Teens

Introduction

There have been ten plagues upon the Egyptians, and after watching G*d wage war on your behalf, all of the Israelites have been given leave to go free. But Pharaoh is fickle. He has revoked this permission before, and the entire community is scrambling in their homes to get ready to go quickly. In the midst of this hustle and bustle, you receive a message that Moses needs to see you at his headquarters immediately. Arriving at Moses’s door, this is a good time to ask Players to describe their characters and to give their names. If any of them know each other, they can establish that relationship here.

Get the Mission

When Moses brings them in, he thanks them and conveys the following: “We have a problem. Joseph was the one who brought our people here to Mitzrayim and set up our livelihood here, but he knew that we would eventually leave this place. He made our ancestors swear a divine promise that when left, we would take his bones with us. The problem is, we don’t know where they are. I can’t leave to find them myself, but we can’t leave Egypt without the bones of Joseph! We need you to find them.” 3

(If they wonder why they have the job, perhaps it’s divine prophecy, perhaps Moses has his own reasons. He probably shouldn’t be too specific.)

He tells them they might want to start with the oldest living person, Serach Bat Asher, to see if she has any knowledge of where they are.

Get the Intel

Serach Bat Asher is Joseph’s actual niece. She has been alive for an impossibly long time. She remembers a lot, but has forgotten more. When they tell her why they are there, she is suspicious and asks why they are the right people to find her uncle’s bones. They will need to find some way to convince her.

Once convinced, Serach is able to tell them that the Egyptians knew we couldn’t leave without him, so they hid his sarcophagus by sinking it somewhere in the Nile. The searchers will need two things: A small gold plaque that she gives them with G*d’s 4-letter Hebrew name on it, and the answer to a riddle that she will tell them. But, that’s as much as she can remember.

Choose any riddle you like, but here are two that are appropriate for these purposes:

• “What has a key but no lock, meter but no length; what has bars but can set you free?” (A Song)
• “A fraction of prophecy, a play with broken plot, the wellspring of memory, and in daylight oft forgot.” (A Dream)

Finding the Spot in the River

Depending on who the Characters are, they might have a number of ways of figuring out where in the Nile the Bones of Joseph have been submerged. Characters can use their backgrounds and deductions and skills to figure out where the river is different, why the Egyptians might have chosen one spot over another, who might have submerged the bones, etc… Anything plausible that gets them asking the right questions, or even just a good Ability Roll, should be rewarded with hints and information.

Their investigation will ultimately lead to the fact that Joseph (who was a noble in Egypt when he died) was submerged in the section of the Nile that runs beside the royal palace. And specifically, his sarcophagus has come to rest in the portion that is immediately next to the chambers of the Pharaoh’s daughter, the one who raised Moses.

Two potentially useful facts that they might discover or roll to have some knowledge of:

• If the gold plaque with G*d’s name on it is ever in contact with the river, it has a gentle pull toward the burial site. That pull gets stronger the closer they get.
• The Pharaoh’s daughter is planning to leave with the Israelites. She stayed with the community as the Angel of Death passed over the houses, and she has taken the Hebrew name of Batya.

Getting to the Spot

Once they have figured out where in the river the bones are, getting to that spot is also highly dependent on the choices and skills of the Characters. They could conceivably try to swim, boat, sneak along the banks, sweet talk their way through the palace, find a way to get word to Batya that they need access… Any number of options here. Whatever the Players attempt, be sure to 4 make it somewhat challenging, with Ability Rolls to get past guards, avoid crocodiles, etc. If they fail at these things, it need not be fatal. They will just have to deal with the consequences and find another way to the spot.

Batya’s Chambers of the Palace

Once they get to the Batya’s chambers, she is present, gathering her belongings to leave with the Israelites. She can help with what they might need at this point–information, political influence, just a place to rest, etc. If Batya attempts something, you also have the option of having her make an Ability Roll, too (a good thing to give someone else to do, if there are people present who aren’t Players yet). As a convert to her son’s religion, she too has the tension between her Mitzrayim Abilities and her Yisrael Abilities.

Raise the Bones

Once they get to the pavilion on the Nile connected to Batya’s chambers, they will need to do two things:

• Drop the golden plaque into the waters. It will be attracted directly to the sarcophagus and attach itself to it.
• Use the answer to the riddle. If the answer was Song, they should sing a pleasing song (they can roll for it, depending on what kind of song they sing. If they actually sing the song, you can let them roll 2 d6 and take the higher of the two rolls, whether it relates to their Character build or not.) If the answer to the riddle was Dream, they can tell their dreams, remind Joseph of his famous dreams, talk about dreams for the Israelite people, lots of options here.

In any case, if they roll well and you are satisfied they have used the answer to the riddle, their actions will activate the plaque, and the sarcophagus will rise from the bottom of the Nile.

Get Back to Moses

Now that they have the bones, they will need to find some way to get it back to Moses’s headquarters. This can be as varied as the ways they got to the burial site. If you are pressed for time, you can either make it easy for them to retrace their steps, or you can point out that the plaque seems to make it so the sarcophagus defies the currents and other pressures of the Nile. They can conceivably steer it up river to a place where it is easier to deliver to Moses.

Conclusion

When they return, make it a heroes’ welcome. Dancing and singing and reverence for Joseph and G*d… Moses can gratefully congratulate them and say: “Thanks to you, we are almost entirely ready to go. We saved you some rations. Sorry we didn’t have time to let it rise.”

