Free Roll 4 Shoes Adventure: DISASTER at Princess Pumpernickel’s Magical Birthday Cooking Competition! (version 1)

A mashed potato monster found on the internet

 DISASTER
at Princess Pumpernickel’s
Magical Birthday Cooking Competition

***
Princess Pumpernickel (7 years old) organized her yearly Magical Birthday Cooking Competition and you, for better or for worse, have joined in to this Magical Masterchef competition, where the winner gets incredible riches and the loser will spend a year in the dungeons!

This year a disaster happens when a magical mash potatoes and sausages golem has gone rogue and started to wreak havoc! So far, the princess is still amused, but things might go bad for you if you cannot put an end to this golem … in the most entertaining way possible.

You are some type of Magical Cook with enough expertise, or such an inflated ego, that you would at least think of standing a chance and not end up in the dungeons.

***

Base System: Roll for Shoes (https://rollforshoes.com/)
Extra’s: Choose a background that informs how easy or difficult your actions might be. You can choose or roll d66 (2d6: first die is first digit, second die is second digit) on the list or invent your own (GM fiat). There can be no two of the same. The person who celebrated their birthday most recently gets to pick or roll first.

11. Mash-o-mancer: You start with a sack of magical potatoes. How are they magical? The GM might tell you, or ask you, depending on how he feels.


12. Pastamancer: You start with Grandma’s magical cookbook. There’s no recipes in there, but grandma’s ghost will yell at you when you do things wrong and tell you to measure with your soul.


13. Sushi Shaman: You start with an aquarium on wheels, in which a fresh mermaid is captured. Does she help, or is she an ingredient?


14. Garlic Warlock: You start with a wreath of mystical garlic.


15. Cheezard: You start with a giant wheel of Elemental Emmental cheese.

16. Soup Witch: You start with a magical, walking cauldron. It has a bit of an attitude.

21. Meatball Mystic: You start with a heap of Ground Unicorn Meat.


22. Flame Wizard: Master of the grill, you have eternal charcoal, stolen from the depths of hell’s ever-burning fire. Sometimes it screams when it burns.


23. Tofumancer: You start with silky smooth tofu made from actual clouds.


24. Salsa Salamander: You are a magical fire-lizard that specializes in hot-sauce. You start with 1d6 other-worldly peppers of increasing intensity. 


25. Vegan Vampire: You start with a barrel of ethically sourced blood from lab-grown meat. And sunglasses, for obvious reasons.

26. Juice Maguus:  You can make juices out of everything, even things that usually cannot be juiced. You start with a magical juicer, which may or may not be your pointy magic hat.

31. Savvy Summoner: You actually don’t know how to cook, but the creatures you can summon can, if you can control them enough to tell them *clearly* what to do.


32. Decanting Enchanter: You know all about wine, and start with 1d6 bottles of wines that are literally out of this world. Either the GM tells you where they are from or you come up with them yourself.


33. Cocktail Conjurer: You start with some magical shakers and a variety of strangely shaped glasses, straws, umbrella’s, etc. The shakers give you the ability to distill emotions. Now only to find a way to capture them!


34. Mushroom Goblin: In the deep and magical caves of the goblin kingdom, strange mushrooms grow with a multitude of strange effects. You have brought 1d6 different ones.


35. TV-Show Chef: You are not magic, you are just very entertaining when cooking good food. You start with a signed version of your latest cookbook.

36. Sauce-Medium: You perform Sauce-Seances in which you contact grandmothers from the past to learn their secret sauce recipes. Sometimes they seem a bit senile though.

41. Pastry-Prince(ss): You are surrounded by a cloud of little winged fairies that will follow your every command. You actually never cooked on your own before, and wouldn’t know which part of the knife to hold. You are very good at giving orders though.

42. Tomaturge: You have magical tomatoes. They are the size of basketballs and taste very fruity.


43. The Easter Bunny: You start with unlimited chocolate eggs. Where do they keep coming from? 


44. Jamming Gnome: Not only do you make some great jams and compotes, but you also make some good music while doing it! You start with 


45. Pickled Homunculus: You are a pickled homunculus and float in a big jar of brine, but are able to come out if needed. You are made out of pickled vegetables, which, in a pinch, can be used as ingredients.

46. Chocolate Charmer: You are able to instill feelings in your chocolates. You start with a crate full of raw cacao.

51. Fruit Ninja: You have two very sharp ninja blades and a box of various fruits to slice dramatically in the air.


52. Ghost of a Restaurant Cook: You can cook ghost-food, from ghost-ingredients (the ghost of a pig, the ghost of a carrot, …) dripping with ectoplasm! But even handling regular food or utensils is very challenging!


53. A Drunk: You don’t really know what’s going on, or how you got here. You vaguely remember signing something? The only thing you really know is that things will become more difficult to do if you don’t get a drink soon, because the headache is coming! You start with an empty bottle of whiskey.


54. Barbecue Beast: You are a Minotaur that’s into grilling! Skewers, steaks, drumsticks, fish, sausages, and some more exotic meats. You start with a fully plucked griffon, ready to be dressed, marinated and grilled. And a grill of course.


55. Goblin Bug Eater: You are a goblin that specializes in preparing food from bugs. The goblins even breed some special types of magical bugs. You start with 1d6 Strange Goblin Bugs. the GM will either tell you what they are, or ask you.

56. Drowned Pirate Captain: As a drowned pirate captain living at the bottom of the sea, you’ve become quite good at making sea-food. You start with 1d6 seafood treasures of the deeps. the GM will either tell you what they are, or ask you.

61. Magical Bakery Construct: You are a magically constructed being that is used as a baker. You start with a built-in oven and a vial of raw magic.


62. Barista Badger: You are a walking, talking badger that can make all-organic, natural coffee.You start with a sack of mystical coffee beans from your enchanted badger glade. 

63. Herbalist Harpy: You start with rare and magical herbs and spices. You usually use them to make calming teas and the like, but who knows what you can use them for in this competition.


64. Heavenly Cook: You are literally an angel. You start with a bag full of golden spoons to eat rice porridge with, as is tradition.


65. Garden Gnome: You are a gardening gnome and can make a pretty good salad! You start with a wheelbarrow of home grown garden vegetables.

