Gamehelpnunsontherun

The novices are on the loose! Temptation has lured them out of their rooms, and they are hoping not to get caught by the abbess the prioress. The nuns are quick and have excellent hearing, but with some cunning and luck the novices should be able to return to their rooms without getting caught.

Overview

Nuns on the Run is a hidden-movement game where 1 - 6 players competing as novices move secretly through the abbey as a team of 1 - 2 players working together nuns try to catch them.

• One player (or, in 8-player games, two players working as a team) controls the two nuns. They move in public. Nun player tokens on the map reflect their true location.

• All other players are novices. They move in secret. Each novice has a key and a secret wish. The first novice to collect their key, then collect their secret wish, and finally return to their room wins the game. Novice player tokens on the map always appear in their room, unless they are visible to a nun.

Novices

Novice Movement

Action	Distance	Noise
Stand	0	Die roll -3
Sneak	1 - 2	Die roll -2
Walk	3 - 4	Die roll -1
Run	1 - 5	Die roll +1

Novices move 0 - 5 spaces per turn (double on the first turn) and then roll a die to make noise, applying a -3 to +1 modifier based on their chosen action. For example, a novice who runs and rolls a 6 will make enough noise to be heard 7 spaces away. The novice must place a noise token near each nun within that distance.

Novices move in secret, but their chosen actions (stand, sneak, walk, run) and noise results are public. However, if a novice is ever in the same room as a nun -- rooms are separated by curtains, doors, and walls -- their location becomes public. Their player token on the map moves to reveal their true location. If they leave the room with the nun, they place a vanish token at their last visible location and their player token appears back in their room.

Nuns

Nun Movement

Action	Distance	Noise
Walk	3 - 4	✅ Die roll
Run	5 - 6	❌ None

Nuns move 3 - 6 spaces per turn along a pre-selected path. If a nun doesn't have a path (i.e., at the start of the game, or immediately upon reaching their current path's destination), they choose a new one before moving. Colored circles on the map highlight the nuns' paths.

Nuns must follow their path unless:

• They see a novice (a novice is in the same room)
• They see a vanish token (a novice was in the same room)
• There is a noise token next to them

Nuns catch novices in their same space (other than the novice's room). Novices who are caught lose their secret wish (if obtained) and must spend their next turn(s) walking towards their room via the shortest path. While "caught", novices cannot pick up their secret wish, do not place noise tokens or vanish tokens, and cannot be caught again. Novices may choose to go back "on the run" (removing the restrictions and immunity) if they end their movement in a room without a nun.

After both nuns move, all noise tokens and vanish tokens are cleared. Each nun that walked can then roll a die to listen for noise. All novices within that distance must place a noise token near the nun.

End of Game

• A novice wins immediately by making it back to their room with their secret wish. If multiple novices win on the same turn, ties are broken by who was caught the fewest times.
• The nuns win immediately if they catch novices equal to the number of players.
• The nuns win immediately at the end of round 15.

Variants and Game Options

• Blessings: Each player receives a once-per-game ability. There are 4 possible blessings.
  • Move one extra space
  • Reroll
  • Adjust noise by one (novices: -1, nuns: +1)
  • Place a false noise token
• Slow Novices: Increased difficulty for novices. In the first round, novices only move once (instead of the usual twice).
• Slow Nuns: Increased difficulty for nuns. Nuns move up to 5 spaces (instead of the usual 6).
• Strict Standard: Reduced difficulty for nuns. Nuns win by catching the number of novices in the game (instead of the total number of players).