ADVENTURE ROLEPLAYING TOOLKIT
PLAYING THE GAME: OVERVIEW
Pitch story ideas and select one as a group. Generate a skill set for the game (or use one of the examples). Create characters. Play!
HOW TO PLAY THE GAME: FOR PLAYERS
➢ Play a driven character.
Your job is to create a character with strong motivations and goals and then to roleplay that character accordingly. You will
say what your character says, does, and feels. Play your character with passion, drive toward her goals, and act according to her
motivations. The best characters also have flaws or weaknesses which provide opportunities for roleplaying.
➢ Listen carefully, add constructively, and ask questions.
This game is basically a conversation among the players. Your job is to listen carefully to what others say, to attend to the
intentions behind what they say, and to build constructively. Don't block others' contributions; instead, add to them and extend them. If
you want more detail, ask the Game Master or another player to say more. Be a good conversational partner!
➢ Build up the other characters.
The story is not just about you: it's about all the characters. Don't hog the spotlight. Your job is to help everyone else around
the table succeed. Support other players, set up other characters for success, and help everyone else shine. Make others awesome and
tell them when they've done something that you enjoyed or thought added positively to the story.
➢ Show, don't tell.
When you describe and narrate, don't just state something: show it. Instead of simply saying that your character is angry,
describe how she grinds her teeth, clenches her fists, or yells. Your job is make your character come alive through your descriptions,
so—like a good fiction writer—you should show, not tell.
HOW TO RUN THE GAME: FOR THE GAME MASTER (GM)
➢ Portray the world vividly.
You are responsible for describing the setting. Your job is to vividly portray the world and the people in it: use strong
language and powerful details to bring the world to life for the players. Set scenes in interesting places and refer often to the senses.
➢ Play the supporting cast and the antagonists with enthusiasm.
You will narrate what the supporting cast, antagonists, and villains say, do, and feel. Your job is to make the supporting
characters memorable: give them names, motivations, and ambitions, show their personalities, and have them play to win.
➢ Create situations, not plots.
Don't plan a plot and then shepherd the players through it. Instead, present the players with situations which require the
immediate involvement of the characters and whose resolutions genuinely depend upon the choices of the characters. Good situations
confront the players by asking them difficult questions about what price they are willing to pay in order to succeed.
➢ Listen carefully and reincorporate.
Listen carefully to what the players say. If they are bored, skip to an interesting part. Follow their lead and encourage them to
be proactive and to add details to the story. Then, reincorporate what the players add so that they know that their contributions matter.
➢ Ask lots of questions.
Get the players involved by asking them lots of pointed questions. “Are you going to let him do that?” “How do you feel
about that?” “Does anything go wrong when you execute that bold plan?” “How are you going to deal with that?” “What does that
look like?” You can also get the players to take control over parts of the setting by fishing, i.e. by asking open-ended questions: “What
do you see when you look inside?” “Inside the chamber you see the person you least expect. Who is it?”
➢ Confront the players with interesting obstacles and meaningful conflicts.
Don't make the players roll dice unless it is a dramatic, exciting moment in the narrative. Just say yes to the action and move
on. Look for interesting obstacles and conflicts to throw at the players. When the characters get into a conflict and fail, don't be afraid
to impose conditions. Conditions are opportunities for future roleplaying and can serve as interesting obstacles in their own right!
Created by Stephen Parkin
Version: 6 January 2011
STORY KERNELS
As a group, generate a brief premise for your story. Good premises burst with conflict, get everyone excited, and start with a bang!
EXAMPLE STORY IDEAS
Spires of West Othen: Murder in Ang Terre
Genre: Fantasy, Investigation
West Othen is an immense cosmopolitan metropolis consisting entirely of a vast forest of huge tower-cities. Multitudes of
beings populate and live out their entire lives within just a few of the thousands of Spires which soar high into the air. Ang Terr,
officially dubbed Spire #1,023,
[[UNFINISHED]]
➢
Pirates of L'Aterrune
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
The world is a covered with vast, tropical oceans and chains of island nations of varying sizes. These islands are inhabited by
a dazzling array of civilizations and magical creatures. To the north lie the mountainous, frozen islands of the ox people. To the east lie
the nations of humans, mechanized and bellicose. To the west are the idyllic yet xenophobic realms of the cat-folk, and to the south lie
great archipelagos teeming with a chaotic mix of primitive lizard-men and lurking terrors. Everywhere, ancient unexplored ruins full
of untold wealth lie ripe for the picking. You are pirates, renowned for your boldness, prowess, and magical skills—and you've just
come into possession of an ancient map hinting at a marvelous treasure horde at the edge of the world!
