a ro l e - p l ay i n g g a m e a b o u t co m m u n i t i e s by B e n R o b b i n s

S E CO N D E D I T I O N
Copyright © 2021 by Ben Robbins

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be copied in any form without
the express written permission of the author.

Written by Ben Robbins

Edited by Carole Robbins

Art by Al Lukehart

Published by Lame Mage Productions

www.lamemage.com

Second Edition 2021 (Print & PDF)

ISBN 978-0-9832779-4-1
 The first edition of Kingdom was dedicated to my
Mother, Carole Robbins, who taught me to always
look at things from the other person’s point of view
even when I really didn’t want to.

This edition is dedicated to my fellow

Kingdo’ Scouts: Marc, Caroline, and Al.
You made 2020 endurable.
WHAT IS A KINGDOM? KINGDOM LEGACY
Kingdoms Are All Around Us…........................ 6 How Has Our Kingdom Changed?.................. 51
What Do You Need To Play?............................ 7 Zoom Out After Each Crossroad..................... 52
Learning the Game.......................................... 7 Playing In A New Era..................................... 53
Surviving the Crisis....................................... 53

YOUR KINGDOM
Make Your Kingdom...................................... 10 KINGDOM SEEDS
Step 1: What is your Kingdom?................ 10 Anime Fan Club............................................. 60
Step 2: Threats......................................... 10 Atlantis 2.0.................................................... 61
Step 3: Locations...................................... 11 Banner of the Black Serpent.......................... 62
Step 4: People.......................................... 11 Blossom Pharmaceuticals............................... 63
Make Your Characters.................................... 12 Camp Waukenogan........................................ 64
Step 1: What is your Role?....................... 12
Cloak & Claw................................................. 65
Step 2: Who are you?............................... 12
Keepers of the Grove..................................... 66
Step 3: Your Locations.............................. 13
Step 4: Your Bonds................................... 13 Lonestar Station............................................ 67
Step 5: Minor Character........................... 15 Museum of Oddities...................................... 68
Pantheon of the Gods.................................... 69
Pegasus Express............................................. 70
YOUR STORY Promise Rangers............................................ 71
Setting Up the Table...................................... 18
Shipwrecked.................................................. 72
Kingdom In a Nutshell................................... 20
Synthetic Underground.................................. 73
Your Turn...................................................... 21
Team Lazerball.............................................. 74
Making a Crossroad....................................... 22
Thieves Guild................................................ 75
Scenes & Reactions........................................ 24
Winterhook’s School for Wayward Wizards.... 76
Playing the Scene..................................... 25
Zombie Hospital............................................ 77
Playing Minor Characters......................... 25
More Kingdom Concepts................................ 78
Reactions.................................................. 26
Roles............................................................. 27
Power....................................................... 27 DISCUSSION & ADVICE
Perspective............................................... 28 Teaching Kingdom......................................... 82
Touchstone............................................... 29 Safety First and Always............................ 83
Change Your Role..................................... 30 Picking The Perfect Kingdom.................... 84
Overthrow Someone’s Role....................... 31 Palette: Defining Your World..................... 85
 Ask Other Roles................................... 34 Playing Online.......................................... 86
 When Roles Disagree........................... 34 Two-Player Kingdom................................ 86
 And Then The Volcano Erupts.............. 35 How Kingdom Works..................................... 87
Fight-or-Fix................................................... 36 Hey, That’s Not Your Role!........................ 88
Resolve: Crossroad........................................ 38 Power: Source of Your Authority............... 89
Step 1: Review the Crossroad................... 38 Power: An Enlightened Despot................. 89
Step 2: Power, Make A Decision................ 39 Perspective: Conditional Predictions......... 90
Step 3: Perspective, Show Touchstone: Just Feel It............................ 90
the Consequences................................. 40 Shooting the Messenger........................... 91
Step 4: Touchstone, Show How You Feel... 41 I Dare You................................................ 91
Step 5: After the Crossroad....................... 41 What’s Your Kingdom For?........................ 92
Resolve: Crisis............................................... 42
Step 1: Show the Crisis............................. 42
Step 2: What Do You Do?......................... 42
AFTERWORD
Step 3: Outcome....................................... 43 Thoughts & Thanks....................................... 94
Step 4: Death or Retirement..................... 43 Playtesters..................................................... 95
Resolve: Time Passes..................................... 44
Step 1: Decide How Long......................... 44 MATERIALS
Step 2: The Good & The Bad.................... 44
Character Sheet............................................. 96
Step 3: Crisis Fades.................................. 44
Role Cards..................................................... 97
Step 4: New Characters............................ 44
Cheat Sheet................................................... 98
 Death & Dungeons............................... 45
 Replacing Your Character..................... 45
Ending the Game........................................... 46
WHAT IS A KINGDOM?
 Kingdoms Are All Around Us…
READ THIS PAGE ALOUD

Groups are stronger than individuals. In a Kingdom, we can work

together to do great things.
But we may not agree what path our Kingdom should take or what it
should stand for. Can your vision of the Kingdom work with mine? Can
everybody get what they want?
Because if you’re part of the Kingdom, it makes demands on you too.
You’re pressured to do what it thinks is right. The question becomes: do
you change the Kingdom or does the Kingdom change you?

We Make Our Kingdom Together

A “Kingdom” is the game term for the community or organization that is
the focus of our game. Any kind of community works, and we’ll decide
what kind of Kingdom we want to play together. Our Kingdom could
be…
A school for wayward wizards…
A revolutionary pharmaceutical company…
An anime fan club…
Or the first settlers on Mars…
Each of us will play a character who is part of the Kingdom. The Kingdom
is what ties our characters together. It’s the center of all our lives.

And Watch It Burn

The game is about seeing what happens to the Kingdom and the people
in it. How the characters change the Kingdom and how it changes them.
As players, we all have equal authority to influence the story. It’s up to
each of us to push the Kingdom in directions we find interesting.
What will our Kingdom do? What will it become? Will it stay true to its
ideals–our ideals–or will we burn it to the ground?
The Kingdom’s fate is in our hands.

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 What Do You Need To Play?
Kingdom works with two to five people, but three or four is best,
particularly if you are playing it for the first time. There are also special
instructions in the back of the book for playing with only two people.
You’ll need:
 A character sheet for each player, or use blank paper.
 A copy of all three role cards for each player, or have
players write their roles on index cards.
 A counter to show whose turn it is. A chess piece is
perfect, but you could just write “current player” on an
index card.
 A few sheets of blank paper.
 About a dozen index cards.
 Pencils or pens.
Character sheets and role cards can be downloaded from lamemage.com.
If you’re playing online, there’s advice for that in the back of the book.
You’ll want at least three or four hours to play. You can play a single
session or return to the same Kingdom for multiple games, exploring
how the characters grow and change or even how later generations
keep the Kingdom going.

Learning the Game

Important sections of the rules have been written so you can read them
aloud to explain the game, rather than having to summarize in your
own words. Critical steps are highlighted in bold to make it easier to see
what you need to do next.
At least one person should read the rules ahead of time and help teach
everyone else how to play. If you’re that person, there are also tips
for you in the discussion section, including advice for using a safety
mechanic to head off trouble and make sure everyone has a good
experience.

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 YOUR KINGDOM
Before we tell our story, we need to create our Kingdom and the
characters who are at the center of our community.
 Make Your Kingdom
Follow these steps to create your Kingdom. Write your answers on a
blank piece of paper so you can refer to it while you play.
We’re building a world together, so we may have to compromise to
make something we all like. It may not turn out as you imagined, but
being surprised by what we create is part of the fun.

Step 1: What is your Kingdom?

Brainstorm a concept for your Kingdom. It can be any community
or any group of people with a common cause or shared identity. Give
your Kingdom a name.
Blossom Pharmaceuticals is a booming medi-tech startup,
promising revolutionary new products and treatments
that will change the world. We’ve got a beautiful corporate
campus, world-class facilities, and a vision only matched
by our marketing. But can we really do what we promise
or is it all hype?
Your Kingdom should include more people than just your characters.
Twenty people is a good minimum, but there’s no upper limit. A
Kingdom could have millions of people.
Your Kingdom ties the game together, so make sure you pick a group
that everyone is interested in seeing make difficult choices. If you need
ideas, there are seeds and suggestions in the back.

Step 2: Threats
Brainstorm three threats to the Kingdom. These are the things
people in the Kingdom are worried about. They endanger the status
quo. A mix of internal and external problems is best.
The hospital is losing money. Malpractice lawsuits are
coming. Good doctors are going to other hospitals.
Threats are only a starting point. They get everyone on the same page
about what the Kingdom is concerned about when the game begins, and
they can give you ideas for trouble to introduce during play, but they
may not be the problems you wind up confronting. They may be fears
that never materialize.

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 Step 3: Locations
Each player describes a location in the Kingdom, someplace
where characters are likely to be found and to interact. Players can go
in any order. After each player has made one, each player goes again
and makes a second location.
Locations in our feudal realm include the “windswept
battlements overlooking the sea”, the “old chapel in the
keep”, and the “mossy forest where nobles hunt stag.”
Locations flesh out your physical Kingdom and give you places to role-
play later on. Give them names that people in the Kingdom would use
so your characters can talk about them. You can even draw a map of
your Kingdom to show all your locations.

Blossom Pharmaceuticals
Revolutionary Startup, Industry Disruptor

THREATS
1) Can we really make the world-changing products we promise?
2) Critics are questioning our tech-topian vision. Will investors waver?
3) Patent lawsuits

LOCATIONS
1) Lab 11, experimental research, access restricted
2) Garden cafe, best food on campus
3) Campus gym
4) Lab 5, product development
5) "Wellness Walk", sunlit atrium with displays showing better living
with our products, for visitors and investors
6) Open office work space
7) Separate downtown offices in a prominent skyscraper, mostly for legal
and accounting
8) "the Lake", camp cabins owned by the company and used for retreats
and summits

Step 4: People
What kind of people would be part of this Kingdom? Brainstorm a list
of character ideas. You can make specific individuals or categories of
people. Make about three times as many as there are players and write
them down on a scratch page.
Reluctant colonist, doctor, stowaway, captain, pretender
to the throne, political prisoner
Simple concepts are all you need right now. You’ll add detail when you
actually make characters.

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 Make Your Characters
Each player now creates a main character they will use to explore the
fate of the Kingdom. Afterward we’ll each create a minor character
who are also part of the Kingdom but who provide a supporting cast for
our story.
Complete each step together so we understand each others’ characters.
Write your answers on your character sheet.

Step 1: What is your Role?

There are three Roles that describe a character’s place in the Kingdom.
Each player should pick one as the starting point for their character.
Your Role is a critical part of the game, but you can switch later on, so
don’t worry about being stuck.
Power: You have authority over the Kingdom. You decide
what the Kingdom does and what it doesn’t do.
Perspective: You understand the Kingdom, both its
merits and flaws. You can foresee the consequences of
the decisions the Kingdom makes.
Touchstone: You reflect the desires of the people of
the Kingdom. Your attitudes show us what the populace
wants and how they are reacting to what is happening.
More than one person can have the same Role, and some Roles might
not be taken at all. Circle your Role on your sheet.

Step 2: Who are you?

Pick a concept for your character. Choose someone from the list of
people you brainstormed that fits your Role or make up a new one.
Describe who you are, what you do in the Kingdom, how you look, etc.
Your character must be part of the Kingdom. Do not make a
character who doesn’t care or wouldn’t be affected by what happens to
the Kingdom. You can make a character who hates being a part of the
Kingdom, but simply walking away should not be an option.
Some ideas might be an obvious fit, like a captain having Power, but less
obvious matches can work too: a king who doesn’t have real authority
(Touchstone), a vagrant who leads the mob (Power), a loyal general
who obeys even when she knows it’s bad for her country (Perspective).

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 Step 3: Your Locations
Look at the list of locations and pick two places where your
character would be found. Say what you do in these locations or
why you picked them. You are telling the other players that these are
good places to have a scene with your character.
It makes sense for the hospital director to be in her office,
but the player chooses the cafeteria because that feels
like a more interesting place to have encounters with
other characters. She’s usually at a side table by herself,
hunkered over a stack of paperwork and not welcoming
distraction.

Step 4: Your Bonds

Describe your connection to the character to your left. Say what you
need from them and what makes the relationship difficult.
Discuss it with the other player to make sure it works for them.
Your bond could be personal or related to your duties in the Kingdom.
It could be friendly, or it could put you at odds, but even the best
relationship must include some tension or trouble.
Kath and Argus are both biplane pilots for Pegasus Express.
Argus is to the left of Kath, so Kath’s player suggests that
even though they’re supposed to work together, there’s a
rivalry over which one is the better flyer. Argus’s player
agrees, except he adds that it’s completely one-sided:
Kath may care, but it isn’t even on Argus’s radar, which
probably aggravates the competitive Kath even more.
The player to your right will also propose a bond with you, so you will
have connections to two characters.

13
Now that you’ve finished your main character, if a different Role seems
like a better fit, you can switch right now.

biplane pilot, flew in the old Service

Argus
NAME

Argus
NAME

biplane pilot, flew in the old Service

Your KINGDOM: Pegasus Express

WHO ARE YOU?

Biplane pilot. Flew with the old Service. It's

gone, but he carries on.

BOND LOCATIONS BOND

Duty or Relationship Where are you usually found? Duty or Relationship
What makes it difficult? Pick two from the list What makes it difficult?

Wants Dax to stop East Hangar, working on Kath has a rivalry

asking him about his plane, keeping to himself with him over
the good old days who's the better
of the Service, pre- Field behind the pilot, but he
collapse windmill, spending time doesn't care, which
alone with his memories infuriates her

(you create the bond to the (the player to your right

character to your left) creates a bond with you)

You always have one of these three Roles

POWER PERSPECTIVE TOUCHSTONE

The Kingdom obeys Predicts the consequences Shows us how the people
your orders. of our Crossroad choice. of the Kingdom feel.

young radio operator

Dax
NAME

Dax
NAME

young radio operator

Your KINGDOM: Pegasus Express

WHO ARE YOU?

Radio operator, dispatcher. Left her family

farm to join Pegasus Express. Wishes she
could fly.

BOND LOCATIONS BOND

Duty or Relationship Where are you usually found? Duty or Relationship
What makes it difficult? Pick two from the list What makes it difficult?

Wants Lew to let Radio Shack, doing her Romanticizes the

her go along on job, talking to pilots and "good old days",
tandem flights, but towns, relaying news pre-collapse, but
he thinks she's too Argus doesn't
valuable at the Junkyard, gazing at want to talk
radio planes from the old days about it
and daydreaming

(you create the bond to the (the player to your right

character to your left) creates a bond with you)

You always have one of these three Roles

POWER PERSPECTIVE TOUCHSTONE

The Kingdom obeys Predicts the consequences Shows us how the people
your orders. of our Crossroad choice. of the Kingdom feel.

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 Step 5: Minor Character
Each player also makes a minor character to help flesh out the Kingdom.
Take an idea from the list and give them a name and brief
description. That’s all you need. Fold an index card into a tent and
write the name and character concept on both sides.
A player picks “mechanic” from the list and says her name
is Odelle. She’s a little messy and a little lazy. If you can’t
find her, she’s probably sneaking in a nap. That’s all we
need to know about her.
Minor characters must be part of the Kingdom, just like main characters,
but they do not have Roles and have none of the special authority that
the rules give to main characters. They might be very important people
in the Kingdom, but they will not be the center of our story or the key
decision-makers.
Try to create someone who would interact with other main characters
more than your own to avoid talking to yourself. If someone’s main
character leaves the Kingdom or dies, we can promote a minor character
to be a new main character of our story.

15
 YOUR STORY
Now that we have our Kingdom and our characters, we’ll play to see
how they change the Kingdom and how the Kingdom changes them…
 Setting Up the Table
Put your Kingdom sheet with your Threats and Locations in the middle
of the table where everyone can see it.
Give each player a reference card matching the Role they chose. Fold the
top into a tent so that each person’s Role is visible to the other players.
For your first Crossroad, fold a blank sheet of paper in half and write
“Will the Kingdom…” in the upper left. Leave space below for the
actual Crossroad. Then label two columns Yes and No. Make two rows
of checkboxes at the bottom, each with one more box than the
number of players. Label the first row Crossroad and the second
Crisis.

New Crossroad Sheet

Will the Kingdom…

YES NO

CROSSROAD CRISIS

Crossroad In Play

Will the Kingdom… (Ada)

Abandon the damaged Juggernaut, the

most powerful ship in our fleet?
YES, ABANDON NO, KEEP IT

We can't defend the fleet. We We don't have enough parts

lose other ships. (Gage) to fix other ships (Gage)
We outrun our pursuers (Tess) We're slowed down so our
pursuers catch us (Gage)

TOUCHSTONE (Melson)

CROSSROAD x x x CRISIS x x

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Table Layout (four players)

Blossom Pharmaceuticals
Revolutionary Startup, Industry Disruptor

THREATS
1) Can we really make the world-changing products we promise?
2) Critics are questioning our tech-topian vision. Will investors waver?
Will the Kingdom… 3) Patent lawsuits

LOCATIONS
YES NO
1) Lab 11, experimental research, access restricted
2) Garden cafe, best food on campus
3) Campus gym
4) Lab 5, product development
5) "Wellness Walk", sunlit atrium with displays showing better living
with our products, for visitors and investors
6) Open office work space
7) Separate downtown offices in a prominent skyscraper, mostly for legal
and accounting
CROSSROAD CRISIS
8) "the Lake", camp cabins owned by the company and used for retreats
and summits

CROSSROAD

KINGDOM SHEET

MINOR
CHARACTER

MAIN ROLE
CHARACTER CARD

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 Kingdom In a Nutshell
READ THIS PAGE ALOUD

As we play, our Kingdom will be confronted by a series of Crossroads.

