Three prisoners arrive at the manor of Duke Adele Verona to receive justice for their crimes, only to be caught up in a story of betrayal and blood magic. This is a fantasy/adventure story with a unique twist.

Genre: Fantasy adventure
Number of players: Exactly 3
Run time: Approx 3 to 4 hours

CONTENTS:

• World Briefing
• Character Creation
• GM Briefing
• Offline Version
• Rules
• The Map
• Sound Effects
• Music
• Setup
• Act 1
• Act 2
• Act 3
• Credits

WORLD BRIEFING:

All players should be aware of the following:

Long May She Reign is a game set in a fantasy world where magic and witchcraft is real and the culture has a strong history of using tattoos to channel benefits akin to a good luck charm. A boxer might tattoo their arms for strength or an expectant parent may tattoo their belly to bless their child with health. Blood is the source of magic in this world and tattooing channels that magic in ways that are small and subtle.

Powerful magical rituals can be cast by spilling human blood, but the act is reviled by most decent folk. Blood witches practise these dark arts in secret, since the penalty for being a blood witch is death.

The players take on the roles of three villagers, each from a different village. They have never met each other before today.  Village life is a simple one of toil, occasionally interrupted by visits from the Queen’s soldiers. You live under the rule of Queen Isabella and she often excises her right to to claim fresh recruits to be conscripted into the Queen’s army. You have no choice in the matter and it’s simply the way things are. Sometimes you’ll receive letters from conscripts describing how well they’re doing in the Queen’s army as they’re paid and fed well. Other times you’ll just never hear from someone again.

At the start of the game each player character has been accused of a crime and you’re all being transported by via prison wagon. Your destination is  manor of Duke Adele Verona, who is authorised to dispense justice on the Queen’s behalf.

(Note that this game treats words like duke and witch as gender neutral terms.)

CHARACTER CREATION:

Players have their pick of three characters accused of three different crimes: The Thief, The Murderer and The Bloodwitch.

Download character sheet PDFs

GM Note : The answers on The Murderer’s character sheet help generate an important Non-Player Character.

To set the tone, feel free to play this soundtrack during character creation.

OFFLINE VERSION:

Want to print out a copy of this game? Or want to save a copy to your device so you don’t have to have an online connection to start playing? Then use this PDF version.

Download Offline Version of Long May She Reign

 

This section is for the game masters’ eyes only.
Spoilers ahead for players.

GM BRIEFING:

Long May She Reign isn’t a straightforward fantasy adventure – it’s actually a game about being caught in a time loop.

In the course of this game players will encounter a blood witch who, with their dying breath, will lay a powerful spell upon them. This spell traps the players in a time loop that persists until the Jenga tower collapses again.

This isn’t a game you can run on the fly because of the time loop element – players need to be expect a level of consistency so they can learn the patterns and exploit them. How all of this works will be explained throughout the information below, so make sure you read all of this in full before you run a game for your players.

RULES:

GM Note: In this game we are using most of the core rules of Dread – with some important exceptions. Even if you’re a veteran Dread player or GM, you’ll need to review these rules. These are the rules the players need to know going in.

Dread is a role playing game that is played with no dice and no numbers. Instead, we use a Jenga tower resolve player actions.

• Build the Jenga tower in full. (Unlike normal Dread, you do not need to remove an additional 3 blocks from the tower.)
• Whenever players make an action they must pull blocks from the tower.
• The GM will tell you how many blocks to pull. Simple actions may only need a single block pull, but riskier actions require more block pulls.
• Normal Jenga rules apply: only pull with one hand, blocks get stacked back on top of the tower, the block being pulled must be from beneath the topmost complete layer, etc.
• Risk-free actions (like searching a suitcase) may require no pulls, but the game master may offer things like asking players if they want to do a thorough search. For example pull 1 block to search the suitcase – and find the hidden compartment!
• If the tower topples, then that usually means the end for that character. (We’ll address how dying works when it happens.)
• Players cannot deliberately choose to knock over the tower to “sacrifice” themselves in Long May She Reign.

There are other rules in this game – but the GM will explain those when they become necessary.

For the convenience of the GM, here’s some shortcut links  to these ‘secret rules.’

