The Gaming Den

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu
What Dreams May Come
Written by Jonathan Green
Illustrated by Heraldo Mussolini

Shakespeare vs. Cthulhu - What Dreams May Come


Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is unlike other books. In fact, it is the gateway to a world of Shakespearean drama and underlying cosmic horror, and an interactive adventure inspired by the works of both the Bard of Stratford and American horror author H.P. Lovecraft.

As well as the book itself, you will need two dice (or a standard pack of playing cards), a pencil and an eraser. Using these tools, and a simple set of game rules contained within the book, you will undertake a curious quest that will transport you into the world of Shakespeare’s plays, taking on the role of the world’s most famous playwright, while he is beset on all sides by madness-inducing horror.

YOU decide which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of the terrifying creatures you will meet along the way to engage in battle. But be warned – whether you take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them, or succumb to mind-destroying, riotous madness, will be down to the choices YOU make.

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We will be using 2 dice
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All The World's A Stage
"And one man in his time plays many parts."


Introduction
The book you hold in your hands is a gateway to a world of Shakespearean drama infected with undertones of cosmic horror, and an adventure inspired by the works of both the Bard of Stratford and American horror author H.P. Lovecraft. Within its pages you will undertake a mysterious quest in which, beset on all sides by unimaginable horrors and the machinations of uncaring, immortal entities that exist outside of time and space, survival is your only goal.

In Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come you play the part of the Bard of Stratford himself, William Shakespeare. Using your wits and courage, as well as martial skills honed by hours of stage-fighting practice, YOU decide which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of the terrifying creatures you will meet along the way to engage in battle. But be warned – whether you survive your adventure, or succumb to absolute madness, will be down to the choices YOU make.

For this is no ordinary book. Rather than reading it from cover to cover, you will discover that at the end of each narrative section you will be presented with a series of choices that allows you to control the course of the story.

Success is by no means certain, and you may well fail to complete the adventure at your first attempt. However, with experience, skill, and maybe even a little luck, each new attempt should bring you closer to your ultimate goal.

In addition to the book itself, you will need two six-sided dice, or a conventional pack of 52 playing cards, a pencil, an eraser, and a copy of the Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come Adventure Sheet (spare copies of which can be downloaded from www.acegamebooks.com).



"The game's afoot."
Playing the Game


There are three ways to play through Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come. The first is to use two six-sided dice. The second is to use a conventional pack of 52 playing cards. The third is to ignore the rules altogether and just read the book, making choices as appropriate, but ignoring any combat or attribute tests, always assuming you win every battle and pass every skill test. (Even if you play the adventure this way, there is still no guarantee that you will complete it at your first attempt.)

If you are opting to play through Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come using the game rules, you first need to determine your strengths and weaknesses.


“What a piece of work is a man!”
Your Attributes


You have four attributes you need to keep track of during the course of the adventure, using your Adventure Sheet. Some of these will change frequently, others less so, but it is important that you keep an accurate record of the current level for all of them.

• Agility – This is a measure of how athletic and agile you are. If you need to leap across a chasm or dodge a deadly projectile, this is the attribute that will be employed.

• Combat – This is a measure of how skillful you are at fighting, whether it be in unarmed combat, or wielding a keen-edged blade in battle.

• Endurance – This is a measure of how physically tough you are and how much strength you have le􀀡. This attribute will vary more than any other during your adventure.

• Madness – As you travel through the nightmarish dreamscapes of Shakespeare’s plays, the unfathomable horrors you will be exposed to could drive you mad. This attribute tracks how close you are to going completely insane and losing all grip on reality. You want to avoid threats to your sanity, if possible, for that way madness lies.

Unlike some adventure gamebooks, in Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come your strengths and weaknesses are not determined randomly. Instead, you get to decide what you are good at and, conversely, what you might not be so good at.

