Better Theatre Procedures

Loch drew the Kingfisher 💖

For The Total Theatre of the Petty King, the dungeon I am currently writing: First Floor, Second Floor, Basement. 

I recently wrote up some rough theatre rules for the Total Theatre, but I didn't like them much - they felt lightweight and boring. This is an attempt at something with a bit more life in it for the final version of the module.

Plays are loot - an object, literally a sheaf of papers. You can find them throughout the dungeon. There are a few basic ones backstage, and more advanced stuff in Magda's quarters, and in the writing room. Each play has a series of conditions: costumes, number of performers, props and scenic, etc. Many of these will be stored in the Theatre backstage area, some will be scattered around the rest of the mansion. 

Once you have everything you need to try to put it on, you can don costumes and begin. Once you start, both the Kingfisher and the Stage Manager will expect you to see it through. A single person can play more than once character unless they appear on stage simultaneously - if they do so, they will incur an additional DEX check each time they need to change costumes.

A single character cannot be played by more than one person. 

Once you begin, a series of checks starts, each associated with a specific moment (and act, a stunt, a monologue, etc.) in the play. These must then be performed in sequence, and (if your table skews this way) your players should read out the lines associated with the checks. By default, these tests are made with advantage - if they are marked as difficult, they are rolled as normal. An Actor will always succeed on these checks.

Some parts in the play will require particular special effects to trigger, either from the Effects Room, the spotlights in the Circle, or both. The Theatre Manager will fill one of these positions for you if he likes you, but he cannot be in both places at once. Remember that the Strobe effect will do fear damage during a play, as normal. 

If a character panics during a performance (their fear exceed their WIS score), they have recourse to the usual systems of fear damage mitigation. If they cannot immediately get their fear under control, it will count as a fuckup. 

If a character has to stab another character in the play, then they will have to do so for real on the stage, rolling damage as normal for whatever they use to stab with. If they are carrying a prop sword or prop knife, then this damage is 0. Alternatively, they may feign a stab with a real weapon, which does no damage, at the cost of a CHAR check to sell it. 

The Kingfisher will tolerate two instances of fucking up per player. If you fuck up a third time it will assume you are there in bad faith, and attack you with intent to kill (and suck out your soul, because it does that to liars). 

The Theatre Manager is more forgiving of mistakes, but not of disrespect to a play or to the theatre. If you fight back against the Kingfisher, the Theatre Manager will defend it with his life. If he likes you, he may convince the Kingfisher to spare someone a third time, once (not once per person, once ever). He knows how its mind works; they go way back.

The Manikin Chorus shift around you constantly, taking up various dramatic postures. If you wish to you may dress one of the Chorus manikins in a costume - they will mime the role that they are dressed for flawlessly, but cannot speak. 

If you can finish a play intact, you retain a benefit, depending on the play, and on the characters that you played (with a bonus if you played your part perfectly - without any check failures). You will only receive such a benefit once, the first time you finish a play in the theatre - you may perform others, but its never quite the same and won't alter you in any deep way. This applies even if the character that you played gains nothing from the performance. Make it clear to your players when they are getting ready to perform that this is a one-and-done situation. The flutter in the heart, nerves, the smiles of the crew and of your attendants, the heat of the lights, greasepaint, the noise of the crowd, hushing now. You have rehearsed for this moment. The curtain opens... There is nothing like your first time. 

SAMPLE OF A PLAY THAT YOU MAY FIND

The Giants and the City

Based on the founding myth of the White City. Famously does not include the giants, who are only discussed and alluded to, and then finally addressed directly in the final scene.

ACT ONE 

The Arrival of the Giants; the King and his court discuss; the Queen dreams a terrible dream. 

They appear to need nothing and want nothing. How can we reason with such beings? 

• The King, the Queen, the General. The King dialogues with the General about what the giants represent, and then with the Queen about what they might expect in return for their aid building the city. King tests CHAR. 
• The King, the Queen. The Queen warns the King that no good will come of the collaboration, which angers the King. Queen tests CHAR.
• The Queen. The Queen dreams of the ruin of the kingdom at the hands of the giants - of being eaten alive, or being digested along with her subjects. Requires Smoke, Strobe, and a red tinted Spotlight. 

ACT TWO

The City is Constructed; the Pacification of the Countryside; the Birth of the Prince and the Death of the Queen.

The foundations have been laid at too steep a price, and we do not yet know the extent of our owing. 

