Lupus in Tabula

There are werewolves among the villagers, and nobody knows who they are except the werewolves themselves and the Master. Every night the werewolves kill someone, every day the survivors argue and execute a suspect. The humans win when every werewolf is dead. The werewolves win the moment they are as many as the humans still alive, because at that point nobody can stop them anymore. You win and lose with your side, even when dead. One card is the exception: the Possessed wins with the werewolves.

Deck

52 cards: the Master takes one per player, following the table below

In hand

1 each, face down and secret; the Master gets none

How many cards, by players without the Master. The base rule is two werewolves, three from 16 players up. In your first game any role can be swapped for a Villager.

To find your way around: the A cards are the werewolves, numbers are the villagers and every other role has a face card of its own.

1. The Master One person is the Master. They get no card, belong to no side and never win: they run the game, call the roles at night and count the votes by day, and to do so they know every player's role from the start.
2. The deck The Master builds the deck from the table above, shuffles it and deals one card face down to each player, looking at it before handing it over, so they know who holds which role. Unused cards go back in the box.
3. Each player's card Everyone looks at their own card and keeps it face down for the whole game. Cards are never shown, not even when you die.
4. The circle Sit in a circle, with the Master in the middle or standing, and start with the first night.

What each role does:

1. Night The Master announces that it is night. Everyone closes their eyes and taps one hand on the table to cover any noise. The other hand stays free for pointing. Whoever opens their eyes when not called is eaten, no discussion: worth saying before you start.
2. The calls The Master calls the roles in play one at a time, always in the same order and always all of them, the dead ones included, so nobody learns anything from a silence. The order is Medium and Bodyguard from the second night, the Harlot every night, then the werewolves and the Seer. Whoever is called opens their eyes, makes their move in silence and closes their eyes again when the Master says so.
3. The werewolves choose When their turn comes, the werewolves recognize each other and point at one victim, a single one, from the first night on. The Master takes note and sends them back to sleep.
4. Dawn The Master announces that it is day and says who died in the night. If the victim was protected by the Bodyguard, or was the Harlot away from home, the Master says that nobody died, with no explanation. If the werewolves picked the Harlot's host, there are two deaths; if the Harlot spent the night with a werewolf, the Harlot dies too. When there are two deaths, the Master does not say who died of what, and says which of the two counts as the last to die. Whoever dies becomes a Ghost: they stop talking, keep their eyes closed at night and never say which card they had.
5. Discussion The living talk, accuse each other, lie if they like, for about three minutes. The Master cuts it off when time is up.
6. The accusation round Starting from the player to the left of the last player to die and going clockwise, everyone, ghosts included, points at whoever they want to accuse. Each accused player counts the votes they receive on their fingers. The two most accused become Suspects; ties go to whoever sits closer, clockwise, to the last player to die.
7. The defense The two Suspects defend themselves one at a time, in a short speech.
8. The execution On the Master's count, every living player who is not a Suspect points at the Suspect they want executed, all at the same time. Ghosts do not vote. Whoever has the most fingers pointed at them is executed, on a tie the one closer, clockwise, to the last player to die. Somebody is always executed. The executed player becomes a Ghost.
9. The end, or another night If every werewolf is dead, the humans win. If the werewolves are as many as the living humans, the werewolves win, and the Possessed with them. Otherwise night falls again and the game starts over from Night.

• In your first game keep the roles few: Werewolves, Seer, Medium, Bodyguard and Villagers. The extra roles in the Variants come in once the table knows the base game.
• For the Master: always speak toward the middle of the table, in the same tone for every call, and give every role the same amount of time, the dead ones too. Never "he" or "she" about a role.
• For the humans: a Seer who comes out at once dies the next night, but a Seer who keeps quiet until the end helps nobody. The right moment is when the Seer has something to say and someone who will believe it.
• For the werewolves: one of you can claim to be the Seer. Accusing nobody draws more suspicion than accusing someone.