The Presence Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Component Overview
  • Campaign Components
• Game Overview
• Game Setup
• Winning as the Visitors
• Winning as the Spirit
• General Rules
• Visitor Turns
• Spirit Turn
• Upkeep Phase
• Game Modes
• Session Mode
• The Dark Board
• Variants
• Two Player Game
• Glossary
• Icons
• Index

Component Overview

• 4x Main Boards
• 1x Rulebook
• 2x Secret Boards
• 1x Chronicle
• 1x Clue Board
• 1x Hope Track
• 1x Learning Guide & Campaign Book
• 8x Visitor Character Boards
• 8x Fear Trackers
• 5x Spirit Dice
• 8x Visitor Pawns
• 1x Spirit Pawn
• 14x Doors
• 1x Reference Sheet
• 2x Active Player Markers
• 5x Spirit Character Boards

Campaign Components

• 16x Small Clues
• 1x Spirit Clue Bag
• 6x Drain Markers
• 38x Spirit Clues
• 2x Campaign Spirit Clues
• 46x Campaign Event Cards
• 1x Time Marker
• 1x Hope Marker
• 1x Nerve Marker
• 1x Hidden Entrance token
• 1x Fireplace marker
• 3x Special Bonded Markers
• 1x Bonded Marker
• 1x Dark Lady Marker
• 4x Candle Tokens
• 40x Clue Cards
• 12x Fear Cards
• 32x Item Cards
• 16x Memory Action Cards
• 18x Campaign Item Cards
• 3x Item Tokens
• 10x Display Script Cards
• 10x Spirit Script Cards
• 9x Scenario Rule Cards
• 80x Visitor Action Cards
• 4x Campaign Secret Cards
• 24x Secret Cards
• 60x Spirit Cards
• 10x Player Aid Cards

Game Overview

Preparing the First Play

If this is the first time you play, refer instead to the Learning Guide. It will help you start your first game with an introductory scenario of lower complexity, and help with the rules teach.

This Rulebook contains all rules of the game. It should be used as reference material during play, or to look up rules between games. The Learning Guide will walk you through the rules in a logical order and help explain some of the strategy of the game.

The trust and deduction of this game makes it a bit different, and strategy may not be obvious on a first play. The first game will be a learning experience, for both new and veteran players of games.

Session or Campaign?

After the Learning Guide and the introductory scenario you can move on to either the campaign mode, or session mode. See pg. 21 for game modes.

For a more narrative experience, move on to the Campaign Book to start your campaign. The Chronicle should be kept closed for now, it will be referenced during the campaign.

If you prefer a pure strategic experience, instead choose the standalone session mode. This will require you to first unlock some content, see pg. 22.

Note: If unlocking content this way, you can still play the campaign later, but will not get to experience discovering this content dynamically as you progress through it.

Game Setup

Player Count

Some components are marked with an icon indicating whether they should be used, depending on the number of players. Before setup, remove any components marked with a higher number than your current player count and return them to the box. If playing with two players, see pg. 25 for the 2-player rules.

Table Setup (steps 1 to 4)

1. Place the Main board and Basement board on their A-side. For 4 players, also use the West Wing board. For 5 players use both the West Wing and East Wing boards. Add the fireplace marker to the Dining Hall, dark side up. Add all door markers to their positions. Lock the Cellar door (keyhole side up).

The West and East Wing boards are the upper floors of the manor. Visitors may enter these by using the stairs. The Cellar is accessed by the Kitchen stairs.

2. Set up the Hope Track on its B-side with the time marker in the first space and the hope and nerve markers in their starting positions, marked on the spaces of the track.

(For your first game: Instead use the A-side of the Hope Track)

The last player to have seen a ghost plays the spirit and selects an available spirit character. Identify each character's components by their unique symbol.

The spirit is a more complex role. For your first game, it should be played by the rules teacher and you will only have the character 5 available.

3. For session mode, see pg. 22 for deciding which scripts to use. For campaign mode, the scripts are determined by the scenario.

(For your first game: use the A1 & A2 scripts)

Take the two matching sets of script cards to be used in the game. Place the display scripts face up above the board. Shuffle the spirit scripts to form the script deck.

The display scripts show the visitors which scripts are possible for the spirit to draw, and can be referred to during the game to deduce which one the spirit could have.

4. Take the secret board corresponding to the number of players in the game. Place it and the clue board near the spirit. Take the four secret cards to be used in the game and place them near the secret board.

5. Spirit Setup. As the spirit, take the 12 spirit cards with the corresponding character symbol and shuffle them to form the spirit deck.

Take the four secret cards with the corresponding character symbol. You will use these in Step 8.

(For your first game: only use the 10 spirit cards marked A for the 5-spirit. Also, use the four general secret cards marked A.)

Take the spirit scripts to be used in the game, shuffle them to form the script deck. This deck should match the display scripts chosen in Step 3.

Take a number of presence dice equal to the number of characters (3, 4 or 5). Add the rest to the box. (See pg. 25 for 2-player rules)

Take all general spirit clues. To these, add the 5 spirit clues corresponding to your chosen spirit character. Add all of them to the bag to draw from. Shuffle all of the 16 small clues in a face-down pile to draw from.

The spirit secretly removes clue cards matching the hidden secret cards.

6. Visitor Setup. Each visitor player selects a character to play and takes their character board, visitor pawn, fear tracker and candle token.

Place all visitor pawns in the Great Hall with their candle tokens on their light side.

Each visitor player then takes and shuffles the deck of 10 action cards corresponding to their character.

Item Deck Composition — Your item deck should always contain the 4 special item cards. Randomise the rest.

Players	Special	Total
3	4	12
4	4	16
5	4	20

7. Item Deck Setup. Take the item cards. Find the special item cards - 2x Manor Key, 2x Match - and place them face down to form the item deck.

For a 3/4/5 character game, add 8/12/16 random item cards face down to the 4 special items. You should now have a total of 12/16/20 cards in your item deck.

