GM book · 1.0.0 · 120-minute plan · 4 players
Each wagon crossing the bridge makes a bell ring underwater. The ferryman wants the bridge closed; a stranded bell diver asks for help.
Content notice: Heights and water; narration can remain on the bank.
Diver Noma attached a warning bell to a cracked lower brace. Heavy wagons pull its rope and sound the alarm. She is safe on a maintenance ledge but cannot haul her tools out. Bracing the bridge restores light crossings; rerouting traffic to the ferry is slower but avoids the cracked span.
Use your own rules or play without dice. State the goal, choose an approach, explain a reasonable cost and let the players decide. Plausible careful actions succeed; uncertain actions can succeed with delay, spent supplies or a favour owed. Evidence is always available through its described action. Each player creates an ordinary person with a useful skill, a reason to help, and an item. No character sheet, monster statistics or proprietary rulebook is needed.
Take 10 minutes to introduce characters, read the premise and discuss the content notice. Anyone may say “pause”, pass on a description, or ask to move an uncomfortable moment offstage. Agree on no combat and on treating consequences as delay or repair, not permanent harm. Give one player the route map and another the time sheet.
Follow both investigations; take the break before the immediate problem.
Total: 120 minutes.
Place: Bridge approach
A cart rolls one wheel onto the bridge. A low bell answers from the water, and the driver stops breathing for a moment.
The sound is an intentional structural warning. Traffic can be rerouted without fixing the bridge today. Begin with the concrete request in the premise. Ask each character why they care and give them one ordinary useful item. Read both public observations without requiring a roll. Explain that the marked routes are safe to investigate, and offer a choice of the records or the visible trail. Let the group appoint a map reader; do not use hidden travel rolls to block the first lead.
If conversation or a test fails, give the public card anyway. A clear sign points to Maintenance ledge. A missing method can be found again at Upper brace; no character skill is required.
Vale: Get produce to the far market Offers directions and ordinary transport for news of the outcome. Voice: Patient, concrete sentences; ask one practical question.
Timeline record: The bell rings only when weight reaches the cracked span.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: The sound is an intentional structural warning.
Fallback instruction: Ferry chalkboard: light wagons can cross in three trips.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Traffic can be rerouted without fixing the bridge today.
Continue: Records and tools or An independent trail
Place: Carpenter shed
Eli taps a spare beam with a wooden mallet. On the table lies a drawing of the bridge’s underside.
A temporary brace supports limited safe crossings. Noma is on the ledge. Put the method card and destination note on the table. Ask what the two objects suggest, then answer direct practical questions from their wording. The maker can trade tools for help carrying or recording them, but refusal never removes these public documents. The trail remains another route. A check, if your rules use one, changes the time or tidiness of the work rather than whether this evidence exists.
If conversation or a test fails, give the public card anyway. A clear sign points to Maintenance ledge. A missing method can be found again at Upper brace; no character skill is required.
Eli: Prevent another wagon from cracking the brace Lends supplies if a character helps carry or catalogue them. Public instructions remain available. Voice: Quick, exact words; point at tools while speaking.
Method diagram: Fit the spare beam into the upper sockets; admit one light cart at a time.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: A temporary brace supports limited safe crossings.
Destination note: Diver’s marker: dry maintenance ledge below the third post.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Noma is on the ledge.
Continue: An independent trail or The immediate problem
Place: Riverbank
Sef’s ferry knocks softly against the bank. A rope runs down beneath the bridge, rather than into the river.
Follow the rope to reach her. A witness confirms the destination. Describe the physical trail before asking for a decision. The witness tells what they actually observed and admits what they did not see. If the group refuses conversation, the physical route supplies the destination. Let a character compare the timeline and another trace the map. For a divided group, take one short turn per side, then reunite at the meeting; do not add another travel encounter.
If conversation or a test fails, give the public card anyway. A clear sign points to Maintenance ledge. A missing method can be found again at Upper brace; no character skill is required.
Sef: Keep the ferry available without exploiting the closure Guides the party if they share a plan. If refused, points to the visible trail. Voice: Cautious, distinguish observation from assumption.
Physical trail: The tool rope runs from the riverbank to the third-post ledge.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Follow the rope to reach her.
Witness statement: Sef saw Noma climb onto the third-post shelf before the bell started.
Give it: Ask any direct question, or read the witness’s signed statement if conversation is refused.
GM inference: A witness confirms the destination.
Continue: Records and tools or The immediate problem
Place: Maintenance ledge
Noma stands dry on a narrow maintenance shelf. Her tools hang below it, pulling the warning line taut.
Diver Noma attached a warning bell to a cracked lower brace. Heavy wagons pull its rope and sound the alarm. She is safe on a maintenance ledge but cannot haul her tools out. Bracing the bridge restores light crossings; rerouting traffic to the ferry is slower but avoids the cracked span. State the immediate stakes and offer both listed approaches. Before resolving action, ask who observes, who acts and who helps. Make any cost visible before a player accepts it. Avoid demanding a special ability or spell. When a plan fails, use the slower listed route and mark its time cost; people remain recoverable. Once the goal is safe, mark the immediate goal safe and continue. A refusal by the keeper cannot hide the marked safety instructions.
Use the ferry to reach the shelf and carry the tools ashore. Explain a five-minute delay before they accept it; mark the immediate goal safe when the people or resource are secured.
