Ultranormal Encounters

You can’t quite remember what happened. Your memories are in fragments, out of synch or missing. But there is one thing you know for sure; it was beyond this world. Something took -abducted- you. Whisked you away from the mundanities of day to day life.  And now, some vague-yet-menacing government agents want to have a word.
You each play one of the abductees. You each have a story to tell about your experience, but they are jumbled. You each have different memories of what actually happened. Your stories overlap and intersect, but they never quite agree. Sometimes, they are even contradictory.
Play cuts between each of the players are they are being interviewed by the vague-yet-menacing government agents. When one player is the focus, the other players take on the role of these government agents, in order to probe and question the abductee, and maybe figure out what to put into the official report on the incident.

The Set Up

The first thing you need to do is gather 3-5 friends to play with. You’ll need a standard deck of playing cards, with the jokers removed, some pencils and paper for notes and one of the Playsets from the back of the rules.
Each Playset comes with four basic facts about Encounter, and four basic facts about the characters being played. These facts will be modified by some cards before roleplaying begins. Shuffle the deck of cards, and draw five cards. Place these five cards face up on the table. The suit of the card tells you what it can do.

●	Hearts:		Confirm the basic fact and expand on it in greater detail
●	Diamonds:	Confirm the general idea of the fact, but modify one detail
●	Clubs:		Contradict the general idea of the fact, but keep one detail
●	Spades:		Contradict the fact as a whole and expand on the contradiction

As a group, assign one card to each of the four basic facts of the case. Narrate in additional details to modify the facts in the direction suggested by the card. The fifth card gets shuffled back into the deck. When it comes to adding details, don’t be afraid to speak up. How silly your idea might be, at least you are contributing! And maybe figuring out your idea could be just as fun.

Ryan, Jake, Neasa and Charlie have decided to play the Lonely Hearts playset. They have drawn the 5 of Hearts, the 3 of Diamonds, the 6 of Clubs, the King of Spades, and the 6 of Diamonds. 
Ryan says that he likes the fact about the DJ,but has an idea for it. He suggests play the 5 of Hearts on that one. The others agree. Hearts means a that the fact is true, and the players can expand on it. Together, they decide that, sure, the radio DJ passed out and began mumbling meaningless phrases over the music. They expand on the fact by mentioning that the voice that he spoke with wasn’t his own, and his words were rhythmic and in time with the music.
Jake pipes up, he has an idea for fact number 2. He thinks that the 6 of Diamonds should be played on fact number 2. He reckons that the response from Highway Maintenance was too swift. Jake thinks that the fake highway patrol is working for someone else. There’s more to this. Charlie thinks maybe the Highway Maintenance folks are the same Vague-Yet-Menacing Government Agents that are currently interviewing the characters.
This continues for all of the fact in the play set.

Character Creation
	
Once you know the general background of the encounter, you can create your Characters in detail. Each Playset comes with four basic facts about every character. Give your character a name, and draw 5 cards. Assign one to each fact, using the same rules as before, and keeping your fifth card in your hand.

Jake decides to play Russell. He draws the 2 of Diamonds, the Ace of Clubs, the 10 of Hearts, the 7 of Clubs, and the 5 of Clubs. He looks at the four character options.
●	I have never met the other characters before. 
●	I've recently lost something - a child, a relationship, a job. 
●	I'm travelling through West Virginia on my way to an important appointment. 
●	I don't believe in any form of the supernatural or a higher power.
	Jake assigns the 2 of Diamonds to the first fact. Russell has never met any of the other characters, but, he has been stalking one of them for some time. Has asks the group if anybody wants to volunteer their character, and Charlie pipes up. She wouldn’t mind if it was her character being stalked.
	He assigns the 10 of Hearts to the second fact. Russell has recently lost something important to him. He could have sworn that he’d had left his childhood teddy bear in the car. He remembers noticing that it went missing not long before the strange song started on the radio.
He assigns his 5 of Clubs to the third fact. Russel’s not travelling through West Virginia on his way to an important meeting, it’s more like he’s travelling around West Virginia. He’s a drifter, never stays in one place for long.
Finally, he assigns his Ace of Clubs to the last fact. He doesn’t believe in any form of the supernatural, or a higher power, but there was this one time, when he was younger that he saw a ghost. I mean, it probably wasn’t a ghost, right? As he grew up, he realised that. But it always stuck with him. Now, he doesn’t know what to believe.

