rules

P R i VAt e
Die
By Austin Bennett, Jacob Chaney, and Sam Schirmer

BRIEFING SETUP ROUND START

There’s a criminal on the loose, and you’re a • If playing a case (not recommended for a first The first player reveals the top card of the witness
private eye trying to track him down. You and your play), the goal or base rules may change. Read deck and then takes the ten-sided witness die
associates will take turns questioning witnesses to more about cases on page 3. and rolls it. Once it has landed, it is placed next
find clues. You can feed a witness some information • All players collect five six-sided dice of the same to the witness card. Add the result of the witness
to jog his memory, but don’t push him too hard! color and one clue. die to the number printed on the witness card to
If witnesses crack under pressure, they’ll give you • Form a bank by placing all other clues in the get the witness value. Please note, a zero rolled
bad leads, setting back your investigation. The first center of the play area. on the witness die counts as zero, not ten. Follow
detective to collect fifteen clues solves the case • Shuffle eighteen witness cards to form a witness the listed effect on the witness card for the current
and wins the game. deck and place it in the center of the play area. round. Starting with the first player and continuing
• Randomly deal a detective card to each player. clockwise, each player will choose to roll anywhere

COMPONENTS • Designate a first player by rolling the witness die. from one to five questioning dice, trying to get as
The player that rolls the highest number goes first. close to the witness value without exceeding the
• 45 Clue tokens (15 black, 30 white)
Alternatively, players may designate a first player number (ie, busting).
• 30 Six-sided questioning dice (D6)
by their own choosing.
• 1 Ten-sided witness die (D10)
• 1 Rulebook important
• 18 Witness cards important If a witness card effect conflicts with a game
The white clue tokens are worth one point rule, the witness effect takes priority. If the
• 6 Detective cards
each, and black clue tokens are worth five effect conflicts with a detective ability, the
• 5 Case cards
points each. Players may exchange five white witness card takes priority. Check the online
• 1 Game box
clues for one black clue, and vice versa, errata for any uncertain rulings.

GOAL throughout the game.

Be the first player to collect fifteen clues. When a ADDING EXTRA DICE
player possesses fifteen clues at the end of any DETECTIVE CARDS If a player’s questioning roll value is lower than the

round, she solves the case and the game ends. Each detective card has a unique ability that may witness die, she may expend one clue into the bank
be used throughout the course of the game, during and roll one of her own unused die to add to the
the player’s turn. If a detective ability conflicts with questioning value. She may continue to do so until
a game rule, the detective ability takes priority. either busting, expending all of her available un-
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rolled dice, or running out of clues.
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EXCEEDING THE WITNESS VALUE card. The new first player draws a new witness card ENDING THE GAME
If a player’s roll value is higher than the witness, from the deck, re-rolls the witness die, and play The game ends when any player possesses fifteen
continues to the next round. or more clues at the end of a round, or if there are
it is a bust. She loses two clues to the center pile
no cards left in the witness deck, resulting in a cold
and play continues with the next player, going
case. If two or more players have over fifteen clues,
clockwise. see example number 1 on page 3
the player with the most clues win.

MATCHING THE WITNESS VALUE PLAYERS TIED FOR THE HIGHEST COLD CASE
If a player’s questioning roll value is equal to the TOTAL WITHOUT GOING OVER If a round begins and there are no cards left in the
witness deck, the case has gone cold. At this point,
value of the witness, one bonus clue is immediately If two or more players are tied for the closest value
the game is over and the detective with the most
rewarded. to the witness value (without busting) at the end of
clues “wins.” You don’t catch the criminal, but build
a round, they will have a roll-off to determine who a strong case if he ever reappears.
ENDING THE ROUND wins the round. All other players are excluded from

