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Inadequate Thanks
Bhaloidam has been made possible by every Spinner who has ever spun storyworlds with me around a table, in
an empty apartment, sprawled on comfy chairs, or huddled around a campfire. Without each and every one of
you, I wouldn't have learned enough about sharing storyworlds to even conceive of this.
And there are a few people I'd like to call out especially.
This is for Kari and Ken who have been spinning storyworlds with me on and off
for over 20 years now. They were there when I first put Go stones in
hexagonal origami boxes and said, "I want to try something new today." And
they stuck it out through every rule change, every terminology shift, every
new (and often broken) attempt to create Bhaloidam. And after all that, they
became generous Kickstarter backers (which is why they appear in costume
here).
Thank you, my friends. I love and cherish you for this and for so much more.
And then there is Rachel - my wife, my partner in life, and in creativity. Her contributions
to Bhaloidam go far beyond her project management and editing skills. They go far
beyond her faith in my vision. They go beyond her willingness to be the breadwinner
while I work on my dream.
Rachel was there when Bhaloidam began and stuck it out along Kari and Ken. She also
listened to long theoretical rants about design and story in between sessions, gave me
honest feedback when I made difficult changes, and it was when her eyes lit up that I
knew I was on the right track.
But that only touches on the surface. Suffice to say that without Rachel, I don't know
that I would ever have had the confidence in myself to pursue this. And if I had, the end
result would have been 1/10th as good.
No amount of words can express the depth of my appreciation, so I'll settle for a
simple, Thank you, my love.
And of course I'd be remiss not to thank (T.S.) Eliot, Poodle, for cuddles, afternoon
walks, and unconditional love.
And now you, reading this page, are joining our Skein. Bhaloidam is yours. I hope you
enjoy it as much as I have.
APPENDICES
i. Printable Lifewheel
ii. Printable Lifewheel Guides
iii. Funeral Demo Shame Cards
iv. Founders Circle Thanks
We have always played together...
Telling stories is more fun when we add Play. Just as playing games is more fun when we add story.
Story and Play are two sides of the same creative coin.
Role Playing Games blend story and play, There are a lot of RPGs that focus on a
providing rules for creating characters & handful of specific actions your
exploring fictional worlds. characters are allowed to perform.
1
Bhaloidam is a modern expression of a timeless idea:
These rules focus on your characters relationships, ...means every story you tell together can
rather than specific actions they can perform... be full of unexpected surprises.
2
Everyone who helps tell a story with
Bhaloidam is called a SPINNER.
3
At the heart of Bhaloidam is the
LIFEWHEEL .
4
In fact, the Lifewheel contains ALL the
information you need to play Bhaloidam.
Everything is communicated through icons
& colors and quickly makes sense after
just a Performance or two.
5
6
An energy pours from every Spinner, Source takes two forms-- EGO, which is
through their character, into the your investment in your story's outcomes...
Storyworld.
Within the story, Ego might represent your Will is EXERTED & SPENT during
character's health, or their social standing. performances.
And if all your Ego is SPILT...
The number of Source tokens you start And as your spin your story, your Skein can
with depends on the story you're telling. decide how = or if = you gain more.
7
3 DOMAINS govern your character's
attributes.
The Domain of Body governs physical The Domain of Mind governs intellectual
exertion & movement. pursuits & psychic abilities.
Body houses the Elements of EARTH & AIR. Mind houses the Elements of WATER & FIRE.
8
6 ELEMENTS are housed within the 3 Domains. Each
Element defines an ATTRIBUTE of your character.
LIFE is CONTROL .
Life Serves as the Ego of Spirit.
FIRE is WIT.
Fire serves as the Will of Mind.
EARTH is STRENGTH.
Earth serves as the Ego of Body.
AIR is AGILITY.
Air serves as the Will of Body.
WATER is LORE.
Water serves as the Ego of Mind.
ENERGY is CRAFT.
Energy serves as the Will of Spirit.
9
These are ELEMENTAL POTENCY TOKENS. By placing potency tokens on an Element,
you define the importance of that attribute
for your character.
Here, for example, 2 potency tokens on An Element may have as few as 0 potency
Earth give this character a Strength of 2. tokens and no more than 3.
For every 3 Ego tokens, you may place 1 For every 3 Will tokens, you may place 1
The number of Source tokens determines potency token on an Ego Element. potency token on a Will element.
how many potency tokens you may have. (Life, Earth, or Water) (Energy, Air, or Fire)
10
The stories we tell are about relationships...
