The Werewolves of Millers Hollow
The Werewolves of Millers Hollow () is a card game created by the French authors Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly that can be played with 8 to 47 players. The game is based on the Russian game Mafia. It was nominated for the 2003 Spiel des Jahres award. Basic Game. Material. The game contains 24 cards: The rules. At the beginning of a game, one person is assigned the role of Moderator. The other players sit in a circle and the Moderator picks the roles for the game. When there are less than 12 players  only 2 werewolves should be used and only 3 if there are less than . The players are given one card each. The players look at their cards without revealing their roles and put them face-down in front of them. The game takes place in alternating phases: The groups. In the basic game, there are two different groups: Werewolves. Each night, the werewolves pick a player to kill. The victim can be anyone except the Moderator, including other werewolves. The next day, they pretend to be a villager and try to seem unsuspicious. The number of werewolves in a game  varies depending on the number of players. Villagers. They don't have any special power except thinking and the right to vote. Seer/ Fortune Teller/ Oracle. Each night, she can discover the real identity of a player. She must help the other villagers but discreetly to not be found by werewolves. Hunter. If he is killed by werewolves or eliminated by vote, he must kill a player of their choice. Cupid. The first night, Cupid chooses two players and make them fall in love, then becomes a villager. If one dies, the other dies too. A lover can't vote  against the other lover. If the lovers are a villager and a werewolf, their objective changes; they must eliminate all the players except them. Witch. She has two potions: She can only use each potion once during the game. She can use both potions during the same night. She can save herself if she has been attacked by the werewolves on the first night. Little Girl. The little girl can secretly spy on the werewolves during their turn. If she is caught in the act, she dies instead of the victim. Because she will be scared to death, or depending  on how you play the werewolves will kill her later on in the game. It is also possible for her to die immediately along with the victim and can not be saved. Sheriff/Captain. This card is given to a player besides their card. They are elected by a vote. This player's vote counts for two instead of one. If they die, they will decide who will be the next Sheriff/Captain. The Sheriff/Captain can be of any role, including a werewolf. Thief. If the thief is played, two cards more than the number of players need to  be played. After each player receives a card, the two cards are put in the center of the table. The thief can, if they want to, during the first night, exchange their cards with one of those cards that they will play until the end of the game. If the two cards are werewolf, the thief has to take one of the two werewolf cards, until the end of the game. 1st Extension: New Moon. New Characters. The idiot. If he is chosen by the village to be eliminated, he stays alive, but he cannot vote anymore. The ancient . He can resist the first werewolf's attack, but if he is killed by the witch, the huntsman, or the villagers, the villagers lose their powers. The scapegoat. If the village can't agree about whom to eliminate, the scapegoat is eliminated. Nevertheless, he can decide about who can vote the next day. The guard. Each night, he can protect a player from being attacked by the werewolves. He can protect himself, but he can't protect the same player two consecutive nights. The pied piper. Her objective is to charm all the players alive except Her (she can't  charm herself). Each night, she can charm two players that wake up and recognize those of the nights before. New moon. Each morning, the animator can take a card in the 36 that makes something special. It can be for the rest of the game or for the following day and night. Spiritualism. The village organizes a seance to invoke the departed spirit of the first victim of the Werewolves... A player is chosen and she ask one of the following questions to the departed. The departed can only answer honestly with yes or no. First card: Second card: Third  card: Fourth card: Fifth card: 2nd Extension: The Village. New Characters. This extension contains 3 new characters. The white werewolf. His objective is to be the only survivor. He wakes up every night with the werewolves. But one night out of two, he wakes up and kills a werewolf. The raven. Each night, he can choose a player that will have a penalty of two voices for the vote. The pyromaniac. Once in the game, he can burn a building. If the owner of the building is the target of the werewolf's attack, the owner survives and the werewolf  to the right of the owner dies instead. The buildings. Those are other roles that are given to some players by the choice of the animator or by draw that are visible for all the players. The farmers. This is the only building of which there are several present. The farmers choose between them and the captain. The bakery. The baker can wake up when the animator says "The werewolves are going back to sleep." The Mistress. The Mistress can't vote. Every day, she can also forbid two players from voting. The manor. Once during the game, the lord  can save the village's victim. The Bartender. Werewolves can't kill him and villagers can't vote against him. He votes before the other players. But if he votes for somebody that gets eliminated, he loses the immunity. The bonesettler. Once in the game, the bonesettler can give back the power to somebody that already used it. The Bailiff House. When players die, they can give their building, to the other players. The Barber's House. Once in the game, he can eliminate a player. But, if he isn't a werewolf, he is also eliminated. 