Dazzled to Death

A murder mystery party game by Freeform Games LLP

1. Welcome to Dazzled to Death!

Before you can run Dazzled to Death there are a few bits and pieces
you will need to do as the host. Don’t worry, it’s not too onerous.

The first thing you need to do is read through everything –

including the characters. Start with this file – we suggest that you
print it out and take your time to read it through. Don’t worry if
it all seems too much to take in at once – you won’t have to
remember everything when you run Dazzled to Death.

(A quick check – if you’re not running Dazzled to Death, please STOP

READING NOW and give this to the person who is running it.)

About the Host: The host doesn’t play the game in the same way as
the other characters. The host (playing the part of the Waiter)
organizes the evening and “runs” the game, and therefore needs to
know what is going on.

Important note: Dazzled to Death is an alternative version of one of

our other murder mystery games, The Night before Christmas. The
characters and the plots are the same, so if your guests have
previously played The Night before Christmas, they’ll know the
secrets of Dazzled to Death too! The difference is that The Night
before Christmas is written specifically for a Christmas setting,
while Dazzled to Death is suitable for any time of year.

Disclaimer: The game comes “as is”. We are unable to enter into any
conversations regarding the best way to make it work. Any disputes
arising from the sale of Dazzled to Death are subject to the laws of
England and Wales, regardless of the location of the customer. This
game is for adults and teenagers. Plot lines are not suitable for
younger children. Common sense is required to play this game.

We sell games – they’re meant to be fun. Our games sometimes include

rules allowing characters to stab, poison or shoot each other. We
provide safe rules covering such acts and do not suggest or condone
the use of real implements when the games are played. You are
responsible for running the game – if you, or any of your players,
choose not to use the rules we provide, you have sole responsibility
for the consequences that may follow.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 1 www.freeformgames.com

2. What’s in Dazzled to Death?
Dazzled to Death consists of several files:

_readme.txt – instructions for what to do first, and our terms and

conditions, which you agreed to when you bought Dazzled to Death.

playing_a_murder_mystery_game.pdf – 1 page. An introduction to

playing a Freeform Games murder mystery game.

dtd_01_instructions.pdf – 22 pages. This file, which includes

instructions for preparing and running Dazzled to Death. Read this
file first, before printing anything else out.

dtd_02_invitation.pdf – 4 pages. The invitation booklet for you to

send to your players. This file is an Acrobat form so that you can
complete it with the date and venue of your party. You can then
email it to your players, or print it out to mail to them.

dtd_03_cast_list.pdf – 1 page. The cast of Dazzled to Death, and the

Evington-Browne family tree.

dtd_05_host_files.pdf – 3 pages. The Waiter’s Quick Reference Sheet,

speeches, handouts and the solution.

dtd_06_cards.pdf – 15 pages. Name badges, items, abilities and

monkey cards for use during the game. The cards need to be cut out
before use, and we recommend printing them on thin card or stiff
paper.

dtd_07_setting_and_rules.pdf – 1 page. The setting and rules for

Dazzled to Death. Each guest should receive a copy of this.

dtd_08_boston_times.pdf – 1 page. The Boston Times newspaper page.

The following are the characters in Dazzled to Death (in

alphabetical order). Each is two pages long.
 dtd_09_aggie_marbles.pdf
 dtd_10_charles_pemberton.pdf
 dtd_11_christy_crompton.pdf
 dtd_12_dinah_peters.pdf
 dtd_13_dr_bruisyard.pdf
 dtd_14_evie_eb.pdf
 dtd_15_great_aunt_priscilla.pdf
 dtd_16_james_pemberton.pdf
 dtd_17_john_eb.pdf
 dtd_18_miles_earnshaw.pdf
 dtd_19_patrick_eb.pdf
 dtd_20_reggie_haven.pdf
 dtd_21_rose_eb.pdf
 dtd_22_soames.pdf
 dtd_23_tracy_eb.pdf

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 2 www.freeformgames.com

3. Planning Dazzled to Death
The more time spent planning and preparing for a murder mystery
party, the more fun you and your guests will have. We therefore
recommend that you take your time planning your party rather than
rushing straight into it. (Some of our customers have hosted very
successful parties at very short notice. However, we really don’t
recommend that, as we prefer a less stressful life!)

Here, then, is our recommended timetable.

One month before

Print the entire game out and read the whole thing – including the
characters. For this printing, we suggest printing out the game at
two sheets to a page (and double-sided if possible) to save paper.
You can do this with the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Set a date, and start inviting guests. You can see the details of
how to do this in Section 6: Invitations.

