MALL MADNESS

"Welcome to OmegaMall, home of the Omega Experience™! Treat yourself to our fine cuisine, or indulge in some guilty junk-food! Dress yourself in our trendy fashions, from elegant, to playful, to wild! Visit our spa for unforgettable treatment! Watch movies you've never seen before, or see our bookstore for exclusive titles! Play games all day in our arcade, and be the first to try revolutionary new products of the future! OmegaMall: the only place to have the Omega Experience™!"

This variation of Harem Tales gives a setting and encounters for a horny, porny shopping mall! It focuses on social conflict, subterfuge and scheming, and it presumes main characters (MCs) with very little reason to 'adventure', but plenty of trouble to get into. This perfectly suits a unifying concept of a nostalgic mid-90s American urban shopping mall, serving not just as a place to buy overpriced goods, but as a social hub where different strata and cliques can gather and interact.

You'll find a few bespoke mechanics here to tailor your mall to taste, and a range of Adversity Characters (ACs) describing different encounters your MCs can experience. The main themes and game agenda consist of social jockeying and romantic conniving, pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of personal or public humiliation or disgrace, and unabashed decadent consumerism and nostalgic indulgence. The optional material opens up mechanics and encounters with more specific focus, more detailed effect, or just more fun interactions, but the basic, default rules will do great for getting into trouble, and sometimes even getting out of it.

Rules

Rather than stats or attributes, your MCs have a list of Actions, all of which work the same way: every Action has both a Goal and at least one Danger. The Goal says whether you succeed or fail at the Action itself. The Danger says whether a complication or cost happens to you, whether you succeed or not.

You can succeed at a Goal and face a nasty Danger for your trouble, or fail at the Goal but have the Danger skirt by unscathed, or any combination. You do this by assigning dice between the Goal and Danger (or Dangers plural). You roll a six-sided die for each of these. Assign one of the dice to the Goal, and assign the other(s) to the Danger(s).

In addition to Goals and Dangers, you'll also have Edges at least some of the time. An Edge describes something you can rely on, a trait or talent or simple good luck, that cushions the risks that Actions otherwise pose, by absorbing bad dice. For every Edge you can apply to an Action, you can roll an extra die, along with the die for the Goal and any Dangers.

When you roll your dice, any die showing 1 or 2 means Bad News, 3 or 4 means Unfinished Business, and 5 or 6 means Good News. Even more specifically:

  • A 1-2 is always bad:
    • When assigned to your Goal, the Goal fails, and you can't try again with the same Action until the situation somehow changes, such as trying for a different kind of outcome, or with a different variation of Danger.
    • When assigned to a Danger, the Danger happens in full. In some cases it may make sense for the consequences to wait, for example, a Danger of "losing reputation" wouldn't matter immediately, but should matter in future scenes.
    • When assigned to an Edge, you use up the Edge for the rest of the scene. If you had this Edge written on your character sheet, it will return after the scene ends. If you used a temporary Edge, it doesn't come back.
  • A 3-4 is always tense:
    • When assigned to your Goal, you haven't failed yet, but may need to try again with higher in-story stakes, fanservicey narration, or using a different Action.
    • When assigned to a Danger, the Danger waits for now, but persists into future Actions: you will have to roll an additional die for each unresolved Danger, and either give it a 5-6 (clearing it out by averting it) or a 1-2 (resolving it by letting it happen in full). You can have as many Dangers looming overhead as you want . . . but eventually they'll come due.
    • When assigned to an Edge, the Edge stays available for future Actions.
  • A 5-6 is always good:
    • When assigned to your Goal, you succeed completely. Narrate the awesome outcome!
    • When assigned to a Danger, you avoid the Danger completely, the Danger goes away. You don't have to roll for it on future Actions (unless you make the same Action with the same kind of Danger).
    • When assigned to an Edge, you keep the Edge available. Since Edges serve to absorb bad dice, this only matters if you have no Goal or Danger(s) you'd rather put a better die into.

Both you and the other player can each name an additional Danger, or a Risk, when your MC makes an Action. This can allow you to Risk something that you value less, letting you (hopefully) succeed at your Goal or avoid the normal Danger. It can also allow the other player to represent unusually severe or tense opposition or adversity, or other factors that would hinder or harm your MC.

As an example of a roll, the MC Alice wants to Convince a cute customer Cathy that Alice knows sophisticated French philosophy, despite barely knowing Bonaparte from Baudrillard. This means she "uses her wits, wiles, learning, or lies, to make someone believe her" (the Goal), and she risks "Cathy may react differently than Alice intended" (the Danger). She'd usually roll two six-sided dice, and put one into the Goal and the other into the Danger.

In this example, Alice has an Edge for 'Book Smarts', letting her roll a third die. Betty, the other player, decides further that Alice bluffing like this in the Boutique Bookstore puts her in earshot of a 'knowledgeable blowhard', adding a second Danger in addition to 'reacting differently than Alice intended', and making for four dice total. Alice could add a third Danger, to either give her an extra option, or encourage something 'fun' to happen, but Alice chooses not to this time.

Alice rolls four six-sided dice, one for the Goal (Convince Cathy she knows her French philosophy), one for the main, built-in Danger (Cathy reacts differently than Alice intended), one for the Danger that Betty added (a nosy know-it-all butting in), and one for Alice's permanent character Edge ('Book Smarts').

Alice gets 6, 3, 5, and 1: Alice will probably want to assign the 1 to her Edge for 'Book Smarts', meaning she can't use that Edge again for the rest of the scene, but nothing bad happens. This leaves 6, 3, 5, which lets her succeed at her Goal and fully avoid one Danger; or partially get her Goal with a 3 while fully avoiding two Dangers; or if she wants, she can even purposely put the 1 into something besides her Edge for 'Book Smarts', and face that consequence (failure or a Danger) just for the fun of it!

Supposing Alice puts the 3 into 'Cathy reacts differently than Alice intended', that becomes a lingering Danger: the next Action that Alice makes, she'll have to roll for that Danger along with the normal Danger. For instance, if Alice tries to Bargain the bookstore clerk into a discount, the normal Danger states "they may demand more of a bargain than you bargained for", expecting more than Alice initially tries to offer. With a lingering Danger of "Cathy may react differently than Alice intended", Alice rolls three dice for this Bargain: the Goal, the normal Danger, and the lingering Danger from her earlier Action.

If Alice puts a 1-2 into that lingering Danger, Cathy likely sees the effort at Bargaining with the clerk, and might (for example) see Alice not as a refined intellectual, but a sneering dilettante or elitist--educated, perhaps, but arrogant and entitled. Alice may have Convinced Cathy of what she wanted, but now also has a complication to deal with for it.

Lingering Dangers like these can last for any number of Actions that Alice makes, until Alice either finally puts a 1-2 into it (making the Danger happen and facing the consequence), or a 5-6 (averting the Danger so she doesn't have to worry about it), or until narratively that Danger wouldn't apply or make sense anymore (such as if Cathy and Alice part ways and Cathy can't have her impression changed any further).

Actions

These Actions make up the major plot beats of your story, and the main ways that your MCs get into and out of trouble, and interact with other characters and the world. If your MC does in-character acts that fit the description of an Action, or that seem to aim for its Goal, or that could risk its Danger, then you should roll for that Action, because your MC has done it in-character.

Conversely, if your character does not Convince, or Slander, or Bargain, or any other Action, leave the dice alone. Actions give interesting outcomes when your MCs do something tense, uncertain, or risky. Without tension, uncertainty, or risk, or if failure would give a boring or unappealing outcome, just skip the dice, and tell the story you'll both enjoy.

In general, don't ever use the same Action repeatedly, unless the stakes or outcome somehow significantly changes in between Actions. For example, avoid Convincing three mall patrons in a row, unless you want to Convince each one of something different, with a different Danger to each. Otherwise, simply Convince them all in one Action.

Basic Actions:

  • Convince: use your wits, wiles, learning, or lies to make someone believe you, whether you tell the truth or not. Danger: whether they believe you or not, they may react differently than you intended.
  • Bargain: use your natural charm and promises, bribery, or veiled threats to get someone to do or give what you want. Danger: they may demand more of a bargain than you bargained for.
  • Gossip: start or exaggerate a nasty, damning rumor about someone, by implication, omission, or outright assertion, the accusation might even be true; damage and change reputations or send consequences to someone else. Danger: gain a reputation yourself as a snitch or gossip, or face the snitch-ee later.
  • Pleasure: use your looks, your body, and your skills to make someone want you, make them want more, or make them forget what else they want, ease their cares or make them careless. Danger: the recipient takes your services for granted, or you might lose reputation for it, resulting in a suitable Status.
  • Perform: sing, dance, tell jokes or stories, recite poetry, play an instrument, or make a work of art or science, for someone specific or for an audience. Danger: an onlooker may take you down a peg later.
  • Sneak: act, move, or travel in secret, pry at someone else's secret, or play dumb, for yourself or someone else. Danger: punishment for a (possibly mistaken) offense, having to keep yourself in hiding and unable to act when you need to (whether literally, or verbally in a conversation), or getting tangled up in whatever you uncover.
  • Brace: withstand bodily injury or pain, exertion and exhaustion, or harmful intoxicants or environments, while pursuing some other goal or task. Danger: becoming incapacitated (possibly after your task, if it succeeds). This can also lead to a suitable Status.
  • Give In: stifle your pride and self-worth and accept that you're at someone else's mercy. Danger: festering resentment, or losing your self-image. Either can result in a suitable Status.

Edges

Your MC has four Edges: special traits, talents, skills, or quirks that can help when they take Actions. As explained above, an Edge gives you an additional die to roll alongside the Goal and Danger(s) of an Action. You can always safely assign a bad 1-2 die to an Edge, letting you assign higher-valued dice to Goals or to Danger(s) you want to avoid.

