It was supposed to be a fun vacation, a getaway from the city at

a rustic home in the mountains surrounded by an idyllic forest. But

that was before you found the strange old deck of cards. And it was

definitely before you opened the rulebook that came with the cards
and read the strange words on its yellowing pages, unleashing an
ancient demonic force that has infected some of your friendsor did it
infect YOU? Now, you must use all of your wits and cunning to find
out which of your friends has evil is lurking within themand
bloodily sacrifice them before they slaughter you first! But be careful
whom you accuse: paranoia runs rampant in situations like this, and
you dont want to go killing innocent people now, do you? You have
to figure it out quickly, though, because every night the Demons claim
another victim, and they wont be satisfied until EVERYBODY DIES.
So with that in mind, kick back and enjoy your

OCCULT
SLUMBER
PARTY

WHAT IT IS

In Occult Slumber Party, you and a group of friends each secretly

assume the identity of a person on a card that you choose from a
special deck and try to identify the Demons hiding in your midst. The
game is a thematic and aesthetic variation of the game Werewolf by
Andrew Plotkin, which in turn was based on Mafia, created by
Dimitry Davidoff.

THE ROLES

The SUMMONER moderates the game and is responsible for

making sure that the Occult Slumber Party progresses in a fair,
orderly, and bloody fashion.

PARTYGOERS are simply trying to survive the horror that

theyve found themselves in the middle of without being
misidentified as demon-possessed and subsequently sacrificed.

DEMONS want to avoid detection at all costs in their quest to

souls. As such, they must survive until the next night,
charming, lying and using every other evil trick at their disposal
to cast suspicion on others.

The OCCULTIST is a partygoer who has insight into the secret

world of the supernatural. Once per night, the Occultist can

look into another partygoers heart and discover if they are

possessed by a Demon or not.

The HEALER is a partygoer who can choose any one player

(themselves included) to protect from Demon assault. The only
drawback is that they dont know whom the Demons have chosen
to attack!

SETTING UP THE GAME

If youve played Werewolf or Mafia before, this part should be easy.

If you havent played either game, its still pretty easy. There are 20
cards total in the Occult Slumber Party deck: 14 Partygoers, 3
Demons, 1 Occultist, 1 Healer and 1 Summoner. To play, first print
and cut out the cards and glue them to the heavy cardstock of your
choice (using standard playing cards works really well). Depending on
the number of people playing (any number between 7 and 20, with an
odd number of players recommended but not absolutely essential), you
must first assemble a deck with the proper number and ratio of cards.
If seven people are playing, you should shuffle the Summoner card,
the Occultist card, two Demon cards, and three Partygoer cards
together. If nine people are playing, you should have two Demon
cards and five Partygoer cards. You can add a third Demon if you
have a lot of players, but that isnt required. In any game of any
number of players, you can also swap out one of the Partygoer cards
with the Healer card if that suits your fancy (see rules below), and if
you play with 20 people, use the entire deck.

Once the proper amount of cards are assembled and shuffled, the
dealer hands one to each player, face down. Each player should look
at their card, and they must KEEP IT SECRET. The only person who
reveals their identity at this stage is the Summoner. It is their role to
keep the game going and, above all, keep neutral.

Once all the players have memorized their role and hidden their cards,
the Occult Slumber Party begins in gory earnest.

HOW TO PLAY

First, the Summoner sets the properly ominous scene. Something like
this works great:

You and your friends have retreated to a secluded mountain getaway

for a week of partying and fun. But you just had to explore that old
abandoned estate nearby, didnt you? And you couldnt resist messing
around with that cursed deck of cards that you found could you? Now
you have some uninvited guests at your party: soul-hungry Demons
who are masquerading as your friends. Youve spent all day trying to
figure whos possessed and whos still human, but now night has
fallen. Creatures stalk the darkness, hunting for a new victim, but
youre exhausted; you have to get some sleep. So everyone please close
your eyes

NIGHT PHASE

Thus begins the first NIGHT phase. The Occult Slumber Party is
divided into two phases: Day, when partygoers eat, drink, be merry,
and then attempt to discover who the Demons among them are and
ultimately vote on one person to sacrifice; and Night, when all players
must close their eyes and the Demon silently selects another victim.