Decide whether you are going to decorate your venue to suit your
party. You should also think about food – we recommend finger food,
as that enables guests to mingle and for the party to carry on
uninterrupted. If you choose to have a sit-down meal, your party
will probably take longer.

Where possible we try not to organize both the food and the party –
we try to delegate the food to someone else. (One thing that has
worked well is for guests to bring different dishes for a buffet –
one brings sandwiches, another salad, and yet other guest brings
chips.)

Two weeks before

Print out everything you need for the game and stuff envelopes. Do
the stuffing now, rather than leaving it till later; we have been
printing out and stuffing envelopes a mere two hours before a party
before now, but we really don’t recommend that, as there are usually
other things we should be doing then!

Envelope stuffing can take a couple of hours, so we find it best if

we do it in front of a video or DVD at home.

Finalize your guest list. Chase guests that haven’t replied to your
initial invite, and recast if anyone has dropped out. (If you need
to recast, just inform those whose characters you change. Section 5:
Casting explains which characters you must use, and which ones are
optional.)

One week before

If you wish to, send out the full character information (ie, the
two-page pdf file with the character details in it – do not include
the abilities and items). You should also include directions to the

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 3 www.freeformgames.com

venue, for those who don’t know where it is. See Section 6 for more
information about invitations.

Finalize the food – or at least check that the food and drink is in
hand, if others are producing it for you.

Run through the rules with a co-host (if you’re using one) or a
friend (if you’re not). We’ve created a quick-reference sheet to
make it easy for you, but you might want to practise before the
party itself.

On the day

Prepare your venue (move anything delicate out of harm’s way, make
sure you have enough seating, clear a space for the food and drink).

Then, just follow the instructions in Section 9: On the Day –

Hosting Dazzled to Death and have a good party!

4. Helpful resources
We want to do everything we can to make sure your party is a
success! Apart from the help we can give you ourselves, other people
who've used this game have provided useful material and stories on
our website. Here are some of the places you can get help:

 https://www.freeformgames.com/common_questions.php – some of the

most frequent questions and answers are gathered here;

 https://www.freeformgames.com/hints_and_tips.php – a collection of
hints and tips for hosting a successful murder mystery party;

 https://www.freeformgames.com/standard_rules.php – a set of
documents containing the simple standard rules for our games,
which you can print out for your guests to use if you like;

 https://www.facebook.com/freeformgames – our Facebook page, where

you can ask questions;

 https://www.freeformgames.com/stories.php – read stories about

parties that people have had using this game;

 https://www.freeformgames.com/murdermysterypartynewsletter.php –
subscribe to our irregular newsletter, which includes tips,
stories and questions as well as news about our latest games;

 info@freeformgames.com – email us directly and we will answer

you as quickly as we can.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 4 www.freeformgames.com

5. Casting
You will need 12 to 15 friends for Dazzled to Death. If you have 15
guests, that’s ideal. If you have less, though, you’ll need to leave
out one or more of the characters. The game runs just as well with
any number from 12 to 15.
Characters that can
Number of Female
Male characters be played by males
guests characters
and females
Rose E-B
John E-B III
Evie E-B
James Pemberton
Tracy E-B
12 guests Charles Pemberton Reggie Haven
Priscilla E-B
Dr Bruisyard
Agatha Marbles
Miles Earnshaw
Dinah Peters
13 guests Patrick E-B
14 guests Soames
15 guests Christy Crompton

 If you’re not using Patrick, tell Rose to announce at the

beginning that due to the bad weather, Patrick has been unable
to make it to the lodge for the party.

 If you’re not using Soames, tell Rose to announce that Soames

the butler has taken leave over this period, and give Soames’s
First Aid Kit Item card to Rose.

 If you’re not using Christy, tell Patrick that his friend was
unable to accept his invitation to come to the party.

If one of your guests fails to turn up on the evening, you may need
to make a substitution – you can always drop one of Christy, Soames
or Patrick.

Neutral characters: you may find that players who you've cast into
neutral roles will ask you what gender the character is ‘supposed to
be’, or even may just assume that it’s intended as specifically of
one gender. To clarify that, our assumption is that players will
play neutral characters as the same gender they themselves are.
(Although if you and they feel happier playing the character cross-
gender, that’s absolutely fine of course.)

Help – I have an extra guest!

If you have more than 15 friends who want to play Dazzled to Death,
or if someone turns up unexpectedly on the night, it is possible to
fit them in and give them a character to play.

On our website: http://www.freeformgames.com/extra_characters.php

you will find extra characters, created by us and by earlier hosts
of the game, that can be added into Dazzled to Death.