Shuffle the item deck and add it to its designated spot on the Basement Board. Return any remaining item cards to the box without looking at them.

(For your first game: now proceed back to page 3 of the Learning Guide)

The old manor is full of objects and trinkets. Most of these can help the visitors in their struggle against an evil spirit, but relying on them instead of trusting a good spirit invites their downfall.

8. Secret Card Setup (spirit only). As the spirit, you will now set up the secret cards. This and the next setup step should be kept hidden from the visitor players.

The secret cards represent your tragic past, and each has one of the four unique trauma symbols: Betrayal, Tragedy, Suffering, Death.

Take your four secret cards. Place them face-down randomly on the four upper locations of the secret board. You are allowed to inspect these freely during the game.

(For your first game: Instead use the secret cards marked A)

9. Clue Deck Setup (spirit only). Take the clue cards. Make sure that you have only those matching your player count. For normal difficulty, add 2 random fear cards per visitor to the clue deck. Put the remaining fear cards back in the box.

(For your first game: use only one fear card per visitor)

Look at the setup symbols beneath the secret cards on the secret board. Randomly remove that number of clue cards matching the trauma symbol (Betrayal/Tragedy/Suffering/Death) of that secret card. Return the removed clue cards to the box. Shuffle the clue deck and add it to its location on the Clue Board.

(The example above removes clue cards with the symbols 1x Betrayal, 3x Death, 4x Tragedy, 6x Suffering for a 4 player game.)

Clue Deck Composition — For 3/4/5 characters, your clue deck should contain a total of 18/26/34 cards.

Players	Clue	Fear	Total
3	14	4	18
4	20	6	26
5	26	8	34

10. Determine the Script. As the spirit, shuffle the deck of spirit scripts and draw one card in secret. Study it carefully. This describes your objective during the game and is kept hidden from the visitors.

(Take care to not give this information away unintentionally, especially as a good spirit.)

11. Setting up the Clues. Draw one spirit clue from the bag, look at it in secret and place it face down in any empty room. Add a presence die to the same room, setting it to its lowest value. Repeat this until all your presence dice are placed.

(3, 4 or 5 dice, depending on player count)

Then, randomly place a small clue face down into each empty room. All rooms, except the visitors' starting location, should now have one spirit clue or one small clue.

12. Start of Game. Once setup is fully completed, the spirit player draws spirit cards equal to the number of characters in the game (3, 4 or 5).

All visitor players draw 5 cards from their personal deck of action cards. Give the active player marker to the visitor to the left of the spirit player.

(If 2 players: The visitor player draws 7 cards from their combined deck of action cards)

Make sure to check your character boards for any abilities that trigger when the game starts.

The game is now ready to begin, starting with the visitor holding the active player marker.

Winning as the Visitors

As the visitors, your objective is to reveal all four secret cards. At the end of a round, if all secret cards are revealed, the surviving visitors win.

However, if the spirit script has been revealed, this is no longer enough to secure victory. See Revealing the Script below.

The secrets represent the traumatic memories of the spirit's past that formed it and that still bind it. By revealing them, the visitors gradually loosen the chains that bind it, but also its hold over them.

Discarding Clue Cards

When discarding a clue card, you must place it in one of the four clue discards below each secret card. Your objective is to gather enough matching trauma symbols below a secret card to safely reveal it.

At the start of the game, the visitors know only the number of clue cards that match each of the four positions. However, they do not know which trauma symbol corresponds to what position.

The more clue cards you draw, the easier it becomes to deduce which secret card lies where. When in doubt, discard cards to the left. The leftmost secret card has the most corresponding clue cards in the clue deck, making its trauma the most probable to draw.

Revealing Secrets

When you reveal a secret card, such as by using the Invoke action, an effect on it will trigger based on the number of clue cards with the correct trauma that are discarded beneath it.

If you have enough matching clue cards, as indicated on the left side of the secret board, you will be rewarded with more time by increasing hope or nerve on the Hope Track. If you do not, you will be punished, reducing hope/nerve.

The number of matching clue cards needed depends on player count.

Beneath each secret card, you can see the number of clue cards in the clue deck with a matching trauma.

Example: The first secret has been revealed. The visitor who revealed it must resolve the middle effect, since there are three clue cards with the correct trauma.

Several visitor effects can reveal a secret card, such as your action card with the Invoke action. Be careful, revealing a secret card before you are ready can have dire consequences.

As the spirit, you may inspect the secret cards at any time during the game. You may use this information to help or deceive the visitors.

Visitor Elimination

Visitors can succumb, and be eliminated from the game. This occurs when they are forced to reduce nerve by a game effect, but are unable to due to it being lost and removed from the Hope Track.

The most common way a visitor must reduce nerve is when reaching the end of their fear track. See succumbing on pg. 15.

Winning as the Spirit

As the spirit, you will have drawn one of the spirit scripts in secret. This card is divided into two sections: The top section is active while the script is hidden. The bottom section activates once the script is revealed, overriding the top section.

As the spirit, you are unstable and confused, forced to relive fragments of your shattered memories over and over. To you, nothing makes sense anymore.

The visitors discover and step on these broken shards of your mind, enhancing your distress. You may want to lash out at them to make it stop, or perhaps seek their true understanding to relieve the pain.

Hope & Nerve

If hope or nerve ever meet the time marker, remove it immediately. It is lost and cannot return. If the lost marker corresponds to your script, immediately reveal your script and resolve any effect on it.

This can happen at the end of a round when the time marker moves up, or in the middle of a round when hope or nerve is reduced and meet it.

As the spirit, keep a close eye on the movement of these markers. You should consider the risks and opportunities they present to you. The visitors will not know which one reveals your script, and must play around both possibilities.

Revealing the Script

Once the script is revealed, the top half of it is no longer active. Instead, the bottom part of the script describes your new win conditions, and may completely change your strategy.

