GAMES :: BETRAYAL GAME 2

• Board:
  • Upper floor
  • Ground floor
  • Basement
• Characters:

1. Zoe Ingstrom
2. Professor Longfellow
3. Darrin "Flash" Williams
4. Brandon Jaspers
5. Vivian Lopez
6. Heather Granville
7. Poltergeist - Turn/Damage Track: 6
   • Items: Armor, Axe;
   • Hero Successes: 4 (Charred Room, Library, Balcony, Bloody Room);

• Game: (OMENS: 5)

Your group is standing together on the front porch of this antiquated mansion. It looks like something off of an old romance novel cover, except that no one's lived in the place for years and it's completely run down. The windows are all staring vacantly down onto the weed-covered lawn, and the wall appears to be looming over you, as if silently threatening to fall on your head. Flash Williams reaches confidently forward and pushes hard against the door, expecting resistance from the warped wood and rusty hinges, but instead it swings silently and as quickly as if on greased hinges and slams loudly against the wall inside. Dust sifts down from the porch roof above you, giving you all a fine coating. Fun fact; did you know that most household dust is made up of dead human skin cells? You're welcome for that mental image.

Startled by the sudden noise, Flash hesitates a moment before stepping into the house. The rest of you tentatively follow, not entirely certain what you're getting into. The door swings silently shut behind you, separating you from the normal world outside.

1. • Flash looks around then takes off down the hallway and up the stairs at the end. "Betcha all the good stuff's up here," he calls back. At the top of the stairs he's faced with 4 dark doorways. He shrugs and turns left. He flips on the light switch to see the library, a room full of dusty books and tomes and notebooks. He picks one up at random. It appears to be a notebook belonging to one A. Crowley. It's full of written notes and tales, and he flips absently through it. Near the middle of the notebook he finds a section with 3 pages roughly torn out. The page after it has "That will haunt my memories unto my grave. None others should be so burdened." written in shaky handwriting. Flash turns to sit down when he feels something tangle around his leg. He very nearly falls down, but with a quick hop on one leg he's able to save himself.
     • Room:: Library: Once per game, ending your turn here gives you +1 Knowledge;
     • Event:: Something Slimy:[Speed Roll=7]= +1 Speed
   • Brandon follows Flash up the stairs. The library looks really boring though. Nothing but dull books talking about things no one wants to know. So instead he sticks his head through another doorway to see what's there. It looks like some kind of science lab, with trays and glass bottles and other stuff like that. He takes a few minutes to poke around, looking for anything interesting, like a computer, but no such luck. Hold on, over in that corner is a door, a closet door. Maybe there's something good in there? It's open a crack, but it's dark on the inside, and the door's really stiff. Maybe if he yanked hard enough it'd open? He yanks the door handle hard, and it flies open, knocking him to the floor. A large glass jar on the top shelf rocks and then falls, smashing open on the floor next to him, releasing a spray of a viscous green goo. The floor sizzles where the goo strikes it, and it seems to be moving towards the prone boy. Brandon shrieks and scrambles madly away on all fours from the goo before it touches him. After a minute, the goo has sizzled and bubbled away, leaving just a dark stain on the floor.
     • Room:: Research Laboratory
     • Event:: Closet Door: [2 dice=1]= Draw an Event card and remove the Closet icon from the board;
     • Event:: Angry Being: [Speed Roll=6]= +1 Speed
   • Vivian resignedly watches the boys run up the stairs and disappear. Instead, she turns left and goes into the first doorway and onto the Patio. The flagstones are seriously deteriorating in places, several panes of glass on the front wall are gone, and all of the plants are either dead or trying to take over the entire room. As she pokes about among the leaves, she spots something odd about the back corner. It looks like it .. opens? A small push pivots the wall open. She steps through, into what looks like the Ballroom. As she stands gawking, she hears a 'click' as the Revolving Wall closes behind her. Well, it doesn't look like she'll have a hard time getting out of here, at least. The room has suffered some water damage at some point, and there's a steady drip..drip..drip of water onto wood. The longer she listens to it, the more annoying it becomes. Drip..drip..drip..drip..drip..drip..
     • Room:: Patio
     • Event:: Revolving Wall: Knowledge Roll of 3+ to use, does not count as moving a space;
     • Room:: Ballroom
     • Event:: Drip: -1 die on all trait rolls while in this room.
   • Heather watches Flash jog up the stairs. Nobody else seems to be doing anything interesting, so she might as well follow the hunky track athlete, right? Even if it leads to .. an old dusty library? Gross! Flash seems to be interested in the book he has, so maybe she should look at one too. "Layers of Deception: Making the Supernatural Acceptable to Modern Society" by Munster/Addams. Gah! Booooring!
     • Room:: Library: Gain +1 Knowledge.
   • Little Zoe pays little attention to what the others are doing. She walks down the corridor, peering around inquisitively, and dragging the fingers of her right hand idly along the wall. Her hand bumps into the handle of a closed door, and she impulsively turns the knob and pushes in. The room is dark, but she can just make out a light switch on the wall. When she reaches up to turn it on though, there is a bright flash and a small bang as the light fixture shorts out. Sparks fly, and the room fills with an acrid smoke that burns her eyes and makes her throat itch.
     • Room:: Game Room
     • Event:: Smoke; The Smoke blocks line of sight from adjacent rooms. An explorer rolls 2 fewer dice (minimum of 1 die) on all trait rolls while in this room.
   • Professor Longfellow takes the stairs up at a leisurely pace, pausing every now and then to peer at one of the decorations or faded pictures on the wall. His eyes really light up though, when he sees his students making use of the house's Library. He didn't know they were that into reading for reading's sake. Maybe there is hope for this next generation after all. He follows them in and begins to browse the shelves himself. He pulls down a rather heavy old medical tome called "How I Did It", by V. F. N. Stein. It's not in his field, but it looks interesting.
     • Room:: Library: Gain +1 Knowledge.