• Time Loop Rules
• Post-Loop Rules

Although Long May She Reign has some unique rules for this scenario, the full rules for Dread can also be purchased here for $12.

THE MAP:

There are two maps used to run this game. The players’ map should be set on the table for all to see. The game masters’ map is for the GMs eyes’ only and has notes to remind you of important characters, items and scenes within each room.

Each room has its own timeline of events and unique characters. It’s in exploring these locations across multiple playthroughs that the players will discover all they need to know to succeed. Whatever succeeding looks like to their character.

Act 1 lays out all of the information you’ll need to play the first loop, in which players will only explore the part of the East Wing of the manor. Players will inevitably meet Nikolai who casts the time loop magic, shortly after which a deadly red wave of magic kills everyone and play moves into Act 2. Act 2 details all of the locations across the East and West Wings and The Grounds.

Feel free to use the maps however best suits your play style, but here are some suggestions:

• Use tokens to keep track of player locations. This is especially helpful if players ever split up.
• Make each room a surprise by covering the names’ of the rooms on the players’ map
• Feel free to write on the GMs map. If you add a new detail to a room, you need to make sure it stays consistent for each loop.

SOUND EFFECTS:

This adventure comes with sound effects that emphasises the cyclical nature of the time loop. You can just play the embedded sound files straight off the page here – or you can use the QLab show files below to run the sound effects for a seamless audio experience.

• Download the QLab software (Free – Mac only)
• Download the Long May She Reign QLab show files
• About using QLab

If you’re using the QLab show file to play sound effects, you’ll also see notes like [Play SFX1: Cart Arrives] throughout this document to tell you when sound effects should be played.

MUSIC:

Since this game is based on a time-loop we do not recommend playing music throughout the experience. However, we do have two music tracks for character creation and playing as ‘end credits’ music.

• Character creation music (Dishonoured 2 soundtrack)
• Post game music (Jim Croce – Time In A Bottle)

SETUP:

To run Long May She Reign, you’ll need to have the following set up your players.

Essential:
– Printed character sheets
– Printout of the players’ map
– Printout of the GMs’ map
– Printout of the post-loop rules
– A Jenga tower or similar
– 5 x six-sided dice (3 white, 2 red)
– Pens/pencils
– This game guide

Recommended:
– Speaker system for running sound effects

Optional:
– Small tokens to represent character location
– Paper pieces and blu-tak (or similar) for covering room names
– Stickers and markers so people can make character name badges

ACT 1:

In which players land in the midst of trouble.

GM Note:  Remember, players should step into this game not expecting a magical twist or a time loop. They’ll play they first loop as though this is their only life. The patterns you set here must repeat consistently and only deviate due to players’ changing things on subsequent loops. And of course any deviation only exists for the duration of that specific loop, then it all gets reset again.

ARRIVING AT THE MANOR:

[Play SFX 1: Cart Arrives]

Everything is darkness. You cannot see anything, thanks to the burlap sack covering your head. You feel the rough rope around your wrists and legs that has been fashioned into a kind of rope shackle, designed to limit prisoners like yourselves to a shuffling walk. The three of you feel the rocking of the cage wagon start to slow and finally pull to a stop.

Multiple unseen guards grab you and pull you out of the cage. Someone roughly removes the sacks from your heads. Suddenly you’re reeling from the sunlight and the lavish grounds of the Duke’s manor. Towering above it all is the clock tower – and it’s perhaps the most impressive and beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.

Then your eyes drop to the scene in front of the clock tower where a small crowd of guards and serving staff stand before a raised stage. On the left side of the stage, flanked by guards, there’s a young man kneeling before a large wooden block. On the right is a woman pontificating from the comfort of her ornate deck chair. This is Duke Adele Verona and she is holding court.

“Eden Taylor. You have been found guilty of the crime of blood magic. In the name of Queen Isabella – long may she reign – you are hereby sentenced to death. Captain Brunetti: carry out sentencing if you please.”

Captain Brunetti executes the order in plain sight. The young man, Eden, is forced forward onto the block where the captain swiftly lops off his head. A grim reminder of what fate may await some of you.

Then a woman in the white uniform of a chef steps forward from the crowd. This is Chef Galo and she starts presenting evidence as to why and how a servant called Lucas stole silverware. Chef Galo tugs on Lucas’ arm and brings him forward.