Once the script is revealed the spirit is normally hostile to the visitor players, wanting to eliminate one or several of them to win the game.

If the spirit script is revealed, revealing the secrets is no longer enough for the visitors to win the game! They also need to accomplish a secondary condition to win, stated on the revealed script.

As an evil spirit, you cannot win the game until your script is revealed. You want to trigger this final phase quickly, but be careful: if you lose the visitors' trust, they may find ways to counter your efforts.

As a good spirit, you want to avoid revealing your script, as it makes it harder for you to win. Find ways to aid the visitors. If you earn their trust they may take the risks necessary for all of you to win, together.

Eternal Darkness

At the end of the final round, if no player has achieved their goal, the spirit is pulled back into the void and the visitors are trapped forever.

The only winner is Wrightwatch manor.

General Rules

Turn Structure

The game is played in up to nine rounds. Each round starts with the visitor to the left of the spirit player. Each visitor takes their full turn, then passes the active player marker clockwise. Once all visitors have taken their turns, the spirit player takes their turn. Finally, the upkeep phase triggers various effects, and the time marker moves up, concluding the round.

0. Start of a Round
1. Visitor Turns (one per visitor) — Visitors use their pawns, taking 3 actions each.
2. Spirit Turn — Spirit moves presence dice and plays spirit cards for their powers.
3. Upkeep Phase — The game may end. New clues are added. The time marker moves up the Hope Track.

Pawns & Presence Dice

As a visitor, you are represented by your visitor pawn. With it, you will move around the manor and take actions.

As the spirit, you are an ethereal being represented by multiple presence dice. You may take actions where you have presence, meaning any die showing a value of one pip or more. The more presence (more pips), the more powerful the powers you can play.

Light & Darkness

Rooms are dark unless a source of light is nearby, in which case the entire room is light.

As a visitor, you carry a candle marker that illuminates your current room. If your candle would be smothered, flip the marker to its dark side. You may always smother your own candle as a quick action, if you wish.

The Dining Hall contains the fireplace marker. Once lit by a match, it acts as a light source similar to a candle, but may not be moved.

As a spirit, you are more powerful when humans are afraid. Light creates comfort and safety, making it harder for you to affect them. Wait for them in the shadows, for humans are curious beings. Eventually, they always come.

Fear

As a visitor, when you suffer fear, move your tracker to the right on the fear track on your character board. If the tracker reaches the end, you get knocked out and cannot suffer additional fear.

In addition, you must move the nerve marker down one space on the Hope Track. If you cannot, you succumb instead, see pg. 15.

Fear makes the spirit grow stronger. If you suffer fear near a presence die, the spirit may immediately increase one nearby presence die by 1.

In the example above, The Descendant has just suffered fear from revealing a spirit clue. She moves her fear tracker one step on her character board, and the spirit player increases a nearby presence die by 1.

Communication

Any conversation or communication should be heard by everyone around the table, including the spirit.

Communicating in hidden ways is not allowed, and visitor players may not show their hidden cards to each other.

There are no restrictions on what information can be shared.

Distance - Nearby

Any objects in the same room are nearby each other. Doors are nearby all rooms they are connected to. You are always nearby yourself.

Components next to your board are nearby all characters in the room. Components placed on your board are nearby you, only.

Example: Your item cards are nearby you and all others in the room. However, if a game effect adds a small clue to your board, only your character is nearby this token.

Distance - Within Hearing

Anything nearby you is always within hearing. In addition, all connected rooms that share an open door to your room are within hearing.

Thus, if another visitor is behind a closed door, or two rooms away, they are not within hearing.

Alone

When a player is alone, they may not communicate by speech or by expressions, noises, signals etc. This applies only to the situations listed below.

• As a visitor, you are alone if no other visitor is within hearing or if you are knocked out.
• As the spirit, you are always alone.

In addition, the visitor players may not communicate if an alone visitor holds the active player marker.

We can see that The Orphan and The Detective are not alone, as they are in the same room (nearby). The Descendant is not alone, as she has a single open door between her and the others (within hearing).

The Professor is alone, as there is more than a single door between him and the others. If the door from the Salon to the Grand Hall were to suddenly close, The Descendant would also be alone.

While alone you may not:

• Give strategic advice to others.
• Ask others for advice.
• Share general strategy.
• Share hidden information.
• Point out the game-state with strategic intent.
• Remind players of rules with strategic intent.

While alone you may always:

• Describe actions as you're taking them.
• Tell people when it's their turn.
• Ask about, or clarify rules.
• Point out rules violations.
• Speak about anything outside of the game.

For your first game, it is recommended to use the open communication rule on pg. 24. It is more important to focus on learning the rules, strategy and flow of the game.

Visitor Turns

Each visitor takes a turn. As a visitor, once you are done, end your turn by passing the active player marker clockwise.

Most visitor actions are found on action cards, clue cards or item cards. In addition, you can take basic actions and room actions.

Basic actions, printed on your player aid, are always available and do not cost a card to take.

Room actions are available only to the visitor standing in that room.

Main Actions

At the start of your turn, you gain three main actions. You do not need to spend all of your main actions, but any that you do not use are lost when ending your turn.

In rare cases, you may be awarded main actions when it is not your turn. These are always part of an effect and must be used before that effect ends.

Taking a visitor action (main or quick) — An action must always be fully resolved before taking another. For example, it is not possible to take a quick action while performing movement. If the action has a darkness modifier, apply it only if your room is dark.

If playing a card, choose one of the actions on it (not both) and perform its effects. After the action is complete, you must discard the card. You must always perform as much of an action effect as you are able.

Cards are discarded to different locations, depending on type:

• Action cards: add to personal discard.
• Item cards: add to the Cellar.
• Clue cards: any of the 4 clue discards, below the secret board.

Visitors can track their main actions using the dial on the active player marker.

Quick Actions

You may take quick actions on any player turn, including the spirit turn. They are not limited, like main actions.

