1KM1KT Free RPG Community

Hi!
One session of 2 hours - Emotion, Glass, Ancient
Will be a game about being an Ancient Dragon who has a heart of glass
How they must interact with underlings to get anything done. About how you have to prey on the emotions of others to get anything done and how your emotions are manipulated for your vast wealth and power...
More details as they coalesce...

How does the dragon's glass heart affect the SiS or the mechanics? Do players interact with it somehow, except for trying to break it?

Intro
There is an ancient Dragon living deep within his den. Every Dragonslayer, Knight Errant, Sorcerer and Adventurer wants to test their mettle against the beast. And the only thing standing between the Dragon and them, is You!
You’ll play a Minion of an ancient Dragon, an Ogre, a Dark Wizard, a Devilish Rogue, a kindred soul or whatever else you can imagine. You’ll use your resources and the Dragon’s, when possible, to overcome all the adversity headed your way!

What do you need to play?
• This rulebook
• Two to six players
• Paper and pencils
• A Deck of Cards (rules are written for a Poker/Bridge deck of 52 cards)
• 30-40 tokens per player (you can use coins, poker chips, crackers or beads, whatever suits you)

Concepts
You are playing a character that has their own desires, hopes, dreams, and plans for the future. But, that future is tied to a very old Dragon. The Dragon is fierce and has amassed many resources to deal with the potential threat facing them. Can you play on the Ancient Dragon’s emotions enough to actually overcome these challenges?

Definitions
Player
Anyone at the table, we are all players. As distinguished from Characters that are just figments of our imagination.

Minion
The Protagonists of this little story. The main characters are servants of the Dragon. They do things for the Dragon and in return the Dragon does things for them. But, it is an alliance that is as fragile as glass. Also, the players take turns being called Minion in the game. That particular Minion is the player who is being challenged to overcome a conflict this turn.

Dragon
The centerpiece of this story. Due to its advanced age, it just can’t plunder like it used to. It relies on its trusted minions to get things done these days. The player on the Minion’s right is also called the Dragon as they set the stage for the Minion’s current conflict.

Trait
There are four Traits per character, but they mean different things to different characters. Traits have to maintain a value of at least one.

Face Value
This is the number value of a card. Ace is treated as a one, Jack as 11, Queen as 12 and King as 13.

Conflict
Any time something is really on the line, characters will have a conflict. The level of that Conflict is determined by Face Value (i.e., 2, 9, J, etc.) of the card played by the Dragon.

Theme
The Theme of the Conflict is determined by the Suit of the card played by the Dragon. It determines what the player has to lose.

Stakes
The Face Value (i.e., 2, 9, J, etc.) of the card played by the Minion determine the Stakes of that the Player put on the line to succeed.

Resolution
The suit of the card played by the Minion determines the nature of the Resolution the Minion found for the conflict.

Scene
A discrete unit of story telling, involving a Conflict and Resolution.

Scene Framing
This is the responsibility of the Dragon. The Dragon will play a card and frame a scene based on the Conflict and Theme of that card. They get to pick location, the nature of the challenge and what characters are involved.

Narration
Any time a Player has to describe what characters say or do, that is called Narration.

Narrative Control
Who is allowed to describe the action and what they are allowed to describe is defined as Narrative Control.

Character Generation
Character generation is easy. Just follow these simple steps:
• Name – What is your character’s name? Write it down.
• Nature – What is your character, what are they raised/trained to do. Write it down.
• Description – Describe anything else about your character that you like. Write it down.
• Traits – Put one Token on each Trait
• What is your character like (Pick one of the following General categories):
o Body – If your character is rough, tough, strong enough or skillful enough to fight a Dragon, put three tokens on Body
o Heart – If your character has some talent to manipulate others or has a natural affinity with Dragons, put Three tokens on Heart
o Mind – If your character knows the secrets of the universe, then put three tokens on Mind
o Wealth – Thieves, Merchants and Nobles use Wealth to get what they want. Put three tokens on Wealth if that sounds like your character.
• Customization – Take two more tokens and place them on any trait except the Trait you picked in the last step.
• You are done!

Once every player is done, you have to generate the Dragon. Follow these steps:
• Put tokens on each trait equal to the traits of each character.
• Players draw a card, highest Face Value (In case of Tie, Diamonds beats Hearts, Clubs beats Diamonds and Spades beats Clubs)
• The winner gets three tokens, the rest of the players get one each.
• The player with three tokens places them all on one Trait based on the kind of Dragon it is:
o Cave – These are the greediest Dragons of all. Their only concern is the accumulation of wealth. Place all three tokens on the Dragon’s Wealth Trait
o Fire – These dragons burn brightest and fastest. Their fire demands that they feed constantly and the wrath makes them formidable in combat. Put three tokens on the Dragon’s Body Trait
o River – These Dragons serve nature and their will is as ephemeral as the tide. But they can be swayed by the affairs of mortals, put three tokens on the Dragon’s Heart Trait
o Wyrm – These vicious serpents burrow into the depths of the earth and learn its secrets. They are the masters of magic and arcane knowledge. Put three tokens on the Dragon’s Mind Trait.
• Every other player will take one token and add it to whichever Trait of the Dragon they prefer.
• You are done!

