TEXT: The Black Death Theater Troupe	
  
  The Black Death 
  Theater Troupe
  by Jonathan Tweet
  This article is for Over the Edge™, a game 
  of surreal danger in a twisted version of the 
  modern world.  It describes an avant-garde 
  theater troupe that opreates in the Edge, a 
  bizarre and sometimes frightening city on 
  the Mediterranean island of Al Amarja™.   If 
  you don’t play Over the Edge (yet), take a look 
  and see if you can’t steal some ideas from 
  this article anyway.  Justchange the location; 
  alter the background; and add cyberware, 
  vampire fangs, or whatever other props your 
  game needs.
  In the strange and dynamic environment 
  of the Edge, all manner of artists flourish.  
  Well, no, most of them don’t flourish, but 
  they do manage to get by — eating pork 
  and beans, sleeping on ratty mattresses, 
  and wearing worn clothes until they are 
  too threadbare to give away to the poor.  To 
  them, these materialistic concerns matter less 
  than the opportunity to spread their idiosyn-
  cratic visions, unique thoughts, and bizarre 
  weltanschauungs among the unsuspecting 
  populace.  In the art crowd in the Edge, one 
  drama company is recognized as the best 
  and most watchable: the Black Death Theater 
  Troupe. 
  The Black DeaTh 
  TheaTer Troupe
  “Question the is that.  Be to not or be to?”
  — One of the more experimental and less suc-
  cessful lines from a Black Death performance.
  Type: Theater Troupe
  Rep:  In the art crowd, it is recognized as one 
  of the best, its performances filled with 
  ©1993-2013 Jonathan Tweet. Published by Atlas Games. 
  www.atlas-games.com
  
   
  The Black Death Theater Troupe
  unusual approaches, near-schizophrenic 
  ideas, and true inspiration.  Outside the 
  art crowd, few know about it.
  Brief: A group of “starvers” (artists) who, 
  under the direction of Rock Black, put on 
  a vast array of plays.
  Allies:  Alpha Rho Tau, Sir Arthur Compton, 
  Lydia Goodman, Delta Epsilon Theta
  Enemies: None
  Location: 37 Varicose Lane #3, Flowers 
  Barrio
  Founded by Rock Black several years ago, 
  the Black Death Theater Troupe has risen to 
  obscure fame, while falling into perpetual 
  poverty.  A core of devoted theater-people 
  provides the overall guidance for the group, 
  while an ever-changing cast of newcomers 
  and wannabes join and leave.  The change 
  from idealistic excitement upon acceptance 
  to the troupe to the disillusioned search for 
  a real job takes one month to two years, de-
  pending on the stubborness and desperation 
  of the fringe member of the troupe.
  The troupe performs at Sad Mary’s Bar & 
  Girl, in the Plaza of Flowers proper, at the 
  D’Aubainne University, and anywhere else 
  where free expression is encouraged and 
  polished performance is not required.  Some-
  times tickets are sold for the performances; 
  other times all that is required is a free will 
  donation.  Frank Germaine, the manager of 
  Sad Mary’s, can often get the troupe to per-
  form for free drinks and the publicity that his 
  establishment is supposed to give them. 
  performances
  Any of the following performances are 
  within the capabilities and inclinations of the 
  troupe.  Ad lib or expand on them as you see 
  fit.  Thanks to Al Amarja’s “enlightened” eco-
  nomic laws, the troupe never pays royalties 
  on plays they perform.
  • Gender-Breaking:  Performing a tradi-
  tional play with gender roles reversed.  
  The troupe might present Hamlet as a 
  princess whose father has married his 
  dead mother’s sister, for example.
  • Babble-Opera:  Performing an opera 
  in “babble,” which is simply strings of 
  nonsense syllables.  This is seen as a way 
  to get back at the Italians for forcing other 
  people to watch operas they can’t under-
  stand, and also a way to keep the audience 
  from being distracted by trying to figure 
  out what the words mean.
  • Inexorable Fate:  Performing a play in 
  which the scenes are in reverse order, from 
  last to first, so everyone knows how it 
  ends, and the attempts of the characters to 
  avoid the tragic climax are seen in all their 
  futility.  After all, most people who watch 
  Hamlet or Death of a Salesman know how 
  the play will end, so reversing the order of 
  scenes merely gives the audience the same 
  effect.