66. The Muffin Man: You are really good at making walking, talking cookies, muffins, cupcakes and the like.

***

The arena consists of a circular area divided in six parts revolving around the Royal booth (A large tower with a 360° balcony) where the princess and her family sit. Once a recipe is done, it is brought up to her to taste it and hear her verdict. There are some guards there protecting her.

The full event will take 3 hours, with demands, surprises and complications brought on by the princess each half an hour segment.

THE PRINCESS DEMANDS… 

11. … an explanation on why you are doing what you are doing. Your booth mechanically rises to meet her at the balcony and explain why you are doing things the way you are doing it, or why you have chosen a certain ingredient.


12. … that you use a specific ingredient. She generously provides it to you. It is something that would go really well.


13. … that you make it sparkly.


14. … that your dish can move.


15. … that you use a specific ingredient. She generously provides it to you. It is something that would be difficult to incorporate.


16. … that you use a specific ingredient. She generously provides it to you. It is something that is near impossible to incorporate.



21. … that everybody dances!


22. … that everybody sings!


23. … that you tell an exciting story about the brave and beautiful princess Pumpernickel as you cook!


24. … that you do a fancy trick!


25. … that you tell a joke!


26. … that you start over from scratch!


THE PRINCESS IS GENEROUS


31. She gives you one of her guards as a helper.


32. She let’s you choose one of 1d6 ingredients to have added to your table.


33. She let’s you choose two of 2d6 ingredients to have added to your table.


34. She let’s you choose three of 3d6 ingredients to have added to your table.


35. She gives you a compliment.


36. Your starting resources are replenished.



41. You are in the spotlight! They all focus on you!


42. More time allowance! (an extra round)


43. More time allowance! (two extra rounds)


44. Coffee break!


45. She will invent a song about you on the spot!


46. You get a signed invitation to the ball!



THE PRINCESS IS BORED

51. Release the monkeys! (they steal)


52. The Floor is Lava! (Literally)


53. Make it dark! (Magical Darkness)


54. Zero Gravity Field! (everything starts floating and becomes more difficult to handle)


55. Thorny Vine Sprouts! (they obstruct and pierce)


56. Confetti Cannons! (colored paper and plastic falls from the sky)



61. Flood it! (Water starts to rise. When will it stop?)


62. Release the clowns! (they pester, mock and sabotage)


63. Switch tables with another player of her choice! You now work on that recipe!


64. Random ingredient is banned now!


65. Only use one arm, the others on your back!


66. Stand on one leg!

***

An unforeseen complication is the Mashed Potato Monstrosity now roaming around the arena, looking to devour and assimilate. If any of the players have rolled the Mash-o-mancer, this is their creature gone wrong. Otherwise it’s an NPC contestant. Optionally, play without the mishap and see what unfolds during play.

To see who the monster targets for the round, roll 3d6: 

3. The Princess’ Tower


4. Contestant 1


5. Contestant 1


6. Contestant 2


7. Contestant 2


8. Contestant 3


9. Contestant 3


10. Contestant 4


11. Contestant 4


12. Contestant 5

13. Contestant 5

14. Contestant 6

15. Contestant 6


16. The Live Audience

The monster tries to engulf and absorb, it can also try to terrify and slam things to try and break and destroy things. It needs 6 hits to be destroyed. When hit, a little bit is split off and runs of on its own, trying to cause havoc as well. It is only one hit to defeat that, and it does not split further.

***

DISCLAIMER: This is a first version, untested idea. I hope to test it some time and then see if I can make it into something for my itch.io store. 

Weird Idea #3: You Are A Wolf

THE FIRST HOWL: In which a wolf howls at the moon to tell her what the general idea is.

Again a picture on social media sparks an idea in my weird noggin, and I can't stop thinking about it. I hope this post will get it out of my system.

I came across this on Instagram on the massive.archive account, which is all kinds of inspiring images.
Do check it out. Apparently the original quote is from ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés in Women Who Run With the Wolves

Anyway. Use this list as a general rule for how Wolves behave and decide how well your furry, toothy, wolfy self fits into that list, or how deviant from it you are. Use a very simple resolution mechanic for play. I suggest something like Roll 4 Shoes or 50/50 and tinker from there if need be. The system isn't the interesting thing here, these general wolf rules for life are. They, and your wolf's interaction with them will provide the drama.

THE SECOND HOWL: In which the wolf ask the moon what it means to be a wolf.

So you're wolves ... now what? Good question, here are some questions in return to help your group decide what they find interesting or important. Decide also if there are things you do not want to see and howl these at each other. Be safe.

• Are you all in the same pack? If so, who is the leader of the pack? What are your roles in the pack? If not, how do your packs relate? What is your history? Roll some dice or otherwise resolve it if no resolution can be found through discussion. The roles in the pack(s) might already be a good source of drama to begin a game.

• Where are you? Probably a forest of some kind, but is it dark, wild and rampant, or is it tamed and being encroached by humanity on all sides? Has a disaster recently happened, like a flood or a fire, that might have changed things or attitudes?

THE THIRD HOWL: In which the moon, from her high vantage point, howls back what's in the wolves' path, for well or for woe.

Let's be a bit fanciful and call the GM the Moon here. Place obstacles, dilemma's or other interesting scenes in front of the pack(s) to see how a fulfilling story emerges from this cocktail. Give them opportunities to live out the General Wolf Rules For Life in the picture, but sometimes make living that Wolf Live challenging.

1. EAT: Give them interesting prey, or sudden strange competition, or an unexplained abundance (or rumors of it further ahead).

2. REST: Make moments of rest opportunities to develop relations and deepen your understanding of the pack and its (perhaps changing) hierarchies. At times, make finding rest difficult, a price to be cherished.

3. ROVE IN BETWEEN: Where do they rove to, what do they find of interest, be it curious, beneficial or horrific? Give reasons to rove. Is the prey dying out? Is there sickness or disease? Maybe Human hunters?

4. RENDER LOYALTY: Give opportunities to the wolves to prove themselves loyal. Test loyalties. Where do your wolves' loyalties really lie?

5. LOVE THE CHILDREN: What does it mean to love the children? Protect the children? Prepare the children? Teach the children? How can things happen to the children?