Each is an important choice the Kingdom must make and a major
chapter of our story. Will the Kingdom invade its neighbor? Will we
outlaw magic? Our decisions will change the course of our story, so it’s
important we pick Crossroads that interest us.
Before we decide which path the Kingdom takes, we’ll play scenes to
learn more about the situation and what our characters think and do
about it. Our Roles give us different ways to influence what happens,
both as characters and as players:
 Perspective, your job is to tell us the consequences of
our decision. You say what happens if we choose one path
or the other, and your predictions will come true. If
our choice seems too easy, you can show us why it’s more
complicated than we thought.
 Touchstone, you show us how everyone in the Kingdom
feels. As soon as your character has an opinion or attitude,
that’s automatically what most people in the Kingdom
think too. You show us which outcome the people want.
 Power has the most straightforward job: you’re in charge.
If you tell people in the Kingdom to do something, they
do it, whether they like it or not. Other players’ characters
don’t have to obey, but you can make the Kingdom punish
people who don’t listen to you or reward those who do.
If you feel your character has changed and your old Role doesn’t suit
you anymore, you can change Roles to something that fits better. And
if someone is using their Role to take the Kingdom in a direction you
don’t like, you can overthrow them and take their Role for yourself:
seize Power, show why Perspective’s predictions are wrong, or how the
people don’t really feel the way Touchstone said.
After we’ve played scenes and learned more about the Crossroad, it is
Power—and only Power—who picks the Kingdom’s path. Perspective
sets the consequences, Touchstone shows us what the people want, and
then Power makes the choice we all have to live with. Then we’ll start a
new Crossroad to confront the next decision the Kingdom must make.
But be warned: if any of us think things have gone too far, the Kingdom
could reach a Crisis and risk destruction, ending our game. Push for
what you want, but be ready to face the consequences if you push too
hard…

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 Your Turn
At the start of your game, pick a player to go first. If someone has an
idea for a Crossroad, they should start.
On your turn, follow these steps. Each is explained in more detail later.
1 | Crossroad: If there’s already a Crossroad in play, that’s
the situation you’re dealing with now. If you just finished
the Crossroad, make a new one now.
2 | Scene: Role-play a scene with your main character. This
is your spotlight time to show what your character thinks
and does about the Crossroad.
3 | Check a Box: Check the next box on the Crossroad, but
if you think the Kingdom is in trouble or heading towards
destruction, you can check Crisis instead. If you do, tell
us why you chose Crisis.
4 | Reactions: Each player can briefly describe how their
main or minor character reacts to what is happening, if
they want. This lets you respond without having to wait
until your turn or until someone invites you into a scene.
5 | Resolve: If all the boxes for Crossroad or Crisis are full,
it comes to a conclusion. Resolve it now. If both are full,
resolve Crossroad first, then Crisis.
6 | Next Player: The player to your left goes next. Start
again from the top.
If you’ve already made a Crossroad, you can’t make another until every
other player has made one too. Instead, go around the table to the left
until you come to someone who has not made a Crossroad. They make
the Crossroad, and then you continue your turn.
All our characters automatically know about the Crossroad. It’s
something we’re all thinking about.
And no matter how obvious the outcome of the Crossroad may seem,
the Kingdom cannot make a decision until all Crossroad boxes are
checked. Even if you think you know what decision we’ll make, play all
the scenes and see what develops.

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 Making a Crossroad
Each Crossroad is an important decision the Kingdom must make. It
must be something the Kingdom does or decides, not something that is
done to it.
Seeing whether our Kingdom is invaded by barbarians is
not a valid Crossroad because it’s not a choice the Kingdom
makes. But deciding whether to bribe an approaching
barbarian army is.
Because each Crossroad is a major chapter of our game, it’s important
to pick something we all care about. When it’s your turn to make a
Crossroad:
1 | Pose a simple Yes or No decision the Kingdom
must make, starting with “Will the Kingdom…”. Don’t
go into detail yet.
Will Cactus Flats outlaw liquor? Will the Isle of Sorcery
allow the refugees to settle here?
2 | Ask the other players if this topic interests them.
If it doesn’t, scratch your idea and try again. Don’t worry if
it seems obvious what choice we’d make: Perspective can
make the decision more difficult by revealing unforeseen
consequences as we play.
3 | Once the other players agree, describe the situation
confronting the Kingdom. What is happening? Why
do we have to make this decision now? Invent any details
you need to explain why this decision is confronting us.
Dream up droughts, attacking armies, or fiscal crises.
Paint a clear picture we can all visualize.
Don’t describe the consequences of choosing Yes or No, or
what the Kingdom does about the situation: that’s what
you play to find out. The Crossroad must be independent
of our characters, so don’t include anything about them.
Write your Crossroad on a half sheet of paper, as described in “Setting
Up the Table.” Include your name so that we know who made the
Crossroad. If there were Crisis boxes checked on the previous Crossroad,
check the same number of Crisis boxes on the new sheet.
Instead of saying just Yes and No, you can add labels that describe the
two choices (“Yes, attack” and “No, don’t attack”) to make it easy to
understand our options at a glance.

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If you need an idea for a Crossroad, a good starting point is to look at
the Kingdom’s Threats or at things you already know other characters
would strongly support or oppose. The whole point is to make something
we care enough to fight for, so give the other players a chance to fulfill
their dreams or avert their nightmares. Often the events in the previous
Crossroad will give you ideas for what domino should fall next.
You can make your Crossroad better by grounding it in a specific
incident that shows why we have to deal with the question right now. A
concrete situation is easier and more fun than an abstract idea or policy
question because we can visualize what’s happening and that gives our
characters something to react to.
Our kingdom is a peaceful scholarly commune, freely
sharing our knowledge with the world. But one of our
threats is a distant warlord with a taste for conquest. War
is far away, but each day it feels a little closer.
The warlord would certainly benefit from our knowledge,
so the proposed Crossroad is, do we help him? The other
players think that certainly strikes to the heart of our
concept and would be something our characters would
adamantly oppose, so thumbs-up.
What’s forcing us to make a decision here and now? The
Crossroad creator revises slightly and says that instead
of the warlord asking for help, we’ve learned that one of
the scholars coming to visit our community is secretly an
advisor to the warlord. A spy, really. Anything we share
with him will doubtless go straight to the warlord’s ear.
And, of course, we give the spy a name to make the fiction
even more real: this deceptive scholar, Pashelkata, will be
arriving soon.
The Crossroad becomes, “do we turn away this visiting
scholar, Pashelkata?” And yeah, right now, we’re all
determined to turn him away, but what would the
consequences be? We’ll have to play to find out…

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 Scenes & Reactions
Your scene is your chance to shine a spotlight on your character to see
what they think and do about the Crossroad. To start your scene, tell us
who else is there, where you are, and what is going on:
 Your main character must be in the scene, and you have
final say over who else is there. Two or three characters
in a scene is ideal. You can include other main or minor
characters or invent minor characters for someone else to
play. No one can enter the scene without your permission.
 Describe where the scene is taking place. When in doubt,
pick one of your locations or the location of another
character in the scene.
 What are the characters doing here? Are they here for a
reason or just bumping into each other?
The secret to making a good scene isn’t coming up with an amazing
or surprising idea. It’s painting a clear picture. If we can all visualize
what is going on and where the scene is taking place, it’s much easier
to play our characters. When in doubt, pick another character who
would be interesting for your character to talk to about the Crossroad
or the Kingdom. You’ll find it easiest to talk to someone who has a clear
relationship with your character that you understand, whether they’re
a friend or foe.
In Winterhook’s School for Wayward Wizards, our
Crossroad is do we expel the students who trespassed in
the Blackhenge. The next player makes a scene:
“We haven’t seen what the rest of the school thinks,
so I want a scene with Master Cogwharton since he’s
Touchstone. One of your locations is the Chamber of
Mirrors, right? My character’s a student, so I normally
wouldn’t be in there, but let’s say I’ve gotten trapped by
their enchantments, and Master Cogwharton, you stumble
upon and save me. Oh, and Hodge, let’s have you in this
scene too since you’re also Touchstone and I want to see
if you agree. We were sneaking together when the mirrors
trapped us. Our situation is kind of like the students being
threatened with expulsion: we could be in a lot of trouble,
but we didn’t mean any harm and we’re already terrified,
so let’s see how sympathetic Touchstone is.”

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 Playing the Scene
Once you know who, what, and where, you’re ready to role-play
together and see what happens. When you are in a scene:
 Show us what your character says, thinks, and does.
Talk about the Crossroad. Find out what other characters
think about the Crossroad.
 Use your Role. If you feel like it doesn’t fit your
character anymore, change your Role.
 Respect the Roles other characters have. Recognize that
their contributions are true. Don’t ignore or deny them.
 If you want to stop or overcome something, Fight-
or-Fix it. If you want to undo what someone is doing
with their Role or don’t think what they’re saying about
the Kingdom should be true, Overthrow their Role
and take it for yourself.
The player who made the scene can also describe more details or action
that unfolds during the scene.
We started the scene hunkered behind the battlements in
the middle of a war, so the player who made the scene
periodically describes how the battle is turning out.
If you are not playing a character in the scene, sit back and watch, but
pay close attention: what’s happening now will shape how you play
later on. You may want to make a reaction after the scene.
End the scene earlier rather than later. If we’ve learned something new
or seen a character make a choice (or be confronted by a choice they
can’t make yet), that’s a good scene.

Playing Minor Characters

Your main characters are the focus of the game. Anyone else is a minor
character, no matter how important they may seem. They are there to
bring the setting to life and help us explore the main characters, but it’s
not their story.
If you are playing anyone other than your main character in a scene,
you do not have a Role and cannot use any Role abilities. If your

25
main and minor characters are both in the scene, you can loan your
minor character to someone else to play.
Your minor character doesn’t have to agree with popular opinions
established by Touchstone, because they are your character. But if they
don’t, they are in the minority.

Reactions
After every scene, each player can narrate what their main or minor
character thinks or does about what is happening, even if they weren’t
in the scene.
Your reaction is a short monologue. To make a reaction, say where
you are and what you see, think, or do. Instead of role-playing
or going into detail, simply summarize what happens. But even though
your narration must be brief, you can still describe taking big action.
After a scene where the rebel leaders argue that they
shouldn’t take any risks, Cally’s player decides to take
matters into her own hands. She makes a reaction: “Cally
is with a small team of partisans in a utility tunnel beneath
the invaders’ landing field. She places a bomb and blows
the whole place sky-high.” Done.
If you make a reaction with your main character, you can use the same
abilities as you could during a scene: use your Role, change Roles, Fight-
or-Fix something, or even Overthrow someone. Follow the appropriate
steps even if it takes longer than a normal reaction would.
You can describe other characters being present if you need to, but
summarize what happens instead of role-playing. Do not describe what
other players’ characters do. Make a declaration or give an ultimatum,
but don’t describe their response. If you want to role-play a discussion,
wait for a scene. If another player wants to respond, they can use their
reaction to do so.
Reactions lets you show how your main character responds immediately
instead of waiting for a later scene, which could come after the
Crossroad or a Crisis is resolved. Making a reaction with your minor
character gives you an opportunity to show more sides of the Kingdom.
Don’t worry about whether your character would know what happened
in the scene: when in doubt, assume you find out.

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 Roles
Your Role defines both your character’s place in the Kingdom and what
you do as a player. You always have one Role, either Power, Perspective,
or Touchstone, and each gives you very different ways to affect the
Crossroad and the Kingdom.
You can use your Role as often as you want, but only when your
main character is present in a Scene or Reaction. You can’t
use your Role when you play a minor character instead of your main
character.
To use your Role, your character has to do it: a Power character gives
an order, a Perspective character says or thinks what they predict, or a
Touchstone character shows us what they feel. You can’t use your Role
without expressing it through your character.

POWER
Power has authority over the Kingdom. You decide what the Kingdom
does about the Crossroad.
When you order the Kingdom to do something, the Kingdom
does it. Describe what you do to make it happen.
You can throw someone in jail, give them a raise, etc. Another player’s
main or minor character does not have to obey you, but you can order
the Kingdom to punish or reward them.
After the ace pilot mouths off during a briefing, his
commander (Power) uses her authority to ground him.
He’s flying a desk until she says otherwise.
When the Crossroad is resolved, you’ll decide what choice the Kingdom
makes. Even if you already know what you want, you can’t make the
Kingdom pick a path until all the Crossroad boxes are checked. Things
may still happen that make it a harder decision than we expected.
If someone wants to stop or circumvent your orders, they can
Fight-or-Fix it. If they want to take away your authority, they must
Overthrow you and take Power for themselves.

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 PERSPECTIVE
Perspective understands the Kingdom, both its merits and flaws. You
can see the truth, whether or not anyone else believes you.
You can predict the consequences of the Crossroad. Tell us
what will happen to the Kingdom if we choose one of the
outcomes.
As soon as you describe your character thinking or saying something
about our future, you can declare it’s a true prediction. You can make as
many predictions as you want, foreseeing good or bad for the Kingdom
as you wish. If our choice seems too obvious, use your predictions to
make things more interesting. Show us what we stand to gain or lose.
Our Crossroad is, do we release this new drug we’ve been
developing? During a scene, a Perspective player has his
character blurt out, “Have you looked at the test results?!?
I’m sorry, but I just don’t think it’s ready!” He writes “the
drug won’t work” on the “Yes, we release it” side.
In a later reaction, alone on a park bench, the same
character thinks about all the money the company has
spent and glumly reflects that if they don’t start selling
this drug, they’re going to be in deep financial trouble. The
player writes “financial trouble” on the “No, don’t release
it” side. The character doesn’t want it to be true, but the
player thinks it’s great. Who said Perspective had to make
our choice easy?
Write your prediction in the matching column of the Crossroad card,
followed by your character’s name so we know it’s yours.
Your predictions must be about the Kingdom and the Crossroad. You
can’t predict what happens to a particular person. Predictions also can’t
replace the other Roles: you can’t predict something that would be up to
Power to decide or a popular attitude that Touchstone would show us.
When the Crossroad is resolved, you describe how your predictions
come true. You can also decide your predictions don’t come true if you
think the situation has changed, something proved you wrong, or you
decide you weren’t right in the first place.
If someone agrees your prediction is correct but wants to take steps to
prevent it, they can Fight-or-Fix. If they want to prove you wrong,
they must Overthrow you and take Perspective for themselves.

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 TOUCHSTONE
Touchstone shows us what the people of the Kingdom want and feel.
What you care about is what they care about. How you feel is how they
feel.
When your character expresses an attitude, the people of
the Kingdom automatically feel the same way.
After you show how you feel, you can also describe seeing other people
in the Kingdom demonstrating or acting on those same feelings.
Even though he’s locked in jail, a Touchstone player says
his character is relieved that the new emissary from the
Alliance is arriving soon. Therefore the people are too. The
player describes the prisoner peering through the bars and
seeing people celebrating and hanging welcome banners as
he makes another scratch on the wall to mark the days.
If you show you prefer one of the choices facing the Kingdom, write
your character’s name on that side of the Crossroad as a
reminder that this is what the people want. If you change your mind,
move your name. If you stop being Touchstone, erase it.
Always start by saying how your character feels, not how the people
feel. You don’t have to persuade people or talk to them to spread your
views. As a player, you are deciding what people in the Kingdom feel
and showing us through your character. You can’t control how other
main or minor characters feel, and there may be other individuals in
the Kingdom who don’t feel the same as you, but your views reflect the
norm.
When the Crossroad is resolved, you show us how you feel about the
decision Power made and the consequences Perspective described. That
tells us how the people feel, and then you show us how they act on
those feelings. You decide whether that increases or decreases Crisis.
If someone wants to change the attitudes of the people, they can Fight-
or-Fix to persuade them. If they want to show that the people don’t
actually think the way you said, they must Overthrow you and take
Touchstone for themselves.