You can conclude by passing out the afikoman and saying, “Moses hands you the remaining portions of the unleavened bread they had prepared. And you and the whole community are finally ready to continue the journey to freedom.”

You are an Israelite about to leave Egypt during the Exodus story. Roll three d6 to determine your Character’s Type, Descriptor, and Job. Note the results on an Israelite Character Sheet.

Type

1. Agile
2. Brainy
3. Brawny
4. Creative
5. Charming
6. Sneaky

Descriptor

1. Rookie
2. Veteran
3. Incompetent
4. Unruly
5. Level-Headed
6. Quirky

Job in Egypt

1. Shepherd
2. Farmer
3. Fisher
4. Builder
5. Entertainer
6. Cook

Now, give your Character a name, and decide if and how they know any other Characters.

An Item from the Neighbors

When the Israelites left, they took along items from their Egyptian neighbors. Roll a d6 to determine what special item you have:

1. Bag with 10 Gold Coins
2. Festive Garment
3. A Sheep
4. Oil Lantern
5. Handheld Silver Chime
6. Small Sack of Flour

If your Abilities get all the way to 6 Israel / 0 Mitzrayim, your actions have become too obvious. Pharaoh finds out what you’re up to, hardens his heart, and you cannot leave.

If your Abilities get all the way to a 6 Mitzrayim / 0 Israel, the pressures keeping you in place win out. You lose heart and need more of a sign from G*d before you are ready to leave Egypt.

You can always find new Characters to take on this adventure, but if anyone reaches a level 6 on one of these two Abilities, this round of the game will be over.

1. Getting the Mission – Moses asks the Characters to find and bring back the Bones of Joseph, or the Israelites won’t be able to leave Egypt. He sends them to Serach Bat Asher, the oldest living person who might know where they are.
2. The Oldest Woman Alive – Serach determines if the Characters are right for the job. Once satisfied, she tells them the Egyptians sank the bones in the Nile. She gives them a small gold plaque with G*d’s name on it and a riddle. They need both to retrieve the bones.
3. Finding the Bones – They have to find the spot in the Nile where the bones were sunk, and it turns out to be just outside the royal palace, near the chambers of the Pharaoh’s daughter, who raised Moses.
4. Raising the Casket – If they drop the gold plaque in the Nile outside of her rooms and do something relating to the riddle’s answer (recommended: either “song” or “dream”), the plate binds to the sarcophagus at the bottom and causes it to rise to the surface.
5. Bringing Them Back – The Characters then need to find a way to get the Bones back to the Israelite camps, fulfilling the mission, and enabling the Exodus to happen.

You can intentionally move your Ability levels without rolling by giving your character a moment of reflection in the roleplaying. These should be specific to your Character and their story.

• To add 1 in Mitzrayim (-1 to Yisrael) – Talk about what you’ll miss from Egypt if you leave, aspects of your life pulling you to stay where you are.
• To add 1 to Yisrael (-1 to Mitzrayim) – Talk about a hope you have for your life when you’re free, and the reasons you want to go.

The Storyteller will determine if you have earned the level adjustment.

A note on why Ability levels work the way they do…

You may have noticed that when you succeed on one of your Ability Rolls, it makes it harder to succeed on that roll the next time. That is on purpose. The decision to stay in Egypt or leave to freedom might seem obvious to us, but the Israelites had never known any other life. Sometimes the closer you get to something new, the more the familiar calls you back. And the more stuck you feel in what you know, the more it drives you to break out of that narrow place. When you are pulled too far in one direction, you may need to remind yourself of other parts of your life, or you may need to rely on others to accomplish the things you can’t.

If you are a Player in this adventure, you probably want to stop reading now. ** Spoilers ahead ** Spoilers ahead ** Spoilers ahead **

As the Storyteller, you essentially have three jobs:

1. Presenting – You are the voice of the story’s world. You offer the circumstances, the characters your Players meet, and the details of the world. You narrate what happens between Character actions and describe the impacts of those actions.
2. Empowering – You give weight and meaning to the choices the characters make. To the extent that you can, allow your Players to create outcomes and shape the world. Encourage them to inhabit their Characters and play them fully in the narrative.
3. Refereeing – For a story to feel satisfying, the rules of the world have to be consistent. For this adventure, those rules come from game structure, but they also come from you. You are responsible for maintaining a world where the cause and effect makes sense.

Other guidance:

• Consequences – Allowing Players to affect the world, does not mean letting them do whatever they want. It means letting their actions and their Ability Rolls have the appropriate consequences, both positive and negative.
• Determining Ability Checks – To help you determine whether something should be a Mitzrayim Roll or Yisrael Roll, consider whether they are using skills that reinforce what their life has been (Mitzrayim) or help them grow into what’s next (Yisrael).
• Judging Ability Level Shifts – The most subjective thing you will need to do is determine whether someone succeeded on their Ability Level Shift. These moments ought to pertain to the Character and their specific story, either from the details they rolled to create the Character or from the way that they have played them so far.
• Playing the Other Characters – The details of the other non-player characters in this adventure have been kept intentionally sparse. Have fun making them your own. For example, Moses could be stuttering and stressed, authoritative and charismatic; a well put together leader or a total mess… whatever seems right to you.
• Description – When you are describing new settings and actions and introducing characters, be as vivid and descriptive as is enjoyable. But remember to keep it brief. Try to send the action and dialogue back to the Players quickly to keep everyone engaged.