MicroHotel The Hotel has been a well used setting in many stories of fiction, movies, songs, and settings. (Four Rooms, The Shining, Psycho, John Wick, The Royal Tenenbaums, Hotel Babylon, Hotel California, The Grand Budapest Hotel, etc etc) This game acts upon 1 in particular as a character setting for your group to play out a specific story. To do this, you will need a group of friends (3-5), a stack of index cards, and a few six-sided dice (two for each player). SET-UP PHASE Start off by having each player write down two timeframes they'd like to see the hotel set in. This can be specific, or just evocative of an era (for instance, 1920s speakeasy is okay). When writing down timeframes try to think of an 'aesthetic' to the hotel and a probable decade. After this, each player should write down two emotional tones they think would be interesting to play out. When going for an emotional Tone, try to think of two words that describe what you are going for - or something that would be cool to see in a movie or book set in a hotel. Example Timeframes: 1920s speakeasy, 1920s wealth, 1960s casino, Modern Hotel, seedy 1960s motel, 1960s hippie hostel Example Emotional Tones: Eerily Quiet, Happy Fanfare, Great Fortune, Ominous Presence Once both of these have been written down, place them in the middle of the group and starting with the player who last spent a night at a hotel, go around clockwise picking one emotional tone card each player finds interesting. Once the last player picks a Tone card, he/she can then pick a timeframe card and go in reverse order picking Time cards. Move aside the extra cards, but don't throw them away. From those picked Time and Tone cards, a concept of setting should be starting to form -try to discuss with the other players where this hotel might exist. This could be figuring out a city it would be set in, or just the area of a country. Specifics are not necessary past giving everyone at the table the same assumptions to work with later on. Be sure to ask questions about the hotel from the cards picked - does something not line up in a players mind with time-eras or tones? Maybe something happened to the Hotel that can be addressed through a Vignette!! After everyone has picked out a TIME and TONE card, and a basic discussion of the Hotel has been decided upon. Take a look at the "Things to be WARY OF" list below: Ghosts The Law Famine Crime Malaise Frantic Spies Decay Exuberance Hatred Love The past The future Loathing Obsession Genius Poverty Going in the same order as picking the TIME and TONE cards, each player can either a) Circle a WARY, b) Cross out a WARY, or c) Add a WARY Once the order has reached the end, go back in reverse direction again. At the minimum when this is done, there should be at least as many WARY's circled as players. The final step in the SETUP phase is to pick a name for the Hotel. Once a name is picked out, we can move to the "Vignettes" phase. VIGNETTES PHASE Each player will have a small vignette to work with in their hotel improvising a scene or two that transpired in the Hotel. This will be the intersection of the two cards (TIME and TONE) chosen by the player, a "WARY" and a decided upon 'Whom'. The player decides on a "WARY" while beginning to setup their Vignette. The setup will include a basic situation to start the scene with - defining who their character is, what the premise of the scene is, and any other questions or needed information. To decide who the character and the premise for the Vignette is - have the player roll 2 6-sided dice and look at the Lists below: WHO: WHAT: 1 Owner 1 New Year's Eve Ball 2 Staff 2 4am in the morning "night shift" 3 Over-night Guest 3 Checking In 4 Long-term Guest 4 Checking Out 5 Debutante/Celebrity 5 Sitting at the Bar 6 Visitor 6 In the Room The player has the option to pick from both lists based on their roll. Now that they have the who, what, WARY, TONE, and TIME - the vignette's structure has been settled. Decide who else maybe in the scene and have another player play that character(s). In addition to dialogue, be sure to talk about the aesthetics, scenery, vibe, and overall setting of the vignette. What is going through the character's mind? Are they bored at work? Tired from jetlag? Worried someone will see them? Have these questions help address the characters actions and behavior in the scene. This can be told from describing the physical mannerisms of characters or saying inner monologues that characters have in the scene - maybe a hotel employee is extremely annoyed by a customer but still maintaining a polite front to them so as not to get fired! There is lots of amusement and fun to be had here, so make sure to play it out when applicable! The Vignette will culminate in a "WARY" expressing itself at some point in the scene. The player may improvise into or avoid the WARY as much as they like, but it should be present in some way. While the Vignette is going, the other players decide how much the scene evokes the TONE and overall idea of the Hotel that was covered in the SETTING phase. If the Vignette felt more like one of the TONEs, award that player a TONE point. If the Vignette felt more like a good characterization for the HOTEL, award that player