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[Sethaniel]

In Betrayal at House on the Hill, each player chooses a character to explore a creepy old house.  As you explore the house, you discover new rooms.  Each time you enter a new room, you might find something. . . Or something might find you.  Explorers get better (or worse) depending on how they deal with the house’s surprises.  The house is different each time you play.

At some random point in the game, one explorer triggers a scenario called a haunt.  When the haunt is revealed, one explorer betrays everyone else.  That explorer becomes a traitor bent on defeating his former companions.  The rest of the explorers become heroes struggling to survive.  From then on, the game is a fight between the heroes and the traitor, often to the death.

The game has 50 potential haunts, and each one tells a different story.

Object of the Game:  Explore the house and make your character stronger until the haunt begins.  After that, your goal is to complete your side’s victory condition first- either as traitor or hero.

[Sethaniel]

On Your Turn

You can do as many of the following actions as you want— in any order:

Move

Discover a New Room

Attempt a Die Roll

Use Items or Omens

Attack (only after the haunt has begun)


Note: the dice used are special 6-sided dice.  They have 2 sides with no dots, 2 sides with 1 dot, and 2 sides with 2 dots.

[Sethaniel]

Movement

During your turn, you may move through a number of rooms equal to your current Speed. 

Whenever a game effect makes you draw a card, you must stop moving for the rest of your turn. (Mostly, when you discover a new room.)

You can perform actions, such as attacking or giving an item to another character, in the middle of your movement.

You may use as many items as you like during your turn, even after your movement has ended.  However, you may only use each item once.

You may do more than one action requiring dice rolling on your turn.  You cannot, however, try to make the same roll more than once per turn.  (No trying until you succeed.)

[Sethaniel]

Discovering a New Room

When you move through a door that does not already have a room on the other side, you discover a new room.

You can move through a door if it connects to another door in an adjacent room.  If it connects to a wall, it is a false door, and cannot be used.

Doors are always open.  The exception is the Front Door, which is always locked.  You can’t leave the house or use the Front Door unless a haunt says otherwise.  (Outside rooms like the Patio are still part of the house.)

Staircases connect floors.  The Grand Staircase always connects to the Upper Landing.  The Stairs from Basement always lead to and from the Foyer via a secret door.  You can’t use the Stairs from Basement until you discover the basement room containing the secret door.

Some rooms have special rules, such as affecting movement, which will apply to every explorer who enters the room. 

[Sethaniel]

Events, Items, and Omens

Events: 
Most rooms have events associated with them.  They will be described when you enter the room.

Items:
Some rooms contain items.  The first person to enter the room receives the item.  You may use an item once immediately, and once on each of your turns, unless it says otherwise.

For each item, during a turn you may only perform one of the following actions:  Use it, give it to another explorer, drop the item, pick up a dropped item, or attempt to steal another character’s item.   (You can’t use it, then give it to someone else on the same turn; you can’t steal it from someone else and use it the same turn you stole it, etc.)

You cannot use an item when it is not your turn.   There are three items which are exceptions, they will be mentioned if/when someone picks them up.

Omens:
Omens are a special subclass of items which may inspire the start of the haunt scenario. 

[Sethaniel]

Combat

Before the haunt begins, your character cannot die.  Damage that would result in reducing a stat to 0 instead simply moves it to the lowest level.

Attacking is not possible until after the haunt starts. 

Once during your turn, you can attack an opponent in the same room.  All attacks use Might unless there is an item or ability that states otherwise.

When attacking, you roll a number of dice equal to your Might.  Your opponent does the same.  The winner inflicts the difference between the two rolls in physical damage.
Example:  I roll 6, opponent gets 4, he takes 2 points damage.

Physical damage affects Might and Speed.  In the case above, opponent gets to choose how damage will be distributed:  2 points subtracted from Might, 1 from Might and 1 from Speed, or 2 from Speed.

When a card or a haunt lets you attack with Sanity or Knowledge, your opponent defends with the same stat, and takes Mental damage, affecting Sanity and Knowledge.  If you attack with Speed, they defend with Speed, and take Physical damage.

If you are reduced to 0 in ANY trait, your explorer dies.

[Sethaniel]

Stats

Every character has four stats:  Might, Speed, Sanity, and Knowledge.  Each stat has 8 levels.  The number in the level represents how many dice you get to roll when asked to check the relevant stat.

Example:   Gypsy Fortuneteller's Speed: 2/3/3/5/5/6/6/7

She starts on the bolded level, with 3 dice to roll for Speed (which also means she can move up to 3 rooms per turn.)

If she gains a level, her new Speed chart looks like 2/3/3/5/5/6/6/7 and she can now roll 5 dice when checking speed and move up to 5 rooms per turn. 

If she had lost a level, it would be 2/3/3/5/5/6/6/7.  She still has 3 dice to roll and moves 3 spaces.  If she lost one more level, she would be reduced to 2 dice. 

Before the haunt begins, 2 is as low as she can go; if she lost another level she would just stay at 2 (and be able to move to 3 if she gained a level.)

Once the haunt begins, if she drops off the bottom of the chart to zero, she's dead.

[Sethaniel]

Important note: 

The game rules specifically state that all characters can communicate freely at any time, despite potentially being in different areas of the house. 

It says to assume you have walkie-talkies or something. . .

So let's split up, gang, and search for clues!