Entry?: Cage of Reason

[redivider]

rules for session one & wrestling prep. A sample villain and special steel cage moves included

Session One: Let’s Get Ready to Role-play Rhetorical Wrestling!

During session one, players prepare for the wrestling to come. They make characters from out of the age of enlightenment, choosing debate and campaign techniques that are arranged as a list of wrestling moves. Players define political or social conflicts for their three upcoming sessions. They then map out these intellectual controversies as wrestling storylines, complete with rivalries and rematches. If it helps you stay within a two hour time frame, think of this first session as a meeting of wrestling league executives. You are planning the contents of the three showcase events from your upcoming season. By the end of the initial session, players will have created characters, chosen or created villains, planned out the upcoming matches, and made a separate list of brutal moves to spice up the final steel cage showdown.

Create Characters

See character creation section posted above

Choose a Conflict for each wrestling session

Each two hour session after your first planning meeting will play out an enlightenment-era conflict. These conflicts are intellectual battles (matches) chosen by players to showcase the ideological debates of the time period. The best conflicts will showcase your characters’ beliefs and have a range of possible outcomes, from total victory by your characters to partial success to defeat.

Conflicts can all relate to one overarching enlightenment theme, or touch on different aspects of the laws of nature, laws of men, and laws of god. The three conflicts you choose can link and build from the first to the last, or be separate controversies.

Players should collectively pick the three conflicts. You can define a conflict by answering four questions. What main goal are your characters trying to achieve? What decision maker(s) or audience do they have to convince to achieve their goal? Who or what are the main opponents working against the goal? And what is the scope of the conflict in terms of the time frame and geographical scale of the conflict?

Consider this example.

Goal: proving that a famous relic in the local church is a fake. Audience: general public, elders of the church, and higher members of the church hierarchy with authority over the local branch. Opponents: local priest and church members, pilgrims who visit the church to seek healing. Scope: six months until the annual parade of the relic through the town, mainly local in the town and region but also drawing in experts from afar.

The players in our sample game choose three conflicts that escalate out from an initial controversy. The first conflict will draw in Dr. Van Gosse directly. One of the working men who supplies him with cadavers has been caught with a corpse of uncertain origin. The fellow is being charged with the capital crime of grave robbing and desecration of a body. The characters’ goal is to free the accused or at least spare his life. The plight of the accused man’s wife and family during his imprisonment leads to the second conflict: a national debate over the rights of women to testify at courts of law, and control and inherit their husband’s property. The characters’ goal is to grant women equal rights in both areas of the law. Repercussions of the first two conflicts lead the characters to seek to have one of their own (The Bookish Baron) named as tutor to the royal heir so that they can influence future state policy in a more enlightened direction. This campaign on the naming of the royal tutor is the final conflict. To help remember the conflicts, we’ll give each session a name: ‘Habeas Corpus,’ ‘Weaker Sex,’ and ‘Hand that Rocks the Cradle.’

Choose or create villains that are appropriate for each conflict

Your characters are all teammates, struggling for similar goals, wrestling on the same side. You will create or choose a set of villains to represent the minions of reaction – the forces of darkness who will challenge your efforts to bring light and reason. The opponents you’ve built into your conflict concepts are an obvious source of inspiration. Villains are designed exactly like characters – except their goals and moves come from the opposite side of the intellectual and political spectrum. You choose a concept and assign points to traits, moves, and special features.

Pick a manageable number of villains. Recurring rivals are more dramatic than having an entirely new set of opponents each session. Choose a number of villains equal to the number of characters plus one or two.

To keep things simple, our sample game will have just three villains, balancing the number of characters.

To create a rising level of challenge throughout the three conflicts, you should vary the power of these villains, with stronger opponents massing in later sessions. There are six sample villains in the game’s appendix: two each of 200 points, 250 points, and 300 points. You can use these pre-made opponents or make some of your own.

For the sample game, the three villains will be a populist preacher, a hanging judge, and a counter-enlightenment philosopher. Let's give one of these more detail. He'll be the populist preacher with passion equal to any reformer and an ill-concealed sadistic streak. He may distrust elements of the political and religious establishment, but he loathes these enlightenment troublemakers with their mechanistic universe primed to squeeze God out of the hearts of men. The preacher, call him Reverend Wilmots, will be a useful foil to the anatomist doctor. We’ll create him at the same 250 point level as Van Gosse.

