# Overview
A Guide to writing Playsets for The Slow Knife
### What is this?
[***The Slow Knife***](https://mouseholepress.itch.io/the-slow-knife) is a story game, designed by *Jack Harrison* and published by [*Mousehole Press*](https://mousehole.press). If you're here, you probably know a little about the game already—that it's card-based, uses a conspiracy board to track relationships, and it's all about the patient revenge of a long-forgotten victim. You might also know that the game comes with three **Playsets**, pre-generated settings and characters to make the game's setup quicker and help players to tell their stories.
**This document's purpose is to enable other writers to create their own Playsets for The Slow Knife.** It is an explanation of the Playset's sections and how they help players tell their story.
**It is *****not***** a guide to hack The Slow Knife itself**. If you want to do that, be my guest—just don't copy any text directly from the books or cards.
### How to use this document
To learn more, start by reading through the **Sections**. Each page has three parts:
* **Definition**: A description of the Section and its key features.
* **Intention**: The purpose of the Section in a Playset.
* **Example**: An example of the Section from a finished Playset.
These descriptions are prescriptive, aiming to use clear and precise language to describe how I (Jack) put together the three Playsets that come with the [base game](https://mouseholepress.itch.io/the-slow-knife). You're encouraged to break from the guide as required to make your Playset work—but always know *why* you're doing so.
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If you have feedback about how this document could be improved, or just want to chat about The Slow Knife, please feel free to drop me an email (**).
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### Thanks
* To [**Jason Price**](http://alwayscheckers.itch.io) & [**Matthew Gravelyn**](https://mr-matthew.itch.io) for taking a look at this guide and providing feedback.
* To [**all of the awesome backers** ](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jhrrsn/the-slow-knife-a-revenge-conspiracy-rpg?ref=user_menu)who've supported this project.
# The Pitch
## Definition
> **The Pitch is 2-3 paragraphs explaining what this Playset is about.**
* You might include details about where and when the Playset takes place, especially if it's based on a real historical society.
* You'll probably include some media touchstones that the **Playset** draws on.
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### Intention
This is your chance to tell players why they should choose this Playset over any others. It's like the blurb on the back of a novel.
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### Example
*The Count of Saint-Lazare* draws heavily from the work of Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. These writers lived through the French Revolution and its aftermath: a volatile time of fiery politics and societal upheaval.
We’ll play roles in a costume drama, steeped in fancy outfits and gilded decadence. But it’s not all fine dining and curt whispers, no, there’s plenty of room for swashbuckling action too—be it a clash of swords at dawn, a fiery mob bursting into a luxuriant manor garden, or a daring chase across moonlit rooftops.
Use this playset to visit a Paris that exists only in nostalgia, where beauty and strife clash with theatrical brilliance.
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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# The Outline
## Definition
> **The Outline is 250-300 words giving an overview of life in this Playset.**
* You'll describe the structure of society, how it's stratified and who's in control.
* If it's not apparent from [The Pitch](/setting/the-pitch), you might also describe where and when the Playset takes place.
* Whether real or fictional (or a bit of both!), you might also include recent events and key history.
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### Intention
The utility of a Playset is that players don't have to create a world from scratch. This short section is your best opportunity to convey the fundamentals of the setting.
You should leave a few fun decisions for [The Choices](/setting/the-choices), so focus on the things that you believe are essential to it's success. Typically this means **context** (*"what's going on?"*), **society** (*"how are we organised?"*) and **strife** (*"what threatens the status quo?"*).
To that end, aim to create an unstable situation by the end of your Outline—a ruler deposed, a revolution brewing, a resource scarcity, etc. Things should feel tense and dangerous, even within the upper echelons of society that [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators) are a part of. The rise of [The Knife](/characters/the-knife) from ruin to revenge is implausible within a stable, satisfied society—you need a little chaos for it to work.
