​Schooling the PCs
I've had strong success in the last few years framing campaigns within school settings. That background provides rich opportunities for role playing, solves some campaign start problems and supplies an easily grasped structure for both the players and the GM. 

Right now the grand-daddy of that form in literature is the problematic Harry Potter series. But other books like Mary Gentle's Rats and Gargoyles and Sherri Tepper's True Game all use that for different purposes. It pops up heavily in Japanese narratives, both manga (Fruits Basket and Naruto) and anime (Evangelion, Shikabane Hime, Ikki Tousen). Likewise it appears in a number of jrpg video games (the Persona series, Mana Khemenia, and Final Fantasy VIII). In American lit we can see it in comics (the X-Men, Gunnerkrieg Court), television (Buffy, Veronica Mars, Galaxy High), and movies (The Faculty, Sky High). For some fringe cases you can even point to Volcano High and Battle Royale.

A number of rpgs have also built games or published supplements revolving around these kinds of themes. Teenagers from Outer Space and Curriculum of Conspiracy use pre-college settings. The d20 supplement Redhurst Academy of Magic tried to shoehorn a very HP-like structure into the multiverse of existing D&D settings, with mixed success. Miskatonic University could easily serve as a starting place for a Call of Cthulhu campaign, though the question would be how long the campaign would remain there before moving away (or having the rampant strangeness overwhelm the grounds). For high weirdness, there's GURPS IOU. In the supers genre, M&M has a sourcebook, Hero High, devoted to these kinds of games.

Below are some thoughts drawn from my experience running and playing in multiple campaigns with a school focus (either in the foreground or background).

Rich Cast
One of the most obvious benefits of a school setting is that it provides a rich pool of NPCs of very different kinds. If the school draws on an international (or larger) pool, the GM has the opportunity to showcase a number of different cultures. One trap the GM should be careful of is overdoing it, however. Select a few notable classmates, rivals, a couple of notable upperclassmen, important administrators, staff and the teachers for the PCs subjects. Even that will, depending on the setting turn out to be a pretty big list. GMs may find it really useful to hunt down pictures if possible to add to the flavor. Since these characters will be consistently recurring, it means that effort won't be wasted. PCs will have to interact and develop at least some kind of relation with these NPCs so taking the time to flesh them out pays off.

These kinds of campaigns also encourage a different kind of approach from simple brute force. Players shouldn't want to get kicked out of the school-- so they have to find other methods to deal with their rivals, even those in charge. A school setting gives real focus to characters with social and sneaky talents. Rumor mongering, pranks, building reputation, succeeding in academic contests-- the players can best their rivals on different levels and in different ways. There's still room for more direct conflict, but it must be managed carefully or off school grounds.

Development
Robin Laws in HeroQuest 2e makes an interesting point about character development. Experience points and continuing growth are really an artifact of classic role-playing systems. Generally in most conventional dramatic narratives we see characters at a certain skill level throughout. They might pick up a few tricks, but those aren't core to the story. 

The exception to this is the school/educational based story setting, in which the growth of the character in skills parallels personal development. In other words, putting characters in a school can explain why they start out sucky and get better. It explains how characters can amazingly develop many new skills, abilities, feats and the like without mechanics for side-quest training time or having them miraculously appear.

But mechanics aside, the school setting allows characters to grow into who they are. Often when players make up characters, they've already established some of the major events of those lives. They know their purpose, profession and ideals generally. A school gives players the space to figure those things out based on the events in front of them, with less baggage to shape those decisions. In point based games like GURPS players can begin with disadvantages, here they can actually pick those problems up. Significant first moments can be played out, since the players are still relatively young. In our fantasy steampunk HP-esque campaign, Libri Vidicos, the first time a couple of the players had to kill other people, when attacked on a field trip, they had to deal with their reactions to that. It made for some really nice moments at the table.

The school setting really allows players to buy-into the setting. One the one hand players will likely be familiar with the dramatic conventions from all of the narratives mentioned above. They know that students have restrictions and make their fun within the limits of those. 

On the other hand, most players will have been in a school for a good portion of their lives. That's an experience they share with their character, where other aspects of the character's life may be foreign to them. Players know how schools operate-- with good and bad teachers, the pressure of homework and the potentially awful web of social interactions. These two level of empathy allow a player to riff and improvise easily within the setting. They can fill in the gaps in the imaginative space presented.

Players often begin with a deep suspicion of authority and value autonomy over their choices. That's not necessarily something to be stifled. The problem lies where players instinctively react negatively to anyone who seems to be giving them orders. 

The school setting shifts that a little-- there's a built in give and take between players and the authority of the school (administration or teachers). The players have to find other ways to get around those authorities, since those groups are providing something they want (training, shelter, and so on). The player needs to be creative in their responses, resorting to hijinks and mischief to get around the authority. As well, punishments for defying authority aren't final: detention, bad marks, being kept from activities and so on. There's a give and take there.