Choose Edges that suit a mundane, modern-day setting and context, for MCs free to roam through a consumerist shopping mall. Edges always give a benefit or advantage, should give flavor and detail to your MC, and should apply to either a few different Actions all the time, or else most Actions some of the time. Try to use Edges that characterize your MC, that say where they came from, what they do best (or worst), what they value, or what they wish for. You can pick any of these sample Edges, or take them as guidance and inspiration, as long as your MC has four Edges total on their sheet.

  • Money Talks: you have cash to spend and then cash to waste after that. Best suited to Bargain, Pleasure, maybe Perform with some kind of fancy accoutrement or ornament as a prop.
  • Grew Up In Circumstances: specifically, the kind that leave you tougher, if maybe also a little cracked. Best suited to Brace, Sneak, and Give In, well accustomed to hard times and desperate measures, and getting away with it.
  • Dressed To Impress: your natural good looks and killer fashion sense can overwhelm anyone. Best suited to Pleasure, Convince, and Perform.
  • Nothing To See Here: it might be your personality, a habit you've adopted, or even a skill you've learned, but people just seem not to pay you any notice--handy, when you want to go unnoticed. Best suited to Sneak obviously, Pleasure without anyone getting suspicious, maybe Brace without anyone noticing you get flustered.
  • Spicy Tastes: not just capsaicin, you have some adventurous hobbies and passtimes others wouldn't guess. Best suited to Brace and Give In because you've seen worse, Perform to impress others, maybe Pleasure someone with a freaky offer.
  • Exotic Mystique: "Where do you come from?" Actually, you said Ohio, but let them keep thinking they heard 'ohayou', if it gets you a discount or other 'special treatment'. Best suited to Perform, Bargain, and maybe Convince if you can claim your 'background' gives you special insight.
  • Experienced, Wink: you know what this means, and so does everyone else. Best suited to Pleasure obviously, Perform if you want to show off, maybe Gossip if you keep this (mostly) a secret, or Bargain if you flaunt it.
  • Book-Smarts: despite the detraction of unlettered Luddites, education has eminent merit in the empirical quotidian world, including paved throughfares. Best suited to Perform with culture and technique, or the latest science, Convince with argumentation, evidence, and sources, and even Pleasure as you resolve a dilemma or conundrum--or just make someone feel smart for talking with you.
  • Stunning Voice: you have an undiscovered talent--or maybe just recently started trying to make it a career. Best suited to Perform obviously, Convince if you can tantalize with your titillating tones, maybe Gossip as your voice carries without even needing an amp.
  • Scene-Stealer: you have a moral right to others' attention, and you claim it instinctively, to spare people from paying attention to boring things. Best suited to Perform, Gossip, maybe Sneak if you mange to make a scene and then leave it.
  • Good (Bad) Reputation: people talk about you, and not always well--but always good. Best suited to Convince that you know better, Slander about that one time when, maybe Bargain with an offer that 'next time' might be 'right now'.
  • Social Savvy: you have a keen insight to others needs, strengths, hopes, and fears--which does not make you a good person, but it does have its uses. Best suited to Convince obviously, Slander with breached confidence or sheer guessing, Bargain by offering what someone truly wants.

Use your Edges as prompts for roleplay: these are the most distinct facts about your MC, and should indicate what interests them, what they would pay attention to, what others would pay attention to, and what kinds of conversations or schemes they might seek out, or avoid.

You can also create temporary Edges as the Goal of an Action. For example, Sneak to follow someone in secret, and gain an Edge to Gossip about them later. Or Bargain a shopkeep to dress you up, to grant you an Edge to Convince a patron to get you into the fancy restaurant. As long as you can describe how your current Action would improve the chances or reduce the risk of a future Action, you can get an Edge.

Statuses

You'll have noticed several Actions expressly have a Danger that mentions getting a Status. This means a lasting Danger that can apply to any Actions that the affected MC makes, at least until the end of the scene, and often longer, until the MC (or someone else) does something to undo that Status.

For instance, if your MC gets caught Pleasuring someone and gets a Status like [horndog], that'll make for a second Danger if you then try to Convince the reserved and tasteful bookstore clerk to let you check out the 'rare books' locker.

You'd have to go out of your way to either repair your good name in the mall in general with a series of visits and encounters, or else persuade the clerk themselves that your [horndog] nature isn't what they think. Otherwise, if you try to Convince the clerk, and the Danger for [horndog] comes true (ie gets a 1-2 die), the clerk won't want anything to do with someone as seedy and scummy as you.

You can use Statuses to reflect almost any sort of lasting effects or consequences, bad and good, like getting drunk, or getting fifteen-minute famous, and they can last as little as a single scene, or follow your MC around the mall like a mark of shame (or badge of honor). This might seem wishy-washy, but really in practice, a Status should last exactly as long as both players find it fun to include. If both players forget about it, then it must not find it fun anymore.

To remove a Status, a few locations and encounters ahead expressly do just that: remove a Status you choose, as a reward or payoff, usually for some kind of risk. But beyond that, if you want to remove a Status from your MC, ask the other player upfront and outright, how you could get started. Favors for clerks or staff, rendezvous with various patrons, and clashes with rival Cliques, all could change your MC's reputation, and different products and services might well work on other Statuses you might get. Get creative and make it fun!

Countdowns

A few locations and encounters will refer to Countdowns. Countdowns model gradual, progressive, or other postponed or deferred consequences to immediate events, to pace out changes over time. Their biggest use comes up in 'quests' to change your MC's reputation, or someone else's, but they can also reflect saving up money, earning favor(s), or even mental or physical changes that happen in stages or prompted from events happening to the MC.

Countdowns all have the same basic structure, based on 'ticks', or phases of progression:

  • The 'end condition' of Countdown: winning rounds, buying time, or fixed deadline
  • How many ticks in total
  • How much time between each tick
  • What happens on each tick that passes
  • What finally happens after the last tick

Type: a Countdown can have three basic 'end conditions':

  • Rounds you can win: each tick of the Countdown prompts an Action, successful Actions add up to a good end to the Countdown, and failed Actions lead to a bad end. Winning a majority of ticks should suffice, but you should still play the Countdown out in full, even if you succeed (or fail) a majority of the ticks' Actions. As an example, persuading someone of a drastic change in outlook or lifestyle might take such a Countdown to win them over.
  • Buying time: for an open-ended or variable condition, each tick of the Countdown prompts an Action, success postpones the end of the Countdown, and failure makes affairs worse. This suits circumstances where the MC can only fail a few times, and 'success' only postpones a bad outcome. By buying time, an MC can look for another way out. As an example, a strip-quiz, where wrong answers cost you clothing.
  • Fixed deadline: for conditions the MC can't postpone or hasten, the ticks of a fixed deadline Countdown only force the MC to reflect the condition as it progresses. As an example, simply getting drunk and sobering up would have such a fixed deadline, with periodic Actions showing the loss of inhibition, coordination, or awareness.

Number: a Countdown has a definite number of ticks to start, after which the Countdown concludes. Consider the number of distinct phases or milestones that an MC's condition would present if left unchecked, and give that many ticks. Usually, six works pretty well to start from.

Time: the feel of a Countdown depends heavily on the amount of in-game time between ticks. At the fastest, "each Action provokes a tick", for something covering mere minutes or an hour. Still extremely fast, "a tick happens after each scene", for a condition covering one to a few days. More useful, "each in-story day" (or several days), for a long-term arc. You can also tie ticks to events, such as visiting a store, encountering a specific person, or even failing an Action the MC made naturally, with each such event causing a tick on the Countdown.

Action: each tick of a Countdown provokes some kind of Action. As a good default, Bracing against physical or chemical impairments, or Sneaking to deal with social conditions, which covers most obvious or likely times to use a Countdown. But, you could Pleasure yourself to console the Status of being [dumped], or Gossip to deflect the effects of someone's slander-campaign against you. Any sort of Action can work, just decide what, at the outset.

Outcome: every Countdown ends eventually. Define what happens after that if left unchecked. Maybe the MC's new tattoo looks goofy and deformed, or 'everyone knows' the MC will put out for anyone (even if they really won't). The MC notionally tries to avert this with each Action on each tick, and instead bring a good end to the Countdown. After the MC has done a Move for each elapsed tick, narrate this outcome, especially if the outcome would vary, as in 'winning rounds'.

To give a worked-out in-play example: Alice arranged a temporary gig, singing in Quixotic Quisine, the mall's upscale and classy restaurant! Besides just getting tips, people around the mall will recognize her talent! But she has to actually Perform well, or they'll politely invite her to stop, and no more comped meals.

You can model this with a 'buying time' Countdown, six ticks, one per day, at 6PM Alice has to Perform for the dinner patrons. Success means some cash or dinner with a cute patron, and she gets to sing another day. Failure means the Countdown advances toward the end of her 'career'. She only gets to bomb in front of the crowd six times (cumulatively), before Quixotic Quisine cuts her performance privileges and associated perks.

You can use Countdowns like these to model more or less anything that takes place over time, involves multiple stages, or otherwise happens 'between' your MCs' other activities, or you can use them like this, to reflect 'upkeep', or even use Countdowns for 'quests' toward a long-term goal. This can help a lot when the milieu doesn't allow for 'kill monsters', and when 'get loot' happens mostly for show.

Money

You'll play as characters preening and parading through a consumerist private commons, but you probably won't have a lot of fun tracking hard cash in dollars and cents. But many encounters and events here rely on the pressure of "I can't afford this--unless . . ." To that end, you'll want at least a loose, abstract reference for "how much do I have" and "how much would this cost". So take this, as a default!

