Sunday, November 14, 2010
Starcraft 2 Launch Trailer
Oh man, I just love this trailer so much. Is more like a movie trailer than a game trailer. Kick @$$ trailer.
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Werewolves of Millers Hollow - New Moon
Just bought this expansion and didn't get a chance to play with friends yet. The new game play is superb and I can't wait to lay a hand on this with my buddies. Nevertheless, I didn't see much reviews or info on this expansion. Since I'm a huge fan of it, perhaps I should disclose some of the content of this award winning card game expansion. (Note: All information below are extracted from The Werewolves of Millers Hollow - New Moon booklet)
New Characters:
First and foremost, New Moon comes with 5 new characters as below:
(1) Scapegoat: Most of the time Scapegoat is just a normal townsfolk. However, his/her destiny will be decided when comes to voting. If the voting result comes to a tide, no one will be eliminated but Scapegoat. So Scapegoat must make sure there will never be any tide in voting in order to keep himself alive. However, if Scapegoat is eliminated due to tide, he can initiate his ability to choose who are only players that eligible to vote in the next round.
(2) Village Idiot: As the name implies, this is a Village Idiot which will be eliminated in any form other than being vote. If he is voted by the townsfolk, he will revealing himself as Village Idiot and he will immediately gain pardon from the village and stay alive. However he will lost his voting right although he may still participate in the debates. If the Village Idiot is a Sheriff, he will lost his Sheriff role for good.
(3) Piper: Piper is a character that has his own mission to win the game, just like the Werewolf and Townsfolk couple which have to kill everyone in the Village in order to win. Piper's mission is to charm everyone in the village. Each night, Piper will be called to charm any 2 players other than himself, and the charmed player will be called by the Moderator soon after Piper went back to sleep. The charmed player will recognized each other, and eventually more and more charmed player will recognized themselves along with the rest which have been charmed earlier. Once all the players are charm, Piper wins the game.
(4) Elder: Elder is the character that can survive from the Werewolves attack on the first blow. He will be eliminated when he is devour second time by the Werewolves. However, Witch's poison, Hunter's shot, and Townsfolk's vote will take him down directly on first hit. Either way, his death will remove all the special abilities that the townsfolk possesses. Also, if Elder is kill after the Village Idiot has revealed himself, the Village idiot will die along the Elder. Witch's potion only recover Elder's life for once, not twice.
(5) Defender: Each night, the Defender will be called up to select a player that he wants to defend from Werewolves, hence Werewolves can't kill this player on the first hit. Defender has the right to select himself to be protected by the Werewolves, but he can't select the same person to be protected 2 nights in a row, and he will never able to protect the Little Girl.
The Variants:
(1) Moonlight: Play outdoors in a magical ambiance.
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.
(2) Community of Hamlets: Are there a great number of you? You can all play together...
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.
(3) In any case, it surely isn't him!: Change the voting system.
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. Be very 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.
(4) The Writing's on the Wall: Express your feelings on the small wall behind the town hall.
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.
(5) Double You: The Villagers have a split personality...
(a) The Small Complication - from 7 to 9 players; if you wish to play with more, you will need a second copy of the base game
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 disturb the following characters: Thief, Little Girl, Idiot, Piper.
(b) 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.
(6) Harvest Festival: The inebriation from the festivities strangely modifies the abilities of the inhabitants of Millers Hollow.
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:
- The Werewolves can only devour someone next to one of them.
- The Fortune Teller is drunk, and cannot distinguish between the visions that appear in her mind: The Fortune Teller as usual, designates a player whose personality she wishes to probe, but in response, the moderator gives her the identities of 3 players: the designated player and his 2 neighbors. The moderator should not specify which player portrays which character.
- The Hunter must choose his victim from one of his two neighbors.
- The Little Girl has a hard time managing her slumber. She awakes too late to spot Werewolves and can only spy on the Witch.
- The Thief, if she has the Thief card all day, must during the first night, with the help of the moderator, exchange it with the card of the player of her choice. Each player will have to check his character the following morning.
- The Sheriff will have to vote before all the other players.
- The Scapegoat is no longer eliminated in the event of tie, but rather in the place of one of her two neighbors, should they be eliminated by village vote.
- The Idiot drunk is no more (or less) idiotic that usual; nothing change for her.
- The Witch is distracted, she has mislaid one potion (thus can only use her ability once), and furthermore, when she uses her ability, she is sometimes mistaken about the bottle.
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:
> Inner Lid + Inner Bottom = Cured
> Inner Lid + Outer Bottom = Cured and transformed into a Simple Villager
> Outer Lid + Inner Bottom = Cured and transformed into a Werewolf
> Outer Lid + Outer Bottom = Eliminated
- Cupid chooses the two Lovers, who see each other and fall asleep again, just like normal: they are the True Lovers. After that, however, he points at one of the True Lovers and one other player.
