TEXT: kalma
  A storygame by Joe Murphy ( joe.r.murphy@gmail.com )
  This game uses image 3, sound B and concept A  
  from the Sight and Sound game design challenge 2007.
  Characters in this game are old people who have lived past their rightful age. 
  Some time ago, perhaps as a child or perhaps last week, they stole the breath from another person. In doing so, they 
  took the remainder of that person's life as their own. The act may have been deliberate, malicious, accidental or for 
  another reason entirely, but the breath-taker was forever changed.
  Since stealing breath, the character has lived on the edge of life, able to see or sniff out elements of the underworld. 
  Perhaps they can occasionally glimpse the gloomy fate that awaits others, can smell impending accidents or can touch 
  and weave the wisps of life connecting everyone. But most importantly, they have lived beyond their allotted span. 
        
  Setup
  You'll need a few things to play this game. 
  Each participant should bring three small keepsakes, charms or old photographs with them. It's best if the items 
  are old and anonymous, so consider scouring antique stores for interesting stuff. These are Mementoes.
  You'll also need 2 six sided dice, used for Checks.
  And each player will need about 10 tokens - coins, cotton wool balls, glass beads. These are Breath.
  Characters
  Each player in this game has their own character. They will also take the responsibility of being kalma, described later.
  Characters are defined by six details - a Name, a Flaw, a Goal and three Traits. Record these details on the sheet 
  provided at the end of the game:
  Pick a first Name for your character. 
  Then write down your character's Flaw  - 'I am old and can no longer... <something>'. Perhaps the character 
  can no longer walk without aid, has a health problem, or can no longer believe in hope or love. 
  Then write down your character's Goal - 'My last act will be <something>'. Are you driven to make reparation, 
  make friends, find a lost love, or spit in the eye of an enemy? 
  Set the goal and flaw against each other to make for an interesting and immediate conflict – how will your character's 
  cynicism  affect their search for their lost love? Optionally, step back from the character and pick a a Goal such as 'I want 
  to see my character feel pure hatred' or 'I want my rich character to become penniless'.
  Characters have three traits - Tired, Frail, and Lonely:
  Tired describes how little passion, wit or energy the character has. 
  Frail is a measure of ill-health and infirmity. 
  And Lonely is a measurement of how poorly connected the character is to their community, friends or family. 
  Characters begin with a rating of 1 in each trait, and each trait runs to a maximum of 6. 
  Each player must add three points to their traits, for all characters in kalma are at the end of their tether in some way. For 
  example, one player wants a character who is poorly connected to his community (perhaps living in a tower block), who 
  remains sharp and driven but is unable to walk without a cane. He adds two points to 'Lonely' and one to 'Frail'. His traits 
  become Tired 1, Lonely 3, Frail 2. He then adds a goal of 'Find and visit my children who moved to the USA in the 80s' , 
  a flaw of 'Crippled' and calls his character Harold.
  Don't think too much about your character at this stage. Your character's history and personality will develop during play.
  
  Breath
  Characters in kalma have only so much life left to them. One measure of their vitality is their breath tokens. Everyone 
  starts with 5 breath tokens, and may have a maximum of 7. Pick whichever memento makes the most interesting bowl 
  and place it at the centre of the table. As tokens are used (known as 'taking a breath'), discard tokens to the bowl.
  During play, players can choose one of three different Stances for their character: modes of thought, attitudes or 
  responses. The stances are Open( based on Lonely), Energised ( for Tired) and Vigorous(Frail). When employed, a 
  stance offers one extra dice to the check for the related trait - the player must roll higher than the relevant trait on the 
  sum of two dice, dramatically improving their chances.  However, if a character fails a roll while employing a stance, they 
  may never again use that particular stance.  Buying a stance costs a breath and lasts for one scene. 
  Characters can recover breath in two ways: Stealing and Sacrifice.
  A character can frame a scene where they have the opportunity to steal the breath of another. Make a check as 
  usual, employing a stance if desired. If the character is successful, roll one dice and receive that number of 
  breaths (to a maximum of seven). A character does not win a Memento in such a scene, however.
  The player should then describe how their victim's life is changed or diminished. Perhaps the target dies soon 
  after in an accident, falls ill, or loses some ephemeral quality.
  Owned mementoes can be sacrificed and removed from play entirely. Doing so wins the owner three breaths, 
  again to a maximum of seven.
  Contested mementoes may also be sacrificed, restoring the owner to their maximum of seven breaths.
  Mementoes
  Mementoes are used for a few different things. At the beginning of play, one item is used as a receptacle for used breath 
  tokens. All other mementoes are placed in the centre of the table and are considered Unowned. During play, players will 
  take ownership of these unattributed pieces of history. A Memento won in a scene becomes Owned. A Memento won that 
  someone else previously owned becomes Contested.
  Scenes
  In order to start a scene, the player must take a breath and then pick either any Memento from the table. Go ahead and 
  pick it up and handle it. Then, describe the opening of a scene in which that Memento is present or somehow influential. 
  Perhaps a broken vase suggests a domestic argument, an old photo inspires a holiday far in the past.
  Scenes may take place in the present, or far in the character's past. 
  Scenes should always have some element of conflict, whether internal or external. Scenes may or may not tie directly to 
  a character's Goal. 
  During the scene, you'll want to pick one of the other participants to be your kalma. 
  Kalma is a  Finnish word for a goddess of the underworld, meaning 'the odour of a corpse'. The kalma's job is to oppose 
  and challenge your character's pursuit of their goals. The kalma will also play the part of other characters in your scene. 
  If necessary, the kalma can pick other players round the table to play participants in a scene, from children to the dead.
  Importantly, the kalma can introduce strange, uncanny or supernatural elements in a scene. They are guardians of the 
  next life, and can let awful things through from those endless grey chambers to harass and plague the characters.
  The kalma has a great deal of power and with it, responsibility. They can be poetically just, cantankerous and 
  begrudging, perhaps even playful. 
  At some point, you'll want something that the kalma is holding from you. Perhaps your character is opposed by a gang of 
  kids and just wants to get home, perhaps he wants to dismiss a ghost with an impromptu folk ritual or perhaps she wants 
  to browbeat a friend into loaning her money. 
  Describe your character's intent – you want to get past the kids, or cast out the ghost. Then you'll want to make a Check.
  