6 Influences define the relationships And by extension, the relationships between Influences are what you use to describe
between the Elements. the Domains relationships within your Storyworld.
11
An Influence's Capacity is defined by its Capacity can be modified by the placement
relationship to adjacent elements. of positive or negative modifier tokens.
Each adjacent potency token adds 1 to the Capacity determines how many Will tokens
Capacity of the Influence the Influence can safely hold. (see pgs. 35, 40)
12
MASTERY Mastery is the control of your strength... ...& the strength of your control .
PERSISTENCE Persistence is the strength of your lore... ...& the lore of your strength
The slow & steady pace of the venerable Performances that require drawing deeply from your physical
tortoise represents Persistence. or mental reserves are based on Persistence.
DESIGN Design is the lore of your craft... ...& the craft of your lore.
13
POISE Poise is the craft of your agility... ...& the agility of your craft.
SLEIGHT Sleight is the agility of your wit... ...& the wit of your agility.
The con artist's shell game perfectly Performances involving deceit & trickery are based on Sleight.
represents Sleight.
CHARM Charm is the wit of your control ... ...& the control of your wit.
14
15
16
Adding gameplay to storytelling adds risk,
uncertainty, & infinite variability.
17
These 6 steps are actual things you = the Spinner = do while
performing, but they also represent energy flowing through
your characters and storyworlds as well.
RECLAIM : If you are able, move Will DECLARE: State which Influence you'll use & EXERT: Move Will tokens from Source
tokens from Spent to Source how many characters will be impacted. to the declared Influence.
A rush of anticipation hits your character Your character visualizes what she is about Your character commits to her action.
as she prepares to act. to attempt.
ROLL : Roll up to three 6-sided dice (3D6). PERFORM : Perform the scene, accounting CLEAR: Move spent Will from the
for the outcomes determined by the previous Influence to Spent.
steps.
Events in the world impact the outcomes of Your character's actions impact the world Your character releases her energy as she
your character's actions. and those in it. prepares for her next action.
18
OPPORTUNITY TRACK
19
All spinners move their Pawns up the Opportunity Track When you reach the Perform icon, you
together, one hex at a time, until a Spinner lands on the immediately move 1 Will token from Spent
very top hex (marked with the Perform icon). to Source.
If you're not ready to Perform, call out, If you are ready to perform, call out, Once you're done Performing, reset your
"Hold!" & move your pawn back to the 6 hex. "Ready!" and follow the storyplay steps pawn to the hex numbered with the capacity
starting with Reclaim. of the Influence you just used.
When 2 Spinners are ready at the same time, you can either perform in an
order that makes the most sense to your skein, or you can share the
performance, working together to describe the scene.
20
RECLAIM
21
DECLARE Instead of announcing exactly what you
plan to do during your performance...
...And dealing with the often harsh ...which gives you more flexibility if the
consequences of unfavorable outcomes... outcomes aren't what you hoped.
So, you only need to declare two things First, you declare which Influence you'll be
during this step. basing your performance on.
22
EXERT WILL IS EXERTED BY MOVING WILL TOKENS
FROM SOURCE TO THE DECLARED INFLUENCE.
PERFORMANCES HAVE A MINIMUM NUMBER OF
WILL TOKENS THAT MUST BE EXERTED.
IN THE THIRD STEP YOU EXERT THE AMOUNT OF THE TABLE IN THE LOWER LEFT CORNER SHOWS
WILL YOU WISH TO SPEND ON YOUR THE MINIMUM PERFORMANCE COST FOR
PERFORMANCE. INFLUENCE-BASED PERFORMANCES.
IF YOU WANT TO HAVE MORE IMPACT ON THE OVEREXERTED TOKENS WILL BE MOVED TO SPILT YOU CAN PLACE 1 TOKEN ON AN INFLUENCE
SCENE, YOU CAN EXERT AS MANY WILL TOKENS INSTEAD OF SPENT WHEN YOU CLEAR THEM. WITH NO CAPACITY WITHOUT OVEREXERTING.
ON AN INFLUENCE AS YOU LIKE...
