Life has run away on me this year, but I have finally managed to complete the fantasy newspaper I promised as my contribution for I Am Your Champion. I had some interest, but few donations, and that’s fine. I had fun making it and I hope those who donated to my charity are happy with the result. This isn’t just for them though, it’s a free download for everyone. I’ve made a parchment version and a print-friendly version. I hope you enjoy this and get some use out of it

Game masters can the newspaper for hooks, NPCs, adventures and worldbuilding or even just as a source of random rumours, information and goings-on. I think the best use for it, though, is for GMs to read it, think about it, then next time the PCs are in a tavern tell them “Someone’s left a newsletter on your table. It looks like this…” and then just give them the handout. I love doing this sort of thing in game and I hope you’ll enjoy my attempt at a fantasy newspaper, inspired by a thoughtful present my wife and friends made for me a few years ago.

If I get enough interest I might just make another issue. Enjoy

Very young children use the spark sporadically, for play and their own simple purposes, without thought. As children grow older, they begin to understand their powers better, using them consciously and with more control. Around age 10 for girls and 12 for boys, Transition begins.

Children undergo many physical and psychological changes during this stage and it is when their spark is at is peak, very powerful and unpredictable.

Transition is a stressful and strange time for children and many lose control of their magic as the power flares and fluctuates, burning brightly before it is snuffed out entirely. Girls usually complete the Transition by ages 15-17, while boys usually complete it by ages 16-18. After this, the spark is dead forever.

Because adults are unable to harness magic, children are highly valued for their abilities. Many children do not utilise the spark effectively and are more dangerous to themselves than others, or are merely an annoyance. However, children of particular talent and power are recruited into harsh military programs to perfect their control over the spark and harden them into tools of war. Children are taught from a young age that fighting for their faction is the highest honour and the greatest deed that one could hope for. Propaganda floods the schools, homes and streets, and armies recruit children as young as 8 to train to fight their horrendous battles.

Every year, new drugs are trialled in attempts to keep children young and keep their spark alive for as long as possible. Experiments are conducted upon children’s brains, leaving many permanently damaged or worse, in attempts to unlock the secrets of the spark. Some believe that it is the mental state of children that is the key to their power, and so they experiment on the mentally disabled as an alternative route to the answers they seek.

Schools are hotbeds of propaganda but some children catch on or have different ideas and sow the seeds of rebellion. Such children meet in secret after classes to discuss what the adults are really up to, what the war is all about, how they are developing in their talents, and what they will do to avoid being recruited. Groups of children roam adult cities and towns as rebels, vigilantes or criminals, using their powers however they see fit.

Rumour has it that there are hidden towns out in the wilderness populated entirely by children. Gangs of teenagers rule these child towns and the children live however they can free from the control of adults, but left to their own devices to learn about the radical changes they are going through. All the while, they must deal with the normal trials and tribulations of puberty – sexuality, friendship, bullying, and growing up – as well as the great unstable power that they wield, its consequences and the reality of life after the Transition, when their power fades and they find themselves as young adults in a world that considers them past their use-by-date.

Inspiration: Ender’s Game, Lord of the Flies, Dark Angel, Neon Genesis Evangelion

Emergency services are inundated with calls that they terminate because they appear to be pranks or non-emergencies. Stuff about aliens and werewolves. That kind of thing.

That’s where Hang Ups comes in.

They’re an independent (and not technically legal) group that intercepts these abandoned calls and sifts through them for seeds of truth. Armed with their knowledge of the paranormal, they respond to potentially legitimate calls to help those that the authorities ignore.

Getting the Call

GM: “Okay, so it’s Joe’s turn to be the Operator this week”

Joe: “Sweet! Okay, I’m on the couch, kicking back with the headphones on”

GM: “Alright. Montage time. The calls are rolling in. There’s the usually junk, but a few perk your interest…”

[GM looks around the table for anyone with an idea. Clara puts her fingers to the side of her head like she's on a phone.]

GM: “Emergency services. What is your emergency?”

Clara: “Uh… hi. Um… there’s something outside my house making these weird noises”.

GM: “Could you describe the noises?”

Clara: “Yeah… like, um… growls. But they don’t sound right.”

