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You live in the village of Virgater.
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It looks like this, surrounded by deep and impenetrable wood.
Each week is the same. Every day the people work the land. On Saturday, the women of the Sewing Circle conspire about the men. On Sunday everyone gathers to the church to hear Vicar Partridge preach. And on Monday, the tithe collector drives down in his car and collects his due.
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Sometimes someone does something wrong, and Vicar Partridge has to send his sextants out, and then there's another grave on the church green.
All to keep life as it is.
Simple.
Pleasant.
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And at the peak of the Hunter’s Moon, it shall end.
The Mother of Wolves is coming. She whispers in your dreams, and her howls echo throughout the night.
Prepare for the worst, and beware the woods.
***
This is an unusual RtD, focusing more on making stories than optimal gameplay. This might seem silly, but I'd put your character's well-being at a low priority. Play your character's like stolen cars: they're fun to drive a while, but even more fun to crash and burn.
But first you need a character to destroy. First, roll two six sided dice to determine your class. Not like rogue or mage, your social position in the society. Compare the results to the chart below and write down both of them. If you get doubles and don't like the result, roll again.1: Forest Folk. You live out in the woods and have to enter the church via the side entrance.
2: Blow-in. You're a tinker, trader, or day laborer. Not part of the community, just doing a job then passing through.
3: Halfman. Your family works the land, and even in the good years you go hungry as most of your crop goes to the Vicar.
4: Guildsman. You’d be a Halfman, but you bake or you sew or you know how to read. As such, you're in a guild.
5: Virgater. You've got acres of land: you're practically a Lord. Even in famine years you're unlikely to starve.
6: City Slicker. You’re from the big smoke. This gives you some advantages, but they don't follow your ways around here.
I'll make a character too, so you'll understand better.
I've rolled 5 and 3. I can be a virgater or a halfman. I like being rich so I'll be a virgater.
Now, we roll qualities. This is stolen from Maid RPG. Some of these ask you to roll on tables. Don't worry about it, I'll do that for you since I have the book. Roll 2d6 twice, then choose one number to be the tens and the other to be ones. So a roll of 3-5 could be 35 or 53.
11 Glasses You wear glasses, and can’t use contact lenses. The frame design can be whatever you want.
12 Freckles You have freckles.
13 Sickly You’ve got an incurable disease. Choose your own symptoms.
14 Quiet You have a cool, subtle demeanor. No, there are no rules regarding how often you speak.
15 Easygoing You take things slow and calm, at your own pace.
16 Neat Freak You’re obsessed with cleanliness, and can’t let the tiniest bit of dirt go unnoticed.
21 Brown Skin Your skin is a dark brown color. It could be natural, or a tan.
22 Albino You have no pigment. You’re not necessarily completely colorless, this could simply be a very pale complexion.
23 Shy You’re very shy. Don’t forget to remain silent when encountering people you haven’t met before.
24 Opposite Gender. You’re the opposite gender you appear to be, for reasons of disguise or perhaps identity.
25 Overactive Imagination
You frequently get caught up in your own imaginary world, or else tend to daydream a lot.
26 Greedy You will do absolutely anything for the sake of money.
31 Elf Ears You have long, pointed ears.
32 Nekomimi You're a catgirl, with the ears and possibly tail of a cat.
33 Android/Gynoid You’re not human, but rather a human-looking robot. Parts of your body are very obviously artificial.
34 Vampire You are a vampire, with long fangs. Be sure to act . . . vampiric.
35 Princess You’re actually the daughter of a Noble family. You could even be from the royal family. Whether you are in disguise or not is up to you.
36 Angel/Devil You are a being from another world charged with judging good and evil. The design and the details
of your origins are up to you.