2. • Flash looks all around on the floor, but the only thing near his foot is a loose power cord. It must have gotten twisted around his ankle when he turned around. He shrugs and leafs through the notebook for a bit before dropping it onto a side table. Heather and Professor L. appear to be busy with books of their own. He walks over to the other door in the room, pulls it open and walks in. He's immediately assailed by the rich smell of soil, powerful floral scents, and rotting vegetation. This is the conservatory, and the plants have definitely taken over. His head reels for a moment at the smells, and suddenly he can hear the sound of children. Flash takes an unsteady step forward and peers over a large leaf into a small clearing. In it, two boys are taking turns playing with a wooden top. "Would you like a turn, Jonah?" one asks. "No," says Jonah loudly, "I want all the turns!" Jonah takes the top and hits the other boy in the face. The boy falls. Jonah keeps hitting him as they fade from view.... Flash reels backward, stunned at the casual violence of the scene.
     • Room:: Conservatory
     • Event:: Jonah's Turn; Take 1 die of Mental Damage. Roll= 0. No damage taken.
   • Brandon scrambles back to his feet, watching the green goop dissolve into smoke. "Cool!" He quickly searches all the shelves in the closet, but sadly they're all empty. He drops back down to the floor after climbing up to the top shelf and looks around. There's only one other door in this room, and it opens easily. Brandon walks out onto a wide Balcony. Shadows lie heavily here, and he can only make out general shapes and outlines. One of them moves suddenly. There is a low growl as it lunges at him. Snapping teeth can only barely be seen as Brandon frantically tries to shove it away. It gives one final snap at his arm, which he barely manages to pull away from, then it's gone. All is quiet and motionless now, except Brandon's heart, which is beating double-time.
     • Room:: Balcony
     • Omen:: Bite *Something* tries to bite you. It makes a Might 4 attack, which you defend with your Might. Attack = 4 vs Defend = 5. No damage taken.
     • HAUNT Roll: 7. Haunt not revealed. Omen count = 1.
   • Vivian walks forward and out the door in front of her and into a corridor full of statuary. Mostly busts on pillars, but there are two full body statues in the corners. One of the pillars catches her eye. It looks a little blockier than the others. A quick look at all sides of it reveals that hidden in back is a Locked Safe. Ooo... this might be fun. She starts fiddling with the combination lock, trying to guess the numbers. "1..2..3..4..5.. Nope. 5..4..3..2..1.. Nope." After several minutes of this, she gets frustrated and takes a break rather than slamming her fist into the door.
     • Room:: Statuary Corridor
     • Event:: Locked Safe: Knowledge Roll 5+ to open. Roll = 4. 1 die of Physical damage = 0
   • Heather looks up from her book, surprised at how it sucked her in like that. She slides the book into her purse and looks around. Prof. L is over there reading some giant book, but Flash has disappeared. She moves over to the main door and looks out, but doesn't see him anywhere. Oh well, she figures, can't hurt to look around on her own a bit. She walks out onto the Upper Landing and over to the closest door on her left. A quick turn of the knob and she walks into a surgeon's room. A platform for the patient to lay on, old medical gear on racks and carts, and several rusty scalpels. A cold breeze causes her to shiver. She walks further into the room and starts looking around. On one table she sees an old black rotary phone. Just then, the phone rings, a loud harsh noise in the silence. As if she's watching someone else, she watches her arm lift and pick up the handset on its own, lifting it to her dazed ear. "I'm here, Sweetums! Give us a kiss!" comes the voice of her grandmother over the speaker. But.. Granny died over 5 years ago! What is going on here?
     • Room:: Operating Laboratory
     • Event:: Phone Call; Roll = 1 = Take 1 die of mental damage; Roll = 0. No damage taken.
   • Zoe backs out of the room, startled at the bang and smoke and afraid someone would blame her for breaking something. She looks up and down the hallway, but no one is there, so she turns and hurries up the stairs in the direction she had last seen anyone go. At the top of the stairs, she sees the old professor man inside a library reading a book. That looks safe. When you're sitting down reading a book, you can't be somewhere else breaking things, right? She grabs a thin book that looks like it might be for little kids, but it'll be okay for now. "Blue Cthulhu Sees You", by Dr. Seuss.
     • Room:: Library: Gain +1 Knowledge.
   • Professor Longfellow closes his book in disgust. The author was either a poorly-informed fiction writer or a shoddy doctor with a complete lack of ethics. Either way, he's not going to waste any more time on it. He stalks out of the Library and into the room across the landing, just trying to walk off some of his frustration. He barely notices the Dusty Hallway as he strides through and into the room beyond. A large pipe organ lies at the far end of the room, past a series of benches. He is surprised, as it actually appears to be in decent shape compared to the rest of the house. Walking up to it, he can see there's not much dust, as if it's been cleaned not too long ago. Pressing a few of the ivory keys produces a few faint notes, but it's a complex instrument, and he doesn't know how to make it do much more than that. He notices one of the decorative pieces on one of the wooden pieces has popped loose, and reaches over to push it back on. When he does, there's a low grinding noise, and a narrow door to one side pops open, revealing a staircase leading down into the darkness below. Curious, he makes his way down the steep, narrow stairs and through the panel in the Game Room. The room is full of acrid smoke, causing him to cough and choke and his eyes water and sting. Waving his hand in front of his face, he tries to find an exit. It looks brighter off to his right and he starts to move that way, when he suddenly realizes it's getting brighter and moving quickly towards him. Afraid the room is on fire, he starts to stumble backward when the shape resolves into a man, running through the room with his hair and clothes burning wildly, his skin bubbling and cracking. His whole body bursts into flame as he gets close, and a vile cloud of black smoke erupts and obscures him, until a fiery skull burst out of the smoke, clatters to the ground, bounces, rolls, and disappears. Longfellow's eyes are wide open with fear, and he stands stunned, until a flash of pain along his leg awakens him to the fact that his pants leg is on fire and trying to spread to the rest of him. Panicking, he slaps at his shin until the flames have all gone out, and he's left kneeling on the floor, barely able to see or breathe.
