smallbird games

Suitable For: Bindings 1 and 2, Otherwordly 2, Aspect 4, Emptiness 1

You've gotten involved with powers maybe you shouldn't have.

But you can't take it back now, and your world, for better or worse, is full of new and exciting possibility. You have power of your own, now, and there are surely plenty of things that you can think of to use it for. You can fix things. If you can't fix things, after all—wouldn't that mean you've done something a little bad? So it's probably easier to believe in it.

However, a fact of your life is that that nothing comes to you for free. A little power in your hands doesn't change that. You'll have to consider what you're willing to stake, and if it's worth the cost.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Turn your powers to a cause of bloodthirsty vengeance or desperate need, and pay the cost in something visceral (blood, flesh, love—yours or someone else's, if you can promise it).
[ ] Seek out your wicked mentor for advice on a problem you can't entrust to anyone else.
[ ] Encounter a minor but frustrating setback in your personal life.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 15 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Wander through the woods, looking for natural ingredients or remedies.
• Do urgent business lit only by the light of the moon.
• Advise someone you care for on their personal troubles.
• Do a small kindness for someone else, which still isn't enough.
• Take the best care you can of something or someone you treasure.
• Pore over dusty tomes or yellowed recipes.
• Attempt to use your powers in an unfamiliar context or toward a new end.

You've got a great idea for a school club!

The problem is that it's not an easy sell—it might be niche, it might be controversial, it might go against tradition or local mores. But you have a passion for the topic, and you want to make your dream a reality. You'll have to find a few people with similar interests, and a way to get the important people to sign off on it, if you can. Or maybe you'll fail miserably, but have met some kindred spirits.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Get three people, not including yourself, to agree to join your club.
[ ] Field questioning from some authority (the student council president, the principal, a strict teacher) about why your club should be allowed to exist.
[ ] Find a quiet, out-of-the-way room that's perfect for your club business.
[ ] Make a bid for someone to be your faculty advisor.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 20 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Hand someone a flyer and describe what they do with it.
• Go on a long explanation or tangent about an interest of yours.
• Overhear a whispered conversation that wasn't meant for you.
• Get caught daydreaming in class.
• Look through an old yearbook, trophy case, or similar.
• Hear an anecdote about how a similar endeavor has failed before.
• Disagree with a fellow club signatory on something that matters to you.
• Notice something at school that's stained, patched-together, broken, or starting to fall apart.

Suitable For: Knight 1, Aspect 3, Shepherd 2, Emptiness 1

There's something out-of-place about you in this small town.

You might be the black sheep of your high school class, or maybe you're something from the woods disguised as a human, or maybe you're getting new weird powers you don't know how to deal with. In a big city, you might be able to hide your odd qualities, or get people to overlook them, but here, everyone knows everyone, and everyone's in everyone else's business.

And furthermore, at least part of you wants to fit in—to be embraced in the way that this town welcomes people who can be what it expects. But that acceptance comes at a cost, and you'll have to decide who you really want to be.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Secure an invite to an exclusive social event or a date to an anticipated public one.
[ ] Catch someone else in having the same quality you think makes you not belong.
[ ] Disappoint someone looking to relate to you out of shame, fear, or denial.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 15 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Watch someone you admire from afar, and dwell on what quality of theirs you wish you had.
• Get caught in a strange situation or place.
• Over-explain why something you're doing should be seen as normal.
• Indulge in a moment of being your true self, when you think you're not being watched.
• Try something normal or popular that you've never done before.
• Observe a crowd from high up—from the top of the bleachers, a projection room, the second floor of a house, on a television recording.

Suitable For: Bindings 3, Storyteller 2, Aspect 1, Emptiness 2, Mystic 2

You're trying to take charge of things.

It could be something less formal, like your car club or your knitting circle; it might also be a big deal like a vestry position or a spot on the Town Council. You've got ideas about how things should be run around here, and no one will do it as well as you, you're sure!

If you're going to win, though, you're going to have to promise people a lot of things, and decide which of those promises you actually can (or want to) keep.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Make a speech to an assembled group declaring your intention for what you'll do, if you achieve the position you seek.
[ ] Decorate for a major event or celebration.
[ ] Receive a proposal for (or propose yourself) an exchange of favors, if you're to achieve the position you're seeking.
[ ] Get into a heated debate about policy or social values.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 20 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Listen to a local or patriotic song, and narrate how it makes you feel—and how you react publicly.
• Work your campaign into an unrelated conversation with someone else.
• Drink lemonade or sweet tea, ideally out of a paper cup.
• Share or receive a piece of petty gossip.
• Make a superficial (or even genuine) demonstration of local spirit.
• Make a promise to someone for their support.
• Respond to a question with more confidence than you feel.

There's something you want, and you definitely can't have it.

Maybe it's that your friends and neighbors would definitely not approve; maybe it's just beyond your skills or means and the only way available to you is underhanded; maybe what stands in your way are respected people and institutions. Maybe it's even just a little bit wicked, what you want, but you can't stop longing for it.

