example the base mutant and the resistant). Also, a player's goal is not to win the game since victory is defined at the level of a side and not of an individual. One must distinguish the goal of the character, which is to make his side win (so his intentions change completely when he is mutated or healed, and he does not lose by dying), from the goal of the player who plays him, which is only to have fun.