Shuffle the cards you drew earlier back into the deck and deal cards to each player, depending on how many players you have for this session:
Cards to Deal
Players Cards
2 8
3 6
4 5
5 4
6 4
And start playing in earnest!
Mechanics
When a player ends their turn, they take the role of the Dragon and pas the mantle of Minion to the player on their left.

Turn Order
• End Game – Does the Minion have one card left? Does its value and Suit match the Minion’s Trait or the Dragon’s? If not draw a card
• Conflict/Theme – The Dragon plays a card, higher values represent the level of escalation of the conflict, the suit represents the theme and what Trait will be effected by the Minion
o Clubs – Physical conflict, the Dragon’s hunger or the Dragon’s wrath
o Diamonds – Robbery, greed or wealth
o Hearts – Emotion, manipulation or love
o Spades – Magic, deviousness or knowledge
• Narration – The Dragon Frames the Scene according to Conflict and Theme played and narrates
o They set the starting location
o Creates a conflict, including new characters as necessary
o They set the characters involved, as long as the Minion is directly involved
o They set the nature of the Conflict
o Does not narrate for the Minion except to place them at the scene
o Does not set it up so the Conflict has only one solution
• Narration - Narrate the reaction
o Narrate the character’s response to this dilemma
o Narrate the other character’s reaction if necessary
o Be careful not to narrate the solution just yet
o Players not engaged in either Narration may vote to increase the Face Value of the Conflict or the Stakes based on their estimation of the Narrative quality. Players cannot vote to increase the value of their own card, but may vote to increase the value of their opponent’s if another player already has. Each player only gets one vote per scene and it must be cast before the Minion’s card is displayed
• Stakes/Resolution – The Minion plays a card, higher values represent increased stakes, the suit represents the nature of the resolution and what Trait will be effected by the Dragon
o Clubs – Invoking the Dragon’s wrath, feeding the Dragon’s hunger or facing adversity with your body and soul
o Diamonds – Get the Dragon to pay off the adversaries, paying the Dragon to aid in overcoming this challenge or using your own wealth creatively
o Hearts – Use your influence to urge the Dragon to aid you, maintaining the Dragon’s Heart of Glass or using your own social graces to pacify the situation
o Spades – Magic, mysticism, occult or arcane knowledge or any number of clever things can be used to overcome any adversity, no?
• Determine effects – If the Stakes are equal to or higher than the Conflict, the Dragon’s Trait will be increased, otherwise the Dragon’s Trait will decrease. If the Conflict and Stakes add to an even number, the Minion’s Trait increases, otherwise it decreases.
• Narration – The Minion Narrates the rest of the scene ensuring to include the Effect as part of the Scene
• End Game – Does the Minion have one card left? Does it match Minion’s Trait or the Dragon’s? If not, play proceeds to the left and the Minion becomes the Dragon


Endgame
If at the beginning or end of a Turn, a Minion has but one card left and the value and suit matches either the value of the matching Trait of the Minion or the Dragon, the game is over.
Endgame Events
Event Meaning
Matches Dragon’s Body The Minion has finally satisfied the Dragon’s hunger
Matches Dragon’s Heart The Dragon loves the Minion and will protect them with its life
Matches Dragon’s Mind The Minion has unlocked the riddle that has plagued the Dragon and won his mind over
Matches Dragon’s Wealth The Minion has found the one treasure that the Dragon and has purchased his loyalty
Matches Minion’s Body The Dragon has sworn to defend the Minion with its life
Matches Minion’s Heart The Minion has overcome their negative emotions, like fear, and can face anything with no hesitation
Matches Minion’s Mind The Dragon has unlocked the secrets of the universe for the Minion
Matches Minion’s Wealth The Dragon has gifted enough wealth that the Minion never has to work again
Dragon’s Body reaches zero The Dragon starves to death or is defeated in combat, all the Minions die
Dragon’s Heart reaches zero The Dragon’s Heart of Glass is shattered, all the Minions die
Dragon’s Mind reaches zero The Dragon’s mind is reduced to that of a beast, all the Minions die
Dragon’s Wealth reaches zero The Dragon’s wealth is gone, it has no will to live and nothing to pay its Minions, all the Minions die
Minion’s Trait reaches zero They die, if time permits, you can make another Minion
Run out of cards The Dragon dies of old age, all the Minions die
Last Minion alive The last Minion wins by default

Advice
• Use the cards together, serving the Dragon does not always server your own needs.
• High cards can be used on your turn to increase the Dragon’s Trait or used on another player’s turn to decrease their Minion’s Trait
• The game is rarely long enough to use a High card to win if the Dragon starts with a low Trait, or a low card if the Dragon starts with a High Trait
• High cards are almost impossible to match against your Minions Trait
• Have fun!