X-Treme Dungeon Mastery

I

XDMsalwaysettrapsproperlyusingtheseguide- Youalsoneedto remembetrhatif yourtrapis

lines: in thewayof anessentieallemenitn yourgamet,hen

TrapsmustbeforeshadowedT.heheroiccharacters youmusfhaveanalternaterouteby whichtheplay-
sloggintghroughyourdungeondesignmusthave erscangetto thatelementY. oudo notwantyour

at leasst omekindof warningthattheyareenter- foolishplayersc' haracteraslltossingthemselveliske
inga minefreldT. hiscanbeasobviouassa sign lemmingosntothesametrapfor hourson endjust

carvedintothewallsaying"BewareN! o Living becausyeoudidn'tgivethemanyotherchoice.

PersonnAellowedBeyondThisPoint!"or as

subtteasanunseenbreezebrushingup thehairson Too much or not enough?

thebackof thecharactern'seck,buttheyhaveto Withriddlesp, uzzleso,r traps,youwill always

havesomecluethatthereissomethinbgadahead endupwiththesamequestionH: owmuchdo I tell

of them. myPlayers?
Thisisa balancinagct,andyes,it involvetshe

TrapsmustmakesenseL. ikepuzzlesth, elocationof wholedifferencbeetweenwhatplayersknowand

trapsmusthavea purposeA. rchitecsof EvilLairs whattheircharacterksnow.Howevert,hemostim-

do notiustput expensivaendelaboratterapswilly- portanthingisthatplayergsetthemostsatisfaction
nillyin thekitchenhallwayout of artisticlicenself. out of solvingtheriddlesin thegamethemselves.r

thetrapisthere,it hasto havea purpose. Howeveri,t isoftendiffrculto iudgehowmany
or howblatanthecluesyourstalwarpt layerswill

Therehasto beanotherway. All trapshavea requireto figurethingsout.
mechanismfor disarmintghem- andwe'renot Thebestwayto dealwiththisproblemisinside
talkingabouta thiefcharactenramed'Stinky.'
Thereisalwaysanactuapl hysicaml eansof shut- t h eg a m ed e s i g nF. o re v e r ym i n d - b e n d i nr igd d l e ,
complexpuzzleo, r fearsomterap,youneedto seed

tingoff thetrapand,yes,it will belocatedsome- thecluesandsolutioneslsewherien thedesignA. s

wherethatmakesenseT. heexceptiotno this a rule,threewill usuallycoverit: thefirstclueonly

wouldbeanadventurdeealinwg itha treasure a subtlenudget,heseconda bit moreblatanta, nd

housewhoseowneraccidentlsyecuredhisgoldtoo thethirda whoppingsmackacrostsheheadsaying,

wellandnowhashiredyouradventuretrosbreak "try THISdummy!"*Byseedintgheseinsidethe

intohisowntreasurehousefor him.. designitself,it allowsyouto providetheplayerws hat

theyneedto solvetheriddlewithoutresortingto

callinganyonenamesat theuble. Betterstill,since

- theytheyobtainedthecluesthrough
+ theirownefforts,theplayerws ill

universalflyeelincrediblcylever

no matterhowblatantheclue

required.

-ff/ -::^-:

-----------\;),-

c ___

* Oh, no! | iust gaveawayanothergreatadventureidea! - f Or at leastfeelingasthoughtheydid.
+ We arespeakingentirelymetaphoricallyhere,of course,referring
to the degreesof blatantcyin the cluesor hintsprovided.We do not
advocateactuallysmackingyour playeruacrossthe headregardlesosf
your personafleelingon the matter,

s0

f,HarrrngrvrN,JFlouSHerrpnrlenrr

cdaYMinoreomoomsunlaGpiSemnporioueotdlmyoeaaeYu.onyycsroupwitbrsnhYuehlehag.'aoaaivacnatuvmetiesgmve?'4vtCtoedhre4enyruyfe8eiogcntgb,atuthaeaautLhmidmsrveaiieeotcpvesdipdwt.eetblraXloaieutrpyhDtcotelmtMeueuarrbnsyrsrlee.sedof,tcathcyfeermtoerhreCutyaaeaa,anzartiniemiddvnplreyvdgpliWade!olbyydneeiltn,elulgsirae. ntpow"scofpalfooatmenrrhyslneodeelpstevwvgdeieinseathcpdtrupmiiuacrenolehseasfsnlut.itytstgho"ehloTif.enboarohldilnttlnemteoebeehgrduuesteeaic.ctlrgsnkoehenaaeetwmitnrmvhieedleilegspsaecrwaplvotamroiememyrreipsktrien.eeaiwnAgefrtgeahoo,tgrhtenaeiaoonaepytmsnwoseoceeowharuthffomjhoauahorprstama?itashOvrianeaegnnovnectee
notquestioynourcreativityB. utit isn,ttheceative
peoplwehomakethegradeC! reativityiseasyd, isci-
plinecdreativitiysa rareandbeautifutlhing.lt isn,t
enougtho comeup withthecoolesat dventuroef all The Map is the Territoly
timeY. ouhaveto beableto execuftehedesignin a
waythatisusefulo, rganizeda,ndcoherent. Themosteasilyrecognizeodrganizationtaolol you
canhaveforyouradventurdeesignisa solidmap.Be-
causeyouradventurwe illtakeplacealmoset xclusively
in yourmindandthemindsof yourplayersth, ismap
PreparatioTnime and When to Know How Far thatyoucreateactuallywillbetheterritoryof your
b Too Far game.

TheruleisprettystraightforwarTdh: esuccesosf Yourmapismorethanjusta representationf the
youradventuriesdirectlyproportionatol theamount worldfor yourgamel.t istheplayingfreldon whichall
ofpreparatioynouput intoit. If youjustslapto- activitiehsappenE. lemenogf thismaprepresensot me
gethearmap,iot downsomenotesa, nddeterminteo of thehardandsoftbordersof youroveralgl amein a
jusmt akeuptherestof it whenyougetthere,we,re closedmatrixdesignl.t isalsoa graphicrepresentation

gointgo tearyourXDM patcheosff yourpajamas of thevariousencounterosf yourgamedesignandtheir
attheverynextregionaml eetingN! o XDMworth physicainl terrelationshiApsg. oodmapcanmakeyour
hisdicewouldapproacahgamewithsucha casual, workasanXDMeversomucheasier.

sloppaypproachl . Ap"$rpt"l 3""k of the XDM, 6t122

Takeintoconsideratioanllof thefollowingele- likelywill notwantto seetheservantsb,utwill
m e n t sw h e nd e s i g n i nt hge m a pf o r y o u rg a m e : certainlywantthemhandy.Howdo theservants
entertheareasof theroyalty?Howarethey
l. Themapneedsto makesenseY. oushouldhave keptseparateH?owdoestrafficof individuals
somebasicconcepot f howcartographfyunctions. andtheirpurposefslowthroughthestructure?
Cartographearsroundtheworldhavebeenmak-
ingmapsaslongaspeoplehavebeenwalking. Thisalsoappliesto thelayoutof towns.A
T h es y s t e mws h i c ht h e yh a v ed e v e l o p eodv e rt h e studyof medievaclitiesshowsthattheirstreets
millenniahaveevolvedintotheircurrentformfor areterriblyconvolutebdecausiet wasa defensive
a reasonA. dopttheirtools. strategtyo confuseinvadingarmiesA. re your
streetsintentionallcyonfusingor did you iust
2. Thelocationsneedto makesenseT. hinkabout drawa badmap?
anystructure(slikecastlesv,illageso,r dungeons)
in termsof theiruse.Picturepeople(or monsters) 3. Considerenderinga profileviewof anymajor
actualllyivingthere.lsthisa defensivsetructure building.Mostadventurdeungeonsw,erethey
(asmostcastleasre)?lf so,thenwhereareallof actuallyconstructedw,ouldhavesomethinogf
thoseguardgsoingto behousedT?heywillall a ranchstyleappearancweitha sprawlinfgloor
needto befedandtheirmesshallswillneedto be planspreadoutverywidelyovera singlelevel.
nearboththe barrackasndthe kitchenfacilities. Thereisno reasonwhyanyonewouldactually
Theroyaltytheyareprotectin&howeverm, ost buildsucha ridiculousstructure.

SAY?THOSEWON'TgE A
PROgLEiFl ORO. LO"SPOT|EO

52

THou$Harprnrraner

CastleRavenloft-fromtheclassiTcSR"lnc. r u n . ( D u h ! )M o r ei m p o r t a n t l yc,i v i l i z a t i o nf os l l o w

adventurme oduleRavenloft-wacstually thecourseof riversin theirestablishme(nbtecause

reversengineerebdy studyingthelayoutsof riversarethemostefficienwt ayof travelinglong
FrenchandGermancastlesn,otingthevarious distancens,aturarloads)U. sethosesameriversas
requiresdpaceasndtheirrelationshipasn,dthen a guidefor theclassicsapl readof yourcivilization.
drawingtheexferioor f whatthecastlelooked
likefirstandthensegmentinitgintolevelsand Speakinogf civilizationbse, foreyougoplant-
drawinfgloorplansfor eachlevel.lt istruethat ingruinsalloveryourmap,considesromeof
therewasconsiderabilteerationgoingon in the thefollowinqguestionWs:hobuiltthesethings
processth; eelevationdrawingwouldbemodi- here?Whendidtheybuildthemandwhy?What
fredasthe requiredinteriorspacews ereput in happenetdhatcausewd hoevebr uiltthesethings
placeor theinteriorspacews ouldbemodifled hereto abandonthem?(Comeon! Nobodybuilds
to suita betterlookto theelevatiodnrawing.
"ruins.")Doessomeof thestufftheyoriginally
Theresulwt asa buildingthatactuallylooked builtherestillwork?Why?lf monsternsowinhabit

likea castlethatsomeonweouldwantto build. theseruins,whatcausedthemto movein here?

It alsoresulteidn a uniquemapdesign(thanks Howhavetheyadaptedthisplaceto theirownliv-

to thebrilliancoef DaveSutherlanwd)ith,as ingrequiremens?

befrtasnactuacl astlea, lot of goingupthestairs

andcomingdownthemaswell.This,in turn, 5. lf you eversay"becauseit's magic"again,I
hada tendenctyo gettheplayerscompletely $ rear.. . Youhaveexactlyfivesecondtso launch

lostinsidethecastlea, wonderfusl idebenefit. intoanextensivdeiscoursoen howmagicworks
lf yourdungeoonr buildingwouldlooksquat in yourworld,whythismagicstillworksafterall
thistime,andwhythisparticulaprieceof magic
andsquashewdereit actualltyo bebuilt,then isn'tjustsomeweak,milkquetoaspt,ansy-sisDsyM
youshouldconsidetrakingthestructurevertical,
whiningto excusheiswayoutof a baddesignl.f at
rathetrhanhorizontal.

4 Weknowthis is supposedto be fantast but anypointin yourexplanatioannyXDMwithinthe
getreal. Yourwildesitmaginatioonnlyworks soundof yourvoiceget'seventheslightesfet eling
whenit isgroundeidn somethinfgamiliaor r that thatyouaresomehowchannelinDgougHenning
atleasmt akesenseB. eforeyoustartdrawing sayin&'lt's Magic!'thenyoulosetwolevelsasan

a mapof yourworldthatlookslesslikesome- XDMandmustimmediatemlyakea savintghrow
thingfromTolkienandmoreIikesomething for yourdesignor startallover!

from"How I SpenMt y SummeVr acation,y"otJ Magichadbetterbea reasoanndnotanexcuse.
mightconsidewr aysto makeit morereal. Fartoo manyfantasayndsciencfeictionstoriesor

Forexamples,tartwiththesebasicconcepts gamefsallbackon thistiredwimp-out".Hey,why
abougt eologyg,eographya,ndgeopolitics: isit thata pairof rubyslippercsangetyouhome

Geographhyasa hugeimpacot n civilizations. in two seconds?"B" ecausiet's magiclN" uc! You
hadbetterbepreparedto explainwhyit isthat
Starbt yslamminag fewlandmassetsogether.
Prevailinwgindsm, ountainrangeplacement, thecrystallinsetructuroef rubycombinewd ith
andthelocationosf largebodiesof waterlargely t h e c h r o m i u mt h a tg i v e st h e g e m s t o niet s c o l o r
determinreainfall(.Rainfallson thewindward
sideandlandtendsto bedrieron theleeward interacttso mergetheethereaflieldsurrounding
sideH. owfertileistheground?Howoftendoes theplaneto producea space-timfeoldbetween
it rain?Theanswertso thesequestionsp,lusits parallewl orlds-onoef whichisin Technicoloarnd
elevatioanbovesealeveldetermintehetypesof
theotherin a sepiatonebrownandwhite..

vegetatiofonundthere.Rainfallson themoun- * Thisfold effecthad betteralsobe knownto causeextremeweather
uinsandtheirslopedeterminewsheretherivers conditionson both sidesof the paralleul niverseoftenresultingin an

atmospheripchenomenonknownas"a Twista!"

lf anyof usevercatchyouplasterinogvera plot to solvingsuchproblemisn yourdesignW. hen
hole,badcharactemr otivationor poorlydesigned Lauraa+ndTracywereworkingon thesecond
bookfor theirBronzeCanticlesseriesM, ystic
structurewiththewords"becausiet'smagic,"we QuesfT, racywasfacedwitha problemof an
willhuntyoudown. ancienut ndergrounedmpirewhichconnected
thenorthernandsouthernsectionosf a conti-
Creatingsolutiontso plotproblemtshatarenot nent.Therewassomethinogn themapcalled
iustdismissebdy wavingyournot-so-magicwaal nd "the DwarvenRoad"thatwassupposetdo be
ispartof thechallengaendfunof creatinwg orlds a bigdealtransportatiosnystemthathadlong
sincebeenabandonefdromuse.lt didn'tmake
andtheadventurtehatreflectthem.WhenMar- sensethattherewouldbetheseenormouslyong
garet.andTracywereworkingon theDearhgate tunnelsundergroundS.urethemountainws ere
difficulto getthroughb, ut howcouldforging
Cyclethefirstof theworldsfeaturedfloatingland a windingpaththroughthemountainpassebse
moredifficultor expensivtehandigginga tunnel
masseisn a seemingleyndlesssky.

Now, asidefromthisbeingapparentliynspired

by a traumatictrip to therecordstorewhenTracy
wasa youngteenagerw, hydidthesemassive

islandfsloatin thissky?Wasit magic?NOI Tracy

considerehdowit wouldbethathugelandmasses

wouldactuallyfloatin theslqf.Eithertheywere throughsolidrockfor hundredosf miles?More-
in a regionwithoutgravity-whicwh ouldreally
complicattehestorysincehereallyneededgravity over,whowouldwantto bestuckin a tunnel
to workhere-ortherewassomethinagbout he
islandtshemselvethsatfloatedthemin thesky. hundredosf mileslongon theirox cart?Where
wouldyou camp?Wherewouldyou feedyour
Whatelsefloats?Wood?Verysmalrl ocks?A ox andyourselPAnd whowouldwantto stay
for week undergrounidusttryingto getto the
duck?Ht owaboutzeppelinasnddirigiblesT?hey lightat theendof theDwaryenRoad?
floatbecausteheydisplacme oreairthantheir
totalweight,thesamereasonironshipsfloat. It justdidn'tmakesensaendfor thelongest
So,howisit thattheseislandws eighsolittleand
displacseomuchspaceP?erhaptsheyaremostly timeTracycouldn'tfigureout howto dealwith
hollow-likevolcanircockmixedwithairwhenit
it. Thena differenat pproachoccurredto him.
cools-andthentherewouldbesomethintghat
frlledthosevoidswitha gaswithlessdensitythan "Hey,I don'thaveto figureout howto do it.
Thedwarvews holivedherealreaddyidthat.All
thesurroundinagtmosphereW. hatif therewere
fungusgrowinginsidethosespacews hichcreated I haveto figureout ishowthedwarvewsould
suchliftinggaseasspartof theirexistenceO.f
courset,hiswouldmeanthattheislandisn thesky havedoneit." Theresulwt asthediscovertyhat
weremostlyporousandthereforewouldn'thold
waterverywell... whichmeanthatmy inhabit- theDwarvenRoadwasn'ta roadat all.lt wasa
antswouldhaveto workprettyhardto keepany
waterthatcametheirway.Waterwouldtherefore setof directedundergrounrdiversw, ithoc-
beprettyvaluablaesa commodityw, hichmeant
thatperhapws aterwastheirmediumof exchange. casionacul ts,conduitsa,ndviaducttshatlinked

Suddenltyheproblemhadledusto a really undergrounladkesY. oudidn'ttakea cart.You
interestinwgorldfrlledwith newpossibilities.
r o d et h e r i v e r .
Sometimeitshelpsto takea differenat pproach lf youhavea problemin thestructureof

yourstory gameo, r adventurneeyerpatchit
overwithmagicR. ollupyoursleevesp,utyour
thinkingcapon andlookat thewholeprocesass
a challengNe.evergiveup!Neversurrendetro

magic!5

* MargaretWeis,world-renownfantasynovelistwhosenamewe are { Onceagainimpressinygou with the peoplewe know,we mention
casuallydroppingherebecauswe e wantyou to knowhow coolwe arebeing LauraHickman,the beautifual ndtalentedwifeof TracyHickmanand
ableto iustreferto suchan excellenpt ersonby her frrstnamealone. hiswriting partneraswell. Pleasetell her that this footnote is in the book
f You knewthat therewould needto be at leastone referenceto Monty next time you seeher.
Wthon and theHoly Grailsomewherein this book.
$ You knewtherewould haveto be a GalaxyQuesfreference
somewheraeswell,didn't you?

54

tr TLlou$HetPr nrpanrr

lHE PLANSLOOK6000, tientwhiletherestof theclasscatcheusp.Textisone
gguUl wYSEOREA6IS0FtNROOM1T0HHEEALVVE1E0S, dimensionianlformationY..ouhaveto readit in a line
andin sequencfoer anymeanintgo comeoutof the
words.Youcannotreada wordon pageten,flip back
to pageonefor anothewr ordandthento pagesixand
expectherandomlychosenwordsfor forma cohesive

sentenceC.haruarealsoessentialolyne-dimensional
aswell.tTableasndmapsmakea fineshowof step-
pingthingsup intothesecondimensio(nheighat nd
breadth)T. hesetogethear rethecompletedesignt,he
"map" to thegameexperiencew,hichin realityisfour
dimensionali-maaginesdtateof existencwe,hichnot
onlyhasthethreeclassicdailmensionosf width,depth,
andheightb, utallof whichareforevermovingforward

throughthefourthdimensioonf time.
It'sa realchallengteo figureout howto do that

effectively.
It istheseverylimisin dimensiotnhatposetshe

heartof anyapproactho writingdowna gamedesign.
Thefirstthingyouneedto decidein youradventure,
theniswhichisthemoreimportandtimensioin your
games: paceor time?"