Your Agility and Combat attributes start at a base level of 5. Your Endurance score starts at a base level of 15. You then have a pool of 10 extra points to share out between Agility, Combat and Endurance as you see fit, but you can only add up to 5 points to each attribute. However, every 1 point spent on Endurance increases it by 2. Therefore, the maximum starting score for Agility and Combat is 10, and the maximum starting score for Endurance is 25. (You must apportion all 10 points one way or another and cannot leave any unused.)

Agility 5 (Base)
Combat 5 (Base)
Endurance 15 (Base)
Attribute Pool: 10 (remaining)

There are limits on how high each of your attributes can be at the start of the adventure, but there are also limits on how high they can be raised during the course of the adventure, dependent upon bonus points you may be awarded. Neither your Agility score nor your Combat score may exceed 12 points, while your Endurance score may not exceed 30 points. However, should your Endurance score ever drop to zero, or below, then your adventure is over, and you should stop reading immediately; if you want to tackle the quest again, you will have to start from the beginning, determining your attributes anew and starting the story from section 1 once more.

Your Madness score always starts at zero. While there is no limit on how high your Madness can be, it may not drop below zero.


“Bring me to the test.”
Testing Your Attributes


At various times during the adventure, you will be asked to test one or more of your attributes.

If it is your Agility or Combat that is being tested, simply roll two dice. If the total rolled is equal to or less than the attribute being tested, you have passed the test; if the total rolled is greater than the attribute in question, then you have failed the test.

If it is your Endurance score that is being tested, roll four dice in total. If the combined score of all four dice is equal to or less than your Endurance score, then you have passed the test; if it is greater, then what is being asked of you is beyond your capabilities and you have failed the test.

However, whenever you are told to Take a Madness test, roll two dice and if the total is greater than your current Madness score, you have passed the test. But, if the total is equal to or less than your current Madness score, you have failed the test.


“What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”
Restoring Your Attributes

There are various ways that you can restore lost attribute points or be granted bonuses that take your a􀀪ributes beyond their starting scores, and these will be described in the text.

However, an easy way to restore lost Endurance points is to find sustenance. Sometimes you may find enough sustenance that you can take some with you to consume later in the adventure.

Make sure that if you do find any supplies of this nature you record them in the Meals box on your Adventure Sheet, along with any information about exactly how many attribute points they will restore when consumed. (Unless you are told otherwise by the text, one Meal will restore 4 Endurance points.)



“This rough magic.”
Special Abilities


In addition to your four basic attributes, you also have two special abilities that you can employ at critical moments during the journey through Shakespeare’s plays you are about to embark upon.

• Where There’s a Will – If you find yourself in a tight spot, you can use this ability to change the nature of the world around you. However, there is a possibility that this may result in you actually making things worse for yourself, rather than better.

• The Pen is Mightier – This ability allows you to avoid coming to blows with an enemy, by altering the narrative of the encounter and thereby enabling you to get away unscathed. You begin your adventure with two uses of each of these very special abilities, but it is possible to acquire additional uses. Each time you call upon one of them, you must cross off one use on your Adventure Sheet under the appropriate special ability. The text will typically remind you to do this in the subsequent section.


“Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war.”
Combat

You will repeatedly be called upon to defend yourself, during the course of your adventure. Sometimes you may even choose to attack an enemy yourself. After all, as they say, the best form of defence is attack.

When this happens, start by filling in your opponent’s Combat and Endurance scores in the first available Encounter Box on your Adventure Sheet.

Whenever you engage in combat, you will be told in the text whether you or your enemy has the initiative; in other words, who has the advantage and gets to attack first.

1. Roll two dice and add your Combat score. The resulting total is your Combat Rating.

2. Roll two dice and add your opponent’s Combat score. The resulting total is your opponent’s Combat Rating.

3. For each Combat Round, add a temporary 1 point bonus to the Combat Rating of whichever of the combatants has the initiative for the duration of that round.

