Issue #2 August 2013

2A Letter from Captain Gothnog Dragonheart Greetings my fellow adventurers. Welcome to the second issue of Theater of the Mind. Thank you to all for making the first issue a great success. So far, the

magazine has been very well received by our readers, and it is now available in print.

We have two new columns in the magazine this issue. The first is called Appropriate

Muse, and it will discuss using movies, television, books and other media to inspire

your role playing game. The second column is called Two Page RPGs, and as the

name implies, each issue will contain a very simple role playing system based on a

different genre. In other news, we have been debating about the magazines release schedule,

and after serious consideration, we have decided to change over to a bi-monthly

schedule. The reason for this is that we need to have a more regular flow of incoming

submissions to sustain a monthly publication, and were not quite there yet.

This is where you come in. Theater of the Mind is intended to be a magaizine of role players, by role players and for role players, which means that reader

participation is not only desireable, but essential.

At the back of this magazine we list the upcoming themes for the magazine, as

well as the kinds of content that were looking to receive.

Now some of you may say to yourselves well, Im just not good enough to submit

anything to a magazine, but thats not true. Chances are you are better than you

think, and even if youre not, we have some excellent editors who can polish it up,

or if its just too rough, we can pass on the idea to another contributor to pick it up

and run with it. The point is that we cant do this without you. Lets create the greatest role

playing magazine together. Sincerely,Alex Guillotteaka Captain Gothnog DragonheartEditor-in-Chief, Theater of the Mind Magazine

3Contents 2 From the Editor 3 Credits and Contents 5 Copper Trimmed Golden Rule by Ander Wood 5 Random Map: The Hidden Cabin by Alex Guillotte 7 Genre by Forrest Bugay 8 Limbo by Brian Gregory 10 Story: Under the Bed by Michael Natale 15 Getting Lost by Kirk Wiebe 16 Creature Feature 17 Comic: Shape Change by Tim Harper 18 Taking the Rules Literally Travel and Getting Lost by Ferdinand Boleslawski 21 Story: The Streets of Southbridge by Jessica Pink 22 From the Fringe: Review: Zombie Dice by Kerowyn Guillotte 23 From the Fringe: Review: The Art of Shen Ku by Alex Guillotte 24 One Page Adventure: Aroca Prison by Rob Davis 25 Appropriate Muse Lost and Loving It by Brian M. Sammons 27 Story: Tales of the Blue Dragon by Kerowyn Guillotte 28 Two Page RPGs: Fantasy Edition by Carl Salminen 30 Small Beginnings Violence in Childrens Games by Alex Guillotte 32 Playing a Role Beyond the Pale by Runeslinger 34 The Void by Alex Guillotte 35 A Vacuum in Role Playing by Alex Guillotte 37 About the Publishers

Issue #2 August 2013

Editor-in-chief Alex Guillotte

EditorsCarl SalminenKatrina Ray-SaulisKerowyn Guillotte

WritersAlex GuillotteAnder WoodBrian GregoryBrian M. SammonsCarl SalminenFerdinand BoleslawskiForrest BugayJessica PinkKirk WiebeMichael NataleRob DavisRuneslinger

PublishersAlex Guillotte

Kerowyn Guillotte

Art DirectorAlex Guillotte

ArtistsAlex Guillotte

RuneslingerTim Harper

Creative AdvisorsAnder Wood

Carl Salminen

5 Despite the ubiquitous placement of comments throughout rule books, which explain this term, many RPG groups miss a fundamental core RPG concept that rules are only a choice. A choice that the RPGs designers settled on. At any point in game mechanic design there are several possible paths a game can go down. Un-derstanding the fact that game designers must make choices, many of which are ar-bitrary, should make you feel more com-fortable in exercising your own choices. Games are not designed to be played RULES AS WRITTEN. Their rule sets are designed to help GMs convey the tone and theme of that particular RPG in the fashion that seems most natural to the designer. That being said, the de-signer might have a completely different GMing skill set than you. Bend, break, twist, adapt, and change every rule that gets in your way. Rules are not sacro-sanct. In fact, they are no more than mere facilitators. The greatest danger of the rules as written mentality is a natural tendency to strangle creativity. Examples of this behavior abound. It is often not possible for a game designer to allow room in a work for an advantage for every sort of weapon. If, for example, a certain ad-

vantage is given to a dagger, the rules should present no problem in modifying this advantage to accommodate a char-acter that wishes to use that advantage with throwing axes. The reason for this is that both of these weapons typically have a similar power level in most games and can both be used as thrown and/or melee weapons. De-pending on the nature of this advantage, it might not be wise to use it for a higher-powered weapon such as a sword. Then again, that advantage, or an extrapolation of it, might work well in that instance. This may cause you to wonder, when should I allow for such modifications. The truth is, any time it feels right. Ex-plore the ideas of rules, successes and missteps. These explorations will lead to growth in your understanding of both Game Mastery and character portrayal. No one, including anyone who has ever designed a game, gets it right all the time. The key is to learn from your mistakes. Do that and youll do just fine.

COPPER TRIMMED GOLDEN RULE by Your Main Man Ander Wood

Ander Wood is a video blogger and game designer with over 20 years experience in role playing. He is currently publishing an innovative role playing game called Within the Ring of Fire.

http://www.youtube.com/user/woodwwad

by Alex GuillotteHouse RulesThis section is intended to describe house rules in very general terms, and should be applicable to many dif-ferent systems, styles and genres.

Blood and Guts One of the biggest issues people tend to have with any system is how it deals with injuries, wounds and their various effects on the character. When house-ruling hit points (or what-ever they are called in your preferred RPG) its important to decide how lethal you want your game to be, and how long you want combat to take. A general rule of thumb is that the faster the combat, the more lethal the game, and vice-versa. The more lethal games tend to be grittier, more realistic, and generally focuses on role playing. After all, if combat is extremely le-thal, then the PCs will be much more likely to talk their way out of a fight than charging in with guns and/or swords a-blazin. The biggest complaint about the hit point system for Dungeons and Dragons is that a powerful enough fighter can fall from a crazy height and still survive. So differen-tiating between combat hit points and other damage might make sense. Using the D&D fighter example, in-stead of taking hit points from a fall, he could take Constitution damage. This would put everyone on more or less equal footing. In other words, a fall from 1,000 feet will be lethal, whether the character is a 20th level fighter or a no-level peasant. Another way to modify hit points is to tweak how those points are restored and how quickly. That way, you can make com-bat deadly without crippling the character for the next four game sessions. Finally, its important to decide what hit points mean. When the fighter gets hit with the arrow, is he actually hit (taking physical damage) or is it more like a kind of battle fatigue until the final, lethal blow is delivered? Of course some of this boils down to the desired realism of the game. Despite what Hollywood would have people believe, in real life a single bullet from a firearm will more than likely incapacitate the average human, regardless of their training. A sol-dier can be trained to tolerate more pain, and so continue to function with serious damage to their body, but they would cer-tainly not be unaffected by it. So dont be afraid to play around with your damage system, and dont get hung up on words like hit and damage. Its up to you to decide what those mean in the context of your game.

Illustration by Sbastien Allard

Random Mapby Alex Guillotte

These maps are left deliberately vague so that you can easily incorporate them into your campaign, no matter which genre or flavor you prefer. Please share your experiences using the maps so that other readers can be inspired as well.

7 Genre, a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content as found in Merriam-Webster. The word itself comes from Middle French meaning sort and kind, first being used at around 1770. As a concept of categorizing art, genre has been traced back to Plato and Aristotle, where literature was divided between poetry, drama, and prose. Yet even then, sub-divisions existed such as epic poetry. Aristotles system made a distinction between four main genres, including tragedy, comedy, epic and parody. Tragedies are dramas based on human suffering and usually end in death. Comedies are usually unrealistic and always end happily. Epics are lengthy narratives, involving serious subjects of heroic deeds and significant events of nations and cultures, while parodies imitate the prose of an epic but are satirical and lighthearted. Despite these broad and well defined classes of stage and literary work, it wasnt long for new genres like the dramatic-comedy to come about. What happened then is what still goes on today with genres, where the adaption of current works and ideas are forged to reflect public thought. Genres and their meaning change over time and with them, new genres are born. In todays world of entertainment, genre is contextual to the art its categorizing. Even though paintings, cinema, and video games are all visual media art forms, each has vastly different genres and approaches to them, which inhibits more refined categorization. In fact, it creates sub-divisions within their respective genre mediums. Video games use genre to categorize gameplay via setting and theme, so the narrative of a strategic war game can be vastly different than an action-oriented war game. Table-top RPGs also handle genre differently. While still a game in mechanics and design, table-top RPGs categorize their genre in a similar way to the movie and book industries - predominantly more so to the latter. That is not to say that there are not game mechanics specific to each

