King of Bones
You’re all here because the Major is assembling the greatest jazz band of all time. He has the keys, the horn, the bass-man, and just about every other piece he needs. But he needs someone who can kill the trombone. That’s why you’re here. You’re the best. Tonight we found out who will join the band. Tonight we crown a King of Bones.
Choosing a Character
Choose one of the following. If possible, pick someone who does’t look like you.
Ella
Pros: Perfect Pitch, Bareknuckle Boxing. Ella is never out of tune. She has an instinctive ability to produce and recognize notes exactly. She is also able to protect the band from thugs and Looky-Lou’s with her fearsome fists.
Con: Extra Room. As a lady, it would be inappropriate for her stay in the same hotel room as the other band members.
Duke
Pros: Composer, Showman. Duke writes his own music, which is good enough to be on the radio. He also knows how to put on a show. He can assist as band manager.
Con: Segregation. Duke is a black man, so he is not welcome inside a lot of the best playing clubs, especially in the South.
Marcelle
Pros: Walking Encyclopedia, Army Buddies. Marcelle has memorized more songs than anyone. Hymns, marches, standards, and jazz hits are all at the tip of his fingers. He also has old army buddies all over the country, so he can usually find the band a place to sleep on the cheap.
Con: Building Access
Charles
Pros: Famous Blues Singer, Sweet Home Cooking. Charles is already famous as a singer, so he can essentially fill two roles in the band. He is also a talented cook, so he’s great to have along on tour.
Con: Criminal Record. Charles is wanted for theft in Alabama. He has served time for assault.
Andrés
Pros: Classically Trained. International Tours. Andrés has performed with professional orchestras in Spain. He knows a lot of Spanish and Latin American hits that the band has no other access to. He is probably the best technical performer among the candidates. He can also arrange tours for the band in Spain and Latin America.
Con: Communication Issues. Andrés understands English fluently, but some people have a hard time understanding him when he speaks. His first language is Spanish.


Once you have your characters, briefly introduce yourselves to each other. Describe what you look like and decide together whether you have met before. You have all at least heard of each other. You are at the top of your profession.
Scene Order
1. Rhythm Tryouts
In this part of the story, all the potential trombonists perform in front of the Major (who doesn’t have a player yet) to demonstrate their sense of rhythm.
This is a simple rhythm game to get you in a musical mood. You don’t need any musical ability other than counting to four, clapping, and matching someone else’s clapping pattern.
A. One person counts, “One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.” Over and over again. Take a breath when you need to. (For future reference, each “One, two, three, four.” Is called a four-count.)
B. The person to the counter’s left claps in a simple rhythm pattern. This pattern should last for two to four four-counts. When you have clapped through your pattern once, repeat it.
C. Everyone except the counter joins in and tries to clap along with the pattern. Go through it together two or three times. If you get messed up, start back over at the beginning of a four-count.
D. Now someone else counts and the person to their left claps out a pattern. Start back over at A. Repeat all these steps until everyone has had a chance to count. (You may pass if you don’t want to count.)
At the end of this rhythm game, all the players vote to eliminate one character from the tryouts. In this case of a tie, do run-off votes until you have a clear candidate for elimination. The player of that eliminated character can act as the Major for the rest of the game.
2. Backstabbing
In this part of the story, the potential trombonists and the Major are at a bar. The characters are discussing who they think the best and worst candidates are.
This is a more conversation heavy section of the game. Get in groups of two or three and try to convince each other why so-and-so shouldn’t be the trombonist. Bring up each other’s Pros and Cons. Make sure each character talks to the Major at least once. The Major should say very little in response.
At the end of this section, the players should all vote to eliminate one more character. The player of the Major (whose character was eliminated after the Rhythm tryout) gets to vote twice. He can vote once for two characters or twice for the same character.
3. Callbacks (Creativity Tryouts)
In this section of the story, the Major has called back the top candidates to do a freestyle musical performance. He wants them to wow him with their creativity.
During this section, each player gets to demonstrate a creative talent to the other players. This talent can be physical, musical, artistic, theatric, or any other creative ability the player feels comfortable sharing. After a player shares a talent, the other players should clap, and one player should suggest what the performing player’s character is doing in the story that is the fictional jazz equivalent of what the player just did. For example, if the player draws anime characters, her character may have performed a trombone solo with Japanese musical influences. If the player does a magic trick, his character may have played a song with by professional lights and a smoke machine.
4. Crowning the King of Bones
At the end of the callbacks, The Major (as represented by BOTH eliminated players) chooses who will be the new trombonist. Everyone applauds the winner. The winning player may choose to sing a song or do a dance.

Notes for Other Game Designers
We may want to require players to imitate jazz trombones at some point during the game. I haven’t written rules for how to do that. Here, however, are three examples from Youtube. My quick and dirty description would be:
Sing the words Brr Rrr. Or sing a really long V-sound.
https://youtu.be/k9J4iOkNF5U
https://youtu.be/rYbjkQbFSGs
https://youtu.be/fgFZ5Vk4eLM

I usually include art, which isn’t possible within a txt file. So I’ve included a few public domain images for your reference.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hgstnxedzm9ri4o/100H.jpg?dl=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xoqxnjg4dwl9n3h/26H.jpg?dl=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pfwqbfnvaxg2gaw/152H.jpg?dl=1