A GAME FOR 2 TO 5 MISTAKENLY DETAINED PATIENTS BY MARCO MAGGI & FRANCESCO NEPITELLO OW DO YOU PLAY THULHU ALES In relating the circumstances which have led to my H C T ? confinement within this refuge for the demented, I am Each player is trying to persuade the sanatorium staff aware that my present position will create a natural that they are sane and can be released. As well as giving doubt of the authenticity of my narrative. a convincing account of their own story, players can improve their chances of being freed by casting doubt on – The Tomb, by H.P. Lovecraft the other players’ tales – making themselves seem sane by comparison. Each player takes a turn to tell their story The early 20th century. New England, America. using the cards as inspiration – while it’s their go, we call Lovecraft country. them the Narrator. Here’s how it works: Home to university libraries filled with worm- 1. The Accusation: The player to the Narrator’s left eaten tomes, legend-haunted towns populated with plays cards to make an Accusation – the situation that degenerate locals and their rustic superstitions, caused the Narrator to be confined to the sanatorium. Cyclopean ruins from long-forgotten aeons, and the disquieting glimpses of things from beyond… 2. The Story: The Narrator attempts to tell the real story that led to their sorry fate, playing Story cards You are the unwilling guests of an antiquated and countering the Accusation made against them. sanatorium, perhaps the infamous Arkham They play one Story card at a time, using the picture or Sanatorium or maybe the Danvers State Asylum. text on the card (along with a corresponding card from the Accusation) as inspiration for the tale they tell. Your only hope of escape is to convince the sanatorium authorities, and perhaps yourself, that you do not 3. Interruptions: The other players can try to disrupt belong here. And so you begin to explain the sinister the Narrator’s story by playing Madness cards after series of events that led to your unjust incarceration. the Narrator plays each Story card. By contradicting and confusing the Narrator, the players make Unfortunately, your memories are populated by the themselves look like the sane ones, increasing their stuff of nightmares… chances of getting out! A NOTE ON “MADNESS” Cthulhu Tales deals in the madness described by H.P. Lovecraft in many of his stories. It is a fictional condition, an imagined state of derangement, where the walls of reality fall away and the frail human mind cannot contain the reality of the universe inhabited by the Great Old Ones. This is an entirely distinct condition to the tragedy and pain of real-world mental health issues, which sadly are statistically likely to touch all of our lives. We encourage players of Cthulhu Tales to wholly enjoy the fictional nature of the various maladies and madness described here, while remembering that in the real world mental health issues are no laughing matter. 4. The End: The turn ends when the Narrator MADNESS CARDS reaches the end of their story, whether they successfully Unnatural events, horrible creatures and mental complete their tale or if the other players’ interruptions maladies. brought it to a premature end. The Narrator receives a number of Treatment tokens, representing the misguided therapies and medication administered to them by the terrifying medical staff, which are used (a) title a to determine their score. The next player becomes the (b) quote from a Narrator and plays through Steps 1-3. Lovecraft story e (c) set of two Terror 5. The Reckoning:Once each player has had a turn icons as the Narrator, everyone compares their score to find (d) Threat rating out who has won their freedom! (e) macabre d c illustration COMPONENTS b • 1 board • 75 Story cards • 40 Madness cards • 40 Treatment tokens • 1 Twelve-sided die (a d12) TERROR ICONS THE BOARD Players place Story cards in the 5 card-sized boxes, Each Story card has one or two Terror icons. As starting from the left. The middle three boxes have part of the game you’ll be trying to match these icons to show that you play the cards forming the to the Terror icons on your Madness cards. Accusation underneath them. They have a colour, a shape and an eldritch STORY CARDS symbol to make them easy to read even if The main tools that a Narrator uses to build a story. you’re colour blind. (a) title Blue Glass Green Wood Red Paper (b) quote from a a Lovecraft story (c) one or two Terror icons e (d) Insanity Purple Metal Yellow Rock icons d (e) sinister illustration c TREATMENT TOKENS b Cardboard counters drawn by players from an opaque container. There are five types of Treatment tokens, each one The most easily frightened player (or a willing corresponding to a different antiquated therapy and volunteer) goes first as theNarrator ; the other players associated to a numerical value. They are: act as Madness players for the turn. 1. Pills (2) When the current Narrator has finished telling 2. Injections (3) their story, a new turn starts and the role of the 3. Straightjacket (4) players changes: the player to the left of the Narrator 4. Electroshock (5) becomes the new Narrator, and the other players 5. Isolation (6) become the new Madness players. 