genre, such as using technology or casting spells, but genre in table-top RPGs is more focused on the setting, rather than on how the players interact with it. So just what are genres in table-top RPGs? They are the essence of the setting and mood of the game. If a table-top game is a meal, the theme would be the food itself, while genre would be the spices, cooking style, and general flavor. Genres in this case can be seen as the world and the literal events that unfold in it, while the meaning or why those events transpired is more akin to the theme. Genre gives players a base from which their imagination can fill in what is transpires during a game, as well as giving the GM a vessel with which to carry the theme along through his story. Genres come in an array of style, flavor and settings. Many of them can even be mixed or honed down to more specific concepts and sub-genres. Some examples would be; clockwork-punk being a sub-genre of steam-punk and cyber-punk being a sub-genre of science fiction. Mixtures of genre styles can achieve unique environments and unique conditions to aid in expanding and exploring themes. Cyber-punk has been a favorite for tales of corruption and corporate control. This theme could be explored more by enhancing the genre into a space opera, allowing the players to explore and participate in the corruption of empires and nations at a galactic level by these massive corporate entities. Genre should complement theme. They are best used to enhance the experience and immersion of the table-top game. Ways in which to use genre to enhance the theme of a game are best decided by the GM. The GM constructing the story should consider what setting will best suit their story, along with what would be enjoyable for the players. Exploring new theme ideas and applying them in different genres by combining new and different genres and settings to spark innovation are what create settings that people remember. What it takes to create a new genre and use it in immersive RPGs is as follows; be

inspired. Watch films, TV shows, videos, anime, documentaries and home movies. Read comic books, classical literature, novels, biographies, journals, newspapers, magazines, holy books, text books, web articles and Internet forums. Listen to music, audio books, sound effects, nature, people and lectures. Be accessible to all things and immerse yourself into them so that you can find that which defines them. This will help you to ultimately create a world in which these things reside. Think with all five senses (and then some) and consider the history of the place and the time the game is set in. Combine newer ideas with older places or cast ancient tales in a new light. Draw inspiration from all things, especially the unexpected, for one never knows where an idea will come from. Use preconceived notions and expectations of a genre to enhance the story and setting. Commonly assumed notions will help ease the game along. Challenge those commonly assumed notions in a genre and watch as the seemingly routine becomes unique and unexpected. Much of what has been written here is aimed at GMs. It is the GMs responsibility to craft the story, along with its theme and genre. For this reason, GMs can benefit from presenting their list of source materials as a way of helping players visualize and get into the mindset of the game before character creation. The GM, of course, should be wary not to give away too much of his story either. Information is power and GMs start with a monopoly on the situation. Genres can be both a limiting and liberating, depending on how they are implemented and to what end they are used. Viewing a genre through a narrow window can limit the opportunities that the genre offers. Finally, and most importantly, never inhibit the players but instead encourage their wonder and exploration of your setting. It is ultimately a brave new world, filled with strange and wonderful people, places and things to discover.

Genre by Forrest Bugay

8 Of all the traits that could be attributed to the realm of Limbo, chief among them is constant change. Many settings reference Limbo in a round-about way and label it as the plane, or realm, of chaos, and this would not be misleading. Chaos is, by far, the most common descriptor for Limbo and sets the tone for this place very accurately. Limbo is a plane of constant change, or more to the point, constant motion and change. Though most settings would center this on the landscape only, it is so much more. Limbo is a place that is both familiar at times, then at others entirely alien. These are concepts reinforced throughout the narrative. It is also a perfect opportunity for both the players and the narrator to work hand-in-hand during the most neutral parts of the story arc. A player, given the opportunity to describe a landscape

or travel transition, is a fantastic way for immersion in this part of the story. What follows is a look at the manifestation of the environment, including its affects on travelers and possible inhabitants. We will also touch on using Limbo as an element in a story arc and whether or not you may choose to use it. In Limbo, very few physical locations remain stable for any length of time. Its a place where the ground can heave and roll up-and-over itself like a sea. The very place can seem alive. What one considers normal is not typical of Limbo. While the ground itself may act more like a fluid, one may find themselves traversing a living amoebic sea or attempting to breathe a noxious atmosphere. This makes any normal mode of travel impossible if not deadly. The ability to relate the spatial positions of a given location would be

difficult at best, even if they were stable sites. Presumably no map exists of this crawling plane. Understand though, that Limbo continues in all directions in three dimensions. One might find a stream of lava that flows in reverse up into nothing. Alternatively, you may attempt to cross a boiling river of steel floating in nothingness, which feels freezing cold to the touch. While the concept of movement is considered to happen as it does on a Prime plane, how it is done is another matter. Whether flying, walking or sailing may appear to be the same, the normal methods by which they are done are more than likely not going to be. The material elements that make up Limbo are present in all planes of existence. As a place of transition from one to another, it would touch or overlap with all other planes. This causes

Limbo by Brian Gregory

9the tumultuous nature of the material of Limbo. Earth falling from the sky like rain, drinking fire like water, or breathing sulfurous gas like air are a few examples from the elemental planes. Some degree of calm or turmoil should be present near the locations where limbo overlaps with other planes. It is here in Limbo, at least, that the influence of the overlapping plane shows some degree of presence. For better or worse, the collective philosophical influence of that plane exerts itself to some degree at the overlap points. While an entrance into Limbo might have the traits of that plane one enters from, they are by no means entirely apparent. The entrance which exists in Limbo itself is random in manifestation and is a place where violent disassociation and disorientation take place. This is the gateway and immediate introduction to Limbo; as such the changes begin immediately. These points of entry, unlike those on other planes, will more than likely not look the same when one returns to them, if they can even be found again. Time is another matter to address. The speed of time is relative and set by the narrator or games master. Many systems will have particular settings for the pace at which time moves. Fast, normal and slow are the three basic modes. However, as the narrator, you are not held to one mode more constantly than another. In one instance the passage of time may speed up, only to return to normal seconds later. Mechanically, most systems have listed affects for such conditions. In addition to this, cinematically, as part of a narrative, the sequence of actions in time could be perceived to happen in reverse. For example; in a narrative arc which has no direct effect on the main arc, players are encouraged to describe a sequence of story-building events in reverse. This can pose an interesting challenge for storytellers who will need to build short narratives from end to beginning. However, this should not cause the actual travel along a particular timeline, unless that is the intended part of a story arc. So far we have focused on the external elements of this strange environment, so now lets address the affects this place could have on consciously aware beings. To enter this place one should not only accept the physical dangers that exist but also what affects it will have on ones psyche. A strong will and a logical mind could easily be broken. The myriad, unpredictable affects

of the environment can bring on mind-shattering conditions like disorientation, confusion and hallucinations. This is a place where characters are challenged both physically and mentally. Characters possessing strong mental faculties and a clear sense of self will have a far better chance at survival. Out of the chaos of Limbo, order can arise. In systems that lack structured levels, this affect could be represented in a more free-form way. Those that incorporate a form of experience structure would lend themselves to using this as a form of identity. You see, that is where the characters mental battle lies. With the ever-changing maelstrm of Limbo bombarding a characters sense of the real it would become very easy to lose a sense of self. To have ones physical and mental sense of the order of things lost is what is at stake. A weak mind, broken down in Limbo, will add its experience and order to the chaos. It is now lost and quite possibly can not be recovered. As with all places, even here in Limbo we find inhabitants. Our classic gaming systems include long lists of creatures to use in a given story. However, that should not stop the narrator from creating interesting manifestations of living inhabitants. These can occur in myriad natural and recognizable forms to juxtaposition themselves as well. Crystallized plant life, the amebic sea mentioned earlier or the sentience of nothing are some examples but those sentient beings that call Limbo home are a completely different being. To live here and call this place home, these beings must have what the characters must develop to merely survive. By exerting their will over the malleability of Limbo, they develop both mentally and physically stronger than those from a prime plane. So much so that they often exert their collective will in stability to their surroundings. Here the chaos becomes still, organized and above all, stable. The nature, disposition and intent of any inhabitant of Limbo should represent the plane in which they live. Emphasizing that the more intelligent and strong-willed the inhabitant is the more control they are able to exert. They should not always be anthropomorphized into an inhabitant of a Prime plane of existence. This is a truly alien place and the beings that exist here are examples of that. Should you use Limbo in your game? Limbo can be used as a method of

traversing from one place of existence to another. This is the typical method through which characters encounter Limbo. A group may simply need to pass quickly, with only a slight glimpse of its dangers. As discussed, this is a very hostile place both physically and mentally. Ask yourself; are the characters capable of traversing Limbo? This will be a challenge if they are here for more than a few moments. Be aware that this is a place where a TPK (Total Party Kill) could easily happen. Any character remaining here long enough should have already been tested by other experiences. In a classic sense of storytelling, the characters are truly leaving the normal world to enter a special world. As mentioned earlier, a possible plot point could include retrieving someone who is lost in Limbo. In keeping with the hero/heroines journey, keep in mind that entering this special world and returning grants equivalent rewards. One such reward could include a mental or physical transformation of the hero/heroine into a stronger individual. In advanced levels of play, Limbo could represent any number of deep excursion stories or dramatic finales. The denizens of Limbo often possess items, elements and artifacts that can be found nowhere else. Such items or talismans can become the lynch pin that turns the tide when no other object can. So choose carefully when considering Limbo as a location within your story. Other planes have knowable myths and legends, while Limbo is a realm where anything, everything and nothing are in transition to somewhere, everywhere or nowhere.

