Can It Be Done In Time?
How to Play
The Rules and Guidelines for a Show Must Go On Game
Welcome to The Show Must Go On!
The Show Must Go On is a system of rules and design principles to create and play a single session resource management Live Action Role Playing Game. These rules and the Designer’s Guide Blog Posts for Game Masters are published here for the enjoyment of the gaming community under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States license.
The Golden Rule
Remember, if everyone isn’t having fun, no one is having fun. When building your game and your character’s personality, remember that you the player would like to treated with kindness and respect and that goes the same for your fellow players. In addition, touching other players without their consent is absolutely forbidden. Be kind; we are all here to have fun! Consider reviewing the concept of the X-Card by John Stavropoulos for a wonderful guide on how to build a positive game environment.
Game Themes
The game is designed to be oriented around an event, with the players working for a common goal. Two Game Masters and 20-30 players have been the targeted size in games run to date. Time is limited, and so are resources. Tokens represent your time, which are used as a currency to complete your actions. Resources are represented by cards with text and can be traded, hidden, bartered, and interpreted creatively. Platers are encouraged to negotiate and bargain with the GM with their storytelling abilities. The Game is divided into Three Acts, and the plot will move forward according to the players actions and a decision Tree of Catastrophes.
Win Conditions
By the end of the game, the group must have a “Show” to put on. The opera took the stage, the school will stay open, or the Space Station was launched. The relative success of the event is will be determined at the end of the game by the tasks you accomplish and catastrophes averted. Of course, if you have knowledge of your character that says otherwise, your personal “win” conditions may vary. Each character has a motive of their own, and a few of them are there for reasons nefarious or dastardly.
Your Character
Each character will have unique skills and abilities; and you have a lot of room to interpret how to use them (or not use them.) These may boost your ability to perform tasks or assist your fellow players... or perhaps sabotage them... maybe it’s your turn to be center-stage? Feel free to make it your own within the boundaries your card sets for you. Choose a name, build a personality, etc.
While you are all part of a group with a common goal you each have your own motivations. We’d suggest you consider keeping these secret from each other. Some of the characters may NOT be there to help.
Some characters may have special communication rules, and as such, they will be identified at the beginning. In exchange for these challenges, they may have boosted abilities. For instance, with the Ghost of Theatre Sans Argent: You cannot see or hear that player unless you have an ability that explicitly says so or unless the GMs explicitly say so. They can interact with the room around you, but not you as a player. Please pretend they are not there until you are told otherwise.
If you can convince your GM with your role-playing skill that your mad plan will work, it will work! Look at what you have and what you can do and get creative.
Game Mechanics
Groups - You will be split into different groups that have a common theme to the roles they perform. You will work to accomplish goals as a group, but some may require teamwork between multiple groups. Some examples: Performers - These are the onstage performers in your theater troupe, i.e. the Diva, aka headliner or star of the group. They have a lot of “performance” based Tasks. Space Engineers - These are the space engine workers who make everything possible, i.e. the Grease Monkey. They have a lot of “crafting” based Tasks. The Fairy Bureaucrats: the managers of the Changing of the Seasons, i.e. the Summer Lady. They have a lot of “negotiation” or “marketing” based tasks.
Acts - The game will be split into three “Acts”. During these Acts, you’ll have to work together (or not) to complete various Tasks and react to different challenges. Time is precious.
Tasks - “Tasks” could be more roleplaying focused challenges, such as negotiation or resource management, or they could include games, crafts, or “performance” actions meant to represent actual theatrical or athletic challenges.
You will decide within your groups at the beginning of each act how many Tasks to take on. More successful tasks will be rewarded with less...disaster, but don’t bite off more than you can chew! If you fail to complete more tasks than you succeed in completing, you will encounter...more disaster. For example: For Act 1 - draw 7 Tasks per group, for Act 2 - draw 5 Tasks per group, for Act 3 - draw 5 Tasks per group
No one should feel pressured to participate in the physical side of the tasks; if someone’s character would participate but the player doesn’t feel comfortable doing so, that’s fine, just let us know. Actions could also be described with gusto and sound affects.
If a Task requires a sign off from certain characters, use a piece of paper to record this. Optionally, you can use these to keep track of how many players have participated in a task, which may be useful for tasks requiring larger groups.
You will not have enough time to do everything on your own! Work with other players to find time, make time, or talk your way out of time to make it happen.
Thrice during the game, you will face “Catastrophes,” the number of which will be determined by how successful you’ve been in your tasks to that point. Some of these challenges will be optional, but you will save time and resources if you take them on. Each subsequent Catastrophe will build If you ignore a Catastrophe, they will cause you to lose time later on. For example: In Act 2, all unresolved Catastrophes add an extra 2 Time cost per Task and in Act 3, all unresolved Catastrophes add an extra 3 Time cost per Task
At the end of the game, the GMs will reveal how the event played out, and everyone can have a conversation about how your personal games went!
This is a very silly game with lots of chances to let out your inner performer as well as your inner child. Embrace the ridiculousness of it, and we’ll all have a great time!
Components
Time Tokens - these represent your most precious resource: Time.
Time can be given or traded to other players.
Your time refreshes at the beginning of each of the three Acts to the amount listed on your Character card. You will not receive more Time than that per Act...unless maybe you impress your GM with your cunning plans and daring do.
You all have different amounts of time to spend, based on your abilities and character.
Cards
Character cards - these cards list your role, group, Time per Act, secret objectives to keep in mind as you roleplay, and whether or not your character wants the event to succeed.
Task cards - these cards detail the tasks you must complete. If they are missing any details you’d like clarified, let us know.
Catastrophe cards - these cards detail how things have gone horribly wrong. We are certain you’ll never see these. Things will definitely go smoothly with no fiascos to interrupt your plans.
Item cards - these cards list items as well as their category. You will have some in your inventory at the beginning of the game, and some will be revealed later. Some Tasks require a certain number of items in a category, i.e. “Find one Building Materials card,” would be satisfied by presenting the “Hammer: Building Materials” card. They can be given or traded.
Connections cards - these function the same as the Item cards, but represent people and businesses that you have a good connection with. They can be given or traded.