Mechanics Overview

The player is the house. Houses (normal houses) don't have senses. You start essentially blind and deaf, with vague ideas of actions within the house. As your targets grow more physically and mentally wounded, they become more visible to you. Once fully revealed, your target is ready to be consumed.

As the base house, you can only do the creepy mundane things that normal creepy houses do: floorboards creak, doors suddenly slam, window curtains flutter. Additional hazards may give additional actions. A haunted mirror may let you terrify anybody in the room, but will also cause anyone outside the room not to enter it. Actions must be coordinated, in order to best reveal your targets, and consume them.

Resources

Player

The player has only 1 resource to manage: eldritch essence. The player gains eldritch essence through hazard actions, and spend eldritch essence to buy and upgrade hazards. The player can also remove a hazard to regain the essence spent on it.

Targets

Targets have 2 resources: physical defense, and psychic defense. The player reduces each defense through hazard actions. When either of these defenses is completely reduced, the target dies. Two additional stats are based on these resources: the more physical defense a target has, the more brave they are; and the more psychic defense a target has, the more cautious they are. Brave targets will act when scared, whereas cowardly targets will cower. Cautious targets will be more reluctant to investigate disturbances, whereas curious targets will be more eager to investigate disturbances.

Actions

Basic Actions

Floorboards can creak and crack, scaring nearby targets, or drawing in curious targets. A creak can scare a target out of a room, or draw a target into a room.

Doors can be slammed, or can be opened. A slammed door will scare nearby targets, and possibly dissuade them from entering a room. A door which ominously opens may draw a curious target to investigate and enter the room.

Windows can slam, and curtains can also flutter. Similar to a door, a slammed window will scare nearby targets, possibly out of a room. Fluttering curtains may draw a curious target to investigate.

Hazard Actions

Whereas basic actions scare targets, moving them around, hazard actions weaken targets, preparing them to be assimilated.

Hazard actions target either physical or psychic defenses, reducing them. In doing so, you gain eldritch essence. You use eldritch essence to build and enhance your hazards, and so trying to reduce both defenses of a target will get you the most essence! Once a defense has been reduced to 1, the target will be killed with the next action, triggering a killing action.

Killing Actions

Killing actions kill a target, either through physical damage or psychic damage. When a target is killed, you gain essence as usual from the targeted defense, but all remaining defense is lost. Therefore, if you can reduce a target to 1 physical and 1 psychic defense, you will have gained the maximum essence from them.

Targets

Basics

As discussed above, targets have physical and psychic defenses. Targets have a curiousity value, which corresponds inversely with their psychic defense (more psychic defense = less curiousity): more curious targets will investigate disturbances, while more cautious targets are likely to avoid disturbances. Targets also have a bravery value, which corresponds directly with their physical defense (more physical defense = more bravery): braver targets will act when scared, whereas cowardly targets will cower in place.

Archetypes

Targets come in a variety of flavors, each of which determines their physical and psychic defenses, and their curiousity. Some examples:

• Groundskeeper:

  • Low Physical (thus, cowardly)
  • Low Psychic (thus, curious)

• Prom King/Queen

  • Average Physical (thus, moderately brave)
  • Average Psychic (thus, moderately curious)

• Jock/Cheerleader

  • High Physical (thus, very brave)
  • Low Psychic (thus, very curious)

• Nerd

  • Low Physical (thus, very cowardly)
  • High Psychic (thus, very cautious)

• Loser

  • Average Physical (thus, moderately brave)
  • High Psychic (thus, very cautious)

• Class-Clown

  • Average Physical (thus, moderately brave)
  • Low Psychic (thus, very curious)