[Play SFX2: Clock Tower]

The chime of the clock tower strikes thrice, interrupting Chef Galo’s presentation. “Sod this smoke” mutters the Duke, putting out her pipe before addressing the assembly.

“This brings today’s hearings to a close. All unheard cases will receive justice on the morrow. This evening we have the honour of hosting the official Queen’s Day celebration, so look lively everyone. We haven’t much time before Queen Isabella and her entourage will arrive.”

The Duke quickly orders for a guard to move Eden’s body to the stables, Chef Galo to put supper on heat and for the guards to send all prisoners – both Lucas and the three new arrivals – to the prison pits.

TO THE CELLS

You’re all escorted by Captain Brunetti and a half dozen guards armed with swords. You’re marched across the grounds and into the East Wing Foyer.

As you enter through the Foyer, you can’t help but notice the lone guard standing at attention to greet guests. They’re bald and it looks like every inch of their body is covered in intricate tattoos, right down to their fingertips. They’re the second most beautiful and impressive thing you’ve seen today.

You pass through the Sitting Room and the East Hall before being brought to the Prison Pits.

GM Note: You should trace the players path and reveal the covered names of the rooms as the players are escorted.

PRISON PITS

The prison pits are unlike anything you’ve seen before. There are two deep stone pits that serve as prison cells here. Lucas is sent into a pit on his own, while the rest of you are sent into the other pit. All three of you have to climb down using handholds cut into the bricks. It’s slow work with your rope shackles still on. Once you are all down in the pit cells, the metal grate swings down over you like a hatch and seals you in.

[Play SFX3: Metal grate]

The most remarkable aspect of this unique prison design is the giant mirror placed at a 45 degree angle above both pits that allows the guards to observe prisoners from a distance without having to peer down into the grate.

GM Note: This is a bit of an elaborate setup, but the prison pits serve two functions. First they’re an indicator that this world is slightly different from our own history. Secondly and most importantly it ensures that players will have to work together to get out of the pit when that opportunity arises in the near future.

Of course, the angled mirror also lets you see around the room too. You can see the other guards exit the room leaving behind just a single prison guard, who has already sat down and started reading a book. You can also just make out Lucas locked in the other pit by themselves.

This is the point at which play really starts for the players. (Of course on subsequent loops they are most welcome to disrupt the flow of the opening sequence.)

During this first visit to the prison the following will probably happen:

• Players will talk among themselves
• Players may chat to Lucas
• Players will chat to the Prison Guard

CHARACTERS:

Prison Guard

• The prison guard is actually an old friend of the player character accused of murder. Draw from their character sheet to generate their name.
• The prison guard has since found good prospects working for Duke Verona. They aren’t going to betray the Duke and release the prisoners – at least not unless the players manage to convince them somehow with knowledge gained in subsequent playthroughs.
• If the players don’t engage with the prison guard, have them overhear their old friend talking and chime in saying they recognise the voice of the murderer character.
• The prison guard is a good source of info on what will be the sentences for each crime. Witches are beheaded, murderers are sent as live bait on leviathan hunting ships and thieves lose a hand.
• They are currently reading a raunchy book while on guard duty: Waves Of Passion. It’s a homoerotic tale of love between two sailors on the high seas. It makes leviathan hunting seem much nicer than they actually are. In truth they’re extremely dangerous, but the meat and blood from these monster sized fishes make it worth the risk.

Lucas:

• Lucas is a kitchen assistant who works under chef Galo
• If asked about being accused of stealing, he will deny the accusation fervently.
• Players can search his bed in the Servants Quarters and find a stash of the items that he has been stealing. As a humble worker, he enjoys stealing things he could never hope to buy for himself. Players can leverage that information against him when they uncover it – but until they have that leverage he will insist he’s innocent.

After a bit of this the GM can interrupt and move the plot along. Two guards enter: Ormond and Rosetti. Ormond is carrying a large bowl.

The Prison Guard looks up from their book, somewhat confused. “Are the prisoners are eating early today?”