If you want to take a quick action on another players' turn: announce it so that they wait and let you resolve it. If several visitors want to take a quick action simultaneously, ties are broken towards the active player.

If another action is being resolved, you may not interrupt it to perform a quick action. You have to wait until after it is fully resolved.

Reactions

Reactions are not actions, and may interrupt an ongoing effect. If it triggers, resolve the reaction, then return to the interrupted effect and continue. Unless specified, reactions do not require discarding the card they are on.

Each reaction has a condition that determines when it triggers, followed by an effect. Reaction effects are mandatory, but may include a choice for the visitor.

After moving a presence die into a room near a visitor, the spirit player waits a moment to allow the nearby visitor to use their Crucifix item as a quick action.

They then announce the playing of a spirit card. It is now too late to use the Crucifix, and the visitor must wait for the card to be fully resolved.

Action Cards

Each visitor has a personal deck of action cards. These are recognised by their coloured backs in the same colour and wallpaper pattern as the character. Drawn action cards are kept in hand and played to take actions.

Action cards are discarded near your character board after use, and reshuffled to form a new draw deck when needed.

Some visitor actions are affected by darkness, indicated by the darkness symbol on your cards. In a dark room, apply the additional effect of the dark banner of the action.

Visitor action cards are kept in hand, and are limited to 5 at the end of each visitor turn.

Movement & Doors

When taking any movement action, you receive a number of movement points to spend. You do not need to use all of them. A point can be spent to open or close a door, or to move through an open door to the room beyond.

Doors can be open or closed. Visitors can only move through open doors. Open doors also determine whether adjacent rooms are within hearing. See pg. 11.

Doors can be locked or unlocked. A locked door cannot be opened. A door can be locked while it is already open, to later be closed.

You must finish movement before taking another action. This means no quick actions may be taken during movement.

However, you may communicate freely during movement. Running over just to share some information can be really important!

Investigating Clues

As a visitor, your objective is to find clue cards by investigating clues. There are two types; spirit clues and small clues.

When using the Investigate action to reveal a spirit clue or small clue, you immediately resolve its effects in order. This will often mean drawing a clue card, but may have other effects.

While small clues are safer, they offer less rewards. The spirit clues offer more rewards, but can result in fear or opportunities for the spirit to affect you.

Clue Cards

When instructed to draw a clue card, draw from the top of the clue deck and add it to your hand. Clue cards in hand count towards hand size and are used just like your action cards.

Each secret card has a clue discard beneath it. After a clue card is fully resolved, you must discard it beneath one of the four secret cards of your choice.

When a clue card is revealed from the clue deck, place it face up. All revealed clue cards stay visible. When drawing a clue card, a visitor may choose to draw a revealed clue card instead of drawing from the clue deck.

Clue cards are more powerful than your normal action cards and allow you to Investigate more effectively, provided that you are in the corresponding room.

There are also a few special clue cards that may give you the upper hand in critical moments.

Fear Cards

When drawing a fear card from the clue deck, you must read it carefully and announce its effects to the other players. Each fear card has a reaction effect that will result in you suffering fear, see pg. 10.

Fear cards are placed face-up in front of you, visible to all other players. They may not be removed unless an effect allows it, such as by using the action card Comfort or the ability of the Dining Hall.

Each fear card has a unique reaction that results in the holding visitor suffering fear. They remain in play until removed by an effect.

Curing Fear

Some effects, such as the Comfort action, allow you to cure fear. When you do, move your fear marker one step left on your fear track.

Item Cards

Your Search action allows you to draw item cards from the item deck. When gaining an item card, do not take it to hand, instead add it face up next to your board.

• If it has an action, use it the same way as a card in hand, then discard it.
• If it has a reaction, its effect determines whether it needs to be discarded or not.

Always discard item cards to the Cellar. You are limited to a maximum of 2 items, and must immediately discard one if going above this limit.

Item cards can be very useful, especially against an evil spirit. However, spending time to search for items while the spirit is good is a risky endeavor. Time will quickly slip away from you.

Knocked Out

When you are knocked out, your pawn is turned over on its side. If you were taking an action, end it immediately. Discard all cards in hand, trash your fear cards and smother your candle. Then, end your turn.

While knocked out, you are always alone. You may take no other action than the Rest action. If your visitor is knocked out, you must Rest as your first action on your next turn.

While knocked out, you cannot be targeted by visitor or spirit actions, unless the action specifically specifies a knocked out visitor.

Some say it is not possible to die from fear alone. They have never seen what can happen when someone reaches the end of their senses.

If you are knocked out, Rest is the only action you may take. In this case, you also rise and cure one fear, moving the fear marker one step to the left on your fear track.

Succumbing

A visitor can only be eliminated from the game if the nerve marker is lost (removed from the Hope Track).

When forced to reduce nerve and unable, you succumb at the end of that action. If you do, follow the rules for knocked out but afterwards you may take no further action and may not win the game.

Leave your pawn in the room. You are allowed to speak with a ghostly voice to anyone within hearing, but no longer count as a visitor. Your items may be picked up with a quick action.

While a visitor may not always be able to win themselves, there are moments when their sacrifice may be the only way for others to survive.

Basic Action: Rest

You may always use a main action to perform the Rest action. This allows you to discard any cards in your hand, then draw action cards from your deck until you have 5 cards in hand.

Note: In the 2-player version the visitor player draws up to 7 cards. See pg. 25.

Resting is the primary way to draw new action cards. It is efficient to play as many action cards as you can before resting, but you can also discard cards to cycle your deck faster to find the cards you need.

Basic Action: Walk

Most of your movement actions will come from your action cards. However, you may always spend a main action to take the Walk action, printed on your player aid, giving you 1 movement point.

This is less efficient, but does not require you to spend a card to move.

Basic Action: Trade

You may always trade as a quick action. If a nearby visitor agrees to trade, you may give them your clue or item cards. However, you may not trade action cards or other components.

