Issue #1

July 2013

 Robert Bob Curtin passed away in April of 2013 at the age of 70. Bob was a
classic gamer in the best old school tradition. He started his gaming career with
Avalon Hill strategy games like Axis and Allies, Panzer Blitz, Blitzkrieg, Squad
Leader, and Civil War, which satisfied not only his love of games, but of history,
strategy and tactics.
He embraced Dungeons & Dragons in the 70s, which is how our first gaming
group came to know him. He referred to us as the hoodlums, and we spent
many a Sunday at Bobs white linoleum kitchen table with dice, maps, miniatures,
books, charts and pizza, exploring lost caves, corrupted dungeons, vast peaks, dark
temples and disreputable taverns.
He self-published his own wargaming magazine called WASTE, which was
quite a feat prior to the age of computer graphic design, the internet and PDFs.
In the mid 1980s, Bob began computer gaming on simulated battlefields from
WWI, WWII, and the Civil War. His digital gaming would later expand into
baseball, flight simulators, racing and eventually World of Warcraft.
Bob once said that games are like large meals, they are designed to bring friends
who share a common interest to the table, to talk, to laugh and to make merry.
We hope to launch this new endeavor in the spirit of that philosophy.

An Introduction to the Theater of the Mind

Greetings my fellow adventurers. I would like to personally thank
you for taking a chance on our fledgling magazine. We have embraced
the bold mission of exploring immersive role playing, cooperative story
telling, and direct reader involvement in our publication, which makes
Theater of the Mind the only role playing magazine of its kind.
The phrase theater of the mind is used to describe an immersive
role playing experience that takes place entirely within the imaginations
of the players and story teller, requiring no props, maps or miniatures.
Some have argued that it is the purest form of role playing, and although
all role playing experiences can bring enrichment to those involved, the
immersive game is the holy grail of role playing games.
The content of the magazine will include all systems, themes, styles
and genres, though they will always be viewed through the lens of
immersive role playing. Whenever possible, we will be avoiding the
inclusion of specific game mechanics in our content, allowing the reader
to apply it to any role playing system.
We will be including role playing related articles, maps, stories,
character tales, adventures, game master tools, new creatures, childrens
content, reader submissions, and much more.
Please dont hesitate to offer feedback and suggestions. Theater of
the Mind is intended to be an interactive resource for everyone who is
interested in getting the most from their role playing experience.
Sincerely,

Alex Guillotte

Editor-in-Chief, Theater of the Mind Magazine

Making the
Immersion
Conversion
by Carl Salminen

Youre a role player and youve got a

group of friends who gather each week for
a game. Youve got your dice, your books
and supplements, your miniatures, graph
paper and plenty of pencils. Theres Mountain Dew in the fridge or maybe coffee in
the pot, depending on which fuel you use
to keep those eight-hour sessions rolling.
Everything is in place. The GMs screen,
clogged with its tables and charts, stands
tall, like a looming castle wall over which
the GM can survey the action. All is well.
Or is it?
Youve got everything it takes to make
the game work and yet, for you, the game
is just not working. If this is the case, then
perhaps a vital piece of role-playing gear is
missing from your gaming table.
The tangible array of goodies we love,
like our dice and our thick tomes of rules,
chock full of vivid illustrations, are visceral devices that help transport us into our
various fantasy worlds - but there is an intangible device that can take us one level
higher, or perhaps one level deeper is a better phrase. That device is immersion.
Immersion? What is immersion? Well,
its less a thing than a style of play. And
its less a style of play than it is an engagement of the imagination. Its that thing that
lets us detach from the mundane circle of
chairs around the table, setting us free to
dive into the inviting waters of our minds
eye. It takes the numbers and the charts, the

grid-marked maps and the miniatures, the

mechanics and statistics and sets them aside
so that the power of our imaginations can be
set free to fly.
But let me get a little more technical
and a lot less flowery about what immersion is. To put it simply, its role-playing
without all the props. Its role-playing
stripped down to the minimum required
stuff, like books, dice and maps, and instead leaves the GM to create images and
scenery in our heads.
Further more, it asks us to cut out all
the mechanical chatter that is typical during a session of role-playing. It begs us to
not only express what our characters do or
where they move within a scene but to also
breathe life into our intrepid heroes. It calls
on our inner extrovert to take a small step
forward and speak up. What it really asks is
for us to let go. To stop living our stories in
the eyes of the third person, and to engage
them in the first, via the minds eye.
When playing our games in the minds
eye, there are new elements that will be discovered; elements that have always been
present but were perhaps dusted over by
the use of what I call imagination proxies. Remember, your imagination is far
more powerful that any miniature or map
that can be placed on the table. And yes,
the miniatures, maps and illustrations are
great fodder to feed our imaginations, but
thats all they need to be. Fodder. Inspiration. Catalysts.
Immersive role-playing isnt easy. Its
not something we naturally fall into. Why
should it be? After all, most prominent,
best-seller role-playing books are written
with the contingent plan of selling more
books, adding more rules and releasing
expansion materials along with a symbiotic array of figures, dungeon tiles, maps
and other props to enhance the game.
And theres nothing wrong with these

things. Ive enjoyed them and still do.

But this all makes converting your game
to a more immersive game seem contradictory to what youve read, depending,
of course, on your experiences within the
role-playing hobby.
My suggestion to you, my friends, is
to take small steps. Engage the elements
of immersion one at a time. Have your
players talk in their characters voices.
Ask your players to limit their questions
about mechanics and simply describe
what their characters do. Try playing a
session without your maps and figures.
Ask players to arrive in costume. Do
these all, do one, do some.
Youre sure to have players who might
not be comfortable playing in the immersive style because it does ask more of us.
It requires more engagement and portrayal.
It tends to sideline the kind of player who
sits around waiting for the next fight to start
because immersions pay-off really comes
from commitment to the full experience.
So keep reading. Theater of the Mind
is here to help you discover the world of
immersive-style role-play and to engage
in it as large or as little steps as you like.
For those of you who already play in the
immersive style, we invite you to read on
and talk back to us about your own experiences. Engage us in the ever-growing
conversation that we hope to bring to the
forefront of our hobby. We are not the final word. We are simply a platform, and
maybe sometimes a soap box, from which
we hope role-players of all stripe can discover something new, interesting, engaging and humorous. Most of all, were here
to strengthen and embolden the worldwide community of role players and we
cannot do that without you.
Now, onward to adventure!

Contents

2 Dedication
3 Introduction

4
Making the Immersion Conversion

Issue #1 July 2013

Editor-in-chief
Alex Guillotte
Editors
Kerowyn Guillotte
Matt Click
Writers
Alex Guillotte
Ander Wood
Anthony Boyd
Aurl Andrs Kovcs
Brian Gregory
Carl Salminen
Chlo Rose
Emergent Play
Ferdinand Boleslawski
Forrest Bugay
H. P. Lovecraft
Michael Natale
Sean Conners

Publishers
Alex Guillotte
Kerowyn Guillotte
Art Director
Alex Guillotte

by Carl Salminen

by Ander Wood

5
7

14

Artists
Alex Guillotte
Anthony Boyd
Tim Harper
Jeremiah Brown
Paul Allen

16

17

Photographers
Katrina Kent

20

Creative Advisors
Ander Wood
Jeremiah Brown
Sean Conners

23

24

Credits and Contents

RPG Styles: Immersive Play
Random Map: The Western Lands
by Alex Guillotte

Crafting Memorable Locations

by Alex Guillotte

Secret Signs

by Sean Conners

Creature Feature
To Speak Truth, and Have the
Very Dice Obey
by Anthony Runeslinger Boyd

Story: With An Empty Fist

by Michael Natale

From the Fringe:

Review: A Penny for My Thoughts

by EmergentPlay

From the Fringe:

Review: Card Hunter Beta

Random Map: Amojah

25

by Ferdinand Boleslawski
by Jeremiah Brown

26 Theme

27

29

\

32

33

Story: Shadows Linger

by Michael Natale

The Vampire the Masquerade

YouTube Experiment
by Ferdinand Boleslawski

Small Beginnings: Role Models

by Alex Guillotte

Hero Kids: Rat Under the Bed

An Adventure for Ages 5 to 12

38

Gothnogs Magnificent Cantrips

40

by Forrest Bugay

by Alex Guillotte
by Alex Guillotte

About the Publishers

RPG Styles:

Immersive Play
by Your Main Man
Ander Wood

Roleplaying game is an umbrella term

for many types of games. Though many
of these seem superficially similar or even
identical, there are often vast differences
between the various types. Video games,
LARP games, and table top games all are
part of roleplaying games. In this article
we are focusing on table top games, or
more perfectly put creative imaginative
space games.
When selecting a game, it is important
to determine what you are looking for as an
end result from having played. Immersive
games are most easily described as the chase
for the 100% in character moment. It is the
goal of this style of gaming to find that moment as often as possible and prolong it for
as long as possible. But even when it is not
attained, focusing on the chase greatly aids
in establishing the highest quality of roleplaying possible by the group.

An immersive game is only possible

with an agreement, expressed or implied
by the group. The reason being, it does
not compliment other styles of gaming as
they are in various ways, disruptive to the
immersive process. To begin an immersive game the GM should specify to their
players guidelines for the types of characters that will work best to create the sort of
game the GM is envisioning.
The players then make a character, play
the character, and stay in character. When
making the character the player should
make each number on the character sheet
tell a story, the story of the character. Even
the slightest differences when thought
through can add massive amounts of detail
to a character. Think about questions like,
what did the character do for money before
the start of the game? How did the character
do in school? What was their love life like?
Who were their parents and their friends?
Who taught them Outdoorsman 2? Or upon
thinking about it, should they have Outdoorsman 3 or maybe 1? Or is this a skill
to completely remove? Most importantly,
what does the character care about? What
would move them to action or despair?
The goal here is to make the character
as real as possible. Start with a vision
of the character in your mind. Then design
the character mechanically without straying from that vision. This style of character creation is termed form over function.
Though in this stage it can be tempting to
forsake what drew you to your character
idea for mechanical gains, this should be
resisted. The reason being, power gaming
or, function over form character creation
does not create a character in the truest
sense, it creates a compromise you made
with your creativity and ultimately nothing
more than a collection of numbers. If there
is no reason for each number, there is no
truth in the character. The biggest problem
with this is you will ultimately enjoy your
character less. The biggest lure to power
gaming is the fear of other players outshining you through their power gaming or a
slaughter house style of GM, that is far too
quick to kill off characters or an underlying
level of insecurity. Through open dialogue
and careful player selection you can avoid
these base gaming impulses and produce a
purer form of gaming. When you are playing the character you truly want, you will
enjoy the character more. Flaws, quirks,
and a complete psychological profile are
far more fulfilling to experience than additional bonuses to hit. It is on the loftier

pursuits that your character creation time

should be spent as opposed to endlessly
looking through supplements for the perfect advantage for your build.
Once you have made your character
it is important to play them consistently.
While dynamic character advancement
should be encouraged, there must be an internal logic which governs the characters
action. Additionally, you must remember
to stay in character. Out of character jokes
and chatter ruin the immersive experience
of those around you. If you are in a scene,
stay in character. If you are not, and wish
to speak with someone else out of character, you should ask them to another area
that will allow those actively playing to
not hear you. Your GM will greatly appreciate this.
Staying in character also means avoid
meta-gaming. The urge to yell out for a
healer to rush across the battlefield to heal
you because youve lost 17 hit points, is
understandable. The problem is once you
degenerate to using game terms to communicate desired actions; you are no longer in
the game. Nor can anyone wishing to remain in the game respond to you correctly.
Not to worry the same out of character moment mentioned above can easily be turned
into an in character moment. All you need
to do is simply have your character yell out
in pain, calling for the other character to
aid you, in character. This creates another
roleplaying opportunity. Remember no
matter how long your game session is, it
will only last a finite amount of time which
means you need to get as much out of every scene as you possibly can.
In an immersive game GMs must determine all aspects of reality and how they are
expressed through storytelling. Once these
decisions have been made, the GM must
educate their players on what their narrative
collaborative role will be. The best place to
start with this is to have characters give detailed descriptions of the actions their characters take. Players must understand to be
extended this trust; they must express their
description in terms that make sense when
considering their characters capabilities. If
the player rolls well, they should describe
the level of their success accordingly. Conversely if they roll poorly, they should describe their failure. While this may seem
odd at first, great enjoyment can be taken
from your failures. Remember, turn everything into a roleplaying opportunity. That is
the heart of immersive play.
Ander Wood is a video blogger and game designer
with over 20 years experience in role playing. He
is currently publishing an innovative role playing
game called Within the Ring of Fire.
http://www.youtube.com/user/woodwwad

Random Map
by Alex Guillotte

These maps are left deliberately vague so that you

can easily incorporate them into your campaign,
no matter which genre or flavor you prefer.
Please share your experiences using the maps so
that other readers can be inspired as well.

Crafting Memorable
Locations
by Alex Guillotte

The setting of a story is often a character in and of itself. Sadly, this character is
often overlooked or underdeveloped. But a
storyteller should not be expected to create
a fully fleshed-out location for every place
the player characters travel. If a character
enters a shop, the storyteller is not going to
stock all the shelves or detail every square
inch of the place.
However, for important settings where
something significant is likely to take
place, the storyteller should put more
thought and preparation into the details,
just as they would for important non-player characters. The amount of preparation
depends on the significance of the setting,
and the likelihood of the characters traveling there.
Detailing every room in a large building
would be a lot of work, particularly if the
characters only visit one specific room. In
this instance, the storyteller could provide
significant details for the room that is frequented, and then have a general idea of
what the rest of the place looks like.
As players often take their characters in
unexpected directions, it is common for
the storyteller to improvise the details of
certain locations. Improvisation doesnt
mean that one has to skimp on the richness
of the location. But the storyteller should
be prepared for the player characters to
take things in a different direction.
With that in mind, what are the elements of a memorable location?