GM: “What do they sound like?”

Clara: “I don’t know… it’s not a dog, I don’t think. Maybe a bear? But it sounds sick or something. I can hear it moving in the bushes! My neighbour, he’s been working late nights on something in his garage. I see smoke and light and stuff coming from there and sometimes I hear animal noises. Wait… there it is again! Please send someone, quick!”

GM: *click* [Hangs up]

Joe: “Ooh, is he making a monster? Hmm…”

GM: “Emergency services. What is your emergency?”

Gavin: “Yo, dude. Dude! They’re, like… everywhere, man! Seriously!”

GM: “Sir, could you please explain the nature of your emergency”

Gavin: “Everywhere, man. All these… like… cocoon things, you know? Some nights they’re there. Some night’s they’re not. They’re there now, though. They glow and stuff. Oh… no way! No way! Some of them are hatching or something! What the hell is that!? Dude, you gotta get someone over here! Hello?”

GM: *click* [Hangs up]

Joe: “Haha, these are great!”

GM: “Emergency services. What is your emergency?”

Beth: “They’re in the computer!”

GM: “Madam, could you please explain the nature of your emergency”

Beth: “Beings… of electricity. I see them, crackling. It’s stormy tonight. That’s when they come out. It’s like… glitches in the computer screen. But also, my lights go on and off. Uncle Mort says it reminds him of something, the way it flickers. He’s been having dreams, he says, in the storms. My phone rings and I hear crackling. I feel like they’re watching me. I just got home and saw my lights flicking on and off. I can’t find Mr. Fluffy… what’s that burning smell?”

GM: *click* [Hangs up]

Joe: “Awesome, guys. I think I’m gonna go with cocoons. I wanna know what’s hatching out of there!”

Gavin: “Yes!”

Clara: “Cool. I liked that one too!”

Beth: “Aww, we’ll have to wait till some other time to find out if Mr. Fluffy is okay. I’m in though. Sounds good!”

GM: “Please hold, you are being transferred to Special Priority Emergency Services Unit”

Joe: “Special Priority Emergency Services Unit. Sir, could you tell us more about these cocoons?”

Gavin: “Yeah, no worries, man. You really gotta see this…”

[Here, we 'fade to black'. It's assumed that the caller keeps explaining what little he knows about the situation, but it's the GM's job to come up with these details on the fly to keep the players excited and guessing. That's half the fun for everyone: players make the seed of the story and the GM improvises as the game progress.]

Answering the Call

After you get the call, you respond. Here is where the real fun begins. Who knows how legitimate the call is? Can it be explained with science? Is it really something supernatural? Will the real authorities end up on the scene too, having never heard of this ‘Special Priority Emergency Services Unit’? Is the threat a physical danger? Can the Hang Ups take it down with whatever weapons and tools they legally (or not) have managed to get their hands on?

Most importantly, how are they going to get paid, this time? Are they going to ask for a ‘call out fee’? Will they take something valuable as ‘evidence’? Will they admit that they’re a group of vigilantes who need to keep food on their table?

Once the mission is done, the Hang Ups head back to base, swap Operators and do it all again.

When I present this to my players, I’ll explain most of this as we go. But to get them excited for, it I made this one-page PDF flyer. Feel free to use it with your own group.

If you know of a system that’d be good for Hang Ups, or if you give it a shot, feel free to chime in below. I’d love to hear any other comments too or potential calls. I think I hear the phone ringing…

Remember That Time…

How do these mini-flashbacks work? It’s pretty simple, but effective. Look for points in the story where some uncertain partially undefined element could be linked to a PC. Just make it one PC unless your have a few who have linked backgrounds (siblings for example). Mini-flashbacks work best when they are quick, and the less PCs involved, the better. Maybe the PCs hear about a priest accused of consorting with demons. Does the party’s paladin or cleric know the accused NPC? Rather than just telling the PCs “you know this guy”, initiate a mini-flashback.

Quickly set a scene full of tension. It doesn’t matter how the situation started, all that matters is what happens next. Using the above example, you could set the flashback with the party’s cleric alone late at night in the temple. During his prayers he hears muffled chanting coming from behind a bookcase. The cleric recognises some of the words as demonic and one of the voices sounds familiar.