Organization:Time vs. Space

Asfor makinga prettymap, therearea num- Therearetwo basicguidingoptionswhenyou

berof reallyfabuloums appingprogramasvailabtleo try to writedownyouradventurwe hichyoucaneasily

creatorosf adventurgeamesT. racyprefersProfan- choosebetweebny askinygourselfthisquestion:

tasy'Cs ampaigCnartographearndFractileTerrain lstheprimarymotivatingforceon thecharacters

softwarpeackageAs.lthoughby thetimeyouactually limitedoptionsor limitedtime?

getaroundto readingthispartof thebookthey've Thefirstiscalledanoptionlockwhilethesecond

probabldyevelopeadnentirelynewsetof software iscalleda timelock.

toolsandpossibltyhreemoreoperatingsystems.

l. OptionlockThismeantshattheoptionsavail-

ableto theplayerws illdiminisohverthecourseof

Puttingit all together: the adventure theadventuruentiltheyliterallyrunoutof op-

text tions.Playerws hoaremakingtheirwaythrough

Y o u ' v eg o t t h e t o o l s ,y o u ' v ee v e ng o t a l l t h e anundergrounddungeoanreprimarilyfacedwith

partsN. owyou haveto putthewholethingtogether anoptionlock;thereareonlysomanyplacetshat

intoa workingw, ell-oileda,ndfunctionaml achinelt.
helpisf youhavea planandaninstructiomn anual. * OK, whineyphysicspeople,we knowthat the text exissin the third
dimensionphysicallyT. he ink, no matter how thin, hasits own three
Thefirstthingyoushouldconsideirsthata writ- dimensionaslpaceandthe pageceruinlyhasa thicknesbseyondis width

tenadventuriesa one-dimensionsatrlingof informa- andheight.We'renot talkingaboutthe physicapl ropertiesof the page,
we're talkingaboutthe dimensionsof the informationitself,Feedthat to
tion(text)usedto transforma two-dimensionmaal p Schrddingerc'sat . . . who mayor maynot be aroundto chewon it.

intoa fourdimensiondayl namicstate. t Foryou gamedesignchallengedn,ewXDMs,a "chart" comparesone
setof numbersto a matchedpair of results.A "tdble" crossreferencestwo
Finew, e'llexplainthisfor thelowerleveXl DMs fields(acrossthe top and down the side)to find the resultat the intersection

iustreadingthisbookfor thefirsttime.lf youalready of the two fields.Now you can referto charu and tablescorrectlyand
knowwhatwe'resayin&you'lliusthaveto bepa- not havepeoplesnickerbehindyour backanylongerat gamedesign
conferences.

t)'

s trtr

f; l t

theycangoandeventhoughtheyarefreeto wan- certainlya lot of creative lementisn anadventure

deraroundalltheywant,noonewantsto goback modulei,t'sallabouttheperformancinetheend.

to anemptyroom.Sotheykeepexploringuntil Whenyouwriteyouradventureit, ismore

thelimitof theiroptionsisreacheadndtheyfrnally importantthatit isorganizepdroperlythanhow

arriveat theendof theadventure. floweryyourpurpleproseflowson thepageO. rga-

Optionlock dealmorewithspaceandchoices nizationandeaseof referencaerethewatchwords.

thanwithtime.Classidcungeonasndoutdoor It'syourperformancferomthesenotesthatmatters

adventureins a closedmatrixwithwelldefined moreandthemoreorganizeydourscriptthebetter

boundarieasrebothexampleosf optionlockenvi- yourperformance.

ronmentsN. o matterhowlongtheplayerws ander

arounde, ventualtlhy eywillrunoutof options Cut Scenes

for placesto visit.In thistypeof adventurtehe You'reanXDM,a masteor f thegameW! hy

bestapproachisto makeyourtext referprimarily overburdeynourselwf ithmundanedeuilssuchas,

to mapsandlocationisndependefnrtomtimed say,doingtheexpositiofnor youradventureW? hy

events. shouldyoudo alltheworkwhileyourplayersiust
sitaroundthetablepretendintghattheyhearwhat

2. TimelockThismeantshattheclockistickingon youaresay,butallthewhilearesecretlwy ishingyou

thebombandthattheamounot f timeavailable wouldstopreadingthatlongdescriptiotnextandget

for thecharactertso solvetheproblemwilldimin- on withbashinign theheadsof a fewmonsters?

ishwitheverypassinsgecondT. hisis,obviouslya, Hey,whyisthatyourproblem?

bit moreurgenton timeconstraintfsor theplay- Wehumblysuggestht atyouusescriptsand

ers.lf yourplayerssuddenlwyakeupanddiscover cutscenetso getyouthroughthoseawkwardmo-

theyarestandinngextto a thermonucledaervice ments.

in the 100 kilotonyieldrangein themiddleof A cutsceneisa videogametermfor a se-

theNewMexicodeserwt itha loudvoicecount- quenceinsidethegameoverwhichtheplayehr aslit-

ingdownfromthetenminutemark,andnothing tle or nocontrol.Theyareprimarilyusedto advance

for transportatiobnuttheRedBallJetsneakerosn characterp,lot,or backgrounidssueisnsidethegame.

theirfeet. . . that'sa timelockfor youthatno Theyalsoprovidetexture,flavor,andatmospherfeor

amounot f runningawaywillsolve. thegameY. oumightthinkof theselittlesceneass

Timelockrelatesmoreto timethanto spaceor thosesamelong,boringdescriptionthsatyou'vebeen

optionsY. ouwillneedlocationasnd,nodoubt, givingin everygameU. ntilnow.

mapsb, uttheprimaryconcernof theadventure- Wesuggestht atyouscriptthesecut scenes

theveryheartof yourorganizatioonf thetext-will andhaveyourplayerpserformthem.Youcaneven

needto centeraroundsequenceosf eventsand producetheseascutsheets-copieosf thescript

theirrelationshitpo choices. whichonlyhavethespokenlinesfor eachof theplay-

Nowthatyou'vefrguredout thegeneraalpproach erson them.

to youradventure(linearo, pen,or closedmatrix)and

is primaryconcern(optionor timelocked)it's timeget lmplied Story

thewholethingorganized. Actorson a stageareoftenencouragetdo look

Tricks of AdventureWriting notjustovertheaudiencbeutto gazeto theleftor
rightof theprosceniumT.hiseffectiveleyxtendtshe

The Script stagebecausteheaudiencefo, llowingthesightlineosf

All XDMsknowthatthetextof youradventuries theperformer'esyesb, elievetshatthereismorein

a script.lt's a referencweorkthatisn'tmeanto beread thecharacterw'sorldthatiscontaineodn thestage

buta guideto performanceT.hismeansthatwriting iself.

a goodadventurheasmoreto do withtechnicawl rit- Thisisalsotruein thedescriptionthsatyou

ingthanit doeswithcreativewriting.Whilethereare writefor thevariousencountelrocationisn your

adventurMe.ostof thewritingin encountelrocations Whowerethesepeople?Whyaretheyhere?What
isdullanddry stuff,butthedescriptiotnextisyour happened?

oneopportunittyo imbuetheencountewr ithsights, Remembethr atit isthenatureof humanityto

soundsm, ellsa,lltheemotionandsensethatbrings completestories-especiawllhyerenoneisgiven.Every
aplaceto lifein yourplayersm' inds.lt ishelpful, timeplayerasreconfrontedwithwhatlookslikea story
thenw, henconsiderinwghatto put in thesepieces theywillcompletiet in theirmindsm, akingupwhatev-
ofdescriptivtext,to look"beyondtheproscenium" er pleasetshemto fill in thegapsandmakeit complete.

andextendtheencountetrhroughtheuseof implied Thewonderfutlhingaboutthisisthatit involvetshe
story.
playerms orecompletelbyecausiet engagetsheirimagi-
lmpliedstorymeanps lacingdescriptionins- nation,allowingthemto actuallycontributesomething
sidethetextthathintat greateer ventsthathavehap- of theirowncreativityto theadventure.
penehderein thepast.Trythefollowingexamples:

Asyou openthedoor,you seethattheback Foundation
of it ischarredT. heroombeyondappeartso be A goodmysterystoryincludeas surprisendingat
theremainosf a library.Thebookshereareall whichyou canlookbackandsaythatall the clueswere
charreds,tandingon shelyesthatskewawayfrom thereallalong.
theblackcraterin thecenterof theroom.
In storytellingw,ecallthatfoundationY. oulaythe
Whathappenehdere?Whodidthis?Are they foundationfor theworkthatcomeslaterin thetelling.
anywheareroundor isthissomething Thesameistruein designinrgoleplayingadventures;
thaht appenelodngago? youcannoht avea monstetrhatno onehas

Whataboutthisde- seenbeforeandhasneverbeenmentioned
jumpoutof nowheraend

scription:

Themummified 7 BETIHERE'S
remainosf a woman
Iayatopan altar.On A STOWBEHINP
rhesfairsbelowit, two THISSrffiuq,

skeletafilgureslayfrozenin

thegripof combatt,heirrust-

ingarmorall thatremains

of theirclothingO. ne's

bonyhandgripswisps

of hairon hisoppo-

nent'sskullwhile

theother'shand

wrapsaroundhis

enemy'tshroat,Both

holdshortswords

in theirremain-

handsp,lunged

throughoneanoth-

er'sribcages.

57

expecthatcreatureto makesenseS. oif youhave asRayenlodfroesT. woexamplesIn: oneof theearly

anultimatebadguyat theendof youradventure, encounterehdallwayissa suitof armor.Thisisde-

somebodbyetterbetalkingabouthimverynearthe scribedin detail,andit isnotedfor theplayersthat,

beginning. whiletherestof thehallisfrlledwithcobwebasnd

dust,thisarmorisshininagndcleanT. his,of course,

Misleading freaksout playersbecausiet issoout of place.But

Detaicl allsattentionto itselfin a roleplaying t h e t r u t h i st h a tt h e r ei s n o t h i n gw r o n gw i t h t h e a r -

gameT. hemoredetailyougivesomethingth, emore mor.lt's justthereto freakplayersout.

certaintheplayersarethatthereissomethinigmportant lust asquarterbackinsAmericanfootbalal lways
aboutwhatyouaredescribin&otherwisyeouwouldn't try to useat leasot nerunningplayearlyin a setof

bedescribinigt! Theotherpartof thataxiomisthat downs,ot neof thetechniqueysoushoulduseasan

detailslowsdownthegameb, utthisissomethinygou XDMisto occasionally-naoltwaysbutoccasionally-

canuseto youradvantagbey purposefullmy isleading picksomethinign theadventuraendthendescribiet
in intricatedetail.Then,asplayersaskyouquestions
the playerswith detail.

Forexamplei,n theclassiacdventureRavenlobfty aboutit, alwaysecretlyrollsomemeaningledsisce

Tracy8t LauraHickman,t'heprevailinogverburdened andthenlookat theceilingfora momenbt efore

descriptionws,hicharepervasivtehroughoutthetext, answerinwgithsomethinlgike,"No, youdon'tsee

lendanairof impendindgoom.Detaicl allsattentionto anythingunusuaalfterinspectintghethirty-footall

iself. Thismeansthatif yout:tkethetimeto describe claystatueof thegrimmanwhoseeyesstaredownat

somethingth, enit mustbeimportantto theplayers. youwithhollowcoldnesdsespitetheoppressivheeat

Playerso,f coursep, ickup on thisearlyin theirgam- in theroom.. . at leasftornow!"

ing-whichmeantshatyoucanuseit againstht em,iust That'scalled"keepintghemhonest."

* 496s and 349'hlevelXDMswho, asyou mighthaveguesseda,rethe t lf you areunfamiliawr ith AmericanFootbaltlhenyou areeitherfrom
two premiereadventuregamedesignersalivetoday. somenationotherthanthe UnitedStatesor havebeenlivingtoo longin

the basement.

58

$rrNcrHEXDM

rl r
lt I

\ ____------.1

,r.il 1---1

ll It_' rQ A
t/l\l
l_ (:,

[_r

(_

I

il,il

ANAC(?/|CKYOURC" \IEEKS!

RAaEB! IOU!

IHnrTERBGHT{L: L THEQevn'sA$rncr

It isn't whetherthey liveor die, it's howyou PLAYtheir game.

Gameplay,the XDM tlfay! story(see"NarrativeH: owWeMakeSenseof the

Thereisnothinglikea gamen, othingin theworld! Chaoso" n page29). As earlyhumansstruggletdo

Whenyou'replayinganXDM-rungamet,hatis.We're understantdheworldaroundthem,theyhadsto-
rytellerswhowouldpassdownthestoriesof their
ulkinga no-holds-barrepde,dal-to-the-meftuall,-
throttleadventurtehatgrabsplayercharacterbsy their ancestorasndpeopled, efrningtheirheritageandpast
bent-armocrhestplateanddragsthemintotheheartof andinstructintgheirfuturegenerationosn thetheir

excitemenHt. owdo yougetto thisplace?Youneeda society'socianl orms.Thismayfirsthavehappened
aroundthecommunaflrreor insidea protectivecave.
committedXDM.

An XDM gameismorethana game-it'sa perfor- Storytellinigsat theheartof thehumanexperience.

mancea, fully-orchestratiemdprovisationtahleatewr ith Downthroughthemillenniat,hetechnologiefosr

youasthecombinatiodnirectoar ndmainactor.Your tellingstorieshavechangedgreatlyb, uttheneedfor

playersin thegameonlyhaveto worryaboutportray- tellingstoriehsasremainetdhesameB. ardsandstory-

ingonecharactery;ouhaveto takealltheotherpartsas tellerswanderinagcrostshefaceof theworldbrought
w e l la sf a b r i c a t et h e s e t t i n g( t h r o u g hy o u rd e s c r i p t i o n s ) .n e w sa n dp h i l i s o p i ef rso m f a r a w a ya n d ,w i t h t h e m ,

Youalsosetthepaceof thegameandstory;keepa pic- thefirstinstanceosf cognitivedissonance-challenging

turein yourmindof theinteractionosf alltheperform- thoughsandbehaviorlsocallyM. agiciansto, o, began

ers;andinterpretheresultsof physicasl,ociale, mo- touringtheworldwiththeiracts,bringingwonderand

tional,andethicacl onsequencoef scharactearctionsa;ll spectaclteo storytellingT.heGreeksformalizesdtory-
tellingintodramaticasndplaysT. heseformseventu-
whilesimultaneouasdlyiudicatinggamerules.

That'swhatbeinga trueXDMisallabout! allyledto ShakespeaGrei,lbertandSullivanR, ogers

andHammersteainn,dAndrewLloydWebber.

XDM: TheModernBard Radioallowedthesoundof storytellintgo be

Fromourverybeginningashumanbeingsw, e broadcasotverlargedistancetos massaudienceasnd
havebeenstorytellersA.s wehavepointedout previ- theradioplaywasborn.Movies imilarlayllowedthe

ously,storyishard-wireidntousashumansW. eper- visuasl ceneof storytellintgo beconveyetdo large
audienceassprins wouldbesentacrostshe country.
ceivethe worldthroughthe lensandframeworokf

Q u i c k l yb o t hw e r em e l d e dt o g e t h eirn t o t h e " t a l k i e s "

60

AurHE Qevr'sa$rncr

(motionpicturews ithsounda) ndonecouldbothsee to novellasto, epicpoemssolengthyasto put Homer

andhearthestorybeingconveyedin theflickering to sleep.

lightof a darkeneldocaltheaterT. hentelevisiotnook Oftenduringthecourseof thegameyouwill have

upthecauseb, roadcastinsgightandsoundrightinto otherexpositionmalomentsaswell,wheretheplay-

homesT. hegreatstorytellebrecameavailablweith ersmayhaveuncovereadnewpieceof information,

theflickof a switchandtheturnof a dial. or triggeredsomeevent,whichtheywill thenneed

Wehavea universferlledwithpeopletryingto to observeor understanmd oreexpositioinn orderto

sellusstoriesconstantlyC. ommerciaalsrelittlestories forwardthegame'splot.

interruptinbgiggesr toriesT. heinterneitsfrlledwith Theproblemwithexpositioinsthatit bringsplayer

peoplea,llspeakinagt thesametime,witha relativelyactionto a standstilAl.ll thecharacterins thegame

veryfewpeoplebotheringto listenW. earebom- haveto iustsortof standaroundwhileyoudumpinfor-

bardedincessantwlyith noisetryingto pullouratten- mationon topof them.

tionto someonelse's tory.Weare,in short,being Unlestsheinformatioynouareconveyinigsan

divertedto death. absoluteljyaw-droppinrgevelatiotnhatelectrifietsheir

ButtheXDMissomethinsgpeciaal,modern-dayinteres(toddsareagainsit) thenyouneedto finda

bardwhohastheopportunitynot onlyto entertain, morecreativewayof conveyintghisinformation.

butenlightenin, spirea,ndconnecwt ithotherson a Cut SceneOs newaywehavealreadmy entioneids

personalel vel.Youaren'tperformingfor a massive throughtheuseof cutscene(ssee"cut sceneso"n

audiencea;.roleplaying ameisa sociacl onnec- page56). Lettheplayerasctouttheexposition

tionbetweena fewplayersgatheretdo createa story whileyousitbackandwatch.lf youhavea really

togethewr iththehelpof somecommonrulesand goodgroupof playersy,oumightgivethemeach

dicerolls. a pieceof thecriticailnformationthateveryone

Regardleosfshowwellor poorlytheyplay,the needsto knowandthenchallengtehemto create

actuasl uccesosf thegamedependlsargelyon you, theirown"improv"cutsceneT. heymustwork

themodernBard. intotheirconversatiothne informationthatthey

KeepRolling in the Role haveon theircard.Tellthemthey'llgetextra

Knowinghowto bestperformyourroleasthe pointsfor doinga reallygoodiob.

XDMin yourgameisperhaptshemostdifficultd, e- ExpositionaPlropsYoucancrowbar

mandinagndrewardinpgartof yourcallingY. ouhave a tremendouasmounot f exposi-

preparedfor thismomentc, onsidereydourplayers, tionintoa prop.Preparleettersin

andchoseonr craftedyouradventurteo suittheir advancceontainintgheexpositional

needsY. ouhaveeverythinagt hand. informationthatyouwishthe

Thecurtainisaboutto goup. Succesrsests playertso discoverp,utthem

entireloyn yourshoulderlst.'sshowtimeH! ereare on parchmenatndusecool,

sometechniquetos helpyourgameexperiencbeeas mystic-lookinfogntswhen

X-tremeasyouwish. youprintthemout.tDon't

ExpositionYourself! tellyour playeras boutthe
Mostadventurgeamestartout witha setup. fragmenotf themaptheyjust
discoveredg,iveit to themso
Thisisanexpositionpailecewherethesettingand thattheycanpawanddrool
storyof thegamearealllaidout for theplayerso
alloverit on theirowntime.
thattheyhavesomereferencferameworikn which Goto yourlocacl uriosity

theircharactera'sctionms akesenseT.hisiscalledex- shopa, ntiquestoreT, aiPan
positionandit canrangefromsomethinagssimpleas

"Youareallsittingarounda tableat thelocatlavern"

* Unlesso,f coursey,ou'rerunninga KillerBreakfaesvt ent(.Seepage * You couldactuallyresortto handletteredcalligraphwy hichwouldbe
evencooler,but that'sentirelyup to you andygur calligraphisckills.
r0t.)

51

TradingCompany,o. r importstoreandfindsome in thenextsectionb) utwearetalkingabouthowyou

inexpensivoedditythatyoucanworkintoyour sayit.

game.Thepnutthesecremt essaginesidethatob- Let'sstartwithsomebasictshatyouwill com-

iect. monlyencounteinr roleplaying ames:

Go MultimediaIn anagewhereeveryonseeems DungeonCrawlingWhenyourplayersarejust

to haveaccestso a videocamerae, ditingequipment, movingthroughenclosesdpaceasndyou have

andtheflrmbelietfhattheirvideo(unliketheresfof somedescriptioynouneedto givethem,con-

YouTubei)sactuallgyood.. well,thisleadsto allkinds siderloweringthevolumeof yourvoiceslightly

of possibilitiefosr producingyourownexpositiovnideo andspeakining slowerh, ushetdonesN. ot only

whichyoucanshowto yourplayertshroughthe"magic willyourquietvoicehavea tendenctyo bring

window"or whateveyroudecideto callyourtelevision downthevolumeof theplayer'svoicesbutthe

or computemr onitor. s l o w e rp a c ew i l l s e r v ey o u s h o r t l y .

