Werewolf - An IntroductionBy Ed You ("the Alpha Wolf") and Viki Kind ("the She Wolf")
Page 1: Summary Page 2: Character descriptions Page 3: Character descriptions page 2 Page 3: Moderator's cheat sheet Page 4: How to use the cheat sheet Page 5: Character references Page 6: Character list
**Selling the game:**Use one of the following in your mail-out to invitees.
Werewolf description (short)
By night, werewolves kill off villagers. By day, angry villagers kill off suspected werewolves. (But oops; sometimes they just kill off "innocent villagers.") Werewolf requires observation, some deduction, and a lot of bold-faced lying. Who will prevail: the werewolves or the villagers? An average game take 15-20 minutes and is a lot of fun. (This game is similar to, but better than, Mafia.)
Werewolf description (long)
Werewolf is a very engaging group game. Overall, it is a game of "group dynamics and bold-faced lying". Imagine 18 players sitting in a circle, four are werewolves and 14 are "innocent villagers". Night falls and everyone closes their eyes. The four werewolves open their eyes, identify each other and silently agree upon a villager to kill in the night.
Day comes and everyone opens their eyes. The victim is notified and out of the game. The 17 remaining "angry villagers", of which four are werewolves in disguise, demand justice and start gossiping, deducing and accusing each other of being a werewolf. With a village proclamation, a majority vote of the remaining 17 puts one of the 17 to death, reducing their number to 16. Sometimes the "angry mob of villagers" choose correctly and hang a werewolf, but most of the time they hang an "innocent villager" by mistake - oops. Night falls again, and the whole cycle repeats.
The object of the game: if you're a villager, you want to kill off all the werewolves and if you're a werewolf, you want to kill off all the villagers. There are also special villagers with special abilities that add intriguing nuances to the play of the game (see below). It's a lot of fun with many layers of psychology (lying, lie-detecting, deducing and mob-mentality). An average game takes 15-20 minutes. (This game is similar to, but better than, Mafia.)
The village has an assortment of special villagers with special abilities. Of course, they are not all used in one game because that would be too confusing. But between two and five special characters in one game add entertaining and intriguing nuances that are unpredictable. The village includes: two to four werewolves (which includes the Lone Wolf and the Wolf Cub), ordinary villagers, the Fool, the Thief/Grave-Robbing Thief, Cupid, the Lovers, the Hunter, the Silversmith, the Witch, the Fortune Teller or Seer, the Child or Little Girl, the Scientist, the Lawyer, the Wizard, the Dentist, the Sheriff, the Governor, the Coroner, the Defender, the Piper, the Elder, the Cobbler, the Scapegoat, the Voodooist and Zombies, the Vampire, the Rabble Rouser, the Masons, the Vigilante and the Veterinarian, and the Mortician and the Butcher. (If children are not present, we also play with the Slut/Carrier and the Invalid.)
Characters
Print out the longer description on the previous page, and the character descriptions on this page and have them available for latecomers to your Werewolf party. That way you won't have to keep repeating the basics to the latecomers or to any one that has a little trouble remembering and distinguishing all the characters.
It would be good to have a (colour) photocopy of the character cards along side of the character descriptions as well, so that the players can link the character description to the character card. (See page 5).
The characters newly created by Viki and me do not have official character cards. So we simply placed a labeled sticker on to regular villager cards saying, "Silversmith", "Scientist" etc. and then covered that sticker with broad sticky tape to protect it from soiling, fingerprints and the like.
Original Werewolf characters (I recommend using the first five characters listed, first. After that, add other characters as desired.)
The Werewolves: Every night, while the village is asleep, and the other players have their eyes closed, the werewolves unanimously, silently, vote on whom to kill. That villager dies at daybreak. During the day, they lie to hide their werewolf identities from the mob of angry villagers seeking justice. They may even vote to hang another werewolf.
The Villagers: These ordinary, innocent villagers don't have any special abilities other than their own personal powers of observation and deduction. Like the special villagers, by night, they hope not to be killed by the werewolves. During the day, they vote to hang fellow villagers they suspect are werewolves, and try not to be hanged as a suspected werewolf.
The Fortune Teller or Seer: This character has a crystal ball and sees all. Every night this character is allowed to look at the card, and true identity, of one other villager. Then during the day, the Seer may use that knowledge to persuade the voting of the angry mob. Be careful however, because being too certain about another villager's identity may tip the werewolves that you are the Fortune Teller, and although you may kill off one werewolf, the remaining werewolves will kill you the following night.
The Witch: In one game, the Witch has two potions and uses them during the night. One is poison, used by the Witch to kill someone the Witch suspects to be a werewolf. (But sometimes an innocent villager is poisoned.) The other potion will restore a nightly werewolf victim to life. Some Witches save the restoration potion for themselves if they're attacked. (The restoration potion will not restore the Witch to life if killed by the angry mob of villagers during the day.)
The Hunter: Whether killed by werewolves during the night or by the villagers during the day, the Hunter gets off one last shot and kills another villager as he dies. Hopefully it will be a werewolf.