Without a word, Ormond tosses the contents of the bowl in their face. It’s full of flour – and the distraction allows Rosetti to come around and neatly slip a knife in between their ribs. The Prison Guard staggers and collapses backwards onto the prison grate. Blood tickles down and drips onto the three prisoners below.

“Well that’s that. Let’s keep going.” says Ormond, taking the sword from the prison guards’ scabbard.

“What about the prisoners?”

“They’re not part of this. They’re just caged birds.”

They take the sword from the prison guards’ corpse and exit, leaving the prisoners to their own devices.

Players will likely want to inspect the body of the prison guard and will notice the keys dangling from their belt. If they don’t, have one of them make a ‘perception pull’ of 1 block to notice this detail. Once they snatch the keys and unlock the grate, at least two players will need to work together to push the grate open with a dead body on top. Have each contributing players make pulls as appropriate. This of course, will be a bit harder if they haven’t helped each other untie the ropes around their ankles and wrists. (But not impossible.)

Once players are out of the prison pits, players may try doing the following:

• Take a guard uniform. However they’ll find it won’t be too useful covered in blood. But let them find that out the hard way. It’s a time loop game, so they can make mistakes and then learn from them!
• They may try to talk Lucas into coming with them, but at this stage Lucas will refuse to leave the cells, saying that if he runs he’ll only look guilty. (Again, once players discover that he has been stealing, they can use this information to their advantage.)
• And most importantly, players will eventually move on to explore more of the manor.

THE EAST WING:

GM Note: Due to a scripted event in the Foyer, players will only explore part of the East Wing. They’ll be free to explore the whole manor after this first loop.
Also note that during Act 1, players are half-way through the games’ timeline by the time they escape the prison pits. There will be more events for players to find in the timeline of Act 2.

PRISON PITS

Players have just escaped from this location. They should probably find somewhere else to be.

WEST HALL

The hall is empty – except when Ormond and Rosetti pass through. (See timeline.) There are several doors here.

• The door to the Guard House is unlocked.
• The door to the Servants’ House is barred, but only from the outside with a broom, which they can remove without making a block pull.
• The Sitting Room door is locked.

TIMELINE:

• During their first run, no characters are scheduled to come out by the time the players escape the prison.

THINGS TO FIND:

• There are no items of interest in the hallway.

GUARD HOUSE

DESCRIPTION:
The room is lined with rows of bunk beds, all with name plates saying the name of the guard who calls that bed home. Most bunk beds have small chests underneath them, containing the guards’ personal possessions.

TIMELINE:

• After visiting the Prison Pits and the Servants’ Quarters, Ormond and Rosetti return to the Guard House to sit down and play cards. They remain here waiting out the arrival of Queen Isabella. If they notice the players, they won’t be happy to see them. Feel free to be lenient and have players make stealth pulls instead of being caught out.
• As players pass by, have them overhear Ormond and Rosetti talking about the Duke’s ornamental sword. “…it was a gift from some noble or other. The sword is silver, so it’s not much use for fighting and it looks pretty ugly. So the Duke just keeps it hidden under her couch!”

THINGS TO FIND:

• There are two dead guards in here, obviously killed in their sleep. Their uniforms are no good for disguises since they have blood all down their chests. The names of the dead guards are Frances and Lugo.
• There are no spare clean uniforms in this room – or spare weapons lying around. That would be too easy.
• Ormond and Rosetti both carry a key to the sitting room.
• The personal chest of the Prison Guard contains love letters between them and their partner Elliot, who is a fellow guard stationed at the royal palace. Searching  the bed will reveal a vial of Elliot’s blood that dangles from a handsome chain necklace. Searching further players can also find a box containing the blood vials of past lovers.
• The personal chest of one of the dead guards contains a diary. The diary starts when they got their first paycheck from working here. He writes of his early excitement of working here and how he is sending money to his family back home so that they will live a better life.
• Players may want to search the bunks for other items or search the bunks of other characters they meet. Feel free to make up contents as needed. Bonus points for items that shed some light on the personality of a character as well as being a useful item to a player.

CHARACTERS:

• Ormond and Rosetti are rebel guards who are part of a plot to assasinate Queen Isabella. But players’ will learn about that plot once they get to Act 2.

