Heritage – a game of deduction and mystery
Heritage – a
game of deduction and mystery
Introduction
Heritage is
a game for 6 players. Each player is given a unique role at the beginning of
the game. Each role comes with a primary goal that player will try to fulfill.
Roles also come with additional bonus goals or compensatory secondary
goals in case the primary goal becomes impossible.
Gameplay
1. Heritage is
played over up to 60 minutes in a house or space such that privacy is possible.
Ideally, it should be difficult to impossible to know the exact whereabouts of
all players.
2. Players are
assigned a primary role and secondary role, making sure the primary role ‘Killer’
isn’t assigned the secondary role ‘Businessman’. A method for achieving this is
proposed in the addendums.
3. A visually
distinct and easily concealable physical object will be assigned as the
‘Knife’, and another shall be assigned as the ‘Diamond’. (I suggest an ace of
spades for the knife and an ace of diamonds for the diamond).
4. A central
starting position should be assigned for the knife and the diamond, ideally at
some distance from each other. Additionally, four distinct and clearly visible
locations around the play area should be assigned as ‘Mantles’, spaces where
the diamond can legally be placed during the game (the starting position is
also a mantle). Ideally, these should be outside of view from each other, with
some kind of distinct distance from the starting location, so that it’s obvious
which is nearest the starting location, and which is most distant (though this
isn’t that necessary, it’s just a nice touch. See the rules for the ‘Thief’).
5. Players will
mill about the game area for the length of the game, talking and otherwise
engaging in the game’s systems. They may lie or tell the truth about any and
all information (With the exception of interrogations). They may cooperate or
betray at will; no agreement is binding!
6. If a murder
occurs and is discovered the game ends 20 minutes after the murder, even
if this runs longer than the assigned hour.
7. At the end
of the game, players will write down their deductions, assigning players to
roles. Additionally, they may guess the murderer if a murder has occurred, and
they may guess the possessor if the diamond isn’t on a mantle (though every
player makes these assignments, only certain roles care about these for their victory
conditions).
8. Victory
conditions are checked. There may be multiple winners, there may be partial
winners, no winners, abject losers, and any mix of these!
i.
Secondary goals are only checked if the
primary goal has been failed – if succeeded the player is Partially
successful.
ii.
If the primary goal has been met, the
player is Successful.
iii.
Additional goals are only checked if the
primary goal has been met – if succeeded the player is Exceedingly
successful.
iv.
If a player failed to meet any of the
above, he has Failed.
v.
If a player committed a murder (and is not
the ‘Killer’ or ‘Heir’, see their rules), he automatically
drops one rank. If he’s committed a murder and has been caught by the ‘Policeman’
(and again, isn’t the killer), he has Catastrophically Disastrously Failed,
regardless of other victory conditions.
vi.
The ranking is as follows:
1. Exceedingly successful
2. Successful
3. Partially Successful
4. Failed
5. Disastrously
Failed
6. Catastrophically
Disastrously Failed
Roles
1. There are
six primary roles: ‘Detective’, ‘Thief’, ‘Killer’, ‘Policeman’, ‘Heir’, ‘Steward’.
2. There is a single secondary role: ‘Businessman’. Players are
either the businessman, or they are not.
Detective
Primary goal
– To win, the Detective
must correctly assign the primary roles of each player. The Detective doesn’t
need to be alive at the end of the game in order to win.
Secondary
goals – The Detective
doesn’t have any secondary goals – his primary goal is never impossible!
Additional
goals – If the Detective
has already deduced all the primary roles, he may try to deduce the businessman,
the murderer, and the possessor of the diamond.
Thief
Primary goal
– To win, the thief
must have the diamond in his possession when the game ends. Additionally, he
must NOT be accused of being the possessor by the Policeman.
Secondary
goals – The thief
may attempt to plant the diamond as far away from the initial mantle as
possible (if there is such an ordering, this is why it’s useful!). He is more
successful the farther away it is, though so long as it’s not the initial
mantle he is Partially Successful.
Additional
goals – Have no
other player deduce you as the possessor of the diamond at the end of the game.
Killer
Primary goal
– To win, the killer
must successfully kill the Businessman. Additionally, he must NOT be accused of
being the killer by the Policeman.
Secondary
goal – The killer
is partially successful if someone else kills the businessman (for any reason,
regardless of final accusations!). Alternatively, if the killer kills someone who
isn’t the businessman and isn’t accused as the killer by the Policeman,
he is partially successful (less so, though this isn’t scored).
Additional
goals – Have at most
one other (living) player deduce you as the killer at the end of the game.
Additional
rules
1. The Killer
doesn’t drop ranks automatically for a murder! He cannot Catastrophically
fail.
2. The killer Fails
if he successfully kills the businessman and is caught by the Policeman.
3. The killer Disastrously
Catastrophically Fails if he kills anyone but the businessman and is caught
by the Policeman.
4. Only in case the businessman is the Policeman, the Killer
doesn’t Fail for being
deduced by the policeman. In this case, he Fails if all other
players deduce him as the killer.
Policeman
Primary goal
– To win, a
murder must occur, and the diamond must be stolen. If both have occurred, the Policeman
can win by successfully deducing the possessor of the diamond and the killer at
the end of the game (Note that this is distinct from the roles of Thief
and Killer!).