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 Change Your Role
If you feel your character’s place in the Kingdom isn’t what it used to be,
or you want a different way to influence the Kingdom, you can change
to another Role.
To switch Roles, tell us what your new Role is, then show your
character embodying that Role. This is an important moment for
your character, so show us how they’ve changed.
 If you are taking Power, you must explain why the
Kingdom obeys you now.
 If your previous Role was Perspective, your predictions
only come true if another Perspective decides they were
right when the Crossroad is resolved. Put a checkbox in
front of each one to remind us they are undecided.
 If your previous Role was Touchstone and you wrote
down which side of the Crossroad the people preferred,
erase it.
Each player can only use one Role during a scene, reaction,
or while resolving a Crossroad. So if you already used your old
Role, you cannot use your new Role yet.
If you see another player who doesn’t seem to be embracing their Role
anymore, remind them they can switch if they want.
Jelica is a Touchstone for the fan club of the band Robots
Rule Europe. She’s worried about the new zine they want
to launch (the Crossroad). That should mean the people
in the Kingdom are worried too, but her player doesn’t feel
like they would be, so he decides Jelica isn’t Touchstone
anymore. But he does have a lot of thoughts about the
path the Kingdom is going down, so he decides to switch
to Perspective.
The player describes everyone else happily spilling out of a
meeting to go hang at the park, while Jelica stays behind
and looks at all the work that didn’t get done. She’s not
Touchstone anymore, so no one automatically shares her
concerns. But as Perspective, she looks at the piles of half-
filled pages and predicts that if they release the zine, it’s
going to be laaaaame.

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 Overthrow Someone’s Role
If you want to stop what someone is doing with their Role, you can
Overthrow them and take that Role away.
You can even undo what they did with their Role during this Crossroad.
You can prove Perspective’s predictions are wrong, countermand Power’s
orders, or show that the people do not have the attitudes Touchstone
displayed. Overthrowing someone lets you reverse course and show
that the Kingdom is not what they said.
But you can only take away someone’s Role by assuming
that Role yourself. Only Perspective can show how someone else
doesn’t have Perspective, etc. If you just want to prevent or change
something rather than prove it wasn’t true, Fight-or-Fix it instead.
Overthrowing another character is a big moment in the story. In some
games, it might happen a lot. In others, never. Take your time and play
it out.
To Overthrow someone, follow these steps:
1 | Match Roles: If you don’t have the same Role as the
person you are Overthrowing, you must change to it first.
2 | How you Overthrow someone depends on your Role:
To Overthrow Touchstone, show how your attitudes
differ from theirs. The people of the Kingdom are really
like you, not them, after all. If you can’t say how your
attitudes are different, you can’t Overthrow them.
To Overthrow Perspective, tell us what they are
wrong about. What truth do you see that they don’t?
Cross out their predictions that you say are incorrect,
unless another Perspective chooses to adopt them as their
own right now. If you can’t say what they’re wrong about,
you can’t Overthrow them.
To Overthrow Power, show us why the Kingdom obeys
you now, not them. What do you do to take away their
authority? If you can’t explain why the Kingdom listens to
you and not them, you can’t Overthrow them.
3 | Price: One of the players not involved in the Overthrow
comes up with a personal consequence or price your
character pays as part of this struggle. Do you have
regrets? Do people you care about disapprove or get
hurt? It should be something you agree to as a player,

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 but if it doesn’t feel like something your character cares
about, it’s not a real price.
4 | Response: The Overthrown character immediately
changes to a different Role. How does your Overthrown
character feel about what happened? How have they
changed? Embrace your new Role.
(optional) Power Resists: If the other player has
Power and wants to try to keep it, they can describe what
they do to fight back and resist your Overthrow. You can
then Fight-or-Fix to overcome their resistance. If you
don’t or you fail, both characters keep Power.
This allows the other Power to escalate the action and
drag the Kingdom into more conflict, even if they’ll
ultimately lose (because they’re required to give you an
option to succeed when you Fight-or-Fix their resistance).
5 | Crisis: As players, how much does each of us think what
just happened means trouble in the Kingdom? Everyone
reveal at the same time: point one to five fingers to
increase Crisis by that much, or hold your hand flat for
zero. Take the second-lowest number, even if that’s zero
or a tie, and check that many Crisis boxes. Discuss why
you think what happened raised tensions in the Kingdom
by that much.
If you are Overthrown, you have to wait at least a turn before switching
back to that Role. And if two characters both want to Overthrow each
other, the character who has had that Role for the shortest amount of
time gets to Overthrow the other.
Blossom Pharmaceutical’s Crossroad is whether to release
a new drug they’ve been developing. Dennis is playing Dr.
Judith Lassen (Perspective), and Ada is playing project
manager Sam Ritter (Power).
Dr. Lassen has already predicted that if we release it, it’s
going to be a failure because the drug doesn’t work. But Ada
doesn’t like that because it makes Blossom incompetent, or
worse, a scam. She thinks that after all the effort the team
put into the drug, it should actually do some good. She
could use Power to stop the release, but it wouldn’t change
the fact that Blossom hadn’t made anything useful.
There’s a scene where Ritter and Lassen argue, but Lassen
doesn’t change her mind. Since she’s Perspective, she is

32
correct: the drug doesn’t work. So in her reaction, Ada
decides to Overthrow Lassen to prove her wrong. Normally,
a reaction is very short, but because it’s an Overthrow,
they take their time and let all the steps unfold.
First, Ritter has to change to Perspective. Ada describes how
Ritter gets so wrapped up in shepherding this new drug to
completion that he lets a lot of day-to-day management
fall to others (losing Power). It’s crystal clear to him now
that their work really could change the world (gaining
Perspective).
Both Ritter and Lassen now have Perspective. To Overthrow,
Ada has to say how Lassen is wrong. She describes Ritter
pouring over all the testing data, and he knows in his
heart that the failures are only glitches. The drug will
work. Lassen is just a pessimist.
But there has to be a personal price that Ritter pays.
Another player, Cat, suggests that in his fixation with
finalizing the drug, Ritter ignores the expert advice of
his old friend Dr. Hazen and bosses him around instead,
which really sours that relationship. Ada agrees.
Now it’s time to see Dr. Lassen’s response. Lassen is still
confident the drug is a dud (though, as players, we know
she’s wrong). Dennis could take Touchstone and show that
no one else thinks the drug will work either. Instead, he
decides that since Lassen is a respected researcher with a
lot of clout in the company, she’s Power now: her expertise
carries a lot of weight. So yeah, the drug really would
work, but since Dr. Lassen doesn’t think so, she’s unlikely
to decide to release it when the Crossroad is resolved…
Now all the players vote how much they think this increased
Crisis in the Kingdom. Overtly not a lot has changed.
Everyone still has the same job titles they had before, even
though the way the characters influence the story has
changed. The votes are 1, 1, 2, and 3, so the second-lowest
number is a 1, and Crisis increases by that much. The
players discuss and agree the Crisis is because of all the
resentment brewing among the research staff because of
Ritter’s interference and the worries that everyone might
be wasting their time on this drug. Overthrow done,
reaction finished.

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 Ask Other Roles
If you don’t have a particular Role, you cannot do what that Role does.
You can talk all day about what you think is going to happen if we
invade, but if you don’t have Perspective, what you say has no weight.
But even if you don’t have a Role, you can go talk to someone who
does. Ask Perspective what’s going to happen. Convince Touchstone
(and therefore the people) to support your point of view. Get Power to
do what you want, or at least find out their intentions.
Prompting other players to use their Roles by asking them questions is
good for everyone. It helps all of us see the situation more clearly.

When Roles Disagree

Multiple characters can have the same Role and may completely
contradict each other. One Power wants to go to war. Another doesn’t.
One Perspective thinks we’ll starve. The other says we’ll be fine. One
Touchstone is happy with the new law. Another hates it.
So what does that mean for the Kingdom? Who’s right?
 If Touchstones disagree, they’re both right, and the
Kingdom is divided. If you want to prove the other
Touchstone wrong about how the people feel and erase
the divide, you have to Overthrow them and take their
Role away. Otherwise, if the schism still exists when we
resolve the Crossroad, it may increase Crisis.
 If Perspectives make predictions that directly contradict
each other, one of them is wrong. We just don’t know
who yet. You can prove the other Perspective wrong by
Overthrowing them. Otherwise, we’ll find out who’s right
when we resolve the Crossroad and see which predictions
come true.
 To override another Power’s command, you have to Fight-
or-Fix it, or go all the way and Overthrow them. And if
Powers can’t agree about what choice we should make
during the Crossroad resolution, the Kingdom may be
caught in a stalemate, unable to make a decision.
There is definitely going to be disagreement and conflict because our
characters won’t always agree what the Kingdom should do or stand for.
That’s good story. We fight because we care. Embrace it.

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 And Then The Volcano Erupts
Or “When can I make stuff up?”
In any role-playing game, the fiction is whatever we agree it is.
Something is true because we agree it’s true. Does that mean that each
player can just make up whatever they want? No. The key word here
is “agree”.
We agree that each of us speaks for our own character and says what
they do, say, and think. Sometimes, the rules tell a particular player to
decide what’s true about the world, such as when you create a Crossroad,
make a scene, or make a prediction. The rest of the time, when there’s
no rule that gives you special authority to say what’s happening outside
your character, if you want to make something true about the
world, you have to ask the other players if they agree.
If it’s not your turn to create a scene or Crossroad and you want to have
the volcano erupt or an invading army storm the gates, ask the other
players if they’re okay with how you want to change the story. Most
of the time, other players will go along with what you want, but it’s
important to remember that you need to ask and make sure they are
okay with it.
In Kingdom, your character is how you contribute to the story and move
things forward. If you’re thinking too much about saying what’s true
about the world rather than what your character is doing, it might be
time to switch characters.

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 Fight-or-Fix
Our city is going to run out of food. Soldiers have arrested your friend.
People blindly trust the old ways.
Regardless of your Role, your main character can always try to deal
with situations other players create with their Roles or overcome what
someone else is doing. Prevent predictions from coming true, change
public opinion, or break people out of prison. And you can always
succeed… if you’re willing to do what’s necessary.
1 | Your Action: Declare what you want to Fight-or-Fix and
who made it. Describe what you do to overcome it. The
more your approach makes sense to the other player, the
more likely you are to succeed.
2 | Their Response: That player must respond with one of
these options:
 Yes, you succeed.
 Yes, you succeed, but there is an undesirable
consequence of your actions, which they describe.
 Yes, you succeed, if you follow the plan they describe
instead of what you said.
3 | Outcome: You can accept what they say, give up, or
propose something else and try to negotiate. If you
can’t come to an agreement, your attempt fails.
If you’re responding to someone’s Fight-or-Fix attempt, you must
provide one of the Yes options as your first reply. You can’t simply say
no, it doesn’t work. But after that, you are free to negotiate however
you want, so long as that original Yes option remains on the table.
Both sides can also ask other players for ideas. Discuss and make
decisions as a player, not your character. If you’re adding a consequence,
you might describe people they care about disapproving of their actions
or getting hurt. Go with what makes sense. Your character might not
like the result, but you might think it makes the story interesting.
You can use Fight-or-Fix for direct contests between characters: beat
someone in a duel, win a race, steal their sacred signet ring, etc. But
you can never remove another player’s main character
from the game without their consent. Your character can try to
assassinate or banish them, but the other player does not have to offer
you a Yes. They can just say No, and you have to explain why you fail.

36
Fight-or-Fix and Overthrow might seem similar, but they are very
different. When you Fight-or-Fix something, you are agreeing that what
they established with their Role is true but then having your character
take action to deal with the situation. When you Overthrow someone,
you are taking away their Role to prove that the predictions or attitudes
they established were not true in the first place.
Only main characters can Fight-or-Fix things because they’re the ones
influencing the story. If a minor character tries, you are not required to
offer a Yes answer. You can just say it fails if you want.
Our Crossroad is, do we ally ourselves with the Temple
of the Sun? One prediction is that if we don’t, our city
will be overrun by demons because we won’t have the
temple’s protection. A character decides to Fight-or-Fix
that prediction by going to his smithy and forging thirteen
demon-slaying swords to arm the guardians.
The player who made the prediction replies, yes, that
would work, but there’s a consequence: the smith’s new
focus on war robs him of his love for crafting beautiful
things.
The smith’s player can say yes or provide counter-offers.
Both players can try to negotiate for something they’re
happy with, but the Perspective player isn’t required to
offer any other path to success except the first.

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 Resolve: Crossroad
When all the Crossroad boxes are checked, we find out what choice
the Kingdom makes. A lot can happen as the Crossroad is resolved, but
instead of role-playing scenes, you’ll use short narration to describe the
action.
How and when you contribute is based on your Role. The steps are:
1| Review the Crossroad
2| Power: Make a decision
3| Perspective: Show the consequences
4| Touchstone: Show how you feel
5| After the Crossroad
If more than one person has the same Role in a step, they can go in any
order they agree on. If players can’t agree on the order, start with the
person who created the Crossroad and go around the table to the left.
After each step of the Crossroad is completed, there is no going back. If
you want to change an outcome, you have to do it before you start the
next step.
If you don’t like an outcome or you want a different voice, you can
change your Role, Fight-or-Fix something, or Overthrow someone else’s
Role. But each player can only contribute with one Role during
the entire Crossroad resolution. If you’ve already used a Role, you
can’t change and use a second Role. But if someone Overthrows you
and stops you from using your Role, you are free to use your new Role
because you never actually got to contribute with your old Role.

Step 1: Review the Crossroad

Decide together if this is going to be the end of your game so you know
whether you are building up to the big finish. If you decide to stop
play, but you have filled all the Crisis checkboxes, also resolve the Crisis
before you end your game.
Read aloud the Crossroad, the two choices, and all the predictions to
remind everyone what’s at stake.

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 Step 2: Power, Make A Decision
Power, which path of the Crossroad do you make the Kingdom
follow? Describe how your character makes the Kingdom do it.
Each player with Power says which path they make the Kingdom choose
on the Crossroad. No one else gets to vote. Describe how your character
makes it happen. If you can’t explain how your character uses their
Power to affect the outcome, you can’t vote.
Count the votes. The majority wins. If someone wants to change the
outcome, they have to Fight-or-Fix to prevent Power’s decision or
Overthrow them. Otherwise, the Crossroad is now decided, and there’s
no going back. Circle the winning choice and cross out the other column:
everything on the other side is moot.
If it’s a tie or no one has Power…
If there are no Power characters to make a decision, or
the vote is a tie, it’s a stalemate and the Crossroad won’t
be decided yet.
Skip all remaining steps of Crossroad resolution and
instead draw two more checkboxes for the Crossroad.
Then each Touchstone decides how they feel about this
impasse–that’s how the people feel. Each may check
or uncheck one Crisis box. If there’s more than one
Touchstone, add up the total Crisis boxes they would
check or uncheck before changing any.
Continue the normal order of play. When the new boxes
are checked, you’ll try to resolve this Crossroad again.
The same Crossroad can stalemate over and over again
unless something changes.

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 Step 3: Perspective,
Show the Consequences
Perspective, tell us whether each of your predictions on the winning
side of the Crossroad comes true or not. Describe your character
seeing what happens.
If someone wants to stop your predictions from coming true, they can
Fight-or-Fix to prevent that outcome or Overthrow you to prove you
wrong. Declare before Perspective describes what happens. Cross out
any predictions that did not come true.
If there are abandoned predictions…
A prediction created by a character who no longer has
Perspective does not come true unless another Perspective
thinks it should and adopts it now. If a second Perspective
thinks it shouldn’t come true, treat it as a contradicted
prediction (see below). If no one adopts it, cross it out.
If predictions contradict each other…
If two predictions contradict each other, one of them
must be wrong. If neither Perspective admits they’re
wrong and neither is Overthrown, they are both wrong,
and neither prediction comes true: check a Crisis box to
reflect the confusion and misinformation.
If a Perspective made no predictions…
If a Perspective character never made a prediction for
this Crossroad, they can make one now and narrate the
outcome immediately. This includes characters who had
their Power Overthrown and became Perspective: they
didn’t get to use Power, so they get to use Perspective.
If no one has Perspective…
If no one has Perspective, no one can predict what’s going
to happen, so we may be in for a surprise. Each player
simultaneously holds out one or two fingers (choose
randomly). If everyone holds out the same number
of fingers (all one’s or all two’s), nothing unexpected
happens: done. Otherwise, if the total is odd, there
is a minor consequence. Describe it and check a Crisis
box. If the total is even, there is a major consequence.
Describe it and check two Crisis boxes. The player to the
right of the person who made the Crossroad invents the
consequence, but they can ask for suggestions. It should
always be bad for the Kingdom.

40
 Step 4: Touchstone,
Show How You Feel
Touchstone, tell us how your character feels about everything that
happened: that’s how the people of the Kingdom feel too. Describe
your character seeing how the people react, then check or uncheck
up to two Crisis boxes to reflect that.
If there’s more than one Touchstone, add up the total Crisis boxes they
would check or uncheck during this step before changing any.
If someone wants to stop the people from feeling the way you do (or
changing Crisis), they have to Fight-or-Fix to persuade the people or
Overthrow you to show that your attitudes don’t represent the people
after all. Remember, you cannot change Roles once you’ve used your
Role, so if you voted as Power or made decisions about predictions as
Perspective, you cannot change to Touchstone.
If Touchstones disagree…
If Touchstones describe contradictory reactions (“I hate
the draft!” “No, I love the draft!”), it shows turmoil and
division within the Kingdom. Check another Crisis box
for each Touchstone involved in the disagreement. This
is in addition to any Crisis boxes each Touchstone opted
to check or uncheck. The only way to avoid this strife is
for one of the Touchstones to retract their statement or
be Overthrown.
If no one is a Touchstone…
If there are no Touchstones, we don’t know what the
people want, and we won’t find out until it’s too late.
Each player simultaneously holds out one or two fingers
(choose randomly). If everyone holds out the same
number of fingers (all one’s or all two’s), the people are
fine with how the Crossroad turned out: done. Otherwise,
if the total is odd, the people are mad about it. Check one
Crisis box. If the total is even, the people are very mad
about it. Check two Crisis boxes.