...BUT IF THE TOTAL EXERTED IS GREATER THAN RECLAIMING SPILT WILL DURING A SCENE
THE INFLUENCE'S CAPACITY, THE EXTRA TOKENS REQUIRES AN EMBELLISHMENT, WHICH HAS A HOWEVER, IF YOU PLACE MORE THAN 1 ALL OF
ARE CONSIDERED OVEREXERTED. HIGHER WILL COST (SEE PP. 33-36) THE WILL IS OVEREXERTED.
23
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PERFORMANCES THAT THE FIRST ARE NON-GUARANTEED, INFLUENCE- THESE MUNDANE PERFORMANCES - THAT STILL
DON'T REQUIRE YOU TO EXERT ANY WILL. BASED PERFORMANCES THAT ONLY IMPACT A COULD RESULT IN UNFAVORABLE OUTCOMES -
SINGLE CHARACTER. NEVER REQUIRE THE EXERTION OF WILL.
INSTEAD OF USING WILL FOR THESE IF YOU EXERT EVEN A SINGLE WILL TOKEN FOR
PERFORMANCES, YOU USE THE INFLUENCE'S THESE PERFORMANCES...
CAPACITY.
...YOU GET TO USE THE INFLUENCE CAPACITY WHICH MEANS YOU CAN EASILY MEET DAY-TO-
SO AN INFLUENCE WITH A CAPACITY OF 3 IS PLUS THE EXERTED WILL AND YOU GUARANTEE DAY CHALLENGES AND SAVE YOUR WILL FOR
EXACTLY LIKE HAVING EXERTED 3 WILL TOKENS. THE PERFORMANCE! MORE IMPORTANT THINGS.
THE OTHER PERFORMANCE THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE THE THIS SPINNER DECLARES WHICH INFLUENCE IS
EXERTION OF WILL IS A PASSIVE PERFORMANCE. SOMETIMES REQUIRED FOR THE PASSIVE PERFORMANCE &
SPINNERS DON'T KNOW ABOUT A DANGER IN THE STORYWORLD. ALL OTHER SPINNERS ROLL A SINGLE D6.
SO ANOTHER SPINNER, OFTEN THE WEAVER, WILL IF THE CAPACITY OF THE INFLUENCE + THE
CALL FOR A PASSIVE PERFORMANCE TO DETERMINE NUMBER OF PIPS ON THE D6 IS >= 6, THE
HOW MUCH TO REVEAL TO THE SKEIN. SPINNER REVEALS MORE ABOUT THE SCENE!
24
ROLL
THE OUTCOMES D6
IN THIS STEP, YOU ROLL THREE 6-SIDED DICE, THIS DIE DETERMINES WHETHER THE OUTCOMES
DETERMINING THE OUTCOMES, IMPACT, & OF YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE FAVORABLE OR
OPPORTUNITY THAT GUIDE YOUR PERFORMANCE. UNFAVORABLE.
THE OPPORTUNITY D6
THE IMPACT D6
THIS DIE DETERMINES HOW MUCH OF YOUR THIS DIE DETERMINES HOW MUCH OF YOUR
EXERTED WILL CAN BE SPENT ON MOVING EGO EXERTED WILL CAN BE SPENT MOVING PAWNS UP
TOKENS DURING YOUR PERFORMANCE. & DOWN THE OPPORTUNITY TRACK.
AFTER YOU ROLL, YOU CHOOSE WHETHER TO IF YOU EXERTED MORE WILL THAN THE IMPACT IF YOU GUARANTEED YOUR PERFORMANCE,
SPEND YOUR EXERTED WILL ON IMPACT, & OPPORTUNITY DICE ALLOW, THE EXTRA DON'T ROLL THE OUTCOMES D6 BECAUSE ALL
OPPORTUNITY, OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH. CANNOT BE SPENT ON IMPACT OR OPPORTUNITY. YOUR OUTCOMES WILL BE FAVORABLE.
SO, IF YOU ONLY EXERTED 3 WILL YOU CHOOSE HOWEVER, ALL EXERTED WILL IS CONSIDERED
IF AND HOW TO SPLIT THAT WILL BETWEEN SPENT AND IS MOVED TO THE SPENT ICON AFTER
IMPACT & OPPORTUNITY. YOUR PERFORMANCE.
25
4-6: FAVORABLE OUTCOME! SPEND YOUR
EXERTED WILL ENTIRELY ON YOUR DESIRED
OUTCOMES - IMPACT, OPPORTUNITY, OR BOTH!