And because of this, you'll be tempted. It might be your own thoughts or imagination presenting you a way to have what you think you shouldn't. It might also be a criminal, an authority figure, or the Devil. You'll have to decide if you trust what's being offered, and if you trust yourself.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Truthfully explain, in response to an offer, why you should not have what you desire.
[ ] Fail at upholding one of your important standards for yourself.
[ ] Experience a vision, dream, nightmare or imagine spot of how your life might transform, if you stopped resisting your desires.
[ ] Declare what price you're willing to pay for your desires.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 20 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Indulge in a small pleasure, and share it with someone else.
• Dwell on the way the leaves are changing for a new season.
• Decide to forego a part of your familiar routine and do something else.
• Take the scenic route between places, and witness something unsettling.
• Experience a brief connection or moment of commonality with a stranger.
• Lose something (an item, a thought, a contest, an opportunity) that's trivial but annoying.
• Think back to something you wanted in the past and gave up on.
• Highlight how someone else doesn't fit in, either with wonder or with scorn.

There's something beyond the veil of this world following you.

It might make itself apparent via senses other than sight—in a chill, in unusual sounds, in messages on your television—or might move objects around your house. Whatever it is, it's trying to communicate something to you, but right now it's hard to tell whether what it's an act of friendship or malice. That said, you can go about your everyday life for now.

Eventually, though, you'll have to confront it to have some peace.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Spend a tense, sleepless night reading omens in your surroundings.
[ ] Are overtaken by the haunting, and it acts through you for a brief time.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 10 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Uncover something old and forgotten, and speculate as to its origin and significance.
• Clean up an area that hasn't been touched in a while—an attic, a room in an old house, a section of a graveyard, a study room at the library.
• Recount to others what you can gather together of a fading, long-ago memory, and draw a connection between it and the haunting.
• Feel suddenly chilly in spite of the weather or surroundings.
• Notice lights flickering, or darkness coming early.
• Hear a whisper in your ear and turn to see no one there.

You're experiencing the highs and lows of high school football!

You're a member of the high school's best-known sports team, and in the starting lineup. A lot's riding on you, and—hey, it's a lot of pressure, but you're tough and you love the game. Hell, you could even get a scholarship to college if you play your cards right and you're committed enough.

But it's not all your life is, and there's other things calling—obligations and desires and interests that don't quite line up with The Game. You're going to have to decide whether it's enough for you, and you're going to have to either hold it together—or break under pressure.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Have a montage of your practices, and describe how you prepared you feel.
[ ] Lose your temper during practice about something that happened outside of it.
[ ] Get an offer to do something you'd really like to do that would make you miss practice.
[ ] Do a personal ritual or tradition for the day of the big game, or something you feel will bring you luck.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 20 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Shy away from opening up earnestly about hopes and fears when given the opportunity.
• High-five someone in the hallway.
• Get in trouble for something you're neglecting due to game prep.
• Watch another player, and think about what about them makes you jealous.
• Wash grass stains out of a piece of clothing as best you can.
• Rib another player for a perceived vulnerability.
• Ask someone you like (or like-like) if they're going to be at the big game.
• Remark on a poster or flier relating to the game.

You've got a great idea for a school club!

The problem is that it's not an easy sell—it might be niche, it might be controversial, it might go against tradition or local mores. But you have a passion for the topic, and you want to make your dream a reality. You'll have to find a few people with similar interests, and a way to get the important people to sign off on it, if you can. Or maybe you'll fail miserably, but have met some kindred spirits.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Make a large spectacle to try and garner interest in your club.
[ ] Turn in your club application and wait for authorities to decide your fate.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Get into a disagreement over the concept or direction of your club.
• You get behind on something else important while consumed by this endeavor.
• Someone asks you a question about your plans.
• Learn something new about one of your potential new club members.

You're on the trail of an elusive creature you only from stories.

There's something that draws you to this legend—whether it's your personal history, a visceral fear you have to face, or a feeling of kinship. It's more than a scientific interest, even if you're telling yourself that's all it is. Others might think it's just a story, but you know—you know—that it has to be real, and you're going to find it.

Once you do, you'll have to decide whether you're satisfied with the answers you've got, and what you actually want to do next.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Come across evidence of the creature's existence in an unexpected place.
[ ] Lose your way in the woods.
[ ] Share or listen to an old story or legend that relates to your search.
[ ] Lie in wait to confront the creature and face it.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 20 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Daydream about what will happen when you track down the creature.
• Pause in a conversation or event to scribble down a thought.
• Crunch fallen leaves or branches beneath your feet.
• Pore over a yellowing book, newspaper, or other piece of old reading material.
• Take a little-known shortcut between locations.
• Sit around a campfire or camp stove.
• Drop something important in the dark.

You're taking care of a store (or maybe a restaurant, or maybe a business like a hair salon).