4. If your Combat Rating is higher than your opponent’s, you have wounded your enemy; deduct 2 points from your opponent’s Endurance score and move on to step 7.

5. If your opponent’s Combat Rating is higher, then you have been wounded; deduct 2 points from your Endurance score and move on to step 8.

6. If your Combat Rating and your opponent’s Combat Rating are the same, roll one die. If the number rolled is odd, you and your opponent deflect each other’s attacks; go to step 10. If the number rolled is even, number rolled is even, go to step 9.

7. If your opponent’s Endurance score has been reduced to zero or below, you have won; the battle is over, and you can continue the adventure. If your opponent is not yet dead, go to step 10.

8. If your Endurance score has been reduced to zero or below, your opponent has won the battle. If you want to continue your adventure you will have to start again from the beginning. However, if you are still alive, go to step 10.

9. You and your opponent have both managed to injure each other; deduct 1 point from both your Endurance score and your opponent’s Endurance score. If your Endurance score has been reduced to zero or below, your adventure is over; if you want to play again you will have to start again from the beginning. If you are still alive but your enemy’s Endurance has been reduced to zero or below, you have won; the battle is over, and you can continue the adventure. If neither you nor your opponent is dead, go to step 10.

10. If you won the Combat Round, you will have the initiative in the next Combat Round. If your opponent won the Combat the
Round, they will have the initiative. If neither of you won the Combat Round, neither of you will gain the initiative bonus for the next Combat Round. Go back to step 1 and work through the sequence again until either your opponent is dead, or you are defeated.


“Once more unto the breach.”
Fighting More Than One Opponent

Sometimes you may find yourself having to fight more than one opponent at the same time. Such battles are conducted in the same way as above, using the ten-step process, except that you will have to work out the Combat Ratings of all those involved. As long as you have a higher rating than an opponent you will injure them, no matter how many opponents you are taking on at the same time. Equally, any opponent with a Combat Rating higher than yours will be able to injure you too.

However, if you are fighting two or three opponents simultaneously, you must deduct 1 point from your Combat Rating for the duration of the battle. If you are facing four or five opponents at the same time, you must deduct 2 points from your Combat Rating. And if you ever have to fight six or more opponents at the same time, deduct 3 points from your Combat Rating!

For example, if you find yourself having to fight two Murderers, for the duration of that fight you must deduct 1 point from your Combat Rating. If you were fighting three Witches at the same time, you would still only have to deduct 1 point from your Combat Rating. But if there were four soldiers attacking you at the same time, you would have to deduct 2 points from your Combat Rating, for the duration of the battle.

Please note, if even just one of your opponents makes a successful strike against you during a Combat Round, you will not have the initiative against any of them in the following Combat Round – if you are still alive!


“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”
Props

You start your adventure with nothing, dressed only in your doublet and hose. During the course of your adventure, you will no doubt acquire all manner of items that may be of use to you later on. Anything that you do collect should be recorded in the Props box on your Adventure Sheet, including weapons and other miscellaneous objects.


“Exit, pursued by a bear.”
Stage Directions

You will also come across various clues and useful pieces of information, or be forced to endure unusual or unpleasant experiences, during your adventure. The knowledge you have acquired and the experiences you have endured are tracked in the form of code words, referred to as Stage Directions, a list of which appears on page 19.

Whenever you acquire a particular Stage Direction, you will be instructed to tick it off on this list. How many of them can you collect?


“Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides.”
Hidden Sections

There are also three hidden sections within this book. They will not be signposted in any way, so you should keep your eyes open in case you can work out where they might be found. If you discover one, you will be suitably rewarded.


“Though this be madness, yet there is a method in’t.”
Hints on Play

There is more than one path that you can follow through Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come to reach your ultimate goal, but it may take you several attempts to actually complete the adventure. Make notes and draw a map as you explore. This map will doubtless prove invaluable during future attempts at completing the quest and will allow you to progress more speedily in order to reach unexplored regions.

