Everyone is John
Every player must create their character - the character sheet is simple: Concept, 3 skills, and 3 ambitions. The skills are activites which the character may ue to make their progress towards their ambition easier. The ambitions need to be split into and easy, medium and hard difficulties.
As an example:
I am John's Pyromaniacal Tendencies
Skills:
1. Finding gasoline
2. Getting matches/lighters to light first time
3. Use of explosives
Ambitions:
1. To set fire to a waste paper bin
2. To steal a fire engine
3. To burn my name into the side of a national monument.
Skills:
1. Finding gasoline
2. Getting matches/lighters to light first time
3. Use of explosives
Ambitions:
1. To set fire to a waste paper bin
2. To steal a fire engine
3. To burn my name into the side of a national monument.
Each player will also be granted 10 counters, these are willpower points. Willpower an be used in one of two ways, either;
- to bid for control of "The John" when the storyteller decides it is time to give the other personalities a chance.
- to augment dice rolls to make an action more likely to suceed.
Now the story will start - the storyteller sets the scene, and asks the players to bid for control. Each player chooses a number of willpower points to bid, closes them in their fist, and at a count of three all players reveal their bids - highest bidder wins, and pays their points into a central pot.
The player now tries to direct the John around the word, aiming to achieve their ambitions. However every now and then the storyteller will interpose and mention that a task needs to be tested to see if it will work correctly of not, at this point the player must roll a 6 sided die.
If the test is something which the player can argue one of their skills will help with then they need to roll a 4, 5, or 6 to succeed. If it doesn't apply then the roll needed is a 5 or 6.
N.B. Before the die is rolled willpower can be spent to augment the die roll - 1 point equas increasing the likelihood of success by 1. So as an example:
Player: I will drop a burning match into the bin that I have just filled with Newspaper.
Storyeller: Ok, that matches your skill of using matches/lighters, so roll a 4/5/6.
Player: I want to make sure this works, I spend 2 willpower points.
Storyteller: Fine. Roll a 2/3/4/5/6 to succeed.
Storyeller: Ok, that matches your skill of using matches/lighters, so roll a 4/5/6.
Player: I want to make sure this works, I spend 2 willpower points.
Storyteller: Fine. Roll a 2/3/4/5/6 to succeed.
Players can of course run out of willpower points, so will need to replenish them. Replenishment can happen by making the John eat food, or sleep - however going to sleep may be risky as wherever you fall asleep may not be where you wake up the next morning...
Play then continues until The John either achieves one of the major (hard difficulty) ambitions, or dies horribly. At which point scores are tallied up; 1 point for each time an easy ambition is successfully carried out, 2 points for medium ambitions, and 3 for if you managed your final ambition. This of course means you could win by doing the easy ambitions mutiple times, but then what would be the fun in that?