The Little Girl or The Child: The Child spies at night when the werewolves are killing, and only when the werewolves are killing, by opening her eyes ever so slightly. If the werewolves catch her spying, she becomes their victim for that night. When this character is in play, all villagers must fall asleep with their heads upright and no hands or fingers blocking their eyes. This way the werewolves can see the eyes of everyone and have a chance of seeing the Little Girl spying.
Cupid and the Lovers: The first night Cupid chooses two people to be the Lovers, pointing them out to the Moderator. (Cupid may choose himself as a Lover.) Cupid goes back to sleep. The Moderator taps the two Lovers, whereby they open their eyes and acknowledge each other. If one Lover dies, the other dies immediately of grief. Therefore, the Lovers never vote against each other - not even as a bluff - and that is a detectable voting pattern. The Lovers never know whether their other Lover is a villager or a werewolf.
The Lovers may be two villagers, two werewolves or a "mixed couple" of a villager and a werewolf. If they are both villagers, that is an advantage to the werewolves, since both may die at once. Similarly, if they are both werewolves that is an advantage to the villagers, since both may also die at once. However, if they are a "mixed couple," the Werewolf-Lover will be able to deduce that his Lover is a villager when his Villager-Lover doesn't waken and kill with the wolf pack at night. In time the Villager-Lover might also deduce that his Lover is a Werewolf-Lover.
When one or both of them deduce they are a mixed couple, then their new goal is to kill off everyone else in the village so that their love will endure - unchallenged and in peace. This usually requires the Werewolf-Lover voting to kill off other werewolves. (Even if the Villager-Lover fails to deduce the other as a Werewolf-Lover, the couple would still be able to win, as long as the Villager-Lover votes with the guidance of the Werewolf-Lover.)
[Optional rule: if the Lovers die and Cupid is still alive, Cupid chooses a new set of lovers.]
The Sheriff: The village elects this person at any time during the game. He would be the candidate that gets the most votes, not necessarily the majority of votes. Because they trust his judgment, he gets an extra vote during the daytime angry mob activities. He may nominate himself for office. If he is killed, he reassigns this office and vote. If the village is lucky, he won't be a werewolf. [The Sheriff and the Village Drunk (a variation created by Audrey M. Wilson): Anytime during the day, the Sheriff can identify one other player as the Village Drunk and arrests that player so he cannot speak or vote that day. The Sheriff has a garland to put on the village Drunk (think of it as an "ankle bracelet") to remind the moderator not to count the Drunk's vote. The Sheriff gets two votes only after arresting someone, and this makes the Sheriff less of a target for the werewolves because it doesn't increase the total number of votes.]
The Thief: Two extra villager cards are used, and the first night, the Thief looks at those cards and may choose either if he likes, essentially stealing one of their identities. If both cards are werewolf cards, he must choose one.
New Werewolf characters, created by Ed "the Alpha-Wolf" You and Viki "the She-Wolf" Kind
The Fool: The player who gets this card immediately reveals himself to all the other players as "the village fool/idiot". He does not speak again for the rest of the game and can't focus enough to join any debates or lead any suspicions. He watches mutely, helplessly. At the beginning of each new day, while he is alive, he may reassign his vote to another villager by pointing - that newly entrusted voter might be an innocent villager or a werewolf in disguise. If the Fool or the Moderator should forget to reassign his vote, his vote remains with the prior assignee. (So if a prior assignee is a werewolf, it is to the werewolf's advantage NOT to remind the Fool or Moderator to reassign the vote.) In his confusion, the Fool wears a ring of garlic around his neck, thinking it will repel the werewolves - when in fact, garlic is used to repel vampires. (If the vampire character is in play, of course, this garlic will protect him.) As a variation, in an attempt to control an unruly villager that speaks out too much or speaks when dead, the Moderator may instantly assign that unruly villager to be the village fool, either immediately during that game or in the next game if that player is already dead.
The Silversmith: To kill a werewolf requires the use of silver, like the "silver bullet" that you may have heard of in werewolf folklore. The village Silversmith walks with a silver-tipped cane and wears several silver rings. If attacked by a werewolf, in the act of defending himself, he kills a werewolf and is severely mauled. By surviving the mauling, he now becomes a werewolf. This character is intriguing because he may be transformed from a trusted villager to an untrusted werewolf. Once the werewolves go back to sleep after choosing the Silversmith as a victim and mauling him, the Moderator taps the Silversmith twice to awaken him and notify him that he will become a werewolf on the following day and night. The morning after the mauling the moderator reveals the card of any werewolf he chooses, thereby killing that werewolf. (The Silversmith is one of several characters who can kill a werewolf - another is the Witch, using her poison. To maximise gaming fun, it is recommended to use the Silversmith and the Witch in the same game so that when a dead werewolf is revealed the next day, the remaining villagers don't know if the Silversmith or the Witch was the cause.) When the Silversmith is converted, the victim of that night will be a werewolf, chosen by the moderator that same night, and that victim is the villager that the moderator offers to the Witch for possible restoration (see The Witch, below). Theoretically, the Witch could erroneously restore a dead werewolf, increasing the werewolf population since the Silversmith is now a werewolf too. So in all fairness to the village, since this character creates a new werewolf, a character who eliminates a werewolf from the game should also be used, such as the Scientist. Caution: using this character increases the chances of a Moderator error.