  Checks
  These are tests of the characters' three traits. The kalma should pick which trait is relevant – Tired for checks relating to 
  wit, creativity, emotion or passion. Frail for tests of the physical, such as strength, health or stamina. And Lonely for 
  checks relating to community, friendship or family. The kalma rolls one dice and compares it to the trait. 
  If the dice is higher than the trait, the player succeeds and should narrate how they achieved their intent. They 
  also gain ownership of the memento chosen. An unowned Memento becomes owned, an owned Memento 
  becomes contested.
  If the dice is equal to or lower than the trait, they fail. Add one point to the trait, and the kalma describes how the 
  character failed, was penalised, or otherwise did not achieve their intent.
  A player can take a breath and buy a stance, as described above. The player rolls the dice in this circumstance and rolls 
  two dice. Compare the sum of the dice to the trait. Obviously, stances are very valuable.
  There may be situations where two characters oppose each other. In this case, both characters should agree on another 
  player to be their kalma. Both should state their intent. And both should make checks as usual. Thus, it is possible for 
  one, both or neither to achieve their intent. In these cases, both characters may own a contested Memento, and both 
  may sacrifice it or retain it.
  The histories given to contested Mementoes may be entirely contradictory. The true history of an object is considered to 
  be whatever the current owner ascribes to it.
  End
  If a character owns five or more owned Mementoes, they are assumed to be close to their goal. 
  If a character owns three contested Mementoes, they are assumed to be close to their goal.  
  In both cases, the next scene or two that they frame should dive headlong into a scene involving their goal. A character 
  achieves their goal if they succeed at this final scene. If a character fails this final check, they are assumed to have failed 
  and perhaps died.
  If a character runs out of breath, and is unwilling or unable to sacrifice Mementoes, they are close to death. Their next 
  scene should frame their death scene. 
  Deaths do not mean the character is out of the game, however. Players become the group's sole kalma and will handle 
  all further opposition. All their Mementoes become unowned. The unfortunate player is encouraged to play hard. 
  When a second character runs out of breath, kalma duties are shared and the remaining players are assumed to be 
  close to their goals.
  This World and the Next
  You'll notice that some questions are unanswered in this text. For example, no details are recorded of the characters' 
  past, personality or abilities. Players are free to add such detail during scenes.
  Players are encouraged to discuss the meaning and metaphysics of the world in between scenes. Stealing breath is the 
  only given, so what metaphysical rules allow such a thing? Is there a literal underworld (Tuonela in Finnish myth) one can 
  travel to? Does it have inhabitants? Do the guardians of the underworld hate the characters or envy them?
  When was the character due to die originally? Was the victim of their breath taking due to die moments later, or many 
  years?  What was the experience like? Awful and criminal? Beatific or transcendental? Confused? Has the taker stolen 
  another's breath since then?
  How do characters steal breath? Is it an ephemeral, spiritual process or does the taker gobble down the gurglings of 
  another? Is it transgressive, or can people give breath freely? 
  How do breath-takers sense the underworld? Can they taste impending death, read the eyes of corpses, smell other 
  takers, hear the whispers of ghosts or even walk into the world beyond? Do they share a portfolio of tidy abilities, or do 
  each have a mish-mash of quirky knacks? Does the taker's personality, history, health or closeness to death matter? Can 
  one develop abilities with training, or are they scattershot and unreliable?
  
  My name is ...
  kalma
  I am old and cannot ...
  My last act will be ...
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  > Tired
  (Energised)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  > Frail 
  (Vigorous)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  > Lonely
  (Open)
  Cross out three more points of traits.
  Roll higher than a trait on one dice to win a scene. Take a breath and buy a stance to roll two dice instead. If you fail 
  when using a stance, cross out that stance.
  Characters begin with five breath tokens and may have a maximum of seven.
  My name is ...
  kalma
  I am old and cannot ...
  My last act will be ...
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  > Tired
  (Energised)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  > Frail 
  (Vigorous)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  > Lonely
  (Open)
  Cross out three more points of traits. The Ones are already crossed out.
  Roll higher than a trait on one dice to win a scene. Take a breath and buy a stance to roll two dice instead. If you fail 
  when using a stance, cross out that stance.
  Characters begin with five breath tokens and may have a maximum of seven.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Kalma/Kalma Corebook.pdf