Truly significant locations would include places where encounters may take
place, or where the PCs may otherwise
spend a lengthy amount of time. A meeting
place where the characters will encounter
their adversary for the first time is a significant location. Player characters can become
intimate with a place they are spending the
night. A crime scene needs a lot of detail
to lead player characters in the right direction. The bridge of a space ship or a tavern
are places where player characters would
spend a lot of time. The more important the
location to the player characters, the more
detail the storyteller should supply.
Another factor to determine a locations
significance is the likelihood of the characters actually travelling there. As storytellers, its important not to railroad the characters into situations, but its possible to
make some educated guesses. For example,
if its the lair of the adversary, the chances
of the PCs ending up there at some point
are pretty solid. If its a bar frequented by
the characters, obviously theyll end up
there regularly. If its a crime scene pertinent to the story, then the PCs will have to
visit to gather clues.

Significance

The first thing to consider is the significance of the location. Will the PCs
simply be passing through? Will they stay
the night? Is this location the setting of
an encounter or investigation? This will
help determine the level of detail desired.
If its just a pass-through location, then
a description that creates an overall feel
might be sufficient. On the other hand, if
the characters are searching for something,
then even pass-through locations may require a little more detail.

Purpose

The second thing to keep in mind when

evaluating locations is to consider the goals
of the location and the player characters in
it. Is the primary purpose of a location to
gather information? Is it to set a mood? Is
it meant to host an encounter? Is it some
combination of those? What role playing
opportunities does the location offer?
With the crime scene location, the purpose is to provide information. In a case
like this, the storyteller will want to include
a lot of details. The storyteller can lay the
mood on thick with a trowel. However, if
the location is a bar, the primary purpose
may be for the player characters to interact with each other and NPCs. In this case,
the storyteller may want to focus on the
atmosphere. If the location is an old abandoned town, then the purpose could be exploration. In this case, having a sense of
the locations history may be important to
progressing the story. Have a firm grasp on
the intentions of your locations, and detail
them accordingly.

Atmosphere and Mood

Each location is going to have its own

feel or atmosphere. When creating a location, its important to consider how the place
will feel to the players, based on its purpose.
For example, even though both may seem
similar, a dilapidated tomb will have a very
different atmosphere than a castle dungeon.
Likewise, a local bar will have a very different feel than an upscale nightclub.
The first thing to impact the player characters is the look of a location. What is here,
and why?. The storyteller should think
about textures, light and shadow; about why
a particular item is positioned where it is;
about why the location is in the condition it
is when the player characters find it.
While a visual description is vital to developing an atmosphere and mood, its important to try and engage all the senses. Including things like smell, sound, touch and
even taste will bring the location to life. For
example, the characters are in a tomb, and
the storyteller describes how the air smells
like death and decay, how the PCs can
hear water dripping from a leak in the ceiling. Perhaps the player characters hear the
sound of their own footsteps crunching on
layers of dead insects and bone fragments.
The PCs might feel the damp cold creeping
into their bones. They might just taste the
dust drifting down from the low ceiling.
Or lets say the characters are in a
nightclub, and the storyteller describes the
smells of fresh sweat, booze, and cigarette
smoke to accompany the visual description. The storyteller can describe the music
pounding against their ears, and the heat
generated by the dancing throngs and flashing lights. As a character takes a sip from
his glass, the storyteller may describe the
taste of their drink, and the way it burns going down his throat. By engaging all of the
players senses, the storyteller can create a
rich atmosphere that will greatly enhance
the overall immersion of the players, and
make the game world all the more real

Common Sense and Logic

Another thing that can make or break the

immersion in a game is the logic of the location. If the player characters are creeping
through a cave system deep under ground
and suddenly come upon a creature that has
no reason to be there, the players will likely
get pulled out of the game. This problem
is most obvious in dungeons, where there
are completely unrelated species living just
down the hall from each other. There is
often no sense of why these creatures are

there and nothing to hint at how they have

managed to live in such a place.
When creating a place, its important to
not only make it real, but to have it make
sense within the context of the game. If this
place exists, it means that someone put a lot
of effort into making it. It must have had a
purpose, even if that purpose has changed
over time. If the characters are exploring a
tomb, it makes sense that there would be
traps to protect the burial chamber from
looters. However, having a pit trap in a
well traveled corridor doesnt make sense
at all. The storyteller should think about the
purpose of the room. What is its purpose
for in the game? What was the purpose of
the original builders? Does this room make
sense in the overall layout of the location?
Suppose that the player characters are
in the dungeon of a long forgotten castle.
They enter a relatively unimportant room.
The room may not be very significant to the
quest, but the storyteller would still want to
have a basic idea of its former use. If it was
a guard room, then there might be some
broken tables and chairs. There might be
remnants of clothes or armor on skeletons,
and maybe some empty kegs or a rusted
weapon or two.
This concept holds true for creatures
as well. If a particular creature must be
in a specific location, then its important
to think about why its there. How did it
get there? How and what does it eat? Why
does it stay here? Where does its waste go?
Perhaps the location is not its home, but it
should still make sense as to why its there.

History

Giving a place a sense of history and context can greatly enhance the realism of that
location. It is important to think about the locations past, and what might have happened
there. This can be accomplished very easily
with items the PCs may come across. There
might be paintings, tapestries, old books,
documents, and so on. If there are bones, the
storyteller would want to think about what
state they are in. Do the bones show that the
people died violently? Are there any insignias on the tattered remains of their clothes? Is
there a skeleton clutching a journal? Is there
a skeleton with a simple locket with a sketch
of a loved one inside?
The storyteller must consider the
state of the place itself as well. Are there
any stains? Broken stone? Burn marks?
Scratches? Have other adventuring parties
come through? To get ideas of a story left
behind, a storyteller only needs to consider

10

An excerpt from
The Shunned House
by H. P. Lovecraft

In my childhood the shunned house

was vacant, with barren, gnarled and
terrible old trees, long, queerly pale
grass and nightmarishly misshapen
weeds in the high terraced yard where
birds never lingered. We boys used to
overrun the place, and I can still recall
my youthful terror not only at the morbid
strangeness of this sinister vegetation,
but at the eldritch atmosphere and odor
of the dilapidated house, whose unlocked
front door was often entered in quest of
shudders. The small-paned windows
were largely broken, and a nameless air
of desolation hung round the precarious
panelling, shaky interior shutters, peeling wall-paper, falling plaster, rickety
staircases, and such fragments of battered furniture as still remained. The
dust and cobwebs added their touch of
the fearful; and brave indeed was the
boy who would voluntarily ascend the
ladder to the attic, a vast raftered length
lighted only by small blinking windows
in the gable ends, and filled with a
massed wreckage of chests, chairs, and
spinning-wheels which infinite years of
deposit had shrouded and festooned into
monstrous and hellish shapes.
But after all, the attic was not the
most terrible part of the house. It was the
dank, humid cellar which somehow exerted the strongest repulsion on us, even
though it was wholly above ground on
the street side, with only a thin door and
window-pierced brick wall to separate
it from the busy sidewalk. We scarcely
knew whether to haunt it in spectral
fascination, or to shun it for the sake of
our souls and our sanity. For one thing,
the bad odor of the house was strongest
there; and for another thing, we did not
like the white fungous growths which occasionally sprang up in rainy summer
weather from the hard earth floor. Those
fungi, grotesquely like the vegetation
in the yard outside, were truly horrible
in their outlines; detestable parodies of
toadstools and Indian-pipes, whose like
we had never seen in any other situation.
They rotted quickly, and at one stage became slightly phosphorescent; so that
nocturnal passers-by sometimes spoke
of witch-fires glowing behind the broken
panes of the fetor-spreading windows.

location with the players not knowing any

better. The storyteller can always elaborate
or work more of the location into the story
later. For example, the player characters
enter a room. It happens to be a room that
the storyteller hadnt planned on them visiting, so there is nothing planned for it. The
storyteller might make up something on the
spot like this:
The room before you is low-ceilinged
and choked with dust. It looks as if it was
once adorned with rich furniture, but time
and the damp air have taken their toll. Tattered fabric hangs from the half-rotted skeletons of old couches and chairs. The air is
thick with the smell of mildew. Blind, greasy
rats scurry away as your pale light spills into
the room. In the far left corner is a skeleton
draped in moldering clothes. It clutches
the remains of a leather-bound book across
its rib cage, and a heavy spear is impaled
through the book, the chest cavity, the chair
back, and the wall beyond. About the only
thing that looks intact is a scroll case tucked
into the skeletons rotten belt.
So, off the top of their head, the storyteller has made a very interesting room
with great potential. Who was that person?
Why were they killed? What is the book?
What is in the scroll case? It could contain
a coded document within the scroll case
that might become a clue in the current or a
future adventure. The storyteller may have
no idea, but it will give the player characters a mystery to ponder. These mysteries
encourage immersion.
It is important to remember that the
storyteller doesnt need to have all the answers right away. Mysteries can be fun for
both the players and the storyteller. Maybe
the players will make a speculation that the
storyteller likes well enough to incorporate
into the story. Though, of course, the players will think thats what the storyteller had
intended all along. Spontaneity can create a
great story, and the players will feel clever
for having worked it out.
Alex Guillotte

rooms that his player characters have been

through. What marks have they left on a
place? This can show perspective on how
to come up with a locations history.
To give a location a history is to give it
a sense of time. This gives the players the
impression that the location would exist
whether they went there or not. Sometimes,
that is all that is needed to make a place feel
real for the players.

Mystery and Improvisation

Just because a storyteller is improvising a location, it does not mean that they
have to skimp on the detail. If the storyteller doesnt have anything specific in
mind about a location, then they can simply make up details that are at least not inconsistent with that place. It doesnt matter
if they dont have a clear idea in mind for
the place, they can very easily create a rich

11

Thinking in Three Dimensions

One stumbling block for many storytellers is thinking in only two dimensions. This
is due in part to the use of flat, two-dimensional maps. Thinking three-dimensionally
is not about simply having different levels
of a building, dungeon or castle, but realizing that those places exist even when the
player characters arent there. The storyteller must consider whether noise travels
between floors. Or if there are trap doors to
get directly from one level to another?

On the Trail

by Brian Gregory
Itd been a long ride to the canyon
pass. The grit and dust that blew up
during the windstorm still choking
your throats as you pulled to an early
stop. With the cabin in sight you tie the
horses to a couple of scraggy pines
growing among fallen sandstone boulders. Quickly checking your shooters
and pulling the long coats tight; the
iron plate inside it to protect everyones innards stings like a hot skittle.
It is darn near sunset there is still no
sign of rain, just the ever-present dry,
whipping wind. The dusk time heat
suffocating your nose, presses you into
the narrow pass down to the canyon
floor. From here the cover down to the
cabin get a little sparse. A few random
orange and brown sandstone boulders
have tumbled down the slope. Here
and there, mixed scrub brush grows in
a few open places with the occasional
red and green of a manzanita brush
breaking the arid backdrop.
The canyon floor on the other hand,
is dotted by dead creosote brush. A
trickle of a stream breaks into the canyon and runs by the cabin. Scanning
around the cabin with a spyglass you
spot two mule deer carcasses near the
stream. Several foot sized mutated
Andres desert scarab beetles chew at
the deer, pus filled blisters breaking
through their hard shells. The smell
of burning hair and cooking meat rises up from the chimney smoke of the
cabin. Whatever Wild Pete was doing out here was against nature. The
towns folk had already lost the sheriff and his deputy up this way but, we
never saw hide nor hair of their horse
or bodies. Whatever it was Pete was
cooking sure didnt smell like chili but
is sure made your stomach rumble.

Describing the immense mass of stone

above the characters heads, the weight of
the rock pressing in, can be used to create a
sense of claustrophobia, particularly when
underground. The vertical nature of a place
can give it a feeling of richness and complexity as well. In a large city for example,
rather than just thinking about the street
level, the characters must consider basements, sub-basements, catacombs, tunnels,
sewers, and even sub-sewers. They must
consider second floors, attics, crawl spaces,
walkways and rooftops.

This would mean giving greater consideration to floors and ceilings. How high
are the ceilings? Are they decorated or
plain? What materials were used in their
construction? What condition are they in?
Is anything living there? If the ceilings are
in poor condition, then perhaps random
stones fall as a result of footsteps beneath.
The storyteller should consider whether
the floors are wet, dry, smooth, or rough.
They should consider how these things affect the player characters. Are there any
carpets? Is there scattered debris? Are there
any other marks that might hint at a pending danger? Its important to consider the
possibilities that up and down offer an adventure location.