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 become the Jilted Lover.
From then on:
> If the Jilted Lover is killed, neither of the other Lovers die.
> If the Deceitful Lover is killed, both of the other Lovers die.
> If the Secret Lover is killed, then only the Deceitful Lover dies, the Jilted Lover realizes he has been Jilted and does not die.
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.
- The Defender can only protect herself or one of her 2 neighbors.
- The Piper charms only one player at a time.
(7) The Black Death: A surprise from the moderator, to be kept secret from all players.
(8) Lycanthropic Fascination: Now, the Werewolves fascinate their victims!
So that their crimes remian 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.
(9) 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.
[To be further elaborate...]
Events:
This is the new feature of the expansion where by events will be added into the game play to create new possibilities, prevent imbalance, some merely for fun, and etc
(1) Somnambulism - The Fortune Teller has become a sleepwalker. From now until the end of the game, the Moderator will announce the secret identity of the character that Fortune Teller reveal out loud. However, the rest still will not know on which player Fortune Teller was spying.
(2) Touch of Death - From now until the end of the game, in order to be devoured, the victim of the Werewolves must be touched by one of them. Otherwise, there will be no victim of the Werewolves.
(3) Executioner - In order to keep their hands clean, the villagers elect someone to the office of Executioner. From now until the end of the game, the identity of the victims of the vote will be known only to the Executioner; Executioner will never show the card of the victims.
(4) Burial - Once the Werewolves are sated, they bury the remains of their nocturnal victims. From now until the end of the game, the identities of the Werewolves' victim will never revealed to anyone.
(5) Double Agent - The village falls asleep, the first player eliminated designates a non-Werewolves player to open the eyes. The Moderator secretly points out the werewolves to the player, who becomes their secret ally.
(6) The Little Rascal - The youngest person of the village will be the "Little Rascal", who leaves in search of aid in the neighboring village. He returns the next morning and he takes back his place, but his vote will be worth triple.
(7) Backfire - The next night, if the Werewolves designate a Simple Villager, she is not eliminated, but instead transforms into a Werewolf. Otherwise, the victim survives and the first Werewolf to her left is struck down.
(8) Dissatisfaction - Disappointed by their lousy results, the village gets carried away with their lust for justice. If the next player eliminated by the village is not a Werewolf, the village, vexed, votes a second time. The second vote proceeds immediately and without discussion, in order to eliminate a second suspect.
(9) Influences - The next vote is done in turn. The first voter designates a player and leaves her arm pointed. The player to her left proceeds in the same fashion, and so on.
(10) Full Moon Rising - The following night, the Werewolves become Fortune Teller. Each one of them will awake in turn to spy on 1 player. The Hunter, the Witch, and the Fortune Teller become Werewolves; they awake together and eliminate 1 player during the night.
(11) Enthusiasm - Encouraged by their exceptional results, the village gets carried away with their lust of justice. If the next player eliminated by the village is a Werewolf, the village, over-joyed, voted a second time. The second vote proceeds immediately and without discussion, in order to eliminate a second suspect.
(12) The Specter - Discreetly touched by the moderator, the next player designated by the Werewolves opens her eyes. The Werewolves keep their eye open. She becomes a Werewolf, and designated 1 vote of the old Werewolves, who is immediately eliminated.
(13) Miracle - The last victim of the Werewolves is not actually eliminated. She simply fainted of fright in the face of the lycanthropes, and that saved her. She regains her senses and returns to the game immediately, but as a Simple Villager.
(14) Good Manners - You are all courteous to the other villagers: Interrupting anyone is forbidden. Each of you speaks in turn under the supervision of the moderator. Any player who violates this rule loses her right to vote for this turn.
(15) Saint Philippe - In memory of the great Philippe the Lame, the village elects a truly charismatic leader. If the village already had a Sheriff, he is fired for incompetence and a new Sheriff is elected. The elected Sheriff recites the oath as follows: "The way of Philippe I shall follow, and the village I shall protect."
(16) Heads or Tails - Today, the village pays homage to the famous player Herve the One-Eyed. The moderator, immediately after the verdict of the tribunal, selects possible grace for the condemned with the flip of a coin. Tails: The village releases the condemned, who cries "Oh, many thanks, Herve!". Heads: The condemned is eliminated and cries "Oh I hate you, Herve!".
(17) Woodland Gathering - All the female players depart into the forest to gather mysterious plants, which are indispensable to the Witch. They will return at sundown. They participate neither in debates, nor in votes. The male players may not vote against them. The Witch recovers an extra potion just before nightfall.