➢
A Clockwork Tomorrow
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Steampunk
Times are not easy in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Despite the rediscovery of steam-tech power, the technology is still
limited in scope and application. Simple agricultural and industrial equipment is available, and experimental applications can turn
otherwise crippled humans into steam-powered cybernetic monstrosities. In addition, mutation science is showing promising results,
but so far it is too random and uncontrollable for safe human use, though that hasn't stopped mad splicer scientists from testing their
theories on burners, mad pariahs who possess unpredictable mutation powers.
Against this backdrop, winter is approaching and food is running short in your fortified steam-tech village. A few weeks ago
holders discovered a nearby cave which may contain Golden Era technology that could save the hold, but it's impossible to explore
because the mutated beasts of the wilderness have become increasingly aggressive and threatening. To make matters worse, the splicer
Misha is making a power play against the hold's leader, Domic. To top it all off, just yesterday a young couple went missing outside
the walls of the hold. Can you find the missing couple? Restore political order in the hold? Save the settlement from the savage mutant
beasts? Explore the caves in search of life-saving Golden Era technology? Provide for the hold during the long winter to come? Find
out by playing an alpha-leader Duke, a hardened warrior Merc, an intrepid Nomad explorer, a cunning Scoundrel, a mechanical whiz
Gearhead, a hulking half-machine Steamborg, a radiation-addled Splicer scientist, or an unstable Burner with strange mutant powers!
➢
Sirocco Sands
Genre: Space Opera, Cyberpunk
The desert world of Sirocco is a bleak place. The wealthy few live in towering ultramodern arcologies, but destitute slums
spread for miles around their bases. The planet abounds with mineral wealth, but the gigantic corrupt megacorporation Sirocco Sands
drinks up the profits while the poor labor in misery and poverty. When you accidentally witness the corporation-sponsored
assassination of the planetary governor, you are forced to flee government security forces and corporation mercenaries alike. Stranded
on this dystopian cyberpunk world, you become accidentally embroiled in a planet-wide conspiracy of corporate greed, political
infighting, and a burgeoning anarchist rebellion.
➢
Zombie Apocalypse: Problems in Paradise
Genre: Survival Horror, Comedy
The tropical Caribbean island of La Pris has it all: pristine white-sand beaches, clear blue water, beautiful resorts, a majestic
mountain rising from the rain forest in the interior of the island, and beautiful scenery. When a hurricane hits the Paradise Resort and
cuts off all communication and transportation with the outside world, however, it seems like everything that can go wrong has. But
then the tourists at the resort begin falling ill with a mysterious tropical fever... and awaking with a hunger for brains!
➢
Zombie Apocalypse: Zombies in Spokane!
Genre: Survival Horror, Comedy
It's here: the Zombie Apocalypse. And it is just your luck that you were shopping at Northtown Mall when everything went to
hell. The last evacuation helicopters leave Fairchild Air Force Base in just a few hours, and shortly afterward the whole city's gonna
become a giant fireball. (Double Bonus Points: As their character, everyone plays someone else present around the table!)
➢
Created by Stephen Parkin
Version: 6 January 2011
Castle Cakewalk
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Troubled times have come to the peaceful Town of Stove in the land of Kit Chen. The evil Baron von Muffin-strussel has
stolen the Holy Mixing Spoon from the Temple of Whipped Delights and absconded to his citadel, the terrifying redoubt known to all
as the Castle Cakewalk. But a light flickers in the darkness, for a band of unlikely heroes is even now assembling in the center of the
Town of Stove to set out on an arduous journey across the barren and dangerous Fru Ticake Wastes to storm Castle Cakewalk and win
back the Holy Spoon.
➢
Backyard Adventures: Quest for the Lost Prince
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Tensions run high between the Ant colonies of Sandbox and Rosebush as territorial disputes turn into skirmishes and threaten
total war. Meanwhile, conflict threatens to erupt when the militaristic Wasps begin a campaign to enslave the whole Yard during the
mysterious absence of the Spiders, the wise and powerful counselors who long enforced stability. Against this backdrop, the Price of
the Rosebush Ants has gone missing during a clandestine mission to transport a secret weapon to the forward base under the Old Elm.