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### Example
**PULP HISTORY**
The years between the French Revolution (1789–1792) and the start of WWI (1914) are some of the most densely-packed with politics & change across all of history.
However, we do not need to be historians to enjoy this playset. A passing familiarity with rapiers, frilly shirts and the guillotine will do us just fine. Instead of interrupting to check a fact, we just say “*in **our** France, this is true*”.
**IT'S ALWAYS KING LOUIS**
In 1815, as we begin, the French Revolution is history.
King Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine, Napoleon Bonaparte rose to Emperor and was then exiled to the island prison of Elba. Now, royalists have restored yet another King Louis to precarious rule once more.
**LIBERTY, EQUALITY OR DEATH**
However, the revolution was not for naught. The country lurches with volatile, *often bloody*, steps towards a somewhat-fairer society.
The emboldened workers of Paris are bullish, knowing just how much can be gained when they organise. The burgeoning bourgeoisie hold no reverence for the rule of old. Together, they are rapidly transforming a feudal aristocracy into a capitalist paradise. Do try to keep up.
**A BLACK CLOUD**
For our story we should understand that this is still a time of great privilege for the nobility and landed gentry, but they are not untouchable. A demagogue’s fiery mob, a jilted lover or an outdated political opinion can all result in a swift and unceremonious end.
Capitalise on other’s misfortune to seize vast amounts of wealth, twist public perception to send frenzied masses to your rival’s door, and don’t forget to watch your back.
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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# The Choices
## Definition
> **The Choices are questions about the Playset that the players answer together.**
* A Playset has **four** Choices to make.
* Each of the Choices establishes a broad truth about the setting.
* It then offers **two** options to further elaborate on that truth in different–sometimes opposing–directions.
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### Intention
While the Playset is mostly pre-written, these Choices give players a feeling of authorship over the world their story will take place in.
Aim to make one of the options for each Choice consistent with [The Pitch](/setting/the-pitch), so that players can easily create a world that meets their expectations. You can be more experimental with the other option.
The scope of each Choice should be limited enough so that any possible combination of the four Choices makes sense.
These Choices can also be used to establish the tone of the story, through decisions on violence, politics and other sensitive elements of the setting.
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### Example – Introduction
The story of *Saint-Lazare* begins in the coastal city of Marseille, but the real action begins when our cast of characters moves to Paris—the grand capital.
However, we aren’t trying to make a historical facsimile of this famous city. Here, we’ll shape this rich source material into something we're all excited to explore.
As we go, we should make notes on the board, reference media touchstones and ask clarifying questions. We can always revise our answers if a better idea emerges.
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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### Example – Choice
***ANCIENT ORDERS, ARCANE TRUTHS***
Despite their science, many follow the old ways. **Choose one:**
* *Many of the rich and powerful swear fealty to an enduring secret society—each one a Hand of the prophetic Paper Queen.*
* *Magic is real, but only the clergy are permitted to use it. That doesn’t stop the underclasses from trying though...*
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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# The Knife
## Definition
> **The Knife is the person whose life was ruined, and who will return to have their revenge.**
* **The Knife** is the central character to the story, in a traditional telling they would be the protagonist.
* However, since we focus on the villains of the story in *The Slow Knife*, players see them only in glimpses or from the perspective of their characters.
* Here, players can define who they were *before* [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators) ruined their life.
* You will provide a paragraph or two to describe them and their circumstances.
* In a similar way to [The Choices](/setting/the-choices), you'll offer two choices about **the Knife**—each with a sentence explaining something that is true about them, then two options to further specify.
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### Intention
Although the focus is on the villains, [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators), the hero of any story in The Slow Knife should be the Knife themselves. As such, it's important to make them a suitably virtous character. Like heroes across all of fiction, this doesn't mean they need to be impossibly pure and altruistic (though they might be), but on balance they should come across as a fundamentally good person to the players.