6. CAVIL IN MOONLIGHT: Have a meeting under the moon where, as in a senate, discussion is had. Let different positions clash, let nervous posturing, growling and pacing take place as the grayest of wolves have differing stances or the younger ones want to let themselves be known. Wolfish politics.

7. TUNE YOUR EARS: Look out for danger or cries for help, from prey, pack or foe alike. Find things out. Hear what others have to say, and what they really want to say.

8. ATTEND TO THE BONES: Especially in the difficult times, when prey is hard to come by, attend to the bones, and eat their marrow. Dig deep and find the hidden strength. Attend the bones as well to sharpen tooth and fang, so as to be stronger and more deadly.

9. MAKE LOVE: Find a mate and raise a litter, make the pack grow. But what is the right mate, and are all pups good for the pack?

10. HOWL OFTEN: Let your voice be heard, communicate, even from afar. 

De waarde van de grote schat: The Third Game.

I drew out the path as we went along.
Kinda forgot about it at the guardian.

 

So, last Wednesday I played "De waarde van de grote schat" with the kids from my third school. These are two kids. It's the first time that they chose option B: to go treasure hunting on behalf of someone else, helping them with the hunt. I was exited for this, as I could try out my twist ending. Also, the rate of selfishness/altruism so far is 2/1. Definitely need a bigger test pool to see what the average would be.

So they named their characters and their friend. I asked who it was. Did they know them or was it a stranger? Did they grow up with them? They decided that he was a very trustworthy friend. They gave him a silly name, since they had no inspiration for a regular name. Thus we met Karboeb. (I had to keep a straight face here because it's pronounced "Kar-Boob".)

The also started by asking wether this was in modern day times or in the medieval times. I told them we could decide this on our own. The choose the medieval times "because that's more realistic". I am still baffled by that leap of logic.

The Countryside

Leaving the unnamed village (I should let them name it themselves, but that might eat up precious time. Maybe I should come up with a name.) they traversed the countryside where they heard cries for help and saw smoke in the distance. A farm was on fire. They decided to help.

Design note: I wonder if they would have done so if there was a timer of sorts, or something else to make the choice harder. Like competition. Maybe something like Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket.

A quick draw up, which my target audience might not think of to do.

They arrive on the scene, which I quickly improvise and draw up. Giving it three buildings on fire: The main living quarters, the stables and the shed. The farmers where an older couple who they could not understand in their panicked heavy dialect. They were pointing to the main building, but the kids were like "We need to save the horses!". As I asked them if there would be people in the main building, they reacted that if there were people inside the older couple would have already tried to save them.

It was then I realized this group was definitely smarter than the kids I usually play with.

Since I was improvising I could roll with it. So I asked them how they would try to put out the fire. They asked if there was a well somewhere. Or different water somewhere.

Yup, definitely the smart group.

So I rule that with the five of them (the two PC's, their friend and the two farmers) they would be able to make a bucket chain and ask them which house first. As said before, the stables. Because horses! After the stables the choice was the main house or the shed. They asked what was in both. I told them the house is where people lived and there might still be people in it. The shed is where the food is.

They actually almost went for the shed first, arguing that they would have heard it if someone was in need. So I suggested they roll to see if they could hear something. They heard the faint crying as if from a baby. Well, plans changed quickly. The baby's life was deemed more important than the food, and they went to douse the fire in the house. Actually one of the PC's who had some skill in strength didn't want to waste time with water and kicked in the door, action hero style and found not only a baby, but a teenager that was passed out, who had to be on the way to the baby. He was able to carry them all out while the rest managed to douse the fire.

I then cranked up the fire in the shed and they got it out as well, but not without some lost food, which they were sad about. They got rewarded with two horses though! (they got a choice between horses or food) 

Teacher Note: I wonder if they thought they could figure out a way to save everyone and everything perfectly? I wonder if this scenario would be too cruel if things would go wrong with their rolls?

Design Note: I was able to improvise this quickly, because I am used to the hobby. My target audience are protestant and evangelical teachers though, who for the most part will not even have a frame of reference for this. If they've heard from it, it will most likely be in a negative way. So they will not be used to this. It would be a good idea to make each of these events actually prepped instead of just a prompt, for those that want to use it.

The Forest

So then they went to the forest, where brigands jumped from the bushes. "Your money or your life!", they shouted. Having previously discovered how smart she was, one player's character pretended like she was gonna give them her money but then patted her coat. "I could swear it was here! I must have dropped it over there!" They fell for it and went back to where she pointed. Instead of just riding along, the strong character which already saved people from a burning house snuck after them and with a branch knocked them both out cold. Then they robbed the robbers, finding gold jewelry and the like and taking their weapons and distributing these amongst themselves, reasoning who would be best with what, etc. This dealt with they went on ahead to the cave.

The Cave

Arrived at the cave they find that the entrance to the cave is very narrow. They cannot take much with them, but as established, they are too smart for me. They take some time to build a shelter for their horses and camouflage it. Then they tie their horses to it so they are safe while they go spelunking. I told them they could not get through the narrow opening without leaving everything behind, but they retorted with ... "What if we tie it all up in a package and throw it through first?" I mean, I gotta reward their cleverness, so sure. And then I ask them to roll to see how fast they are. They are just fast enough to see a little mantake the pakket and run. Immediate pursuit. Being able to capture the little gnome by the feet right as he dove into a hole they fish him out and grab the bag back. They then buy his services with a necklace, and proceed to the guardian.

Design Note: Smart kids vs. improvisation... I resort to standard fantasy and fairy tale, which I'm trying to avoid in the finished product. I think having it be a creature like a fox or something would've been better. Also, man, bundeling their stuff up and throwing it through. Nice one. I wanna just play some OSR sandbox stuff without any agenda with these kids, but that's not an option currently.

Teacher Note: Impressed that they thought out of the box, but it kind of defeated the purpose of the exercise. At least they had to leave behind their horses, so I'll take that. I might have to have a little think to make this more enforceable. I want to make it kind of like the idea of the "eye of the needle gate", because they should have to think what they are willing to sacrifice to gain entrance.