Howeveyrou decideto handleexpositionre, mem-

berthatit shouldalwaybsebrokenupwheneveprossible ForeshadowinagndAnticipationWhensomething

soasnotto slowdowna game. bigisabout o happento yourplayers-whether

DramaticPause:Pacein the Game it isgoodor bad-youshouldgiveyourplayers

Yourmasteryof storytellincganmakeor breaka a dramatihceadus p forthehairon theback
gamea, ndyourmasteryoveryourvoicewill makeor of theirnecksL. owerthevolumeof yourvoice
breakyourstorytelling. andslowdownthepaceperceptiblyS.peaykour
wordswithemphasisa,sthougheachonewere
Pictureyourseslftuckin a seatin themiddleof vital.AlfredHitchcockt,hemasteor f suspense,
a largevenuefull of peopleA. n expertor authorityis
sundingat a podiumin frontof youspeakinogn a sub- sowiselysaid,"Thereisno terrorin thebang,
onlyin theanticipatioonf it." lf youaregoing
iectthatisabsolutelfyascinating-ttohem.Youmightbe to giveyourplayersa reallygoodscaret,hen
interesteidn thetopic,butthespeakehrasa voicewith youhaveto allowthemto anticipatiet, and
onlyoneleveol f pitch,onetoneof deliverayndone
cadencien theirvoice.T+heygoon,andon,andon.. . thenrelieyethemof it for a splitsecondbefore
t h e s a m ev o i c e ,t h e s a m ep i t c h ,t h es a m er e l e n t l e spsa c e you hit themfrom behind.

betweentheirwords. ThemotionpictureAlienfor examplemakes
surethatyou areafraidlongbeforeyou geta
It's likewatertorture.
Eachday,unfeelingamerefereeasresubiecting chanceto seethemonsterM. usicandmoody
thousandosf innocengtameplayertso theseinhumane settingsa,llowyouto besteepedin anticipation
beforethemonsteer verevenappearsY.ourad-
experiencefosr hourson end.Thereisno respiteor venturenseedto makeuseof thesameanticipa-
relieffor thesegamersm, anyof whomknowof noother
gamingexistence. tion.Theuseof longandelaboratdeescriptions
at suchpointswillheighteannticipatiownhile
Butthereissomethinygoucando to help. a u t o m a t i c a lsl yl o w i n gd o w nt h e g a m e .
No, youdo not needto sendusmoneymonthly

to adoptoneof theseunfortunatgeamers,btutyoudo And ... ActionWhentheplayersuddenlfyrnd
needto beawareof thepowerof varyingpaceandvocal themselveinsdiredistressy,ou mustmakeit
deliveryin performinygourgame. dire!Thepaceabsolutelmy ustincreasteremen-
douslyat thispointandthepitchof yourvoice
We'renottalkingabout whatyouaresaying(that's

* Thismentionof the Tai PanTradingCompanywasmadewithout risein theexcitemenYt.ou cannoet xpecyt our
promotionacl onsideratio.n.. but we'renot abovetakingit, shouldtheyoffer playertso beexcitedif youdo notconveyit
withyourvoice.Everythinmg usthappenfast.
uscompensationfor it.
f You mightconsiderthinkingof BenSteinplayingthe teacherin 'Ferris Here'stherealproblemc:ombaitn roleplay-
Bueller'sDayOff' at thispoint for inspiration. inggames-thoenemomentin thegamethat
+ Although we are consideringsettingup a mostlynot for profit foundation
to assistheseunfortunates.

52

An rHEQRirnee's$rncr

absolutelryequirespeed-isinvariabltyhemost Manyadventureisn,cludingyours,will probably

complicatedo,verburdeneadn, dsystem-laden includedescriptivtext.Thisisimportanbt ecauswehile

partof therulesT. hesystemasksyouto slow therestof theencountedrescriptiownill probably

downpreciselayt the momentyou mustspeed involverules-intensi(vaendratherdry) materialrselated

thingsup.Thisisthedilemmaof theagesB. ut to themechanicosf runningtheencountetrh, edescrip-

we'regoingto addrestshisin "off-loadingo" n tivetextistheonechanceyouhaveto conveyallthe
ambiancen,uancaendcolorthatthisparticulaerncoun-
page64.

Whatyoumustachieveduringanyaction ter involves.

sequencisea highdegreeof energyin your Theproblemisthatmostgamerefereeisustread

portrayaal ndasmuchcolorin yourdescriptionsthistextverbatimfromthewordsprintedon thepage,

asyoucanmanageat thatlevelof speedR. ather whichusuallmy aketshemasdryandlifelesasstherules

thansimplyinterpretinpglayerss' uccesosr text.

failurein combaat s"a hit" or "a missr"doyour Descriptivte xt,eventhe mostprosaics,hould

besto describteheresultsin graphictermssuch neverbereadverbatimby anXDM.Insteadt,heXDM

as"your cutlasslicesintothesideof theOrc shouldreadthetextbeforehantdo geta senseof the
overalpl icturethatit istryingto conveyandthen,in
whohowlsin agony!"or "Yourcutlasstroke herownwordsdescribteheareato theplayersB. ydo-
goeswide,slamminaggainstht etablewith

enoughforceto sloshaleout of themugs." ingso,theXDMhasthepictureof theareain hermind

a n dc a na d d r e swsi t hh e rd e s c r i p t i oann yq u e s t i o nt hs a t
PurpleProse:How Not to ReadDescriptions theplayerms ayhave.Thisisimportanst othatyoucan
Oneof yourresponsibilitaiesasnXDMisto
maintaintheeffect,tone,mood,andambiencoef the
"paintthescene.T" hismeantshatyouareresponsi- encountelrongafteryouhaverunout of thedescriptive
bleforgivingthedescriptionthsatmaketheuniverse texton thepageA. nd speakinogf the"picture". .
comealivein theimaginatioonf theplayersW. hile

youcando a numbeor f thingsto helpyouin this Keepingthe Picture

osk(suchascreatingexactminiaturerepresentations Any XDMworthhislevelshouldpracticemain-

oftheareasyourplayersc' haracterasreexploring), uiningthe"picture"at alltimesT. hisisa flightschool

themost-useadndbasictool in theXDM'sarsenaisl termwherepilos areaskedto keepa mentapl ictureof

expositiondaelscriptionju: stconveyintgo theplay- thespacearoundtheiraircrafitn mindat alltimesI.n

erswhattheircharactersseethroughyourwordsand roleplayinggamest,herelativepositionosf theplayers

gestures. andtheirsurroundinegnvironmecnat nbeof greaht elp

tNfTtATtyeA,No
IHENLEI'STAKE

A BIO-BREAK,
lHE NEXTIHIRW
SECONOOSF TIiE AWENTURE
ts oorNo To IAKEAgoul

53

to theXDMin maintaininagconsisteannt dbelievable then)do youdescribtehecombatin full,takinginto

experiencfeor theplayersT. hisisespecialtlryuewhen accountthefactthatsomepeoplelaunchintgheir

themechanicosf a gamestartinterferinwg iththeverisi- bowsfromthebackof thepartymightbeinterfered

militudeo' f theexperience. withby thosein frontof them,thata completely

Forexampleif, thecombamt echanicosf your fumbledblowby theknightin thefrontof the

gamerequirethatallcombatantsaketurnsbashing groupmightwellaffect hetwo companionwshoare

eachother,it canbeginto soundridiculousltyedious standinogn eithersideof him.Thepicturewillbe

ratherthanexcitingF. oranexamplea, quotefrom constantlcyhanging-witthhepacethatmatcheysour

StephenLeacock'sNronsensNeovels,GuidotheGimlet game.

of GhentA: Romancoef Chivalryz Pollingand Shifting Emphasis

FirstGuido,raisinghismacehighin theair We'vealsomentionetdhisbefore("Executinlgt

withbothhandsb,roughitt downwithterribleforce All in theGame:PollingandJugglingo"n page27)
on Tancred'ms ailedheadT. henGuidostoodstill, but it issoimportantthatweneededto mentionit
againhere.Youhavemanydifferentypesof players
andTancredraisinghismacein theairbroughitt
downuponGuido'sheadT. henTancredstoodstill in yourgameandeachof themhavedifferennt eeds
andturnedhisbacka, ndGuido,swinginhgrsmace theyarelookingto befulfrlledW. hethetrheyare
warrior,socialo, r thinkingplayerse,achonewill be
sidewaygs,avehima terrificblowfrom behind,
midwayr,ightcentreT. ancredreturnedtheblow. Iookingfor somedifferenat specitn thegameplay
ThenTancredkneltdownon hishandasndkneeasnd thatwillsatisfythem.
Youshouldconstantlbye pollingthe playersas
Guidobrought hemacedownon hisbackl.t wasa
sheercontesot f skillandagility.Fora timetheissue to whethetrheirneedsarebeingmet.Thisisalways
wasdoubtfulT. henTancred'asrmoubr eganto bend, donesilentlyandwill requireyouto developsome
hisblowsweakenehde, fellproneG. uidopressehdis observationsaklillsregardinygourplayersA. re they
advantagaendhammerehdimoutasflatasa sardine gettingbored?Whatworksfor them?As anXDM,
youmustbepreparedconstantltyo shifttheempha-
can.Thenplacinghisfoot on Tancred'cshesth, e
sisin yourgameto thatwhichwill bringyourplay-
Ioweredhisvizorandlookedaroundabouthim.
ersalongwithyou.lt'sa balancinagctnotunlikea

Combaitn mostroleplayinggamecsomesacross stand-ucpomediatnryingto figureoutwhichjokes
verymuchthiswaybecauseeveryonteakesturnsbash- areworkingwiththatparticulacrrowdon thatpar-
ticularnight.
ingeachother.

Howevera,sanXDM,if youcanmaintaitnhepic- Offloading

tureof allof thecharacterasndcreatureisn thecombat As anXDM,youhavea lot on yourplate.
andtakeintoaccounttheiractionsasa wholethenthe
descriptioonf thecomba(tandtheresultsc)anbecome You'reresponsibfloer keepingthegamepaceup,
farmoredramaticR. athetrhandolingout damageone
slugat a time,haveallyourplayerms akealltheirat- iudgingwhichcharacterlisveor die,weavinga tapes-
tacks-inturnif youlike-andallof thecreaturethsey try of theexperiencbey creatinganddescribinsget-
tings,andplayingtheparuof allthose"extras"that
areattackingmaketheirownattacksK. eeptrackof the keepappearinagroundtheplayer'csharacters.
damagedsonein sequencaendgetthesemechanicasll
out of thewayasquicklyaspossibleT.hen(andonly Sowhyshouldyoudo allthework?
Any gamemechanicosr busyworckhoresthat
youcanoffloadontoyourplayerysoushouldoffload

* Verisimilitudeisthe appearancoef beingtrue or real;likenesosr andrightfromtheverybeginningW. hyshouldyou
performalltheheavycalculationbsecausyeour
resemblanceof the truth or reality. lt is a very big word to be usedin role playerhasa plus-thisswordandisminus-thawthen
playinggamesb, ut sincethe levelof realismin gamesisof almostobsessive
concernto gamers,you shouldspringthisword on them now and then frghtingcanarieslt?'s theircomplexcharacterle; t
whenevetrheysun quotingrulesat you. yourplayersdo theheavylifting. Havethemtellyou
whatyouneedto know:whatnumbertheyhaveto
t StephenLeacock(1869-1944) wasCanada'spremierelecturer,
humorist,and author. His NonsenseNove/sremainfun to readtoday. He is
the favoriteauthor of Tracy Hickman- go frgure.

54

{nrHE Qevmn's$rncr

rollinorderto succeedT.heyshouldtellyouhow An XDM isanactorplayingthe part of an

muchdamagetheythinktheydid.Youcanalways XDMi.

correctthatif necessary. Thismeansthatalltherulesof rhetoricandthes-

Playersshouldbein chargeof theirownmap pianisma+pplyto you.To makethisaspainlesasspos-

(especiailflytheygetit wrong)andtheyshouldkeep siblewehaveconstructeadlistof somethingsto work

trackof theirowntreasure(whattheXDMgiveth, on andkeepin mind.

theXDMcantakethaway). | . "Umm" Don'tsay"ummmt.' lt'sa badhabit

Whenyouareworkingwithplayerws hoarenew thateveryonefallsinto.Youareperforminghere.

toroleplayinggamingt,henyou'llneedto helpthem Whenyousay"Ummm" it soundslike(andprob-
outandtellthemwhichdiceto roll. Butsoonenough ablymeanst)hatyoudon't knowwhatyou are

you'ltlrainthemrightandthey'llbewhitewashing talkingabout.Eliminattehisword(andsimilar

thefencef.or you in everygameN. everdo anymore verbacl rutchesf)romyourspeechasmuchaspos-

workasan XDM thanyou must. sible.s

Smellof the GreasePaint, Roar of 2. Speakclearlyandwith emphasisN. o onewants
theOrcs to playa gamewitha mumblingfool.To entertain
youhaveto beunderstood.

\\il l 3.Actingis not somuchactingasit is reacting.
Trueactingisn'treallyactingat all.lt's reacting
z'zz ( to theelementtshataffectit. Peoplearethisway.
-a'- Somethinhgappenasndyou react o it. Your
o reactionmakesotherpeoplereact.Howthey
reactmakesyoureact.And on andon it goes.
Showmanshdiupringgameplayisoneof the Don'tthinkthismeanlsosingcontroll.t doesn'tl.t
mositmportanthingsyoucanlearn.lf youwantthe m e a nus n d e r s t a n d iwnhga tt h ec o r r e crte a c t i o an n
quickeswtayto improveyourgamel,earnhowto NPC,environmenot,r youpersonallsyhouldhave
presentht egamebetter.lf you learnonlyonegreat to a situationD. ida playedr o somethinfgunny?
a n di m p o r t a nt r u t h a b o u tg a m i n gf r o mt h i sb o o kl e t Laugh-loud.Makehimfeelgoodfor contribut-
it bethis: ingto theentertaininegxperiencoef thegameD. o
alldrunksin tavernsreact hesamewhentheyare
' Asin TomSawyegrettingalltheotherchildrento whitewashhis pushedN. o! And don'talwaylsetsomedietell
AuntPolly'sfencein MarkTwain'snovel,Iom Sanyerl.f youstilldon't youwhattheydo either.YouknowthisNPC,act
undentantdhisreferenctehenI havea funfenceI'd liketo showyou. forhim.
Thisideabringsusto a veryimportanpt lace.
Didyourplayerjsustblowup a silo?Whatisthe
reactioonf theNPCsin thearea?Whatdidthe
explosiodno?Whataboutthesmoke?Someone
musthaveseenit. HowyouasanXDM react o
thisiskey.To behonestthisisthemostimportant
thingin thebook.And wewilldiscusitsad
nauseamfurtherbelow.lt's thatessential.

f Thk isactuallya slightlyalteredbit of plagiarismT.he realquoteis"A
magicianis an actorplayingthe part of a magician."lt is accreditedto Jean
EugdneRobert-Houdinth, e fatherof modemmaglc.Butthat doesn'tmake
it any lesstrue for XDMs.
* Insertold and tastelesios kehere.
5 lf you evercatchone of ussaying"Ummm," we dld it on purposeand
areallowedto'causewe makethe rules.

55

SeTNcTHEXDM

4.Actingis not makingfacesW. henplayingtherole Thethief,recentlyreleasefdrom thecity

of anNPC,don'tfallintotheoldtrapthatacting dungeonw, alk upto a womannearthemain

sadmeansmakinga sadface.Depressiomneans gateof thecityandasks",Excuseme,where

not eatingn, ot sleepinwg ell,andprobablyanat- istherichestpartof town?"

temptto hideit. Again,if theNPCissad,howwill Thewoman'seyesnarrowasshelooksat

hereactto thatsadnessE?verythinigsa reactionA. him,"oWOhhy,'dtohyeothuieafsska?y"st,hinkingon hisfeet
goodXDMwillshowanemotionn, otiustsaythat

thecharacteirscryingandthenspeakfor himin for thefirsttime,"it's my UncleH, e sentfor
a weepyvoice.Hewill understanwdhytheNPC me andhe happentso livein therichesptaft

feelsthatwayandact (react)accordingly. of town,soI'm tryingto findhim."

Thewoman,stillsquintinagt himsays,

Ethics,os "Try telling THAT to an "Indeed,andwhatis thenameof your
Angry Mob!" Uncle?"

Onelastthingto considearsyouiudgeyour "Uh... Frank/'thethiefrepfieswitha
gameassanXDM:theethicsin yourgamemustbe smileT. hewomancallsthecity guardswho

consistenftu, nctionald,ynamica, ndhaveconsequences. dragoff thethiefto thecity dungeon.

Hereisanexamplefroma typicalroleplaying

gameT. henameshavebeenchangetdo protecthe Thisisa city,isn'tit? Peopleherearesuspicious

peoplewhomayyet purchastehisbook: of eachotherandceftainlysuspiciouosf a complete

strangerT.hiswomanprobablylivesin thecityandno

Thethiefcomesin throughthegatesof morewantsa thiefherethananyoneelse.OK, we'll

thecity. He walksupto oneof thelocalsand letthisonegofor now.

asks",Excuseme,whereistherichespt artof "Uh...Frank/'thethiefreplieswitha
town?"Thelocalwomansmilesandpoints smileT. hewomandoesnot callthecityguard
downtheroad."Rightdownthere!Turnleft at

the goldenstatueandyoucan'tmissit." The butsays",lt's nearthecenterof town.You

thief stealsthe localwoman'spurseandfollows hadbestfindyourunclerightawayT. hecity

herdirectionsH. e arriveast thegoldenstatue, guarddson't takekindlyto outsiders.T" he
stealsit, andthenftndstherichesthomeon the thiefnods,thentriesto steahl erpurseT. he

block.Heentersthefront door andencounters womanfightshimfor it! Shestartsbeating

a blindanddeafretainerH. esneaksinto the himon theheadwithherpurses, creaminfgor

housed, iscoverls0,OOOpieceof gold,stealsit, theguardO. thersin thesquarerushto her

andthensneakosuto, f thehouse. aid,andtheystarfbeatingon thethief. There
arecriesto hanghimfromthecWgatesHl e

Wow.Howdroll.Heartpoundingexcitement. is onlysavedbecaustehe CityGuardrescues

Let'stry thisagain: him,dragshimoff to thecitydungeonwhere,

a yearlater...

Thethiefcomesin throughthegates

of thecity. Thecity guard-muchheartier Somuchfor thatsimplepursesnatchM. aybehe

menthanonemightsuppose-tpyhimat won'ttry that.He'lliustgofor thebigscoreinstead.

onceanddraghimintoa corner,questioning

himthoroughlyT. heydeuinhimin theciA Thethiefmakeshiswayto thegolden

dungeonfsor a weekbeforelettinghimgo with st fueandattemptsto steailt..,

a sternadmonition. Haveyouanyideahowmucha goldenstatue

Wellthisseemms orelikely,doesn'itt? I meanthe wouldweigh?Hecan'ttakeit anywherwe ithouta

guyisa thief.Hecontinueosn. wagonanda teamof drafthorsesF. orgetthestatue...

An rHEQenm'ns$race

Thethieffindstherichesht omeon the wasthe frrsttimeTracyhadeverseenthe lynchingof
streetD. odginag farmorevigilangt roupof playercharacters.
cityguardsh, e waitsuntilnightandmanages
Thepointhereisthatgamews ithoutinternal
to makeit into thefrontdoorof thehouse.
ethicsw, ithoutsociallyenforcedconsequencfeosr the
Heencountertsherecainewr hoisblindand actionsinsidethegamea, reboring.Worset,heyteach

deaf-bunt otstupid!He soundtshealarm! a falsehoodth, atwearenot responsibfloer ouractions.
Thethiefgrabsagoldencandlestick-the XDMsalwaypslaytheethicsinsidetheirgameto the
onlytreasureat hand-andleapsout theback absolutheilt notjustbecausiet makesfor moreexciting
windowT. heguardsarebackthere,too!He gameplay,but betterpeopleafterthe gameis done.
quicklythrowsopenthecoverto thesewer,
Ieapdsownintoit, andtriesto makehisway
out.Heis lostin itsmazeof tunnelsg, etster-
riblysicka, ndat lastisforcedto comeback
outto thesurface- wheretheCityGuards
arewaitingfor him.Theysawwherehewent

andknewit wasonlya matterof time.The
thiefis hungby hiswristsfroma wallin the

dungeon...

Now,isn'tthat moreexcitingT? hat'sadventurel \N\,

that'sactionT! hat'sdreadfullyhardon thecharacter l\,i l
inthegameb, uthehadit coming.
L-
Thepointhereisthatgamesplayedwithout
lr
interneatlhicsareboringl.t's likeSupermawnithout
Kryptonitelf.youcangetawaywithanythinginside \'i
thegamethenwhereisthechallengeth, edangert,he

thrill?

