One Scooby short of a Mystery Machine gang. Let's play Betrayal at House on the Hill!

Ooh spooky! The premise of Betrayal at House on the Hill is that a group of people have decided for whatever reason to explore a house that is presumably located on a hill. Partway through the game, there will be Betrayal.

This isn't a high-strategy game, nor necessarily a well-balanced game. It's a game that tells a story, and it's different each time. There are, I don't know, sixty scenarios? Something along those lines, and you don't know which scenario you'll be playing until it starts. The real thrill of the game is the atmosphere and the suspense. Will you fight Dracula this time? Or will it be a dragon? Maybe a man-eating plant or a werewolf? Or maybe one of you is a mad scientist who will use his shrink ray to try to turn the others into cat food! Yes, these are all real things that can happen in this game.

The game runs up to six players, so I'll be looking for six volunteers. Here's our cast. Remember that we can only have one character of each color.

Well now! What are all these numbers all about? Each character has four stat sliders. When the game tells you to gain 1 Speed, you move your Speed marker up one position on the slider. This might result in an increase (as with, say, Missy) or it might not (see Jenny LeClerc). The different characters have different growths in addition to their various starting stats.

If any of your stats falls down to the X, you die. So don't let that happen! But you aren't actually allowed to die until the haunt begins and the traitor is revealed. More on that as it comes.

As for the specific stats:

Speed is the most obviously useful skill: each turn, you can travel one room per point of Speed. In the initial phases of the game, you won't make full use of the Speed stat, since exploration often ends your turn. Later, as you're chasing and being chased, it becomes more important.

Might is usually used for attacking, whether it be your fellow explorers or beasties that roam the mansion. Not all scenarios call for brute force, though, and you can find weapons to increase your attack power. Might and Speed are collectively known as your physical stats.

Sanity is usually used to overcome things that scare you. Rarely, it can be used for a mental attack instead.

Knowledge is usually used to research things. Sanity and Knowledge are collectively known as your mental stats.

When the game calls for you to make a stat check, you roll a number of dice equal to your stat. The dice are unusual six-sided dice: their faces have the values 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2. So if the game asks for you to make a Might check of 3+ and you have a Might of 3, you roll three dice and hope to get a total of 3 or higher.

The mansion is divided into three areas: the attic, the floor, and the basement. At the start of the game, all of the explorers are at the entrance to the mansion on the floor level. There is a staircase that leads to the attic, but the basement is initially inaccessible. You'll need to do some exploration to find a way down.

And that's basically all you need to know in order to play. The game has more rules, of course, but I'll explain those as they become relevant. Wanna play? Claim an explorer!

Cast:
Soren Highwind as Peter Akimoto
Eddie as Ox "Jacques Trappe" Bellows
kaisel as Jenny LeClerc
Elfir as Missy Dubourde
Aerdan as Professor Longfellow
The Giant Head as Vivian Lopez

Is it alright if I join this? It seems easier to get into than the other boardgames that have been LP'd around here. If so, I'd like to claim Peter Akimoto the Green Boy.

I volunteer to be the red player, the foreign exchange star football player, Ox Bellows Jacques Trappe.

- Eddie

By all means!

There are four slots left. Green and Red are claimed, but we still have openings for Blue, Purple, White, and Orange.

How often are you expecting people to update? If it's only like once or twice a day, then I'd be down for it, otherwise I'll step aside and let someone else take a slot.

Fun game, though I've only played it once.

If you can update daily, then that's good enough.

Awesome, I'll take the Purple Young Woman then, Jenny LeClerc.

Me me! As Missy

I'll be the resident Old Fogey, Professor Longfellow, if no one has any objections.

If it's not too late, I would like to be Vivian Lopez, sassy Latina.

Darn! I missed it by THAT much!

Okay, that's six! Feel free to sign on as a replacement, but our primary slots are full.


(Images courtesy BoardGameGeek)

The first player, according to the rules, is the player whose character's birthday is soonest. We'll be using that for the full player order, since we don't have a table. Here we go:

Missy "The Board" Dubourde
Age: 9
Height: 4'2"
Weight: 62 lbs
Hobbies: Swimming, Medicine
Birthday: February 14th

Jenny "The Clerk" LeClerc
Age: 21
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 142 lbs
Hobbies: Reading, Soccer
Birthday: March 4th

Professor "Long Fellow" Longfellow
Age: 57
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 153 lbs
Hobbies: Gaelic Music, Drama, Fine Wines
Birthday: July 27th

Peter Akimoto
Age: 13
Height: 4'11"
Weight: 98 lbs
Hobbies: Bugs, Basketball
Birthday: September 3rd

Ox "Jockstrap" Bellows
Age: 23
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 288 lbs
Hobbies: Football, Shiny Objects
Birthday: October 18th

Vivian "Picante" Lopez
Age: 42
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 142 lbs
Hobbies: Old Movies, Horses
Birthday: January 11th

(Blue indicates a window, which is impassible but may be significant depending on our scenario.)

