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TNT Writing and Images

Leonard A. Pimentel


TNT Editing

James M. Fraleigh


TNT Playtesting

Sam Dieppa (Metagame), Rashamen Green
(Metagame), Josh Hoade, Sam Khan, Alfredo Sanchez


TNT Images created using stock images from
www.Shutterstock.com










www.thenarrativetoolbox.com

2013 LAKESIDE GAMES, INC. TNT, THE NARRATIVE TOOLBOX,
LAKESIDE GAMES, AND ALL RELATED MARKS AND LOGOS ARE
TRADEMARKS OF LAKESIDE GAMES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Nathan Fairchild (order #4220694) 65.82.126.103

GAME ON!
The Narrative Toolbox (TNT) is a different kind of roleplaying
game. Inspired by the indie idea of using rules and game
mechanics to determine not what happens, but rather who gets
to describe what happens, TNT gameplay is both very similar
and very different from what you get with a more traditional
roleplaying game. That being the case, we thought that an
example of play might be helpful. This isnt supposed to be the
one and only way to play the game. Some groups like to give
players even more expansive narrative rights, while others
prefer to keep the players narrations focused on the task theyre
attempting. Both options are fine. As you read through the
following example, remember that theres no wrong way to play.

THE SETUP
This example of play is for a pulp-era game. The year is 1936,
and the characters are working for a secret branch of the United
States government. Theyve been tasked with determining what
relics the Nazis are trying to acquire and getting to them first.
Everyone around the table understands that theyre playing a
two-fisted pulp story where actions the name of the game. The
characters are heroes, and they should be willing to try to pull
off stunts that would be downright stupid in a more realistic
setting. The people playing the game are listed below.

Dave: Hes the gamemaster (GM).

Alfredo: His character, Agent James Harding, is one of the U.S.
governments top men, sent around the world to recover relics
before the Nazis get their hands on them.

Josh: His character, Professor William Stone, is one of the
worlds leading archeologists. Hes often contracted by the U.S.
government to assist his friend, Agent Harding.

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Sam: His character, Reginald Smythe, is somewhat older than
his fellows. Smythe is a charming scoundrel of a ladies man and
one of Englands greatest thieves.

OUR STORY SO FAR
The characters are sitting in a bar somewhere in the Siberian
hinterlands. Alfredos character, Agent Harding, was supposed
to meet a contact, Boris, who was to help him get out of the
country with his latest find, the journal of a Nazi researcher
whose team found something of great significance in the
Siberian wilderness. Unfortunately, Boris has other ideas. He
plans on selling the journal back to the Nazis, and tells Agent
Harding to turn over the journal. Boris glances in the direction of
the three massive thugs whove moved into position around the
bar, and recommends that Harding give him the journal without
further ado. Josh and Sams characters are there as well, but
theyre playing it cool, and neither Boris nor his goons realize
theyre with Harding.

Dave: Boris puts his ham hock hands flat on the table and looks
at you. Hes giving you a moment to make the only reasonable
decision. What are you guys going to do?

Josh: I have my pistols?

Dave: You most certainly do.

Josh: Okay, I give Smythe a Get ready, look, but I wait to see
what Hardings going to do.

Sam: I give the professor the slightest nod, smile, and grab my
smokes and my lighter. Im drinking, what, vodka?

Dave: You tell me.

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Sam: Im drinking some horrible stuff that can only dream of
being called vodka. Horrible, highly flammable stuff. Cool?

Dave: This is going to get ugly.

Sam: Yep.

Dave: And what about you, Agent Harding?

Alfredo: I lean back in my chair, a disappointed look on my face.
I pull out my pipe, slowly so I dont get shot, and light it. I take a
few puffs. Boris, one day, youre going to look back on this and
realize you chose the wrong side. I let out another puff of
smoke. Sure you wont change your mind?

Dave: Boris laughs, looking like a Kodiak bear about to catch a
fish. No dice, dude. If Im narrating this, Boris is going to take
your journal, by force if necessary, and walk out of here.