The Guardian

Here they met a fully armored knight who opens up his visor to reveal, a skull! *GASP* I immediately asked if it was too scary (I can change it if it's too scary), because they reacted more strongly than I expected. It turned out to be okay once the undead knight revealed that he could only let them pass if they would win a game of Rock Paper Scissors from him. They were up to the task and reached for their dice while I made a fist and started the rime on my hand. "Oh, we're really playing it?!" And it was fun. Which is also what the skeleton said, as he hadn't been able to play for the last 100 years. One player lost but the other won, and the knight opened his chest armour and from between his ribcage retrieved a golden key.

Design Note: Again, better to have these things prepared. I definitely went too hard into the fantasy here, and somehow hadn't foreseen their reaction to a living talking skeleton. The document so far just said guardian. I'd used a dragon in the two previous ones, but wanted to try something else. I think this should be some kind of fantastical encounter though, as it's the end. Maybe I should make it into a giant statue that comes to life to challenge the players? Or a mirror, where they have interact with their own reaction or answer some difficult questions or something. I'll have to give this a good think.

Teacher note: DnD and videogames make you forget how actually horrifying of an idea undead are, even in their simple form. Be careful with falling back on fantasy tropes, especially with an audience for which it aren't tropes yet! Again as well, fantasy and my target audience don't always mix. So the above idea of "your own reflection" might be more apt. It could also be a mechanical thing where they have to solve a puzzle, like a maze or a sudoku or something, but I dunno about that. Sudoku will be too hard I think.

The Treasure

All of a sudden they did not trust their trustworthy friend any longer. They thought he was involved in some dark stuff with this skeleton knight and such. Once the friend asked if he could please have the key because it had been so long since he'd seen her, the players went "Her???" Wait a minute. They asked him to explain, which he did. A wizard had kidnapped his girlfriend and put a curse on him where he couldn't tell about it. The players started testing this story (which I was coming up with on the fly) by asking if they knew about this. Well, they knew he had a girlfriend, and now that they thought of it, they hadn't seen her for a full month or something like that.

Design Note: Again with the fantasy tropes. This is not something I can write for my target audience. These are also the consequences of my previous choices, making me dig myself in deeper and deeper. It's harder to foresee something here though, and the kids define their relationship with their quest giver themselves. Maybe I should make it a more formal statement. As with the Golden Ticket idea. Not sure.

Teacher note: So smart again! Just mentioning her instead of it and they immediately caught on to it. The reveal worked amazingly. Not sure this will work for all of them all the time, but maybe it doesn't need to. You can always increase the revealing. I might also be underestimating my other students a bit. Not sure. There are some very distracted kids there.

Making a game/adventure: "De waarde van de grote schat" or "The Value of the Great Treasure"

I'm working on an educational game to share along colleagues. This is gonna be in Dutch, but there's already been interest in an English translation, so I will work on that eventually. It's not going to be all that hard to talk about here, since I can just give the big idea in a lot less text in English because you guys already know how story-games and roleplaying games tend to work, and what is expected from everyone in these games. My target audience for this most likely does not so more words are needed. More on that later on.

The Basic Idea

The basic idea is that the kids ages ten to eleven think about and experience the concept of value through storytelling play using their characters and imagination. The teacher will throw their characters into situations that will either make them think about the value of things or makes them choose between things. These choices might be difficult. There might be emotions. This is good, and these can and should be talked about in a follow-up lesson.

The System

The system used is my go to for quick play: Roll for Shoes. This is a very easy system, which makes it easy to run quickly. The rules on the homepage of Roll for Shoes are very short and easy to understand ... if you're already familiar with roleplaying games. To explain these from people who have traditionally been scared away from roleplaying games takes a bit more effort, although I seem to have been able to keep it to one page. (though I think I'm gonna visualize it with icons and little illustrations, making it more of a graph with arrow indication the general procedure and other arrows pointing out of that to show consequences; like gaining XP, gaining skills, etc.) I also already have a Dutch translation of the system in the works for which I'm just making illustrations, but it's a bit longer and not specifically geared towards teachers. It has some extra whistles and bells that I thought up that are not needed here.

I'm also not entirely sure if Roll for Shoes is the way to go or if I need to try an approach like Fall of Magic, where there are no dice or GM-type storytellers. Not sure. I think it would quickly run too long, and I'm not sure wether the kids are adept enough storytellers to make it interesting enough with a system like that. I'd have to try and run Fall of Magic first though to see how that goes. I think it might also make the game take longer. So for now, we stick with Roll for Shoes, since I know it and my students know it.

The Adventure

The adventure is a linear path from location to location. This is clearly stated in the beginning of the game. There will be choices to be made in these locations, and even at the start. This will make things interesting, and might even, if the storyteller is comfortable with it, lead you off-route for a time. But basically the player characters are looking for a treasure. To get there, they need to get from their village to the treasure. To do this, they have to go through some locations.

Every location has some prompts written as suggestions for events to play through, but you can make up your own. These events have to somehow make us think about value or what it is the player characters value. The incredible time constraints on the game for using it in class makes it so that if you try to play it all in one lesson, you will need to skip some locations, or skip through them. If you are able to have two lessons back to back it's already a lot more doable to explore each location.

I have veered away from a traditional fantasy setting because of the trouble some evangelical and protestant teachers might have with using mythological, fairy-tale or fantasy elements.

Starting Location: The Village

Here the characters start. I let them choose wether they are searching the treasure for themselves or at someone else's request, helping them locate the treasure. This will come back to the end location as to what this treasure is. 

This is also a first choice to see what they'd think is most valuable: helping someone out, or gaining a thing for yourselves. In my runs of this game, both classes took the first option, looking for treasure for themselves.

Travel location 1: The Fields

Here pastoral scenes invite to choices of value. Here humans are still around. Simple folk. But there are also dangers on the open road. The scenes I provide are: 

1. An invitation to a feast by some farmers. Possible detour from their quest. Possible consequences from this deviations, both good or bad.
2. Cries for help and smoke in the distance. A farm is on fire. Will they help or ignore it? How much do they value their fellow man?
3. A wounded traveler on the ground. They cannot get up. Might make them think of the parable of the Good Samaritan, but more likely they'll have forgotten all about that lesson. Will they help him or is their quest more valuable?

Travel location 2: The Woods

Here you are no longer in civilized lands. People you meet here do not want civilization or have been expelled by it. Or you could meet creatures of the forest.