Step 5: After the Crossroad

The Crossroad is now finished. If all the Crisis boxes are checked,
resolve the Crisis now. Next, decide as a group whether you want
a break in the action to let months or even years go by in the Kingdom
before your next Crossroad. If you do, resolve Time Passes now. Only
make Time Pass if everyone agrees.

41
 Resolve: Crisis
When all the Crisis boxes are checked, we reach a critical moment and
see if the Kingdom survives or falls. Our characters share the Kingdom’s
fate. If it falls, we fall with it.
To see how the Crisis unfolds, each player will describe what they
see happening and what their character does to save or destroy the
Kingdom. We’ll use short narration instead of full scenes, the same as
resolving a Crossroad. What you describe may influence whether your
fellow players think the Kingdom should survive.
During the Crisis, we don’t use Roles at all: we’re all on equal footing.
Every player contributes during each step, one at a time, in any order.
If you cannot agree on an order, start with the person who checked the
last Crisis box and go around to the left. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Show the Crisis

Decide together if this is going to be the end of your game so that you
know you are wrapping up your story. If the Kingdom is destroyed, the
game ends whether you planned to stop or not.
Each player gives a short description of a specific incident to show how
the Crisis is unfolding and threatening the Kingdom. Don’t include any
of our characters in these vignettes: we’ll see what they do later.
A player describes the mob rushing through the streets,
crying for vengeance for the executed rebels. Another
describes a family hiding in a cellar, fearfully waiting out
the night.

Step 2: What Do You Do?

Take turns describing what your main character does (or doesn’t do) in
the Crisis. You can try to save the Kingdom, destroy it, or save your own
skin and flee. Say where you are and what you do.
“The order has been given to evacuate the engine room, but
Ensign Cook stays behind to fight the fire before it guts the
ship. He seals the hatches and floods the compartment.”
Our characters will share the Kingdom’s fate, but if you want to save
yourself, show your character giving up on the Kingdom and
fleeing. Abandoning the Kingdom always weakens it: you automatically

42
vote for the Kingdom to fall in the next step. If you escape, but the
Kingdom survives, you’ll make a new character and continue playing. If
another character wants to prevent you from escaping, they can Fight-
or-Fix to stop you. If your escape is foiled, your vote is still thumbs-
down, and you share the fate of the Kingdom.

Step 3: Outcome
Based on what they’ve heard, each player decides whether they think
the Kingdom should survive. Decide as a player, not your character.
Everyone votes simultaneously: thumbs-up if you think the Kingdom
should survive, thumbs-down if you think it should fall, hand flat if
you’re neutral. If your character abandoned the Kingdom, you must
vote thumbs-down. Add up the results, one for each thumbs-up, minus
one for each thumbs-down.
 If the result is positive, the Kingdom survives.
 If the result is negative, the Kingdom is destroyed.
 If the result is zero, the Crisis calms for now but has not
really been resolved. It could flare back up soon. Uncheck
two Crisis boxes.
Describe the outcome of the Crisis together based on that result. If the
Kingdom was destroyed, decide if something new might arise in its
place or if only a smoking crater remains. Each player may describe
what happens to their character in the aftermath. Remember: if you did
not escape, your fate is tied to the Kingdom.

Step 4: Death or Retirement

If the Kingdom was destroyed, or you agreed to stop playing after the
Crisis, your game is over. Otherwise, anyone who wants to retire their
old character and start a new one can narrate a brief epilogue for their
departing character. You can also have your character die in the Crisis if
that seems fitting. Make a new character, or promote an existing minor
character to be your new main character.
The Crisis is finished. Cross out the old row of Crisis boxes and
make a new row with one more box than the number of players, as
usual. Go back to the normal order of play.

43
 Resolve: Time Passes
When you make Time Pass after resolving a Crossroad, you take a break
from the action and let some time go by in the Kingdom before facing
the next challenge. It is a lull in the drama that gives the characters a
chance to reflect on their lives. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Decide How Long

Decide together if this will be the end of the game so everyone knows
whether this is an epilogue for our Kingdom.
If you’re not ending the game, decide how much time will pass: months,
years, or even decades.

Step 2: The Good & The Bad

Take turns describing what your main character’s life is like during this
hiatus. Tell us something good and something bad in your life. Keep it
personal. Focus on your character, not the Kingdom. You can describe
new developments in your own life (marriage, kids, etc.), but do not
introduce new developments for the Kingdom. If a different Role seems
like a better fit, you can change now.
If you want to retire your character, narrate a brief epilogue for them.
Do they depart, die, or simply fade from the spotlight?

Step 3: Crisis Fades

If there are any Crisis boxes checked, we’ll see whether the situation
in the Kingdom has calmed down during the break. Your decision may
be influenced by how other players described the hiatus. Everyone
simultaneously holds up fingers to show how much you, as a player,
think Crisis should be reduced: one to five fingers, or hold your hand
flat for zero. Take the second-lowest number, even if that’s zero or a tie,
and uncheck that many boxes.

Step 4: New Characters

If you agreed to stop playing, your game is over. Otherwise, if your old
character left, retired, or died, follow the usual steps to make a new
one. You can also choose to promote a minor character to be your new
main character. Then go back to the normal order of play.

44
 Death & Dungeons
Your character is your voice in the game. They are how you influence
the story. Because of that, no one can take your main character
away without your consent. No matter how unavoidable their
doom seems, if you don’t want your main character to die or leave the
Kingdom, they don’t. If someone describes trying to kill your character
or kick you out, that player is also required to describe why it doesn’t
work. You never have to justify keeping your character in the game.
On the other hand, it is perfectly fine for Power to throw someone in
jail. Even in a dungeon, you can keep using your Role to influence the
Kingdom or wax poetic about injustice, and escape is as simple as Fight-
or-Fixing your imprisonment or Overthrowing Power.
Minor characters don’t have the same protections as main characters,
since they’re not central to the story. If you lose your minor character,
make a new one.

Replacing Your Character

If you think your main character’s story is done or there’s nothing
more you want to say about them, it’s probably a good time to change
characters. But if you’re still interested in the character but can’t figure
out how to make them work, try talking to the other players. You may
be able to make adjustments together to make your character fun again.
The best time to switch is at the end of a Crossroad, Crisis, or Time
Passes. But if your character is ruining your fun, don’t wait! Spend your
next scene or reaction introducing a new character. But try discussing it
first. Even if you don’t wind up keeping your character, it’s good to talk
about what isn’t working to avoid it happening again.
Keep in mind that when you switch characters, you’re changing the
game for the other players as well. Their characters have personal
connections and ongoing plot threads with your character. When you
remove your character, you might leave a hole in their stories too.
You can create an entirely new character, or you can promote your
minor character or some other character we’ve seen in the story to be
your new main character. Follow all the normal steps, such as picking
locations and establishing bonds with the characters next to you. Your
old character can stay in the Kingdom but fade into the background,
leave the Kingdom, or even die. It’s up to you to decide the best ending
to their story.

45
 Ending the Game
Your game has no preset endpoint. You can play as long as you want or
stop when you feel the story is done. But if your Kingdom is destroyed
by a Crisis, the game ends immediately, whether you planned it or not.
It’s usually best to finish by resolving a Crossroad, Crisis, or Time Passes,
since that lets everyone have a final say. If you know in advance when
you need to stop playing, it is best to say so when the last Crossroad is
being created so that everyone knows to build toward a suitable finale.
No matter how the game ends, you can always include epilogues to
describe the fate of your character, so long as you don’t change the fate
of the Kingdom.
Congratulations on playing a great game together!

46
That’s the end of the rules you need to play. The rest
of the book contains tools and advice to help make
your game better. Have fun!

47
 KINGDOM LEGACY
Explore how your community evolves in the past and future, and turn
one Kingdom into a multiple-session campaign.
 Kingdom Legacy
What made your Kingdom what it is now? And what will it stand for
generations from now—if it still stands at all? The Legacy rules let you
explore the past and future of your community and turn one Kingdom
into a linked chain of stories and characters.
Battleship Orion fought to liberate the outer planets,
but how is it remembered a hundred years later? Is it a
shipyard memorial to a distant war? Or does the battle-
torn hulk drift in a distant orbit, home to outcasts and
scavengers trying to eke out a living, free from the tyranny
that swept the solar system when the rebellion collapsed?
Each era in your history is like a normal game of Kingdom, but connected
by the overarching story of your community. As you play, you can keep
adding more pieces to the puzzle, creating new eras and shining new
light on your Kingdom’s history. You may not wind up playing in every
era you create, but merely knowing that a period exists changes your
understanding of your Kingdom.
We thought our city was a valiant bastion against the
demons, but then we decided to make an era in the far
past where our ancestors forged pacts with the demons
for the power to conquer their rivals. That puts our whole
history in a very different light. What happened? How did
we pivot and block out our past? Let’s play and find out.
After every Crossroad, you decide whether to continue playing in the
current era or jump to somewhere else in the Kingdom’s history. You
make a whole new cast of characters for each era, which means you
get to explore different relationships and connections with the other
players at the table. In one era, you might be bitter rivals with a
particular player’s character, but in another, you’re confidants or best
friends. Playing with the same group but exploring all sorts of different
dynamics can be fascinating all by itself.
You can decide to create a Legacy when you first sit down to play, or
you can switch after you’ve been playing a Kingdom that is just too
interesting to quit. And because you can always keep adding new eras
and exploring new characters, a single Legacy game can spiral into
session after session.

50
To start exploring your Kingdom’s Legacy, follow these steps. All
decisions are made as a group, just like normal Kingdom setup:
1 | Define Your Kingdom: If you want to explore a
Kingdom you’ve already created, skip to the next step. If
you are starting a new game, describe the concept of your
Kingdom, just as you would for a normal session. Then
make only one threat. You’ll add more details to this
era later on.
2 | Make a Second Era: Decide whether to build the past
or future of the setting you just made. Describe what the
Kingdom is like now and how it has changed. It might
have the same name, or it might be called something
different now. Make one threat.
3 | Make a Third Era: Repeat the previous step. This era
can be before or after any of your existing eras.
4 | Decide Where to Start: You’ve now got three eras
of your Kingdom’s history. Choose one to play in first. It
doesn’t have to be the first era you made.
Make a new Kingdom sheet for each era you create. It will just include
a title, a brief blurb, and one threat until you play in it. Lay out your
Kingdom sheets side-by-side, with the earliest on the left and the latest
on the right.

How Has Our Kingdom Changed?

Every time you create a new era, think about how the Kingdom is
different now than the other eras we already know about. We’ll learn
more about each era as we play, but we should start with a strong
premise to explore.
Here are some possibilities to consider:
 Is this the same actual institution, or was one created in
the image of the other?
 Is it an offshoot or splinter group? Or if you’re making
a predecessor, is this a larger group your later Kingdom
splintered from?

51
  Does it have the same values? Or is it pretending to have
the same values but hiding very different motives? Have
outsiders or usurpers taken over?
 Is the name the same? If not, why not?
Eras can be big jumps with vast changes to the concept and environment
of the Kingdom, but they can also be smaller shifts much closer in
time. Two eras might explore the same school only a decade apart, but
then another might jump a hundred years earlier to when an entirely
different institution stood on these same grounds.

Zoom Out After Each Crossroad

Any time you finish a Crossroad, stop play and zoom out to your
Kingdom’s history and choose where to explore next. If your Crisis
boxes are filled, resolve the Crisis first. Then decide as a group:
1 | Do you want to add a new era to the history?
Follow the same procedure as before: decide where to put
it in the chronological order, describe the Kingdom now,
and create one threat. You can skip making a new era if
you don’t feel you need one.
2 | What era do you want to play in next? You could
continue the story you were just playing or switch to any
other era of the Kingdom’s history, including returning to
one you explored previously.
If you are returning to an era you’ve already played, start by resolving
Time Passes. That lets you see how the characters’ lives have gone
since you saw them last and helps you ease back into their story. Each
player can continue with the character they used before or retire them
and make someone new, as described in Time Passes.
Keep track of who has and hasn’t made a Crossroad regardless of when
you switch eras so everyone gets a fair chance to contribute. If you’ve
played several sessions using the same turn order, consider switching
places the next time you jump into a new era. Changing the order of
play shakes things up and gives different players a chance to share
character bonds.

52
 Playing In A New Era
When you start playing in an era for the first time, follow the normal
steps for creating a Kingdom and cast of characters. You’ll already have
one threat created, so you’ll start by making the other two.
If this is not the first era you’re playing in, part of creating locations
will be deciding what the places you made before are like now. Have
they changed? Do they even exist? Did something else take their place
or precede them? Follow the normal steps for making locations, letting
each player decide what to incorporate and what to change.
Character creation is another opportunity to draw connections
between different eras of the Kingdom. Players are free to make direct
connections—like ancestors, descendants, or mentors—if that seems
like a good fit. When in doubt, don’t draw connections too tightly. Let
the characters of each era stand on their own.
Keep in mind that whenever you switch to a new era of the Kingdom,
it’s going to take time to get up to speed and flesh it out. Relax and
enjoy it. Making the characters and feeling out what your Kingdom is
like now is all part of the story. You might think that the longer you’ve
played your Legacy campaign, the faster it will be to set up each new
era because you already have a shared understanding of the setting.
Instead, the opposite is often true because you are fitting each new
era into everything you already know. We are all invested in the world
we’ve created together, so each of us is careful to make sure the setting
reflects our expectations.

Surviving the Crisis

Normally, if a Crisis destroys your Kingdom, it immediately ends your
game. But in Legacy, we may already know the Kingdom continues in
some other form in the future. Clearly, this end is not the true end. And
even if it is the end, we can keep exploring the Kingdom’s past as far
back as we want.
In Legacy, if a Crisis would destroy your Kingdom, that era is closed
instead. You can’t go back and play there anymore. What rose from the
ashes? Make a later era and find out. Either way, the Kingdom should be
changed forever. What happened may be forgotten or suppressed, but
it cannot be undone.

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EXAMPLE: LEGACY KINGDOM
Our starting concept is an international disaster rescue
team. We’re a small elite organization equipped with the
very latest technology that can get anywhere on the globe
in a matter of hours. We don’t care about borders or flags:
if people are in danger, we’re there to help.
It sounds like we’re well-funded and not about national
interests, so we decide that our Kingdom is privately
funded. But because we’re so useful we’ve got the blessing
of the United Nations and governments around the world.
Some less humanitarian countries might be grumpy about
us intruding on their territory, but we do it anyway!
Something low-key feels like a good fit for our first
threat, so we decide that a friendly major government is
getting a little too friendly and is angling to have a closer
partnership. Their argument is that we could be even more
effective if we coordinated with them and let them help,
but it feels like a slippery slope to losing our independence.
We write down “major government wants a partnership
with us.” And we need a name, so we go with the obvious:
International Rescue Team is go!
Our threat gives us an obvious idea for our second era: in
the future, International Rescue still exists, but we’re now
tightly allied with one country or corporate sponsor. In
fact, it’s both: our private funding has been replaced with
a major industrial corporation that has deep ties to the
government. We’re still doing the mission… but now we
have to face political realities and keep national interests
in mind. If our first era is a time of idealism and blind
altruism, this is a time of compromise and calculation.
We help, but we can’t always do what we think we should.
For a threat, we decide that our reputation is not what it
once was. Even countries we help question our motives and
think we’re just a friendly face hiding grasping national
interests. Sad!
For our third era, the obvious choice is seeing how the
organization started out before it even got off the ground.
The “World Aid Foundation” is little more than a dream
looking for believers. Our threat is that we have no backers
and no funding. We don’t have the equipment or staff to

54
launch missions yet. At this point, we have no idea if our
vision will ever become reality.
A few sessions later, we finish a Crossroad and pause to
zoom out and look at our history. We had already added
another era before the government partnership where the
team members are international celebrities, with movie
deals and branded merchandise, but we decide we need an
era to really get back to the rescue side of things.
Hmm, how about a major disaster? Earthquakes have
shattered an entire region. Society collapses, total chaos.
IRT dropped everything to help, but now that rescue is
done, they are using their organizational expertise to lead
the rebuilding and recovery process, effectively taking
on the role of government. People just want results, and
International Rescue delivers… but our threat is that once
you take on this kind of responsibility there may be no
way out.

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 KINGDOM SEEDS
Pre-made Kingdom seeds can get you started playing quickly. Pick a
concept and then make it into a world all your own.
If you’re having a hard time coming up with an idea for your Kingdom
these, pre-made seeds can get you started playing quickly.
Each starts with a basic concept for a Kingdom and then three variations
that put a different spin on the idea. Pick one and follow the prompts to
create your setting. Because you make so many decisions to customize
your Kingdom from the very start, you could use the same seed over and
over again and wind up with very different games.
Each seed also includes examples of Threats and Crossroads you can use
since that’s the material that will be the biggest help to get your game
going and push the story in an interesting direction.
Any kind of community has some inherent themes that drive the story,
whether you identify them or not, so each seed has notes about the
issues that may drive each scenario and why that Kingdom might be
interesting to play. But you could take the story in totally different
directions.
Most of these seeds can be adapted to work in all sorts of different
settings. So long as the core concept stays the same, switching to a
different environment can be a fun and easy way to add flavor. Shift your
modern-day summer camp to a fantasy setting, with rangers teaching
campers how to avoid owlbears. Put your pharmaceutical company in a
medieval monastery, researching plague cures. Suit up your mercenary
legion with battlemechs and orbital drop ships.