     • Room:: Dusty Hallway
     • Room:: Organ Room
     • Event:: Secret Stairs. Player chooses to connect it to Game Room, go through it and draw another Event card.
     • Event:: Burning Man. Sanity Roll (-2 dice due to Smoke) = 1. Take 1 die of Physical damage = 1 pt. Then take 1 die of Mental damage = 1 pt. Prof L., tell me which stats will take the damage. (-1 Might, -1 Sanity)
3. • Flash stumbles back out of the Conservatory and shakes his head to clear it of the vision. Absently, he leaves the library and unknowingly follows in the footsteps of the Professor into the Dusty Hallway across the Landing. Flash turns right though and through the doorway onto a platform or balcony leading to a narrow bridge that crosses above the roof to a tower. Flash takes a couple of deep breaths of the fresh outdoor air and relaxes. As he stands there, he hears one of the others walking up behind him. "I needed a bit of air," he says, and turns around to face them. But there's no one there, only a set of footprints appearing in the dirt and dust as they walk up to him. And then, as they reach him, they disappear.
     • Room:: Tower; To cross from one side of the Tower to the other, you must make a Might check of 3+.
     • Event:: Footsteps; Roll 1 die = 2 = Lose 1 Sanity.
   • Brandon flees back the way he came, away from the animal that just attacked him. Through the lab and the landing, the light in the Library shines like a comforting welcome sign, and he tears into the room and onto a chair, where he huddles up and just sits and shivers for a bit. On a shelf just behind his shoulder sits a bright yellow book titled, "Lycanthropy for Dummies: A Guide to Surviving and Thriving".
     • Room:: Library: Gain +1 Knowledge.
   • Vivian leaves the Statuary Corridor. Maybe she'll come back later for that safe, maybe not. The next room is the Dining Room. In it's prime, it was probably a very impressive room, but now the wood is dried and cracked, and all the surfaces are covered in dust and grime, and dishes and furnishings are scattered and knocked over. On one end of the oval table is a board, covered with letters and numbers, and a small triangular pointer. It's one of those spirit boards that are so popular at some parties.
     • Room:: Dining Room
     • Omen:: Spirit Board; Before you move during your turn, you can look at the top tile of the room stack. (I will send the owner a private email at the start of their turn telling them the top room tile) If you use the Spirit Board after the Haunt has been revealed, the Traitor can move any number of monsters 1 space closer to you.
     • Haunt Roll= 6; Haunt has not begun.
   • Heather: The Operating Laboratory sits empty. The phone receiver lies off the hook, as if dropped in a hurry. Of the young woman who was recently in this room, there is no sign, no clues as to where she went. As if the house itself swallowed her up...
   • Zoe gets up and puts her book down. All the adults have left, and nobody got upset with her over that room downstairs, so maybe it's safe to go and explore some more, Ignoring Brandon in his chair, she moves quietly over to the Library door and peeks out onto the Landing. Nobody there, good, she thinks. Quickly she darts across the Landing and into the Dusty Hallway. She looks both ways at the crossing halls and randomly goes left. She pushes the door open to reveal a Bedroom. There's a good-sized bed along one wall, the blankets covered in dust. Quietly she closes the door behind her and starts peeking about, using her flashlight to see if there's anything exciting in here. After a few minutes of exploration, the light from her flashlight suddenly dims, flickers twice, then goes out, plunging her into near-solid darkness. She gives a small shriek and tries to run to the door she came in by, but trips over a piece of furniture hidden in the dark and goes sprawling.
     • Room:: Bedroom; The north door of the Operating Laboratory is blocked off now
     • Event:: Lights Out; Zoe can move only 1 space each turn until she ends her turn in the same room as another explorer or the Furnace Room, or gains the Candle.
   • Professor Longfellow backs frantically out of the smoky room, covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve, tears streaming from his stinging eyes. He staggers back up the secret stairs into Organ Room and collapses onto a bench, breathing heavily. After a moment, he gathers himself together and makes his way down the aisle and over to the side door. Cautiously, he pushes it open and peeks around the edge. It looks like there was a fire in this room at one point, every surface is charred or burnt. A quick sniff of the air confirms that it wasn't recent, as there's no scent of smoke in the air here. It seems safe, so he walks in and starts poking around. Everything looks pretty well damaged almost to destruction, all except one drawer in a small table. Inside this drawer, he finds a small ornate cross on a decorative chain. While decorative, it appears to have been heavily used, with worn spots on all ends from frequent holding. Just holding it makes him feel better, so he slips it over his head and tucks it in under his coat.
     • Room:: Charred Room
     • Omen:: Holy Symbol; Gain 2 Sanity now. Lose 2 Sanity if you ever lose the Holy Symbol.
     • Haunt Roll:: 3 Omens; Roll=8; Haunt not revealed.
4. • Flash turns back from the Tower. To try and take his mind off what he just saw he starts leafing through Crowley's journal, trying to distract himself. Some of the things in there are pretty horrible, but some aren't so bad, rather interesting actually. He ambles aimlessly through the House as he reads, at one point going down the main staircase without even realizing it. He finally looks up and notices where he is when he bumps into a table. Somehow, he's gone from the Tower down to the ground floor and into the Kitchen without noticing.
     • Room:: Kitchen
     • Omen:: Book; Gain 2 Knowledge now. Lose 2 Knowledge if you lose the Book.
     • Haunt Roll:: 4 Omens; Roll=8; Haunt not revealed.