Traits:
Conviction: 7
Expediency: 8
Fame: 6
Reputation: 5

Moves:
2: drink heavily out of depression at sinfulness of our time: 3 damage (D)
3: adopt meek demeanor to lull opponent : 7 damage
4: label freethinkers ‘the new idolaters’: 5 damage
5: fast for two days: 2 damage (D)
6: turn other cheek but plot revenge: 2 damage (D)
7: whip mob into frenzy: 7 damage
8: recite scripture (SM) : 8 damage
9: petition governor to stamp out this brazen display of blasphemy: 8 damage
10: sputter with rage, loosen collar, fan self with black, austere hat: 1 damage (D)
11: ask congregation to pray for opponent: 4 damage
12: reference a clever automaton of a fiddler displayed at the Düsseldorf fair : 7 damage

Signature Move: Recite Scripture

1: “You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Revelations 3:15): 13 damage
2: “you will discover in the annals that this is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from long ago” (Ezra 4:7): 5 damage
3: “I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you.” (1 Corinthians 11:2): 7 damage
4: “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools” (Prov 26:3): 11 damage (S)
5: “Wake up you drunkards and weep; and wail, all you wine drinkers over the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.” (Joel 1: 5): 8 damage (S)
6: “Do not invite everyone into your home for many are the tricks of the crafty.” (Sirach 11:29): 9 damage

Special Features: Submissions on Signature sub-moves 4 and 5.

Wrestling Name “The Preacher”

Signature Song: period choral rendition of A Mighty Fortress is our God.

Set a wrestling storyline

After creating characters, conflicts and villains you will take off your enlightenment gowns and caps and slip into the shiny suits and Barnum-esque mindset of Professional Wrestling executives. It’s time to re-envision those 18th century conflicts as the three prime-time events of the upcoming league season. The characters and villains become larger than life wrestlers, the fan favorites whom you want to showcase as much as possible. Discuss and agree upon a few main storylines that you want to see develop over the three sessions. The best storylines will revolve around rivalries, team unity, and revenge. A place to start in developing a storyline is to look for natural rivalries and pair off each character with one particularly-hated villain.

In our sample game, the characters and villains pair off nicely as: Doctor vs. Preacher; Lady-writer vs. Hanging Judge; and Enlightened Aristocrat vs. Reactionary Philosopher. The players will make sure that these rival pairs get a chance to face each off twice during the three upcoming sessions. Fleshing out the storylines behind these rivalries, say that the doctor and preacher have been enemies since they entered the league. The lady-writer used to date the judge. The aristocrat and philosophers were tag team partners for years but had a bitter split.

Program the matches and assign Promoters

Now that you know the enlightenment context and wrestling storyline, program the matches for the three wrestling sessions. Decide how many matches will be in each session, the order of the matches, and which characters and villains will fight in each match. Also decide that the context of each match is. All matches should contribute to the underlying conflict. Try to vary the number and type of matches from session to session and to rotate wrestlers to create different match-ups.

Choose a player to promote and stage-manage each of the wrestling sessions to make sure that sessions provide 2 hours of high-energy entertainment. The promoter will set an agenda and time-schedule of the matches and pre-match rituals. Promoters also assign players to control the villains who will be wresting during the session matches. If you have more than three players then players can share promotional responsibility for some of the sessions.

The three sessions in our sample game are programmed as follows:

First Session: Habeus Corpus
Match 1: lady-writer petitions court for leniency so that accused can be reunited with his wife and children. Lady-writer vs. Hanging Judge.
Match 2: Enlightened aristocrat and reactionary philosopher testify about the seriousness of the crime and the legitimacy of dissection. Aristocrat vs. Philosopher.
Match 3: Preacher and accompanying mob harass Anatomist who is helping guide defense of the accused. Anatomist vs. Preacher

Second Session: The Weaker Sex
Match 1: Tag team match as characters engage in freewheeling written and oral debate over women’s right to manage property and testify at court. All 3 characters vs. All 3 villains. Lady-Writer and Philosopher will start out in ring.