JarodT, racyHickman'sson,oncehada group
ofhisiuniorhighschooflriendscometo hishouse
topfayin hisdad'sRavenloaftdventureA.dmittedly,
thesweereiuniorhighschoobl oys,sojusthowmuch
couldyouexpectfromthem?Anywayw, egavethem

a l lc h a r a c t ewr si t h s w o r d sa n dt h e a d v e n t u rbee g a n .
Theseboysmanagetdo maketheirwayinto

townandfollowedthesoundof a womanweeping

inconsolaibnltyheupperfloorof herhomeT. hey

foundherthere,sobbingoverthefateof herlost

daughteWr.ell,theseboyshadmadea lot of trouble
cominigntotownanda mobwasgatherinogutside.
Mindyou,you'llnotfindthiswrittenin themodule,
butit madesensein thesettingthatthetownsfolk
wouldgathebr ecausteheXDMwaskeepingthe
wholpeicturein hismindduringthegameS. eeintghe

mobouside,oneof theboysdecidedthebestwayto

escaptehesituationwasto throwthesobbinwg oman
outof thewindowto distracthemob.

Youcanguesws hattheincensemdobdid!lt

57

-rrr,4

Q-

h,

YOU ?ON'T! ,llY
TIALF-IQOLLOCOEIS
A FEAR.SAVEAOAINST

fHnnrun\frwr,fivrNcrHRoucHTHEfipvoruuoN

Whatto do whenyour playersturn uglierthantheyalreadyare!

In anyXDM gamethereisthepossibilityn,o ]ustshoot'em.r

matterhowremote,thattheplayersmayactuallyat-

temptto questiontheauthorityof thegamerefereeA. s As anXDM,whenconfrontedwitha player

absurdasthisappearosn thefaceof it, thereareindeed terroriswt hoistryingto holdyourgamehostagteo
numerourseportsof sucheventsactuallytakingplace. someobscurerulethatheor sheinsisgyoufollow
wsYfroonhfudiocymohoylauiosyruhnsaceesatlvifonneuatrhhstatiesevtsomeiotspucttacahavtiiessoobinfotuf,htnttohe,scerheouaomnruetehlaadyicnfoerkuowasstboeaslmecph.leanhyiqoeuwr esatihsionobndsewtsYaiwnhgohgowteuioilsr'eriowhnetnocihlglelediensXindgs.tD.gao.aMnylelatt.nhmJteuemosritntekhtrieolilntrphpagrbleoaoityrrcueahthrcasooterfwaydnhcoeetugeororgr.tas+iahm-ee

Thefack BauerRule Dropa safeon themout of a clearbluesky.
Hey,it couldhappena,ndshouldH. avetheground
Playesduperblbyy KieferSutherlandla,.ckBauer beneaththeirfeetopenup fromanearthquakaend
isa counter-terroriasgt entfor a secreUt nitedStates swallowthemwhole.A vortexopensup andinstantly
agencoyn theTV show24. Becaustheeshow'sentire teleportsthemto analternateuniverswe herethe
seasotnakesplacein 24 contiguouhsoursof non-stop ruletheyarequotingactuallyworks. . farfromyour

action,JackBauehr aslittletimeto enterintooverly- game.

lengthynegotiationwsiththeterroristtshathecounters. Problemsolved.

Whenevehresensetshathehasgotteneverythinhge

hasoutof themandthattheyaresimplystallinfgor f DisclaimerW: e do not advocateor condonein anyway the actual
time,hehasa universaslolutionto theproblem. shootingof playersor anyoneelsefor that matter. Roleplayinggamesand

* Who alsovoicedthe part of Raistlinin the DragonlanceD: ragonsof fantastictelevisionshowsmay pretendto bump off charactennightly,but
AutumnTwiligftt movie. the only gun in a gameroom shouldbe lockedsafelyin your imagination.

{ DisclaimerW: henwe say"kill their character"we do not intendor in
any way meanto portray that you shouldenter into any sort of character
assasinationon the actualplayerthemselvesno matter how deserving.
We wishto clarifythat you are to kill their characterin the game.

68

fvrNc JHnoucH THERFVOLUTTON

TheAustralianRule ALWAYSanotherulethatyou canapply... evenif you

A newlyinitiatedXDM in BrisbaneA,ustralia haveto makeit up.t

whoattendetdheCenconOZ Conventiotnherein To assisytouin mainuinincgontrool f yourXDM

2008actuallygaineda levelon thespotfor coming games{w, eprovideyounowwiththehandyQuantum

upwiththisrule.lf heeverbuysthisrulesbook,he UniversaInl credulouRsulesandKnowledgGe enerator,

automaticaglleytsanadditionaml o levels.' or QUIRKGenerato(rs. eepage70) Thishandytable

PopQuiz:A playerat yourtablestaruquoting willallowyou,withthesurreptitioursoll of a fewdice,
verbatimto youanobscurerulethatcontradictas
rulinygouhavejustmade.Shereadsout of therule to createa reasonable-soundruinleg,sureto confound
bookto emphasizhe rpointandlooksentirelysmug anyrules-lawypelrayerwhoistryingto hiiackyour
abouhterabilityto useanindex.Whatdo youdo? game.

Onesolutionmightbewhatwenowcallthe All youneedto do isroll fourtimes,oncefor
eachcolumna, ndcombinethephrasein orderfrom
AustraliaRnule.Yousimplyreachacrostshetable
A throughD. Thenmakeup whateveyrouwantabout
andukehercharactesrheeftromher,placingit
howit supporuyourposition.
entireloyutof herview.Youthensayto her,
"Fromthismomenot n,youplayyourcharacter ExampleA: playecr hallengyeosu,quotingsome
withouetverlookingat yourcharactesrheetY. ou ruleabouthowhalflinggseta + 5 bonuswhenusing

canstillplaythesamecharacterb,utterriblethings cookingtoolsassiegeweaponsH. eisgettingbelliger-

willhappento it if youmakea mistakeon anyof entandchallenginbgothyourauthorityandabilities
yourstatisticrso, lls,or items." asanXDM.Youdecidemagnanimounsolytto usethe

Punisthhecharactewr henevetrheplayer

misquotaensyof is statisticosr callsfor anitemthe

sheedtoesnot have.Killthecharacteirf theplayer

makeasbigenoughmistakeY. oumightbemerci-

fuleventuaallnydtelltheplayeyr ouwillreturnher

sheeiftshewill put downherrulebookandnever

lookatit again.

WewouldhavecalledthistheTurnaboulst

FaiPr layrulebutwethinkAustraliaRnulesounds

e v esr om u c hc l a s s i e r . TTIATI1ALF.

There'sALWAYSAnother Rule, R.ule OTERSOULFLFOECIONSO'OTTHE

Oneof thegreat hingsabouthavingsomany OR-PIaLIANYAELAIRNUTftEIONRTS'
differenrot leplayinggamesaroundwithexceedingly
SUPPLEMENT,'
complerxulessetsisthatthereareliterallytoo many
rulefsoranyonehumanto keeptrackof at one oo Iw 10
timel.t'slikeadvancemd athematicsso: longasyou
KEEPUP.

tellsomeonyeouareapplyinga rulefroma differ-

entbrancohf thescienctehereislittletheycando

excephtelplesswlyhimper. f Pleasenotethat the originaAl dvancedDungeonasnd DragonsDungeon
Soif someonsetartsquotingrulesat youthat MastersGuidecontainedi,n an obscureplacein that labyrinthinetome,a

aremeantto questionyourauthoritya, sserttheir rule that said,"Regardlessof anythingwritten in theserules,whateverthe
ownplayesr uperiorityo,r simplymesswithyouas dungeonmastersaysisthe rulesupersedethse ruleswrittenin thisbook." lf
anXDM,youdon't haveto takeit becaustehere's onewereto considetrhe logicael xtensionof thissimplephrasethenthere

r Butwe'renot giving him his money back for the book. Justthe extra wasno needfor anyof usto buyall thosebook aftenvardsincewe could
levels.
makeup anyold rulewe wanted.Your word asXDM remainslawin the
ratherlimited universeof your gameso makethe most of it and losethe
guiltoverusingthischan.
f And put theseuppityplayersin their place.

Av t O

lackBaueRr ulebecausteheplayehr appentso bethe TheXD2ORule
brotherof a womanyou'rehopingto date.Soyousay,
lf youwiselychooseto playyourgameusing

"Ah, butyou'renottakingintoaccountthe..." then theXD20systemit will behardfor a terroristo take

youroflfourd2OsT. heresultasre| 5, 3, 7, and18. overthegames, incehedoesn'ut nderstantdherules,

Youthencontinuwe ith"... UpdatedToolsvs.lmpact andtheXD20systemissoheavilydependenotn the

FAQ." Youthenexplainthatthisrule-whichyou XDManywayt,hatanyrulesbashewr ouldbeat a

recentlyreceivewd ithyourupdatedgamematerialasnd loss.

thepfayeor bviousldyoesnotyet have-completeelyx- lf youareplayinganothesrystemandarehaving

plainswhyhisparticulahralflingisat thismomenbt eing troublewithplayerws howantto runyourgamefor

cookedby themonsteirn hisownfryingpan. you,wesuggesstwitchinogverto theXD20system

untilyour playeres itherhavelearnedbettermanners

or decidethattheypreferthisgameafterall.

Roll(1d20) Column Column Column Column
A B D
1111 New W e a p o n sv s . c
2112 Revised Creaturevs.
3113 Online Toolsvs. ArmorModifiers Table
4114 Official Comparative
5l1s Updated B l a s tR a d i u sa n d StatsAdjustments Chart
6116 Corrected M a g i cv s .
7117 Advanced DivineAid vs. F i n i t eS l i d i n gS c a l e Variant
8/18 Designer's Actionand
9119 O r i g i n aAl u t h o r ' s Charactevr s. SpeedSpectrums Appendix
10120 Canonical ChaosTheoryvs.
RangeModifiers M o d u l e

Trajectory Supplement

lmpact Rerelease

Penetration FAQ

PlayerIntent P u b l i s h e dE r r a t a

QuantumReality BetaTest

70

UTTTMATEXDM

VANOE 6R,MF
OENE(UIOR?YES!

PARTYLEARNSTIAT MOSES,
,llERLfNA, NOTESLAAQE
ALLTTIESAilEOW,

f unnrERTENA: f,\lospHERE

EnoughFog,LightsM, usicm, d Lasertso-causeAll Manneorf seizures.

BeyondSanityand at the Edgeof Reality-The 3. Next,makea playlisot f dramatice, pic,andoth.
UITIMATE XDM TheatricatSetup- enrrisaedventure-esqmuuesic+.UseiTunesfor
thislist-fromnowon wewillcallthisthe,,music
Youwillneeda buddyanda pyrotechnicitaon list".
bemanagintghingsfroma controlcenterT. heywill
haveaccestso allyourlightss, ound,lasersh,olograms, 4. UseWindowsMediaPlayertso makea playl-
fog,andfire.Yourbuddywill messwiththefirstfive. istof soundeffecsthatwill matchtheupcom-
Thepyrotechniciawnill messwiththelastone-and ingeventsin youradventureD. ungeondoors
probableyatyourfood.. openinga,rmiesmarchinge,tc.rAlsobesureto
includefrghting/actiomnusicin thismix.From
Sound n o wo n w ew i l lc a l lt h i st h e ' , S F Xl i s t , , .

I . Useasmanyspeakerassyourreceivecrantake. 5. Besureto keepyourmusictrackrelativellyow.
Themusiclististhesoundtracokf youradven-
2. Setyourspeakedristributiotno pumpyouraudio tureandyoudon'twantit to distracftromthe
throughall7+ speakersT.hespeakersshouldbe game.
placedin theroomsoasto completelsyurround
yourplayersI.ncludea bigsub-woofearndhave 6. YourSFXlistshouldbeoff, butanygivenitem
everythinhgookedthroughyourreceivetro a on thatlistcanbeplayedto adddramaticand
computerr.

* Let him. You don't wanta guywho lightsfiresfor a livingmadat you, f The Dragonlancmeovlesoundtrackis a greatresource.Readthat again
especiallnyow that he knowswhereyou live, and be sureyou know we are talkingabout the soundtrack-whichwas
f You advanceduserscanadd a mixingboardin there,causeit makesyou awesome.We haveno officialcommenthereaboutthe restof the movie,
lookcool. S Thk issoyou canhaveyour soundeffecsplayon cueoveryour
music.Thereare other waysto do this, this is lust the way we havedone
it.

f Yesthisls stufffoundonline.

72

AIMOSPHERE

relevanetffect o thegame.lstherea thunder Otherwaysto makeyour tightingmoredra-

stormapproachingC?anthegrouphearcrick- matic.

etsin thefreld?ls thereanavalanched,ragon A. Usea chinaballwitha lightbulbinsideT. his

breathinfgrre,windin thecave? will diffusethelightandcreatea softlookacross

everyonien theroomthatisfantasticM. oviesuse

It isimportantto remembethr attheaudiois thisallthetime.

totallysecondartyo whattheXDM issayingT. he B.WhiteChristmalisghs.Hangsomeblacknetting
XDMshouldneverhaveto yelloverhisownsound a b o v ey o u rg a m i n ga r e aa n dw e a v ey o u r l i g h t so n
it. Whocanforget hisoldyet goldengem?A bit
effecsF. urthermoreth, eXDM andhisbuddymust clichedperhapbsutstillcoollooking.
beinsyncfor whena givensoundshouldbeplayed.

Thiscomeswith practiceandexperience. C. Usereadinglighsor floodlighsto createdra-

m a t i cl i g h ta n ds h a d o wa g a i n swt a l l sl,a r g es h e e t s

Lights thathanganddrapein coolwaysT. heripplesin

Dramatilcightingisa must.A XDM'sgo-to thesheeot r in thetexturedpaintwillcreatecool

movewithlightinginvolvetsheuseof a gobo.Gobos shadows.

creatpeatternosf lightin theairor splashinignterest-

Ingshapeasnddesignascrossurfaceslf. you have Dimmerasndswitcheasreeasyto wireandevery-

evelrookedout of yourwindowandseenwhatisof- thingshouldbehookedbackto yourcontrolcenter.

tenreferredto as"God Light"piercingthecloudsin Yourbuddyisthereat therightmomento shutoff all
afewof placesw, ellthanyouhaveseena giantgobo thelighs,dimthelighs,turnon thegobos. . what-

atwork. To makea simpleyet effectivegobo: e v e re f f e c ti s n e e d e d .

l. Gobuysomeblackwrap.Youcanflndthis Lasers
onlinewithoutanytrouble.lt's a lot liketin foil
exceptthickear nd... black. T h e P o o rM a n ' sL a s e rS h o w
It'seasietro createa sweeltasershowthanyou
2. Geta readinglightwitha clamp. think.Becarefutlhatyousetyourlasedr isplauypso
thatit can'tgetin anyone'esyes.

3. Pullout a bigpieceof blackwrapand lHe OIFFER71E'NSCAEELEL6T0W0E0,E-NrTtllLLLElWARANTETA'ONOUWATT,'
cutoutcooldesignisn it. Remembethr at ANO I 60T A COOLEYE-PATCH!
whatyoucutout will bewhatiswritten
in lightlater.Weliketo puncha bunch
of holesof varioussizesintothesheeat s
thebrokenup lightstreaminagcrostshe
roomlookswickedcool.

4. Bendtheblackwraparoundtheconeof
yourreadinglight,placingyourdesignin
perfecpt ositionfor is projection.

5. Clampyourconvenedlightto something

neartheceilingor downnearthefloor
andpointit in theoppositdeirection.
Usein a darkenedroomwithjustenough
fogto allowyourguesttso seetheeffect.

73

[/rnunrEXDM

I . Geta handheldlaser-noot neof thosethatburn to a slowspinningmotorandshineyourlaser

a holein yourskin.Thegreenkindareeasietro throughit ontoa wall.Youcangetreallyamaz-

seebuta bit moredangerouasndexpensiveN.eyer ing patterntshisway.

Iookdirectlyata laserl'Eventhe lasersthatare

weakanddiffrculto seecando damagaefteronly All of thecontrolsfor yourlaserspectacular

a fewseconds. shouldberoutedto yourcontrolcenter.

2. Geta penspringT. hisisa littlespringlikewhat Holograms

youwouldfrndin a "clicky"pen. Okay,whatwecando isn'ttechnicall"yHolog-
raphy."Thetruthis,thisisbetter.Believeit or not

3. Geta smalml irror.No biggetrhantwoinches therehavebeenwaysto makerealistitchreedimen-

across. sionapl roiectionssincethe l8O0's.Our favorite

methodfor doingthissortof thingiswiththePep-

4. Attachthemirrorto thespringandthespringto per'sGhostprincipleW.+henyoulookouta window

somethinhgeavya, blockof woodshouldbefine. at nightyoucanseeyourreflection-eveinf thereis

5. Setyourlasepr ointesr othatit'spointedat an a full moonout. ln thereflectionyou looklikeyou
arestandinogutsidethewindowin a semi'transparent

angleto yourmirror. state.Pepper'Gs hostusesthesameprinciplel.f you

haveeverbeento theHauntedMansionin Disney

6. Add somefogto a darkroomandgiveyour World/Landy,ou haveseenthisspectaculaillrusion

springmirrora flick.Thislookswaycool. cometo lifewiththeghostsin thelargediningroom.

Hereiswhatyoushoulddo to getthesameeffectin

Other cheapwaysof doingsupercoollaser yourgamelocationF. orthepurposeosf thisexplaina-

shows tionweareassumintghatyouarebuilidinga setlarge

A. Buysomediffractiongrating(youcanfindit enoughfor a human-sizegdhost.Theinstructioncsan

online)andattachit to a slowturningmotor.The bescaledownforsmalleirllusions.

diffractiongratingwillsplityourbeamin to several First,frnda placein yourhousethatmakesan

beamsat variousanglesA. dd anotherotatingdif- "L" or cross hapel.t couldbea hallwatyhathasa
fractiongrating(in theoppositedirectionw) hich roomhalfiA,adyownit, or threeroomsthatarecon-

slightlyoverlapysourfirstgratinga, ndyou'vegot nectedto eachother,or evensomethinagssimpleas

yourselaf freldof laserbeamsgoingevery-which- a doorwayB. uilda "blackart" setliketheoneseen
way,yet movingin a pattern.
on page87 butwithouttheplatform-jusat bigblack

void.Dependinogn thescaleof yourillusionthe

B.Attacha smalml irrorto anoldspeake(rnotthe setcouldbebigor smallY. oursetshouldbein the

screenb,uttheactuasl peakerP).oinyt ourlasear t adioiningroomor space-somewhethreeplayercsan't

it andplaysomethintgrippyfor music-drivelanser see.

effecs. Secondg,ogetasbiga pieceof clearPlexiglass

asyoucanfrnd. lt needsto beat leastheheight

C. Attacha smallmirrorto a PCfanat a slight fromyourceilingto thefloorandlongerthanthe

anglerF. ireyourlasedr irectlyat it. Thelasewr ill lengthof yourset.lf youcan'tgeta pieceof Plexi-

bounceoff themirrorcreatinag cone.Thisisthe glassthatbig,geta smalleor neandmasktheedgesin

popular"timetunnel"effect.As alwaysbesure a creativewaysothatno onecanseethemor suspect

to addfog. them.Setthatgiantpieceof acrylicglassat a forty

frvedegreeangleto theblackartset.

D. Geta pieceof texturedglassD. ifferenttextures It isveryimportantthatyou lightthearea
willgiveyoudifferenrtesultsA. ttachtheglass

Duh. * Originallycalledthe "DircksianPhanusmagoria"-atrick of optlcs
inventedby Henry Dirksand further developedby lohn Henry Pepperin
+ Notwhileit'sstillinyourPC. the 1850's.

74

AWoSPHERE

behintdheacrylicglasisustright.Thelightingin Youcando morewiththisof courseW. eliketo
thisareashouldbedimbut not dark.A bit brighter
thancandlelighpterhapsB. ecarefuly, oudon'twant havethespiritinteracwt iththingsthatarebehindthe
anylighto shineon theglasisaelfsincethespecu- glassA. bit of thread,andsomegoodtiming,canmake
larhighlighws ill bea deadgiveawayT.heblackart yourghostknockovera vaseor eventhechairhewas
sittingon.Youcanhavetheplayerasskhimquestions
aresahouldbelit by lighshookedto dimmersand
beforehevanisheins aninstant.
m a s k eodf f w i t hs o m eb l a c kw r a p .T h el i g h sw i l l b e
controllebdyyourbuddyat in XDMcentral

command.