  • Huge Purchase: worth at least a month's-work worth of income, for an ordinary person. Almost certainly requires saving up or making some kind of plan. Normal people don't ever carry this much cash. You probably can't make more than one of these in a year, or if you can, your MC probably doesn't belong in this game.
  • Major Purchase: worth at least two weeks' work worth of income. Very likely requires saving or some kind of plan, but not a huge one. Only high-rollers would have this much cash at once. Just two of these would likely make a Huge Purchase, three definitely.
  • Big Purchase: worth a week's full income for an ordinary person, give or take. An ordinary person might happen to have this much already saved-up and ready to spend. Still a significant purchase, but nothing to change someone's life. Two or three of these amount to a Major Purchase. Depending on the MC's habits, an unplanned Big Purchase might come with a status like [Financial Anxiety] or [Strapped For Cash].
  • Splurge: a few days' work worth of income, or savings after a week's living-expenses, for an ordinary person. Most people have this much on them in cash. Enough to pay for a celebration with friends. Several of these would add up to a Big Purchase (and any attendant Status).
  • Impulse Buy: less than a day's normal living-expense for an ordinary person. A minor purchase, usually not worth stopping to consider, until they pile up. Several of these would amount to a Splurge.

Still in the spirit of 'loose reference' rather than 'strict bookkeeping', none of the Adversity Characters to follow will try to give a size for purchases, favors, or side-gig payment, beyond suggesting "if you have to ask, you can't afford it", or "you could get a lot of 'store credit' for this". Your actual roleplay, and your characters' lives, will have a lot more to say about what they consider 'a Big Purchase', and what sorts of favors or side-gigs seem fair (or enjoyably unfair).

To match the worked example from Countdowns above, you could suppose your MC has enough money for a Big Purchase, and logically any purchases less, and use a Countdown to keep track: (Flush), [Not Flush], [Tight], [Broke]. This naturally makes for a 'fixed deadline', triggered by purchases! At (Flush), you can Bargain to keep Splurges or Impulse Buys from draining your funds, until you have to pay in full. Then the Countdown advances to [Not Flush], and Splurges fall out of your price-range. At [Tight], you can still make your Impulse Buys, but fail again and you'll become [Broke], and need someone else to pay your way--

Or, earn a little, or a lot, of quick cash, by Convincing, Performing, or 'Pleasuring', or any other Action that can get you paid! You and the other player should have fun deciding what sorts of services, side-quests, and other hustling would suffice to bump your finances. If your MC started with [Grew Up In Circumstances], they might have a much lower baseline than a Big Purchase (and thus a shorter Countdown for cash); meanwhile something like [Money Talks] might open them up to Major Purchases. And both have some implications for how your MC might go about earning money, and what amounts of money they might earn.

Your MCs will never actually need money, nor even to 'earn' any, in their misadventures in the mall. But short of frequent sexual and other favors, a lot of the fun options and avenues of action require some kind of purchases, if only as a pretense to interactions with staff, customers, or management. Keep as close an eye on the size of purchases or favors as you find fun in, and no closer. The money doesn't exist except to make a fun story for your MCs!

Alternation

With two players and no GM, you'll have to alternate gracefully, to share narrative control, describing scenery, and playing adversity. To do this, use GM Points! At the start of play, both players have zero GM Points. The players choose one player to begin a scene and start narrating. This player 'has narration duties', and the other player 'has the spotlight', their MC has the main focus of other characters, and will make most of the Actions.

As the spotlight player makes Actions, each time they have to place a 1-2 die into their Goal or into any Danger, the spotlight player gains one GM Point. When any player has three GM Points, they should bring their current scene to a close, clear all their GM Points, and take up narration duties, giving the former narration player time to enjoy the spotlight.

The current narrator may always play their own MC in addition to their duties narrating and providing adversity, especially if the scene includes their MC. But any Action their MC takes will follow the same rules for GM Points. To make it explicit, a player who currently has narration duties, and has cleared their GM Points, will gain GM Points normally, if their MC makes an Action and assigns a 1-2 die to a Goal or Danger. This means the current narrator should focus on their narration duties, since playing their own MC making Actions may reduce their later time in the spotlight.

Conversely, the player who currently has the spotlight and does not have narration duties may remove one GM Point per scene, if they take up narrating an Adversity Character (described below), in a way that opposes the MC of the current narrator. The spotlighted player may only remove one GM Point, per scene, but this gives a reward to the spotlighted player for giving the current narrator a break and some time to enjoy playing their own MC.

Players may always conclude any scene when it feels fitting, and may switch narration duties, or share them however feels comfortable. But this system works well as a default and ensures both players get to enjoy playing as their MC, and getting into trouble and out of clothes.

Cliques

By default assumption, your MCs belong to a Clique, presumably the same Clique. Here, this means a cadre of friends, hopefully close if possibly toxic or unhealthy. Your MC may or may not have much influence on their Clique, and your Clique may or may not have a cohesive Clique of rivals. Most importantly, your Clique makes up the people your MCs intend to impress, keep face with, and protect from slights and slander.

For best effect, your MCs' Clique ought to have a rival Clique to jockey with, vie against, slander and scheme about, and generally have as recurring adversity to keep the mall interesting. You might even have plural Cliques roaming the mall, and the rules make no formal delineation among or between Cliques, other than that they represent the main cohesive social groups that your MCs will know of and care about.

While you can obviously cast and style your MCs' Clique in any way you find appealing and compelling, you can draw from this sampling of subcultures, with suggested affinities and enmities:

  • Preps: pampered, privileged, popular, authority usually lets them slide in infuriatingly obvious ways. Friendly with Jocks and Scouts, unfriendly with Punks and Nerds, hostile with Goths.
  • Jocks: rowdy, boisterous, and enjoy only a little less lenience from the authorities, though often a lot less affluent. Friendly with Preps and Punks, unfriendly with Goths and Scouts, hostile with Nerds.
  • Punks: loud, opinionated, and principled, authority figures will sometimes outright fabricate a pretense to interfere. Friendly with Jocks and Goths, unfriendly with Nerds and Preps, hostile with Scouts.
  • Goths: brooding, dramatic, transgressive, with a tendency to keep within their own rather than engage with other Cliques. Friendly with Punks and Nerds, unfriendly with Scouts and Jocks, hostile with Preps.
  • Nerds: educated, argumentative, unpredictable, tend to coalesce on a project or goal as a group and encounter challenges to meeting it. Friendly with Goths and Scouts, unfriendly with Punks and Preps, hostile with Jocks.
  • Scouts: religious, judgmental, preachy, they present a clean and upright demeanor and avoid any outward suggestion or appearance of unseemliness. Friendly with Preps and Nerds, unfriendly with Goths and Jocks, hostile with Punks.

These affinities likely won't match your own experiences, so you should change or ignore them to suit your tastes. Still, they'll work as a starting backdrop for established friend-of-a-friend's-enemy entanglements and standings. In particular, one of these Cliques might give a good background for your own MCs to have some common ground and some easy short or long-term aspirations.

The notion of Cliques presented here presumes the MCs of your story belong to the same Clique, giving them common or aligned agendas and affinities, and putting them most in touch with the same small close group of side characters. If you instead want your MCs to start in different Cliques, or if the story leads them there, you certainly can. Your Actions work as well on MCs as on side characters or Adversity Characters. Just keep in mind that exactly as with side characters or Adversity Characters, if the other player subjects your MC to an Action, you should not try to 'defend' with any Action of your own, until you roleplay the result of the Action your MC received.

As general guidance for the social ecology of the mall:

  • It won't usually make sense to think about the reputation of The Management, security, or police of the mall.
  • The Management can dictate and enforce mall policy on mall staff and store managers, who can give general orders to shopkeeps, who can usually usher customers around.
  • Ordinary patrons and customers usually mind their own business, and have little interest in MCs' machinations.
  • Staff and personnel of the stores and of the mall all have jobs to do and paychecks to collect, and they spend many of their waking hours in this mall, with these employees. On one hand, they'd like to keep the job, paycheck, and their good name. But on the other, the job only pays so much, and bragging rights might make some indiscretions worth it.

They may not want to risk their jobs, but manipulation and circumstances might make them think twice: do they really want to risk their paycheck for this? Or, would they feel proud of it anyway?

Queen Bee

You might want a single charismatic leader that no player plays permanently, acting as leader of the Clique over both players' MCs. This gives both MCs someone who can reasonably inspire, belittle, dare, or seduce them, no matter who has the spotlight at the moment, and means neither MC has to act as 'the face of the band', as protagonists usually would.

The Queen Bee can't reasonably give orders to The Management, security, or shop supervisors, though she might have charisma enough to bully a shopkeep, mall staff, or unsuspecting mall patron. Of course she can always boss around members of your Clique, though less as 'empress of all she surveys', and more as a pushy or domineering peer.

As a peer, your Queen Bee likely knows your MC rather well, and vice versa. Unless your MC has only recently moved into town and befriended this Clique, you'll have gotten to know the Queen Bee at least well enough to get invited to socialize. Her influence over the rest of the Clique likely doesn't extend beyond dares, bar-bets, and other peer-pressure. However, if you want your story to grant the Queen Bee truly extreme power over the MCs or the Clique, she might have a combination of coveted privileges or favors she can share, and humiliating or genuinely damaging blackmail material, on the MCs or the Clique as a whole. However, keep in mind that the members of the Clique should still like the Queen Bee, or they wouldn't willingly socialize with her at all.