Brian has been a gamer since the early eighties and like most started with D&D. From there it was into other TSR house games like Gamma World, Start Frontiers and Boot Hill. Then moving on to other systems like Rifts, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Toon, Paranoia and a host of others. However, at the top of his list of games for player immersion is the game and setting of Torg. Though he does run eighty percent of his games from a Theater of the Mind method he does at times incorporate miniatures and other props into his games when applicable.

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In the darkness under the bed you find many discarded things. The odd sock, underwear, forgotten toys. Dust and cob-webs. Small, scurrying insects that feed on crumbs that find their way down the crack between the mattress and wall. And me. I cling to the underside of the box spring, waiting. I hang like this for a very long time until the child whose bed I am under has grown up enough to hear me whisper. It is dreadfully dull, but I am a very patient creature. When the house is empty, I like to crawl out from under the bed and torment the family pets. Does your cat hiss at empty rooms? Does your dog bark at a door left slightly ajar? Im probably standing in the shadows making faces at them. If there are no pets, I find a dark place and loiter there on the off chance some-one walks by. The basement is the best for this. Theres something about basements that everyone fears, whether theyre con-scious of it or not.

All I need to do is stare at you from the shadows. You can feel my eyes. I know you can. The hairs on your neck stand up and I drink the familiar tingle of unease that makes you turn your head and look around. No matter which way you turn, it does no good - I am always right behind you. Grown-ups cant truly see creatures like me. That feeling you get when I stare at you from the shadows is just an echo. A leftover from when you were a child and something under your bed whispered nightmares in your ear while you slept. How I miss that.

It has been a long time since anyone lived here. The house sat empty for the longest time after the Fowler family finally moved out, and who could blame them? The pressure from their neighbors finally got to them about what the boy did. I lived under Kyle Fowlers bed for 10 years.. Id whisper to Kyle as he fell asleep each night. I would tell him things no child

should hear. Things no child should try to remember. It is best to do this just as they are falling asleep, while their minds are still in the limbo between the waking and dreaming worlds. Kyle was different though. Special. Even at four years old, Kyles night-mares were unusually intense. They were full of disturbing thoughts and images I must admit had nothing to do with me.The gloomy, shadow filled alleyways of Kyles mind provided me with a potent stream of terror filled nights to feed upon - for a time, anyway. Although Kyles night terrors gave me the most satisfying and pleasurable meals Ive ever experienced, the specter of his waning youth hung over us both. It was an ever-present reminder to me that with each pass-ing day, Kyle was growing older. One day he wouldnt be able to hear my whispers at all. I knew enough to savor the good times while I could. One afternoon the Ice Cream Man visit-ed Robin Road, and Kyles mother took his

Under the Bedby Michael Natale

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younger sister Grace out to get a Popsicle. While they were outside, Kyle stran-gled her kitten Muffins in his room and stuffed the broken and lifeless body into a shoebox. He shoved the box into a garbage bag and stuffed the entire thing under the bed. That night, Kyle fell asleep almost instantly. I tried to mimic the sound of the strangled cat meowing and scratching from within the shoebox, but he slept too soundly to hear. I went hungry that night. The next morning Kyle woke up early, and stuck a hand under the bed, groping unsuccessfully for the box. He dropped to all fours and a blonde head peered under the bed. His hand shot out and grabbed the bag containing Muffins remains. He hesitated a moment. Kyle was looking right at me. I knew he couldnt really see me, not strictly speaking. But I knew then that he sensed me. A smirk twisted one cor-ner of his thin lips as he quickly took out the box. He tore the lid off and then fell utterly still. He spent a long time just looking at the contents of that box. He wasnt excited - Id have felt that. He wasnt afraid either, as my growling stomach reminded me. Kyle stood and put on his slippers and robe. He put the lid back on the shoebox and stuffed it back into the trash bag and left the room with it. The next day, I overheard Kyles par-ents arguing about which of them had left the door open. Each accused the other while Grace wailed in sorrow at the loss of Muffins. Kyle simply went about his routine as if nothing happened. He played his video games, arranged battles on his bedroom floor between superhero action figures, and watched lots of TV. That was the beginning of the end. It was a hot July afternoon when they found them in the basement. Kyle was just standing as if in shock, a bloody claw hammer in his hand. Graces tiny, mu-tilated body was stuffed into the small place behind the boiler. The Fowlers brought Kyle to therapy sessions and told desperate lies to one another that it had all been some sort of accident. I did warn you that grown ups are unable to see monsters. This is even truer for parents and their children. But I recognized one of my own kind. Kyle was already too much a monster

for me to teach him anything. When he was fifteen, he killed a neighborhood girl half his age. His own mother caught him in the act in the garage. Kyle went to prison, and his parents moved out the following month. Right before they packed up Kyles room, I crept out from under the bed and returned to the basement. The spot where little Grace had been murdered still thrummed with a tasty residue of energy al-ways found at the scene of a violent death. I circled around the spot, trying to feel where the imprint of Graces terror reso-nated most. I curled up there, settling in for the long wait.

Nine years pass while I hide in the basement of an empty house. Now I am happily under a bed again, and The Child is called Josh Brennan. Josh is seven, loves monster movies and comic books, and is deathly afraid of spiders. Each night when he goes to sleep, I whisper to him. I suggest that tiny spiders are crawling over his eyelids, making their way into his scalp where they will lay eggs just under his skin. Sometimes Ill pull my-self out from under the bed, and breathe across his skin ever so softly. To his sleeping mind it feels like the tiny feet of hundreds of little spiders. This always draws him out of a deep sleep just enough for me to whisper some more to him. It doesnt take long before he is fully awake, crying for his parents. His panic is delicious; so palpable that his first few calls for help are small and strangled. His parents cannot hear these quiet, desperate cries and he knows it. Once his terror mounts hell scream for them, and they will finally come run-ning. By then I am satiated like a bloated little tick clinging beneath his bed. A year goes by, and Joshs new fear is the monsters he sees on the Creature Double Feature on every Saturday. Drac-ula. Wolfman. Frankenstein. These are pale shadows of whats really out there, but I work with what I have. There is no nightlight in Joshs bed-room - his father wont allow it. Josh draws the curtains open a bit each night after his parents tuck him in. This lets in a broad swath of moonlight that bathes the room in silvery shadows. I can feel his fear begin to waken as he stares into his open closet, unable to close his eyes and try to fall sleep.

The way one of his coats is hanging, it looks like Bela Lugosi wrapped in his Dracula cape. Josh wants to get up, dash over and slam the closet door shut, but hes too frightened. I shape the shadow a little bit to help the illusion, but I cant take credit for all of it. Too many monster movies, I chuckle to myself. Its almost too easy. His heart is pounding and with each beat, I feel new energy pulse through me. Blinding, irrational fear - all for me. I drink it in. Suddenly a light clicks on, and the flow is cutoff abruptly. Im disappoint-ed. Josh has gotten out of bed enough to reach the lamp on the dresser a few feet away. Hes never done that before. Now he can see the coat for what it is, and he gets up and shuts the closet door. With another sad click, the light goes out, and Josh is sleeping a few minutes later. I sigh. They grow up so fast. And Im still hungry.