Ending your Turn

When you cannot, or do not want to, perform further actions, end your turn. Discard down to 5 cards in hand, and pass the acting player marker to your left.

Note that you do not draw cards automatically when ending your turn. To do this you must use the Rest action.

Spirit Turn

After all visitors have taken their turn, the spirit turn begins with the spirit player receiving the active player marker.

As the spirit, you may take actions in any order until you do not wish to take further actions. Then, end your turn.

Pay attention to whether a visitor wants to use a quick action between any of your actions!

Taking a Spirit Action

All your actions are taken using your presence dice. You may use any presence die on the board to take an action nearby. Several presence dice can be in the same room, but may only be used one at a time.

The pips on your presence die represent your presence. Your spirit powers require a specific amount of presence to activate, noted to the left of each power.

Some actions require spending presence by reducing the presence die. If a presence die is ever reduced to zero, remove it from the board and set it aside next to your supply for now.

The Effects of Fear — When a visitor suffers fear, you may immediately increase presence on a nearby presence die even if it is light nearby.

Use the knowledge you have of all spirit clues on the board. Staying near the ones that will give a visitor fear allows you a free presence increase there.

The Effects of Darkness — Some of your actions are hindered by light. However, when a visitor with a candle enters a room where you have a presence die, you suffer no penalty.

Give the visitors a reason to trust you. If they feel safe, they may approach your presence dice, maybe even smother their own candles to seek your aid.

Your dice represent your focus towards the material plane. Some of your abilities sap your strength. As long as the living fear you, you will slowly regain it, but be careful not to overextend. The void is dark and lonely, you don't want to go back there.

Action: Move Presence Die

As an action, each presence die that started on the board this turn may move once to an adjacent room. This movement may ignore walls and doors.

Your presence die can also move directly up or down between floors in the house, ignoring ceilings, but cannot move diagonally.

If moving a presence die into a room with a lit candle or fireplace, you must reduce its presence by 1. This also applies when moving a presence die with a spirit power, unless otherwise stated. You suffer no penalty from moving in darkness.

Action: Increase Presence

By discarding a spirit card, you may increase presence of any presence die in darkness by 1. This enables you to play more powerful effects. The amount of presence can never exceed 6 on a single presence die.

Instead of increasing a presence die, you may add a presence die from your supply to any dark room and set it to its lowest value. If you have no presence die in supply, or for any other reason, you can instead use another presence die on the board. If you do, reset its value to the lowest value.

Action: Playing a Spirit Card

To play a card, declare a specific presence die to use and show the card to all players. You may activate one or both powers on the card, but you must fully resolve one before using the other. To activate a power, your presence die must have an amount of presence equal to or greater than its requirement.

Announce a power to use (top or bottom) and spend the required presence. If this results in the presence die being reduced to zero, and thus removed, the power still resolves normally.

Next, follow the instructions on the effect. Some effects target visitors or objects. If there are several valid targets, you always decide which one is affected. If there are no valid targets, the effect does not resolve.

You must perform all effects on a power, if possible. If not possible to fully perform an effect, you must resolve as much as possible.

If an effect causes the presence die to move to a different room, the power continues to be resolved from that new room.

When a spirit card is fully resolved, discard it face down to your personal discard pile.

Special Note: Visitor Choices — Pay attention to when one of your powers allows the visitors a choice, and make sure to point this out to them. The choice must be made by the visitor before the effect continues. These choices use the terms 'may' or 'either .. or..' and are marked with a colour. If they could do one of them but not both, they must choose that one, if able.

Here, the card Avert Your Gaze targets The Descendant. The spirit chooses to play the bottom power, and pays the cost of presence.

They announce the effect, and wait for the visitor player to make their choice before continuing. Then, they resolve the effect and discard the card.

Bonding with a Visitor

Some powers allow you to bond with a visitor.

If successful, give them the bonded marker.

Only one visitor can be bonded at a time. If a new visitor becomes bonded, move the marker to that visitor instead.

Any time a bonded visitor is offered a coloured choice on a spirit effect, you make this choice for them. However, they still choose how the effect is resolved if there are further choices, such as which cards to discard.

Note: Generally, a visitor must be alone for a spirit to attempt a bond, but there are exceptions.

By playing the card Lonely Touch, the spirit player offers The Orphan to bond with them. The spirit player has the required presence here, and spends it to activate the top effect.

In this case, The Orphan has more than 2 action cards in hand, so they may choose whether to accept the bond or discard cards.

The Orphan chooses to trust the spirit and takes the bonding marker. The next time The Orphan would have a coloured choice to make, the spirit player will make it for them.

Drain Effects

Some powers have a drain cost, recognized by the drain symbol. When you play a spirit card with a drain cost, place it on the table instead of discarding it, as its effect remains in play. Mark the effect and the room where it is active with a drain marker. If you activate two drain powers on the same card, they each get a drain marker.

In each upkeep phase, you must pay the drain cost by reducing presence from a nearby presence die. If you cannot, or choose not to pay, discard the markers and remove the effect from play. Once a card has no drain marker on it, discard it normally.

Note: A power may have a cost to play, and also have a drain cost at end of each round.

Here, the spirit plays the top power on the card Piano Music. They add the card face up on the table, and mark the active power with a drain marker.

The effect will trigger at the start of the next spirit turn, meaning that the spirit must pay the drain cost of 1 at the end of round to keep the effect in play.

Manifestation

Each spirit has one power allowing them to manifest onto the board. The spirit pawn is the physical presence of the spirit. It can take main actions, similar to the visitors.

With effort, you can take physical form. With it comes power, but also the pain and intensity of existence. You can bear it only for a short while, so use it wisely.

Manifestation is a drain power, but uses the spirit pawn instead of a card and drain marker. In the upkeep phase, you must pay the drain cost near the spirit pawn, or remove the pawn.

