Building on the rotating-play and bottle-production frames, how could you formalize a reusable ‘contagion vector sheet’ for any King in Yellow scenario—listing its primary vector (performance, documents, labels, suppression, or Carcosan reasoning), expected player levers, and specific failure modes—so that a GM can quickly tune ambiguity, sanity pressure, and safety tools without every mystery drifting back into the same “read play → see Sign → go mad” arc?

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Answer

Below is a compact, reusable "Contagion Vector Sheet" a GM can fill for any King in Yellow scenario. It assumes you pick 1 primary vector (and 0–2 secondary) and tune levers/failure modes around that.

CONTAGION VECTOR SHEET (1 page template)

  1. Scenario Header
  • Title:
  • Setting / frame: (e.g. rotating play / gallery / clinic / dossier case)
  • Session span: (one-shot / 2–4 / mini-campaign)
  1. Vector Profile
  • Primary vector: (pick one)
    • Performance (shows, rehearsals, rituals)
    • Documents (scripts, casefiles, criticism)
    • Labels (codes, diagnoses, classifications, stamps)
    • Suppression (censorship, erasure, cover‑ups)
    • Carcosan reasoning (reality-warping inference method)
  • Secondary vectors (0–2):
  • Visible form: (how players first see it: prop, scene type, NPC habit)
  • Escalation path (3 steps max):
    1. Mild:
    2. Disturbing:
    3. Unstable / crisis:
  1. Player Levers (what they can actually do about this vector) List 3–5 generic moves that recur across scenes. Each should have a benefit and a cost.

For each lever, fill:

  • Lever name:
  • Fictional action: (short verb phrase)
  • Use on: (performance / doc / label / suppression / reasoning)
  • Benefit: (info / time / influence / protection)
  • Cost: (SAN risk / social fallout / reality drift / spread)

Example levers per vector (pick / adapt):

  • Performance:
    • "Cut / rewrite scene" – change the show; cost: alienate artists or draw KiY’s notice.
    • "Sabotage cue" – force imperfect performance; cost: public chaos, collateral harm.
  • Documents:
    • "Annotate / cross‑reference" – make files clearer; cost: pull motifs into new docs.
    • "Leak or publish" – widen info; cost: contagion to new groups.
  • Labels:
    • "Contest label" – hearings, appeals; cost: stress, loss of credibility.
    • "Reassign label" – move danger to another file; cost: guilt, ethical hit.
  • Suppression:
    • "Destroy / lock away" – short‑term safety; cost: new Carcosa echo elsewhere.
    • "Sign off on redaction" – keep job, lose truth.
  • Carcosan reasoning:
    • "Lean into KiY logic" – gain shortcut clue; cost: retcon or distort prior facts.
    • "Audit reality" – compare notes; cost: painful cognitive dissonance.
  1. Ambiguity Dials (how weird/clear this vector feels) For each, circle / mark a point 1–3 and add 1 sentence.
  • Ontology: 1 mundane | 2 ambiguous | 3 clearly impossible
  • Source clarity: 1 unknown | 2 suspected | 3 named KiY/Carcosa
  • Player knowledge: 1 PCs only | 2 PCs+some NPCs | 3 public ripple
  • Narrative stance: 1 all on‑screen | 2 mixed | 3 mostly implied / off‑screen

Note 1–2 specific examples:

  • First ambiguous beat:
  • First undeniable beat (if any):
  1. Sanity Pressure Map (for this vector only) Define 3–4 repeatable triggers tied to the vector, not generic Mythos. For each trigger:
  • Name:
  • When it fires: ("whenever they X")
  • Mechanical effect: (SAN test, condition, clock tick)
  • Safety flag: (check‑in / lines&veils / aftercare note)

Examples by vector:

  • Performance: "Losing yourself in the role", "Audience mirrors Carcosa crowd".
  • Documents: "Finding your own name in a KiY file", "Seeing the Yellow Sign move between drafts".
  • Labels: "Reclassified without consent", "Told your memories fit a Carcosa code".
  • Suppression: "You sign an erasure you know is wrong".
  • Reasoning: "You remember something differently than last session’s notes".
  1. Failure Modes (how this vector can make the scenario go bad) Distinguish fictional dooms from table‑level design failures.

6.1 Fictional failure modes (2–4) Each should be reachable through play choices.

  • F1 (spread): vector escapes bottle (e.g. show tours; labels go system‑wide).
  • F2 (collapse): key witness / anchor breaks; case unsolvable.
  • F3 (co‑option): PCs become tools of the vector (curators, censors, labelers).

For each, note:

  • How it triggers:
  • What the last scenes look like:
  • How you signal it early:

6.2 Design failure modes (2–3) How the structure might flatten into "read play → see Sign → go mad" or pure confusion.

  • D1: Vector reverts to text‑exposure script.
    • Watch for: all clues point at “read the whole thing” as only move.
    • Guard rail: ensure at least 2 levers that don’t require deeper exposure (e.g., alter show, redirect labels, change records).
  • D2: Ambiguity too high → players feel lost.
    • Watch for: repeated "we have no idea what to do".
    • Guard rail: 1 mundane and 1 KiY‑tilted explanation for each major clue.
  • D3: Ambiguity too low → linear SAN track.
    • Watch for: every exposure = automatic SAN hit, no choice.
    • Guard rail: some exposures convert into leverage, allies, or insight.
  1. Safety Pass (vector-specific) Quick checklist:
  • Real‑world parallels: (what this might echo: e.g. diagnoses, workplace gaslighting, censorship, creative burnout)
  • Hard lines / renamed content you’ll use:
  • Opt‑in tools relevant here: (e.g. consent flags for identity blur; no real diagnostic labels; X‑card / Script Change)
  • Planned decompression beat: (short scene or OOC chat to close the loop)
  1. Distinctiveness Check (to avoid "read play → Sign → mad") Answer briefly:
  • In this scenario, horror mainly comes from: (process of performance / paper trail / classification / erasure / warped reasoning)
  • Typical climactic scene type: (e.g. ruined opening night, ethics hearing, archive seizure, audit of memories)
  • What replaces "read the play" as the central hard choice?

If those three answers look different from your last KiY scenario’s sheet, you have structural variety.

USAGE NOTES

  • During prep: fill 1 sheet per mystery. Start with vector profile, then levers, then failure modes. Keep answers short.
  • During play: keep the sheet next to your clue map. When players act on the vector, pick the closest lever, apply its cost/benefit, and tick relevant sanity triggers.
  • Between scenarios: compare sheets to ensure each arc spotlights a different vector and failure pattern (e.g. one about suppression, next about labels, next about performance).