Lupus in Tabula rules

8 – 24 players

Werewolves haunt the secluded village known as Tabula: every night some villagers turn into werewolves and slaughter an innocent victim to satisfy their hunger. Surviving villagers gather every day to discuss the problem: at the end of the discussion, they lynch one person among them, thinking he could be a werewolf. Can you survive the massacre?

🎯 Aim of the game

There are two sides in the game: the Werewolves and the Humans. Werewolves aim to slaughter everyone in the village; the Humans on the other hand must lynch all the Werewolves.

⚙ Preparation

Choose a Moderator: he does not belong to either side, and only manages the flow of the game; the other players will play their role according to the cards.

Sort the cards: ghosts, evidence, and characters. Build a deck of characters depending on the number of players:

with 8 players (not counting the Moderator) use 5 Villagers, 2 Werewolves and 1 Seer;
with 9 or more players, add enough Villagers and/or Special characters (see below);
with 16 or more players, add the third Werewolf.

The Moderator randomly deals one card face down to each player, glancing at it and memorizing which players are the Werewolves.

Each player secretly looks at the card he is dealt, and must keep it face down until the end of the game!

Each player receives a voting token. The Moderator takes the Summary card and keeps the Ghosts, the two evidence cards and the "Welcome!” handy.

🎲 The game

Each turn of the game is divided in two cyclic steps: night and day. At night the Werewolves kill one player. During daytime, all the living players gather in the village to lynch somebody, believing he is a Werewolf. One of the Humans, the Seer, secretly has the Second Sight and can detect the taint of lycanthropy at night.

🌙 The night

The Moderator calls the beginning of the night (e.g. "it’s nighttime; everybody close your eyes!”). All players close their eyes. To cover up accidental sounds, all players start tapping the table with one hand.

The Moderator calls the Seer aloud ("Seer, open your eyes; Seer, pick someone to ask about”).

The Seer opens his eyes and silently points or nods at another player. The Moderator silently answers thumbs-up if the Seer pointed at a Werewolf, thumbs-down otherwise. The Moderator then calls the end of the Seer’s phase ("Seer, close your eyes”). The Seer closes his eyes.

Note: this phase must be played even if the Seer has already been eliminated from play so no clues are given out; the Moderator will call the Seer, and the end of his phase a few moments later, without having the Seer actually playing the phase.

The Moderator now calls the Werewolves ("Werewolves, open your eyes and pick a human to kill”).

The Werewolves open their eyes, and recognize each other; the Werewolves then silently agree on one Villager to slaughter. The Moderator notes this decision, and calls the end of the Werewolves’ phase ("Werewolves, close your eyes”). The Werewolves close their eyes. The night is over.

☀️ The day

The Moderator now announces the daytime ("Everybody open your eyes; it’s daytime”). All players open their eyes. The Moderator tells the player chosen by Werewolves that he has been killed!

That player no longer plays as a character, but as a Ghost instead. He may not talk for the rest of the game. Also, he may not reveal his character card! He receives a Ghost card and the "Welcome!”.

The survivors must now choose someone to lynch. Players can talk with each other to try to identify the Werewolves: there is no restriction on speech (truth, misdirection, lies...). However, the Werewolves are disguised among the Humans and will probably throw suspicion on the Villagers, mostly on the one they think is the Seer. As already stated, players may not reveal their card to other players!

😱 Lynching

After three minutes of discussions, the Moderator asks each player, starting with the one sitting to the right of the player with the "Welcome!”, and proceeding clockwise, who should be lynched.

All players (including Ghosts) take their voting tokens and on their turn they vote by placing the token in front of the player they wish to lynch (at this stage, the side of the token has no importance). The two players with the highest number of votes (i.e., with the highest number of tokens) are "suspected”. In case of ties, the suspected player is the one closest to the player with the "Welcome!”, counting clockwise.

Each player collects his voting token. The Moderator places one Werewolf evidence card in front of each suspected villager: one receives the paw print and the other one the tuft of fur.