   • Brandon watches Zoe go out of the Library, leaving him all alone again. Nobody else seems to be scared, maybe it was just his imagination. After a moment's thought, he climbs down out of his chair and walks nervously back onto the Landing. Turning right, he creeps back toward the Balcony. He twitches slightly at every noise in the background. When he reaches the Balcony, he spends several minutes staring into every dark corner. Finally gathering together his courage, he moves quickly across the room, almost at a run, and through the doorway on the other side. He slows down to take a look, shining his flashlight around the room. The floor and walls are piled high with junk, boxes, bags and stuff. On top of one of the stacks is a human skull, old and weathered, cracked and missing a few teeth. It's just so cool looking that Brandon can't help himself and picks it up. He brushes some of the dust off and tucks it under his arm and keeps searching the room.
     • Room:: Junk Room; When exiting this room, you must make a Might roll of 3+. If you fail, lose 1 Speed, but continue moving.
     • Omen:: Skull; If you take mental damage, you can take all of it as physical damage instead.
     • Haunt Roll:: 5 Omens; Roll=4; Haunt is revealed!!
5. HAUNT - A BREATH OF WIND :: As you move through the room, some of the debris begins to shake. You stoop to examine it, but it lifts off the floor, quickly followed by more. Soon, a cloud of broken objects spins through the air, and you hear a cackle of insane laughter as pieces of junk begin to launch themselves towards you.
   • The Traitor is the player to the left of the Haunt Revealer, in this case, Vivian Lopez. Heroes and Traitors will receive separate sets of instructions on how to win the game. This round has ended, and the new round will start with the player after the Traitor, Zoe Ingstrom. Vivian will control the Poltergeist after her turn. The Heroes will have a few days to talk amongst themselves - just send me an email and I will forward it immediately to the rest of your team. The Traitor gets to discuss strategy with me. Both sides can ask me any questions they want, and I will answer them to the best of my ability.
   • Zoe hears the laughter echoing through the house from the direction of the upper landing. That sounds really scary, so she turns and feels her way blindly through the room in the other direction, away from that noise. She find a doorway and stumbles through it into the Attic. The room is warm, and the walls seem to be pulsing like a heartbeat. Her heart seems to be beating to the same rhythm, and she feels drawn to the nearest wall. Her vision starts to turn red the closer she gets to the wall, and just before she blacks out, she sees her hand merge through the wall. With a start she opens her eyes and looks around, finding herself in another room. It's darker here, and she can't see well, but it's definitely not the Attic anymore. She puts her hands out to feel her way around the room and promptly steps into a hole in the floor of the Collapsed Room. She bangs her forearms against a jutting floorboard as she falls through, and bangs her shins into the floor of the room below her. Staggered, bleeding and in pain, she looks around and sees she's in an empty hallway in the basement.
     • Room:: Attic
     • Event:: The Walls; Draw the next room and put it in the house. Move your explorer to that room.
     • Room:: Collapsed Room; Speed Roll of 5+ to avoid falling and taking 1 die of physical damage.
       • Speed Roll= 3
       • Damage Roll= 2; 2 pts of physical damage; tell me how you want to take the damage. (1 to Speed, 1 to Might)
     • Room:: Creaky Hallway
   • Professor Longfellow staggers as the house shakes and the insane laughter courses through the hallways. The wind blowing throughout the rooms, throwing items around and tipping over furniture tips the Professor off. "Poltergeist!", he shouts. "I read some crackpot article last month! We need candles! Find some candles!" Suiting his actions to his words, the Professor hurries through the house and down the secret staircase and into the Kitchen. He grabs Flash by the arm and shakes it. "Get some candles, boy! Hurry!" He starts flinging cabinets open and rummaging through drawers. After a few moments, he holds his hand aloft, "Aha! Got one! ... Now, what did it say I had to do again...?"
     • Candle Roll (3+) = 5
   • Flash stares at the Professor as he rushes into the room and starts trashing the place. Poltergeist? That sounds familiar... Wait! The journal! He flips through the pages until he finds the one he wants and thrusts the book into the Professor's face. "Here, Professor! This page says something about a poltergeist!" While the Professor reads, Flash turns to scour the kitchen for another candle, finally finding one hiding at the back of a drawer.
     • Candle Roll (3+) = 7
   • Brandon scrambles on all fours to the nearest doorway, trying to dodge the flying debris. He slips and tumbles over a box and lands hard on his knee, bruising it. He manages to limp through the southern doorway and into the next room. There are large splashes of a dry brown substance all across the floor and walls. On the floor in front of his face lies a shiny rock that glints intriguingly in the light from his torch. He grabs it up in passing and moves farther into the room away from the poltergeist.
     • Speed Roll (3+) = 0. Lose 1 Speed.
     • Room:: Bloody Room
     • Item:: Lucky Stone; After you attempt a roll of any kind, you can rub the stone once to reroll any number of those dice. Discard this item after you use it.
   • Vivian stalks back to the Statuary Corridor, aware that whatever lies within that Safe might be able to help her friend the poltergeist. Frantically she spins the dial, trying many different combinations, but none of them are enough to crack the door open. Frustrated again, she smacks the door hard with her open palm, sending a crack of sound across the room.
     • Safe:: Knowledge Roll 5+ to open = 4 = 1 die of Physical damage = 0
   • The poltergeist whirs through the Junk Room, junk flying through the air around it, crashing and smashing into objects all around. Suddenly it darts through the doorway Brandon just escaped through, flying through the air with lightning speed right at the small boy. A small wooden crate careens wildly through the air, aimed right at Brandon's head, but at the last second a corner smacks into the floor next to him and the crate bounces away in another direction, barely grazing his forehead. Brandon drops his stone in his panic and confusion as he scrambles to find a safe spot. The poltergeist whooshes around the room for a moment longer, but doesn't seem able to see Brandon any more, and drifts out the doorway from whence it came. Moving through the rooms, it winds up in the Research Laboratory, where a large metal instrument tray is whisked up from a bench and added to the whirling throng surrounding it.
     • Might Attack vs Brandon:: Might 4 = 5
     • Might Defense by Brandon:: Might 4 = 1; Brandon discards Lucky Stone to reroll the 3 0's (keeping the 1);
     • Lucky Reroll by Brandon:: Reroll 3 dice = 3; Final result: Poltergeist 5 vs Brandon 4. Brandon takes 1pt of Physical Damage. Please tell me Might or Speed.
