Breaking the Ice A Game about Love, for Two.

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1 Breaking the Ice A Game about Love, for Two. A roleplaying game by Emily Care Boss PDF Version 4/10 First Edition 2005 Black and Green Games Shield and Crescent Press, Plainfield, Massachusetts. USA 1

2 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever fixed-mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth s unknown, although his height be taken. Love s not Time s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle s compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never write, nor no man ever loved. ~ William Shakespeare This game is dedicated to my parents, for all their love. Breaking the Ice 1

3 Credits and Thanks Proofreaders Andrew Morris, Barry Deutsch, Michael S. Miller, Phoebe Mathews, Ed Heil, and Luke Crane. Illustrations Art on cover and pages 4, 5, 7, 11, 19, 27 and 33 by Barry Deutsch. < Logos by Jenn Manley Lee. < Playtesters Vincent Baker, Tom Russell, Jeremiah Genest, Jessica Pease, Kirby Vosburgh, Ben Lehman, Andrew Morris, Krista Evanouskas, Nicolas Crost, Frank Tarcikowski, Andy Kitkowski, Adam Singer, Jeff Schecter, Jason Morningstar and Autumn Winters. Thank you for your feedback and dead on suggestions. Design Influences: The Pool by James V. West. < Sorcerer, Trollbabe by Ron Edwards. < My Life with Master by Paul Czege. < Universalis by Ralph Mazza and Mike Holmes. < Thanks to the online community of the Forge. This game wouldn t exist without this great group of folks. Thank you for all your input & support. < Many thanks to the households of Salamander Farm and the Ennead for being there. And my special thanks to Vincent Baker, Meg Baker, Tom Russell and Ben Lehman. Thanks for your critical input, and helping me really make it happen Emily Care Boss, Black and Green Games. (Shield and Crescent Press, Plainfield, MA. USA) All rights reserved. < 2

4 Table of Contents Road Map to Play Introduction About the Game Overview of the Game Guidelines Paving the Way for Romance Genre Ratings Example of Choosing Rating and Genre Characters Creating Characters The Switch Favorite Color and Word Web Brainstorming for Traits About Traits Example of Character Creation Choosing a Conflict Example of Choosing Conflicts Agreeing on a Setting Creating Compatibilities Playing the Game Structure of the Game About Dates Beginning the First Date About Player Turns Advice for Being Active Player or Guide Time in Player Turns Attraction Rolls Narrating and Awarding Dice Attraction Dice Bonus Dice Re-Rolls Conflict Dice Compability Dice Resolving an Attraction Roll Who Has Final Say about Attraction Roll Resolution Transitions Ending a Turn Between Dates A Chance to Bring Back Attraction Second and Third Dates Sex in the Game Endings and Resolutions The Final Date Taking Stock Happily Ever After? Other Ways to Play Different Rules for Different Approaches More than Two to Tango Long Ago and Far Away Setting Creation Deepening Your Play CHARACTER SHEET Breaking the Ice 3

Road Map to Play 1) Agree upon Guidelines: Genre (page 8) and Rating (page 9) 2) Create Characters by: Making a Switch of player attributes (page 12) Choose characters favorite colors and make a Word

acts as Guide (page 21) 4) The Active Player then: Sets the Scene (page 21), Establishes time (p. 21), and Makes an Attraction Roll (p.

5 Road Map to Play 1) Agree upon Guidelines: Genre (page 8) and Rating (page 9) 2) Create Characters by: Making a Switch of player attributes (page 12) Choose characters favorite colors and make a Word Web (page 13) Create Traits (page 14) Choose Conflicts (page 16) Agree on a Setting (page 18) 3) Begin the First Date (page 20) by: Having a player take a Turn as Active Player (page 21) Other player acts as Guide (page 21) 4) The Active Player then: Sets the Scene (page 21), Establishes time (p. 21), and Makes an Attraction Roll (p. 23) 5) To Play out Attraction Roll: Gain Attraction Dice (page 24) Gain Bonus Dice (page 25) Gain Re-Rolls (page 26) Invoke Conflicts (page 27) Use Compatibilities (page 28) 6) Then: Resolve Attraction Roll (page 29) Raise Attraction Level (p. 29) or Create new Compatibility (page 18, 29) 7) For Transitions: See how to End a Turn (p. ) What to do Between Dates (p. ), Second and Third Dates (page 31) 8) End the Game by: Playing the Final Date (page 33) Taking Stock (page 34) Jed 4

.. In Breaking the Ice, two players tell the tale of the ups and downs of falling in love. Together they take on the roles of a pair of characters going on their first three Dates.

6 Introduction About the Game Finding love is not always easy: An intimate picnic in the park turns into a madcap dash from a thunderstorm... On the way to a restaurant, the car breaks down on a lonely road... A hoped-for sultry seduction gets interrupted by a surprise birthday party... In Breaking the Ice, two players tell the tale of the ups and downs of falling in love. Together they take on the roles of a pair of characters going on their first three Dates. Seeking to increase Attraction between the characters and create Compatibilities for the long term, the players explore what it s like to fumble through those first impressions and feel the spark of mutual attraction arise. The players work together to create a fun and exciting love story. Collaboratively creating a pair of engaging characters, the players make a Switch that lets them play a character that is like the other player in some way. Meimei The characters Traits--hobbies, career, passions, faults and so on-- are developed over the course of the game, and are used to inspire events that happen during the three Dates. Each character also has a Conflict, an internal or external obstacle that complicates their quest for love. The mishaps and misunderstandings encountered are trials to be overcome. But they are also openings that may allow deeper intimacy to develop and, ultimately, cause true love to bloom. Breaking the Ice 5

POOL THE. A role-playing game by James V. West

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