TEXT: 1. People, Place, Props: You’ll need at least two people; 
  one will take on the job of being the Guide; the others are 
  players.  You’ll need somewhere to play that is fairly free 
  of interruptions.  And you’ll a total of ten tokens (buttons, 
  poker chips, pennies, glass beads, whatever) per person, 
  player or Guide, and some way of keeping notes (usually,  
  pencil and paper).  It’s nice to have a shallow bowl in the 
  middle to toss tokens into and pull from, but not required. 
   
  2. First Thought: You’ll need an inspiration for the 
  game.  “Let’s have a game about assassins!” is a first 
  thought.  “How about we play out a fantasy like Lord of 
  the Rings?” is, too.  Find something the whole group likes 
  and knows - if someone didn’t see or read Lord of the 
  Rings, don’t try to teach it; get everyone onboard.  If you 
  stall out, everyone can name a books, movie, or TV 
  series, that they enjoy, and find something there to use as 
  the basis of the game.  Agree on a style - action, comedy, 
  tragedy, whatever suits. 
   
  3. Situation: Setting up the situation and the various roles 
  that the players will be taking on is a process of 
  brainstorming and fitting things together.  The whole 
  group takes part in this process, as described next page; 
  when it’s done, the players will pick characters, and the 
  Guide will ‘take possession’ of all the rest of it. 
   
  4. Tokens: At the start of game, each person at the table 
  should hold seven tokens in-hand, and each should put 
  three more tokens in the center of the playing space.  
  Tokens are used for quite a few things we’ll get to later; 
  they are the ‘currency’ of the game.  Someone should 
  know how tokens work before play starts.  
   
  5. Play: Once the Guide has the situation in-hand,  the 
  players have characters, and everyone has their stack of 
  seven tokens, the group can get down to the business of 
  actually playing.  Play lasts until the group needs a break 
  (you can come back to it later), or the situation is 
  resolved, and the story is done, in the opinion of the 
  group. 
  WHAT IS THIS? 
  It’s a roleplaying game.  In this kind of game, players take on         
  different roles in a fictitious situation.  One of those players takes on 
  the role of the situation itself; these rules refer to this player as the 
  Guide.  Rather than trying to explain this in detail, just imagine that 
  we’re sitting at a table, and I say to you “So, you’re some guy     
  working in an office job, and zombies bust down the door.  What do 
  you do?” - and you respond “Well, I guess I grab something to use as 
  a weapon and make for the door, bashing as I go”; I think about it, 
  and tell you a couple of possible weapons in the office, and you pick 
  one, and start bashing away; and we’re playing.  I’m the Guide, and 
  you’re the player.  You’ve already got a fictional role (some guy 
  working in an office job), and we’ve got us a situation that works, one 
  where you have a goal, some obstacles, stuff like that.  So far, easy. 
  HOWARD 
  Accountant at Large 
  The Zombies 
  Braaaaains! 
  Eat Howard... 
  Get Away! 
  Now, I don’t know if your office guy can bash his way out the door, 
  so I get you to describe him a bit more, and we figure some way of 
  resolving it so we don’t end up bickering.  We’ll probably bias things 
  in your favor if your office guy is good at bashing stuff and running 
  generally, or against him if he’s bad at it.  We’ll probably stack things 
  a little to help office guy regardless, because he’s the focus of the 
  game.  In the interests of being fair, we’ll try to codify how we did it 
  this time so that we can keep it in mind for the next time that he has to 
  bash some stuff; it’s good to be consistent.   
   That’s the basics.  As you might expect, there are  plenty of details - 
  a simple situation like the office won’t last us long, and building more 
  involved ones is a bit of a trick, but one that can be managed easily 
  enough.  Having ‘who the characters are’ and ‘if others are helping’ 
  matter to the situation and the way that things come out gets some 
  attention, as do methods for keeping everyone interested and engaged 
  in the game at hand.  Separating the jobs at the table, so that everyone 
  knows who is in charge of this thing or that one, and bickering is kept 
  out of play, is discussed.  But all of that is detail; if you’ve read up to 
  this point, you already understand how the process works.  
  HOW TO GET STARTED 
  
  AN ACTION SITUATION: 
  1. The Guide describes a simple conflict 
  This should be some kind of struggle between two people 
  or groups.  These might be anything that fits the first 
  thought of the game.  The guide notes these two down on 
  a piece of paper, and notes the conflict between them, 
  usually putting each in a box with an arrow to the other, 
  and writing each one’s motives along ‘their’ arrow. 
   
