Hantise Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Concept
  • The phone screen
• Have Fun!
• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
  • Setting up the Ceremony Table
  • Setting up the play area
  • Possessed cards and modules
• Course of the Game
  • 1. Preparation Phase
  • 2. Expedition Phase
    • Blocked savior
    • Freeing a possessed / blocked medium
    • Duration of an Expedition phase
  • 3. Validation Phase
• End of the Game
• The Divination Cards
  • Moving back a Candle token
• Clarifications
  • Suggestion for your first game
• Clarifications on the Different Roles
  • The Master of Ceremonies - MdC
  • Possessed
  • Savior
• Anatomy of the Cards
  • MdC Story
  • MdC Torment
  • Possessed
  • Savior
  • Divination

Concept

HANTISE is a cooperative atmosphere game played in the darkness of a location, by the light of your phone screens. The players take the role of mediums whose goal is to exorcise a haunted place. To do so, they must accomplish missions and forfeits (gages) in different areas of the place.

A Master of Ceremonies (in the rules: MdC) supervises the running of the game. Although he or she is a player, the MdC is not considered a medium.

During the game, called a "Ceremony", Divination cards will be revealed, adding extra constraints to complicate the mediums' task.

Each turn, some mediums will be possessed by the Spirit and must submit to its will; others will be saviors and must free the possessed as well as complete missions, if they can.

Freeing the possessed is the most important action to take, but also the riskiest! Indeed, saviors may be blocked along with the possessed if they fail!

The bottom of the game box has a function in the game. It plays the role of an old Relic box and is called "the Spirit box". It must be placed in the scariest place, the furthest from the Ceremony Room. The energy it gives off attracts evil and the most frightening behaviours around it.

The phone screen

We advise you to use your phone screen and to set the brightness just strong enough to find your way and read your cards, as if it were a small candle. Use the screen, not the phone's flash lamp, because the screen gives a dimmer light.

If you do not have a mobile phone, you can use a flashlight, a headlamp or any other light source you can hold in your hand, and reduce the brightness through the settings or by placing your fingers, or a cloth, in front of it.

(Illustrations: light on / light off.)

Have Fun!

• Choose a safe place to play.
• Play your role (Possessed, Savior and MdC) as you see fit. You can overact, add elements to the forfeits/missions/torments and adapt them if necessary or if you wish.
• You can play possessed who want to block the saviors at all costs, or on the contrary who wish to be freed.
• The MdC can be lax in applying the Divinations, or on the contrary, uncompromising.
• For the possessed, the actions that free you or block a savior are left to your judgment.

You must keep in mind that the goal of the game is to have fun and to have an excellent time, so when in doubt, always prefer the solution that amuses you!

Goal of the Game

To win, the mediums and the MdC must have turned over the 3 Divination cards before the end of the seventh turn. Otherwise the game is lost.

If all the mediums are blocked in the play areas and can no longer return to the Ceremony Table, the game is lost.

Components

• 1 Ritual board
• 2 Game Aid cards
• 11 Divination cards
• 42 Savior Mission cards
• 75 Possessed Mission cards
• 11 MdC Torment cards
• 6 MdC Story cards
• 17 Candle tokens
• The lower part of the box, called "the Spirit box"

You also need one mobile phone per person.

The description of the cards is on pages 15 and 16.

Setup

Setting up the Ceremony Table

• Place the Ritual board in the center of the table.

The board has the following areas:

1. Savior card deck
2. Savior card discard pile
3. Possessed card deck
4. Possessed card discard pile
5. MdC Torment card deck
6. MdC Torment card discard pile
7. Locations A, B and C for the Divination cards

• Take 2 Divination cards at random and place one, face down, on each of locations A and B of the board. Take the Divination card with the door on the back and place it, face down, on location C.
• Place as many Candle tokens as there are mediums +1 on the first Divination card (location A). Example: if there are 6 mediums and the MdC in play, place 7 Candle tokens on the first Divination card.
• Add 2 Candle tokens on the second card (location B).
• Add 3 Candle tokens on the last card (location C).
• Shuffle the Possessed cards and the Savior cards separately, then place them on their designated locations.
• Shuffle the MdC Torment cards, take 7 at random and make a face-down pile on the MdC draw area of the board.
• Choose, or take at random, an MdC Story card that matches the theme you want to give your game and the environment (indoor or outdoor), then place it face down on the pile.
• Put all unused cards in the lid of the box, set aside. They will not be used for this game.
• Turn off the lights, keep only the glow of your phone screen, settle around the Ceremony Table: the Ceremony can begin.

