Goblin Mode is a game that explores a fantasy society of Goblins on their everyday routine. Goblins are small, silly and naughty creatures that delight in causing chaos. These particular Goblins are ruled by a rather incompetent wizard, who constantly disrupts their daily life to give them tasks he doesn’t want to do. The Wizard will be played by you as the Game Master, and your role is to regulate the game and help people when they seem lost.

During this game, the players explore the society of Goblins – their petty fights amongst themselves, their backstabbing brotherhood, their ridiculous confidence and the oppressive tasks by the wizards. The Goblins will be split into different teams, and take on different tasks while delving deeper into their sense of self, and gradually choosing for themselves what they wish to do. Goblins of course have an arsenal of tricks and pranks they play upon each other, which will be used as “powers” by the players in order to gain an edge over their competition. These “Powers” are signified by the “Deck of Rapscallions” which is the only physical component you need to run the game.

If you are running this game for very enthusiastic participants, you may choose to introduce costumes – silly hats, long noses, big ears, or green faces. You may also draw inspiration from how Goblins look in your culture – but concern yourself with this exercise only if it will help create engagement from the players.

Before the Game starts, it is important to create a little social contract in order to ensure the emotional and physical safety of all of our participants. As such, we will be employing some calibration tools and good co-player practices to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Traffic Lights System:

The Traffic Light System is a method for communicating your emotional status between players of this game. It works in the same way that traffic lights work in real life:

• Green means you can go
• Orange means you should Slow Down (De-escalate)
• Red means you should Stop.

Now that you have a rough understanding, let’s present it to the players!

“Before we begin with the game, we will be introducing some common ground amongst ourselves. Let us start with the traffic light system. This is a way to communicate how we feel during the game, in case we become overwhelmed, need some time to cool down, need to set some boundaries, or show our co-player that we want to escalate the situation further.

If for example, during a fight, someone very violently shouts at us, we should express:

• Green – if we like how this is going, it is ok for us emotionally and we can/want to escalate even further. It is an invitation for the other player to keep doing what they are doing and reassure them we are fine.
• Orange – if we are unsure how we feel, this is slowly crossing some of our boundaries or we do not wish this to escalate further. This is a way to communicate, hey, try to tone it down a bit, I am a little uncomfortable.
• Red – if we wish for the situation to stop immediately – something struck a nerve, we are feeling overwhelmed, we were triggered by something etc, and can not interact further. Essentially, we are telling the other player that we are not ok, and they should leave us alone. If you hear Red – get out of there. Questions?

Next up, we will introduce a play mentality that will help our players coexist and play off of each other. To put it very simply, play with a mentality of looking for trouble, rather than looking to be super safe and win.

“Throughout this game, we will be acting as different characters, each with their own agendas and objectives. And although your characters want to achieve all of these goals and win, this creates a less fun experience. For example, think of the game Monopoly – it is not very fun if one person is winning and we can do nothing against it. This game has no goals of measuring success or dictating efficiency – it is a game where you, as players, make up what is going on as you go.

As such, we Play to Lose, rather than to Win. Have a secret no one should know? Eh, you kinda boasted about it and now the local rumormonger knows about it. You are the mightiest warrior in the land and you are about to fight with a novice. Oops, you slipped on a banana peel and now they are a legend.

This allows for more opportunities to create cool stories, and for more people to win. Of course that doesn’t mean you should always sabotage yourselves, but keep in mind what cool moments you can create with that mentality at all times.”

Introduce the players to the terms or mechanics that will show up during the game, so that they are familiar with them.

“Let’s talk a little bit about all the things we will be seeing throughout the game. We have Traffic Lights and Play to Lose in mind, so now, we will introduce the concept of Off Game.

Off Game is a maneuver where you lift your fist between your eyes, to indicate that you are not currently playing the game. That means, you are doing something important (e.g. getting some water, going to the toilet) and your character is not there. While you are doing this maneuver, your character is invisible to everyone in the game.

Powers. Throughout the game, you will be given a unique Power in the form of a card that you can use – either for yourself or others. These Powers vary, but a lot of them cause your character to do something specific for 5 minutes. That means when this card is shown to you, you HAVE to do the thing it says for the next 5 minutes. If you are not ok with that, you can sit down and take some time to cool down instead. Please try not to abuse a single person with your cards, and to divide mischief amongst everyone equally.

Throughout the game, a Mage may come up to you and cast a spell by saying, for example,” Itchy Nose, Greater”. If that happens to you, your characters are extremely inconvenienced and terrified, and must do what the spell describes (as long as you are comfortable with that) for the next 10 seconds. If you are not comfortable with that, just look terrified.

Furthermore, during the game you may experience the effects of a potion named “Elixir of Bravery”. Consider this a truth Potion, that makes you speak whatever is on your mind and how you feel. Remember to express Vulnerability and to say anything that is on your mind, knowing you are in a safe place.

The Game also has these tokens (show the orbeez/shiny rocks) that are extremely important for Goblins and you call them Shinies!. Consider that your characters would do anything for one of these, but they would also give one of these away easily if they are too lazy to do something. These Shinies, along with Glass Vials that contain alchemical substances, are lootable, and your characters may just pocket them during the game, and trade them for favors or other stuff.

Lastly, do note that throughout the Game you will be tasked with various quests, riddles and adventures. Remember that the point is not to find a proper solution or to investigate something – it is to make stuff up, to be creative, to serve the goals of your individual ministries and to add some Goblin Mayhem to the mix! Questions?

PREPARATION

After the players have made their characters, they pick up their Powers/Cards from the Deck of Rapscallions. Each Ministry has its own Deck, so it is a good idea to have the cards arranged ahead of time, or to arrange them while the teams are talking.

“I will be putting some cards in front of your Ministries, each containing a unique power. These are symbolic tokens of actual things your characters can do. Please pick one. This card persists throughout the game and has unlimited uses, but you can only use the cards once every 10 minutes – think of it as a power cool down. You will see that there are more cards than you. Leave any remaining cards you don’t pick on the table. As you find your card, imagine what this power means to your Goblin – and what they might want to achieve with it!

After you pick your cards, we will begin our game. If you have any remaining questions, now is the time.”