SERVANTS QUARTERS

The door to the servants quarters has a broom through the handle as a makeshift bar to lock the door. Players can easily remove the broom to enter.

DESCRIPTION:
The servants quarters is filled with bunk beds. Each bed has a name plate describing who sleeps here and underneath bed are chests containing people’s personal goods. One person is asleep here – a house staff member named Riley. There’s a large key sitting in plain sight atop the chest next to them.

TIMELINE:

• Since Riley is asleep, nothing thing further happens in this room unless player actions change this.

THINGS TO FIND:

• Riley the house servant is asleep here. Players will need to make stealth pulls if they don’t want to wake them up.
• There is a key to the sitting room in plain sight. Players can try to creep stealthily and steal it. (1 or 2 block pulls.) Or they can just rush in and take it for free, but doing so will wake Riley.
• Lucas has a bed here. Players can search the bed for stolen goods. A thorough will reveal a loose floorboard under the bed where he keep his stolen good. They’re many fine things in there, but strangely, not silverware. There is however the contents page torn out from a book called The First Blood Witches. (Players can go to the library in Act 2 to follow up on this clue.)
• Feel free to have one or two clean servants uniforms lying around.
• Players may want to search the bunks for other items or search the bunks of other characters they meet. Feel free to make up contents as needed. Bonus points for items that shed some light on the personality of a character as well as being a useful item to a player.

CHARACTERS:

• Riley will call for the guards if awoken. They of someone who believes that working for Duke Verona is an honour. They can barely remember the days when they used to hunt deer with their mother. 

SITTTING ROOM:

The door to the sitting room is locked. Players can gain access via a number of ways:

• Kicking down the door.  The noise will draw the attention of Ormond & Rosetti if they’re around.
• Picking the lock. Feel free to use any items the players can find to justify picking the lock. Make it a fairly easy pull for the Thief.
• Finding the key. All staff and guard characters in this area should have one on or near their person.

DESCRIPTION:
The sitting room is comprised of comfortable reading chairs a round table piled high with books. The room is given an eerie quality by the four ancient statues placed in the corners of the room. The statues are wearing minimal clothing, so as to show off the tattoos painted on their bodies, but the paint is cracked and has largely flaked away due to time…and fire. Scorch marks have blackened large chunks of the dark stone in wild and uneven streaks. It’s hard to tell just how old these figures are.

TIMELINE:

• This room is static, unless player actions change this. It functions largely as a sound buffer between areas.

THINGS TO FIND:

• The four statues have plaques at their base describing these statues as relics from the Ptometan Empire. Feel free to make up your own stories to go with the plaques. Are these the figure representing gods? Were they powerful leaders? Or were they memorialised for other reasons?

GM Note: The statues are from the Ptometan Empire, a society of powerful magic users who fell centuries ago due to an unknown calamity. They are largely a mystery, so feel free to add extra tantalising details as you see fit.

FOYER:

DESCRIPTION:

The entrance foyer to the East Wing is decorated with a line of busts, tracing the lineage of Queens. Each bust has been painted to replicate the facial tattoos each queen wore. The bust at the end, Queen Isabella, is pale and lacking any tattoos.

There’s a set of large double doors that leads to the grounds outside. Each door has high round window inset, allowing you to see the clock tower.

When players enter this room during their first play through, it will be at a time when Nikolai has been attacked and bleeding out. This is the key scene that launches the game proper.

TIMELINE:

• When players get near to the foyer, Nikolai calls for help in a weak voice. Hopefully they will come and investigate.
• If players don’t come to the Foyer, Nikolai will stagger to their feet in search of help and encounter the players that way. If players didn’t even leave the prison, have them come to them and fall onto the prison grate.
• One way or another, players will encounter Nikolai and the following scene plays out:

KEY SCENE: Death of Nikolai

When players encounter Nikolai in person, they are badly wounded and bleeding out. You’ll recognise them as the heavily tattooed guard from before, with spiderweb-like markings covering all the skin you can see.

Nikolai is delirious from blood loss. They talk of seas and storms and sailors, as though they think they’re on a ship. They call one of the players “captain.” Then in a moment of lucidity they’ll cast their last spell. Their tattoos appear to melt away from their body and pool across the floor. This ethereal liquid will quickly slither along the ground and ooze up the bodies of the three prisoners. Even if players try to run, the ink will catch up to them. The ink finally seeps into each of the three players characters,  leaving behind a complicated pattern as dense and delicate as a spiders’ web.