Josh is twelve now, and his fears have left the realm of supernatural and are firmly grounded in more familiar terrors of everyday life as a boy about to enter his teenage years. Does Becky Harrington know that he thinks about her at night sometimes be-fore he goes to sleep? When he strips down to shower in the gym, is everyone really staring at his underdeveloped body and laughing behind his back? Derek Richards has beaten him up twice in front of half his class just this past month, and hes terrified that the next time, hell say or do anything to avoid the beating. I start my whispers as he drifts off to sleep. At his age nightmares dont come easily, but seeds I plant at night blos-som during the light of day and mani-fest themselves as anxiety, shyness and stress. If I am diligent and deliberate in my efforts, eventually Josh will start whispering to himself. Those nightmares will be more elabo-rate than anything I can construct for him. The tactic of focusing on the beat-ings would be quick and sure to pro-duce enough anxiety to feed me. The easy fear always tastes bland though, and over the centuries Ive developed a more refined palette. The threat of embarrassment for a boy Joshs age is my next best choice. Not quite as tasty as outright terror, but his own mind will

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supply a steady litany of insecurities and lack of self-confidence. Mix them all together and you get a nice angst casserole. Yum and certainly nothing I could create on my own. I fill his sleeping head with images of the other boys in his gym class steal-ing his clothes while hes in the shower. He cant find a towel and must leave the locker room, naked and dripping. He bursts through the door into the hallway outside and there stands his entire sev-enth grade class. At the front of the pack, Becky stands arm in arm with Derek Richards. She points at his naked body and starts to laugh. Months pass with this particular night-mare, and then something odd starts to happen. Josh has a growth spurt. His shoulders widen, and he starts to fill out. By the summer of his thirteenth year, theres a healthy layer of muscle over his frame which is at least two inches taller. By his sophomore year in High School, he is the star running back on the Lynchburg Lions football team. As you may have guessed, this is bad for me. It makes my job all the harder. Even when I do manage to get to slip some insecurity past his self-image, its short lived. The summer before his junior year in High School, the real Becky is in his bed-room. She is his girlfriend now. His par-ents havent come home from work yet and Josh is an only child. They have the house to themselves. I feel the bed sag under the weight of two bodies, and the pleasurable feel-ings and sounds coming from above are making me ill. And so it ends, again. While Josh and Becky fumble and paw at each other, I slither out from under the bed and seek out my familiar place in the basement to wait.

This time, the wait is much longer. Joshs parents live in the house for ten years after hes gone to college. Finally, a new family moves in, and I take up my post beneath the curvy pink Barbie Dream Bed theyve placed in the bedroom. Heather is seven, and she has two older brothers and a dog named Bingo. Theyve been here for a month, and Heather has brought with her a delight-fully long list of things that scare her. Some are typical for a girl her age -

fear of the dark, monsters, and noises in the night. The rest of her fears have to do with a recently departed father who be-came inappropriately friendly with little Heather for the better part of a year. Lately, Heather has taken to creep-ing into one of her older brothers rooms to curl up in what she believes is a safe place. This behavior is extremely incon-venient for me, and I go hungry more often than not. When Heather sleeps in someone elses bed, she feels protected and rarely has nightmares. I should point out here that I leave the unpleasant business with the father out of her nightmares. I may be a monster of sorts, but that type of fear is tainted, filled with true evil rather than the imaginary sort that I prefer. Too much of that is un-healthy even for a creature like me. Tonight, I decide to torment Heath-er by briefly scratching my talons on the hardwood floors in quick, repeated bursts. Just loud enough that she knows she hears something, but fast enough to make her question whether the sounds are real or imaginary. I love that. Uncertainty is almost as good as out-right panic. I take my fill, and eventually Heather falls asleep. Tonight I rest well, satisfied with the meal. The next morning, everyone is out of the house. I wait under the bed for Heather to return. Bingo is an especially stupid Pug, and despite my attempts to torment him, he just sits there and drools at me, wagging that thing he calls a tail. Bingo begins to bark and I hear the jingle of keys and running feet. Every-one is home early today. The sounds of crying echo throughout the house. A wave of fear slams into me, so po-tent that I almost lose my grip on the box spring. The first rush passes and I realize what I am feeling is not just coming from Heather. The excess spills over and fills me with energy. Too much - Im not used to being force fed like this. Heather runs into the room and scrambles under the covers. Shes crying. The proximity of The Child in a waking panic nearly overwhelms me - but its so delicious I sink my talons into the box spring and hang on for the ride. Heather is sobbing, and a hot rush of pleasure courses through me. I feel a sort of euphoria that Ive never experienced before. Im drunk on sweet, chaotic pan-

ic that is very nearly drowning me but I cant stop taking it in. Heathers mother walks into her room and sits on the bed. The flow slows down. The presence of her mother comforts Heather and she is less afraid. Whats this? The mothers fear is delectable; a refined, mature worry that Ive never tasted before. The strength and warmth of it make me tingle from tip to tail. I dont even have to work for it. Its just there, permeating the room like the oxygen they need to survive. Fear for her children. Thats the strongest thing I can taste. Something has threatened all of them. Her brothers come home and find Heather and her mother curled up on the bed. They rush over and hug each other, and one of the boys tells her that they let them out of school early. Theyre afraid too, but hide it better then their mother. I am giddy with delight. I can barely think, raw panic is pouring into me faster than I can absorb it. Theyre talking in hushed whispers about what happened. As they talk about it Im overwhelmed again. Theyre sharing the anguish and outrage and its flooding right into me. All over a couple airplanes and some-thing called The Twin Towers. The pressure in my head slows down for a while from a comforting rush to a dull throb. Uncertainty and panic are leaking into my psyche from outside the house. The entire neighborhood is afraid. The town. The country. The sensation begins to slowly turn from pleasure to pain as it threatens to drown me. I am satiated, but I cannot cut myself off from the panic. Theres too much of it to stop. With an effort I forcibly sever the connection before it destroys me. Darkness knows I never thought Id willingly do that. Id heard stories of what happens when things got badI guess I just didnt think it would happen to me. When the mother finally shuts the televi-sion off and heads off to bed I creep out from under Heathers bed to watch her. She is in the throes of a nightmare, of course, but it is not of my doing. And Im too full to partake in the dark beauty; the fear that must be spilling out of her. I slither as best I can, feeling bloated and slow, down the stairs into the basement. This too will pass, and when it does, I will be here. Waiting.

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Twice a year I stir, probing to see if it is safe to come out again. I open myself up to the flow, and test its strength. Each time I can feel the weave of it weakening somehow, especially from Heather. Mortals say time heals all wounds. I dare not venture out until theyve com-pletely scabbed over. Only then can I pick at them and make them bleed again. This doesnt happen for another four years. I sense things are back to normal and muster the courage to slither back upstairs into Heathers room. I find it much as when I last left it. The bed is a bit different. Its bigger and the 101 Dalmatian sheets have been exchanged for Taylor Swift ones. I crawl under the bed and cling to the box spring, testing the hand and footholds. Heather - now eleven - tosses her book bag onto the bed after school and sits on the edge of the mattress. Shes different somehow. A cell phone ap-pears in her hands, and a minute later shes talking away to one of her friends. There is a boy she likes. His name is Marcus and Heather wants her friend to ask him if he likes her. Boys? Already? I consider using that later when she goes to sleep. Tentatively, I open my-self up her, gently reaching out to her mind. I frown. I feel nothing. No anx-iety, no fear. Im disappointed, but it is the middle of the day. When it gets dark well play. Finally she crawls into bed for the night. I try whispering to her, but she is

asleep almost at once. In spite of my ef-forts she stays that way until morning. The same thing happens the next night. I think sadly of Josh and his pass-ing from adolescence into manhood. Things should have been different with Heather. We should have had at least another four or five years of time to-gether before she grew deaf to my whisperings. Her soul had grown older and harder faster than Joshs did. Her innocence had somehow withered and died before its time. I never fed off Heather again.

The cement floor in the basement be-hind the boiler has a reddish-brown stain that never quite came out. Many who look at the house assume its an oil spill. That was the spot where Kyle Fowler cracked little Graces head just to see what was inside. Nostalgia warms my empty belly as I curl up on the spot. Two more families came and went af-ter Heathers, and I could only feed off the children until they were six or seven. The house sits empty now, and has been that way for a very long time. The hope that someday children will remember how to be afraid of a simple nightmare like me strikes me as fantasy. The waking world has become more com-plex and terrifying than anything I could ever conjure up in the dead of the night. It doesnt seem that long ago that the chil-dren were sheltered from the real terrors until they reached their early teens. Now their parents teach them by ex-

Authors Note: This story originally appeared on Variant Frequencies, a specula-tive fiction podcast. This went on to win the 2009 Parsec Award for Best Short Story. The episode was narrated for the podcast by the NY Times Bestselling author, Michael A. Stackpole. Though Variant Fre-quencies is no more, the feed is still out there, and I highly recommend perusing their archives for top qual-ity audio presentations of great spec-ulative fiction. Throw my last name in the search box, and youll get links to the audio version of Under the Bed, as well as the two other sto-ries of mine that VF worked magic on to turn them into something more than the written word.

ample to live with it. Adjust. Make it part of their daily lives or worse for-get about it completely. So I wait in the basement for the grind-stone of change to do its work and bring a child to me that is truly innocent again. It may take a very long time for things to come around if they ever do. Until then, Ill wait patiently here in the basement, dreaming up nightmares for lit-tle children to fear. And Ill hope that they somehow remember how to be afraid.