  2. Going clockwise, everyone adds to this. 
  In turn, each player describes another character or group, 
  and describes their relationships with two or three of 
  those already noted.  Good additions are those that... 
  • Fit the first thought: The first thought is the basic 
  premise, and usually implies a genre, some kinds of 
  action, and so on.  Everything  added should fit that. 
  • Have a quick summary: Each added person or group 
  should have a byline that summarizes it - instead of just 
  adding “Joe”, you might add “Joe, Folk Musician”.  
  • Want something: At least one of the relationships that 
  each person or group has should describe, or at least 
  imply, something they wants from the situation.  
  • Raise the tension: Each addition should make the 
  conflict the Guide created more tense, complicated, 
  and usually harder to resolve. 
   
  3. On the Guide’s turn, they can end it.  
  Each time it’s the Guide’s turn to add to the situation, 
  they can end the cycle of adding stuff to it, or keep it 
  going, either before or after adding something.  They may 
  also declare that only characters, no more groups, may be 
  added.  A Guide shouldn’t stop the situation building 
  until there’s some choice in characters for players. 
   
  4. When it ends, characters are chosen 
  When the Guide calls an end to situation building, each 
  player chooses a character in the situation to be their 
  character.  It’s often best if the characters chosen have 
  common goals or enemies, and aren’t in direct conflict. 
  BUILDING SITUATION 
  Situation building follows these steps.  It may take a couple of tries to 
  create a situation worth playing, unless the players are all experienced 
  at this kind of thing, but it’s quick enough that this should be easy. 
   
  THE MAKING OF HOWARD AND THE DEAD 
  Kim and Levi decide to play a quick pick-up action game, running for 
  maybe an hour or so. 
  • Kim lays out a basic conflict: The Zombies vs. Everyone Else.  
  The Zombies want to eat everyone else.  Everyone else is being 
  eaten by the zombies.  Simple. 
  • Levi adds a character: Howard, the accountant.  Who is trying to 
  get away from the Zombies (that want to eat him), and join up with 
  other living people (who don’t trust him). 
  • Kim ends it: No need to add more; this is just going to be playing 
  around with the game, seeing how it works, and being silly. 
   
  DRAWING OUT THE NETWORKS 
  A very, very easy way of tracking a situation as it’s built is to sketch a 
  ‘network’ like the one shown above as you go along.  For a situation 
  as simplistic as this one, it’s not really helpful, but the more complex 
  a situation gets, the more useful it is to track it.  While drawing things 
  out in this way isn’t required for play, it is strongly recommended. 
   There are also, as a group gets more practiced, further tricks that 
  can be done with a network that’s drawn out in this way.  For        
  example, marking down “The Killer” on a network in a mystery 
  game, with the note “is also someone else on the network” is a very 
  visual method of putting a mystery right in front of everyone without 
  giving it away. 
  HOWARD 
  Accountant at Large 
  The Zombies 
  Braaaaains! 
  Eat Howard... 
  Get Away! 
  EVERYONE ELSE 
  The Living 
  Eat Everyone... 
  Argh!  My leg! 
  We should 
  band together! 
  Mistrustful 
  
