© 1993 BACKSTAGE PRESS IS B N 0-9643630-0-3

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[)e§llln: David Berkman, Travis Eneix, Brett Hackett

[)e§llln (:untl'"ibuten: Aaron 'Hardkorp' Croston, Paul Germano, David Oberholzer, John Kater, Chris Kelly

[)evelupment: David Berkman, Derek Boain, Travis Eneix, Andrew Finch, Anthony Galiela, Aaron Long, Brett Hackett

WI'"ltten UY: David Berkman, Travis Eneix, Andrew Finch, Anthony Gallela

I'dltlnll: David Berkman, Anthony Gallela

Art [)1I'"edul'": Anthony Galiela

Art: Shannon Archaleta - pg Dave Ball - pg Karen Baumann - pg

Tim Collier - pg Oliver Dear - pg David Fooden - pg Paul Gudnason -pg

Ed Heil - pg Shawn Klimek - pg Arron Long - pg Shane Magill - pg Fernando Marti - pg Jeff Menges - pg Daniel Thron - pg

40 & 118 41 22,24,26,36,47,57,76,89 &121 14,20,28,68,80 & 124 25, 130 98 37,43,45,60,82,89,94,96, 97,101,106,108,109,110, 115,132,141,142 & 143 70 & 119 12 & 63 35, 70, 84, 86, 90, 95 & 112 23 38,50,65,74 & 132 114 7,8,10,53 & 127

(:uvel'" [)e§llln: David Berkman, Derek Boain, Andrew Finch, Aaron Long

(:uvel'" Art: Ron Walotsky

T'YPe§ettlnll '" Layuut: David Berkman

VI'"udu£tlun: David Berkman, Travis Eneix, Anthony Galiela, Aaron Long

~ta": Tim Creel, Eric Currier, Beatrice Flamenco, Richard Trafton

lJ>a£k§talle VI'"e§§: David Berkman, Travis Eneix, Andrew Finch, Anthony Galiela, Brett Hackett

2 Theatrix - The Core Rules

We Said We Wf)uld~ Sf) Ilere (7f)e§ •••

lJ>I'"ett "I can't believe I came up with that." tia£kett - for doing what no one else could.

()inid "Great Master of All I - what?" Eet1unan -for that wonderful insight it took only six years to develop.

TI'"avl§ "Attitude!?, WHAT ATTITUDE!!" I'nelx -for his [Deleted for Security Reasons] and his surprising objectivity.

Anthuny "She wants me." f3allela - for calling it like it is.

Andl'"ew "I have just a few words to say about that ... " I'ln£h - for having something to say about everything.

[)el'"ek "I'm supposed to guess!?" lJ>uain - for developing ESP.

Aal'"un "Deadline? ... There was a deadline?" Lunll - for artwork the likes of which NO ONE has ever seen.

[)avld "I can't believe I can be this drunk, and still be this sexy!" f)bel'"hulzel'" - for a party only he remembers.

I'§thel'" "Would you guys shut up down there!" ~urtun - for extreme patience under fire.

l?1£hal'"d "Is this annoying you?" TI'"aftun - for being very, very helpful.

-1111 " ... But I digress." Lut::a§ - for supplying us with more useful information than she'll ever know.

Tal'"a "Don't ask me" f3allauhel'" - for being the most knowlegable person in gaming.

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Many of the play testers listed below bought pre­press copies of Theatrix from us, helping us along as we developed the game. We would like to thank them again for their support. We would also like to thank all of our play testers for their comments and advice. This wouldn't be the same game without you.

Stephen Beardslee, Cynthia Billops, Brian Boonstra, Jeff Brain, Ron Britton, Gmeron Brown, Jenifer Buring, Matthew Buynosli,Nathan Carpenter, S. Andrew Chance, Deryl Clark, Jacob Clingerman, Christine Craig, Tim Creel, Dona Croston, Eric Currier, Douglas Dea, Gary Delisle, Timothy Dennis, Steve Douglas, Jennifer Drath, Skip Dugur, Andrew Durston, Heleen Durston, Brett Dyer, Chris Elliott, Geoffrey Fagan, Stacey Fetters,David Finklea,Scott Fitz,James Fourcade, Sam Freund, Matt Fry, Francis Gallela, Diana Goldsmith, Larry Grossman, Tom Harrington, Joel Hill , Robin Hines Tanith Hirai, Chris Hockaboot, Dave Hughes, Darrin Hyrup, Paul Jackson, Mike Johnson, DeverneJones,Shane Judson,Mike Kangle,Bill Kassale, Sarah Keast, David Kenard , Laurinda Kershaw, JapJi Khalsa, John Kim, Bob Krotsley, Vary Kuevor, Sophie Lagace, Shannon Lambeth, Jason Lamborne, Magnus Lie Hetland , Nick Lesiecki , Mark Letter Mark Lieberman, Stacy Linder, Corey Lissau, Chris Love, Jim Love, Gaby Malleod, Bill Mazerat, Kevin Miller, Loren Miller, William Miller, Carlton Moore, Cy Myers, David Myers, Brian Myhre, Bretto Netto, Ashley Nichols, Sean Pagliarulo, William Parham, Joseph Pettit, Tom Pizzino, Chris Poley, Nick Poolos, Nick Ramerez, John Reskusich, Jeff Richardson, Todd Rohrer, Andrew Rose, Gordon Rose, Gurubani Rosenbloom, Lisa Sacco, Vinny Sauzillio, Aaron Schwartz, Matt Scott, Dan Senn, Ami Seymour, Todd Shaughnessy, O.J. Simpson,Gary Smith,Marcus Soulier,ChrisStopelli, Demitri Strathearn, Mike Strathearn, Gobind Tanaka, Jeff Taylor, Chris Thesing, Howard Thompson, Scott Thorne, Daniel Thron, Teresa Thurman, James Tiel, Jim Todd, Richard Trafton, Tanith Tyrr, Gary Vanderhook, Lee Vanderlip, Ron Vardy, Rene Vernon, Dave Vignola, Gary Walker, Sam Walls, Jeff Washam, Dirk Wells, Robbie Westmoreland, JD Wikert, Jim Wiley, Robin Williams, Stuart Williams, Tami Williams, Holly Wilson, Richard Wilson, Ken Winland, Kriss Wolf, Eddy You, Josh Zerlan