Second Session: Hand that rocks the Cradle (Steel Cage Matches)
Match 1: Tag team match as characters lobby and pull strings to get Aristocrat named as tutor of royal prince (and Villains nominate the Philosopher for same position). Anatomist and Lady-writer vs. Preacher and Hanging Judge. Anatomist and Preacher start out in ring.
Match 2: Aristocrat and Philosopher meet King in separate interviews for tutor position. Aristocrat vs. Philosopher.


Set victory conditions for each conflict

Every match played will end with one side being pinned or submitting. Map these victories and losses back onto the enlightenment conflicts. Decide what the numerical results of each session (wins and losses) mean in terms of character’s progress toward their goals for the conflict. You should define a perfect record (characters win all matches) as a total victory, a mixed record as partial progress or an ambiguous result, and getting shut out (characters lose all matches) as a total defeat.

In session one of the sample game, 3 victories will earn characters the acquittal and release of the anatomist’s supplier and a greater acceptance of the dissection of human cadavers. Two victories result in a fine and short sentence for the supplier. One victory means that the supplier of bodies is sentenced to a long term of harsh labor. Three losses and the poor supplier is publicly executed and opponents of dissection are emboldened to ensnare more grave diggers and even doctors.






Set Steel Cage Moves

During the last session – the final showdown between characters and villains – all wrestling matches take place in a steel cage. The battles waged inside this galvanized grid impose a desperate isolation and are more brutal than ordinary matches. To crank up the violence level, a special Steel Cage Move Chart is added to all cage matches. Players collectively pick assign damage and features to 11 moves. All wrestlers will use the same Steel Cage Move Chart so make sure that moves are general enough to apply to all characters and all villains. Steel Cage moves should be dirty but effective.

Follow the same rules you used to buy moves during character creation, with the following modifications. You get 400 points to pay for the 11 moves; damage levels can be set to a maximum of 15 rather than 10; you don’t need to include any defensive moves; there is no signature move; and you can buy up to two submissions. You can agree on 11 Steel Cage moves from the samples provided here, invent your own, or pick some and make some. See the wrestling section for further information on how steel cage matches work.

The Steel Cage Move Chart for our sample game will be:

2: Accuse opponent of engaging in deviant sex act: 14 damage
3: Challenge to duel: 11 damage
4: Hire ruffians to waylay and thrash opponent: 10
5: Publish forged documents 'proving' that foe is conspiring with seditious elements: 11
6: Turn opponent's spouse or lover against them: 10 damage
7: Blackmail decision-maker with compromising information: 13 damage
8: Hire musician friend to compose and spread embarrassing ditty about opponent: 7 damage
9: Pull strings to have opponent assigned to lengthy stay in the colonies: 13 damage
10: Have opponent's family members arrested: 11 damage
11: Seize or destroy opponent's library and draft manuscripts: 8 damage
12: Draw upon freemason contacts (to do something suitably conspiratorial - up to player who rolls to specify): 15 damage

[redivider]

here's a draft of the wrestling rules. I still need to write up a sample match between the doctor & the preacher.

Wrestling Rules

Each round, the players controlling the player character and the villain wrestler in the ring roll 2d6. Consult the Moves Chart on the character sheet and announce what move your character has performed.

After stating the Move, try to add some additional thoughts to situate the move back into the underlying Enlightenment-era conflict. If your conflict is a debate before a philosophical society, you can expand upon the message and rhetorical intent of your character’s move, or perhaps mention how the audience reacts. If the conflict is a years-long campaign to change policies of state you have more narrative leeway, and can explain how your move shifts the balance of power on a number of levels. If you can’t think of how to link your move into the conflict, you can ask the other players for suggestions or just state the move this time around.

While players active in the match are rolling and talking, another player can stand in for the referee and keep track of the damage being dealt. On a scrap piece of paper, write down the names of the characters taking part in the match. Each time moves are rolled, keep a running track of the amount of damage each character has taken. This record of damage is public information that all players can look at. The referee player should pay close attention to the damage levels and announce when a pin attempt can occur.

Pin Attempts

If both wrestlers make defensive moves during a round, then the combatants are circling each other, conserving energy and testing for weaknesses. If both wrestlers make offensive moves, they are standing toe-to-toe (metaphorically), trading blows.
There will never be a pin attempt made when both wrestlers are on defense or both are on offense. If one wrestler makes an offensive move while the other wrestler makes a defensive move, then the offensive wrestler temporarily has the advantage. If, after the damage for that round is added to the two wrestlers’ damage totals, the offensive wrestler’s damage total is 10 or more lower than the defensive’s wrestler’s damage total, a pin attempt occurs.