(18) Radiant Sunday - Everybody benefits from the sun. Nothing in particular occurs. It is a normal turn unless the moderator decides to apply the "Lycanthropic Fascination" variant.
(19) Saturday Evening Ball - This evening, the youngsters of the village will dance, and won't return until dawn. Each player gives her age; the younger half of the village will form a clan of dancers. The dancers participate neither in debates, nor in votes. The "geezers" may not vote against them. Moreover, the "youngsters" can neither eat if they are Werewolves, nor be devoured by the Werewolves.
(20) Eclipse - This morning, there's a bad moon rising in Millers Hollow. The villager are gruff with one another. The player turn their backs towards the center of the circle, and debate without looking at one another. The moderator forbids anyone who disobeys from voting. The players will return to their usual orientation at the precise instant of the vote.
(21) Pact with the Devil - Immediately after the verdict of the tribunal, the condemned can make a pact with the devil. In this case, she is not eliminated by this vote. But take note! If, at the end of the game, she belongs to the camp that vanquished, she will then be excluded from the potential next game.
(22) Flood - A flood transforms Millers Hollow into lakeside village. The female players are sheltered in the church; the male players, in the inn. There is no vote during the day. The next night, the Werewolves must eat in the building where they have taken refuge. Thus, there can be 2 victims of the Werewolves. This event only applies if at least 6 players remain.
(23) April Fools' - Certain characters exchange their abilities: Witch & Fortune Teller. Hunter & Little Girl. Defender & Elder. As for the Lovers, they hate one another, and each must vote against the other. This turn, if one of the lovers dies, the other remains alive, since they don't like each other any more.
(24) End of the Harvest - Everyone is a little tired; nothing special happens. It is a normal turn unless the moderator decides to apply the "Harvest Festival" variant.
(25) Great Distrust - Fierce distrust sweeps through the village of Millers Hollow. Each villager gets 2 votes she can use to designate her 2 best friends. The votes will be executed simultaneously with the players' 2 hands when the moderator gives the signal. If one or more players find themselves without any vote for them, they will be eliminated.
(26) Luncheon for Seniors - The veterans will pass their day at the seniors' banquet in a neighboring village, and will not return until the setting of the sun. Each player gives her age; the older half of the village forms the clan of seniors. Until their return, they participate neither in debates, nor in votes. The "youngsters" may not vote against them.
(27) Punishment - In order to make him pay for her disappearance, the player last eliminated designates a player. This player will be eliminated, unless at least 2 people attest to his integrity. The witness will come to kiss him on the cheek. If they are slow in appearing, the condemned has the right to plead to elicit the kisses.
(28) Gone Hunting - The male players leave to go hunting in the forest. They don't return until dawn. They participate in neither the debates, nor the votes. The players cannot vote against them. Moreover, they can neither devour if they are the Werewolves, nor be devoured by the Werewolves.
(29) Nor Me, Nor Wolf - Out of superstition, the villagers choose not to speak the words "wolf", or "me" any more. Any player who violates this rule loses her votes in the coming vote.
(30)Bleak Monday - It is a sad, uneventful day. Nothing in particular happens. It is a normal turn unless the moderator decides to apply the "In any case, it surely isn't him!" variant.
(31) Nightmare - A person of the village appeared in your dreams, exhibiting the traits of a lycanthrope assassin. Immediately the villagers awake, and without discussion, starting with the player to the left of the last one eliminated, each player must accuse 1 villager. The villager with the most accusations will be eliminated.
(32) 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:
* Are the 2 players I am going to point in the same camp?
* Does at least one Werewolf wear glasses?
* Is the Witch a man?
* Is the Sheriff a Simple Villager?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(33) 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:
* Is one of the Werewolves wearing jeans?
* Is one of the Werewolves wearing a black top?
* Are all the Werewolves men in real life?
* Are all the Werewolves women in real life?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(34) 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:
* Did the Fortune Teller discover at least one Werewolf?
* Are some Werewolves next to each other?
* Is a Werewolf wearing at least one visible piece of jewelry?
* Am I a Werewolf?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(35) 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:
* Am I a Simple Villager?
* Is one of the Werewolves the Sheriff?
* Does one of the Werewolves live where we are playing?
* Is one of the Werewolves a smoker?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(36) 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:
* Is one of the Werewolves a man?
* Is one of the Werewolves a woman?
* Is one of the 2 neighbors of the player I indicate a Werewolf?