1. A strange hermit offers a trade. The players food for ... something (strange) that they either collected or made. A doll made from a pine-cone, a four leaf clover, a rope made from their own hair.
2. A fox is trapped in a dangerous trap. Will they save it? How valuable do they think saving a fox is?
3. Brigands jump from the bushes! "Your money or your life!" How valuable do they find their own stuff? Are they willing to give it up, or are they willing to fight for it (or, as in the first time I tried this, run for it)?

Travel location 3: The Cave

You enter a weird world here, where things are vastly different. There is no light, there is no vegetation. Cold stone and the promise of treasure.

1. Cavemen from the depths of the earth want to know if you have anything from the surface with you. The general unavailability of things from the surface makes these very valuable for them, making them offer up all the riches of the earth. A fist sized ruby for a dandelion, a sac of gems for a feather from a real bird, etc. How will the players react.
2. Moaning for help from a nearby cave. Someone is trapped in a gigantic spider's web. (TW for some players. You do not need to do this if it's too scary!) Will they risk getting caught themselves or getting the attention from the gigantic spider that made this? Will they just pass them by. What would they do different if this was in the way of their path to the treasure?
3. A very narrow way through. You'll have to leave something behind to get through. Are you willing to do that? What will you choose?

End location 1: The Guardian

Something is guarding the treasure. They will only let you pass if...

1. You win a game against them: (Uno, thumb wrestling, arm wrestling, rock-paper-scissors,... Play the actual game.)
2. You tell a story about an emotion. It has to have a lesson.
3. You do a dance in the dark. (if in a location that allows for this to happen safely, blindfold them and let them dance to a song)

End location 2: The Treasure

You gain access to the treasure. If you went out to find the treasure for yourself, describe it together. If you helped a person to find the treasure, there's a twist! It's not a thing, but a person!

So far I've only played it twice. I've also have some thoughts on how to improve it. Add a timer somehow, either a rival treasure hunting group or the person hiring them is in a big hurry, something like that. I wanna make some little illustrations for the locations, maybe have the locations on separate cards, or have it all on a big scroll. Not sure.

Rulers of Pegolia 2023 - Conclusion

 While the game has so much story potential if I keep it running, it was running me into the ground. There was too much time being spent on resolving the actions of all the players, so with the upcoming vacation, and a major event that actually fits in my lessons, I called it quits for this school year.

But don't let me keep the happenings from you guys:

WEEK 4: Plans for Peace

The biggest event here is that Empress Chlor from Messias pulled all her spies back from everywhere and made a big announcement: "Sorry that I sent spies. I was afraid you guys wanted to hurt me. I'm organizing a party to apologize. Will you come?" She hopes this will calm down all of the unrest in her empire. 

The workers who are working on her wall are still upset that there are no more workers. They ask her if she cannot order all of those returned spies to come and help out.

And the spy from The Dark Woods escapes.

***

In other news, King Jayden from The North Sea on Land decided to ask tell Emperor Shibi Js from Bradj that he can help him recover his lost researchers. The researchers have not sent any more messages.

He took all of his remaining forces to look for his disappeared army troops, being able to track them down to the hill they disappeared on. They saw the footprints from the battle with the giant and saw that on the holy hill (they don't know it's a holy hill) the footprints just stop. No other sign of where they might be.

***

Emperor Alex of Signapour keeps building his walls, trades Vibranium for water with Sliefingtime and tries to set up a second trade agreement with the Empire of Israël.

***

Berticobella the Big Love-Haver always has a big lists of actions, and a lot to react to. She did a smart thing and automated some things, so that I'd know what to do in case she wouldn't be there. 

She would ALWAYS give water to Signapour and IF beavers would build a dam in her river, her soldiers would be dispatched to destroy the dam.

She found and rescued her workers that fell into the underground sea. They ask her what she wants to do? Keep working on the road? block off the sea? Investigate the sea? 

She received Vibranium which immediately got used by the craftsmen to make the fence. They worked it like they were born to and were able to make all parts from this one load of Vibranium. They now started the assembly process, which would take a while.

The search for the source of magical energy succeeded. They found the magical flower, brewed the tea from it and the researcher that drank it became an oracle of sorts, getting visions from time to time, including the right way to go. They found the source, a crystalline tree with what looked like a lightning bolt trapped inside of it. They asked how things should progress. Pull power lines to the tree? Take the tree to the city? Or take a seed so they can grow their own?

Her spies tell her of the big search in The North Sea on Land and some of her captured spies tried to escape. One didn't get an opportunity, another got caught but one managed to escape.

***

Prince Wildekind keeps setting traps around his domain while his mouse spy escapes from captivity and returns.

***

Empress Lauris tries to calm her people down by giving a speech. She discovered a talent for oration but fails to convince her people by words alone. She also leads a search for her missing troops but cannot find them.

***

Emperor Shibi Js does nothing. His dragon egg starts moving!

WEEK 5: The End

I had told the kids that this would be the last round, as I was spending up to four hours on this game by now in my precious free time.

King Jayden does nothing.

***

Empress Chlor finally succeeds in her efforts. Due to signing a peace accord (which was agreed to by all parties in real time in class) her people calm down and celebrate. She promises to put her spies on work duty only to then in the same action pull them back out to search for the escaped mouse spy. The workers are not happy with this.

***

Emperor Alex finishes the walls to protect him from a possible volcano eruption! His builders are also experts in building with Vibranium now.

***

Berticobella the little love-haver finally finishes the first part of her road. She investigates the underground lake/sea and discovers a netwerk that spreads underground for miles, possibly right under the other kingdoms as well. The shadows in here seem to have a life of their own though. A rough map is made for her by her expert scouts.

She orders her special tree to be brought to the kingdom, protected by her spies. They bump into the lost army of Empress Lauris though, and then the search party of Empress Lauris, looking for her lost army! A standoff!

She uses the intelligence gotten from the North Sea On Land to save the trapped researchers. They don't want to go back to King Jayden, but prefer to stay with her. She searches for the other lost army from the same kingdom but cannot find it. They seem to have disappeared, as by magic!

***

Prince Wildekind finished trapping his domain.

***

Empress Lauris' people also react relieved to the peace treaty signed. Her search party for her lost troops finds them, while being confronted by Sliefingtime's ninja's carrying a glass lighting tree? What?

