SHAKESPLATTER 16k:

DIRE ADVENTURE INTO THE

SPEAREMAGEDDON

by Dev Purkayastha

This game is an exercise that lets us tweak the traditional formula of the
Bard's plays. In this fashion, we can better explore: what is the essence of
Shakespearean Drama?

The Director portrays a selection of scenes from the traditional

Shakespeare canon, while the players choose from exciting character
classes and dynamic powers and abilities as they venture forth through
encounters and danger.

Table of Contents:
1. Play On! (Getting started.)
2. What is the measure of a man? (Love, Blood, & Rhetoric.)
3. Blood is Compulsory. (When violence intrudes.)
4. Setting the Stage. (How scenes work.)
5.For the Director Only: Preparing for Play
6.For the Guests Only: Preparing for Play
Rasputin: the Psionicist
Cosette: the Revolutionary
Harker: the Vampire
Cromwell: the Warlord
Myrlyn: the Battlemage
Giovanni: the Don
7.Authors Notes
1. Play On!
This game is for 2-7 players. One of these is the DIRECTOR, who sets the stage for the
events that the players will share while controlling the other characters in the play (the
CAST). The others are the GUESTS, representing new characters that will add a bit of
unpredictability to the proceedings. When we address CHARACTERS, we include both
the Cast and the Guests.

You'll need some polyhedral dice (d4,

d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20). You also
want some miniatures (such as those
that come with tabletop wargames and
roleplaying games) and a battlegrid
(such that you would construct with
tiles, or a hexagonal/square dry-erase
mat). These are quite useful for setting
up the backdrop and set pieces of a
scene, and positioning the cast
accordingly.

And of course, your complete works of

Shakespeare. The Director will be
needing that!
2. What is the measure of a man?
Firstly: All women and men are defined by the three essential characteristics, as the
Bard himself outlines in Macbeth:

QUEEN TITANIA: You shall not take our our love or rhetoric
unless you first take our blood! Blood is compulsory.

That is: all characters are defined by their abilities in love, blood and rhetoric. You
define these by a die size: d4, d6 or d8.

* Love reflects the ability to use lies and lust to manipulate others.
* Blood reflects the willingness to do harm to others to achieve your goals.
* Rhetoric reflects the use of reason and charisma to persuade others.

Secondly: When a character - either Guest or Cast - is attempting an action along these
lines, the assumption is that they are unopposed by any other character, and succeed in
the attempt.

Thirdly: If two characters do oppose each other, they both roll their relevant dice against
each other. The player with the higher result gets their way; a tied result that both
results happen. (The Director has the freedom to explain how to contradictory events
may both happen.)
3. Blood is Compulsory.
When someone makes a successful attempt to hurt someone else - usually through the
use of "Blood" tactics - the results are often fatal. A character who is hurt is now dying,
and must immediately make a SURVIVAL ROLL to stay alive: they must roll a d20
and have a result that is 10 or higher. (Note that most guest have a bonus to this roll.)

If the character fails in this roll, they die immediately. If they succeed, they stay alive
a little while longer, but are still dying: they must make another roll every time they
speak, move, or take any other kind of action; they die immediately as soon as they fail a
survival roll.

If a dying character survives until the end of the scene, they recover to full health.
4. Setting the Stage.
Gameplay is a series of scenes. The Director first establishes the scene, detailing:

* The current Play/Act/Scene

* The setting, backdrop and props within the scene
* The cast of characters in the scene

A scene begins in "freeform" mode, where the Director begins to read through the
dialogue of the play, moving the cast around the stage appropriately. (While in freeform
mode, the Director will remain mostly faithful to the original scene, but has the freedom
to tweak or skip a dialogue to keep things interesting or to mention previous events.)

Guests may enter a scene at any time, describing how they enter the stage. Once the first
guest enters a scene, the scene enters "structured" mode, in which turns happen in a
strict turn order based on INITIATIVE. Each guest rolls a d20 to determine their
initiative rating for the scene. Characters take their turns from highest initiative to
lowest; the Cast as a whole has an initiative rating of 0.

On a turn, a character may do all of the following, in any order:

* address other characters freely

* move up to 5 squares on the map
* act once, through Love, Blood and Rhetoric, to affect the scene

Actions must fit into the categories of Love, Blood and Rhetoric. Actions include the use
of character powers, where a power has an active component. You may take only one
action per turn unless otherwise specified.