At the start of your turn, gain 3 main actions. In addition, your powers may grant you additional main actions on the turn you manifest. Unspent main actions are lost at the end of your turn.

These actions may require you to spend one or more presence to activate. This cost must be paid using a nearby presence die before taking the action, just as with other spirit powers.

See the manifestation spirit aid for a quick summary of your available actions.

Here, the spirit plays Broken Form, spending presence. They place the spirit pawn nearby, but since no fear cards are revealed, they gain no actions until next turn. In the upkeep phase, they pay another presence for the manifestation drain cost.

The next round, The Professor has time to run away on his turn, but what if the spirit desperately wants to tell him something important?

Upkeep Phase

The upkeep phase concludes each round. Perform the following in order before proceeding to the next round.

1. Does the game end?

If any player or players fulfill their victory condition, the game ends. It is possible for all, some, or none of the players to win the game.

As the visitors, you win if all secret cards are revealed. However, if the spirit script is revealed, you must also fulfill its conditions. See Winning as the Visitors on pg. 8.

As the spirit, you win if you fulfill the conditions on your spirit script. These may change during the game. See Winning as the Spirit on pg. 9.

If no one wins, and this is the final round: All players lose, and the game ends with Wrightwatch Manor as the only winner.

2. Adding Spirit Clues

On even rounds (2, 4, 6, 8), as marked on the Hope Track, the spirit player adds new spirit clues.

As the spirit player: draw a number of spirit clues from the bag equal to the number of visitors: 2/3/4 spirit clues for 3/4/5 players. Inspect them.

You must add all of these spirit clues to rooms on the board using the following restrictions:

• Each room must be different.
• Each room must be dark.
• Start with all rooms that have a presence die in them. Then use others.

In the above example, a 5-player game, the spirit must add its first two spirit clues to dark rooms where it has a presence die. It may then select any other dark room for the remaining two spirit clues.

3. Time Passes

Move the time marker up one step on the Hope Track. If it reaches hope or nerve, remove that marker - it is lost and cannot return. If the removed marker matches the spirit script, reveal the script and resolve its effects. See Winning as the Spirit on pg. 9.

4. End of round effects

Resolve any effects that happen at end of round.

If there are any active drain powers, they need to be paid for by reducing nearby presence dice or be removed. See pg. 18.

The spirit hands the active player marker to the visitor on their left and a new round begins!

Game Modes

The Presence offers several modes of play, allowing you to choose one that best fits you and your group.

It is unknown why events seem to play out again and again in Wrightwatch Manor. Time works differently here, splitting up or looping back on itself. Once inside, you may never find your way out.

Introductory Game

The Dream is a quick and streamlined scenario to learn and explore the core game rules and strategy. This scenario can be found in the Learning Guide.

If you have just finished your first game, consider letting another player take on the spirit role and play again. A good and an evil spirit offer different experiences.

We also recommend playing it if introducing new players to the game.

Session Mode

A session game is the standard way to play. It is a tense experience with focus on deduction and strategy.

We recommend setting up a session game if you want to take on the full challenge of The Presence in a single evening.

Proceed to the next page to set up a session mode game, and if this is your first game we recommend the normal level of difficulty.

Session Mode is highly customisable. Playing Campaign Mode will unlock and add options to your session mode games.

Some components are unique to the campaign and not usable in Session Mode play. These are described in the Campaign Book.

Campaign Mode

The campaign is an extended experience heavy on narrative, with added complexity and significant stakes.

If your group wants to play several sessions and do not mind the extra rules, start your campaign from the Campaign Book.

We recommend that one player in the group has at least 2 games of experience before diving into the narrative campaign.

Session Mode

Custom Session Mode

For your first session mode game, after using the Learning Guide, unlock the following:

• The B1, B2 & B4 script cards.
• The spirit clues: Terror and Comfort.
• The four secret cards marked 5.

If not playing the campaign, feel free to unlock and add content gradually.

Adjust the setup to suit your group. If the visitors found it too easy, increase the difficulty!

Once familiar with the game and more components have been unlocked you can set up a custom session game:

After selecting a script deck setup, randomise which scripts to use for each type (hope/nerve).

The number of fear symbols describe the expected difficulty for the visitor players.

Listed here are also a number of variants that are further described on the following pages.

Script Deck — You may use any combination of scripts, but below are recommended setups.

Setup	Scripts	Difficulty
Cooperative	3 nerve	reduces difficulty
Normal	2 nerve, 1 hope	Standard
Competitive	3 hope	Standard
Advanced	3 hope, 2 nerve	increases difficulty
Expert	4 hope, 3 nerve	increases difficulty

Fear Cards — Fear cards to be added at random to the clue deck, depending on number of visitors.

Difficulty	Fear cards	Effect
Easy	1 per visitor	reduces difficulty
Normal	2 per visitor	Standard
Hard	3 per visitor	increases difficulty

Boards — Determine which side of the main boards and hope track to be used.

Board	Side	Effect
Hope Track	A side	reduces difficulty
Hope Track	B side	Standard
Main Boards	A side	Standard
Main Boards	B side (dark board)	increases difficulty

The difficulty scale runs from Easy through Relaxed, Standard, Difficult, Horror, up to Nightmare, based on the combined fear symbols of your chosen setup.

The Dark Board

Players familiar with the game may use the B-side of the main board to increase the challenge. The Dark Board will give visitors less forgiving room actions. However, they may prove very powerful in the right moment.

The B-side Basement Board includes the bonus room: The Secret Chamber. Some scripts and the 6th spirit require the Secret Chamber to be used. It can be used with or without the Dark Board.

The dark board has new room effects that offer more challenge to experienced players.

The visitors can attempt to deduce the location of the Secret Chamber once the first secret is revealed. It is in the only room missing among the clue cards matching that secret's trauma.