* Is the player that I indicate a Simple Villager?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
New Characters:
First and foremost, New Moon comes with 5 new characters as below:
(1) Scapegoat: Most of the time Scapegoat is just a normal townsfolk. However, his/her destiny will be decided when comes to voting. If the voting result comes to a tide, no one will be eliminated but Scapegoat. So Scapegoat must make sure there will never be any tide in voting in order to keep himself alive. However, if Scapegoat is eliminated due to tide, he can initiate his ability to choose who are only players that eligible to vote in the next round.
(2) Village Idiot: As the name implies, this is a Village Idiot which will be eliminated in any form other than being vote. If he is voted by the townsfolk, he will revealing himself as Village Idiot and he will immediately gain pardon from the village and stay alive. However he will lost his voting right although he may still participate in the debates. If the Village Idiot is a Sheriff, he will lost his Sheriff role for good.
(3) Piper: Piper is a character that has his own mission to win the game, just like the Werewolf and Townsfolk couple which have to kill everyone in the Village in order to win. Piper's mission is to charm everyone in the village. Each night, Piper will be called to charm any 2 players other than himself, and the charmed player will be called by the Moderator soon after Piper went back to sleep. The charmed player will recognized each other, and eventually more and more charmed player will recognized themselves along with the rest which have been charmed earlier. Once all the players are charm, Piper wins the game.
(4) Elder: Elder is the character that can survive from the Werewolves attack on the first blow. He will be eliminated when he is devour second time by the Werewolves. However, Witch's poison, Hunter's shot, and Townsfolk's vote will take him down directly on first hit. Either way, his death will remove all the special abilities that the townsfolk possesses. Also, if Elder is kill after the Village Idiot has revealed himself, the Village idiot will die along the Elder. Witch's potion only recover Elder's life for once, not twice.
(5) Defender: Each night, the Defender will be called up to select a player that he wants to defend from Werewolves, hence Werewolves can't kill this player on the first hit. Defender has the right to select himself to be protected by the Werewolves, but he can't select the same person to be protected 2 nights in a row, and he will never able to protect the Little Girl.
The Variants:
(1) Moonlight: Play outdoors in a magical ambiance.
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.
(2) Community of Hamlets: Are there a great number of you? You can all play together...
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.
(3) In any case, it surely isn't him!: Change the voting system.
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. Be very 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.
(4) The Writing's on the Wall: Express your feelings on the small wall behind the town hall.
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.
(5) Double You: The Villagers have a split personality...
(a) The Small Complication - from 7 to 9 players; if you wish to play with more, you will need a second copy of the base game
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 disturb the following characters: Thief, Little Girl, Idiot, Piper.
(b) 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.
(6) Harvest Festival: The inebriation from the festivities strangely modifies the abilities of the inhabitants of Millers Hollow.
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:
- The Werewolves can only devour someone next to one of them.
- The Fortune Teller is drunk, and cannot distinguish between the visions that appear in her mind: The Fortune Teller as usual, designates a player whose personality she wishes to probe, but in response, the moderator gives her the identities of 3 players: the designated player and his 2 neighbors. The moderator should not specify which player portrays which character.
- The Hunter must choose his victim from one of his two neighbors.
- The Little Girl has a hard time managing her slumber. She awakes too late to spot Werewolves and can only spy on the Witch.
- The Thief, if she has the Thief card all day, must during the first night, with the help of the moderator, exchange it with the card of the player of her choice. Each player will have to check his character the following morning.
- The Sheriff will have to vote before all the other players.
- The Scapegoat is no longer eliminated in the event of tie, but rather in the place of one of her two neighbors, should they be eliminated by village vote.
- The Idiot drunk is no more (or less) idiotic that usual; nothing change for her.
- The Witch is distracted, she has mislaid one potion (thus can only use her ability once), and furthermore, when she uses her ability, she is sometimes mistaken about the bottle.
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:
> Inner Lid + Inner Bottom = Cured
> Inner Lid + Outer Bottom = Cured and transformed into a Simple Villager
> Outer Lid + Inner Bottom = Cured and transformed into a Werewolf
> Outer Lid + Outer Bottom = Eliminated
- Cupid chooses the two Lovers, who see each other and fall asleep again, just like normal: they are the True Lovers. After that, however, he points at one of the True Lovers and one other player.
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 become the Jilted Lover.
From then on:
> If the Jilted Lover is killed, neither of the other Lovers die.
> If the Deceitful Lover is killed, both of the other Lovers die.
> If the Secret Lover is killed, then only the Deceitful Lover dies, the Jilted Lover realizes he has been Jilted and does not die.
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.
- The Defender can only protect herself or one of her 2 neighbors.
- The Piper charms only one player at a time.
(7) The Black Death: A surprise from the moderator, to be kept secret from all players.
(8) Lycanthropic Fascination: Now, the Werewolves fascinate their victims!