  • Blasphemy:  A performance that mocks 
  something held sacred, such as the Koran, 
  the Pope, or the dollar.  The troupe once 
  produced a performance mocking Mo-
  nique D’Aubainne, Historic Liberator and 
  Current Shepherdess of Al Amarja — a 
  show that was cancelled after the first 
  night.  They have never since mocked the 
  D’Aubainne government, for reasons they 
  do not care to elucidate.
  • Collage:  A performance that uses charac-
  ters and plot elements from various plays, 
  sometimes scripted and sometimes ad 
  libbed.
  The troupe’s plays are light on costuming, 
  lighting, sets, and so on.  They are popular 
  in the art crowd because of the tinkering that 
  Rock Black does with the script, blocking, 
  characters, and so on.  The performances 
  of Sentry are also often worth the price of 
  admission.
  Of course, only the “art crowd” really 
  gets into Black Death performances.  Most 
  people are turned off by the low budget 
  and the expectation that audience members 
  think.  Even the occasional nude scenes are 
  not enough to keep the interest of the general 
  public.  Of course, some devoted fans pay 
  just to see Belladonna.
  Sheltering Sky
  Above Grim Kiichi’s Tools & Stuff, on Var-
  icose Lane, one can often see (or at least hear) 
  people on the roof — pacing about, yelling, 
  fighting, arguing, and pontificating.  This is 
  the troupe at their headquarters, which they 
  call “Sheltering Sky,” or just “Sky” for short.  
  Black insists that the troupe do as much as 
  they can on the roof of the building, includ-
  
  The Black Death Theater Troupe	
  3
  ing rehearsals, management meetings, and 
  parties.  He says that cosmic rays promote 
  creativity and that a roof blocks them, but no 
  one is sure whether he is sincere in this, or 
  just putting people on.  
  Black and the “core group” (including 
  Belladonna, Sentry, Flu-ee Di, and San Vio-
  lador) live on the third floor of the building, 
  directly beneath the roof.  They claim “squat-
  ters’ rights” to the roof and get pretty huffy 
  if Grim Kiichi or the pubes from the second 
  floor want to use it.
  On street level is a hardware store, Grim 
  Kiichi’s.  Kiichi rents the upper two floors 
  out, and he is happy to have the troupe 
  because they buy their set supplies from him.  
  Kiichi’s store specializes in bolt-cutters, pry-
  bars, crowbars, skeleton keys, hacksaws, and 
  other items useful for breaking and entering.  
  Naturally, he has secured his own building 
  quite well against such primitive methods of 
  invasion.
  The second level is rented out to a large 
  gang of pubes (post-pubescent kids ages  
  - 7 who have declared themselves indepen-
  dent adults under Al Amarjan law).  This 
  gang is not violent and doesn’t even have a 
  name; it’s just a makeshift commune with 
  shifting membership for otherwise homeless 
  pubes.  Some of the pubes are happy to be 
  near an exciting group like Black Death, but 
  others are contemptuous of the troupe’s lack 
  of material success.
  The third level is a huge area for the 
  troupe itself.  There is a kitchen, a bathroom, 
  and some closets, but the rest of the floor is 
  one large room.  The troupe has erected blan-
  kets as partitions to break up the space and 
  provide for private sleeping areas.  The entire 
  floor presents the image of dynamic clutter.  
  (Housecleaning duties are poorly divided, 
  so everyone thinks he does more work than 
  the others, and not much ever gets done.)  
  Scattered around the place are books, manu-
  scripts, second-hand furniture, overflowing 
  ashtrays, yesterday’s (if not last week’s) 
  dinner plates, almost-empty bottles of cheap 
  wine, a typewriter or two, dirty clothes, 
  bottles of cheap aspirin, games, prophylactics 
  (new and used), and party paraphernalia.  A 
  few metal lamps hanging from the high ceil-
  ing create pools of light surrounded by cha-
  otic shadow.  The smells of fried food, stale 
  smoke, and unwashed bodies fills the place.  
  Music from a well-worn cassette player usu-
  ally serves to cover the noise that rises from 
  Varicose Lane below.