Note that the versions of the extra characters on that page have
been censored, so as not to give away game secrets to any player who
© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 5 www.freeformgames.com
might stumble across them. As a host, you can download uncensored
versions from the page where you got the main game files – the
download link, and your password, are in the email that we sent you
when you bought the game.

Kids

Most of our customers find that Dazzled to Death can be used

unmodified for a party for older teens – or with a mix of teens and
adults (when they often seem to have more fun than the grown-ups!)
However, you must of course be the judge of what you think it
suitable for your own children and their friends, so we advise
reading the game thoroughly before you decide whether or not to go
ahead with a kids’ party plan.

If you do use a mix of kids and adults, then it’s best to assign to
the younger players the parts of the younger characters: Tracy,
Evie, Patrick, Charles, Reggie and Christy.

We have more advice about including kids in your party on our

website, here: http://www.freeformgames.com/kids.php

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 6 www.freeformgames.com

6. Invitations
Each guest’s invitation should consist of a copy of the
dtd_02_invitation.pdf file, completed with their name and casting
details, plus the background file dtd_08_boston_times.pdf. You can
also include the “How to Play” document,
playing_a_murder_mystery_game.pdf, if your guests haven’t played one
of our games before.

You can also send out the entire character sheet information in
advance as well – many of those who have played our games recommend
doing just that. The advantages with sending out everything in
advance are:

 your guests will be fully prepared for the evening when they
arrive;

 they are likely to be better costumed and may have appropriate

props.

There are disadvantages, though, and these include:

 Your guests may start playing the game amongst themselves

before the party. They may also inadvertently reveal secret
information and accidentally spoil the game for others. (If
you do send out the information in advance, you should make
clear that they are not to talk about it before the night of
your party.)

 You may find re-casting difficult if a critical guest drops

out at the last minute. (You might therefore want to hold back
a few characters just in case there are last-minute
cancellations.)

 You will have to print everything out twice, as there’s a high

risk of your guests forgetting their character packets.

However, it’s certainly true that the game will get off to a quicker
start if everyone is familiar with their characters.

If you do send out the full character details in advance, we

recommend that you don’t include the cards (abilities, items) at
this point.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 7 www.freeformgames.com

7. Your venue
Space

Dazzled to Death takes place inside the downstairs rooms of the

Evington-Browne family’s rather grand hunting lodge in the White
Mountains area – but you don’t need a hunting lodge to host it! The
party can be held in a single large room or two adjoining medium-
sized rooms. The area needs to be large enough for everyone to move
around freely and plot and scheme without being easily overheard,
yet small enough that everyone is within easy reach. For extra fun
you can allocate another (smaller) room and call it ‘the gun room’
where characters can go if they need a bit more privacy for
negotiations.

If you aren’t sure you have enough space, you should allow for the
party to spill into hallways and other rooms.

Your guests will be talking quite a lot in Dazzled to Death, and it

can get a little noisy. You might therefore like to let the
neighbours know that you’re holding a party – or even better, invite
them.

Food

Dazzled to Death could be played during a sit-down meal as long as

everyone has the frequent opportunity to move around and talk
privately between courses. However, a buffet meal and finger food is
probably better.

Conversation is important in Dazzled to Death so your guests are

likely to become thirsty. Ensure there are plenty of drinks
available.

Atmosphere

Encouraging the players to wear costumes will help to create an

appropriate atmosphere. We’ve included costume suggestions in the
cast list dtd_03_cast_list.pdf and also in the free introductory
file. The Hunting Lodge is rustic but comfortable and should be
dressed for the party – music from the 1940s, or light classical
music, in the background will set the mood nicely. If you can make
up some hunting trophies and display them around, this will add to
the atmosphere.

If everyone has dressed for the occasion, you might wish to take
photographs. If you do, you’ll need to take photographs at the start
of the evening, because once you get going you may find you’re too
busy.

Timing

You’ll need to have a clock you can look at, or a wristwatch of

course – a clock is ideal though, then you can be sure the players
are seeing the same time as you!

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 8 www.freeformgames.com

8. Preparing Dazzled to Death
There are a few bits and pieces that need to be done before you can
host Dazzled to Death. You will need an envelope for each character,
and some scissors or a guillotine. You may also want to provide your
guests with paper and pens for them to make notes with.

You also need to print out the materials for your guests. Section 12
– Printing Dazzled to Death explains how many copies of each page
you will need to print.