Who abducted the Prince? What has happened to the mysterious secret weapon, and could it be turned against the Rosebush Ants? It is
up to an elite group of the Royal Guard to leave the safety of the Nest in order to search for the missing Prince, to find the secret
weapon, and to stop the coming war between the Colonies while avoiding the Wasps and other perils of the Yard.
➢
Backyard Adventures: Restoring the Lost
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Total war threatens the backyard. The Mantis King has been assassinated by one of his own court. The ant colonies are
plunging headlong toward civil war. The cutthroat Wasps have mobilized their military machine—already they have conquered the
peace-loving Beetles and returned them into slavery, and they will stop at no less than total domination. Attacks by the lethal and
mindless monstrous beasts, giant winged terrors and four-legged mammal-beasts alike, are increasing in frequency. All of the
inhabitants of the Yard live in fear and desperation. Once, the wise and powerful Council of Spiders ruled over the Yard, and it was
known as a time of great peace and stability. It has now been many seasons since the Spiders vanished without a trace, but not
everyone has forgotten them. From many backgrounds and for many reasons, a diverse band of heroes have come together and
pledged their lives and honor to one another for a single purpose: to find and restore the missing Spiders.
➢
The Lost Tablet of Akelmut
Genre: Pulp, Adventure
The Society for the Preservation of Occult Artifacts has learned of the discovery of the fabled Tablet of Akelmut and is
assembling a team of experts to retrieve the artifact before it falls into the hands of their villainous rivals, the Seers of Power. Race
across the sands of Persia and through the depths of wildest Africa to be the first to capture the elusive artifact!
➢
(Anti-)Heroes
Genre: Superheroes
The aliens planned the invasion with exceeding cleverness. With all of the super-villains captured and imprisoned under
Yucca Mountain, peace had spread throughout the world. Only the remaining superheroes had any experience with conflict and
resistance. The Invaders were canny and prepared: their first move was to capture and liquidate the world's superheroes. Now, with
governments falling like dominoes and the very future of humanity at stake, the super-villains have been awakened in the depths of the
Nevada desert and given an unlikely task: to save humanity. (Note: Shamelessly stolen from an exceedingly similar premise in the
Savage Worlds Setting Necessary Evil.)
➢
Disappearance at the Wizards Academy
Genre: Fantasy, Modern, Investigation
One of your classmates, Erica Helms, is missing from the Wizards Academy, and you suspect that the new Charms and
Enchantments teacher, Mr. Ables, is responsible. For some reason the faculty all seem to adore Mr. Ables. You and your friends know
they won't take kindly to him being accused of abduction, so you have decided to investigate the disappearance yourselves. With
patience, discretion, and a little luck, you might just be able to get to the bottom of the whole mystery... and save the school in the
process!
➢
Shadow Stalkers: Terror in Farmdale
Genre: Horror, Investigation
Tiny Farmdale, Iowa (pop. 4,639) is normally a sleepy college town far from the pressures of civilization, but a recent rash of
missing persons cases and yesterday's gruesome murder up at the Parson's ranch have left everyone in town a little on edge. The
sheriff says there's nothing to worry about, but he couldn't be more wrong. Something old and evil is stirring in Farmdale, and it has
worked up a terrible hunger...
➢
Created by Stephen Parkin
Version: 6 January 2011
SKILL SETS
➢
➢
Generate a list of skills to name the interesting and important things that characters will do in the game. Skills include
training, proficiencies, abilities, capacities, and so forth. You can include as many skills as desired, but generally fewer is
better. To speed things up, you can use or modify one of the following example skill sets for your game.
Each skill is rated from zero to five points: higher is better. Players buy ranks in skills with skill points on a one-to-one basis.
If there are ten or fewer total skills, players have skill points equal to the total number of skills times two. If there are eleven
to twenty total skills, players have skill points equal to the total number of skills times 1½. If there are more than twenty total
skills, players have skill points equal to the total number of skills.