When a pin attempt is made, the player controlling the offensive wrestler rolls two six-sided dice. If they roll low enough, their wrestler has pinned the enemy and the match is over.

***Important note. Three of the game’s special actions give defensive wrestlers subject to a pin attempt the chance to escape before the offensive player ever rolls. These three are “Cheat,” Crowd Inspires,” and “Reversal.” Make sure to players have the chance to use these special actions before a pin attempt roll is made.

The target number that the offensive player is trying to roll (equal to or under) to pin the opponent is determined by the size of gap between the two wrestlers’ damage totals. If the offensive player has taken 11-20 less damage than the defensive player, then a roll of 2 results in a pin. If the gap between damage totals is larger then the defensive player is more disadvantaged (tired, stunned, injured etc.) and the offensive player has a better chance of completing the pin:

Damage gap Pin occurs on a roll of:

0-10 no pin attempt allowed
11-20 2
21-30 2-3
31-40 2-4
41-50 2-5
51-60 2-6
61-70 2-7
71-80 2-8
81-90 2-9
91-100 2-10
100+ 2-11


Special Actions and Rules


Cheat means that a wrestler breaks the rules to gain an advantage. Wrestlers can attempt to cheat once per match to help themselves, plus once per session to help one of their teammates. A wrestler inside the ring can cheat by utilizing a concealed object (player’s choice of what it is – in the context of the enlightenment setting, the object could be an unusual idea, phony logic, or an actual physical item). To cheat with a concealed object, state your intention to cheat before you and the other player roll on your move charts. Roll two dice. If the result is equal to or lower than your character’s Expedience trait, your wrestler has successfully broken the rules and gained a temporary advantage. This round, your opponent is befuddled and does not take a move while you choose any move from your move chart. If your roll is above your expedience trait your opponent or the referee detect your concealed object. Proceed with both players rolling as normal for this round. Whether you succeed or fail in the attempt, your Expediency is temporarily raised by one for the remained of the session, and your reputation is lowered by one for the same period (the fans always spot your foul play).

To Cheat and help another character, a wrestler waiting outside the ring (part of a tag team or just observing the match) jumps in to distract the referee or to whack a wrestler from the opposing team. You can cheat to free your teammate from a pin attempt or to free them from a submission move. If a roll of two dice is equal to or lower than your wrestler’s Expediency trait, you successfully nullify the submission or pin attempt before the two wrestlers involved ever roll for the outcome. You can also cheat to get a free blow against an opponent. If you succeed on your Expediency roll, roll on your character’s move chart. If you get a defensive move roll again until you roll an offensive result. The move damages your opponent. Submission moves deal regular damage but do not cause a submission attempt because your sneak attack does not last long enough to be a true submission ‘hold.’ On the other hand your attack can lead to a pin attempt because your ally in the ring can fall on the enemy as you scoot back out. As with self-help cheating, your wrester temporarily gains one point of Expediency and temporarily loses a point of reputation whether your attempt to cheat & help succeeds or fails.

Crowd Inspires means that the cheers and chants of the crowd grant you extra motivation. Wrestlers who succeed in being inspired can automatically escape a pin attempt or reverse any defensive roll. Any wrestler can attempt to be inspired by the crowd once per match and up to twice per session. To use the crowd to escape a pin attempt, roll two dice and compare to your wrestler’s Reputation (make this roll before the offensive player rolls for the pin). If your roll is equal to or lower than your character’s Reputation the crowd take your side, chants your name, and urges you on so that you break free of the pin attempt. You can also draw upon the crowd to reverse a situation where your wrestler rolled a defensive move and the opposing wrestler is on offense. If you succeed in your Reputation roll, your character switches to offense and the opposing wrestler is flipped into a defensive move. See the Reversal action for details of a successful reverse.

Re-roll means that a player whose wrestler received a formal introduction before a match can re-roll any one roll during the match.