Next, you need to decide what your character believes happened to them. This needs to be unique to your character. Was it short, grey aliens? Tall blond, racist Nordic aliens? Time travelers? Insane dwarfs from beneath the hollow earth? Swamp gas? Illegal military experiments? Demons? Tell the other players your theory. No two players are allowed to share the same theory as to what happened. Negotiate with other players with similar theories until it is clear each theory is distinct.

Charlie is playing as Tanya. Tanya believes that she was taken by Angels of God into heaven.
Ryan is playing George. George believes that they were all abducted by extraterrestrials and experimented on.
Neasa is playing Nora. Nora is sure that she saw someone who peeled off their skin and revealed that they were a Reptilian. A swarm of them abducted her to an underground lair.
Jake, with Russell, believes that they were ghosts, spirits, that surrounded the cars and took him on a Journey.

Each player then draws cards until they have 5 in hand, and the real game begins..

The Interrogation

The player who has had the weirdest, real-life supernatural experience goes first. They’re the Focus. The Focus character is in an interrogation room, telling their version of events. The other players each play the Vague-Yet-Menacing government agents doing the interrogating
When you’re the Focus of the scene, get a feel for your character. Say what comes into your mind, but always keep pushing your theory of what happened. Don’t be afraid to say something that contradicts something that’s already been said. Answer the questions you are asked. Remember, “I don’t know” is a totally valid answer if you can’t think of something.
When you’re a Government Agent, you have no real character or personality. You can only ask questions. Always ask for more details. You’re trying to trick the truth out of the person you’re interrogating. Some questions to keep in mind:
●	What did that smell/feel/sound/look/taste like?
●	How did you feel?
●	What did you do?
●	Can you be more specific?
●	Can you rephrase that?
Every now and then, you should add in a loaded question. Something that leads the Focus into a corner. Maybe something that pits them against another player? Those kinds of questions are great for casting doubt upon a story. Keep some of these in mind?
●	Why didn’t you help (another character)?
●	Whose fault was this??
●	What could you have done to stop this?
●	Why didn’t you?
●	Who was helping you?
●	Why don’t you trust (another character)?

As one of the Government Agents, at any point you can cast doubt on any aspect of the current story by saying “Are you sure that’s how it happened?” If you do this, draw a card from the deck, and put it into your hand. 
As the Focus, if your story is doubted, you turn to another player to back you up. You can call on any player that has cards in their hand. The action immediately cuts to their character being interrogated. That player plays one of their cards in front of you. This card indicates if they are Confirming (red cards) or Contradicting (black cards) your story, just like you did earlier with the facts of the Playset and Characters.
Once you have narrated the detail you were called upon for, continue answering questions until doubt is cast on you. Play continues until there are no cards left to play.
When you play a card, compare the value of it to the list below for inspiration on where to take your narrative.

A	Two impossible things at the same time 
2	Missing time, d�eja vu or other temporal weirdness 
3	Uncomfortably intimate details 
4	Impossible phenomena 
5	Abducted/being taken against your will 
6	Strange or ambiguous messages 
7 	Technological malfunctions 
8	Insectoid or alien features 
9 	Strange lights or energy 
10	Dreamlike imagery 
J	Men in Black 
Q	Secret government activity 
K	Military intervention

	Most accounts of abduction have similar themes and ideas running through themes. The most common ones are listed below. You can use these for inspiration when telling your own account.

CAPTURE 
	This is the most common them. You are rendered incapable of resisting; drugged, stunned, frozen; and taken from terrestrial surroundings. The place where you end up, whether it’s an alien spacecraft, or heaven is unlike anything you have seen on Earth.

EXAMINATION AND PROCEDURES. 
You’ve been captured, but why? You are subjected to invasive physiological and psychological procedures, and on occasion simulated behavioral situations, training and testing. Think about why the beings might want to do this to you? Are you being trained for some task? A planetary revolution? Or just tested to see if your kind are worthy?

CONFERENCE
They tried to speak with you, either in an alien tongue, or telepathically, in your own language. Maybe they trotted you out in front of spectators, or watched as you interacted with the other abductees.

TOUR 
You are given a complete tour of the location to which you were taken. What kinds of thing were you shown? Strange technologies? Magic? What were the abductors doing?

LOSS OF TIME 
Just like in a dream, details and memories begin to fade quickly after the experience. There are large gaps, chunks of time missing from your recollection. Maybe your memory has been messed with, or maybe you’re repressing something terrible. 

RETURN 
After the ordeal, you are returned to Earth. You might be miles from where you started. Things are unfamiliar for a while as you get your bearings. Something is different about the clothes you are wearing, or there is some strange smell following you.