     • Poltergeist ends turn in Research Laboratory; draws 1 Item:: Armor:: (when used by a player) Any time you take Physical Damage, take 1 less point.
     • Poltergeist Turn/Damage track increases by 1 to 5.
6. • Zoe wanders further into the Basement, looking for a way out. Going through the next doorway brings her into a Storeroom. Several shelves are placed around the room, most filled with boxes or crates. Unfortunately, most of them seem to be sealed shut so she can't find out what's inside. After several minutes of useless searching, she finds a small black wooden box stashed on a high shelf she can just barely reach. The lid to this box lifts open, revealing a doctor's syringe containing a strange, brightly colored, liquid.
     • Room:: Storeroom;
     • Item:: Adrenaline Shot; Discard this item before making a Trait Roll to add 4 to the result;
   • Professor Longfellow tosses the journal aside. "Got it! Put the candle in a room upstairs and say 'Kluuta Nokti Daraba'!" he shouts as he rushes out the door. He feels his way through the smoke-filled Game Room and up the Secret Stairs and into the Charred Room where he was before. Quickly stooping, he places the candle on the floor. "Kluuta Nokti Daraba!" A flame suddenly flickers to life on the candle, casting eerie shadows across the burnt walls.
     • Candle Knowledge Roll (5+) = 6; Success
   • Flash takes his candle and runs up the stairs, reciting the phrase over and over in his head. Clamato Necktie Dubai? No, that's not right. He skids to a stop in the middle of the library, drops to his knees and plants the candle in the middle of the floor. "Clutie Nokti Badara! No. Kluta Nokti Badara! Gah! Umm... Kluuta.. Nokti.. Daraba?" With a flash, the candle lights, and Flash drops backwards in surprise. "What the...? Is that supposed to do that?"
     • Candle roll (5+) = 5; Success
   • Brandon comes hesitatingly out from his hiding place. Looks like the thing has left. He slides through the nearest doorway, away from the direction that thing went. This room looks like a Master Bedroom. Large bed against one wall, pretty big closet, nice furniture, even if everything is pretty old and messy. Wait.. what's that moving on the bed? Another monster? Oh no, another monster and it's going to eat me and... why is it whimpering? A large black dog bounds down off the bed wagging it's tail, apparently overjoyed to see someone. It seems quite happy to just follow Brandon around the room, and often leans its head against Brandon's side.
     • Room:: Master Bedroom
     • Omen:: Dog; Gain 1 Might and 1 Sanity now. Lose 1 Might and 1 Sanity if you lose custody of the Dog. Once during your turn, the Dog can move to any explored room up to 6 spaces away, using doors and stairs, and then return. It can pick up, carry, and/or drop 1 item before it returns. The Dog isn't slowed by opponents. It can't use one-way passages or rooms that require a roll. It can't carry items that slow movement. This omen can't be dropped, traded, or stolen.
   • Vivian kneels down and focuses on the safe door again. Maybe this time she'll get lucky and crack this thing. Turning the knob, twisting the handle, smacking the side of it, all of this for minutes on end achieves nothing. The safe stubbornly refuses to open.
     • Safe:: Knowledge Roll 5+) = 3; Failed -> 1 die Physical damage = 0
   • The poltergeist swirls through the hallways and rushes into the Library. Suddenly Flash is beset from all sides as books are pulled off the shelves and thrown violently around the room.
     • Might Attack vs Flash:: Might 5 = 6;
     • Might Defense by Flash:: Might 3 = 3;
     • Poltergeist ends turn in Library; draws 1 Item:: Axe:: (when used by a player) Roll 1 additional die (max 8) when making a Might attack with this weapon.
     • Poltergeist Turn/Damage track increases by 1 to 6.
7. • Zoe feels blindly around the room some more, but there doesn't seem to be any other way out, so she turns and slowly makes her way back into the Dusty Hallway where she came from.
   • Professor Longfellow backtracks his way through the smoke and the darkened stairs into the Kitchen. Quickly he roots through the same drawer as before and finds another candle.
     • Find Candle roll (3+) = 4; Success
   • Flash ducks under the whirling debris and scoots out the Library door. He looks around and, not seeing anyone, runs down the stairs, taking them 2 and 3 steps at a time. He bursts into the kitchen and bounces off a cabinet as he slides to a stop. "Hey, Professor! How many of these things do we need?" Flash throws open a drawer and starts rummaging in the depths, quickly finding another candle.
     • Find Candle roll (3+) = 7; Success
   • Brandon sticks his head into the Bloody Room and looks around for the poltergeist. Not seeing anything, he shouts out into the house, hoping someone can hear him, "Professor! If you can put a candle at the bottom of the stairs, I can send my dog to fetch it and bring it back to me! Then you can keep looking for more candles!" As he's shouting he scurries across the room as fast as he can and through the door on the other side. The boy practically throws himself through the doorway and skids to a stop. Looking around, all he sees are 3 blank walls. He spins around as he hears a noise behind him, just in time to see the door close. He staggers a bit as the whole room seems to move under his feet. Then the door opens before him, revealing a walkway on the roof. Looking across the rough path, he can see a door leading back into the house on the other side.
     • Room:: Mystic Elevator; After entering the Mystic Elevator, roll 2 dice to see what floor it moves to. In the board game, the player gets to choose what room it moves to. To save time, I roll randomly against all available open doorways there are on the floor, not counting the door the elevator currently occupies.
     • Mystic Elevator floor roll:: 2 dice = 3 = Upper floor. Room choice:: 1d8, clockwise from top left = 4 = Off the Tower.