So that their crimes remian 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.
(9) 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.
[To be further elaborate...]
Events:
This is the new feature of the expansion where by events will be added into the game play to create new possibilities, prevent imbalance, some merely for fun, and etc
(1) Somnambulism - The Fortune Teller has become a sleepwalker. From now until the end of the game, the Moderator will announce the secret identity of the character that Fortune Teller reveal out loud. However, the rest still will not know on which player Fortune Teller was spying.
(2) Touch of Death - From now until the end of the game, in order to be devoured, the victim of the Werewolves must be touched by one of them. Otherwise, there will be no victim of the Werewolves.
(3) Executioner - In order to keep their hands clean, the villagers elect someone to the office of Executioner. From now until the end of the game, the identity of the victims of the vote will be known only to the Executioner; Executioner will never show the card of the victims.
(4) Burial - Once the Werewolves are sated, they bury the remains of their nocturnal victims. From now until the end of the game, the identities of the Werewolves' victim will never revealed to anyone.
(5) Double Agent - The village falls asleep, the first player eliminated designates a non-Werewolves player to open the eyes. The Moderator secretly points out the werewolves to the player, who becomes their secret ally.
(6) The Little Rascal - The youngest person of the village will be the "Little Rascal", who leaves in search of aid in the neighboring village. He returns the next morning and he takes back his place, but his vote will be worth triple.
(7) Backfire - The next night, if the Werewolves designate a Simple Villager, she is not eliminated, but instead transforms into a Werewolf. Otherwise, the victim survives and the first Werewolf to her left is struck down.
(8) Dissatisfaction - Disappointed by their lousy results, the village gets carried away with their lust for justice. If the next player eliminated by the village is not a Werewolf, the village, vexed, votes a second time. The second vote proceeds immediately and without discussion, in order to eliminate a second suspect.
(9) Influences - The next vote is done in turn. The first voter designates a player and leaves her arm pointed. The player to her left proceeds in the same fashion, and so on.
(10) Full Moon Rising - The following night, the Werewolves become Fortune Teller. Each one of them will awake in turn to spy on 1 player. The Hunter, the Witch, and the Fortune Teller become Werewolves; they awake together and eliminate 1 player during the night.
(11) Enthusiasm - Encouraged by their exceptional results, the village gets carried away with their lust of justice. If the next player eliminated by the village is a Werewolf, the village, over-joyed, voted a second time. The second vote proceeds immediately and without discussion, in order to eliminate a second suspect.
(12) The Specter - Discreetly touched by the moderator, the next player designated by the Werewolves opens her eyes. The Werewolves keep their eye open. She becomes a Werewolf, and designated 1 vote of the old Werewolves, who is immediately eliminated.
(13) Miracle - The last victim of the Werewolves is not actually eliminated. She simply fainted of fright in the face of the lycanthropes, and that saved her. She regains her senses and returns to the game immediately, but as a Simple Villager.
(14) Good Manners - You are all courteous to the other villagers: Interrupting anyone is forbidden. Each of you speaks in turn under the supervision of the moderator. Any player who violates this rule loses her right to vote for this turn.
(15) Saint Philippe - In memory of the great Philippe the Lame, the village elects a truly charismatic leader. If the village already had a Sheriff, he is fired for incompetence and a new Sheriff is elected. The elected Sheriff recites the oath as follows: "The way of Philippe I shall follow, and the village I shall protect."
(16) Heads or Tails - Today, the village pays homage to the famous player Herve the One-Eyed. The moderator, immediately after the verdict of the tribunal, selects possible grace for the condemned with the flip of a coin. Tails: The village releases the condemned, who cries "Oh, many thanks, Herve!". Heads: The condemned is eliminated and cries "Oh I hate you, Herve!".
(17) Woodland Gathering - All the female players depart into the forest to gather mysterious plants, which are indispensable to the Witch. They will return at sundown. They participate neither in debates, nor in votes. The male players may not vote against them. The Witch recovers an extra potion just before nightfall.
(18) Radiant Sunday - Everybody benefits from the sun. Nothing in particular occurs. It is a normal turn unless the moderator decides to apply the "Lycanthropic Fascination" variant.
(19) Saturday Evening Ball - This evening, the youngsters of the village will dance, and won't return until dawn. Each player gives her age; the younger half of the village will form a clan of dancers. The dancers participate neither in debates, nor in votes. The "geezers" may not vote against them. Moreover, the "youngsters" can neither eat if they are Werewolves, nor be devoured by the Werewolves.
