The Closed Door Game by Roger Carbol Character Sheet by Zach Welhouse and Darcy Burgess The Closed Door is copyright 2006 by Roger Carbol. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Character sheet at http://www.kevinallenjr.com/reverseengineer/zachwelhouse.pdf A Dialogue Four players sit around a table: Ann, Beth, Carl, and Dan. Ann: I've got this new game called "The Closed Door." Shall we give it a try? Beth: What's it about? Ann: Have you ever seen Sartre's play "No Exit"? It's sorta like that. Carl: I've seen that. Sounds like a strange premise for a game. Ann: Mmmhmm. But it might be fun for a bit. Dan: So what do we do? Sit around and proclaim that hell is other Frenchmen? Ann: Sort of. Basically, as you say, we're all trapped in a room in Hell with each other. Of course, we're in Hell because we were bad people who did bad things. In turn, we each get to tell the others about our sins in life. Then they can decide whether to offer redemption, or not. Beth: I want to be a mass murderer! Carl: I want to be Galileo! Dan: I want to be a mime! Ann: Sounds like we're all in touch with our inner sinners. So, here are our character sheets. [Refer to the end of this document.] First, fill in the character name. That's always a good place to start. Carl: I see you're filling one in too, Ann. Is this one of those new-fangled DM-less games? Ann: Yes, there's no gamemaster per se. We're all equal players. Since I'm a bit more familiar with the rules than the rest of you, I'll occasionally shepherd us along, but I'm not actually the "DM" in any traditional sense. Beth: Alright, I've got my name. Walter Zim. What's all this other stuff on here? Ann: The two stats for this game are Hunger and Burden. Burden is the burden of your sins, weighing down your soul. Hunger is divided into Black Hunger and White Hunger. Adding Black Hunger and White Hunger together gives you your total Hunger, which is always equal to twice the number of players. We start off with equal amounts of Black Hunger and White Hunger. In short, Black Hunger reflects our need to condemn others, while White Hunger represents our need to forgive others. Dan: That's it? We've all got the same stats? Ann: At the beginning, yes. There's also some room there for "Threads". That's where you can make any notes about the horrible things you have done. Dan: And they're called "threads"? That's pretty tenuous. Ann: It's a labyrinth metaphor, I think. Or maybe threads are supposed to imply chains. Or the unraveling tapestry of your life. Or a thread of a story. I don't know; just work with me here. Carl: What's this "What has been sealed away?" bit? Ann: The idea is that, through the course of the game and revealing your sins, you build some sort of self-image for your character. In the most literal sense, all of you are what have been sealed away. But if you keep that question in the back of your mind through play, you may end up with a more insightful answer by the end of it. Or you may not. Beth: The end? How does this game end, anyway? Ann: When a player reaches zero Burden, which I'll get to, the Closed Door opens. Dan: What then? Ann: It's... unclear. But the game, or this game, anyway, is over. Dan: Can we leave? Do we escape Hell? Does the player with zero Burden win? Ann: Those things may be true. Or they may not. Those questions lie beyond the scope of this particular game. Carl: Sounds pretty dodgy to me. Ann: Perhaps. Cut me some slack here. Maybe you'll see things differently by the end of actual play. Anyway, has everyone filled out their sheets? All: Yes. Ann: Ah, good. So, on to the mechanical bits of how this game actually operates. The game has turns, and the players take turns. When it's a player's turn, he gets to tell the rest of us about one of his sins, and we get to listen. Beth: Like a monologue? Ann: More or less, although we're not strictly forbidden from entering into discussion with the confessor -- that is, the player whose turn it is. But the idea is that it's his turn in the spotlight. Carl: And then he gets some sweet sweet redemption? Ann: Maybe. That part is up to us, the listeners. We each get to decide whether we feel inclined to forgive him for his sins, or condemn him for such evil deeds. Dan: BURN, sinner boy. Ann: Now, now. As you can see, I've got a bunch of dice out here for us -- black dice and white dice. They're for your Hunger dice pools. Carl: Technically, those are d6 dice. Ann: Anyway, Hunger works like a dice pool made up out of white dice and black dice, which represent Black Hunger and White Hunger. As I mentioned earlier, your total Hunger is always equal to twice the number of players, which in our case gives us Hungers of 8. We all start off with 4 Black Hunger and 4 White Hunger. Beth: Alright, another dice pool game. Ann: ANYWAY, these dice are used to either forgive or condemn the confessor. If you want to forgive the