a HOTEL point. If someone helped in a Vignette, they get half a point of whatever was awarded. After everyone has taken a Vignette Scene, we move to Change up. CHANGE IT UP PHASE At this stage, figure out whom has the most TONE and the most HOTEL points. Grab the discarded pile of cards from the SETUP Phase. The player with the highest HOTEL points gets to pick a new timeframe card and the player with the highest TONE points gets to pick a new emotional tone card. These cards will be the focus for the next (longer) phase of the game! Take a short break as a group as well, grab some snacks and drinks and take a breather for a while. Possibly discuss how everyone things the game is going and what might be fun or interesting to continue on with. The GALA PHASE The next phase brings in a culmination of the newly picked TONE and TIME-ERA in the CHANGE IT UP phase. A large gala / party / ball / what-have-you is going on at the Hotel and each player is there in some manner. The previous vignettes should color how this Phase starts up. Additionally, with the newly chosen TONE and TIME-ERA, decide as a group how the Gala will be setup, where's the party in the Hotel? How big is it? What kind of atmosphere does it have? What is going on in the Hotel besides the Gala that night? How far across the Hotel does this GALA spread? Is it in one room? Is it on one suite? Does it cover the penthouse? Is it taking up the reception hall or ballroom? Is the entire Hotel being used to celebrate this Gala? Come to a decision on these and other questions as a group. To decide on whom each player is at the GALA and what they are trying to achieve at the GALA (past have a good time or not get fired from their job) have each player roll 2 6 sided dice again and consult the following lists: WHO: NEED: 1 Owner 1 Money 2 Staff 2 Romance 3 Over-night Guest 3 Freedom 4 Long-term Guest 4 Respect 5 Debutante/Celebrity 5 Revenge 6 Visitor 6 Release/Addiction/Craving Each player picks a WHO and a NEED with their rolls. After this, the two players that picked the choices from the CHANGE IT UP phase can start the setup / outline of the scene - what the ball looks like, how the rooms are arranged, the vibe of the place, etc. etc. As the scene progresses, be sure to pace it such that all characters are interacting - if someone moves to go do an action this is a great time to transition the 'camera' to another character and see what that player is attempting to do. Be mindful to share the screen with your fellow players and give everyone a chance for their character to shine. Giving a great setup or transition to a player could be a great way to start them off on a way they didn't expect - but be kind to those players who are a bit new to the improvisation, don't leave them hanging! Players should ask questions about details of a scene if they think it relevant or interesting to a scene (this could be stuff such as inner monologue/thoughts, behavior/mannerisms, physical appearance or dress, etc.) If at any point in the GALA a player's character attempts their NEED, pursues an already established WARY, or evokes (not acts out as the character, but evokes as a viewer) the TONE card for the Gala phase - award them a point! The points will be used for the last two phases! These awards are decided in a majority vote - feel free to "call time" at an appropriate point to see if/when any points might be awarded. A good stopping point is usually after hand offs to other players for "new" scenes - but be mindful not to interrupt other players from doing their scenes! Always work to keep the focus and energy for the GALA going! Ideally, each character will have 3-4 focused scenes pursuant to their beliefs and ideally help at least 1 or 2 of their fellow players as a supporting role in one of the other characters scenes. As much or as little can happen in this GALA phase - the Phase ends at Dawn the "next day". NEXT MORNING Phase This follows immediately after the GALA Phase, it shows what happens to the player's character from the GALA phase in the next few days - this is treated as a montage scene where each player can spend up to half the points they earned from the GALA phase to showcase where they went. Waking up from a hangover, eating breakfast at a local diner, packing up and heading home after a long shift are all good places to start thinking about immediate things that a character might do right after the GALA phase. Be mindful however, to play out any poor choices from a NEED or WARY as well. As time progresses, what repercussions would happen in the next few days? Weeks? Would someones job be lost? Large sums of money gained/spent? HOTEL AFTERMATH Phase Following after the characters, the final phase focuses on the Hotel itself - harkening back to their original VIGNETTE, each player can focus on showing the HOTEL in the WARY from their vignette one last time - as a reminder to how the HOTEL continues on past anyone person (or not?) The remaining points from the GALA are used to give montage moments or pivotal events clarity for the hotel. This concludes the microHotel game. Hopefully your group of friends enjoyed playing out the scenes that transpired in their collective hotel and will continue on later!