(20) Eclipse - This morning, there's a bad moon rising in Millers Hollow. The villager are gruff with one another. The player turn their backs towards the center of the circle, and debate without looking at one another. The moderator forbids anyone who disobeys from voting. The players will return to their usual orientation at the precise instant of the vote.
(21) Pact with the Devil - Immediately after the verdict of the tribunal, the condemned can make a pact with the devil. In this case, she is not eliminated by this vote. But take note! If, at the end of the game, she belongs to the camp that vanquished, she will then be excluded from the potential next game.
(22) Flood - A flood transforms Millers Hollow into lakeside village. The female players are sheltered in the church; the male players, in the inn. There is no vote during the day. The next night, the Werewolves must eat in the building where they have taken refuge. Thus, there can be 2 victims of the Werewolves. This event only applies if at least 6 players remain.
(23) April Fools' - Certain characters exchange their abilities: Witch & Fortune Teller. Hunter & Little Girl. Defender & Elder. As for the Lovers, they hate one another, and each must vote against the other. This turn, if one of the lovers dies, the other remains alive, since they don't like each other any more.
(24) End of the Harvest - Everyone is a little tired; nothing special happens. It is a normal turn unless the moderator decides to apply the "Harvest Festival" variant.
(25) Great Distrust - Fierce distrust sweeps through the village of Millers Hollow. Each villager gets 2 votes she can use to designate her 2 best friends. The votes will be executed simultaneously with the players' 2 hands when the moderator gives the signal. If one or more players find themselves without any vote for them, they will be eliminated.
(26) Luncheon for Seniors - The veterans will pass their day at the seniors' banquet in a neighboring village, and will not return until the setting of the sun. Each player gives her age; the older half of the village forms the clan of seniors. Until their return, they participate neither in debates, nor in votes. The "youngsters" may not vote against them.
(27) Punishment - In order to make him pay for her disappearance, the player last eliminated designates a player. This player will be eliminated, unless at least 2 people attest to his integrity. The witness will come to kiss him on the cheek. If they are slow in appearing, the condemned has the right to plead to elicit the kisses.
(28) Gone Hunting - The male players leave to go hunting in the forest. They don't return until dawn. They participate in neither the debates, nor the votes. The players cannot vote against them. Moreover, they can neither devour if they are the Werewolves, nor be devoured by the Werewolves.
(29) Nor Me, Nor Wolf - Out of superstition, the villagers choose not to speak the words "wolf", or "me" any more. Any player who violates this rule loses her votes in the coming vote.
(30)Bleak Monday - It is a sad, uneventful day. Nothing in particular happens. It is a normal turn unless the moderator decides to apply the "In any case, it surely isn't him!" variant.
(31) Nightmare - A person of the village appeared in your dreams, exhibiting the traits of a lycanthrope assassin. Immediately the villagers awake, and without discussion, starting with the player to the left of the last one eliminated, each player must accuse 1 villager. The villager with the most accusations will be eliminated.
(32) 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:
* Are the 2 players I am going to point in the same camp?
* Does at least one Werewolf wear glasses?
* Is the Witch a man?
* Is the Sheriff a Simple Villager?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(33) 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:
* Is one of the Werewolves wearing jeans?
* Is one of the Werewolves wearing a black top?
* Are all the Werewolves men in real life?
* Are all the Werewolves women in real life?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(34) 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:
* Did the Fortune Teller discover at least one Werewolf?
* Are some Werewolves next to each other?
* Is a Werewolf wearing at least one visible piece of jewelry?
* Am I a Werewolf?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(35) 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:
* Am I a Simple Villager?
* Is one of the Werewolves the Sheriff?
* Does one of the Werewolves live where we are playing?
* Is one of the Werewolves a smoker?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
(36) 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:
* Is one of the Werewolves a man?
* Is one of the Werewolves a woman?
* Is one of the 2 neighbors of the player I indicate a Werewolf?
* Is the player that I indicate a Simple Villager?
The departed will respond with yes or no.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Derek Redmond - A touching race
This is a very touching scene back in year 1992. Every time I watch this video, it reminds me of stay endure, stay strong, and stay on the race. No matter the tears and pain, race til the end.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Inception
Every great movie comes with a great trailer, same goes to Inception. However I'm really respect nurvtv which edited Dumb and Dumber trailer in Inception style, it really makes the movie doesn't look like a comedy anymore. Way too cool. If you watch both trailers at the same time, then you will realize the similarity of them, just play the Dumb and Dumber trailer about 3 seconds in advance to the Inception trailer, they should sync in such timing. Enjoy.
Now this is my favorite Inception trailer:
Cool!