The Slut (or Carrier) and The Invalid: These characters are used together. Every night the Slut "sleeps" with a different villager, by merely pointing someone out to the Moderator. Then the Slut goes back to sleep. The Moderator then walks around the village circle announcing, "If I tap you, the slut and you had a good time." The Slut does not know the true identity of those he/she has slept with. The Slut does not know that he/she carries the lycanthropy virus or that he/she spreads "werewolfism" as a sexually transmitted disease. (If using this character as the Carrier, instead of the Slut when playing with young children, you needn't mention the sexual component or references; you can merely say, the Carrier was contagious and spread werewolfism to someone else.) When the Slut/Carrier "sleeps with" or encounters a regular villager, nothing happens to that villager because regular villagers have strong immune systems. But when the Slut eventually "sleeps with" or encounters the Invalid, the Invalid's weakened immune system succumbs, and the Invalid is converted to a werewolf - adding an ADDITIONAL werewolf to the game! Once the Invalid is converted, every night thereafter the Moderator should continue to ask the Slut who he/she wants to "sleep" with, so as not to tip the village to the fact that the Invalid is now a werewolf. The Invalid is intriguing because he may be transformed from a trusted villager to an untrusted werewolf. Also, in all fairness to the village, since this character creates a new werewolf, a character that eliminates a werewolf from the game should also be used, such as the Scientist.
The Scientist: The Scientist has created an antidote for "werewolfism". Every night, when prompted by the Moderator, he points to a villager whose food, drink or well water he has "doctored". The Scientist then goes back to sleep. The Moderator then walks around the village circle, every night. If/when he finally chooses a werewolf, the Moderator taps the sleeping werewolf twice to notify the werewolf that he has been given the antidote. The following day, that werewolf is converted back into an "ordinary villager." As a former werewolf, the now "ordinary villager" remembers who his former werewolf buddies were and may vote against them. The former werewolf is not allowed to officially expose all the werewolves - since the antidote imparts partial amnesia and because there is some honour among werewolves. The converted werewolf can only remember one of his former werewolf buddies per day and can only campaign and vote against one of them each day. (If his conversion leaves only one werewolf remaining then the converted werewolf has total amnesia and can't campaign against that sole remaining werewolf.) On the following day, if the remaining werewolves don't figure out then that their former werewolf buddy has turned on them, they're sure to notice the next night when he doesn't awake with the rest of the pack. In either case, the remaining werewolves should probably kill the former werewolf as soon as possible.
The Scientist is best used with the characters that create werewolves (the Silversmith and/or the Slut/Carrier/Invalid combo) so as to keep the overall werewolf population constant. Otherwise the Scientist could single-handedly eliminate all the werewolves. It is recommended that the Scientist be used with those other characters, but not required. Even when the Scientist has converted a werewolf, every night, the Moderator should continue to call out the Scientist and do his business for two reasons: 1) So as not to tip the villagers to the fact that a werewolf has been converted, and 2) There may be more werewolves to convert. The Moderator continues with the Scientist's business every night until all the werewolves have been converted, the game ends or the Scientist is killed.
The Governor: The Governor is voted into office as a villager with good judgment. He would be the candidate that gets the most votes, not necessarily the majority of votes. Thereafter, the Governor may "pardon" any one villager sentenced to death by the villagers. The Governor may only "pardon" one villager for the entire game. The Governor may not "pardon" himself. If killed, unlike the Sheriff, he does not pass on his office or clemency ability. There would have to be another election and vote to appoint a new governor, if the village wants another governor. Like the Sheriff, he may nominate himself for office. Whether the Governor is a werewolf or not will influence his clemency grant, and may or may not make him a more likely victim for the werewolves or the villagers.
The Coroner: Often, there is confusion in the village as to a cause of death or what just happened the night before. With certain character combinations the actual happenings just can't be deduced - with certainty. As long as the Coroner is alive, the Moderator explains the causes of death and the nighttime happenings. The Coroner, however, does not actually play an active part in the game. Once the Coroner is out of the game, the remaining villagers must deduce everything themselves without any help from the Moderator.
The Vigilante and the Veterinarian: The Vigilante seeks justice and goes around each night shooting at things in the dark. (Then he goes back to sleep after the Moderator has noted his shooting spree.) But he has poor vision. If he chooses a villager to shoot at, he always misses. If he shoots at a werewolf, however, he miraculously always hits, wounding it. The Moderator then announces that a werewolf has been shot and wounded. Unfortunately, none of the werewolves knows which one of them has been wounded and they may be in an agitated state to save themselves. By contrast, the Veterinarian loves all animals - even werewolves. Each night the Vet chooses a villager to "operate" on and save. If he chooses a villager, nothing happens; if he chooses a wounded werewolf, that wolf is healed. The Vet has two chances, two nights, to heal a wounded werewolf; otherwise the wounded werewolf dies at the break of day on the second morning after being shot.