It won't usually make a lot of sense for your Queen Bee to involve security or store managers against your MCs or the rest of the Clique, no one likes a snitch. But she does technically have the option, and could even contrive to do so secretly: you as players may know the Queen Bee ratted your MC out, or fabricated a reason to have your MC escorted from the mall, but the MCs may have no idea. Still, your Queen Bee should rely on her own influence within your Clique, and her force of personality on others, for the most rewarding and engaging roleplay.

Your Queen Bee likely cares about the status and reputation of at least one rival Clique, possibly singling out one specific person as her personal rival, or else holding contempt or disdain for the entire Clique or the subculture they represent. Embarrassing, sabotaging, or otherwise showing up a member of a rival Clique will likely please your Queen Bee, especially if the rival Clique has its own rival Queen Bee.

Since your Queen Bee doesn't have any divine right to rule, her command over your Clique rests only on her own charm, intimidation, or popularity. And your MCs can erode these, and build their own, using the normal Actions. While the Queen Bee might 'outrank' you in any immediate dispute or confrontation, your MCs may decide to undermine the Queen Bee within your Clique, either ousting her, or simply 'taking her down a peg'. For these, you'll likely want to use Countdowns, or possibly even Statuses if jockeying within your Clique seems like the best focus for your story.

Agreement Questionnaire

You might want to start with a questionnaire about the mall and your MCs, to set the right tone and clearly state upfront what to expect, and what to never expect. This questionnaire gives a round of 'always, never, sometimes, almost-never' for the mall as a whole, your Clique, your own MCs, and if you have one, your Queen Bee and rival Clique.

You'll especially want to agree on the level of background-radiation horniness for the mall. The Adversity Characters all make the assumption that "everyone is horny, but waiting for a good excuse or opportunity", as a default attitude. But you could tone it down to "just a little less prudish", or way up to "no excuses needed" or even "will make an opportunity if one doesn't come up". The questionnaire gives a good way to make this tangible between the players, since this 'background horniness' has a huge effect on how people will act and react, and what kinds of situations might naturally arise--and what situations your MCs might concoct on purpose.

To give some concrete examples, picture a continuum starting at discreetly offering a clerk oral for 'store credit', to finding people fucking under the table in the back corner of a restaurant, to the restrooms having glory-holes in the stalls, to an exhibit event featuring a pillory or sybian. The more openly horny the mall, the more sexual mishaps you can have, but the less they'll matter.

For convenience, the blanks to fill in as a template, starting with the mall:

  • The mall will always ________.
  • The mall will never ________.
  • The mall may sometimes ________.
  • The mall will never ________, without a good reason.

Make sure to answer at least a few of these for your own MCs, Clique, and any other important features or characters, keeping in mind you can use these statements to give a different experience to your MCs, such as "The mall will never penalize Alice for hitting on women" or "The Clique will never let men hit on Billy", ensuring that as players, you each get what you really want.

Adversity Characters

The following shops, locations, events, and stock archetypal character roles all serve to present adversity to your MCs. They give foils to play off of, rivals or allies to deal with, and circumstances or situations to face, independent of any one single character. They have a deliberately abstract design, so you'll need to provide some concrete specifics, but each Adversity Character gives some basic actions to guide you when you narrate these characters, during your narration duties.

Each Adversity Character consists of several Soft, Normal, and Hard Moves:

  • Soft Moves give benefits, help, or a reprieve that an MC can get with a successful Action if they choose. Use these if the MCs could use a break, or to invite a course of action, or just whenever an MC seems to pursue one of them with some genuine effort.
  • Normal Moves give character and flavor to the Adversity Character, provide context for Dangers on Actions, and give prompts for roleplay. Use these if you don't know what else to do. You should always make a Move, as the narrating player.
  • Hard Moves target an MC and force them to make some kind of Action in response, often to put them at a disadvantage, loss, or harm. Use these to make life more 'interesting' for MCs, to give them complications and difficulties, or to stymie plans.

All Adversity Characters, such as stores, security, events, patrons, or anyone else, may help or hurt, molest or get molested, fawn or flaunt, as suits the needs of your story. Further, a recurring Adversity Character may change their attitude during the story, and really, they should if the MCs take Action like they should.

When you have narration duties, always try to portray an Adversity Character, by having them make Moves. Adversity Characters don't always have to hurt your MCs or hinder their plans, and a recurring Adversity Character may even become an ally. But true to the name, Adversity Characters exist to present the MCs, the main characters of your story, with adversity and challenge to overcome, or lose to.

To fully emphasize it: when you have narration duties, always look for a Move that an Adversity Character can make at an MC. If you know what you want to do, do that! If not, look at the Moves for the closest-fitting AC, and pick one. If none stand out, describe a Normal Move, and ask what the MC does about it.

As your story progresses, keep notes of recurring characters: shopkeeps who owe your MCs a favor, or have a favor to collect; staff you might trust and ones to avoid; other patrons you can rely on or not; and most of all, others in the Clique. Indeed, you might even find it useful to 'create' a character for each important Clique member or patron as they appear, giving them a background and 'Edges', even if they lack Actions to use them on. This will help you portray horny, shady, vicious, innocent, and weirdo Clique members with some depth and nuance ready to go, and especially, to track their status in the Clique respective to your MCs, and standing in the mall generally. You might even take turns playing such fleshed-out characters directly as an MC with Actions they can take, as a third (or fourth or--) main character.

Action Arcade

Though they focus on cabinet video-games, this venue hosts all kinds of solo and competitive games! Tune-detecting karaoke, darts, dancing games, and plenty more for any skill. And while you can't play for money, no one will stop you from a 'friendly bet', and some games do give 'store credit' . . .

Soft Moves:

  • Today your best game pays out a lot of 'store credit'.
  • On the Crane Machine, something useful has practically fallen into the chute, just one little nudge--
  • You can win a high-powered toy for free--if you can stand it on HIGH for five full minutes.
  • The staff invite you to get some tokens in the break-room--you game?
  • You see your rival taking their first try at a favorite game of yours.
  • You can fight for honor and settle a dispute with someone over one of the games!
  • They just got a special shipment of slap-bracelets--but what do these do?

Normal Moves:

  • It's hot and dim and garishly lit, practically sweating even sitting down.
  • Intense looks on everyone's faces as they all try to score.
  • The floor feels sticky--it doesn't look like soda.
  • Hey, a nickel!

Hard Moves:

  • Someone gets handsy just as you get in the zone--!
  • Staff accuses you of cheating at a prize-winning game.
  • An obvious roller challenges you to one-on-one, their pick of game--and stakes.
  • A patron stumbles and slings a box of nacho-cheese and soda at you!
  • Your Clique all want a coveted prize--from the Crane Machine.
  • A rival starts mopping the floor with you--fair and square, no less!

Optional: if you find you need it, Action Arcade allows the following additional Action:

  • Focus: tune everything else out and try to win the game, by coordination, endurance, or dexterity. Choose the Danger before rolling: either insistent attention for your performance, or running out of money.

Boozehound's Bar

This trendy establishment merely pretends to a down-and-out hole-in-the-wall aesthetic. The dim custom lights and faux-brick paneling only go so far for that, but they serve real liquor, and unlike a dive-bar, they won't tolerate any disturbances--indeed, they'll kick out all parties to any scuffle.

Soft Moves:

  • The bartender has a new recipe, and offers you a taste-test.
  • A cute patron liked your singing and moves so much, they put some on you.
  • Someone offers you a drink, if you sit with them while you drink it.
  • Your rival has gotten really drunk, and might just get themselves in trouble . . .
  • You spot someone slip something into a drink, then leave it unattended--you probably should warn someone.
  • You see that local celebrity, getting quietly hammered--no one seems to have noticed yet.

Normal Moves:

  • Quiet bustling and dirty jokes.
  • Patrons dancing to Top-40s pop-rock.
  • The scent of cheap, basic, but respectable liquor.
  • People trying to forget their worries and cares with each other.

Hard Moves:

  • The bar has come up with a spicy, flashy, flamboyant, flammable new drink--and the bartender gives you a challenging look.
  • Your rival challenges you to a 'simple' drinking contest.
  • The drinking contest becomes a dancing contest.
  • The dancing contest becomes a singing contest.
  • A tough-looking customer crowds you into your seat and demands a drink with you, while your Clique has gone elsewhere.
  • A scuffle breaks out, and staff will kick you out too, unless--
  • Staff beckons you into the break-room--to talk with a 'business partner'.

Optional: you might find it fun to gain a Status of [tipsy], that applies to your next Actions after you leave the bar. Or, if you get very drunk, a mini-Countdown, of three such Dangers to have to resolve through future scenes. The [tipsy] Status can result in any suitable mishap the other player thinks appropriate: from falling over or dropping something important, to getting sick, to loud and questionable confessions or challenges to get you in trouble.

Boutique Bookstore

Whether you need an obscure and niche topic, or the latest bestseller, you'll find what you want somewhere in the stacks! The 'staff' consists of one knowledgable but inattentive clerk, so you can peruse as long as you like--or do other things between the out-of-sight shelves.

Soft Moves:

  • The clerk has a plush, comfy couch--in the break-room, of course.
  • Huh, this little factoid and plot-point seems like something to try to remember for later.
  • You did not expect this title to have such vivid descriptions--or such explicit illustrations. But it gives you some ideas . . .
  • A gorgeous customer has a very interesting title in front of them.
  • Someone wrote something captivating in the margin, how mysterious . . .
  • On the upper floor you have a perfect place to hide from someone you'd like to lose.

Normal Moves:

  • Quiet--but not too quiet . . .
  • The scent of paper, book-glue, and . . . something else . . .
  • Obscure authors next to today's titles next to childhood favorites . . .
  • You can't find anywhere comfortable to sit . . .