Bringing It Together

Obviously if the storyteller can have

the details in place before the adventure
begins, thats great. However, its not absolutely necessary as long as the storyteller has a basic idea of the place. The rest
can be filled in on-the-fly. While this can
sometimes feel very daunting, particularly
to a new storyteller, there are ways to simplify the process.
The best option to simplify the process is through the use of random charts.
These can be charts that the storyteller
creates ahead of time or ones that have
been borrowed from other sources. The
storyteller can choose to roll on the charts
if they prefer it to be random, or they can
use them as a reference for inspiration.
How ever the storyteller decides to do
it, they shouldnt feel like they have to
be an improvisational master. That may
come in time. However, it is important to
know that even seasoned storytellers use
random charts. To an observer they might
not be able to tell if the storyteller is particularly skilled in improvisation.
The important thing to remember when
creating a location is that its not important
to have every tiny detail worked out in order to make a location feel rich and immersive. The storyteller is not trying to imagine
for the player characters, but rather is giving them the raw materials. The storyteller
only needs to supply just enough detail for
the player characters to fill in the blanks
with their own imaginations.
Alex Guillotte has been a professional artist and
role player for over 25 years. He is currently involved in making role playing related videos, freelance illustration, and publishing this magazine.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainGothnog

12

Snow, Song, Blood,

& Steam
by Chlo Rose

The queens ladies carry wreathes of

evergreen, their faces painted with indigo beneath their eyes and below their
lips. Viggo Viggosson, the queens adviser, beats his staff on the packed down
snow, thumping out a beat. Soon the
queens ladies begin swaying their wide
hips. The drummers and string-players
beat and pluck their lay, the wide, blonde
maids singing in the elven tongue:

Im a lazybones, born to sing,

born with fingers made for playing,
want to spend my nights alone,
singing sleeplessly till dawn.1
They continue their song, placing
their wreathes on their newly sworn
husbands, taking their bowls of paint
to mark the faces of the clansmen and
wives. The babes too are marked with
that grayish-blue, and as Viggo kicks
up his rhythm, the clan responds, the
men raising their clubs and axes in the
air and the maids kicking the snow,
spinning in their places.
The music continues, but you notice
no retinue is within sight. The others
continue dancing, but youyou stop,
and look. You listen and wait. Instead
of a band of Bear clansmen, you see
six, no sevenseven of the largest men
youve ever seen. They seem to be riding on dogs, hairless, with long snouts
and long hair along the back of their
necks. Steam comes from their snouts,
and the men too, snorting large plumes
they near you, raising their axes.
A single arrow sails, passing
through your clansmen, as if guided
by a string, right to your Queens pale
throat. As she falls, the ladies cease
their dancing to scream and the men,
axes raised in celebration, look from
their falling queen to the men who ride
into your camp.
Viggo attends the bleeding Queen,
then looks to you: Southern beasts
they ridehorses. Kill their mounts
and those who mount them!
1. Laiska. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://varttina.
com/discography/ilmatar/laiska/>.

Secret
Signs

by Sean Connors
This article is meant to cover secret
signs that can be woven easily into a campaign. Major criminal organizations have
networks of spies, information gatherers
and agents, who communicate both overtly
and covertly. This article presents three covert ways by which organizations do this:
hand signs, ciphers, and marks.

Hand Signs

Hand signs are primarily a visual sign

code which can be done both secretly and
openly, but usually without arousing suspicion. The key principles to the code are sign
language, as it can be fairly easily taught
to everyone, and grows as the person gets
deeper into an organization.
Hand signs can be simple or complicated and are accomplished by using combinations of hand motions. For example: if
you point to an eye, then the top of your
head, and then at someone that would
mean eye (I) top of head (know) pointing
at someone (you). Another example: fist
clenched turning whole hand left then right
quickly (means opening a lock).

Entire sentences of code can be created as necessary. For example, the GM

may describe two people who appear
to be communicating secretly over distance in a crowded bar: One is seated the
other standing. The first, who is seated,
points to both his knees (need help) if it
had been one knee it would mean something else. The other taps the side of his
temple (what) with one finger twice (can)
and then rubs his eye with it (do). Replying, the seated man strokes his chin
with two fingers (meaning two men) and
then thumps the table meaning (fighters)
and shouts drink barkeep which has no
actual other meaning except to keep one
from getting thirsty.
The benefit of hand signs is that a person does not require the use of any intelligence-based skill. In game play, the GM
can develop as simple or in-depth process
as he wants. Learning hand signs requires
a character be trained in the skill. Members of an organization can interpret their
groups hand signs with a simple observation check. Interpreting a sign for an
organization you do not belong to is a
hard or daunting check.

The Cipher

The cipher is a simple to use, but sophisticated cryptographic method to hide

a message. Reading and writing ciphers

14

require that the character have the educational skill acquired, as creation and deciphering of a cipher commonly involves a
guidebook or a print wheel. Criminal organizations typically employ scribes to create
and interpret ciphers.
A simple cipher is simply a code
where a symbol or letter is substituted
with another letter. A simple guide is all
that is required in this case. For example,
if the guide is that letters are shifted twoforwards, A=c, B=d, C=e, etc. Altdorf
would be listed as: Cnvfqth.
More complicated ciphers may reference books or encode messages into
a sentence. When a code is given using
references to words in a printed book,
references may be made to word and
page numbers. For example, if the first
number is 2 and the second number 30,
what it could mean is page 2, word 30
in The Life at Sigmar. When using a cipher system like this in a campaign, it
might be a fantastic idea to have a role
playing book to be used as a prop for
such a purpose.
However, there is another unique way
to use this for the criminal empire. First,
take a sentence that you want to use, and
then write a letter with those words in it.
As long as the letter makes sense, no matter how odd or weird it might read, it is a
fantastic way to hide a cipher.

 The benefits of the cipher to a large

organization are massive because, even in
a mass produced proclamation, a hidden
message can be given. As you ponder this,
consider the following: what if this proclamation contained more than one cipher,
one for the criminal empire members and
one for its own hierarchy...
Here is a longer example cipher:
Sir,
Its time to (remove) those old garments and change (them) one and
(all). I have included with this letter a
sum of money to buy new ones. I hope
this letter finds you (and) your family
well. I would like you to (return) with
all haste (to) the town of (Ubersreik)
and you will be my guest at my plush
town house once you arrive. Once you
are there I will (tell) you some exciting
news about (Dieter) my older brother
you remember the one who married
that (smith) girl. Anyway I know the
time we will have will be limited but
I need a small (service) from you, but
I will keep that as a surprise for now.
Well my friend this is all I have time for
but soon when everything is in place
and (done) I will have more time to
write.
Your benefactor,
When you put the number cipher in 5 11
14 35 44 48 53 74 80 91, 109, 140
Deciphered, the message reads: Remove them all and return to Ubersreik tell
Dieter Smith job done.
In game play, the GM can create complicated ciphers to hand to players or just play
it out in-game. Naturally, the utilization of
ciphers requires the ability to read and write.
Members of an organization with a
guidebook can create or interpret their
groups ciphers with a simple intelligence
check as long as they have the correct
guidebook or key. Interpreting a cipher
for an organization you do not belong to,
or without a guidebook, is a difficult check
and may be re-tried.

Marks

A major communication resource of

the criminal empire is the use of marks.
It is important for an organization to be
able to identify what is theirs and what is
someone elses, so marks are commonly
used (usually covertly).

The tattoos of a dockers gang, coin altering by forgers, and tick-marks on smugglers barrels of goods are the most common
types of marks.
There are also more complicated types
of marks that can be used to tell where an
item came from and where it is going. For
example, an organization may employ a
forger-smith to mark a cart wheel or change
its design. The smith may slightly alter a
makers-mark on a tool, wheel or horse
shoe. This type of information can be used
to tell others various bits of information.
Lets look at the use of complicated
marks in more detail. Imagine that a large
merchant house was having some of its
carts repaired. The smith could easily mark
or change the wheels using a simple symbol, lets say a star in this case. The criminal
empire now knows that, if that particular
cart leaves town, what direction they went
in. Also, by knowing what towns lie in that
direction, this gives fantastic intelligence of
what might be on board. Now it is a much
easier job to keep tabs on that group. Setting
up ambushes or smuggling becomes that little bit easier simply because you know direction, distance and the best points to launch
an attack, or an ambush. Even the wonderful
art of subterfuge can be used to guide those
soldiers away from the real job and buy your
men more time. If you also consider how a
smith could make adaptations to equipment
things like hidden compartments or even
the fact the equipment is well made their
value to a criminal organization is massive.
In gameplay, members of an organization can recognize their own marks with a
simple check. Identifying the mark of an organization you are not a member of requires
a more difficult check to find and an even
more difficult check to identify or read, depending on the circumstances.

Use of Hand Signals,

Ciphers, and Marks by
Non-criminal Organizations

The GM should be reminded that secret

signs are not employed by criminal organizations alone, but they are widely used by legitimate organizations and creatures as well.
The Witch hunters have marks for towns
that they advise others to keep an eye on.
Scribes and agitators sometimes make secret
(and oftentimes humorous comments) in the
documents they peddle, just like some playwrights and poets who use allegory to mask
their true message. Beggars, of course, are

15

notorious for their use of marks on subterranean walls. Soldiers mark their property and
hunters use silent hand signals while hunting game. The GM should modify the check
to read and interpret non-criminal signs according to what seems logical.

Waiting in the Night

by Brian Gregory

The alley stinks like the rest of

the city, well maybe worse. Trash
overflowing from the Taconite diner
trails out under a buzzing street lamp.
Between the sewer gases venting up
from the curb and three-day old bean
dip it is hard to smell anything else.
The Johnson said she would be here,
they always say that. The rest of the
runners waited in the shadows just
down the alley, time was ticking away
and they are as impatient as you. A
slow drizzle of the rain gives everything here that slick shine. Neon
green, red and yellow reflected tacos
reflected off every wet passing car.
An orc pimp waits under the overhang of an abandoned movie theater
half of a block down with his bruisers. A few girls and guys move along
the sidewalk hawking their wares to
passing wage slaves. Down the other
side of the block, a street preacher
screams hellfire and brimstone on the
sinners across the street. A few street
dogs lap up water from a puddle just
a few yards away. She should have
been here by now, slot and run so we
can get rid paydata.
Its been ten minutes and still no
sign of the grey Westwind. The constant buzz of the street lamp starts to
ware your nerves a little thin. A few
street bums stop and ask Got any
nutrisoy chummer? but, with a wave
of your hand they can tell youre a
real vatjob and move on. That is when
you spot them; a couple of dandelion
eaters, by their jander you can tell
somethings up. Glancing back down
the other block, the orc pimp is gone
and so are his bruisers. Something is
just not right here, drek, it doesnt just
look bad, it feels bad.

Creature Feature
What the hell is that?!

Well, we dont know either. Thats for you to decide.

Wed like our readers to submit a detailed description
of the strange creature on the left. Tell us about where it
lives, what it eats, its personal habits, or anything else
that you think is important.
Your description is not limited to any particular genre,
so it could be a fantasy monster, mutant, alien, or some
sort of extra dimensional horror. Its all up to you.
The best submission will appear in the next issue of
the magazine along with writing credit. Be creative and
have fun!
Below is an example of the sort of writing we have in
mind, but if you have a more creative idea, then go for it.
Tim Harper

Please send your description to:

Submissions@TheaterOfTheMindMagazine.com

Jyxch

by Aurl Andrs Kovcs

Jyxch are strange caterpillar like creatures living mostly in boreal forest regions. They are short lived, fast breeding, omnivorous creatures.
Due to their large numbers (a female can lay up to 10,000 eggs at a time) they often cannibalize each other shortly after hatching, which keeps
the population in check. In their larval stage, they are no bigger than an ordinary caterpillar, and so are preyed upon by larger insects, birds,
rodents, and generally everything bigger than them. Some cultures find them a delicacy and
are often served boiled. It is very rare that a Jyxch reaches maturity, at which point they are
approximately size of a cat. The Jyxch is unusual in that they can reproduce sexually or asexually depending on the situation. Upon reaching maturity, the female begins laying eggs, 90%
of which are female, with only 10% male. The male is often thought to be different species, as
they are wasp like, harmless creatures. The males are attracted to the eggs by scent, but the eggs
will still hatch, even without fertilization.

Apart from being annoying pests, Jyxch rarely cause trouble, as they are easy to kill.
However, every once in a while, Jyxch females survive long enough to grow into a threat. From
the moment of their birth it takes around 6-7 months to grow into colossal sizes. By this time
they are 8 feet tall and 16 feet long. Their skin becomes rubber-like which makes them resistant
to most mundane weapons, and they can use their tentacles to rip apart larger animals. In this
form they are almost unstoppable, though they are particularly vulnerable from the inside if one
can survive long enough to attack them from that angle. Theyll eat literally anything, including villagers, cattle, crops, wooden houses, or anything else that gets in their way. They are not
particularly aggressive, however, they find villages irresistible because of the easy food.

They swallow their victims whole, killing them slowly in their gelatinous bowels. Their
inside is acidic jelly that dissolves nearly anything including metals if given enough time. This
acid serves their body fluid as well, making it very dangerous to wound one. The young Jyxchs
acid is very weak, and it gets stronger as the creature gets older. It is used in alchemy, and it is
worth more the older the specimen was.

16

To Speak Truth,
and Have the
Very Dice Obey
Anthony Boyd

by Anthony Runeslinger Boyd

Elements of this article originally appeared with the title To Dice, Perchance to Dream, on the Casting
Shadows blog.
If we consider how dice shape and influence our games, we gain insight into
how games can be shaped and influenced
by players and game masters through the
randomness of dice. In what ways do
the dice collaborate in the stories which
grow around our tables? How much of
this influence is by design? How much
develops on its own as we teach ourselves to play?