Character Envelopes

You will need an envelope for each character. Into that envelope you
should put:
 The character sheets (two pages for each character);
 dtd_07_setting_and_rules.pdf;
 dtd_03_castlist.pdf;
 Name badge – from the cards file;
 Abilities, Secret and Clue cards – from the cards file;
 dtd_08_boston_times.pdf.
The following items also need to be included in each character’s
envelope, as follows:
Character Item cards
Aggie Marbles Magnifying glass
Christy Crompton
Charles Pemberton Blood-testing kit
Dinah Peters Locket
Dr Bruisyard Mask
Blood-testing kit
Poison (cyanide)
First aid kit
Evie E-B
Great-Aunt Priscilla Locket
Dazzling Diamonds (sparkling)
Novel
James Pemberton Mask
Painting (J. Constable)
FBI card
John E-B Mask
Miles Earnshaw Letter from John E-B I
Poison (strychnine)
Patrick E-B
Reggie Haven Mask
Painting (G. Constable)
Rose E-B Blank cheque
Blank cheque

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 9 www.freeformgames.com

 Character Item cards
Soames First aid kit
Tracy E-B Dazzling Diamonds (fabulous)
Monkey
Waiter Painting (James Constable)
Blood test results (Evie)
Blood test results (Dinah)
Blood test results (Miles)
Wine glass results
Note that some of the items are very similar to one another. The
wordings on the cards are slightly different, though, as indicated
in the table. Make sure you give the right ones to the right people!

The item cards shown in the table as “Waiter” you should keep in an
envelope for yourself, for use during the game.

You should also pin up on a wall the extra copies of

dtd_03_cast_list.pdf for players to refer to during the game:

Props

Props add atmosphere, and will make things run a little more
smoothly. You can make props for any of the items if you wish, but
using the item cards as they are is just fine.

You can also provide notebooks and pens for your guests – these will
help them keep track of what’s going on, particularly if they are
trying to solve the murder!

Your guests may also bring props for their costumes, but you should
check that these don’t overlap with the ‘official’ game props. Never
create props for guns or other weapons, or allow your guests to
bring them. Not only may a prop weapon cause injury, but in some
places replica weapons are illegal – and you can never be sure how
other people (particularly the police) will react when they see guns
being waved around.

A soft toy to represent the monkey would be appropriate (otherwise,

just use the item card). Tracy E-B will have this initially, but can
pass it over to other guests as she persuades them to look after the
monkey for a while.

You could also make props for the painting of The Madonna of the
Generous Endowment and its two forgeries; and for the genuine and
fake Dazzling Diamonds.

Host’s Handouts

As the host you also have three handouts that you need to issue
during the game. These are all found in dtd_05_host_files.pdf:

 Welcome and Announcement – to be read out by Rose E-B at the

beginning of the game.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 10 www.freeformgames.com

  Telegram from Lorraine Milward – to be given by you to Rose
during the game.

 The Solution – to be read by Aggie Marbles after the game has

finished.

You should also keep a copy of the Waiter’s Quick Reference Sheet
with you to refer to during the party.

Waiter’s Items

As host you have several cards to keep and to use during the game:

 Poisoned! cards, one of which should be given to anyone who is

poisoned.

 With your last dying breath card, which should be given to

anyone who is about to die.

 Painting, signed by James Constable – this card (or a prop

representing the painting, with the card taped to it, if you
prefer) should be on display in the room in which you’re
playing the game.

 Three Blood test results cards, for Miles, Dinah and Evie:
each to be given to whoever requests a blood test of that
person’s blood, 15 minutes after that request has been made.

 Wine glass results card, which has the results of the wine
glass testing, showing that the valet was poisoned.

 Ten Monkey cards. You should hand these to Tracy E-B before
the game starts, and explain to her how they work.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 11 www.freeformgames.com

9. On the Day – Hosting Dazzled to Death
Dazzled to Death is held over a single evening. Once preparation is
complete all you need do is find some friends and start scheming!
The times noted here are suggestions only.

7:00 to 7:30 Characters and rules

As your guests arrive, welcome them to the cocktail party and hand
out the envelopes.

As you hand out the character envelopes you should:

 Talk your players through the contents of their envelopes,
warning them that they may contain small objects such as item
cards (which should, for now, be kept concealed from other
players).
 If you have anyone who hasn’t played one of our games before,
make sure they read and understand the ‘How to play a murder
mystery game’ document.
 Talk everyone through the 2-page character briefing,
especially the Tips for Beginners; and the Setting and Rules
for Dazzled to Death.
 If you aren’t using all the characters, explain that not
everyone mentioned may be present, and that references to the
missing ones should just be ignored.
 If you’re using any of our free extra characters, explain that
they don’t appear on the cast list, and that envelopes may
contain slips of paper relating to them.
 Say what time you're planning to start and finish play, and
when food will be served (if appropriate).
Give them at least twenty minutes to read and digest their
characters. (Twenty minutes is actually a bit short – particularly
if you didn’t send the characters out in advance.)