The Director may decide when a scene ends, and begin to establish another. At any
point, she may decide that the upcoming scene is the Final Scene, after which the game
ends.
5. FOR THE DIRECTOR ONLY:
PREPARING FOR PLAY
Before you play starts: pick your favorite play, and find some appropriate miniatures
and tiles so that you can set the stage. Select some of your favorite scenes. What scenes
are you favorite to see on stage? Which characters do you feel most deserve a second
chance? Which plots would you most like to see altered by your guests?

Take 15 minutes to think about the kinds of alternate plots, love triangles,
reconciliations and dealings you'd most like to see. (But don't decide what will actually
happen just yet. That's for the players to find out!)

Once the play starts: begin by reading from the original text of the play, but feel free
to make your own interpretations as the guests change things. What do the characters
truly want, and what will they do to get it? Think about this, and represent their wants
honestly.

If you are rolling dice to take an action or oppose a guest: most of the cast will roll a d4
for all actions. If a cast member is exceptional in one of the three categories - Love,
Bloody and Rhetoric - they may instead roll a d6. This will give them a decisive
advantage as they seek out their goals and push back against the whims of the guests!

Finally: once per scene, you have a special ability to influence the proceedings:

The Globe: when you imagine that the will of the audience - or
the bard himself! - would oppose the actions of the Guests, you
may instead roll the Globe (the d20) against them. You may only
do this once per scene.

Use this carefully! The Globe is watching.

6. FOR THE GUESTS ONLY:
PREPARING FOR PLAY
The genre of this game is SHAKESPLATTER, a brutal reality of cruel drama and
epic action. As the Guests, you are the Heroes of a SHAKESPLATTER universe.
You emerge from the SPEAREMAGEDDON, a nightmarish cross-reality
timestorm metascape. Driven by Love, Blood and Rhetoric, you must seek out the
object of your Quest: an obsession that draws you through the
SPEAREMAGEDDON and into destiny.

Let me introduce to you:

Rasputin: the Psionicist

Cosette: the Revolutionary
Harker: the Vampire
Cromwell: the Warlord
Myrlyn: the Battlemage
Giovanni: the Don
Let's get to it. Pick a character and select your powers.
RASPUTIN: the Psionicist
Love: d4. "Rasputin does not dance."
Blood: d8. "Rasputin defies death."
Rhetoric: d12. "Rasputin would like to make a... suggestion."

Toughness: +8 to Survival Roll

Equipment: scythe (two-handed), prophetic shawl.

POWERS: Pick two:

Mesmerism: Make a Rhetoric roll against a

cast member. If you succeed, you may issue a
command to the target.

Psychometabolism: If you succeed in a

Survival Roll, you are no longer dying.

Reaping Strike: Make a Blood attack with

your scythe against all characters surrounding
you.

QUESTS: When you accomplish one of these,

you may gain another power.

Seduce a member of the royalty.

Start a war with another nation.

COSETTE: the Revolutionary
Love: d6. "I lost my lover to a failed revolution."
Blood: d8. "Only I survived the slaughter on the barricades."
Rhetoric: d10. "But now, a nation shall rise from their sacrifice."

Toughness: +7 to Survival Roll

Equpiment: rapier, parrying-dagger, manifesto.

POWERS: Pick two:

Red, the Blood of Angry Men: When you successfully hurt a character that belongs
to a regal or ruling class, make a Rhetoric roll against a character in the scene that
belongs to a lower class. On a success, they have been converted to your cause, and will
act independetly to aid you.

Black, the Dark of Ages Past: If you are

adjacent to a shadowy area or an off-stage
location, you move there and disappear from
the stage. At the beginning of your next turn,
you reappear in any shadowy or off-stage
location.

Drink With Me: Once per scene, you may

throw a flaming wine bottle at a 3x3 area within
7 squares of you. This area is now on fire; make
a Blood attack against all characters in this
area.

QUESTS: When you accomplish one of these,

you may gain another power.

Liberate a political prisoner.

Rescue someone's daughter from tragic fate.

HARKER: the Vampire
Love: d8. "You look good enough to eat!"
Blood: d12. "Waste not, want not."
Rhetoric: d4. "You're boring me, and you
don't want to let me get bored."