[Optional rule: the Veterinarian may be used with other characters that can kill Werewolves (e.g. the Silversmith, the Witch, etc.). For these injuries, the Vet must be provided one opportunity to choose the injured wolf from amongst the village after it has been injured, even it that includes a second night for that injured wolf.]
The Voodooist and the Zombies: The Voodooist raises and collects the dead, turning them into his mindless zombies, in an effort to take over the village, as a rival new group. Every night the Voodooist chooses a villager, who may or may not be a werewolf, as a "pre-zombie". If that villager or werewolf is killed that night or the following day by the angry mob, that dead villager or werewolf returns to the game as a Villager-Zombie, or Werewolf-Zombie. The second night, that zombie is shown the identity of the Voodooist as the Voodooist chooses the second night's "pre-zombie." The following day, the second day, and every day thereafter while the Voodooist is alive, that zombie joins the "walking dead" and does not speak. Being still alive and under the spell of the Voodooist, that zombie continues to vote, but can only vote as the Voodooist votes. To protect the identity of the Voodooist, the zombies are the last to vote or raise their hands in the village. Hence, the Voodooist creates a powerful voting block. (This block may unintentionally reveal his identity if the rest of the village notices that these zombies keeping voting with him. The remaining villagers should be able to deduce that they are now zombies because they were dead, but are now alive and silently voting.) Being already dead, zombies cannot be killed again by werewolves or villagers. They only die when the Voodooist dies. Until then, they only live to vote as the Voodooist votes. The Voodooist and zombies win when they become the majority of the village.
With the Voodooist in play, dead players cannot immediately leave the gaming circle or the game. Players must wait until the night after their deaths to see if they were chosen as "pre-zombies," and whether or not they are now serving as zombies. The Moderator will inform them of their zombie status on this following night. As the living dead, the zombies continue to sleep at night when the rest of the village is asleep (and so they don't learn or reveal any nighttime secrets).
The Voodooist and zombies are a great way to keep otherwise dead players still active within the game. If playing with a group of 13 more, consider allowing the Voodooist to choose two pre-zombies at night as opposed to one. For simplicity's sake, do not use with the Vampire, unless your Moderator has a history of being error-free.
The Vampire (original concept from Kent L Brisby): The Vampire creates yet another new rival group that strives to dominate the village. Every night, the main vampire, Vampire #1, chooses one other villager to bite and drain of blood. That villager is now a pre-vampire. The second night, Vampire #1 again bites and sucks the blood from that same villager/pre-vampire. Now with two bites, that pre-vampire becomes a new vampire, Vampire #2, and after two nights and days, there are now two vampires in the village. On the third night, both vampires each choose separate villagers to bite and suck blood from, creating two more pre-vampires. On the fourth night, the two vampires again attack their pre-vampires turning them into Vampires #3 and #4. Note that after four nights and days, there are now four vampires in the village.
If unchecked, the vampire population continues to double every two nights. If Vampire #1 is killed by the werewolves or villagers (assuming they're all using wooden stakes), all other vampires die with him, since they all came from his lineage. If Vampire #2 dies, then only those vampires created by him and his lineage die with him. The other vampires created by Vampire #1, and Vampire #1 himself, continue to "live" on and spread vampirism. Werewolves and vampires can attack and kill each other, with the victory going to the attacker. (A single bite from a vampire will kill a werewolf.)
If a vampire dies before putting a second bite onto his intended pre-vampire, that pre-vampire continues to live as a villager. That pre-vampire however may still become a vampire if yet another vampire puts a bite onto that pre-Vampire, since that villager will have received two bites. Unlike the zombies and werewolves, to win, the vampires must convert everyone in the village into vampires. Merely outnumbering the other groups and declaring a victory does not insure a vampire victory because all the vampires could easily die if Vampire #1 were killed, and there are many scenarios where that can happen by a seemingly outnumbered village. For the villagers to win, they must kill off all the vampires; just like they must kill off all werewolves.
The Vampire works best with a village of 13 or more players. (If using the Vampire with 12 villagers or less, consider allowing only one bite from Vampire #1 on the first night to create Vampire #2, otherwise it might take too long for the vampire population to grow to any influence within the village.)
After a pre-vampire is converted into a vampire, the Moderator will tap the new vampire so the new vampire can open his eyes and see the parent-Vampire that sired him. In this way, new vampires see their parents but not their grandparent-vampires nor their grandchildren-vampires. Also, the vampires are woken at night, not collectively as a group, but as individuals, and the vampire coven does not have the group mentality or unity that the werewolves have. (If the vampires possessed a group unity and knew each others identities like the werewolves do, since their population grows so quickly, they would be too strong of a group, especially when it came to voting during the day.) It is therefore possible during the day with the vote of the angry mob for a vampire to execute his grandparent-vampire, that lineage, and therefore himself. Consequently, some vampires may chose to never vote, and that becomes a detectable voting pattern.
