Gloom: Heart Soldier Senshi

[idolpro]

[The old-fashioned writing desk in the center of the room carries several blank pieces of paper, a fine wooden pen, and a piece of parchment covered in writing. When you take a look, you find the following epigraph in a vibrant scrawl:]

Congratulations, future wordsmiths, and welcome to your first exercise in the creation of a true masterwork of tale-telling. This evening you'll be penning a terrific tragedy, starring the family of unsympathetic ne'er-do-wells provided to you.

Your goal? Why, to construct the best story your mind can conceive, of course - and make their lives as entertainingly miserable as possible before writing one of them directly into an early grave.

Comments

RULES

[idolpro]

[On the screen of your phone, you can find the rules:]

YOUR GOAL

Your task is to inflict as much suffering as possible on your family, by playing unfortunate events on them ranging from minor inconveniences to fatal experiences. Once any team plays a death card on a character, the game ends.

YOUR CARDS

Your hand consists of three cards. Each card contains an unfortunate event, assigned a number of points ranging from -10 to -30. The lower the point value, the more delightfully tragic the event. By playing a card on one of your family members, they will experience that misfortune and earn you points.

Some cards include an even more unfortunate death. While they earn no points, playing a death on a family member will not only end their life, but end the game. Hopefully you've brought your family's arcs to a satisfying climax by that point...

Each round, you may play up to two cards on your family. Cards may be piled on one family member, or played on different members as you see fit. You must play at least one card each round--you might find your own story has an unfortunate ending if you do not.

At the end of each round, you will be granted enough new cards to get your hand back up to three.

Once per game, you may swap out your cards for an entirely new hand.

YOUR STORYTELLING

Now, don't get too bogged down with talk of cards and points. At its heart, this game is about creating a compelling narrative.

Every time you play a card, you must narrate how the event comes to pass, under the STORYTELLING heading below. And of course the story must be a coherent narrative--if during round one, your family's patriarch is ravaged by raccoons while in round two they are lost at sea, your creative narrative skills must explain how that character got from the raccoon enclosure to the deck of the pirate ship that they sadly do not know how to steer.

Use your imagination and have fun with it! I certainly will.

YOUR VICTORY

The game will end after the first round in which a unit writes one of their family members to a fatal end via an unfortunate death card.

At that point, all of the negative points from all events played will be tallied. All you need to do is be one of the units with the lowest score, and you will be victorious!

Of course, any tale worth telling is about the journey, not just the destination. Victory will also go to one team for constructing the most enthralling tale.

YOUR FAMILY

[idolpro]

YOUR EVENTS

[idolpro]

ROUND 1

[idolpro]

Was frightened by fungus -20 There's nothing fun about fungus.

Was pestered by poltergeists -20 They're baaaaack!

Was hunted by horrors -30 Prey for salvation.

You may swap out your hand: once

ROUND 2

[idolpro]

Was frightened by fungus -20 There's nothing fun about fungus.

Contracted consumption -30 Conspicuous consumption is such a tragedy.

Was marooned on the moors -10 Stupid crows, stupid breadcrumbs, stupid moors.

You may swap out your hand: once

ROUND 3

[idolpro]

Fell down the well -10 All's well that ends well, unless it ends IN the well.

Contracted consumption -30 Conspicuous consumption is such a tragedy.

Death: Ran out of air It's never appreciated until it's gone.

You may swap out your hand: once

Re: ROUND 3 SWAP

[idolpro]

Was crippled by creditors -20 Delaying debts can be deadly.

Was betrayed by the butler -25 Oh, like you're surprised.

Death: Was boiled in broth It's good for what ails you. In this case, life.

You have already swapped your hand.

ROUND 1

[idolpro]

CARDS PLAYED

[idolpro]

Re: CARDS PLAYED

[420blazeit]

Melissa Was pestered by poltergeists

Elias Was hunted by horrors.

STORYTELLING

[idolpro]

Re: STORYTELLING

[420blazeit]

Melissa, being a curious little brat that didn't heed her father's warning's about the east wing library, had stumbled across the Necronomicon. On opening it she let loose a bunch of poltergeists, who would pester her for the remainder of the night. Even shutting the book and stashing it back on the shelf did nothing to stop them from stalking her back to her room and rattling the shelves, turning on and off the tv, and possessing her toys.

Strange, red eyes, glowing like embers in a fire pit, watched Melissa in her room. No matter where she moved, even hiding under her covers--she could feel that strange, inhuman stare piercing through her.

Meanwhile, Elias, their resident gravedigger, heard some strange noises coming from the back of the graveyard, so he decided to investigate. He didn't remember the graveyard stretching this far out, but then again he had never really explored it. As he went further and further out things became more destroyed and dilapidated, grave markers broken and some not all there together. An open grave sat and he peered in, staring at what looked like a portal to hell. "Well shit." He cursed, stumbling back as monsters started crawling out of it, to which he beat a few off with his axe-shovel, but it wasn't long until he was quickly overwhelmed, so he turned tail and immediately booked it for the mansion.

As Elias ran, strange howls and chittering noises echoed through the dark night. His own footsteps were soon overtaken by the noise of other footfalls--much louder, bigger than his own. He tripped over a root he couldn't see in the dark, stumbling--and heard a great snapping noise like the clicking of large, pointy teeth right where his head had been.

OUTCOME

[idolpro]

DISCUSSION

[idolpro]

ROUND 2

[idolpro]

CARDS PLAYED

[idolpro]

STORYTELLING

[idolpro]

OUTCOME

[idolpro]

DISCUSSION

[idolpro]

ROUND 3

[idolpro]

CARDS PLAYED

[idolpro]

STORYTELLING

[idolpro]

OUTCOME

[idolpro]

DISCUSSION

[idolpro]

AND THEN

[idolpro]

[The paper on the old-fashioned writing desk rustles, faintly; the words written upon it begin to grow longer, as though an invisible hand is scrawling something new. It reads:]

Every truly great story has a great ending. And some of you, o wielders of the mighty pen, have brought yours to the inevitable conclusion. Bravo, to all of you who dared to write a character from the script.

Linger a while, as I weigh the merits of your wordsmithing. It won't be long.

[No sooner have the words finished appearing than the door to your room opens up, leading back to the lobby.]