confessor, hide one or more white dice in your closed hand. Or one or more black dice to condemn him. It's important we do this in secret. Once we've all chosen, we reveal our decisions at once, and then roll the dice. Dan: Can we choose a mix of black and white dice if we're feeling ambivalent? Also, do I get to judge myself? Ann: Nope and nope. You need to choose to condemn or redeem, and you don't roll any dice for your own confession. Now that all the dice are rolled, a number of mechanical things happen. First, let's deal with the confessor. To determine whether or not the confessor feels absolved, we compare the highest white die to the highest black die, ignoring ties. If the highest die is white, the confessor feels better about himself, and reduces his Burden by one. Carl: Hmmm. So let's say we roll four black dice and three white dice, and we get black: 6, 5, 4, 2; and white: 6, 5, 5. The sixes cancel each other out, as do the fives, so white wins? Ann: Yes. So if I were confessing, I'd decrease my Burden by one. In the case of a true tie, though, the confessor loses out, I'm afraid. Dan: That sounds fairly straightforward. Ann: Something else also happens to the confessor. For every person who condemned him and rolled at least one black die, the confessor may, but is not required to, trade in a White Hunger die and get a Black Hunger die. Beth: Bitter, anyone? Ann: That's the idea. Now, there are also repercussions for the listeners. Every black die that you rolled that's higher than your own Burden changes to white. Every white die that you rolled that's lower than your own Burden changes to black. Carl: So back when I rolled black 6, 5, 4, 2 -- if I had a Burden of 4, those two black dice now become white? Ann: Yes. But if you had rolled those numbers on white dice instead, only the white 2 would become a black die, given your Burden of 4. Dan: Huh. So if I "run out" of Black Hunger, I guess I can't condemn anyone. Is that the case? Ann: Yes. You would be required to cast at least one white die to redeem, regardless of how repugnant you or your character might find that particular confession. Similarly, if you're all out of White Hunger, you can't forgive anyone. Beth: So... that's all there is to it? Ann: Pretty much. There are also a few rules for determining who gets the next turn -- I suppose I should cover that. The rules, in descending precedence, are: 1) No one gets to go twice in a row. 2) The person with the highest Burden gets the next turn. 3) In the case of a tie with #2, randomly determine who gets the next turn -- but rule 1 still applies. Carl: Descending precedence? Who talks like that? Beth: It just means that Rule #1 is the most important rule and it always applies, with Rule #2 being somewhat less important, and Rule #3 covering a weird special case. Although I guess it isn't that weird -- we always all start off with equal Burden, so the player who gets the first turn is always randomly determined. Ann: Yes. And that is all there is to it. Are we ready to play? Carl: Sure. Although, you know, it seems like the underlying premise of this game might be the polar opposite of what Sartre was trying to convey with "No Exit". I'm just saying. Ann: There are worse sins. Let's play! --- A Synopsis Character Creation: 1) Choose a name. 2) Set Burden equal to the number of players. 3) Set White Hunger and Black Hunger each equal to the number of players. 4) Record sins under Threads. Turn Sequence: 1) Decide whose turn it is as confessor: a) No one gets two turns in a row. b) The player with the highest Burden is the confessor. c) In the case of a tie above, determine randomly. 2) The confessor makes a confession of sin. 3) The listeners secretly decide whether to condemn or absolve. a) To condemn, choose a number of black dice greater than zero and no more than the player's Black Hunger. b) To absolve, choose a number of white dice greater than zero and no more than the player's White Hunger. c) If a player has zero Black Hunger, he must choose to absolve. If a player has zero White Hunger, he must choose to condemn. 4) The confessor is judged. a) Roll the dice the listeners have selected. b) Compare the highest white die to the highest black die, ignoring ties. If the highest die is white, the confessor reduces his Burden by one. c) For every player who condemned him, the confessor may, but is not required to, decrease his White Hunger by one and increase his Black Hunger by one. 5) The listeners are changed. a) For every black die a listener rolled that's higher than his own Burden, decrease his Black Hunger by one and increase his White Hunger by one. b) For every white die a listener rolled that's lower than his own Burden, decrease his White Hunger by one and increase his Black Hunger by one. Ending the Game: When any player reaches zero Burden, the game is over. Answer the question: what has been sealed away?