Ask: “What do you do?” Does the PC investigate? If so, they see the NPC priest involved in a demonic ritual. You could add a twist here by having them make a perception check (more on checks and stats later). If they roll high enough perhaps they see that the priest appears to be involved under duress. If they fail, they believe he is complicit in the ritual.

From there, ask what the PC does now. Do they inform the authorities? Are they willing to testify in court? Maybe they take on the cultists themselves? Do they decide to walk away and ignore the ritual? Don’t worry about roleplaying any of this bit, just ask for the general direction they take.

Now, to reap the reward of the mini-flashback! Return to the present time and now the PC hasn’t just been told “you know this guy” or “you ousted him after you found him involved in a demonic ritual”. The PC has played it out and interacted with the NPC in a tense situation that would have made big changes in both the PC and NPC’s lives.

Suddenly, this isn’t a faceless NPC any more. He’s now linked to the PC and whatever actions they took in the mini-flashback will come back straight away to affect the present-day interactions with the NPC and related NPCs. If the PC dobbed the priest in, maybe he’s considered a hero to some and a snitch to others. If the PC vouched that the priest was involved against his will, maybe the cultists are after the PC or people consider the PC a liar or cultist sympathiser.

All this from a few minutes of flashback! During this, one PC has been in the spotlight. You could have had the other players play NPCs if desired, but even if they didn’t, they probably enjoyed watching the other PC and learning about their history. You should encourage input from the other players, offering suggestions from the spotlight PC.

Quick As A Flash

You should use mini-flashbacks in moderation and always, always make them quick, a few minutes at most. Once you get into the swing of them you can rapidly frame and resolve while still adding a lot to the present-day adventure. My favourite example of this is a forest-dwelling or elven PC returning with the party to her home town as part of the current adventure. As they near the village, she spots the stables. Initiate mini-flashback! She is on her first hunt for the rare white elks of the forest. Frame it with some tense imagery. After hours of stalking the mighty elk the hunters have finally found it. The PC gets the chance for to hurl her bolas and capture the creature! Have her make a roll. No damage is needed, simply a hit or miss.

Present day: if the PC hit with her shot, the majestic white elk is waiting for her in the stable (kept safe by her elders after she left the village). If she missed, she sees the empty stable and the memory of her loss that day hits her. Or even better, if she missed the shot maybe her rival captured the elk instead and she sees it there in the stable, a reminder of her loss and something for her rival to lord over her. It gives the player a big reward for a single roll if she succeeds, but if she fails, the commitment on the player’s part was small, so the loss doesn’t sting so much.

Mini-flashbacks used like this can fuel the game and provide hooks to pull players in. It also lets them make decisions on the spot about, during the mini-flashback, about how they want the current adventure to continue. They get some control over the world and NPCs and it makes them like mini-GMs for just a little while.

Better With Age

One of the snags with mini-flashbacks is that you’ll be jumping back to different parts of the PCs’ lives. Ten years ago, one year ago, two weeks ago. What were the PCs’ stats like back then? Mini-flashbacks are meant to be a quick, fun way to expand PC backgrounds. If we start writing up character sheets for each different stage of the PCs’ lives, it defeats the purpose.

Instead, just eyeball it. You’ll be skipping over a lot of things and placing the PC in the middle of the action. It shouldn’t be a combat scene or a lengthy diplomatic debate. Mini-flashbacks should contain a couple of skill checks at most. One is usually fine (see the elk example above) and three should really be all you need (sneak up on the cultists, check out what they’re doing and hmm… see, that’s only two!).

Sometimes you’ll be flashing back to before the PC became what they are: the young girl in training to be a paladin, the wizardling who has never cast a spell, the young rogue who is just a grabby urchin, the lanky blacksmith’s apprentice who will go on to become a great warrior.

In these cases, if they would not have had such high skills as they do now, just modify their roll. Give a -4 penalty for a few levels ago, or a -10 for childhood things. You’ll have to judge these based on the situation at hand. Perhaps the young rogue was also very dexterous and has developed a lot more in other areas as she’s grown, but not so much in her reflexes and agility. In that case, a lesser penalty could be applied.