Alfredo: Yeah, I figured. So, I take a last puff, that disapproving
look still on my face. Then I flip the table onto him and use it to
leap over the bar before his buddies start shooting.

Dave: And so it begins. Okay, I know what Agent Harding is
trying to do. What about you guys?

Josh: I draw my pistols and take out two of the goons. Are they
surprised?

Dave: Well, I guess thats going to depend on who gets to do the
narrating. Only thing: these thugs are normal foes, so each time
you take narrative control, you can affect only one of them. The
whole dual-pistols thing is just for show. It doesnt have any real
game effect.

Josh: So how are we going to take all of these guys out?

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Dave: Youll need to take control of the narration multiple times
throughout this scene. Youll see.

Josh: Okay.

Dave: And what about Smythe?

Sam: Smythe pretends hes drunk (maybe he doesnt have to
pretend all that hard) and trying to stumble to safety. Mouth full
of that awful stuff hes been drinking, hell stumble close to a
thug and spit the booze at him while using his lighter to turn
himself into a human flame thrower.

Dave: Okay, warrior princess, lets see how this all plays out.
Everyone roll.

Sam: Huh?

Dave: Never mind. Just roll.

Everyone makes plot rolls. Alfredo uses Agent Hardings Brute role,
Josh uses Professor Stones Marksman role, and Sam uses Smythes
Face role. Alfredo rolls well and gains complete narrative control. Josh
rolls poorly and only wins the right to embellish the GMs narration.
Sam rolls well enough to earn narrative control, but with the GMs
embellishment.

Dave: Alright, lets go in order. Alfredo, what happens to you?

Alfredo: Well, I crush Boris into unconsciousness under the table
and Im now safely behind the bar without having gotten shot.

Dave: Ah, heres the thing. Boris is a villainserious bad guy
materialand youre going to have to take narrative control
three times in order to beat him. No specifics as to what you
need to do to defeat him, but its going to take you three
narrations to do it.
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Alfredo: Fine, then you can count my jumping up and down on
his face by way of a heavy wooden table as one time.

Dave. Done. And ouch. Okay, Sam, youre next.

Sam: Well, the guy near me gets hit in the face with a spray of
burning alcohol, and it clings to his clothes and starts setting him
on fire. Hes going to freak out, roll around, that kind of thing.
Hell live, but hes totally out of this fight. And obviously, while
all thats happening, Im jumping behind whatever cover I can
find. No one shoots at me because my drunk act was so
convincing, they still dont realize Im with these guys.

Dave: Fair enough, but in his flailing around, he also sets the bar
on fire. Thats my embellishment. The bar is now on fire. For
now, its a small fire. For now.

Josh: And me?

Dave: You drew your pistols ready to take out one of the goons,
but the other folks that were in the bar got up and bolted for the
exits, preventing you from getting a clean shot. And it seems
that the goons were also reluctant to hit a bystander because,
instead of shooting you, one of them jumped you. Youre now
being grappled by one of Boriss massive thugs.

Josh: I get an embellishment, right?

Dave: Yes you do.

Josh: Can I say that I still have my pistols?

Dave: Sure, but heres the deal: your embellishment cant make
what I just said meaningless. So you can still have your pistols,
but you cant just shoot this guy (or anyone else, really) next
time you narrate an action. Youre grappled, big time. Okay?
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Josh: Oh, I already know what Im doing. Okay, then yeah, I
want to say that I still have my pistols in hand.

Dave: Alright then. Okay, now we all go around again. We can
just assume that if I get to narrate what happens next, its a pain
party and all three of you are invited. Im going to assume you
all want to take narrative control away from me, so what is it
you guys are trying to do?

Alfredo: Whats Boris going to do?

Dave: Flip the table off himself, reach over the bar, grab you, and
do awful, awful things to you.

Alfredo: Fair enough. Im going to grab a bottle from behind the
bar and break it over his head while keeping him off me.

Dave: Professor?