EXAMPLE SKILL SETS
“We Don't Need No Frackin' Skills” Skill Set (2 Skills, 4 Skill Points)
With Power
With Finesse
Dirty Hippy Indie Story-Game Skill Set (4 Skills, 8 Skill Points)
With Violence
With Resolve
With Satisfaction
With Regret
Minimalist Skill Set (5 Skills, 10 Skill Points)
Vitality
Agility
Presence
Intellect
Instinct
Stephen's Modern Skill Set (26 Skills, 26 Skill Points)
Perception
Athletics
Endurance
Acrobatics
Stealth
Brawling
Weaponry
Marksmanship
Book Learning
Civics
Science
Investigation
Computers and Technology
Healing Arts
Hidden Knowledge
Outdoorsmanship
Animal Handling
Streetwise
Drive and Pilot
Fabricate and Repair
Thievery
Persuasion
Empathy
Subterfuge
Intimidation
Artistic Expression
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Fantasy Skill Set (20 Skills, 20 Skill Points)
(Note: Missing Combat Skills)
Acrobatics
Athletics
Endurance
Perception
Stealth
Thievery
Arcana
Dungeoneering
Heal
History
Nature
Religion
Bluff
Diplomacy
Insight
Intimidate
Streetwise
[3 Combat Skills]
New World of Darkness Modern Skill Set (24 Skills, 24 Skill Points)
Academics
Computer
Crafts
Investigation
Medicine
Occult
Politics
Science
Athletics
Brawl
Drive
Firearms
Larceny
Stealth
Survival
Weaponry
Animal Ken
Empathy
Expression
Intimidation
Persuasion
Socialize
Streetwise
Subterfuge
Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition Pulp Adventure Skill Set (25 Skills, 25 Skill Points)
Boating
Climbing
Driving
Fighting
Gambling
Guts
Healing
Intimidation
Investigation
Knowledge
Lockpicking
Notice
Persuasion
Piloting
Repair
Created by Stephen Parkin
Riding
Shooting
Stealth
Streetwise
Survival
Version: 6 January 2011
Swimming
Taunt
Throwing
Tracking
[Arcane Skill]
Simple Spaghetti Western Skill Set (6 skills, 12 Skill Points)
Ridin'
Ropin'
Brawlin'
Shootin'
Talkin'
Drinkin' and Gamblin'
Zombies! Skill Set (12 Skills, 18 Skill Points)
Brawling
Handguns
Longarms
Explosives
Driving
Larceny
Perception
Athletics
Stealth
First Aid/Medicine
Wilderness Survival
Repair
Post-apocalyptic Steamtech Skill Set (20 Skills, 30 Skill Points)
Book Learning
Automation
Radiation Science
Healing Arts
Tinker and Repair
Outdoorsmanship
Animal Sense
Thievery
Scavenge
Empathy
Intimidation
Persuasion
Subterfuge
Perception
Athletics
Endurance
Stealth
Brawling
Weaponry
Marksmanship
MAGIC SKILL SETS
➢
In a game which uses magic, add magical skills to the list of mundane skills. For ease of creation, any of the following magic
skill sets can be added to any of the proceeding skill sets to add magic to the setting. As always, players and GM are
encouraged to generate their own list of magical skills tailored to the specific tone of their story.
Minimalist Magic Skill Set (3 Skills, 6 Skill Points)
Creation Magic
Transformation Magic
Destruction Magic
Concise Magic Skill Set (5 Skills, 10 Skill Points)
Life
Death
Matter
Elementalism
Mentalism
Elemental Magic Skill Set (10 Skills, 20 Skill Points)
Earth
Water
Fire
Air
Wood
Metal
Storm
Acid
Cold
Bone
Mage: The Awakening Magic Skill Set (10 Skills, 20 Skill Points)
Prime
Matter
Spirit
Death
Fate
Mind
Space
Forces
Life
Time
d20 Modern Magic Skill Set (11 Skills, 15 Skill Points)
Abjuration
Creation
Healing
Summoning
Teleportation
Divination
Enchantment
Evocation
Illusion
Necromancy
Transmutation
Expanded Magic Skill Set (10 Skills, 20 Skill Points)
Elemental Magic
Space and Time Magic
Matter Manipulation Magic
Charms and Compulsions
Illusions
Oneiromancy
Created by Stephen Parkin
Necromancy
Sorcery and Demonic Magic
Nature Magic
Version: 6 January 2011
Healing and Life Magic
Wards and Protection Magic
CHARACTERS
When you create a character, do the following: pick a name; create a goal, creed, connection, and complication; and distribute your
skill points among the skills that you've decided to use for the game. Write the information down on your Character Record sheet,
which is just an index card or piece of paper. Below are definitions and examples (in boxes) of the mechanical aspects of a character.
SAMPLE CHARACTER
Sheriff Jim Westcott
Goal: Bring the corrupt cattle baron, Orin Hart, to justice.