Keep a careful eye on all your attributes throughout the game. Beware of traps and setting off on a wild-goose chase. However, it would be wise to collect useful items along the way that may aid you further on in your quest.



“All’s well that ends well.”
Ending the Game


There are several ways that your adventure can end. If your Endurance score ever drops to zero or below, your trials have exhausted and overcome you. If this happens, stop reading at once.

There may also be occasions when you are prevented from progressing any further through the adventure thanks to the choices you have made, or if you meet a sudden and untimely end. In all of these cases, if you want to have another crack at completing the adventure you will have to start again with a new Adventure Sheet and begin the story afresh from the beginning.

There is of course one other reason for your adventure coming to an end, and that is if you successfully complete your quest, the very same quest that awaits you now…






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We will begin after your starting attributes are determined. Please vote for the distribution that you prefer. I will plan to average your selections. For example, if one person suggests putting +5 in Combat and someone suggests putting +3 in Combat, we'll probably end up with a +4. If averaging does not work for whatever reason, I may determine randomly between suggestions.

Updates are on an 'as I can do them' basis, probably 2x per day. If I have received 2+ votes for an action, I may advance multiple times, schedule permitting. Good luck!

I vote to put 5 points in Agility, 10 in Combat, and 0 in Endurance.

Hmmm...0 to endurance might be a pain, but splitting 5 for each is boring, so I'll agree with that.

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Me, Earlier wrote: Your Agility and Combat attributes start at a base level of 5. Your Endurance score starts at a base level of 15. You then have a pool of 10 extra points to share out between Agility, Combat and Endurance as you see fit, but you can only add up to 5 points to each attribute.

I am interpreting this as putting the maximum amount in Agility and Combat (5 each) and nothing in Endurance. Please note there were only 10 points to distribute (not 15) and a maximum of 5 points to any attribute. Also, the character sheet includes a full list of stage directions (you check them as they are found). Since the stage direction could potentially serve as a clue or goal and you would have this information if you were playing normally, I am providing the full list as well. I will bold entries as they are found to minimize the amount of space it requires.

There is also a list of Dramatis Personae, which I am not providing. The listing is typical for a play - essentially a list of characters with a brief description like 'Ariel, an airy spirit'. The characters appear to be primarily drawn from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, and the Cthulu mythos. There are a few characters that are 'real people' like Shakespeare, and a few fellow actors.


Act I - Ill Met by Moonlight




1


Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, and still you have not finished the play that has been commissioned by your new patron. But then again, you remind yourself, ’tis far be􀀪er that you progress wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.

Now that today’s final performance has finished and Burbage and the other actors have retired to the Mermaid Tavern for the evening, you settle down at a table in the Tiring House. You have decided to lie low to complete the fi􀀡h act of Love’s Labour’s Won which, with the sun low in the sky beyond the thatched roof and rough walls of this wooden O, you imagine will fill up the time ’twixt this and supper. You have just finished dotting every i and crossing every t when a sharp rapping against the back wall of the stage makes you start.

“Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub?” you cry.

“If I am the Lord of the Flies then hell is empty and all the devils are here,” comes a chuckle from behind you.

You turn to see His Grace Francis Thurston, the Earl of Gloucester, your new patron who is paying you a king’s ransom to finally finish Love’s Labour’s Won. He is accompanied by a taciturn manservant dressed all in black.

You are on your feet in a second before bowing low before His Grace.

“I must apologise, my lord,” you say, your face hot with embarrassment. “I did not realise… If you pardon, we will mend.”

“Worry not, Mr. Shakespeare,” the Earl says, cutting you off. “The quality of mercy is not strained.”

“Thank you, your Grace,” you reply, much relieved.

What a piece of work is a man, this man in particular, for his eternal summer shall not fade. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. In your knowing of the Earl of Gloucester you could believe that all three were true. And is not the truth the truth?

But there is something about him that puts you on edge. He has a lean and hungry look.