***

Emperor Sjibi Js does nothing still and his dragon egg cracks, spilling fire that sets fire to his laboratory!

***

THE END

Rulers of Pegolia 2023 - Week 3 Update

 The map hasn't really changed since last time, so no updated image for that.

King Jayden of The North Sea on Land:

The king ignored his researchers trapped by the giant Lobsters (I said crabs before, but I was wrong, I had given him the news that it were lobsters). They ask for help again. They sound desperate. (And secretly their trust in their ruler is plummeting rapidly)

Meanwhile he divides his armies and sends 1/8th of his army to the Empire of Bradj and 1/8th to the Empire of Israël. The ones traveling to Bradj do well and turn out to devise para-gliding vehicles to be able to traverse the mountains easily. They send message of their arrival and ask what to do, because their king asked to send the army there, but not what for. Is he bolstering their troops? Attacking them? What is expected? 

The ones traveling to Israel have less fortune. The stumble on a giant that causes them losses and then try another way, over the holy ground in C4, where they end up in a strange mist and ... disappear. Not that the king knows any of that. He just knows that they haven't sent word of their safe arrival... weird.

After all this, these are the hidden stats:

• Tags: Extra Food, Plummeting Trust in the Research Team, The Lost Army Troop
• Project: Expansion to A4 (ongoing?)
• Discovering (2)
• Army (2) - Speedy Troops (3) - Airborne Soldiers (4)
• XP: 0

Empress Chlor of Messias:

She had ignored her subjects letting her know they were scared. This results in protests.

She ignored the message that there were not enough workers for her wall. They carried on none the less, getting even better at their job but getting angry for not receiving help.

Her spies found out that Emperor Alex is sick, small armies are moving from The North Sea on Land towards Israel and Bradj. The captured spies in Bradj and Israel escape and ask wether to return or keep spying. The spie she sent to the Dark Wood return with a weird message that the Prince is fine with playing hide and seek. It's his turn now! spies are found in her own empire as well as they tried to sneak in. One from Sliefingtime and one from the Dark Woods (A mouse with a silver cape, kind of a dead giveaway). But also a spy from Bradj carrying a bomb! While this is concerning, she now gets a free bomb!

She asked for help, but did not write down who she asked it from, so I had her counsel give her different suggestions (negotiate a peace treaty, focus on your own population because they are freaking out, or war because they can't trust us anymore due to our spies being discovered). I think she's freaking out a bit that it's going bad, but she does not see how bad the others are messing up too.

After all this, these are the hidden stats:

• Tags: Tension with Israel, Subjects are Scared, Not Enough Workers, Angry Workers, Protests (Against the Military), Bomb (from Bradj)
• Spying (2) - Discovering Secrets (3)
• Working (2) - Building (3)
• Spies safe in The North Sea on Land and Signapour.
• XP: 0

Emperor Alex of Signapour:

The player was sick this weak, so the emperor is as well. He cannot make decisions, but ongoing projects continue.

The Vibranium Walls are built around more of his cities, making them safer.

A Para-gliding army has been spotted in D1, heading for the Empire of Bradj it seems. The spotters couldn't determine whose army it was.

The council was actually very good in taking over for him while sick. They discovered their talent for this.

After all this, these are the hidden stats:

• Tags: Rumbling Volcano
• Building (2)
• Councelors (2)
• Project: Vibranium Walls (2/4).
• XP: 1

Berticobella, the Small Lover of Sliefingtime:

The Small Lover has some projects going, and spends most of her time reacting to them.

The building of the tunnel under the holy site is approved and the builders try to finish it but OH NO! Disaster! They dig into an underground cavern and fall way way down into an underground sea. One guy managed to stay from falling and went to report. She's gonna save these guys? Right?

The magical fence is being worked on as well. She instructed the people to go to a place she's heard of that has a magical flower. If you find that flower, it will show you the way to a source of magical power. They could not find it this week, but are willing to keep looking.

She also realized that if she's got the only key to the city, her spies, or anyone else for that matter, would have a hard time going in and out of the cities. She asks for face scanners, and her researchers find that, not only can they do this, they are pretty good at inventing as well!

The workers for the project on the walls ask if any Vibranium has been obtained yet (it has not).

Then she also joins the spy game: Her spies get in safe to The North Sea on Land, Signapour and The Dark Woods (impressively enough). They get found out in Israel, Messias and Bradj. She learns about the troop movements of King Jayden, the illness of Emperor Alex (and that his project is halfway done), and that Prince The Wild Child is reinforcing his domain with traps. Their spies learned a lot from this.

Troop movement is spotted on the river as Israel's army is trying to pass. They are unwilling to pay the tax so they take their ships to land and carry them inside the forest.

After all this, these are the hidden stats:

• Tags: Holy Ground, Subterranean Sea, Lost Workers.
• Researching (2) - Inventing (3)
• Building (2)
• Spies (2) - Infiltrating (3)
• Project: Road (0/3)
• Project: Research Magical-Electric Fence (1/3)
• XP: 2 

Prince Wild Child of the Dark Woods:

I returned the Spy from Messias thinking it a game. I send my own spy which immediately gets caught.

I realized I was unfair last time, making others have entire projects for reinforcing their domains with walls, while I just one-turn reinforced with traps. So I made it a project, in which I advanced.

After all this, these are the hidden stats:

• Project: Trapped Forest (2/4)
• Hunting (2)
• XP: 1

Empress Lauris of Israel:

She ignored a caught spy and it escaped.

She caught a spy from the country of Sliefingtime. What will she do with it?

She ignored the protests. They keep going on and even become violent!

She sends her army to the empire of Bradj. They refuse to pay taxes so decide to carry the boats into the woods where they get lost. (They discover they are pretty good as an army though!). She does not know any of this. She only knows she does not receive any word from them. Weird...

After all this, these are the hidden stats:

• Tags: Tension with Messias, Scared of Messias, Violent Protests (Scared of Messias), Lost Army.
• Army (2)
• XP: 2

Emperor Shibi Js of Bradj:

He ignored the captured spy, which escaped.

He caught a new spy, this time one from Sliefingtime. What will he do? (I forgot to put that in his overview. I will need to fix this.)

He wants to 'discover new eyes' but fails. I tell him that if gives more details of how he tries to do this, he has a higher chance of success.