PlaccehairB behindthePlexiglaasnsda

similabrlackchairA in theblackartareaT. est

tomakesurethatthe distancferomthe black
chaitro theglassisequidistantot thedistance
fromtheglassto thenormacl hair.Thisiseasy

totest.Havesomeonseitin chairA. Lookinto
theglasfsromwhereyourplayerws ill besitting.
lfhelookslikea ghosst ittingin chairB,you've
doneit. If helookslikea guyfloatingin frontof

orbehind-movcehairB backandforthuntilthe
illusioinsperfect.

Nowyou'reready.

l. Makesurenoonegoesdownthathallor

intothatroom.As funnyasit wouldbeto
seethemjustslamintoaninvisiblweall.

2. Haveyourghosat ctorin theblackart
areai,ustsittingthereuntilit'stime.Maybe
youcouldconvinctehepyrotechnitioton

dothis,sinceheisn'tbusyiustnow.Your
ghosst houldbein a costume(nothing
blacku, nlesysouwantto do a floatingspirit
headw, hichmaybeyoudo)andwearing

makeup.

3).Whenyouwanta ghosto appeairn the PLAYERS
chairy, ourbuddyin thecontrobl oothwill

iustturnthelighsup a bit in theblackart
set. Thebrighterthelightst,hemoresolid
theghostbecomesH. avetheghostdeliver

hismessagaendthenvanishfromwhenceit

came.

Besureto usetwo dimmersO. nceyour
ghoshtasappearedfa, deoneup andtheother
down.ThenviceversaT. hiswillcreatemoreof
anethereaelffectaspartsof theghostfadein

andout.

75

[rnvarEXDM

Fog 4. As alwaysmakesurefogcanbecontrolledfrom
yourmastehr ubat commancdentralY. ouare
Thereisn'tmuchto sayhere.Fogmachineasre runninga gameanddon'tneedto bethinking
actuallyquitecommonnowdays.Go to anyTargeat t
Halloweeanndyouwill frndbothfloorfoggerasndair about helightsm, usicf,og,andwhatnot.
foggersK. eepin mind:

l. Youwantto getwaterbasedfog,notoil based.
(Mucheasietro cleanup.)

2. Youcanmakeyourownfloorfoggewr ithdry
ice,a largedrumanda heatineglementb,utthey
arenot assafeor evenusuallyeffective.

3.Smokemachinewsillsetoff yoursmokealarm.

-/ -\
FOe! I
HOPEIIIAI'S AS gAO

AS 1HISB@K

I

I
I

76

f,HmrERELEVElNrv:rr,'s TbucH

PyrotechnicasndOtherWaysto Makethe FireDepartmenMt ad

NOIE: TheBATFN, ISB,Departmenotf Homeland shoulderas)ndtheburningdownof yourhouse

Securitya,ndSmokeytheBearhaverequestedth' atwe a secontdime-allin thenameof preservintghe

makea numbeor f editoriacl hangeisn thischapterw, ith communityfromtheinfluenceosf anactivitythat

whichwe havereluctantlycomplied. isobviousldyangerouesvenwithouttheuseof fire.

A f t e r l e a r n i npgr o p e rs t o r y t e l l i nagn db a s i cX D M

techniquen,othingwillshort-cuytouto a bettergame On sobereflectionth, edownsideosf usingfirein

thanfrre.Thereareargumentfsor andagainsutsingthis yourXDMgameseriousloyutweighthebenefrs.

shortcut: Still,weknowyou.

You'realwaylsookingforwaysof takingyour

. Theplussideisthatfirecanbringanelement gameout at theedgeY. ou'rea mavericikn game

of mood,excitemenat,ndverisimilitudtoeyour performanceW. ealsoknowthat,whenit comesto

game-aswellaspossiblwy akeup playerws hoare frre,you (likealltherestof us)arenotto betrusted.

noddingoff. Sofromhereto theendof thechapteYr OU AREON

Y O U RO W N .

. Thedownsideisthatfireisuncontrollabulen,pre- lf youburndowna smalnl ationwitha gamegone

dictablea,nddownrighdtangerouesvenunderthe psychod,on'tshowupon thenewspointingat the

bestof circumstancWesh. enusedin conjunction XDMbook.

witha roleplayinggamef,ireisthegameprop Wearein nowayresponsibfloer whatyoudecide

mostlikelyto landtheentiregamingindustryback to do withthisinformationF. eeflreeto suesomeone

on thefrontpageof yourlocalnewspaperT.hen elsebecausweewarnedyouthatanythinginvolvingfrre

theremaybeconcernepdarentsandreligious isdangerousW. ealsowarnedyouthatanyoneusing

leadercsallingforyourhead(if it isstillonyour anyof theinformationin thisbookwithouttheutter-

- R.td ,hrt d.ttrd.d or elsetheywill withholdall our economicstimulous mostcareandresponsibilitiys,iustaskingfor badthings
to happen.
bribesand investlgateour tax-freestatusfor the next hundredyears.

77

[rnnnnrEXDM

FlashPaper Our favoriteistheMestopholieFsireBallLauncher

createdby JimPacel.t notonlywilllauncha ballof mi

A.K.A. "BurningCarpet" frrefromyourhandsup to fifteenfeetaway,butalso iur

TheXDMarsonist'bsestfriendisflashpaper.lt is hasa reel,sothatthedevicewill leapbackintoyour of

greatstuff.lt feelsa bit likeroughtissuepaperandcan sleevethemomentafteryouuseit. Thisallowsyour to
da
befoldedandwrittenon.Whenlit, it burstsintobright handsto bedisplayeadsempty.TheMestopholies si

flamesl,eavenso residuea,ndisspectaculator see.You FireBallLaunchecranbefoundonlineat www.

canfrndflashpaperat anygoodmagicshop.Theysell iimpacemagic.coWmh.ileyouarethere,besureto

it in largesheetasndin littlepackesY. ouwillusually checkouthisotherfireproductisncludinfgirewallets,

geta betterdealby buyingit in thebigsheesandthen invisiblteorchesa,ndthelike.Greatstuff.

cuttingthatsheeut p asnecessarTyh. ebesthingabout
FlashPapeirsthatit isrelativelys'afel.f youdo decide How to Make FlashPaper:
lf youneedflashpaper,iustgo buysome.You
to do anythinign thischaptedr espitoeurmanywarn-
willsavetime,money,andfingersB. utfor thesakeof
ingsthatyoushouldn't.Ti hisisa goodbet.
completenesasn,dagainsotur ownbetteriudgment
Whenyougetyourflashpaperit will bewet.lust weprovideyou withthe followingrecipe.
leaveit lyingout undera fanfor a short ime.lt willdry
Go getsomeI ancI
outquicklyA. lwaysstoreit in a coolplaceandinsidea
plasticontaineNr.everleaveit in a hotcar,or neara We'rekidding.

windowT. hestuffwanfsto burn+.

Usesfor FlashPaper J\

Cutouta pieceof flashpaperabout2" x 4" ll,,,,NIuDb
shoulddo.Wadthepaperup intoa ball.Leavea little
tabforyouto pinchwithyourlefthand.Holda lighter @0Afin
in yourrighthand.Usethelighterto lighttheflashpa-
perat theballedup end.Themomenitt islit,stossthe

flamingballup andawayfromyou.Thisislikethrowing

a real-lifferreballt. looksamazing.

Youcanwrapflashpaperaroundthingslikeplay-
ingcardsc, oinsg, lasse,tc.Theflashpapewr illburnbut

theobiecwt illnot.t

Youcanbuya flashpaperlauncheYr.estheyexist.

* Note that sincewe'retalkingaboutfire here. Whenwe say,,relatively
safe"we meanin comparisonto suchthingsasnitroglycerinf,uel/air
explosivesa,nd military-gradiencendiaryordnance.

f Did we mentionthat fire is uncontrollableu,npredictablea,nddownright
dangerousl?ust thoughtwe shouldmentionthisagain.lf you iusthaveto
havea flamingeffect,thenflashpaperis asfar asyou reallyneedto go. Oh,
and did we mentionthat frreis uncontrollableu,npredictablea,nddownright
dangerous?

f Curtisnotes:WhenI wastwelveI almostburntdownmy parent,s
housewith thisstuff.I hada padof flashpaper.I removedone pieceand
attachedit to a regularpieceof paper,then lit it. The flashpaperwent poof.
It vanishedl,eavingthe paperto burnslowly.I panickedanddroppedthe
flamingpaper-ontothe pileof flashpaper.WOW WHAT A BLAZEIThe
blazefreakedme our evenmore,so I pushedthe flamingflashpaperoff my
deskandonto the floor. Fortunatelyi,t burneddownaftera momentor
two, leavinga puddleof meltedcarperasa remindernot to do reallystupid
things.

5 Whenwe say"moment" we seriouslymeanmoment.lf you wait for
a confirmationfrom your friend that the flashpaperis lit, you will havea
fireballin your handinsteadof in the air.
f Don't do thiswith the flashpaperaroundregularpaperbecaustehe
regularpaperwill alsobum. Seethe previousfootnoteon whenCurtiswas
twelve.Yes,apparentlyhe reallywasthat stupid.Learnfrom hismistakes,
grasshoppera,nd be wise,

78

DEVIL'STOUCH

Thethingis,wecouldtell you exactlhyowto yourcookingpan.Thenmixin twotablespooonfs
makeprofessionfalal shpaper,butyouwouldprobably
justendup deadandwewouldgetput on somesort II
of list.'Insteadwe'vedecidedto giveyoutherecipe
to makeghettoflashpaper.Theprocesissstillreally S t e p 2 :P l a c et h e p a no n t oy o u r b u r n e ra n dc o o ko n
dangeroubsu, t notashorridor involvedastheprofes- a verylow heatfor around45 minutesA. thin
frlmwill formon thetop.
sionalway.

Step3: Removethepanfromtheheatandskimoff

Youwill need iustthissyrupyfilmintothesmalgl lasspan.Put
I . To put on protectivegoggleasndwearlatexgloves yourI intothepan,makingsurethatit is

the entiretime.Do everythinogutsideandaway totallycoveredL. ettheI soakfor lO-2O
from your homer.Wellyoucanputthegoggles
minutes.
on insidebut.. .youknowwhatI mean.

Step4: RemovetneI andplaceit on a
bakingtray.
2.A bottleof I+ (sometimeksnownas

I) thisisfoundin hardwarsetores

andisusedasa I. Step5: Youhavetwo choiceshere.Youcanplace

3.I innardsC. utonelengthwisoevera thetrayin theI for aboutanI at around
Iot youcanlaytheI in theI untilit
bigsheeot f I. Insidethef aresmall isdry. Eitherway,youhaveto watchit, or it will
b u r s ti n t of l a m e sT. h e ny o u rl i f ew i l l b e r u i n e d .
I. Carefullcyollecthemandput Youwill knowit isdrywhenit looksgolden
yellow.
themin a Ziplockbaggyfor nows.Don'tloseany

of that- l ts dangeroupsyro te ch ni c

capabilitiewsill lightyourhomeaflameg, ivingno

thoughtfor poorlittleSimkin. Step6: lt isready!Remembetor storeyourflash
paperin a cooldry place.Forlong-termstorageof
4.A smalpl ropaneburner. yourflashpaper,frrstmoistenit withwater.

5.I paperS. omethingl. Many Again,isallthisreallyworththeeffort?Go buy
someinstead.
peopleliketo useI. CuttheI
FlashCotton,FlashString FlashBills:
intosmalsl quaresA.bout2 inchesby 4 inches Thesearejustwhattheysoundlike.Flashstring
burnsfromoneendto theother.Flashcottonisused
shoulddo. in a numbeor f fireutilitydevicesF.lashBillslooklike
currencyb, utarein factflashpaper.lYoucanfrndall
6.A smalcl ookingpan,a smalgl laspsan,anda bak- thisstuffonline.
ingtray.

7.A frreextinguishe.r.justin case.

Whatyouwill do: into FlashPots!
Step1: Pouroneor twocupsof theI
A.K.A. "Arson"
* The Departmentof HomelandSecurityassuresusthat thereis sucha list Flashpotsarepyrotechnidceviceussedfor
andthat we may,or maynot, alreadybe on lt. creatingsmallc, ontrolledexplosionosn stagel.mage
theshock(andincontinencrye)sultinfgroman
t Likeout by the Unibomber'scabin.No, wait. That'stoo flammable.
Perhapsomewhereinsidethe NevadaNuclearTestRange. f I don't knowwhy you wouldneedflashbillsfor your XDM game,but
thereit is.Wait!You couldtell your playersthat the billsrepresenttheir
t We would like to thank the Unlted StateForestServicefor their kind treasuregatheredfrom the lastadventure,and that somewizardis making
assistanc(eandinsistencei)n editingthissectionof the book.We apologize their treasurevanishunlessthey hurry and stop him from, well, you get the
for whateverunlntentionalamblguitymay haveresultedasa resultof their idea.
edltorialguidance.

$ You are gettingcloseto reproducinga moment from someweird, gritty
70s drug frlm. lt's probablybestif your neighborsdon't seewhat you are
dolng.

79

[/rnunrEXDM

explosiohnappenindguringyourgameW. hatcrarysort alshere,butgreatwhenproperlyusedO. nly usein

of RPGhasexplosionOs?ur kind! smalal mountsin a flashpot. lt's usuallymadeupof

Thisisn'tthesortof thingthatyouwoulddo while - Go onlineandyoucanfindit

sittingaroundyourmother'skitchentable,or actually in variouscolorsandforms.

insideanymoderateslyizedenclosesdpaceO. nlyusea
flashpot in a parkinglot, yourdriveway,or anaudito- BlackPowder(for smoke):
Blackpowderisactuallysaferthanflashpowder.
rium-somelargeopenspace-anadlwayswithseveral
lf youwantyourflashto havea smalbl urstof flame
fireextinguisheartshand.
anda bigpuffof smokethisisyourstuff. Againadd
Truthfullyf,lashpaperisbettersuitedfor role
playinggamesF. lashPotsaremoreapplicablteo LARPs someI for evenmoreeffect.

or othergametshatareplayedoverlargespaceslt. is (for sparkle):

importanthatyougetyourmother'spermissiotno use Lookfor I onlineif youwantto iazz

theseif youarea maleunderfiftyyearsof age.. upyourflashpot explosionwsithfrerybitsof sparkle.

Again,it's best o justbuythestuff.We'veseen

methodsto makeyourowninvolvinga coffeegrinder,

a rocktumbler,anda myriadof otherthingsb, utwe

recommeniudstgoingonlineandbuyingtheprofes-

",\ Jtr I rlrlll sionaIl Thatwayyouknowit wiilwork,

andyoudon'thaveto worryaboutbuyinga powder

thatisn'tfineenough.

A Giant lncredible+Fireball!!

A.K.A. "HomelandSecurity
'11 <\ Warchlist"

lf youarea diehardXDMgamear nd

wantto continueyourgamingcareeirn prisont,his

How to makea flashpot: shoulddo it. Saythatyou'rerunningyourXDM role

Thisistoo complicatefdor usto describheere.lf playing amein themiddleof a plowedfield,or open
deserstpaceonehundredyardssquaroen a side.
youwantto makeyour

- hasgooddesignE. ventheold classic Naturallyy,ouwouldwanttheattackof yourgiant
f hasa veryniceworkabledesign.yrou can, flamingdragonto havea visceraiml pacton yourplay.
of coursef,rndprofessionfalal shpotsonline-theyrun ers.WhatyouneedistheGiantIncrediblFeireballl
T h i ss h o u l da l l b ed o n eo n y o u rf a v o r i t eg a m e
aboutfifty dollars.

To worka flashpot,allyoudo isplaceabouta site,locatediustpast hemiddleof nowherel.'m
teaspoonfuolf powderintothereceptaclaendflipthe sureyouregularlpylayyourgamein themiddleof an
appropriatsewitchat theappropriateime.Kaboom! open,barrenplace.

FlashPowder (for flash): Whatyouwill need: ;
Thispowderburstsintoa quickexplosioonf bright
well.Youq4ngetthisin 25lb bagsfroma t
flamewhenlit. lt ismorehazardouthsanothermateri- f supplystore.s
h(
* Men cannotbe trustedto havegoodjudgmentwhenit comesto f The Depanmenot f HomelandSecurityaskedthat we changethe actual al
pyrotechnicsA. ll malesunderthe ageof frfty remainthe mentalequivalent nameof thisdeviceandwe havedutifullyand patrioticallycompliedwith in
of twelve-years-olwd hen it comesto explosivedevices. theirrequestD. id we havea choice?
t We wantto thankthe Bureauof Alcohol,Tobacco,and Firearmsfor S Ahhoughprobablynot afterthe publicationof thisbook.
theirasistancein editingthe flashpot portionof the book.Theyalsoask
us to tell you not to smokeor drink irresponsiblyO. r is that not to smoke
irresponsibloyr to drink?Whicheverd, on,t do it.

80

DEVIL,STOUCH

2.Theessentiaanl dmostdangerouinsgredient frllthecanmorethantwo thirdsof theway
uDat the mostror elsethewholethincwill
-

3.TissupeaperT. hefaciakl indwouldbefrnehere Step7: Makesuretheareaisclear.Becarfulthat
butmakeabsolutelcyertainthatit containnso
nooneisgoingto walkup at thewrongmoment
I
asking",Heywhat-chgaotin the can?"Assuming
4.Visco"Safetyfuse".
everythinigssafeI, andgetawayto
5.A #10 sizecan.Thisisthesizecanyoufrndin
restauranatsndbulkfoodstores. a minimumdisteancoef 45 feet.Youwill feelthe

Whatyouwill do: heatof thisthing!TheI will ignite
Step'l: Diga littlepit thatyouwillsetthisthingin.
w h i c h w i bl l l o w t h e E
Donotmakeit too deep.
intotheairand,at thesarRteime,settheresulting

cloudaflameT. heresulitsnothingshortof spec-

tacular.

Step2: Puncha holein thecanusinga sharpawl.i The ArmageddonHellstorm

It needsto beiustbigenoughfor theViscofuse A.K.A. "NSA BlackopsHitlist"
to fit through.

Step3: Putyourfuseinsidesothatoneendis Haveyoueverbeenrunninga gamefor your
in themiddleof thebottomof thecan. The friendsandthought", Boy!| reallycouldusea realis-
remaininlgengthshouldextendoutsidethecan. tic volcanic-infernthoatengulfesntirecityblocksin a
It isa safetyfusesoit willburnslowlyb, utwe highly-concussfivreeball.Thatwouldbethe perfect
don'ttrustyou,sousemorethanyouthinkyou
need. endof tonight'asdventure!"
Well,of courseyouhaveW! hohasn't?
Step4: Pouryourlegalloy btaine-d Our solutionto thispressinqguestionistheArma-

intothecan.lt doesn'nt eedto bemuch,but geddonHellstormDisplay.

youshouldn'bt eableto seethebottomof the Hereisthesimpleswtayto buildoneoutof
materiaylsouprobablhyavearoundyourownhome:
canwhenttreI arespreadout. Neyer
First,obtaina microwavseafecasserodleish.

usemorethanthepreciseldyescribeadmount.

Step5: Cutouta circleof tissuepaperthedi-
ameteor f yourcanandplaceit overyour

;,*=;,1:T'#"""u'n"ni"iili-*. ,,,o
blowupthecan,killingyou,andyourdog,and After yourplanelandsyouwillcrosstheborderinto
yourneighbord'sog,too).
I thereyouwiilfindsomelyans.