58
 1 | Anime Fan Club
Is it an anime? A band? Only true fans like us understand.

2 | Atlantis 2.0
Domed city beneath the sea, building a model metropolis.

3 | Banner of the Black Serpent

A mercenary troop, selling their swords (and loyalty) for gold.

4 | Blossom Pharmaceuticals
Medical inventions that promise to change the world.

5 | Camp Waukenogan
Councilors and campers at a summer camp.

6 | Cloak & Claw

An animal kingdom, where the animals carry swords.

7 | Keepers of the Grove

Coven giving (or withholding) wisdom and blessing to the villagers
who come to us for aid.

8 | Lonestar Station
An independent space station caught on the edge of war.

9 | Museum of Oddities
Rare antiquities and perhaps unspeakable secrets.

10 | Pantheon of the Gods

Divine powers looking down on the mortal world

11 | Pegasus Express
Biplane couriers connecting remote communities.

12 | Promise Rangers
Society has fallen apart, but we can rebuild together.

13 | Shipwrecked
Marooned far from civilization, relying on each other to survive.

14 | Synthetic Underground
We look just like humans, but they don’t treat us that way.

15 | Team Lazerball
In the future, one sport rules them all: Lazerball.

16 | Thieves Guild
Is there honor among thieves? Maybe if you pay your dues.

17 | Winterhook’s School for Wayward Wizards

Protecting magicians from the world or the world from them?

18 | Zombie Hospital
Make difficult choices about patient care. Repel undead hordes.

If you can’t decide, you can roll randomly and see if the dice inspire you. Roll a
six-sided die twice. For the first die, count 1-2 as 0, 3-4 as 6, and 5-6 as 12. Add
that result to the second die to get a number from 1-18.

59
 Anime Fan Club
Is Robots Rule Europe an anime? A band? A band featured in an anime or an
anime based on a band? Only true fans like us understand.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 High School Fan Club: RRE is so much more important than
classes. Or grades. Or applying to college.
 Into It Before It Was Cool: We are some of the only people
who have even ever heard of RRE. It isn’t even on the radar of
the nerdiest of nerds. But we know it, and we love it.
 Official Organizers: The authorized coordinators for all
Robots Rule Europe fan clubs worldwide. We are honored with a
sacred trust—to kindle and (perhaps) gatekeep the love.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Is this like the real world or a world that revolves around anime
art forms, spawning whole media empires?
 What’s the name of the show or group we love? Pick a name:
Robots Rule Europe, Harpy Go-Go-Go, Then Autumn Leaves,
blueshift\green, BmV.

THREATS
 The New Hotness is drawing fans away from RRE.
 There’s a rumor RRE is breaking up or being cancelled! Again!
 Posers are flooding the fandom. They don’t understand RRE!
 A remake is coming. A terrible remake. It will break our hearts.

CROSSROADS
 Do we make a shot-for-shot fan recreation of that one really
cool RRE video and release it into the world?
 Robots Rule Europe was passed over for a prestigious award.
Again! Do we protest?
 A terrible parent company has acquired the rights/ownership of
RRE. Do we stop buying stuff and pirate from now on?!?
 There’s a cool new thing that isn’t about RRE but really follows
the spirit of RRE. Do we expand our fan club to include it?
 We have learned that some of our members are also secretly
part of another rival fan club. Do we kick them out? (name the
people)

A fan club is about caring about something that you ultimately have no control
over. It’s a one-sided relationship, even if you do dream that the star might
someday happen to pass through your town. Does that make fandom foolish or
dysfunctional? There’s nothing wrong with loving something. It just depends on
how far each person takes it.

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 Atlantis 2.0
A city beneath the sea, gleaming towers rising under the dome.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Role Models: A would-be utopia, an experimental role model
for the world to show what the future could be like.
 Separatists: We turned our back on the surface world, for
political or ideological reasons.
 Survivors: We are a safe haven from the disasters that have
overwhelmed the surface world.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Are there other sea-cities, or is this the only one?
 What’s our city called? “Atlantis” or something else?
 What’s the surface world like now? Is this now or the future?

THREATS
 Beautiful but not always functional. Some engineering isn’t as
practical as it should be.
 Overcrowding (or under crowding)
 Too many philosophers and artists, not enough engineers.
 A surface nation (or another dome) claims sovereignty over us.

CROSSROADS
 Drill a new geothermal well to meet our energy needs (“Project
Vulcan”).
 Claim territorial rights to the surface waters above our city.
 Send aid to another community (either another dome or a
coastal surface city).
 Accept refugees into our city (what are they fleeing?).
 Enact a living wage for all citizens, regardless of employment or
profession.

Atlantis 2.0 is about a community that has a chance to defy tradition and make
its own rules, all while being very aware of the society it came from. The 2.0 in
the title is not just an allusion to mythical Atlantis but to rebooting society. The
Kingdom has the opportunity to break free from the past and build something
new, but it could just as easily fall into all the same traps as every society before it.
The physical constraints cannot be ignored. An undersea dome grants isolation
from neighbors but creates a very controlled environment. It’s easy to restrict who
comes and goes when the only entrance is a submarine airlock. And if anything
goes wrong, the water rushes in and crushes everyone. No (ahem) pressure.
You could also easily use this seed for a space station, moon base, or an actual
mythological Atlantis.

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 Banner of the Black Serpent
A mercenary army, earning gold with steel. We care nothing for causes and owe
true allegiance to none but our own.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Soldiers of Fortune: We are professionals: an enemy one
season might be our employer the next.
 Foreign Legion: We are rejects and ex-patriots of many
lands. We’ve escaped our past and made the Banner our only
homeland. The Banner does not ask your old name.
 Land-sworn: Our band has a deep connection to the realm
where it was first formed. We may serve other masters, but
those hills and fields are where our heart dwells.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Are there a few major nations or a host of smaller realms vying
for control?
 Are mercenaries common? Are we the exception or the norm?
 We carry swords and ride horses, but are primitive guns a thing?
Do we besiege strongholds with catapults or cannons?

THREATS
 Our employers do not respect us. They consider us expendable.
 We have won great victories. Now everyone wants to defeat us.
 No one trusts us. Some believe we betrayed past employers,
even if there is no truth in it.
 Peace. Without wars, we are too dangerous to have around.
 We have been on the losing side too often, even when it was not
our fault. Who wants to hire losers?

CROSSROAD
 We’ve been offered a small fortune to change sides. Do we
abandon our current employers?
 Soldiers in our ranks offended a powerful lord. Do we surrender
our comrades to this lord for judgment?
 We’ve been ordered to make an attack that is strategically
foolish and needlessly dangerous. Do we disobey?
 We need more troops. Do we hire inexperienced recruits to swell
our ranks temporarily?

Being a mercenary is about fighting (and perhaps) dying for a cause you have no
loyalty to. What drives you? Can mere money be enough? Your existence relies
on employers believing your loyalty is secure once bought, but how do you view
the people you fight for? This seed can be easily adapted to a modern or futuristic
setting, with dropship space marines or mech pilots.

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 Blossom Pharmaceuticals
A medical technology startup company promising revolutionary new products
and treatments that will change the world.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 World Changers: Tech-topian visionaries inventing radical
new solutions that will change the world.
 Evergreen: One product has kept the whole company afloat
for years. Nothing must endanger this golden goose.
 Patent Trolls: We leverage a portfolio of acquired patents
without inventing anything new ourselves.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 What kind of drugs do we make? A variety of purposes or for
something specific like cosmetics, disease cures, or anti-aging?

THREATS
 One of our recent drugs had unexpected side effects and had to
be recalled. Our reputation has suffered.
 Critics are questioning our vision. Will investors waver?
 Our latest projects are not making progress.
 Patent lawsuits.
 An insider tell-all book painted us in a bad light.
 Brain drain. We are losing valuable talent to competitors.

CROSSROADS
 Do we release drug X even though the safety testing has been
inconclusive?
 One project isn’t making progress. Do we abandon it and put
the resources elsewhere or invest further?
 A film crew wants to do a documentary about us. Do we give
them access?
 A community wants one of our unreleased drugs. Do we give
them early access? (What’s the drug do, and who are they?)
 Competitors are forming a trade group to represent drug
makers. Do we join?

This seed is about the tension between helping society and making a profit off of
that help. Can technology (and medical inventions) save us from ourselves? Can
a pill change the world? And do we really believe our own hype, or is it just a
hollow promise to make a few bucks?
For an alternative setting, the far future is the obvious choice, but what about the
dawn of medical science instead? Early 20th century magnetism cures all ills! Or
go all the way back to Renaissance alchemy and stimulate some bodily humours.

63
 Camp Waukenogan
Summer camp on the shores of sunny Lake Waukenogan. We’re campers,
councilors, and camp directors.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Brand New: This is our first summer! We’re a new camp or an
old one that was shut down and just re-opened.
 Close Knit: Catering to a particular ideology, religion, or
identity. Finally, a camp for UFO believers!
 Troublemakers: For juvenile delinquents and other troubled
youth. A summer in the wilderness to set city kids straight!

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Is it the present or some kind of 70s homage with tube socks
and t-shirts tucked into shorts? If it’s the present, is there
internet access at the Camp?
 What’s our mascot? The Fighting Freshwater Gar, the Fighting
Honey-badgers, or the Fighting Waukenogan Woodchucks?

THREATS
 Weather forecast is crappy all summer.
 Dangerous animals in the woods. Or just skunks.
 The cabins are rundown. The floorboards creak and the roofs
leak.
 The camp well has gone bad.
 Was there really an ax-murderer here years ago? Even if it’s
totally made up, the story is freaking people out.

CROSSROADS
 Our rivals at Camp Falcon always beat us at the inter-camp
olympics, those jerks. Do we resort to cheating?
 Move the archery range next to the mess hall?
 Buy new canoes?
 Start a pea-patch garden and teach the campers agriculture?
 The planned swimming race is to Duck Rock and back, but that
is kind of far. Do we make the course shorter?

Classic themes include trying to fit in and make friends or saving something we
love from financial ruin. In any Kingdom like this, there’s an inherent divide
between campers and counselors. Are counselors in it for the love or to make a
buck? How much sway can campers really hold over the camp? You could change
your venue to outer space (“Okay campers, make sure your vacc suits are tight
before our hike. Olympus Mons here we come!”) or a fantasy world with rangers
teaching kids how to spot owlbear tracks.

64
 Cloak & Claw
A realm of animals. Knights, take up your swords! Swear upon the fur that binds
us! Protect us from the fangs that find us!

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Knights & Scholars: A realm with castles and knights that
wear cloaks and wield swords. Anthropomorphic tool-users.
 Natural Beasts: Animals that behave like animals. We have
community and culture, but we don’t use tools or wear clothes.
 Gifted: A unique community of gifted animals hiding in the
human world. Other animals don’t have our knowledge.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Are there multiple animal species in our Kingdom or just one? If
we’re different species, are we all roughly the same size, or do
we vary the way normal animals do?
 What species are we? Rabbits, squirrels, mice, foxes, cats?
 Do humans exist in our world?

THREATS
 The World-Tree is dying.
 Winters are growing colder.
 Predators prowl our borders.
 Some animals are not treated as well as others.
 Another animal realm encroaches on ours.
 Food is scarce. There is barely enough to go around.

CROSSROADS
 Other animals arrive but come with empty paws and empty
bellies. Do we welcome them?
 Do we dam the Great River?
 One among us is having visions and declaring prophecies of
terrible destruction, scaring our people. Do we cast them out?
 A neighbor has more food than we do, but they refuse to share.
Do we take what we need by force?

Are all animals equal? How do we treat other species? At what point does becoming
civilized tool-users upset our harmony with the environment? Appearances aside,
you may find that a kingdom of animals faces many of the same questions as any
kingdom of humans.

65
 Keepers of the Grove
Druids or cultists, priesthood or coven: whatever we are called, we are the
keepers of the sacred stone in the sacred grove, giving (or withholding) wisdom
and blessing to the villagers who come to us for aid.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Traditionalists: The priests of the grove go back to ancient
times. We carry on that tradition.
 Visitors: We aren’t from here. We came from far away to
spread our beliefs to this land. Did we arrive recently?
 Impostors: We’re not the priests our neighbors think we are,
but we play the role. Are we trying to deceive them or simply
speaking to them in a way they can understand?

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Is magic real or superstition? Even if there is no actual magic,
the characters in the setting may absolutely believe and
interpret what happens as supernatural.
 How primitive is our setting? Do the villagers burn sod for fuel,
or do trains run between towns?

THREATS
 We have failed the villagers too often. Some doubt us.
 Our numbers are too few. There aren’t enough apprentices to
pass our secrets to the next generation.
 A new faith is sweeping the land. The old beliefs, like ours, are
being driven out.
 Plague is spreading through the villages.
 We are losing control of the powers we are charged to contain
(or if magic is not real, at least that’s our belief).

CROSSROADS
 Villagers have brought us one of their own as a blood sacrifice.
Do we perform the sacrifice?
 A warlord has sent a messenger, demanding our public blessing
of his conquests. Do we grant it?
 A blight has ravaged the crops of a village. We have no cure. Do
we admit we cannot help or blame the villagers for some sin?

This setting is about being a trusted font of wisdom. The people that come to the
keepers have faith in them, but is that faith justified? Even if we’re frauds and our
magic isn’t real, we could still genuinely want to help.
You could also make your “priesthood” an advanced civilization like crashed
space travelers deciding how much to intervene in native society, raising thorny
issues of colonialism and cultural imperialism.

66
 Lonestar Station
An independent space station caught on the edge of war. We don’t take sides, and
if we play our cards right, none of the sides will take us.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Neutral Port: Trying to stay out of the conflict without
antagonizing anyone. Walking the fine line and keeping the war
out of our backyard.
 Summit: Built by the rival nations as a neutral ground and
diplomatic meeting place. The agreement stands, so far.
 Spider in the Web: We’re a hub of black market deals and
espionage between all the nations, a den of spies and schemers.
It’s dangerous, but there’s profit to be had too.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Name the three factions vying for control around you: the Free
Planets, the Solar Alliance, the Hegemony, the Foundation, the
United Worlds, the Independent Colonies.
 How many people are on the station? Hundred, thousands, or
more?
 Are there aliens? Or just different factions of humans?

THREATS
 Military ships have been building up near us.
 Agents have been stirring up loyalties for one side or the other
among the populace of the station.
 Shipments of vital supplies may be cut off by war zones. People
have already started hoarding.
 War has spread to a planet very close by. The fighting is near.

CROSSROADS
 A Solar Alliance warship has asked to dock. Do we let them?
 Let prisoners of war be transported through the station?
 Let refugees from the attack on Pevin take shelter with us?
 A ship passing through our station has been smuggling arms to
planetary rebels. Do we report it?
 Accept an offer of military protection from the Free Planets?
 Expel a diplomat who was caught breaking station laws (and
potentially offending their nation)?

Lonestar is about being caught in the middle and seeing just how far you’ll go to
stay neutral. How does self-preservation stack up against idealism? It could be a
story of tense diplomacy or spiral into war. Works for a small independent port
caught between rival powers in almost any setting: modern, historical, or fantasy.

67
 Museum of Oddities
Rare antiquities, exotic artifacts, inexplicable relics, and perhaps some
unspeakable secrets.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Curators: A public museum with a world-renowned collection.
 Collectors: A private collection known to only the most
eclectic scholars.
 Wardens: Our mission is to find and hide these dangerous
“oddities” and keep them out of the wrong hands. Make the
world mundane again. Keep it secret. Keep it safe.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Are the artifacts historical, supernatural, extraterrestrial, or
remnants of some ancient civilization? Or a mix?
 Do artifacts have actual powers, or are they merely valuable and
rare?

THREATS
 There are pieces in our collection we can’t identify.
 Some of our artifacts may be forgeries.
 We’re running out of space to store it all.
 Our cataloging and organization are a mess. Who knows what’s
even in our collection?
 The chalice has started humming.

CROSSROADS
 A noteworthy scholar wants to come study a specific piece in
our collection. Do we give them access?
 Do we get rid of a particular artifact that may be dangerous?
 We’ve been offered an unusual piece from a questionable
source. Do we accept it?
 We just discovered that one of our pieces has a hidden
compartment. Do we open it?

If you had Pandora’s Box sitting on your desk, would you have the wisdom and
self-control not to open it? Of course, someone will make excellent arguments
that these things should be studied, examined. For science. For history. But is it
any of that, or is it really that they just can’t resist? Or that they want the glory
of discovery for themselves? The tension between safe preservation and bold
examination runs through this Kingdom.