He wants to send spies into Messias to plant a bomb but fails. The spies, and the bomb are captured. His troops learn from this experience for the next time.

An army not only arrives. It paraglides over the mountains and stands to wait. They are from The North Sea on Land. What do you do?

After all this, these are the hidden stats:

• Dragon's Egg
• Spies (2)
• XP: 1

Rulers of Pegolia 2023 - Week 2 Update.

 

The current state of the game world

The result of the second week of gameplay are in and parsed (as I had some time for it today). As it stands I need some 2 hours each week for this, which is too much to sell it to other teachers, especially those not familiar with roleplaying. But I'm having fun at least! That counts for something.

Let's see, starting at row A, and moving down from left to right we have King Jayden first, followed by Empress Lauris and Empress Chlor, then Emperor Alex, Berticobella, Emperor Shibi Js and finally The Wild Child. I didn't specifically tackle them in that order, which makes me think that I might have to make a rule about who goes first, since that can have influence on what happens. Just a little side-note to think about.

King Jayden of The North Sea on Land

King Jayden, the poor guy, sent out this cheery letter introducing himself and the name of his country (Oh, I see I have to edit that on the map!) to everyone, only to get a letter that says "Hi king Jayden, so what's the name of your country?" and another confusing one asking him to join a war. Luckily I was already planning on having my character being glad with just a friendly greeting (he might be feral, but he's just a kid living in the wild. Having friends is fun!). 

Also, he's the only kid that has no others in religion class, being the only Protestant in his year, so unlike the other classes, he doesn't have this same idea of others moving around in the world, actively thinking, as the other groups do. So yeah, my character was like, what the heck, let's send him a gift of our surplus food (delivered on a cart pulled by stags, while a fox wearing a silver cape delivered a letter saying "Hey Jayden! Me Wildekind! Enjoy Food!"

He also took an action, deciding to try and expand his kingdom to A4, but his scouts are accosted and cornered by giant crabs (the size of horses!) and ask for help. In this, his scouts also learned some valuable lessons about preventing this type of thing in the first place, gaining Exploration (2) as a skill, (though none of the kids know any of the skills).

Empress Lauris of the Empire of Israel

Empress Lauris mainly sent out some letters. One letter to King Jayden, about which I wonder if she means to act as if she didn't receive his previous letter or if she was not paying attention. Chances are 50/50. But the other letter was sent to Emperor Alex, agreeing that help might be nice, as well as trade. She didn't specifically say she was after his Vibranium, but he's the only one currently holding that resource. 

She didn't really take any other action, no building or scouting or researching or anything. So I rolled for an event. Her people got more upset with their proximity to Messias that they were holding protest marches, especially since they could see soldiers moving throughout the Empire of Messias.

To make things even more interesting a spy from the Empire of Messias was caught sneaking into the Empire and is now in prison. She will have to decide what to do with them.

Not doing things is not gaining her any skills. If she doesn't pick it up she's gonna lag behind quickly.

Empress Chlor of the Empire of Messias

Empress Chlor, oh boy. Being unsure of wether or not her allies were lying to her or being true friends, she went hard into the spy game (failing enough to level up twice in a single turn!). The only one she seems to be really trusting is Berticobella, to whom she entrusted her entire plan. But yeah, she's acting from a feeling of being cornered.

Her actions were deploying soldiers (which frightened the general population), trying to build walls around her kingdom, (but it turned out a lot of the workers were drafted into said army) and sending out spies to everyone (except, I'm assuming, Berticobella, to which she wrote her entire plan in a message). 

The Kingdom of Bradj immediately discovers her, as was the case in the Empire of Israel and the Dark Woods. In The North Sea on Land she discovered the plans for expansion and the current trouble with the enormous crabs and in Signapour she discovered the Vibranium Walls being built to deal with possible volcanic disaster.

Through all this she learned Spying (2), Discovering Secrets (3) and Building (2) throughout this one action. The spy game seems to be scary in this type of game. In a previous iteration someone also burned all her bridges by having spies uncovered. What will the fallout be now?

Emperor Alex of the Empire of Signapour

Emperor Alex mainly tries to deal with the volcano. He had expressed concerns, asking me in class if he needed to move his entire country. I said that's definitely one option, but there are probably other things he could do, especially with that Vibranium he has. He decided to build walls around his cities using the material. Their builders did great and discovered their talent with building. I set the project at a four week project.

Other than that he got the reply from Empress Lauris, which we've already handled there.

Berticobella the Small Love-Haver
of Sliefingtime

Berticobella mainly focused on answering mail, forgetting that she needed to make decisions for the projects she has running. She messaged both Lauris and Chlor that she is joining them in their war against Bradj. 

She is receiving Chlor's plans this week.

Project wise, I had the project mangers roll for decisions. The Foreman leading the roadworks had a stroke of genius and decided to make a tunnel, digging deep enough so that it would not desecrate the holy site. It will take longer, but they can keep following orders without having to desecrate a holy space. 

The research on the Magical Lightning Fence with Magical Key didn't receive instruction on what to do, so they decided to go with the easiest first. They found a way to conduct magical energy and turn it into electricity. Guess what special material they need for it though? Vibranium. She will have to obtain some Vibranium somehow to be able to make her entire wall. How will she do this?

Emperor Shibi Js of the empire of Bradj

Emperor Shibi Js keeps sending out letters to try and recruit, even though the once he resends them to haven't even had the chance to reply (that is what they do in this action). He resends his offer to Wildekind and ups the ante, offering five of his best eyes for help in the war. He also invites King Jayden to the war with a very confusingly written message.

He gets a message back from The Wild Child this turn. (so he will read this with the other results) which is a boar with a silver cape carrying a satchel containing a broken spear and a letter saying "Hi Shibi! Me Wild Child! No Faight!" and a muddy handprint as a signature.

He also discovers the spy from Messias and will have to decide what to do with them.

Also, again without actually acting he's gonna lag behind in skills pretty soon.

The Wild Child, Prince of the Animals
Ruler of the Dark Woods.

The Wild Child tries to make friends with King Jayden by sending him food. He tells Emperor Shibi Js that he's not willing to fight. With all this talk of war he decides to reinforce his woods with some traps, at which he succeeds.

