[cws for this thread (same cws as the game book): school anxieties; unreality; themes of manipulation, death and dying; mentions of self harm]

So! You've decided to play my silly game about burnout and creativity and you have some questions. Lucky for you I'm here to answer them! The following are some questions that popped up more than once during playtesting. Kenzie's is technically in some sort of open beta right now, where it's not the most polished thing on my shelf and I'm looking for ways to make it better. If you have a clarification you want answered, feel free to pop it in the comments of this thread or in the main comment section for the game! Thank you all so very much for your excitement and participation!

01. How often should I be using threat moves?

Deciding how often you want to use threat moves will set the difficulty of your game, more or less. Teasing threat moves is always fun (talking with the table about what you're thinking about doing is always creepy and fun). For a fast and messy game, go ahead and alternate threat moves with your character's moves. Remember you can always dial it back. If you think it would be fun to do it, do it.

02. Are traits public knowledge?

Everything is public knowledge except perhaps your sinister plans as the threats. Kenzie's works best when everyone can be honest about what their character is feeling and fearing. When a character gets a trait from a threat, for example, the players should all know what happened, even if the characters don't know for now. Traits are always things characters believe about themselves, but it's your choice how obvious it is to the other characters what they believe.

03. As a threat, can you ask your own character your threat questions?

Technically you can, but it's more fun when questions are a back-and-forth with other players. So if you really want to ask your own character a question from your threatbook, one way to do that could be announcing your question to the table and asking the other players what they think your character would answer. Anything works as long as it feels right.

04. What does "the project chooses, not you" mean?

"The project chooses" means that when a project gets to advance, I ask you to think about which option the project would pick from the list, not which option your character would pick for the project.

If it turns you on, maybe use a tarot deck, pendulum, or some other method to ask the project which advancement option they're picking. >:)

05. When does the game end?

When you're done being mean to your characters. When it's time for your characters to walk away from the university, or from their projects. When they're changed so much that they don't want to finish their projects anymore. When burnout overcomes them, when they're sucked into the void and lose contact with this reality, when they can't do it anymore, when they die. The game ends when you're done with the story.

The characters' capacity to engage with their projects, with the university, and with the other characters are what limits the scope of the story. The threats will always be angry and willing to tear things up for you. So it's up to your characters to decide when you're done playing.

Thanks again for all your help in making Kenzie's a reality.

Yours in weirdness,

Sasha <3

12/20/21