THEOPHANY 
While abducted, or after your return, you may have a profound sense of love, a "high" similar to those induced by certain drugs, or a "mystical experience", accompanied by a feeling of oneness with God, the universe, or your abductors. Whether this is the result of a metaphysical change, Stockholm syndrome, or prior medical tampering, you’re not sure, and, to be honest, you don’t really care.

ENDING
	The interviews continue until you run out of cards or you feel like the story is complete. Have a final scene without any of the abductees, and discuss among yourselves as the federal agents what you'll put in your report. Remember that the cards in front of each player show how much their story was supported by the other abductees - if the cards are mostly red the other abductees backed their story up, while mainly black cards mean their account has been rubbished by the others. 
Once you've decided on the report work out how your character has been affected. Give them a little epilogue describing how their life changes from that point onwards.

Playsets.

Camping Trip at the End of the Universe

	On August 3rd, 2013, some college students went camping in the wilderness near Wayne National Forest in Ohio. Something weird happened out there in the woods. Possibly something supernatural.
The following statements are true.
1.	At 12:34 PM EDT, local resident Jesenia Gardner called the Athens County sheriff's office to report strange lights in the sky near the campsite. Aliens, she said. Upon investigation, sheriff's deputy Elmer Newman and park ranger Whitney Lopez found no UFOs.
2.	They did find the campsite abandoned, with no sign where the campers had gone. Their 1997 Dodge van was nonfunctional, though there was no apparent cause of malfunction. Camping equipment was strewn about the campsite, damaged as if by lightning strike.
3.	Four days later at 1:13, the abducted students were located in Vienna, WV, approximately fifty miles away, walking on foot in an Olive Garden parking lot. None of them knew where they were or how they had gotten there.
4.	Their clothing was covered in a grey-black powder, like soot or ash. Each had unexplained scars running down their backs, which had not been present before. All their watches, phones, electronic devices, identification, socks and underwear were missing.

The characters: 
●	I am an American college student between the ages of 17 and 23. 
●	I care deeply for the character played by the player sitting to my right.
●	I never believed in anything paranormal before this camping trip. 
●	I was doing something at the campsite that I would prefer to hide from the authorities.

Out on the Dust

	At 10:20 AM on February 22nd, 2010, a Coalition APC departed Camp Dwyer in southern Afghanistan on a routine reconnaissance patrol. At 11:59 AM it abruptly dropped out of contact. Enemy action was suspected, but initial patrols found nothing of interest.
The following statements are true.

1.	 At 11:55 AM radio operators in the region started reporting greatly increased static making communication almost impossible. A small minority later stated that they could hear voices in the static, speaking an unknown language. 
2.	At 7:15 PM that day a local shepherd, Arif Nawab, found the APC in a mountain pass 100 km to the north of Camp Dwyer, scorched, blackened and smelling strongly of sulphur. The ground around the APC was also scorched, in a neat circle 5 metres wide. It took two days for this report to reach Coalition forces, in the afternoon of February 24th. 
3.	At 12:15 PM on the 25th of February, an army helicopter saw smoke rising from the mountain village of Maslahat. Closer examination revealed that the smoke originated from several dozen charred bodies, and a patrol in the area was redirected to investigate. 
4.	The patrol discovered among the corpses the bodies of the missing soldiers. Each was badly burned in the body regions close to worn metal objects - dog tags, watches, spare magazines - but was otherwise unharmed. None of them were wearing military fatigues, but were instead clothed in traditional Afghan garb. The soldiers were medevaced to a nearby hospital, but were very quickly moved to a secured ward at Camp Dwyer to be treated and interrogated by military personnel.

The characters: 
●	I am an American soldier between the ages of 18 and 35. 
●	I believe in what the army is doing here. 
●	I want to win the respect of the character played by the player to my right. 
●	I can't sleep and spend most of my days on edge and anxious.

LONELY HEARTS

There's something magical about radio - the idea that you and thousands of strangers are connected by the music, sharing the experience even if you share nothing else. One night in the August of 1974, a small group of strangers travelling through West Virginia are brought together in a far more literal way...
The following statements are true.

1.	At 9:45 PM Michael Wilson, working as a DJ for local country music radio station WBYG, lost consciousness at his desk. His assistant only noticed anything was strange when Michael began mumbling meaningless phrases over the music, before collapsing with blood streaming from his nose and ears.
2.	Around 9:50 PM, the streetlights at four separate points along Interstate go dark. Highway maintenance are called out and find that the electronics of their vehicles stop functioning as soon as they get within 100m of the affected area. The effect fades by 10:45 PM.
3.	At 12:20 AM, a highway patrol car is called in to investigate a group of cars sitting in a parking lot on the banks of the Ohio river with their engines running. Upon reaching the lot the patrolman, Ed May, finds that each car contains a single occupant, soaking wet and close to hypothermia.
4.	None of the occupants know how they got there, and the last thing they remember is a song coming on the radio - Dolly Parton's Jolene. Each of them is very gregarious and blissful, leading to their initial detention on suspicion of drug use.

