Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Are You Afraid of the Dark? Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Town Map (Board), Secret Mission Sheets, Secret Passage Cards, Tool Cards, four moving pieces, a die, and two star stickers for the die. (Pencils are required.)
Set Up
Players separate all Secret Passage Cards and Tool Cards. Each player takes a Secret Mission Sheet and a pencil, and then chooses a moving piece which they place at the Campfire in the center of the board. Place the Secret Passage Cards and Tool Cards face down near by. Take white and black star stickers, place white star on the five side of the die, place black star on the six side of the die.
Rolling for Tools and Starting Points
Before each game, players must determine the tools and the number of points they will have to begin their mission. Each player will start out with different advantages and weaknesses! To do this, the first player rolls the die and writes down the number he gets in the STARTING VALUE Space on his/her Secret Mission Sheet in the Knowledge category. If he/she rolls a "4", then that player will begin the mission with a Knowledge Starting Value of 4 points. If he/she rolls a "2", then that player will begins with 2 Knowledge points. If the player rolls a white star he/she wins a Tool. The player picks a Tool Card from the top of the deck, and then puts a check mark on their Secret Mission Sheet in the small box next to the name of the tool which has been won. The player then returns the Tool Card to the bottom of the deck and rolls again to get points in his/her Knowledge Starting Value.
If a player is unlucky enough to roll the Black Star, they must enter a zero in the STARTING VALUE Space and start the game without any Knowledge points. Once all the players have rolled for points in the Knowledge category, players take turns rolling the die to find out how many points they will have for Courage, Strength, Evidence, Witnesses and Luck. Each player records these numbers on his/hers Secret Mission Sheet until all players have entered six STARTING VALUE numbers on their Mission Sheets, one in each of the categories. Whenever players roll the White Star, they take a new Tool Card, check off the new tool they have won, then return the Tool Card to the bottom of the deck and roll again.
To Begin Play
Players must "meet" at the Campfire to start their journey. The youngest player rolls the die and decides whether to move that number of spaces, or to be daring and try to add more to that number by rolling the die again. If the player rolls a second time, he/she may add the number rolled to the first roll, and move the total number of spaces rolled in the two tosses of the die. Or, the player may choose to roll a third time to try to move even further. (Anytime the White Star is rolled, the player wins another tool, records it on the Secret Mission Sheet, returns the Tool Card to the deck and rolls again.) A player may continue to roll until either:
- The player decides not to roll again and moves his/her marker the total number of spaces rolled in the previous roll(s) of the die, or...
- The player rolls the Black Star. If the Black Star is rolled, the player loses ALL the points rolled on that turn, loses any tools picked up on that turn, and their turn ends.
Lets say a player rolls 3, then rolls 2, then rolls 4, then a White Star. This player would have won a new tool and be entitled to move a total of 9 spaces on the board. However, if the player chooses to roll again one more time and rolls the Black Star, the player would not move any spaces, and would have to give up the tool won on that turn. So the idea is to be brave, but not foolish!
Mission Destinations
The printed sheet has no heading for this part; the heading is added here for navigation.
Players are on a mission to gain Knowledge, Courage, Strength, Evidence, Witness and Luck Points by moving to the many different eery destinations on the board where points may be won. Arrows indicate the entrance to each of these locations. Once the player reaches the ghoulish locale he/she must roll a number equal to or greater than the number listed there to win points.
For example, once the player reaches the entrance to Apartment 214, that player will roll the die to try to win the 3 Witness points available there. If the player rolls a one, a two, a White Star or a Black Star, his/her turn ends and the points are not won. (If they rolled a White Star they would take a tool.) On his/her next turn, the player may try to roll again to win the points or may choose instead to leave that location and move elsewhere on the board. Before the player rolls the die on his/her next turn, the player must decide and announce to the other players whether he/she is rolling to win the Mission Points or is instead going to be leaving the location to go elsewhere.
(NOTE - Players who reach the entrance to the Swamp have the chance to win either 2 Evidence Points or both 3 Courage Points and 2 Evidence Points. If the player rolls 3 or more, he/she wins both kinds of points; if the roll is a 2, only the Evidence Points are won because a 3 or 4 would be needed to win the Courage Points.)
Secret Passages
Any player who lands on a secret passageway, represented by green dots on the board takes a Secret Passage Card and follows the written instructions. These special cards may let you take "Secret Shortcuts" to move directly to different destinations on the board to gain extra Bonus points while doing this.
For example, a player may get a Secret Passage Card that allows him/her to go directly to the Land of Nod and to take 2 Bonus Knowledge Points. The player would move his/her playing piece to the "Land of Nod" and record 2 additional Knowledge Points on the Secret Mission Sheet. On the same turn, that player would also be able to roll the die and try for the 2 Strength Points available at the Land of Nod.
Some of the Secret Passage Cards require you to have a particular tool or a certain number of points in one or more categories in order to use the card. The tools and/or points required are listed at the bottom of each card. If the player meets these requirements, he/she may use the card immediately. (The player does not give up or lose the tool or points which are needed when he/she uses the card.) If a player does not have the required tool(s) or points, the player must return the Secret Passage Card to the bottom of the deck and end his/her turn.
Other Secret Passage Cards have a "Skull" on them. Watch out for these, they send you directly to "The Pit" and cause you to lose any one tool of your choice. Loosing a tool means erasing it from your Mission Sheet.
The Pit
Players who land in "The Pit" must stay there until they roll a White Star or a Black Star on a later turn. (No tool is earned for a White Star while in "The Pit".) When a player rolls a star they may leave "The Pit" on their next turn.
Bumping Other Players
If one player lands directly on the same space where another player is, he/she "Bumps" the other player into "THE PIT".
To Win the Game
To complete the Mission and win the game, a player must accumulate a total of 6 points in each of the 6 categories - Knowledge, Courage, Strength, Evidence, Witnesses and Luck, and then return to the Campfire in the center of the board. The first player to do so becomes a Member of The Midnight Society and the Winner of the Game.