The Torturer

The day wears on…

Black, sticky rain pelts us as we hack our way through the festering swamp. By early afternoon, we are tired, hungry and desperate for shelter.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoes across the oily water. Beneath a great yew, we see a hooded man laying out instruments across a table: thumbscrews, forks and other terrible contraptions. From the yew’s branches dangles a bound and gagged traveller, clearly the hooded man’s captive.

As his victim moans with fear, the hooded man sees us. “Hail, travellers. You are fortunate that I have already marked my victim, or perhaps it would be you in my trap. I am a torturer by trade; pain is my currency, suffering my delight. Though I admit, I grow bored with the old methods…” Sighing, the torturer shakes his head at the tools on his table. “Perhaps you have some new ideas to offer?”

He points at us. Of their own accord, our mouths open, compelled to voice our most sadistic recommendations.


The Challenge


This is a word game. Like it or not, you must help the Torturer terrorise his victim.

  • Clockwise starting with the Reader, travellers take it in turns to suggest a method of torture. Travellers do this by stating an imperative verb then a body part that both start with the same letter. Examples could include “eviscerate his eyes,” or “annihilate his ankles.”

  • Travellers are eliminated if: they fail to use the same starting letter for both words; if they repeat a method of torture or body part that has already been said; if they take more than three seconds to answer; or if they name a method of torture that doesn’t actually sound unpleasant.

  • The game ends when only one traveller remains in play or when any traveller recommends a method of torture that would immediately kill the victim (e.g. ‘blow up his brains’).

HELP FROM AN ITEM

If any traveller carries a ROPE and is eliminated, they may re-enter the game once.

Success. If only one traveller remains, the Challenge is passed.

Failure. If a traveller names a torture method that would result in fatality, the Challenge is failed. After all, the Torturer wants his victim alive…

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If the Challenge is passed, the last traveller remaining earns the Blessing of the Torturer.

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

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  • 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.

As our tongues sing in our unwilling mouths, we are forced to watch the torturer implement our recommendations. It is only when the game is over, and both torturer and victim have vanished, that we understand his despicable shrewdness. This entire game was just a means to torture us.