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How to Use These Custom Haunts


How to Use These Haunts

This is a supplement for the Betrayal at House on the Hill board game. This document contains additional Haunts (scenarios) that can be used with the game. The original Haunts are numbered from 1 to 50, so I have numbered these new Haunts beginning at 51.

It should be noted that the Haunts included here tend to be somewhat more complicated than the standard Haunts, and may take slightly longer to play. I have attempted to include secrets and subtleties in the Haunts to make them more balanced and more interesting to play. Please read the rules carefully. If you still find that some rule is confusing or problematic, please report your experience so that I can improve these Haunts.

The player is warned that these Haunts have not all been thoroughly tested. It requires a fair amount of time and effort to arrange test games where all players are unfamiliar with the Haunt being tested, and I’m just not finished. I have decided to make these Haunts available as-is partly because I think they will mostly work fine, and partly to try and get feedback more quickly. I will likely publish revised versions of these Haunts at some later time.

 

Haunt Selection Options

There are several ways that these new Haunts can be introduced into your games.

Option #1: Use Combined Set of Haunts

Play exactly like normal, except that when determining the Haunt, use Haunt Selection Table #1 included with these custom Haunts instead of the standard table. This will give you a chance of playing any of the 50 original Haunts or any of these 20 custom ones, and requires no additional rules. Each of the 70 Haunts appears 2 or 3 times in this table.

Option #2: Custom Haunts Only

When determining the Haunt, consult Haunt Selection Table #2 included with these custom Haunts instead of the standard table. This table includes only the 20 custom Haunts, with two numbers listed in each grid space. Normally, you should use the first number listed in the appropriate space to select your Haunt; however, if you’ve played that Haunt already (or find it objectionable for some other reason), you can use the second number listed.

This table has all 20 Haunts represented as evenly as possible, but some Haunts have more strict requirements for their starting conditions than others, and so you will find that some custom Haunts appear much more frequently in this table than others.

Option #3: Select a Specific Haunt in Advance

You can choose a specific Haunt you’d like to play before you start your game (this may be desirable if you want to play all the Haunts in the fewest possible games, or if some Haunt is particularly interesting to you). Consult the Custom Haunt Minimum Requirements table to find what omen(s) or room(s) are appropriate for your chosen Haunt (a blank requirement means any omen/room is acceptable). If your selected Haunt has no requirements, simply play as usual, but disregard normal tables when the Haunt begins and simply play your selected Haunt. If the Haunt you selected does require a particular omen or room, use whichever of the following rules applies:

Haunt Requiring a Specific Omen

Before the game begins, look through the omen stack and find the required Omen. Set this card aside and shuffle the remaining omens.

As you play, when you discover a room containing an omen, make a Haunt roll before drawing an omen card (but count the card you’re about to draw as being “discovered” for purposes of calculating the number you need to roll). If the Haunt begins, draw the omen you set aside at the start of the game, apply its effects as if you drew it just before the Haunt began, and then start your selected Haunt. If the Haunt does not begin, draw from the omen stack and continue with the game.

Haunt Requiring Any One of a Specific Set of Omens

Before the game begins, find all the omens which are appropriate for starting the selected Haunt. Shuffle them and choose one at random; set it aside, face down. Shuffle the rest of the omens back into the main stack (without looking at them) and proceed as described above.

Haunt Requiring a Specific Room

Do not make any Haunt rolls as you play; instead, assume that the Haunt begins whenever the required room is discovered (immediately after the omen is drawn). Note that this rule is much more likely to result in a very early or very late Haunt than the normal rules for starting the Haunt, particularly when the room appears only on one floor, so use this rule with caution.

Haunt Requiring Any One of a Specific Set of Rooms

Do not make any Haunt rolls in rooms other than the ones appropriate for starting the Haunt.

The Haunt can start on one of the first three omens you find only if it is the last room appropriate for starting the Haunt. Example: if the Haunt requires room A, B, or C, you only start on the third omen if rooms A, B, and C are the first three omen rooms you find.

The Haunt begins on the fourth, fifth, or sixth omen if you discover at least half of the rooms suitable for starting the Haunt. Example: if the Haunt requires room A, B, or C, if one of those three rooms is already in play, and you discover another of them as omen number 4, 5, or 6, that second room starts the Haunt.

After you have discovered 6 omens, and the Haunt has not begun, start the Haunt in the next appropriate room you find

Haunt Permitting Any Room Except a Small Set

Play as normal, except do not make Haunt rolls in unsuitable rooms, and if the Haunt has not started by the time the last suitable room is discovered, it starts there.


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