“How now, Will? Thou art a sorry sight,” proclaims Gloucester. “You should be roistering with the rest of the King’s Men.”

“I had my play to finish – I mean your play, my lord,” you hastily correct yourself.

“Ah yes, the play’s the thing,” Gloucester says, “wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.”

There is a strange look in his eyes; they are the oldest eyes you have ever seen in so youthful a face, and you cannot help but comment on the fact:

“Your Lordship, though not clean past your youth, have yet some smack of an age in you, some relish of the saltness of time in you.”

“You flatter me, Will,” Gloucester says, disarmingly. “As you put it so eloquently yourself, I am but, ‘a soldier, full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel, seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon’s mouth.’ But enough of this. You said, ‘I had my play to finish.’ Does that mean it is now complete?”

“Yes, my lord. I have just this moment penned the last rhyming couplet,” you tell him.

“Very good, Mr Shakespeare. Very good indeed. Then let us drink to your continued good health.”

The Earl of Gloucester takes a bo􀀪le of sack from his manservant and uncorks it, filling two tankards, that his general dogsbody also provides, with the fortified wine.

“Good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used,” the Earl says as his manservant passes you one of the drinking vessels. “Now then, Mr Shakespeare, will you quote a much-loved toast from one of your works?”

If you agree and make the toast, turn to 21. If you would prefer to defer to the Earl of Gloucester’s noble rank and ask him to make the toast instead, turn to 41

William Shakespeare
Agility: 10 [10]
Combat: 10 [10]
Endurance: 15 [15]
Madness: 0
Meals: 0
Where There's a Will: 3 [3]
The Pen is Mightier: 3 [3]
Props: Doublet & Hose
State Directions: A Flattering Tongue; A Most Exquisite Lady; An Armed Head; An Evil Sign; Book of Riddles; Cunning Man; Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Dreadful Minister; Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Fell and Wrath; Fortune's Fool; Foul Fiend; Give No Words But Mum; Give't to thy Crone; Good Mother; Graves All Gaping Wide; Guilty Mind; His Commandment; Horned Man; Ignoble Traitor; Instinct is a Great Matter; Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me?; King of Infinite Space; Knavish Sprite; Maiden Pilgrimage; Murder Most Foul; My Honour'd Lady; My Verse Astonished; Prince of Cats; Servant-Monster; Star-Cross'd; Strange Fellow; Speak the Speech; The Charmed Pot; The Ides of March; The Spirit of Banquo; The Worst Rank of Manhood; Unspeakable Deserts; Yellow Gold; Yellow Hue; Yellow Melancholy; Yellow Sands

Yep, misread the instructions about spending points. Make the toast.

Yeah, also wasn't on the ball there, and agree to the making of a toast.

21

“Very good, your Grace,” you say and raise your tankard. “All days of glory, joy and happiness.”

“Truly, brevity is the soul of wit!” Gloucester laughs, and you both drink.

Gain 1 additional use of the Where There’s a Will special ability and turn to 56.

56

The wine is delicious, if rather on the sweet side, and you take another swig. But almost immediately you begin to feel light-headed. You look at the Earl, but his face appears to be out of focus, and you have to concentrate to bring it back to clarity.

“O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou has no name to be known by, let us call thee devil,” you mu􀀪er. “O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains!”

“Are you quite alright, Mr Shakespeare?” Gloucester asks. You are suddenly overwhelmed by a curious drowsiness and sit down again at your writing table.

Take an Endurance test. If you pass, turn to 76. If you fail the test, turn to 97.

Roll: 12 (4,4,3,1) Success!

76

“What have you done to me, my lord?” you slur. “What drugs, what charms, what conjuration, and what mighty magic?”

“What have I done to you, Will?” Gloucester says with that twinkling laugh of his. “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.”

And sleep, that sometime shuts up sorrow’s eye, steals you away. Tick off the Stage Direction Guilty Mind and turn to 117.