PREMATURE IMAGINATION

One of the early hurdles game masters

face as they settle into the role is properly
framing situations before the dice are called
into play. When a roll is framed poorly,
it leads to dissatisfaction and frustration
among players and game masters alike.
One aspect of this is premature imagination
where the players emotional investment in
an outcome pushes the die roll outside of
its intended function by declaring something like, I blow his head off! instead
of I thrust my recoilless .75 into his face
and pull the trigger! The difference might
not seem significant until considering that
in the first example the player has not only
already imagined success but its degree as
well (I blow his head off). This forces the
roll of the dice into a possibly adversarial
relationship with that imagining. Odds are,

the results will come back somewhere below the head blown off category and may
even be in the you miss category. Over
time, these dice-borne contradictions and
frustrations eat at satisfaction, and they
consistently interfere with immersion. This
is not working with the dice, it is working
against them. The play experience suffers
as a result of this conflict. Some gamers
choose to turn to lighter and lighter systems, or games which are ostensibly more
narrative to mitigate these frustrations.
Another solution is choose to develop skills
around using mechanics to aid immersion
rather than allowing them to prevent it.
Frustration is not the only emotion
which may stem from the use of the dice,
of course. Critical hits, botches, exploding runs, and so on all bring their own bits
of surprise and emotional response with
them. When game mechanics, such as hit
locations or critical success effects, provide
narrative details with the dice results, are
there things which can be done to integrate
these results, and the emotional charges
they may carry, with the nature of the setting, story, and group? Are the opportunities for immersion this provides grasped
and used to best advantage?
Immersion can be had and lost in any
game. As players and game masters,
there is a choice to be made: Integrate
the mechanics into the narrative to
help enhance immersion, or treat the
mechanics like an interruption.

17

AN ACE, OR JUST A LUCKY STIFF?

In a tactical combat game like Battletech, the ability to cross over into role
play is quite high. While surprising on the
surface, deep connection to character and
immersion in the game are consistently reported among players. Although this has of
course led to the development of a successful role playing game to accompany the
line, immersive role play was already evident when it was simply a war game with
miniatures. Over the decades this game has
been played, the mechanics and the fiction
of the game have had time to become very
tightly wed. The games iconic Battlemechs
are set up to represent the premier war machines of the settings futuristic battlefields
where the ongoing shifts in balance between armor and ammunition are reflected
in the clatter of 2D6+modifiers. Depending on how the dice rolls are interpreted,
this immersive property of the game can be
nurtured or left to die on the vine.
For example, critical hits manifest in the
game as a feature of a hit location table, and
in a sequence of play like Battletechs, the
associated feeling of getting a critical hit
is one of lucky happenstance. Hitting feels
connected to your pilots skill and your tactics, but critical hits are like winning the
lottery. Its just luck - or so it seems.
The sequence of play involves movement, assessment of the field, declaration
of fire, resolution of fire with dice, identification of hit location with dice, determination of possible critical hits with dice,
and then application of damage. As it is

a war game, not a role playing game, this

gradual discovery of results serves its purpose extremely well. However, when bleed
between the imagined pilot and the player
in a role playing sense begins to occur,
things shift somewhat. The effectiveness of
a given pilot in play can be traced to the
way they are played and the way they have
been developed and outfitted. The player
is responsible for these elements and can
if they are so inclined take pride in the
outcomes. However, getting a critical hit
on essential equipment in an enemy mech
something an Ace Pilot would try to do
intentionally does not generally tie into
this player-to-character connection as it is
divorced mechanically from the process of
successfully hitting. The typical war game
environment is one where the sequence of
play and the roll of the dice are all that is
needed to determine results. Sometimes,
however, there is something about a war
game which encourages bleed between
the forces on the table and the imagined
characters they suggest in the minds of the
players. In a role playing game, the reliance
on a sequence of play and the use of set
results without interpretation is not always
the case. Even when it is, there is an additional step in the sequence: the narration
of events. This narration is part of what enables games like Battletech to become as
immersive as any role playing game and
it draws its strength in part from the detail
offered by the mechanics.
So then I pulled back to lure him in, and
he fell for it! When he turned to bring that
huge cannon to bear on me, I raised my
large laser, took aim, and hit the ammo!
Scratch another enemy mech!
-Excited Battletech player riffing on roll
results, immersively

The interplay between characters, players, and the game master establishes more
than just results; it establishes all the required aspects of an ongoing story. In a role
playing game version of a Battletech conflict, a game master might go through the
same sequence of play, but rather than relating the results as they are generated mechanically You move into range, line up
a shot, hit, and burn a hole through the armor plating of the enemy Ostscout, luckily
damaging a weapons system they have
the option of involving the players in the
creation of a scene. By melding the intentions and concerns of the characters with

the information obtained from the dice, the

game envelops the players in a deeply-realized world that connects with what they
are doing and with what they are thinking.
The dice can be the starting point of narration, rather than the ending point. The dice
do not care if a critical hit is the result of
luck, skill, or good planning. A good story,
however, thrives on such distinctions. The
game master would be well within their
rights to turn this set of hit and hit location
rolls into a scene where a skilled character
moves into position and judges their shot
just right disabling a critical system. The
portrayal of the event is one of character
skill and effectiveness in battle. In later
scenes, the same sequence of rolls and results could be presented as luck, the fruits
of sabotage, as an indication of poor enemy
maintenance of their machines, or whatever else the story requires. The results
of the dice can serve as the starting point
to bringing out more and more knowledge
about the game world, setting, and situation
for the player, through the eyes and experience of their character.
Licking his lips, the dusty archaeologist stared at the moss-covered idol
sitting on the altar before him. A part
of him just wanted to reach out and
take it, but experience and the mental images of his dead and dying colleagues scattered around the entrance
to the tomb persuaded him to focus
intently on a more cautious approach
to todays grave-robbery in the name
of discovery

MORE THAN JUST THE AVERAGE BEAR

In a role playing game like Hollow Earth

Expedition, the mechanics allow for players to roll a die pool to generate a number
of successes. Instead, they may opt to take
the average number of successes their die
pool would statistically generate. Additionally, it lets them opt to invest Style Points
they earn through genre and character-appropriate play to increase their dice pool
or the pools of others. These options can
be left as a purely mechanical distinction
without connection to the world the group
is imagining in play, but it does not have to
be that way. The mechanics can serve as a
device for taking players more deeply into
the game world.
Taking the Average can be a mechanical
representation of reacting to the scene with
calm competence and confidence in the

18

outcome. Choosing to roll the pool of dice

can represent investing in an action more
emotionally hoping for a larger degree of
success while risking being less successful.
Spending Style Points demonstrates knuckling down to really push as hard for success
as possible; investing the characters emotional core in the action being undertaken.
The mechanics do not change with these interpretations, but the emotional tie to the actions characters take, and the way the player
comes to think about those actions definitely
do. The influence spreads to how the character is portrayed and it spreads to how the
player chooses to interact with the mechanics and the dice as a metaphor of action.
With time and consistency of application,
comes a point when players stop reaching
for dice, and instead characters start drawing
pistols, leaping chasms, or liberating golden
idols from imprisonment in forgotten temples because they belong in museums.

ARKHAM OR BUST

Other games, such as Call of Cthulhu do

not seem on the surface to offer this sort of
interplay between mechanics and role play,
but options still exist for using the games
percentile system for more than resolution. As players and game masters grow
more comfortable with how role playing
games work and grow more familiar with
the systems they use to support play, description surrounding roll results tends to
expand and bring more of the world to life.
While any long and grinding combat can
eventually wind up dragging even the most
narratively vibrant game back to, Ok,
you hit and do 3 points of damage, it is
almost expected these days for the group
to generate descriptive and engaging color
commentary for action in play. Even in the
adjudication of simple skill rolls although
the great temptation is to simply call for a
roll and accept the unmodified base percentage a good part of the fun for the
game master, and the ongoing realization
of the characters as the system purports to
reflect them, is to remember to frame the
roll with the inclusion of the environmental
qualities which affect it, not to simply go
with the numbers on the sheet. Bonuses or
penalties generally apply based on what is
going on and who is performing the action.
To help prevent the character from being
just a bland pastiche of common stats and
percentages with a name and personality
taped to it, keeping these rolls individual,

personal, and connected to the events and

situations around them is a massive aid to
immersion and investment. Maintaining
the descriptive flow throughout the selection and application of modifiers, and imbuing the roll with the association of action and impetus, a shift can occur which
transforms, Ok your Spot Hidden skill
is 60% aaaaaand its dark, anduh raining.sooo uh 30%... roll percentile,
into Peering through the sheets of rain with
your eyes squinted against the heavy drops,
the darkness seems to move and coil in illformed suggestions of things you know are
not there. Even in daylight the rain would
make it hard to spot anything, but in darkness like this its twice as hard
Come on! the boy yelled as he ran
up the cracked and canted stone steps
of the tower, nimbly avoiding the
yawning expanses where one or more
steps had completely crumbled away.
His blue letterman sweater with its
crisp white A was quickly being swallowed up in the growing gloom. Dropping further behind him, the wheezing
professor pressed a quivering hand
against the cool stone of the tower
wall and realized this was as far as
he could go. Wait! he tried to call,
but a coughing fit seized his lungs and
shook them as savagely as any wolf
shakes the life from its captured prey.

The detailed, perhaps lurid, passages

in source fiction fill players with expectation of the play experience and the desire
to immerse in scenes like those they have
read, but games exist in more layers than
the single one between reader and book.
At some point, an action will be attempted
which requires the engagement of a mechanic, often dice. When that happens,
the experience splinters into the imagined
world, and the real world with its polyhedrals and table tops. To maintain an immersive experience, getting these two aspects of play to lay superimposed one on
the other is needed, and part of doing that
comes from ensuring each call to interact
with the dice is personal and related to
more than the application of some universal adjudication of probability.
Outcomes of action are given their parameters by their associated die rolls, but
they are given form and substance from
the developing story - the history and
traits of the characters. The nature of the
setting and the realities of the characters
can bring to life even so basic a system as
Call of Cthulhus version of Basic RolePlaying (BRP) - one built around percentile rolls. While different iterations of the
engine powering this venerable game have
taken to offering more detailed resolution
phases to aid or frame the interpretation of
results at a trade-off of adding more complexity, the call remains to frame the roll
properly, obtain the result, then build on it

19

to create the scene. The roll result is not

the end of the sequence (You hit); it is the
beginning of something greater:
Your gun speaks and the sleeve of the
cultists shirt jerks wildly as though
yanked hard by some invisible wire.
Your eyes register the hole in its fabric
as blood spray blazes a trail his weapon arm is following uncontrollably in
a spasm of pain taking his own gun
out of line with its intended target of
your heart!
The dice dont determine the totality of
what happens, they define one small part
of what is happening now. Even in binary
situations of yes/no, or hit/miss, the logic,
momentum, and underlying reality of the
situation all play roles in resolving and defining the scene. Dice results are just a part
of the melody the group is creating; weaving tunes from various harmonies into a
satisfying and symphonic whole more immersive than just the one note alone.
Anthony Runeslinger Boyd currently
operates a blog where readers can explore a growing collection of comments
about roleplaying games and techniques
for both players and adjudicators. The
focus of these posts is strictly on face-toface and play-by-post tabletop gaming.

http://Runeslinger.Wordpress.com

With An
Empty Fist
by Michael Natale

michael@seewhatsinmybrain.com
Initiate Garrek Kenlan awoke to the
sound of an insistent knock on his chamber door. The young monk knew the hour
his master expected him to be awake, and
glanced quickly at his window. The sun
was still an hour off yet.
His nightshirt forgotten, the young
monk scurried to his feet and opened the
chamber door, and was shocked to see his
master standing in the corridor.
Master? He had almost forgotten himself, but quickly made a respectful bow.
Have I overslept?
He had come to the monastery more
than fifteen years ago, and had overslept
exactly once since being told what hour he
was expected to rise and be dressed in service of his master.
Young brother, Master Shu spoke
softly, with a slight nod of his head to acknowledge the initiate. It is an hour before full sunrise, so be easy. I apologize
for interrupting your rest but I require
your assistance.
I am yours to command, Master. I need
but a moment to dress
No, Master Shu cut him off. He turned
and was already moving down the hall to-

wards the stairs leading down towards the

monastery common room. Without looking back, Master Shu said, Please bring
your bedroll and blanket.
Garrek obeyed without questionhe
was too disciplined to refuse. But as he
gathered his bedroll and rushed to catch
up with his Master, he wondered what new
lesson waited for him today.
Master Shu was a wise, gentle man;
a man of logic and lessons. Sometimes
those lessons were hard, but he frequently
praised Garrek as his finest pupil. As such,
the master believed he therefore deserved
the most poignant teachings.
Garrek was grateful for his masters
personal attention, but this early in the
day? Often the old mans lessons were
cryptic and vague, with the meaning obscured by symbolism and hidden by Garreks lack of wisdom. Master Shu was a
patient man, however, and never forgot
the seed of any lesson planted, even if it
took years to bear fruit.
They wound their way down the great
spiral staircase, down past three other
floors, before finally reaching the landing
at the monastery common room. Garrek
saw that Master Shinjans students were
already in their ceremonial whites and had
begun the morning meditations.
Two stone-faced ceremonial guards
flanked the monastery doors. The doors
were painted red and easily ten feet across
on either side. An intricate design had been
carved into the wood, inlaid with a metal
that a passerby might mistake for gold.
It was not.
The monastery was an institute of learning. The only source of income was transcription and scribing services to the various mages guilds and sorcerer unions all
over the Mithral Chain. They never overcharged for their trade, and took in enough
coin to keep the monasterys humble community fed and clothed, but that was all.
The master spared a slight, respectful
nod of his head to the guards as they pulled
the massive doors open. Already shivering
in his small clothes and no shirt, Garrek
followed, wrapping his blanket tight about
his frame to shield himself from the biting
wind. The cold struck him like a slap in the
face. His skin prickled, gooseflesh appearing across his body. If there was any part of
his mind still caught in half-sleep, it sprang
wide-awake now.
The monastery was nestled in an enormous span of mountains that ran like a
crooked spine diagonally for hundreds of