Toughness: +5 to Survival Roll

Equipment: coffin, silver necklace,

practical-yet-appealing evenging gown

POWERS: Pick two:

Night-walker: If you are in a shadowy or dark

area, you instead have a +9 to your Survival
Roll. However, if you are standing in daylight,
you instead have a +0 to your Survival Roll.

Blood-drinker: If you successfully harm a

character while you are dying, you are no
longer dying.

Claw/Claw/Bite: If you succeed in a Blood attack, you may move and make a second
attack. If this second attack hits, you may move and make a third attack.

QUESTS: When you accomplish one of these, you may gain another power.

Seek out a worthy noble to join you in undeath.

Purchase a castle to become your new manor.

CROMWELL: the Warlord
Love: d6. "I think you an I could have some great synergy."
Blood: d4. "I prefer to delegate responsibilities to others."
Rhetoric: d12. "Let me show you our mission statements!"

Toughness: +5 to Survival Roll

Equipment: dual flintlock pistols, manifesto, iron-sided armor.

POWERS: Pick two:

Oliver's Army: You summon d4

parliamentarians to join the scene. They
may enter through entrances, doors,
trapdoors, and windows. You may then
make a Rhetoric roll, and may move that
many parliamentarians throughout the
scene. Parliamentarians take no other
actions, and instantly die when harmed.

Magnum Carta: Move 3 squares as you

leap through the air. As you take this
movement, make as many as 4 attacks with
your flintlock pistols.

Heavy Lies The Crown: If you

successfully make a Blood Attack against a
royal target, they are knocked backwards 2
squares and fall prone.

QUESTS: When you accomplish one of these, you may gain another power.

Seek wise religious counsel, and act on the advice.

Exile a monarch.
MYRLYN: the Battlemage
Love: d4. "The winds of the heart have felled many a noble soul."
Blood: d10. "I wield Excalibur, splattered with the blood of a noble king."
Rhetoric: d8. "Only a strong will can wield the arcane forces.

Toughness: +7 to Survival Roll

Equipment: a vial of lake water, a rough-hewn stone, an ancient tome, Excalibur

POWERS: Pick two:

Lightning Bolt: Once per scene: Make a

Rhetoric roll against a target within 5
squares. If successful, you may repeat this
attack against another target within 5
squares of the original target, and repeat
this indefinitely.

Magic Missile: Once per scene: You

automatically hit any one target that you
can see. They are dying and must
immediately make a Survival Roll.

Sleep: Select a 3x3 square within 7

squares, and make a Rhetoric roll against
all targets. If successful, they fall asleep
and are unconscious until attacked or the
end of the scene.

QUESTS: When you accomplish one of these, you may gain another power.

Promote a new king to the throne.

Forswear all romantic entanglements by rejecting a proposal of marriage.

GIOVANNI: the Don
Love: d12. "I'm a lover..."
Blood: d4. "...Not a fighter."
Rhetoric: d6. "But enough about me."

Toughness: +6 to Survival Roll

Equipment: parchment, steel-tipped quills, wine,

bandolier of roses, mandolin, leather pants

POWERS: Pick two:

Catalogo Questo: For each character that can be

considered "in love" with you, you gain a +1 to all
rolls except for Survival Rolls. Whether a character is
"in love" is left to the discretion of the Director (for
the Cast) or the player (for the Guests).

Deh vieni alla finestra: Make a Rhetoric or Love

roll against a target. If successful, you may move that
character 5 squares in any direction. (If this
movement results in a fall or a precarious situation,
so be it.)

Commendatore: You summon the Commendatore from the depths of hell, and you
are now dying. As long as you remain alive, the he will be present and will fulfill your
commands (rolling a d20 for any actions). You may also make a Rhetoric roll against the
Commendatore to send him back to hell.

QUESTS: When you accomplish one of these, you may gain another power.

Seduce both members of a married couple - separately, and before either find out.

Imbibe an elixir of immortality.

7. Authors Notes
Yes. Play the game as written - the GM with his prep, and the players with their powers,
and both authentically trying to fulfill their direction - and see what happens.

@lbs: thanks for the inspiration / this is not your fault

@corvidsun: please don't show this to your father
@lumpley: sorry for biting your apocworld style

Image credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosette
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare