Werwolf English Version

Since the summer of 2003 Werewolf has been played at the conference. It's a game for larger groups of 8-48 players getting to know each other, killing, discussions, hanging, becoming paranoid and trying to manipulate. The game is constantly growing and changing, and so are the rules.

Preparation

You need:

• 9-49 Players(one of which has to be the Game Master (GM)
• A large room (make a circle of chairs where everyone fits)
• 1 Werwolf card deck, so either...
  • ... remind someone to bring their deck (e.g. Dave, Sheepy, Inge, ...)
  • ... or print a deck on stiff (thick) paper, maybe laminate and cut it into cards ;)

Game play

Before playing

One of the players has to be the Game Master (GM). They choose a subset of cards that seem balanced and explain all the roles to the players. The GM randomly distributes those cards to the players face down.

Each player looks at their card while hiding it from the other players. As the GM starts the first night, every player closes their eyes and pretends to be asleep. It is important that players do not peek.

First night

Some of the roles are only active during the first night (see below). The GM calls each of these in turn to open their eyes, perform their action and then go back to "sleep".

We suggest using the order specified below and asking the role to "wake up", e.g. "Cupid wakes up". The role is led through their action by the GM but the player has to keep quiet and try to move as little as possible to not accidentally reveal their identity;

Night phase

All players close their eyes. The GM asks the werewolves to "wake up". They have to coordinate via hand signals and agree on someone to "eat" that night. As soon as the GM has understood who their victim is, they "go back to sleep". This should all happen as quietly as possible, otherwise the villages will soon discover the werewolves.
See below for all roles called in each night phase.

Day phase

In the "morning", everybody wakes up. The GM reveals who died at night. "Dead" players are not allowed to participate any more, they are out of the game. They are allowed to watch, even at night, if they don't interrupt the game. The surviving players will start a discussion about who acted suspiciously and who was heard moving throughout the night. At this point, it can become chaotic quickly. Players accuse each other, wolves try to appear innocent or blame villagers. Often, people that are very active, are perceived as wolves (trying to shift blame from themselves to others). People, that are particularly quiet (to not stand out to much) or even people in-between (as they try to appear not being to active or too passive) are also accused. To put it another way: it is hard to wrap your head around. In the end, the players have to agree one someone to be "hung" (usually by voting on it). That person dies and night starts immediately.

End of the game

The game ends if all the werewolves are dead or if there are more werewolves than villagers left.

Hint

if you want to avoid the GM accidentally revealing a role they are interacting with, you can ask people to "make rain", which helps disguise any other noises.

Recommended Roles for beginners

If more than 10% of players are beginners, the following set of cards are recommended. They are also recommended for first-time GMs, because they only have to remember the lovers and the people killed during the night. Everything else is in the rules or happens when a player dies. The GM can look it up or ask the experienced players in that case.

• Wolves: At least two, up to a quarter of the players. Experiment with balancing regarding other roles present.
• Witch: Classic Role, a must-have.
• Seer: Classic Role, a must-have.
• Hunter: popular, but can be skipped if you have few players.
• Cupid: not good for small groups, better for groups starting at 10 players.
• Jason: After three rounds of playing, it is time to add Jason.
• Terrorist: Starting from 13 players.
• Villagers: Fill up until you reach the number of players participating.

Recommended Roles for big groups

Basically any role which results in extra kills, like the Hunter, the Terrorist, Cupid (optional: triad instead of pair of lovers!)...

Cards/Roles

In most games there are two teams - the villagers and the wolves. Unless stated, all other roles are part of the villagers team.

Roles without their own action

This roles have to remember their goals, as they are not called by the GM to perform actions during the game.

Villager

Just "normal" players. Their influence on the game is limited to the day phase and is described above. In short: They are killed by the wolves one by one and they may hang each other. Well. They would rather kill the wolves to win the game.

Hunter

If the hunter dies, a single last shot is fired from their shotgun, killing a player they choose.

• Shortens the game a bit.

Jason

Jason wants to be hung. They win (and end the game prematurely), if they are hung by the villagers.

• History and impact on the game: This role was developed at a KIF conference. Jason is a suicidal villager who wants to die by hanging. They try to act like a wolf (but not by being to obvious, otherwise it won't work). Often, werewolves try to act like Jason. The Jason card and the real Jason are both a great source for first-class confusion, chaos and disorder. They are considered a serious danger to any mental health you might have. Rumours are that the "real Jason" always died in the first round. Others say he just wanted to get a beer and get the dying done already.