As players develop the story of the Knife through play, they may twist the virtues of this character into something closer to a villain—revenge can be ruinous for all involved, after all. But for now, your job with the playset is primarily to make them a sympathetic character. The scheming and vindictive Knife can follow later, at the player's behest.
With the choices you present the players, you should consider what you think is most important to be *true* about the character and put it in the introductory sentence of the choice. The two options should then give players the opportunity to take that truth in (hopefully very) different directions, without invalidating its core meaning.
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### Example – Introduction
Born in the coastal city of Marseille, where our story begins, Émile had all the typical hubris of youth and fair features. They drank a little too much, thought themselves a little too clever and scoffed at the jaded elders who grumbled at their posturing.
But they were, at heart, a decent person.
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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### Example **– Choice**
**HONEST WORK**
They took pride in their trade, and did it well. **Choose one:**
* *An apprentice carpenter to one of the finest and most successful cabinet makers in France—the visionary Olivier Clément.*
* *A merchant sailor on the Saint-Vincent, beloved by the ship’s owner-captain—the rakish troublemaker Luc D’Aramitz.*
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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# The Conspirators
## Definition
> **The Conspirators are the player's main characters and are villains: self-serving and ruthless.**
* The group of Conspirators – whether two, three or four in number – are solely and actively responsible for the downfall of [The Knife](/characters/the-knife) in [The Incident](/arrest/the-incident).
* Each player will choose **one** Conspirator to personalise and play, from a possible **four**.
* Conspirators are generally described in a way that allows the players to choose their gender.
* You will provide a paragraph or two to describe the Conspirator and who they were *before* [The Incident](/arrest/the-incident)
* In a similar way to [The Choices](/setting/the-choices), you'll offer a single choice about them—each with a sentence explaining something that is true about them, then two options to further specify.
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### Intention
Firstly, it's worth revisiting some guidance from the rules booklet on villainy and 'evil' characters:
*The Conspirators are fairly nasty, menacing people. However, there are many ways to be evil, and the player's goal (**and yours, writing this playset**) is not to be as vile as possible.*
*As a baseline, you should aim for the kind of dramatic, inflated villains you might see in a family adventure film. If you want to take things in a darker direction, you'll need to be very careful in the ways that you signpost the content and support players during and after play—it can be traumatic to enact and witness truly 'vile' actions, even in fiction.*
It is (of course) different for every group that comes together to play games, but in general there are types of evil characters which players can have a fun time with, and types that are distasteful or worse. Make your villains tragic (if not quite relatable), flawed (neurotic, petty, greedy) and proud—you want their inevitable fall to be well-deserved and from a great height. Use true competence sparingly, perhaps in only one of your four characters, so that they can be brought down by the amateurs around them.
Use the introduction paragraphs to describe each Conspirator, efficiently portraying them and covering how they relate to [The Knife](/characters/the-knife). Most of the Conspirators will already have a relationship with [The Knife](/characters/the-knife) that gives them a motiviation to become involved in the [The Conspiracy](/arrest/the-conspiracy). Through these descriptions, you might also establish additional truths about [The Knife](/characters/the-knife) themselves—such as the existence of family, relationships and their work.
Then, like the previous choices in the playset, use your choice to define a vital truth about each Conspirator—something core to their motivations and flaws.
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### Example – Introduction
You and your family were among the first to move to Arcadia. Your name is one of enduring prestige, a dynasty stretching back to antiquity, so naturally you had the means and influence to secure one of the finest residences on the station. From your palatial home, you monitor your investments and, reluctantly, your household affairs.
Your child and sole heir, now a young adult, has always had a rebellious streak. Until recently, their outbursts had been contained to a dreadful haircut or designer drugs: all easy enough to smooth over. But now they say they’ve fallen in love with some upstart called ‘Tesh’—an unrefined immigrant, born into squalor in an Earth slum.
As a matter of urgency, you must spoil this improper affair.