When the first Night phase begins (after all players have their eyes
closed and are settled), the Summoner says, Demons, open your
eyes. The player(s) who are Demons then open their eyes. Then, the
Summoner says, Choose someone to slaughter. The Demons must
then silently choose one player to eliminate by communicating using
sign language, pointing, etc. Once the Demons have decided who dies,
the Summoner then says, Demons, close your eyes.

The Summoner should allow for a pause of decent length and then
say, Occultist, open your eyes. The Occultist does so. The
Summoner then says, Silently point at someone to discover if they are
a Demon. The Occultist then silently indicates another player they
want to discover the true identity of, and the Summoner must then
silently let them know if that person is or is not a Demon; a nod
meaning yes, a shake of the head, thumbs up or down, etc. Once that
is accomplished, the Summoner says, Occultist, close your eyes. This
is the final turn before the sun rises.

Then say, The sun has risen and one of your number has been
brutally butchered. Open your eyes: You are DEAD BY DAWN. The
Summoner then immediately points out the dead partygoer. Without
speaking they reveal their card, and they must not speak for the rest
of the game. Have them go get a beer.

DAY PHASE

Now, the DAY phase (and the fun) begins. The players goal during
the day is to come to a consensus on a Demon to sacrifice (or, if youre
a Demon, to cast suspicion on the others and survive to take another
soul at night). What can players do? Most anything. No one should
reveal their actual role; if a partygoer is the Occultist, they should
strive to keep their identity secret, less the Demons target them. And
if youre a Demon, it doesnt do to go revealing your true nature to
your victims. But as you might begin to understand, this does not
prevent you from accusing other partygoers or misrepresenting who
you are. Lying, misdirection and other sorts of skullduggery are not
only acceptable, theyre encouraged. Once players vote and decide
whom they want to sacrifice, that person is considered dead, slain by
the hand of their friends. Then, they must reveal their card and
remain silent. If its a Demon, hooray! One less thing out there going
bump in the night. If not, uh oh: another innocent dead. After a
partygoer is sacrificed, Night falls. The Summoner says, Night falls.
Everyone close your eyes, and the whole bloody business starts all
over again

HOW TO WIN

The Partygoers win when they sacrifice all of the Demons.

The Demons win when there is the same number of them as there are
partygoers.

VARIATION: PLAYING WITH THE HEALER

If you choose to incorporate the Healer card into your game, it takes
the place of one Partygoer card. The Healers turn in the sequence of
play comes after the Demons and before the Occultist, and the Healer
has the power to protect one player of their choice from being killed
by Demons. After the Demons close their eyes, the Summoner should
wait the proper interval and say, Healer, open your eyes. The
Summoner then asks the Healer to indicate the person they want to
protect. The Healer can choose anybody, including him or herself.
Once they choose, the Summoner says, Healer, close your eyes. Play
proceeds normally to the Occultists turn. If, when the Day phase
begins, the Healer has saved the chosen victim, the Summoner
indicates the Partygoer that the Demons tried to slaughter, and says
something like, Dawn has broken, and during the night Demons came
for your soul, but you were protected by a benevolent practitioner of
the Art. It is vital that the Healer remain anonymous no matter
whom they protect! If the victim was not protected, play then proceeds
in the normal fashion.

GUIDELINES, STRATEGIES, DOs and DONTs, ETC.

Say whatever you need to in order to live or to kill. Lying is

encouraged and expected.

Summoners should encourage players to hum, tap their feet or

otherwise make some white noise during the Night phase so as to
mask noisy activities that may give away clues.

Keep your personal business out of the game. Occult Slumber

Party isnt the place to settle vendettas or be a bad sport.

Summoners should always be impartial, like the universe itself.

Dont show your cards to other players unless youre dead.

Speaking of the deadthe dead dont speak. If a Demon kills

you, zip it.

CREDITS

Occult Slumber Party was conceived and written by Gabe Soria as a

goofy variation on the games Werewolf and Mafia. The art for the
Occult Slumber Party cards is by Arik Roper, who is an all-around
badass dude and great friend with vast reserves of patience.