Setting up the play area

• Determine a precise play area that must be known to all participants. Clarifications:
  • If you play indoors, clearly indicate which rooms are accessible or not.
  • If you play outdoors, determine the play area and 4 to 6 important zones.
  • We advise having a number of rooms or play zones equal to half the number of mediums.
• Choose a zone that will be the Ceremony Room. Clarifications:
  • If you play indoors, choose a room with a table.
  • If you play outdoors, you can use a blanket placed on the ground to set up the game board and cards; this cloth is considered the "Ceremony Table". It must be away from the other zones.
• Select the room or play zone furthest from the Ceremony Room and/or the scariest. You will leave "the Spirit box" there, clearly visible, with 3 Savior cards taken at random inside it.
• Choose a person who will be the Master or Mistress of Ceremonies, called MdC in this booklet and on the cards.

Possessed cards and modules

Each game, you play with all the Possessed cards that have no icon at the bottom, next to their identification number. You can add one or more modules depending on the environment you are in and your wishes:

• If you play in a house or apartment, add the indoor cards.
• If you play outdoors, add the outdoor cards.
• If you wish to play with forfeits that involve physical contact between mediums, add the tactile cards.
• If you wish to play with more complex forfeits, add the difficult cards.

Depending on the environment where you play and your wishes, you can add different modules.

Course of the Game

The game is played over 7 turns. A turn consists of 3 phases:

1. Preparation Phase. The MdC deals the cards to determine who is savior or possessed among the mediums for this turn, and draws his or her Torment card.
2. Expedition Phase. The possessed and the saviors scatter through the places and must apply the forfeits/missions on their card. The MdC oversees the running of the game, while facing his or her torment.
3. Validation Phase. The Candle tokens advance on the Ritual board for each possessed freed, for each mission accomplished by the saviors, and if the MdC's Torment card allows it.

1. Preparation Phase

Only on the first turn of the game: the MdC reveals and reads aloud the text of the Story card located on the MdC draw pile.

A. The MdC deals a Savior card to the medium on his or her left, then a Possessed card to the next one clockwise, and so on, alternating Savior and Possessed cards until all the mediums have received a card.

B. The possessed and saviors secretly and silently read their mission. The MdC draws the top card of his or her Torment deck and secretly reads the text on the back.

C. Once all the cards have been read, you may keep them in hand or put them in one of your pockets. Then the MdC announces in a loud voice:

"Saviors, stay with me!"

The saviors stay next to the Ceremony Table, while the possessed go into the play zones and spread out there.

D. The saviors and the MdC can take some time to discuss their strategy or any possessed to free and how to do so, if needed. The MdC then announces:

"Saviors, I'm counting on you!"

The saviors leave the Ceremony Room and must separate to explore the place and accomplish their missions.

Remark: when the MdC draws his or her last Torment card, he or she announces that it is the last Expedition before the end of the game (see End of the Game, page 10).

Note: at each Preparation phase, we advise you not to always sit in the same place around the Ceremony Table, so as not to always have the same role, possessed or savior.

2. Expedition Phase

A. After leaving the Ceremony Room, the possessed spread out into the play zones, then turn off their light until they are freed. Each must perform his or her forfeit, which is mandatory.

As soon as they are freed, the possessed go straight back to the Ceremony Room without interacting with other mediums.

B. The saviors must remain alone during this phase and cannot form groups. But they may talk to each other when they cross paths. They stay in the play zones, outside the Ceremony Room, until the MdC announces: "The Ceremony resumes." Their primary mission is to find the possessed and free them. They may also accomplish the mission on their card before the next Validation phase.

