The Tragedy Game - first prelimenary draft
This is all a bit quick and dirty at the moment. I'm not at all sure about most of it, especially any of the numerical values.
The basic idea is to create a game which mirrors the conventions of theatrical tragedy. It is intended that most characters will not "win" and will live miserable tragic lives, probably marked by death, with only a few transcendent moments to act as consolation to their otherwise lamentable existences. There want to be lots of star-crossed lovers, noble yet perhaps ultimately pointless sacrifices, and suicide.
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Causes
Pick three to five Causes for your character.
A Cause can be a personal quest (Become an Honest Man, Free Myself From Slavery), an obligation (Be Loyal to My Family), a quest with more global implications (Bring Liberty to the Poor of France), and desires (Be With Cosette).
Causes may not interfere with the free will of other player characters.
You start with three dice per Cause.
If a Cause is invalidated by game events (for instance, any Causes when the object of them dies), the Cause vanishes, along with all its dice, and you suffer as if you had suffered Tragedy in that Cause. This happens immediately.
Life
You also have three Life tokens.
You may Sacrifice a Life token for a free die with an automatic initial value of 6. Subsequent to this first use the die becomes a normal die.
Should you spend all your life tokens, your character dies. You may die in the manner of your choosing, considering what would be narratively appropriate. The Cause you spent your last Life token on should act as a guide for your death scene.
Tragedy
Whenever you find yourself with zero dice in a given Cause, you suffer Tragedy. The Tragedy is always related to the cause.
Tragedy is always a terrible event that utterly prevents you from further engaging in that Cause. When Tragedy occurs, call for a scene with your character and whatever other characters would be suitable, in which your character will suffer some dire fate.
Example Tragedies include the death of NPCs, being imprisoned, going mad and becoming despairingly wretched and destitute.
Once you have suffered Tragedy in a Cause, you may no longer put dice in that Cause yourself. Other may, however (see Aiding). Should you mange to achieve a consolation by the aid of others, you may once again put dice into that Cause - with the help of others, you have gotten over the worst of your Tragedy. Of course, you may slip back into Tragedy again.
Consolations
Consolations occur whenever you roll fifteen or more on your dice in a Cause (see Turn Structure, below).
Consolations are happy scenes, although surrounded by tragic circumstances. They should be islands of calm within a storm, transcendent moments above a dark existence. Examples include a stolen kiss, a temporary victory in battle, being praised or thanked by others, winning some small treasure.
Each additional Consolation in a particular Cause means you should step up the level of happiness involved. The lovers have a secret night of passion, the tide of the battle starts to turn.
Should you achieve four Consolations in a particular Cause, you have achieved Happiness in that Cause! Narrate a happy ending for this particular Cause, from your character's perspective. Redistribute all the dice from this cause you your other Causes, if any.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the act of trading dice from one Cause to another. Whenever you Sacrifice something, you should narrate what it is you are doing to help one of your Causes at the expense of another.
Turn Structure
When it is your turn, examine all your dice.
Make Sacrifices by trading your dice between one Cause and another, narrating or performing short scenes as you go. Each should demonstrate what your character is doing to Sacrifice one Cause for another.
Then, roll all the dice.
Add the dice in each Cause. For each Cause where the sum is over fifteen, you gain a Consolation related to that cause. Create a scene showing a moment that gives you some consolation in all the misery surrounding you.
Now, remove all the 1s. Discard these dice. If you have no 1s, remove one die of your choosing.
If you now have zero dice in any Cause, you suffer Tragedy in that Cause. Create a scene featuring the terrible fate that befalls you.
The next player in turn then rolls their dice.
Aiding
Other players when watching (and participating in) your turn may wish to intercede. To do so, they remove as many dice as they wish from one or more of their Causes, roll it and then place it one or more of your Causes of their choosing. They should do this after you have rolled your own dice, but before you sum the dice to get Consolations. As they pass the dice to you, that player should narrate the action they are taking to aid you, and what sacrifice they have made to do it. If these dice are 1s, discard them as normal. Otherwise, they remain in the Cause you have donated them to.
Remembering the Dead
When a character dies, leave her sheet in the centre of the table. If she had any Consolations before she died, living characters may invoke these happy memories during later scenes. The Consolation must be some how relevant to either the character or one of the character's causes. If this is the case, invoking the memory gives a bonus dice this turn to that Cause (or any of the character's Causes, if the Consolation concerned them in general).
Each of a dead character's Consolations may only be used in this way once.
Ending the Game
The game proceeds in this fashion until:
· All the player's characters are dead
· All the player's living characters have attained Happiness and/or Tragedy in all their remaining Causes.