  A COMEDY SITUATION: 
  A FANTASY TRAGEDY 
  THE MAKING OF THE CAT SHOW 
  John, Kim, and Laura sit down to create a situation.  Kim is the 
  Guide; John and Laura are playing.  Their first idea is a suburban 
  comedy about a cat show, full of nasty, backstabbing characters. 
  • Kim lays out a basic conflict: Doug, a cranky old man, wants to 
  show his cat in the cat show.  Trish, the cat show manager, refuses 
  to let him do so. 
  • John adds: Jim, the lazy Rent-a-Cop, who has been ordered to 
  keep Doug out of the show, but is also Doug’s drinking buddy. 
  • Laura adds: Marcie, the Neighborhood Maven, who is keeping a 
  close eye on her useless husband Jim, but doesn’t mind Doug.  
  • Kim adds: Suzanne, the showing judge, who Marcie sucks up to 
  but who only talks to Marcie to get a chance at her    husband, and 
  who thinks that Trish is way too high on herself. 
  • Kim ends it: She checks in with the players, and Laura and John, 
  after throwing a few ideas around, decide that they’ll go for it,    
  playing  Suzanne and Doug. 
  Trish 
  Cat Show  
  Manager 
  Doug 
  Cranky 
  Old Man 
  Jim 
  Lazy 
  Rent-a-cop 
  Marcie 
  Neighborhood 
  Maven 
  Suzanne 
  Pretty  
  Show Judge 
  Oversized ego 
  Flaky bitch. 
  Husband who better keep this job. 
  My wife should get her own job. 
  “Keep Doug out!” 
  “Sure, Ma’am” 
  Drinking buddy 
  Fun old Coot. 
  Twit. Cute hubby, though. 
  Quasi-important friend. 
  Funny old bastard. 
  Damn Fine woman. 
  Wants to show 
  Refuses totally 
  THE MAKING OF WHISPERING BLADES 
  John, Kim, Laura, and Mike have decided they want a high-action sword-and-
  sorcery tragedy, which is pretty specific stuff.  Kim’s the Guide again. 
  • Kim lays it out: Goldun, the warlord, who wants to secure power by gain-
  ing tribute from the Assassin Clan. 
  • John adds: Kia, the beautiful assassin, who he decides is the tribute that is 
  demanded in order to placate a not-very-loyal general. 
  • Laura adds: The Warlord’s horde, which is barely controlled. 
  • Mike adds: Lord Ang, the not-very-loyal general. 
  • Kim adds: Barlan, Kia’s true love, but not trusted by her clan. 
  • John adds: Kolo, an elder assassin who is interested in training Barlan, 
  and gaining him clan acceptance. 
  • Laura adds: Atha, a politician scheming against the Warlord from within 
  the Warlord’s own camp. 
  • Mike adds: Kioni, friend of Atha, deeply indebted to Kolo for past favors. 
  • Kim checks in, and ends it: Kim asks if everyone can find a    character to 
  play from those added; the players pick Kia, Barlan, and Athan, and Kim 
  calls the situation ready, and starts considering options for play. 
  Goldun 
  The 
  Warlord 
  Loathes Utterly  
  Demands Tribute 
  The 
  Warlord’s 
  Horde 
  Barely Controls 
  Crave Action 
  Brutal Madman 
  Key to the General 
  Kia 
  Assassin 
  Beauty 
  Treasures 
  Loyal 
  The 
  Assassin 
  Clan 
  Lord Ang 
  The  
  General 
  Complete Loyalty 
  Complete Loyalty 
  Fear 
  Desire 
  Hate 
  Hate 
  Terrifying 
  Mistrustful 
  Kolo 
  Elder  
  Assassin 
  Love 
  Love 
  Potential 
  Creepy 
  Mutual Respect 
  Barlan 
  Charming 
  Rogue 
  Atha 
  Sly 
  Politician 
  Kioni 
  Black 
  Magician 
  Respect 
  Admiration 
  Amusement 
  Mistrust 
  Ace in the Hole 
  Debt of Honor 
  Friend 
  Friend 
  