You should also now give Tracy E-B the special ‘monkey cards’. You
will need to explain to her that if she can persuade another player
to hold the monkey for at least 10 minutes, one of these cards
should be then be given to that player. She should hold the cards
out to the other player face down, and the player should select one.
The card will say:

 the Generous Monkey likes that person and brings them

something to eat – in which case Tracy should bring that
player something to eat;

 the Thieving Monkey likes that person and will pick a pocket
for them. In which case that person should see you, the
Waiter, to tell you who is their chosen victim. You then
approach that victim and take one of their Item cards at
random, and give it to the player who was holding the monkey.
The victim should not be told that it was the monkey that
stole their item!

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 12 www.freeformgames.com

  the Mischievous Monkey dislikes that person, and steals one of
their items – in which case they should allow Tracy to take an
Item card at random (no effect if they don’t have any);

 the Fortunate Monkey’s luck rubs off on that person – next

time that player uses an Ability card, they do not have to
check off a circle as normal.

After the monkey card has taken its effect, it should be torn up.

Note that Tracy isn’t allowed to use some of her ability cards if
she is looking after the monkey – that means that she has to give it
to someone else to look after. (To look after the monkey, that
person should be holding it – and not leave it somewhere.)

7:30 Start the game – Rose’s welcome and announcement

At 7.40, Rose E-B should read out the Welcome and announcement
speech (on page 2 of dtd_05_host_files.pdf) to all of the players.
Once the announcement has been read out, the game has started!

7:30 to 8:30 Begins in the drawing-room

This section of the evening is usually fairly quiet. Everyone should

be talking to each other and sounding out their fellow players.
Don’t expect fireworks – the night is young and there is a way to go
yet.

At about 8:00 (or 30 minutes after play has started), you should ask
John E-B, Dr Bruisyard, Charles and Soames to talk to you together.
You should then give them the Wine glass results item card, which
tells them the results of the testing of the wine glass sediment and
shows that the wine was poisoned. Give them a few minutes to discuss
this, and then ask John if he wants to tell the rest of the guests
or keep it quiet. If he decides to make an announcement, help him
get everyone’s attention. He may however, decide to keep this
knowledge quiet.

There may be various pick-pocketing activities going on that you

will be asked to supervise.

And remember – nobody can die yet!

8:30 to 8:45

Time for the main course. If you’re not serving food in courses
through the game, you might want to take a brief bar break at around
this point, to give your guests a chance to refresh themselves. If
they’ve been eating and drinking anyway, then there’s no need to
take a break – but sometimes people get so caught up in their
characters that they forget to eat!

8:45 to 9:20 Tension mounts as the cocktail party continues

At the beginning of this period, a telegram boy fights though the

storm with a telegram for Rose, which you should give to her. (Give
Rose the Telegram from Lorraine Milward, on page 2 of

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 13 www.freeformgames.com

dtd_05_host_files.pdf). You should announce to all the guests that a
telegram has arrived for Rose, but you that the conditions are still
dangerous and that no-one should attempt to leave.

By now characters will probably be using their abilities freely on

each other, to try and find out who knows what and can help them
achieve their goals. There may even be some sneaky attempts to harm
one another. Remember though, no-one can die before the announcement
about the Dazzling Diamonds.

During this period, either Charles or Doctor Bruisyard may come to

you and say that they want to use their blood testing kit. Ask them
who they wish to test, and tell them to come back to you in fifteen
minutes – then give them the Blood test results item card which
reveals the blood group of Miles, Dinah or Evie, as requested. If
they want to test anyone else’s blood apart from those three, make
them wait fifteen minutes and then invent a result – no-one else’s
blood group is important to the plot.

At the end of this period announce that Aunt Priscilla is about to

make her announcement about the Dazzling Diamonds.

9:20 to 9:30 Announcement about the Dazzling Diamonds

The handing over of the diamonds should require everyone’s

attention. Priscilla should make a short speech, hand the diamonds
over and raise a toast to the lucky recipient.

Priscilla has three main options here:

 she might acknowledge Dinah as her daughter (if she’s found

out that she is!) and give her the diamonds;

 she might give them to Evie as originally planned;

 she might confess that she has lost them;

 or there’s the possibility of variations on these, if she’s

lost the fakes too by now, or if she’s managed to recover the
originals…

It’s up to Priscilla what she decides to do: depending on her

decision, you may be called upon to verify that the diamonds are
indeed fake or genuine, but apart from that it should all work
itself out between the players.

When Priscilla has finished her announcement, give the players a

moment or two to react – then tell everyone that they have twenty
minutes left to resolve any unfinished business.