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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### Example **– Choice**
**A PRIZED HEART STOLEN**
One soul, tangled in the mess of two rivals. **Choose one:**
* *Marion Aubere, the spirited heiress to a sizeable family fortune. She loved Émile’s smile and quick wit.*
* *Oscar Comtois, a bookish foreman and talented inventor. He loved Émile’s passion and good heart.*
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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# The Incident
## Definition
> **The Incident sets out the *****facts***** of the Knife's arrest.**
* First, you'll state that [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators) arrange for [The Knife](/characters/the-knife) to be wrongly arrested but you'll wait to determine their specific involvement in [The Conspiracy](/arrest/the-conspiracy).
* This is about the **crime** they were framed for, the **circumstances** of their arrest, and their **place of imprisonment**.
* Each of those three facts is presented as a choice about in a similar way to [The Choices](/setting/the-choices)—each with a sentence explaining something that is true about them, then two options to further specify.
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### Intention
[The Knife](/characters/the-knife)'s arrest is essential to the arc of the story in the larger game. Whether they are arrested by traditional law enforcement figures, thrown out into exile by a creepy sect, banished to a far-off planet to work in the slave mines or anything else, the fact remains that they are cut off from society, unable to return and left for dead by [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators).
The **crimes** (or transgressions of other kinds, if you don't have formal policing) that you present players to choose from for [The Knife](/characters/the-knife)'s imprisonment are another way to build out the Playset's society. Both options let you suggest what the society considers to be serious – often the highest – offences. The players' choice may introduce new characters and pressures into their story—a political assassination, a secretive cult, a resource scarcity, etc.
The **circumstances** are mostly a way to flesh out [The Knife](/characters/the-knife)'s tragic story, but they can also introduce characters (*parents, friends, children*) who might become prominent later in the story.
The **place of imprisonment** is a thematic choice for the players about the physical place [The Knife](/characters/the-knife) is trapped within. Consider what forces – physical barriers, armed guards, strange phenomena – keep them contained. The players will have more opportunities to explore this place over the course of the story.
In playtesting, I've found that it helps to establish these facts before players begin the more difficult task of constructing [The Conspiracy](/arrest/the-conspiracy) that their characters concoct.
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### Example – Introduction
So, now we have our central cast of characters and know a little about Émile’s life. They were blessed with good health, honest work and a loving family—and were on the precipice of getting all their humble heart desired.
**But then, of course, our villains played their part.** They plotted together in the shadows to frame Émile for a crime they never committed, each of them playing a pivotal, active role in the conspiracy.
Émile’s halcyon days were cut short, and they were arrested and imprisoned far from those they love.
To establish the truth of this incident, we’ll first sketch the basic facts of their arrest by making three choices: the crime they were framed for, the site of their arrest, and their place of imprisonment. Once we have this sketch, we’ll work out how our Conspirators were involved.
Add notes to the board as you make these choices.
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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### Example **– Choices**
**PRELUDE TO A FEUD**
Émile was framed for a heinous crime. **Choose one**.
* **The murder of Sylvette St Pierre***, a celebrated magnate turned political demagogue. Beloved by the working class.*
* **Conspiracy to treason***, caught with a coded message from Napoleon addressed to the Bonapartist* **L’ours***—’the bear’.*
**SWEPT AWAY**
They never had a chance to say goodbye. **Choose one**.
* *Arrested outside the church, Émile left their spouse-to-be alone at the altar—jilted, and wondering what they did wrong.*
* *Émile’s parents, busy preparing a family meal, watched in horror as their child was arrested on the steps of their home.*
**INTO DARKNESS**
Now they are confined in a dank, distant prison. **Choose one**.
* *A half-crumbling tower on a windswept islet several miles from the coast—all salt-rusted iron and gale-worn stone.*
* *A medieval estate in the foothills of the Pyrenees, now a dusty prison of flaking gilt and moth-bare carpets.*
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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# The Conspiracy
## Definition
> **The Conspiracy guides the players through the process of incriminating their Conspirators in the Incident.**
* With the facts of [The Incident](/arrest/the-incident) agreed, it's now time to establish the specific actions that each of [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators) took to orchestrate the arrest of [The Knife](/characters/the-knife).
