WONDERLARPS

The world is at war, but in Ireland a desperate bid for freedom plays out across the land. In a remote corner of Ireland, British soldiers and their prisoners take refuge in an ancient castle, knowing that rebels may be upon them at any moment. But what of the rumors of an ancient power lurking in the depths beneath the castle dungeons? And what do the strange fires in the distant village portend? And what do the stories of Serpent's Spiral mean?

The Serpent's Spiral is a history-based theater game that takes place during the 1916 Easter Uprising in Ireland. Players include British soldiers, castle natives, and Irish prisoners trapped together for a night. Game space will include a full labyrinth.

The 5th Service of the Home Squadron of the North Irish Horse (Motto: Who Shall Separate Us) received a message from the undersecretary of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Wimborne, roughly a month ago. This message tipped them off to the location of a number of rebels near the town of Donegal. A dozen men lead by Captain Reginald Mallin deployed from their station at Carrick-on-Shannon. They surprised and apprehended a small band of Irish Republicans and took them under custody to be sent back to Dublin.
Several contradictory orders meant that the 5th Service remained in Donegal for a fortnight as guests of Castle Connell. When the lady of the castle, Margaret explained that old friends of her father and some family were arriving for a memorial dedication, they took up residence on the grounds of the nearby Murphy Manor and spent an addition week there.

Earlier today, as the service prepared to march towards Dublin, a local fellow named John O'Donnell entered the courtyard of the Murphy stable and demanded the noble release of the prisoners so that no blood might be shed. Heated words were exchanged, and he challenged Captain Mallin to a duel. O'Donnell was subdued and chained with the other prisoners and the men of the 5th proceeded to leave, keeping a wary eye out for danger.

At dusk, an ambush began when a delivery cart unloaded Republicans instead of hay, while riflemen began shooting from hidden locations. The fighting was chaotic with the Irish having the advantage of familiar terrain. Mallin and five of the Service were shot dead, while two others were wounded. Lieutenant Daniel Purcell took command and ordered the men and the prisoners to retreat. The Lieutenant and Officer Josiah Caldwell managed to keep the retreat orderly and protected. They returned to Castle Connell.

The Royalists and their prisoners have only just returned, bloody and shaken. Margaret Connell and her staff are looking on to the needs of all, including the guests and neighbors who only recently sat down to a formal dinner. As the ancient barriers were sealed against the outside world, all minds turn to the immediate future with uncertainty.

The Serpent Spiral takes place on the grounds of Castle Connell outside of the town of Donegal. The Castle itself is on the stony highlands overlooking the town. The road up to the castle is fairly clear and there is little besides neighboring farms between the castle and the town.

The game space itself will take place in the main hall of the Castle, recently set up for a formal dinner. Another portion of the castle will be made available during the game. If there is any need to travel to nearby locations, the area right outside the room will simulate elsewhere

SKILL CHECKS
If your character has a skill, you can use it in an appropriate situation (You can’t swim without a body of water, for example). To use a skill, pull a card and if the card is lower than your skill rank, you succeed. If it is higher, you fail. Ace is low, and an exceptional success (you swim with speed and awe-inspiring finesse.) The King is high and a critical failure (you get a cramp and need to be fished out.) When you need a result clarification, consult a GM (Where does this swimming take me?) or you can use the skill in a player on player situation without a GM. (I am swimming faster than you!)

Some Notes:
No skill check is needed for combat, but skills can be used to modify damage (dodge/resistance)
Unless specified, you can only use one skill at a time. No Juggling and Swimming, for example.
In a combat round, you can only use on skill at a time, unless specified
Some skills like Ambush or Disguise must be preset, and have setup time costs.
You can try a skill again after the time cost. If a skill has no time cost, use 5 minutes.
A GM may ask you to pull a card for a random skill check. This may be a perception check.
Some skills have limited in-game uses, special effects or contingency envelopes.
Some skills like Ambush inflict damage or effects without the need to call COMBAT

COMBAT!

To simplify and speed up combat, there is no To-Hit mechanism. Combat will be a matter of deciding the delivery, the order of damage and then the damage/effects. .

Combat will involve no body or weapon contact. No padded swords, fake punches, glitter spells, squirt or nerf guns or any such contact. Combat starts when someone says combat and makes a gesture.