   • Vivian gives up on the safe before she really loses her temper with it. She storms out of the room and into the Dining Room next door. She kicks aside one of the chairs and slams open the other door in the room. One step into the room and her foot slides out from under her and she goes tumbling down into the darkness beneath her. A few seconds later she emerges from the bottom of the Coal Chute and skids across the floor of the Basement Landing. Vivian groans and staggers to her feet and angrily tries to brush off some of the grime she picked up in the fall. There is a small noise, then a voice from the next room says, "Hello? Is there someone there? My light went out, can you help me?" It's the girl, Zoe, one of the people trying to destroy her friend, the poltergeist. Vivian stalks into the next room, her face contorted with rage. Zoe shrieks and scrambles backward, trying to escape the angry woman, but it's no use. Vivian grabs Zoe by one arm and flings her to the side, bouncing her off a wall and onto the floor. Zoe screams as she feels a sharp stabbing pain in her leg. She fishes around in her pocket and pulls out the syringe she found and sees blood dripping off the needle. "Ohhhh noooo..", she moans. Whatever that gunk was, she just injected it into herself. As Vivian stalks over to her, Zoe cowers back. Just as Vivian is about to grab her again, Zoe lashes out with a strength that surprises her and lands a vicious kick on Vivian's shinbone, and Vivian staggers backward with a pained cry. She staggers and topples over, and her head connects with a corner of the wall with a sickening 'crack'.
     • Room:: Coal Chute; One-way trip to the Basement Landing
     • Vivian Might attacks Zoe:: 2 dice = 3.
     • Zoe uses Adrenaline Shot. (+4 to one trait roll once per game)
     • Zoe Might defends:: 3 dice + 4 = 9; Vivian takes 6 points of physical damage. Vivian has died.
   • The poltergeist whistles and roars as it rips furiously out of the library and plunges down the main staircase into the Entry Hallway. Flash and the Professor are suddenly at the center of a raging tornado in the Kitchen that seems determined to batter or impale them with anything it can get.
     • Poltergeist Might attacks Professor:: 6 dice = 8.
     • Professor Might defends:: 2 dice = 1; Professor takes 7 damage. Professor has died.
     • Poltergeist Might attacks Flash:: 6 dice = 5
     • Flash Might defends:: 2 dice = 0; Flash takes 5 damage. Flash has died.
8. • Zoe starts crying, scared half to death, and feels her way out of the room as quickly as she can. It doesn't matter where she goes as long as it's out of here. Vivian is left behind, lying broken in the dark. Zoe manages to find a doorway and pulls herself through it. Still staggering from fright, she misses a step as the ground slopes down away from her, and she goes tumbling down a rough stone lip. SPLASH! She lands on her back in a large body of cold water. The cold water shocks her back, calming her panicked mind. Until she tries to stand up and realizes that her leg is trapped under a pile of rocks that came down with her during her fall. She's not hurt, but she can't get up either, and this water is Cold...
     • Room:: Underground Lake
     • Debris:: Speed roll (4 dice) = 2; You're buried in debris. Take 1 die of physical damage. 1 die = 0 pts physical damage. If you are buried, you can't do anything until you're freed. Once during an explorer's turn, that explorer can attempt a Might roll to free you (you can also try). A 4+ succeeds. After the third attempt, you break free automatically on your next turn.
   • Brandon leans forward and waves his arm out the door of the elevator, trying to see if it's real or fake. The cool breeze rippling by convinces him it's real, and he retreats to the back of the room and huddles there next to his dog. After a few minutes, the door closes, and there is a swift jerk. Then the door opens again, facing into a room that looks like there's been a fire in it. In the middle of the Charred Room sits a lit small white kitchen candle.
     • Mystic Elevator roll:: 2 dice = 3; Upper Floor; 7 possible doors:: 1d7 = 2 = Charred Room
   • The Poltergeist seems to hesitate in the Kitchen and the chaotic flinging of items around slows and wavers. After a few minutes spent in this way, it gathers itself together and glides out of the Kitchen and into the Foyer, seeking the others still in the House.
9. • Zoe heaves and shoves, and manages to free her leg from under the stones. She's limping a bit, but still able to walk normally. At least, as normally as one can without any light source in the pitch-black basement. She feels her way through the chamber and out another exit. This room is faintly lit by a series of glowing lines drawn on the floor in a 5-sided pattern. On a small table nearby, Zoe finds an old tarnished ring that seems to be just her size. There's an unreadable inscription on the band around it, but nothing seems to happen when she puts it on.
     • Debris:: Might roll (3 dice) = 4; Success.
     • Room:: Pentagram Chamber; On exiting, you must pass a Knowledge Roll of 4+ or lose 1 Sanity. Failure doesn't stop you from leaving.
     • Ring:: If you attack an opponent that has a Sanity trait, you can attack with Sanity instead of Might.
   • Brandon huddles at the back of the Elevator with his arm around the dog's shoulders. After a moment, the door closes again and the room jerks. The door opens, revealing the Basement Landing. It's dark down here, but his light reveals the room clearly enough.
     • Elevator roll: 4; Any floor; Basement picked; 4 doors; roll=2.
   • The poltergeist rips through the Foyer and Entryway, smashing things into the walls and knocking all the pictures down off their hooks. The doors to the Patio slam back and bounce off the walls as it tears its way into that room. The room quickly fills with whirlwind of dust and dirt. After a few minutes the dirt starts to fall to the floor, and the water in the Ballroom begins to whip around in a wet mist.
10. • Zoe feels her way around the dark room, but can't find another exit. Finally she tries to move back out the door she entered by, but the room seems to be twisting slightly, or maybe she's tired and scared, but the exit doesn't seem to be where it was when she entered, and the glowing lines on the floor aren't revealing any of the details of the wall. In fact, they seem to be pulsing slightly, every time she crosses them in her search for the door. As she searches, her breath grows more and more ragged as she creeps her way slowly towards a full panic attack. Finally, with a burst of relief, she finds the exit and staggers her way back into the cavern with the Underground Lake, irrationally happy to finally be out of that Pentagram Chamber.
