Larkhill — a first evening

I wanted to provide a short demo of a session, so I shuffled up a deck of cards and got a couple of d6 and my pen & paper and this is what came out.

It's just five turns, but it's what an ordinary session looks like so you can see how it plays out before you try it yourself.

Character. Del Harrow — A private investigator hired by the Aderin family to find out what's happened to their grandmother June.

Power Source. ♣ WORLD. Origin. MARKED. Powers are optional. I picked a Power Source and an Origin anyway — they don't have to be supernatural, and in this world they aren't. She's just really good at getting into places. We don't use Power in this set of Turns, but if we did it would be something like: she has a preternatural gift for finding the way — she notices the small crack where a wedge could go.

Starting state. Pressure Die 6. Harm 0. Spark 0. No Scars.

The Spread

Deal. J♣ 10♠ Q♦

I deal three cards. In this particular Spread I get three different suits, so I read the Axis off The Four to figure out what they mean for the setting. The Draw is what's pulling you into the situation. The Wall is what's preventing you from getting what you want. The Prize is what you're after. I find this really helps me ground the scene properly.

• THE DRAW — J♣. PLACE, high, and a face. A place that behaves like a person. The Larkhill District Records Office, shut eleven years, and somebody has been keeping it.
• THE WALL — 10♠. PRESSURE, and strong. Not a locked door — a clock. The demolition is booked for first light and nobody is going to move it for me.
• THE PRIZE — Q♦. THINGS, high, and a face. A made thing that behaves like a person: maybe it's something about bookkeeping — like an old index that has her information on it. After the Migration, when all the digital records were wiped, those were all they had.

That's the setup for the scene. I didn't really plan it, I just dealt the Spread and interpreted the cards.

Turn 1 — the loading bay [die 5]

Say. I go in under the roller door on the bay side, with a bar and a bottle jack. At risk: the noise, and the jack, which I only have one of.

Flip. Craft 3 → 10♥ 3♠ K♦

Two of these are well: 10♥ and K♦. So the choice is not about how well it goes — it is about what it is about. 10♥ is PEOPLE and K♦ is THINGS, and I do not want the way in to be about a person yet. I keep K♦.

One spade flipped: die 6 → 5. Row: 3♠.

I had to tick the Pressure Die because of the spade I drew. The 3♠ goes beside the Pressure Die, and it starts to shape my understanding of what the pressure will be when it lands. Even though I didn't keep the card for my result, it still has bearing on the scene, and it's there beside the Pressure Die — kind of like an omen.

Write. The roller lifts a foot and a half on the jack and jams there, and a foot and a half turns out to be plenty. I am inside in under a minute with the bar still straight.

Turn 2 — where an index lives [die 4]

Say. Where does a records office keep the index for a district that stopped existing? I stop forcing things and read the building instead. Wits.

Flip. Wits 2 → 7♥ Q♠

Q♠ is well. I do not take it. A queen here hands me the machine on the second Turn and then there is no evening. I keep 7♥ — yes, but, and about PEOPLE.

One spade flipped: die 5 → 4. Row: 3♠ Q♠.

Write. The public hall has been stripped to the plaster, and the place is generally a wreck. I notice the "Archive" sign over a door that's off its hinges — looks like a good place to investigate. The door didn't come off its hinges on its own, though — somebody's already been through here.

Blank — what is actually in that office

I wasn't really inspired about what I was seeing in the room. Without a good idea of my own I decided to get a Spark of inspiration from the deck.

Draw. 10♦ 6♠

I keep 10♦ for the fiction — THINGS, and high.

+1 Spark. Spark 1.

There's a 6♠ in there, but this time it doesn't tick the Pressure Die and it doesn't go in the row. That's because a blank isn't a Turn — I didn't say what I was doing or what was at risk, I just asked the deck for an idea. Only the spades I flip on a Turn count.

Write. An old index cabinet with drawers and drawers of cards in it. It was peeking out from underneath a dust sheet someone had thrown on it. Recently...there was no dust...

Turn 3 — the drawer [die 4]

Say. I pull back the sheet to find June Aderin's card in the cabinet. I use Heart because it's about People — June. At risk is my whole reason for coming here. Unfortunately, I'm worst with people, so I only get one card.

Flip. Heart 1 → 4♦

Since Heart is my worst, I only get one card. There's no choosing, and it really did come at the worst time.

No spades. Die 4. Row: 3♠ Q♠.

Write. The entire A drawer is missing. That cannot be a coincidence — all the other drawers are there. Why that drawer? Is there more than one Aderin? Maybe a new thread to investigate. I write that down and head into the main hall — there are some stairs behind a small open door. I head that way.

My flip was 4♦, so... something went Wrong — and something about THINGS as well. Since we don't have a threat yet, we pay the price in the fiction: no Threat = no Harm.

A threat walks out of the Wall

Deal. K♣

♣ WARDEN — it won't let you pass. Rank 13, so Grip 3.

Write. I must've tripped a pressure plate or something, because as I approach the stairs door it slams shut — like mechanically shut. I feel like that drawer was taken somewhere, and the stairs seem like a logical place to look, but the place itself is getting in my way.

Turn 4 — the stair door [die 4]

Say. I see if I can force the door open. I use Grit for the stat against the door. At risk is the noise, and my prybar or my shoulder.

Flip. Grit 2 → 5♣ 3♥

5♣ is yes, but — it would strip a Grip and cost me something for it. I take 3♥ instead: wrong, and about PEOPLE.

No spades. Die 4. Row: 3♠ Q♠.

Write. I see through the tiny glass window some movement back up the stairs. It wasn't a pressure plate — whoever that was slammed the door and it locked. So I try and shoulder the door. Mistake. Something is wrong with my shoulder now. So I use the prybar on the handle side to break the lock. Nada. Wrong against a threat means a Harm — so I add one to the character sheet (and rub my sore shoulder). The Warden (the door) keeps its Grip since a wrong doesn't strip anything.

Turn 5 — up [die 4]

Say. I need to find out who that is — there shouldn't be anyone here to begin with — and I feel like they have to have the drawer, or know what happened to it. I use Craft on the door. At risk is my prybar, and the intentions of whoever's up there.

Flip. Craft 3 → J♥ 8♣ 9♣

I took a poor card on purpose earlier because I like the complications it brings — but right now I need a good result. So I take the J♥. It went Well, so the Warden's Grip goes from 3 to 2 and I'm able to get the door just wide enough to slip through. And since it's a heart with a face on it (the Jack), I can see up the stairs.

No spades. Die 4. Row: 3♠ Q♠.

Write. I'm able to just barely squeeze through the door. I'm about halfway through when I look up, and there's someone there — she's older, maybe 70s — and she has the drawer under her arm.

Where I stopped

I wanted to show an example of play, so I took five Turns, which was around twenty minutes or so.

Ending state: Pressure Die 4, row 3♠ Q♠. Harm 1 of 4. Spark 1. No Scars. The Warden is still standing at Grip 2. The demolition is still booked for first light. The drawer is under somebody else's arm.

Hopefully this gives you a flavour of how it plays. A couple of things it doesn't show — the Pressure Die never went all the way down, so the pressure never landed. That's where the interpretation of the spades would help me figure out how it lands. But you can check out more about The Pressure Die on the sheet.

That aside — I would really love to hear how it plays for you!