    GESTURES
    One hand/arm aimed at an individual – signifies hand to hand, or within reach attack
    Two parallel hands aimed at an individual – signifies ranged or distant attack
    Two Hands aimed to encompass a game area – signifies wide area of effect attack

Gestures can be made with weapon simulations, so you can point a sword or rifle and say COMBAT!

When COMBAT is called, anyone wishing to attack or counter-strike can also call COMBAT and gesture to join the fight for this round. When no one joins for ten seconds, the combat round is set. This will determine who calls damage first. If COMBAT is called simultaneously, damage is dealt simultaneously. For order of effect, we will be playing by the honor system. If there is any contention about who goes first, treat the effect as simultaneous. If someone is knocked unconscious or disabled before their attack comes up, they can inflict no damage or effect. If they are incapacitated during a simultaneous call, the damage will take effect before they are rendered incapable.

DAMAGE

Standard attacks will simply have a damage rating. An unskilled punch would do 1 point of damage, while a bullet or a knife will do 3 points of damage. Damage ratings will be listed on item cards or with skills. When effects are called and your turn to announce damage comes up, you can simply state the number for straight-forward damage, for example, “3 Damage”.

Some attacks will have attributes. A flamethrower, for example, will have a damage rating listed as “3 Fire damage.” When you call the damage for this weapon, use the full description. Individuals may have weaknesses or defense to cause or minimize damage based on attributes. Attributes will be listed on character sheets, skills and item cards. Examples of character attributes might include;

     Cold Blooded: +2 damage from Cold Damage
     Mental Shield: -2 damage from Mental Damage
     Thick Skin: -1 damage from any damage, except Confusion, Willpower, Charisma or Poison

Common Attributes in Game:
Cold, Fire, Lightning, Insanity, Willpower, Charisma, Poison

Special Effects

Some skills and attacks carry special effects. These effects are listed below, so you can understand what to do when they are delivered. Effects have a duration with them which should be read when delivered. For example, a rogue might have the skill Knock-Out which does, “2 damage and Sleep 5 minutes”

Sleep: The target slips into unconsciousness. They can be revived with attempts to awaken. This effect can include various forms of unconsciousness like knock-outs, gas and exhaustion.

Paralyze: The target can’t move any limbs. Information can still be passed and speech can occur. Any skills that do not require movement can be used. This effect might be used to simulate restraints, certain poisons, awe and strong fear.

Stupefy: Stupefy removes the ability to use intellect skills or pass on useful information. This effect removes all reasoning. Physical skills are still open. This can simulate severe intoxication, shock, or some mental trauma.

Break(x): This call is used to disable a physical object, including limbs. X is the subject of the effect. You might have a skill saying “Break weapon” which means that the target no longer can use the weapon effect. It might state “Break Arm” which means that the target can’t use an arm, attacker’s choice. There will be specific skills available to repair and heal broken things.

Death: A rare effect, some things will simply kill you. Serious poisons, for example. If you get hit by this call, you fall down and die, following all rules for death.

Death

Death comes to all. In this game, it may come soon! If you reach 0 hit points, you are just unconscious and can be revived. If hits go below zero, you have achieved death. If a player cures you within a minute of death, you have been revived and return to the game normally. If have achieved death because of a special effect like “death by poison,” then the poisoning needs to be cured in that minute. If the effect was “3 damage and death by poison,” and the damage drops you below 0, you need the poison and damage cured to be revived. Some death effects may not have cures.

After a minute in death, you pass into the afterlife and cannot be revived. When being a corpse no longer interests you, place an item card for your body with your other item cards under it on the floor, and go to Death’s Door (a designated space) to pick up your “Death Note” to see what happens next…

Keeping Time in Game
You may have noticed that there are several durations in these rules, and these durations may be difficult to remember or keep track of. We also don’t expect you to keep an eye on your watch for the entire game, so we would like you to do your best to honor the length of the effects, but won’t penalize slight variations. In essence, the durations will be;
        Quick: Ten seconds (count Mississippi, please) Used for fear and determining combat
        Short: One minute (it seems longer in game, do your best to stretch it our) Most effects
        Long: Five minutes (This seems forever in game. Hopefully, it will be broken) Strong effects
        Forever: Fifteen minutes (This is a tremendous amount of game time, 1/16th!) RARE!

Magic and the Supernatural
This is the modern day and age. There is no such thing as magic. Unless it is on your character sheet, in which case, the supernatural does exist and rules for magic will be found there. The rules might look a lot like these rules with slight alterations, if they existed. Ahem.

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