StoriesRPG - Drama Clocks Boost!

Welcome!

This is a two-page, printable tool for creating climactic moments of tactics and tension - without combat!  Whether an epic chase, the struggle to save a sinking ship, or a desperate search for a medicinal ingredient, this will help you create collaborative goals and a real sense of drama!

As a certified teacher, I find the narrative focus in most TTRPGs to be reductive - the action and adventure tends to focus only on violence as epic, tense, or exciting.  This tool is what I use in my TTRPG writing classes to help kids experiment with creative, non-violent solutions to complex, dramatic problems.

Though designed to work with the StoriesRPG core rules, it works with any tabletop RPG, creating  countdown to a ...

• Consequence: What will happen if the players do nothing!  To prevent it, they'll need to make ...
• Moves: Actions that could help prevent the consequence - of any sort they can imagine!  Though their individual actions might succeed, they'll need a total number of ...
• Triumphs: In order to stop the clock and save the day!  

This helps you craft narratives that are epic and intense - but teaches players to use charm, investigate, fix things, and a whole range of interesting options to deal with drama.  If used with another game, such as D&D, just substitute Moves that make sense for the system - skill checks, spells, or abilities that might help - and Triumphs and Troubles that work ("Ouch - lose 1d6 HP as a boulder hits you!").

Here's a quick link library for all the StoriesRPG resources:

THE GAME ...

• Core Rules: A one page RPG focused on helping players tell stories of drama, excitement, and adventure together.  All you need is four 6-sided dice, paper, stuff to write with, and at least two people!
• Scenes: A tool for outlining scenes for stories or games that's easy, collaborative, and intuitive.
  
• Drama Clocks: Epic, spine-tingling, edge-of-your seat scenes where every Move counts - but without the violence!
• Power Ups: An approach to "powering up" where writing becomes joyous - a source of character growth and peer support!

ADVENTURES ...

• Starsworn: A monthly set of print and play, play to learn adventures with read-aloud passages, coloring book illustrations, maps, and even a set of podcast stories from StoriesPodcast that follow a group of heroes on a parallel quest!  At 40 pages each, these play-at-home books are a steal!
• Chapter 1: Legends say magic came when the stars fell.  At this year's Starfall fair, a group of everyday people will rise to become heroes when they fall again - and be swept up in grand and heroic events!  Best of all?  Chapter 1 is pay what you want - go grab a copy now!
• Chapter 2: The heroes must journey to the Far Swamp to seek the Frog Witch, the only sage wise enough to help them unlock their powers. But strange forces are at work, and the stars have caused great chaos across the land ...
• Chapter 3: The heroes are summoned on a great quest ... to go to school! The Celestial Conservatory promises to train them in the use of their Starsworn powers - but what secrets does it hide?

COMING SOON ...

• World Building: How to help kids build their own worlds, with their own lore and internal logic.
• Teller Moves: Different strategies Tellers can use to help the story move smoothly - and how to help kids run the game for each other.
• Mathemagic: A math practice mechanic for helping kids practice arithmetic.
  
• Educator's Guide: This will be a longer work, and explain, step-by-step, strategies for using StoriesRPG to teach academic content in classrooms, including Common Core Standards, assessments, pacing guides, grouping strategies, and more!

Feel free to reach out with any questions, and hope this supplement boosts your stories to the next level!