10 • Exploratory Story

an exploratory story has a person as story parser

Goals

For the learner to have an opportunity to …

• Identify the elements of an exploratory story
• Identify successful strategies for the player
• Create narrator strategies for consistency of characters
• Compare/contrast exploratory and loop-escape stories
• Identify the role of distractors in solving a story puzzle

Exploratory Story

An exploratory story is acted out by a narrator and player (or players taking turns). The narrator begins by reading the situation. The player then states actions, one at a time.

• Go south.
• Examine the desk.
• Take the tuna sandwich.
• Use the silver key on the cellar door.

After each action, the narrator tells the outcome, improvising detail. The walkthrough is one set of actions that resolve the situation. Other solutions may be possible.

If the exploratory story format interests you, have a look at the Parsley collection.

Suggestions for the player

• Explore the scene to find a sequence of actions that resolve the situation.
• Some elements may be useless. Others may have to be used together.
• Keep it practical, even if unusual, such as a rock on a rope for an anchor.
• Take what you find. Never know when it might come in handy.
• Characters are part of the story. Chat with them. They may give hints.

Suggestions for the narrator

• Before you start, read through the script.
• You might want to make a map or put the names of elements on index cards.
• Regardless of the genre (drama, horror, fantasy), humour is likely to ensue.
• Embellish and improvise. Add details to characters or objects for interest.
• Keep the player interacting with story elements, not talking directly with you.

The narrator expands the narrative. Give consequences of a choice, add descriptive detail, or present new options. Also keep track of the status of story elements, such as inventory or places visited. For example, if the player put on shoes in the morning and finds a loose nail in the afternoon, then the player can pound the nail with a shoe.

Cloakroom Noir

Cloakroom Noir is one way Roger Firth’s short adventure “Cloak of Darkness” might look as an exploratory story.

Situation

You are in the FOYER of the office building. Everyone has gone home. Everyone but you.

Now what? That’s a puzzle
of the procedural kind.

The answer is actions
to perform in the mind.

Knowing how to do something
is what counts, I’d advise.

Like makeshift solutions:
be practical, improvise.

Use resources on hand,
combine them if needed.

Explore and examine,
make a plan and proceed.

Elements

• Anything attached can not be taken (added to inventory).
• Anything locked cannot be opened without a key.

1. BLACKBOARD is chalky, has messages (“after hours let yourself out” and “wash me”), goes in the CLOAKROOM.
2. BRASS KEY is heavy, has “main” on its side, starts in a CLOAK pocket.
3. CLOAK is damp and made of velvet, has a BRASS KEY in a pocket, starts on the COAT HOOK.
4. CLOAKROOM is musty and dim, has a BLACKBOARD and COAT HOOK, goes east to FOYER (any other direction, stumble in the dark).
5. COAT HOOK is brass and attached to the wall, has a CLOAK on it, attached to a CLOAKROOM wall.
6. DESK is unoccupied, has a DRAWER and TELEPHONE, is attached to the FOYER.
7. DRAWER is unlocked, has an STEEL KEY, attached the DESK.
8. FOYER is the building entrance and vacant at this time, has a DESK and STREET DOOR, goes south the the OFFICE EXTERIOR and west to the CLOAKROOM.
9. OFFICE EXTERIOR is closed, has a secure lock, goes north to the FOYER and east to the CLOAKROOM (if have STEEL, enter to the OFFICE INTERIOR).
10. OFFICE INTERIOR is pitch black, has assorted generic furniture, goes back to the OFFICE EXTERIOR (if any other direction, stumble over furniture).
11. STEEL KEY is small, has “office” on its side, starts in the DRAWER.
12. STREET DOOR is facing out onto the way home, has a secure lock (if have Brass Key, exit to win).
13. TELEPHONE is disconnected, has messages (“after hours let yourself out” “no outside line after hours”), is attached to the DESK.

Story Matrix

	is	has	goes
Blackboard	chalky	message: let yourself out	in Cloakroom
Brass Key	heavy	‘main’ on it	in Cloak pocket
Cloak	damp, velvet	Brass Key in pocket	on Coat Hook
Cloakroom	musty, dim	Blackboard, Coat Hook	east to Foyer; else stumble
Coat Hook	brass	Cloak	on Cloakroom wall
Desk	unoccupied	Drawer, Telephone	in Foyer
Drawer	unlocked	Steel Key	in Desk
Foyer	vacant	Desk, Street Door	south to Office Exterior, west to Cloakroom
Office Exterior	closed	lock; if Steel Key, enter Office Interior	north to Foyer, east to Cloakroom
Office Interior	pitch black	generic furniture	back to Office Exterior; else stumble
Steel Key	small	‘office’ on it	in Drawer
Street Door	facing out	locked; if Brass Key, exit to win	in Foyer
Telephone	disconnected	no outside line	on desk

King’s Yarn Trilogy

1 • Moat Maiden

Situation

The Reeve’s Shire is mostly dense forest. Here, however, it opens to a clearing, where you find a MOAT surrounding a COTTAGE.

The cottage door opens.

A cottage maiden cries for help
across the murky moat.

“Vandals destroyed the old footbridge
and even stole my boat.

Don’t try to jump or even vault.
It’s far too wide to leap.

Ten paces span on every side
and icy water deep.

And watch out for the alligator
below the slimy ridge.

Perhaps you’ll find some kind of ladder,
to use as if a bridge.”

Elements

• Anything sturdy can withstand a variety of uses.
• Anything frail is easily damaged and tends to break.