20

miles. The mornings were brutal before the

sun rose, and the grey, colorless day that
greeted Garrek was harsh and frozen. Not
a sound from the surrounding forests penetrated the courtyard, and he wondered if
all the wildlife there had frozen to death in
their dens or nests.
Garrek and Master Shu crossed the open
courtyard towards the main gate. Not a soul
walked the courtyard, save the gate guards
at the wall surrounding the monastery and
was that the Master of the Kitchens
standing in a fur-lined traveling cloak near
the gate? What did he have in his hand that
was steaming a bowl of gruel, perhaps?
And who was that poor wretch on the other
side of the barred gate, kneeling and bowing with his head down?
It dawned on Garrek that the monastery
usually opened its gates to all those souls
who begged respite and succor. They
would treat the lowliest peasant as an honored equal, and offer them a seat by the
fire or at the breakfast table with plenty of
hot food and warmed, spiced wine to fill
their bellies.
Today the gates remained closed. Curious.
Who was this beggar then? What could
have been done to cause Master Shu to set
aside his normal charitable heart and leave
him outside on such a morning?
As they approached, Master Shu said,
Young brother, do you recognize this man?
Garrek nodded towards the beggar,
finally seeing enough of his face to recognize it. Yes, Master. He is a poor man
from the village below the third rise. I believe he claimed his name was Timon, son
of Peytor.
Your memory is sharp. Master Shu
smiled. Do you recall his tale?
I do, Master, answered Garrek, a tone
of disapproval creeping into his voice despite his best efforts. The last time you
allowed him inside to warm his belly, he
stole an entire ream of vellum from the
scribes supply and nearly broke Brother
Larals wrist trying to escape.
The mans sobs grew louder as they
talked as he realized he was recognized for
the thief he was.
Ignoring the mans sniveling, Master
Shu continued. Yes, that is he. What do
you feel now that you see the man before
us, weeping and begging for shelter and
food? Answer truthfully now, you know
you cannot lie to me.
Garrek considered carefully. He did
not feel pity towards the man, only contempt. Though he knew his master con-

sidered anger an emotion that was only

to be acknowledged when all others had
failed, he pressed on. He would not lie. I
feel angry, Master.
Master Shu nodded, as if expecting the
answer. Why?
The man betrayed your trust, Master,
Garrek answered firmly. You brought him in
and gave him food and he stole from you. He
inflicted injury on one of the brotherhood.
All true, Master Shu said, shaking
his head in disapproval. The man began to
weep all the louder. Give him your blanket and bedroll, young brother.
Garrek hesitated only a moment before
his training took over. He obeyed then,
bending to one knee and handing the weeping man his bedroll and blanket through
the bars. Immediately, he felt the icy wind
attack his skin and saw the man grow visibly calmer as he wrapped the thick woolen
blanket around his body, murmuring thanks
and clutching through the bars at the hem
of the masters robes.
Master Shu nodded to the Master of
Kitchens, who stepped forward and handed
the steaming bowl of gruel through the bars
of the gate to the beggar.
The starving creature dove forward, like
a man half in his cups with wine, and veraciously began devouring the gruel, scooping it out of the bowl and shoveling it into
his mouth with his fingers.
The Master of Kitchens bowed to Master Shu, who returned the bow. Then the
other man left. Master Shu and Garrek
watched in silence as the thief ate, nearly
gagging himself with the effort of shoving
as much gruel as possible into his mouth as
fast as he could.
Long moments passed, and Garrek began
to shiver steadily. The cold strangely did not
seem to bother Master Shu, who wore his
usual masters robes, but nothing else.
Master Shu turned to Garrek and saw the
look on the young mans face. He smiled,
but this time, it was a sad smile. You do
not approve. It was not a question.
Garrek knew the master had read his expression accurately. I do not. They stood
in silence for a moment longer. Then Garrek added, I beg forgiveness, Master, if
my answer offends you, but you insist on
the truth above all.
You need not ask forgiveness from me,
young brother. It is Timon that your disapproval offends. But tell me, why do you
disapprove? And were you standing here in
my place, what would you do?

Garrek thought about his answer. There

was a lesson hiding here, but he could not
puzzle it out. An examination of the facts
then might help reveal what it was the
master was hoping he would see. He has
proven that he is a thief, yet you give him
blankets and a bedroll, and a warm bowl of
gruel. The food and clothes will strengthen
him and it is likely he will use that strength
only to commit more crimes elsewhere.
I am aware of his character, young
brother, Master Shu answered gravely.
Yet I too have felt the cold bite at my skin.
Do you not feel it now?
Yes, Garrek answered, shivering in
the bitter wind.
Like the beggar, I too have felt hungers clawed hand tear at my stomach.
Have you not also, young brother?
Garrek nodded, recalling three winters
ago when the snowstorms were so bad that
the merchants refused to visit the monastery
for nearly the entire winter. All had lived on
gruel and not much of it for well over
four months. I have, Master, but I did not
attack or steal to satisfy my hunger.
I am aware of your character as well,
young brother. Master Shu nodded. What
would you do in my place?
Garrek considered. They were at a
crossroads here; a difference between them
that both knew was insurmountable. He
owed his master the truth; he had too much
respect for the man to lie. He looked at his
master confidently now, not as a scribe in
servitude to one of his betters, but as an
equal. I would turn him away.
You say you know where this poor man
is from, Master Shu said, and so you know
that his village is near three days hard climb
down through treacherous mountain trails
from here. You know not what drove him
to make the journey here to beg succor, but
surely must agree that in his present state, he
would not survive the journey back?
Garrek nodded.
Master Shu nodded. By turning him
away, you do so in full realization that you
likely condemn the man to starve to death
or freeze up here in the mountain pass,
where we are his only hope for life?
Garrek paused. Again, the truth tumbled
forth from his lips. Yes. As he spoke the
words, he knew: there was the lesson.
Master Shu held his gaze, his ancient
eyes twinkling sadly. I have watched you
for the past few years, young brother. As
you pass from adolescence into manhood, I
see the shape of your character settle more
firmly around you. The philosophies of our

21

order chafe against your spirit, and it would

seem we are at an impasse.
Garrek opened his mouth to protest, but
no words came out.
When we are done here, Master Shu
said, turning to face him at last. Visit
Brother Rupert in the storehouses. He will
supply you for your journey. We both know
that you can no longer stay here. There is
nothing more we can teach that your spirit
would welcome learning.
Garrek turned then and watched the
beggar, unable to meet Master Shus gaze.
He knew his master was right, knew deep
in his soul that he simply did not fit in
here. He had tried for nearly fifteen years
to change, to hear the message they were
drilling into his head, but the fundamental
bedrock of who he was rebelled against it.
There are other orders, Master Shu
began, sounding more grave and serious
than Garrek had ever heard him. Orders
that would welcome your perspective on
the world and your place within it. Other
masters who share your views. You are an
honorable man, and your heart is not black,
else you would have not lasted here as long
as you did. But it is time for you to find your
own place in the world, young brother.
Garrek nodded. This place you
it is all I have ever known, he said. I am
grateful for your teachings, Master. With
that, he bowed low, despite the cold and the
pain it caused to do so.
Master Shu nodded, seemingly pleased
by this. Indulge me then, as I try to impart one final lesson, then. He turned back
to the beggar, who was curled up in Garreks blankets. When he leaves here today
it is likely he will try to take the bedroll
and blanket with him. Perhaps he will even
take the gruel bowl. We will not stop him if
he does. But when he does leave, will the
earth split asunder and create a chasm beneath his feet to consume him as retribution
for these crimes?
Garrek did not answer.
Master Shu spread his arms wide smiling. When morning comes and the sun
shows itself, bringing warmth to all else that
the Gods have created, will its rays recoil
and avoid this one man, out of all creation?
Again, Garrek did not answer.
If he starts to cross a river, will the water
turn to mud as he sets his toe within?
Garrek looked puzzled but said nothing.
Master Shu smiled and let the silence
hang. After several minutes, he turned
from the beggar and began walking back
towards the monastery. Garrek followed,

grateful to be heading back to the warmth,

yet dreading what must come next.
Master, Garrek said just before they
reached the doors. I truly am sorry if my
answer was not the correct one. I never
wanted to disappoint you.
Master Shu stopped and turned. Your
answer was the correct one, for you, Master Shu said. Never argue with the truth,
young brother. In each of us, it is the only
thing any of us truly ever own.
Yes, Master, Garrek answered.
Good, the old man smiled. Now, I
ask but one more thing from you and it is
this. After you have left us and are wandering the world seeking a new home and
teacher, you consider this. If sun, earth, and
water refrain from judgment on this man,
who am I to withhold a blanket and a bowl
of gruel?
Garrek watched his Master cross the
courtyard and enter the monastery while he
stood shivering, half-naked in the yard.

22

From the Fringe

News & Reviews

A Penny For
My Thoughts
A review by EmergentPlay

I had a chance to try out A Penny

for My Thoughts at PAX East this
year. Actually, it was the last game I had
a chance to play before everything came to
a close. Considering the sombre nature of
the game, it was a good choice for a game
to close out the weekend.
In Penny, you play a patient at a hospital.
You have lost your memories. Everything
the doctors have tried has failed. There is an
experimental option. A new drug that helps
you and those around you access memories
that you blocked out long ago. It is hoped that
this treatment will overcome your block, and
you will find out again who you are.
Like all memories, mine began with
a trigger. Everyone writes five memory
triggers on a piece of paper, and they are
drawn at random from a central pool. They

might be, The smell of lavender or

A rusted out mailbox. The other players
asked me questions about my memory, to
which I was to respond with, Yes, and
before continuing the thought.
The memory began to form. My father
coming back from life on the road. The
childhood joy of seeing a loved one return,
which the shadow of his controlling
influence quietly spread through the
house. When it came to a decision, I asked
my fellow patients, What did I do or say
then? Between two different responses,
I would select one, give that player the
penny, and continue the tale.
PAX is a loud, crowded affair. We had
gone out of our way to find a quiet place to
play. We pulled chairs to a corner, as far
away from the events as we could. People
still passed by at times, but the mood still fit
that of a hospital. Quiet, but never empty.
Penny is GMless. Each player is a
patient, including the one introducing my
friends and I to the game. As it was set
up, I knew quickly that it would go to a
dark place. K, the player introducing us
to the game, mentioned being relieved that
I interrupted setup for a quick Lines and
veils discussion. We didnt have troubles
there, but I know some groups might. T, a
friend who is very new to RPGs, asked a
few minutes in what the purpose of playing
this type of game is. It is not an easy
question to answer.
My second memory involved my
mother. Id broken something of hers, and
she was crying. It wasnt about that, but I
was too young to understand. She hadnt
left my father at this point yet. I knew
she was unhappy, but I didnt know that
he was the reason. It was an unpleasant
memory, but it illustrated the way my
fathers abusive behavior affected the lives
of everyone it touched.
There are no dice in A Penny for My
Thoughts. Just bits of paper with memories

23

on them, and the pennies. It is rewarding

to have your memory chosen. To have
someone chose to include an element
you introduced into their character. Your
character sheet is just a record for the
memories you have in the scenes. There is
no place for a name, but there is a checkbox
in the bottom. Do you want to remember
your past? Yes or No.
Running low on time, we only finished
one story. The players selected mine. It
started with a fight I was having with my
wife. It was the last fight we had before she
left me. I had chased her into the bedroom
as she began to pack her things. She
broke something of mine, something that
hearkened back to my previous scene,
reminded me of my mother. And what my
fathers influence had done to her. I looked
at her. I said, and this was Ts response,
Im glad you miscarried. She left me. I
threw myself off the balcony.
After the game, T went to try to purchase
a copy of the game. She has since run it
for her friends. We discussed the game
at length on the drive home. Who the
characters were, and what their stories
were, or could have been. It is certainly
not a game for everyone. You learn about
what matters to a character, what their
most important memories are, what they
feel, and how they think. We never did
find out what they looked like, or what
their names were.
A Penny for My Thoughts is a storytelling
game by Paul Tevis.
EmergentPlay currently operates a
YouTube channel dedicated to
tabletop role playing game theory.
Videos are released weekly and
are generally between one and five
minutes long.
YouTube.com/user/EmergentPlay

From the Fringe

News & Reviews

Card Hunter Beta

A review by Ferdinand Boleslawski

Imagine youre a teenager in the early

eighties and your friend Gary invites
you over to play that weird game his
older brother Melvin played since 1974.
Since no one else wanted to come, Gary
hands you three sheets of paper he refers
to as character sheets, three cardboard
miniatures and three decks of cards. Thats
right, the CCG craze hit a bit earlier here.
Welcome to Card Hunter.
Card Hunter is an upcoming browser
based free2play video game, that means
no matter if youre using firefox, safari or
chrome, you can play the game. This in
itself is not very exciting news, the game
though most assuredly is. Here, you are
no warrior or wizard, you are yourself,

playing a game of Card Hunter with your

friends. The art style and presentation hand drawn battle grids for adventures your
GM came up with himself, dice and snacks
lying around outside of the battle grid, an
overland map with obvious folding marks
- bring you right to the table. The story is a
playful homage to old school D&D, filled
with the clichs and stereotypes we know
and love. That cute pizza delivery girl
Gary has a crush on and goes great lengths
to hide his nerdiness from? Of course she
is a hardcore Card Hunter player. The
tournament modules you get your hands
on in the middle of the game? They could
stand right next to The Hidden Shrine of
Tamoachan in your 1980s friendly local
game store.
The game mechanics seem somewhat
strange in the beginning, but soon there is
a lot of tactical depth seen behind them.
Every item your party finds comes with
a few cards that represent its abilities. A
magic axe for example would come with a
few chop attack cards, while seven-league
boots would come with more movement
cards. By equipping your characters with
these items, you create the decks your

24

characters use during the encounters you

come across. Each round your characters
draw a movement card according to their
race and two cards from the deck you
constructed for them. You alternate turns
with your GM, moving your characters
around the board and attacking the enemy
creatures. When both you and the GM pass
in succession, the round is over and you
draw new cards. There is a competitive
multiplayer as well as an exhaustive single
player campaign to play through.
The game works well enough as a
strategic RPG, but what really shines is
its presentation. Art style, story telling and
humor are a great throwback to old school
gaming - make sure to read the introductory
texts to the modules, they are great fun and the deliberately cheesy trailer just
screams 80s advertising. If you want to
join the Card Hunter beta, you can do so
on the official website. There are only three
hundred keys send out daily and at random,
so it might take some time. It is worth the
wait though.
Trailer: www.YouTube.com/user/CardHunterGame
Website: www.CardHunter.com

Random Map
by Jeremiah Brown

These maps are left deliberately vague so that you can easily incorporate them into your campaign, no matter
which genre or flavor you prefer. Please share your experiences using the maps so that other readers can be
inspired as well.

