House of Horrors
House of Horrors Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Shuffle the Room Deck and divide it evenly into three piles. Stack the piles into a single deck, shuffling the Dawn card in the bottom pile and the Midnight card in the top pile.
Shuffle the House of Horrors deck and deal six cards to each player.
The oldest player starts as the Butler...
Gameplay
The Butler draws cards from the House Deck faceup until she has drawn two Room cards. Any Room Items she draws stay on the table to be used later.
The Butler picks one Room for the round's encounter to take place. She discards the other Room. She then specifies whether the round will feature a battle of Psychic, Strength, Terror, or a "Bloodbath" (which involves all three types).
Example: Sofia chooses The Armory as the location of this round's encounter. The Armory only allows mortals and horrors who can go to the Main Floor to participate.
Example: Sofia declared a Psychic combat and plays a Mindbat Swarm.
The Butler begins by playing one Mortal or Horror card from her hand. The Mortal or Horror must be allowed to go to the floor of the active Room.
The Butler may also play any number of appropriate Item cards from her hand. She may also take and play one Room Item (if one was previously drawn) from the table and play it with her Mortal or Horror card.
Play continues clockwise for each player in a similar fashion. Each player may play one Mortal or Horror card plus items. Instead of playing, a player may discard one card.
Example: Vlad decides the mortals need to take the field and plays a Psychic Kid. The Psychic Kid has a ? value in Psychic ability, which means Vlad will roll a die, but only once every other player has played a card.
Example: Pedro decides that the horrors need to challenge the heroes, and plays Bleeding Walls. He pleads with the next player to help the monsters' cause!
Example: Ignoring Vlad's pleas for help, Faith reinforces the horrors with Will o' Wisps accompanied by a Blood Moon item card.
Resolution
After everyone has played, the encounter is resolved. Players calculate which side (Mortal or Horror) has won the battle. Ignore all values not of the type declared in the room.
Any Monster or Explorer with a ? in a value rolls a die to determine its actual value. A ?? indicates two dice are rolled. Dice are always rolled after all players have played.
The side with the highest combined total in the Butler's chosen battle type wins the encounter.
Example: In the example above, the Mortals have a value of ? (whatever Pedro Vlad rolls on a die), and the Horrors have a 7. Vlad rolls the die and gets a 4. The Horrors win the encounter and will get spoils!
The Spoils
The cards on the winning side, including items, are recycled to the discard pile. Any cards on the loser's side without hourglasses (points) are also discarded.
Any losing cards with hourglasses (points) are placed on the table to be doled out as spoils to the players on the winning side, as are any unused Room Items.
The player with the largest total on the winning side gets first choice of one spoil card. In the case of a tie, the player who played first in that round wins. She must then hand out one spoil card to each allied player before taking another one for herself. Players who had no cards showing at the end of the round (or one with a value of 0) are not eligible for spoils.
Example: Two cards are available for spoils. Since Faith had the highest total on the winning side (with a 4), she gets to pick one for herself, and then give one to either Pedro or Sofia.
Players keep their spoil cards facedown and separate from their hands, as these track their points. Spoil cards are permanently out of the game.
Additionally, for every three lanterns a player collects in her spoil pile, her hand size increases by one (maximum 10 cards).
After spoils are taken, the player to the left of the Butler becomes the new Butler. Players draw up to their hand size (typically six cards), and a new round begins.
Winning the Game
When the Dawn card is drawn, it is the final round of play. Whoever has the most hourglasses (points) after this final round wins!
Special Cases
Encounter Ties: If the Horrors and Mortals tie in a round, all played cards are placed under the Room card in the center of the table. Players draw up to their hand size and play proceeds clockwise to the next Butler. The new Butler chooses the type of combat it will be but she does not draw additional room cards - the encounter takes place in the same room again! The side that wins this new round gets the appropriate (Mortal or Horror, depending on who wins the round) spoils from both rounds! In the unlikely event the second round is a tie, follow the same procedure again.
Midnight and Dawn: These cards are always played with the other room drawn, and can be given out as spoils like any other card. At Midnight, players may play two Horror or Mortal cards rather than one. However, players may never play a Mortal card with a Horror.
Claiming Cards: If a card is played and it says to Claim another card, you may immediately remove it from the table and add it to your pile of spoils! You may only claim cards that are visible on your turn. Cards can never be claimed from the spoils or discard pile.
Example: The Vampire card allows the player to roll a die when played. If the result is a 4+, he can claim any visible female mortal on the table. If there are no female mortals on the table when this card is played, he is out of luck, even if a female mortal is played by the next player. Timing is everything, even for vampires!
Mages: Some mortals and horrors are Mages and have special occult powers. They are indicated by a starred border (shown in the rulebook as a card border of stars).
While Mages have no special powers on their own, certain items in the game are more effective for them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I play an item card alone? (Without a Horror or Monster?)
Yes.
Q. Can I play a card with a value of 0?
Yes, though you are not eligible for spoils if your side wins. You can take credit for moral support, however.
Q. Am I allowed to promise people certain cards as spoils if they help me?
Yes! However, in the House of Horrors, all promises are non-binding!