Some skills, too, wouldn’t change very much because they aren’t often used, or training does not alter them a great deal. Perception could be one of these skills, and depending on how much your PCs use their Craft or Profession skills, they might not have gotten any better in the last fifteen years. As I said, just eyeball it, go with your gut and discuss briefly with the spotlight player what you think is fair. Agree and move on. Make the rolls, get back to the present.

Once you do decide on a fair penalty, have the player jot it down (Age 14: Agility 6) on an index card or their character sheet for later, especially if you plan to flash back to this age bracket a fair bit. Doing so is not a bad idea, actually, as you can have stories going in tandem, present and past. If you’re all into it have some more mini-flashbacks during or after you resolve the adventure that the first mini-flashback was related to.What does the PC cleric do after dobbing in the demon-worshipping priest?

Wrapping Up

This technique can end up creating the present-day adventures and stories for you, and by the end of things the characters are much more fleshed out than they might otherwise be, and the players are much more likely to remember their PCs’ backgrounds after having played through them, rather than just writing them or being told them.

If you have a shot at using this technique, I’d love to hear about it. Just remember that the mini-flashbacks should be quick, fun for everyone, create hooks into the current adventure and give a bit of info about a PC’s background. If all of these aren’t being achieved, rethink how you’re using mini-flashbacks, or maybe just use them less frequently.

Haulshore is a sunny bustling seaside town in Darbrin. It has auction houses aplenty that pay good coin for all manner of exotic artefacts brought in from the sea and far away lands. Pirates, explorers and adventurers consult maps at taverns such as the Jolly Dagger and recruit crew members here for daring expeditions. Such crews often bid on items at the auction houses too, as many of these artefacts – be they engraved shields, horned skulls, battered journals or what have you – also serve as maps to even greater treasure for those who know what to look for. You won’t always find the same ships at Haulshore – they’re usually off on adventures – but it is a frequent port of pirates.

Right now, some very notable captains have docked in Haulshore and are looking for new crew members. Everyone seems interested in a secret auction in the back rooms of the Jolly Dagger – something too precious to be shown in the auction houses. It is an ornate shield known as Sarrek’s Voyage. Engravings and threads of gold depict the ancient hero Sarrek at various stages in his epic voyage: the Battle of One, the Battle of Many, Respite, the Ascendancy, the Stranded and so on.

Exact locations of the events depicted on Sarrek’s Voyage are unknown, but it is said the ancients built a temple at each point. Rumour has it that taking the shield to each temple will show the way to the next location and ultimately, the final resting place of Sarrek: a mythical holy city of treasure and wonder lost for thousands of years!

Broken Shackle

Captain Hodric ‘Red’ Bragg is a ragged portrait of a cutthroat pirate. His gut is heavy with grog, his thick black beard full of lice, his teeth yellowed or replaced with gold and his reddened skin leathery from sun. His crew is a bunch of murderous criminals with nowhere else to go and no moral compass to guide them.

Very few women ever join his crew and those that do have to be tough as nails to survive, and even then the Broken Shackle is not an inviting place for females – or for civilised males. Below deck, the three-masted black and brown galleon smells like grog, piss, blood and sweat. It has a large filthy brig for any foe who survives an onslaught from the ship. On deck there perches a black cannon that has obliterated more than a few enemy ships.

Bragg’s crew has some good divers who quickly loot their sinking foes. The crew also contains one incongruous man named Lorne. He is well-dressed, well-spoken and seems very out of place here. Whispers say that he may have once sailed with the Fierce Sharai, but there is bad blood between them now and Lorne is the recruiting officer for the Broken Shackle.

The Broken Shackle’s crew pillage and plunder. Their average missions include raiding unfortified towns, scuttling or capturing courier and merchant ships and generally causing havoc that reaps rewards of gold, grog or women. Lately, though, Bragg has been sending his crew on more and more raids against smugglers. What do they have that he wants so badly? The Red Captain has been getting redder recently, it seems – some say it’s not the sun at all, but that Bragg has been hiding an addiction to Ambrosia – the red liquid rumoured to be made of demon blood – and has fallen off the wagon. Perhaps now is the perfect time for mutiny?