C. The MdC follows the directives of his or her Torment card and may move around the play zones.

Blocked savior

• When a savior tries to free a possessed and performs an action that blocks him or her, the possessed says to the savior: "Turn off your light. Do as I do, now." Then the possessed explains or has the savior read the forfeit on his or her Possessed card. This savior turns off his or her light and stays in the same zone as the possessed, doing the same forfeit. He or she will be freed at the same time as the possessed person who blocked him or her.

Freeing a possessed / blocked medium

• When a possessed is freed by a savior, he or she turns his or her light back on and says "Thank you". He or she must immediately go to the Ceremony Table, without interacting with other mediums.
• If a possessed/blocked medium is freed, all possessed/blocked mediums with the same forfeit as his or hers are freed too. All turn their light back on and return to the Ceremony Table immediately.
• A savior who was blocked, then freed, will necessarily put a thumb down in the next Validation phase even if he or she had accomplished the mission before being blocked.

Duration of an Expedition phase

An Expedition phase has no fixed duration; however, we advise a duration of 4 minutes for games of 30 minutes. Do not use a timer; you can look at the clock on your phone to get an idea of the duration of the current Expedition phase. Of course, the duration depends on the MdC's decision.

When the MdC hears a lot of discussion between mediums and/or groups forming, he or she must call the end of the Expedition phase.

When the MdC considers that the Expedition phase is over, he or she announces in a loud voice:

"The Ceremony resumes."

At that moment, all mediums who are not possessed or blocked must return to the Ceremony Room. So the possessed and/or blocked mediums who have not been freed stay in the play zones.

3. Validation Phase

Once the available mediums have returned, they may put their card in the corresponding discard pile (Possessed or Savior). The mediums point their fists toward the center of the table. The MdC states:

• Each possessed who was freed raises a thumb up.
• Each savior who accomplished his or her mission without being blocked raises a thumb up.

In addition, if the Torment card tells him or her to, the MdC raises a thumb up. In all other cases, they lower the thumb (thumb down).

For each thumb up, the MdC advances 1 Candle token to the next Divination card.

Important: you must advance all the Candle tokens of location A before advancing those of location B, and finally those of location C. Thus the Divination card on location A will always be released before the card on location B, and the last card released will be the one on location C.

After this, if there are no more Candle tokens on a face-down Divination card, the MdC reveals it. It triggers an active effect for every medium around the Ceremony Table (see The Divination cards, page 11).

Then go on to the Preparation phase of the next turn, unless it was the seventh and last turn, in which case go to "End of the Game".

End of the Game

The game ends in 3 ways:

• Defeat by possession: if no medium returns when the MdC announces "the Ceremony resumes" at the end of an Expedition phase, it is a defeat. The Spirit has taken possession of you.
• Defeat by candles at the end of the seventh turn: you did not manage to get all the Candle tokens off the Ritual board by the end of the game. The Spirit remains master of the place.
• The Ceremony is a success: you managed to get all the Candle tokens off the Ritual board before the end of the seventh turn.

The Divination Cards

When a Divination card has no more Candle tokens on it, it is revealed at the end of the Validation phase. Its effect then applies for the rest of the game to the mediums who are around the Ceremony Table only, but not to the MdC.

When the 2 Divination cards on locations A and B are revealed, the two effects are cumulative and must both be applied. The MdC is not affected and is the guarantor of compliance with these effects.

When an effect of a Divination card is not respected by the mediums, the MdC points it out and reminds them of the effect of the Divination cards, then moves back one Candle token to a previous location.

Moving back a Candle token

Take a Candle token from the location where there are the most, and move it back one location. This may lead you to take a token off the board to put it on location C.

Remark: you cannot take a Candle token located on location A and make it leave the board.

Clarifications

• Glossary:
  • "Sing a nursery rhyme": you must sing a children's song, such as "Fais dodo, Colas mon petit frère" or "Promenons-nous dans les bois"...
  • "Deliberately illuminate": bring your light close to a person's face.
  • "Scare": provoke a start, a scream, a nervous laugh... in another person.
• A forfeit or a mission always has priority over the rules and over the Divination cards.
• During the game, for any question about the game, the rules or a forfeit, ask the MdC; he or she always decides.