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Adventurers often travel into the deepest, darkest reaches of the world. When dungeon-delving, minutes become hours and hours become days. They delve deep until the villain is slain, the treasure is found, or they get lost. Wait, what? What happens if they get lost? Character development is what happens. Many game masters have watched over the years as miniatures and maps keep players on track. But what happens when we fully engage the creative and imaginative space within the theater of the mind play-style? Should players have to keep a map in their heads? Quite often,

players will map out the setting with pen and paper to keep track of their location but this is not always the case. Some game masters begin to worry about how to handle lost characters. Should they let them become lost in the first place? The answer is simple. Yes. Human beings really only grow when exposed to new experiences. The same goes for characters. Human beings grow the most when pushed to their limits. The same goes for characters. Becoming lost will force the characters to deal with a new situation that can be scary and mentally trying. There are a few key ways to nurture character development in this situation. Game masters should let their players and their characters believe that they are truly lost and may never find their way again. By showing the frightening nature of being lost, a game master can force characters to truly accept their situation. Becoming lost is a scary thing, especially in a dark dungeon complex, miles underneath the surface. Game masters can use careful description and tension-building to enhance both fear and believability. Game masters should create personal struggles. By using information from each characters background, the game master can create a personal lost experience for each of them. Becoming lost in a dungeon can create a false sense of reality, which will grow exponentially the longer one remains lost. A character that grew up in an orphanage might hear the voices of

old childhood friends echoing through the darkness. The blacksmith might hear the familiar ringing of steel. Characters might even begin to see things that are not there. These personal struggles will help characters develop individually by forcing them to deal with their own psychological struggles. Game masters should encourage teamwork. Asking, What would the group like to do? is a simple way to trigger teamwork instead of individual responses. The characters will begin to realize that they are lost but not alone. The development of relationships between characters will never be stronger than when they help each other in their darkest times. The game master may also want to give the characters some help finding their way again. Significant and memorable clues on the way into the dungeon can be repeated on the way out, triggering the I remember that! moment. These small hints will help point the characters in the right direction, while making them feel as if they dug themselves up from the very bowels of the world on their own. The characters will emerge into the daylight as heroes that are more well-developed and fun to play. After all, the best part of becoming lost, is truly finding oneself.

Kirk Wiebe is a video blogger and RPG enthu-siast who hosts a YouTube channel that explores theoretical and experimental role playing.

http://www.YouTube.com/user/PhDnDhttp://www.Facebook.com/PhDnD

Being lost means not knowing where you are, but staying lost means not knowing where to go.

Find yourself. Unknown

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The Nightmare Golem is the result of a horrible accident during the construction of a flesh golem. This generally occurs when the wizard creating the construct inadvertently uses materials that have been contaminated with undead flesh. This causes the intended flesh golem to collapse into a terrifying abomination, often pulling in bits of its surround-ings including debris, tools or even small furniture. No two Nightmare Golems look alike, but they share certain traits in common. The first thing is that they cannot be controlled. This means that there are few wizards who have created a Nightmare Golem and lived to tell the tale. The second thing is that they have traits of both constructs and undead, making them very difficult to destroy. They resist fire, electricity and cold. They can lose up to half of their body mass and still continue to func-tion, often sprouting new limbs to move and attack. Perhaps its most disturbing ability is to rejuvenate itself by absorbing the flesh of the recently deceased. So once it slays a victim, that creatures body often becomes part of the construct, which repairs damage and can make them bigger. Fortunately, most wizards are extremely careful when constructing a flesh golem, and so these horrifying things are quite rare. There have been a few cases where a Nightmare Golem has reached colossal size before being destroyed, but most are roughly man-sized. One is most likely to encounter a Nightmare Golem in the ruins of a wizards keep, which may have in fact been ruined by the golem itself. More often it will be found trapped in some heavy iron coffin or a deep dungeon cell where the former wizard imprisoned it. When the Nightmare Golem is alone, it falls into a dormant state. When dormant, it collapses into an incomprehensible pile of disgusting flesh and bits, but as soon as

a creature of small size or larger comes sight of it, the golem immediately animates and attacks. It is nearly impossible for the Nightmare Golem to take an opponent by surprise because, due to its chaotic shape, it moves in a very uneven and clumsy way, making a great deal of noise. It also emits one of the most unpleasant odors imaginable.

Creature FeatureWhat the hell is that?! Well, we dont know either. Thats for you to decide. Wed like our readers to submit a detailed description of the strange creature on the left. Tell us about where it lives, what it eats, its personal habits, or anything else that you think is important. Your description is not limited to any particular genre, so it could be a fantasy monster, mutant, alien, or some sort of extra dimensional horror. Its all up to you. The best submission will appear in the next issue of the magazine along with writing credit. Be creative and have fun! Below is an example of the sort of writing we have in mind, but if you have a more creative idea, then go for it.

Please send your description to:Submissions@TheaterOfTheMindMagazine.com

Nightmare Golemby Veet Vujade

Alex Guillotte

Tim Harper

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At its core, roleplaying can be seen as a form of story telling, just like novels, movies and modern video games. This series of articles discusses the meeting point between literature, roleplaying game rules and immersive gameplay. More often than not, if you get lost, you were traveling from one point to another with the intention of completing your voyage in a certain time frame and then doing something at your destination. You got lost on what is known as a narrative device, a so-called quest. (For example: Frodo is traveling from Hobbiton to Mount Doom to destroy The One Ring before Sauron becomes too powerful.) If you are roaming the countryside, just randomly seeing where the wind takes you, looking for adventure and fighting evil like the archetypical knight-errant it is basically impossible for you to get lost. (An example here would be Don Quixotes knightly sallies.) Fantasy roleplaying campaigns are often based in either one of these literary traditions, usually mixing them and applying them both to different scopes. These narrative traditions, as well as a few other scenarios where the characters might get lost, will be discussed in this article. As it happens in most stories, travel if it is not an integral part is simply skipped

over by means of the narrative technique of compressed time until something interesting happens. Consequently, most roleplaying games focus very little on actual travel, both in the rules and in establishing the background. In classic fantasy RPG rule systems, travel rules are often nothing more than a nature/navigation check to see, if the party gets lost, and a random encounter table to spice things up a little, i.e. let something interesting happen. Dire consequences are seldom of any concern, because most adventuring parties have at least one semi-competent hunter/forager in their midst to keep supplies up and lead the way. If we look at this structure, we see that it supports the knight-errant tradition of storytelling. Detailed descriptions of travel scenes do not happen often here and both players as well as readers are encouraged to not focus too much on the nitty gritty details. If the campaign focuses on the quest storytelling device, getting lost can produce serious narrative consequences, since it may be a major obstacle that needs to be overcome to complete the quest. If we take a look at The One Ring: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild, the importance of travel is highlighted by the fact that

its first heroic undertaking is the journey. From a rules perspective, the whole party is involved in the journey, with each member playing a specific role. Getting lost is only one possible hazard amongst many, but it has some serious consequences that can heavily impact the course of the adventure. To help the players immerse themselves in the game, it is part of the rules to huddle around a very basic map on the table just like their characters would and plan their travel route. They are actively encouraged to write on their blank map and fill in the blind spots so that they might get mechanical bonuses on their travel checks for future journeys on paths already taken. In fantasy campaigns there is another location where heroes might get lost quite easily and that is the dungeon, especially if it has a labyrinth or maze-like design. A classic example of a hero who was faced with such a challenge would of course be Theseus, a hero of Greek mythology, who, with the help of Ariadne, successfully navigated the Labyrinth on Crete slaying the Minotaur in the process. To replicate such an experience on the gaming table, a dungeon master would have to do two things. First, let the players draw their own map while exploring the dungeon. If the characters didnt bring something they