  Living at Sky are Rock Black, Sentry, Flu-
  ee Di, and San Violador.  (These four, plus Es-
  tella Belladonna are the “core group.”)  Other 
  members of the cast may also be found there 
  at any time of day.  In addition, one might 
  find any of the following non-members at 
  Sky:  adoring fans or wannabes from Alpha 
  Rho Tau, adoring fans or wannabes from 
  Delta Epsilon Theta, pubes from the second 
  floor hanging out and hoping for a party, 
  art-type friends helping out and hoping for 
  a party, a public Goodman bennie, a creditor 
  knocking at the door, and possibly Aleksandr 
  Rominosky or another of Compton’s bennies.
  Unless the troupe is working on a secret 
  project, newcomers are generally welcome 
  at Sky, especially those who don’t pose any 
  kind of threat.  Writers, actors, and other 
  people in the arts either have to “pay hom-
  age” to the troupe or keep quiet about their 
  own work.  The troupe members have a truly 
  annoying habit of spontaneously launching 
  into a scene from a play they’ve done and 
  laughing about it, or telling in-jokes — but 
  if you can stand that, they are fun to hang 
  out with.  To insure a warm welcome, bring 
  party favors.
  Funding
  Black has always been completely in 
  charge of the funds.  No one else in the 
  troupe is valued or trusted enough to do the 
  job.  The troupe members grumble about 
  how he divvies up the cash flow, but out of 
  respect for Black, they grumble quietly and 
  behind his back.
  About half of the troupe’s regular budget 
  comes in from the performances, and the oth-
  er half comes in from donations.  The biggest 
  contributor is Lydia Goodman, a wealthy 
  island patroness/philanthropist, who helps 
  Black Death as part of her campaign to help 
  the arts.  Her monetary contributions are 
  small, compared to her gifts to other orga-
  nizations, but Goodman is also helping in a 
  special, secret way (see Tremor, below).
  Black has found a new source of funding.  
  Six months ago, after the play “Massacre at 
  Sodom,” Black found one thousand dol-
  lars in cash in the mail, along with a note 
  
   
  The Black Death Theater Troupe
  that read “I don’t know much about art, but 
  I know what I like,” signed “A.C.”  Three 
  months ago Black received another $500 (and 
  an identical note) after a street performance 
  in which the troupe mimed the Mansom 
  murders.  Nobody’s fool, Black has figured 
  that Sir Arthur Compton — a infamous, 
  notoriously decadent and wealthy recluse 
  — is rewarding the troupe for its more grisly 
  and decadent performances.  Without telling 
  the rest of the troupe where the extra money 
  is coming from, he has been directing Black 
  Death toward more vicious performances 
  in hopes of getting a few extra bucks from 
  Compton.  If Goodman were to find out 
  about Compton’s funding, Black might have 
  to make a choice between the two patrons.
  Joining Black Death
  Joining the troupe is not difficult, but nei-
  ther is it usually profitable.  The troupe has a 
  small group of “core” members and a large 
  group of “non-core” members.  Joining the 
  non-core group means being willing to put in 
  effort for very little personal and monetary 
  reward, and one is informally invited into 
  the core group by impressing the current 
  core group members and by putting up with 
  being a non-core member for a while.  Rising 
  in the shifting hierarchy of Black Death de-
  pends one-third on merit and two-thirds on 
  getting the core members to like you.
  Game Moderator 
  characters
  rock Black
  Demiurge of the Troupe
  Rock Black is the genius that founded 
  the troupe and holds it together with en-
  ergetic charisma.  He insists that he is not 
  involved in “art,” but in “radical informa-
  tion.”  Without his tireless efforts — writing 
  plays, adapting others’ plays, arguing with 
  creditors, strong-arming stage owners, and 
  dragging troupe members into line — Black 
  Death would founder.
  Northern European man, age 9, 80 cm, 
  80 kg.  Black’s unkempt, curly black hair and 
  beard are the first feature most people notice, 
  and this mane frames his intense face.  He 
  bears the expression of all men who cannot 
  possibly make real all their dreams, even 
  working  hours a day, partly because of the 
  limits of a human body, but mostly because 
  of the limits of society.  When meeting credi-
  tors, arranging performances, and otherwise 
  going about business, he throws a nice jacket 
  on, but usually he is found wearing old, 
  stained clothes.