25

Theme
by Forrest Bugay

Merriam-Webster defines theme as

a subject or topic of discourse or of
artistic representation and a specific
and distinctive quality, characteristic, or
concern. It was first recorded in use in
the 14th century and has its roots from the
Greek word tithenai meaning to place. It
would seem like, at its core, theme would
be the same or similar enough to genre.
However, this is not the case.
For now, understand that genre is more of
appearance and presentation. This is not to
say that genre is not important or beneficial
to theme. It should be understood, however,
that genre is separate from theme.
Message and meaning are derived from
theme. Theme is where the morals of the
story pollinate the mind of the people
experiencing it. Themes are bigger and
more abstract then the characters in the
story or the events that transpire. Theme is
not the subject nor is it what happens to the
subject. On the other hand, theme is, more
abstractly, what is reflected upon from
experiencing such events. An example of
subject is fear. An example of theme is
fear is worse than death or fear is the
root of hate. So how does this tie in with
table-top role-playing games?
One should keep in mind that a theme
is a central idea of a story. It is possible

to have multiple themes, even conflicting

ones. However, an overall theme is a
moral in a story. It is a life-lesson. This
is important to keep in mind when using
themes in table-top games. Not everyone
draws the same conclusions from a storys
theme. This does not represent a lack in
the story creators talents, but rather an
inherent aspect of the human condition.
Everyone brings different view-points
to every situation experienced. Those
situations change individuals. This leads to
ever changing view-points.
Perhaps a game master has a campaign
with an over all theme of overcoming
adversity through personal sacrifice.
Yet, a game master may have two players
experiencing different themes through their
own actions or that of the game masters.
One may see what has transpired to his
character as only the powerful survive,
take what you can while another may
derive what has transpired to her character
as those who open their heart often
have it broken. Neither are the intended
theme designed by the game master. In
fact neither are similar to the other at all.
Which is right? Well, neither is right or
wrong as there is no right or wrong way to
interpret meaning. It does not matter that
the conclusions drawn are the complete
opposite of the game masters intent.
Its not just the game that can have a
theme as well. Player characters can have
themes as well. A player character can
have an over all theme conceived of at the
on set of creation to play out during the
game or just from the back story alone.
The backgrounds of the characters, nonplayer characters, and environments all can
have united, conflicting or complementary
themes to enhance the game.
The word story has been used throughout
this article and it should be understood that
role-playing games are an interactive story
wrapped in a game. It is more organic where
chance has a larger role in the outcome then
a movie or novel. As events unfold in the
game, the players character is effected just
as much as the player himself.
When crafting scenarios for a long
multi-arcing campaign or a just one-off for
a single sitting, it is important to keep in
mind at least one theme to convey. A game
master should never fret if his players do

26

not experience quite what was planned.

However, it is important to remember that
the meaning, which is drawn from the
theme, is shared by both the players and the
game master. Table-top role-playing games
are interactive, linear stories between game
master and players under the guise of a
game. There are many different points of
view and morals may change over time.
If a unified theme is to be had, it would
be ideal to discuss it with the players before
character creation. The best time to do this
is when the games setting and what is in
mind for the adventure is discussed. A game
master need not sway too much from his
central theme, but he needs to refrain from
being too rigid when receiving feedback
on branching aspects of the theme he has
in mind. While everyone has different
tastes, themes are universal. With a little
innovation, any setting can be molded into
any moral view-points.
For a game master wishing to practice
using themes in his games, the best
approach would be to incorporate them
in an episodic fashion. For example, in a
classic wild American western setting,
the players can be traveling to a different
town for each session. In each session, the
players can be confronted with a different
theme that brings something unique to each
settlement visited.
In one town the theme of perceived
heroism versus reality could be explored
with the players looking for a rumored
legendary gunman and war hero who
survives every battle he ever faced. A
man said to have the ability to gun down
50 men without batting an eye, able to
charge over the bodies of fallen comrades
to get at the enemy, and blaze unfriendly
trails in uncharted wilderness. The players
themselves could be in need of such a skilled
man and wish to learn or gain aid from him.
When arriving in the peaceful village and
approaching the gunman the players are
presented with the cold, empty stare of a
man who has seen too many callous acts to
ever care again to raise a pistol at another
person. This would be the man behind the
legend, a man who had seen the worst of
humanity and while his exploits may have
be over exaggerated, the legend has taken
its toll and brought this once vibrant fighter
down to a mere shadow of a man. He can

no longer help the players. Not even impart

them with tales of bravery as they too
are tainted with memories best forgotten,
hence why the seclusion to the shy, sleepy
town the players found him in.
The theme is the heart of any story.
Having a theme or not can make all the
difference. Not every game or back story
needs one but it certainly can make the
experiences more memorable and personal

Shadows Linger
by Michael Natale

michael@seewhatsinmybrain.com
Shadows cannot exist without the light
first giving them birth. The Bloodmages
and Boneseers alike agree that even the
cursed sun in the sky must one day consume itself, and with it, all life.
At least, all life on the surface.
For as light fails at the end of each day,
shadows linger above and below, waiting
for darkness reign to return for the final
time. As the skys painful brilliance fades
and is swallowed by blackness, the heavens come alive with stars. The stars that
stab their way through the veil of blackness
each night are in truth Lmallaeran Elghia.
The Honored Dead.

for game master and players alike. Even

without one planned, an overall theme will
be associated with the game just out of what
will have transpired. This is why is it ideal
to conceive of one. It will tie other parts
of the game together and make a disjointed
series of events into a skillfully crafted tale.
Whether as a game masters signature style
or as a campaigns over all philosophy,
the theme is the soul that breathes life into

the story and gives it a foundation from

which ideas can blossom. The ability to
understand and perceive abstract meanings
from stories is uniquely human. Take a
moment when crafting a new campaign or
character back story to consider just what
kind of story and message is going to be
perceived by others now and down the line.

All of my kind who came before, gazing

down from the dark heavens on us and our
enemies. The Lmallaeran Elghia bear witness to all -- to courage, cowardice, lust,
greed, revenge, submission and dominance.
They watch.
They judge.
They too wait for our eventual return,
for the darkening of the skies and the
fall of the pinkskins who drove us underground so very long ago. Even in death, the
Lmallaeran Elghia whisper dark secrets to
Mazaroths minions. When one of her children ventures from our homes beneath the
earth to prowl among the humanoid infestation, she knows.
Jala klezendoa aklaen ael cel carKal,
my people say. The breath of our Dark Mistress touches us all. Above or below, it is no
different. Tonight, a pinkskin will feel the
Mistress breath upon its skin and tremble.
Hours earlier, I scaled the wall surrounding the Elven outpost easily. I was
not seen. Darkness and I are old companions, and I wrap myself within its shadows
until I cannot see my own dark skin. The
Ranger patrols see nothing, though I pass
within yards of them. Were they unfortunate enough to turn my way at precisely the
wrong moment, all they would glimpse is
a piece of the night dropping off the wall
to engulf them. Death would claim them
before they could raise any cry from their
thin, pink lips.
Evasion. Misdirection. Cunning. Patience.
These are the tools of the Rhaiynatheri
as much as the weapons we carry, and we
are masters of them all. It is why we are
prized above all other races when there is
blood to be spilled above. Killing is a craft,
and there are those who dwell below alongside my kin that cannot move so freely on
the surface. We are their knives in the dark.
As another patrol passes, I remind myself
that patience is my armor this night; control,
my weapon. There are many hours until the
sun will begin to chase the shadows away

for another day. I hide. I listen. I wait.

When an opportunity at last presents itself, I move.
The outpost itself is nestled deep within
the Fae the realm of the elves and their
kin. The same realm my ancestors called
home before the wars that drove us below
so many centuries ago. Infiltration this deep
in the mighty Fae is unthinkable, and as expected, patrols are light; security a matter
of routine rather than necessity.
Even for one of my kind, a lone blade
slinking into the Outpost to do murder
would be thought madness. But a lone messenger? Much easier. Tonight at least, that
is what I am. I am charged with delivering a message. And within that message, a
bloody lesson.
My orders came down through the
Bloodmages, as is always the way. I am
loyal and obedient as any good Rhaiynatheri should be, and my blade follows
their crooked fingers to wherever they
point. But I have lived longer than most,
and by Nights Embrace, I am no ones
fool. I have spies of my own both in the
Nightlands and elsewhere.
There is a ranger here named Gathren
who has been selling information to the
Bloodmages informants for nearly a year.
Troop movements. Garrison strengths and
positions. Names of ranking officers ... and
the locations of their families.Greed is color blind, and a pink tongue wags freely as
any when you wave hard coin beneath it.
Gold flows freely, and with the information we buy, a few more pinkskins die; a
few more villages go unprotected.
A few more forests burn.
Even with my considerable coin sprinkled in dozens of the right palms back
home, I could not discover the details of
why Gathren earned the displeasure of the
Bloodmages. Perhaps he has grown a conscience, or needs to be reminded that he is
bought and paid for.
It doesnt matter to me, I am here to deliver

27

Next month... genre.

a message. Long years of service have taught

me that in my line of work however, there
is no substitute for good intelligence. Know
your target. Learn his weaknesses. Very often the target will give you your opportunity.
When he does, take it, and leave no witnesses.
Gaining entry to Gathrens quarters is
easy. He holds rank among the pinkskins,
so Gathrens lodge is large and spacious.
The maps the Bloodmages gave me marked
it out plain enough. The Elves allow families to be billeted with their officers.
How safe they believe they are. So deep
within their borders they cannot imagine a
threat might one day creep over the walls
and use their offspring against them.
I slip into the lodge unnoticed. When
finished, I leave just as quickly. Once back
over the walls, I pause long enough to open
the large oilskin sack that contains my
bloody prize. I thrust the sack up towards
the night sky, that the stars may bear witness to my success this night.
I had hours before sunrise when my
deed would be noticed, but I was thousands
of leagues from home. A magical totem I
was given brought me back to the Nightlands in an instant. There would be no hope
of pursuit this night.

I am back in the twisting, cavernous tunnels of home.

I drag the sack behind me, weary of
the nights events. It is heavy, and leaves
a crimson smear on the cavern floor as I
follow the twists and turns of the passages
leading to our house encampment. As I approach the main tunnels, I wrap it in my
cloak to prevent a trail any might follow.
The bloodstain ends at the center of a four
way intersection.
I move east, down a tunnel never used, towards a mammoth wooden barricade blocking the passage. A warning has been magically burned into the wood. The letters glow
a dim purple in the darkness, just enough to
be seen by Rhaiynatheri nightsight.
It reads: L Elghinyrr Yahs Ulnhyrr.
I look for the hidden latch in the barricade,
cleverly built to appear as if it were many
boards nailed into vertical columns flanking
the entrance to the cave. It is the warning that
truly serves to ward off the curious ... The
Dead Gods Lair. I press the latch, and pull
the entire barricade open just enough to get
myself and my bloody package through.
Nearly an hour later, I stand finally at
the mouth of the Pit. A great maw in the
earth, I truly do not know what lurks down

in the darkness, barely visible even to my

eyes. But there, in an inky blackness that
no light can penetrate, magical or otherwise, something lingers.
Ever since I was blooded and given a
blade to carry out my houses vengeance, I
brought my victims here. No witnesses. No
remains for the pious hypocrites to raise.
No bones to summon spirits and put them
to the question. Whatever is tossed down in
the Pit is consumed ... gone forever. As if it
never happened.
It is our way.
I kneel down and unwrap the dead thing
bundled in an oil sack. My ears are sharp,
and I think I hear something skittering far
below, making a sucking-clicking noise
that I can only describe as ... hunger.
Standing, I gaze down at the bloody
corpse of Gathrens son. He can be no more
than seven human years. His pinkskin was
mottled, dark and blood filled, purple bruises and splotches that bloomed upon his skin
when I strangled him. The blood came from
his ear, which I sliced off after he was dead
and left on the pillow in the childs room.
A message. A lesson.
And a feast for whatever lurks down in
the Dead Gods Lair.

