Salem

This board game started with the idea of players having to move simultaneously through space and time, and some how I came up with the idea of witches casting spells over the course of a few months. The basic premise is that the head of the coven has recently retired, and the players are all attempting to work their way up through the ranks to become the next leader.

For 2 - 4 Players

Download sample Book of Shadows | pdf | 177 kb |

Pieces:

Salem Board - Map of the town with eight distinct locations

Month Board - circular board split up into 8 phases of the moon.

Character Cards - depicts character portrait, special power, magical specialty and progression chart for ranks in the coven.

Equipment Cards - 4 different kinds of equipment pieces, like athames and altars.

Herb Cards - eight kinds of herbs

Candle Cards - eight kinds of candles

Cloth Cards - eight colors of cloth

Ritual Cards - random cards from mediation cards to restore powers to helpful spirits

Client Cards - people who would like a spell cast for them and are willing to pay

Book of Shadows : Holds all the spell ingredients descriptions, and complete rules and game piece descriptions.

Setup: Every player receives $50 in starting funds. They place one character piece on the Salem board on top of the center logo, and the other on the New Moon phase of the Month Board.

Play:

Each turn, the player may move their character to any two places in the town, where they may buy things, talk to people, or perform a spell. Only one player may be on a location at a time. The locations and possible options are as follows:

Visitor Center—give a tour of town for $50. This completes your turn Woods—Draw a Ritual Card
Library—May look up 1 page in the Book of Shadows—Ends turn
Equipment Store—May purchase Equipment and Cloth
Herb Store—May purchase Candles and Herbs
Graveyard— Draw a Ritual Card
Hospital—Draw a Client Card Courthouse—Draw a Client Card

Spells

A player may attempt to perform a spell without knowing all the necessary components in advance. To do so, they declare their intention and put aside the necessary ingredients. The player to the right looks up the spell in question and checks : For each ingredient the player guessed right, they get a +2 to their success chance. After checking, the player rolls the d10 and adds any bonuses. If the player gets higher than a 7, they succeed. If they fail, they do not lose their ingredients. If they succeed, their ingredients (herb, candles, cloths) are consumed and return to their respective banks. If a player has gotten all the ingredients right in an attempt, they automatically succeed.

A player may also add any innate bonuses their character possesses or any time bonuses when rolling for a spell. If a player has looked at the Book of Shadows this turn, they must wait a turn before performing a spell

If a spell for a client is successful, the player moves the corresponding counter piece across their character sheet. EX: Sam completed a Green Healing Spell, so she moves the Green counter 1 space the right to level II. The first player to reach level IV in any track wins

Some clients call for “Master Level” Spells, and these are detailed in the BoS—they usually take more ingredients and multiple players.

Powers

Each character has her own innate power, which can be used at any point during the game. This power is then exhausted until the player performs a healing spell on themselves or draws a Meditation Card from the deck and plays it.

Cards

Client Cards detail specific requests they would like performed, as well as the payment received for services rendered. Players may only have as many Client Cards as they have levels—level I players may only have 1, etc. Players may opt to discard a Client to pick up another, or offer to sell him to another player. Upon completing a client's request, they return to the discard pile.

Ritual Cards —A player may have any number of Ritual Cards at a time, but may only play one per turn on their turn. Possible Ritual Cards include Meditation Cards to restore powers, helpful spirits, or free discovered herbs.

Teamwork and Infighting

Players may opt to play spells on each other instead of for clients—the effects are detailed in the specific sections of the Book of Shadows. Players may also opt to perform a Spell together, and if successful, they would both get any rewards or penalties. They only need purchase enough ingredients between them, but each player involved gets to roll the success die once, and the team may take the highest roll as their team roll, adding all bonuses in together.

Victory:

The player who reaches Rank IV in any spell progression chart first wins the game.