      • Knowledge Roll 4+:: 4 dice = 3; Fail= Lose 1 Sanity.
    • Brandon stops and listens carefully. Was that a voice he heard? It sounded like... Could it be? The boy takes off running through the dark basement rooms until he splashes to a halt in the Underground Lake. Zoe is there, soaking wet and exhausted looking. "Zoe! What happened to you?" She gives a cry of relief and rushes toward him, nearly babbling from joy. "My light ran out. I've been stuck in the dark down here and couldn't find my way out! I need batteries; can I have some of yours?" Brandon happily gives her a couple of his spares and she gleefully powers up her torch again. "Listen, Zoe," Brandon says, "we're in a lot of trouble here. There's some sort of monster running loose. The Professor called it a poltergeist, and said we have to set candles around rooms in the upstairs and say.. umm.. Kloota.. Noktee.. Daraba. I think the monster got him and Flash though. There was a really big lot of noise and then I didn't hear them anymore. We've got to get out of here as quick as we can."
    • The poltergeist stops moving, and the items start to wobble in their orbits. It seems to move first one way in the room, then another, back and forth, like a dog that's lost the trail. After a few moments, it turns and makes its way back to the main entrance and commences whacking on a statue with a variety of flung objects.
11. • Zoe and Brandon talk:
      Zoe:: "Thank you for rescuing me. I feel free now and am pretty sure I can move! Thank you SO much. What do you think we should do now? I'm scared. I think I would like to go in search of the chapel. Maybe there are some leftover prayer candles there. Do you think the chapel could be in the basement? I've used my spirit board to look at the next room. It's not the chapel but I don't think it will hurt me to go there. I'm scared to go up the elevator. What if I run into the haunt? I don't think I will survive another battle. What do you think we should do?"
      Brandon:: "Yes, that might be a good plan staying in the basement. The two candles in the kitchen are too well guarded, so I think getting to those might be difficult at this point. Finding another source of candles would be good. If we find the stairs from the basement to the Ground Floor, I think that will help us too."

1. • Zoe feels her backpack twitch, and drops it to the floor to open it. Inside she finds the Spirit Board she picked up a while ago. Next to it, the pointer is lying in the bag, spinning like a top. Shaking, she lifts it out of the bag and sets it on the floor. The pointer immediately begins to zip from letter to letter. 'S.. T.. A.. I..,' she reads out. "Stairs here?" She looks over at the indicated doorway, wondering if it could be true. Upstairs, the poltergeist can feel the energy of the board at play, and moves faster towards its prey, into the Statuary Corridor. "Hey, Brandon!! I think I found the stairs! Should I go up?" she hollers. A faint cry of "Yes!" comes back from the boy's location in another part of the basement. Zoe packs the Spirit Board back into her bag and runs through the door, with her protector hard on her heels. Indeed, as told, the stairs leading out of the basement are there, and she runs up them and comes out into the Foyer. Through the door into the kitchen, she can see the sprawled bodies of Flash and the Professor, and she quakes in terror. They could almost be lying there asleep... But she's on a mission, she has to get those candles. Swallowing her fear, she creeps quietly into the Kitchen and plucks the candles from the debris. She quickly darts back out of the Kitchen as fast as she can.
     • Spirit Board:: looks at top room of Room pile. The Haunt moves one space closer.
     • Zoe to Brandon:: Should I place the Stairs From the Basement card?
     • Brandon to Zoe:: Yes.
     • Room:: Stairs from Basement. Links to Foyer.
   • Brandon backs out of the boiling hot Furnace Room and heads towards Zoe's voice and where she said the stairs were. When he gets to the room, though, she was already gone, and he's not sure which door she went through. Brandon stands there indecisively for a few minutes, before going with the one on his right. He pushes the creaky door open and steps in. Nope, this isn't the stairs up. There's a bunch of shelves with a lot of glass bottles lying on them. They're all covered in dust and it's hard to make out what's in them, but he thinks it's wine. On a table near him is an empty bottle standing up, with a white candle stuck in the open top. Bits of the candle had melted and run down the sides, but there was still plenty of candle left. Gleefully he snatches the candle off the top of the bottle and turns to his dog. "Here boy! Take it to Zoe! Go find Zoe!" He tucks it inside the dog's collar and shoos him out the door. "Go on! Find Zoe!"
     • Room:: Wine Cellar;
     • Item:: Candle; placed on the top of the Item pile through using the Crystal Ball last turn; If you draw an Event card, roll 1 additional die (maximum of 8 dice) for that event's trait rolls.
     • Dog:: Carries Candle to Zoe and returns to Brandon.
   • Sensing the presence of a living interloper, the Poltergeist reverses and tracks its way back toward Zoe and the Entryway, making it as far as the Patio.
2. • Zoe hears the noise of the approaching Poltergeist and flees up the staircase as quickly as she can. The wild-eyed man lopes along behind her, frequently looking back down the stairs with a terrified look on his face. When she reaches the top she grabs onto one of the bannister posts and uses her momentum to swing quickly around the corner and back down the hall directly behind the staircase. She sprints through two doors, but has to stop, out of breath, on the balcony. Gasping, she moves to one side so she can't be seen through the doors and huddles against the wall. The man sinks to his knees beside her and gently plucks one of the candles she's holding from her grasp. He skitters on all fours over to the center of the room and places the candle carefully down. He pulls out a box of matches from one of his pockets and quickly strikes a flame with it. He holds it up close to his eyes, staring into the flame with a manic grin twisting his lips. Then, quickly, he comes back to himself and holds the match to the wick, muttering quietly, "Kluuta Nokti Daraba, Kluuta Nokti Daraba Kluuta Nokti Daraba.." The candle suddenly flares to life with a flame a completely different color than the one on the matchhead and singes his fingertips. He hops backward, shaking his hand and bringing his fingertips up to his mouth to ease the pain.
     • Knowledge Roll 5+ = 5, Success. Candle #3 placed in the Balcony.