  THE FLOW OF PLAY 
  Almost all of the game is played verbally.  It’s common for the Guide 
  to describes scenes and characters, speak as characters, and talk with 
  the players about rules and token use.  It’s common for players to 
  describe character action, speak ‘in-character’, and discuss the same 
  token uses and rules with one another and the Guide.  This breaks 
  down into three basic “modes”:  
  WHO’S IN CHARGE OF WHAT? 
  Once play starts, players will direct and play their chosen characters, 
  attempting to fulfill the goals those characters have as the events of 
  the game progresses.  The Guide will administrate everything else.  In 
  terms of “who’s supposedly in charge”... 
  • Players have authority over what their characters want to do and 
  on what actions those characters will attempt. 
  • The Guide has authority over the setting, situation, and so on,    
  including whether or not the characters succeed at whatever      
  actions are attempted. 
  HOW “BEING IN CHARGE” ACTUALLY GETS USED 
  There’s a big difference between being in charge of a thing, and     
  actually using that authority.  At a silly extreme, a player couldn’t 
  state that their character sat down without the Guide agreeing that this 
  had happened.  The Guide would need to walk with the players 
  through every single action that was taking, checking to make sure 
  that the character tried to put on their clothes in the morning. 
   In real play, players and Guide often declare things that someone 
  else is in charge of, simply as a matter of course.  It’s when they go 
  further into that territory than is comfortable, or assume something 
  that the person inn charge of that thing doesn’t agree with, the person 
  can call them on it - or they can wager, or ask the person declaring 
  things outside their authority to “pay” for it (these are things we’ll get 
  to a little further on).  But for the most part, players and Guide       
  contribute things in a steady flow, concentrating on their own part 
  without being especially finicky about it. 
   If someone is pushing the line, you can just tell them “I think 
  you’re pushing”.  Let the person doing the describing make their case, 
  or not.  People can generally tell when someone’s working the      
  system; when they are, call them on it, talk it out, and fix it.  It’s what 
  you need to do in any system; here, it’s just out in the open.  More 
  often than not, though, especially with completely new players, the 
  difficulty runs the other way.  Many new people are hesitant to step 
  out and start pitching ideas and describing actions with confidence.  
  With such players, relax, and be generous in awarding tokens. 
  � 
  � 
  Describing scenes and action 
  In this mode, the Guide sets a scene, the players describe 
  what their characters are doing, the Guide states how this 
  affects the scene, telling them what happens next, and 
  back and forth it goes. If the Guide described some ruins, 
  a player might say "I explore the  ruins, looking for 
  anything interesting". The Guide might check with the 
  other players to see what they're doing at the same time, 
  and then jump to the first interesting thing in the search, 
  or the first thing that interrupts it.  Or the Guide might ask 
  the player what they think is interesting, to tailor the 
  results.  So, the Guide is adding new details to the setting  
  all the time; and while they have the original situation to 
  work from, this is the way things are supposed to be. 
   
  Speaking In-Character 
  Sessions will include portions where players take on their 
  characters, speaking as if they were those characters.  
  These may be lengthy discussions, or quick exchanges of 
  a few words.  Moving to this kind of play is  easy; if the 
  Guide mentions that Howard runs across a survivor holed 
  up in a corner store, the player might state “Hey, man, 
  any chance I can hole up with you for the night?” as if he 
  were Howard.  When someone begins speaking this way, 
  it’s normal to go with it, speaking as the characters.  This 
  can end just as naturally, returning to the back-and-forth 
  of description.  Smooth changeovers, without any real 
  division, are standard.  
   
  Using the rules 
  Play will also change over to and from speaking as, and 
  for, yourself, when dealing with rules use.  Some people  
  will minimize these “breaks”, while others will want to 
  enjoy them in detail.  This is, like much else, a matter of 
  style that a group must try to grow into on their own. 
  
  SETTING A SCENE 
  The Guide sets a scene by describing it, pure and simple.  This 
  description will  start with a basic sketch - the characters are on the 
  rooftops at night, or in a tavern, whatever the case is.  It will move on 
  to the most overall sensory impression; by describing the darkness of 
  the night, the noise of the tavern.  A few more details of setting, 
  describing the street below or the tables and crowds around them, 
  finish that sketch.  After making that sketch, the Guide will almost 
  always go on to add an active element - something that is happening 
  that is there for the characters to interact with, whether that’s someone  
  to talk with, enemies to fight, or whatever the case may be.  
   Presenting scenes is a skill that takes practice; any scene that is 
  worth going into must be interesting in order to appeal to both the 
  players and their characters.  Guides should pay attention to this, 
  learning to describe well, and structure descriptions smoothly. 
   Not all scenes deserve attention.  Characters sleep.  They eat.  They 
  walk down the block.  But most of the time, nobody at the table will 
  care how the characters slept, or the details of how much they ate, or 
  other such trivia.  Most of this will just be glossed over with “You 
  sleep.  You wake.  The next day…” 
   Equally important to the skill of setting a scene well to the Guide is 
  the skill of knowing when to set a scene at all.  A simple guideline is 
  that a good scene always includes at least one of the following items, 
  and often has the potential for two or more of them: 
  • A challenge or conflict of some kind, whether one based on tokens  
  or even simply where there’s a choice the Guide thinks the players 
  will want to make as their characters. 
  • Something that they characters ought to know which is important to 
  the  current situation. 
  • A chance for the characters to acquire something that they might 
  want, or get closer to achieving a goal. 
  • Something that the Guide knows would be important to one of the 
  players; an event which that specific player can really get into. 
   