Elfir, you're up! With a speed of 5, you can go to any unexplored space.

I've played this game with friends a few months ago. I wonder what scenario you guys will get? I won't reveal the scenario we got until you guys reveal your scenario.

Ok, hey, the Mansions of Madness players have already got dibs on the Scooby team. We've got a dog.

Very well. I shall watch this game closely then, ready to jump in as an alternate at ANY MOMENT.

We'll be the live action version, and we can CG in an awful, awful dog.

Betrayal is the prime example of a game that's broken all to hell and it just doesn't matter.

Well, it does in the sense that my wife will no longer play it with me.

Otherwise, yeah.

Guys, I will say this, because it happened in my game.

The Little Girl is fucking hardcore. She will obliterate the opposition.

Feeling a little hungry, Missy goes in search of the kitchen. Into the foyer and west! I'll post for any followup required when I get home from work. I don't think I can post from phone but I may try.

What luck! You've found the Kitchen.

You may choose how to orient the tile. The kitchen has two consecutive exits, so choose whether the other exit leads north or south.

You also find an Omen in the kitchen. When an Omen is found, we roll to see if the haunt begins: six dice, and if the outcome is less than the number of revealed Omens, someone becomes a traitor. I'll post details on your Omen when I'm not on my phone.

Kitchen to point south and if someone not on a phone wants to roll the dice that's fine by me.

You found the Mask! A somber mask to hide your intentions.

Once per turn, you may roll Sanity to wear or remove the mask. On a four or higher, you succed. While the mask is worn, you gain 2 Knowledge and lose 2 Sanity.

Rolling six dice (6d3-6) gives us a 7. That's good -- it would be terrible for the haunt to start on the first turn.

Your turn ends when you draw a card, and in most newly-explored rooms, you will draw a card. The most common draw is an Event, followed by an Omens, then an Item in dead last. The most useful draw is Items, then Omens, then Events.

kaisel is up next with Jenny.

Feeling that perhaps a small child shouldn't be left along to scavenge around a creepy house, Jenny will head to the room south of the kitchen.

You enter the Organ Room and encounter an Event.

Something Hidden
There's something odd about this room, but what? It's tickling the back of your mind.

You may roll Knowledge. On a 4+, you'll draw an Item (which is always good, or at least not bad), while on a 0-3, you'll lose a point of Sanity. Up to you, but with your 3 Knowledge, your odds aren't great.

There's only one legal orientation for the Organ Room:

Professor Longfellow examined the entrance hall for a few seconds, then exited west, hoping to find the library. Perhaps there are interesting tomes there...

Jenny figures that she can take a hit of sanity, if it gives her the chance to get something good:
1d3-1=2, 1d3-1=1, 1d3-1=1

So it looks like 4 total (if the 1d3-1 method works, otherwise I'll roll again, and have it properly sum up once I figure out how to do that, heh).

EDIT: Looks like for next time 3d3.each(-1) would sum everything up properly, so I'll have to remember that.

Jenny thinks her thinkiest and finally figures out what's wrong with the room. There's an Amulet of the Ages draped across the organ! Of course!

Ancient silver and inlaid gems, inscribed with blessings.

Jenny increases all of her traits by 1, but if she ever loses the Amulet, she'll drop all of her traits by 3. Harsh!

Professor Longfellow exits into the Graveyard. Odd place for a graveyard, to be sure. When you exit the Graveyard, roll Sanity 4+ or lose 1 Knowledge. Your turn continues even if you fail the roll.

Professor Longfellow also gets an Event: Smoke

Smoke billows around you. You cough, wiping away tears.

There's Smoke in the graveyard! Smoke blocks line of sight (which is not likely to matter) and reduces all trait rolls by 2 here. So instead of rolling Sanity when you leave, you will have to roll Sanity-2. Ouch!

The Graveyard has no other exits.

Peter, you're up.

As a request, would it be possible to put those "status" updates in turn order? It would be helpful for determining turn order without referring back to one of the first posts.

- Eddie

Yep. Done.