Taking the Rules LiterallyT r a v e l a n d G e t t i n g L o s t

b y F e r d i n a n d B o l e s l a w s k i

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could draw their map on though, they are out of luck. (You should at least give them a strong hint, though, before springing that on them.) Dont let them use graph paper unless a skill in cartography justifies it. Blank paper and a pencil should get them engaged, as the heroes as well as the players try to map the dungeon they are in. Secondly, you have to get creative to challenge them, since most players will come up with at least either the Hansel and Gretel method or the Theseus method for them to backtrack successfully. Rotating rooms, Goblins eating the breadcrumbs, three dimensional movement through partially flooded parts of the dungeon are all options that help create a feeling that getting lost is both a real possibility and dangerous as well. If the players are thoroughly lost and have no idea how to get out of their predicament, let them pull a Gandalf once in a while. If the air is fresher from one tunnel, a character with good senses might notice that. If we look at games that actively draw their inspiration from older sources, like Exalted for example, which draws from the Iliad and the Odyssey as well as Manga and Anime, we see that travel on this kind of scale is supposed to be truly monumental, reflecting the source material. Ulysses was lost for ten years before he found his way back home and his being lost lead to countless adventures. (Although he spent most of the time on Calypsos island.) Travel on this scale must be truly epic and characters might not know they are actually lost for many years. As such, it is very difficult to roleplay these concepts on such a scale, but this opportunity could present some interesting challenges for both the players and the game master. If we stick with Ulysses, we also realize that travel by sea is a dangerous undertaking, especially in cultures that havent invented the compass yet. And even with a compass and other navigational tools, as soon as the ship travels out of sight of distinct landmarks, getting lost at sea through either incompetence in the navigation department or through a storm, fog or other natural occurrence is a terrifying prospect. Valhalla Rising gives us a glimpse of what might happen when an adventuring party gets lost at sea. The feeling of helplessness is amplified, because there is absolutely nothing that can be done besides trying to set a new course. Similar experiences might be had in deserts, arctic wastelands and other environments that make

navigation via landmarks complicated, but the sheer feeling of powerlessness is somewhat lessened by the fact that at least one is constantly doing something, namely walking. On a ship there is really nothing to stop hopelessness, boredom and eventually despair from spreading. The same is true, if we look at the other side of the spectrum, namely SciFi roleplaying and being lost in space. For a party or a character to be lost in space, a lot must go wrong: Instruments must fail on a catastrophic level, navigation points must be miscalculated and no civilized worlds must be nearby. But if the vast nothingness of space is accounted for, this is quite possible and should be a terrifying experience. A good example for such an occurrence can be found in Timothy Zahns Star Wars novel Heirs to the Empire. If we look for a particular system where something like this can happen on an especially horrifying level, Warhammer 40000: Rogue Trader is probably the system of choice, with interstellar travel being a trip through a hellish parallel dimension and miscalculations are a very threatening possibility. It seems very hard to bring this sense of awe-inspiring dimensions, grave danger and oppressive boredom across in a roleplaying game, though, since it is difficult to make it engaging concerning both the rules and the storytelling aspect. If we stay in the SciFi setting, being lost on a planetary level appears to be almost impossible, if some basic precautions are taken. However, magnetic interference or simply technobablish reasons can mess with the best of sensors and a landing party that has to rely on its wits and not on its gadgets is a classic trope in this case. The same trope can be used in many a modern setting, since contemporary technology is pretty good at preventing its users from getting lost. Nevertheless, GPS signals can be distorted, batteries can be drained, places like the Amazon and the Sahara might be mapped, but dunes and jungles are bound to change over time. Therefore, a Spycraft team that is inserted into the Columbian jungle to extract a drug lord may encounter problems they were not expecting. Even a sort of modern dungeon is possible, with a combination of sewers, subway tunnels, parking garages and cellars. Cellphones dont work that well underground and it is not unheard of that people got lost on sewer tours, at least in urban legends. For inspiration, take a look at the Hungarian film Kontroll, which

takes place almost entirely in Budapests subway system. After a fast paced chase sequence, in which characters dont have the time to note down every detail on their way, getting out of the underground can become an adventure in itself. What goes for fantasy dungeons also goes for modern dungeons, with the added complication that the characters start out in the dungeon. A New World of Darkness campaign with human characters provides both the perfect setting and a pretty good system for this kind of challenge. The dice pool system allows for finer adjustments of the tested skills. Getting across a waist-high stream of dirt and grime might call for a resolve and athletics check after all. This sort of modern dungeon is also the perfect setup opportunity for a group to have their first proper brush with the World of Darkness since the underground can be a hiding ground for changelings look no further than Hellboy 2 for a great inspirational scene vampires of the Nosferatu variety or unspeakable things even worse than that. H. P. Lovecraft provides us with two inspirational stories, The Lurking Fear and Rats in the Walls. These of course also work great in the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. A good non-fictional source for modern underground mazes would be the documentary series Cities of the Underworld. There is another way a party can get lost in modern times worth exploring, and that is being lost due to cultural confusion. For example, for someone who does not speak Japanese, being stranded in Tokyo can be both fascinating and terrifying. An obvious inspiration here, of course, is the film Lost in Translation. For a more comedic take, the Rush Hour movies provide some inspirations for cultural confusion that may result in characters getting lost in unknown cities. The language barrier is something that can be nicely played with in contemporary settings, especially in urban environments. Cities can be confusing and when the characters cannot even read simple street signs, getting lost is a real possibility. Most systems have rules for languages, and this is where they can truly shine. Cultural confusion can also play a role in historic settings. H.P. Lovecraft, even though he never left his New England home, wrote some globetrotting adventures, the best-known probably being The Call of Cthulhu and At the Mountains of Madness. The latter especially focuses on the travel element and its arctic environment is just as

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hostile to explorers from the 1920s as it is to a fantasy adventuring party. Snowstorms play a big role in the story and rightfully so. Even the dungeon part is mentioned, as the explorers make their way through the city of the Old Ones. While trying to make sense of their surroundings, the explorers Danforth and the unnamed narrator keep close track of where they are and how they can get back to their plane. There is a published Cthulhu RPG adventure that picks up right where At the Mountains of Madness left of, so if you manage to get your hands on it, there are some great times to be had. In Cthulhu and other RPGs set in either the Victorian age or the 1920s, most types of getting lost can be used for great dramatic effect. Imagine, for example, the Catacombs of Paris, which already existed in the 1890s and can provide a great maze scenario. There actually is an abundance of white spots on the world map, in which the party can get lost, keeping in mind that in those eras there were no smartphones equipped with translation software or map material. Foreign cities present great opportunities for roleplaying the experience of getting lost in cultural confusion. Another way for characters to get lost in any setting, in which air travel is possible, is the plane/spaceship/blimp crash. The objective in this case is to get back to

civilization through a hostile environment that will test them to their limits. From the outside it might look like the characters have simply lost their way on a journey, but from a storytelling perspective this has more similarities with being dropped into a maze. The party will only have a very rough understanding of where they are and mapping out their surroundings can be the first step for them to get back to civilization. The goal of reaching civilization might be a bit broader than that of getting back on the right path out of a maze, but because the characters and the players are not originally equipped for a wilderness adventure, the ingenuity and improvisation skills of both players and characters is tested. For the flying vehicle crash concept, pulp settings are the ones most fitting: Savage Worlds and Hollow Earth Expedition work great for that sort of being lost. An obvious inspiration for the plane crash scenario is the TV series Lost. Together with Cast Away it gives great inspiration to game masters for stories where the characters get lost in the wilderness. Cast Away really explores the additional psychological impact of being lost. This can be very hard to replicate in a roleplaying game, but if the system you are using has a sanity rating, it would be a good idea to use it in such situations.

The feeling of being lost can also come up in absolutely mundane situations. For example, the first day of school or college can be overwhelming. Although this situation will not come up in many roleplaying games besides Hellcats & Hockeysticks, exploring this sort of situation, where the feeling of being lost arises from inside the characters themselves, can be rewarding. Movies often use camera movement, especially zooming from a close-up shot all the way out to an almost panoramic long shot with a high angle. This technique can probably not be replicated easily into roleplaying games, but games with a cinematic feel to them, like the Buffy and Angel roleplaying games and games that are more free form, for example Fiasco, lend themselves to this sort of descriptive exposition. The feeling of being lost in some form of dungeon or in the wilderness is something that is extremely hard to replicate without risking your life in the process, while the feeling of being lost on your first day of school is something most people remember. If a DM can generate the anxiousness of this situation and manages to convey to the players that this feeling is amplified according to the gravity of the situation, the result will be very intense sessions of roleplaying.

