Public Access What is this? Public Access is a storytelling game in which players portray a group of adults who have come together to discuss their memories of a short-lived public access TV show they watched as children. During the course of the game, one character will remind the others about a mystery surrounding the show. Characters will then relate their memories of specific episodes of the show, in the hopes that clues to solving the mystery are contained within. The characters then engage in their own research and investigation, and later confer with each other about what they discover. Inspirations for this game include creepypasta stories like “Candle Cove” and “1999,” and emergent mystery games like The Society of Dreamers and Psi Run. Before Play Begins As a group, players will answer the following questions about the public access TV show their game will focus on. 1. What strange production feature did the show have that made it stand out from other shows you watched as a kid? Perhaps it was wildly varying episode lengths, unpredictable air times, the same weird song playing on a loop in the background, or the characters always being slightly out of frame. 2. The show was theoretically aimed at children, and yet made near-constant reference to a single, adult theme. Name it. Perhaps it was the main actor’s pending, real-life divorce; the virtues of the gold standard; a recitation of the minutes of the last city council meeting; or reviews of restaurants in other cities. 3. What drew you to the show as a child? Perhaps it was hosted by a man in a silly/kid-friendly costume; the characters on the show were puppets; the audio was dubbed-in over old cartoons; or the show featured photo montages of cute animals. 4. If there are any characters implied from the above question, name them. 5. What was the show called? 6. How many episodes aired? The answer should be no fewer than nine, and no more than twelve. For a shorter game, go with nine. Part One - Introductions At this point, the players should, in turn, introduce themselves in-character and talk about a single childhood memory related to the show. Perhaps the show’s short run was during a particularly hard time in their young life, or maybe there was something specific about the show that resonated with them. Since the characters are likely meeting-up on an internet forum, they should strictly use screen names with each other. This is free narration. Anything a player says is acceptable, so long as it is true for their character. The information gained from the introductions can help further develop the lore surrounding the show, or they can simply be personal reflections of the characters themselves. So long as it relates back to the show in some way, you’re in good shape. Part Two - The Mystery After introductions are complete, one player should introduce a mystery surrounding the show. The mystery can be anything that makes sense in the game’s context to that point, but the creepier the better! Here are some examples: a person connected to the production of the show went missing; a series of unsolved child murders took place during the show’s run; an unidentified person appeared on the show once, frightened and crying; the show’s final episode contained nothing but thirty minutes of sustained, unsettling noise, like screaming or animal sounds. The mystery shouldn’t be solvable based-off a simple viewing of the show. Part Three - The Episodes At this point, the characters will attempt to gather clues based solely on their memory of each episode. The first player, in-character, will describe Episode 1. This is free narration. He should start at the beginning and proceed through a description of what his character remembers taking place in that episode. He should go out of his way to add-in details about things that appeared on screen, or that could be heard in the audio. A few minutes of narration should be sufficient. During this time, other players should feel free to add-in details from their own character’s memories of Episode 1. The first player may choose whether to incorporate such memories into his description. Once the first player is finished recalling Episode 1, the other players will have a discussion about whether the narration included a clue related to the mystery, and, if so, what it was. If a consensus is reached, the first player should write the clue on an index card, with a note that it came from Episode 1. If there is no consensus, play simply proceeds to the next player. The next player repeats the process with Episode 2, and so on, until all episodes have been recalled. Remember: the clues written on the index cards should not be able to directly solve the mystery on their own. They should be things that give the players leads to follow in Part Four. Part Four - Field Investigation At this point, the group should have around 6-10 clues. The next player in the rotation will be the spotlight character. The player to their right will be the Guide. The Guide chooses one or two clues and uses them to frame a scene which sees the spotlight character engaging in an investigation related to the clues. The Guide will identify any NPCs who may be present in the scene, and assign roles to himself or any other player at the table who does not control the spotlight character. The scene should be played to a natural conclusion. Once it ends, the player of the spotlight character will determine if any facts about the mystery were learned. If so, he will write those facts on the Fact Sheet. No more than three facts should be written down per scene. Play continues like this around the table until all clues have been used to frame a scene. Please note: players should avoid outright solving the mystery during a scene. The facts gathered can heavily imply a certain outcome, but avoid having a character say, for example, “I know who killed all those kids. It was me!” Conclusion Once scenes have concluded, the group uses the Fact Sheet to have an open discussion about the mystery. Players should feel free to offer their theories, as well as different interpretations of other players’ theories. The game ends when everyone has had a chance to present their theory, or when the group coalesces around a single theory.