• The Official Site of Brian J. Cano •
First released in 2014, THE THREE PILLARS is a fast-paced, witty game of checks and balances that celebrates the paranormal community while simulating a season of investigations. Assemble your team, visit haunted locations, and submit evidence to close the cases - but be warned - not only must you deal with Murphy's Law, but with other paranormal teams investigating the same places as you - and chances are, they won't be helpful!
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To date, there have been three regular expansions, two themed expansions, as well as a series of location promotional cards based on the History of the Paranormal Mobile Exhibit sites. More cards will be forthcoming!
UPDATE 10/1/2022: revisions of the expansion sets has begun, with new packaging and updates to the cards and gameplay! Keep an eye on this space for further updates in the coming weeks.
HOW TO PLAY
SUPPORT
DOCUMENTS
EXPANSION SETS
ALLIES & ADVERSARIES
Originally designed to freshen up gameplay by replacing the Premiere set events with new ones, this expansion introduced several additions. While the base game highlights the competition often seen in the paranormal field, this set magnifies it!
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New elements include the Personality icon, which differentiates the event card it is found on from ordinary events. It indicates that it is an actual person, and thus, immune to certain effects that would affect a regular Event card, such as Brian's Former Skeptic ability.
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Enter the Support Team cards. They represent other investigators that have come to help. They are similar to Pillars, but are shared by all players. Who will utilize the team most efficiently?
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Five new Case cards expand the reach of your investigations, bringing your team to places such as Fort Mifflin, the Knickerbocker Hotel, Westminster Burying Ground, and more!
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The ALLIES & ADVERSARIES set can be mixed directly into the Premiere Set for a seamless gameplay experience, or have only certain elements used. All cards are compatible.
BATTERIES NOT REQUIRED
When designing the Premiere set, Brian & Chris often talked about bringing a metaphysical element to the game. It didn't make the cut in that first round, but made complete sense for the second expansion. The focus for BNR was mini games and enhanced abilities.
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The first thing to be introduced were the three Psychic icons, which play off each other in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. A mini deck of cards called the "Psychic Deck" detail psychic abilities such as Extrasensory Perception, Retrocognition, and more. These cards can be used either for their game text, or the power of their icon - which can affect other Psychic cards or Event cards with a Psychic icon!
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To represent the usage of these new abilities, new versions of Lisa Ann and Brian debut in this set, as well as all-new alternate versions of the Psychic and Scientist Pillars.
More new Event cards freshen up your Premiere set, as do the five new Case cards. The set content may skew towards the metaphysical, but the cases offer challenges to all Pillars, bringing them to places such as Buffalo Central Terminal, Burlington County Jail, Poasttown Elementary, and more!
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BATTERIES NOT REQUIRED is an advanced set that is recommended for experienced players who wish to mix up their gameplay style. All cards are compatible.
EXTREME HAUNTINGS
"EXTREME!!!" is the battle cry yelled out whenever this set is mentioned. A deluxe-sized set, this is the ultimate in Three Pillars action, with the action and consequences turned up to eleven! The designers have been overheard admitting that after playing a full game with Extreme Hauntings mixed in, they feel drained, as if they've just handled an actual intense case. Who's up for the challenge?
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The additions this set brings are major: a new CLERGY Pillar type, the "Extreme Deck" which contains both Curse cards and Object cards, and perhaps the biggest challenge the game has ever seen - Entities. Spirits now haunt the deck and emerge to cause trouble for all investigators. But this is what we came for, right? Well, be careful what you wish for...
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"The addition of entities to this set made us realize we should have had them in the game all along. But they're quite the challenge - it's almost as if they're angry they were excluded and are taking it out on us now."
~Brian J. Cano
The new Pillar type - CLERGY - introduces a new option when picking your character. Even though it represents a fourth class, you still may only play three Pillars in any match. The exception to this is if by some bad luck, all other characters die and you are forced to choose your fourth Pillar.
The stakes have been raised, so the Support Team gets a new member, and the Evidence cards get a new, unique "6" card, which allows you to use it or replace already played cards, to recycle them into your hand giving you more options.
Everything I this set revolves around the Entities. When they come out, they cause havoc by disrupting gameplay until they are dealt with. Additionally, to win the game, a player must not only have the most points worth of Evidence, but they must also vanquish an Entity to boot! To do this, battle must commence, both spiritual as well as physical.
Enter the "Extreme Deck", which is only active while an Entity is present at a Case. It is where you search for ITEM cards to help in the coming struggle, but beware - while you search you might accidentally find yourself cursed instead! Your Item cards can help against Entities or Curses, but you must choose and lose them along the way. No one said going up against malevolent spirits was going to be easy!
New Event cards, Cases, and a new version of the Chris Pillar round out the expansion, giving you all the elements you need to spend an evening fighting the forces of darkness!
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EXTREME HAUNTINGS is an advanced set that is recommended for expert players looking to get beaten down by a card game. Most cards are compatible.