I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. Daniel Boone

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I The streets feel so cold. Winter is settling on the city. People huddle around the dwindling flames of refuse bin fires. Weve been surviving off the city. Salvaging the waste from the factories and hunting the vermin that crawl down here with us. Working the odd jobs gets us the occasional warm place to sleep, good food and drink. Its been awhile since we worked, me, Bozza, Rory, Clogs, Archibald and Creeper. Roasting rats around a fire is a sign of our strength. Catching the things is hard if you are doing it yourself. Most people eat their captives raw. You declare you have food when you cook it. It means you are either an idiot, and will likely get beat for it, or it means that no one dares to mess with you. We are in the latter category. Even the older people down here have learned to leave us alone, either by reputation or personal experience. Creeper emerges from the shadows of the alley nearby. The darkness seems to slide off him as he walks towards us. Yo! Creeps, where you been? hollers Bozza. We got rat. Clogs said theyd get some bread on way over here. Creeper grins. Bozza shudders a little before resuming her composed stance. I cant blame her. Creeps has always had something eerie hanging about him. I got us a job. He smugly voices. At this everyone looks up. Clogs is walking towards us across the road as we start pestering Creeper for the details. Rory occasionally checks to see that hes not burning the rat too much. Hey I got the bread, whats going on?

Clog looks at us. Creeps got us a job Archibald mumbles whilst prodding Creeper for answers. Yo! Carlisle call em off! Creeper half laughs. Well discuss work after food. Come on, well find out what hes got for us later. I glance at Clog. So you got the bread, Clogs. Excellent. Creeper brushes down his dirty beige mac from his minor mistreatment. We eat, randomly conversing about the days events and finds.

II At some point after most of the rat is eaten, the serious discussion starts. So Creeper, what you got for us? I ask him as he grins. Well Carlisle and company, whilst investigating a cockroach nest rumor, I met a fellow crawly prospector who works for a Hoongan south-east of here on Columbus street. The guy is wild mad, but pays well. Five hundred and seventy-two beads. We all just gape at him. The piece of rat tail I was chewing falls from my lips. What the hell does he want for that amount of currency!? I shout in astonishment. Some other street people look up at my exclamation. I ignore them and continue staring at Creeper. We have to retrieve a doll from the orphan house on Sally Street. He pauses. You know, the one with the hook handed mother. His grin borders on manic as he finishes the sentence. WHAT!? We all exclaim in unison. Archibald is quick to speak, I aint ever gonna set foot in another orphanage! I told yall on the day we broke out of south street that I wouldnt go back to one. I dont care if its been abandoned. I dont care if its got some stupid ghost who supposedly kidnaps orphans from the street to raise em, or who traps the souls of dead kids in dolls or whatever she does. I aint going in. IDIOT! Bozza explodes. She looks aft lost kids until their someone comes to get em. Then she vanishes back to her nursery where she looks afta the ghosts of kids who died, coz they werent cared for propa! I still aint going. Archibald retorts. Archie. I cut in. You know the rules. Wanna get a cut, gotta do the job. Yeah, an youd be goin in with us. Adds Rory. Clogs joins in with the attempt to get Archibald round to our side. Look Archibald man, we got out of south street together. What makes you think its going to be any different going in and out of one that

dont have security? He shoves Archibald playfully. Come on. Get with it! Its over a hundred beads each! We could get out of this dump for a month! Archibald Grins at Clogs, pushing back he replies. Yeah, some stupid empty shell aint gonna stop me getting paid. Creeper smiles smugly like its already a job well done.

III After some further debate about treading on the turf of some dead woman, we head off to our hides where we stash personal stuff. I hear someone as I stroll away from the group, Clogs I think, ripping on the fact that Bozza actually believes in the story. I wouldnt have thought her the type myself, but I guess I was wrong. I know Rory believes in all that spook stuff. Creeper, well I dont think anyone knows what he does and doesnt believe in. Personally, I believe in what I can see, and Ive seen some screwed up shit, so who knows? Well find what we find when we get there. Creeper said we had to get to a room on the seventh floor. He said the hooligan called it the doll room. He wanted one of the dolls from that room, and hed know if we lied to him. Since we dont know how messed up the building is, or if there are any junkies or other mobs are hanging around, were each picking up some tools and whatever else seems useful. I sling a wrapped length of rope over my left shoulder, stick a small hammer, a screwdriver set and a couple of bags in my pockets, and a crowbar up the right sleeve of my jacket. That damn crowbar has come in well handy in the past, breaking into homes as much as breaking skulls.

IV We meet at the corner of Sally Street. Im the last to arrive. Guess my hide is further away than everyone elses. Creeper, Archibald and Bozza are shouting at each other. Cant leave em alone for a minute. I wave as I get closer to them, then pause momentarily. A chill spreads from my gut as I hear a soft, aged voice whisper in my ear. If you walk in there, only you or the creepy boy is walking out. The voice sounds angry, yet nurturing. I shrug my shoulders and shake my head. I tell myself that my imagination is getting to me. Just creeped out by the stories I guess. I continue towards the group. Creeper turns to me smiling. Ready to get rich Carlisle. Ready to get rich.

by Jessica Pink

The STreeTS of SouThbridge

22

From the FringeNews & Reviews

My husband is a big zombie fan. Me? Not so much. So when he brought home the Zombie Dice game, I just rolled my eyes. As I believe we must be open to new experiences, I was willing to see how it was played. He showed me a video of peo-ple playing the game on Geek & Sundrys YouTube show TableTop, and it looked to be simple and enjoyable. Zombie Dice is a dice game. There are thirteen six-sided dice containing brains, feet, or gunshots. Six of the dice are green with three brains, two feet, and one gun shot. Four of them are yellow with two brains, two feet, and two gun shots. Three of them are red with one brain, two feet, and three gunshots. All the dice are put into a container and the player needs to choose three dice without looking. Each turn, a player pulls three dice and rolls them. The player received one dice of each color and the first roll gives the player

one yellow brain and one red and one green feet. The player puts the brains aside, takes the two dice with feet and chooses one more dice to make three; it happens to be another yellow. Before the player chooses another dice, he has the option of keeping the brain and ending his turn or continuing. In this case, the player chooses to continue. The player rolled a green brain, red feet, and a yellow gun shot. He moves the green brain with his previous rolled brain giving him a total of two. He moves his gun shot to the side. There is now one red feet left. The player can choose to roll again or end his turn. In this case, our player choose to continue. He chooses without looking two more dice. They happen to be two green dice. Our player rolls them. The result is two green gunshots and one red brain. This gives the player a total of three brains and three guns shots. However, as he rolled a total of three gun shots, his turn is over. He loses the brains he rolled and the dice goes to the next person. If a player chooses to stop before choosing more dice, he would get to keep his brains. The object is to reach thirteen brains. In the YouTube video mentioned ear-lier, there were four individuals playing the game. The first person to play kept rolling brains. He continued to choose new dice which happened to be green. Everyone playing was laughing so hard. Unbeliev-able! I was laughing along with the play-ers in the video. If they could have so much fun with this game, I figured I would give playing this game a shot. Our family loves this game. Our five year old daughter picked up the concept of playing immediately. She knew when to stop pulling dice and won many a game. While our two year old does not understand the concept behind the game, he loves roll-ing brains. He runs around our home say-ing, I have brains! Overall, this game is simple and fun to play. It is a quick game which kills fifteen

Zombie DiceA review by Kerowyn Guillotte

to twenty minutes. This works beautiful-ly for our family as, sometimes, we need to have the kids entertained while we are pulling dinner together. I would highly recommend this game for adults and/or for children.

Zombie Dice is produced by Steve Jackson Games, and can be purchased at most fine gaming stores and web sites. Learn more about Zombie Dice from the Steve Jackson Games web site:www.SJGames.com/dice/ZombieDiceTableTop is produced by Geek & Sundry. Please visit their web site for more info:

www.GeekAndSundry.com

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23

From the FringeNews & Reviews

The Art of Shen KuA review by Alex Guillotte This is perhaps one of the most useful and unusual books that I have ever read, and how I stumbled upon it is an interest-ing story in its own right. Many years ago now, I earned a living distributing a local magazine in Boston and the surrounding area. My job gave me the opportunity to visit various shops and book stores that were off the beaten path, both in location and style. One shop in particular I enjoyed regu-larly and would often have lunch at their excellent caf while flipping through a book randomly plucked from one of their labyrinthine shelves. One day, a very odd book caught my eye. A bright yellow-orange spine with the enigmatic name Zeek at the top. This was presumably the author, because just below it was the title The Art of Shen Ku. Looking at the cover only piqued my curiosity more with its unusual art and the evocative subtitle: The First Intergalactic Artform of the Entire Universe. Other blurbs on the cover only deep-ened my growing obsession. One blurb

claimed that the book was simple enough for a child too complex for a genius. Another claimed that the book was: dev-astatingly personally applicable in perpetuity. Bold claims indeed. Still transfixed by the cover, I went to the reg-ister and purchased the book immediately. I couldnt let this one get away. I sat down and began to flip through the 336 pages. The inside was printed in black and white with many illustrations, all presumably drawn by Zeek himself, with subjects ranging from survival to health to navigation. In the back of the book was an index of over 15,000 entries that made find-ing a particular subject quite easy consider-ing the size and complexity of the tome. I would be hard-pressed to define the genre of this book, except to say that as I read on, the subtitle seemed more and more accurate. As I moved through the pages, I found more and more unusual, yet undoubtably useful subjects, includ-ing: acupressure, herbal remedies, radia-tion protection, emergency magic tricks, mineral deficiency reference chart, how to avoid parasites, sailing, navigation, how to deal with bullies and bandits, ty-ing knots, isometrics, survival and hand-writing analysis. These only represent a small frac-tion of the subjects covered in this book of course. The book is easy to read, has great illustration for all subjects, is exten-sively indexed, and has The Art of Shen Ku printed in large, friendly letters on its cover, though Im certain that if it werent for certain copyright issues, it would have said Dont Panic! There is simply too much in this book to give an accurate description of the entire content. I suspect that the book is the first extradimensional book ever printed, because it feels somehow big-ger on the inside. Now I have owned this book for many years, and have looked through it countless times, but even today as I write this, I opened to the book to look for a good example of the content, and found something else that

I swear that I had never seen in it before. This book is like that. Todays discovery was a page entitled asian secrets of walking stick combat.