Josh: Okay, so I cant shoot my pistols. But the guy who has me
grappled, he and I are wrestling over the weapons. Im going to
cock and release the hammers so that they dig into his hands,
and thats going to hurt him enough that he loses his grip on me.

Dave: Ill buy that. Sam?

Sam: If that works, then once the professor is clear, Im going to
use the guy that was grappling him as cover and get the other
guy to shoot at me, so he takes his buddy out instead.

Dave: Okay, everybody roll.

Alfredo uses Agent Hardings Brawler role, but fails miserably. The
GM has complete control over that narration. Josh uses Professor
Stones Marksman role, and this time he suffers a -1 penalty for using
the same role a second time in the same scene. He makes the plot roll,
but the GM earns an embellishment. Sam convinces the GM that his
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Athlete role applies to his intended action, and he earns narration
rights, but again, the GM is allowed an embellishment.

Dave: Alright, Josh, this time lets start with you. You pull off
your trick, and the hammers bite their way into the thugs
hands, right in that soft fleshy part between the thumb and
forefinger. He yelps and lets you go. Only this time you lose
your pistols: thats my embellishment. Theyre literally stabbing
through the guys hands. Good enough?

Josh: Totally.

Dave: And you then manage to pull off your stunt, Sam. Smythe
gets the other goon to shoot at him just as he leaps behind this
poor slob. It doesnt end well for him. Only thing: as he goes
down, he stumbles back into a barrel of, oh, lets say lantern oil.
The barrel cracks open and sloshes oil onto that small fire. So, for
my embellishment, that small fire is now a big fire, and its
getting bigger by the minute.

Sam: Of course it is.

Dave: And now for Agent Harding.

Alfredo: This is going to hurt.

Dave: Boris rises up from behind the bar and you smash that
bottle right on his head. But he doesnt even notice. Hes mad.

Alfredo: Oh, hell.

Dave: Yeah. Boris grabs you, he literally picks you up, smashes
you down on the bar, and flings you down its length. You slide
off the bar and crash into a bunch of bottles that had been on the
wall. Youre woundedthats a -1 penalty on all plot rolls for
the rest of this sceneand youre now covered in flammable
liquid. Did I mention that the bars on fire?
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Alfredo: You did.

Dave: Okay, just making sure. So, whats everyone going to do
now?

Josh: How many goons are left?

Dave: Just the one whos questioning the poor choices he made
in life that led him to end up shooting his friend in a bar.

Josh: Seriously?

Dave: No, he couldnt care less. But hes the only goon left.

Josh: Okay, Im kicking a chair into his face and taking him out.
That would be a Brawler plot roll, right?

Dave: Sure, why not. Sam?

Sam: Im going to sneak up behind Boris and pull his coat down
around his arms so as to tie him up for a moment. Will that
count as one of the three narrations we need to take him out?

Dave: Absolutely.

Sam: Okay, then thats what Im doing.

Dave: Cool. Agent Harding?

Alfredo: And Im taking Boris out with a good old American
haymaker, right into his chin.

Dave: Alright, roll em.

Josh makes a plot roll using Professor Stones Brawler role, and he
earns narrative control, but the GM gets an embellishment. Sam makes
a roll using Smythes Thief role, and he earns complete narrative
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control. Alfredo rolls terribly, but hes had enough. Plus hes nervous
about being soaked in alcohol while standing in a bar thats all-but
burning down around him. Accordingly, he spends a plot point to take
complete narrative control over his action.

Dave: Things look bad for our heroes.

Sam: Um, were the heroes.

Dave: Yeah, whatever. Okay, again lets start with the guys who
took complete narrative control: Smythe and Harding.

Sam: Well, we do exactly as we said. I tie Boris up with his coat
and Harding cracks him one in the jaw. Thats three narrations
weve used against him. Is he out?

Dave: Alfredo, you good with that?

Alfredo: Yeah. Does he go down?

Dave: Completely.

Alfredo: The second he does, I drop the tough guy act and start
cradling my hand. Argh, its like punching a wall! I stand over
him, still trying to shake some life back into my aching hand.
You picked the wrong side, Boris.