Whenyoutalkto theIvans besureto askfor

Step5: Carefullpyour theweapongsradeI andnot theI that

intothecanon top of yourtissuepaper theytry andpassoff astherealI.

makingabsolutelcyertainI. Neyer Nexr, wrtn tNrrNr l E L,.KE you genry I

As it hassafetyin the title, we areallowedto print this. f Canyou usethe I in heretoo?You bet. Sprinklesomein

Awlscanbe dangerousU. seawlswith caution.Neverrun while asyou pour in the I for a littleextraglimmerin your bang.
oldingan awl.Neverallowsmallchildrento playwith an awl. Never
llowpes nearan awl. Do not attemptto usean awlwhileunderthe 5 And we'renot kidding!It will do thisand probablymuchworsel

tffuencoef certainmedicationsD. o not drinkandusean awl.

81

[frnnnerEXDM

a minimumdis-
tanceof fivemiles.

It isfunto pretendto do thingslikethis,but
thatistheentirepointof roleplayinggames-to
imagintehingsI.ndeedt,hegreatesdtisplatyhatyou

couldevercreatewill neverrivaltheimagination
of yourplayersY. oushouldfirstandforemosrtely
on thembeingimagnitiveelynthrallebdythegame,
ratherthantricksandgimmicks-especiadlalyngerous
ones.

lf allelsefailsr,emembethr atthisinformation
wasgivento youby non-certifiepdyro-magigcuysin
a bookaboutgamingW. e'remagicianssh, ouldyou
reallytrustus?

[o,E

I',,VlNOT OETT\NO
THAT CASSEROLOEISH

aACKNOW,AM 7?

82i

I

f,umrenf{trlVE: WoNorRsoFTHEQons

Dietricksandother pointlessmiraclesto bewitchthe senseasndimpressdates.

Contactluggling neverleavecsontacwt ithyourbody.Insteadtheball

Nothingwillmakeyoulookmorelikeyouhave rollsfluidlyfromonesideof thehandto theotherand

mysticpaol wersbeyondwhatthisworldcanmanifest backagainin anorganicandhypnotizinmg otion.lt

thancontacitugglingl.t isanartthatwhensuccess- might henrolldownyourarm,acrosysourchesta, nd
fullyperformewdillmesmerizyeourgamerasndhelp ontothebackof yourotherhandA. gain,theballnever

breadkownthewallsof reality.Unfortunateliyt is,far leavecsontacwt ithyourbody.Witnessessometimes

andawayt,hehardestthingyoucanlearnfromthis describiet aswatchinga bubblefloateffortlesslfyrom

bookC. ontacjtugglingcantakeyearsto mastefror handto handin smooths, weepinmgotions.

somea,ndmanyyearsfor othersb, utdon'tworry, Contacitugglinwg asdevelopebdy MicheMl otion

mosot f youwillgiveup longbeforethen.Still,for (whoalsoperformeidt for DavidBowiein themovie)

thefewbraveXDMswhosurvivey,ouwill havean andhassincegrownsopopulatrhatalmoset verypro-
amazintogolthatyoucanuseduringcharactemr ono- fessionjaulgglewr illuseelementosf it, evenduringa
logsp,lotexpositiona,ndanytimeyoufeelboredand regula"rtossjugglingd" emonstration.
juswt antto showoff yourawesomeness.
Therearevariouspatternas ndmovesassociated

Whattheheckisit?Formanyof you,it will withthisformof jugglingT.heseareusualldyividedinto

suffrcteo saythatcontacitugglingiswhatyousaw groupssuchaspalmspinsb, odyrolls,walksh, olds,and
DavidBowieperformwitha smalcl rystasl pherein the soon.Hereweareprimarilcyoncernewdiththeiconic

ftlmLabyrinthF.ortheunfortunatfeewof youwho moveknownas"the butterfly."

havenevesr eenthemusicawl ith]ennifeCr onnelly Preparation
anda barragoef Muppetgoblinsle, tmedo my best
Professionsaolsmetimedsisagreoen thebestway
todescribite. (Contacjtugglingn,otthemoview, hich
to learn,howeverm, ostof themrecommensdtarting
would o nothingmorethanmakeyousay,"People witha practiceballspecifrcaldlyesignefdor contacitug-
paidmoneyto seethat?"Butlistenherebuddyy, ou glingT. heMisterBabachCeontacBt allissuchanitem
paidgoodmoneyfor a bookabouthowto bean
"xtremegamemastet,"solet'snotthrowstones.) witha relativellyowcost,largesizea, ndlightweight.
Howeverf,eelfreeto useanythingyoucanfrnd.A
Theycallit contacjtugglingbecausteheball

t6t' t

Y-

[JrnnnerEXDM

smalsl iliconbeallisalsoa viableoption.Curtisstarted down,andanyotherdirectionyou can,again
witha clearacrylicball.Thesehavea bit of weighto whilestillendingwiththeballin thecradle.
themandcanbreakthingswhendropped(thingslike
lampsw, indowsa, ndfeet),butwhenyou'rewatching 2.Thenextthingyouhaveto learnishowto hold
yourselifn themirror,it lookswaycoolerthansome theballin "homeposition.H" oldyourmain
lameplasticball.Youmayalsoconsidesrtartingwith hand(whichevehrandyouwritewith)sothat
a poolball,asit hasa similarweighto it but isless t h e p a l mi s f a c i n gt h e f l o o ri u s tb e l o ws h o u l d e r
costlyto damageF. inallyn, o matterwhatballyouuse levelt,hearmparallewl iththechestY. ourelbow
bepreparedto dropit overandoverandoveragain. shouldbeslightlybelowthewristandthe hand
Droppingistheonlythingyouwill knowhowto do re- a comfortabldeistancferomthebody(about
allywellfromthestart.Congratulations. fouror frveincheshoulddo it). Thefingersare
pointedto yourleftif youarerighthandedT. he
The Butterfly ballshouldbein thecradleT. hisistheinsideor
It lookslikea danceI.n fact,it isnamedafter "home"position.

a MiddleEasterdnancethatlooksa bit similarT. he 3.Nowtosstheballfromhomepositionup into
movementasrea tadawkwardto learnandevenmore theairiusta littleandcatchit backin thecradle
awkwardto put in motion,soit isusuallytaughtin withthearmstillin homepositionC. ontinue
paruthencombinedto createthewhole.So,takea to do thisuntilyoufeelcomfortablwe ithlarge
deepbreathaswestartyouon thepathfewXDMswill t o s s easn dc a ng e tt h e b a l lb a c ki n t o t h e c r a d l e
dareto tread. evenif it movesout ontothesmoothpartof the
hand.
l. Firsty, oushouldgetusedto holdingtheballon
thebackof yourhandT. hisisdoneby placing 4. Now moveyour handsothatthe palmis hori-
theballin the"cradle"T. hecradleismadeup zontatlo theceilingY. ourarmtakestheshape,
of thefrrst,seconda, ndthirdfingersT. hesecond moreor lesso, f a servecr arryinga tray.Thisis
fingerisbelowtheothertwo,creatinga dipor gap "outsidep" osition.
b e t w e etnh e m .T h eb a l li st h e np r i m a r i lby a l a n c e d
andheldby thefirstandthirdfrngers.

Onceyouarein thispositionyouneedto get 5. Practicyeourtossingexerciseinsousideposi-
tionaswell.lt willbemucheasier.
usedto thefeelof holdingtheballthere.Move
y o u r h a n da r o u n ds ot h a tt h e b a l lr o l l so v e ry o u r 6. Nowthetimehascometo putthetwo
togetherT. hisiswhereour methodof teaching
knuckleasndthenbackintothecradleT. hen
quicklyshakeyourhandleftandright,up and

84

WoNosRSoFrHEQons

HalfButterfly

variesfromothersO. therstellyouto nowtoss putthemtogethetro formthefull butterflyT. his
theballfromousidepositionto insideposition. canbedonein manywaysbutthecooleswt ay
Goingbackandforthalwaysmakingyourtoss (andconsequentthlyehardeswt ay)isby doingthe
smallearndsmallerI.nsteadT:ry rollingtheball back-to-bactrkansfer.
in homepositionwitha movemenotf yourwrist
andelbowoveryourfingertipasndintoyour Holdtheballin homepositionwithyourmain
palmin ousidepositionT. hisprobablwy on't hand.Nowputyourotherhandin homeposition
work,but it willat leastgiveyoua betteridea in frontof that.Youaregoingto rolltheballout
of whatweareattemptingto accomplishN.ext, of thecradledownthesmoothpartof yourhand
picktheballupoff thefloorandputit backin overthesmoothpartof yourotherhandandinto
homepositionT. histime,rolltheballup into itscradleP. ractictehisby simplymovingtheback
theairoff yourfingersandcatchit in ouside handunderneaathndin frontof thehandthatjust
positionT.hendo thesamethingbackto home. caughtheball.Byrepeatintghisoverandover,
youwill notonlygeta hangof it butwhendone
Thefocushereisrollingtheballandlearning fluidlyit'sa trickknownasthestaircase.
to controlitsmotion.Practictehis,makingthe
m o t i o ns m a l l ear n ds m a l l eur n t i ly o ua r eg i v i n g CHEAPTRICK
theballiustenoughenergyto gooverthetop of To makeback-to-bactrkansfeer asiers,horten
thefingersandroll downintooutsideposition. thedistancteheballrollson thesmoothpart
Repeatthisstepuntilbothdirectionasresecond- of thehand.lf youmust,roll it fromcradle
natureandtheballneverleavecsontacwt ith to cradleovertheknucklesK. eepworking
yourhand.lf youdo,youwillbeperforminag on makingthatdisuncelonger,asit loolafar
halfbutterfly.' moreimpressive.
Youcould,of coursei,ustskiptheback-to-
7. Nowlearnto do it withtheotherhand. backtransfear ndusethepalm-to-palmwhichis
simplerT. hisisdonewhentheballisin outside
8. Beforewecontinuel,et mesaythatif you've positionT. hehandsmoveto meetin frontof
reallymadeit thisfar,congratulationOsn. ceyou thebody(yourfingerspointedawayfromyou
cando halfbutterflieisn eachhandyouneedto thistime)andthe ballis rolledinto the palm
of the receivinhgand.Thathandthenmoves
t Thisdoeslookbetterasyou getmoreheightandmoreof the ballis backto outsidepositionanddoesis halfof the
nvealedS. till,it's harder.Thecheapwayof doinglt isto makethe ballroll butterfly.
fromthecradleup andlustin-betweenyour firstandsecondfingersD. oingthis
(eatesa trackthat greatlyhelpskeepthe ballundercontrol.Practlcewhile
slnlngotnhecouch.Thearmsof thecouchwlllkeeptheballfromrollingtoo
farawayfromyou andmakespracticein generaml orecomfonable

85

[JrnunrEXDM

9. Onceyouhavetheback-to-bactrkansfedr own, CHEAPTRICK
it'sa simplematterof transferrinthgeballand
continuintghebutterflyin thereceivinhgand,then In themiddleof a butterflyor half
reversintghemotionto theothersidea, ndsoon.
In thefullbutterflyt,heballshouldnevesr top butterflytry this:Movefromougideto
movingl.t isonefluid,continuoumsotionandisa insidepositiono, nlydon't roll theballto
wondetro behold. thebackof yourhand.Insteadkeepit there
in thepalm.

Grantedi,f somethinigsn'tdone,theball

isdestinedto fly directlytowardthe nearest
fragileobiect.Sopressor hookyourthumb
to thebackof theballandpressit against
yourhand.Thethumbshouldendup near

thebottom,but not at the bottom,of the

ball.Thiscreatetsheillusionthattheball
isstuckto thehandanddefyinggravity.
Tilt yourhandiustslightlytowardyour
bodyif necessatroyhelphideyourthumb.
Continuebackto outsidepositionandthen
butterflyasusualT. hepacingof thisis

importantJ. ustkeepthemovemenot f the
handandarmconsistenwtith the restof
yourbutterflieslt.'s funnyandwhendone

right,a touchdisarming.

10. lf yougetthatdown,try Finally

puttinga smallroutinetogether. ContacJtugglinigsa hardthingto learnand

Startby doinga half butterfly, entirebookshavebeenwrittenon thesubiectl.f you

thenmovingto the otherside wouldlikemoreinformationthanwehaveroomto
providei,ncludintgrickswithmultipleballsb, ody
and doinga half butterflyin

that hand.Next, moveinto a roffsw, alksa, ndmuchmuchmore,checkout Contact
full butterflymixingpalm-to- Jugglinbgy JamesErnestT. herearealsoa numbeor f

palmtransferwsithback-to-back DVDsandotherresourceosut there,sofeelfreeto

onesT. hena staircasaen, dend Googleit.

backin yourstartinhgandwiththe

ballbeautifulldyisplayeadt the Appearances

fingertipsl.f youfeellikeit, Effect:TheXDMwalksoverto a cornerof the

throwin thefollowincgheap roomandstandosn a platformwhichyoucansee

trick,asit will drawsome underandto thesidesH. elifu a largesheeut p into

gaspws hendoneright. theairanddropsit dramaticallrye,vealinaglonglost
playera, nNPCcometo life,or thepizzadude.All

withthehelpof a littleblackart.

WoxosRSoFrHEQoos

It isn'tactuallayspaganasit soundsM.. agicians.O4o/om) ustbecompensatefodr by theuseof blinding
forgeneratiohnasveamazetdhepublicandaccom- lightsa, lsocalled"blinders.T" heselightsarepointed
plisheadllmanneor f featsusingthisancienttech- directlytowardyouraudiencaendactasthestreet

niqueI.n factit isstillusedin fantastimc ultimillion lightdid in ourexampleaboveG. oodblackart will use

dollairllusionshowstoday,fromDavidCopperfreld blinderasssubtlyaspossibleF.sorexamplein, a stage

toCrisAs ngel.Youcando thesamethingin your illusionCurtisoncecreatedt,heblinderws erenothing
garagfeor around30 bucks. morethantheonesetof rearlighsslightlylowered

lmagintehestarsat night.Nowplacea bright andangledtowardtheaudienceth, erebygivingthe
streelitghtin themiddleof thatsceneC. anyoustill impressiotnhatit wasmerelybacklightingfor thescene
seestarsaroundit?Thedynamicrangeof yourvision withno ulteriormotive.

isnotlargeenoughto makeout boththedimstars

andthebrightlightallat once.Soif therewasa per-

sondrapedin blackbehindthatlight,youwouldn't

beableto seethemeitherT. akingthisbasicprinciple

abitfurther,it becomepsossiblteo vanishf,loat,and

basicadllyo anythinygouwantwitha bit of black

cloth.t

lmaginea stagewheretheentirebackgrounids

drapeidn blackvelvetA. brightwhiteballisin the

middloef thatstageD. imlightssurrountdhearea U
pointintgo theaudiences,ubtlyblindingthem.lf a D
blackvelvet-coveresdtickwereto movethatwhite

balal roundtheaudiencweouldseenothingmore

thana whiteballfloatingin a blackvoid.Thisisa

bitobviousb, ut,whenusedmoresubtly,canreally

amazaenaudiencaend,yes,evena gamerB. ut,hey Onewayto furtherfrllin theblackvoidandin-

evenif theydon't freakout, it'saboutentertainment creasethedynamicrangeof yoursettingisto useblack/

m o r et h a na m a z e m einntt h eX D M b u s i n e s s . UV lighs.Theflorescenbtulbvarietyarethebest,

howevert,hecheapebrulbsyouflndin a iokeor party
shopwillworkaswell.Byaddingflorescenmtateriatlso

CrashCoursein BlackArt thescenet,hedynamicrangeincreasedsueto theglow

Firstyou,aregoingto needa lot of blackcloth. thatoverpowertshedarknesosf theblackmateriall.t
lf youarerich(or owna velvetfactory),thengetting
yardsuponyardsof theperfectblackmateriasl hould canbediffrculmt akingthisworkright,assomedustwill
notbea problemT. herestof you haveto settle glowunderblacklightsaswell.Keepa lintrollerhandy.
fortheblackesfteltyoucanfind.Thedifference
liesin the"reflectioncoefficiente" achof your Howdo youuseblackart in yourgame?Saythat
materiaplsossesseIns.otherwords,howmuchlight yourplayerhsaveenteredtherealmof doomanda
agivenobiectwill reflect.Someof thefinestblack beautifuml agicspiritappeartso tellthegroupwhatto

velvetws ill havea reflectioncoefficienotf aslittleas do next.Forgetellingthemaboutit. Let'sdo it.
.04o/oW.+hatevetrhe littleIightleftover(likethat Thefirstthingyouwillneedto buildisa back-

* Although,to be fair, morethanonespiritualisctult hasusedthis dropthatisallblack.We'llleavethispartmostlyup
to you,howevewr ewillmentionthatsomePVCpipe,
bucketfsullof rocksa, ndsomeclampscangettheiob
donequicklyandcheaplyY. ouwillalsoneedto cover
techniquteo strikefearinto the hearuofcrippledchildrenandorphaned
widows.Thisisonly okayif your gameis beingplayedby iustsucha thefloorwiththesameblackmateriaal,t leastthearea

group, beneatahndaroundwhereyourplatformwillgo.

i Only from the perspectivoef the audiencea, ndonly whenon a black

an set.Robbinga bankwith a blacksheeton your headwill probablylust $ Despitethe name,"blinders"areNOT meantto permanentblylindyour
getyou shot.
audience.
{ TheNew Make-upof Magic,MickyHades,1974, P.37,

87

Next,youneedtheplatformT. hisisthestandthat The"Criss-Crossf"orcet

yourspiritwill appeaor n.A goodcheapoptionisto Step1: Havesomeonceutthedeckbutnotcom-

builda makeshisfttageout of fouror morecinderblocks pleteit.

anda largepieceof plywoodA. tuch yourblackmate-

rialto thebackof yourplywoodandhaveit hangdown Step2: Placethecut-toportionon top of theother

behindyourcinderblockNs.ow placeyourblinders, halfasif youwereto naturallycompletethecut,

perhapasddsomefogandlasersa,ndyou'redone(see onlyinsteadplaceit on top crosswiseH.eresay

thepictureon page87). thatyouwill"mark"theircut.
Haveyourassistangtetintopositionbehindyour

blackaft screen(theblackmateriaal ttachedto your

board)S. hecancrawtlherefroma holein theback-
groundo, r iustbelyingtherewaitingallnightuntilher
momentarrivesW. henthetimecomesfor thespiritto

manifeshterselsf,implyholdup a coverof somekind
(usuallya cloth)and,whenshestepsintopositionl,et
it go.Naturallyy, ouwillwantsomestoryto goalong
withallof this.Makingpeopleappeairsallfrneand
dandybuta reasonfor allyouroddactionsisprefer-

able.

Cardsaren't only Collectables Step3: Allowa momentfor timemisdirection.
Thenlift thecrossinhgalfoff thebottomhalfand

Usethe Force...* t u r n o v e rt h e " c u t - t oc a r d "t h i s ,a g a i ni,s t h et o p
cardof thedeck.

Thefirstthing,andprobablythemostusefuly, ou

canlearnaboutcardmagicistheforce.A "force"is The "Touch" Force
a handywayto makesomeon"erandomly"selectthe Soyouhavelearnedhowto havethemcutthe
specificardor object hatyousecretlwy antthemto.
cardsto forcethem,butwhatif youwantto do that

Yes,it reallyisa sortof ledit thing.Wewillgooverthe handymagiciatnhingwherethecardsarespreadbe-
manyadvantageosf theforcein a momentb, utfirstgo tweenthehandsandtheyiustpickone?Try this:
PreparatioWn henno oneiswatchingg,etyour
geta deckof cardsandfollowalong.

forcedcardto thetop of thedeck.Let'ssaythat

The "Cut a Little Deeper" Force youareusingthesixof diamonds.