117

When next you wake, all is dark.

You rouse yourself from a slumber so full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams, that you feel cabin’d, cribb’d, confined, bound in to saucy doubts and fears. There lingers still the source of your terror, a cyclopean apparition that was neither dragon, man, nor kraken, but seemingly all combined.

“O horror, horror, horror!” you gasp, giving voice to your terrified thoughts – “Tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee!” – and in so doing dispel the monster from your mind.

You lift your head, still heavy with sleep, from the table where you have napped, and look about you. There is no sign of the Earl of Gloucester or his manservant. All you have for company are the props, dusty costumes, and pieces of wood-and-canvas scenery that are stored here within the Tiring House.

You decide it is time to leave the Globe and make your way to your London lodgings, where your wife Anne is waiting.

You could take the manuscript of Love’s Labour’s Won with you, to read through it once more and make any necessary revisions, but perhaps what you really need is a good night’s rest.

If you want to take the manuscript with you, turn to 8. If you would rather leave it here, with the intention of looking at it with fresh eyes first thing in the morning, turn to 19.

William Shakespeare
Agility: 10 [10]
Combat: 10 [10]
Endurance: 15 [15]
Madness: 0
Meals: 0
Where There's a Will: 3 [4]
The Pen is Mightier: 3 [3]
Props: Doublet & Hose
State Directions: A Flattering Tongue; A Most Exquisite Lady; An Armed Head; An Evil Sign; Book of Riddles; Cunning Man; Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Dreadful Minister; Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Fell and Wrath; Fortune's Fool; Foul Fiend; Give No Words But Mum; Give't to thy Crone; Good Mother; Graves All Gaping Wide; Guilty Mind; His Commandment; Horned Man; Ignoble Traitor; Instinct is a Great Matter; Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me?; King of Infinite Space; Knavish Sprite; Maiden Pilgrimage; Murder Most Foul; My Honour'd Lady; My Verse Astonished; Prince of Cats; Servant-Monster; Star-Cross'd; Strange Fellow; Speak the Speech; The Charmed Pot; The Ides of March; The Spirit of Banquo; The Worst Rank of Manhood; Unspeakable Deserts; Yellow Gold; Yellow Hue; Yellow Melancholy; Yellow Sands

Take the manuscript.

Take the manuscript.

8

To be a well-favoured man is the gift of fortune; but to write and read comes by nature. And so you pick up the bundle of curling yellow pages, taking your quill and inkpot with you as well, and make for the door.

Record the Quill and Manuscript on your Adventure Sheet and gain 1 additional use of The Pen is Mightier special ability. Now turn to 19.

19

You step through the door that leads from the Tiring House to the stage and find yourself bathed in a cold luminescence. The moon shines bright in the circle of sky you can see beyond the encircling O of the Globe.

It is then that you hear something behind you, beyond the Tiring House. You would almost be prepared to swear that it sounded like a thousand twangling instruments, but coming from very far off. You pause straining to listen, and there comes the sound again, although this time it is more like a monstrous li􀀪le voice, and sounds like it came from the Gallery above the stage.

For a moment, you consider ignoring the noises and quitting the Globe, as you originally intended. And yet, you have to know what made the sound, even though it might be to consider too curiously, to consider so.

So, where will you look, in search of the source of the sound? In the Tiring House (turn to 38), or above in the Gallery (turn to 50)?