3rd Extension: Characters . The villager-villager. On the two faces of the cards, there is the illustration of a simple villager. So, everybody knows that he is a simple villager. The two sisters. They wake up on the night and exchange signs to decide of the decisions to take to save the village. They know who is her other sister and so can trust her. The three brothers. The same thing as the two sisters, except they are three. The angel. His objective is to be killed by the villagers on the first day of vote. If he doesn't, he becomes a  simple villager. If he/she does die on the first night, they win against the other players. The stuttering judge. Once in the game, he can decide that there is a second village's vote by a sign that he had shown to the animator during the first night. The knight with the rusty sword. If he dies during the night, the first werewolf to his left dies the following morning. The fox. Each night, he can choose three players. If in these three players, there is at least one werewolf, the animator gives the fox a positive sign and  he preserves his power. But, if there aren't werewolves in these three players, the animator gives the fox a negative sign and he loses his power. The bear tamer. If one of his two neighbours is a werewolf, the animator informs the bear tamer that he is next to a werewolf. The actor. If the actor option is played, three extra cards are added more than the number of players, which won't be distributed. The actor can, during the three first nights, exchange his card with one of these three cards. After the third night, he becomes a  simple villager. The devoted servant. The devoted servant can, whenever during the game, exchange her card with the village vote's victim's. She plays this character until the end of the game. The abominable sectarian. At the beginning of the game, the animator divides the players in two groups (for example: men/women). Its objective is to kill all the players of the group its not part of. The wild child. The wild child is a villager who, at the beginning of the game, chooses a player. If during the game this player dies, the wild child becomes a  werewolf. The dog-wolf. At the beginning of the game, he can choose if he wants to be a simple villager or a werewolf. The big bad wolf. It's a werewolf. But, until no wolf, wild child or dog wolf died, he wakes up again and eats another villager. The vile father of wolves. It's a werewolf. Once in the game, he can transform the werewolves's victim into a werewolf. This one preserves his powers. In connecting with the New Moon extension. The gyspy. Five times in a game, she can use her power and the following  day a spiritism card instead will be taken instead of the policeman's package. The policeman. He is chosen by the captain, and he is in charge of the event cards. The Variants. Moonlight. The eerie atmosphere ideally emphasizes all the variants we offer below. Set yourselves up outside under the starry sky, and from a circle around the moderator. Wear period clothing, listen to music appropriate to that ancient time. In this arcane environment where one can almost hear the howl of the wolves, set a small lit candle in front of each player. From now on, each morning  the moderator blows out the candle in front of the victim of the Werewolves, and each evening after the vote, the victim of the village extinguishes her own candle. It will make the mood increasingly darker in the village, and the survivors will be the only ones visible, ready to be devoured. You can also adopt a more stressful variant for the Werewolves: it is they who, in one way or another, will have to extinguish the candle of each of their victims. If more than one candle dies out, there is no victim. Community of Hamlets. When you gather  many friends to play Werewolves of Millers Hollow, you can create several villages. The ideal in this variant would be to have one room per village - if you are playing outside, you can play by separating the groups by about sixty feet. Each village needs to be a complete game. It is recommended to have one moderator per village, but you can orchestrate the executions of day/night simultaneously for all the villages. The games proceed normally, but the players can decide to leave their village at any moment of the game, except during the night and if they are  designated to be eliminated by popular accusation. A player that decides to change villages for personal convenience leaves the table with her card, which she keeps secret. She goes to another village of her choice during the day, and knocks on the door or waits until someone authorizes her to move into the new village. In order to avoid excessive disorder, the organizers may decide to limit the comings and goings from one village to another (for example, not more than 2 departures per village). It is possible that there will be several identical characters in a village. It's  even possible that the Werewolves desert a village they consider to be too dangerous. In this case, the Villagers of the village win their game. Note that by moving too often, you are taking an additional risk: The Villagers of the region of Millers Hollow are often narrow-minded. A stranger is always suspect... We witnessed villages in which every newcomer was systematically condemned by the popular tribunal. In any case, it surely isn't him! Here is a new way of voting to designate the victim of the popular tribunal. It is a mini-variant to use from time  to time in a game. All the Villagers still in the game rise. Then the neighbor to the left of the last eliminated player designates a Villager whom she guarantees to be innocent. The first voter remains standing: She will have to be proven innocent if she wants to