   • Brandon takes off running in the Basement, trying to put as much distance between him and the stairs as he can. Through the Basement Landing and into the Creaky Hallway, he takes a sudden right through a closed door and skids to a sudden stop. Right in front of him is a creaky old wooden bridge, spanning across a deep Chasm. He looks over the side into the depths, but can't see a bottom to it. The bridge looks rickety, but maybe if he ran across it quickly it would hold together under him.
     • Room:: Chasm. You can attempt a Speed Roll of 3+ to cross. If you fail, you stop moving.
   • The Poltergeist tears down the entryway to the base of the stairs. One of the paintings on the wall is ripped off as it passes and is flung to smash against the wall on the other side of the hall. At the base of the stair, it pauses for a second as if looking around, then it begins to climb the stairs. Up the stairs the whirling debris goes, items hitting the rails like gunshots. At the top of the stairs it stops again, as if looking for something, or someone.
3. • Zoe hears the Poltergeist coming and panics. She runs at top speed away from it and deeper into the house. Her companion lopes easily after her, casting worried glances behind him to see if they're being followed. In the Junk Room Zoe scrambles and climbs over boxes and stuff to the other door and very nearly tumbles down the other side, but barely manages to keep her balance and land on her feet. Through the Bloody Room she recoils in horror at the sight of the crimson splashed walls and turns to run through the closest door, that leading into the Master Bedroom. She throws herself down behind the large canopied bed and pants wildly trying to regain her composure. The mad man kneels beside her and looks around. "Another candle! You can do it here! Quickly girl!" Her hand moves to her pocket and feels the lumps there. Two more candles. Her hand shakes as she pulls one out and holds it out to him. He shakes his head wildly. "No! You must do it! Come, place it here." He points at a spot on the floor. As she moves over and sets it down, he nods excitedly. "Yes, good! Now say the words. Kluuta.." "Kluuta.." she mimics him. He grins maniacally and prompts her, "Nokti.." Again she copies him, "Nokti.." Finally he says, "Daraba!" And she says, "Dabra!" Sparks fly from the tip of the candle, singing her fingers and she drops it to the floor. The candle bubbles and melts into a sticky mass of wax in the center of the floor. The man sits back, looking worried, and Zoe feels like she might cry.
     • Room:: Junk Room; Make a Might roll of 3+ on exiting the room, or lose 1 Speed (but keep moving).
     • Might Roll = 3. Success.
     • Knowledge Roll 5+ = 4. Failure. The candle token is lost, and this room may not be used for any more candle attempts.
   • Brandon looks at the yawning chasm underneath the rickety bridge and thinks to himself, "No way!" He turns back and looks up and down the hall. Down at the end, he can see the doors of the elevator standing open, beckoning him. He turns and runs toward them, with his dog loping alongside. Together they slide to a stop on the slick floor, even as the doors clang closed behind them. There's another sickening lurch, and the doors open again, facing into the Furnace Room. Brandon can feel the heat of the room radiating into the elevator, and sighs despondently. No way he's going back into that room if he can help it. He sits down on the floor and waits for the elevator to take him someplace else.
     • Elevator:: Roll 1; Basement. Random door roll: Furnace Room.
   • The Poltergeist moves hesitantly from the Upper Landing into the Research Laboratory. It pauses there, as if seeking some sign or trace of its prey.
   • Zoe looks fearfully around the room. She sees a door to her right that she hasn't been through before, and the door in front of her that she just came from, through the Bloody Room and back toward where the Poltergeist is. The remains of the candle are puddled on the floor in front of her giving off a terrible stench, and she just can't take it any more. But which door should she go through? She really doesn't want to go back closer to that monster, and the room as got bloody walls and is just plain scary. But exploring another new room, with no idea what might be there? She doesn't know if she can make herself do that again. Then she remembers her Spirit Board that she found. Maybe it can tell her what to do! She pulls it out, knowing it's just a toy (but in this house, is it?), but at least she won't have to choose. It will do that for her. "Spirit Board, which way should I go, left or right?" she says, with her fingers holding the stylus to the board. Her companion looks on worriedly, casting anxious glances to the door where he can hear the Poltergeist coming closer and closer. "Which way should I go, left or right?" she asks again, and her hand and the stylus start to move around the board, circling around until at last they stop moving. Zoe lets out her breath and looks at the board to see what it says. "Left" is where the stylus points. Zoe gulps nervously. The Bloody Room. Blood spattered all along the walls and floor, and the Poltergeist coming for her on the other side of it. Her arms and legs are trembling as she forces herself to stand up and move toward the doorway. Her friend rests his hand on her shoulder and gives her what is probably supposed to be an encouraging smile, but actually comes across as more of an agonized grimace. Together they walk into the center of the Bloody Room, and she pulls out her last Candle. She kneels down and places it on the floor. Her mouth seems to be frozen in fear, but she forces herself to say the words, "Kluuta. Nokti. ..."
     • Spirit Board:: Reveals that the Gardens is the next room to be drawn. A Ground level room, that draws an Event.
     • The Poltergeist moves one room closer to Zoe due to her using the Spirit Board.
     • Candle roll:: Knowledge Roll 5+ = 5. Success. 4 Successes, equal to the # of Heroes when the Haunt was drawn. The Heroes win.
   • The candle sputters and burns Zoe's hand as she numbly recites the words for the final time. With a sickening crash, the airborne debris flies in all directions, overturning tables and denting the walls. Then, all is still.

Congratulations to all the players! This game took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it was as exciting and entertaining as I could have hoped for! Thanks to all of you for participating and putting up with the occasional interruptions and slow spots.

I'll let you all know when I'm ready to run another game. I don't know yet what it will be, if it will be this or a different one.

Thanks again to all of you for your participation. You all played most excellently, and I hope you enjoyed the game. Please, let me know if you have any feedback or ideas on how I can improve the game play, or if you have any suggestions for other games we might try.

Eric / TMO

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