The characters: 
●	I have never met the other characters before. 
●	I've recently lost something - a child, a relationship, a job.
●	I'm travelling through West Virginia on my way to an important appointment. 
●	I don't believe in any form of the supernatural or a higher power.

Dead in the Water

February 1866. The American merchant ship Margaret Soleil was discovered off the Canary Islands. Most of its crew were missing without any trace. Most. 
	The following statements are true.

●	The remaining passengers were on the brink of starvation, despite food stores being almost totally full. Food was laid out in the mess, most of it still warm.
●	The Ship was severely off course, all evidence on board pointing to a planned voyage to England.
●	Any religious paraphernalia on board (icons, crucifixes, rosary beads, bibles) were badly charred and nearly unrecognizable.
●	The Ship’s lifeboat was missing, and never discovered.

Characters

●	I’ve been serving on the Margaret Soleil for years.
●	I know a damning secret about the Character to my left.
●	I am devoutly Christian.
●	I believe I know where the rest of the crew is.

The  Dead Mountain Disappearance

	February 1973. A hiking expedition consisting of geography students disappeared on Kholat Syakhl, or “Dead Mountain”, in Russia. The rescue team sent to search for them discovered more than they had bargained for. 

The Following statements are true.

●	All of the tents had been ripped to shreds, apparently from the inside, and most of the group’s belongings were still inside.
●	Most of the expedition was discovered, dead, within a few hundred meters of the campsite, with no obvious injuries.
●	The surviving members were found a few kilometers from the campsite about a week after the first discovery. They were all huddled around the body of Igor Doroshenko, the expedition leader, trembling and scared, but unharmed.
●	Doroshenko’s face was shorn off and all of his hair, nails and teeth were missing. Bizarrely, there was no real sign of struggle or trauma where these had been removed.

Characters

●	I went willingly on this expedition, for extra credit on an assignment.
●	I want to impress another character with my memory of the events.
●	This is my first encounter with the supernatural, and I did not care for it.
●	There is something in my past that I’m not telling anybody.

Making your own playsets.

	As you’ve seen by now, there are a few common things that a playset requires. You should give it a quick description or blurb, before diving right into the facts that the players will be altering during play. But, what kinds of facts should you be including? That’s what we’ll be looking at just now. 
So you have 4 facts to play around with, and you want to cover all of the following bases.

●	You should sure that you establish some flavour of the setting.
●	You should have a situation that would create conflict between the characters.
●	You should describe some of the weird, supernatural occurrences in and around the playset.
	
	The Character facts need to do some similar things. When you’re making character templates for Ultranormal Encounters, try to cover the following.

●	Relationships. At least one fact should mention other characters, directly or not. Creating conflicts between these characters who will never meet during play still leads to better play.
●	You should establish something from the character’s past, recent or not-so-recent. Something that may explain the weird supernatural experiences they’ve had, even though it doesn’t.
●	The characters should have some kind of clear goal in mind, outside of the interrogations.
●	You should also try and establish a clear goal for the characters. Something they were working towards before the abduction.
	
	The characters need to be vague enough that even if everyone is playing the same cards, they’ll get different characters, but specific enough to seed an idea in their head.

Names Lists,
American Names:
	Male	Female	
1	Liam	Emma	
2	Mason	Sophia	
3	Noah	Ava	
4	William	Olivia	
5	Jacob	Isabella	
6	Carter	Abigail	
7	Jackson	Lillian	
8	Logan	Harper	
9	James	Avery	
10	Benjamin	Addison	

Period Names

	Male	Female	
1	John	Mary	
2	William	Elizabeth	
3	James	Sarah	
4	George	Nancy	
5	Samuel	Ann	
6	Joseph	Catherine	
7	Henry	Margaret	
8	David	Jane	
9	Jacob	Susan	
10	Charles	Hannah	

Russian Names

	Male	Female	
1	Artem	Sofia	
2	Alexander	Maria	
3	Maxim	Arina	
4	Daniel	Daria	
5	Mikael	Anastasia	
6	Dmitry	Varvara	
7	Kirill	Victoria	
8	Ivan	Anna	
9	Nikita	Pauline	
10	Timothy	Elizabeth