Rolling doubles on the Impact & If you roll doubles with UNFAVORABLE or If you roll a critical with FAVORABLE
Opportunity dice is a CRITICAL ! This means MIXED outcomes (1-3) on the Outcomes D6, outcomes (4-6), you DON'T have to use all
you get to use ALL of the Impact & you MUST use ALL the available Impact & the available Impact & Opportunity
Opportunity shown on the dice. Opportunity Adjustments. adjustments.
26
AND NOW THE STEP YOU'VE BEEN WAITING
FOR...
PERFORM!
27
WHEN YOU'RE PERFORMING, YOUR DECISIONS CAN
IMPACT THE ENTIRE SCENE. AND YOU WILL WANT TO
BE SURE AND INCORPORATE THE STORY THREADS YOUR
SKEIN HAS ALREADY SPUN.
28
SO HOW DOES ALL THAT BECOME STORYTELLING?
WHAT'S INVOLVED IN PERFORMING THE SCENE?
...AND YOU'VE ROLLED DICE TO DETERMINE OUTCOMES, WE'LL EXPLAIN THE BASIC RULES FIRST & THEN
IMPACT, & OPPORTUNITY. AND NOW... LOOK AT THE SPECIFICS.
THE SENTENCES CAN BE USED TO PROVIDE EXPOSITION, After you describe the events of the scene
DESCRIBE ACTION, OR DELIVER LINES OF DIALOG. you resolve the outcomes...
IT'S OKAY TO USE COMPOND SENTENCES, JUST ...determining exactly how your
REMEMBER THAT OTHER SPINNERS ARE WAITING FOR storytelling Impacts Ego & alters
OPPORTUNITIES TO PERFORM! opportunity for the Skein.
29
IMPACT IS USED TO MOVE EGO BETWEEN
SOURCE & SPILT. EGO IS VERY IMPORTANT.
IF IT'S ALL MOVED TO SPILT, YOU CANNOT PERFORM ...OR THE SCENE CHANGES TO A NEW LOCATION,
AGAIN UNTIL ANOTHER SPINNER RESTORES YOUR WHICH ALLOWS EACH SPINNER TO RESTORE 1
EGO FOR YOU... EGO TOKEN TO THEIR SOURCE.
REMEMBER THAT EGO MIGHT NOT ALWAYS SO GET CREATIVE WITH HOW YOU SPILL EGO...
REPRESENT YOUR CHARACTERS' HEALTH.
FOR EACH EXERTED WILL TOKEN YOU SPEND ON IMPACT - UP YOU CAN ONLY SPILL ANOTHER SPINNER'S EGO
TO THE MAXIMUM ALLOWED BY THE IMPACT D6 - YOU CAN IF YOU DECLARED THAT YOUR PERFORMANCE
SPILL OR RESTORE 1 EGO TOKEN.... WOULD INCLUDE MULTIPLE CHARACTERS.
30
OPPORTUNITY IS USED TO MOVE PAWNS ON THE FOR EACH EXERTED WILL TOKEN YOU SPEND ON IF YOU'RE ADJUSTING YOUR OWN OPPORTUNITY,
OPPORTUNITY TRACK... OPPORTUNITY, YOU CAN MOVE A PAWN 1 HEX IN THIS IS APPLIED AFTER YOU RESET YOUR PAWN
EITHER DIRECTION ALONG THE TRACK. AT THE END OF A PERFORMANCE.
ONCE HERE, YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR EVERY Like Impact, you can only move other
OTHER SPINNER TO REACH PERFORM... Spinners' opportunity pawns if you declare
...OR ALSO GET A TIMEOUT... your performance would include multple
characters.
...BEFORE YOU CAN START TICKING YOUR WAY UP THE OPPORTUNITY TRACK AGAIN.
(YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR PAWNS THAT WERE ALREADY ON THE PERFORM OR
TIMEOUT HEXES WHEN YOU LANDED HERE.)
31
SOMETIMES THE STARS ALIGN AND YOU
SUCCEED BEYOND YOUR WILDEST
IMAGINATION.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH WILL YOU EXERTED, YOU ..MEANING YOU MAY BE ABLE TO DECLARE
GET THE MAXIMUM IMPACT & OPPORTUNITY READY AND IMMEDIATELY PERFORM BEFORE
ADJUSTMENTS WHEN YOU ROLL DOUBLES. THE NEXT TICK, REGAINING WILL AS USUAL.