This announcement of Priscilla’s marks the point after which

characters can be killed! Expect some attempted poisonings. Don’t
forget to use the Poisoned! and With Your Last Dying Breath card –
see 9. The Waiter’s Detailed Rules, below, for details.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 14 www.freeformgames.com

9:30 to 10:00 Climax

During this period people will probably be desperately trying to

agree final deals, find or exchange missing items or to take their
revenge. Anyone who is poisoned now has ten minutes left to live!

Halfway through this period, warn the players that the storm looks
like it is easing, and the lodge will soon be accessible to the
outside world – signalling the fact that everything is coming to a
head.

Announce when there is five minutes left to go, and tell everyone to
finish what they are trying to do.

Then, declare the game to be finished!

10:00 to 10:30 Conclusion

We find it best to do this in a few stages. If you think it’s too

involved, you can skip some of them!

 Who is the killer? Get everyone settled down and relaxed. Ask
everyone in turn who they think killed the valet.

 Reveal the murderer: Give Aggie Marbles the handout entitled

The Solution (on page 3 of dtd_05_host_files.pdf) and ask her
to read it out.

 Debrief: Finally, ask everyone to describe who they really

were and what they were up to. Ask each guest to tell everyone
what they think happened to their character after the events
of that evening!

Prizes

You might like to give out small prizes for most successful
character, most enjoyable performance, best concealment of secret
goals, or anything else you can think of that deserves rewarding!
It’s not essential, but it rounds the evening off nicely.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 15 www.freeformgames.com

10. The Waiter’s Detailed Rules
The rules in the characters file should be distributed to your
guests with their characters. Unfortunately, the Waiter needs a few
more rules. The Waiter’s Quick Reference Sheet (page 1 of
dtd_05_host_files.pdf) contains summary notes for quick reference
during play.

Abilities

Everyone has abilities that allow him or her to do something

special. For example, some characters have the A Moment of Passion
ability. If they follow the instructions on the card then they can
read another guest’s Secret card. At the same time, that person
might play the same ability (if they have it) back on them.

Rock-Paper-Scissors

Sometimes players want to do something that isn’t covered by an

ability card or the other rules. When that happens, challenge them
to a round of Rock-Paper-Scissors. (Or, if they want to do something
to someone else , they must beat them at Rock-Paper-Scissors.) If
what they are doing is relatively simple, let them succeed on a tie.
For trickier actions, they fail on a tie. Use common sense to
decide.

If someone wants to do something that is covered by an ability card,

then they cannot do it without that ability. (For example, they
can’t try and pick pockets if they don’t have the Pickpocket
ability.)

Pickpocketing

The Pickpocket ability lets your guests steal items from other
characters. To use, they simply show you the card (and cross off one
use) and tell you what they want to steal, and from whom. You must
then go to the person, take that item and give it to the pickpocket.
Try not to make it obvious who is the thief!

If the victim doesn’t have the item, you should take something else,
at random – unless they don’t have anything, in which case the
pickpocket attempt fails.

Other Weird Stuff

Players can sometimes stretch the limits of Dazzled to Death. When

they try to do something wacky and weird, ask yourself two
questions: “Is it fun?” and “Will it upset the evening for everyone
else?”

For example, suppose things are going really badly for Reggie Haven,
who in a fit of pique decides to set fire to the Lodge. After all,
that’s bound to teach the Evington-Brownes a lesson. So Reggie
approaches you with that suggestion. Well, while this may be fun for
Reggie, burning down the Lodge would definitely spoil the fun for
everyone else.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 16 www.freeformgames.com

Refusing such a suggestion can be done in two ways. You can either
say “No, you can’t set light to the Lodge without everyone else
seeing.” Or you can let Reggie start the fire and then raise the
alarm, relying on the guests to put out the blaze with all that
surplus rainwater. (And because you want them to succeed, they
will.)

Make It Up!

The secret to being a good Host is in knowing that your guests don’t
know what’s right and what’s wrong. So if in doubt – make something
up! If it sounds right, it is right.

Poison

Dr Bruisyard and Miles Earnshaw both have bottles of poison that

they may try to use on their enemies. To poison someone, the
poisoner must have a Poison item card, and the victim must eat or
drink something that they have been handed by the poisoner.

When a character poisons another, they will tell you, and you should
then show the victim the You have been poisoned! card.

