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Rules

NB: we are using slightly abridged rules for this game. You don't need to read the rules in order to play.

There are really only 2 rules:

1. The GM's decision is always right.

2. The GM is never wrong.

ONE GHASTLY SUMMER IN CLEVEDON

 

THE RULES

 

  1. OBJECT OF THE GAME

  2. SETTING UP THE GAME

  3. CHARACTER CARDS

  4. MONSTER CARDS

  5. EVENT CARDS

  6. INVOLVED CARDS

  7. GADGETS

  8. GADGET CARDS

  9. FIRING THE GADGET

  10. HOW MONSTERS AND PLAYERS REACT

  11. WHO FIGHTS FIRST?

  12. RAISING THE ALARM

  13. WHEN A MONSTER DIES

  14. THE BOARD

  15. A TABLE OF VENUES & EVENTS

  16. A GRIMOIRE OF MONSTERS

  17. A COMPENDIUM OF GADGETS

 

1. OBJECT OF THE GAME

 

“You have all been invited to attend the reading of the Last Will and Testament of “Lord Ingitova” (or whatever the GM decides his/her name is this time around). You will be looking forward to being joint inheritors to the considerably huge fortune he has amassed from his successful Tea importing monopoly. If you survive One Ghastly Summer in Clevedon!”

 

2. SETTING UP THE GAME

 

Decide who is the Games Master (GM). A dramatic storyteller would be a good choice.

Players and the GM should decide how long their game should be. This may be based on:

 

  • How many Events happen.

  • Time based.

  • Last player is the Winner.

  • Until everyone dies.

 

Put the character pieces on the Base Venue (Clevedon House).

The GM places Gadget Counters in some of the Venues.

Each Player is given/selects a Character Card and a corresponding Character Piece.

Play commences Clockwise from the GM.

 

3. CHARACTER CARDS

 

Players should choose or be issued with a card depicting their character – it will have a picture of their character, the name, and four statistics:

 

  • STRENGTH – Used in a fight or flight.

     

  • HEALTH (MAX) – The health of a character when they are in tip-top condition.

    Health changes throughout a game. That's what Yellow Sticky Notepads are for.

    Health is very important: when this is 0, the character sadly expires.

     

  • WIT – The intelligence – required to operate gadgets.

     

  • CHARM – Useful when trying to reason with a Monster.

 

4. MONSTER CARDS

 

Monsters have preprepared cards, or are rolled by the GM.

The cards depict the name and gruesome image of the Monster, and also have:

 

  • STRENGTH – Used in a Fight, or a Chase.

     

  • HEALTH – If this reaches 0, the Monster dies.

     

  • WIT – Used to find a Character (vs Character's wit), when a Character is hiding.

     

  • CHARM – Used when a player attempts to Reason with the Monster.

 

5. EVENT CARDS

 

An Event Card (served by the GM to all the players) commences a round. The card will have the name of the Event, and a Venue. It is marked RSVP.

 

All players must decide whether to either Attend or Decline.

 

If they Decline they stay at The Base, and recover only one Health point for that Event.

 

All players Attending move their character pieces to the Venue.

 

(The GM can have a ripe old time of spinning a yarn and outlining the Event, and describing the Venue. A certain amount of Role-play will likely ensue.)

 

6. INVOLVED CARDS

 

Once the players are at the Event, at some point, the GM asks players to select an “Involved Card”. These are held face down by the GM and fanned out as a magician would. Players select a card each and turn them over. There are two main type of card:

 

  • RED = The player selecting Red is Involved in what happens next...

 

  • GREEN = Not Involved. The player is oblivious to what happens, and recovers a health point in the meantime.

 

Players whose Characters are Involved will be Involved in the ghastly Incident that happens. Players not Involved fortunately avoid the Incident, and restore a health point per round up to their Maximum Health.)

 

One of the Red Involved cards may have a GADGET logo on it...

 

7. GADGETS

 

Prior to the game, the GM places Gadget Counters in some of the Venues, to show where the Gadgets are located.

 

A player selecting a Red Involved card with the Gadget logo gets given/selects a Gadget card. Players may use the Gadget on their go. It is theirs to keep or trade!

 

8. GADGET CARDS

 

A Gadget card has the name and picture of the Gadget, and numbers representing Damage and Complexity.

 

  • Damage = when the gadget is used, the number depicted is deducted from the target's Health.

  • Complexity = If the Complexity is higher than a Character's Wit, is is too complex to operate. The player can attempt to use it, but the Damage will be restricted, or it might malfunction (The GM will decide).

 

If a player has a Gadget card, they may use it against a Monster (or in extreme cases, another Player. But that wouldn't be very nice). One shot per turn.

 

Some Gadgets are for firing, others assist in other ways:

 

Gadgets for Firing:

 

Flesh disintegrating ray gun (Damages health 1 dice roll)

Shrink ray (Halves every monster statistic, and halves the number of moves it makes)

Freeze gun (Slows the monster down -2 from each move)

Molecule disruptor (Damages health 1 dice roll)

Microwave gun (Damages health 3 dice roll)

Flamethrower (Damages health 2 dice rolls)

Plasma projector (Damages health 1 dice roll)

Aether disruptor (Damages health 1 dice roll)

 

Other gadgets:

Time gun (makes the target go back in time: the number of paces determined by a dice throw).

Rocket pack (increases Speed of a character by doubling the distance they can cover).

