This House Is Haunted
This House Is Haunted Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objectives
HUMANS: Have the required amount of Seal Points in the Charm Circle at the end of 13th turn.
Seal Points Needed = Number of Players.
Seal Points are cancelled out by Demon Mark Points, both in your hand and in the Charm Circle.
Having more than 5 Demon Mark Points in your hand means you are possessed, and you become a demon.
DEMONS: Be Sneaky! Turn other humans into demons and keep them from attaining enough seals.
Set Up
HOME ROOM: Pick a Home Room. Clear an area for the Charm Circle. Have room for the bottom of the game box "Collection Plate", a face down Discard Pile, and a Home Room Draw Pile.
HAUNTED ROOMS: Pick 3 to 8 other rooms, ideally with doors, where players are sent to draw cards.
DRAW PILES: Shuffle the cards and create a pile of 13 cards for the Home Room Draw Pile. All remaining cards are split equally into piles for each Haunted Room.
LEADER CARD: The Leader Card denotes who the Leader is that turn. Argue amongst yourselves about who should be first.
KILL THE LIGHTS: All of the lights in the house are turned off. Feel free to add eerie lighting to the home room, but flashlights are used when leaving to search rooms.
YOU NEED FLASHLIGHTS TO PLAY THIS GAME
Card Layout
Each card has a card type (icon at top left), a card title, and card text. Example card: Devil's Tongue (Curse) - "You must speak gibberish unless reading a card. FAIL: Randomly discard a card from the Charm Circle."
The card types are: Seal, Blessing, Hex, Haunting, Curse, Demon Mark.
Card Types
SEAL CARDS: Humans need to get these into the Charm Circle to win. They are 1, 2, or 3 Seal Points. They cancel out Demon Mark Points in the Charm Circle and in players' hands.
BLESSING CARDS: These cards have various effects and are primarily used by humans, though crafty Demons can use them too.
HEX CARDS: When played into the Charm Circle these often have negative effects.
HAUNTING CARDS: Players who draw these cards are trapped in their haunted room. They must follow the card's instructions and hope that a visiting player will break the haunting card and free them.
CURSE CARDS: Curse cards effect players in unfortunate ways and are left face up in front of a player. Failing to maintain a curse has terrible reprocussions. Keeping a Curse to the end of the game rewards your side an additional point.
DEMON MARK CARDS: Having 5 or more Demon Mark Points in one's hand results in possession. Dropping back under 5 points returns a player to human. There are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Point values. They also cancel out Seal Points.
Rules
Concealment: Players may never reveal their hand to another player unless otherwise specified. Also, try and keep the number of cards you have a secret.
Possession: If at any time the number of Demon Mark Points in your hand is 5 or higher you have become a demon. Your objective has changed and it is advised you keep this secret. Dropping beneath 5 points will return you to human.
Failing Curses: If you notice someone has failed one of their curses you may call them out on it. They must complete the negative consequences on their card. After this the Leader may then look at half (rounding down) of the cards in their hand. If you call yourself out after failing a curse you still must complete the negative effects, but the Leader does not look at your hand.
Order of Play
There are 13 Turns in a Game. The Home Room Draw Pile will help you keep track of what turn you are on.
SEARCHING ROOMS:
- Leader decides where players go.
- Players draw cards from rooms.
- Players may be stuck in Haunted rooms.
RETURNING:
- Anyone who has drawn a curse must play it infront of them.
- Leader passes the Collection Plate around.
PLAYING CARDS:
- Players may request to take a card from the Charm Circle.
- Players may play a single Blessing Card if they choose.
- Leader passes Leader card to a player of their choice.
Searching Rooms
ASSIGNING ROOMS: The Leader decides who goes to what room to draw cards. Multiple players may be sent to the same room.
DRAWING CARDS: Players must draw cards. Humans draw a single card. Demons may draw 2 cards, choose which they would like, and return the other either to the top or bottom of the deck.
When multiple people are sent to the same room they take turns drawing cards then leaving. Whoever enteres the room first draws first. If you are still in a room when a Haunting card is drawn, even if someone else drew it, you are effected too.
HAUNTING CARDS: Each Haunting Card has instructions for trapped players to follow, including their behavior and how the Haunting card can be broken.
The Leader may send players to rooms where another player is trapped to try to free them.
Should all players become trapped in rooms all Haunting Cards are broken and half of the cards from the Charm Circle are discarded.
Returning
TRAPPED LEADER: If the Leader does not return, pass the Leader Card clockwise.
REVEALING CURSES: If a player has drawn a Curse Card, they read the card to everyone and lay it face up in front of them.
COLLECTION PLATE: The Leader adds a card from the Home Room Draw Pile face down to the Collection Plate and passes it around.
Hiding the Collection Plate under the table players may secretly add any number of their cards to the Collection Plate.
ADDING TO CHARM CIRCLE: Collection Plate Cards are shuffled by the Leader and added to the Charm Circle.
Curse Cards and Haunting Cards may make their way into the Charm Circle through the Home Room Draw Pile. Curses are acquired by the Leader. Discard Haunting Cards. The Leader resolves any Hex Cards.
Playing Cards
REQUESTING CARDS: Players may point out any cards in the Charm Circle that they wish to pick up.
The Leader resolves any disputes, and may deny a player any cards.
PLAYING BLESSING CARDS: Starting with the Leader and continuing clockwise, each player may play a single Blessing Card.
Some Blessing Cards have immediate effects while other take effect during the next turn.
NEW LEADER: At the end of the turn the Leader passes the Leader card to an new player of their choice.
Winning & Losing
At the end of the 13th turn count up all Seal Points and Demon Mark Points in the Charm Circle.
Players now reveal if they are still Human of it they are possessed by Demonic Spirits.
Any Players who have made it to the end of the game with Curse Cards still in front of them earn one point from each Curse Card toward whatever side they ended up on.
If the Humans have Seal Points equal to the number of player or more, Humans win!
If not... All Hail Your Demonic Overlords!
FAQ's
CAN I DISCARD SEAL CARDS OR "GOOD" CARDS? Yes. If you are possessed this is a great strategy!
MY APARTMENT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH ROOMS...? Get creative. Any space that is apart from the home room works: bathroom, kitchen, garage, even outside!
I HAVE 2 CONFLICTING CURSE CARDS, HOW CAN I DO BOTH? You Can't! Looks like you will have to fail one...
WE DON'T HAVE FLASHLIGHTS, DO WE NEED TO PLAY IN THE DARK? You can try to play with the house lights on, but a few cards are not effective without darkness, and it isn't nearly as scary or fun.