* Each of [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators) has their own choice of prompts. These work a little differently from the other choices (such as [The Choices](/setting/the-choices)) in the Playset. Players find their chosen Conspirator, and choose one of the two options to present to *another* player (*usually the player sitting to their left*).
* These choice prompts have a sentence describing the Conspirator's **unique ability or access** that provides an advantage in planning the scheme. Then they ask **a question**, answered by the other player, about the specifics of their involvement.
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### Intention
Each of [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators) will be incriminated to a lesser or greater extent by this process, but it is *essential* that each of them take an **active, intentional role** in the Conspiracy. None of them should be able to get away with making their characters innocent in this scheme, even if the degree of their involvement can be flexible across the cast.
The format of this section is also intended to **build relationships** between [The Conspirators](/characters/the-conspirators) at the start of the game. Have characters ask favours and take advantage of each other, demonstrating their willingness to commit nefarious deeds out of greed, jealousy or fear.
You should be clear that these prompts are a **starting point** for discussion, and that players should continue talking over the details of the Conspiracy until they're all clear on the events that occurred and the roles their characters played.
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### Example – Introduction
Now it’s time to figure out how our Conspirators were involved and the sequence that led to the Knife’s arrest.
We’ll take turns choosing a prompt for our Conspirator.
It will establish a truth about their role and also provide a question that we should ask the player to our left. They answer as their Conspirator, weaving our plot together.
Continue discussing the conspiracy until we’ve each made our choice and we’re clear on the order of events.
Then, we should go back and make sure we've added everything important to the board and given them names.
Then we can begin drawing cards from Act I.
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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### Example – Conspirator Choice
**THE ROLE OF GIRAUD-LABELLE**
Your jealousy made you all-too willing. **Choose one, ask left:**
* *You asked me to divulge something that Émile had told me in confidence. What vulnerability of theirs did I betray?*
* *You needed me to keep Émile busy while you moved against them. What heartfelt truth did they confide in me over dinner?*
*– The Count of Saint-Lazare Playset, Jack Harrison*
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# Checklist
This is part of the '*Setup Checklist*' from the Rules Booklet that comes with the main boxed game.
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### Setup Checklist
* Do we each have a named character, our Conspirator?
* Have we created and named the Knife?
* Do we know what incident befell the Knife?
* Do we each know the role our Conspirator played in it?
* Have we added characters and details to the board?
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**You don't need to include this checklist in the Playset**, but consider that the Playset should be able to guide players towards satisfactory answers to all of these questions by its conclusion.
# License
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**The material** is the content of this guide, **excluding any examples\*** provided which cannot be used or copied in any way.
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**\***You are free to adapt the **Introduction** examples that most sections have.
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#### **You are free to:**
* **Share** — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
* **Adapt** — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
#### You cannot:
* **Imply endorsement** — don't use the Mousehole Press name or logos or my name (Jack Harrison) to imply endorsement of your Playset.
* **Include hateful language** — Don’t use, promote, or normalise language that intends harm based on the rights and respect of physical and mental ability as well as racial, cultural, national, gender, and sexual backgrounds. If you feel qualified to include content related to these issues in your Playset, strongly consider providing content warnings for players at the start of the book.
#### **Attribution**
You can include this text in your Playset, and/or on the page where you offer your Playset for sale:
* This is a Playset for [**The Slow Knife**](https://bit.ly/slow-knife), by Jack Harrison.
* You can use the full link: or the short link: . If you print your Playset, you should write out the URL.
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**Hopefully this doesn't feel too onerous!** It's more for consistency than anything else.
Please drop me an email (**) if you decide to make a Playset, I'd love to hear about it. I'm keen to celebrate and promote anything that fits within these guidelines.
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