There’s a moment of silence as you contemplate what just happened. Some dark magic has occurred, but you don’t yet understand what it was. Each player is now marked with a part of the tattoo that once adorned Nikolai. (It’s up to the players if they’d like to decide where it is and what it looks like; it serves the same purpose.)

Give players a couple minutes to react to their situation or continue to explore the area. They won’t get far though, as soon as enough time has passed or they go to check out another room, there’s the sound of a gong and bells ringing out around the grounds.

[Play SFX4: Queen’s Bell]

A moment later, there’s a explosive sound from the grounds. Through the windows in the door you see the clock tower ripping apart. A red wave of energy bubbles out from the peak of the tower.

[Play SFX5: Red Wave Explodes]

 

It quickly expands outwards, passing right through the stone walls and into and through the room. The air quivers with heat distortion and the red wave passes through your bodies. You feel your blood boil and flesh drip away from your bones.

Then all is in darkness. For a moment, you feel nothing.

At this point the GM should knock over the tower and then rebuild the tower in full. Players won’t know it yet, but this tower will now represent the stability of the time loop – and it has its own unique set of rules.

The Rules Of The Time Loop:

• You do not explain these rules to the players. They will discover them by experimenting and by talking to Nikolai in future loops.
• As stated above, rebuild the tower in full. We want to give the players as much chance to succeed as possible.
• What just killed the players was a powerful wave of magical energy. The explosion came from within the Clock Tower. This will always kill the players and reset their loop, unless they can find a way to stop the explosion from happening.
• Player characters will remember everything from previous loops. But no one else will – not even Nikolai.
• Whenever any one of the three players dies, whether it’s the energy wave, being skewered by a guards’ sword or any other means of death, then players will loop back to the start of Act 2 where they arrive on at the manor by wagon. Do not knock over the tower when this happens.
• When the tower does finally collapse on its own, this represents the time loop having collapsed. Players will no longer loop to the start again and time will proceed from that point on as normal. Refer to the post-loop rules in Act 3 when this occurs.

What are the players trying to do in Act 2?

• Players will experiment and figure out the parameters of the time loop magic. Feel free to straight up kill a player (without making them pull a block) if they do something mortal like decide to take on an armed guard without having a weapon themselves. This will let them see that they can die and reset the loop without having to pull a block. It will also let them see that the tower retains it state each time the loop resets.
• Players will get good at certain things. They will learn the locations of certain objects, figure out routines and gain experience doing the same actions over and over. For some actions, players may only need to make pulls the first time they attempt it. If they’re sweet talking a guard in much the same way or picking a lock they’ve unlocked before, it’s essentially a risk free action. However if they’re trying a brand new approach to a situation, or fighting a particularly strong opponent, feel free to make players make pulls for these actions
• Players will try to befriend non-player characters. Since the players’ are criminals, they’ll find everyone in the manor is anatogonistic towards them. Players can use personal information  or evidence they’ve acquired in past loops to gain the trust of characters. Or they might try disguising themselves to get by. Some characters will require both strong evidence and block pulls to sway their mind. (For example, if players’ want to convince Duke Verona that an assasination plot is afoot.)
• Players will inevitably re-encounter Nikolai when they go through the Foyer again. Nikolai will explain how their time loop magic works.  Also if players’ find and show Nikolai the source of the red wave (in the clock tower) Nikolai will tell players’ the 4 items they need to undo the deadly ritual.
• Everything resets to its starting position at the beginning of a loop. Non-player characters won’t remember past conversations and items won’t stay in players’ pockets. If they need an item, they’ll need to re-acquire it each time.
• If players want, feel free to make your descriptions of events more succinct while keeping the events the same. This will allow players to quickly get through the loop without things getting too repetitive. If players are trying the exact same approach and no block pulls are required, you can ask players if they’d like to jump ahead past the scene, or just summarise it.
• It’s the role of the GM to keep things consistent and keep track of how players actions will change the current loop. Remember that player actions only exist for the duration of the current loop. Use the map to help both yourself and players keep track of things.