Frida

They are just so cute and may not be eaten! That's why they win (as a consolation prize) if the are eaten by the wolves.

• Meant as a counterpart to Jason, as wolves have to be careful who to kill.

Terrorist

If they die, they explode. Every self-respecting terrorist has an dead man's handle! They take the next living player on the left and to the right with them. They also win if they are one of the last three surviving players.

• Impact: Players rarely want to kill the people next to them any more. Will decrease consensus about hanging and almost thievish pleasure for the terrorist if they are hung (yes, even if that means they loose the game!). Also, the game duration is shortened slightly, which makes this a perfect role for larger groups.
• Expansion"Achmed the dead Terrorist": If the terrorist dies, they are now "Achmed the dead Terrorist". If any of the players references them (by the dead player's name, the name "Achmed" or pointing at them), the dead Terrorist (if they paid attention), calls the words: "Silence! I kill you!" and kills the mentioned player (based on: "Achmed the dead Terrorist").

Sascha

Wins if he survives longer than half of the players (rounded down).

• Only use this role to shorten games with a lot of players.
• GM should tell the players at the start of the game how many players are needed for Sascha's win condition. Otherwise, people forget about it or Sascha claims to have won to early.
• History: Sascha was one of the players that always got hung very early. That's were the idea originated to give him the task to survive as long as possible :)

Town fool

One-Time save from being hung by the villagers.

• GM reveals the card when the player is about to be hung.

Gardener

On the side of the villagers, but the seer will be told they are a wolf.

• History: based on: "Der Mörder ist immer der Gärtner." (popular German folk song about a murderous gardener)
• Impact: Balances the seer and adds confusion. Wolves can claim to be the gardener when being outed by the seer.

The Burger

A plus-sized villager that feeds the wolves for two nights. The wolves may not kill the night after they killed them.

• History: People tend to read the German word for villager ("Bürger") as Burger...
• Impact: slight advantage for the villagers

Roles only called during the first night

This roles and/or their effects have to be remembered by the GM so they can react to them later in the game.

Thief (Option 1)

2-3 additional cards (depending on the size of the group) are put in the deck. The thief chooses one of the remaining roles to play (secretly, in the first night).

• Effects: Only the thief will know which roles are in the game (the GM can pretend they are called anyway). Leads to more mystery and confusion.

Cupid

Chooses two lovers that will die together. They win the game if they survive together. After choosing, Cupido is a normal villager and goes to sleep. The GM touches the lovers and they open their eyes to know who their lover is.

• Effects: Game will be a little bit shorter and there is a new party in play. If they are a wolf and a villager, they only win if they kill everyone else
• If your lover dies, be sure to reveal yourself as their lover, as the GM may forget.
• Expansion for big groups: Cupid will choose three people (Menáge á Trois) to die together.

Bishop

Points at a player and therefore declares them a saint (after that, the bishop is just a normal villager). The saint will survive only one attack of the wolves, after that, they only have the powers of their normal role. They are only protected by an attack of the wolves, not by other deaths.

• Impact: Disguises the work of the witch, as the player can not differenciate between the witches and the bishop's work.
• The GM MUST remember the saint!

Bodyguard

Points at a player to choose to protect them, of which the GM takes note. If the wolves kill that player, the bodyguard becomes a new werewolf, because they get bitten while trying to protect them. The "new" wolf wakes up with the wolfs and wins with them.

• The bitten bodyguard has to remember to wake up with the wolves the next night.
• Impact: A new wolf may join the game.

Little Red Riding Hood

They reveal themselves to the GM. They can not be killed by the wolves as long as the Hunter is alive. If they are chosen by the wolves, they won't die.

• Little Red Riding Hood can still die from the Witches poisonous potion. After all, they are not Snow White :)
• Impact: Distracting from the witches actions, because the players can not differentiate between the witches healing potion and Little Red Riding Hoods ability.

Zombie

Makes themselves known to the GM. If the wolves eat the Zombie, they will not die immediately but in the next night.

• The GM has to remember the Zombie and remember to not reveal the attack immediately, but kill them in the following night.
• Impact: Distracts from the Witches actions, as the players can not know if the Witches or the Zombie's powers fired.

Roles that are called every night, except the first one

Thief (Option 2)

May (or not) choose a dead or living person to exchange cards with. The GM shows the thief, which role they have taken. They touch the "new" thief so they know about their new role as well.