OR EVEN ADJUST THE PAWN OF ANOTHER Just remember that in order to touch
SPINNER AT READY, DELAYING THEIR NEXT other Spinners' Lifewheels, you must have
PERFORMANCE... declared your performance would include
multiple characters!
32
INFLUENCE-BASED PERFORMANCES INVOLVE MOVING EGO
TOKENS AND PAWNS TO RESOLVE THE OUTCOMES OF YOUR
PERFORMANCE. IF YOU WANT TO DO ANYTHING ELSE, YOU WILL
NEED TO USE EMBELLISHMENTS.
33
THE 7 STANDARD EMBELLISHMENTS, WHICH RUN DOWN THE RIGHT THE DEFAULT EMBELISHMENT IS RE-ROLLING
HAND SIDE OF THE LIFEWHEEL, ARE ONLY A STARTING POINT. THE OUTCOMES D6 AND USING THE 2ND ROLL -
EVEN IF IT'S LOWER THAN THE 1ST!
THE REMAINING 6 STANDARD EMBELLISHMENTS ARE INSPIRED BY THE 6 INFLUENCES. THIS IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR HOW TO USE THE EMBELLISHMENTS
SUCCESSFULLY. JUST REMEMBER THAT THE CAPACITY FOR THE PERFORMANCE IS DETERMINED BY THE DOMAIN YOU DECLARED - NOT THE INFLUENCE.
34
THIS EMBELLISHMENT LETS YOU ROLL 1 D6 FOR EACH WILL
TOKEN YOU'VE EXERTED AND CHOOSE THE BEST RESULTS FOR
YOUR OUTCOMES, IMPACT, & OPPORTUNITY.
THIS EMBELLISHMENT LETS YOU RESERVE FAVORABLE IMPACT TO ADD TO YOUR NEXT
PERFORMANCE, ALLOWING FOR FLUID, HIGH-IMPACT, TWO-PART PERFORMANCES. ANY
UNFAVORABLE IMPACT MUST BE SPENT DURING THE 1ST PERFORMANCE.
35
THIS EMBELLISHMENT CREATES MODIFIER GENERAL MODIFIERS - STACKED ON EMBELLISHMENT HEXES -
STACKS, ALTERING THE CAPACITY OF APPLY TO ALL INFLUENCES. EACH PERFORMANCE BY THE
INFLUENCES. MODIFIED SPINNER REDUCES THE STACK BY 1 TOKEN.
THIS EMBELLISHMENT CREATES A WHILE YOU HAVE AN ACTIVE POOL, YOUR EGO
POOL OF WILL. CANNOT BE SPILT, BUT SPINNERS CAN IMPACT
YOUR POOL WITHOUT AN EMBELLISHMENT.
36
CLEAR THIS STEP CAN ALSO BE PERFORMED DURING
YOUR PERFORMANCE, MOVING TOKENS AS THEY
ARE SPENT.
BECAUSE I JUST HUMILATED
HIM IN FRONT OF HIS FRIENDS, I
SPILL 1 OF HIS EGO.
THE FINAL STEP IS SIMPLE... ...MOVE YOUR SPENT WILL TO THE SPENT ICON.
37
WHEN YOU REACH THE TOP OF THE OPPORTUNITY DECLARE WHICH INFLUENCE WILL GUIDE YOUR DECIDE HOW MUCH WILL TO EXERT FOR YOUR
TRACK, RECLAIM WILL BY MOVING TOKENS PERFORMANCE AND WHETHER YOU WANT TO PERFORMANCE, ACCOUNTING FOR GUARANTEES
FROM SPENT TO SOURCE. APPLY EFFECT TO OTHER CHARACTERS. & EMBELLISHMENTS.
ROLL 2 OR 3 D6 TO DETERMINE THE OUTCOMES, PERFORM THE SCENE! CLEAR YOUR SPENT WILL & RESET YOUR PAWN
POTENTIAL IMPACT & OPPORTUNITY ON THE TIMING TRACK.
ADJUSTMENTS OF YOUR PERFORMANCE.
38
39
BHALOIDAM MAKES IT EASY TO TAKE RISKS.
AFTER ALL, GREAT CHARACTERS SOMETIMES TRY
IMPOSSIBLE THINGS...
