Building on the dossier- and institution-focused designs, how could you formalize a King in Yellow campaign state sheet (tracking things like Carcosa-aligned labels, institutional scars, and documented vs. remembered events) so that different GMs or modules can plug into the same ongoing city and reliably produce coherent investigative hooks and escalating contagion without ever needing to agree on a single ‘true’ supernatural explanation?

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Answer

Proposal: a compact, system-agnostic "City: King in Yellow State Sheet" that any GM/module can read and update without fixing a single truth. It tracks labels, scars, and records, not metaphysics.

  1. Sheet layout (1–2 pages)

  • Header:

    • City name, era, tone tag (gritty / surreal / operatic).
    • Current campaign phase (early / middle / late contagion).

  • Block A: Reality tracks (from 46720334-3a63-4595-a894-7d9cacc17e13)

    • 0–5 meters:
      • Institutional
      • Artistic
      • Carcosa
      • Player-recorded
    • Each track: 1–2 bullet consequences at current level.

  • Block B: Institutions & scars (from 58e37352-6506-4752-bd2a-e77301527ae4)

    • 4–8 recurring institutions, each line:
      • Name / type (clinic, theatre, gallery, court, etc.).
      • Scar level 0–3 in 2–3 fronts (e.g. Contagion, Procedures, Reputation).
      • 1–2 concrete scars in play (policy, décor, slang).
    • Note: each scar is phrased descriptively, not as truth-source.

  • Block C: Carcosa labels & Yellow Sign footprint

    • Carcosa labels in use: short list of codes/diagnoses/classifications (e.g. "Axis: CAR-2", "Y-3", "King Profile").
    • For each label:
      • Domain (medical, security, arts funding, underground slang).
      • Typical trigger (what gets someone tagged).
      • Effect in play (1–2 soft moves: who avoids you, doors that open/close).
    • Yellow Sign presence 0–3:
      • 0: rumor only
      • 1: marginal doodles, graffiti
      • 2: semi-official icon, recurring brand
      • 3: open public motif

  • Block D: Records vs memories (from 7f8b342b-ed27-4e6a-82a3-4113c407f176 & 005f1ec3-18d6-40a9-8937-d477738a03f2)

    • Chronicle rows (one per major past case or event):
      • Tag: title/date of case.
      • Documented version (2–3 short facts as in files / news / official history).
      • Remembered version (2–3 short facts PCs/NPCs recall).
      • Divergence level 0–3.
    • One "anchored record" line (widely trusted doc) and one "tainted record" line (known Carcosa-edited doc).

  • Block E: Open hooks

    • 4–8 small prompts other GMs can grab:
      • 1–2 lines each, tied to an institution, label, or record.
      • Written as questions or oddities, not answers.
  1. How a new GM/module plugs in

  • Step 1: Read tracks + scars

    • Use current reality and scar levels as tone: more Carcosa track → more surreal presentation; higher Institutional → more forms, hearings, audits.

  • Step 2: Pick 1–2 institutions

    • Choose those with nonzero scars.
    • Turn one scar into a clue (e.g. new intake form, changed décor note, slang).

  • Step 3: Select 1–2 labels

    • Decide who will be at risk of acquiring them this scenario.
    • Use label effects as soft consequences for investigation choices.

  • Step 4: Use a Chronicle row

    • Bring in either:
      • An old case file (Documented version), or
      • An eyewitness with the Remembered version.
    • Let players notice mismatch; decide whether to correct, suppress, or spread it.

  • Step 5: Update at end

    • For each major outcome, the GM updates:
      • One reality track by ±1.
      • 1–2 institution scars.
      • Maybe one new/changed label.
      • One Chronicle row: tweak Documented or Remembered facts and divergence.
    • They add 1–2 new open hooks.
  1. Keeping supernatural truth ambiguous
  • No field on the sheet states what Carcosa "really" is.
  • All tracked items are:
    • How institutions behave.
    • How people label others.
    • How records conflict.
  • Different modules can:
    • Treat Carcosa track as delusion, extradimensional bleed, artistic movement, or conspiracy.
    • Never need to overwrite prior entries—only add new scars, labels, and divergences.
  1. Safety hooks baked into the sheet
  • Safety box:
    • Lines/veils summary for the city (e.g. how close to real diagnoses/courts you’re willing to get).
    • Explicit note: all labels are fictional; no real-world DSM/ICD codes.
    • Player anchors: 1–3 things that cannot be retconned (e.g. one relationship, one personal history fact, or one community space).
  • GMs updating the sheet agree to:
    • Only alter Remembered versions and in-fiction classifications by default; Table record stays stable.
    • Flag any major change to reality tracks or scars as something to mention in next session’s out-of-character recap.
  1. Example of cross-GM continuity

  • GM A runs a clinic case:

    • Boosts Institutional to 3, Carcosa to 1.
    • Clinic: Procedures scar 1 → new Carcosa-coded intake form.
    • Adds label "CAR-2" (for people obsessed with Carcosa tags).
    • Chronicle: "The Molin Case" – documented suicide, remembered disappearance; divergence 1.

  • GM B, months later:

    • Sees clinic Procedures 1 and "CAR-2".
    • Writes a gallery scenario where a curator has CAR-2 in a leaked file.
    • Uses "The Molin Case" as a redacted exhibition piece; plays its different versions against each other.
    • Ends with Artistic +1, Carcosa +1; gallery Contagion scar 1 (Yellow Sign-like logo tweak).

Result: same city, escalating contamination and ambiguity, but neither GM has to declare whether Carcosa is cosmic, memetic, or political.