41 Uniform ★ You’ve managed to make a special arrangement with your uniform. → To the Uniform Table
42 Symbol ★ You have some kind of special mark on your uniform of headdress. → To the Symbol Table
43 Delinquent ★ Something about you is very much like a delinquent. → To the Delinquent Table
44 Accent ★ You have an unusual way of speaking. → To the Accent Table
45 Hairstyle ★ You have a special hairstyle. → To the Hairstyle Table
46 Accessory ★ You have a special accessory attached to your uniform. →To the Accessory Table
51 Perversion You have a bizarre perversion of some kind. → To the Perversion Table
52 Criminal
Tendencies ★
You have an inclination towards criminal acts. → To the Criminal Tendencies Table
53 Injury ★ Because of mistreatment or an accident, you have some kind of permanent physical injury.
→ To the Injury Table
54 Tragic Love ★ You have had sad or tragic experiences with love. → To the Tragic Love Table
55 Dark Past ★ There is something dark in your personal history. → To the Dark Past Table
56 Trauma ★ After some terrible incident, you were traumatized. → To the Trauma Table
61 Secret Job ★ You’re not just a maid: you’re secretly holding another job. → To the Secret Job Table
62 Membership ★ In addition to being a villager, you’re also a member of a certain organization. → To the Membership Table
63 Shapeshifter ★ You are an animal or weapon that has taken the form of a villager. → To the Shapeshifter Table
64 Monster ★ You’re not human, but rather some kind of monster. → To the Monster Table
65 Magic ★ You can use some kind of magical power. → To the Magic Table
66 Absurd ★ You’re something that flies in the face of common sense. → To the Absurd Table
Now take one of the last rolls and apply them to your desire. This is stolen from Fiasco, specifically the Last Frontier playset.
1 TO GET EVEN
1 ... with a rival
2 ... with the tithe collector
3 ... with a sextant
4 ... with the Mother of Wolves, for what she has turned you into
5 ... with this village, and all the nosy, small people in it
6 ... with a family member
2 TO GET THE TRUTH
1 ... about this village’s dark past
2 ... about the tithe collector’s corruption
3 ... about the child who went missing in the woods
4 ... about someone’s infidelity
5 ... about your real parents
6 ... about the thing you saw out in the woods
3 TO GET RESPECT
1 ... from this town, by bringing down the Sewing Circle
2 ... from this town, by teaching them to be afraid
3 ... from your lover, by proving your devotion
4 ... from the Vicar, by turning in your own kin to the sextants
5 ... from a family member, by doing what they never could
6 ... from yourself, by solving the problem permanently
4 TO KISS
1 ... that special someone who doesn’t even know you exist
2 ... in the middle of the church
3 ... an old lover, to see if sparks fly again
4 ... in a drunken stupor, by whoever you end up with
5 ... someone who can really grease the wheels for your project
6 ... to prove you’ve still got it
5 TO GET OUT
1 … of this town, because you have big dreams
2 … of this town, to escape family and tradition
3 ... of a relationship
4 ... of a business entanglement
5 ... of an obligation to a dangerous outsider
6 ... of an obligation to your family
6 TO GET RICH
1 ... through stealing a mushroom stash
2 ... through selling illegally-cleared timber
3 ... through defrauding the tithe collector
4 ... through the death of a forest folk elder
5 ... through ripping off the Mother of Wolves
6 ... through stealing the grain from the church
Almost done, I promise. Now take the last roll you picked and apply it to this. A and B indicates it's for the first die you rolled and the second respectively.
This is basically a fairy tale, and every fairy tale needs a lesson at the end. This is the point of your character’s story. Tie it into everything you just did beforehand. These are all clichéd, but it's your job to make them new and interesting.
1a Fear is the root of all evil.
2a The secret to happiness is acceptance of yourself.
3a Every man has a right to choose his own destiny.
4a Follow your instincts.
5a Forgiveness is difficult, but necessary.
6a In hard times, friends stick together.
1b The truth will set you free.
2b No man is an island.
3b Being kind is better than being correct.
4b Love can trap you.
5b An eye for an eye makes us all blind.
6b Death is not the end.
I think this is a bit of a deh-doi moment. We’re going with acceptance. C'mon, spider girl, you don't have to be ashamed of yourself. I kind of wish I wasn't arachnophobic because this character is just plain adorable to me now.