68
 Pantheon of the Gods
Divine powers looking down on the mortal world. Cities and kingdoms rise and
fall at our whim.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Patrons: We created this world and all that walk upon it.
 Forgotten: Old gods long forgotten, now newly arisen. Few
mortals remember us.
 Invaders: We are not of this world or its making, but we are its
gods now.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Are gods hidden in the heavens, or do we walk the earth and
appear before mortals?
 Are mortals dwelling in villages living under kings and chiefs, or
is human society more advanced? Your gods could look down on
a disbelieving world of jets and skyscrapers if you want.

THREATS
 Mortal hubris. Kings have built temples to themselves. Some
liken themselves to the gods.
 There is war between nations we love. No matter which is
victorious, some we favor will suffer and cry to us in vain.
 Nature is turning wrathful without our doing. There are days
when winds blow, seas churn, and earth shakes, unbidden.
 A monster that even the gods fear stalks the land. It broke from
its eternal prison and roams free.

CROSSROADS
 Release the hydra to destroy the vain city Tamarin whose
princes dare equate themselves with the gods?
 Topple a nation that has been faithful to us so that a hero we
favor even more can settle his people on that land?
 Give a hero the Spear of Might to defeat his nemesis? It is a
weapon fit for the gods…
 Chain the goddess Epheme to the burning rocks for an age
because she helped her mortal son defy us?
 Wipe out humanity and start over?

If you had unlimited power and no real fear of retribution, what would you do
with it? Would you tolerate any disobedience or disrespect? As gods, you can be
wrathful or benign, and there’s not much the mortals can really do except curse
or praise you.

69
 Pegasus Express
Biplane pilots who connect remote communities by delivering mail, packages,
and vital medical supplies.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Small Business: A company trying to make ends meet.
 Grassroots: A volunteer organization, delivering for free.
 We Took An Oath: Remains of the collapsed postal service or
decommissioned military still trying to serve the people.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 What’s the terrain we’re flying over? A rural heartland, tropical
islands, desert, arctic tundra, or something else?
 Do we fly out of a single airfield or have a string of bases? How
many people and how many planes do we have?
 Is the world civilized or dangerous? If you landed in a field and
saw a stranger, would you wish you had a pistol just in case?

THREATS
 Parts and fuel are in short supply.
 Not everyone is happy to see us.
 Some communities have resorted to taking what they need in
these hard times. Maybe even from us.
 Weather is unpredictable.

CROSSROADS
 There’s been a lot of trouble recently at Bastow Ford, one of the
towns we deliver to. Do we stop flying there?
 A town will trade us a stockpile of parts in exchange for some of
our planes. Do we make the trade?
 One town wants to expand trade with a particular neighbor and
is asking us to cut other routes and fly more between those two
towns. Do we change our routes?
 Do we expand our route to cover the towns to the west?
 Do we move our airfield?

Pegasus Express is about being a vital outsider, someone who is essential to all
of these communities without being a part of any of them, and (perhaps) not
favoring any one over the others. Free to roam the skies but also bound by need
and responsibility. Wanderers who do not wander.
This concept is easy to shift to lots of other settings: post-apocalyptic pilots
avoiding radiation clouds blowing across the plains, cargo pilots connecting
asteroids and habitats in outer space, or sailors following the winds between
harbors.

70
 Promise Rangers
Society has collapsed, but together we can rebuild. Whether it’s medicine,
engineering, or agriculture, Rangers have taken The Promise to provide skills and
assistance that communities need… and sometimes law and order.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Grassroots: Originally just individuals in local communities
stepping up to help however we could. Now we’re organized.
 Part of the Plan: We were trained and prepared as part of
the “Phoenix Contingency.” Was it planned by the government,
some private organization, or do we not even know?
 Not Taking No For An Answer: People are selfish and short-
sighted, but we know what’s best, and we can’t let anyone stand
in the way of rebuilding. They better do what we say, or else.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 What happened to the world? War, plague, ecological disaster,
civil unrest, economic collapse, or just a slow and quiet decline?
 Do we have a central base or outposts in different communities?
 How do we get around? Cars, horses, or walking?

THREATS
 Lawless wilds. Any stranger you meet could be a threat.
 We’re spread too thin, don’t have enough people to do the work.
 We lack people with certain essential skills. What are they?
 Too many communities don’t trust us and don’t want our help.
 Communities are desperate. They may take what they need
rather than accept help on our terms.

CROSSROADS
 The people of Sutter’s Mill have been belligerent towards their
neighbors. Do we stop helping them?
 Two communities both need rare parts to fix their wind
turbines, but we only have enough for one. Which do we help?
 There’s some kind of sickness spreading in Wellsborough. Do we
go in and try to help and risk infection or stay away?
 We need resources to keep going and to help others in need. Do
we ask for payment from communities we help?

Trying to get other people to do what you think is right is hard, particularly when
you’re an outsider and you might be asking them to sacrifice a little because their
neighbors or a bunch of strangers in some other community need it more. Why
should they listen to you? And what do you do when they don’t?

71
 Shipwrecked
We are passengers and crew of a wrecked ship, now marooned far from civilization.
A three hour tour… a three hour tour!

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Tourists: A pleasure cruise gone bad.
 Researchers: Our voyage was scientific but related to some
obscure topic that has little bearing on our current situation.
 Prisoners: Criminals, political prisoners, or prisoners of war.
Some characters would be prisoners, others crew or jailers.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Where are we? A tropical island, arctic tundra, or a remote
coastline isolated by mountains or desert.
 Is there weird stuff here, or do we want to keep the game
real-world?

THREATS
 Food. There’s not a lot to eat here, or what there is takes too
much effort to be sustainable.
 Exposure. We don’t have shelter from the sun or cold.
 Weather. Storms are unpredictable and violent.
 Dangerous animals, on land or sea.
 There are munitions from an old war, like land mines and
unexploded bombs, littering the wilderness.

CROSSROADS
 A large section of the wreck is caught on the reef in deep water
out past the surf. Do we dive the wreck to see what we can
salvage?
 There’s more fresh water inland, but it’s away from the shore
where we have a better view of any passing ships. Do we move
our camp inland or stay on the shore?
 The radio barely works. We get intermittent signals but can’t tell
if we’re broadcasting. Do we take it apart and try to fix it, even
if that risks breaking it entirely?
 We have (or just recovered) an inflatable raft that could only
carry a few people. Do we send two or three people out into the
open ocean to get help?

Survival can bring out the best in people…or the worst. Without any outside
help or contact, our Kingdom is literally whatever we make with our own hands.
This is a very flexible concept that works with a lot of settings so long as the
environment is isolated. A plane crash works just as easily as a shipwreck, or put
your castaways in a historical period (Vikings, anyone?) or an alien world.

72
 Synthetic Underground
They call us androids, artificials, synthetic people. We look just like them, but they
don’t consider us human.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Are synthetics second-class citizens with some rights, or do they
lack any rights at all? Or do they have equal rights by law but
are discriminated against because of widespread prejudice?
 How rare are synthetics?
 Is our Kingdom only synthetics, or are human allies included?

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Hiding: Just trying to blend into society and live our lives,
hidden in plain sight.
 Underground Railroad: Helping other synthetics escape or
create new identities in human society.
 Freedom Fighters: Rebels working to change the system by
changing popular opinion or more drastic means.

THREATS
 Some outside humans know about us. Can we really trust them?
They are only human, after all.
 There is a new test that can quickly identify synthetics.
 Synthetics have medical problems built into our design. Humans
afflicted us even in creation.
 A synthetic was recently accused of murdering humans. True or
not, people are even more afraid of us now.

CROSSROADS
 A synthetic who knows our whole operation has been taken
into custody. Rescuing them is impossible, but we have an
opportunity to kill them before they talk. Do we do it?
 Liberate synthetics without asking if they want it?
 Create media to spread the word of synth equality?
 A prominent local citizen encouraged persecution of synths. Do
we physically attack them?
 A new synth factory is being built. Do we sabotage it before it
can create more synths to be oppressed?

This setting is about persecution and bigotry, distanced through the veil of science
fiction. Unlike the other seeds, the world and Kingdom customization steps are
reversed because it’s essential to decide how society treats us before we decide
what we want to do about it. You could always drop the sci-fi and play a real-
world scenario about racism or discrimination, but a fantastical setting is a safety
valve that makes it easier for us to explore real-world issues.

73
 Team Lazerball
In the future, one sport rules them all: Lazerball. We play to win, hoping that one
day we will be champions…

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Underdogs: An unsuccessful team trying to make it big. We
might be a new team or fallen champions.
 Champions: League pros, but can our winning streak hold?
 Underground: Part of the illegal “murderball” circuit, playing
dangerous no-holds-barred lazerball.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 What’s lazerball like? Pick two sports and combine them, like
football & rollerblading, rhythmic gymnastics & dodgeball, or
roller derby & hockey. Then slather lasers on top.
 What’s society like now? A downtrodden corporate dystopia
turning to sports for vicarious glory, a social media pop-topia
with the mobs addictively liking their fav player streams, or
basically a pretty nice place?
 What’s the name of our team?

THREATS
 We’ve had a string of losses. Was it poor play or bad luck?
 Our roster is weak. Too many injuries or too many players
recruited by other teams.
 We’ve lost sponsors.
 There are rumors our team is going to be sold, but we have no
idea who’s buying.

CROSSROADS
 Skip a game to let the team rest up and recover? We’d have to
take it as a loss.
 Re-arrange our roster before the next game, changing lots of
players’ positions?
 Take a corporate sponsorship from a questionable brand?
 Adopt a radical new training regimen involving bioshock
therapy?
 Abandon our high-tech training facility and go back to our
street-lazer roots?

Team sports are all about winning, but at what cost? Is winning more important
than any member of the team? On the flip side, you have individuals caring more
about their own fame, wealth, and success than the team. The seed works just as
well for mundane non-laser sports.

74
 Thieves Guild
Cutpurses, pickpockets, burglars, and cutthroats: we are all comrades in the
Guild, so long as we pay our dues…

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 From the Streets: A motley crew challenging the powerful
guilds of the city.
 Organized Criminals: Our fingers are in businesses all
around the city, making more profit from extortion and
smuggling than blatant theft.
 Shrouded In Ritual: A secret society or even a cult. Our
order has been here as long as the city itself. Woe unto those
who betray our secrets!

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 What’s the city of the Overlord like? Gritty and squalid, a jewel
of culture, a wealthy trade hub, an imperial seat, or several of
the above, depending on how you look at it?
 Is there witchcraft and curses and elder gods lurking in the
shadows? Or just the superstitious belief in those things?

THREATS
 The city is poor, leaving slim pickings for thieves.
 The new captain of the guard is cracking down on crime to
impress the Overlord.
 The Overlord had a divine vision and is stamping out vice.
 Everybody’s a thief! Amateurs are competing with us for scores.
 One of our members stole a religious idol, so now everyone’s
worried we’re cursed by the gods.

CROSSROADS
 A thief who refused to pay dues to our guild has been caught
by the Overlord’s guards and will be executed. Do we help him
escape or let him hang?
 The dowry for the Overlord’s new bride is being sent to faraway
lands. Do we rob the wagons?
 The priests are demanding new tithes of the citizens. Do we rob
the holy tithe-takers?
 The sewers extend all across the city but are festering with
disease and filth. Do we send in scouts to map them?

How can you maintain a community if you can’t trust each other? Can there be
honor among thieves?

75
 Winterhook’s School for
Wayward Wizards
Magic is rare and perilous. But do we protect magicians from the dangerous
world, or protect the world from dangerous magicians?

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Academy: A school to train wizards to be their very best.
 Reform: Where undisciplined wizards are sent to be taught to
control their powers and made safe.
 Prison: Magic must be kept secret, and those that can’t be
trusted are sent here until they prove otherwise. Of course, we
may still tell them it’s a school…

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Do most people know magic is real, or is it hidden?
 Is this the modern world, the recent past like the turn of the last
century, or even earlier?
 Are we hidden in the middle of a city or the remote
countryside?

THREATS
 Students have been secretly passing around a crumbling copy of
an ancient, forbidden text.
 Some students are more powerful than the teachers expected,
perhaps more powerful than the teachers can handle.
 Master Numosrin was driven mad by his magic and had to be
imprisoned. Is he merely the first?
 A local mayor/magistrate/lord has been a secret partner but is
now reconsidering allowing the school to operate here.

CROSSROADS
 Expel the three students caught trying to tap the power of the
Blackhenge?
 Require students to record their names in the Book of Souls so
the Masters can use magic on them no matter where they go?
 Teach students the powerful sorcery contained in the Writings of
Azuul-mani?
 Have students magically duel each other to test their skills?

Any school has an inherent divide between students and teachers. There’s a
schism of authority and responsibility: ideally the students have a responsibility
to learn, and the teachers have a responsibility to the students… but also to the
agenda of the school. What kind of mold is the school trying to fit its students
into, and what happens when the students don’t accept that mold?

76
 Zombie Hospital
What better place to hole up during a zombie apocalypse than a hospital? Running
a hospital is hard enough, let alone when the dead rise and stalk the living. Make
difficult choices of patient care. Repel undead hordes.

WE ARE… (CHOOSE ONE)

 Random Survivors: Most of us have no medical training.
We’re just people who have taken shelter here.
 Residents: We’re medical staff, either from this hospital or
someplace else. We have the skills to use these facilities.
 Researchers: We’ve got trained virologists who are actually
trying to cure the zombie plague.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS THIS?

 Did the zombie apocalypse just start, or has it been going on for
a while?
 Do you get the plague from being bit or some other way?

THREATS
 Zombies. I mean, yeah, obviously: zombies.
 Infection. And zombie infection isn’t always immediate or
obvious. Sometimes it takes days or weeks to see symptoms.
Some people are invisible carriers.
 The building is a nightmare to secure. It’s too big, and there are
too many windows, crawl spaces, and utility tunnels.
 Supplies are running low. Too many people, not enough stuff.

CROSSROADS
 Send people out to bring back supplies from the shipping depot
across town?
 Someone arrives asking for shelter. Do we take them in?
 Armed survivors show up demanding medical assistance. Some
have gunshot wounds, which they sure didn’t get from zombies.
Do we let them in?
 Strangers want to search our hospital for equipment. They say
they’re from a makeshift medical outpost across town and are
hoping to find specific equipment they need in our hospital. Do
we let them look around?
 We might be able to make our home more secure if we abandon
a wing of the building to tighten our perimeter. Do we do it?

Do we try to help others when we can barely help ourselves? What do we do when
people see the “hospital” sign and think this is a place where they can find help?
Those questions go along with constant themes of scarcity and danger. And as
always, the biggest threat may turn out to be other people, not the zombies at all.

77
 More Kingdom Concepts
Grand Embassy Hotel: An institution from a grander age. Explore its
peak or the decline into obsolescence.
Endless Vacation… In Space: A hyperdrive catastrophe has left a
cruise ship lost among the star for years. But the contract says the voyage
doesn’t end until we reach port, so the passengers still expect the crew
to provide brunch, drinks, and shuffleboard in a timely fashion!
Bandits in the Sheriff’s Wood: Sneak around with longbows and
rob from the rich and give to the poor… or keep it for yourselves.
kOnspiraci: We speak the unspeakable truth. Our conspiracy theories
spread across the globe, but are we believers or manipulators?
Dwarf Mountain: Are we at our peak or returning to reclaim a post-
dragon/balrog ruin? Can we resist the urge to delve too deep?
Fallout Shelter: The bombs dropped, but our bunker held. Now
we’re just waiting for the radiation to fall enough to open the vault and
reclaim the world. How long could it possibly take..?
Santa’s Workshop: Jolly old Saint Nick is taking a much-needed
vacation and leaving his trusty elves in charge of his workshop. Will we
just hammer out more toys or start making something the kids really
need, like vaccines and textbooks? Xmas will go on! Probably.
Partisans of Rigel IV: The settlers came to build themselves a home,
but then the invaders came and took their world away. Now some are
fighting back. For Rigel! For Freedom!
Homeowner’s Association: Three letters that strike fear into the
hearts of law-abiding homeowners everywhere: HOA. Fight the power,
or trim your hedges.
Kid’s Television Workshop: Come sing along with the gang at
Helicopter Junction or drop in for a visit at Little Blue House on the
Corner, where there’s always an extra chair just the right size for you!
Wildlife Refuge: A sanctuary to protect native species from those
who would destroy them, knowingly or carelessly. Conservationists and
scientists come from around the world to try to make a difference.
Eye of Osiris: High-society dilettantes who fancy themselves mystics
and truth-seekers in the cosmopolitan 1920s. But are they bored
dabblers, charlatans fleecing the unwary, or the living vessels of the
second coming of Osiris the Undying..?

