The Infected

The day wears on…

We pass over a great plateau dusted with trees and snow. As we walk, we spy a glow over the crystalline brush. Ahead stands a group of soldiers in crimson uniform, staring sadly at a great plague-pyre. Sore-riddled corpses lie piled among the flames.

Seeing us approach, the soldiers raise their sabres threateningly. “Stay back, travellers, for your own safety! A great sickness plagues our army; you see its victims piled here. We cannot tell which of our own number still carries its mark. Keep your distance — unless…”

The soldiers glance between themselves. “Unless you can help us to identify the infected in our own number?”

The Challenge

This is a social deduction game. Travellers compete to identify the infected traveller in their midst before their plague spreads to everyone. Meanwhile, the infected traveller must attempt to evade identification, for fear of a lethal ‘treatment’.

  • Shuffle the deck. Deal out a number of facedown cards equal to one less than the number of travellers. Add the Infected’s card to the pile.

  • These are now Identity Cards.

  • Quickly, turn all the Identity Cards face-up. Allow all the travellers to study and memorise the cards for about ten seconds. Then flip them facedown again.

  • Shuffle the Identity Cards and deal one anonymously to each player. Players can no longer converse and must keep their Identity Card hidden. One of your number will become the Infected, though nobody should know who. Working it out is the game!

  • The Reader begins the process by taking their turn to choose another traveller and ask: “Are you X?” — where ‘X’ is a name on one of the Identity Cards. For example, if the Helpless was among the Identity Cards, the Reader/asker might ask: “Are you the Helpless?”

  • The answering traveller must respond truthfully whether the name matches their Identity Card — either ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

    • If the answer is ‘yes’, and the asker has correctly guessed the answering traveller’s Identity Card, then the answering traveller is eliminated and must reveal their card. The asker gets to continue by questioning another traveller.

    • If the answer is ‘no’, and the asker has not guessed correctly, then the answering traveller and the asker swap Identity Cards. Both travellers may check their new cards. The answering traveller then becomes the asker, and repeats the process to a different traveller. They cannot ask the traveller who just asked them.

  • If any traveller asks someone whether they are the Infected and is wrong, the asking traveller is immediately eliminated without swapping cards.

  • The game ends either when the Infected is exposed and publicly eliminated, or when only one traveller is left. (The final traveller then reveals their Identity Card.)

HELP FROM AN ITEM

If any traveller carries a MASK, they may choose to lie when answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’, even if they are the Infected. Other travellers must treat their answers as truthful.

Success. If the Infected was identified and eliminated, the Challenge is passed. The party will benefit, but the Infected will suffer.

Failure. If the Infected was eliminated without being publicly exposed, or the Infected survives, the Challenge is failed. The party will be Cursed, but the Infected will personally benefit.

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If the Challenge was passed, the traveller who identified and eliminated the Infected has stopped the plague, and wins the Blessing of the Infected. If the traveller who was the Infected carries any Blessings, they must discard one of them.

If the Challenge was failed, the plague runs amok.

  • The party suffers the Curse of the Infected. Take the Infected’s card and place it in a designated area on the table so everyone can see it. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.

  • If the Infected survived the game without being eliminated, they may select a random card from the deck. They may claim this card as either a Blessing or a Bargain.

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As the great pyre burns, the soldiers shake their heads mournfully. “Surely we have angered the the Triple Gods, that they should send such a pestilence upon us. Would that our war were as deadly…”

As the flames flicker into nothing, we find ourselves alone on the plateau once more.

  • Re-form the deck before continuing.