The Moderators, of EatVillagers, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. (At least until page 394, where there is obvious mischief to be managed).

This game can play up to a maximum 24 wannabe witches, wizards and crafty muggles, and most roles are custom to fit the theme and feel of Harry Potter.

There are also a few unique elements, which we will cover in depth:

The Owl
Hermione's Gifts
Potions
Sirius Black and the Dementors

Good Vs Evil- a Lesson in Vocabulary.

In the Harry Potter game, Team Good is referred to as Hogwarts Students, and Team Bad is referred to as Death Eaters. While this may seem insignificant, it does two things:

It helps the players differentiate this game from other werewolf games. If they start hearing terms like Wolf or Villager, they will start looking for other familiar village guests like Hunter or Tough Guy, which don’t exist in this game.
Furthermore, the terminology helps set atmosphere, and that's a good portion of the reason you’d play a themed game to begin with!

The Owl- a New Day Phase.

There are a handful of roles that give out items and other tidbits of useful information. When you play one of these roles, you need this information from the start, and a secret way to pass it on. We do this with a system of index cards called The Owl (which is the way letters are sent in the Harry Potter novels).

At the start of the game, an index card placed in front of every player. Some cards, such as Hermione’s and Snape's, start the game with secret information on them, but most are blank.

If the Moderator needs to spread secret information to a player (this can be triggered by various roles or the use of potions), they will replace blank cards with cards that have information on them, such as the explanations of potions, or the presence of Hermione’s gifts.

At the start of the day phase, before the Moderator reveals who was targeted by the Death Eaters, every player will check their Owls to see if they got any new information.

Rather than using an index card, the Owl could be a piece of parchment, notebook paper, or even a stone tablet as long as you can write on it. Using great materials adds a lot to a themed game.

Team Bad- Death Eater 101.

Death Eaters - These function similar to regular Werewolves. They wake together at night and choose a player to eliminate from the game.
Voldemort - He is a death eater who at the beginning of the game can pick one person to be his Horcrux, and can not be eliminated until the Horcrux has been destroyed.
1. The Horcrux should be picked after Voldemort is revealed to the other Death Eaters.
2. The Horcrux does not know that they are the Horcrux, only Voldemort does. The Horcux can be anyone except for Voldemort himself.
Bellatrix Lestrange - Bellatrix is a Death Eater who can show her card at any time. If she does, the Death Eaters can kill two people that night. This can only be done once per game.
Peter Pettigrew - Peter is a Death Eater, but as he spends his days hiding in rat form, his vote never counts (He does participate in trials and all other Death Eater activities).

Team Good- Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Hogwarts Students- During the day, you hold trials, hoping to send Death Eaters to Azkaban.
Harry Potter- Due to the scar left on him at birth, he can tell if Voldemort or his Horcrux is within 2 seats of him.
Hermione Granger- Hermione has access to three Artifacts which she can use or give out to other players during the Night phase. The exact abilities of these items are secret, even to her, and are only revealed when the items are activated. Possibilities for these items include:
1. The Book - The reader of the book can identify two potions by name.
2. Time-turner - This allows the user to travel back in time at the end of the day, giving the school an additional three trials before nightfall (in our group's trial system, we allow 3 trials per day).
3. Deluminator - When activated, a protective light shines on the user, saving them from night kills for one night.
Ron Weasley- Ron actively seeks Voldemort’s Horcrux at night, and if he finds it, it is instantly destroyed.
Luna Lovegood- Once per night, Luna can investigate one player, and see if they are a Hogwarts Student or a Death Eater.
Neville Longbottom- During Trial, before the vote, Neville can choose to pull out the sword of Gryffindor out of the sorting hat and eliminate the player on trial.
Draco Malfoy- Draco is on the Hogwarts Team, though he appears to Luna as a Death Eater. Because of his family’s influence, he has extra sway in court and his vote counts twice.
Lily Potter- At the beginning of the game, she chooses one person, and if they are targeted, she dies in their place.
Dumbledore- As long as Dumbledore is alive, the village receives clues about the Horcrux.
Ginny Weasley- Upon elimination, she can retaliate against a player responsible for her fate.
Rubeus Hagrid- He can survive one night attack, or can opt to instead use it to defend a player who has been attacked.
Severus Snape- He has access to the Potions list, and each night, can give out the potions to players of his choosing. Severus is on the Hogwarts team.
Sirius Black-After a successful Azkaban sentencing, Sirius can miss a day escaping from Azkaban, but will bring dementors upon the school in search of him.

Misc. Mechanics- Science Behind the Magic.

Potions

When we unveiled this game at Dice Tower Con 2017 we used little glass vials from a craft store, water and food coloring to make drinkable potions. However, they can simply be cards if that is easier for the Moderator.

Mechanically, Severus Snape gets access to a Potions list when he starts the game, using the Owl. Each night, he receives a potion that he can pass out to any player.

Potions powers can be anything you want them to be! They can do almost anything, but we've come with a quick list to use.

Brewed Glory - The drinker of this potion can not be put on trial (temporarily). They’re just too glorious.
Stoppered Death- This drinker immediately dies. They Unstoppered Death.
Amorentia- There are three love potions… the drinkers will be infatuated with each other. If one dies, the others will die of heartbreak.
Veritaserum- The person who drinks this must tell the truth. Write one question on your note card for the mod to ask the player. You cannot ask about direct roles or teams.
Drought of the Living Dead- The drinker of this potion enters a dream like sleep and cannot interact with the village. They can still be put on trial and eliminated.
Confusing Concoction- The drinker of this potion is confused and must speak in gibberish.
Seamus' Liquor supply- The drinker of this potion is highly combustible. If eliminated, they the person to the left and right are also eliminated.

Dementors

The Dementors ramp up the level of chaos and chance to the game (after all, it's a war), but only when triggered.

If Sirius Black is sentenced to Azkaban (voted out), Sirius can miss a day escaping from Azkaban, but will bring Dementors upon the school in search of him.

Each night thereafter, Dementors swoop in trying to locate Sirius. They suck the soul of a random player, eliminating them from the game. Possible ways for the Dementors to pick include:

A random roll of the dice where each number corresponds to a player
Random number generators.
A spinner finger

End Game- Mischief Managed.

The end game for each team is very similar to standard werewolf. Either the Death Eaters have taken over the school by eliminating all students until parity is achieved or the Students eliminate all Death Eaters.

Amber Savoie is a core EatVillagers moderator based out of Tampa, and runs Werewolf at cons around the country.