Seventh Chance

Captain Jenny ‘Fishnet’ Shemmer is a strikingly beautiful woman. Her lustrous red hair, long legs and good looks are the talk of the town whenever she comes ashore. However, she is as dangerous as she is pretty. It is said that Fishnet got her nickname when she strangled to death the former lascivious male captain of the Seventh Chance with her stockings.

It is well known that Shemmer sails both ways and seems to only recruit attractive and alluring people. Because of this, her entire crew consists of beautiful men and women who are also deadly in combat – if they weren’t before joining the crew, they quickly learn to be under Shemmer’s harsh and domineering rule.

Shemmer likes control and hates being showed up. She holds a grudge like no other and will commit considerable resources towards vengeance. She loves her ship, the Seventh Chance, and since winning it from the previous captain she has made the two-masted galleon into a work of beauty. Polishing and painting the ship are common chores for the crew and the vessel is flawless, save for one massive scar down the side of the ship that reaches so high it mars the railing on the bow itself. Shemmer sometimes sits and strokes the splintered wound on the railing, thoughts of revenge dancing behind her eyes.

The Seventh Chance favours bounties of jewellery, artwork and other beautiful things. Whenever they can, these are the prizes they seek. Beautiful new crew members are also sought out and any ships or even towns that strike Fishnet’s fancy will often become the target of ruthless and relentless attacks until she has what she wants. Most of the rest of the crew’s time is spent tending to the ship and tracking down those who have wronged the crew and captain.

Freerunner

Captain Seth ‘Breezer’ Tallow is a lanky young man, spry and full of wit and good humour. He is incredibly laid back for a pirate captain and other crews sometimes call the Freerunner the ‘Party Ship’. His people are relaxed and spontaneous, making them unpredictable in combat and allowing them to excel in unexpected situations. However, their attitude means that they don’t plan ahead a whole lot and just ‘breeze’ through life taking advantage of opportunities that come their way.

Breezer’s crew could probably achieve great things if they put their minds to it, but few of them ever bother. Most are highly intelligent, but bored with lives of discipline. Breezer offers a life with hammocks on deck and tropical drinks and card games most of the day. Because of Breezer’s lax policies, his ship is a haphazard vessel patched together and barely staying afloat. It is one of the fastest ships on the waves due to it’s design, but after even a short skirmish there is a chance of sinking.

Being an opportunistic captain, Breezer has made a lot of enemies. He’s avoided many more thanks to the quick thinking and glib tongues of his crew during short cons. Breezer’s even pulled one over on Shemmer a few times – he doesn’t think she’s on to him, but he can’t be sure. Whether Shemmer is involved or not, one particular mark Breezer struck at long ago has teamed up with a more recent mark, tracked him down and is about to start some trouble. Meanwhile, the ship is in desperate need of repairs.

Fierce Sharai

Captain Dasharah ‘Ransom’ Kalkaran is a fit, bald Kalrashi man in his mid-thirties, lean, tall and looming. Dasharah is a serious but friendly and reasonable man who understands the importance of structure and discipline, but also knows that people need to cut loose every now and then – especially when hunting demons. The Fierce Sharai – meaning Fierce Queen in Kalarashi – is dedicated to protecting the world by hunting down demons, cultists and artefacts that could be used to strike back against the demons in the Burning War back in Kalarash – or securing those that could be used by demons.

Because the captain is Kalarashi and the ship’s cause is close to his people’s hearts, many other Kalarashi are drawn to this multicultural crew. Dabrish are the minority aboard the ship, but not by much. Generally, the crew is very accepting and there is little racial tension as everyone has much greater threats to contend with, in the form of demons. Criminals find their way onto the Broken Shackle, but many outcasts have a home on the Fierce Sharai, as the captain has a soft spot for these people, being an outcast himself.

Dasharah’s nickname, ‘Ransom’, comes from the fact that he is more likely to ransom prisoners back than kill them. Some say, however, that the true origins of his nickname are much more intriguing. The Fierece Sharai, golden in colour, was originally a royal Kalarashi treasure ship and rumour has it that Dasharah stole the large swift vessel – laden with a sharai’s ransom in valuables – and fled his homeland. It is unclear what drove Dasharah to this course of action.