• Impact: Roles that are out of the game can get back into the game (however, the thief will be out of the game in that case. This is not without risk, as the earlier thief might still know who the current thief was and which role is back in the game ...
• If the witch is stolen, all potions are restored. Also, the terrorist can explode again and the Hunter can shoot again. Cupido and the Bishop have played their actions at the beginning of the game and will not be called again.
• Can confuse the GM if Little Red Riding Hood or the Zombie are stolen and they have to remember a new player. For the players it is confusing anyway, as some players suddenly act differently.
• Stealing is not without risk. The thief will die if they try to steal one of the following:
  • Vampire (as the Elder-relationship will be broken during the Stealing).
  • Bodyguard (as the "new" Bodyguard will not know who the new protected person is).

Inquisitor

May choose a player to torture. If the player is a Wolf, Vampire, Witch or Succubus, they die, otherwise, the Inquisitor is hit by lightening. The result is revealed in the morning by the GM).

• The Inquisitor should be veeeery sure about torturing someone...
• If Vampires are in play, the GM should take care to notice at the Vampire's turn if the tortured player is a Vampire.

Roles called every night

Sandman

Points at a person every night. The GM touches the person, to make them know they are not allowed to wake up. The sandman may not select two people twice in a row.

Guarding Angel

Awakes at the beginning of each night (after the Sandman) and chooses a player (incluing themselves) to protect from the wolves. If that player is killed by the wolves, they do not die. However, the Guardian Angel may not choose the same player twice in a row.

Succubus

Plays on the wolves' side. Gets to know if a player they choose has a special role or if they are a normal villager).

• The seer's counterpart for the wolves.

Wolves (+Succubus)

Silently choose a victim to be eaten. The GM remembers the victim and tells the village in the morning that they died (except when other roles change the outcome). There is a Wolf in sheep's clothing that can not be detected by the seer.

Vampire

Vampires are an additional party in the game. They select one of themselves every night. This Vampire bites another player. The bitten player has now two roles: Vampire and their original one. The GM informs them that they are now a Vampire by touching them. Also, the GM points out which Vampire transformed them. This is now their "Elder". If a Vampire dies from any cause, any players he bit also die. The Vampires win the game if only Vampires are left.

• Every Vampire has to remember their Elder and give notice when that player dies. To crosscheck, every Vampire remembers who they turned into new Vampires.
• Will start a chain reaction of sudden deaths. Will shorten the game when playing in bigger groups.

Witch

The GM tells them who will be killed by the wolves. They can then use a healing potion and/or a poisonous potion on a player of their choosing. In every game, they only have one of each kind.

Druid

Points at a player to dose their breakfast (not the same player twice in a row!). If this player is hung, the GM tells the players that their chosen victim was dosed with a magic potion and in the brawl another player was hung. The new victim is chosen by the dosed player.

Sheriff

Points at a player to put them into jail (not the same player twice in a row!). The prisoner is announced by the GM in the morning and is blocked from active participation for one day and night. They are not allowed to speak or communicate with their body to the other players. They may not vote or use their role. The GM will call the role as usual, with no result.

• The prisoner can not be eaten by the wolves, but the village can storm the jail to hang them.
• If the last wolf is in jail, the GM has to take care not to let the village know. However, if nobody dies at night, some villagers may notice what happened...

Seer

Points at a player. The GM shows the seer the player's card.

• Alternatively: Only gets the information if that player is on the villagers' side.

Companion

Points at a player at the end of the night. As they spend the night in this player's bed, they get to know if that player was active during the night.

• less powerful seer

Everything else (choice of and adding additional roles, update of the rules above) is for the Game Master to decide.

Resources

printable Rules (German)

From the German Version of the Site October 2010

• 11pt fontsize on 4 pages: (PDF)/(OpenOffice Writer)
• 7pt fontsize on 2 pages: (PDF)/(OpenOffice Writer)

needed font for the OpenOffice files: Gentium

Game Master Guide (German)

minimal quickstart guide for hosting the first game from the German Version of the Site October 2010

• 7pt fontsize on 1 page (PDF)/(OpenOffice Writer)

needed font for the OpenOffice files: Gentium

Cards for up to 48 players (German)

21 Villagers, 7 Werwolves, each 2 Vampires and Terrorists, one of each other role

• colored back 5,5*6cm: (PDF)/(OpenOffice Draw) (Font: Hobo)
• black & white back 5,5*6cm: (PDF)/(OpenOffice Draw) (Font: Hobo)
• colored back 6*9cm (v2013); (PDF)/(OpenOffice Draw) (Font: Blue Highway Linocut)

This card deck is made for double sided printing. For one sided printing, only print the odd numbered pages. If not stated otherwise, all drawings were made by Val Bewer. Dave Kliczbor did the coloring of the back sides.