Players:
* Witch;
* Demon.
Witch, bring 3 headshots.
Create a triangle with 6 matches, an ashtray in the centre. Each side an Oracle:
* Ash: ruin;
* Warmth: feelings;
* Light: joy.
Demon, take the photos.
Back: draw an Oracle twice on each. No doubles.
Front: write:
* Name;
* Age;
* Occupation.
Witch, one photo per corner.
PHOTO
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
ASH WARMTH
* *
* ASHTRAY *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
PHOTO *************** LIGHT ***************** PHOTO
Play 3 scenes.
Witch and Demon, choose one character each.
Witch, frame a scene between them.
Everything/everyone else: shared authority.
Both:
* Establish relationships;
* Show something personal and important.
Demon, introduce a Crisis. Resolve it with the Oracle between them.
Draw it on both characters.
Play 3 more scenes.
Witch, now, before Crisis resolution, you can move one character to another corner.
Resolve the Crisis, for the still character, with the old Oracle; for the moved character, with the Oracle on the side between their old and new corner.
Draw the Oracles on the photos accordingly.
Narrate a different finale for each photo, accounting for and starting from the most widely distributed Oracle on each, and burn them.
Demon, break ties.
Say:
* Witch: which headshot portrayed you;
* Demon: the cost for their powers;
* Witch: why you took the deal.
Burn everything else.
Inspirations:
The “college triangle”: one side “good grades”, one side “social life”, one side “enough sleep”. Choose two.
Probably it all started from that.
“Apocalypse World” by D. Vincent Baker (Lumpley Games; 1st edition: 2010; 2nd edition: 2016).
On several moves, on a 7-9, you have to choose one or two over three options. This makes good ground for thematic choices.
“A Scoundrel in the Deep” by Renato Ramonda. Published in Epidiah Ravachol (editor), “Swords Without Master”, volume 1, issue 6 (November 2014), Dig a Thousand Holes Publishing.
You know, a game which makes use of matches and all the rest…
“Les Petites Choses Oubliées” by Sylvie Guillaume & Christoph Boeckle (L’Impromptu, 2015).
The idea of using photos as thematic game material came up from here.
“Walls of Concordia” by Daniele Di Rubbo (Geecko on the Wall, 2017).
My entry for the Game Chef Pummarola Ediscion 2017 was my first game which makes use of photos as game material (in the wake of “Les Petites Choses Oubliées”).
I someway reversed the criterion for the choice of the photos from the “no portraits” rule to the “only portraits” one.
Thanks for proofreading, peer review, and feedback to:
Thanks to Francesco Zani for the ASCII character scheme of the gaming table.