claude-config/skills/rpg/SKILL.md

name, description

name

description

rpg

Tim's tabletop RPG scenario-writing system — house structure, GM-readable writing style, pregen design, playtesting protocol, production pipeline (handouts, art, GM console), and memory/repo integration. Use this skill whenever the work touches tabletop RPG scenarios or adventures in ANY way: writing or revising a scenario, one-shot, con game, adventure, module, campaign, session, or BPN; designing pregens, NPCs, clues, handouts, chases, or set-pieces; playtesting; preparing convention slots (Continuum, Contingency, Airecon, Convulsion, ChaosiumCon); or working with systems like Blade Runner, Call of Cthulhu, SLA Industries, Mothership, Traveller, Pendragon, Daggerheart, Shadowdark, Stormbringer, RingWorld, BRP, Delta Green. Trigger even if the user doesn't say "scenario" — "prep my Friday slot", "new adventure for X", "fix the pregens", "make handouts" all count.

RPG Scenario Writing

Tim writes tabletop RPG scenarios — mostly 4-hour convention one-shots, sometimes longer campaign material — and runs them as GM. This skill is the house system: structure, style, production pipeline, and the memory loop that keeps it all alive across machines and sessions.

The prime directive: write for the GM at the table

A scenario is a performance document, not a novel. The GM reads it in 30-second glances while four people wait. Every formatting decision serves that:

• Scannable over literary. Bullets, tables, bold keywords. Prose only where it earns its place (read-aloud text, plot summary, atmosphere).
• Information in the order the GM needs it, not the order the story happens.
• Read-aloud text in > blockquotes, ≤3 sentences by default (players disengage after two; only the cold open may run to 4–6), always labelled "read aloud or paraphrase". Longer material becomes bullets the GM voices.
• Mechanics inline, bracketed: [BR: Observation — spots the torn hem]. Never send the GM to another page for a roll.
• Every NPC gets a one-line essence (who they are + what they want) before any detail, and appears again in the end-of-document NPC Roster quick sheet.
• State the failure case. Every clue, scene, and set-piece says what happens if players miss it, skip it, or break it.

Workflow

1. Orient (start of any RPG task)

• Query Graphiti (search_memory_facts) for the scenario/convention/system at hand.
• Find the working directory. Convention material lives under ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/RPGS/Conventions/<Event Year>/... and is mirrored to a private GitHub repo per event (e.g. slaguru666/Continuum2026).
• Ask which scenario type this is only if it isn't obvious:
  • Convention one-shot (default) → read references/convention-one-shot.md
  • Campaign / multi-session → read references/campaign.md
• For craft questions (structure, clues, pacing, mystery design) read references/craft.md. Before writing or revising anything, skim references/lessons.md — it is the accumulated playtest wisdom.

2. Build

Order of work for a new scenario:

1. Concept + Design intent — 3–5 numbered statements of what this scenario is and deliberately is not. Include an elevator pitch line (the tagline under the title) and content warnings.
2. Plot Summary (GM truth) — the full hidden truth, then a timeline of events before play begins. Write this before any scenes: scenes are windows onto a situation that already exists.
3. Structure pass — acts, timing table with GM checkpoints, countdown clock of what antagonists do on schedule.
4. Scenes, NPCs, clue trails — per act, using assets/scenario-template.md.
5. Pregens — read references/pregens.md. Wire each PC into the case.
6. Production — handouts, art, GM console, print: references/production.md.
7. Playtest — read references/playtest.md. A scenario is not "convention-ready" until it has survived desk playtests and the fix list is applied and versioned.

3. Close the loop (end of any RPG session)

This skill is live — it must get smarter every time it is used:

• Graphiti: add_memory with decisions made, scenario state, and anything learned (structure fixes, ruling patterns, player-behaviour discoveries).
• Repo: commit and push scenario work to its event repo.
• Skill self-update: if the session produced a transferable lesson (not scenario-specific detail), append it to references/lessons.md with a date and one-line context, then sync the skill across machines: cd ~/Git/claude-config && ./sync.sh "rpg skill: <what changed>". Scenario-specific facts go to Graphiti, transferable craft goes to lessons.md — that distinction keeps the skill lean.

House conventions (all scenario types)

• Files are Markdown, one scenario per file, self-contained (a GM with only that file can run the game). HTML only for print artifacts (character sheets, handout packs, GM console).
• Folder shape per scenario: scenarios/ characters/ handouts/ reference/ playtest/ gm-utility/ print/ + README.md index with status line (version, playtest count, remaining prep).
• Versioning: v1 draft → playtest → v2, v2.1... Status becomes "convention-ready" only after a full-session playtest lands inside the time budget. README tracks version + what remains.
• Mechanic tags: [SYSTEM: Skill — effect] e.g. [CoC: Spot Hidden — ...], [BR: Manipulation — ...]. Include a 3–4 line system crash-course in the Master Rules block so a stand-in GM could run it.
• Art: ink sketch / pencil illustration, hand-drawn feel, never photorealistic. Asset IDs [Slot]-ART-[##], handouts [Slot]-H[act]-[letter]. Generate via mj-gen "<prompt>" (Midjourney bridge). Each scenario defines its own art direction line on top of the base style.
• Licence footer on READMEs: private convention play materials, not for sale.

Reference files

File	Read when
references/convention-one-shot.md	Building/revising a 4-hour slot scenario (the default)
references/campaign.md	Multi-session or open-ended material
references/craft.md	Structure, clue, pacing, mystery design decisions
references/pregens.md	Creating or auditing pre-generated characters
references/playtest.md	Running desk playtests, writing fix lists
references/production.md	Handouts, art, GM console, print, repo layout
references/lessons.md	Always skim before writing; append new lessons
assets/scenario-template.md	Starting a new scenario document