To countdown to the #200wordRPG contest (which i’m unnervingly excited about), I’ll be posting a 200 word RPG each week until the contest opens!

(5/4/2018) Update!  I was able to test the Skype mechanic last night and it seems like the Ghost is able to hear things going on in the room through the phone.  More testing required, but if that’s the case, it does add some interaction that I feel was missing from the game before.  The text has been updated to reflect that + minor clarity/style stuff.

Most players are Revolutionary scientists creating the militantly-postgender Regime’s “HomeBody,” a compulsory replacement for the “disgusting, aesthetically-bankrupt” human figure. One player’s the ghost of Gender itself. Boo!

Pregame:

Everyone needs Skypable phones / Skype accounts. Scientists: use earbuds, enable Skype’s “answer incoming calls automatically” option, place phones facedown on table. Agree on start time. Gender: exit playspace, go elsewhere.

Place a toy gun on the table. Acquire playdough.

Start 15m timer.

SCIENTISTS: Do your best to sculpt a gender-free HomeBody prototype using playdough. HomeBodies must be (choose 3 pregame): maneuverable, militarized, spacefaring, aesthetic (“Brutalist”, … ), emotive, reproductive. Discuss. Design. Justify.

GENDER: To “Possess” individual scientists, Skype them. Speak. Direct their speech/sculpting. Can you force gender into the design process/sculpture?

POSSESSED: You’re only possessed while you hear Gender speaking. Obey Gender. Never:
*Discuss your possession.
*Destroy the sculpture.

SCIENTISTS: If EVERYONE (besides the accused) points to the same suspected possessed and says something about their dubious Revolutionary history, load gun (holds one bullet, begins empty). Kill possessed–aim gun at them, shout “BANG!”–to silence Gender permanently (slain possessed: inform Gender they’re silenced). Killed? Leave.

After 15m, upload sculpture to social media. Invite assessment: Regime’s mandate fulfilled?