Perhaps he was banished for committing some horrible crime or maybe he discovered a dark secret during his time as a royal guard and could no longer bear to serve his sharai. Whatever happened, everyone – especially rival captains – have their own opinions of the event and scandal surrounds his departure. Regarding nicknames, it is said that Shemmer finds Dasharah quite appealing and has given him a second nickname: ‘Handsome Ransom’.

The Fierce Sharai’s missions are much more dangerous and exotic than some of the other crews, due to their frequent encounters with the demonic. In Darbrish waters, they are more likely to come across cultists or demonic artefacts than true demons, but they have sighted a hellship or two in their time.

One member of the crew, a waif of a woman named Esmala is demon-touched and receives prophetic visions, though some say the demons can see through her eyes. Sarrek’s Voyage supposedly leads to a place that holds a mighty weapon that could be used for or against demons. Dasharah wants to get there first to use the weapon to fight against the demons, but he knows the other captains have their eyes on Sarrek’s Voyage too.

Bloodwave

Captain ‘Bloody’ Bertha Harding is a hardbitten fearsome woman who makes Shemmer look like a kitten. Bloody Bertha is burly, battleworn and stout. She is not short, but not towering. She is middle-aged at least, but her exact age is hard to determine and anyone who has dared ask is now dead. Bertha is widely known to be heartless and ruthless. Her crew are crazy, bloodthirsty monsters too, and she is the only one who can control them. Nobody messes with Bloody Bertha.

Her ship is a massive cannon-laden heavily-armoured vessel, painted red – rumours say that the paint is the blood of her enemies and “Bertha will paint the ship with you!” is a common warning to fellow crew mates or a threat to enemies. The Bloodwave is so well armed and armoured that ramming other ships is definitely an option and the scars on its hull are testament to the battles it has won.

Nobody knows how new recruits are chosen for the Bloodwave, but what is common knowledge is that the ship’s recruiter is also an infamous and effective torturer, possibly an outlaw inquisitor wanted for treason. Rumours told by men now dead at Bertha’s hand proposed that one of her rival captains was actually her child. Dasharah is out of the question, but could Bragg, Shemmer or Breezer really be related to Bloody Bertha? If so, nobody is letting the secret out and they all seem just as terrified of her as anyone else. Or is that just a show? Could one of them be working with her? Or is their relationship even more fuel for the fires of rivalry?

Bloody Bertha is a woman obsessed, it seems. Her ship, the Bloodwave is the toughest ruddy ship on the sea, but she isn’t satisfied. Word has it that Bloody Bertha is looking to capture herself a Hellship. Only she would be crazy and ballsy enough to try to board and take a hellship: these ships sailed straight out of Hell, lashed together from flesh and bone, leaving a trail of sulphur-smelling steam in their wakes.

Some believe the hellships are colossal demons themselves, and more than one half-drunk half-insane sailor has told tales of catching a fleeting glimpse of a hellship through a thick blanket of steam and swearing that a huge yellow eye peered back from the bow. How much of this is true is unclear, but it’s all damn scary and Bloody Bertha doesn’t seem phased in the least.

Casting Off

PCs starting off in Haulshore have plenty of opportunities for adventure. Which crew will they join? Do they admire the ship’s captain or share his or her goals and desires, are they just there for the riches, or are they joining as spies or so they can mutiny? Do they have any ties with the other ships’ crews? What trouble and advantages will this lead to? How interested are they in Sarrek’s Voyage? Do any of them have connections to demons? Maybe one has seen a hellship before or perhaps they are inquisitors or demon-touched.

You should make sure to let PCs make knowledge checks and talk to the ships’ recruiters, because whichever ship they end up on, it will make quite a difference – even if all the captains are after Sarrek’s Voyage. Pirate ships are great, because they are mobile adventure locations. Don’t think of them just as a means of transport from one adventure to another. Lots of exciting things can happen in the middle of the ocean, thanks to the variety of interesting NPCs stuck together in a relatively small area.

The descriptions above talk about the crews in general, but there are always crew members who break the mould - there might be some nice people, like Lorne, aboard the Broken Shackle, surely Shemmer can’t be a task master all the time (right?), maybe there are a few really dedicated long con grifters on the Freerunner, there are definitely some nasty people on the Fierce Sharai amongst all the other accepting crew, and who knows what really goes on behind the fortified hull of the Bloodwave?