A handywayto forcesomeonteo "randomly" Step1 Holdthecardsin yourdealinhgandand
selecthecardthatyousecretlwy antthemto, via startto dealoff a fewcardsintoyourotherhand.
cuttingT. henameiaelfimpliews hatyouwillbedo- (Forsimplicitylet'siustassumyeouareright
handed.Y) oushouldnowhavea fewcardsin
ing.Youhavethemcutthedeck,butnottoo deep.
Thefirstcut isplacedfaceup on thedeckthenyouask yourrighthandandtherestof thedeckin your
lefthand.Dothisasyousay,"Let'shaveyou
themto "cut a littledeeper"andturnallof thosecards picka cerd."
faceup on top of thedeck.Finallyy, ouaskthemto
spreadthroughthe nowface-upcardsuntiltheygetto

a facedowncard.This,youtellthem,istheirrandom- Step2 Withoutpausings,tartto spreadthedeck
ly-cut-tocard.Handilyenoughfor you,it alsohappens fromyourlefthandintoyourright-overthe
to betheoriginatlop cardof thepack.
threeor fourcardsalreadyin thathand.All

youhaveto do hereiskeepthisstockof cards

underneatthhespreadcardsY. oucando thisby

* We swearwe haveneverheardof this Sar Warsyou speakof... despite { Thiswasinventedby Max Holdenin 1925.lt doesn'tmatterhowold
what we may sayelsewherein this book. PleaseGeorge,don't sueus. it is,iust how well it works.
f l'm sorryGeorge. I can't seemto shutup.

keepintghe rightfingerswrappedaroundthem Step5 Oncetherighthandpackeitssquared('and
andallowintghespreadcardsto glideoverthe you areconfidentthatthe cardsareall generally
frngertipsS.aysomethinhgerelike,"ln fact,you aligned)ti,lt yourrighthandup andshowthe
canchoosefromanywherien thedeckjusttouch
bottomcardto thespectators. . errplayers.l+f
anycardyoulike.". everythinhgasgoneaccordintgo planthisshould

betheoriginatlopcard:or thesixof diamonds.

Now What?

Sowhatcanyoudo witha forcedcard?Wecan

promisyeouthatthemostamazintghingsyouhave

everseenwithcardswereaccomplishewditha force.

Froma selectecdardappearinogn theothersideof a
gfasws indowto a "freely"selectecdardbeingpredicted
Step3 Continueto slowlyspreadthroughthecards yearsin advancea,cardforcewasbehindit all.Below
untilyourvictimtoucheas card.Separathee
cardsbelowtheplacetheyindicatedY.ouare aresomeof thethingsthatI liketo do withit. As you
readthesepleasedo sowithXDMeyesandtry to see
nowholdingabouthalfthedeckin onehandand howtheseeffecscanbeusedto entertainyourplayers

theremaininbgalancoef cardsin theotherwith in thenaturaclourseof a game.
thetouchedcardat thebottomof therighthand

spread. Hickman'sSpectatorCuts the Aces

"Spectatocrutstheaces"isa veryold magic

themea, problemthatsomeof thefinesmt indsin

magichavestruggletdo accomplishT.heproblemis

thatyouneedto somehowfinagletheendresult(the

fouracese) venthoughthecardsareunderthecontrol

of thevolunteearlmosttheentiretime.Thisusually

meantshatthemagiciahnasto performsomeabsurdor

awkwardmovein theactionof turningthefourcut-to

selectionosver.

Step4 Now,usethecardsin thelefthandto close Thisis,of coursew, henalltheheatison andrare-
therighthand'sspreadoveryourconcealed ly in magicdo youwantto performthesecreat ctionas
packeot f cardsT. heconcealepdackectombines everyonwe atchetsheexactplaceyoudo it. Thisiswhy
wehavemisdirectionU.nfortunatelyin, thiseffectyou
naturallwy iththeothercardsandeverythinigs reallycan'tmisdirectot o muchbecausaenydirection
heldtogether
awayfromthecardsisa bit conspicuouasn, dyourgoal

isnotto leadthemawayfromtheeffect,but fowardist.

Still,aswesaidbeforem, anymagicianhsavecome

upwithastoundinwgaysof performintghisparticular

feat.Howevern, oneof themmeetthedirectnesthsat
( wouldcomefromthespectatoarctuallycuttingto the

\ aceswithnosleighotf handfromthemagicianL.etme
presentto you Hickman'Ss pectatoCr utstheAces.

TheSecretT: heyactuallycutto theaces.

Mindblowingisn'tit.

t Besureto emphasiz"etouch" sinceif they pulla cardout you,re f You maywishto givethe right-handpacketan additionatlap on the top
to squarethemall the wayaround.
hosedY,ou canalsohavethemiustyell stop,whichis usuallyeaslerin
situationwsith lotsof peopleand largetables. f I liketo turn my headawayto emphasiztehat I couldn,tknowwhich
cardit is.

Qv t O

[JrnuerEXDM

1l

Thequestioins,how?Wellif youdidn'tskipthe youwant)onyourforearmY. ouwilldo thisin

abovet,hentheanswesrhouldns'turprisyeoubecause a shorthanfdorm.So"TheSixof Diamonds"

it'sreallysimpleI.n fact,wecansumit up bysaying becomes"6, 1." Useshorthanbdecausoether-
thatit's a combinatioonf two Cuta LittleDeepefrorces wiseit takesa longarmanda lot of ChapStick.

anda Crisscrosfosrce.Whenyoucombinethemin a Havea pieceof papera, pencila, lightera, ndan
particulawr ay,yougeta verydeceptivpeieceof magic. ashtrayor smalbl owlhandy.

StepI Forcethesixof diamondcsardon someone.

PreparatioPnlacethreeaceson thetop of thedeck Feeflreeto useanymethodyou like.sIn this

andoneaceon thebottom. caseI, personalwlyouldusetheTouchforce.

Step1 Telltheplayetrhatheisgoingto playa quick Oncetheyknowtheircard,gathetrhedeckand

gameof "TexasSmoky"withJacktheGrifter. putit away.
Thewinnergetswhateveirsrelevantto thestory, Step2 Tellyourhelpetro "thinkof yourcard

maybea talkingkangaroo. andconcentraoten it." Lookintotheirsouland

Step2 Havethespectatodro theCuta LittleDeeper strugglefor a momentT. ellthemthatperhaps

forcetwice.Eachtimeplacethecut-tocardface theyshouldwritethenameof theircarddownto

downandto theside.Remembetor placethere- helpthemfocus.Lookawayastheydo thisand

mainingface-upcardsbackintothemiddleof the havethemcrumpletheirscrappaperintoa little

deckfacedown,leavintghetop andbottomcards ballwhentheyarefrnished.

alwaytshesame.. Step3 Takeout thelighterandthebowl.Settheir

Step3 Endby doingtheCrisscrosfosrce.In the predictioanflamea,llowingit to burnalltheway

aforemention"emdomenot f timemisdirection" outin thebowl.Youshouldhavea littlepileof

s h o wt h a tt h e f i r s ta n ds e c o n dc a r d st h e yc u t t o ashelseft.Waita momentt,wentyfrveseconds

wereacesT. henmovebackto the"markedcut." or so,to makesuretheasheasrecool.

Pickup thetop halfwithyourrighthandandturn Step4 RubtheasheosvertheChapSticwkritingon

overthefacedowncardon thebottomhalfwith yourarm.Theashews illstickto theChapStick

y o u r l e f t s a y i n g",w h a ti s r e a l l ys t r a n g ei st h a ty o u andreveatlhenameof thecardtheyarethinking

alsocutto thethird.. ." nowturnyourrighthand of inash.

palm-ups,howintghebottommostcardin thetop Anythingcanbewrittenon yourarmandre-

halfof thecutsaying",. . .andfourthace." vealedin ashesa;clueto yourgamet;helocationof

themagicwhasit,anythingT.hisisa funtrick,but
Youhavejustcreateda Maverick-esqmuoement theprinciplceanbeusedfora myriadof coolgame

for a playerwhoisaboutto betheluckyrecipienot f moments.

a talkingkangaroolf. youdo thisrightit will foolthe

pantsoff peoplel. "Quill of EYIL"

Duringyouradventurert'rsaveltsheycome

"Revealedin Ashes" acrosasstrangqeuillof evil.Thequillissaidto fore-

Revealinthgenameof a selecteodbjecbt y rubbing tellthefutureA. t differenpt oinsduringtheadven-

asheosn yourarmgoesbackcenturieslt.'sweirdanda tureanyonecanpickupthequillandwritewithit.

littlefreakyP. erfecftor a latenightgame'. Thecurseof thequillisthatanyonewhotriesto look

PreparatioGno getyourseslfomeChapSticIkn. at thepredictionbeforeit happengsoesblindfor a

privatew, ritethenameof yourforcecard(We'll short ime.Aftera numbeor f predictionasremade,

usethesixof diamondasgainY. ouusewhatever thequillrunsoutof inkandthepaperasreread.Each

predictions,omeof whichareveryspecifich, ascome

" My favoriteway to accomplishthis is to shufflethe cardstogethermaking to pass.
surethat the top and bottomcardssuy iustwheretheyaresupposedto. TheSecretl:f a playereverasksto usethe
Shufflinglikethiswill alsoreallyconfuseanyonewho maythinkthey know
quillyouwillpickupa penandsmalpl ieceof paper
whatyou aredoing.
f Not literally.Whichin mostcasesisa REALLYgoodthing. $ No guns.
t Thisusesfire. Becareful.Duh.

90

(abouPt ost-its. izeisgood)andostensibwlyritedown TheXDMwriteson a pieceof paper"thesecondoor

apredictioanbouta specifiecventhatisabouto willbechosen.T" hatpredictioinstossedin withthe

takeplaceP. erhapssomethinlgikewhichdoorthe othersandtheXDMannouncethsatthequillisoutof
playewrsillchooses,pecificasboutwhatwillhappen inkandthepredictionmsayberead.Of coursethey
inthenextbattle,or go for brokeandpredictactual
dierolls.Whatevefrloatsyourboat*youwill beone allcameto passD. oyouseehowtimedisplacement
canmakejustaboutanythinpgossibleA?nt ywayi,t'sa

hundrepdercenrtighteachtime.Howcouldsuch funwayto makesomethinagsoddasa magicquillthat

devilreyxist? muchmorereal.

I t ' se a s yw i t ho u r o l d f r i e n dt i m ed i s p l a c e m e n t . Butwaita secondT.hisisa gameafterall.What

Whaytouwritedownfor predictionumbeor neisin happenisf my partyfrndsa wayto readthepredictions

facthelasfeventhatwillhappen-aenventhatwill beforetheyhappenW? ell,astheveritablegodof their
beforcedupontheplayerT. henthenextprediction worldyoucannaturallyprevenst uchthingsfromhap-

youwillmakewillbefor thefrrsteventY. ourthird peningbutwehavea betteridea.

predictiownillbeforyoursecondeventa, ndsoon. Letthem.Evenhelpthemto finda wayto do

Allowusto illustrateT.hequillof evilstartsto it. lt createasreallyinterestinggamedynamicS. o

movebeforeyourplayersentera room.SotheXDM afterdoingthepenof evileffect,perhaptsheyfind

pickuspa pieceof paperandwrites"Thequeenof a vialof waterthatgrantsthemimmortasl ightfor a
momentN. owyoumustwriteon thepaperaboutan
hearwu illbechosenc" rumpletshepaperupand

tosseitsintoa bowl.EriktheVicarsearchefsor traps. eventhathasn'ht appeneydet.Like,"Sherrytheelf

Heflndsonebutstilltakesa frstfullof poisonto the killsthemagicprinceswsitha rock."Nowyou have

face. to makesurethatno matterwhatthepafi does,the

eventcomesto passl.f Sherrycommigsuicidebefore

anythineglsehappensy,ouhaveto makeupa wayfor

whatyouwroteto happenP. erhapSsherryrollsa 20

on hersuicideroll.Youcouldsaythatherforceand

convictionweresostrongthatSherry'sbladeshattered

in herhand,preventinhgerdeathandforcingtherocks

to shakeandfallon theprincessB.asicalnlyoamount

of ingenuitoyr dierollingwillundowhatthepenhas

writtenl.t'sa fundynamice,specialilfythepredictions

theyreadareunfortuitous.

lsn'tthatnotiustcheatingb,uta completme as-
sacreof therulesof thegame?No. Firstletmeremind

Sometimegoesby andtheplayercsometo youthattheQuillof Evilisevil.Secondd,ecidintghe
fateof yourplayerosncetheyhavediscoverehdowto
frvedoorsbutcanonlychooseone."Thequillof readthepredictionwsithoutgoingblindisnotcheat-
evilstartuo write,"andtheXDMpicksup another ingor rulegenocidaet all.(Evenif it waswedoubt
bitof papear ndon it secretlwy rites"Erikwillfinda
poisotnrap".Thepaperisballedup andplacedwith thatwewouldcare.)Butit isperfectlyfltting.Still,for
theotherT. heplayercshoostehesecondoor.In thesakeof yoursanitya, llowusto illustratewhywith

thenextroomanold gypsywomanisfoundwitha anoft told folktalkenarratedby theAngelof Death

deckof cardsS. heasks omeonien thepartyto cut herself:

thedeckandshemarksthecutby placingit crosswise "Therewasa merchanint Baghdawdhosent
(CrisscroFsosrce)on theotherpack.Beforethecut- hisservantot marketto buyprovisionasndin a little

tocardislookedat,thequillof evilstaruto write. f Thisisyet anotherreferenceto the sectionin thisbookcalled"Twisting
in the Wind." lt's a reallygoodsection.lf you skippedall that stuffin the
* Post-itsyet anothertrademarkthat we haveusedin totaldisregard beginningandsomehowgot herefirst-weoffrciallydemoteyou downto a
forlawsthatmightpreventusfrom doingso.Also, if you actuallydo
thiseffectusingactualPost-itsy,ou will be deducted20 XDM levelsand levelTwo SkuzzPuff. But then for you LevelOne Nub Cakes,I guessthat's
forcedto wearthe "l took XDM too literally"signto our nextmeeting. a promotion, 5o. . . goodwork.

91

[rnunrEXDM

whilethe seruanct ameback,whiteandtrembling, a fortunebuyingthesecardsB. asicallyo, uneed
andsaid,l{asterj,ustnowwhenI wasin themar- Bicyclceards..
ketplaceI wasjostledbya womanin thecrowdand
Pleasneotethatto saveusalla lot of confusion
whenI turnedI sawit wasDeaththatjostledme. in thissectionwewill beassumintghatyouareright

Shelookedat me andmadea threateninggesture, handedtoo. lf youarenot,wearesurethatwe're
now,lendmeyourhorsea, ndI will rideawayfrom notthefirstto pityyou.Stilldespiteyoursadlot in

thiscityandavoidmy fate.I willgoto Samarraand lifeweiustknowyoucandrumup enoughmoxieto
thereDeathwillnotfindme. Themerchanlet nthim converthefollowingtextto fit yourspecianl eeds.

hishorsea, ndthesevantmountedit,andhedug

hisspursin itsflanksandasfastasthehorsecould The nuo handedfan
gallophewent. Thenthemerchanwt entdownto Fourducksat firstglanceb,utreallyit's probably

the marketplacaendhe sawme standinign thecrowd morelikeoneor two.

andhe cameto meandsaid",Whydidyou makea Step1 Holdthecardsin yourlefthand.The
threateninggesturteo my servanwt henyou sawhim
thismorning?"Thatwasnota threateninggestureI , cardsshouldbein thecrotchof thethumb,
saidi,t wasonlya startof surpriseI. wasastonished angledtowardyouslightlyT. hethumbisputting
to seehimin Baghdafdo,r I hadan appointmenwtith pressuroen thepackat thebottomnearcorner

himtonightin Samarra."

Therearea millionthingsyoucandowitha
forcedcard.Takea duplicateof theforcecardandput
it in yourbuddy'swalletH. avethenameof theforce
cardrevealeidn laserfireandfrreworks.

BeinventiveY!ou'reanXDM-that'syourjob.

Card Flourishes: Step2 Therighthandnowcomesover,andwith
itsthumb,his thenearlongedgeof thecardsat
Whetheyr ou'rea cardcheatin theold west,a thetop leftcorner.lt thenmakesanarcaround
wanderingypsya, boutto playanyoneof thebillions theotherthumb,puttingthemajorityof its
of cardgamesout there,or doinganeffectfromthis pressuroen theuppermosctard.Thefingersin
book,youneedto knowhowto do sowithflair.Card
backsupportthefan.
flourisheasreanartof theirown. Manyof themlook

impressivaend,if donecorrectlya, reeasyT. hatisthe

i d e a .T h e r ei sa no l d m a g i cs a y i n g",M a k et h ed i f f r c u l t
l o o ke a s ya n dt h e e a s yl o o kd i f f i c u l t . "

Whatfollowsarejusta fewof thethousandosf

cardflourisheosut there. To makeit simplewe'verat-

edeachoneon a scaleof ducksF. iveducksbeinghard,

oneduckbeingeasy.(Whyducksw? edon'tknow.

Whystars?W) e'renot goingto venturetoo farintothe

fiveduckcategoryb, ecaustehereareplentyof amazing

flourishetshatdon't requirenearlyasmuchwork.

Beforewe begin,pleasenotethatyou shouldgo

outandgeta qualirydeckof cardsD! on'tevenlook

at thathorridexcusefor a decksittingin yourkitchen * Bicycleis a trademarkof the U.S.PlayingCardCompany.Rumorhas
drawerY. ouneednewcardsY. ouneedqualitynon- it that theirmainofficesaremadeof 85,720,645,496 playingcards
plasticcoatedcardsY. oualsodon'twantto spend carefullystackedby a bllndChineseman.

It's alsoa modeof transportation.

92

WoNnsRsoFTHEQoos

The snapbackfan close The One HandedFan
Assuminygoudid thelastoneright,two ducks.
Onelittleduck
Thisisa clevear ndmagicalol okingwayof Thisisa fanthatby itselfisonlymildlyimpressive,
closintghetwo handedfan. butwhentwo handsof themarecombinedyougetone
veryimpressivdeisplayknowasthe S-fan.
Step1 Bringyourleftindexfingerto thebottom Step1 Placehalfthedeckon thefingersof theright
of thefan.Thetip of thatfrngesr houldbein handsothatthelongedgesof thepackareparal-
contacwt iththebottomcenterof thelower- lelto them.Yourrightthumbcontacttshebottom
mostcard.Themiddlefingesr houldbemostly innercorner.
in contacwt iththespreadabovethatbottom Step2 Whilemaintaininpgressurweiththethumb
card. andbottomfingersm, akea fist.Unlikethefistyou
mightuseto beata leveloneorphancleric,this
fistis madewith the fingersflat againstthe palm,

t h u m bs e ta g a i n stth e b e n ti n d e xf i n g e r ' sk n u c k l e .

Step2 Twothingsaregoingto happenat thesame The S Fan
time.Youextendthe indexfinger,forcingthe Theevilwarlordtwinbrotheor f thelastlittleducR
cardfanto beginto closeT. hemiddlefrnger Step1 Doa onehandedfanin bothhandsl.t's really
pullsdownon thefan,thusforcingit to closein notthathard..
Step2 Movethehandssothatthetop of onefan
anarc. comesin contacwt iththebottomof theother
Step3 Onceyoucan'tloweryourmiddlefingeror t h e r e b yc r e a t i n ga n S s h a p ew i t h t h e c a r d s .

e x t e n dy o u r i n d e xf i n g e ra n yf u r t h e r ,r e v e r steh e
motionto pullthefancompletelsyhutwiththe
indexfrngerL. eavethemiddlefingerwhereit is.
It'sdoneitsiob anddeserveasbreak.
Somethingsto keepin mind
Thefanshouldclosefast.Remembeitrsthe
snapbacclkoseW. henviewedfromthefrontit should
looklikethe fanis closingitself.

CHEAPTRICKI " Havingiust re-readthis beforegoingto print, it seemsto usthat this is
lf youwantto do anold-fashionegdag pretend sortof an insensitivaendignoranthingto saysincewe canalreadydo it. lf
to graba pieceof hairandtie lt to the fan. you wereoffendedfeelfreeto blamegrandmasterFrank. We usuallydo.
Thenclosethe fanwlth the left handpretendto
pullthe invtsibleline,asif shuttingthe fanwlth

thehalr.lt migfrtseemsllly,butworld-famous
, magiciansstillusethisbit in theirperformances.
Andreallydoeslookcool.