Rest allows wrestlers who have received damaged in the ring then tagged out to recuperate and lose some of their damage. Wrestlers lose 3 points of damage every round spent out of the ring. Only half of the damage received in each stay in the ring can be reduced through rest. All damage is erased between matches.

Reversal means that when an opponent rolls an offensive move and you roll a defensive move with the Reversal feature, an opportunity arises for your character to reverse the situation, avoid the blow, and seize the initiative. Both players roll two six-sided dice. If the offensive player rolls higher or there is a tie, the reversal attempt fails and play continues. If the defending player rolls higher, then their wrestler switches to be on offense while the opposing wrestler is reversed to a defensive maneuver. The defending player switches to the offensive move that is closest on the Moves list to the defensive move that triggered the reversal. (If two offensive moves are equal distance the player chooses which to use.) The offensive player similarly switches to the closest defensive maneuver, choosing if two are equidistant. Note that the formerly offensive wrestler can be reversed to a defensive move with the Reversal special feature—and this triggers a new reversal roll. The wrestlers can potentially switch back and forth several times as long as the player attempting to reverse keeps winning the roll-off.

Shift means that you can lower or raise the result of a move roll by one. This gives a player the choice of three moves for that round (or a choice of two if the roll is 2 or 12). Wrestlers who enter the ring to a classical anthem can shift a roll on the move chart twice during the match. Shifts can not be applied to any other types of rolls.

Steel Cage means that the match ring is surrounded by a chain-link fence or steel cage. Wrestlers not involved in the match are blocked from cheating to help those in the ring. Player choose one of their wrestler’s offensive moves to be replaced with “Use the Cage.” The player in charge of your wrestler’s opponent picks one of your defensive moves, which is also replaced with the ‘Use the Cage” option. When Use the Cage is rolled, re-roll on the special Steel Cage Move Chart.

Submission means that the move rolled has such a painful or humiliating impact on the opposing wrestler that the other player must immediately roll to see if their wrestler concedes the match. The player whose wrestler is on the receiving end of submission move rolls two dice and adds the results. If the total is equal to or lower than their wrestler’s Conviction trait, the wrestler manages to overcome the temporary pain and continues the match (without any ongoing disadvantage or extra damage). If the total is greater than the wrestler’s Conviction trait the wrestler is overcome by the intense pressure and concedes the match.

Tag Team means that a player in the ring can ‘tag’ a teammate who enters the ring while the first wrestler exits and takes a rest. Tags can be attempted any number of times during a match as long as: the players of the wrestlers in and out of the ring both want to tag; and the wrestler in the ring was not on defensive and the opposing wrestler on offensive the previous round. Tag team attempts are rolled for at the start of a round. Both players roll two dice. If both player roll equal to or under their Fame trait, or if one player rolls four or more under Fame, then the Tag is successful. The outside wrestler immediately enters the ring and their teammate in the ring leaves. The round then proceeds with the new wrestler.

[redivider]

During my mini-playtest to generate a sample match, I realized I needed to make two changes to the pin rules. Pins can now be triggered if both wrestlers are on offfense but one outscores the other by 5 or more. Also, and more importantly, you roll on the pin attempt chart based on the defender's damage total, not the gap between the two wrestlers' damages.

the corrected version:

Pin Attempts

If both wrestlers make defensive moves during a round, then the combatants are circling each other, conserving energy and testing for weaknesses. If both wrestlers make offensive moves, they are standing toe-to-toe (metaphorically), trading blows. When one wrestler performs an offensive move and the other is on defense, then the defensive wrestler is temporarily at the other’s mercy.

There will never be a pin attempt made when both wrestlers are on defense. A pin attempt occurs when:
· One wrestler makes an offensive move while the other wrestler makes a defensive move or one wrestler’s offensive move inflicts 5 or more higher damage than the opposing wrestler’s offensive move; and
· The wrestler with the advantage has sustained damage that is 10 or more lower than the defensive’s wrestler’s damage total (after factoring in damage dealt during the current round to both wrestlers)

When a pin attempt is made, the player controlling the offensive wrestler rolls two six-sided dice. If they roll low enough, their wrestler has pinned the enemy and the match is over.

***Important note. Three of the game’s special actions give defensive wrestlers subject to a pin attempt the chance to escape before the offensive player ever rolls. These three are “Cheat,” Crowd Inspires,” and “Reversal.” Make sure to players have the chance to use these special actions before a pin attempt roll is made.