  Languages:  Irish English, some French.
  Attack:  3 dice plus penalty die
  Defense:   dice plus penalty die
  Hit Points:  8 (energy)
  Traits
  “On Fire,”  dice — Burning with the en-
  ergy of inspiration, Black can get things done 
  like no one else, including making creditors 
  back off and getting troupe members to put 
  their egos aside and get to business.  (Sign: 
  eyes burn with energy.)
  Theater Genius,  dice — Writing plays, 
  editing, directing, stage managing, etc.  His 
  only failing is acting (only 3 dice).  He has 
  gotten where he is because of a stubborn re-
  fusal to compromise his personal goals and a 
  grim determination to be himself, so portray-
  ing someone else in a play is difficult for him. 
  (Sign: uncontested head of the troupe.)
  Energetic, 3 dice — He would have burned 
  out long ago if he did not have vast reserves 
  of physical and emotional energy.  (Sign: 
  always on the go.)
  Unhealthy Lifestyle, penalty die — Poor 
  nutrition, sleep deprivation, constant worries 
  and frustrations, and a fondness for drugs 
  (especially whiskey) has taken its toll on 
  Black’s body.  (Sign: an air of unhealthiness.)
  Sentry
  Method Actress Extraordinnaire
  Sentry has been known to creep people 
  out with her dramatic portrayals of vari-
  ous characters.  She has an amazing and 
  sometimes disturbing ability to take on new 
  roles.  In fact, while preparing for a part, she 
  lives the life of the character, to whatever 
  extent possible.  The only major drawback 
  to this intense method acting is that Sentry 
  sometimes ad libs profusely during a per-
  formance, forgetting the script in favor of 
  adopting the role and acting as she feels like 
  
  The Black Death Theater Troupe	
  5
  acting.  (Tragedy may result some day if 
  Black ever casts her in the role of a psycho-
  path.)
  Sentry’s acting ability is so powerful that 
  she usually gets the biggest or most demand-
  ing part in the play, even if it is a man’s role.  
  If asked about her acting ability, she says 
  she is the next step in human psychological 
  evolution, as cleaving to single identity is a 
  counter-productive habit evolved in simpler 
  times.
  Al Amarjan woman, age , 6 cm, 63 
  kg.  Reddish-brown skin; short, straight hair; 
  overweight.  Her dress and general appear-
  ance change according to her current role.
  Languages:  Al Amarjan patois, English, 
  Arabic, French, Italian, some Spanish and 
  Russian.
  Attack:   dice plus penalty die
  Defense:   dice plus penalty die
  Hit Points:  6 (bulk)
  Traits
  Taking New Roles, 6 dice — Superb acting 
  ability, as described above.  (Sign: demeanor, 
  dress, and mannerisms change, depending 
  on the role she is taking.)
  Overweight — Penalty die on strenuous 
  physical activity and in social situations with 
  appearance-conscious people.  (Sign: over-
  weight.)
  Tremor
  Troubleshooter
  Tremor is a bennie for Lydia Goodman.  
  He poses as a member of the troupe, but his 
  real role is to keep the troupe functioning.  
  Mostly he smooths egos that get rumpled as 
  they bump up against each other, but he also 
  runs interference when outsiders have it in 
  for the troupe.
  Italian man, age 3, 68 cm, 65 kg.  In 
  good shape, handsome, alert.
  Languages:  Italian, English, German, 
  French
  Attack:  3 dice, X damage with cudgel
  Defense:  3 dice
  Hit Points:    (can take the pain)
  Traits
  Acting, 3 dice — (Sign: fan of Sartre.)
  Manipulation, 3 dice — Reading people 
  and manipulating their emotions.  (Sign: 
  listens more than he talks)
  Fighting, 3 dice — Mostly unarmed and 
  with small weapons.  (Sign: in good shape.)
  estella Belladonna
  Star of the Troupe
  The self-proclaimed star of the troupe, 
  Belladonna believes that Black Death owes 
  most of its fame to her; and she has gotten 
  some of the troupe members to agree.  She 
  deeply resents the attention that Sentry gets 
  for her acting ability.  Belladonna is a Som-
  merite (a religious follower of internationally 
  renowned rock vocalist Karla Sommers), 
  and aspires to eventually achieve such fame 
  herself.