Suggestion for your first game

The setup is the same; however, the MdC does not look at the Torment cards and does not apply them. He or she will thus be focused on organizing the game and enforcing the effects of the Divination cards. He or she will still draw a Torment card each turn, but without reading it, so that these cards simply serve as a "turn counter".

Clarifications on the Different Roles

The Master of Ceremonies - MdC

• He or she manages the running of the Ceremony and the proper application of the effects of the Divination cards by the mediums around the Ceremony Table.

• He or she may move around the play zones during the Expedition phase, without interacting with the mediums. He or she will thus gather information about the current situation that he or she can share during the next Preparation phase.

  Reminder: since the MdC is not a medium, he or she can never be possessed.

• He or she also fights against the evil Spirit and is saddled with forfeits by the Torment cards. The card indicates the MdC's conduct and/or the desired response depending on the number of Divination cards revealed on the game board:

  • 0 or 1 Divination card revealed (= there are no face-up cards, or only the card on location A is visible).
  • 2 Divination cards revealed (= the cards on locations A and B are face up).

• The MdC never reveals the solutions to his or her forfeits; he or she just indicates whether it is successful or failed during the Validation phase.

  Example: after asking a savior to bring you the Spirit box's card:

  • If 0 or 1 Divination card is face up: if the savior brings you the card, scold him or her and tell him or her to put it back in the zone where it was, and put a thumb down at the next Validation phase.
  • If 2 Divination cards are revealed: he or she must not bring it or come back, for you to put a thumb up at the next Validation phase.

Possessed

• A possessed medium must perform his or her forfeit in the play zones outside the Ceremony Room until a savior frees him or her.
• He or she must keep his or her light constantly off after settling in the chosen play zone.
• He or she does not return to the Ceremony Room as long as he or she is not freed by a savior.
• When freed, he or she must immediately return to the Ceremony Room and will raise a thumb up during the Validation phase.
• When a savior who is trying to save a possessed performs an action that blocks him or her, the possessed tells the savior, explains, or has him or her read the forfeit to be done, then this savior turns off his or her light and stays in the same zone.

Savior

• A savior medium always moves alone, never in a group.
• He or she can free possessed/blocked mediums and, in addition, has the possibility of carrying out his or her mission before the next Ceremony.
• This pictogram indicates that, to completely accomplish the mission, he or she must deposit the card in "the Spirit box".
• He or she keeps his or her light on constantly. Clarification: he or she may turn it off to carry out a mission if this is specified on his or her card, or at the request of another medium if useful for a forfeit or mission.
• He or she returns immediately to the Ceremony Room, between each turn, when he or she hears: "The Ceremony resumes."
• If blocked by a possessed, he or she must stay in that possessed's play zone and do the same forfeit. He or she will be freed at the same time.
• If he or she succeeds in his or her mission without having been blocked in the meantime, he or she will raise a thumb up during the Validation phase.

Anatomy of the Cards

MdC Story

• MdC symbol
• Story symbol
• Story to read aloud
• Story adapted for indoors / Story adapted for outdoors

MdC Torment

• MdC symbol
• Forfeit (gage)
• Raise your thumb at the next Validation phase if this forfeit was completely carried out. Otherwise, the conditions depend on the number of Divination cards revealed: 0 or 1 Divination card revealed / 2 Divination cards revealed.

Possessed

• Possessed symbol
• Forfeit (gage)
• Turn off your light once settled in your play zone to carry out your forfeit
• Action that blocks the savior
• Action that frees the possessed and all mediums blocked by this forfeit
• Play contexts (indoor, outdoor, tactile, difficult)

Savior

• Savior symbol
• Mission
• Deposit the card in "the Spirit box"
• Accomplish this mission to be able to raise a thumb up during the Validation phase

Divination

• Divination to place on locations A and B
• Divination to place on location C of the Ritual board
• Effect of the card that the mediums must apply around the Ceremony Table
• Move back a Candle token if the forfeit is not carried out