The Secret Chamber - Setup

After Step 7 of setup on pg. 6, set aside the one removed clue card corresponding to the first secret card. Place it face down next to the secret chamber and add the secret passage token onto it. Then, deal a number of clue cards from the clue deck equal to visitors (2, 3 or 4) to the Secret Chamber. The spirit player may look at these cards at any time.

Do not add a clue or presence die to the Secret Chamber in setup.

The Secret Chamber - During Play

This room cannot be entered until the secret passage is found by the visitors. The passage token counts as a door with an open and a closed side. It cannot be locked.

A visitor may spend a main action to use the printed Uncover-action from any room. The spirit checks the set aside clue cards.

If it matches, the spirit adds the Secret Passage token to that room with its open side up. If it did not match, the spirit does nothing, and the action is wasted.

Once opened, the Secret Chamber can be entered by visitors and spirit alike. It has two unique effects that will aid the visitors.

Variants

Variants change the way the game is played.

Open Communication

The limited communication in The Presence affects the social experience, and the ability of the visitors to work together.

Some groups prefer the following rule:

• Whenever a visitor is alone or knocked out, allow them to speak normally.

This rule will make the game slightly easier, for which you may wish to compensate in other ways.

Note: While this allows visitors to strategise better and allows more effective cooperation, the spirit player may still not communicate.

Mystery Mode

We highly recommend this mode if the deduction of the game is too easy for your group.

Instead of discarding clue cards face up, they must be discarded face down. The spirit player may always inspect discarded clue cards, but visitor players may not.

When an effect requires information about discarded clue cards to resolve, the spirit player checks whether it does, and what the outcome is.

Example: If a visitor player plays Invoke, the spirit player determines if the effect takes place or not.

Example: If a secret card is revealed, the spirit player points to which of its effects that trigger.

Unknown Threat

This mode is for experienced players, especially those who have learned the spirits and their powers in detail and want to mix it up.

In setup:

• The visitors select 5 scripts to be used in the game (2 hope, 3 nerve).
• The spirit player must use the 5th spirit.
• The spirit player builds a custom deck of 12 cards from all available spirit cards.
• The spirit player selects any 5 of the spirit clues, and any 4 of the secret cards to use in the game.
• Setup the game normally. The spirit then draws their script as normal.

Note: This game mode has seen only limited testing, but horror is not meant to be fair, is it?

True Horror

Getting horror to really work in a boardgame is about more than just the game itself. Tension and discomfort are fragile things. The ambience, along with how you and your group act, is just as important.

We make jokes and socialise while playing games, which is how it should be. However, it affects the tension and acts to distance us from immersion in a horror setting.

If your group wants to maximise the immersive experience, we recommend to try some, or all of the tips below.

These will require the consent of all players in the group to work well.

• Find a good, silent spot to play. Make sure you will not be disturbed.
• Set the lighting appropriately. Candles?
• Put on some thematic background music, soft and melancholic. Piano perhaps?
• Put away all digital devices, and agree to focus on the experience during play.
• Make sure that all players know the rules well enough so that questions will not be frequent, and that game play is smooth.
• Interpret the communication-rules to mean that no talking is allowed on any topic, while visitors are alone.
• The spirit player is allowed to speak if it adds to immersion, but as normal, not to share information.
• If you are inclined, add some roleplay: Describe your turn like your character would see it. Express their feelings and thoughts while playing.

Two Player Game

The game can be played with two players, where one player plays as the spirit and the other plays as the visitors. This is a more strategic and intimate experience, but with a bit less uncertainty for the visitor player.

Setup

Use the setup rules for 3 players with the following modifications:

• The visitor player must pick two characters to play.
• Shuffle their 20 action cards together, forming a single deck to draw from.
• Use the modified active player marker with 5 main actions.

During Play

During play, use the following modifications:

• The visitor player has a total of 5 main actions on their turn.
• The visitor player may take actions with either of their characters, in any order.
• The visitor player will have a hand size of 7, drawing from the combined action card deck.
• An action card may only be played or discarded by the character of its colour.
• The word 'You' on any card refer to the visitor character taking the action.
• A clue card may be played or discarded with either character.

The two visitor characters are otherwise treated separately, as in a standard game. The spirit rules are unmodified.

Additional Clarifications

The Rest action replenishes the visitor player's hand up to 7 cards, drawing from the combined deck of action cards.

If a visitor is knocked out, discard that visitor's action cards. Additionally, all clue cards must be discarded. That visitor may no longer act for the rest of the turn.

If a visitor is knocked out, the first action for the visitor player on their next turn must be to Rest with them. Their other character may still act.

If a visitor succumbs, their action cards remain in the deck but are treated as blank and may not be played. Once discarded, by taking the Rest action, they are instead trashed and removed from the game.

Glossary

A summary of key concepts and rules, for reference during the game.

Resolving Effects

• Effects should be resolved top to bottom, left to right.
• If an effect cannot be fully resolved, perform as much of it as possible.
• If there are no valid targets of an effect, it does not activate.
• If there are multiple valid targets of an effect, the owner of the effect chooses.

Timing of Effects

If multiple effects trigger at the same time, the active player chooses the order in which they resolve.

If multiple players want to take an action at the same time, the active player always has precedence. Resolve all ties towards them, in counter-clockwise order.

Quick actions take precedence over other actions, but must be declared before another action has started.

Reveal

Show the component to all players. Any reveal effects activate.

• Revealed secret cards are resolved by the visitor that revealed them.
• Revealed spirit clues/small clues are resolved by the visitor that revealed them.
• Revealed clue cards/fear cards are placed face up, and may be drawn instead of drawing from the clue deck.

Inspect

Look at a component, even if hidden, then put it back as it was. This does not trigger reveal effects. If inspecting a card in a deck, place it back without shuffling the deck.

Secret cards and spirit clues are connected to the spirit, and may always be inspected by it.

Nearby

All components in the same room are nearby each other. Doors are nearby all rooms they are connected to. You are always nearby yourself.