  BRIDGING AND PLAYER INITIATIVE 
  While the Guide describes the changeovers from scene to scene, 
  players will often make it clear through action what the next scene 
  should be - “We go talk to the old man he told us about”.  Players will 
  also occasionally ‘cue’ scenes with action; if the Guide is describing 
  the transition with a few details, and a player declares that they want 
  to do something about one of those details, that’s a player initiating a 
  scene, and means it’s time for the Guide to set it up.  Both of these are 
  not only normal, but should be expected. 
  WAGERING 
  Token wagering is a way of finding out “what happens next” when it 
  could go different ways.  The Guide will call for a wager when there’s 
  a conflict that could go either way - a fight, an attempt to climb a cliff, 
  to ruin each other’s reputation.  Players can also call for wagers when 
  they think things could go either way.  How it works:  
  • The Call: The Guide, hearing an action declared, declares that the 
  outcome of the action will depend on a wager. 
  • Set Stakes: The Guide and players decide what will happen if the 
  player wins the wager, and what will happen if they lose it.  It is 
  essential that this be clear.  If a character is trying to crack a safe to 
  get the dirt on an enemy, and the Guide thinks the wager is on 
  whether or not the character can open the safe (containing nothing) 
  before the guards arrive, but the player believes that the wager is 
  on whether they get the dirt, then there are crossed wires.  Be clear. 
  • Concept, Difficulty: If the action being resolved is something that 
  the character ought to be good at according to their one-line         
  description (Doug from the Cat Show is a “Cranky Old Man”, and 
  would be good at cranky-old-man things) then that must be stated 
  and agreed on.  If the action is unusually tricky (the character is 
  safecracking ‘by touch’, without tools), that should also be agreed 
  on.  If the action is ‘in-concept’, the player will count as having 
  wagered an extra token for purposes of winning.  If it is ‘difficult’, 
  then the Guide will count as having wagered an extra token. 
  • Helping: Anyone not wagering can choose to assist either side,   
  declaring appropriate actions as their character or just “throwing in” 
  as players on either side.  To do so, they toss a token of theirs to the 
  pile in the middle.  The side that has the most helpers will count as 
  having wagered an extra token. 
  • The Wager Proper: Once stakes, concept, difficulty, and helpers 
  have been declared, the player secretly chooses and holds a number 
  of tokens to ‘wager’ on the outcome; the more they wager, the more 
  they are saying they want to win - they must wager at least one  
  token.  The Guide does the same.  Once both have their wagered 
  tokens held out (in a closed hand), they reveal them together. 
  • Resolution: Whoever has the highest wager (including bonuses, if 
  they apply) wins.  The two sides then swap the tokens they        
  wagered.  The Guide describes the outcome, and play resumes.  If 
  the wager is a tie, the player wins, and the Guide gets all but one of 
  the tokens wagered - that one goes to the pile in the middle. 
  • Player vs. Player: If a wager is between two players, both can call 
  their concepts; it’s never ‘difficult’.  On a tie, neither wins; the 
  Guide describes a ‘stalemate’, all tokens wagered go to the middle. 
  