Unfortunately, the Moderator now has the lengthy chore of calling each vampire out at night to place their bites: "Vampire #4, whom would you like to bite tonight?" etc. (The Moderator should do this vampire business as quickly as possible.) Since it takes only two vampire bites to create a new vampire, if two different vampires bite the same villager the same night, that villager is now quickly converted into a vampire and doesn't have to wait to be bitten again on the following night. This new vampire is shown both of his parent-vampires and dies in their lineages if either of them dies. The vampires should help the Moderator remember their lineages as much as possible, especially when vampires die.
For simplicity's sake, do not use vampires with the Voodooist and zombies, unless your Moderator has a history of being error-free. Also for simplicity's sake, avoid the creation of hybrid vampire/werewolves, who will have divided loyalties - unless you can figure something out that's not too complicated.
The Grave-Robbing Thief (created by Viki Kind, Ed You and our "Uber" Werewolf players): In this variation the Thief is still offered two other villager cards on the first night. If both cards are werewolf cards, he must chose one and become a werewolf. Otherwise, he may refuse both identities and wait till another night in the game to steal the identity of a newly dead villager on the first night following that villager's death. In this variation the Moderator will ask every night if the Grave-Robbing Thief wants to steal someone else's identity, fully reactivating that stolen identity and character. Example: if the dead Witch's identity were stolen and reactivated, both of the Witch's potions would be renewed as well. A dead werewolf identity may also be stolen and reactivated. The Moderator will have to again announce any activities of the newly stolen and reactivated identity and character.
Characters from the New Moon expansion set
The Defender: Each night, the Defender chooses one villager to defend. If the pack attacks that villager, that villager does not die from that specific attack, on that night only. The Defender may not defend the same villager two nights in a row or defend the Little Girl. The Defender has the right to self-preservation - but, again, not two nights in a row.
The Piper: Wretchedly driven out of the village, the Piper returned years later under cover of a false identity to exact his terrible vengeance. Each night, he "charms" two players (which creates charmed-villagers or charmed-werewolves), and the Moderator touches them. The Piper goes back to sleep. The Moderator asks all new and old charmed players to awake. They acknowledge each other and then sleep again. At the instant when there aren't any uncharmed players remaining, the Piper wins against all the other rival groups. This victory could occur after a daytime vote or after a nighttime werewolf attack. The Piper does not charm himself. The charmed players still have all their abilities and characteristics. The charm is not transmitted between lovers. The charm ends if the Piper is killed.
The Scapegoat: He becomes the fall guy when something in the village goes awry. If the Moderator decides that a particular day's votes are getting nowhere or if there is a tie, to keep the game moving forward, the Moderator announces, "Okay! This day is over. I'm killing the Scapegoat." To ensure that the Moderator does not unfairly pick on the Scapegoat, the Scapegoat's identity is never revealed beforehand. (If using the alternative method of voting, wherein on the count of "one-two-three" everyone points to whom they think the werewolf is and that player is eliminated, then the Scapegoat is killed when there is a tied vote, instead of the tied parties.)
[Optional rule: If the Scapegoat is eliminated, he gets one prerogative of revenge to exercise: he designates which villagers, or villager, may vote during the next day's vote to execute. Note: by designating one villager, and only one villager, to be the executing vote of the village, he makes that Villager likely to be killed by the werewolves the following night, before that next day, since by killing that one voting villager, the werewolves will have stopped that day's vote.]
The Elder: The elder has an uncommon resistance; the werewolves have to attack him twice, on two separate nights, to kill him. The moderator will keep track of the attacks on the Elder and tap the Elder to notify the Elder of the first attack. After a second attack, the Elder will die at the break of day, as usual. Note, the Elder will continue to die after one village vote, the Witch's poison or the Hunter's shot. If the Elder is cured by the Witch's healing potion, the Elder recovers only one life.
Characters borrowed from other sources
The Lone Wolf: This werewolf is completely self-serving. He does not run with the rest of the pack during day votes and is more prone to vote against other werewolves.
The Cobbler: The Cobbler has been unhinged by the smells of leather dye and other people's stinky shoes. He hates his life and job so much he wants to die. He does whatever he can to have the werewolves or villagers kill him. (In practice, I have not played with this character yet. It goes against the basic premise of the game of wanting to die. However, I list the character here in case other playing circles want to try it out.)
The Wolf Cub: If the Wolf Cub is killed, the remaining pack is so enraged that they kill two villagers the next night. If playing with a large group, consider allowing the pack to kill two villagers every night.
The Masons: There are two in the village. Like other secret clubs, and after the Moderator allows them to see each other, they know each other's true identities and therefore trust each other during the day. (However, if one of them is a secret Lover, they still might lie to one another.)
The Rabble Rouser: While this villager is alive, his mere existence incites anger in the village. The result is that two villagers are executed each day by the angry mob. In this way, unintentionally, the Rabble Rouser is helping the werewolves. Once the Rabble Rouser is dead, the village executes only one villager each day. (This is a very good character to use with a large village of 14 or more, since it speeds up the game.)
