Cunning Folk
Cunning Folk Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Shuffle all of the 9 townsfolk cards (2 Good Witches, 1 Good Elder, 2 Evil Witches, 1 Evil Elder & 3 Villagers) and place them face-down in a 3x3 grid to form a village. Set aside any cards marked with a spiral symbol for later use.
Gameplay
Players will take turns looking at townsfolk in the Village, and choosing whether to announce a character to use its ability. They can bluff about what character they see. The game is won by using the Good Elder or the Evil Elder to identify all the opposing townsfolk. A player also wins when everyone else is Ostracized for being wrong too many times.
The owner of the game takes the first turn. For the second and subsequent games, the first turn always passes to the left.
Turn
- Investigate: Choose one of the cards in the village. If it's face-down, pick it up and look at it without showing any other players. Then put it back in the location it came from.
- Allege (optional): You may announce which townsfolk you looked at, to try and use its ability. Note: You can lie about which character is on the card, and it is often a good idea to do so!
Other players may Accuse (optional): If you choose to Allege, any other player may challenge your claim:
- If no one challenges your claim, take the action associated with that role.
- If anyone challenges, flip the townsfolk you looked at face-up. This card will stay face up until an ability is used to flip it back over.
- If you were telling the truth, then you may take the action on the card. The player who challenged you must take a Suspected card and place it in front of her or himself. If they already have a Suspected card, then the card is flipped to the Ostracized side, and she or he is out of the game.
- If you were bluffing, then you may not take the action, and you must place a Suspected card in front of yourself. If you already have a Suspected card in front of you, then the card is flipped to the Ostracized side, and you are out of the game.
Townsfolk
- The three Villagers have no ability. You can declare that you've found a Villager if you like, in which case another player can challenge you, but you will take no action regardless.
- The two Good Witches let you take another turn immediately.
- The two Evil Witches let you rearrange two townsfolk. Pick up any two townsfolk from the village without looking at their bottom side, hide them under the table, trade them between your hands as many times as you like, and then put them back in the places you took them from. The end result might be the same or the opposite of how they started. Whenever you swap face-up townsfolk, turn them face-down.
- The Good Elder and Evil Elder can win you the game.
- When you take the action of the Good Elder, try to identify all of the evil townsfolk. One at a time, choose a townsfolk. If it's face-down, turn it face-up. If it's evil, continue. Otherwise, your turn ends immediately and you must take a Suspected card, or flip it to the Ostracized side if you already have one. If you identify all the evil townsfolk (two Evil Witches & the Evil Elder) you win the game.
- The Evil Elder has the same ability, but you must identify the townsfolk that oppose him instead (two Good Witches & the Good Elder).
Game End
The game ends when a player has used an Elder ability and successfully identified all the townsfolk that oppose that Elder. That player is the winner.
The game also ends when only one player remains, the rest having been Ostracized for being wrong twice.
Bonus Characters
For extra variety, replace one or more of the Villagers with a bonus character before dealing the village. They are marked with a spiral symbol.
- The Liar has no action for you to take, but his ability does force your hand when you see him. When you choose a townsfolk to look at for your turn and it's the Liar, you cannot pass the turn by making no claim, and you cannot declare that you've seen the Liar. You MUST claim a role other than the Liar.
- The Cat meows. When you take the cat's action, meow.
- The Pirate has no action for you to take, but changes the Good and Evil Elder actions: Because the pirate opposes everyone, a player taking either Elder action must also reveal the pirate when he is present.
- The Vagrant trades places with other townsfolk. When you take the Vagrant's action, move her to the spot occupied by another townsfolk in the village, and move that townsfolk to where the Vagrant was. If either of those townsfolk were face-up, turn them face-down. Unlike swapping, when a Vagrant trades locations, everyone is certain where they go, at least in the moment.
There's a third Good Witch. She works just like the other Good Witches. A player can't win with the Evil Elder without identifying all the Good Witches (and the Good Elder) (and the Pirate, if there is one).
A Village Full of Scoundrels
If you want to try a more chaotic variant, shuffle together the five bonus townsfolk and three Villagers. Deal two of them to each player face-down. Choose one of the cards you're dealt and add it secretly to the pile of good and evil townsfolk. Set the other face-down, out of the game. Once everyone has done this, shuffle the cards in the middle and deal the village with them. Each player knows one townsfolk that's in the game, and one that's not.
Since you don't always know how many townsfolk oppose each Elder, it's possible to take one of the Elder actions, identify 3 (or even 4) opposing characters, and still not have identified all of them. When you think you're done identifying the opposition, say so. Then, each opponent who hasn't been ostracized in turn order starting on your left may reveal one face-down townsfolk. If one of them reveals a townsfolk that opposes the Elder you declared, that player wins the game instead of you.
Quick Reference
Main Characters (9):
- Good Witch (2): Go again.
- Evil Witch (2): Swap two cards.
- Villager (3): No ability.
- Good Elder (1) / Evil Elder (1): Reveal all opposing townsfolk to win.
Bonus Characters (5, marked with a spiral symbol):
- Vagrant (1): Trade this card's location with another.
- Pirate (1): Pirates oppose everyone.
- Liar (1): You must lie.
- Cat (1): Meow.
- Plus one additional Good Witch.