William Shakespeare
Agility: 10 [10]
Combat: 10 [10]
Endurance: 15 [15]
Madness: 0
Meals: 0
Where There's a Will: 3 [4]
The Pen is Mightier: 3 [4]
Props: Doublet & Hose, Quill, Manuscript
Stage Directions Obtained: Guilty Mind;
Stage Directions Possible to Acquire: A Flattering Tongue; A Most Exquisite Lady; An Armed Head; An Evil Sign; Book of Riddles; Cunning Man; Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Dreadful Minister; Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Fell and Wrath; Fortune's Fool; Foul Fiend; Give No Words But Mum; Give't to thy Crone; Good Mother; Graves All Gaping Wide; His Commandment; Horned Man; Ignoble Traitor; Instinct is a Great Matter; Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me?; King of Infinite Space; Knavish Sprite; Maiden Pilgrimage; Murder Most Foul; My Honour'd Lady; My Verse Astonished; Prince of Cats; Servant-Monster; Star-Cross'd; Strange Fellow; Speak the Speech; The Charmed Pot; The Ides of March; The Spirit of Banquo; The Worst Rank of Manhood; Unspeakable Deserts; Yellow Gold; Yellow Hue; Yellow Melancholy; Yellow Sands

Hmmm...half vote for the Gallery.

Look in the Gallery, it started out beyond the Tiring House and never sounded like it was actually in that house.

50

Climbing the narrow staircase to the balcony above the stage, you peer about you in the gloom, while also keeping quiet in case you should hear that monstrous li􀀪le voice again.

You don’t know what it is that draws your attention to the carving of a Green Man that decorates the top of a pillar on one side of the gallery. But then, before your eyes, the wood comes to creaking life. As you watch, the leaves that make up the face seem to grow, the wood groaning as they do so. The fake foliage pours out of the mouth, twisting itself into curious knotty limbs, until, with a splintering groan, the unnatural figure pulls itself free of the pillar and drops onto the bare boards before you. (Gain 1 Madness point.)

The Green Man stalks towards you stiffly, twig-like fingers stretched out before it, ready to claw at you.

What do you want to do? Will you:

Flee from the gallery? Turn to 79.

Use the Where’s There’s a Will special ability? Turn to 65.

Use The Pen is Mightier special ability? Turn to 15.

Prepare to defend yourself? Turn to 26.

William Shakespeare
Agility: 10 [10]
Combat: 10 [10]
Endurance: 15 [15]
Madness: 1
Meals: 0
Where There's a Will: 3 [4]
The Pen is Mightier: 3 [4]
Props: Doublet & Hose, Quill, Manuscript
Stage Directions Obtained: Guilty Mind;
Stage Directions Possible to Acquire: A Flattering Tongue; A Most Exquisite Lady; An Armed Head; An Evil Sign; Book of Riddles; Cunning Man; Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Dreadful Minister; Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Fell and Wrath; Fortune's Fool; Foul Fiend; Give No Words But Mum; Give't to thy Crone; Good Mother; Graves All Gaping Wide; His Commandment; Horned Man; Ignoble Traitor; Instinct is a Great Matter; Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me?; King of Infinite Space; Knavish Sprite; Maiden Pilgrimage; Murder Most Foul; My Honour'd Lady; My Verse Astonished; Prince of Cats; Servant-Monster; Star-Cross'd; Strange Fellow; Speak the Speech; The Charmed Pot; The Ides of March; The Spirit of Banquo; The Worst Rank of Manhood; Unspeakable Deserts; Yellow Gold; Yellow Hue; Yellow Melancholy; Yellow Sands

Prepare to defend ourselves.

Defend ourself.

26

You look for something with which to defend yourself, but you can see nothing suitable nearby. O for a sword, with an unbatter’d edge, but sadly you are going to have to make do with your bare hands instead. (You have the initiative in this battle.)

GREEN MAN COMBAT 6 ENDURANCE 6

If you manage to ‘kill’ the animated carving, turn to 53.

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William Shakespeare's extensive stage combat training seems to have prepared him well for this.
****************

Round 1: 22 (6,5, +1 Initiative, +10 Combat Rating); GREEN MAN 9 (2,1, +6 CR); GREEN MAN Endurance 4
Round 2: 19 (5,3, +1 Initiative, +10 CR); GREEN MAN 16 (6,4, +6 CR); GREEN MAN Endurance 2
Round 3: 19 (4,4 +1 Initiative, +10 CR); GREEN MAN 9 (2,1, +6 CR); GREEN MAN Endurance 0

53

The Green Man shall not walk again. Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time. (Tick off the Stage Direction Strange Fellow.) Descending from the gallery, you hear movement coming from the direction of the Tiring House.