Once a player busts or declares an end to the roll-off, the witness text is no longer in effect, TIEBREAKER
and the detectives may not use their abilities (unless If two or more detectives are tied with the most
questioning (stays), she keeps her rolled dice in
clues, they will engage in a sudden death round
plain view of everyone, and play proceeds to the specifically noted).
using the following rules:
next player, going clockwise. Each player follows • Keep the last revealed witness card face up. The
the same cycle of deciding how many dice to roll The tied players gather the same dice they rolled
number on this witness card will be used for any
in an effort to match the witness value, rolling the this round (moving any previously unused or
sudden death rounds. Disregard the text effect.
dice, and then either busting or staying. removed dice to the side) and re-roll them. During
• One player will roll the witness die to get the total
a roll off, the player with the highest combined
witness value.
important value wins the round. If the players tie again they
• Any tied players will secretly consider how many
Each player does NOT roll the witness die again, continue to roll until there is a winner. This rewards
of their dice they wish to roll. Once the tied
nor do they draw a new witness card. The the player that took the most risk during normal play
players have gathered the dice they wish to roll
witness card and roll stay the same until each by giving them more dice to roll.
they will all roll simultaneously.
player has had a turn questioning. • Whomever has the total closest to the witness
see example number 2 on page 3
value without busting is the winner.
After all players have rolled, the player who is • Players may not add additional dice or use
closest to the value of the witness (without busting) important
detective abilities.
wins the round. The winner receives clues equal to Players may not expend clues to add
• If all tied players bust, re-roll the witness die and
the number of positive dice that she rolled, and additional dice to their rolls. No detective
perform another sudden death round.
assumes the responsibilities of first player for next abilities or witness card text affect a roll-off
• If all tied player again tie, reroll the witness die
round. After the round is complete (whether or not unless otherwise noted.
and perform another sudden death round.
the questioning was a success), discard the witness Continue until a winner is determined.

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OTHER NOTES example 1 - ending the round example 2 - resolving ties

• If a player has no clues, she may remain in the 1. On the first round of a three player game, 1. Garrett and Mario are in a roll-off. Previously
game. The option to pay a clue to the center to Garrett reveals the witness card: Gossip. This in the round, Garrett had rolled four dice, and
roll additional dice is unavailable. Bust penalties card starts with a value of eight. He then rolls Mario had rolled five dice, so they both must
are also waived. the witness die and gets a value of six, placing re-roll those same dice.
• If all players bust, the round’s current first player the die next to the witness card. The card and 2. Garrett rolls his four dice, with the values of five,
will remain first player for the next round. die are added together, for a total witness four, six, and six, totaling twenty-one.
• Each player may only use her own detective’s value of fourteen. Garrett decides to start his 3. Mario rolls his five dice, with the values of six,
ability. turn by rolling three dice. The values are four, four, five, three, and four, totaling twenty-two.
• View the exstensive errata at PrivateDie.com for five, and three, totaling twelve. He decides to 4. Mario wins the roll-off and gains five clues,
details on detective abilities and witness effects. end his questioning and stay. since five dice were used.
2. Lucca rolls three dice. The values are six,
CASES five, and three totaling fourteen. Since she example 3 - ADDING DICE
Included with the game are five different case matched the witness value exactly. She Lucca has zero clues at the start of her turn.
cards to add variety and replayability to Private The witness value is seven. She rolls one die and
immediately receives one clue, bringing her to
Die. These cases have game-long effects that gets a one. Since she has zero clues, she must
two clues.
may change the goal of the game or how some end the questioning, and the next player may
mechanics work. We recommend that players 3. Mario rolls three dice. The values are one, five, begin her turn.
should experience vanilla Private Die at least once and three, totaling nine. He pays one clue to
before introducing the case cards. the bank to roll an additional die, reducing example 4 - busting without clues
him to zero clues. The additional die roll results Lucca has zero clues at the start of her turn.
When using a case, either select one, or shuffle
in a value of six, bringing his total to fifteen. He The witness value is ten. She rolls two dice and
the cases and draw one at random before setting
busts and would pay two clues to the bank, get a five and six, totaling eleven. She busts,
up the game for play. Place the case card in the
but does not need to pay any penalty since
center of the play area, next to the clues. If the but since he already has no clues, nothing
she has no clues. The next player may begin
case has any rules that conflict with the standard happens and his turn is over.
her turn, and Lucca may still participate in the
game rules, follow the case rules instead. Perform 4. Lucca wins the round, and gains three clues following rounds.
any setup rules on the chosen case card before since her winning roll used three dice, bringing
beginning the game.
her to five clues. Lucca takes the witness die,
and will start the next round.
VARIANT - “BARE BONES”
This variant can be used with players who aren’t
accustomed to tabletop games or if there is an
extremely small play area like a bar table.

Remove the detective and case cards. Ignore any

text effects on the witness cards. Follow the rules as
usual, ignoring any rules that reference detective
abilities or witness cards. For a shorter game, play to
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twelve clues.
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