  French woman, age , 67 cm, 55 kg.  
  Very attractive; thin; long hair dyed blond; 
  imperious air.
  Languages:  French, German, English
  Attack:   dice plus penalty die
  Defense:   dice plus penalty die
  Hit Points:   (wimpy)
  Traits
  Glamour,  dice — There’s something 
  about Belladonna that makes her extremely 
  attractive, and she uses that natural some-
  thing to full effect on the stage.  She has 
  forced Black to agree that he will never 
  require her to be in a nude scene, as she be-
  lieves that remaining covered amplifies her 
  mystique.  (Sign: very attractive) 
  Acting, 3 dice — Belladonna is a compe-
  tent, though not extraordinary, actor.  (Sign: 
  refers to “my fans” in conversation.)
  Wimpy, penalty die — She has usually 
  managed to get other people to do what 
  she wants and to bend to her wishes, so she 
  does not have the thick skin or even physi-
  cal toughness that most people have.  (Sign: 
  cries easily.)
  
  6 
  The Black Death Theater Troupe
  Flu-ee Di
  Underrated Playwright
  Flu-ee Di is a talented poet, playwright, 
  and author, thanks in part to her keen insight 
  into people and their underlying motiva-
  tions.  Unfortunately, she is so self-conscious 
  that she sees flaws in everything she does.  
  With her help, especially on dialogue, Black 
  has written some fantastic scripts, but no 
  one, not even Flu-ee Di herself, appreciates 
  her talent.
  Tunisian woman, age 7, 58 cm, 9 kg.  
  Dark brown skin, thin, short hair braided 
  in “corn rows.”  She favors lots of bracelets, 
  anklets, and earrings that jingle.
  Languages:  French, Arabic, English.
  Traits
  Writing, 5 dice — While she has mostly 
  done drama, she has written a small volume 
  of very good poetry, which she refuses to let 
  anyone see.  (Sign: carries a note pad and 
  stubby little pencil.)
  Insight, 3 dice — She is good at seeing 
  what makes people tick and in intuiting 
  social situations.  (Sign: asks probing 
  questions.)
  Acting, 3 dice (plus penalty die, see 
  below) — (Sign: can recite many lines from 
  memory.)
  Self-Conscious — She is uncomfortable 
  being the center of attention or letting others 
  see her creative work.  (Sign: rarely talks 
  about herself)
  San Violador
  Cloak Wannabe
  San Violador likes the troupe, but he has 
  higher aspirations.  He knows that there are 
  secret societies operating in the world, espe-
  cially on Al Amarja, and he hopes to join one 
  some day, so that he can gain more power.  
  In the meantime, he has insinuated himself 
  into Black Death.  Here he hopes to increase 
  his acting ability (which, one day, he intends 
  to use for espionage) and to make contacts in 
  the Edge that will be useful to him once he is 
  initiated into a conspiracy.  He has heard of 
  a conspiracy called “The Puppeteers,” and is 
  interested in contacting them, but he doesn’t 
  really know how.
  Spanish man, age 5, 70 cm, 6 kg.  Short, 
  black hair; thin moustache; carious teeth.
  Languages:  Spanish, German, English
  Attack:  3 dice, X damage with knife
  Defense:  3 dice
  Hit Points:   (tough)
  Psychic Pool:  
  Traits
  Fighting, 3 dice — He has some training 
  and some street experience with fists, feet, 
  knives, chains, and so forth.  (Sign: long scar 
  on back of right wrist.)
  Acting,  dice — Perfectly comfortable in 
  using these techniques off the stage.  (Sign: 
  feigns interest well.)
  “Golpe de la Mente,”  die — A trick he 
  learned from his grandmother to keep him 
  from getting beat up by little Franquistas 
  (fans of the Spanish dictator Franco) so much 
  in school.  It is a psychic force that strikes at 
  the feedback corridors of the motor nerves, 
  causing the victim to twitch slightly and 
  remain unable to move for about one second.  
