Rituels
Rituels Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup (Mise en place)
Separate the different cards by type, going by their backs.
- 1 Example of Play card (Exemple de partie)
- 12 numbered Instructions cards (Instructions)
- 1 Turn Order card (Tour de jeu)
- 1 X card
- 8 Context cards (Contexte)
- 8 Ritual cards (Rituel)
- 10 Final Choice cards (Choix final) (5 Loyalty, 5 Betrayal)
- 19 Act I cards (Acte I)
- 19 Act II cards (Acte II)
- 1 Final Ritual card (Rituel final)
Also included:
- 1 envelope "Last Act" (Dernier Acte)
- 1 promotional card for the game Donjons & Siphons
Example of Play (Exemple de partie)
Lisa, Blandine and Sylvain have finished reading the Instructions cards. They have decided to play with the Context card "Antiquity, Mediterranean Basin" and the Ritual card "Summon an ancient entity that has promised us eternal life".
Lisa draws the first card from the Act I deck. She reads it aloud: "The cult is a new family for you. What does it offer you that you have not found elsewhere?"
After a moment's thought, she answers: "My character is a young Egyptian woman, born of a secret union. She should have spent her life in the street, but her father, a noble, used his contacts to bring her into the cult and so join the clergy."
She then sees the symbol at the bottom of the card. "Do you have any questions to ask me on this subject?"
Sylvain asks her: "Do you know whether it cost her anything? Or does she risk anything for having acted this way?"
- Lisa: "I don't know, I am not a leader of the cult."
- Blandine: "And her father, is he one of them?"
- Lisa: "He was. Unfortunately, he died under mysterious circumstances. And for your information, you don't know that he was her father. It was a secret he would take with him to his tomb... no other question?"
- Sylvain and Blandine: "No, that's fine!"
- Lisa: "In that case, it is your turn to draw the next card, Blandine."
Instructions Cards
Card I
The game proceeds as follows: turning clockwise, we take turns drawing a card and reading its text aloud.
We begin with the Instructions cards, which explain how to play. If there is an instruction to carry out on a card, we carry it out immediately.
Once a card has been read and its instructions carried out, we discard it, unless it says to keep it in the centre of the table.
Card II
We play characters who all belong to the same cult and worship a supernatural power of immeasurable might.
In its name, we practise mystical ceremonies and rites in the greatest secrecy. Our cult has entrusted us with a crucial mission: to prepare the ritual that will be the culmination of all our esoteric research. If we manage to perform it correctly, the world will be changed forever.
We place this card face up in the centre of the table.
Card III
Let us now decide the context of our story by choosing, from 3 Context cards, the one that inspires us most.
(Illustration: a Context card.)
Variant: we may also invent this context by choosing together the place and era in which we want this story to unfold.
If we have chosen a Context card, we place it in the centre of the table.
Card IV
Let us now decide the objective of the ritual by choosing, from 3 Ritual cards, the one that inspires us most.
(Illustration: a Ritual card.)
Variant: we may also invent this ritual by choosing it together. Or we may leave it unspecified for now: it will then emerge during the story, each time a player needs to specify it a little more.
If we have chosen a Ritual card, we place it in the centre of the table.
Card V
Once all the Instructions cards have been read, we continue taking turns with the Act cards, which are written as questions. They are divided into 2 decks. We answer the questions on the Act I cards before moving on to the questions on the Act II cards.
(Illustration: the Act I and Act II card backs.)
These questions will let us imagine together a story centred on our cult, specify our role in its organisation, and the ritual our alter egos have decided to perform.
Card VI
When it is your turn, read the card you drew aloud and answer the question it asks. Invent all the details you feel you need to justify your answer (characters, places, events).
Important: use the questions on the cards to build links between your character and those of the other players. This way you will create a story rich in twists.
Card VII
After listening to a player's answer to an Act card, we may ask them as many questions as we like to develop what has just been said and thus enrich our story. When no one has any more questions, we move on to the next player.
This phase is at the heart of the game, which is why it is reminded on each Act card by this symbol:
(Symbol: a question mark and an ellipsis in two speech bubbles.)
Card VIII
Place the X card in the centre of the table, where everyone can easily reach it. If a card, a question, a suggestion or an answer does not suit you, touch this card to remove that content from the game. If an Act card that has just been drawn is removed this way, the player whose turn it is draws a new one.
(Illustration: the X card.)
On your turn, you may also pass the Act card you have just drawn to the next player, who may do the same. The turn then continues from the person who decides to answer a card.
Card IX
At the end of the Act II deck, one person will draw and read aloud the Final Ritual card (Rituel final).
This card indicates that we are entering the last act of our story. We then open the Last Act envelope (Dernier Acte).
(Illustrations: the Final Ritual card and the Last Act envelope.)
In this Last Act, each of us will individually decide whether we try to make this ritual succeed or fail, depending on the story we have told and on how our character's position towards the cult has evolved.
Card X
We will then use the Final Choice cards (Choix final), "Loyalty" (Loyauté) and "Betrayal" (Trahison), to indicate our choice.
(Illustrations: the Loyalty card and the Betrayal card. The printed text on these two card faces is too small to read reliably in the source scan and is not transcribed here.)
As indicated on the Last Act play aid, the result of the vote will determine the outcome of our story and will lead us to recount together the end of our story.
The game is then over.
Card XI
Setup: before starting the game, each player takes two Final Choice cards: one "Loyalty" (Loyauté) and one "Betrayal" (Trahison).
We shuffle the Act I and Act II decks separately. For a game of about 60 minutes, we remove 10 cards from each deck; for a game of about 120 minutes, we remove 5.
We place the Final Ritual card in the centre of the table, then place on top of it, face down, the Act II deck and then the Act I deck, so that we begin with the latter.
Card XII
Let us now recall the context of the story and, if applicable, the chosen Ritual.
Then the player who wishes to do so draws the first Act I card and the story begins.