Tales of Entropy
A Game of Conflict and Consequences
Petteri Hannila Copyright (C) 2017 Petteri Hannila Published 2017 by Petteri Hannila
Editing and proofreading: Elizabeth N. Love, Gwyneth Koljonen, Eero Tuovinen
Cover art: Nina Korento Cover editing: Antti Luukkonen
Interior art: Corrina Hutchings, Mika Kilpeläinen, Sipi Myllynen, Peitsa Veteli
Scenarios: Petteri Hannila, Eero Laine, Eero Tuovinen
Sheets: Antti Luukkonen
http://www.talesofentropy.com/ Acknowledgements
It is almost a cliché to say that nothing of this would be possible without the help of others. But there is no escaping the truth, so here goes:
• Thanks to my personal playtest crew: Atte Hulkkonen, Antti Luukkonen, Sini Karvonen, Henri Niskanen and Nuppu Soanjärvi. There is no way this game would ever have been completed without you. Also thanks to the Helsinki–based “Pelitestiryhmä” and Sonkajärvi–based playtest group for invaluable playtest. • Eero Tuovinen, your help and encouragement borders the situation where I would need to put your name on the cover beside mine. While I may honestly say that the building blocks of this game are mine, the count- less brainstorming sessions we had formed the glue that keeps those blocks together. Not to mention your en- thusiasm to arrange additional playtesting for this mon- ster in various stages of development, and the scenarios you wrote for it. • Antti Luukkonen and Sami Koponen for reading through the beta and giving constructive feedback. • #ropeteoria (ircnet), a bunch of gentlemen who have a staggering amount of combined role-playing knowledge. Thanks for all of your input; it was plenty and helpful. The following games are the giants on whose shoulders I am trying to stand here:
• Shock: Social Science Fiction by Joshua A.C. Newman was a great inspiration for me and Entropy borrows heavily from it. Equal player roles, minutiae and world- building before actual play are among these things. • Heroquest by Robin D. Laws: Although I designed a game in 2005 that used freely defined traits, this game nails it pretty much the best possible way. Entropy tries to do it too. • Dust Devils by Matt Snyder showed me what narrativist games were all about. With conflicting characters, just as in Entropy. • My Life with Master by Paul Czege is a dark masterpiece that delivers a tale of horror with alarming proficiency. At times, Entropy tries to spiral characters towards gruesome ends as well. Contents
Copyright iii
Acknowledgements v
Introduction 1
Scenario – The Source of the Story 7
Setup – From Scenario to Game 14
Scenes 39
Conflict Resolution 50
Special Circumstances 80
Game Sessions 93
Scenarios 99
Writing Scenarios 143
Notes for Advanced Play 151
Story of the Game 167
Glossary 170 In each of us, there are two natures. If this prim- itive duality of man—good and evil—could be housed in separate identities, life would be re- lieved of all that is unbearable. It is the curse of mankind that these polar twins should be constantly struggling...
Jekyll And Hyde (The Musical) Introduction