Hard Moves

  • A gorgeous patron sees the title in your hands, and sneeringly asks about it.
  • Wait--you spent how long reading?! You lost all track of time--
  • You need the clerk's 'help' to find the title you want . . .
  • A rival confidently informs you you have trash taste. And the Clique look inclined to agree--
  • A rival just started flipping through the last copy--
  • They have the whole series! Except--the first one. Maybe the clerk could 'put a rush on it' . . .

Clique's Cloister

Not any specific store or brand, just whatever suits the tastes of your Clique. Most importantly, your Clique can and does hang out here without the staff brushing you off or demanding you buy something right away. But have some sample store names to make it concrete:

Navypostale, Sports Cave, Spikecoast Records and Gifts, Goth Topic, Friendly Local Goblin Shop, 4Him Faith Accessories

Soft Moves:

  • They got a cool new item--on sale, too!
  • The worked-up clerk offers you a lot of 'store credit'.
  • A hottie customer stops in, taking their time, meaning you can take your shot--
  • A much lamer competing store opened up--you can put up some signs for this business, and get a 'special'.
  • You have a 120%-off coupon--good if presented with a cheese bagel on the second Tuesday of the month . . .
  • The corporate office paid for a pizza-party--budgeted for ten. So the staff take it and deal you in!

Normal Moves:

  • The Clique has their eye on a shiny new thing.
  • No one stopping in, your Clique makes the place look busy.
  • The speakers sound tinny, but they pick decent enough music.
  • The clerk has completely checked out--and doesn't notice you checking them out.

Hard Moves:

  • Well, someone had better buy something sometime today.
  • Your rival Clique marches in to spoil the mood: "We're legitimate customers, after all."
  • A random customer comes in, confused and confusing you for an employee.
  • A savvy customer comes in, clearly leagues above you.
  • The regional manager visits for a 'surprise inspection'--and they confuse you for an employee.
  • Staff goes on break--and expects you in the break room with them.

Discreet Dealer

If you look like the right sort of customer, you can find the right sort of dealer. Don't make it obvious, but this dealer sells almost anything you might want--and probably can ask a friend of a friend for anything else, if you pay enough upfront.

Soft Moves:

  • First hit for free--but only a hit.
  • They got into the stash--and really into things.
  • They introduce you to a fun friend of theirs.
  • They know a few rumors about a rival--but, you know, confidentiality and all . . .
  • They know someone who might trade a favor for a favor, if you need something else . . .
  • They know someone who might pay for a 'favor' . . .

Normal Moves:

  • They wear a comically-tight undersized DARE t-shirt.
  • "Just act chill and look around--not so obvious--"
  • "You know this is legal over in--"
  • "But really, you know, did you ever think about how--"

Hard Moves:

  • "Nah, miss me later." You look like a narc?!
  • "--shit, see-ya!" Behind you you can see security--not running up yet, but headed this way.
  • "Maybe if we 'know each other a bit better'." They at least don't actually wink.
  • A store manager steps out to glare at you and the Dealer, better find somewhere else . . .
  • [sketchy]: prices went up--you'll need to 'persuade' their supplier.
  • [suspicious]: they've started freaking out, and making a scene--
  • [unwelcome]: they got high on their own supply--and aggressive about it.
  • [ejected]: "Here hold this--" and they shove something in your hand and disappear--

Optional: an 'Addiction' Countdown would seem obvious--obvious enough that you could create your own, and suit its severity to the kinds of goods you buy. Instead, more interesting and useful, the Dealer can come with a 'Heat' Status Countdown:

You must Sneak to do any deal with the Dealer; failure at the Goal does not immediately bring repercussions, but instead progresses your 'Heat' Status:

  • (none): the Dealer won't actually sell you anything at this stage, without some Action to persuade them. And then the Sneak to actually buy.
  • [sketchy]: you give off a vibe, and others can tell you don't have the strictest standards for legality.
  • [suspicious]: others have seen you around the Dealer, and the most straightlaced or paranoid will steer clear of you.
  • [unwelcome]: you have a reputation, albeit not a good one, and only the jaded, oblivious, or timid will deal with you hanging around.
  • [ejected]: as in, from the premises, as soon as security gets their hands on you. They do have to get their hands on you, though.

You can only reduce your Heat Status by taking on an effort to repair your reputation: do walk-up donation collections for some charity active in the mall, take part as the public face of some exhibition or sales event, Gossip about someone else as a deflection, or otherwise distract mall-patrons, shopkeeps, and staff from your dealings with the Dealer. Make a proposal, and if the other player(s) think that suffices, go forth and repair your reputation!

If you use the 'Heat' Status Countdown, then the Dealer will only sell to [sketchy]-or-worse characters, but their Hard Moves restrict the Hardest Moves to only occur at the highest Heat. So if you keep a low profile, and only dabble, you can avoid the worst complications. If you don't use this optional mechanic, then as with all other Hard Moves, the other player(s) decide for themselves when it seems like a good time to hit you with any Hard Move they like.

Exclusive Exhibit

The mall regularly hosts short-term exhibits, for a few days up to a week, showcasing exclusive products or services, or giving a 'sneak preview' of a store to open elsewhere, or even simply raising awareness of a cause or celebrating a seasonal holiday festivity. These exhibits take place in the middle of the plaza, usually with a lot of surrounding fanfare, and with staff from outside the mall. Some Hard and Soft Moves will better suit certain types of exhibit, but you can use any Hard or Soft Move that suits your situation.

Soft Moves:

  • They offer a really cool hat, if you play along.
  • One of the animal specimens really likes you, you could probably show off with it a little . . .
  • This Noni extract actually seems to kind of work?!
  • Seems like everyone recognizes you from around the mall, but if you play nice you could improve your reputation (and a Status if applicable).
  • You can't afford to buy the deluxe Massage-O-Mat, but trying it out might remove a lot of stress (and a Status if applicable)--try not to make a mess in it . . .
  • If you really get into things and make a good showing of yourself, you might impress the whole mall (and get a good Status for it)!

Normal Moves:

  • Surely this whole 'sign this waiver' thing doesn't mean anything.
  • Hey, they've started a presentation spiel--wait, does . . . does that happen every time?
  • Channel 4.5 News has shown up, and the mall has patched the live feed through TVs everywhere.
  • Patrons are gawking and milling, taking pictures, they've never seen this before.

Hard Moves:

  • (Awareness campaign): the exhibitioner asks you 'easy' questions about the cause for some merch.
  • (Exclusive product): the exhibitioner singles you out from the crowd, as especially in need of their 'services'.
  • (New store preview): this would drive the Clique's Cloister out of business!
  • (Holiday display): Show off your holiday spirit! Right now! In front of the whole crowd!
  • In partnership with SpaceTrends PleasureTronix™, the exhibitioner cares about you, with specialists on standby to 'examine' you.
  • The Brand New Product (patent pending under FDA review sign this waiver) has unexpected, immediate, and stimulating effects on you.
  • The display malfunctions: showing you on the Jumb-O-Vision, soaking or air-blasting your clothes, lifting you helplessly, or similar compromising result.
  • Jeni Parry, semi-quasi-local-celeb, turns to you, specifically in the crowd.

Flashy Fashion

Dress to impress with the finest selection of outfits, jewelry, and even 'specialty' garments. From the latest trends to the most classic looks, everyone will know your worth when you walk out with this luxury apparel! Style doesn't come cheap, and neither should you!

Soft Moves:

  • You find just what your rival Clique mentioned looking for--the only one left.
  • Get a free makeover as a store promotion! Which means they get to choose everything.
  • No one likes unsolicited advice--but when it comes to fashion, they do know their stuff.
  • If you pay attention, you can figure out exactly what trends will hit next.
  • If your Clique looks dramatic enough, you might change what trends hit next.
  • You shouldn't wear the bedroom-attire out of the store--but it looks irresistable, and surprisingly cheap?!
  • They even have a few sinfully sensuous side-products for the boudoir.

Normal Moves:

  • Somehow every employee looks just jaw-dropping.
  • The price-tags have gold embossing.
  • One of these shirts costs more than your rent--and looks like it.
  • Man, your Clique really does look--not just gnarly, but dull . . .

Hard Moves:

  • This employee would like to help you--out of the store. Convince them you won't 'dilute their brand'.
  • This employee would like to help you--in the dressing room. Judging even your underwear while applying imported peppermint lube.
  • This employee would like to help you--into a totally different look. You're out of style even for your Clique, who already look like trash.
  • An employee might comp you a good item--but they'll really make you earn it, and ruin what you have on now.
  • While changing in the dressing-room, you hear breathing--and a click--
  • You shouldn't wear the bedroom-attire out of the store--but the attendant threw out your outfit in disgust.
  • A Clique member knocks over a display, ruining the ambiance and possibly merchandise.
  • A rival Clique sees you and sneers in contempt because you don't belong here.
  • A rival Clique sees you and sneers in contempt because you think you belong here.

Frenetic Food-Court

Get a quick bite, a handy snack, or a refreshing drink at our food-court, from your favorite vendors like Burrito Bongo, Icecream Empress, Calzone Cap, and Stirfry Station! But most of all, hang out with your friends, mingle with the hip and trendy fellow patrons, see and be seen, and share the Omega Experience™!

Soft Moves:

  • A new vendor offers a discount on their signature meal, free if you can eat it without 'making a mess'?
  • Someone left their wallet here--no cash, but their driver's license actually looks hot.
  • The cute clerk wants to take their lunch-break 'in private'.
  • A rival Clique member left something at their table . . .
  • You see just the person you wanted to find--
  • At the table next to you someone started to freak out--but this looks like your chance . . .