At the end of the game, you may narrate an epilogue for your character.
The basic idea is to create a game which mirrors the conventions of theatrical tragedy. It is intended that most characters will not "win" and will live miserable tragic lives, probably marked by death, with only a few transcendent moments to act as consolation to their otherwise lamentable existences. There want to be lots of star-crossed lovers, noble yet perhaps ultimately pointless sacrifices, and suicide.
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Causes
Pick three to five Causes for your character.
A Cause can be a personal quest (Become an Honest Man, Free Myself From Slavery), an obligation (Be Loyal to My Family), a quest with more global implications (Bring Liberty to the Poor of France), and desires (Be With Cosette).
Causes may not interfere with the free will of other player characters.
You start with three dice per Cause.
If a Cause is invalidated by game events (for instance, any Causes when the object of them dies), the Cause vanishes, along with all its dice, and you suffer as if you had suffered Tragedy in that Cause. This happens immediately.
Life
You also have three Life tokens.
You may Sacrifice a Life token for a free die with an automatic initial value of 6. Subsequent to this first use the die becomes a normal die.
Should you spend all your life tokens, your character dies. You may die in the manner of your choosing, considering what would be narratively appropriate. The Cause you spent your last Life token on should act as a guide for your death scene.
Tragedy
Whenever you find yourself with zero dice in a given Cause, you suffer Tragedy. The Tragedy is always related to the cause.
Tragedy is always a terrible event that utterly prevents you from further engaging in that Cause. When Tragedy occurs, call for a scene with your character and whatever other characters would be suitable, in which your character will suffer some dire fate.
Example Tragedies include the death of NPCs, being imprisoned, going mad and becoming despairingly wretched and destitute.
Once you have suffered Tragedy in a Cause, you may no longer put dice in that Cause yourself. Other may, however (see Aiding). Should you mange to achieve a consolation by the aid of others, you may once again put dice into that Cause - with the help of others, you have gotten over the worst of your Tragedy. Of course, you may slip back into Tragedy again.
Consolations
Consolations occur whenever you roll fifteen or more on your dice in a Cause (see Turn Structure, below).
Consolations are happy scenes, although surrounded by tragic circumstances. They should be islands of calm within a storm, transcendent moments above a dark existence. Examples include a stolen kiss, a temporary victory in battle, being praised or thanked by others, winning some small treasure.
Each additional Consolation in a particular Cause means you should step up the level of happiness involved. The lovers have a secret night of passion, the tide of the battle starts to turn.
Should you achieve four Consolations in a particular Cause, you have achieved Happiness in that Cause! Narrate a happy ending for this particular Cause, from your character's perspective. Redistribute all the dice from this cause you your other Causes, if any.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the act of trading dice from one Cause to another. Whenever you Sacrifice something, you should narrate what it is you are doing to help one of your Causes at the expense of another.
Turn Structure
When it is your turn, examine all your dice.
Make Sacrifices by trading your dice between one Cause and another, narrating or performing short scenes as you go. Each should demonstrate what your character is doing to Sacrifice one Cause for another.
Then, roll all the dice.
Add the dice in each Cause. For each Cause where the sum is over fifteen, you gain a Consolation related to that cause. Create a scene showing a moment that gives you some consolation in all the misery surrounding you.
Now, remove all the 1s. Discard these dice. If you have no 1s, remove one die of your choosing.
If you now have zero dice in any Cause, you suffer Tragedy in that Cause. Create a scene featuring the terrible fate that befalls you.
The next player in turn then rolls their dice.
Aiding
Other players when watching (and participating in) your turn may wish to intercede. To do so, they remove as many dice as they wish from one or more of their Causes, roll it and then place it one or more of your Causes of their choosing. They should do this after you have rolled your own dice, but before you sum the dice to get Consolations. As they pass the dice to you, that player should narrate the action they are taking to aid you, and what sacrifice they have made to do it. If these dice are 1s, discard them as normal. Otherwise, they remain in the Cause you have donated them to.
Remembering the Dead
When a character dies, leave her sheet in the centre of the table. If she had any Consolations before she died, living characters may invoke these happy memories during later scenes. The Consolation must be some how relevant to either the character or one of the character's causes. If this is the case, invoking the memory gives a bonus dice this turn to that Cause (or any of the character's Causes, if the Consolation concerned them in general).
Each of a dead character's Consolations may only be used in this way once.
Ending the Game
The game proceeds in this fashion until:
· All the player's characters are dead
· All the player's living characters have attained Happiness and/or Tragedy in all their remaining Causes.
At the end of the game, you may narrate an epilogue for your character.