The Mansion Incident – A Solo Survival Horror TTRPG
A downloadable game
The Mansion Incident is a solo dungeon-crawling RPG and a hack of Escape from Demon Castle Dracula by Rob Hebert (nerdypapergames.itch.io).
In The Mansion Incident you take on the role of a member of the Investigation and Rescue Implementation Service (I.R.I.S.) – an elite group of detectives tasked with finding, and in some cases liberating, missing persons in the sprawling mountains of the Midwestern United States – as you recover your team from a sinister, labyrinthian mansion that hides secrets and danger behind every door.
You aren’t sure what’s really going on in the Stepford Mansion. There are bizarre puzzles, booby-trapped rooms, hidden passages, and no end of ruthless, hungry monsters. But as part of I.R.I.S., you’ve bumped up against the inexplicable and the occult before. Mountain country is full of chthonic rituals, strange locations, and stranger beasts. There may not be anyone left alive from the helicopter, but you have to hold onto hope that your team survived. You care for each one of them. Among them are your best friend and your beloved. You won’t be leaving without them.
To escape, you’ll need to trek through the mansion, endure its horrors, recover your six missing teammates, and find some means of transport out of the mountains.
This is a game about survival and terror, but it’s also about relationships, community, and the strength that those bonds give us to endure.
To play, you’ll need:
- One six-sided die
- A deck of playing cards with the Jokers included (one red, one black)
- A means of writing
- Assorted markers for your character, health, and other notes of importance (cut-outs are provided)
In the vein of its predecessor, this game is inspired by the greatest zombie-themed survival horror video game franchise of all time.
Content Warnings (CW)
This is a game aimed at developing meaningful relationships and protecting the people that matter most to you. That said, it's also steeped in frightening, harrowing, and often violent situations. It includes the following, non-exhaustive list of content you should be aware of in order to decide if you wish to engage.
- Inferred presence and usage of guns (suggestions for substitutions are provided).
- Numerous zombified monsters, including mutated undead versions of: human beings, dogs, snakes, primates, insects, spiders, and tentacle-somethings.
- Some normal-ish snakes as well.
- Swarms of locusts.
- References to blood, lacerations, and other types of bodily harm and gore. It does not include any references to self-harm.
- Oppressive, tight spaces.
- Under some circumstances, character death and sacrifice.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Donating 110% of Sales to Trans Legal Defense Fund through May 31stMay 05, 2021
- v1.11: Introducing Jacked JackFeb 15, 2021
- V1.1: Memories & GritFeb 08, 2021
- My First Official GameFeb 06, 2021
Comments
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Dang, how is this not more popular? Can't believe it's free tbh. It's got the atmosphere and polish of One Thousand Year Old Vampire, but it's so mechanically satisfying. One of the better solo TTRPGs I've played that doesn't just turn into a writing exercise--there's a game in here. And you managed to take the Resident Evil-inspired flavor and really made it your own by adding in the theme of bonds, grit, and memories. Brava! And I will now forever ship Rachel x Liam in every one of my run-throughs. :p
I really liked the writing prompts on creating memories of the character's teammates and their interactions : )
Really great game! It took a little getting used to and the amount of things to keep track of felt a little overwhelming at first, but soon I found myself getting into the groove and finding my teammates.
This is REALLY cool. I'm a massive Classic RE (i.e. RE1-2-3) fan, zombie fan and dungeon crawler boardgame fan, so this ticks ALL the boxes for me! Love the playing card layout idea, too. I also like how - although not stated - it's obvious that you can either make the game an immersive journal-writing experience (i.e. writing up various memories and encounters) OR just ignore the fluff and play faster by simply awarding yourself "Grit points" for finding teammates, etc. and get the same mechanics.
Some rules questions:
* How exactly do rolls of "1" work with clubs/spades where a bonus zombie is spawned? I assumed that you fought the zombie (like a club card) then re-rolled to fight/resolve the original drawn threat or trap, is that right? What if you roll another "1"?
* 7 of Spades: Does a roll of 1-2 (escaped subject) only cause 1 Damage and nothing else? Or do you have to fight that Club monster normally (i.e. the room becomes a Club room)? Also, do you replace the Club card (escaped subject) you drew into the deck before reshuffling or is it considered "played" and discarded? Or does the Club card you drew become one of the adjoining rooms when you check for doors leading from the menagerie?
PS The only mod I made to the rules as written so far was to have Red Herb + Green Herb = Mixed Herb (instead of 3 Green Herbs), with Mixed Herbs restoring 3 Health Tokens. I just preferred that for inventory stacking purposes and hewing closer to the source material. ;)
I wonder if it might be interesting to also play without The Nemesis and/or Beloved mechanics for a change of pace after a couple more games? Or making new characters to play? Or starting with a "team" but increasing lethality? I love that even a lightweight game like this has so much flexibility for modding/alternate modes/etc.
I DID have the urge to hack THIS game into a city-wide zombie survival version or an "Aliens" sci-fi themed version, too. :)
This is a FABULOUS little game. Wonderfully written, great layout, and elegant mechanics. Creating the dungeon with a deck of cards is super cool.
This is basically like 'Betrayal at the House on the Hill', but actually good!
I can't wait to give this a try - this is made for me :)
I'm so glad you're excited for it! I loved the card-laying mechanic for building a dungeon so much when I played Escape From Demon Castle Dracula that I just had to hack it. I really hope you enjoy playing!