We apologize to anyone whose name was left out, or misspelled . If you played, or purchased, a pre-press "'~~ t;1, 1;"l;>,eatrix, and your name is not listed , please write us, and give us your name, address, the place, and date you played Theatrix.

Thank you - Backstage Press.

Special Thank.~ Tv:

Nene Tina Thomas Dean Yuen Amrit Kaur Khalsa Coszette Eneix Dr. Lyndell Grey Ester Norton F ASA Corperation Francis Gallela Greg Staford Jill Lucas

Idvl~ cI: Ideal~:

Carlo Lopa Eric Lindstrom Sam Lewis Tri Tac Systems Tara Gallagher Richard Trafton Rev. Robert Finch Paul Lidberg Paramount Pictures Tim Dunn

People who have inspired us to try and reach for new heights, who have given us vision, and/or visions.

B.F. Skinner Buddah-Head Fritz Perls Ganja Indica Gene Roddenberry Ian Fleming Kitty Lao Tsu Miyamoto Musashi Syd Field Undercover S.KA

Backstage Press would especially like to thank llvb Ilamiltvn for his assistance on this product. We owe you a debt of gratitude. - Backstage Press

Published by Backstage Press P.O. Box 170243, San Francisco, CA 94117

The purchaser of this book may reproduce the character sheets for personal use only. Any other reproduction of this material, whether in whole, or in part, without written permis­sion of the publisher, is expressly denied, with the exception of short excerpts for the purpose of reviews.

Theatrix is a Trademark of Backstage Press. Copyright © 1993 Backstage Press. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

The mention of or reference to any companies or prod­ucts in these pages is not a challenge to the trademarks or copyrights concerned.

Theatrlx. - The Core Rules 3

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Ll f)f tf)~Tl ( Gliliilj[4

INTRODUCTION GAME CONTENTS ROLLING DICE THE BASIC RULE CAPITALIZED TERMS ORGANIZATION

CHAPTER BY CHAPTER REFERENCE CARDS GLOSSARY SUMMARY

( It LlII,\~

ROLEPLAYING WHAT IS ROLEPLAYING? THE TROUPE ACTING

)

STAGE DIRECTIONS SOLILOQUIES AND VOICE-OVERS

DIRECTING TIME SUPPORTING CAST STAGING CONTINUITY CUT! ... TAKE TWO

GLOSSARY SUMMARY

( I :iC"'CI'''' CINEMATOGRAPHY

DESCRIPTION SET DESIGN, LIGHTING, AND ...

4 Theat..-ix - The Core Rules

)

9 9 9 9

11 11 11 12 13 13

15 15 15 15 16 16 17 17 17 17 18 18 19 19

21 21 22

MUSICAL SCORE 22 FORESHADOWING 23 CUT SCENES 23

Flashbacks 25 Dream Sequences 25

TIMING AND COINCIDENCE 26 Meanwhile, Back At The ... 26

LITTLE SCENES 26 GLOSSARY 27 SUMMARY 27

MAKEUP AND COSTUMING 29 QUANTIFIERS 29 SCALING 29 AND MORE ... 30

TO QUANTIFY OR NOT TO QUANTIFY ... 30 QUANTIFIED TRAITS 30 DESCRIPTIVE TRAITS 30

Quantifiers for Descriptive Traits 30 UNQUANTIFIEDTRAITS 31

SCALING 31 COMPLETING THE SCALE 31 METHODS OF SCALING 32

Scaling By Range 32 Scaling by Norm 32

IF THE MOUNTAIN WON'T GO ... 32 THE DECIMAL POINTS 32

TYPES OF TRAITS 33 PHYSICAL AND MENTAL A TTRIBUTES 33

Physical Attributes 33 Mental Attributes 34 Describing Attributes 34

SKILLS AND ABILITIES 35 Ran~ng 36

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Skill and Ability Histories Specialization Skill and Ability Descriptions Everyman Skills Skill Categories Example Skills

PERSONALITY TRAITS Personality Trait Activation Director's Control Double Activation for ...