Poison has the following effects:

 The victim may not use any abilities.
 If the victim cannot find an antidote, then they will die.
The speed at which poison kills its victim is as follows:
 If the poison is administered after the Dazzling Diamonds
announcement, then it takes ten minutes before killing its
victim.
 If the poison is administered before the announcement, then it
causes the loss of abilities right away; but does not take
full effect until the announcement, at which point it takes
ten more minutes before killing its victim.
 If the game ends before the poison is due to act (i.e., the
poison was administered within the last ten minutes of the
game), then the victim survives. The poisoner should have
acted sooner!
Poison can be healed with the First aid kit item, which anyone can
use. Note that there are only two kits, but three doses of poison…

A character can be poisoned (and treated) more than once.

Generations

There are a few Abilities that can only be used on someone of the
same generation. If players ask you who is of the same generation as
them, point them to the family tree.

Monkey Cards

Tracy has these cards and will give one (by the player selecting one
at random from the cards) to anyone who has held the monkey for more
than 10 minutes. The effects of the cards are described above. Each
card is torn up after being used.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 17 www.freeformgames.com

Arrest

James Pemberton can arrest anyone on suspicion of any crime. If he

does so, the Waiter removes that character’s ability cards. However,
if James is unable to provide convincing evidence (which might be a
witness, for example) within 15 minutes (or 5 minutes if this is
before the Dazzling Diamonds announcement) then that character has
to be released (and gets their abilities back). They can be arrested
again later, if need be.

Money

All of the characters are well-off, but the only character with
access to significant funds is Rose Evington-Browne. She has
$100,000 and several characters have asked her for money. It is up
to Rose how she decides to distribute her money – if she distributes
it at all. She has two item cards which are blank cheques – if she
wants to give someone money, she should write the amount and their
name on the back of the card, sign it and give it to them. (If she
needs more than two cheques, she can just use blank pieces of
paper.) Cheques cannot be forged or tampered with during the course
of the game!

Other sources of significant wealth are the (genuine) painting of

The Madonna with the Generous Endowment and the Dazzling Diamonds.

Items in rooms

Realistically, James and Reggie would not be carrying their

paintings around with them all evening; they’d be in their rooms.
But for the sake of convenience, we make them carry the item cards
just the same. We assume that if someone picks someone’s pocket and
comes up with one of these items, it means that really they have
been to their room and grabbed it. And, if someone asks you if they
can search someone else’s room, you should go to the victim, ask
them which of their item cards are actually things concealed in
their room, and then tell the searcher accordingly. (This is a bit
of a fudge, but it makes the game run more smoothly.)

Death

Unfortunately, someone may well meet an untimely demise. To ensure

that everyone has a good time, there is a “No deaths before the
Dazzling Diamonds announcement” rule.

After the announcement, characters can die. To make the sting of

death less painful, give them plenty of opportunity for someone to
leap forward and heal them. Then, once they are definitely deceased,
give them the With Your Last Dying Breath card to allow them one
final, heroic action before slumping to the floor.

Dead characters can’t reveal their Secrets, Clue or Abilities. The

only things that may be taken from dead bodies are Item cards.

Incidentally, it’s not necessary for a character to be killed for

Dazzled to Death to be a success. The real success is in how much
everyone enjoys themselves.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 18 www.freeformgames.com

Unconscious People

Players will often ask if they can search unconscious people, steal
their items and so on. They can, although of course if it’s in a
public place, everyone else will see them doing so. You should look
through the unconscious person’s cards and give the searcher any
Item cards included, so they can choose which they wish to take.
Don’t let them see their victim’s Ability, Secret or Clue cards
though!

The announcement about the diamonds

Should be made by Aunt Priscilla at least 30 minutes before the end

of the game. Make it clear to whoever is playing Priscilla that they
must make some sort of announcement: they can’t just decide not to.

Our standard rules

Our standard rules (which include arrest and poison, above) are
available in pdf form so that you can share them with your players.
This may be useful for those players that may need to use a
particular rule. You can find these rules on our standard rules
page: http://www.freeformgames.com/standard_rules.php

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 19 www.freeformgames.com

11. A Brief Guide to the Plots
This is a brief description of the plots running through Dazzled to
Death. Once the evening starts the plots will become mixed up; but
this is how they are at the start.

Most of these plots will work themselves through in the hands of the
players, without you having to get too involved or answer questions.

Evie’s parentage: Rose E-B had a secret night of passion with Miles
/ Claude just prior to marrying John E-B III. There is a chance that
Evie might be Claude’s daughter (although in fact she is not).
Claude is blackmailing Rose.

Valet’s death: Dr Bruisyard is in Rose’s confidence and will do

anything to help her. He was trying to poison Miles/Claude and
accidentally poisoned the valet instead.