Normal Moves:

  • Behind one of the massive potted trees you see a pair of legs sticking up . . . and shaking.
  • Dozens of people and none of them looking--distracted by the gratuitously sexy food-prep.
  • A cart is giving free samples of--something interesting, anyway.
  • Cheap or not, the food smells good--you can't smell anything else in fact.

Hard Moves:

  • The radio DJ corners you for a live 'street interview', describing for the listeners at home and throughout the mall.
  • This food is way spicier than you were ready for--
  • A rival Clique tries to drive you off from the good table.
  • You feel a bump at your side--hey, stop, thief!
  • Someone accuses you of stealing.
  • Waiting in line, the person behind you starts groping you just out of view.
  • Something feels funny--a bit ha-ha-funny--you looked away from your drink for a few minutes . . .

Optional: as the most mingled, undiscriminating, and public place in the mall, the food court has the highest chances for social mishaps. In light of that, any visit to the food court (even just passing through) risks a Hard Move for each Status an MC currently has. So if an MC currently has three Statuses, and enters the food court, they'll have three Hard Moves interrupt them before they can manage to leave.

Gadget Garage

Whether you want the latest in special electronics, or need parts for your DIY project, you can find it here! Custom miniature cameras, microphones, recorders, audio-video, and radio equipment, let you film anything, and practically set up your own broadcasting station! High-power industrial motors and pumps, remote controls, magnetic locks, power-supplies, and batteries, will make sure you'll have something interesting for the audience. And, with EZ-start kits, and friendly, helpful, and very knowledgable staff, you can buy, assemble, or design any devious device and film the proof of concept, or its results!

Soft Moves:

  • The clerk will hook you up with a 'recalled' item, if you help them record something in the back.
  • This employee seems very, very, very interested in what you plan to do.
  • Your plan might require a lot of power, but you could get really creative with these generators . . .
  • You overhear a customer describe just the thing for what you need to do . . .
  • If you let the clerk gush enough about their hobby-project, they might not notice you slip something out.

Normal Moves:

  • Slick displays of unique devices fill the front of the store.
  • Orderly racks and drawers of parts sectioned in the rear aisles.
  • But what if you combined one of these with two of those--
  • The employees know you don't want one of those, and reluctantly back off.

Hard Moves:

  • You can't tell if these parts will fit right--
  • This customer won't stop bothering you about their own project.
  • This employee demands to know exactly what you plan to do.
  • "No no, you don't want an LDRS--" "An LDRS is the only thing to--"
  • One of your Clique knocks over a kit, parts scattering in the aisle.
  • You'll need a specialized tool--
  • --and how do you even use it?
  • The manager keeps the expensive items locked away--and will need some persuading.
  • The clerk first wants you to help test their 'new invention' in the back.

Optional: the Gadget Garage lets you plan ambitious spying, tracking, blackmail, and humiliating broadcasts, as well as build elaborate sexual contraptions, and even use electronics to wipe recordings or jam or hijack normal broadcasts. But your MCs probably lack the expertise and skill to do that on their own--so they may need to trade help for help. To help you toss out the boring and stale stereotypes of 'hobbyist nerd' and do something fun instead, have some sample project-based Countdowns! These side-quests should probably have only three ticks as Countdowns, since you'll still have your own project to work on.

  • A paranormal investigator can help with audio, video, and radio devices, if you help them try to record evidence of a haunting. They need: (1) easy access to to the office halls and service tunnels; (2) smuggle in their equipment without interference; (3) find sufficient 'psychic energy' (a spooky-feeling corner) to set up.
  • A UFOlogist can help with high-voltage and broadcast projects, if you help them make alien contact. They need (1) rooftop access, or to hide a tower in the open; (2) a big power supply (bigger than a normal outlet); (3) a ready distraction or cover when the aliens definitely make contact.
  • A 'radical' engineer can help with high-power pumps, motors, and high-voltage, if you help them build and test their 'miracle rejuvenator'. They need: (1) some weird organic ingredients; (2) a lot of lighting and sound equipment to treat it with; (3) a willing test-subject for the contraption and treated product.
  • A fashion hobbyist can help with microcircuits and remote-control setups, if you help them craft the interactive outfit they've designed. They need: (1) a suitably swanky outfit as a base; (2) some excellent music recordings to calibrate to; (3) someone to operate the backup controls during their debut.

Industrial Ink

The hottest, most talked-about tattoo, piercing, and 'special apparel' parlor in town, here you can truly express yourself, by changing yourself! Bring a design of your own, or choose one of the endless masterpieces from the portfolio, get a cute piercing, or an elaborate custom decoration, and explore the provocative and daring 'niche fashion' attire on display! Or the attire not on display . . .

Soft Moves:

  • If you feel brave, you can earn some quick cash with some 'fetish modeling' in the back.
  • They'll talk down the price for a tattoo--if you allow some creative liberties.
  • They'll even talk the piercings down--for more personal liberties.
  • They might not ask too many questions about an 'unaware' 'customer', for the right price.
  • (Photo-shoot): the other 'model' looks gorgeous even before setup, but after--
  • (Photo-shoot): if you happen to already have some suitable photos of your own, they might buy them without asking too many questions . . .

Normal Moves:

  • Dark, brooding, industrial, and trashy decor and ambiance.
  • Yet everything has a squeaky-clean sterile sheen.
  • One customer radiates predatory menace without saying a word.
  • The artist seems surprisingly shy and bashful--when not wielding a needle.

Hard Moves:

  • The clerk insists on the 'try it before you buy it' policy--including things you haven't decided you want yet.
  • Hey--where'd they put the keys to this thing--?!
  • Unlike the bondage gear, this thing doesn't lock, but still--how do you get it off?
  • A good tattoo here costs how much?
  • You already paid, but this really hurts--
  • You asked for a tattoo, but they implanted something instead.
  • (Photo-shoot): the photos will show your face, and they only have one outfit that comes with a mask--
  • (Photo-shoot): this kink seems really intense even just staged.
  • (Photo-shoot): they finished the shoot, but haven't finished with you.

Optional: doing the fetish-modeling photo-shoots for cash (or other favors) might inspire your MC, through exposure to kinks they never knew they had. Obviously stick to kinks you like as a player, but your character might find themselves tempted with something embarrassing, weird, inconvenient, or just very out of character as far as others know. How severe or fun this ends up depends a lot on how often your MC might face this temptation. For a short-lived but compelling fixation, the following Countdown should work:

Winnable rounds; six ticks; timed to 'moments of temptation'; on each temptation, Sneak away from the temptation; if you lose three or four rounds, then 'temptation' becomes 'excuse', and if you lose five or six rounds, you can't even hide the sway this kink has over you, with at least some visible indicator or advertisement of your interest.

As an example for a 'rare and niche but not too disruptive' kink, suppose your MC finds a fixation on latex outfits after a photo-shoot. At first, shiny tight polyester might make them stare, and consider changing a few items of their wardrobe. If you lose three or four rounds though, your MC looks for excuses to wear spandex or as close to latex as they can get away with, and might try groping anyone wearing suitably shiny clothes. At five or six losses, your MC wants to wear tight plastic, and will melt for anyone in a conspicuously shiny getup.

Lucha Loading-Dock

The mall strictly prohibits any violence, assault, or organized gambling. Make sure to report any signs of a disturbance to the uniformed security guards in the mall for assistance. And remember that visitors to the mall should avoid the parking-lot loading dock area for their own safety. But should you visit, you might find spectators, waiting fighters, and even returning fans for the unorganized fights, sitting and standing on the concrete dividers and walkway in front of the rolling doors, above the ramp leading down into an improvised fighting pit. Several Hard and Soft Moves below will apply only if your MC has made a bet or begun a fight themselves, the rest apply at any time.

Soft Moves:

  • You can see a lot of cash changing hands in these bets, double your money--you just have to pick a winner.
  • Your favorite will definitely fight harder if you cheer them on.
  • Who cares if they won or lost--they look hot, worked-up, sweaty, and barely clothed.
  • (Bet): you could sway the betting or matches, with rumors about the fighters.
  • (Fight): your opponent left themselves wide open for some fun--and "all's fair in love and war" right?
  • (Bet/Fight): you could sneak in or hand someone a roll of coins or a pouch of sand amid all the chaos.

Normal Moves:

  • They punch and wrestle for real, but they have a huge padded mat, and somehow no one gets worse than bruises.
  • Spectators shout on the ledge above the pit, but they don't want blood, they want a good show.
  • Security probably takes a cut, otherwise they really would have stopped this by now.
  • You recognize a lot of faces you wouldn't expect here--some even fighting.

Hard Moves:

  • You only planned to watch, maybe make a bet, but the easily-victorious champ calls for another match--and someone shoves you from the ledge down into the pit.
  • Your rival said to meet here--and they actually came prepared.
  • A member of your Clique gets to shoving another spectator--and your friend did not come prepared--
  • Someone challenges you to a fight, winner fucks the loser however they like--wow, they are really hot--
  • (Bet): you thought they'd win for sure, they look so tough! Now the bookie wants you to pay up.
  • (Bet): you went 'double or nothing' because it sounds cool--but you didn't have 'double', so you'll have to make up the difference some 'other' way.
  • (Fight): your rival's friends intend to each take a turn: one-on-one, after another, and another.
  • (Fight): your opponent reaches under your clothes for very unsporting conduct.
  • (Fight): your opponent has gotten your clothes off altogether, and the crowd starts cheering them on--

Optional 1: normally your Actions as an MC only handle social conflict and efforts, and you can have a lot of fun in the Loading Docks, even fighting, without putting any rules to punches and grappling. But if you do want dice to decide a winner, you can add this Action alongside your others:

  • Attack: use force and violence to dish out pain and injury, and make someone comply, give up, or tap out. Danger: you can get injured or damage something you didn't want to, either by yourself or by the person you attack.

