1548 Phase-2
Threeforged 2015

High school — in space! Welcome to Space High, the finest intergalactic institution for young beings in this galaxy or the next! Students are looking for status and personal connection as they try to navigate high school — in space!
 
Players will need: 
●	three sets of tokens of different colors
●	a sheet of paper
●	cue cards
●	writing utensils
●	one set of polyhedral dice
 
GAME SET-UP
Put the three types of tokens in the centre of the table; this is the token pool.  Decide which colors are Connection, Status and Academic.  When you earn tokens, those comprise your stash.

Establish together what your idea of space high school is. Are there humans? How many students attend? What kind of alien cultures go to this school? What are the current trends in Space education? Use the sheet of paper to write down a brainstorm of what everyone thinks about space high school. Try to include elements that you are interested in seeing, so that it is easier for the rest of the players to know what kinds of things should be included in the game.

What are galactic fashion and teen-being culture like?  Space high school probably looks a lot different from the human high school that most players probably attended. List of things that are cool in space high school, and things that are uncool.  Be creative! Make gelatinous bodies the height of cool, and the color orange total social suicide.

CHARACTER CREATION
Characters should be fun to create, and fun to play! Take these things into consideration when designing characters, who are all students at space high school:
●	How many limbs do they have? (None, 2, eight, etc.)
●	What color and texture is their skin? (Pink and shiny, blue and gelatinous, brown and smooth, etc)
●	What do they eat? (Blood pudding, souls, strictly fruits and vegetables, etc)
●	How did they get into this prestigious school? (Scholarship, parents paid their way, they work three jobs to afford it, etc)
●	What are they willing to do for status?
●	What do they look for in a personal relationship?
●	What is their favorite subject in school?
●	What extracurricular activities do they participate in?
●	Anything else that seems interesting!

Remember- these characters go to space high school! The things that are important to them may be different than human high school students. If anyone finds themselves stumped, feel free to reach out to fellow players to help generate more ideas.

MECHANICAL OVERVIEW
Each player will have a Goal, such as "Become captain of a school team, and lead them to victory."  Customize your Goal to make it fit your setting, e.g. "Become captain of the zero-G spaceball team, and lead them to victory over the Arcturan Academy!"  Tell everyone what your Goal is.

Each Goal specifies a number of tokens, e.g. 5 Status, 3 Connection and 2 Academic.  When you have this many tokens, you are ready to achieve your Goal.  

You earn tokens by playing tests during scenes.  Play an Interpersonal test with another character to earn a Connection token.  Play a Procedural test to earn a Status token.  You can earn an Academic token by playing either type of test in an academic context.  You can also earn tokens by participating in other players' tests, either as your own character or as a Supporting character.  See "Tests," below.

GETTING STARTED
Each player rolls on the Goals table.  Personalize your goal, and make note of the tokens that you need to succeed.
Decide who will be the first Spotlight character, by whatever means is agreeable to all.  Spotlight proceeds to the left thereafter.

SCENES
This game is played in scenes.  Players take turns setting a scene.  Be creative with your locations! Take a ride on the hyper elevator while bickering with your best friend, or eat lunch together in the floating gardens. 

When you have the Spotlight, you play your own PC.  Everyone else can participate in a scene as either their own character (PC) or a supporting character (SC).  During a scene, anyone can try to earn tokens through tests — so, you want to play tests.  The Spotlight character will have a test in mind when they set the scene, but anyone else can declare their own tests, too, as befits the action.

When a scene feels played out, wrap it up and let the next player have the Spotlight.  Scenes can be minutes, days or months apart, but fit the whole game into one academic year.

Supporting Characters (SCs):
SCs are invented and played by any player as needed.  
When a new SC appears in a scene for the first time, write their name on a cue card and put it on the table.  Put a tally mark in the top-right corner.
Every time an SC is played in another scene, add another tally mark to the top-right corner.

[What effect do the tally marks have?  Need a mechanic to encourage people to bring back interesting SCs again and again.]

SETTING A SCENE
The player whose turn it is, is called the Spotlight player.  
The Spotlight player:
●	Sets the scene ie. where it is, what's going on.  Everyone can help by proposing details.
●	Declares which test they will be attempting,
●	which other PCs are there,
●	which SCs are there, if desired, and which players will play them in this scene

If you are playing an Interpersonal test with an SC, then the SC must be played by another player.
If you are playing a Procedural test, then it must be opposed by at least one character (PC or SC) that is played by another player. 

