The Director Welcomes You

The Cake Vulnerability Protocol

#9f55b6

Location

Bright, Breezy Taiwan

Time of Day

20:31

Extraction Point

20 Miles E

Time to Complete

29 Hours

Shadows,
It seems "Quiet Mermaid" has gone level 3. They have been broadcasting this message "A traveling merchant appears at the Screaming Waterfall". We need you to eliminate them, Colorfully. Their last known location was recorded at 01:09. You have a Explosive Banana as a last resort. Use carefully.

— The iPod you were holding self destructs.

The Villain Dossier

Name

Tucker Russell

Alias

"Quiet Mermaid"

Features

6' 3"

Red eyes

Faint curved scar / Left foot

Organization

The Association of Bloody Error

Emotions

Numb

Personality

Colorfully Clumsy

Motive

Disrupt the military to achieve their destiny

Bodyguard

Charles the "Swift Cyclops"

Physical Size

Vast

Story

Additional Locations

The Thoughtless Chateau

Compact Spring

Virtue Masquerade

Random Events

Gypsy Is accused by the law

Demon Is getting confiscated

Husband is loose

Rhapsody is being loudly arrested

World

Stores

Paisley's Statuette Bazaar

Santos's Coat of Arms Arcade

Curry's Spare brick Convenience store

Bates's Pocket watch Chic Chåteau

Traps

Ice lock

Phantasmal Killer of Vulnerability

Objects

Statuette that has been hollowed out

Spare brick children's replica

Secret Coat of Arms

Hidden Rock

Banana of Vulnerability

Wand of Wonder

Target sprouts an additional pair of thumbs on his forehead

People

Name Codename Career Likes Dislikes
Sydney Santos "Orange Cappuccinos" Merchant Chocolate Drinking
Henry Curry "Slow Heels" Mole Candy Physics
Brooke Hill Elder Attention Money
Paisley Saunders Professional Bridesmaid Pillows Acorns
Leilani Bates Physician Painting Hammers

Cipher



                


                

                    
                    

                


                

                    
                    
 
                


                

                    
                    

                


                

                    
                    

                


                

                    
                    

                

                
                

                    
                    

                


                

                    
                    

                

              

            

          

        

      

    



    
      
      
 
        

          

            
The Fuck Is This?

          

          

            
            
After years of playing Dungeons & Dragons, I decided to make a variation where everything is improv. The DM knows as much as the players and you tell a story together - sitcom style. We use this site as a quest starter, think of some characters, and see how much we can make each other laugh.

            
            
It's designed to be simple, portable, and dependent on being creative & inventive. I wanted a framework to guide the plot forward but let us find the story. This page is just a guide to help the stories become too redundant - take as much as you want, ignore as much as you need. If you want to follow along with our adventures or read some examples, check out  my personal story notes.

            
            
This concept and site was crafted by Andrew Maruska with linguistic help from Evan Stark

          

        

      

    


    
      
      
 
        

          

            
But how?

          

          
            
            The Most Important Rule
            
Be Silly. The goal is to laugh not to have a normal adventure. Someone wants to go to the moon? Fuck yeah they do and we're going to do it with medieval technology.

            
            Set Up
            
Give the players a home base, a year they want to play in, and some general ownership of the setup. It's more successful when everyone has helped create the world because when a player makes suggestions it's easier to integrate them without feeling too precious. It helps to have a figurehead that assigns the quest to authoritatively start.

            
            Characters
            
90% of creating a character here is a funny voice you're forced to talk in for 3 hours. I typically have people pick one trait they want to be good at and give them a slight advantage when using that - and the same for a negative trait. Don't overcomplicate it. They wanna be a skateboarder who can't feel love? perfect. +2 to cool & -2 to social acceptance. 

            
            Rolling
            
This can be whatever you want but as a general rule I use d20's as a graded scale. Sometimes, I craft the roll to mimic the action i.e. if they are walking a tight rope then might need to roll a 10 because 20 & 1 make them fall to one side or the other. Rolling in D&D got boring so make it fun again. 

            
            Dungeon Master
            
Your goal is to say 'Yes and...' but realistically it's 'Yes and roll to see if you can actually do that triple backflip down the cliff to mount the attacking phoenix...' - It's okay to make them fail, just don't tell them no. This guide is to help you be 1 step ahead of the players but it can't know the vibe of the room, have some empathy and play to the crowd. 

            
            Ending
            
No one can tell you this. The guide is to help you get 1/3 of the adventure set up and the rest will be created by the adventuring party. Have fun with it and try to tie up some loose ends at the end (or don't and bring them back for another adventure).