He's ten feet tall, and eight feet wide
and it's said no edge can harm him
Woe be they who disturb his peace
For certain death befalls them.
The king feels not for man nor beast
His spirit's not within him.
He gave his soul to save his lands
From the things buried beneath them.
Powder roars, blades snicker-snack
But the king's sword sings Life Eternal
Its voice keens dozens of miles
Teaching fear to the infernal
His poison light burns children's eyes
Air splits apart around him
All places where the king sets foot
Are cursed for an age beyond him.
Should you impel our regent rise
Woe and weeping most befit you
For his quarry always falls,
And no afterlife awaits you.
You have ten minutes to prepare and start running. He's on foot; you'll need a horse just to match his pace. He knows where you are. Go now. Go NOW.
If you can excuse the inspiration taking us here and whipping together something wholly unplaytested...
Supplies
- Other players (optionally)
- A deck of cards, Joker removed
- A notecard or piece of paper to record your character’s details
Characters
We will now create our characters.
They will not escape the king. Though they are doomed, we tell the story of their last moments with respect and care. Others may yet learn from their fates, after all.
Responses
A life pursued by the king is a life of fear. Any challenge you face risks one of the following:
- Fight: You refuse to surrender, you take on hopeless odds, you overextend.
- Flight: You fail to hold your ground, you fail to come through, you give something up.
- Freeze: You lock up, you fail to take action, you lose time.
- Fawn: You offer yourself, you sabotage yourself or a friend, you surrender.
Choose one you resist and mark it with a ➕.
Choose one you are weak against and mark it with a ➖.
Mark the others with a ⭕.
Methods
You can extend what time you have through struggle. You resist your fate in the following ways:
- With force
- With speed
- With care
- With cunning
Choose one you are gifted with and mark it with a ➕.
Choose one you are weak in and mark it with a ➖.
Mark the others with a ⭕.
Finishing Details
- Give your character a name and pronouns.
- Give them a brief description.
- How did they earn the attention of the king?
Playing the Game
Introduce your characters. Together, introduce your situation.
Challenges
The king pursues you, and the obstacles between you and escape are many. When you are trying to do something where the outcome is unclear, ask:
- What is at risk, of the Responses? (If there is no clear risk, this is not a challenge.)
- How am I facing this challenge, of the Methods?
You will draw a number of cards, and keep two. The rest are either discarded or removed:
- Discard: Set these in a stack beside the draw pile.
- Remove: Remove these from play.
If a king would ever be removed, discard it instead.
Check against your weaknesses and strengths. This will tell you what you do:
- ➕➕: Draw four and keep the best. Discard the rest.
- ➕⭕: Draw three and keep the best. Discard the rest.
- ➕➖ or ⭕⭕: Draw two and keep them.
- ⭕➖: Draw three and keep the worst. Remove the rest.
- ➖➖: Draw four and keep the worst. Remove the rest.
Shuffle the discard into a new draw pile if you cannot draw enough. If there are not enough cards period, draw what you can.
The cards you keep determines your fate. The closer the cards are to the king, the less they favor you:
- Two A-3: Critical success.
- One A-3: Success.
- 4-Q♠♣: A partial success, with sacrifice or compromise or the risk partially coming true. Discard these.
- 4-Q♦♥: A failure.
- K: The king approaches. Narrate the king's presence in the scene. Remove the other card.
- Two K: The king has caught you. Rip up your character sheet in half as you describe how they meet their fate.
Narrate the outcome as appropriate.
Discard all cards after playing, unless told otherwise. If a king was discarded, shuffle the discard into the deck.
As you play, the deck will grow thinner as cards are removed and you will become more and more likely to draw the king. Make most of your time until then.