Noma: Retrieve tools and make her warning understood Explains both solutions when the party agrees to protect the immediate goal; the marked instructions are available regardless. Voice: Calm under pressure; admit the decision and its cost.
Safety marks: Tool line and bell line share a knot. Support the tools before loosening it.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Recover the tools without dropping them or silencing the warning too early.
A delay leaves less time for the final repair or decision. Explain costs before resolving an action.
Approach A: Support the tool line from above and haul in two stages.
Approach B: Use the ferry to reach the shelf and carry the tools ashore.
4 players: Two pairs take observation and action tasks. Resolve them in two short alternating turns.
Mark the immediate goal safe after either safe approach; a setback costs time, not access to the next scene.
Continue: The final choice
Place: Upper brace
The lower crack shows daylight through wood. The upper brace has sockets cut for a spare beam.
A temporary brace supports limited safe crossings. Recover the tools without dropping them or silencing the warning too early. Reveal the method and fallback together. Ask the group which tradeoff it accepts and give every character a small contribution. Mark the complete method for the first choice or the fallback method for the second. A risky improvisation should inherit one of these outcomes after its cost is explained, rather than create a third unprepared lock. Keep the immediate goal safe. Return by the known marked route; no new location needs to be invented.
Close the span and run the marked three-trip ferry route. Mark the fallback method, keep the immediate goal safe and read the cost ending. Do not repeat a failed test.
Eli: Prevent another wagon from cracking the brace Lends supplies if a character helps carry or catalogue them. Public instructions remain available. Voice: Quick, exact words; point at tools while speaking.
Noma: Retrieve tools and make her warning understood Explains both solutions when the party agrees to protect the immediate goal; the marked instructions are available regardless. Voice: Calm under pressure; admit the decision and its cost.
Method diagram: Fit the spare beam into the upper sockets; admit one light cart at a time.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: A temporary brace supports limited safe crossings.
Fallback instruction: Ferry chalkboard: light wagons can cross in three trips.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Traffic can be rerouted without fixing the bridge today.
The complete method preserves the planned service; the fallback preserves the immediate goal at a visible cost.
Approach A: Fit Eli’s spare beam and limit the bridge to one light cart at a time.
Approach B: Close the span and run the marked three-trip ferry route.
4 players: Work in two pairs, one following the method and the other preparing a fallback or record.
Mark the complete method for the first approach or the fallback method for the second. Both allow return and an ending.
Continue: Home and aftermath
Place: Bridge approach
The next wagon waits for a hand signal. Across the river, market awnings rise in the morning wind.
Choose a complete resolution or a resolution with a cost, then ask the group what happens next. Read the ending matching the selected outcome. Invite each character to add one ordinary detail to the aftermath, then ask the keeper for a concrete next action. Record who accepted the cost and which clues went unused. Spend the last few minutes on one enjoyable moment and one thing to change next time. Characters need not solve every optional inference to earn a resolved ending.
If no method was chosen, first confirm the immediate goal is safe, use the final fallback method and then read the cost ending. Record the unresolved work and give every character an epilogue.
Vale: Get produce to the far market Offers directions and ordinary transport for news of the outcome. Voice: Patient, concrete sentences; ask one practical question.
Noma: Retrieve tools and make her warning understood Explains both solutions when the party agrees to protect the immediate goal; the marked instructions are available regardless. Voice: Calm under pressure; admit the decision and its cost.
No new evidence required.
Continue: Read an ending and close the session.
The brace seats firmly. Noma hangs the bell beside the approach as a visible warning, and the first light cart crosses slowly.
First secure the immediate goal at Maintenance ledge. Choose this ending only after final method A is used at Upper brace.
The bridge stays closed. The ferry carries the produce in three trips, and the town posts a repair date rather than pretending the crack is gone.
First secure the immediate goal at Maintenance ledge. Choose this ending only after final method B is used at Upper brace.
The sound is an intentional structural warning.
Timeline record
Proceed to Maintenance ledge
Destination note OR Physical trail OR Witness statement
Recover the tools without dropping them or silencing the warning too early.
Safety marks · the marked safety instructions supply a fallback.
Make a public plan for the next crossing.
Method diagram OR Fallback instruction
h-order: The sound is an intentional structural warning.
h-fallback: Traffic can be rerouted without fixing the bridge today.
h-method: A temporary brace supports limited safe crossings.
h-note: Noma is on the ledge.
h-trail: Follow the rope to reach her.
h-witness: A witness confirms the destination.
h-safe: Recover the tools without dropping them or silencing the warning too early.
Record the ending, one memorable choice, and any unresolved work. Ask what was enjoyable and what needs to change. The time plan is a starting point; adapt it to your group.
Start at Bridge approach. Carpenter shed and Riverbank are independent investigation routes; both connect to Maintenance ledge, which leads to Upper brace. All marked connections are bidirectional. Return uses the known route to Bridge approach.
At Maintenance ledge, the marked entrance reaches the immediate problem. Approach A: Support the tool line from above and haul in two stages. Approach B: Use the ferry to reach the shelf and carry the tools ashore. Both reach the onward route. Layout is schematic, with no combat grid or movement scale.
Original AI-assisted fiction. Use and adapt at your own table. Public redistribution and publication terms are to be set by the owner. This package includes no proprietary game rules.