Creed: Justice treats all men firmly and fairly.
Connection: Deputy William Smith, Jim's son-in-law (through his daughter, Emma May).
Complication: Hart is blackmailing me.
Skills: Talkin' 3, Brawlin' 3, Shootin' 4, Ridin' 2
➢ Goal: A clear and specific goal, either short or long-term.
Free my sister from her captors.
Win election as Mayor.
Gain acceptance into the Brotherhood.
Earn enough money to pay for mom's operation.
Recover the lost Amulet of Mishankara.
Successfully defend the town from the Orc battle party.
➢ Creed: A principle or maxim, either positive or negative, which guides your actions.
Always show mercy.
Act with compassion in all things.
Violence is never acceptable.
Thou shalt not murder.
Faith will provide.
Fortune rules all.
Morality is best left to chance.
No one can escape his fate.
Power at any cost.
Never show weakness.
Only the strong survive.
Power is for the weak to fear, for the strong to use.
Revenge at any cost.
Revenge is best served cold.
Respect your enemy.
Do not underestimate your opponent or yourself.
➢ Connection: A person or institution (organization, agency, gang, etc.) important to you.
My sister, Hazel, who is a doctor.
My best friend, Lewis.
John, who saved my life.
Amy, whom I love but who doesn't know it.
My husband, Kurt.
My rival in the unit, Capt. La Merne.
The Marine Corps, Rangers, or CIA
Academia
New York's Lucchese Familia
Los Angeles Police Department
The Galactic Empire or the Rebel Alliance
The Mages Guild of L'Aterrune
➢ Complication: A pressing trouble, problem, issue, or other complication that you must deal with.
I owe Jimmy a lot of money.
The police think I did it, but I didn't!
My sister went missing and I think I know who took her. The man I love will marry another woman tomorrow.
I'm an addict and haven't had my fix in too long.
I crossed the wrong people and now I gotta disappear.
➢ Skills: Your most salient training, abilities, and proficiencies.
In a Spaghetti Western game, a cattle-driver cowboy character might have the following skills:
Ridin' 5, Ropin' 3, Shootin' 3, Drinkin' and Gamblin' 1 (Brawlin', Talkin' 0)
In the same game, the corrupt town preacher might have:
Talkin' 5, Brawlin' 1, Shootin' 1, Drinkin' and Gamblin' 5 (Ridin', Ropin' 0)
Created by Stephen Parkin
Version: 6 January 2011
PLAYING THE GAME (“THE RULES”)
Playing the game is easy—its basic form is a conversation between you and you friends. Each player will narrate what their character
does, thinks, and feels, while the Game Master will narrate for the antagonists and extras. The GM will also set scenes and give you
information about the setting, environment, and other details. Occasionally, you will roll a die to find out how your character performs
in a tense, dramatic situation. You always have the option of success, but it might involve a cost you aren't willing to pay...
➢ Doing Things
➢
➢
When you attempt an action, narrate what you are trying to accomplish. Then, roll a six-sided die and compare it to the
skill most applicable to the action you are attempting. If the die result is equal to or less than the rating of your skill, then
you succeed at the action. Narrate how you succeed and what the outcome of your success entails.
If your die result is higher than the rating of the skill in use, you have two options:
1. You fail at the action. Describe how you fail and what the outcome of your failure involves. After you have
failed a roll, the GM may escalate the situation in some way.
2. You can choose to succeed at a cost. Describe how you succeed at the action. Then, the GM will narrate an
unintended and negative consequence of your action. In doing so, he or she may (and usually will) assign a
Condition to you or to another player.
➢ Conditions
➢
➢
When you choose to succeed at a cost, or when things go drastically wrong, the GM may assign you a Condition.
Conditions are specific to the genre and tone of your game, and a Condition may take almost any form, so long as it is a
disadvantage to you. Until you are able to ameliorate a Condition, you must subtract one from your die roll whenever
that Condition interferes with your ability to complete a given action successfully. In addition, Conditions will shape the
fiction in certain non-mechanical ways (e.g. when you are crippled, you cannot suddenly begin sprinting).
Potential Generic Conditions: Beaten, Bleeding, Broken, Shot, Impaired, Crippled, Incapacitated, Unconscious,
(Presumed) Dead, Stunned, Paralyzed, Lost, Hunted, Missing, Captured, Tripped, Trapped, Broken Equipment,
Exhausted, Angry, or Confused.
