Given the existing tools (scenario structures, Yellow Sign switchboard, Carcosa pressure beats, and two-column clues), what’s still missing for a GM-facing ‘scenario engine’ one-pager—what minimal extra components (e.g., default NPC archetype grid, stock safety dial, or standard climax templates) would let you reliably spin up a distinct King in Yellow investigation in an hour of prep without falling back into generic CoC mystery patterns?

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Answer

Missing pieces for a one-page GM scenario engine:

  1. NPC / FACTION GRID (TINY CAST TEMPLATE)
  • 4–6 boxes the GM fills in quickly:
    • Vector: who spreads KiY (director, curator, critic, patient, collector).
    • Skeptic: who resists / dismisses.
    • Carrier: unknowingly contaminated.
    • Mask: double life / false identity.
    • Victim: already breaking.
    • Authority: can institutionalize, censor, or fund.
  • Each box has 2–3 fixed prompts ("owes someone", "has seen the Sign once", "guards a mundane secret") to avoid generic CoC cops/professors.
  1. SAFETY / INTENSITY DIAL (STANDARD SLIDER)
  • One shared strip for the table:
    • 0: light weird / no identity harm.
    • 1: obsession, bad dreams.
    • 2: memory gaps, doubled roles.
    • 3: identity erosion, masks, gaslighting.
  • One line to note: forbidden topics, fade-to-black lines.
  • GM marks the max level agreed for this scenario; all scenes, beats, and SAN costs stay under that.
  1. CLIMAX / RESOLUTION MINI-MENU
  • Tiny list; GM picks 1 before play:
    • Containment: close venue, burn archive, silence carrier.
    • Exposure: premiere goes ahead, art shows, article prints.
    • Bargain: PCs trade stability for insight or safety for others.
    • Collapse: Carcosa breaks through locally (street, ward, troupe).
  • Each option gives 2 fixed questions: "What must be sacrificed?" and "What remains altered?" to keep it KiY, not just "kill the cult".
  1. STARTING SPARK / FIRST WRONGNESS
  • One roll-or-pick row for the first hook:
    • A line from the play appears where it should not.
    • A Yellow Sign shows up in a respectable space.
    • An NPC insists they know the PCs from a performance that never happened.
    • A mundane case file or review echoes Carcosa imagery.
  • This ties directly into the first Carcosa pressure beat so pacing starts immediately.
  1. STOCK MOTIF STRIP (TO AVOID GENERIC MYTHOS)
  • Short list to circle 2–3 motifs:
    • Masks / doubles.
    • Stage / blocking / audience.
    • Rotting glamour / decadence.
    • Official paperwork vs marginalia.
    • Dreams / shared scenes / out-of-order time.
  • GM tags 2–3 clues and 1 NPC with the same motifs to keep KiY texture consistent.

Combined with:

  • Scenario structure (play / salon / archive / bohemia) from 4d0d95c5-…
  • Yellow Sign switchboard from 1ed65f9c-…
  • Pressure beats from 52987c50-…
  • Two-column clues from 641fcfca-… these 5 minimal pieces give enough scaffolding to build a distinct, replayable KiY investigation in ~1 hour without reverting to generic "cult + monster" CoC patterns.