Remember, too, that pirate crews are large and the PCs might not meet everyone straight away. That allows you to introduce new NPCs later, even in the middle of a voyage. Pirates die too – especially in Savage Worlds – and recruiters will need to gather more crew, meaning new NPCs – good and bad – will be joining the established crew from time to time. Connections with other ships also make for interesting hooks when you inevitably run into a rival pirate crew.

Whatever you do, make it fun and exciting! That’s the spirit of adventures on the Demonsea!

I wanted there to be dice to add a element of chance to the game, but I also wanted it to help the PC look tough. First thing that came to mind was that knife game where you splay your fingers on a table and quickly stab a knife between them.

Before I knew it I was saying in character as the NPC: “So, have you ever played… knifey-dicey?”

While not as simple as the Simpsons’ “knifey spoony”, it was more fun than cutlery comparison.

On the spot, we came up with some quick rules for this two player minigame, which are as follows:

1. Decide the stakes (standard games are either 1 or 5 gold pieces).
2. Decide who goes first (roll a d6 and call odds or evens, or flip a coin – loser goes first).
3. The player whose turn it is throws the agreed stakes onto the table.
4. The player rolls a d6 to see how many “circuits” or “laps” of their hand they have to do.
5. The player makes a Dexterity check with a DC equal to 10 + the number of rounds played so far (0 in the first round) + the result of the d6 rolled in Step 4. Just remember DC = 10 + rounds + d6.
6. If the player succeeds, it is now the other player’s turn. Repeat steps 3-6 until someone loses or quits (every second time you get to this step, it is a new round so the DC increases by 1).
7. Winner takes the stakes. For 24 hours, the loser suffers a -2 penalty to rolls requiring two hands (unless they quit before stabbing themselves). DC 15 Healing check or any cure spell removes the penalty.

We played a game of knifey-dicey using these rules and it was a lot of fun. Due to the ever-increasing stakes, the PC ended up winning 30 gold pieces and the NPC walked away with a damaged hand.

I imagined and described the game as extremely fast paced. Decide stakes and who goes first, then begin! Throw gold on the table, roll the d6 and stab stab stab! Other player throws down gold, roll, stab stab stab! Repeat!

Because of the quick pace of the game, the DC increases by 1 each round, so someone is eventually going to lose – if they don’t quit before that, forfeiting the stakes.
Knifey-dicey has several things going for it:

• Quick and simple to play
• Elements of randomness
• Elements of “skill” (the players’ Dexterity scores)
• Easy to make variants

Speaking of variants, here’s a few I’ve made up just now for this post:

Knifey-Dicey-Drinky:

• After their turn (that is, after Step 5), the player chugs a mug of ale or takes a shot of spirits.
• The player then makes a Fortitude save (DC equal to 10 + the number of drinks consumed).
• Failing the Fortitude save adds 1 to the DC of subsequent Dexterity checks in Step 5.

Knifey-Dicey-Wifey:

• Dedicated couples play this game, where one partner stabs around the other’s hand.
• Often played as “doubles”, where both partners stab at the same time (rolling Dexterity separately).
• If one partner gets stabbed, the other can continue on. It’s like having two chances.
• Winners take the stakes. Losers suffer regular penalties and whatever their partner dishes out.

Knifey-Dicey-Deadly:

• The knives are soaked in deadly poison. Winner takes stakes. Loser dies.

Knifey-dicey is a quick and fun minigame that you can add to just about any roleplaying game to spice up the action next time your PCs wander into a tavern. EDIT: See the comments below for my conversion to Savage Worlds rules.

Knifey-dicey could also be used as a hook. “Sure, I’ll give you the information you’re after, if you and your buddy there beat me and my girl at knifey-dicey-wifey”. And I can just picture a showdown with a crime lord who challenges the PCs to a game of knifey-dicey-deadly instead of traditional combat. It would definitely be a memorable encounter.

Do you have any minigames like this in your roleplaying games? What sort of mechanics do you use? And if you try out knifey-dicey in your game, I’d love to hear how it goes.