And now, you've got a character with special qualities, a clichéd theme, and a goal. So why don't they just do it? Everything on the needs list is possible with a bit of daring do. What makes this much more complicated than it should be? What makes this personal. Now come up with a misbelief: something your character is wrong about but earnestly believes. Make sure it ties into your lesson and your goal like a knot, and drill down. Don't pick the easy option: “she doesn't want to steal the gold because she's afraid of being caught” is bad because everyone would be scared of getting caught: what we want to know is why your character would be scared of getting caught BE AS SPECIFIC AS YOU CAN. And never stop asking why. This is the story of your character: desire and belief smashing into each other.
By the by, this is also all stolen from the book Story Genius. I highly advise checking out everything I rip off in this game they're all great.
Okay, so let’s look back our spider shygirl. I think the misbelief is obvious: “my true self has to be hidden at all costs”, which means I have to dig deeper. I'm thinking her rich family couldn't have a child, so they got a forest witch to enchant a spider into a daughter for them. From then on, they indoctrinated spidergirl into never ever revealing her identity. She does so in private, but with loads of self loathing and guilt. I'm thinking she's just been betrothed to the baker’s son, and on their wedding night a local kid sees her transform into a spider. She freaks, worrying all night the boy will spread the rumors. When she hears he's disappeared the next morning, she's even more scared. She was the last person who ever saw him, and the more people dig the more likely they are to discover her secret. Spidergirl resolves to go into the woods to find the child, but comes to realize that to find the kid to stop the secret of her true identity getting out she's gonna have to be keep revealing her spider self more and more…
In summary, “I can't reveal my spider identity because my family and the love of my life will abandon me”
And you're set. Give them a name and use this format when you post.
Once upon a time, (Name) had a problem. She was a (character qualities) (character class). (Summarize desire and misbelief). And from the woods, the Mother of Wolves watched closely…
Once upon a time, Fair Annie had a problem. She was a shy spider in the form of a virgater. On her wedding night, clothed in dark, she took the form of a spider. Her love did not see her, but a child watching from the window did. The next morning, the child was gone, and in her dread of being discovered she vowed to find the child and bind him to silence. And from the woods, the Mother of Wolves watched closely…
And that's that. I'm looking for three players. Maybe more if I like what I see.
Pathologic, Game
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Film
Darkwood, Game
Tale of Tales, Film
Unsongs by Moddi
The Bramble Briar, by Martin Simpson
Knock-Knock, Game
The Long Dark, Game
The Witch, Film
The Elizabethan Session, by Various
Detectorists, TV Show
The Path, Game
Sauna, Film
Mayday by Lady Maisery
Dark, TV Show
The Devil’s Walk by Apparat
Class: City Slicker
Qualities: Sickly and elf ears
Desire: Kiss a past lover, to see if sparks fly
Lesson: Fear is the root of all evil.
Misbelief: Fears people hate what makes him different.
Name: Arthur
Class: Forest Folk
Qualities: Easygoing, Vampire
Desire: To Get Even With this fucking vicar.
Lesson: Follow your instincts
Misbelief: Thinks he can save this damned village
Name: Tarsin
Class: Guildsman
Qualities: Opposite Gender and Android
Desire: To get respect from your lover by proving your devotion.
Lesson: Every man has a right to choose his own destiny.
Misbelief: If the woman she loves discovers her secrets she will want nothing to do with her.
Name: Sisa
Class: Forest Folk
Qualities: Monster (Shinigami)
Desire: To get even with the Sewing Circle
Lesson: Death is not the end
Misbelief: Believes vengeance will calm his mother’s spirit
Name: Boruta
Tarsin: I had to guess at your misbelief. Apologies if I got it wrong.
Here's how this game works. I'll put you in a situation. You tell me how you want the situation to resolve. Act as if you were game mastering your game. I'll roll a die, take your result, and twist it according to my results. Then time will pass and I'll put you in a situation based off what you said.