The target number that the offensive player is trying to roll (equal to or under) to pin the opponent is determined by the amount of damage that his opponent has sustained. If the defensive player has taken 11-20 total damage, then a roll of 2 results in a pin. As the damage level rise, the defensive player is more disadvantaged (tired, stunned, injured etc.) and puts up less resistance, increasing the likelihood of a successful pin:

Defender's damage Pin occurs on a roll of:

0-10 no pin attempt allowed
11-20 2
21-30 2-3
31-40 2-4
41-50 2-5
51-60 2-6
61-70 2-7
71-80 2-8
81-90 2-9
91-100 2-10
100+ 2-11

[redivider]

sample pre-match rituals (without examples of the role-playing involved)

The player promoting the first session of the sample game decides to include five of these six rituals into the match build up. Trash-talking will be excluded because the player likes the idea of the opposing wrestlers seeing each other for the first time across the ring. During pre-match interviews during which the wrestlers expound upon their views on dissection and the ongoing trial, the players controlling the Vivisector and the Preacher both choose to raise their wrestlers’ Reputations. There are no tag team matches this session, so fame is less important. Hidden camera scenes grant another choice: the Vivisector’s player boosts Reputation one more point while the Preacher is shown acting villainous so as to gain an additional point of Expediency.

The camera switches to a panel of players commenting on the wrestlers’ strengths and weaknesses. The Vivisector gets +3 damage on his brandish skull move but his visit aging mentor defensive move is downgraded to zero damage. The Preacher’s petition governor move gets the +3 damage bonus and his fast for two days defense is knocked down to zero damage.

The arena lights dim and the power chords of A Mighty Fortress is My God blast out as the Preacher proceeds down to the ring, smiling meekly and blessing the booing crowds. Then Touch Me reverberates through the hall as the Vivisector strides down the aisle. The Vivisecotr receives his third +1 adjustment to Reputation and the Preacher’s player gets one re-roll to use at any point in the match. Finally, the announcer introduces both wrestlers, whose players note down that they can shift any roll during the match.


Sample match: (with examples of the narrating involved)

The bell rings in our sample game. (All actions in this example are based off actual dice rolls). As the crowd roars, the Vivisector and the Preacher move out of their corners to start the match. As a reminder, this match covers the efforts of the Dr. Van Gosse to fend off protests and slander by the Preacher and his flock so that Van Gosse can continue to support the defense of the accused body snatcher. Both players roll dice and consult their wrestlers’ move charts. The Vivisector rolls a 6: “Visit aging mentor to seek advice” while the Preacher’s roll of 3 equates to “adopt meek demeanor to lull opponent.” Those moves make sense as opening gambits in a debate over human dissection. Both players prepare to narrate a bit of additional context. But wait – the Vivisector’s visit mentor move is defensive with the Reversal feature and the Preacher’s move is offensive. Before players narrate or the referee notes down damage, the players need to roll again to see if the Vivisector successfully reverses the situation. They roll and the Vivisector’s result of 9 is higher than the Preacher’s 5. The Preacher’s player considers using his special re-roll but decides to hold onto it since the match has just begun. Now the Vivisector’s player can choose an offensive move closest to the reversed visit mentor move – and what to you know, his signature move of ‘speculate on opponent’s illnesses’ is right next to visit mentor. Rolling on the signature move chart, the result is a 3: ‘speculatively diagnose consumption.’ The preacher’s player is forced to switch to his wrestler’s closest defensive move: ‘drink heavily out of depression at sinfulness of our time.’

Now both players narrate their gloss on the moves and exchange of damage. The Vivisector’s player explains that as soon as the Preacher shows his face to lecture Dr. Van Gosse about the wickedness of butchering the sacred human form, the Doctor looks over the preacher, frowns, inquires if the Preacher has been experiencing a cough, and warns that “consumption may be wracking your body, lurking in your chest like the serpent in the garden. I’d advise you to avoid any unnecessary exertion or loud speechifying.” The Preacher’s player adds that his man is stung by this warning and, against his best nature, overindulges in gin that night. During the exchange the player acting as referee notes down that the Vivisector has sustained 3 damage; the Preacher has taken 9.

