a hard place

 a hard place

enigmatriz my love for u is no enigma

as in, rock &. 

this isn't a very fun game to play but it's one you've probably played before. it's certainly one i've written before.

stuff you care about

1d20 three times. if you want more, clearly demonstrate the value in game when it's fucking difficult three different times

1. fame
2. parenting
3. wonder
4. hard work
5. karma
6. kindness
7. self sufficiency
8. communication
9. privacy
10. faith
11. beauty
12. power
13. wealth
14. friendship
15. hospitality
16. knowledge
17. legacy
18. pleasure
19. health
20. purity

how you come across

1d6 > 1d10 twice and arrange them in any order you like, ie; alien king, dizzy cowboy

1.  
1. king 
2. psycho
3. hot
4. hunger
5. superiority
6. casual
7. cannibal
8. cruelty
9. high-roller
10. romantic 
2.  
1. dreamer 
2. stupid 
3. scumfucker
4. fairytales
5. snot
6. cynic 
7. scabby
8. flower 
9. rot
10. ugly
3.  
1. mystery
2. cowboy
3. melancholy
4. lonely
5. breezy
6. silly
7. slacker
8. bubblebabble
9. sharpsuit
10. mirror
4.  
1. keen
2. quick
3. clean
4. edge
5. poise
6. perfect
7. awkward
8. angel
9. alien
10. balance
5.  
1. dizzy
2. dog
3. grit
4. spitshine
5. loud
6. laughing
7. bitter
8. brawler
9. messy
10. obsessive
6.  
1. wide eyed
2. watcher
3. tonguetied
4. genius
5. paranoia
6. innocence
7. curious
8. simple
9. serious
10. naive

Aquariax Uno is awesome because if you looked at his art without knowing his name i do believe your brain would come up with "Aquariax Uno" all on its own

you're always stuck. it's never easy. the world is set against you; opening a pickle jar invites stupid broken glass disaster.

you can succeed on their terms
you must be able to describe how what you're doing betrays one of your values and mark it with an X
(at three Xs you can't betray that value any more than you have; erase it or keep lying to yourself.)

the GM narrates your success and the outcome and you react to that. they can't take away your success, but they can do anything else. 

you can fail on your own terms
you can always choose to fail. if you do, you get to describe your failure and the outcome, and the GM reacts to that. you can't undo your failure, but you can do anything else.
if you chose to succeed on their terms, you may change your mind after the GM narrates the outcome and choose to fail on your own terms instead. the X by the value you betrayed remains though. 

or

you can freak out

you must be able to do two of the following:
- get physically hurt

- physically hurt someone you don't want to

- cause a scene

- betray someone's trust

if you do, then you get to describe your success and the outcome, and the GM reacts to that. 

 

if you have no more values left, you can't succeed on their terms anymore; the only way to succeed is to freak out. the first time you freak out with no values, add "die" to the list of things you can do to freak out. each time you freak out with no values, mark the options you chose with an X; you can no longer choose those options. 

as the GM, whenever you describe a success/failure and outcome, choose one or more of these things to do and do it.

1.  
1. Confirm the stuff they're worried about, as though they’d caused it
   
2. Punish them for not being someone else
   
3. Promise that next time it'll be different
   
4. Suddenly, unavoidably, make them understand how ugly they are
5. Show them how much they’re missing
6. Pervert their wants
   
7. Needle them with little petty bullshit
   
8. Make things easy for whoever who hurts them
9. Make shit worse and worse and worse for them
   
10. Reward their brutality
2.  
1. Let those they love see them at their worst
2. Never let them feel safe
3. Drive home the pain of banality
4. Stifle their impact
5. Suggest patterns
6. Show them the world's idiocy
7. Make them feel misunderstood
8. Give them a scapegoat
9. Show them how close they are to disaster
   
10. Take away what they need
3.  
1. Offer a reward
   
2. Let them almost touch success
3. Give them stuff they don't care about
   
4. Put their relationships between them and their success
   
5. Punish them for shit someone else did
   
6. Let their suffering make someone else's life better
   
7. Show them the futility of fight AND flight
   
8. Reward them for enduring suffering
   
9. Dangle safety out of reach
10. Make them dependent on those who hurt them

 

Pablo I Prada understands the sinister qualities inherent to a leather couch

 now u can start the game. the GM can roll once or twice for how it begins. if they ever don't know what comes next, they can roll to find out.

1.  
1. betrayal
2. sudden death
3. pointless indignity
4. embarrassing mercy
5. shameful memory
6. sudden hope
7. cruel metaphor
8. scathing monologue
9. contrasting scene
10. doom spiral
11. bitter personification
12. moment of adoration
2.  
1. unjust punishment
2. chance to get even
3. random slight
4. sudden escalation
5. voyeur
6. mocking denial
7. furious delusion
8. sickening parallel
9. paranoid mania
10. power trip
11. gratuitous gore
12. horrified begging
3.  
   1. exultation
   2. obvious omen
   3. chain of banal bad luck
   4. epiphany
   5. naïve suck-up
   6. chance to sneer 
   7. awesome awesome dream 
   8. wretched, useless awakening 
   9. misread interaction
   10. tempting fragment
   11. weird message
   12. overheard threat
       
4.    
   1. obscene montage
   2. near-death acquaintance
   3. new product
   4. party invite
   5. everything catching up with you
   6. hurting a friend
   7. smothering concern
   8. power play
   9. new perspective
   10. blissful trance
   11. unexpected shortage
   12. desperate enemy
5. 
   
   1. loved one lashing out
   2. pitiful apology
   3. display of weakness
   4. whining victim
   5. martyr complex
   6. destroyed comfort
   7. peaceful death
   8. commiseration
   9. self righteousness
   10. end in sight
   11. soothing touch
   12. godawful waiting
6. 
   

   1.  dizzying luxury
   2. plea for charity
   3. sudden health problem
   4. lost asset
   5. bad deal
   6. incompetent subordinate
   7. new trend
   8. cruel chance for capital
   9. showboating rival
   10. parasitic friend
   11. catalogue of beauty
   12. needing just a little more 

 

Lumierbilge has as many heartstopping sketches as there are stars in the sky. More, even!