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Daily Sentinel: In an age of social media, sound-bites, and factoids,
can a newspaper that has been a bastion of journalistic integrity for
decades, committed to bringing the truth to the public, stay afloat and
remain true to its ideals?
Mecha Defense Force: Pilot a giant robot and save the world. We’re
all that protects Earth from the monsters the aliens send to conquer us.
Cactus Flats: In the dusty, sunbaked frontier of the Old West, where
the law comes out of the barrel of a gun, do people even want peace and
justice, or would they just settle for peace and quiet?
Night Carnival: A traveling wondershow, coming to your town when
you least expect it. Do we bring real miracles or just flashy showmanship
to fleece the unwary rubes?
Street Guardians: Who can we trust to protect our neighborhoods
more than ourselves? A grassroots community safety patrol, keeping the
streets and the people safe.
Path of Light: An interplanetary religion spanning thousands of stars
and a myriad of races. The Path of Light guides the lives of trillions of
sentient beings.
Velvet Lounge: The smoothest nightclub in town… or at least it was
once. Can it be a hotspot again? Make a 70’s disco or a 20’s speakeasy,
or play Legacy and make it both.

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 DISCUSSION &
ADVICE
Tips and insights to help you understand how Kingdom works so you
can get the most out of your games.
 Teaching Kingdom
If you’re reading this, you are probably the person teaching everyone
else the rules and how to play: what we call a “facilitator.”
First of all, thank you! Learning and teaching other people games is a
great public service. You are already a hero, at least in my book—which
of course this is.
I write games very much with you, the facilitator, in mind. I want
everyone at the table to have fun, and I know you are essential to
making that happen. When I’m writing a game, I’m thinking about how
you’ll have to sift through these pages at the table and explain what to
do. The easier I can make it for you, the more you and everyone else at
the table can focus on the fun.
So the rules are already designed with teaching in mind, but there are
a few more bits of advice I have for you:
First off, tell the other players that even though you’re teaching the
rules, you have no special authority over the fiction. You’re just a player
like everyone else at the table. Players who have tried games with Game
Masters are particularly likely to think you get to control what’s true
and what isn’t.
“It may sound like I’m running the game because I’m going
to be talking a lot explaining the rules, but I’m a player
just like you. At times I may interrupt to make sure we’re
following the rules or playing the game correctly, but I
don’t have any special say over what happens. We’re all
equal.”
Second, instead of trying to explain the rules in your own words, do
yourself a favor and just read snippets straight from the book. And
when you hit the “read aloud” pages, have other players read instead of
you. Not only does this let you take a break, but it gets the other players
talking and involved. And if you’re playing with strangers, listening to
someone else read, even for a few minutes, can be a valuable insight
into what kind of people you’re playing with.
And finally, you need to be aware that no matter how much the rules
help you, teaching takes effort. You are wearing two hats, trying
to be a facilitator and a player at the same time. You may find that
you’re so busy helping everyone else that when suddenly it’s your turn
to contribute, you draw a blank. Everyone but you has downtime to
listen and reflect. That’s another reason why getting other players to

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read aloud is good—it gives you breaks to think about your story and
actually get ready to play.
When it’s your turn to contribute, keep it simple. Just embrace
straightforward and obvious ideas and let things unfold as you play.
Don’t try to be tricksy. And ironically, that’s good advice for all players,
all the time: start simple and let the complexity unfold in play. That way
you’re not only making your life easier, you’re being a good role model.

Safety First and Always

If you’re teaching the game, another job that falls to you is deciding
what safety mechanic to use. The core concept of safety mechanics is
two-fold:
 The people at the table are more important than anything
that happens in a game. Humans matter more than fiction.
 And second, even with the best intentions, we’re not
mind-readers. No matter how careful or thoughtful you
are, you can’t always predict what will make another
person uncomfortable. There has to be a method to
communicate discomfort.
As I write this, the most common safety mechanics (and the kind
we’ve been using for years) are “safewords,” like the X-card, that we
can use to signal when content is uncomfortable. When someone uses
the safeword, we agree to remove that content from the game without
asking for any explanation. We take them at their word, without
question. And it doesn’t matter how important that content may seem to
the story because, again, the well-being of the players is more important
than any particular fiction. We’re smart adults, we can figure out how
to revise the story and keep playing so that everyone is comfortable.
A safeword system like the X-card is the obvious choice, but you know
the people you’re playing with better than me, so you’ll have a better
idea what will work for your group.
But if a safety mechanic is so important, why isn’t there one baked
into the rules? Why am I talking about it here in the back of the book?
Because like the health and well-being of the people at the table, your
safety mechanic supersedes the rules of Kingdom. I firmly hope that
new methods will arise that completely surpass what I’m describing
here, and you can and should upgrade to better safety mechanics. I

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hope people will still be playing Kingdom in years to come but with far
more advanced safety mechanics than I can imagine now.

Picking The Perfect Kingdom

Since your Kingdom ties your entire game together, choosing an idea
for your community might seem… daunting. It’s an important decision,
yes, but maybe less important than it seems.
The truth is, the process of fleshing out your Kingdom together (by
following the steps in the rules) is more important than the starting
concept. No matter what idea you choose, your sense of ownership and
involvement grows as you build it together. Which means it is far more
important that no one hates your starting idea than that anyone loves
it. We can grow attached to a lukewarm concept as we make it our own,
but if someone inherently hates an idea, they will never have fun.
When in doubt, stick with something obvious and just get started. It’s
more important to start playing with something okay than to spend too
much time trying to come up with a perfect idea. If you come up with
a better idea later, you can always play that Kingdom next time. If you
want something just a little different, one trick is to take a real-world
organization but transpose it into an unusual setting:
 A hospital, but on a space station.
 An espionage agency, but in Elizabethan England.
 A theatre troupe, but in ancient Egypt. The play’s the
thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the Pharaoh!
 A zoo, but in a fantasy setting. Who will feed the Queen’s
basilisk?!?
But don’t try to make your Kingdom too unusual. The more exotic the
environment becomes, the harder it will be to understand our issues or
motives. What makes the game interesting is the difficult decisions our
characters have to make, not a weird setting. Simpler is better.
Make sure everyone is on the same page about what counts as part of
the Kingdom and what doesn’t. If our Kingdom is a high school, do we
mean only the students or the teachers too? When in doubt, make your
Kingdom the group whose decisions you are interested in seeing.
Likewise, for a Kingdom to work, no character should be irreplaceable.
If a character leaves, there should always be a way to have someone
take their place and have the Kingdom keep going. The king is dead.

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Long live the king! If you’ve got an idea for a Kingdom that hinges on
the existence of a particular person, take a closer look.
Again, when in doubt, ask yourselves if you are interested in seeing the
decisions this group makes. If you are, it’s a good basis for a Kingdom.

Palette: Defining Your World

Are ghosts real? Can our spaceships travel faster than light? Do
superheroes have powers or just cool costumes and attitude?
If your Kingdom is in the real world, you probably have a good idea
what to expect. But if you’re playing in some other setting, it can help to
agree on what does and does not belong. The Palette is originally from
Microscope, but you can use this technique to help define your world in
Kingdom or any other game.
The goal is to get everyone on the same page and avoid surprises later.
For the rest of the game, it is everyone’s job to stick to what you agreed
to as a group and obey the Palette. It’s important that creating the
Palette is a discussion. Each player puts forward their own ideas, but
you should always discuss and negotiate before writing anything down.
No one should be unhappy about what winds up on the Palette.
To make your Palette:
 Make a column for Yes and another for No.
 Players go one at a time but in any order. Each player
can add one thing, either to the Yes or No side. Add
something to the Yes column if you want it to be part of
the story, even if the other players would not expect it.
Add something to the No column if you don’t want it in
the story, even if the other players would expect it.
 After each person has added one thing, everyone can
go again. Keep repeating until someone doesn’t have
something they want to add, then stop after that round.
The Palette is not an exhaustive list of what will be in the story. It’s a list
of exceptions or things we might not expect. If something fits the setting
(like wizards in a fantasy world), you probably don’t need to add it to
the Yes column because the other players already expect it. Likewise,
if something seems really out of place (like wizards in a science fiction
setting), you probably do not need to put it in the No column unless you
think other players want to include it. When in doubt, discuss. Even in
an ordinary real-world setting you can use a Palette to help define what
story elements or themes you want in your game.

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 Playing Online
Kingdom is just as easy to play online as at a table, using either voice or
video chat. The simplest method is to use a single shared text document
for all your game information, everything from your Kingdom threats
and locations, character details, and Crossroads. Minimal formatting
is all you need. For checkboxes, just make the correct number of
underscores to signify blanks, then replace them with X’s when they
are checked.
Because there is no seating arrangement, you should write down a turn
order before you make characters. When the rules say “the player to
your left,” that’s the player who comes next in the turn order.
On video, all the finger-voting procedures are the same as in person.
If you are playing with voice-only, use text chat and type your answers
and then simultaneously hit return to send.

Two-Player Kingdom
The standard rules of Kingdom are designed for three to five players,
but you can use these alternate instructions to play with only two.
 Each player makes three locations instead of two.
 Each player makes two minor characters instead of one.
That gives you two main and four minor characters.
 Both of your Bonds will be to the other main character,
but each player should come up with a different aspect
of their relationship rather than repeating the same
Bond. That gives the main characters interesting and
complicated connections, which is good because the story
is all about them.
 Increase the checkboxes for Crossroads and Crisis by one
(as though there were three players instead of two).
In any other case where a third player would normally be asked to make
a decision, discuss and negotiate among yourselves.
Because there are only two players, at least one Role will always be
vacant. That can happen in any game of Kingdom, but in a two-player
game, it’s unavoidable. Part of the pressure your characters face will be
deciding which Role they leave unattended. What you chose to control
and what you leave up to fate is up to you.

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 How Kingdom Works
Any role-playing game is a careful balance between agreement and
disagreement.
We need agreement because the game world only exists in our minds. If
we can’t agree about what’s true, we’re going to contradict each other.
If you think there are walls around the city and I don’t, our game will
crash.
Since agreement is so important, you might think disagreement was the
enemy, something we want to avoid at all costs. But that’s impossible.
Players come to the table preloaded with disagreement. We all have
different tastes, interests, and viewpoints, so it’s completely natural not
to want exactly the same things.
And not only is disagreement unavoidable, it’s actually beneficial. If
we agree about everything that happens, there’s no tension or surprise.
We play with other people—instead of scribbling a novel in our lonely
tower—precisely because their contributions surprise us. Our conflicting
ideas about what should happen are what makes play interesting. Can
we save the city from the invaders? Will that character fall in love? You
may think so, I may not, but ultimately we don’t know yet. Let’s play
and find out!
But disagreement has to be managed. That’s what good game rules
do: they help us navigate this social/creative minefield. Good rules tell
everyone where we need to agree and where we can disagree. Then
they help us resolve our disagreements at the right time and turn them
into satisfying new agreements about what is true.
How does Kingdom do that?
The short answer is that our Kingdom is the core agreement—the shared
creation that builds consensus and unites us—and then each Crossroad
is an invitation to disagree.
We agree that we are part of the Kingdom, that the story is about the
Kingdom, and then the Crossroad asks each of us what path we want to
fight for and what we think the consequences would be. We’re united by
the Kingdom in setting and the Crossroads in action.
Kingdom comes before characters who come before action. We create
our Kingdom together, step-by-step, to get the group to negotiate and
build consensus, so that each of us feels like it is our world. The Kingdom
ties the character together, but it actually unites the players too.

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All that world-building comes before we even talk about characters
because the moment you make characters, you become biased. You start
to see the Kingdom through the lens of the story you imagine for your
character instead of the Kingdom as a whole. And that’s good because
if building the Kingdom together is our first agreement, introducing
the characters is opening the door for all the essential disagreement to
come.
I’m a firm believer that if the setup is solid, play flows naturally. If
you understand the world and the characters, you can imagine what
could happen without a lot of guidance. And in Kingdom that’s made
even easier because we always have a Crossroad driving the action and
uniting the story.
Every time we make a Crossroad, it’s a clear declaration that this is
something we can disagree about. Crossroads are also a perfect example
of the balance between agreement and disagreement: to make a
Crossroad, we discuss and get buy-in so we agree that this is the big
decision we’re facing, even while we’re totally encouraged to disagree
about the outcome.

Hey, That’s Not Your Role!

Your Role is an essential part of the game. It determines how you
contribute to the story and how you play the game. The simple analogy
is, “you either cut the pie or pick the slice.” Yes, only Power chooses
which path of the Crossroad the Kingdom takes, but Perspective decides
the consequences, and Touchstone tells us what the people want.
But your Role also tells you what you can’t do. If you don’t have a
particular Role, you have to leave those aspects of the story to other
players. If you take Perspective, you get to decide the consequences,
but you can’t tell the Kingdom what to do or choose how the people
feel about it. And you can never use your Role to duplicate other Roles:
Power can’t make the people feel a certain way, Perspective can’t predict
what Power will do, etc.
So what do you do when someone acts like they have a Role which
they don’t have? They’re arguing about the future of the Kingdom and
start talking about what’s going to happen if those fools decide to go
to war. They’re talking like they’re making predictions, but they don’t
have Perspective.
A character can say anything, of course. But it’s critical that we, the
players, understand whether it’s just talk or whether they have the
weight of the rules backing them up because we don’t just want the
person who speaks the most convincingly to decide what’s true.

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First of all, if you see someone acting like they have a different Role,
do everyone a favor and say so. It doesn’t matter if you are not in the
scene. Just say, “Hey, that sounds like you have Power/Perspective/
Touchstone. But you don’t, right?” If they honestly want that Role, they
can change and take it. Otherwise, the player has to embrace that what
they’re saying is just their character talking.
Sometimes you might intentionally role-play your character being
wrong. My character thinks they know better than you, even though
you have Perspective and I don’t. That’s great stuff. But as a player, it is
essential that you show you know you’re wrong. Say, “yeah, I know you
have Perspective, and your character is right, but my character thinks
she knows what’s best and that your guy is clueless. My character is
totally wrong.”
Your character can ignore someone’s Role, but as a player, you should
always respect it. The bottom line is: it is everyone’s job to respect
everyone’s Role, including their own. If you really think someone should
not have their Role, Overthrow them and take it for yourself.

Power: Source of Your Authority

When you take Power, you have to explain why people listen to you.
Your answer says a lot about the nature of the Kingdom. Do you have
authority because of an office or title? Are you rich? Popular? Vested
with divine grace? Any of those answers tell us something about what
the Kingdom values or respects. Your reason for having Power in one
Kingdom might make no sense in a different Kingdom.
That’s why it’s your responsibility to provide an explanation that makes
sense, so we can all understand how your character has Power, and be
able to react appropriately when you start barking orders.
It’s easy to forget that even though you tell the Kingdom what to do,
the ultimate source of your Power is the Kingdom itself: you only have
Power because the Kingdom exists. If the Kingdom is destroyed, your
Power is gone.

Power: An Enlightened Despot

There’s a question people always ask: “If you can only ever have a
single Role, how can you be a wise and compassionate ruler?” Because
if you have Power, then by definition, you can’t have Perspective or
Touchstone, so leaders in Kingdom seem doomed to be ignorant and
out-of-touch.

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The solution is simple. All you have to do is agree with everything the
Perspective and Touchstone players establish, and you’re instantly wise
and in-tune with your community.
The real difference is which player calls the shots. You can say your
Power character foresees the same things the Perspective character
does and feels the same way the Touchstone character does. But it’s
the Perspective player who is predicting what’s going to happen and
the Touchstone player who is deciding the attitude of the people. Your
character can be a perfect ruler if you are willing to embrace what the
other players decide.

Perspective: Conditional Predictions

On paper, predictions are simple: if we pick that path, this is what will
happen. But in reality, predictions are always conditional because they
only come true if the Perspective player still thinks they should when
the Crossroad is resolved. If something convinces the Perspective player
their prediction no longer makes sense, it won’t happen.
Sometimes a Perspective player will tell us upfront what will make
them change their mind or what conditions they think their prediction
requires. If the Crossroad is “do we invade?”, Perspective could predict
that if yes, we’ll win… but only if we launch a sneak attack before
declaring war. It’s like an invitation to Fight-or-Fix, with the Perspective
player telling everyone up front exactly what would work.
Could we do something else instead that would satisfy Perspective? We
can certainly try, but the choice is up to them.

Touchstone: Just Feel It

A common mistake when playing Touchstone is to think that your
character needs to persuade the people or convince the crowd. You
absolutely don’t. A Touchstone character doesn’t tell the people in the
Kingdom what to think. It’s the Touchstone player who’s deciding what
the Kingdom is like by deciding what their character thinks.
The easiest way to understand Touchstone is to imagine your character
has no idea that this is their Role. They’re just a person in the Kingdom,
doing whatever they do and feeling whatever they feel. Even the player
can forget their Role and just play their character honestly reacting to
whatever is going on. But as soon as the Touchstone character has an
opinion, we all stop and say, “and so that’s what the people think,”
because that immediately establishes what’s true about our Kingdom.

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 Shooting the Messenger
The player is responsible for how they use their Role, but the character
might not be. It depends on the Role.
If you have Power, the character is clearly responsible for the orders
they give. The player decides, and then the character does it. But the
other Roles are quite different. A Perspective character can foresee
consequences, but the character isn’t causing those consequences: the
player is. A Perspective character could desperately wish their own
predictions weren’t true, but seeing the truth is not their fault. You can
shoot the messenger, but you really are just shooting the messenger.
Likewise, a Touchstone character is not responsible for making the
Kingdom feel the same way they do: the player is. But even though the
character isn’t making the Kingdom feel that way, they do hold those
beliefs themself, so they’re responsible for their own attitudes.
This means you could have situations where players are creating
conflicts for each other even while the characters are completely on the
same side. The Perspective character keeps bringing Power bad news,
even though both of them are sorry to hear it.