survive. The Villager who was declared innocent sits down, and then in turn designates a Villager whom he wishes to save who will then sit down as well. Continue like this until one player is left standing. The last player is the victim of the village vote. Of course, debate is  still welcome during the vote. Caution: In this variant, the Werewolves can easily declare one another innocent, and thus escape their just punishment. Pay very close attention to who clears whom. The village will only be sure to eliminate one of the Werewolves if the Werewolves are the very last to vote. The Writings on the Wall. This variant can be used along with the others. Before nightfall, the inhabitants of Millers Hollow have the habit of coming to read the small, anonymous graffiti written on the little wall behind the town hall. Each Villager still in the game writes  a short phrase of her choice on a slip of paper, and gives it to the moderator. The author of each graffiti must remain anonymous, but each one is free to write whatever she wants: suspicious, warnings, comments, denunciations, compliments, declarations of love... When they've all been gathered up, the moderator reads all the graffiti in random order. The Villager can then fall asleep, their minds still troubled by these short messages. Double You. The Small Complication. This variant permits each player to portray a true role, her character being visible to all: the Fortune Teller, the Hunter, the  Witch, Cupid, the Defender, the Elder, the Scapegoat, and up to 2 Simple Villagers are the characters whom you will portray. Deal each one player one of these cards face-up. Then deal to each player a second card face down, called the alignment card, from the following: 2 Werewolves and 5 to 7 Simple Villagers, according to the number of players. Each player keeps the alignment card she received secret as long as she is not eliminated. This alignment card tells the player to which camp she belongs: Werewolves or Villagers. The goal of the players whose alignment card  is a Werewolves is to eliminate the players whose alignment card is Villager, and vice versa. Do not use the following characters: Thief, Little Girl, Idiot, Piper. The Great Complication. Prepare the cards as before, shuffle them, then deal two cards face-down to each player. These cards will remain secret. What can be done without making any changes: The Witch can be the Fortune Teller, the Hunter can be the Defender, and the Elder can be the Scapegoat. When a player has at least one Werewolf card, she is a Werewolf. If this player has a special ability on  the other card, she can use it as well. Harvest Festival. It is suggested to have more Werewolves than usual. All the abilities are disrupted until the end of the game by excessive drink, according to the following indications: After the Witch has designated a player, the moderator tosses the lid and bottom of a Werewolves box, and according to their disposition on the ground, announces aloud the result of the potion: The moderator awakens them so they can see each other. The True Lover becomes the Deceitful Lover, the new lover become the Secret Lover, and they fall asleep  again. The True Lover who wasn't selected becomes the Jilted Lover. From then on: The Jilted Lover may not vote against the Deceitful Lover, though she can do it to him. It is forbidden for the Secret Lover and the Deceitful Lover to vote against one another. Black Death. This is a surprise from the moderator which is used once in several games. When disturbing the cards at the start of the game, do not add any werewolves cards. Each night, the moderator calls the werewolves as usual. However, in fact, the victim is not chosen by the werewolves , but by the moderator. After that, resolve other special characters as usual. The moderator’s objective is not to be discovered by the players that he uses this variant. The players need to tell everyone that this is a Black Death, to avoid the sad fate. The moderator can secretly clue that the victims are died because of Black Death, but not the werewolves. Lycanthropic Fascination. So that their crimes remain as discreet as possible, the Werewolves develop their faculty to mesmerize their victims, rather than devour them. Each victim of the Werewolves is no longer eliminated from the game , but immediately loses all her abilities. Each night, the Werewolves designate one victim who must keep her eyes closed. In order to let her know that she was fascinated, the moderator discreetly touches her head. In the morning, she remains anonymous. Therefore, as the night pass, there will be more and more mesmerized victims. Note, if one of the mesmerized victims gets lynched, all the other Werewolf victims are immediately eliminated as well... The Werewolves win if they mesmerize the second-to-last Villager. New Moon. The magnum opus of this expansion, 36 events that modify the dramatic nature of  your adventures each morning with awakening of the Villagers. Online adaption. Since 2011, the Werewolves of Millers Hollow has an online adaptation. This adaptation has 5 special characters and different types of games can be played: Special characters. The shaman. Each night, the shaman can see the dead's messages. The puppeteer. Once during the game, he can take the place of a werewolf. The white rabbit. His objective is to give two chocolates to each surviving player except himself. Each night, he can give two chocolates to players. The ankou. Once the ankou dies, he can continue to vote  for up to two turns from the cemetery. His vote will not be visible to players but will be counted and will participate in the elimination of a day player while seeing the dead speak. The night owl. Each night he must choose a player to sleep with. The player then knows the identity of the night owl but he cannot use his powers at that night.