3 4 START OF A TURN 2 • At the start of a turn, the Narrator draws five cards from the Story deck to form their hand Pills Injections Straightjacket of cards. • Then, the Narrator drawsanother Story card 6 and without looking at it places it face down as 5 the Secret Ending of their tale below the last card box of the board. • All the other players (the Madness players) Electroshock Isolation Token Back draw a number of Madness cards based on the total number of Madness players: Treatment tokens are drawn by players both during their turn as the Narrator, and at the conclusion of it. 1 Madness player = 6 Madness cards The tokens represent the severity of the ‘medical care’ 2 Madness players = 3 Madness cards they will be subjected to, and are used to determine 3 Madness players = 2 Madness cards their final scoring (generally, accumulating more 4 Madness players = 2 Madness cards, plus the tokens results in a worse score). Narrator draws an additional Story card Players keep their Treatment tokens hidden from the THE AccUSATION other players until the end of the game. Then, the first Madness player to the left of the Narrator narrates the Accusation that starts the tale: THE CTHULHU TALES DIE The twelve-sided die is used in combination with the The first Madness player draws 2 Story cards and playing of a Madness card, to determine if a played 1 Madness card, and inspects them. Then, they use card has a Minor or a Major effect on the narration. the three cards to briefly narrate the circumstances The Cthulhu and LOVecraFT icons trigger that led to the reclusion of the Narrator in the additional effects. sanitarium. When the first Madness player has finished narrating PREPARATIONS the Accusation, they place the three cards below the Place the board in the middle of the playing area. board, beneath the three central boxes as shown in the Shuffle the two decks of cards (the Story deck and the image on page 11. The player may place the cards in Madness deck). Place all Treatment tokens inside an any order desired, optionally reflecting the narration. opaque container (a cup will do fine). HOW TO NARRATE THE AccUSATION PLAYING THE FIRST STORY CARD The first Madness player narrates an Accusation When the Narrator is ready, they start their tale, by taking inspiration from the illustrations, titles tying it to the Accusation they were presented or quotes on the cards, and combining them to with. At the same time it’s a good idea to reveal form a coherent story. This means that the story something about the identity of the Narrator, or to of the Narrator will always start with its ending include philosophical musings and considerations, in (as in the case of many of Lovecraft’s own stories). the style of many of Lovecraft’s protagonists. The Accusation should hint at mysteries unsolved, leaving questions open for the Narrator to answer, room for the claim of madness to be refuted and “It is true that I have sent six bullets through never drawing precise conclusions. the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to show by this statement that I am not his For example, Henry is the Narrator and Lavinia murderer.” the first Madness player to his left. It falls to – The Thing on the Doorstep Lavinia to narrate the Accusation of Henry’s story. Lavinia draws three cards for the Accusation: “The most merciful thing in the world, I Ancestral Diary and Expedition from the Story think, is the inability of the human mind to deck, and Burning and Dynamiting from the correlate all its contents.” Madness deck. Lavinia then tells how Henry’s – The Call of Cthulhu character was brought to the attention of the authorities by a close friend. It seems that his “I have frequently wondered if the majority conduct started to appear suspicious after he of mankind ever pause to reflect upon the returned from an expedition (the Expedition card), occasionally titanic significance of dreams, but bordered on the criminally insane when he and of the obscure world to which they broke into the local church, armed with dynamite belong.” (the Burning and Dynamiting card), claiming – Beyond the Wall of Sleep that the spectre of a nun interred inside the church was haunting his dreams.