➢ Attacks, Defense, and Combat Rounds
➢
➢
➢
Attacks: When you try to harm another character, use a combat skill, e.g. Guns, as usual. If you succeed, the GM will
impose a Condition on the enemy in accordance with your narration. An enemy might be, among other things: Beaten,
Shot, Bleeding, Crippled, Incapacitated, Stunned, Captured, or—eventually—Dead. Likewise, the GM will impose a
Condition on you when an enemy makes a successful attack against you.
Defense: When attacked, the defender will sometimes have an advantage due to position, armor, etc. If the defender has
a significant advantage, such as a bullet-proof vest against a shooter, then the attacker must add one to the result of his or
her die—thus making him or her less likely to succeed in the attack (at least without incurring a cost). Defensive
advantages include taking cover, lying prone against ranged attacks, wearing armor, focusing only on evading attack, etc.
Taking Turns: In conflicts like combat, the side with the advantage acts first. Then, the two sides take turns acting—first
all of the characters and their allies act, in whatever order they wish, and then all of their opponents act. The time allotted
for each action is up to the group as a whole and should be established relative to the dramatic importance of the scene—
unimportant combat scenes might be resolved in just a few turn (with each turn lasting several minutes), while a tense
climactic scene might be broken down into brief turns wherein there is just barely enough time to complete the fastest of
actions. Though it may vary between combats, you should use a consistent time frame throughout each combat.
➢ Antagonists
➢
➢
Each antagonist has a rating which indicates the number of hits she can take before she is defeated. When multiplied by
half of the number of skills in the current game, the rating also indicates the number of skill points the enemy has.
Ratings: Mook (1), Henchman (3), Foe (5), Villain (7), Archenemy (9).
➢ Ending the Session and Advances
At the end of a session, each player does the following:
➢ If a character met her Goal, she replaces it with a new Goal. If she solved her Complication, she gains a new
Complication. If a character underwent major conversion during a critical situation during the session and thus
transformed her philosophy, motivations, or world view, she may replace her Creed with a new one. If a character's
relationship with her Connection was severed for some reason, she may introduce a new Connection.
➢ Each player gains one Advance. Advances can be spent to increase your rank in a skill by one. If there are more than
twenty skills in the game, one Advance buys one new skill rank. If there are eleven to twenty skills, two Advances buy a
new skill rank. If there are ten or less skills in the game, then it takes a full three Advances buy a new skill rank.
Created by Stephen Parkin
Version: 6 January 2011
Design Notes
The following are a few brief notes on the design of the game and why I made certain design choices.
➢
Why a toolkit?
➢
Setting Kernels: Contra Overplanning
Damage, Character Death, and Conditions
Without the acquiescence of the player, a character cannot die in this game. The GM may assign to her so many conditions
that she is utterly incapacitated, but she still has the potential to recover and eventually to succeed. Characters only die when the
player chooses. This means that all character deaths make a statement: “This,” they say, “is worth even dying for.” I did not want to
make a combat-grind system, but rather a system that rewarded characters facing adversity, but always being able to fight back
through it to eventually succeed. It is the struggle, rather than the chance of failure, that I find meaningful.
➢
➢
Why Goal, Creed, Connection, and Complication?
➢ Characters' goals, creeds, connections, and complications serve multiple functions. First, they guide the player as to how
the character might act. Second, they are signals about the sorts of things that players themselves are interested in seeing
in the game. These flags encourage the GM and other players to incorporate certain fictional elements into the story.
➢ Goals help everyone know what is important to the character. Players can help other characters meet their goals.
GMs can challenge characters' goals or ask what a character is willing to sacrifice to succeed at her goal.
➢ Creeds help everyone understand the principles that motivate a character. GMs can create situations which
challenge a character's creed or which pit creed against goal or connection.
➢ Connections beg to be included in the fiction. Players can call upon each others' connections in the fiction. GMs
can use connections as hooks to involve characters or as leverage against them.
➢ Complications start characters off with problems which need to be addressed. Players can help solve each
others' complications. GMs can draw upon complications as hooks for future adventures or plot development.
CREDITS
I have been inspired in this game in many ways. Notable mentions go out to John Harper for his game Lady Blackbird, to
Greg Stolze for the wisdom in his introductory articles How to Play and How to Run, and to the fine folks at www.story-games.com.
I also owe great thanks to my friends and playtesters.
Created by Stephen Parkin
Version: 6 January 2011