The Puma, the Painting and the FBI: Reggie Haven is the thief, the
Puma. There is a valuable painting in the Lodge. Both Reggie and
James Pemberton (who secretly works for the FBI) have had forgeries
made with the intention of swapping paintings. At the start of the
game, James has the real painting, signed J. Constable (which he
swapped for a forgery the night before). You have the item card for
the forgery that James left on the wall (“Painting signed by James
Constable”).

The Dazzling Diamonds: There are two copies of these. Priscilla is

wearing the false copy (“The ‘Dazzling Diamonds’– a necklace of
sparkling diamonds.”) and cannot remember what she did with the
originals. Tracy E-B has the real diamonds (“The ‘Dazzling
Diamonds’– a necklace of fabulous diamonds.”) because her monkey
stole them. Tracy is trying to find a way to return them without
fuss. If someone wants to examine either copy, they must play rock-
paper-scissors with the Waiter. If they win or draw, then tell them
that the false copy is false (or that the real copy is real),
otherwise they can’t tell.

Aunt Priscilla and Dinah Peters: The temporary cook is really the
illegitimate daughter of Aunt Priscilla. Miles / Claude knows this
and is trying to profit from the knowledge. Agatha Marbles knows
that Priscilla had a daughter and that someone may be trying
blackmail her friend because of it. Dinah Peters may therefore be
heiress to the Dazzling Diamonds, if Pris acknowledges her as her
daughter.

John E-B and the family finances: John has invested heavily in
television and has over-stretched financially. He must get hold of
some immediate cash and must find some long-term investment or a
business partner.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 20 www.freeformgames.com

12. Printing Dazzled to Death
The following is a summary of what you need to print when you host
Dazzled to Death. The numbers below assume that you will be using
all 15 characters, and that you’ve already sent out the invitations.
(See Section 6: Invitations for the files to print if you need to
print invitations.)

Please note that the first thing you should do is print a copy of
the game off for yourself – both to read now and to refer to during
the party.

Many modern printers allow you to print two pages to a single sheet
of paper. You can do this to reduce the amount of paper – we
recommend doing this with the character sheets (both pages on a
single sheet). Be aware that this does make the type quite small, so
if you are going to play Dazzled to Death in subdued lighting (or
some of your guests are partially sighted) you might want to print
it as normal.

dtd_03_cast_list.pdf

Page Number of
Title Comments
number copies
Cast Each guest will need one copy with
list their character envelope. The
1 and 17 remaining two copies you should tack
family to the wall for easy reference during
tree the party.
dtd_05_host_files.pdf

Page Number of
Title Comments
number copies
The Waiter’s
For your reference during the
1 Quick Reference 1
party
Sheet
Welcome, To be read out during the
2-3 telegram and The 1 party – and the solution for
Solution the end of the party
dtd_06_cards.pdf

If possible, print the cards file on thin card so that the cards are
easier to handle during the party.

Page Number of
Title Comments
number copies

2-3 Name badges 1 One for each guest.

4-11 Ability, Secret 1 Ability, Secret and Clue

and Clue cards cards for each character.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 21 www.freeformgames.com

 12–14 Item cards 1 Print these on different
coloured card so that they
stand out from other cards
15 Monkey cards 1 Ideally on yet a different
colour, although it isn’t
crucial.
dtd_07_setting_and_rules.pdf

Page Number of
Title Comments
number copies
Setting and Rules One for each guest –
1 for Dazzled to 15 included in their
Death character envelope
dtd_08_boston_times.pdf

Number
Page
Title of Comments
number
copies
One for each guest – included in their
The
character envelope. The remaining two
1 Boston 17
copies you should tack to the wall for
Times
easy reference during the party.
Character files

Each of the character pdf files needs printing out once. Each
character is two pages long and should be included in the character
envelope.
 dtd_09_aggie_marbles.pdf
 dtd_10_charles_pemberton.pdf
 dtd_11_christy_crompton.pdf
 dtd_12_dinah_peters.pdf
 dtd_13_dr_bruisyard.pdf
 dtd_14_evie_eb.pdf
 dtd_15_great_aunt_priscilla.pdf
 dtd_16_james_pemberton.pdf
 dtd_17_john_eb.pdf
 dtd_18_miles_earnshaw.pdf
 dtd_19_patrick_eb.pdf
 dtd_20_reggie_haven.pdf
 dtd_21_rose_eb.pdf
 dtd_22_soames.pdf
 dtd_23_tracy_eb.pdf

13. Acknowledgements
Dazzled to Death was written by Tracy Bose. Tracy also wrote Way out
West! The game was edited by Mo Holkar. Thanks are due to everyone
who helped playtest the game.

© 2004, 2008 Freeform Games LLP Page 22 www.freeformgames.com