• The King, The Philosopher. They dialogue about how well the city is coming along, how beautiful is its aspect, how impregnable its walls. The Philosopher asks the King what he discusses with the Giants each night, and the King cannot reply. Philosopher tests CHAR.
• The General, The Philosopher. The General shows the extent of the pacification to the concerned Philosopher. The General waves off their protestations - what they are building is worth the slaughter. General tests CHAR. Requires a red tinted Spotlight.
• The General. The General speaks with the Giants alone, boasting of his success in levelling the foundations of the city. The Giants reprimanded him in a bone shattering voice; only the King may treat with them. The General loses his mind. No check, but if the Kingfisher is alive it will furnish the SCREAM here, subjecting whoever is playing the General to d6 fear damage. 
• The King, The Queen. The Queen gives birth, and tell the King that she is dying. With her last breath she asks that he renounce the construction of the City. The foundations have been laid at too steep a price. The King does not respond, he is holding the Prince. The Queen dies. Queen tests CHAR. Requires red tints on one of the Spotlights.
• The General, the Fool. The General and the Fool discuss the arbitrariness of things. The General is focused on death, torture, illness, degradation. The Fool is focused on laughter, lightness, gaiety, food, drink, etc. No tests, but all players in the performance heal d3 fear damage. Requires an active spotlight. 

INTERMEZZO

A vision of the future. 

What is this path I see opened before me? And what is the light that shines on me from distant places?

• The Angel of History. The Angel of History walks up a steep hill, towards a blinding light, as the centuries churn about her. The light remains constant. No tests, but requires Smoke, Strobe, Stage Lift, and Spotlights. 

ACT THREE

The City has established itself; the General weeps and dies; the Fool elevated; the King speaks with the Giants; an Emperor is crowned. 

We work against the coming day, which all of us have now seen. The sounds are like drums. They approach us from the future. Each has furnished their piece of the vision, and each must now choose their role.

• The King, The Prince. The King broods. He searches for the Philosopher, the Fool, and the General, and can find none of them. He monologues, telling us that the city prospers. Then he searches for the Queen, and weeps. He is found by the Prince. King tests CHAR. 
• The General, The Philosopher. The General looks upon the expansions of the City, and asks the Philosopher how it is that he was barred from taking part in it. Why did the gods give him this fate? The Philosopher replies that it is he, and not the General, who is best fit to lead troops. The General stabs him to death with a dagger, and then falls upon it himself. General and Philosopher test CHAR. Requires a red tinted Spotlight. 
• The Fool. The Fool fights at the borders as a private. He earns glory, and finds himself promoted to generalship. He sings a silly song called Jus' How It Goes, accompanied by a comical caper and dance routine, and strolls swaggering off the stage. Fool tests CHAR and DEX. Requires Strobe and Smoke. All players in the performance heal d3 fear damage. 
• The King, The Prince. The King asks the Giants about what they should now, now that the land is pacified. The Giants ignore him and address the Prince - they tell him about the future, a future of great pain and struggle, but of glory and stability. The King demands their attention, and sees something off stage. He loses his mind, and walks towards this thing and out of the play, as though in a trance. The Prince crowns himself, and announces that he is Emperor. The Giants kneel to him. The King take d6 fear damage. The Prince tests CHAR. 

FIN

Aftermath: All players in a successful rendition of The Giants and the City gain proficiency with the playing of the image game, regardless of whether they have travelled to the White City, or even know what the image game is. A Citizen of the White City will notice and comment on this. If they are already proficient, they double their proficiency modifier.

In addition:

• If you successfully played The King, you permanently receive +1 CHAR and STR, and -1 WIS. If you played him perfectly, these are instead +2 and -2. 
• If you successfully played The Queen, you gain +1 INT and suffer nightmares in the dreamlands twice as often as you would normally. If you played her perfectly, you instead receive a +2. 
• If you successfully played The Fool, you gain +2 WIS and +2 CON, but lose the ability to dream completely. You will never again visit the Dreamlands. If you played him perfectly, these are +4 bonuses. 
• If you successfully played The General, you gain +1 STR, and +1 CON. Your voice becomes permanently twice as loud. You take +1 fear damage from all sources, permanently. If you played him perfectly, these are +2 bonuses. 
• If you successfully played The Philosopher, you gain +1 INT. If you played him perfectly, your mind can never be read by any means, and psychic damage against you is halved. 
• If you successfully played The Angel of History, you gain nothing. You will dream often of the long march uphill, into the light, and the pounding of drums, so loud it is like artillery, coming nearer and nearer as you grow old. 
• If you successfully played The Prince: you gain +2 CHAR, and -3 hp. If you played him perfectly, you gain the ability to charm people with ten seconds of eye contact, concentration, and a contested CHAR check. Those so-charmed will not willingly harm you, and will consider you a friend worth protecting. They do not not know that they have been charmed, even on a failure. 

This is the format. I hope to produce four or five of them for the finished module.