The Hanged Man

The day wears on…

Around midday, we stop to rest in the shade of a towering beech. As we crouch between its roots, a deep sense of calm envelops us. Soon we are sleeping.

But instead of restful, our shared dreams are filled with odd visions. Through the silence of sleep, we hear the creak of a rope — something heavy, swinging from the tree overhead. Then something hot and coarse pinches our necks. Suddenly, as one, we find that we cannot breathe…


The Challenge

The dream of the Hanged Man forces you to hold your breath.

  • Set a stopwatch.

  • Together, the travellers count down from three. On the count of one, begin the stopwatch.

  • Every traveller pinches their nostrils and holds their breath for as long as possible.

  • The last traveller to take a breath wins. Stop the stopwatch.

Success. If at least one traveller holds their breath for over a minute, the Challenge is passed.

Failure. If no traveller holds their breath for at least minute, the Challenge is failed.

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If the Challenge is passed, the last traveller to take a breath wins the Blessing of the Hanged Man.

If the Challenge is failed, The party suffers the Curse of the Hanged Man. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.

  • Blessings and Bargains symbolise the support of a spirit of the Elder Wood. Both offer protection against death for the traveller who wins them.

    Blessings: When a spirit is pleased, it might grant its special protection to a particular traveller. Spirits who have bestowed a member of the party with their Blessing travel invisibly with them and will help to protect them when they reach the Heart of the Wood.

    Travellers who win a Blessing should place the Blessing behind their Character Card so that the spirit's name and number are still visible.

    Bargains: Sometimes, instead of granting its Blessing to a traveller, a spirit might instead offer a conditional protection called a Bargain. Bargains symbolise a trade between spirit and traveller; the spirit protects the traveller, but its influence affects the traveller's behaviour. The traveller must obey the Bargain rules written on the spirit's card so long as they possess the Bargain. In return, the spirit will convert its Bargain to a Blessing in the Heart of the Wood, thus helping the traveller survive.

    Travellers who win a Bargain should place the Bargain card face-up to one side of their Character Card, so that they can read the card's Bargain rules.

  • When a spirit is displeased by the party, it will lay its Curse upon them. Curses have dire consequences. The more Curses a party gathers, the more lives will be claimed in the Heart of the Wood. Furthermore, if a party incurs three Curses, the Wood's spirits will reject them and they will be forced to flee for their lives, ending the game.

    When you incur a Curse, place it in a designated area of the table so that all travellers are aware of it.

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We wake suddenly, gasping for breath. Above our heads, an ancient rope now hangs from the beech, grimy and weatherworn. It drifts in the breeze, its creak a hoarse sigh on the wind.

We shoulder our packs and push on.