You'll still need to use your other Actions creatively, aim at what your MC can do within those Actions, but this Action lets you decisively win (or lose, and sometimes that's even more fun).

Optional 2: usually you want to roll high on Actions. But if a fighter pins you and starts to have their way, you might purposely fail to Pleasure them in order to get them off of you. Similarly, the failure state for some other Actions can help more than success in some contexts. The Danger always still applies, and seldom does something you would want--seldom, but not never.

Mondo Matinee

Come see the latest big-screen blockbusters, and the upcoming classics everyone will talk about! The small screening rooms keep the audience sounds to a minimum, and state-of-the-art audio ensures you'll hear only the film. With wide aisles, roomy seats, and spotless floors, you can enjoy a snack and some lengthy entertainment, alone, or with friends!

Soft Moves:

  • The lobby clerks and ushers don't seem all that attentive to who goes where.
  • You see your rival engrossed in the trailer, completely unaware and oblivious.
  • Someone really hot sits right next to you, and they look bored . . .
  • If you watch for awhile, you could catch the projectionist leave the booth for a break . . .
  • If you could get them open without stopping the film and tripping an alarm, the screening rooms all open into the admin and maintenance halls.

Normal Moves:

  • With the house lights down, you can only make out faint silhouettes in the theater.
  • You really can't hear anything over the film--but you can see rhythmic motion in a seat across from you.
  • You heard this scene made audiences cream their seats--
  • The snacks cost a lot--but you get so much for it.

Hard Moves:

  • You lost the ticket?! But you already paid for the movie--
  • You got the wrong time, or maybe the wrong room, but definitely the wrong screening.
  • Hands full, squeezing along the aisle, the speakers blaring, someone pins your ankle and starts groping you.
  • A member of your Clique gets boooorrrrred.
  • Someone sits next to you and offers to 'pay you for some company'--and won't take 'no' for an answer.

Obscured Offices

Practically no patrons ever see the hallways of administrative offices and maintenance rooms and service corridors that keep the mall running and comfortable. In fact, hiding these branching halls and stairwells without wasting any floorspace and without anyone noticing any odd corners to the stores took something of an architectural magic-trick. Staff will usually politely ask patrons to leave if they don't look immediately like they have important business with administration--but then staff always has something pressing to do . . .

Soft Moves:

  • You find some 'Staff Only' and 'No Admittance' signs just sitting in storage, as official as any others.
  • They would have to keep master keys somewhere around here . . .
  • Security has to leave the CCTV monitor room sooner or later.
  • One of these rooms controls the speakers and TV feeds for the whole mall.
  • Entering one of the unmarked doors, you didn't even know the mall had a Sandwich Sultan--and no wonder, they walled off the outside windows and doors, but otherwise the restaurant looks completely furnished and intact.
  • (Rooftop): the skylights let you see pretty much anything, anywhere in the mall.
  • (Basement): they keep all the specialty and heavy equipment, supplies, even decorations down here, neatly organized and even ready to use.
  • (Maintenance): guessing from the light dust and a few cobwebs, people don't often come here, and if anyone did, the noise and ducts and pipes and cabinets would make sure they couldn't see or hear anything.

Normal Moves:

  • Narrow halls, beige walls, low overhead fluorescents, like any office building.
  • Confusing, angled, branching corridors, as if the halls have to sneak behind the public-facing stores.
  • Coded doors that all look alike, made for people who work here, and not for people who don't.
  • Stairs and a service elevator connect the hidden hallways across the entire mall.

Hard Moves:

  • Each door has only a letter and number on it, with no clue what leads to what.
  • About half the offices or rooms seem like they have someone doing something inside, at any given time.
  • 'Important' places like maintenance, the basement, and roof access, all have locks.
  • A security guard asks you who you came here to see.
  • A store manager with a grudge recognizes you in here.
  • (Rooftop): when did the weather turn so bad out here?
  • (Basement): moveable lifts, lighting rigs--an indoor snow-maker?! But the freight elevator needs keys to activate.
  • (Maintenance): you can barely stand up from the heat amid the phone and electric switchboxes and the gas and water valves, and no diagrams for which goes to what.

Plaza Parade

While you'll love shopping at the stores and eating in the restaurants, the real experience comes from enjoying the mall as a whole: climate controlled all year round, tastefully lit and decorated, and popular with people from all over town, you can enjoy a whole day without even entering a business. Hang out with your friends and make new ones, with the pleasant background sounds of the people, the speakers, and the scenery of fountains, greenery, and custom-programmed displays. Both peaceful and stimulating, you'll love just appreciating the ambiance.

Soft Moves:

  • The fountain has a pile of coins right in reach.
  • A new vendor has set up a cart selling a niche product--maybe just what you needed?
  • You can help a charity collector and improve your reputation around the mall.
  • One of two competing stores could repay you in cash, store credit, or 'favors', if you put up signs, make a disturbance, or otherwise drive business away from their competitor.
  • You run into a Clique that you have friendly terms with, and it seems they have a dilemma.
  • Staff starts setting up for some kind of display or exhibit. You could help out, or you could take advantage of the commotion and distraction.
  • You see someone really cute, by themselves, looking lost in thought.

Normal Moves:

  • Soft music plays over the speakers, you can hear it when the fuzzy murmur of the patrons ebbs.
  • The different wings and alleys of the arcade all have slightly different lighting, like different times of day.
  • The huge centerpiece fountain splashes and flashes with lighting from below.
  • You could almost find your way around by the different scents of the wings and stores.

Hard Moves:

  • A rival Clique makes insufferable remarks, and makes sure you can hear them.
  • You left your stuff under a bench, but some people just started arguing right in front of it.
  • A charity collector corners you, and you can tell they won't let you go until you at least hear them out.
  • The escalator broke down, and people seem confused about walking up or down the stationary steps.
  • Someone knocked over the hermit-crab seller's huge terrarium--you did not know hermit-crabs could move that quickly.
  • Your ex sees you seeing them. It did not end well last time.
  • A conspiracy kook in a sandwich-board sign turns to you, waving home-printed pamphlets, demanding you look at the evidence.
  • Just where did you leave your--uh-oh . . .
  • The store you came here to visit looks closed--now what?

Picturesque Park

When the weather provides, stores and venues will set up stands and tents in the enclosed outdoor courtyard, and performers and artists from around town will take advantage of the lighting and acoustics to play music, put on shows, or host other activities the mall wouldn't allow indoors. But even without this fun, festival atmosphere, all year round the courtyard makes for a scenic spot to get some fresh air with a hint of nature.

Soft Moves:

  • Though not a beach, some use the courtyard to tan in the sun--and a patron asks you to put some lotion on them.
  • If you help with one of the stores' outdoor tent setup, they'll comp you some quality goods.
  • A bored clerk at a neglected tent invites you 'under the counter'--but still very much in the open.
  • A rival Clique member gets into a loud argument, leaving them totally unawares. And you could just butt in for fun.
  • The troupe for the one-act play performance lost an actor--but you'd fit the part . . .
  • After sunset, security pointedly doesn't notice things like wine-coolers in circulation.
  • You didn't dress for the cold--but there's a hot stranger who did.

Normal Moves:

  • Garland, banners, and lights dangle from the trees and ripple in the breeze.
  • Live musicians play, instead of the faint public-address recordings.
  • Birds fly overhead through the wide clear sky, and swoop down to pick at popcorn and peanuts in the grass.
  • People sit and sprawl on the picnic tables, under the trees, and simply against the walls, instead of always walking somewhere.

Hard Moves:

  • While waiting in line for one of the stalls, you get dizzy with heat exhaustion.
  • A stranger stops you with a handful of pamphlets, about What They Don't Want You To Know--
  • A sudden downpour starts, and you can only save one thing from the rain--
  • Maybe they shouldn't have set up outdoors on such a cold day, because you definitely didn't dress for it.
  • The lights blow out, drowning the courtyard in shadow--and as people file back into the mall someone starts grabbing you.
  • The rival Clique starts putting the moves on someone you've had your eye on for awhile.
  • A group of protestors carries signs saying "PLANTS ARE CONSCIOUS", "DON'T LIE TO THE TREES", and "KEEP OFF THE GRASS". They seem to really believe it, too, one of them cornering you to sign a petition.

Quixotic Quisine

For some of the finest dining in town, make a reservation and enjoy the tasteful ambiance and luxurious dishes, prepared by expert chefs and served by charming and attentive staff. Whether you treat yourself to a personal indulgence, or lavish a partner with elegance and style, you'll savor the experience. Practically everyone covets a reservation here, especially for a date, and anyone would recognize it as a sign of style and taste.

Soft Moves:

  • The gorgeous view, elegant music, and classy atmosphere really do put you at ease if you settle in and enjoy it, and might remove a bad Status, too.
  • Getting seen dining here will probably help your reputation--especially among the class of people dining here, so you might gain a good Status like [well-heeled] or [refined palate].
  • You see someone alone, repeatedly turning away the servers and checking the time, and can't imagine who would stand up such a hottie.
  • During the lengthy wait for the chef to finish your meal, someone confidently pulls a chair up to your table--and looking like that, no wonder they act so confident.
  • The chef steps out to say the kitchen is closed, no further orders, and they'll leave soon--and you can tell they know the best places to eat, if you can catch them before they leave.
  • (Date, guest): they'll let you order whatever you like, as long as you 'make it up later'--sounds like encouragement!
  • (Date, paying): they seem really impressed: two more Actions to impress them, and they'll probably do or give anything you want.
  • (Clique, guest): they paid your way, but turn to your judgment for the best things to order.
  • (Clique, paying): having swung for everyone's meal, you'll get to pick where to go or what to do for at least the next week.