Then he catches a spy from Messias. He will have to decide what to do with this next turn.

Rulers of Pegolia 2023 - Week 1 update

PEGOLIA 2023 - WEEK 1

Last time, before a week-long vacation, the kids had finished up their rulers, placed their kingdoms and received the update of a filled in map, showing everyone who was where. 

The lay of the land in Pegolia.

• On the Coast at A3, We've got King Jayden, who hadn't given a name for his country. His city floats on the sea.

• B5 is shared by two Empires, and their Empresses, which is not surprising because it has the benefits of forest tiles AND river land tiles. We've got both Empress Lauris of the empire of Israel and Empress Chlor of the Empire of Messias. Both of their empires float on the river.

• C1, which has a volcano (hidden by the flag), has been claimed by Emperor Alex of the Empire of Signapour. They are famed for their Vibranium mines.

• D4 has been settled by Berticobella, the Small Lover and her domain called Sliefingtime. She is known for speaking any language.

• E1 has both a river and mountains. It's wisely been inhabited by Emperor Shibi Js of the Bradj Empire. The people here all have magic eyes that give them superpowers, like in Naruto.

• E7 is the domain of The Wild Child, Prince of the Animals of Donkerwoud (Dark Wood). He can speak the language of the animals.

Empress Lauris sent a letter to Berticobella asking for aid in a war, not against the Empire of Messias, as I would have expected, but against the Empire of Bradj, way far away. This, in part, has to do with the players of Chlor, Lauris and Shibi Js being in the same classroom, and Shibi Js' player boasting of going to war immediately. 

In class, out of in-game correspondence, the rulers of Messias and Israel made an agreement to go to a preventative war against Bradj. And Lauris, taking the lead is trying to gather her forces through diplomacy.

Meanwhile she receives an offer of friendship from the Empire of Signapour to work together and perhaps establishing some trade. Oh, and maybe take over the world together.

To make things worse I rolled an event roll (since she only sent out letters and didn't take any other action) and it came up bad. Her people are complaining. There's not enough room in the country. Tensions are rising between the people of the empire of Israel and the people of the Empire of Messias. Advisors are suggesting options (war, finding another place to live or showing the people how to live together) but in the end, the decision will be hers.

She will have some choices to make.

Emperor Alex only sent a letter to Lauris in an offer of friendship and trade, and the possibility to conquer all other countries together and did nothing else. This is significant, since in class, out of in-game correspondence, he made an agreement with Berticobella to build roads towards each other to establish trade. It will be interesting to see if he's just that kind of person who does nothing in a group assignment or if he's purposefully playing her.

Since he didn't take any actual action, I rolled an event. It's a bad one, so I decided that the volcano in his territory started smoking and rumbling. The advisors ask him what he wants to do.

Emperor Shibi Js sent a letter to the Wild Child (all the way across the land), to try and recruit him for his war, offering him magic eyes.

He also didn't do anything other than send a message, so I rolled an event and got a 6 (on a d6) which I ruled to be a good special event. Long story short, they found a dragon egg in his country and brought it to him.

Berticobella started on her road. It didn't go well specifically. Apparently the road she wanted to make goes through some sacred territory, and some of the workers don't feel comfortable making a road through there. They ask her what to do. Is she gonna push through or is she gonna make a detour?

She also wants to make a magical electrical fence around her country. It will have a magical electrical gate to which she has the only key. It turns out the technology for that will needs some work. Her technical advisors promise her that they will discover or invent techniques to do this. They just need some time.

Through the failed rolls for this, I used the XP to grant her two new talents. Building (2) and Researching (2).

She gets a whole lot of mail. Both from Empresses Lauris and Chlor, both asking for aid against Emperor Shibi Js. And then another letter of introduction from King Jayden.

King Jayden realized people didn't know his country, so he sent a letter to everyone introducing himself and saying that the name of his country is "De Noordzee op land" (The North Sea on land).

For his event, trade went well this week. He's got some extra riches to use.

Empress Chlor of Messias sent a letter to Berticobella asking for help, but also confiding in her that she really does not want war, but to be able to share together, but she's too scared to stand up for that in the group. But maybe there is strength in numbers?

Her advisors come to her with the same problem Empress Lauris has. The people between the two empires are not getting along. What should they do about that? War? Looking for a new place? Setting an example of living together?

Wild Child gets the invite from Emperor Shibi and will have to react to it.

For his action he goes on a hunt and stocks up on food. He succeeds and makes sure there's a surplus of food.

He rolled a six on his do anything, so he's discovered the talent of Hunting (2).

So, that's what's going on for now in Pegolia. Lot's of potential for drama, for sure. Lot's of interesting opportunities to give them hard choices or dilemmas.

It will be interesting to see how they react in the coming week.

The Rulers of Pegolia 2023 begins!

 It's happening again! Three different schools, three classes, one game.

Since my fifth graders (10-11 y.o.) are learning about what a good ruler is according to our lesson plan, I get way too ambitious. (Apparently that might be undiagnosed ADHD showing) Each student and the teacher play a kingdom/domain in the lands of PEGOLIA (Pego is the abbreviation of protestant-evangelical religion education in Dutch here in Belgium). Over the coming weeks each player can make actions as a ruler, which will have consequences. This year I'm testing out Roll For Shoes as the engine to see how that goes. They do not know of each other which rulers they are. I know, and I play a kingdom as well, but it's just an NPC which I can use to make things interesting for the players. They know this (but not who I play).

This year, I'm introducing:

• Emperes Chlar of the empire of Messias. Her Empire floats on the river.

• Emperor Alex of the empire of Signapour. His empire in the mountains is known for their Vibranium mines.

• Emperor Shibi Js of the empire of Bradj. It is known that in his empire, people have special eyes that give superpowers (read as Sharinggan from Naruto)

• The Small Lover Berticobella, ruler of Sliefingtime. She is known to speak all languages.

• King Jayden of the nameless kingdom. His kingdom is known to float on the sea.

• Emperes Laurin of Israel. Her Empire is known to float on the river.

• Wildekind (Wild Child), Prince of the Animals, who rules over the Donkerwoud (Dark Forest). It is said that he kan speak with the animals.

Two of them immediately start with a dilemma, since they both chose the same starting tile. 

Choices will be need to be made.