Now this is my favorite Inception trailer:
Cool!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
It was not a norm for me to post trailer here, but being one of the fans of Square Enix, this series is really a bomb. What a dramatic and action trailer and if you happen to watch this trailer all the way to the end, you will find something cool. The guy at the end seems like saying: "I'm going to kick your a$$". Also, you should enjoy the opening intro below.
Monday, June 21, 2010
The Werewolves of Millers Hollow
This is the game that I'm playing recently with my friends and colleagues. An interactive game that can support from 8 to 20 players. The game started by having each player to hold a character card, and he/she will only get to know his/her own identity, but not others, and the game starts with a background like this:
Deep in the countryside, the little town of Millers Hollow has recently been infiltrated by Werewolves.
Each night, murders are committed by the Townsfolk, who due to some mysterious phenomenon have become Werewolves.
It is now time to take control and eliminate this ancient evil, before the town loses its last few inhabitants.
Each night (when all players close their eyes), the Werewolves bite, kill and devour one Townsperson, the player is eliminated from the game. During the day (when all players are allow to open their eyes) the Werewolves try to conceal their identity and vile deeds from Townsfolk.
Survivors of the night gather in the town square and try to discover who the Werewolves are. This is done by studying the other player's faces for hidden signs of lycanthropy.
After discussing and debating, the Townsfolk vote to lynch a suspect, who is then hanged, burned and eliminated from the game. It will be great if they successfully hanged a Werewolf, or else, it will be just an ordinary Townsperson.
Soon after someone was hanged, the game continues with another cycle of night and day where the Werewolves started to kill the Townsfolk again in the night, and then the Townsfolk will debate again in the day time on who would be the real Werewolves.
Sounds like Townsfolk is pretty hard to beat the Werewolves right, furthermore they are more than one of them to eliminate. Nevertheless, there are some Townsfolk carry special ability to help to take down those Werewolves.
The most important special character is the Fortune Teller, this character can see the true personality at any of the selected player even soon before the Werewolves can wake up and kill. However Fortune Teller need to be smart in convincing the Townsfolk upon debating to select the right person to hang, since too obvious indication may lead the Fortune Teller to be the next victim.
Next, we also have a Witch in the town. A special character that can revive a Werewolves' victim, even if it is the Witch herself, by using her healing potion. In additional, she may also take down any player with her poison. However, each healing potion and poison can only use once in a game. It can be both at the same time, or one at a time.
Then we have another powerful character called Little Girl, she is the one and only character that can peep at the Werewolves during the night time, however she will be killed if any of the Werewolves caught her in action, so play smart.
Above are the most commonly played characters in game, however there are few more special characters to introduce, although rarely played. Next we have the Hunter, a character that can select a player that he want to kill instantly if he being killed by Werewolves by the night, or lynch by Townsfolk by the day. In another word, he brings someone along with him if he is killed. Nasty huh.
Then, we have Cupido, a character that can select 2 players to become lovers. Once they are selected, they can't vote each other to be lynch, just because they are in love. Also, if one of them being killed in any way, the other lover will die along with. If the lovers are pairing by Werewolves and Townsfolk, since nothing can beat love, these couple mission is to kill everyone else in the round and they win the round if they are the last 2 survivors.
Next, we also have a Thief with us, a player with this character card on hand may trade his Thief card with one of another two extra character cards in the beginning of the game, and continue the round with his new identity. The Thief may not trade the card if he doesn't like it, but he must take it if both extra cards are Werewolves.
Last but not least, when all the players in place, one of them will be selected as the Sheriff, a Sheriff is not a character, but a special role, a person that carries two votes when come to the lynching process. However, one should bear in mind that a Werewolves can also being selected as a Sheriff, so players should ongoing monitor how the Sheriff act when comes to voting.
In order for this game to run, a Moderator is needed. Moderator is the person that call out the day and night, waking up the Werewolves, open up the card for Fortune Teller, and etc.
As a result, after so many time playing this game, this is an extremely easy game to play, ideal for larger group of people, but be caution, this game can become very addictive!
Deep in the countryside, the little town of Millers Hollow has recently been infiltrated by Werewolves.
Each night, murders are committed by the Townsfolk, who due to some mysterious phenomenon have become Werewolves.
It is now time to take control and eliminate this ancient evil, before the town loses its last few inhabitants.
Each night (when all players close their eyes), the Werewolves bite, kill and devour one Townsperson, the player is eliminated from the game. During the day (when all players are allow to open their eyes) the Werewolves try to conceal their identity and vile deeds from Townsfolk.
Survivors of the night gather in the town square and try to discover who the Werewolves are. This is done by studying the other player's faces for hidden signs of lycanthropy.
After discussing and debating, the Townsfolk vote to lynch a suspect, who is then hanged, burned and eliminated from the game. It will be great if they successfully hanged a Werewolf, or else, it will be just an ordinary Townsperson.
