A Town Called Malice | A Town Called Malice (LTP)

About the adventure

A supernatural mystery in the style of Twin Peaks or Puzzle Agent set in a small, dying town in Wisconsin. Uses the "A Town Called Malice" variant of the Story Pillar System, by Monkeyfun Games. Role-playing and story-focused, the game focuses on relationships between the citizens of Malice, and their efforts to keep their home alive as one factory after another shuts down and rusts out. And to figure out who - or what - is killing people in their little town. Some want to brush it under the rug, keep things quiet long enough for the inspectors to send their report and hopefully get the town some desperately needed investment. Some want justice for lost family and friends. And some whisper about the sounds in the bleak, wet woodlands outside of town. Of stories their grandmothers told them, of bright eyes peering out of the darkness. And they wonder if, just maybe, something out there has decided to put the town out of its misery. And whether or not they should let it happen, or fight tooth and nail against the oblivion that has long threatened their homes.

Additional Details

How to prepare

A mic or headset will be plenty. The GM will prepare a Roll20 space to play in, and will handle teaching the system both during Session 0 and throughout the game. If anybody has access to the A Town Called Malice rulebook, reading it ahead of time will be helpful, but you will probably be better served by watching some of the following films/miniseries: Jaws (or any of a thousand of its ripoffs) Twin Peaks The Thing (1982) 30 Days of Night The game should be 1-2 sessions long, depending on how quickly scenes progress.

What I provide

I will bring the rules and set up the Roll20 game space ahead of time, including map spaces to be further detailed during Session Zero. Map details will be developed during play.

Gameplay details

This game contains violence and death, along with potentially graphic descriptions of violent and/or gory content. Depending on players, there may be discussion of other mature content - much of the game focuses on good and bad relationships between the people of a small town, which can involve all manner of stresses, potential triggers, and general drama. Lines and veils will be discussed early during the first session, with tools available for players to warn the GM that something is getting a little too deep *without* revealing to the table who had an issue. There will also be tools available for identifying content that you want to see more of! With regular breaks, this should make it possible for everybody to feel comfortable throughout the game.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

Breaks
Lines and Veils
Open Door
Session 0
Stars and Wishes
X, N, and O Cards

How will character creation work

Character and setting creation will take place at Session Zero - a major part of the system behind A Town Called Malice is that players work together to develop their relationships, details about the town at the start of the story, and various NPCs and other story elements. It is largely impossible to prepare a character for this game ahead of time, but character creation is also a very simple process.

Players can expect

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