The Wizard: At night the Wizard points to two players and teleports them, swapping their seating potions. When the Moderator touches these players, they open their eyes, swap seats and take their original identities and cards with them. (Being silent is not necessary because all players should notice the swap when they open their eyes.) If one of these swappers was the intended werewolf victim that night, that victim is now safe in the other swapped seat and the second swapper, the unintended victim, is now the intended victim, in the original seat or house of death. This way, the Wizard can protect other valuable villagers, such as the Fortune Teller or Child, should their identities become known. This way, the Wizard can thwart the werewolves' schemes. If other characters are used that involve a preselection process (pre-vampires, pre-zombies, etc.), their identities and game play are not changed or complicated by a Wizard seat-swap.
The Dentist (created by Courtney Bess): By the dark of night, each night, the brutish Dentist extracts all the wisdom teeth of one villager. The following day, the extractee cannot speak to defend himself or accuse others. The extractee, however, can vote. On day two, the first extractee will be able to speak again; but the next dental victim, extractee #2, from night #2, will likewise, be mute. The Dentist may continue to victimise the same villager.
The Lawyer: When the Lawyer is alive and in play, when a villager is killed, that villager writes an accusatory will and leaves it in the center of the table for the Lawyer to manage. When the Lawyer is killed, all the wills are finally read out loud for the benefit of the village. The wills are incredibly relevant for those who are killed at night. (Example: The seer discovers a wolf at night, but is also killed that night. The will states 'I was the seer... the wolf is _____.)
**The Mortician and the Butcher (created by Audrey M. Wilson, and associates):**The Mortician and Butcher are crooked villagers. The Mortician sells dead werewolf bodies to the Butcher who sells werewolf meat to other villagers. Any night after a werewolf has been killed, if both the Mortician and Butcher are still alive, and before the werewolves come out, the Butcher wakes up to identify this customer. Then he goes back to sleep and the Moderator delivers the meat to the customer by tapping the customer. (The Mortician does not have any nightly business.)
If the customer is already a werewolf, it immediately dies of revulsion after eating one of its own and does not participate in the werewolves' attack later that night. If the customer is a villager, it immediately becomes a Lycam (a half-villager/half-werewolf) and joins in the werewolves' attack later that night. (The werewolf that died from revulsion is processed by the Mortician and Butcher the following night as well.)
The Lycam is a double-agent with confused loyalties to the villagers and the werewolves. During the day, the Lycam must help villagers by voting to execute a werewolf if a werewolf is on trial (unless it is his Lover); yet he also continues to hide and protect werewolf identities. By night, the Lycam continues to wake and kill with the pack. The Lycam only wins when the werewolves win.
The Mortician and Butcher don't increase the werewolf population, but instead convert previously trusted villagers into new werewolves, swapping loyalties. When played with the Silversmith, the Silversmith plays differently. After being attached by the pack, the Silversmith stays alive and isn't converted into a new werewolf. Instead the Lycam is created and converted by the Butcher and Mortician. Otherwise if the original Silversmith scenario were executed, there would be an increase in the werewolf population, since there would now be a Silversmith-werewolf and an additional new Lycam. Note, now a Lycam can be a special villager. For example: a Seer-Lycam finds out who the Mortician and Butcher are and avoids having the werewolves kill them so the werewolf population will be maintained. Also note, the Butcher knows who the Lycams are because he created them (otherwise, they'd be dead werewolves) and this is strategic information for the Butcher.
Moderator's cheat sheet
Find out how to use this cheat sheet on the following page
Setting up the game\1. Choose character cards used for this game. Use the following guide to choose the number of werewolves to assign. Eight-11 villagers - two 12-17 villagers - three 18-23 villagers - four \2. If used, elect the Sheriff and the Governor at any time. \3. Circle characters being used on this sheet. \4. Pass out character cards. \5. Ask the Fool to reveal himself and give him a garland.
First night only\6. Village falls asleep. Everyone closes their eyes. \7. Write each player's names next to their character name. Run characters' business (B) and acknowledge them (A), in this order.
The Thief, B, is offered two extra cards. Cupid, B, chooses the lovers. The Lovers, B, tap twice; the Lovers look at each other. The Child or Little Girl, A The Silversmith, A The Hunter, A The Invalid, A The Lawyer, A
First night/every subsequent night\8. Village falls asleep Carry out the more detailed business, in this order:
The Werewolves The Vampire The Witch, healing/poison (cross out when used). The Dentist, tap dental extractee twice to silence. The Slut, tap nightly partner twice. The Scientist, tap werewolf twice if converted. The Wizard, tap players and swap seats. The Silversmith, tap twice if converted and kill wolf. The Fortune Teller or Seer
Say, "Raise your hand if your character was missed." \9. The Town awakes. \10. The Fool assigns vote. \11. Suspicions/gossip/debate \12. Two accusations and defense \13. Voting/lynching/burning. \14. Follow-up suspicions/gossip/debate \15. Night falls again, repeat steps 8-14. \16. The game ends when either all the werewolves are dead (a villager victory) or the same number of villagers and werewolves remain (a werewolf victory). (Alternatively you could decide that the werewolves win only when they outnumber the villagers.) For games also involving vampires and/or zombies, see under the Vampire and the Voodooist on the character sheet.
