The Rules of Hear/Say 4: The Final Curtain

Every document will have a symbol on it:

DO NOT Reveal	MAY Reveal	MUST Reveal
This material cannot be shown to other players under any circumstance unless they have a power that specifically overrides this symbol. You may verbally share its information.	This material can be shown to other players, or not, depending on your preference. Do not allow others to physically take it, though they may take pictures of the material.	This material must be shown to others when requested either directly or indirectly. It might not need to be volunteered, but must be shared.

20 minutes before end of game there will be a trial, in which everyone will step forward with theories, accusations, and scandals. The objective of the game is to score as many Victory Points (VP) as possible by completing objectives, public and private. Some are known to everyone, and some will be privately revealed over the course of the evening.

Core Rules

1. Unless you have a rare ability, you cannot lie about what is on papers or fabricate evidence. You can mislead, under-share, and lie about your objective. You can refuse to share information not marked with a �!�

2. Anything given to you is yours to keep. You are not to physically give it away unless it says otherwise.

3. If you need to leave/take a break, please let Control know. We have to make sure critical info is available.

4. If you are talking with another player, you cannot do anything (or have anything happen to you) with a third party until the conversation is over.

5. All items that are yours must be stored on your person. You may abandon items, but they must be left in public.

6. You may investigate the crime scene, but all players must leave things as they found them.

7. Envelopes may only be opened if the conditions on their exterior are met. If an envelope is addressed to you, you may open it immediately.

8. Players may slightly change the name of their character to match their gender, but must answer to the name as written. No two characters have similar first names.

9. In the event of your death, please die loudly and dramatically so that Control is alerted to your death. You will then be given new instructions. Dead players are not removed from the game and still actively participate.

10. To keep the game running smoothly, Control may change rules or give boons at any time. If you are having a bad time or you feel aimless for more than 12 minutes, please let Control know so we can do something about it.

11. If players want space to speak privately, you must let them unless you have a special power that says otherwise.

12. Control has access to a rules addendum sheet for edge cases and other errata rules. You need not concern yourself with it unless you are hopelessly pedantic.

Useful information:

There are one or more players that can assist you in sending information anonymously.

There are one or more players that can protect you from being killed.

There are one or more players that can revive dead players.

No two characters share first names. All characters that share last names are related.

No member of the Media Faction has the power to lie but Control will not stop mistakes being printed in the half hour news.

The Murderer has one or more allies, none of which are in the group they came with.

After the trial we will have nominations for Play of the Game. Be looking for especially good plays done by other players. Don�t let good roleplay get in the way of good gameplay, (Being so committed that you ignore game incentives) and don�t let good gameplay get in the way of good roleplay. (Not doing something amazing just because it loses you points)

VP Rewards

Item	Reward/Penalty
Vote for who murdered John Hawthorne at the Trial	+10VP if not murderer
Vote for anyone who has been embezzling money at the Trial	+4VP each if not guilty of it
Vote for anyone guilty of political corruption at the Trial	+4VP each if not guilty of it
Having Money at the end of the game	+1VP for every $3
Being in any debt at the end of the game	-5VP
Being alive at the end of the game	+5VP
Faction Objectives	+/- ??
Power/Optional Objectives	+/- ??
Personal� Power Objectives	Varies from -2, +8VP, rare.

Advice and Other Errata

� Build a web of relationships. Good notes attract good friends. Oversharing usually helps more than hurts.

� Don�t say �no�, Say �Yes, For a price�. Remember that a price that can�t be paid is just a longer way of saying no. Agreeing to a deal for an unspecified cost might be a horrible idea, but it could be a lot of fun.

� If somebody wants something, don�t give it for free without reason.

� Glorious failure is better than mediocre success. Best RPG Play of the Game will get a prize.

� If you have nothing of value, remember that you are something of value. *hugs*

o No, but seriously. Make an alliance. Pledge an allegiance. Promise to tell someone something later. You�re another set of eyes and ears and can be the middle man in a huge variety of interactions. That has value. And whatever your objective is, it helps to have those that will vote with you at the trial.

� Relax: Everyone is new to this game. MegaGames are rare, and playtesting is impossible. Even those who have played Hear/Say before have not played with this ruleset.

o Speaking of, please share your thoughts and experiences! [email protected]

� Starting money is inversely correlated with the quality and quantity of powers and starting info for each player. Winning by money is absolutely a viable strategy.

Final VP Score	Rating
< -5	How�
0	The important thing is that you tried.
5	D Rank Defective Detective
10	C Rank Competent
15	B Rank Brilliant
20	A Rank Amazing
25	S Rank Superstar Solver
35+	Congratulations, you broke something.

�According to our best estimation, to the right are the ratings we offer to rank your performance, if you are curious to know. Previous record is 36 due to a glitch that has been patched.

Please take plenty of pictures and tag @puzzalarium! We rely on our guests to document our events because we�re too busy running them to be able to do so ourselves.

Clarifying points & Technicalities:

o Asking �Do you have anything you must share?� is good enough for forcing the reveal of �!� documents.

o All powers that override these rules come with special �!� pieces of paper that must be shown to others to enable their use. There is no power that allows players special abilities that also has no proof of documentation.

o Use of phones is only allowed for note taking and taking pictures of documents/guests. No private calls/texts.

o Things �You know� are things you know fiat. You may roleplay a reason as to why your character knows this.

o Some characters �should know� things that they don�t. An inability to answer should not immediately incriminate. You are encouraged to roleplay a reason as to why your character does not know certain things.

o Taking unattended items is fair play, but you cannot attain powers or non-fungible materials in this way.

o You may not peek at materials not explicitly offered to you.