claude-config/skills/rpg/assets/scenario-template.md

[Event – Slot] – [System]: [TITLE]

[Tagline — one line, the scenario's hook as a whisper.]

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GM ESSENTIALS (one glance, any GM)

• System crash-course: [3–4 lines on the core roll, so a stand-in GM could run this. e.g. attribute die + skill die, 6+ succeeds, push to re-roll…]
• Mechanics inline: [SYSTEM: Skill — what it reveals or does]
• The clock counts play time — pause it for the break. All cumulative times and checkpoints below are on that clock.
• Hard rule: at 2:45, go to Act Three regardless. Fast-tracks per act.
• Safety: state tool in use (X-card / open door) during seating — 30 seconds, no ceremony.

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Overview

• Event: [Convention — day, slot, time, venue]
• System: [Game + publisher]
• Setting: [Where and when]
• Tone: [Two or three precise words, then one sentence]
• Maximum Runtime: 3 hours 30 minutes play + 10 minute break
• Players: [N] pregens (runs [N−1]–[N+1]; drop [PC] first at fewer; at [N−1] the splits become [adjustment])
• Content warnings: [List — conventions require them, players deserve them]
• Art Style: Ink sketch / pencil illustration. [Scenario-specific direction line]

Design intent (read this first)

1. [What kind of scenario this is — e.g. investigation-first, no required combat]
2. [Structural promise — e.g. built to split into 2+2 parallel tracks]
3. [Ending shape — closure or designed ambiguity, and why]
4. [What this scenario deliberately is not]

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Session Timing Guide

Section	Duration	Cumulative (play)	GM Checkpoint
Slot Zero + Introduction	~15 min	0:15	[One-line test the GM can apply]
Act One — [Title]	~60 min	1:15	[Essential clue found; hook to Act Two live]
Break — pause the clock	10 min	1:15	Lands on the Act One cliffhanger
Act Two — [Title]	~90 min	2:45	[Truth revealed; heading to confrontation]
Act Three — [Title]	~30 min	3:15	[Confrontation resolved]
Epilogue	~15 min	3:30	[Vignettes delivered, debrief done]

Durations are ceilings, not fills — plan ~3:15 of content against them. Hard rule: at 2:45, go to Act Three regardless.

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Plot Summary (GM truth — players never see this page)

The full hidden truth, start to finish, regardless of player action. What actually happened, who wants what, what the antagonist does next.

Timeline (GM reference):

• T-[n]: [event before play]
• Game night: [where play begins]
• [Deadline]: [the convergence point]

Revelations (GM checklist — 8–12, abstracted from where they're found)

#	Revelation	Expected by	Delivered?
R1		Act One
R2		Act Two

Anything undelivered by end of Act Two: fold into Act Three's confirmation scene or consciously drop — the Act Two Pacing Note says which.

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Player Experience

One paragraph, second person: the scenario as the table will live it. This is the pitch — if it reads flat, the scenario is flat.

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The Countdown (background clock)

Antagonists move on schedule whether or not the players are watching. When the party stalls, advance one step and let the players feel it. Opposition stays one step behind the players until the climax. This table is also the universal fallback: any missed essential clue can arrive as a Countdown event.

Clock	Event
[t0]	[Opening state]
[t1]	[Antagonist move]
[deadline]	[Convergence]

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Pre-Game Handouts

ID	Description	Format	When Given
[Slot]-H00-A

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Introduction — [Title] (~15 minutes, including Slot Zero)

Slot Zero (before the fiction)

1. Seating + safety line (30 seconds)
2. Pitch each pregen aloud in one tagline (the sheet's italic essence line)
3. Players choose — or GM deals — in ≤5 minutes
4. Open in motion; introductions surface during the action

Opening (read aloud or paraphrase)

[≤3 sentences default; the cold open may run to 4–6. Sensory, in motion, ends pointing at the players. Longer material becomes bullets the GM voices.]