Secondary
goals – The Policeman
is partially successful if neither crime has occurred by the end of the game.
Additional
goals – Successfully
deduce the roles of Thief and Killer, alongside who first took
the knife and diamond (this isn’t a standard deduction on the sheet!)
Heir
Primary goal
– To win, the
Heir must ensure no other player meets their primary goal.
Secondary
goals – The Heir is partially
successful if there is only one player has met their primary goal, and that
player is dead. Only in this case, the Heir does not drop a rank for killing a
player.
Additional
goals – Ensure another
player has Catastrophically Disastrously Failed.
Steward
Primary goal
– To win, the
diamond must be at a mantle. Additionally, one other player must meet their
primary goal (currently, this necessarily means either the Killer or Detective have succeeded).
Secondary goals – The Steward is partially successful if he successfully
deduces the possessor of the diamond at the end of the game.
Additional goals – Ensure the diamond
is at the initial mantle.
The businessman
1.
The businessman is a secondary role. Any player except the Killer can be the businessman.
2.
There is not additional goal to being the businessman.
3.
If the businessman is killed, he automatically drops a rank. The only
exception to this is if the Policeman is given the businessman role.
Interrogations
1.
Players begin the game with three Interrogation cards. At any time,
a player may interrogate another living player by revealing an interrogation
card, ripping it or otherwise marking it unmistakably used, and asking one of
four questions:
a.
What is your primary role?
b.
Are you the businessman?
c.
Are you in possession of the Knife?
d.
Are you in possession of the Diamond?
2.
The interrogated player must answer the question truthfully, revealing his assigning card or his
possession to prove the truth.
3.
Interrogation cards may NOT be traded or taken from players dead or alive
under any circumstances.
The Knife and the Diamond
1.
There are two central items, the Knife and the Diamond. It is important these be easily concealable
items – only visible if intentionally exposed.
2.
Both items can either be held by a player or placed in an appropriate
place. The Diamond can be in any of the mantles. The Knife can only be placed at the initial mantle.
3.
A player may possess both items simultaneously.
4.
A Theft has been said to occur if the diamond is in the possession of a player
– that is, not at any mantle.
Accusations
1.
At any time, a player may accuse another player of possession of either
the Diamond or Knife.
2.
If this accusation is correct, the possessor of the item must hand it
over. Additionally, said player may not accuse the player who took the item of
having said item for ten minutes.
3.
If this accusation is incorrect, the accuser must reveal nontrivial information about himself to the accused. For example, if the accuser knows (that is, found out directly via interrogation) the accused is the
businessman, he may not reveal that he isn’t the businessman, as this reveals
no new information.
4.
Known information consists of information gleaned
from Interrogations and forced reveals from failed accusations, and any immediate deductions
thereof.
5.
If there is no such nontrivial information to reveal to a player, he
may not be accused!
6.
Information consists of the four questions that can be interrogated
over:
a.
Primary role
b.
Businessman status
c.
Knife possession
d.
Diamond possession
7.
If the status of possession changes, this may be revealed. For example,
if the accuser used to have possession of the Knife and has revealed this, but has since lost the
Knife, he may reveal this. (This works reciprocally for the Diamond as well, of course).
8.
This cannot be done if the item has been returned to a mantle, though
this may be done if a murder has occurred and the accused has yet to see the
body directly!
Killing
1.
A player may kill another player by revealing to them that they have possession
of the Knife and saying the words ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis!’.
2.
The killed player sits down where
they have been killed. They may no longer speak or move during the game, though
they may still listen to the conversation around them and use their Interrogations.
3.
Being killed doesn’t drop your rank with the exception of the Businessman.
4.
The Knife is placed next to the victim; it may no longer be moved!
5.
If the victim has possession of the Diamond, he must give it to the killer.
6.
The murder is discovered if all living players have directly seen the body. Don’t be pedantic
about this; if the game is almost over but everyone is talking about the murder,
this also counts as a discovery!
Deductions
1. At the end of the game, players are given a sheet
with seven lines, one for each primary role and the Businessman.
2. In each row, players write the name of the
player they believe has been assigned the appropriate role.
3. If a killing or theft have occurred, players
may fill in who they believe is responsible.
4. Any additional deductions can be written at
the end of the sheet.
5. Victory conditions are checked – any winners (Successful
or Exceedingly Successful) celebrate, any losers (Failed, Disastrously
Failed, Catastrophically Disastrously Failed) mourn, and the middle
of the pack remain stoically neutral.
Player counts
The game, as currently envisioned, is for six players only. However, the Heir
can probably be removed if a game of five players is desired.
If you wish to play with more players, one easy way to do this is to add
additional detectives. However, if you have ideas for roles that work within
the current confines (or even those that stretch them a bit!), you’re welcome
to use those instead! If you come up with any good ones, please make sure to
contact me and let me know, I’d love to design new ones myself.
Addendums
A – Role distribution
Here’s an easy way to distribute roles such that the Killer isn’t
the Businessman: Take identically sized Lego bricks of six different colors,
one for each role. Then, take five white and one black brick, and have someone
from outside the game put them together, making sure not to attach the black
brick to the color assigned to the killer. Then, mix the bricks together in an
opaque bag, then have each player randomly draw a brick – the player with the
black brick is your Businessman! Make sure to take the bricks apart
though, so that information can be revealed piecemeal.
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