Random Gaming Tips

by Kirk PhDnD Wiebe

Its game night! You plan on making this the best game night yet. Youre new to immersive role playing, so youve been
reading online articles and watching YouTube videos to prepare, and you feel ready to become completely immersed in the
game and in the roleplaying of your character. Here are a few tips to create an environment that will enhance the immersive
experience.
Be prepared. Have your character sheet, dice and plenty of pens or pencils ready to go. Make sure any food and drinks
are within reach, or planned out ahead of time. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
Limit distractions. Turn off all electronics that are not being used for gaming purposes. Keep your phone either turned off or
on silent, and keep it out of reach. Electronics can be some of the biggest distractions during a game. Let your family/friends
know where you are, and that you will be busy for a few hours. Surfing the internet, texting, checking Facebook or watching
videos will not only disrupt your immersion, but everyone else at the table..
Make yourself comfortable. See to it that you have enough space to spread out, that you are seated comfortably, and that
youre wearing comfortable clothes. Youre there to have fun, so you dont want to feel stuffy.
Arrive early. Its important to meet up before the game to allow time to catch up with friends and talk about things unrelated
to the game. This will help keep everyone from interrupting later with out-of-game chat.
Dont hold back. Go all out and dive right into your role. The experience is all about fun, and if you keep that as the goal,
the game will not let you down.
Following these five guidelines will help provide a smooth transition into the fully-immersive role playing experience that
youre trying to achieve.

28

The

Vampire the Masquerade

Youtube Experiment
by Ferdinand Boleslawski

On May 6 2013 Matthew Dawkins, aka

the Gentleman Gamer, started a Google+
Hangout, in which he shared his idea of a
persistent, player driven role playing experience, running entirely via social media
websites on the internet. In that video he
shared an excited as well as exciting vision,
of twenty, even thirty players, populating
a city as vampires in the World of Darkness. Then he posted a link to the Facebook
group. Seventy people signed up right then
and there. Two days later the player count
had broken the hundred people mark. Now,
two weeks after the first video, there are
314 members in the main group on Facebook, dozens of subgroups, 128 videos on
YouTube, and several websites dedicated
to the Vampire the Masquerade YouTube
Experiment (VTMYTE for short). To say
that for the first two weeks this experiment
has been exceeding expectations is a massive understatement.
The basic idea of role playing across the
internet is probably as old as the internet
itself. Newsgroups, play-by-mail, in-character RPG forums and most recently Skype
offered gamers the opportunity to play with

others across the globe. Currently, however, Google+ Hangouts is the most accessible service and offers comfort features,
like dice rolling apps, integrated into their
interface. The infrastructure is there. What
the VTMYTE offers is much more though.
The important thing is the community. The
day after the Facebook group was opened,
members had already created character
concepts - without any actual rule set or
guidelines - and just started playing. Both
in text form in the Facebook group and
with people they had never seen before in
person in Google+ Hangouts. Their characters met, formed alliances, talked for hours,
and started creating a city, the city, in their
collective imagination.
There are three interesting elements at
the heart of the VTMYTE. The first element is the Vampire the Masquerade background. The original storytelling RPG
with its now iconic vampire clans and
Gothic punk feel. Character development,
personal horror, intrigue and role playing
were important then, and are important
now. The focus of the game was never on
combat but offers itself for intrigues and

29

character scenes. Secondly, there is the

Google+ hangout system. For those who
are not familiar with it, it is a drop-in dropout Skype video call, that can be broadcast
to YouTube. If you are a Google+ user and
have the link to a hangout, you can join in.
This is where the final element comes in,
the VTMYTE Facebook group. Players announce their hangouts here either in character or out of character and then the role
playing begins.
After just one week the admins had
worked out a sleek rule system that draws
heavily on the Vampire: the Masquerade
20th Anniversary edition streamlined for
Google+ use. The most important concept
though, is the switching storyteller idea. If
two characters have a conflict they want
to solve via dice rolling, a third player is
called upon as neutral arbiter. This system
forces players to not rely on their dice, but
on their role playing, which is what the system and setting is all about. Dividing the
storyteller part from the admin part is also
a great way to free up some time for the
admins to deal with logistics and other behind-the-scenes difficulties that may arise.

In-character hangouts are also uploaded to

YouTube creating a story that other players can watch, even if their characters are
not involved. Announcements and great
community events are also streamed in that
fashion, allowing for more than the hangout limit of ten people to witness great and
important events.
The power level of a character is also
tied to narrative player involvement. In
the World of Darkness, vampires become
more powerful with age. Usually this feature is bought during character creation, in
VTMYTE, however, this is strictly tied to
a characters back story, which both needs
to be longer the older a character is and
must be sanctioned by an admin. The admins, for the most part, play the vampires
on the primogen council, meaning the oldest vampires of the different clans, while
aforementioned Matthew plays the prince
the de facto ruler of the city. In this way,
a metaplot exists while the characters can
still freely interact with one another and
further their own agendas.
As of yet, however, the system is not
without flaws. The reliance on the Facebook group is more of a necessity created
for convenience reasons and far from the
optimum. Important information can be
buried under out-of-character hangouts,
and other less important announcements.
There are several websites that need to be
checked for information, some of it may
be outdated.
While meeting with a vast number
of new people and playing role playing
games with them something usually
done within the comfort zone of friends
may be daunting, the community is extremely friendly and open to new players.
Jen Martinez, the admin liaison, is usually
extremely fast with replies to any sort of
question and helps new players to the best
of her abilities. Although there are a lot of
so many players in the group, scheduling
events is still a bit tricky since the division
of players happened across clans and sects.
Therefore, some clans are extremely spread
out over different time zones, making playing for them somewhat complicated.
A valid comparison that can be made is
to big PvP LARP events, such as Drachenfest and Conquest of Mythodea. Playing
with a lot of strangers via Google+ feels
like playing in such a LARP game, and the
division of people into smaller groups, each
trying to further their own agenda, is also
a common occurrence at such big events.
The social dynamic is similar and to enjoy

the game one can follow the same simple

rules that apply to these big LARP events:
Dont try to have fun at other peoples expense, but try to enrich their experience of
the game. Dont expect people to engage
you, but engage them. Respect other players boundaries and make sure you let them
know yours. Try to be helpful to other people and dont be afraid to ask questions.

Matthew Dawkins

aka The Gentleman Gamer

An interview session Theater of the

Mind Magazine held with Matthew
Dawkins and others on the admin team
(Jen Martinez, Andre Martinez and Daniel Negron) brought some insight into the
behind-the-scenes work of the game. The
initial idea for a living World of Darkness/
Vampire game actually came from the unlikeliest of places, a YouTube comment.
YouTuber BoltOrange came up with it and
although initially disregarded, the idea took
hold in the last few months. Vampire the
Masquerade offered a perfect setting, with
the concept of vampires currently very
present in the media and the public eye,
so they felt that everybody could play. The
setting also offers the option of clear cut
authority figures that can be played by the
moderators and administrators of the game.
Especially for players that couldnt find a
real life gaming group, the experiment offers a way to experience the hobby.
Matthew also pointed out that since
players are not restricted by GMs and
a metaplot, they are freer in this sort of
gaming environment to choose the character they want to play. This helps them
to get into the spirit of the game. One concern, namely that Vampire the Masquerade might not be the ideal system for people interested in role playing for the first
time, was quickly argued against by the
entire admin team, with Daniel Negron

30

and Jen Martinez both being pretty new

to gaming themselves. All of them were
also quick to point out that, for the most
part, the community does everything in its
power to help new players in both technical and role playing aspects of the game.
Sometimes there is even more help than
the admins can deal with, Jen Martinez
said with a smile. She also mentioned the
surprisingly large number of couples that
joined the game ending her statement with
its a f***g great community.
With this much praise for the community, it seemed that problem players are virtually non-existent, which seems to hold true.
Within this group of three hundred people
there were only three instances where a
direct approach didnt solve the problem
and the people had to leave (the game).
This ratio is remarkable, especially if you
compare it to regular tabletop role playing
groups where the ratio (of problem players)
seems to be a lot higher on average. Andre
Martinez also mentioned the differences
between a standard tabletop game and this
sort of gaming, and how people are trying
explicitly not to power or metagame, because of the big communal involvement.
This power wielded by the community
may destroy metaplots, but the admin team
explicitly stated that this is part of the gaming system and that the community governs
itself in this regard. In the same way, the
community itself also has to deal with characters that are disrespectful and anti-social.
However, if players do behave that way, the
admins will step in. The interview drifted
a bit off here, but to a topic that fit rather
well, which is the element of immersion.
Andre Martinez stated, and all the other
admins interviewed agreed with him, that
people should be in control of their degree
of immersion and not the other way around.
Every player has real world responsibilities
that take precedence over the game and that
should be respected by the other players.
The next topic we talked about was the
problem some players were having with timezones and player clustering within some
of them. The admin team is aware of that
and for players of the game, as well as new
players that might be turned off by this
problem, there is a plan set up to deal with
it. Matthew stated that for him, the problem comes down to pacing, and they have
a team working on it. Additionally, if a
second city were to be established, the general player populace of these cities could
be divided by timezones. In no way would
interplay between players be restricted, af-

ter all, modern transportation is quite fast,

but it will be easier to give players the option to be more involved with certain plot
aspects and have easier access to players
to game with. A comparison with MMOs
was drawn and they pointed out the need
for localized servers there. The need for
localized infrastructure was an issue easily
understood by the admin team.
From there, the topic of the interview
changed into a general discussion of ideas
for the future of the game. For now, the
focus would be on fixing matters that are
seen as problematic, like the time zone issue. Furthermore, there are some kinks that
need ironing out, especially in the rules
department. To the amusement of the other
admins, Matthew claimed that he in fact
doesnt have the final say in these things.
The laughter continued when he proposed
that the population of a third city should be
drawn entirely from (clans with) obscure
bloodlines, since a lot of players seem to
enjoy them. Another element that was
stressed is the importance of organic development. Other World of Darkness systems
were mentioned as possible expansions,
like Wraith or Demon being as much a possibility as Vampire, whereas some would
be less optimal, because of their narrative
structure (Werewolf with its protagonist
- antagonist narrative) or their enormous
complexity of the system (Mage). Leaving the World of Darkness behind, ideas
for other settings were entertained, with
fantasy settings that feature lots of intrigue
and family politics like A Song of Ice and
Fire among the favorites for other projects
in the same vein. However, Andre Martinez stated that currently, because the admin
team has their hands full with this one city,
especially with the huge influx of players
that never played Vampire before, it would
be best to limit player characters to Camarilla Vampires for the moment.
Regarding the topic of new player
friendliness, the point of character death
was also brought up. The community itself is very player friendly but this is of no
help, if the system is not player friendly.
VTMYTE does not limit a player to a single character, though. An example brought
up by the admin team was player Ander
Wood, whose character got killed in one
scene, but who continued playing with
a new character in the very next. Player
characters also enjoy some in-game protection thanks to the traditions of the Ca-

marilla. While he would personally think it

bad gaming etiquette for a player character
to run around killing other player characters in the streets for no reason, Matthew
stressed the fact that Vampire is a mature
game and that signing up for the game
is agreement that your character can die.
Thats why he and the other admins believe
that players should play their characters as
smart as appropriate seeing that there are
always bigger and badder vampires around.

Photo by Katrina Kent

The final question of the interview was

if the admins were satisfied with the state of
the experiment as it is now. The consensus
was that while things are currently looking

31

good, there is always room for improvement. The basic idea was a success in many
aspects, not only for the game itself, but for
all the people involved, from the original
creator of Vampire the Masquerade Mark
Rein-Hagen, Matthew Dawkins GentlemanGamer YouTube channel and other
members of the YouTube RPG brigade to
all the players. The communal effort behind
the experiment was exceptionally praised
by everybody present at the interview. For
Andre Martinez, every morning now is like
Christmas, because there will be ten new
videos surprises waiting for him. Matthew
even went as far as stating that the character he portrays in this campaign is his favorite amongst his many Vampire the Masquerade characters. The admin team was
especially proud of the several stories, in
which the nature of the game helped people
with their social anxieties and the fact that
people are finding new friends all around
the world. All of the admins also appealed
to the players patience. The game is currently in a transitional period and it might
take some time to implement all the improvements. New players were also asked
to stay patient. Although it might take you
a few days to be admitted to the group, you
will eventually get the opportunity to play.
If you are interested in joining the Vampire the Masquerade YouTube Experiment
and everybody on the team is encouraging new players to do that there are only
a few things you will need. A webcam, so
that people can see you play (no worries,
there are enough players at the moment,
who choose to stay in the shadows, and
so can you), a headset or headphones to
minimize the chance of an echo, a Facebook account, a Google+ account and the
will to play. Matthew emphasized that the
Facebook group (see below) is only a temporary solution and that the experiment
might relocate to a different platform in
the future. While the original spoiler for
this article is not for public consumption,
here is a little something for all the players
reading this article: The prince of the city,
Abraham Wolff, was not always a member
of the Camarilla.
The Gentlemans Guide to Gaming:
www.YouTube.com/user/clackclickbang
The Vampire the Masquerade YouTube Experiment:
www.Facebook.com/groups/447319782026439

Small Beginnings is a section dedicated to giving

adults the tools to introduce role playing games to

children, teach them, and bring families together.

