TEXT: Memories 
  A Collaborative Storytelling Game for 4-6 Players 
   Introduction 
     This game is designed to tell a series of 
  stories, one for each protagonist at the table. 
  While these stories will all be linked together, 
  by a common theme and the relationships that 
  exist between the protagonists, it is not strictly 
  necessary for the protagonists to know one 
  another. 
     As in stories like Cloud Atlas, our 
  protagonists’ lives can be affected by the lives 
  of those who come before and after them, and 
  even by characters who, so far as they’re 
  concerned, never really existed at all. 
  ~ ~ ~ 
  Setting Up 
     Physical supplies-wise, you’ll need 26 index 
  cards (25 for Mementos, and one for the 
  Theme), plus name tents for each protagonist. 
  Once you have all that, the first step is to 
  select a Theme that will run through all of 
  your protagonists’ stories. Despite the name, 
  the Theme need not be an abstract concept; it 
  can just as easily be a location, person, event 
  or anything else you all agree on. The main 
  thing, the vital thing, is that it must be deeply 
  and implicitly important to all of your stories. 
     Once you have your Theme, you will then 
  each create a protagonist. You might not have 
  all the details yet, and that’s fine. A name, a 
  brief description, and perhaps a setting will 
  suffice for now; you can fill in the details in the 
  next and final step. 
     Finally, you will create your Mementos. A 
  Memento is comprised of two components: 
  what the Memento actually is, and what 
  relationship it helps to define. You will each be 
  creating five of these. For games with six 
  players, you will create one Memento for each 
  other player at the table. For games with five 
  players, your fifth Memento will be tied to a 
  relationship with some aspect of the outside 
  world, and in games with four players you will 
  tie your final Memento to an internal struggle. 
     Some sample Mementos can be found in a 
  later segment. 
  The World 
     Long ago, the world was green and bright, 
  but now the sun is no more than a myth. Our 
  last city crumbles, and our people weep. Can 
  we save ourselves, when we are descended of 
  those who stole the sun? 
  ~ ~ ~ 
  Playing 
     The main game progresses through a series 
  of three Acts, with each Act made up of one 
  scene centering on each protagonist. The 
  oldest player at the table takes the first scene, 
  and turn order progresses clockwise around 
  the play space from there. 
     In Act I, each protagonist selects three 
  Mementos to incorporate into a scene. The 
  players whose relationships the Mementos are 
  tied to will be participating in the scene, 
  though depending on your stories they may 
  not be playing their own protagonist. For 
  smaller games which have Mementos not tied 
  to a particular protagonist, you should select 
  another player at the table to take the empty 
  roles. 
     Over the course of the scene, with the aid of 
  you and your fellow players, your protagonist 
  will explore their relationship with these 
  Mementos. When the scene has reached a 
  satisfying conclusion, it is up to you to 
  determine what happens to these Mementos. 
     One of them will be Resolved. Whatever 
  memories and karma you had tied to the 
  Memento have run their course; you have 
  learned what you need to learn, and you close 
  that chapter of your life with a measure of 
  peace. Set this aside on what we will call the 
  White Scale. 
     One of them will be Broken. Through 
  whatever tragedy or happenstance, the path 
  you were meant to walk with this Memento 
  has fallen out from under you. This business is 
  unfinished, and will forever remain so, leaving 
  the mark of regret forever on your soul. Set 
  this aside on what we will call the Black Scale. 
  
     Finally, one of them will Evolve. In the 
  wake of the rest and restlessness your other 
  Mementos have brought you, you find that 
  this third part of your life has, in some perhaps 
  small but certainly fundamental way, changed. 
  You see the Memento, and by extension 
  yourself, in a new light, and this will color 
  your story going forward. Put this back with 
  your remaining three Mementos; you will be 
  calling upon it again. 
     Act II is much the same as Act I, save that 
  you will only incorporate two Mementos into 
  each scene. This can include the Memento 
  which Evolved in Act I, if you so desire. In 
  this Act, you will select one Memento to 
  Resolve, and one to Break, putting each onto 
  the appropriate Scale as before. 
     In Act III, you will bring only your last 
  remaining Memento, and use it to bring your 
  protagonist’s story to a close. At the end of the 
  scene, this Memento will be either Resolved or 
  Broken, and placed onto the appropriate Scale. 
     Now, you should have one Scale which is 
  heavier than the other; this will determine 
  how your protagonist’s relationship with the 
  Theme finally plays out in the Denouement, 
  an epilogue which you will narrate based on 
  the weight of your Scales. One everybody has 
  finished Act III, you will take it in turns 
  narrating your protagonists’ Denouements. 
  This will be the only “scene” which you will 
  narrate alone. 
     If your White Scale is heavier, then in the 
  Denouement your protagonist is Consumed by 
  the Theme. In a major way, the Theme takes 
  over their life, shaping them forever after. 
     If your Black Scale is heavier, then your 
  protagonist is Repelled by the Theme. 
  Through all the struggles and losses, they have 
  found that the Theme is something they 
  should forever leave behind, and this 
  avoidance, like the clinging of Consumption, 
  will largely define the rest of their life. 
   
  Sample Mementos 
     A Memento can be a skill, a location, an 
  object, a song, or anything else, so long as it is 
  1) of deep significance to your protagonist; and 
  2) defined by an external relationship. As 
  mentioned above, each Memento is tied to and 
  in part defined by a relationship, and that 
  relationship should be included in the 
  Memento’s description. Consider the examples 
  below, and use them to create your own. 
     Skills might include “Frank taught me how 
  to fish,” or “Jeanine and I learned the cello 
  together.” 
     Objects might be “The rifle I killed Erin 
  with,” or “A jacket I modeled after one that 
  Gloria-99 wore in the comics.” 
     Locations could be along the lines of “The 
  bar where I proposed to Jack” or “The estate I 
  will one day leave to Eliza.” 
    And so on. As mentioned before, of course, 
  smaller games will include unique Mementos 
  tied to either the outside world or an internal 
  struggle. The former will be much like 
  “normal” Mementos, except that they might 
  be tied to, for example, the protagonist’s 
  family, or a certain business, country or other 
  organization, or an event—so long as it is 
  something with enough agency to allow 
  another player to take their role in your 
  scenes, anything within reason is allowed. 
     Internal struggle Mementos will be tied to 
  some problematic aspect of your protagonist, 
  e.g. “the knife I tried to kill myself with” or 
  “the house where I learned to be afraid.” 
     As a final note, larger groups are gently 
  discouraged from using alternative Mementos, 
  but are free to do so if they so desire. 
  Denouements 
     Finally, take note that neither outcome is 
  implicitly “good” or “bad.” To dive in or to run 
  away can both be blissful or tortuous 
  experiences. It all depends on who’s diving in, 
  or what they’re running away from. It’s your 
  ending; you decide how you feel about it. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Other (Unique) Systems/Top Secret Games Two Page Tabletops/Memories.pdf