Players who are not declared into the scene by the spotlight player:
●	may play their own PC in the scene
●	may select or invent an SC to be in the scene.

PLAYING A SCENE
Role-play your character; but also, narrate like an author.  Describe what other people are doing, take control of events outside of your own character's control.  Only other players' characters are off limits.

TESTS
Tests are how you earn tokens.  Any PC can call for a test during a scene.  Tests affect your token stash, but they also determine story direction.  Tests should fit the action in progress, and should decide something consequential in the fiction.  If a test feels forced or trivial, wait for a better opportunity.

You may not play a test that would achieve your Goal.

There are two kinds of tests: 

Interpersonal Test:
You are trying to establish a personal connection with another character (PC or SC).  E.g. offer friendship; establish trust, forge a pact.
Role-play the conversation or whatever the action is.  Then take two Connection tokens from the pool, and offer one to the player of the other character.
Success: If the other player accepts the token, then the personal connection is established.  Keep the other Connection token for yourself, and continue role-playing.
Failure: If the other player refuses the Connection, then return the tokens to the pool.  Give the other player a Status token from your own stash, if you have one; or from the pool otherwise.

To play a second Interpersonal test with a character with whom you already have a connection, you must offer romance!

Academic: If you play an Interpersonal test with a member of the faculty, then you earn Academic tokens instead.

Procedural Test:
You are trying to accomplish a task that is opposed by another character (PC or SC).  E.g. Steal the visiting team's mascot; convince the yearbook club of your vision.
Identify one character (PC or SC) that opposes you in this action.  If it's an SC, choose someone to play them in this scene.  Opposition can be implicit, by a character who is not present (yet), e.g. stealing the mascot is implicitly opposed by the other team's captain or your own principal or security guard, even though they don't know what you're up to (at first).
If you win the test, you will gain a Status token.  Your opponent now declares what kind of token they will win if you fail.  All tokens will be taken from the Pool.
Each other player then declares whether their character is for or against you.  If appropriate, you can role-play asking the others to support you, and/or your opponent arguing that they should oppose you!
Role-play and narrate into the scene.  Raise the stakes, as opposing sides play off against each other.  When the tension is high, roll a die.  Each character "for" you (including your own) gives you +1 on the roll.  Each character "against" you gives you -1.

Number of Players 
in the game	
Die Size	
To Succeed, Roll...	
2-4	d6	4 or better	
5-6	d8	5 or better	
7+	d10	6 or better	

Success: you and everyone who supported you takes one Status token.
Failure: everyone who opposed you takes a token of the type that your opponent declared.
Play out the consequences of your success or failure.

You can re-try a failed test, but not in the same scene.

Academic: If your task would somehow improve your academic standing, then you can take Academic instead of Status tokens.  E.g. build the winning science-fair project, steal a copy of the xenoarcheology exam.  Your opponent can declare for any type of token.

ACHIEVING YOUR GOAL
When one player has enough tokens of each type to accomplish their Goal, that player will have the Spotlight next, for the final scene.

Set and play out the scene together in which the Spotlight character achieves their Goal.  This is the climax of your space-highschool story, so make it grand!  There will be no testing during this final scene — the Spotlight character WILL achieve their Goal.  Friends should prosper and antagonists should suffer.  This is the nature of comedy — in space!

If multiple players achieve their token counts at the exact same time, then they will share the Spotlight for the final scene.  Describe how they cooperate to achieve their Goals simultaneously!

GOALS

Roll d10	GOAL	REQUIRES	
1	Become the captain of (school team), and lead them to galactic victory!	6 Status
3 Connection
1 Academic	
2	Win the heart of (Supporting Character).  They're currently going steady with someone else, who is a jerk!	4 Status
4 Connection
2 Academic	
3	Win the science fair, with your project on (awesome space topic!).	2 Status
3 Connection
5 Academic	
4	Solve the problem of the gang of bullies that terrorizes your friends and rules the school.	3 Status
5 Connection
2 Academic	
5	Save the school from the secret invasion of (insidious aliens)!	5 Status
3 Connection
2 Academic	
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10