Role Models
by Alex Guillotte

Games and stories are often seen as

frivolous past times by many in our modern
culture, but for millennia, these things
were powerful teaching and development
tools. Games were used to develop handeye coordination, speed, strength, reflexes,
teamwork, problem solving, creativity,
critical thinking, and build a sense of
community. Stories taught social skills,
cultural traditions, language, abstract
thinking and imparted a common moral
framework.
Role playing games (RPGs) combines
these educational tools, and can provide
parents with an extraordinary opportunity
to teach and bond with their children in a
way that everyone will enjoy. RPGs can
even help with physical development by
sparking interest in activities experienced
in the game and through live action role
playing or LARPing.
Role playing games can teach, even if the

parent doesnt have an educational agenda.

If they wish to focus on particular areas of
teaching, thats easy enough. Adventures
can be designed to include math problems,
puzzles that encourage problem solving,
historical events, and situations that require
a moral decision. If the parents want to get
more specific, the adventures can include
plant identification, map reading, and even
money management.
The appropriate age to introduce a
structured role playing game depends on
the child, but most are ready by 5 or 6
years of age. When first introducing a child
to RPGs, particularly if they are younger,
it is best to plan game sessions of no more
than an hour and to use a very simple game
system. There are quite a few good games
out there, including Hero Kids and First
Fable both available at DriveThruRPG.
com.
Alternately, you could create your own
system or use no specific game mechanic
at all, because, in the end, its the role
playing and story that are important.
That being said, a game system that uses
dice to resolve conflict can provide great
opportunities for children to practice

32

counting and basic math skills.

Another thing the parent may want
to think about is the style of gaming to
use. For younger children, some parents
might consider it inappropriate to have
them playing a game where they might
have to kill or where their characters
might be killed. In the Hero Kids system
for example, characters are only knocked
out in combat. Some parents however
may be fine introducing issues of life and
death, and thats perfectly fine. If the game
includes the possibility of death, then this
too can be an opportunity to teach about
the consequences of death and how to deal
with it. Ultimately this is up to the parents
and the overall maturity of the child.
Designing adventures for children can
be easy and a lot of fun. A parent need
look no further than a book of classic
fairy tales to come up with ideas for role
playing adventures. They could also refer
to popular culture, looking at more modern
stories such as Harry Potter, Avatar: The
Last Airbender, and X-Men. The important
thing is to have fun and play, because,
when all is said and done, its all about the
family spending time together.

Rat Under the Bed

An adventure for 1-4 players, ages 5 to 12, using the Hero Kids system.
by Alex Guillotte

Hero Kids Adventure

This adventure requires a copy of the Hero Kids RPG to

play. This adventure includes:
Hero Cards for each player.
Monster Cards for unique encounters
Encounter Maps
Additionally, these extra materials are required:
Six-sides dice (d6s)
Pencil, paper and eraser

Background

The players characters are students at the Dragonvale

School of Magic, hidden deep in the forest, somewhere in
North America. The entire school is contained within a very
large tower that stretches into the sky, though it is enchanted
so that only those who possess magical ability can see it. Its a
small school compared to some around the world, but it is well
respected within the magical community.
This is a boarding school, so the students stay there
throughout the school year, going home on holidays and over
the summer vacation.
At Dragonvale, the students learn all manner of magic, sorcery, herbal and animal lore.
The kids are nearing the end of their second year at Dragonvale, and they will soon have to turn in their final homework.

Adventure Overview

In this short adventure, the kids are students at Dragonvale.

There has been a rash of thefts throughout the school. Someone has been stealing homework papers during the night, but of
course none of the teachers believe such a story.
They are awakened in the night by a sound, and they discover that their homework has been stolen. They find a secret passage and follow it to find a small, rat-like man. They chase him
through a maze of passages within the school walls, and finally
catch up with him in the office of Muck the schools janitor
who is behind all the homework thefts. Will the kids be able to
expose Muck and his minion or will they be expelled?

Adventure Intro

The dorm room itself is round and has a stone floor, with walls
dark wood. The ceiling is arched and painted to look like a sky
full of dragons. There is a single window that looks out onto
the forest below, because the room is quite a long way up in the
tower. A single door opens onto the large circular hallway that
spirals through the tower.
There are four beds spaced evenly against the walls around the
room, each is covered with a deep green and gold quilt with a
silver dragon embroidered in the center. These are the colors and
emblem of the school. There are matching curtains draped over the
window, and a braided carpet in the middle of the room. At the foot
of each bed is a heavy wooden trunk.

33

It is late one night when a noise wakes the characters.

old. Hes holding a lap full of papers that can only be the
homework he just stole.

You wake up to a thump and the sound of scuffling, as if a

small person were running across the stone floor. You sit up
quickly and see that your trunks have all been opened, and the
contents scattered on the floor. A brief search tells you that
your homework has been stolen.
This is disastrous because its the most important homework of
the semester, and if they dont turn it in, they will likely fail for the
year. They already know that the teachers wont believe them, and
if they try to go to a teacher at this hour, theyll be in even more
trouble for being out of bed. Solving this mystery is up to them. As
they search around, they notice something:
You see a faint light coming from beneath an upturned corner of
the rug. Pulling back the rug, you find a small stone door that
is slightly open because part of the rug got caught in the seam.

Seeing the characters enter, he squeals in panic, jams the papers

into a cloth bag, and scurries out one of the nearby passages.
The characters follow him to another room with more passages,
and they only just see his tail vanish into one of them.
They pass through a third and a fourth room before they lose
him. They realize that they are now lost in this maze of tunnels,
and they still need to find the rat.
If they search the passages (an Easy intelligence check), they
can find one that has a bit of ragged clothing that matches the rats.
They could also use a tracking spell to follow him, though they
have to recast it at each new room. If they follow without magic,
they continue to find clues as to which passage he used, like a foot
print in the thick dust, a corner of paper, a whisker, and so on.

Time Lock
Into the Maze

They track the rat through three more rooms before coming to a
final room.
This small room has only one round door. It is locked with a
very strange lock. In the middle of the door is a clock with
an hour and a minute hand, and a switch marked AM and
PM. Written in the stone above the door are the words:

Opening the trap door, you find a narrow, stone spiral staircase leading down. A faint breeze is blowing up the stairs, and
there is the smell of mold.
Moving down the stairs, you discover a very narrow passage
that passes through the very walls of the tower.

If you would pass this way, then time is your friend. Set the
clock when its darkest, to get to the end.

The passage leads to a small round room about 10 feet

across. There are many, many passages leading out of here
going in all directions. Sitting on a pile of blankets in a very
strange creature that looks like a large rat with hands and
feet. Hes wearing ragged and dirty clothes that look quite

The solution is to set the clock to midnight. If the players cant

figure it out, prompt them a bit, but if they still have trouble, they
find 12:00pm written on the paper they found. It is best if they
earn it though. A Normal intelligence check will solve it.
After they pass through the door, the clock spins to some random time. Another short passage leads to another strange room.

34
34

The Janitor
Beyond this door is a long, twisty passage leading to a final
room. You recognize this room as the office of the school
janitor, Muck.
The office is absolutely spotless. The floor, walls and even
the ceiling are perfectly clean, and carpet looks almost
brand new. There are very neat files stacked on the desk, and
a mop standing in the corner. Sitting behind the desk is Muck
himself, and standing nearby is the little rat man.
Muck looks up startled. He sneers at the characters and says
to his rat: Scratch! I thought you said you lost them! The
rat moves back into the corner, obviously very scared.
Muck turns to you and says: So, youve found out my secret. Its just as well. I am sick and tired of all you kids dirtying up my halls, getting mud on the rugs, and cluttering the
rooms. If I can get the worst of you expelled, this will be a
much cleaner place.

Follow the Path

Beyond the clock door, is a passage that leads to another
room. This one also has a single door on the far side. The
floor is covered with multi-colored tiles of red, yellow and
blue. Written above the opposite door are the words:

Muck looks over at Scratch and says: We cant let them leave
now. Grab them!

To move ahead is easy as pie, just follow the path that looks
like the sky.

The solution is to stay on the blue tiles, and they will make it
across. Stepping on any other colored tiles teleports them back to
where they started. If they get stuck, Normal intelligence check
will solve it. The final passage makes a sharp left turn and leads
to an open secret door.

The rat attacks. The characters can stun him with magic or
knock him out in some other way. If the rat is knocked out,
Muck gets up and points a wand at the kids. He attacks, trying
to stun them.
Although Muck is not a nice guy, he is not evil and wont try to
physically hurt the students. He will only use his magic to capture
them, or if necessary, knock them out.

35

Conclusion

If the kids and knocked out or captured, Muck erases their

memories of this night, and places them back in their dorm room.
If you like, you can run some variant on this adventure on your
own. Perhaps they find a bit of Scratchs hair or they stumble upon
the secret door some other way. Be creative and have fun with it.
If the kids succeed, they bring Muck and Scratch to the headmaster Professor Bartholomew Birch.

Well, It looks like well need to find ourselves a new janitor. As for you... He looks around seriously. Being out of
your dorm room after hours is a serious violation of the school
rules, so Im afraid I have no choice but to throw a feast in
your honor. He smiles and shakes the kids hands. Well
done. Though Im afraid well have to see to closing up those
secret passages.
He walks you to your room to go back to sleep. It is still quite
late after all.

You stand before headmaster Birch with the unconscious

Muck and Scratch, and the pile of school papers on the floor
in front of his desk. Professor Birch stands up looking stern.
He says in his deep rumbling voice:

The next evening, there is a huge feast in the dining hall. Professor Birch announces that the homework thief has been discovered, and that all the students papers will be graded soon.

Well, well. We have had a busy evening, havent we.

There is a great cheer throughout the hall when he tells everyone who they have to thank for this. You stand up to thunderous applause.

He walks from behind the desk, looks down at the two unconscious figures and says: Who wants to explain this?
He listens to the kids story, quietly, occasionally glancing at
Muck and the homework. When the kids are done with their
story, he says:

The feast has some of the best food youve ever had and there
is so much desert, that you cant finish it all.

36
36

37

Preserve

Description
This spell allows the caster to preserve recently collected organic material, which could include
fruits, vegetables, meat, nuts, animal hides, and so on. The manner of preservation depends on the
substance to be preserved, and the casters taste. The organic material can be prepared in the following ways: pickled, salted, dried, cured, fermented, tanned, smoked, or canned (canning requires the
caster to have a suitable container). Only one kind of material can be preserved at a time, but one
could use more than one preservation technique on it. For example, one could smoke and salt a quantity of meat in the area of effect, but not salt some meat and dry some fruit.
Any preservation that requires other special ingredients must have those ingredients on hand. So if
you wanted to make pickles with exotic spices, those spices would have to be available.
This spell cannot be cast on a living creature, or unharvested plant material.
History
This spell has been used by nomadic spellcasters for centuries, particularly by those inhabiting
desert areas where food preservation is critical for survival. The cantrip was later adopted by trappers to preserve pelts on the way to market. Eventually tanners started using the spell, though not as
extensively as the trappers since they could achieve better results preparing leather by hand.
The fact is that in almost all cases, the Preserve spell is inferior to the more time-honored professional preservation methods. It is used primarily by those who do not have the time or skill to do
the job properly. The only exception seems to be with the technique of drying. Food dried using the
cantrip are by all accounts as good, if not better than the traditional dried foods.
Note: Specific system rules have been deliberately omitted from the spell description to allow readers to use it as they wish in whichever
system the prefer. If you come up with rules for a specific system, please share them with other readers on our website.

38

K
ic
k
st
ar
te
r
is

li
ve
!

About the Publishers

Alex & Kerowyn Guillotte live in a yurt (see the picture above) on a homestead
somewhere in the woods of northern Maine with their two children, Echo and
Ayen, and their dog Hex. Alex has been playing RPGs for about 30 years now, and
is working on fulfilling his dream of earning a living through role playing.
Besides publishing a magazine, Alex and Kerowyn are working towards building a simple, sustainable community. They hope to teach others that simple living
doesnt have to mean discomfort and sacrifice, and can actually enrich the lives of
everyone involved.
Thank you to everyone who has thus far supported and contributed to the magazine, including: R. Ander Wood, Matt Click, Robert Curtin, Sean Conners, and
pretty much the entire YouTube RPG Brigade.
Attention Pirates: We understand that its fairly easy these days to pirate an eZine, but we would ask all the
eBuccaneers out there to buy our magazine. I mean, we love pirates as much as the next guy, but were not in
this to become rich. I mean, we live in a yurt for Bobs sake, so even if you have obtained this copy through
less than legal means, please go buy a legal copy. In return, we promise to be very kind in our portrayal of
pirates in the magazine. Thank you.
40

We Need You!

It is your patriotic duty to support small press publications.

Remember, if this magazine fails, the zombies win.
It is our goal to make Theater of the Mind accessible to everyone, and to have the readership take
an active role in its evolution. This means that we are looking for submissions from you.
Each issue will have a general theme that can apply to almost any genre, and while all submissions
are welcome, youll have a much better chance of making it into the magazine if your content matches
an upcoming theme. The first three themes will be:

August - Becoming Lost: The excitement begins where the path ends.
September - Between Adventures: The everyday life of an average hero.
October - Unspeakable Horror: Confronting our deepest fears.
We are looking for all manner of submissions, including (but not limited to):

Articles Adventures Short Stories Immersive Descriptions Letters to the Editor

Random Tables Adventure Hooks Role Playing Tips Experiences with Gaming

Character Concepts Artwork Maps Comics Reviews Small Press/Indy RPGs

The important thing is that the content reflect an immersive style of role play and be as system
neutral as possible. Before you begin your project or contact us, you should download and carefully
read through our submission guidelines. It will save a lot of time and confusion.
The submission guidelines can be found on our web site at:

www.TheaterOfTheMindMagazine.com