Turn to 38.

38

Searching the Tiring House for whatever could have made the sound, and seeing it now with fresh eyes, it is quite clear that chaos is come again.

So distracted have you been with finishing Love’s Labour’s Won that you had failed to notice how untidy the Tiring House has become.

You must have a word with Burbage and Condell when next you see them and the other King’s Men. It’s a wonder the actor playing Bottom can find his ass in all this confusion of clothes, accoutrements, and other creations.

To your left is the makeshift prop store and to your right stacked pieces of scenery that are used in your many plays to help transport the audience to a fairy forest in Ancient Greece or the streets of an Italian town.

Do you want to search the prop store more thoroughly, to find out what made the noise that drew you in here (turn to 119), or do you want to search among the pieces of scenery (turn to 88)?

William Shakespeare
Agility: 10 [10]
Combat: 10 [10]
Endurance: 15 [15]
Madness: 1
Meals: 0
Where There's a Will: 3 [4]
The Pen is Mightier: 3 [4]
Props: Doublet & Hose, Quill, Manuscript
Stage Directions Obtained: Guilty Mind; Strange Fellow;
Stage Directions Possible to Acquire: A Flattering Tongue; A Most Exquisite Lady; An Armed Head; An Evil Sign; Book of Riddles; Cunning Man; Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Dreadful Minister; Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Fell and Wrath; Fortune's Fool; Foul Fiend; Give No Words But Mum; Give't to thy Crone; Good Mother; Graves All Gaping Wide; His Commandment; Horned Man; Ignoble Traitor; Instinct is a Great Matter; Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me?; King of Infinite Space; Knavish Sprite; Maiden Pilgrimage; Murder Most Foul; My Honour'd Lady; My Verse Astonished; Prince of Cats; Servant-Monster; Star-Cross'd; Speak the Speech; The Charmed Pot; The Ides of March; The Spirit of Banquo; The Worst Rank of Manhood; Unspeakable Deserts; Yellow Gold; Yellow Hue; Yellow Melancholy; Yellow Sands

Half vote for searching for random items before getting on with what we are here to do.

Search the prop store.

Sounds like you're both voting for prop store, so let's do that.

119

There are all manner of things stored here, in the dusty darkness, that, while memory holds a seat in this distracted globe, will forever call to mind a host of plays and players who have graced its stage. Just as one man in his time plays many parts so a theatre parts with many plays.

Three items stand out in particular; a crown, that was last used in a performance of Richard III, a sword, and an old, battered breastplate.

What do you want to do? Will you:

Put on the Crown? Turn to 20.

Pick up the Sword? Turn to 35.

Try on the Breastplate? Turn to 44.

Try on the breastplate.

Both the sword and the breastplate seem reasonable, so sure, go for that.

44

“I’ll fight till, from my bones, my flesh be hack’d,” you say, quoting a line from your Sco􀀪ish Play, as you put on the Breastplate, adjusting the leather straps until it rests comfortably over your doublet. “Give me my armour.”

(Record the Breastplate on your Adventure Sheet. For as long as you are wearing it, if you suffer an injury in battle, roll one die or draw a card; if the number is odd, or the card is black, you may reduce the damage done to you by 1 Endurance point.)

Choosing something you haven’t tried already, what do you want to do now?

Put on the Crown? Turn to 20.

Pick up the Sword? Turn to 35.

Search among the pieces of scenery? Turn to 88.

Hm. I wonder. Pick up the sword.

One of them, I suspect to be bad...the sword seems practical, so, hopefully not that, take the sword.

The sword is also described neutrally--just "a sword"--while the crown was apparently worn by Shakespeare's most evil king.