- Something goes wrong, and it affirms your misbelief.
- Something goes wrong, but it challenges your misbelief.
- You get what you wanted, but not how you wanted it. It's bloodstained.
- You get what you want, and it affirms your misbelief.
- You get what you want, but it challenges your misbelief.
- Something goes wrong, but something else goes right
.
ARTHUR
The smoke from the departing bus makes you almost cough up a lung. As you walk into the woods, you wonder what to fear hiding in the bushes: a brigand with a blade, or your lost love ready to spring you with a question.
Starting at the sound of a sack landing in the water, you almost fall into a stream. The ice cold water soaks your dress shoes. Cursing your luck, you sit on the shore and pour the water out of them onto the muddy ground.
At first you think the mocking whispering is just the babbling of the brook, but then you see a halfman’s child crouched in the briars, chewing a blade of grass.
“Hello, elf! What's brought you back?”
You stand up and step forward, but your socks sink into the mud. The child leaps to her feet, giggling. You haven't been here in a while, but you know a Sewing Circle’s child when you see one. She’ll tell the whole village about what a clown you look. She’ll tell Adeline.
Two questions:
How does this go?
Why do people fear elves?
Class: City Slicker
Qualities: Sickly and elf ears
Desire: Kiss a past lover, to see if sparks fly
Lesson: Fear is the root of all evil.
Misbelief: Fears people hate what makes him different.
Name: Arthur
TARSIN
You drag the bloodless deer through the village green. It's the dead of night, the air is crisp, no candles are lit in the windows yet you feel a thousand eyes upon you.
The church stands black against the night. Retreating round the corner, you pull open the window to the storage room. It stinks of freshly harvested grain.
Before you can get the deer through, you hear something. The shaking of a tinderbox, and lanternlight blooms inside. It rattles as the old sexton Miller heads toward the window to see what that creaking was all about.
How does this go?
Why don't you want to hurt Miller?
Class: Forest Folk
Qualities: Easygoing, Vampire
Desire: To Get Even With this fucking vicar.
Lesson: Follow your instincts
Misbelief: Thinks he can save this damned village
Name: Tarsin
SISA
You can't get to sleep for the clicking in your bones, the tick-tock of your mechanical heart, the sucking sound as your rubber veins pump oil down to your toes.
When light glows through your eyelids, you pray sleep has finally claimed you. But you open your eyes, and see only an old man lighting his pipe at the end of your bed. Tinkering tools cover the blanket.
He chuckles and tells you to keep your joints lubricated, your eyes hydrated, and to stay away from Adeline. He packs up his bag and you sit up, asking why you should.
At your door, he looks back with a smirk. Why should you? Simple: you weren't designed for love. And if you insist on it, well, surely Adeline ought to know what she's getting into…
How does this go?
What destiny does this man have planned for you?
Class: Guildsman
Qualities: Opposite Gender and Android
Desire: To get respect from your lover by proving your devotion.
Lesson: Every man has a right to choose his own destiny.
Misbelief: If the woman she loves discovers her secrets she will want nothing to do with her.
Name: Sisa
BORUTA
You drag the sack across the forest floor, rocks making the body inside bounce and twist. You didn't mean to kill him, that's just sort of how it happened.
You end up at the edge of the stream. Last harvest, Hamilton’s wife walked naked to this brook and (witnesses claim) transformed into a horseheaded devil and sank down into it. It's fitting his body will join her here.
You kick the body into the stream and curse at the huge splash it makes upon landing. How did his wife sink into it: it's barely a foot deep!
You turn your head, spot three torches burning between the trees. A meagre hunting party, but you're a meagre lad. If you don't hide it better, they'll find the body… but if you linger they'll find you first.
How does this go?
What was Hamilton’s last words?
Class: Forest Folk
Qualities: Monster (Shinigami)
Desire: To get even with the Sewing Circle
Lesson: Death is not the end
Misbelief: Believes vengeance will calm his mother’s spirit
Name: Boruta