Soon after someone was hanged, the game continues with another cycle of night and day where the Werewolves started to kill the Townsfolk again in the night, and then the Townsfolk will debate again in the day time on who would be the real Werewolves.
Sounds like Townsfolk is pretty hard to beat the Werewolves right, furthermore they are more than one of them to eliminate. Nevertheless, there are some Townsfolk carry special ability to help to take down those Werewolves.
The most important special character is the Fortune Teller, this character can see the true personality at any of the selected player even soon before the Werewolves can wake up and kill. However Fortune Teller need to be smart in convincing the Townsfolk upon debating to select the right person to hang, since too obvious indication may lead the Fortune Teller to be the next victim.
Next, we also have a Witch in the town. A special character that can revive a Werewolves' victim, even if it is the Witch herself, by using her healing potion. In additional, she may also take down any player with her poison. However, each healing potion and poison can only use once in a game. It can be both at the same time, or one at a time.
Then we have another powerful character called Little Girl, she is the one and only character that can peep at the Werewolves during the night time, however she will be killed if any of the Werewolves caught her in action, so play smart.
Above are the most commonly played characters in game, however there are few more special characters to introduce, although rarely played. Next we have the Hunter, a character that can select a player that he want to kill instantly if he being killed by Werewolves by the night, or lynch by Townsfolk by the day. In another word, he brings someone along with him if he is killed. Nasty huh.
Then, we have Cupido, a character that can select 2 players to become lovers. Once they are selected, they can't vote each other to be lynch, just because they are in love. Also, if one of them being killed in any way, the other lover will die along with. If the lovers are pairing by Werewolves and Townsfolk, since nothing can beat love, these couple mission is to kill everyone else in the round and they win the round if they are the last 2 survivors.
Next, we also have a Thief with us, a player with this character card on hand may trade his Thief card with one of another two extra character cards in the beginning of the game, and continue the round with his new identity. The Thief may not trade the card if he doesn't like it, but he must take it if both extra cards are Werewolves.
Last but not least, when all the players in place, one of them will be selected as the Sheriff, a Sheriff is not a character, but a special role, a person that carries two votes when come to the lynching process. However, one should bear in mind that a Werewolves can also being selected as a Sheriff, so players should ongoing monitor how the Sheriff act when comes to voting.
In order for this game to run, a Moderator is needed. Moderator is the person that call out the day and night, waking up the Werewolves, open up the card for Fortune Teller, and etc.
So, what can I learn by playing this game? If you are a:
Werewolves: You can learn to have teamwork among your pack, when selecting victim, when conceal yourself among other Townsfolk at the same time cover you buddy's a**.
Townsfolk: As a Townsfolk, you get to speak, analyze, and make decision a lot. Those who keep quiet will usually being take down pretty soon. So talk more and improve your communication skill.
Moderator: Crowd control, learn to be an event conductor, create tense environment when necessary.
As a result, after so many time playing this game, this is an extremely easy game to play, ideal for larger group of people, but be caution, this game can become very addictive!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Backstreet Boys - Bigger
After so many years, here's another great song from Backstreet Boys. Although Kevin is taking a break, but the boys are still as good as ever. Great song.
First off, I can't keep a promise
I'm no one to count on at all
Add on that I'm a coward
Too scared to return your call
[Chorus]
But you don't care
You keep sticking around
While I'm acting a clown
You're bigger
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalala
'Cause you're still here
Your feet stuck to the ground
Despite how silly it sounds
You're bigger
Than me
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalala
It's known that I'm a liar
Often they're blacker than white
Add on my uncanny ego
No one's less humble than I
(Chorus)
All the messed up things I do
Yeah, I swear I'll make them up to you
Before you go and have enough
Just let me make it better
I'll try and measure up
I'll try and measure up to you
Oh, yeah
I'll make them up to you
Oh, yeah
(Chorus)
Just bigger
Than me
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalala
First off, I can't keep a promise
I'm no one to count on at all
Add on that I'm a coward
Too scared to return your call
[Chorus]
But you don't care
You keep sticking around
While I'm acting a clown
You're bigger
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalala
'Cause you're still here
Your feet stuck to the ground
Despite how silly it sounds
You're bigger
Than me
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalala
It's known that I'm a liar
Often they're blacker than white
Add on my uncanny ego
No one's less humble than I
(Chorus)
All the messed up things I do
Yeah, I swear I'll make them up to you
Before you go and have enough
Just let me make it better
I'll try and measure up
I'll try and measure up to you
Oh, yeah
I'll make them up to you
Oh, yeah
(Chorus)
Just bigger
Than me
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalala
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)