GM book · 1.0.0 · 120-minute plan · 4 players
A courier insists her empty satchel contains a parcel. The recipient’s bell rings whenever she turns away, and the dispatch office has no visible entry.
Content notice: Privacy and delivery trust; no real addresses or player names are requested.
Courier Miri accepted a parcel wrapped in a privacy veil for a surprise repair gift. The veil opens only when the named recipient consents; a smudged route tag has led her to the wrong door. Matching the dispatch seal to the correct household permits delivery. Returning it unopened preserves privacy but postpones the gift.
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: Dispatch arch
Lev watches an empty satchel pull at its strap as if full of stones. Its buckle rings once when Miri walks away.
The parcel is veiled, not absent. Return safely if consent cannot be obtained. 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 Courier shelter. A missing method can be found again at Recipient door; no character skill is required.
Lev: Resolve the missing entry without exposing a private gift Offers directions and ordinary transport for news of the outcome. Voice: Patient, concrete sentences; ask one practical question.
Timeline record: The satchel has weight and a square shadow although nothing is visible.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: The parcel is veiled, not absent.
Fallback instruction: A RETURN seal sends the unopened parcel back to dispatch.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Return safely if consent cannot be obtained.
Continue: Records and tools or An independent trail
Place: Seal desk
Ona holds a route tag against three household seals. A smudge obscures the street number but leaves the seal intact.
Use the seal to deliver to the correct household. Miri waits at the shelter. 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 Courier shelter. A missing method can be found again at Recipient door; no character skill is required.
Ona: Find the household whose seal matches the tag 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: The surviving route seal matches the recipient door, not the smudged number.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Use the seal to deliver to the correct household.
Destination note: Miri’s route tally marks COURIER SHELTER after the mistaken door.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Miri waits at the shelter.
Continue: An independent trail or The immediate problem
Place: Wrong doorstep
Biri opens the wrong door with a tired smile. “The bell is not ours,” they say, pointing toward a lane.
A visible trail identifies the courier’s location. A witness supplies an independent route. 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 Courier shelter. A missing method can be found again at Recipient door; no character skill is required.
Biri: Keep the wrong door from being disturbed Guides the party if they share a plan. If refused, points to the visible trail. Voice: Cautious, distinguish observation from assumption.
Physical trail: The parcel’s square shadow follows the satchel into the courier shelter.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: A visible trail identifies the courier’s location.
Witness statement: Biri saw Miri sit in the shelter after trying the wrong door.
Give it: Ask any direct question, or read the witness’s signed statement if conversation is refused.
GM inference: A witness supplies an independent route.
Continue: Records and tools or The immediate problem
Place: Courier shelter
Miri rests in a sheltered doorway. The satchel casts a small square shadow although it looks empty.
Courier Miri accepted a parcel wrapped in a privacy veil for a surprise repair gift. The veil opens only when the named recipient consents; a smudged route tag has led her to the wrong door. Matching the dispatch seal to the correct household permits delivery. Returning it unopened preserves privacy but postpones the gift. 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.
Ask Ona to verify the seal register and give Miri a corrected tag. Explain a five-minute delay before they accept it; mark the immediate goal safe when the people or resource are secured.
Miri: Deliver only with the actual recipient’s permission 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: Only the named recipient’s YES opens the veil. Waiting or returning leaves it intact.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Privacy persists until consent.
A delay leaves less time for the final repair or decision. Explain costs before resolving an action.
Approach A: Compare the dispatch seal with the door seals while leaving the satchel closed.
Approach B: Ask Ona to verify the seal register and give Miri a corrected tag.
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: Recipient door
The recipient door bears a seal matching the tag. A sign asks visitors to knock and wait for an answer.
Use the seal to deliver to the correct household. Privacy persists until consent. 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.
Apply the RETURN seal and bring the unopened parcel to dispatch. Mark the fallback method, keep the immediate goal safe and read the cost ending. Do not repeat a failed test.
Ona: Find the household whose seal matches the tag Lends supplies if a character helps carry or catalogue them. Public instructions remain available. Voice: Quick, exact words; point at tools while speaking.
Miri: Deliver only with the actual recipient’s permission 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: The surviving route seal matches the recipient door, not the smudged number.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Use the seal to deliver to the correct household.
Fallback instruction: A RETURN seal sends the unopened parcel back to dispatch.
Give it: Inspect the visible labelled object. Give its full text automatically; a check affects time or extra colour only.
GM inference: Return safely if consent cannot be obtained.
The complete method preserves the planned service; the fallback preserves the immediate goal at a visible cost.
Approach A: Knock, explain the sealed gift, and let the recipient choose YES.
Approach B: Apply the RETURN seal and bring the unopened parcel to dispatch.
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: Dispatch arch
A parcel appears in consenting hands, or the satchel returns unopened. The bell finally waits instead of demanding.
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.
Lev: Resolve the missing entry without exposing a private gift Offers directions and ordinary transport for news of the outcome. Voice: Patient, concrete sentences; ask one practical question.
Miri: Deliver only with the actual recipient’s permission 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 veil lifts in the recipient’s hands, revealing a carefully repaired keepsake. Miri adds a clean seal impression to the route book.
First secure the immediate goal at Courier shelter. Choose this ending only after final method A is used at Recipient door.
The parcel returns unseen. Its sender receives a request for a clearer route and a suitable delivery time, while nobody’s privacy is traded for speed.
First secure the immediate goal at Courier shelter. Choose this ending only after final method B is used at Recipient door.
The parcel is veiled, not absent.
Timeline record
Proceed to Courier shelter
Destination note OR Physical trail OR Witness statement
Privacy persists until consent.
Safety marks · the marked safety instructions supply a fallback.
Resolve the delivery with the recipient’s choice.
Method diagram OR Fallback instruction
h-order: The parcel is veiled, not absent.
h-fallback: Return safely if consent cannot be obtained.
h-method: Use the seal to deliver to the correct household.
h-note: Miri waits at the shelter.
h-trail: A visible trail identifies the courier’s location.
h-witness: A witness supplies an independent route.
h-safe: Privacy persists until consent.
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 Dispatch arch. Seal desk and Wrong doorstep are independent investigation routes; both connect to Courier shelter, which leads to Recipient door. All marked connections are bidirectional. Return uses the known route to Dispatch arch.
At Courier shelter, the marked entrance reaches the immediate problem. Approach A: Compare the dispatch seal with the door seals while leaving the satchel closed. Approach B: Ask Ona to verify the seal register and give Miri a corrected tag. 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.