I Dare You
It’s natural to think that when a player says their character wants
something, the player wants it too. But that’s not always the case. We
may want to see our own plans fail or be excited to see challenges
arise that our characters lament because that lets our characters face
adversity and do cool things.
Sometimes, as players, we make things happen, not because we want
them to succeed, but because we want to see how far everyone else will
go to prevent them. We throw down the gauntlet and dare the other
players to do something about it. Because that’s what good stories are
all about: difficult decisions.
When you push for things someone else’s character doesn’t want, but
their player is interested in, you are really doing that player a huge
favor. You are shining a spotlight on what they care about and laying the
groundwork for their character to fight for what they believe in. That’s
great stuff. And don’t be shy about it! Tell the other player, “Yeah, I’m
totally doing this because I know your character won’t like it. I want to
see what you’re going to do about it.” Dare them to stop you.
If you look at what each Role can do, it’s clear that every player has
incredible authority. Any of us can destroy the Kingdom. Power can

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issue terrifying commands, Perspective can predict drastic outcomes,
and Touchstone can utterly change the nature of our community in a
heartbeat.
Just like a real community, we’re dependent on each other’s restraint.
That’s the constant knife-edge everyone walks: How hard do I push to
go the direction I want? How strongly do I disagree? Because if you go
too far, someone may feel they have to take your Role away and stop
you. But a player’s right to contribute to the story is sacred. Your Role is
your voice in the game, so an overthrow doesn’t take away your voice:
it just makes you switch to a different voice. You still contribute, you
just contribute differently.

What’s Your Kingdom For?

There is an unspoken question at the heart of every Kingdom game:
What is your Kingdom for? What does it exist to do?
When I first made the game, the rules asked each player to say what
their character thought the Kingdom was for during character creation
with no two answers alike. The idea was to plant seeds of disagreement
by highlighting the different expectations the characters had.
But over time, it became clear I was putting the cart before the horse.
“What’s our Kingdom for?” is the center of the game, the axis everything
revolves around. The whole game is about asking that question and
fighting over the answer.

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AFTERWORD
 Thoughts & Thanks
This is the first time I’ve done a major second edition of one of my games. I
revised Union to be a stand-alone game in 2018, but that was a tiny project
compared to rewriting Kingdom.
I rewrote Kingdom because even though I loved how the game played, I knew
the book didn’t capture that magic. I had always been hesitant to just hand the
rules to someone and say, “go play!” because I knew it was not easy to pick up
and learn. There was just too much text to wade through.
It haunted me, so I decided to fix it. Because I wanted people to be able to play
and enjoy Kingdom the way we did.
Then I unwittingly picked 2020 as the year to get that done. Whoops. But
there’s a silver lining to every dark cloud: lockdown made online gaming the
new normal. Physical distance became meaningless. I could play with anyone,
anywhere. And I did.
Throughout 2020, gaming with Caroline, Marc, and Al has been my pillar and
my rock. We’ve been playing the same Kingdom every week—over fifty sessions
so far—and it’s been a rare solace in difficult times. On top of that, Caroline and
Marc (the creators of Downfall and Epitaph, respectively) remain, as always, my
game design posse. If there are design-brainstorms or design-weeping, they are
who I’m talking to when it happens. And is that the same Al who did the amazing
cover for this new edition of Kingdom? Why, yes, it is! Truly the dream team.
With nearly ten years of game-play to process and distill, this version of Kingdom
has gone through countless revisions. No, really, more than you’re imagining
right now. After so many iterations, the text can become a blur. My fearless
editor, Carole Robbins, provided a vital reality check to make sure I was still
writing anything like English.

I’ve been playing Kingdom for so long that there are far too many people to thank
properly. So I will merely do it improperly:
Pat and Shuo, who, along with Marc and Caroline, made up the original Kingdom
crew. The games we played made Kingdom what it is.
Ace, Joe, and Brad of House Galiana, a landmark game with bittersweet stabby.
And then Ace and Joe (again) with Ashley in our Department of Witches game,
complete with talking cat.
Dave, Dave, Chris, and Sean for our slobo-infested salvage ship, the Parmenedes,
and for not throwing me out of the airlock.
Lori, Ben, and Hannah for the rag-tag fugitive fleet of the Shunned.
Lara, JC, Cody, and Drew, the surprisingly sympathetic criminal scum of the Drift.
Drew, Chris, and Ben, the troublesome toys of the Garden Valley Daycare.
And on top of all that, a whole pile of amazing Kingdom games at Story Games
Seattle because that is where so much magic happened. Story Games Seattle
players: you are all always in my heart.

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 Playtesters
When a game has been in the wild for as long as Kingdom has, the definition of
“playtester” gets pretty blurry. There are lots of people I played Kingdom with
after it was released, but before I decided to write a second edition, who aren’t
listed here but certainly deserve to be. Thanks to every single one of you.

Second Edition
Ace Hamilton, Adam Metcalfe, Al Lukehart, Anders Bohlin, Anders Hällzon, Andrew
Muttersbach, Armando Tratensek, Ashley Cook, Ashley Marie Robillard, Athanasia Palaiologou,
Avi Vogel, Ben McCabe, Björn Jacobsen, Bradley Young, Callum Padgett, Caroline Gasparini,
Caroline Hobbs, Chris Churchill, Clair Ross, Clara Warford, Curtis Babineau , Dan Koss, Dave
Caolo, David Fontes, Dean Langton, Deniz Bilgin, Devan Davenport, DeWayne Peden, Dominic
Trewartha, Editorjo, Einar Axelsson, Elad Hen, Elliott Kane, Garth “The Shadow” Rose, Geoff
Vogel, Germon Anderson, Grace Summerson, Grae Mackenzie, Grant McLaughlin, Hadar Palgy,
Hannah McCabe, Harry Bond, Helen Anderson, Helen Anderson, Jack Allan, Jacob Wilmot,
James Zaphir, Jason Bostwick, Jeff Bloom, Jeff Szusz, Jennifer Balkan, Joe Wandyez, Jon
Morel, Jonathon Lawrence, Jordan Mingus, Josh Blue, Joshua Marple, Julia Migmar, July,
Jure Brence, Kaitlyn Johnson, Karl Parakenings, Karlo Bloom, Kim Nolemo, Kipland Fletcher,
Kory Bessette, Lampros Trifyllis, Leo Borg, Lori Watson, Lucas Jones, Lukas Sernlind, Madeline
Glynn, Marc Hobbs, Maria G., Matt Bogosian, McKenna Mae, Micah Di Nicola, Mitchell Turek,
Nejc Petrisic, Nic Weinberg, Nicholas van der Velden, Noel Warford, Ofer Hanadari-Freedman,
Paige Turner, Pat Kemp, Purrs, Rachel Sandler, Rachel Todd, Ray Holding, Robert Keyes, Robin
Zahavy Merkel, Roman Bajev, Rose Davidson, Ryan Cirincione, Ryan Goldstein, Sanna Enmark,
Savannah Hensley, Scott Merrill, Sean Parker, Sigal Weiss, Simon Pettersson, Sonni Lowe,
Tischa Lo, Tom Parker, Tom Reed, Tristan Pindell, William Arnold, Yasi Shahmohammadi, Zach
Gass

First Edition
Aaron Herbert, Abi Nighthill, Adam Drew, Ade Hill, Adrian Dyson, Alanor Vuylsteke, Alasdair
Sinclair, Albey Amakiir, Alessio Rossi, Alex Cooley, Alex Guerrero-Randall, Andrew Gause,
Andy Michael, Anton Trauner, Ashley Cook, Barak “El Presidente” Lightning, Barbara Fini, Bob
Krol, Brad Walker, Brian Ballsun-Stanton, Brian Hunter, Camilo Caceres, Carlos Mendez Chang,
Chris Crewdson, Chris Eng, Chris Roosenraad, Chris Steinitz, Christopher Smith, Crystal,
Dale Horstman, Dani Laney, Daniel Wood, David Berg, David Fooden, David Redcorn, Derek
Grey, Dion Sorenson, Doug Bartlett, Emily Ryan, Epistolary Richard, Eric Nolan, Eric Spohn,
Ethan Trooskin-Zoller, Evan Silberman, Garth “The Shadow” Rose, Geoff Matheson, Geoff
Vogel, George Austin, Greg Pearson, Henry Gnau, Ian Zeilstra, Jacek ‘Darken’ Gołębiowski,
Jacqueline Ashwell, Jamie Brasington, Jamie Fristrom, Jan Laszczak, Jason Ziglar, Javier Soto,
Jeff Hosmer, Jeff Winokur, Jenna Povey, Jess Perez, Jessica Beckett, Jobe Bittman, Joe Iglesias,
Joe Tyne, John Carr, John Knight, Johnstone Metzger, Jonathan Bearup, Jonathan Borzilleri,
Jonathan Davis, Jonathan Newhall, Jordan Mingus, Jorge Lopez Guerra, Joshua Unruh, Julia
Gentlestrength, Julius Fildes, Juliusz Doboszewski, Kayla, Kim Voynar, Konrad ‘Erni’ Mazurek,
Kriss Morton, Krystal Hammar, Kynnin Scott, Leandra Trout, Liam Mehl, Loren Lassiter, Louie
Brennan, Mac Hume, Maciej Sabat, Mark Causey, Mark Dickinson, Mark Levad, Mark Wyler,
Markus Haydn, Martin Silva, Matt Butler, Matt Repp, Matthew Gagan, Matthew Klein, Matthias
Papuschek, Megan Brown, Michael Arrington, Michael McDowell, Mike Frost, Mike Schmidt,
Mike Sugarbaker, Mit Mehl, Morgan Stinson, Neil Pinkerton, Neil Smith, Nia Miyu Haydn,
Niall Sullivan, Nicholas Chan, Nick Cole, Nick Grimm, Nick Tebby, Orion Canning, Padraig
Bracken, Paul Lowrie, Paulo Rivas, Peter Adkison, Piers Connolly, Piotr Stankiewicz, Raffaele
Manzo, Richard Choi, Richard Lutz, Rob Brennan, Robert Bruce, Robert Rees, Rohit Ramnath,
Russell Moore, Sam Ashwell, Seth Magdich, Sev Trooskin-Zoller, Shaun Brasington, Simone
Lombardo, Sohum Banerjea, Stephen Locke, Steve Conard, Steve Hickey, Stuart Updegrave,
Tayler Stokes, Terry Booth, Terry Daly, Terry Franguiadakis, Thomas Demkey, Tim Ballew, Todd
Meder, Tony Dowler, Trey Marshall, Veles Svitlychny, Winter Downs

Original Playtesters
Caroline Hobbs, Feiya Cook, Fred Lott, Marc Hobbs, Pat Kemp, Shuo Meng

95
 NAME

NAME

Your KINGDOM:

WHO ARE YOU?

BOND LOCATIONS BOND

Duty or Relationship Where are you usually found? Duty or Relationship
What makes it difficult? Pick two from the list What makes it difficult?

(you create the bond to the (the player to your right

character to your left) creates a bond with you)

You always have one of these three Roles

POWER PERSPECTIVE TOUCHSTONE

The Kingdom obeys Predicts the consequences Shows us how the people
your orders. of our Crossroad choice. of the Kingdom feel.
 POWER PERSPECTIVE TOUCHSTONE

POWER PERSPECTIVE TOUCHSTONE

You have authority over the Kingdom. You decide You understand the Kingdom, both its merits You show us what the people of the Kingdom
what the Kingdom does about the Crossroad. and flaws. You can see the truth, whether or not want and feel.
anyone else believes you.
When you order the Kingdom to do When your character expresses an
something, the Kingdom does it. Describe You can predict the consequences of the attitude, the people of the Kingdom
what you do to make it happen. Crossroad. As soon as your character automatically feel the same way.
thinks or says what will happen if we
You can throw someone in jail, give them a raise, choose one of the paths, it’s true. After you show how you feel, you can describe
etc. Another player’s main or minor character seeing other people in the Kingdom showing or
does not have to obey you, but you can order the Make as many predictions as you want. They can acting on those same feelings.
Kingdom to punish or reward them. be good or bad for the Kingdom, as you wish.
If the Crossroad decision seems too obvious, use If you show you prefer one of the choices facing
your predictions to make things more interesting. the Kingdom, write your character’s name on that
side of the Crossroad as a reminder that this is
Don’t predict what happens to particular what the people want.
characters or things that would be decided by
other Roles (like what the people feel or what Your character does not have to convince the
Power decides). people or even talk to them. As a player, you are
deciding what people in the Kingdom feel and
showing us through your character.

When you are in a scene or reaction, any main When you are in a scene or reaction, any main When you are in a scene or reaction, any main
character can: character can: character can:

CHANGE to another Role if yours doesn’t fit CHANGE to another Role if yours doesn’t fit CHANGE to another Role if yours doesn’t fit
you anymore. you anymore. you anymore.

FIGHT-OR-FIX something you want to defeat, FIGHT-OR-FIX something you want to defeat, FIGHT-OR-FIX something you want to defeat,
fix, or prevent. fix, or prevent. fix, or prevent.

OVERTHROW to take away Power’s authority OVERTHROW to take away Power’s authority OVERTHROW to take away Power’s authority
or prove Touchstone or Perspective wrong. or prove Touchstone or Perspective wrong. or prove Touchstone or Perspective wrong.
You take that Role for yourself. You take that Role for yourself. You take that Role for yourself.
 PLAY CROSSROAD CHANGE ROLES
Explore the Crossroad confronting the Crossroads are the critical chapters of your If you feel your Role doesn’t fit you
Kingdom. Show us what your character game. Always make Crossroads that interest anymore, you can change it. Tell us what
thinks, says, or does about it. Use your Role you. To create a Crossroad: your new Role is, then show your character
to push the Kingdom in the direction you 1| State the question embodying that Role.
want. On your turn, follow these steps: 2| Check the interest of other players You can only use one Role in a scene,
1| Crossroad: If there isn’t a Crossroad in 3| Paint the picture reaction, or Crossroad resolution.
play, make one.
The Kingdom cannot decide what to do
2| Scene: Show what your main character
until all Crossroad boxes are checked. All FIGHT-OR-FIX
thinks or does about the Crossroad.
our characters know about the Crossroad as You can stop or overcome something
3| Check a Box: Crossroad by default or soon as it is created.
Crisis if you think we’re in trouble. another character does, change popular
attitudes, or prevent predictions. Describe
4| Reactions: Each of us can narrate our
SCENES what you do, then their player chooses one:
main or minor character reacting to
what is happening. Your scene is your chance to shine a  Yes, you succeed
5| Resolve: If all Crossroad or Crisis boxes spotlight on your character and show what  Yes, you succeed, but there’s an
are full, stop and resolve. you do or think about the Crossroad. To undesirable consequence of your
6| Next player: Clockwise goes next. create a scene, tell us who is there, where actions, which they describe
you are, and what is happening. Your main  Yes, you succeed, if you follow the plan
Resolving Crossroad and Crisis are covered character must be in the scene, and 2-3 they describe instead of what you said
C H E AT S H E E T in the main rules. characters total is best.
You can accept what they say, give up, or
This is a brief overview of the rules for quick reference, but To play the scene, show us what you think, propose something else and try to negotiate.
ROLES
always follow the complete instructions in the book. say, or do. Use your Role and respect what If you can’t come to an agreement, your
Each Role lets you contribute and play other characters establish with their Roles. attempt fails.
copyright © 2021 Ben Robbins differently, as described on your Role card. You can also change Roles, Overthrow
lamemage.com  Power can tell the Kingdom what to do. someone, or Fight-or-Fix something. OVERTHROW
You decide which Crossroad path the
If you want to take away Power’s authority
Kingdom takes. REACTIONS or prove Touchstone or Perspective wrong,
 Perspective has insight. You predict the
Each player can make a short monologue you can Overthrow them and take their
consequences of our choice.
to show how their main or minor character Role for yourself. Follow the step-by-step
 Touchstone shows us what the people
reacts to what is happening, whether or not instructions in the rules.
want. As soon your character has a
they were in the scene. Say where you are,
feeling, the people of the Kingdom If you’re Overthrown, you will pick a
then what you see, think, or do. Your main
automatically feel the same. new Role and keep contributing, but in a
character can also change Roles, Overthrow
different way.
You can only use your Role when your main someone, or Fight-or-Fix. Even though it
character is present in a scene or reaction. must be brief, you can still describe taking
big action.
Kingdoms are all around us…
Groups are stronger than individuals. We can work together to do great
things. When you play Kingdom, you’ll sit down and create a community
together and then strive to make it live up to your ideals… or watch it burn.

Your Kingdom can be any group or organization that interests you: a school
for wayward wizards, a revolutionary pharmaceutical company, an anime fan
club, or the first settlers on Mars…

What will our Kingdom do? What will it become? The Kingdom's fate is in
your hands. The question is: will you change the Kingdom or will the
Kingdom change you?

A role-playing game by Ben Robbins, creator of Microscope and Follow. For

two to five players. No GM. No prep.

Lame Mage Productions

www.lamemage.com