BAHLOIDAM CAN EVEN HELP YOU RECOGNIZE ....and when you really enjoyed another
EACH OTHER'S EXCELLENCE! Spinner's performance...
40
41
The Lifewheel is an extremely flexible tool You'll quickly realize it's not practical to use individual
in the hands of a talented Weaver. Lifewheels for every single character in your storyworld!
Instead, try using a single Lifewheel to The Lifewheel could represent a dastardly
...or even an entire culture.
represent a group of enemies... plot to overthrow the world...
42
IN A WORLD OF SUPERHEROES, EACH SPINNER
HAS A SINGLE INFLUENCE THAT ALLOWS HER TO
DOUBLE (OR EVEN TRIPLE) HER EFFECT.
For example, in a world of classic movie ...MOVING ALL POTENCY TOKENS ON MIND
monsters: ELEMENTS TO BODY ELEMENTS.
...and can only regain Ego by feeding on a ...WHILE HEROIC PERSISTENCE MIGHT MAKE
... and spill double ego when attacked with victim (spilling their Ego as they regain YOU IMPERVIOUS TO DAMAGE.
wooden stakes... their own).
43
IN THE CTHULHU MYTHOS... IN A WORLD OF DARK MAGICS...
EGO BECOMES HUMANITY & WILL BECOMES SANITY. ...SPILLING EGO SUPPLEMENTS YOUR EXERTED
FOR FULL CTHULHU VARIANT RULES, VISIT BHALOIDAM. COM WILL IN ARCANE RITUALS.
44
ORPHANS ALLEY PREPPING THE TABLE
Two young orphans try to join a notorious
Stalwart Orphan
gang of thieves in Victorian London.
45
A hex map with a narrow alley marked out
on it & 3 figures...
Nimble Orphan Sikes
STORYPLAY TIPS
SCENE OUTCOMES
Sikes's favorable outcome is exiting the Have each Spinners first performance
alley without losing any items. impact only a single character - their
own. Ask them to perform the scene to
show how their character thinks and
behaves as they react to Sikes
unexpected arrival.
46
THE FUNERAL PREPPING THE TABLE
After their fathers funeral, three adult siblings
Eldest Sibling
face each other for the first time in a year.
47
Secret Suspicions & Shames for Each
Spinner.
Middle Sibling Youngest Sibling
SCENE OUTCOMES
STORYPLAY TIPS
48
DUEL TO THE DEATH
Inspired by a Submission from Wayne Grimmer
49
As Parflax walks up to the Ready! Ill use Sleight, impacting multiple
bridge, a large man steps forward. characters. Ill exert 3 Will, guaranteeing it.
He is heavily muscled and wearing a
chainmail shirt. Lets say he has... 9 Ego.
Grimly eyeing your approach, he draws his
greatsword and flourishes it
skillfully.
50
Ready! I reclaim 1 Will and Ill use
How much of his Ego do you Mastery this time, impacting multiple characters,
want to spill? and exerting 2 Will. Thats not enough to
guarantee, so Ill roll and...
Three, since Im the only
Spinner in the scene and dont
really need the opportunity
adjustment.
51
Good question. How would you feel Ready. I regain 1 Will. Ill use Poise,
if you had to overexert Will on your next multiple characters, and Ill exert all 6 of
Performance, but couldnt guarantee it? my remaining Will and hope for the
best! Are you sure? I didnt mean you had
to overexert that much.
Nice performance, if
somewhat gory! Obviously youre
spilling his remaining 6 Ego.
52
STAR CROSSED LOVE
Inspired by a submission from Sara Schirman and Duane Jeffers
53
Jo, last time Bella Terra had seen a cloud of dust
on the far horizon and dashed off to see what it was with a
passing Zephyr. Travis, Prince Agapito - feeling trapped by the
confines of his castle - took a hunting party out to the distant
reaches of the plains in search of rare game.
I reset to 2, use my 2
opportunity adjustments to move
to 4, and clear my Will.
54
Ready! Im going to use... Charm, I guess.
Impacting multiple characters, exerting 3 Will to
guarantee it. And I roll 2 Impact, 6 Opportunity.
55
Shall we share the Performance?
Ready!
Yes please! Im using Charm again (for luck),
multiple characters, 3 Will.