Normal Moves:

  • A gorgeous view fills the picture window all day.
  • Warm intimate light sparkles from the low chandeliers.
  • Musicians play a soothing, almost haunting song over the hushed voices.
  • A melange of exotic scents drifts from the bustling kitchen.

Hard Moves:

  • You arrive early! And fortunately so, because the host sneers at you, "you're wearing that?"
  • Between your style, your order, and your dining, others can tell you don't really 'belong' here, with a Status like [poseur] or even [sellout].
  • Looking over the choices, you can't even guess which wine you'd like, much less which pairs with what.
  • From the kitchen, you can hear the chef shouting and the door swinging, you might not get your meal if the chef doesn't calm down . . .
  • (Date, guest): they watch what you order, even how you sit, they clearly have Opinions about class and taste.
  • (Date, paying): you made a reservation for two, and your date should have shown up by now . . .
  • (Clique, guest): they said they'd pay, but watch what you get, or you'll 'owe them one' . . .
  • (Clique, paying): one of your Clique might just make a scene, not knowing how to eat what they've ordered.

Sensuous Spa

If you need to relax from the stressful life outside, or just want to indulge yourself, or perhaps need that special touch, these specialists have the expertise, for a reasonable price. With meditation, beauty treatments, and thorough 'massage techniques', you'll leave glowing with positivity--if perhaps a bit spent, in more ways than just money. But they always need trainees and interns, so at least you can make up some of the cash!

Soft Moves:

  • Closing your eyes under the warm cream mask and listening to the breathy new-age music makes it hard to even remember what stressed you out. You can remove a suitable Status, or even reduce a Countdown.
  • No matter your look or style, the cosmetologists know just how to improve on it, and give you a Status like [radiant], [sculpted], or even [uncanny].
  • You see a certified knockout heading into the sauna by themselves, maybe you could 'keep them company'.
  • For an extra 'tip', the massage therapist promises to service you as fully as you like.
  • You have the right 'energy' (and discretion) to get a little work 'under the table', maybe literally. You get to keep a cut of the customer's 'tip'!

Normal Moves:

  • The employees' plain outfits just emphasize their attractiveness.
  • The satisfied customers got their money's worth: namely, they look stunning.
  • From hot-tub to mud-bath to sauna, the spa has plenty of rooms for just a couple people to sit together in peace.
  • The spa pipes in quiet new-age music, but every room features insulated soundproofing.

Hard Moves:

  • The massage therapist insists on this particular 'technique', but you did not expect this--
  • A guest steps into the room, alone with you, and thinks you work here! They insist on some 'service' . . .
  • Nosily fidgeting with a curious specialty device, you turn it on--how do you turn it off now--?!
  • You lost all track of time, and now you do have something to stress about--
  • You didn't wipe off all of the treatment cream, and now your clothes have a few stains . . .
  • Some combination of products and 'techniques' has left you with a Status like [drained], [giddy], or [suggestible].

Slack Security

While the mall has security, you seldom see them around, as they only arrive when called by a store, staff, or in the extremely rare occasion of some visible disturbance breaking out. But should you or someone else call for security, they'll intervene--eventually. Security can do any of the Hard or Soft Moves listed if it makes situational sense, but usually one in particular will fit best as an opening Hard Move for security to make.

Soft Moves:

  • (If you called them): They actually take you seriously.
  • (If a rival called them): They have suspicions about the rival's story.
  • (If someone else called them): They get your Clique's version of events first.
  • (If responding to a disturbance): You don't seem like troublemakers.
  • They ask you about a rival.
  • They can probably dismiss this whole thing--after a little 'private chat'.

Normal Moves:

  • You . . . didn't expect the 'rent-a-cops' to look like this.
  • Everyone gathers around to stare.
  • Did you keep your receipts?
  • A bystander butts in to give their telling of events.

Hard Moves:

  • (If a store called them): They demand to inspect anything you have that looks like merchandise.
  • (If staff called them): They question you immediately for details of what happened, whether you know or not.
  • (If a patron or rival called them): They hear the other person's story first.
  • (If a rival called them): The rival has some sketchy faked evidence.
  • (If you called them): They don't believe you called them.
  • (If responding to a disturbance): They want to involve law enforcement, so stay right here.
  • A rival butts in to give their 'version' of events.
  • A member of your Clique gets flustered and starts to stammer.
  • They want to search your belongings. All of them.
  • They want to take you to the 'conference room' in private.

Tenacious Tunes

Here you can listen to the nostalgic classics, obscure oldies, underground bangers, and of course the latest hits! But don't just listen in the aisles or the private booths, they sell merchandise, and for a little fee, they even have a small recording booth set up in the back, but bring your own gear. Any Clique will find something to love, and have time to talk or unwind.

Soft Moves:

  • How did this end up in the 'bargain bin'?! You find a priceless album here!
  • Getting really lost in this album, really listening in full, you forget your worries, your inhibitions, and remove a suitable Status.
  • Cutting loose in the aisles like a maniac, you get pumped up, and get some perspective, and get a good Status.
  • Where'd they even find this? Among the usual T-shirts and slap-bracelets, you find a unique item for a true fan.
  • A really cute customer starts gushing about your favorite artist.
  • The clerk will help you set up the recording and mixing booth, for a 'little favor'.

Normal Moves:

  • Dusty vinyl, scratched cassettes, resin scent of CDs, and old cardstock liners and album art.
  • Everyone leaves the "take a listen" headphones running, leaving faint murmured songs at the end of every aisle.
  • The clerk has gotten lost in one of the new albums to categorize and shelf, just nodding along and drumming their fingers.
  • A couple of fans stand in a corner arguing about the real history of the scene--

Hard Moves:

  • Your Clique gets into an argument about the real sellouts--
  • You damaged the last copy in stock, and the clerk expects you to make it up somehow . . .
  • A customer scoffs at your taste--and knows way more than you expected--
  • Wait, you listened to that whole album? You'll never make it in time for--

Workout Warehouse

While you could go to a spa or a fashionable boutique, if you really wanna look your best, nothing compares to a fit physique. Besides, where else will you get to admire such buff bodies on display? Get proven products, hands on help, and a full fitness routine, on the best equipment you'll ever find.

Soft Moves:

  • The only other person in the changing-room sees you watching--and slows down.
  • A cute newcomer asks for some 'help' with their set.
  • Getting active, getting moving, getting an eyeful, you also get a short-lived Status, like [pumped] or [motivated].
  • In the sports room, someone challenges you to a match, 'shirts versus skins'.
  • They sell an exclusive 'protein shake' everyone swears by--but only to 'valued members'.
  • From one of the lockers, you hear a panting breath and a soft moan--and the voice sounds nice, if only you could find them.

Normal Moves:

  • Upbeat music pumps through the gym, and even cheesy as it is, it has a catchy beat.
  • Fit bodies in tight clothes, all showing off as much as working out.
  • Questionably instructional videos play on monitors all around.
  • Trainers chant encouragement at dedicated body-builders, "ten more, gimme ten more!"

Hard Moves:

  • As you get undressed in the changing-room, someone corners you--way more fit than you, too--
  • Uh-oh--you didn't check the machine's setup, and now you really need some help here--
  • Taking on too much too fast, you injure yourself with a Status like [sprained] or [faint].
  • This 'muscle cream' doesn't seem to work right: somehow relaxing and tightening up, and numbing and more sensitive--
  • A rival Clique challenges you to a contest in the main gym, while everyone gathers around to watch.
  • An uncommon, brief moment of quiet lets you hear--faint mumbling, "battery's running out", someone filmed that?!

Closing Time

Despite rumors and popular demand, the mall doesn't operate twenty-four hours! When the music stops and the public-address chimes, patrons have to finish their shopping, gather their things, say their goodbyes, and leave for the night. Still, a few unexpected events might happen . . .

Soft Moves:

  • Eager to leave, the clerk misses (or 'misses') one or two items at the till.
  • One of the mall staff stops you just to let you know, they've got no plans after work.
  • You see a perfect chance to tie up a rival Clique from beating the exit rush.
  • Through the crowd, you see a shopper's overloaded bag spill open--and they have some interesting purchases in there . . .
  • As you leave you overhear an interesting conversation--it sounds like a good way to wait out the traffic jam.
  • This week the local co-op tried to sell produce by the parking-lot. They didn't do much business, so they have some to spare.

Normal Moves:

  • Suddenly the plaza teems with people, everyone hoping to get out of the parking-lot first.
  • Seasonally appropriate sunsets play on the monitors around the mall.
  • Normally one can barely hear the music, making it almost louder now that it stopped.
  • Even through the city streetlights, you can see the moon and a few twinkling stars.

Hard Moves:

  • While intimately 'preoccupied' with a partner, they hurry off at the chime--leaving you still a disheveled mess--
  • The customer in front of you demands to use their ragged coupon--and wait, they have two more to add--
  • Wait, you have 'just' one more thing to get--
  • A rival Clique has seemingly nothing better to do than hassle you before the store gates close.
  • As you leave a customer swears they recognize you--and that you saw where they would have put their bag--
  • You got delayed while leaving, and now just have to wait out the traffic-jam in the parking-lot with your Clique.

Optional: throughout a given session's day, each player can flag a person, place, or task to visit Before Closing Time. Each player gets one such flag for free and unquestioned, simply assume the MC migrated through the mall to the right place to arrive in time, and handle this one thing. Subsequent flagged visits should all provoke a Hard Move from 'Plaza Parade', or in a pinch, 'Frenetic Food-Court', or any other distraction to make those 'last few errands' interesting.

Edit Report
Pub: 20 Apr 2023 02:50 UTC
Edit: 03 Dec 2024 04:56 UTC
Views: 527