93

[JrnunrEXDM a

To closeReverstehemotionsof creatingthefans The Card Spread
andbringthetwo handstogetherT. hecards
shouldcollapsneeatlyintothehands. Oneduck
Note:Curtishasbeendoingmagicfor a longtime
Step1 Gripthedecklengthwisbeetweenthe
andstillgetsasgreata reactionfromtheSfanashe fingersof yourhandandspreadthecardsonthe
doeswhenperforminagcomplicatevdersionof the t a b l e .T h ep r e s s u rceo m e sf r o m t h e d e c kp u s h i n g
SybilCut (a Sybilcutbeinga twentyon thefiveduck downon thecardsasthehandsweepqsuickly
scalea, ndtoo complicatefodr usto describheere).
acrostshe table.Thefingersdon't dragthe cards
Speakinogf cuts,les introducyeouto anold
friendof themagiccommunitkynownastheCharlier but ratherregulatethedistributioonf thecards.
cut. A lighttouchisneededanda littlepracticeto
makeit smoothandevenb, utreallyh, owhard
The One HandedCut or CharlierCut
Twoanda halfducks..p.robablythebiggehr alf couldthisbe?
Step1 Holdthepackat yourlefthandfingertips, Step2 (We'renot doneyet?)Nowtilt thefirst
l e n g t h w i sbee t w e e nt h e f i n g e r sa n dt h u m b .Y o u r
pinkyshouldbeat thebottomedgeof thepackto cardin thespreadup andwiththefrngeridethe
helpkeepthingstidy. crestof thewaveyoujustcreated.Rideit both
Step2 Nowreleastehebottomhalfof thedeckby
rollingyourthumbup a bit sothatit losetshe downandupthespreadl.t shouldlooklikea
lowerhalfandkeeptshetop half. peakor wavemovingdownthespreadI.n factif
youmovethewaveto themiddleof thespread
andthensplitthewavewiththeotherhandyou

canmovetwo wavesaround.

-' ' :-..':,' =.--

Step3 Usingyourindexfinger,pushup on thebot- Step3 Whenyou gettired of thisor feelthe
spreadstaftingto fall apart,bringthe waveto
tom packeut ntilyouhaveforcedthatpacketo the endof the, fanthusflippingall the cardsface
up.
iustclearthetop packet.Nowloweryourfinger Note:Thiswon'tworkon smoothsurfaceIsn.
anduseyourremaininfgingertso helpbringthe
fact,if youeverattempthison glassf,eelfreeto give
newlowerpackeut nderthenewtop packet. yoursel5f moronpoints.

Springingthe Deck
FiveDucksanda Yeti
Likeanythingthisstartsout hardandthenwith
practicegetsto besosecond-natuyroeuwill look
backandwondewr hywe'recallingit fiveducks
(grantedy,oumaylookbackon thisandsaythat
anyway)S. till,juststartingto learnhowto springthe
deckfromhandto handcanbequiteaggravating,
especialilfyyouareconstantlpyickingup cardsT. rust
me,it'swortheverymomenyt ouput intoit.
Step1 Holdthecardsin yourrighthandwiththe
fourfingerson thetop shortedgeandthethumb
on thebottomshortedge.

94

Die tricks and other PointlessMiracles

Vanishes

Theabilityfor a XDMto vanishdiceat willis...

wellpointles.s. butfun.Afterall,thereisnowizard

or creaturethatwouldhaveactuadl iceto makevanish.

Perhapist'sbestusedasa symbool f fatevaporizing,

Step2 Squeeztehedeck,creatinga concavebend thecreaturedisappearinogr,someotherreallyesoteric
nonsense.
intoyourpalm.
As mentioneedarliert,hereareonlythreeways
Step3 Nowspringthecardsby releasinthgem
withthefingersT. hisisdoneby straighteninthge of makinganythinvganishB. ymovingtheobiecth, id-
knuckleosutandevenlyregulatintgheflowof ingtheobjecto, r it wasnevetrhereto beginwith..
So,in aneffortto delivertheXDMsof theworldthe
thecards.
Step4 Catchthecardsin yourlefthandwhichis bestin illusiontechnologiews,ewill provideyouwitha
heldjustbelowi,n front,andto thesideof your fewtechniquethsatinvolvea combinatioonf allthree
righthand.Thehandsfingerscreatea bowlfor methods.
Die Vanishl:
thecardsto fallinto.(l apologizteo thosethat
FeaturingThFerenchDrop(akaLe tourniquet
didstepthreewithoutreadingstepfourfirst.Let
Vanisht)
thatbea lessotno you.)
Step1 Thedieishetdbetweenthethumband
Step5 Squarethecardsandknowthat,yes,you
forefingeorf yourpalm-uphandT. heotherhand
lookedcool.
movesoverto takethedie.

CHEAPTRICKI Step2 Themomentthesecondhandiscovering
Therelsa wayto totallycheatat the card thedieyourfirsthandreleaseitssgripon thedie
spring.lf you do thlsrlght,you mlghtgetaway allowinigt to fallintothepalm.Thesecondhand
withlt. On theotherhand,it letsyou do some thenwrapsis fingersaroundemptyspace.
reallyfunnyflourishese,venlf the gimmicklt is
obvious. Step3 Tenseupthehandthatnowholdsnothing
(butsupposedhlyoldsthedie)andrelaxthehand
l. Sapleor otherwisceonnecat ltemating thatnowconcealist. Youreyesshouldbefixed
endsof yourcards.In otherwordssuple on thehandthatapparenttlyookthedie...andI
meanriyefedon it asif youreyeballwsereliterally
theshortendofthe top cardto the next super-gluetod it.
card.Thentekethat cardandstaplethe
" ThePsychologoyf Magicby mo guyswho haveneverbeenin my kitchen
opposlteendto the cardbeneathit. You before.
will endup with a deckthat isonebigzig- + WARNING: A toumiguershouldonly be usedasa lasrresortif all other
zagconnectedpack. efforu to controlbleedinghavefailed. lfyour playersarebleedingduring
your game,you'redoingsomethingwrong.
2. Now you canreleasethecardsfrom one
handto the otherfrom greatdistanceasnd
theywill cascadpeerfectly(if a bit zlg-

zagged)everytime.
Note: lf you aredoingthisandrryingto
getawaywith lt, you will wantto conceatlhe
deckwlth the handuntilthelastposiblemo-
ment.After all, peoplemightgetsuspiciouosf
thelargepiecesof metalstuckto yourcards.

[rnuerEXDM

Step,l Finallym, assagtheeemptyspacein thesec- Step1 TosstheD20 fromhandto handa few
ondhandandslowlyreveatlhevanishof thedie. times.Thehandsshouldbe relativelcylose
togethewr hiledoingthis.Therighthandrotates
Step5 Reveaolr ditchtheconcealeddiein thefirst overthe left andthe left handoverthe right.
hand:

A. Produceit fromyourelbow,behinda player's

ear,or outof a cheesseandwichJu. streachover
withthefirsthandandactlikeyoupluckedthe

objectfromthenether egion.

B.lf youareseatedy,oucancasuallyetthedie
dropintoyourlapundercoverof thetable'sedge.

C. lf youarestandinagndhavebeenpracticing Step2 Now dumpthedieintothelefthand,its
yourmisdirectiony,oucando this:Leanforward fingerqsuicklyclosinagroundthedie.
withthesecondhandandbeginto vanishthedie.
As youdo thisturnyourbodya bit to theside Step3 Yourrighthandimmediatelmy ovesinto
andwhenalleyesareon yoursecondhandallow theiacketandup to theleftbreaspt ocket.Re-
yourfirsthandto dropitsdieintoa convenient movethepencial nddisplayit sayingsomething
pocket(iacketp, antse, tc).Thissortof thingtakes devilishlwy ittylike,"Hereismy magicpencil."
practicebut whendonecorrectlycanbe amazing.
Havingsaidthat,I don'trecommentdhatyoudo Step4 Wavethepenciol verthelefthandand
it, at leasnt otfor a longtime.lt'snotthatI don't openit to reveatlhedieisstillthere.No one
trustyou-it justtakesa bit of practice. willbeimpresseIdh, ope.

Youcan,of coursem, akeanythinsgmalvl anish Step5 Saythatyoumusthavedonesomething
withthismethodJ. ustremembewrhatthefatheor f wrong.Placethepencibl ackintoyourinnerleft
modernmagicsaid: breaspt ockeat ndsayyouwilltry againR. epeat
S t e pl .
"To succeeadsa conjurer,threethingsarees-
sential-firsdt,exteritys; econdd,exteritya;ndthird,
dexterity." - Robert-Houdin

Die Vanishll ffiil \
Thereturnof theDieVanish(Thistimeit's personal)
l\Y
EffectTheXDM causeasD20 to vanishfromhis
handusingthewaveof a pencilW. itha second

wavet,hediereappeairnsthatsamehand.

Thiseffectisa classiocf magicand,despite
beingsupeer asyi,shigh-impawcthenperformed
correctly.T' hebadnewsisyouhaveto bewearing
a jacketor sportcoat.Placethepencil/penin the
inneriacketpocketandyouarereadyto perform.

* A wonderfultrick accreditedto JamesF. Herpick.Yes,someof the
footnotesare real.

96

Step6 Now makethesamemotionof theright Volatilis Sors
h a n dd u m p i n g / t o s s i nt hge d i e i n t o t h e l e f t a s (latin for oWingedFortune")

youdidin Step2but thistimeuseyourthumb Thisisanamazinfgeatthatdatesbackto a small

to clipthediebehindyourclosedfrnger(sfrgure fringesocietyof XDMslivingin hiddencavesnear

3 exposevdiew).Closeyourlefthandaround Oman.Theydidn'twantto giveup theirsecrebt ut

theempryspaceasthoughit heldthedie.The threatsweremadeandMountainDews*wereconfis-

illusionshouldlookalmositdenticatlo a regu- cated.

laractionof tossingandcatchingthedie.You Effect:YourollyourD20 anddon'tliketheresult

shouldbestaringat yourlefthandwhichisnow soyoumakea smalwl avingmotionoverthedie

tenseY. ourrighthandshouldbeanafterthought andit literallyandvisuallyre-rollsiself. lf you

andappearrelaxed. don'tlikethatresulyt oucanalwayswaveagain,

or snapyourfingersg, ettingthedieto floatback

Step7 Yourrighthandoncemoremovesunder up intoyourhandsr,eadyto berolled.lf someone

thejacketandup to theinnerleftpocketT. here complainfseelfreeto handthemtheD20 to see

it will releasteheD2Ointothesleeveandtake iusthowutterlynormailt reallyis.

outthepenciol ncemore.Yourleftarmshould

alreadybebentsothatthediedoesn'mt akeit IMPORTANTI
past heelbow. Whatyouareaboutto tearnlsa trldr

Step8 Tapthepencial gainstthehandagainp, re- nragide,nprry morc,,tlnnthe,prheof thls
bookto ham"Wo-dtfrq0eil,ml$tlfforcr
senfinygoursuperioirntellecbt ysaying",l think wlretheror not to,lMpdelt h$re"$rhdsdded
I haveto tapit." that lf youareserlousenougfto hry thb

Step9 "And nowit willvanish!S" lowlyopenyour book,thenyou anercrlou$enougfto,dp $'het
lefthandto reveatlhatthedieisnowgone. followswlth respecat ndgoodfudgment.'
Thlslsn't I Srg.Thh lsln*youdacc,pee-
Step1OA momenltater,clearlyshowyourright your-pantss,lapyou-arounmd rglcllf you
handemptyexcepftor thepenciflinishinygour can'thandlethe practlceanddll|gencelt wlll
statemenbty saying",Completely." require,fustsklplt rnd addsod(pupp€tsto
yournextgame.

Step11 Now raiseyourrighthandasyousingthe

praiseosf themagicpencilY. ourlefthandwill

nownaturallydropto yoursidewithitsfingers VolatilisSorsPreparation

relaxedandcuruedinward,readyto catchthe PartOneThefrrst hingyouwill needto do isgo

diethatisaboutto fallrightintoit. (Besureto out andbuysomeblackthreadWoolyNylonEx-

lookonlyat theallwonderfuplencilR. emem- tra. lt's usedfor sergingandshouldbefoundiust
ber,theywill lookwhereyoulook.) aboutanywherseewinsgupplieasresold.Don't

useanyotherkindof sergingthread.lt won't

Step12 Closeyourlefthandaroundthediebut work. Theeasieswtayto findthestuffisiustto
keepthehandrelaxedandraiseit backinto goonlineandordersomeA. lsopickupsomeof

positionN. owsay,"But if I wereto giveit three thattackystuffyouuseon postersK. eepsome

taps. ." andtapthehandthreetimes. tapehandy.

Step13 Openthehandto showthediehas * lf you didn't buy this book and are readingthisin a storeor off some
returned.Acceptstanding ovationgsrudgignly photocopiedversionfound on a torrent or other P2P network,you are
undoubtedlygoingto the "specialhell". Go buy a real copy, you wonhless
becausneo onelikesa Mr. SmartyPang. shellof a humanbeing,and saveyour alreadytatteredsoul from unspeakable

destructlon.Oh, and lose3 levels.

97

[JrnnnarEXDM

PartTwo In thesupersecreat ndhiddenroomyou PartSevenP: uta bit of tapeat thebaseof your
areusingfor preparationp,lacea brightwhite singled-oustrandandbreakit off fromthebulkof
sheeot f paperdownonyourworksurfacelt. will thethread.
help.
PartEight:Younowhaveto attachit to a die. We I
PartThree:Unwinda stretchof thenylon(about likeusethe20 sideddiebecausite,scommonb,ut I
thelengthof yourarmshoulddo).Thisstuffis reallyit'syourchoiceT. hecolorof dieyouuseis
wonderfult.'sa lifetimesupplyof real-nokid- importantD. arksemitransparendticearegood, i
ding-invisibltehread.Eachlengthof WoofyNyton sincethethreadisharderto seeagainstthem.
ismadeup of manyteenytiny littlestrandss,trip Neyerusewhitedice.Duh.Thetapeyou will use I
oneof thoseout andyou,vegotyourselaf wisp to attachit withisalsoimportantG. lossytape(not I
of threadthat'sthinnetrhana humanhairyetcan matte,invisiblefrnisht)apeworksmuchbetter,but
supporat D2O,andundertherightconditionsis, yourresultsmayvary.Cutoff a smalbl it of your
impossibtloe see.. tapeandplacethebottomof yourinvisiblethread
acrostshedie.Affrxthetapeto oneor moreof
PartFour:Lookat theveryendof yourlengthof thetriangletsrappingthethreadin betweenB. reak
threadandfindiustonestrandpokingoutwith off theexceslsengthof thread.Smoothout the
therest.Makesureit,sjustone.Useyourpaper tapeandremoveanyextrabits,soit becomes
anda brightlightto helpwiththis.pinchit with i n v i s i b loen t h ed i e .
onehandandsliptheremaininsgtranddsownthis
singlestrandlsengthl.t willclumpupa bit-that TRI,TAI NO \ cuT
justmeansyou'redoingit right. SMOOTITAPE
EXCESS

THREAO

PartNine: Now takethetackystuffandplaceit
underyourbeltto therightsideof yourbody(or
leftif yourollwiththathand)M. akesurethat
yourclothesaredarkcoloredb, utpreferablnyot
black.

PartFive:Takeyourtackystuffandroll it around PartTen:Carefullyputthediein yourpocket.
thesinglestrandyouareholdingN. owstickthis You'rereadyto do somecrazyamazinsgtuffallat
littleballof funro thetable. yourwhim.

PartSix:Continueto sliptheotherthreadsdownthe VolatilisSorsPerformance
lengthof theonethread,grabbingbelowwhere
StepOne:At anytimeyouwish,pullyourD20
theclumpisandmovingthestrandusntilit clumps out of yourpocketT. akecarenotto breakthethread.
againN. owreachupandslipmorethreaddsown
thelinetowardthenewclump.Repeatthisuntil
youhavesingleoduta pieceof invisibltehread
at theaforementioneledngths, trippedfromthe
others.

h* owlttoalhsaobnrdeleaitk,sthurpeeaerdbarseyao.knswceillyboeucroemaremniuuscthhloewssmcoumcmhitocna.ntakeand

98

WoNorRSoFTHEQons

StepTwo: Holdthediein yourhandasyounor- lmportanttips!
mallwy ouldto roll a die.Withyourhandpalmup the 1. Youcan'unhooky' ourthumbat anytimeto allow
threawdillrununderthethumb
yourhandsfullrangeof motionA. nd viceversa.
StepThree:Rollthedielikeyou normallywould.
Besureto standcloseenoughto thetableto allowslack Startby rollingthedieandthenleavinigt on the
intheline.Thediemustmovefreely. tableuntilthenexttimeyouhaveto roll.Then
getthethreadbackintopositionY. oudon't have

to seethethreadto do this.Youknowwhereit is.
Don'tmakea bigdealoutof it, youcanfeelwhen
it'sin therightplace.

\ ',,, 2.Invisibltehreadisgreaitn florescenlitghtingor any
sortof diffusedindirecltightingD. aylighitshor-
\.- rible.Lightyourenvironmeenvt enlyY. ouwant
thebackgrounlidt iustaswellastheforeground.
StepFour:Withthelinestillhookedunderthe Thethreadlooksinvisiblen,ot becausiet'stoo
f t u m bt,u r ny o u rh a n dp a l mu p o v e rt h ed i e .T h e smaltlo see,butbecausyeoureyescan'tfocuson
hreadshouldnowmakea firmlinefromyourwaist, it. Oneglintof thethreadandthegigisup.This
arounydourthumbanddownto thedie.Becarefunl ot iswhywearinag blackoutfrtisn'tthebestidea.A
h makethelinetoofirmor thediewillmoveprema- niceredwitha bit of a designisperfectl.f youcan
0rely. findsomethinlgikethatwhichlooksgoodon you,
great,otherwisme ostanythingwillwork+].eans
StepFive:Keepyourfingersclosetogethear nd areideasl incethecolorandgrainworkwonder-
bentdhemtowardyourpalmquickly-asif youwere fullyasa backdropD. on'tforgettheuble either.
dointghefrrsthalfof a "comehere"gestureto the lf yourtableiswhite,you'redoomedW. ooden
tableddie).Bytuggingon thethreadthediewilliump tablesareperfect.
upinto theairno morethananinchandbasically
re-roiltlself.Thethreadhasn'treallygoneanywhere 3.Practictehis.A lot.And wemeana lot. Practice
youiust uggedat it for a momentT. o yourplayersit in frontof a mirroror videocamera.Dothisbe-
willloolkikeyoudida magicwaveoverthedieandit foreyoushowanyoneE. venthen,showsomeone
re-rolleisdelf. youcantrustfirst.VolatilisSorstakesa greatdeal
of practice.

StepSix:Repeaift youwish(don'toverdoit) 4 . T H I SI ST H EM O S TI M P O R T A NT H I N G !D O
andi,f youfeellikeit, havethediefloatup intoyour
IT ONCEA GAMEONCEEVERYTWOTO SIX
waitinhgandT. hedieshouldbeon thetableandthe
$readstillunderyourthumb(in thecrotchof the MONIHS,AND DON'TTELLANYONEHOW
$umbbetweetnhethumbandforefingery)ourright
hantdurnedpalmdown.Slowlymoveyourwaisbt ack lT WORKSEI VERTI hisisa secreot f theXDMs
asyourrighthandmovesup andforward..Thediewill
riseintoyourhandwhereyouwillcatchit. Don'tdo andwewouldliketo keepit thatway.lt won'tbe
speciaifl everytimeyoureachfor a die,it jumps
thistooslowlybecausiet will lookweird-likea threadis up intoyourhandsY. oudo thismorethanonce
in a gamea, ndtheywillcatchyou.Thefirsttime
slowlhyoistingthedieintotheair.Do it iusttadslower i t ' s p u r em a g i c - E V E RTYI M EA F T E RT H A T l T ' S
thanthereverssepeedof gravity.r A PUZZLED. on'tgivethema secondchanceto

frgureit out. Useit sparingly.

i Don'tiustthrustyour hipsback.That'sweird.Leanforwarda bit-as if f Do thisin a whiteshin andyou will be seeingme at your door with my
pu weretryingto get a closerlook at what you were doing.The hip moves cavedwellingfriendsfrom Oman. Eachof uswith a MountainDewin one

hckwardasa result. handanda minibat in the other.
t Whichi,f you thinkaboutit, is relativelyfast.

99