Um so what if a player dies before any of this happens?
There arent too many challenges in Act 1 so this is unlikely, but if they do have them just be slowly bleeding out, but barely alive. Rebuild the tower as normal and continue the story. Have them still get caught up in Nikolai’s ink and in the time loop shennanigans later on.

ACT 2:

In which players are now trapped in the time loop. They must use this to their advantage to survive and escape their fate.

GM Note: There’s a lot of information here, but the GM should be especially familiar with the following key locations:

• Foyer (East Wing) Where Nikolai explains how the time loop works.
  
• Clock Tower (The Grounds) For information on how the red wave can be stopped and the 4 ritual items Nikolai will send the players to collect.
• Captain’s Office (West Wing) To understand why Captain Brunetti is motivated to assassinate the Queen and the Duke.
• The Duke’s Private Quarters (West Wing) For the confrontation scene where Captain Brunetti tells the Duke of his plot before triggering the red wave upon hearing the bells signalling Queen Isabella’s arrival.
  

[Play SFX1: Cart Arrives]

You see nothing but darkness, but you slowly become aware of a chafing sensation around your wrists and ankles. You feel a swaying beneath you and the sound of horses hooves.

The cart stops and the burlap sacks are pulled from your heads. You can see Duke Verona holding court.

“Eden Taylor. You have been found guilty of the crime of blood magic. In the name of Queen Isabella – long may she reign – you are hereby sentenced to death. Captain Brunetti: carry out sentencing if you please.”

Eden is beheaded by Captain Brunetti. Chef Galo steps forward and starts to present Lucas, when the clock tower chimes three times.

[Play SFX2: Clock Tower ]

Duke Verona quickly wraps up her court.

“This brings today’s hearings to a close. All unheard cases will receive justice on the morrow. This evening we have the honour of hosting the official Queen’s Day celebration, so look lively everyone. We haven’t much time before Queen Isabella and her entourage will arrive.”

The Duke orders for a guard to stash Eden in a coffin in the stables, Chef Galo to the kitchen and for the guards to send all prisoners – both Lucas and the three new arrivals – to the prison pits.

TO THE CELLS

You’re escorted across the grounds and into the East Wing Foyer. Nikolai is there, but their skin is devoid of any tattoos. The guards either don’t recognise them or they don’t notice, because no one says anything.

Guards continue to escort the players through the Sitting Room, through the hallway and into the Prison Pits.

GM Note: Of course, players’ are welcome to interrupt to the flow of the opening sequence. Players can now also explore the whole manor. The map is divided between the East Wing, the West Wing and the Grounds. There are links at the bottom of each room description to allow you to quickly jump to any of those areas. There’s also a link to act 3, which is triggered by the Jenga tower collapsing, signifying the collapse of the time loop. Lastly there’s a link to the Queen’s bell and clock tower explosion sound effects.

THE EAST WING

JUMP TO: East Wing | West Wing | The Grounds // Restart loop | Act 3 // Sounds

THE GROUNDS
 

JUMP TO: East Wing | West Wing | The Grounds // Restart loop | Act 3 // Sounds

THE WEST WING

JUMP TO: East Wing | West Wing | The Grounds // Restart loop | Act 3 // Sounds

Queen’s Arrival & Assasination Sound Effects:

[Play SFX4: Queen’s Bell]

[Play SFX5: Red Wave Explodes]

JUMP TO: East Wing | West Wing | The Grounds // Restart loop | Act 3 // Sounds

ACT 3

In which the players are released from the time loop and their adventure reaches an end…one way or another.

When the tower collapses, make it a standout moment for the characters. The tattoos bleed and melt away from their skin. Nikolai would still be totally tattoo free. Add in flashing lights and strange sensations as desired. Their characters no longer have their safety net and the players must play with a new set of rules.

POST-LOOP RULES:

The collapse of the tower represents the collapse of the time loop. From this point on we play with dice. Push the fallen tower aside and put the dice on the table: 3 white dice and just 1 of the 2 red dice.

(Save revealing the second red die for explaining ‘playing the odds’ at the end of this rules section. Also feel free to substitute white and red dice for other colours.)

Explain the following rules to the players and provide them a printout of the post-loop rules for their reference.