 

 

 

9. FIRING THE GADGET

 

To shoot the Gadget, (Check the player has the wit to use it properly) a Player rolls the dice D6 to see how many paces the gadget fires.

 

If it hits, roll again for damage.

 

The resulting number is deducted from the target's Health.

 

The GM of course describes the way that the Monster reacted, and the damage done to the surrounding area...

 

10. HOW MONSTERS AND PLAYERS REACT

 

Players can react to Monsters in one of the following ways during each turn:

 

  • RUN – Roll the dice and double it to see how many spaces your character can move.

  • HIDE – Roll the dice to see how far you can move and if you can get to a Yellow Zone, you can declare that you are hiding.

  • FIGHT – If you are within 3 squares of each other, you may engage in fighting. This is 'hand to hand', unless you have a Gadget. Gadgets can shoot at a target provided it is within view. Gadgets do not shoot around corners.

  • REASON – From within eyesight – you may attempt to talk to the Monster sensibly.

 

A Monster reacts to each player accordingly – if a Player:

 

Player RUNS, then a Monster might Chase. If a Monster Chases a Character, and catches up, it Fights! (GM rolls the dice to see how many spaces the Monster can run.)

 

Player HIDES, then a Monster might Search. The GM rolls the dice to see if the Monster can make it into the Green Zone. If a Monster Finds a Character, it Fights!

(GM compares Monster Wit vs Character Wit – if Monster Wit is higher than a Players, it has found the Character...if Character Wit is higher than the Monster's, the Character has outwitted the Monster, and the Monster returns to a place outside the Yellow Zone.)

 

Player FIGHTS, then a Monster will Fight back.

(GM compares Monster Strength vs Character Strength – Roll D4 for damage and deduct those points from Health)

 

Player REASONS, then a Monster might listen...if a Player Reasons with a Monster, it does not attack the Player during that turn...but if a Monster's Charm is higher than a Characters, it Fights!

(GM compares Monster's Charm vs Character's Charm)

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The Monster reacts according to how the GM decides to play the Monster – it might not react to a player that Runs or Hides, or it might Chase a Player...but in any event:

 

The GM can enjoy describing exactly how all this occurs, in ghastly detail.

 

11. WHO FIGHTS FIRST?

 

When the GM introduces a Monster to the Event, (and vividly describes the horror as it comes into view), all players Involved can decide how to react: Generally, Players react in turn, clockwise from the GM.

 

However, a GM might decide that the Monster attacks first if it is particularly nasty! The GM tells the players who is being attacked, and rolls for damage. Play then continues for the players Involved, clockwise from the GM.

 

12. RAISING THE ALARM

 

It is possible for a player to RAISE THE ALARM, and if they do that, it takes up their turn to do so. If they do RAISE THE ALARM, players that were previously Not Involved may decide to become Involved – or not! They have to wait for their turn around the table to come up before they can take a turn though. They can no longer restore Health whilst Fighting.

 

A Monster can react or not, according to the whim of the GM.

 

13. WHEN A MONSTER DIES

 

Players return to the Event Venue to Role-play their account of the Event. Tales of bravery/cowardice ensue...

 

The GM decides when an Event is actually over, and Players are returned to the Base (Clevedon Hall) to sleep before the next Event is dished out.

 

14. THE BOARD

 

It is a map of a place with Venues where Events occur. Gadgets Counters are placed in Venues to be 'found' when Events occur.

 

15. A TABLE OF VENUES & EVENTS

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16. A GRIMOIRE OF MONSTERS

 

  • Martian – escaped from the sea.

  • Morlock – found its way through a time portal from the future.

  • Frankenstein's Monster – escaped from the laboratory.

  • Dracula – descends abroad.

  • The Tripod – a remnant of the War.

  • Giant Insect – Ate an experimental growth hormone.

  • Giant Robot – huge artificial intelligence robot comes to take over.

  • Alien Overlord – on a mission to take over the world, by destroying everyone on it.

  • Zombie – This one has freshly resurrected from the graveyard.

  • Wolfman – A full moon seems to have taken effect...

  • Cthulhu – awakens from the deep.

  • The Kraken – is disturbed from slumber by the local paddle steamer.

  • The Mummy – escapes from the museum.

  • Spring Heeled Jack – notorious murderer escapes from prison.

     

 

To create Monsters, we simply name them and roll D10 for each:

 

  • STRENGTH

  • HEALTH

  • WIT

  • CHARM

 

17. A COMPENDIUM OF GADGETS

 

  • Sonic Ray Gun – this shoots a wide ray of sonic waves that disrupt.

  • Heat Ray – fires a high powered infra red ray causing burns.

  • Flesh Disintegrator – does what it says on the tin.

  • Bazooka – fires anything that the player finds to hand with high power.

  • Umbrella Rifle – this is not an umbrella that shoots, but a gun that fires umbrellas.

  • Flame Thrower – Using heavy tanks, this sprays fire everywhere.

  • Shrink Ray (Halves All Monster Stats) – decreases the size of the opponent by half.

     

Object of the Game
Setting up the Game
Character Cards
Monster Cards
Event Cards
Involved Cards
Gadgets
Gadget Cards
Firing the Gadget
How Monsters and Players React
Who Fights First?
Raising the Alarm
When a Monster dies
The Board
Screen Shot 2020-07-18 at 00.01.36.png
A Table ot venues and events
A Grimoire of Monsters
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A Compendium of Gadgets
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