A Trick of the Light.pdf

A Trick of the Light

A Roleplaying Game for Four Players

Game Chef 2010

(City-Desert-Edge)

Jeff R.

Most people say there is no city in the middle of the desert, that there never has been. But the

desert wasn't always a desert, and the legend of Urbe is too prevalent, too compelling to be pure

imagination. So you set out, with an expedition of a few dozen, to seek it out.

Of them,only you remain. But it was worth it. You have found the city, still glorious in its sand-

swept ruin. And at the center, in a tumbled-down park, is an oasis, with water to sustain you at least

for a while.

You are not alone. There are three others, strangers but somehow familiar, gathered with you at

the oasis. Each claims to be from an expedition like your own, but you doubt you can trust them. Your

rivals may have been close behind you, and may be your only hope of rescue, but four reaching the

waters at once? It is scarcely to be believed. And you've been seeing things, among the ruins, out of a

corner of your eye. This place is haunted.

Introduction

A Trick of the Light is a roleplaying game for four players. At least one of them is playing the

role of a real person who traveled to the ruins at the center of the desert. The others may be real

humans, ghosts of people who died along the way, or ancient spirits, good or evil, that have resided in

the ruined city for generations. To pass the time as you wait for rescue, you have chosen to tell stories

about the journey that led you here. As you tell and listen to these tales, you will slowly gain insights,

about yourself and your companions. In the end, if you are real and alive, you will need to make a

decision about who can be trusted. If you are a spirit, you will need to lead the living to a decision,

good or bad depending on your nature. And if your are a ghost, you will need to name your killer, and

hope to serve vengeance or support the innocent.

Set-up

First, each player should create their main character. To do that, they should pick a name, a role

in the expedition to the desert, and three personality traits. These traits should all be strong, dynamic,

and specific, and should balance between positive and negative traits. A few examples of good traits

are: Zealous, Foolhardy, Faithful, Craven, Lustful, Servile, Motherly, Short-tempered, Mournful,

Rebellious. Try to avoid passive traits, like Shy or Thoughtful, and overly abstract traits, like Loving

or Cautious. Also try to make sure that you have three different traits rather than a single trait with two

or three names.

Second, prepare the deck. Start with a standard deck of playing cards without jokers. Find all

four Aces and set them aside, and separate the remaining cards into two stacks, one with all of the face

cards (Jack, Queen, King) and the other with the spot cards (2-10). Put one of the Aces, at random and

face down, into a stack in front of you. Shuffle the remaining aces into the stack of face cards. Then

put the top three cards, still face down, on top of the Ace you just selected. Shuffle these four cards and

then give one, still face down, to each player. This is their Identity Card.

Next, shuffle the stack with the spot cards and deal them out to each of the players, each of

whom should end up with nine cards. Each player should then draw the top three cards of their to form

their starting hand. They may look at these cards. Then Each player should, without looking at it,

shuffle their identity card into their stack. Now you are ready to play.

The Introduction Mini-Scenes

Starting with the youngest player and going clockwise around the table, each player should

narrate a short scene introducing their expedition. This should take place at the very edge of the desert,

as they leave civilization behind in search of the lost city. This scene should establish exactly what the

members of this expedition are hoping to find by reaching the city, and establish what their role was in

the expedition.

Each of the other players should introduce a version of their character as a member of the

expedition. They should pick a name that is a variant of their main character's name, and fill out one of

the lines on their character record to remind you of your character's name and role in this set of

flashbacks. Sub-characters should be different in circumstances from the main character, and it is

recommended that at least one of the sub-characters be of a different gender. However, the three

central personality Traits that define your character should all be common across the main character

and all four sub-characters. No cards will be played during these mini-scenes, and they should be kept

short and fairly simple.

Scenes

After the four introduction scenes are complete, regular play begins, again with the youngest

player and moving clockwise. To start a scene, the player whose turn it is should play a card

(henceforth known as "The Scene Card") and consult the chart and begin narrating a scene that fits that

description. The first part of the Scene Type column is the actual scene type, and after it, in

parentheses, is a suggestion for interpreting it. You may use this or come up with your own

interpretation of the Scene Type, literally or figuratively. Try to establish a scene with high potential

for drama in any case.

Card

Scene Type

Division (The expedition splits into subgroups, temporarily or permanently.)

Abandonment (Someone is left behind.)

Dwindling Supplies (Food or Water are running short.)

Seduction (Love blooms among the sands, or shifting loyalties.)

Lost (The tools of navigation have failed: where are we?)

Mystery (One of the members of the expedition is not who they claim.)

Struggle Against Nature (Sandstorms, blistering heat, wild jackals.)

Power Struggle (Some are people want a change in leadership around here.)

Death (Will the deceased be mourned, or looked on as one less mouth to feed?)

Betrayal (A demonstration of the disastrous effects of misplaced trust.)

Revelation (A long-kept secret is revealed.)

The Distant Past (Long before the expedition, what connected some of the members?)

Murder (What kind of justice can reign this far from civilization?)

Scenes should be played as freeform roleplaying. The narrator has 'ownership' of the results of

events and to their own main character's actions (subject to being Edged Over, about which more

shortly), but should not overturn another player's description of the actions of their sub-character unless

they make a substantial change in the narrator's vision of the direction of the scene. Players other than

the narrator may inject their characters into the scene at any time, and can bring others into the scene as

well if they wish. Neither the main character nor any of the sub-characters will ever die during a scene,

but beyond that, anything goes.