  That’s enough time for San Violador to get 
  a head start running or to slip a knife into 
  someone.  (Sign: grins when he fights, be-
  cause he knows he can cheat if he needs to.)
  Non-core Members
  Various actors, set-workers, and ama-
  teur technicians are members of the troupe, 
  though they are outside the “core.”  Those 
  that are into acting have scores of 3 or  dice, 
  while others may be involved strictly in non-
  acting roles.  Invent these GMCs, tailoring 
  them to the needs of your series and your 
  players.
  Story Ideas
  The Black Death Theater Troupe is like a 
  well-moneyed mark in a poker game: You 
  should milk it slowly and thereby get more 
  out of it, rather than using it up all at once.
  Before introducing the troupe into the 
  main plots of your series, use them as back-
  ground.  They could perform at Sad Mary’s 
  while the PC’s are there to make a drop.  If 
  you need to ad lib a conversation between 
  two GMCs, let them be talking about Sen-
  try’s latest performance. They could be at the 
  
  The Black Death Theater Troupe	
  7
  Plaza of Flowers while the PCs are coming 
  to meet with the Aries Gang.  By introducing 
  the troupe as background color first, you will 
  make them mean more to the players when 
  they enter the plot proper (and remember 
  what Poe said about plot).
  Once it’s time to bring the troupe into the 
  thick of things, you can take several ap-
  proaches.
  • A PC who is friendly to Goodman is hired 
  to be the troubleshooter for the troupe.  
  Tremor either can’t take the strain any 
  more, or is moving up to better things.  
  As the troupe’s troubleshooter, the PC 
  first has to join the troupe, and then earn 
  the members’ trust.  The PC may have to 
  ease personality clashes between troupe 
  members, talk a suicidal member down 
  from a ledge, keep Sentry from being cast 
  as a psychopathic killer, or discourage 
  Flu-ee Di from reading her poetry at a po-
  etry slam (because, if she found out how 
  good her poetry was, she would leave the 
  troupe).  More dangerous responsibili-
  ties might include dealing with the thugs 
  sent by people to whom the troupe owes 
  money. 
  • An oil shiek wants to present Rock Black 
  to his son for his birthday.  The son is an 
  aspiring (talentless) actor, and he wants a 
  playwright of his own to work with.  The 
  PCs may be hired to kidnap Rock, or they 
  may defend him agains the kidnaping 
  attempts.  (Maybe the PCs can convince 
  the kidnapers to abduct a rival playwright 
  instead, to clear away some of Black’s 
  competition.)
  • Romantic ties (and even sexual orienta-
  tions) of the troupe members have been 
  left up to you.  If there’s no one in the core 
  group to make a PC’s heart beat faster, 
  invent someone outside the core group.  In 
  a tight, ego-ridden group like Black Death, 
  romance-driven plots could be quite tasty.
  • Whatever.  The troupe is fertile ground for 
  player-driven plots or ideas of your own.  
  Present the troupe, let the players jam a 
  bit, and then change the troupe to fit the 
  needs of the players.
  • The troupe can be the focus for the PC 
  group.  Have each PC have some con-
  nection or other to the troupe or to avant 
  garde theater, and the troupe provides 
  an environment in which they can meet, 
  interact, and possibly work together.  You 
  can even use the GMC’s in the troupe as 
  PC’s, though it would only be fair to let 
  the players change the characters a bit 
  before playing them.
  auThor’S NoTe
  In my own series, Rock Black read a book 
  that drove him crazy, pulled a gun on Cheryl 
  D’Aubainne, escaped justice, and was killed 
  by a bounty hunter known as “The Mechan-
  ic.”  (Funny how the name of the troupe fore-
  shadowed Black’s demise; I hadn’t noticed 
  that until now.)  Fortunately, space aliens (or 
  were they higher-level spiritual beings?) had 
  cloned him and left his clone to be slaugh-
  tered while the real Rock Black continued to 
  write plays in the UFO and send them to the 
  troupe.  (So much for the foreshadowing.)  
  These events led to the arrest, execution, 
  resurrection, and eventual damnation of a 
  tangentially-related PC.  Since these events 
  were mostly player-driven, it would be hard 
  for you to duplicate them, but be prepared 
  for the possiblities.
  
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