Rolling for success:
Whenever the player wishes to attempt an action that has an element of risk (an action that would normally be resolved with a block pull) you now roll four dice: 3 of them are white and 1 of them is red. You need to roll successes in order to accomplish the task you’re rolling for.

A success is a 4, 5 or a 6. The GM will advise how many successes are needed prior to rolling.

• One success is for easy actions
• Two for moderate risk actions
• Three for difficult actions
• And a rare four would be a miracle

Health blocks:
Players should have three tower blocks placed upright in front of them. These three blocks represent their health. Three strikes and they’re out. They can now die in this phase.  Health blocks get knocked down when players’ roll badly on ‘dangerous rolls.’

Dangerous rolls:
The red die represents the element of danger. When the GM declares a roll to be dangerous (an action where your character may come to serious harm) then if the red die (and only the red die) comes up with a 1, 2 or 3 then this is a strike against that character and they must knock over one of their health blocks. If all three health block are struck down in this way then the character is captured or killed. A bad roll may also incur physical injuries, depending on context and at the discretion of the GM.

It’s important to note not all rolls are dangerous – only ones declared dangerous by the GM.

Playing the odds:
At this point the GM should pull out a fifth die and place it on the table. It’s another red die.

Before you roll, you can choose to add a 5th red die to any roll. But this makes the roll count as dangerous and if any of the red dice comes up with a 1, 2 or 3 then you get a strike. It is possible to get two strikes in a single roll in this way.

Finishing the story:

How the story continues is up to the players. Given the new rules it’s possible that one or all of them may perish if they push themselves too far. They’ve escaped one fate, but they’re still ordinary villagers accused of serious crimes. Here’s a non-comprehensive list of things players may try in attempting to escape their fate:

• Using allies: Players might earn themselves favour with Queen Isabella, Duke Verona or any other useful character. Will it be enough? Keep in mind the accused blood witch may have a tougher time befriending the Duke or Queen.
• Lesser sentences: Perhaps players might be happy to accept lesser sentences. Hard labour instead of being human bait on a leviathan ship. Having a finger cut off instead of a whole hand.
• Disguises: If players play things right, they might be able to walk right out the front gate. Of course, they’ll need a reason to leave the manor on such an important day.
• Front gate: This is probably the toughest way out, since the guards will be astute about who enters and leaves.
• Walls: Escaping over the wall will require some tricky climbing or a rope, but it’s possible.
• Coffin: There’s room for one player to hide in the coffin of poor Eden Taylor.
• Magic: Most blood magic rituals take a long time to prepare, otherwise that’d be too easy. But if players come up with something clever that Nikolai could do that doesn’t also break the game, feel free to incorporate it. Eden or even Brunetti might be able to help, if they’re alive and cooperative.
• Diversion: The guards are on high alert, but you might be able to use that in your favour. Light a room on fire, like the library, and see what kind of commotion unravels.
• Helping others: Players will likely want to help save the lives of characters they’ve come to care for. Make them work for the best possible outcome. Can they save characters like the Prison Guard and Salvio as well as themselves?
• Helping themselves: Players may want to take some of the wealth back home. Or take some supplies if it looks like they’re going to be on the run and can’t go back home. There’s plenty of good loot all around the manor.

Below are the navigation links in case you need to reference the map some more. But for anything that exists beyond the timeline of the loop feel free to make it up wholesale based on the players’ actions in the new timeline.

JUMP TO: East Wing | West Wing | The Grounds // Act 3 // Sounds

Once the players’ have escaped, succeeded or otherwise brought their story to an end, I like to wrap the game up with an epilogue for each character as well as an epilogue for how things pan out for the country as a whole. Did the Duke and the Queen survive? What does the future hold for blood witches and has this changed how conscription is perceived? What happens to Nikolai now? I like to play Time In A Bottle by Jim Croyce as ‘ending credits’ music to close out the game.

However your players’ choose to end their adventure – I hope it’s been a wild ride for everyone.

CREDITS:

Thanks for playing!
Story and sound design by Kyle Evans.
The Dread system was created by The Impossible Dream.
Art collages from sources by Nicolas Postiglioni, Krivec Ales and Felix Mittermeier.