Components next to your board are nearby all characters in the room. Components on your board are nearby you, only. See pg. 11.

Within Hearing

Anything nearby you is always within hearing. In addition, all connected rooms that share an open door to your room are within hearing.

Alone

When a player is alone they may not communicate by speech or by expressions, noises, etc.

• As a visitor, you are alone if no visitor is within hearing, or if you are knocked out.
• As the spirit player, you are always alone.

In addition, if an alone visitor holds the active player marker, the other visitors may not communicate. See pg. 11.

Card Limits

You can keep a limited amount of cards in hand at the end of your turn.

• As the spirit, your hand size for spirit cards is equal to the number of players.
• As a visitor, you have a hand size of 5 for action cards and clue cards.

If exceeding these limits when ending your turn, you must discard cards until you meet them again.

• As a visitor, your item cards are limited to 2. These are kept face-up in front of you. If exceeding this limit, discard any of your item cards.

Trash

Remove the component from the game. There is a space next to the clue deck for trashed cards.

• Fear cards are normally trashed after being removed.

Discard

Most cards are discarded after use, and can also be discarded for other reasons.

• Discard spirit cards face down in front of you. These are hidden from others.
• Discard visitor action cards in front of you, reshuffle your deck when needed.
• Discard visitor item cards to the item discard in the Cellar.
• Discard visitor clue cards to any of the four clue discards. The player who discards must choose where.
• Discard spirit clues and small clues to separate discard piles.

Remember

• When hope or nerve meets the time marker, it is lost and removed from the Hope Track. If it matches the spirit script, reveal the script.
• When a visitor must reduce nerve and it is already lost, they succumb and are eliminated from the game.
• After revealing the script, perform any reveal effects. Its bottom effect is now active instead of the top.
• When a visitor reveals a secret card, they must perform the effect of matching trauma (Betrayal/Tragedy/Suffering/Death) discarded beneath it.
• When a visitor suffers fear, the spirit may also increase any single presence die nearby, even if it is light there.
• A quick action can be taken on any visitor or spirit turn, but not while another action is ongoing.
• A visitor may communicate if another visitor is within hearing on either of their turns, or on the spirit's turn.
• The spirit may never communicate, unless a game effect allows it to.

Icons

Clues: Spirit clue, Small clue.

Cards: Clue card, Fear card, Action card, Item card, Secret card, Script card, Spirit card.

Spirit: Spirit pawn, Presence die, Spend (presence), Increase Presence.

Visitor: Visitor pawn, Main action, Quick action, Reaction, Knocked out.

Trauma: Betrayal, Tragedy, Suffering, Death.

General: Fear, Darkness, Hope, Nerve.

Round Overview

Visitor Turns — Gain three main actions at turn start. Spend main or quick actions (no limit). Turn end: Discard down to 5 action/clue cards.

Spirit Turn — Take presence die actions, in any order (allow visitor quick actions between actions). If manifested, gain three main actions at turn start. Turn end: Draw up to 3/4/5 spirit cards, depending on number of characters.

Upkeep — Check win conditions. Even rounds: Add spirit clues per visitor to unique, dark rooms, starting near presence dice. Spirit pays drain costs, incl. manifestation. End of round effects. Then, increase the time marker.

Index

• Action card — pg. 6, pg. 13
  • Memory action card — Campaign Book pg. 5
• Alone — pg. 11, pg. 18
• Basic Actions
  • Rest — pg. 13, Learning Guide pg. 9
  • Walk — pg. 13
  • Trade — pg. 15
• Bonding — pg. 18
• Campaign sheet — Campaign Book pg. 3
• Chronicle — Campaign Book pg. 4
• Clue cards — pg. 7, pg. 14
  • Discarding — pg. 8
• Clues
  • Spirit clues — pg. 6, pg. 14, pg. 20
  • Small clues — pg. 6, pg. 14
• Colored choice — pg. 17, pg. 18, Learning Guide pg. 11
• Communication — pg. 11, Learning Guide pg. 8
• Comfort — pg. 14
• Component overview — pg. 2
• Darkness — pg. 10, pg. 13, pg. 16, Learning Guide pg. 7
• Dark board — pg. 23
• Discard — pg. 12, pg. 13-15, pg. 17, pg. 31
• Distance
  • Nearby — pg. 11, Learning Guide pg. 8
  • Within hearing — pg. 11, Learning Guide pg. 8
• Doors — pg. 13
• Drain effects — pg. 18
• End of round — pg. 10, pg. 20, Learning Guide pg. 12
• End of turn
  • Visitor — pg. 15, Learning Guide pg. 9
  • Spirit — pg. 17, Learning Guide pg. 11
• Event card — Campaign Book pg. 5
• Fear — pg. 10, pg. 14, pg. 16, Learning Guide pg. 8
• Fear cards — pg. 14
• Game modes — pg. 21
  • Introductory mode — Learning Guide pg. 4
  • Session mode — pg. 22
  • Campaign mode — Campaign Book pg. 2
• Gameplay tips — Learning Guide pg. 13
• Glossary — pg. 31
• Hope — pg. 9, pg. 20, Learning Guide pg. 12
• Hidden passage — pg. 23
• Inspect — pg. 7, pg. 31
• Invoke — pg. 8
• Investigate — pg. 14
• Item card — pg. 12, pg. 15
  • Campaign item — Campaign Book pg. 5
• Knocked out — pg. 10, pg. 11, pg. 15
• Learning the game — Learning Guide pg. 2
• Light — pg. 10, pg. 16, Learning Guide pg. 7
• Main action — pg. 12, pg. 19, Learning Guide pg. 7
• Manifestation — pg. 19
• Movement — pg. 13, Learning Guide pg. 7
• Nerve — pg. 9, pg. 20, Learning Guide pg. 12
• Player count — pg. 5
• Presence die — pg. 10
  • Moving — pg. 16, Learning Guide pg. 10