The two suspects may try to defend themselves with one more brief speech. Once the speeches are over, unsuspected players who are still alive (i.e. not suspected players, nor Ghosts) vote again for which suspect will be lynched. This voting takes place secretly, and at the same time.

Players lay their voting token on the table with the side corresponding to the player they want to lynch face up, then cover it with one hand. When all players are done, votes are revealed at the same time, at the Moderator’s command.

The player with the most votes is lynched and becomes a Ghost! In case of ties, the lynched player is the one closest to the one with the "Welcome!”, counting clockwise. The Moderator collects the Werewolf evidence, and gives the lynched player a Ghost card. The lynched player may not comment on the decision, and may not talk for the rest of the game (obviously, he may not reveal his card!). The day is now over: the game continues with another night and so forth, until one side wins.

👹 Characters

With 9 or more players, you can add one or more of the following characters to the playin deck. The number in brackets it’s the suggested minimum number of players for introducing that character.

Seer (8): It is a Human who at night points out a living player and the moderator reveals to him whether or not this is a Werewolf.
Medium (9): he is a Human who can communicate with the spirits. At the beginning of each night (starting from the second one), the Moderator calls his phase, and shows him thumbs-up, if the last player lynched was a Werewolf, thumbs-down if not.
Possessed (10): he is a Human, but he sides with the Werewolves... without knowing who they are! Therefore he wins if the Werewolves win.
Bodyguard (11): he is a Human who protects a player of his choice each night. At night (starting with the second one), before the Werewolves’ phase, the Moderator calls the Bodyguard phase: the Bodyguard points to another player. If the Werewolves choose that player as the victim, he does not die, and nobody is killed.
Owl-man (12) the Owl-man is a Human. Each night, the moderator calls the phase of the Owl, who chooses a person. During the day, play proceeds as normal until the voting for the two suspects. Once all players have voted, the moderator announces the name of the person chosen by the Owl-man, who automatically becomes one of the two suspects, ahead of the others. If the person chosen by the Owl-man was one of the two suspected, then the preference of the Owl does not change anything. When playing with more than 20 players, the Owl-man becomes a Deadly Owl-man: If the chosen person was neither a Werewolf nor the Werehamster, that person dies at the beginning of the day! Two players may be killed during the same night: in that case, the Moderator randomly chooses who to give the "Welcome!” to.
Freemasons (13): they are two Humans who know each other’s role. During the first night, the Moderator calls their phase: the Freemasons open their eyes and recognize each other. The Freemasons must be added to the deck as a pair, not singularly.
Werehamster (15): he plays on his own, and cannot be killed by Werewolves (if Werewolves choose him as the victim, then nobody is killed). With respect to the game end and to the Medium call, the Werehamster is considered a Human: if the Seer points at him during the night, the Werehamster is killed, together with the player chosen by the Werewolves. The Werehamster is the only winner if he is still alive when the game ends!
Mythomaniac (16): he plays a special phase at the end of the second night: he has only one chance to point to another player still in play. If that player is not a Werewolf or the Seer, then the Mythomaniac stays a Human until the game ends. Otherwise, if that player is a Werewolf or the Seer, he immediately takes on the same role as the chosen player! From now on, the Mythomaniac opens his eyes at night when the moderator calls the character whose ability he now matches; each decision is taken together. The Seer sees the Mythomaniac-Werewolf as a Werewolf.

✔️ End of the game

The Moderator calls the end of the game with a victory for the Humans if they lynch all the Werewolves.

The Werewolves win if they slaughter (or cause to be lynched...) enough Humans so that the numbers are even (e.g. 2 Werewolves and 2 Humans, or 1 and 1): then the Werewolves mercilessly slaughter the last surviving Villagers openly!

A side always wins as a whole: therefore previously eliminated players win too!

Source: Official Lupus in Tabula rules from website dvgiochi.com