Dave: Hah, nice. Okay, what about the professor?

Josh: I raise my hands in a momentary I surrender gesture just
long enough to judge the distance, then I kick a chair up and into
the guys face, knocking him out cold.

Dave: Done. But as he goes down, his hand squeezes the trigger
of his submachine gun, causing everyone to dive for cover. And
as Agent Harding dives for cover

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Alfredo: What?

Dave: Sorry, bro. Its my embellishment, and Im aiming it at
you. As Agent Harding dives for cover, the journal falls out of
his pocket and slides down the bar. Its just moments away from
heading off the bar and into a puddle of burning oil.

Alfredo: I hate you so much.

Dave: Warms my heart. What are you guys doing?

Alfredo, Josh, Sam: GRABBING THE JOURNAL!

Dave: Professor Stone is too far from the action to be able to get
there in time. Sorry, Josh. As for Agent Harding, hes drenched
in flammable liquid, and that journal is already really close to a
whole mess of flames.

Sam: Im making a Thief roll.

Dave: To do what?

Sam: Indulge me. Let me make a Thief roll.

Dave: How are you going to use that to stop the journal from
going into the fire?

Sam: Im not; the journals toast.

Dave: Um, okay, go for it.

Sam tries to make a Thief plot roll, but he fails. However, he likes his
idea way too much to let anything like a bad roll stop him, so he spends
a plot point to take complete narrative control of the scene.

Sam: Okay, Harding freaks out and tries to go for the journal
anyway, but I actually manage to pull him back, and good thing,
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because a split second after the journal slides off the bar and into
the fire, a burning beam drops from the ceiling and onto it.
Harding would have been crushed. Alfredo, what would
Harding do right there?

Alfredo: Smythe, you idiot, we just lost the journal!

Sam: And thats when I look at you, reach into my pocket, and
pull out the journal. No, mate, we just lost a diary I found at the
Nazi camp that happens to bear a rather uncanny resemblance to
the journal. This heres the real journal. I nicked it from you back
at the camp. Replaced it with the diary.

Dave: Oh my god, thats totally awesome. Here you go Sam,
take a plot point for that. Roll with it, guys.

Alfredo: You WHAT?

Sam: Well, with all the trouble you and the professor seem to
get yourselves into, I thought it best to keep the journal in the
hands of someone older and wiser.

Josh: And drunker.

Alfredo: You were going to sell it.

Sam: While I must admit that the thought did cross my mind, if
only for a moment, the fact is that the only individuals who
would buy it from me are not the kind of persons I would want
to have access to whatever secrets are in this book. I am many
things, Jimmy, but a Nazi sympathizer isnt one of them.

Alfredo: When we get back to Washington, were going to have
a long talk about this. And dont call me Jimmy.

Sam: Youre very welcome, Jimbo.

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DRAMATIS PERSONAE


AGENT JAMES HARDING
Athlete: 1 Brawler: 3 Brute: 4
Detective: 5 Engineer: 1 Explorer: 1
Face: 3 Marksman: 4 Pilot/Rider: 3
Scholar: 2 Scientist: 2 Thief: 2


PROFESSOR WILLIAM STONE
Athlete: 3 Brawler: 3 Brute: 2
Detective: 3 Engineer: 1 Explorer: 4
Face: 2 Marksman: 4 Pilot/Rider: 1
Scholar: 5 Scientist: 1 Thief: 2


REGINALD SMYTHE
Athlete: 4 Brawler: 1 Brute: 1
Detective: 3 Engineer: 3 Explorer: 2
Face: 4 Marksman: 2 Pilot/Rider: 3
Scholar: 2 Scientist: 1 Thief: 5

Nathan Fairchild (order #4220694) 65.82.126.103


Nathan Fairchild (order #4220694) 65.82.126.103

TNT
TNT is a simple universal roleplaying game that
allows you and your friends to play any kind of
story about any kind of characters in any kind of
world. If you can dream it, you can do it in TNT.





Nathan Fairchild (order #4220694) 65.82.126.103