Player Briefing

• [What the players know, as bullets — victim, job, constraint, authority]
• [Which handout to give, and when]

Atmosphere Notes

• [Sound, light, smell — the loops the GM returns to]
• [Suggested audio — home tables only; con halls are loud]

Hook into Act One

[The choice or thread that moves them — offer, don't assign.]

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ACT ONE — [Title] (~60 minutes)

Goal: [What this act establishes; what must be true before Act Two.]

Summary

[What happens here, in five lines or fewer.]

Split Plan (if this act runs as parallel tracks)

• Recommended pairing: [2+2 by PC lanes — offer, don't assign]
• Segments: alternate ~12 min, end each on a pull line: "[e.g. what was the hurry?]"
• Cross-team payoff: [what each half learns that the other needs]

Locations

[Location Name] (Track A/B if split)

• First impression: [what they see/hear/smell on arrival]
• Interactables: [what rewards attention]
• Hidden: [optional/extra material only — essential clues never live here] [SYS: Skill — effect]
• Artwork: [Slot]-ART-[##]

NPCs

[NPC Name]

[One-line essence: who they are + what they want.]

• Physical: [one evocative detail]
• Motivation: | What they know: | Disposition:
• Mechanics: [system stat line, inline — no page refs]

Clue Trail — Act One

#	Clue	Location / Source	How Found	What It Reveals	Type
1					Essential
2					Optional

Fallbacks (one per essential clue): [How the GM introduces each naturally if missed — NPC volunteers it, environmental prompt, or Countdown event.]

Story Hooks (if players stall)

• [Proactive event — the world moves]

Handouts

ID	Description	Format
[Slot]-H01-A

Pacing Note

[What must be true before Act Two. At 1:15:]

Fast-track: [specific action to jump forward]

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ACT TWO — [Title] (~90 minutes)

Goal: Investigation, revelation, escalation. The players make the choices that define the ending.

[Same section pattern as Act One — Split Plan, Locations, NPCs, Clue Trail (continue the numbering), Story Hooks, Handouts. Additionally:]

[THE SET-PIECE] (one per scenario)

• [Round-by-round or beat-by-beat GM structure; own quick-ref page in reference/]
• Idle players: [the job the sidelined pair runs — obstacle cards, bystanders]
• If it breaks: [escape, refusal, early violence — what then]

Pacing Note

At 2:45, move to Act Three regardless. [Name here which undelivered revelations fold into Act Three and which get dropped.]

Fast-track: [specific jump to the climax]

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ACT THREE — [Title] (~30 minutes)

Goal: Consequence. Fast pace, high stakes. No new information — only confirmation.

Opening (read aloud)

[Short. Arrival at the convergence.]

The Situation

[Who is present, what they want, what the clock says.]

The Choices (present plainly; then get out of the way)

• [Choice A — and its cost]
• [Choice B — and its cost]
• [Compromise options playtests or tables have found]

If Someone Shoots

[The chaos contingency — the table that torches the negotiation gets a real ending too.]

Story Hooks (contingencies)

[If players freeze, or head for a catastrophic ending.]

Pacing Note

30 minutes maximum. If unresolved at 3:15:

[The pressure line — deploy at the first sign of circular debate.]

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Epilogue — [Title] (~15 minutes)

Outcomes

Outcome	Trigger Condition	What Happens
[Named ending 1]
[Named ending 2]
[Failure / Pyrrhic]

Closing Scene (read aloud, adapt to outcome)

[Land the last line on the theme. Per-PC vignettes if earned.]

Early finish: expand the vignettes, then run The Tangent as a bonus scene.

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NPC Roster Summary (GM quick sheet)

NPC	Essence	Wants	Key line

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Artwork Assets

• Art Style: Ink sketch / pencil illustration. [Direction line.]

Asset ID	Description	Used In	Generation Prompt
[Slot]-ART-01	Cover	Intro

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The Tangent

One alternative direction the story could have taken, or the thread a future session would pull. Doubles as the early-finish bonus scene.

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GM Notes (private)

Pacing advice, tone reminders, staging instructions, things to watch for.