You don't own this business, oh no—your work here is steady and permanent, but it probably doesn't pay as much as you want and it's definitely not getting you any upward mobility. It's a way to pay your bills (or debts) or to save up for a long-term goal at best, but that's something, right?

Eventually, though, you'll have to decide if it's time for you to stop waiting on your bigger dreams, or if you're not quite ready yet.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest when you:

[ ] Come up with an innovation or scheme to make the store a little better in some way, be it sales, special events, or cunning merchandise arrangements.
[ ] Get lost in a moment of imaginative play or daydreaming on the job about how your ordinary life might become fantastical or adventurous.
[ ] Cover for a fellow employee slacking off, or a friend shoplifting.
[ ] Make a plan to get the hell out of this job and this place, whether you intend to act on it or not.

You can earn each bonus once, for a total of 20 XP.

Quest Flavor:

1/chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:

• Find a strange product on the shelves or in the storeroom that you don't remember stocking.
• Give customer service with a smile when you'd really prefer not to.
• Spend time people-watching the customers, and dwell on what they have that you wish you did.
• Try your best to explain away a mistake or minor indiscretion to your boss.
• Watch the street through the window on a slow, rainy day.
• Slip and break something you're carrying.
• Indulge in a petty act of retaliation toward an inconsiderate customer.
• Let a coworker who you think has it harder than you have something you wanted (a better shift, your share of the tips).

You want God to answer for something.

The world isn't right and it isn't fair, but you were told that at least there would always be someone listening. But things are building to a point where you want there to be a reason why there's never been a response.

Nothing is going to tell you what you want to hear. You'll have to decide if you're satisfied with that.

Major Goals:

The HG can award you 5 XP towards this quest if there's a scene where you lash out in a tirade or burst into tears in a distraught entreaty to God about your life, someone else's life, and/or the state of the world around you.

You can earn this bonus once, for a total of 5 XP.

Quest Flavor:

• A cold wind or sudden shift in the weather leaves you chilly.
• Something important falls apart, breaks, or doesn't work in the way you need it to.
• You ask a question of a person to which they don't have an answer.
• You visit a grave, memorial, or abandoned building.

You've gotten together with friends to find or confront a ghost or spirit that's bothering you and find out what its deal is.

Ritual Actions

During the Ritual of the Ghost Hunt, you may take the following Ritual Actions; you may also choose, but are not required, to claim a black Ritual XP Action at any time.

• Provide an avenue for the haunt to communicate with you, and give voice to what it tells you.
• Wait on a threshold, and describe what in the room before you might spell danger or menace.
• Emote your reaction to a sudden sensation, evidence of a past crime, or something out of place.
• Talk with one of your fellow ghost-hunters about something you fear that's not the haunt.
• Encounter something strange under the moonlight that you won't forget easily.
• Uncover a clue as to the haunt's identity, and speculate as to what it might mean.
• Become possessed by the haunt, speak using its voice, and enact its intentions using your hands.
• Invoke another Ritual or symbol of power as part of a combo move.

The Ritual of the Ghost Hunt ends when the sun rises, or when the haunt has possessed one of you.

The haunt has possessed one of you, and your confrontation has come to a head.

Ritual Actions

During the Ritual of the Posession, you may take the following Ritual Actions; you may also choose, but are not required, to claim a black Ritual XP Action at any time.

If you are the possessed:

• Make demands with the haunt's voice.
• Reenact a moment of high emotion or trauma from the haunt's existence, as if it is currently happening.
• Take action on a desire the haunt was unable to fulfill without a body.
• Confuse another character for the haunt's direly-missed companion or hated nemesis.
• Break through as yourself for a moment in an outburst of emotion.

If you are one of the remaining hunters:

• Offer something up in exchange for your fellow's safety.
• Emote your response to the haunt's actions.
• Recall a shared moment with the possessed person—either one that was meaningful, or one you regret.
• Attempt to wake your fellow's psyche with an emotional appeal.
• Ask a question that isn't quite the one you need to ask.
• Try to exorcise the haunt, either with conventional methods or ones that make sense to you.

The Ritual of the Possession ends when the sun rises, or the haunt leaves by force or of its own accord.

It's the day of the big game, and the players are taking the field to find out who'll leave victorious, and who will know the agony of defeat.

Ritual Actions

During the Ritual of the Football Game, you may take the following Ritual Actions; you may also choose, but are not required, to claim a black Ritual XP Action at any time.

If you're a football player:

• Describe a play on the field, and emote.
• Suffer a minor injury, or injure someone else.
• Get called off the field for misbehavior, poor playing, or mystery reasons.
• Get put on the field in a desperate moment.
• Describe how either your team or the other team scored.

If you're in the stands:

• If you're alone, think about who you wish was next to you; if you're with someone, sit a little closer to them.
• Describe a play on the field, and emote.
• Leave the stands for snacks, bathroom, or fresh air, and encounter someone you didn't expect to see.
• Cheer on a specific player.