The author Zeek is at least as enigmatic as his book. His true name is not known, but we are told that he is the son of British military parents, went to boarding school, traveled the world, and now believed to be living on sailboat somewhere in the tropics. As far as I know, he has not written any other books, but considering the scope of this exceptional book, perhaps there is no need. I have removed the binding from one of my copies of the book and put it in a three-ring binder. That allows me to add my own pages as I come across new and useful infor-mation, and I cant help but wonder if thats how this book was started in the first place. I have many hundreds of books in my library, but if it came right down to it, and I was forced to flee my home to escape some sort of disaster (up to and including a zombie apocalypse), this is the book that I would go out of my way to take with me.

You can find The Art of Shen Ku onbookselling web sites across the internet.

Visit the official web site at www.ShenKu.com

24

One Page Adventureby Rob Davis Many GMs, particularly newer ones, often over prepare. One approach that can be used to help pre-vent this is having almost the entire adventure on a single sheet, including the map. I recently ran a group (including this magazines publisher) through one such adventure. Included here are most of my relevant notes, minus a few spoilers. Note that this method works best if the world is already established, often referring to notes made before a campaign begins. This example assumes that the setting has been established, some impor-tant locations and NPCs have been introduced, and so on. My intention was to come up with a short dun-geon crawl, and I hit upon the idea of using an abandoned prison. There were good reasons for the building to exist, and it was realistically limited in size and scope.

Premise: The Necromancers Search Synopsis: A necromancer is using undead to try to locate something. He captures living creatures, drains their life force, and turns their corpses into an undead servants.

Thats all you need to start. A nugget of an idea and location ready to be filled with the in-gredients of an adventure. From this point, the creator can fill in the details and place elements consistent with the premise, keeping it varied enough to offer combat, exploration and investi-gation. Most of what is needed for the adventure can be written on the map, with some additional notes in the margins. The adventure then needs to be connected to the party, including how they heard about the adventure and their motivations for taking on the task. Finally, youll want to have a conclusion. In this case we have the necromancers room, where-in the party learns the reasons behind the necro-mancers evil plans. Additionally, the conclusion can suggest where future adventures might lead. The wrap up probably doesnt need to be written out since it can likely be roleplayed, though this may depend on the overall success of the party. Depending on the GMs ability to improvise, more details and flavor can be added, but as long as he has a clear picture in his mind, it should be enough. Imagine more and write less!

NPCsCorby Raftmite Halfling in one of the cages, cousin to Mowsett Shook who may have hired the party.Danark Goz Hobgoblin in cage, member of the Jackal clan from the Starspire mountains.Zalennoth The necromancer behind all of this, and a worshipper of Velsharoon.

MonstersZombies Typical, slow moving undead. They always attack last.Poltergeist A weak, invisible, and mischieveous spir-it. It often frightens its victims. Requires magic or silver weapons to harm it.Necrophidius A snake-like undead composed of a humanoid skull and spine, it uses hypnotic dance to im-mobilize its victims. Zalennoth the Necromancer A human spellcaster who is obsessed with finding something. He will at-tack anyone who interferes with his plans. He has spells to summon Zombie Rats, Shocking Grasp and Sleep.Zombie Rats Undead versions of the traditional sewer rat. They are weak, but quite dangerous in large numbers.

25

AppropriateMuse

Lost and Loving Itby Brian M. Sammons

Welcome to Appropriate Muse where, in every issue, we will look movies, T.V. shows, and other sources of media for the GM to crib (defined as: to plagiarize or to steal) from. Am I suggesting that you bla-tantly rip off a movie for your upcoming game? No, but all artists, authors, musi-cians, and yes, even Game Masters, must draw inspiration from the world around them. Films and T.V. shows are perfect for this because they have a narrative, charac-ters, and hopefully an engaging plot. They are also, relatively speaking, short and so they take a minimum investment of time from the hurried GM on the run. I have been running RPGs for over 25 years and some of my most memorable games have been heavily influenced from a movie or old T.V. show that I knew my players had never seen. Is that cheating? Well I would never attempt to publish such an homage (thats what Hollywood calls it when they do it, right?) but for a fun night of gaming goodness with your pals, who cares? Gaming is still all about the fun, isnt it? What I hope to do with this column is to point out some examples from various media sources relating to the theme of the issue, so that the Game Master can draw in-spiration from them for their own games.

Maybe theyll discover a neat plot twist they want to utilize, or an interesting char-acter they would like to have in their game. Perhaps this will just be some general ideas for you to consider, and I will always try to point out some pitfalls for you to avoid. Since this issue is all about getting lost, lets jump right to the 800 pound go-rilla that is the T.V. show that ran from 2004 to 2010, Lost. Lost left a huge footprint on global pop culture. Even those that never watched the show probably know a lot about it just from the entertainment zeitgeist that ex-ists all around us. Therefore if you plan to have your game even remotely involve a deserted island, regardless of the games setting (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, whatever) prepare for the inevitable Lost jokes and comparisons. Sorry, but its just going to happen. This show was just too big and it is still fresh in the minds of many people. So my suggestion to you if you want to run a stranded on an island game is to famil-iarize yourself with the main plot points of Lost and avoid them like the plague. No mysterious numbers, no hatch, no smoke monsters, none of it. Even if you have a cool and different take on a Lost trope, just dont do it. Youre only asking for trouble. An important lesson Lost can teach the Game Master, is to have a clear and strong idea of where you want your story to go and how you want it to play out. Because lets face it, when Lost wrapped up there were still a lot of threads left dangling, and some of their explanations of Yep, this is so totally what we had planned all along were dubious at best. There were also story elements that lead nowhere and a whole bunch of needless characters in-troduced and then quickly forgotten. Re-member that season about the tail section survivors of the plane crash? Yeah all that turned out to be completely pointless. If youre running a fantasy game then youre in luck, the fantasy genre is just lit-tered with lost things waiting to be discov-ered, many of which have eluded those that searched for them, only to be unexpectedly

discovered by those who have strayed from the path. The original Conan from 1982 leaps to mind for a quick and dirty example of this. Remember when everyones favor-ite barbarian is running from the wolves and literally stumbles upon a burial mound of some long lost king and claims his signa-ture sword? That right there is a great way to spring an adventure on some unexpected party. Do you have your own lost tomb that youve been dying to inflictI mean run your players through? Perhaps you just have a magical, or cursed, doodad that you want to throw their way? Having a party of professional adventurers unexpectedly finding a long lost trove of possible trea-sures after spending days slogging through the (forest, desert, mountains, swamps, arctic, etc.) will set their minds racing with possibilities. Have you ever wanted the easiest set up for an adventure ever? This right here is it. And if were talking about fantasy, weve got to mention the Lord of the Rings trilogy. One of the best things about those movies to me was the attention to detail Peter Jackson and company put into the films. A great example of that is at the end of the first movie, 2001s The Fellowship of the Ring. Do you remember the climax where our heroes face off against a bunch of uruk-hai? Yeah that whole scene was thrilling, dramatic, action packed, and even a bit sad at the end. However for me, one of the things I loved most about it was the setting. Do you remember that? Well if you said yeah, it was in the woods then you missed it. Im talking about the ruins that were all around them. The crumbling buildings and the toppled statues. That whole placed screamed about a lost, hid-den history just waiting to be uncovered. Pity the uruk-hai had to show up and ruin things before a proper dungeon delving could commence. For another example of how to run this idea in a contemporary set game, just look at the latest Tomb Raider video game from 2013. You know, the first good Tomb Raider game in years and years? In it Laura