DESCRIPTORS Descriptor Activation Descriptors Vs. Skills/Abilities

THE PRIMARY DESCRIPTOR FLAWS

GENERAL THEORY OF ... CONCEPTION LIST ATTRIBUTES, SKILLS, ...

THE BASIC RULE TEMPLATES

POWER PLAY CHARACTER SHEETS GLOSSARY SUMMARY

@UIIICN'S!'" j1BI:!)

LIGHTS ... CAMERA ... ACTION! OPPOSED ACTIONS SUCCESS AND FAILURE THE BASIC RULE SKILL VS. PLOTLINE AMBIGUITY ROLEPLAY TRAITS SHORT TIME

ROUNDS INITIATIVE

USING SKILLS AND ABILITIES DIFFICULTY COLLATERAL SKILLS USING THE STAGE ACTIVELY OPPOSED ACTIONS

Rule Of Thumb THE ACTIVE PARTICIPANT

36 37 37 37 37 38 38 40 40 41 41 44 44 44 45 45 45 46 47 47 47 47 49 49

51 51 51 51 52 52 52 54 54 54 54 55 55 55 57 57 58 58

DUELING SUCCESSES RESOLUTION FLOWCHARTS

RESOLUTION PATHS Basic Resolution Paths Transitional Boxes Advanced Resolution Paths Example Example

MAGNITUDE OF RESULT Skill Rank Vs. Difficulty Risk

TIMING, TENSION, AND AMBIGUITY RANDOMNESS

A Formula For Success GLOSSARY SUMMARY

( en "'til[l:

IMPROVISATION TROUPE STYLE ROLEPLAYING DRAMA INFORMATION

)

MACROSCOPIC VS. MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE PROCESS SUBPLOTS

Long Term Vs. Short Term Personal Vs. Troupe Examples of Subplots

DISTRIBUTED DIRECTING FOR ... THE STAGE

Rule of Thumb STATEMENTS

Example IMPROVISE FOR SUCCESS

CONSISTENCY PLOT POINTS

SPENDING PLOT POINTS Buying Success Blackmail Payment Due

EARNING PLOT POINTS Zero Point Subplots Beating the Averages

58 58 59 59 60 61 62 63 64 64 64 65 66 66 67 67

69 69 69 70 70 70 71 71 71 71 72 72 72 73 73 73 75 75 76 76 76 76 76 77 78 78

Theat .... ix - The Core Rules 5

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Downtime Pregaming

APPLAUSE JELLYBEAN DIRECTING

THE BASIC RULE GLOSSARY SUMMARY

(

EPILOGUE PACING

IllIffll

PLOT POINT TOTALS SCALING THE CHRONICLE RESCALING THE CHRONICLE BOTTOM OF THE HEAP TOP OF THE HEAP

HIGH WATER MARK ADVANCEMENT SUBPLOTS

COMPLEXITY THE FORMS OF POWER PLOT DEVICES ACTOR'S CONTROL

PUSHING THE ENVELOPE THE BASIC RULE GLOSSARY SUMMARY

(

78 78 78 78 78 79 79

)

81 81 81 81 82 82

• 82 82 82 83 83 83 83 83 84 85 85

)

COMBAT 87 IMPORTANCE 87 ROUGHNESS 88 SCALING TRAITS 88

Success and Failure 88 Results 88

SETTING 88 Flavor 88 Weapons 88 Damage 89

ENVIRONMENT 89 The Stage 89 Props 89

HANDS, SWORDS, GUNS, AND ... 90

6 Theat ... lx - The Core Rules

CHOREOGRAPHY FIGHTING STYLES

Plain Fighting All Out Attack Full Defense Trickery

DAMAGE WOUND LEVELS

Damage Types SPECIAL EFFECTS SCALING OUT FOR THE COUNT FORCE FIELDS, ARMOR, AND ...

A WORLD 0' HURT READY, AIM, FIRE! THE BASIC RULE COMBAT ACTION RESOLUTION COMBAT ROUND CHECK LIST THE BIG COMBAT MEGA-EXAMPLE GLOSSARY SUMMARY

( \1 IlIi'IIIf )

SETTING GETTING STARTED

THE STAGE Research The World Politics Values People Dramatic Context

VILLAINS UPDATING THE CORE RULES

SCALING Something.O Points Example Example

SPECIFIC THEORY OF ... LISTS

Skills Abilities Descriptors

SYSTEM EXTENSIONS

90 91 91 91 91 91 91 92 93 93 95 95 95 96 97 97 98 98

101 113 113

115 115 115 116 116 116 116 117 117 117 118 118 118 118 119 119 12.Q 120 120 122 122

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