Seeing him lay there, Bella Terra fears that he will die
unless he gets to shelter. Not knowing what else to do, I pick
him up and start running as fast as I can away from the storm. I
find a spring, fed with water from deep within the earth,
remove his shirt and tend to his wounds.
I restore Traviss 2 Ego, reset my pawn to
3, pushing myself up to 4. Nicely done!
56
The Sign of the Pasta
Inspired by a submission from Max Battcher
Starring Jo as R. Protag,
Hapless Corporate Victim
Note: This storyplay sample shows how Bhaloidam can be used for improvisational
storyworld-building. The Skein is considering every performance to be guaranteed,
and dont roll any dice as they arent resolving any outcomes. In other words,
theyre simply using the Influences to guide the tone of their Performance and the
movement of will tokens and opportunity pawns as a structure to decide how much
they can say and when they can say it.
57
Im closest to the Perform icon, so Tick
2. Im ready and Ill exert 3 Will in
Persistence.
Overexerting by 2? Wow.
58
I tick 5, reclaim a will and hold.
Reset to 6. And tick 1.
I find myself dwelling on this interaction all week
and the local His Helpful Supervisor nearly trots me out
in front of a tribunal of HR officers on charges of dereliction
I get to tick now too! of duty. I find myself feeling a sense of renewal and rebellion
and thinking, I'm not just some Resource to be managed
and placed on display just like any other of His
Fabulous Products.
Right you are. I tick 1, reclaim another
will and Im ready. I exert 2 Will in I reset to 2 and clear 2 will. Im still
Mastery. ahead of you, so tick 5!
Thanks!
59
I reclaim 1 Will and Im ready. I exert 3
Will in Persistence.
You bet!
60
AGILITY Character attribute defined by the potency
DESIGN Influence defined by the potency of Water
of AIR.
and Energy. Described as the Lore of your Craft, or
the Craft of your Lore.
AIR Element that defines the character attribute of
AGILITY. Serves as Body's Will.
DOMAIN BODY, MIND, and SPIRIT. Used for Embellished
Performances.
ATTRIBUTE CONTROL, CRAFT, STRENGTH, AGILITY, WIT, and
LORE. Defined by the 6 Elements.
DOMAIN-BASED PERFORMANCE Performance based
on one of the three Domains, allowing for
BODY Domain defined by the potency of Earth and Air.
Embellishments.
Used to embellish performances with physical impact.
IMPACT The number of tokens (usually Ego) Spinners OVEREXERT Exerting more Will tokens than the
can move while resolving outcomes during a capacity of an Influence will safely hold.
performance.
PASSIVE PERFORMANCE A Performance called by a
INFLUENCE MASTERY, PERSISTENCE, DESIGN, POISE, Spinner in order to reveal events unknown to the
SLEIGHT, and CHARM. These guide your performances. Skein.
INFLUENCE-BASED PERFORMANCE Performance based PAWN Used to track a Spinner's position on the
on one of the six Influences, impacting Ego and Opportunity Track.
Opportunity.
PERFORM To describe the scene, guided by the six
LIFE Element that defines the character attribute of storyplay steps.
CONTROL. Serves as Spirit's Ego.
PERFORM HEX The topmost hex on the Opportunity
LIFEWHEEL A personal game board that tracks a track. Indicates that a Spinner has an opportunity to
Spinners relationship with the storyworld. perform.
LORE Character attribute defined by the potency of PERFORMANCE The six storyplay steps, RECLAIM,
WATER. DECLARE, EXERT, ROLL, PERFORM, CLEAR.
MASTERY Influence defined by the potency of Life and PERSISTENCE Influence defined by the potency of
Earth. Described as the Control of your Strength, or Earth and Water. Described as the Strength of your
the Strength of your Control. Lore, or the Lore of your Strength.
MIND Domain defined by the potency of Water and POISE Influence defined by the potency of Energy
Fire. Used to embellish performances with and Air. Described as the Craft of your Agility, or the
intellectual or psychic impact. Agility of your Craft.
OPPORTUNITY The order in which Spinners perform, POTENCY The number of tokens on an Element.
guided by the Opportunity Track on the Lifewheel.
RECLAIM To move Will tokens from Spent to Source.
STORYPLAY The act of sharing storytelling with
Bahloidam using the six storyplay steps.
RESOLVING OUTCOMES Interpreting the results of
your Performance by moving tokens and pawns on
STORYWORLD A shared fictional world.
Lifewheels.