  WWW.AMAGI-GAMES.COM 
  UNCHAIN YOUR PLAY. 
  SOME NOTES FOR THE GUIDE 
  Once you have hold of the situation, it’s up to you to pressure that 
  situation and characters until it resolves.  Here’s a basic how-to: 
  1. The Pressure Hits: Start off play with a scene of your creation, 
  centered on an event that puts pressure on the characters, showing 
  off or intensifying the core conflict.  Zombies get into the office.  
  The Cat Show characters are informed that the event will receive 
  national media coverage.  And so on.  This should always have or 
  threaten an effect on the relationships and concepts of characters, 
  should always require action, but not have a “right” solution (and 
  you should never have pre-planned the way it turns out).  Finally, it 
  should always be able to get stronger and more personal over time. 
  2. Goals Emerge: As characters respond to the pressure over a few  
  scenes, remind them to do so with an eye toward having goals for 
  their characters - getting out of town, ruining Trish’s life, whatever.  
  The goals are their choice, but they should make the goals known. 
  3. Ramping up, With Breaks: As the players are forming goals, 
  things should still be ramping up.  Zombies attack.  Interviewers 
  start coming to talk with Cat Show people.  Each event should   
  increase the pressure, aiding and opposing goals, requiring new 
  decisions and action.  However, the game shouldn’t be a constant 
  push - there should be “breathers” and character scenes on the way. 
  4. The Big Finish: At whatever point in play (often between one and  
  four hours, depending on the situation), the situation will have       
  gotten as intense as it really can, and it’ll be time for you to set up a 
  scene or group of scenes where the pressure peaks and goals are 
  resolved or not.  When this happens, and how, is so flexible as to 
  defy explaining - you’ll need to learn this part by doing it. 
  5. Wrapping Up: At the end, when the big finish is resolved, players 
  often describe where they think their characters and events might go 
  from there, as a kind of closing montage. 
  PAYMENTS 
  Fairly often, players and Guide ‘stretch’ their authority.  If the Guide 
  describes a foreboding castle on the hill, and the sounds of wolves 
  howling, great!  If they add “a chill runs down your spine”, they’ve 
  stepped outside their authority, describing how the characters feel 
  about something.  Usually, the players shouldn’t worry about it, just 
  as the Guide won’t worry if a player declares that they grab a bottle 
  off a bar when no bottles have been described there.  When it does 
  matter, the person in charge of the thing can deny  down the idea, or 
  ask the person describing it to pay for it’s inclusion in tokens.  Such 
  payments go to the tokens in the middle of play.  Some notes: 
  • Character Reaction: If the Guide declares that seeing the Thing 
  That Should Not Be drives a character back in utter terror, the 
  player can might just say “That’ll cost you a token, there.” 
  • Scene Additions: If a player declares in the middle of a car chase 
  that they’re going to escape by finding and driving into an alley too 
  narrow for pursuit to manage, the Guide could ask for a payment 
  for the creation of such an alley, since this manipulates the setting. 
  • How many Tokens?: For an declaration that is clearly a change, 
  but is both reasonable and normal for the game style, a single token 
  is a good payment.  If the statement is abnormal for the setting or 
  character, but can be easily explained, two tokens is standard.  After 
  this point, denying the statement completely is usually best. 
  • Replacing Wagers: A payment can replace a wager.  If a player 
  declares that their big bruiser character beats the tar out of a guy 
  who is in their way, the Guide might just say “one token”. 
  AWARDS 
  The tokens in the middle of play get into use as awards.  Any time 
  someone declares something that adds a lot to the game, toss them a 
  token from the pile to add to their own; if someone already has, toss 
  them a second one if it was incredible.  Guides and players can both 
  give and receive tokens.  Some times when this is very appropriate: 
  • Intensity: Whenever a player has their character act in a way that 
  intensifies one of their ‘starting’ relationships, and creates further 
  action by doing so, award them.  But note that there comes a point 
  where resolving things is better than making them more intense. 
  • Genre: If you shudder in response to a description in a horror 
  game, laugh out loud in response in a comedy game, hear a great 
  ‘stunt’ description in an action game, or notice pathos-laden self-
  destruction in a tragedy, and it “feels” right, award it!   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Microcosm/Microcosm Corebook.pdf