1. ALLIGATOR appears agitated, like any hungry, hungry gator; it has sharp teeth.
2. COTTAGE is made of immovable stone. There is a POLE leaning against it. A MAIDEN is in front of the cottage.
3. MAIDEN seems distraught. She’s holding a SHOVEL.
4. MOAT is curiously square and contains an ALLIGATOR. There is a SHED to the east.
5. PLANK is a sturdy length of wood, about 9 paces long.
6. POLE is a medium length of sturdy bamboo, used as a rain gutter on the cottage.
7. SACK is frail burlap and contains a modicum of flour.
8. SHED is made of rotted and frail wood. Inside are a SACK, a SHOE, and a PLANK. There’s a MOAT to the west.
9. SHOE is leather, but frail with wear. It seems to have once been inhabited by some kind of rodent.
10. SHOVEL is long-handled and seems sturdy.
11. TONGS are the sturdy kind used in a fireplace. Although they might do for a huge salad.

Story Matrix

	is	has	goes
Alligator	agitated	sharp teeth	in Moat
Cottage	stone	Maiden, Pole	by Moat
Maiden	distraught	Shovel	by Cottage
Moat	square	Alligator	east to Shed
Plank	sturdy wood	9 pace length	in Shed
Pole	sturdy bamboo	medium length	on Cottage
Sack	frail burlap	flour	in Shed
Shed	rotted wood	Sack, Shoe, Plank	west to Moat
Shoe	frail leather	mouse droppings	in Shed
Shovel	sturdy	long handle	in Cottage
Tongs	sturdy	long handles	in Shed

Walkthrough

Vaulting won’t work. Nor will swimming. There is an alligator in the moat. To get to the cottage, listen to the maiden and make a bridge of sorts. It helps that the moat is square. You can make a T-shaped bridge.

Tell the maiden to throw over the shovel. Put it across a corner of the moat, like the hypotenuse on a right triangle. Fetch the plank from the shed. Tell the maiden to slide the pole toward you, then stand on her end of the pole. This forms a guide for the plank you slide across. With a T-shaped bridge made of shovel and plank, you cross to the cottage.

2 • Cottage Cart

Situation

Over the moat, you enter the cottage. The maiden steps over to a stack of woven cloth.

“With all this cloth I’ve woven here,
aid me to that castle.

The king will surely pay me well,
Weaving is not facile.

Yet all must come with us at once,
leave none for fear of theft.

Perhaps you need repair the cart,
this is too much to heft.

One cart wheel fell from its axle,
its washer snapped apart.

Metal fatigue on rough terrain
makes cart travel an art.”

There is a LOOM is on one side of the cottage and a FIREPLACE on the other side.

Elements

1. AXLE is a metal rod for cart wheels.
2. CART is missing a WHEEL.
3. CHEST contains leather GLOVES and several WASHERs
4. FIREPLACE is unlit, but there is FLINT and wood ready to burn.
5. FLINT is a chunk of sedimentary rock that gives off sparks when struck with steel.
6. FOOT-PEDAL is made of steel, but can be detached.
7. GLOVES are thick leather with a long sleeve, like the kind used by a blacksmith.
8. LOOM is made of wood and powered by a steel FOOT-PEDAL. Behind the loom is a CHEST.
9. WASHER is a metal ring, slightly too tight for the axle.
10. WHEEL that fell off is beside the CART. Slides off again unless secured it to the axle.

Walkthrough

Metal expands when heated, so heat a new washer. As it cools, it contracts for a secure fit. First, fetch the tongs from the shed in the previous scene. It’s going to get too hot to handle bare-handed.

1. Remove the foot-pedal from the loom.
2. Strike the foot-pedal on the flint. The sparks start fire in the fireplace.
3. Put on the gloves.
4. Take the tongs with a gloved hand and the washer with the tongs.
5. Hold the washer with the tongs in the fire. The heat expands the washer and its hole.
6. Place the wheel back on the wagon.
7. Slide the expanded washer onto the axle. As the washer cools it shrinks, securing wheel on axle.

3 • Lodging Links

Situation

With the cart repaired, you accompany the maiden to the castle. The two of you arrive at the courtyard near dusk. The maiden, now paid with a sliver chain, has one last request.

“Wise wanderer, advise me please
in how to make payment.

The inn-keeper will take silver
for each of my night’s rent.

Each night I lodge costs me a link,
my chain of seven silver.

I’ll stay one day or maybe seven.
The length remains unsure.

But cutting links is pricy
and ruins the chain as well.

How few cuts must there be to stay,
unsure how long I’ll dwell?”

The INN-KEEPER produces pliers with which to snip rings of the CHAIN.

Elements

1. CHAIN consists of seven silver links, engraved A to G.
2. INN-KEEPER asks which ring or rings of the CHAIN to snip. Before cutting, he wants to discusses the results.

Walkthrough

Lodging Links is about conversation with the inn-keeper. For example, if the player gives the action to cut links B and D, the narrator might respond as follows.

“The inn-keep scratches his massive head and eventually declares ‘that leaves A, B cut, C, D cut, and E+F+G.’ Combinations will pay for any days, one to seven, but costs for two cuts. Do you want to pay that much?”

• Cut link C. That creates three groups: A+B, C, and D+E+F+G. That is: 2, 1, and 4.
• These make combinations of 1, 2, 1+2, 4, 1+4, 2+4, and 1+2+4, for any number of days one through seven.

What do you Think?

1. The script for a theatre performance is linear (proceeds from one scene to the next) and fixed (all the lines are written). How is the script for an exploratory story like and unlike that?
2. What is the difference between the roster of story elements and a story matrix? Would all story matrices have the is/has/goes format?
3. The narrator decides how liberally or how literally to take the players commands. This may present challenges to the player (reader) that are not in an anticipatory story. For instance, consistency of characters. What are others challenges does the exploratory format present and what strategies could a narrator use to help player comprehension?