The next round the Vivisector rolls a 7 (his signature diagnosis move again) and the Preacher rolls 8 for his signature move: ‘recite scripture.’ They roll an additional die each, both receiving 4. The Vivisector diagnoses Dementia for 13 damage—his most potent move. The Preacher counters by reciting Proverbs 26:3. “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.’ This move deals 11 damage and causes a submission attempt. The referee marks down that the Vivisector has sustained 14 damage and the Preacher has taken 22. The players decide to roll for the submission attempt before narrating this round because the outcome will shape how they describe their wrestler’s moves. The Vivisector’s players looks at his character sheet and get’s worried. Dr. van Gosse’s Conviction is 7 gives him a better than average chance of staying in the match- but just barely. His newly boosted reputation of 9 would help appeal to the crowd so as to avoid a pin attempt; but it is useless against submission. Consulting the rules, the player sees that another wrestler on the team could jump into the ring and try to cheat to break the submission hold. The Sphinx hasn’t cheated yet this session, so she rushes the ring and tries to save her team mate. Let’s assume that she has a Expedience Trait of 6. The Sphinx’s player rolls two dice. The result of 9 means that the Sphinx fails to break the hold before the referee escorts her out of the ring. The fate of match (and potentially the life of the jailed body-procurer) now rests on the Vivisector’s submission roll. It’s a 4! The Vivisector escapes the Preacher’s clever hold.

Now that the players know that the match will continue, they narrate the rounds’ actions. The Vivisector’s player describes how a hung-over Preacher returns the next day to harass Dr. van Gosse. “I interrupt his rambling sermon to question the soundness of his mind.” The preacher’s player narrates how the preacher retorts with a quote from Proverbs, and how the clever quip about a fool sends the preacher’s flock into convulsions of laughter, with passers by in the street even joining in the merrymaking at van Gosse’s expense. Factoring in the submission attempt, the players describe hwo the Doctor, used to dignified exchanges with other medical professionals, is humiliated by the exchange, and considers withdrawing his support from the court case. Hearing of her colleagues’ wavering spirit, the lady-writer comes calling to lend moral support, but Van Gosse is too embarrassed to see visitors and instructs his butler to turn her away. He ultimately draws upon his calling as a doctor and his belief in the social and scientific benefits of dissection, and rallies to re-engage in the conflict.

In the third round the Vivisector ‘admits that the body still holds many mysteries’ while his opponent drinks heavily again. Both men seem shaken from the near-submission. In the fourth round they go back on the attack, with the Vivisector accusing his opponent of willful ignorance and the Preacher whipping his mob of parishioners into a frenzy. By the end of the fourth round the Vivisector has taken 24 damage and the Preacher 30.

In round five, the Preacher rolls a weak though entertaining defense: he ‘sputters with rage, loosens collar, and fans self with black, austere hat.’ The Vivisector rolls another 7 and diagnoses his opponent’s eccentric behavior as a symptom of a venereal disease, “likely pox” (what we today know as syphilis). Because one wrestler is on offense and the other is on defense, and the Preacher’s damage total of 41 is more than ten higher than the Vivisector’s 25, the Vivisector gets a pin attempt. The Preacher’s player decides to draw upon the crowd’s inspiration to break free before the attempt in rolled for. The Preacher looks out into the sea of fans and sees a few waving his picture. A roll of 8 is two higher than the Preacher’s (boosted) reputation, so the crowd does not energize the wrestler enough to break free from the Vivisector’s pitiless VD diagnosis. Recalling the words of his signature song, the Preacher draws upon his mighty fortress and uses his one re-roll of the dice. This time the player rolls 11 – another failure. The crowd and almighty God have both have turned on the Preacher and he receives no respite.

The Vivisector’s player gets to roll for the pin attempt. Consulting the pin chart at the Preacher’s 41 damage level, the players sees that a roll of between 2 and 5 is required to complete the pin and win the match. The player rolls a 4 and gleefully narrates the events of the round and end of the match. “As soon as I announce that the Preacher is exhibiting signs and symptoms of the Pox, he withdrew behind that hat of his like a box turtle and slunk away. Like many men of the cloth, he must have dark obsessions with the procreative act and the shame of my accusation silenced his bitter tongue for the duration of the trial.”