How to use the cheat sheet
From the previous page
Set up
When you play more than three games, especially with a large group, Moderator errors can happen easily. Using the cheat sheet helps cut down on these potential errors. Use one cheat sheet per game to help remember what to do and the characters in a game.
Print out the above instructions. This cheat sheet does not contain all of the characters we've created. But you could easily add them yourself.
After the players look at their villager cards to learn their identities place the cards face down on the floor in a circle in front of the players. As the players/characters die, remove their cards from the circle to give a quick reminder of those still alive and their numbers. Letting players hold their cards in their hands leads to intentional and unintentional hidden and/or missing cards, and counting problems for the Moderator.
First night
On your cheat sheet, circle the names of the characters you are using. As the characters reveal themselves to you, write their real names next to their character names. This will help the overall flow of the game later, especially when there are ten or more players. Fold the cheat sheet so that none of this information shows. Using a clipboard is helpful but be careful if you put the clipboard down, not to reveal anyone's identity.
First night and subsequent nights
Write the names of the werewolves' (and vampires') victims in the blank spaces every night as they're chosen.
Draw a line through the character names as they die.
It is very easy to forget which potions the Witch has used. So when the Witch uses a potion, draw a line through it; and/or, to better remember how a potion was used, write the name of the recipient over that potion.
There are three ways you can you communicate with the Fortune Teller at night: (a) The first, the easiest, is simply to indicate that a villager has been chosen by using your index and middle fingers to form a "V." It also helps to silently mouth, "Villager." To indicate that a werewolf has been chosen, simply use your three middle fingers to form a "W." It also helps to silently mouth, "Werewolf." (b) The second method involves flipping over the actual cards of the players that the Fortune Teller is inquiring about. The benefit in this version is that you're giving the Fortune Teller a lot more info to use in the game because you're revealing the actual identities of the special villagers (Witch, Cupid, the Child, etc.) to the Fortune Teller rather than merely identifying their generic identities as villagers and werewolves.
Unfortunately, this method creates the tedious chore of bending down and flipping over a card EVERY NIGHT. It also requires multiple card-flipping sounds elsewhere in the circle to disguise the sound of the real card that has been revealed. Additionally this requires the Moderator to remove any other sound-generating things on his person - otherwise the Moderator's jingling keys might alert other villagers that a certain villager's identity has been questioned by the Fortune Teller. (c) To solve this problem, use the list of character names (available here) along with this cheat sheet. Here's how it is done. Once you've finished putting players' names next to the characters' names on the cheat sheet all the remaining players, by default, are "ordinary villagers." And now you know the identities of ALL the players. So, when the Fortune Teller needs to know someone's identity, simply point to that character's name (Witch, Hunter, etc.) on the list of character names.
At the end of every night, before waking up the village, double-check yourself, and the rest of the village by asking, "Raise your hand if I've missed your character's business."
Play with seven or fewer players
Here is how to play with seven or fewer villagers - allowing the Moderator to play as well. Everyone sits around a table. Everyone looks at their identity cards and places them face down in a small circle that can be reached by all players.
Everyone then starts tapping on the table with their non-dominant hand to cover the sounds created during the night. The Moderator puts everyone to sleep, including himself, and directs the game. The Moderator directs the one werewolf in the game to turn over the card of the werewolf victim so that it is face up. The Moderator awakens everyone and the victim of the night is out of the game. The usual daily accusations then begin.
Variations when playing with seven or fewer players (a) If the Fortune Teller is used, the Moderator directs this character's business before the Werewolf kills his victim. Here, the Fortune Teller simply looks at the identity card of one villager and returns it face down on the table top. (b) If the Witch is used, the Moderator directs this character's business after the werewolf kill so that the Witch has the option of saving that victim with the restoration potion by turning the victim's identity card face down again. If the Witch poisons someone, the Witch turns their card face-up. (c) If the Dentist is used, the Moderator directs this character's business by telling the Dentist to place a token or penny onto the card of the silenced villager without doing anything else with that identity card. (Note: the Dentist character works well in a game with few players.)
General notes
Be mindful of where you are directing your voice when speaking. Novice Moderators will unintentionally give away the general location of a werewolf or character by speaking AT them during the night. Make a point of rotating your head and body while talking and/or speak toward the ceiling.
If you have a laser pointer, let the Moderator use it in the middle of the night. This is useful with a large group when you can't tell who is being pointed to because everyone is sitting so close together. Here, you'd simply point the laser light at the game card located at the feet of whomever you think is chosen and wait for the person doing the choosing to nod, "Yes," or give a "thumbs up" confirmation. (Pointing the laser light on the chest of the chosen player can be seen by the pointee, tipping the pointee to the fact that other characters have done business with them during the night and ruins the secretive nature of the night.) Also, remember to get a "thumbs up" confirmation from ALL the werewolves when they chose their victim, since their choice must be a unanimous decision.
Some Moderators use an assistant for pointing, tapping, revealing, keeping track of all the changing details of the game, etc. I have found this to be a great aid - especially with a large group. The first night's victim can automatically be enlisted as this assistant and trained as a future Moderator.
