Page Turners Preview: Addison’s Shadow

Page Turners, the game of dramatic interaction for one player and one game moderator, allows you to explore any story that revolves around interpersonal conflict.

Some scenarios supplied in the book mix familiar genre tropes with the game’s character-driven storytelling structure.

Sarah Saltiel’s “Addison’s Shadow,” brings the contemporary fantastical imagery of the weird tale into family drama.

Since she wrote her piece, Steven Soderbergh helpfully provided a point of reference for this unusual combination with Presence, his recent family drama told from the perspective of a ghost.

Here the player takes on the role of Addison Marten, who at the start of the tale is a precocious seven year old vaguely aware of the tension pulling her family apart. Complicating the brewing conflict between gruff, put-upon father Clint and overworked mom Kaya are the visits of an otherworldly entity.

The Shadow Being manifests as an absence of light, possible to glimpse only obliquely and for seconds at a time. It wants something from Addison and eventually she comes to want something from it. What exactly that means is determined over the course of the game session, by the player, as Addison, and the game moderator, as everyone else around her, from her parents to the Shadow Being.

For each of these people the scenario supplies the player with enough text to know who they’ll be interacting with. Here for example is the player-facing entry for Dex, Addison’s younger brother.

Dex Marten

Gentle Younger Brother (Possible Confidant)

Two years younger than Addison, Dex has almost no memories of the days when their parents were loving and affectionate towards each other. Given that he doesn’t know anything different, he struggles a bit less with the discord between the two of them, shrugging it off as the norm.

Still, growing up in that environment deeply influences his personality. He’s a quiet, sensitive child. Though deeply emotional, he hides it away from most everyone except for Addison. The two of them support each other through the stilted atmosphere of their childhood home. As soon as Dex is old enough to do so, he becomes the peacemaker in the family, trying to balance out everyone else’s heated tempers.

A Page Turners player chooses between possible confidants at the start of a session. If the player picks Dex he becomes reliably supportive. Scenes featuring him lessen the tension of the one player, one GM format and give the character emotional respite.

The player can instead select another option as confidant, loyal best friend Maria Rodriguez. In that case, the GM, when calling a scene featuring Dex, has him resist Addison’s emotional entreaties, or make petitions of his own she will have a tough time meeting.

As the story moves ahead in time and the weird relationship between Addison’s parents’ troubled marriage and the Shadow Being’s purpose is further revealed, Dex can move in one of several directions. He may continue to act as family mediator. He can serve up hard truths Addison wants to blot out, or act in a manner completely unanticipated by the scenario text. Or he could remain in the background, as the player concentrates on other key relationships.

Further character details in the scenario’s GM-only section influence Dex’s character development. In the end, his role in the ongoing drama depends on where the player takes Addison and what the game moderator needs to do to keep the emotional conflicts boiling.

Page Turners is coming to your nearest well-stocked gaming shop and the Pelgrane web store later this year.