Players should follow two guidelines when roleplaying in scenes in this game. The first is to

always go for intensity and drama, even melodrama. Play your Traits to their fullest, get into serious

conflicts with the other players, or forge alliances, but be unafraid to betray them. All of the versions

of your character are strong and capable personalities, and all are engaged in a troubled expedition with

extremely high stakes, so don't pull any stops. Second, in the 'framing sequence', as your four main

characters listening to the stories at the Oasis, remember that you are all complete strangers who have

no inherent reason to trust one another. Anyone behaving excessively nice is probably showing signs

of a hidden agenda, so challenge one another whenever you can. Play the mechanical game with the

single goal of playing all of your cards as soon as possible. (This is usually the best play anyhow, and

taking the time to strategize more deeply will only distract you from roleplaying your scenes.)

Edging Over

All of the players in this game are what is known in literary terms as 'unreliable narrators'.

Some may not even be human, and all are telling a tale that there is no living witness around to

contradict them. As a player other than the narrator of the scene, if you have a card in your hand that

has a higher rank (aces are always high in this game) than the scene card, you may "Edge Over", and

question the truthfulness of what has just been narrated. When you do this, you, your are speaking in

the voice of your main character, outside of the flashback and back in the storytelling session in the

ruined city. The type of question you should ask is determined by the suit of the card you are playing,

according to the table:

Suit

Question Type

Examples

Clubs

Outright Deception

"That's not what really happened, was it?"

"But it wasn't really a cat, right?"

Diamonds Ulterior Motives

"What was your real agenda here?"

"Didn't you plan to get caught all along?"

Hearts

Hidden Feelings

"This disaster made you happy, didn't it?"

"You didn't let on, but seeing them deeply hurt you. Why?"

Spades

Deception by Omission

"What aren't you telling us?"

"But what did you do on the way to her tent?"

As you can see from the examples, you may as a general, abstract question or a highly specific

one that suggests a single answer. After you have Edged Over, the narrator has two choices. First, they

may accept your question and answer it. The answer should never be trivial; it should always

drastically change the nature of the scene. Second, they may instead turn control briefly to the player

who has Edged Over, answering "You tell me" or something similar. The player who Edged Over

should then narrate an answer of their own, an alternate version of the most recent events in the

narration. Once the question has been answered, they should return narrative power back to the

original narrator. In either case, the card which has been used to Edge Over becomes the new Scene

card for the remainder of the scene, although the nature of the scene does not need to change to the one

indicated by the new Scene Card. Place this card on top of the old scene card.

If two players wish to Edge Over simultaneously, they should play rock-paper-scissors to

determine which one may play the card. Playing cards brings you closer to your Epiphany and to the

Endgame, so players should try to play cards whenever they can. However, each player may only play

at most one card per scene.

Edging Under

The other way to play cards during a scene is by Edging Under. This is, however, considerably

more difficult. Edging Under involves playing a card that is of lower rank than the current scene card

underneath the card, which does not replace it as scene card. In order to Edge Under, you need to

provoke or otherwise arrange for another player's character in the scene to do the specific thing to your

character indicated on the chart based on the card you are trying to play. When attempting to Edge

Under, however, you may not verbally suggest that the other character do this action, and you may not

do the exact same thing to that character first either. The type of action involved here is determined by

the suit of the card being played: clubs represent physical violence, diamonds represent dealmaking

[The descriptions in the diamond list usually mention an offer being made. If you Edge Under based

on such an offer, your sub-character must accept the offer made.], Spades are hurtful words, and Hearts

are emotional responses.

2♣

Get Poked with a finger

2♦

Given something of value as charity

3♣

Get Shoved

3♦

Barter, exchanging two non-money objects

4♣

Get Slapped in the face

4♦

Be offered money for sexual favors

5♣

Be Tripped or caused to fall down

5♦

Give or receive a loan

6♣

Be Restrained by grappling or wrestling

6♦

Be asked to appraise the value of something

7♣

Get Punched

7♦

Get an offer to buy or sell one of your

possessions.

8♣

Be Restrained with implements (rope, chain,

cage , etc.)

8♦

Receive a bribe

9♣

Be Kicked when you're down

9♦

Divide a windfall

10♣ Get Assaulted with a weapon

10♦

Be defrauded

J♣

Be Deliberately tortured

J♦

Be offered to buy or sell information

Q♣

Have a serious, life-threatening injory

Inflicted on you

Q♦

Be blackmailed

K♣

Have someone attempt to kill you

K♦

Be offered money in return for silence

2♥

Be smiled or winked at

2♠

Be told to shut up

3♥

Be complemented

3♠

Be called a fool

4♥

Have someone make a pass at you.

4♠

Have your morals insulted

5♥

Have someone express concern for your

wellbeing

5♠

Be accused of lying

6♥

Have someone comfort you

6♠

Have your intelligence insulted

7♥

Have someone demonstrate trust in you

7♠

Be compared, unflatteringly, to something

other than a human being

8♥

Be forgiven for something

8♠

Have your family insulted

9♥

Have someone confess something to you

9♠

Be blamed for a misfortune

10♥

Have someone declare their love for you

10♠

Be accused of holding a long-term grudge

J♥

Be told a secret

J♠

Be accused of keeping secrets

Q♥

Have a sexual encounter, initiated by the

other person

Q♠

Be accused to disloyalty

K♥

Have someone beg forgiveness from you

K♠

Be accused of a serious crime

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