To control an unruly player who speaks out too much or speaks when dead, the Moderator may: (a) quickly and politely remind the player to remain quiet, (b) instantly assign that unruly villager to be the village Fool, either immediately during that game or in the next game if that player is already dead or (c) threaten to expel him from the next game, and then actually expel him if he continues to be unruly.
When counting the villager votes to execute, remember a majority vote is needed. For example: if you have 13 remaining players, do not count the vote of the accused werewolf/villager. That leaves 12 votes. The majority vote to execute would therefore have to be seven or more. A vote of six or less is not the majority.
I discourage the game play that allows players to reveal their characters' identities. (Example: The Hunter saying something like, "You don't want to get me angry or kill me," or the Fortunate Teller saying, "You don't want to kill me because I know a lot about the village."). I find that this style of play prematurely accelerates the end of the game. I feel the greater enjoyment is in deducing the identities of the characters. Still, some Moderators play that revealing your character is absolutely and completely a part of the game.
So that good players are not routinely killed off early in every game and discouraged from playing the game, implement the rule that the first two victims of the last game, cannot be killed off for the first two days and nights of the next game" That way they are safe from both werewolf and villager assaults.
If using the alternative method of voting, wherein on the count of "one-two-THREE" everyone points to whom they think the werewolf is, if there is a tied vote, the Scapegoat is killed instead of the two accused villagers.
If you're playing with a large group were not everyone knows everyone else's name, I recommend name stickers worn just below the shoulder.
You don't necessarily have to buy a Werewolf game pack to play this game. You may use white index cards or regular playing cards and write the character names on them. The only down part about that is that then you don't have an official rulebook as a reference. But that problem is solved too by merely searching the Internet for some rules.
If you prefer to have an official Werewolf game pack, there are a number of versions to choose from, because the game is public domain. We use the "Werewolves of Miller's Hollow" version because the character graphics are easy to decipher. Other versions have confusing graphics that cause players to put a quizzical look on their faces when trying to figure out which character card they've got and by doing so give away the fact that they are not a "simple villager" or werewolf.
Whichever route you go you will have to create cards anyway for new characters, such as the Fool, Silversmith, etc. I also discovered it is best to label the regular cards in the deck as well, to help new players realise which is the Witch card, the Hunter card, a Werewolf card, a Villager card, etc.
If you haven't already laminated your cards, you should.
Being the Moderator can be difficult and thankless. If someone doesn't like the way you moderate, if you feel overwhelmed with the responsibility or if you make a lot of errors, invite them to relieve you of the duty. Everyone will moderate differently and some with be better than others.
As a Moderator, you don't get to play as much as you'd like. So you should always be training and encouraging others to moderate. Please feel free to share these documents with others.
Character references
Print out the following descriptions and attach them to a colour photocopy of the relevant character card for easy reference during a game.
If you use extra characters, make a similar reference for them.
**The Fortune Teller or Seer:**This character has a crystal ball and sees all. Every night this character is allowed to look at the card, and true identity, of one other villager. Then during the day, the Seer may use that knowledge to persuade voting. Be careful, because being too certain about another villager's identity may tip the werewolves that you are the Fortune Teller.
**The Witch:**In one game, the Witch has two potions and uses them during the night. One is a poison to kill a suspected werewolf. The other is a restoration potion to revive a werewolf victim to life. Some Witches choose to save the restoration potion for themselves if they are attacked at night. (The restoration potion will not protect the Witch from a mob execution, however.)
**The Hunter:**Whether killed by werewolves during the night or by the villagers during the day, the Hunter gets off one last shot and kills another villager as he dies.
**The Little Girl or The Child:**The Child is allowed to spy at night when the werewolves are killing, and only when the werewolves are killing, by opening her eyes ever so slightly. If the werewolves catch her spying, she becomes their victim for that night.
**Cupid:**The first night Cupid chooses two people to be the Lovers. Cupid may choose himself as a Lover. If one Lover dies, the other dies immediately of grief. The Lovers may never vote against each other - not even as a bluff. The Lovers never learn each other's true identity. If they deduce they are a "mixed couple," a villager and a werewolf, then their new goal is to kill off everyone else so that their love will endure - in peace.
**The Thief:**Two extra cards/villagers are used, and the first night, the Thief looks at those cards and may choose either of those characters if he likes. If they're both werewolves, he must choose one.
**The Sheriff:**The village elects this person at any time during the game and gives him an extra vote during the day because they trust his judgment. He may nominate himself for office. If he is killed, he may reassign this office and vote.
**The villagers:**These ordinary, innocent villagers don't have any special abilities other than their own personal powers of observation and deduction. Like all the "special villagers", they should try not to be killed by the werewolves.
Character list
Print the list of characters below and place the lists back to back inside a plastic sleeve. You can then use this chart to reveal a player's identity to the Fortune Teller/Seer,
ButcherChildCobblerCoronerCupidDefenderDentistElderFoolFortune TellerHunterInvalidLawyerLone WolfMasonMorticianPiperRabble RouserScapegoatScientistSilversmithSlutThief / Grave RobberVampireVeterinarianVigilanteVillagerVoodooistWerewolfWerewolf CubWitchWizard
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
