A Stranger's Just a Friend - Ashcan

The Story

This game – for two players with plenty of chocolate and candles – details the dance of two men, toward a righteous execution or some sick friendship, in the woods just outside Guildhall, Vermont. One runs, and the other chases.

Running away is P. Arivander, the bespectacled scholar and minor criminal, a transsexual of some renown in Madrid. He was seen running from the mangled corpse of a priest’s dog. The priest, Mr. Vaza, paid for the lopping-off of the boy’s head, and so poor P. Arivander has taken an unpaid sabbatical in the states.

Chasing is The Dullahan, hired by Mr. Vaza to kill P. Arivander. The Dullahan is a mythical creature from Ireland, though these days he works to make a living like the rest of us. He holds his head in the crook of his arm, peering around for his targets – he is a prolific and unbeaten bounty hunter, who has never reneged on a contract.

The Game

A Stranger's Just a Friend is a game for two players, one who plays P. Arivander and the other who plays the Dullahan. It uses chocolate, candles, stones, breath, touch and words to build up a complex dynamic between two men with deep problems and still deeper desires.

The game contains 12 scenes, exciting rules that emphasize physicality and vicinity, and plenty of picklists that thrive in the specifics of P. Arivander and The Dullahan - their sexuality, their wants, and their fears.

The Plan

I believe that this is one of the best games I've ever written, but it is in a rough and incomplete form at the moment. I'd like to see how it does in this jam before committing more money and labor to getting the game edited, layed-out and filled with art.

With all that in mind - if you like this, please let me know. Leave a review, send me an email (darlingdemoneclipse@gmail.com) or tell me directly. If I get a certain amount of positive feedback on this game, I'll likely go full-steam on it sooner.

Special Thanks & Credits

• I made everything in this book, except images from the site Historical Marker Database and the wordpress blog Obscure Vermont.
• This game was made for tittyrpg jam!
• Thank you to my collaborators, peers and partners for your constant feedback and interest in this ashcan.
• This game is inspired by…
  • The Mountain Goats’ Dark In Here
  • Mike Cheslik’s Hundreds of Beavers
  • Carlos Fuentes’ Chac Mool
  • Probably some osmosis-glimmered elements of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, though I’ve never read it.