Structures of the School
In Harry Potter you know classroom scenes will probably do at least one of three things: illustrate character interactions/development, provide a goofy humor moment, or foreshadow an important plot point for later. I enjoy using the last of these things fairly liberally in the campaigns. It works best in classes which the various PCs share, but can be done for one or two PCs in a class at once. 

Throughout the campaign I'll throw in lectures from the classes, probably no more than one or two per session and no more than one or two from any particular class. That reminds characters they are in a school and keeps the flavor of what's happening without it being overwhelming. In those lectures, especially early on, I'll bury points that will come back later. It can also be used to establish things like moral or ethical choices which appear later- creating a contrast between talking about something and actually having to do it.

Lectures serve another important purpose. They allow the players to learn about the world as their characters do. Players often begin a game with a blank map of the game world, unless they've played in or read about that setting before. A GM who has built an extensive background and history for their world often finds it hard to get some of those ideas out into play. This ought to serve the path of the story-- a GM should be careful about info dumping. While the tale the GM's woven in their head is undoubtedly rich and interesting, focus should be placed on the details which will come back later. Otherwise there's a risk of having players tune out if they think the material is just exposition without purpose.

Besides classes, a school game gives the GM an interesting variety of set piece events. Clubs, field trips, performances, athletic contests, inter-house competitions, guest lectures, dances, hall parties, detention, tracking down mentors, researching topics in the library can all be used in the game. If you're campaign goes on long enough, players will be begin to anticipate and prepare for these. 

For example in Libri Vidicos, as first year students, the characters didn't get to go to the big dance. Instead they had to serve as staff for it. That made it all the more interesting the next year when they were able to go. These events can also reflect changes in the administration's character. In Year Three of LV the new Headmaster has restricted students to only being a member of a single club, forcing the PCs to choose only one of their groups and establishing a certain amount of tension.

A secondary benefit of the school campaign is that it provides a “home base” from the start for the campaign. Generally in the games I've run players live at the school itself, providing an insular setting. Players return to the school and their rooms for some safety and regrouping with privacy, after a caper, after a field trip or even after a long vacation. This answers one of the basic needs of a group: shelter and security so that they can focus on other needs. As well, the GM can contrast this safety later: having to forge for themselves while they're “in the field” or if something bad happens in the school making their position unsure.

Golden Years
The structure of the school year provides a nice form for the players. You have pretty clear markers about the progress of he story, some clear stopping points for sidebar adventures, and some room to time lapse forward. As a GM, don't feel bad about saying something like “...but the pressures of class and work meant that they weren't able to look into that matter for another week.” Special events like sports can be also used to mark time.

On a higher level, the breaking up of the campaign itself into “years” which serve as books allows players to make some mental changes and have a sense of how far the larger campaign has progressed. In the case of Libri Vidicos, I told them right from the beginning the campaign as a whole would cover five school years. We got through year one in a year real-time, and year two in a year and a half. I think that reflects some of the bloat Rowling had in her own series. Ideally I would like to get through each school year in one year or so of play.

Campaign Forms
While the school setting can easily be used for lighter games with perhaps a touch of campiness ala anime, they don't have to be used that way. Consider the training camps of Starship Troopers or Full Metal Jacket. There can be a singularly awful aspect to the school as well, forcing students to try to survive within that place. 

These kinds of settings can also be used just as a starting point for a campaign, a period of development contrasted to action or escape later on. If the school's a bad place, players may find their way out and then have to evade capture and figure out how to defeat their alma mater later. The destruction of a school while the students are there could provide a great and shocking framework for a campaign with a strong dramatic shift in the middle.

Changes in administration or scholarly focus can be used to change up the setting if players get too complacent. PC actions may cause some characters to die, retire or be fired. That can shift the hidden balance of power as to the school's agenda resulting in changes the PCs didn't expect. If a campaign extends over a couple of years, each one should have a dramatic theme or difference the group can identity.

Levels of mysteries can presented within the school itself, but the game doesn't have to exclusively focus on that. Field trips, missions, holiday recess, visits home and so on can be used to break up the action. Done sparingly these kinds of moments help reinforce what makes the school setting different. Home visits (or even visits to the school by parents) allow the characters to reflect on what has happened. GMs may want to allow PCs to visit each others' homes or homelands to help show what made the PC who they are. In one case, a particularly awful rival NPC gained immediate sympathy from the PC group once they met his mother. Suddenly they could see why he was that way and they made an effort to break him out of those behaviors.

Keep in mind that in using a school setting, it doesn't have to overwhelm the game. GMs can try out material and judge how central those issues should be-- based on what the players seem to be enjoying. For our Libri Vidicos campaign, the school is front and center, shaping the play. While there are plots and stories happening outside the school, they all eventually intersect with the school itself. As I said before, while is is a fantasy steampunk game, it draws on HP pretty heavily and that's what the players enjoy.
 
On the other hand, for my Changeling: the Lost campaign, while the characters are at a school, that isn't the centerpoint of the game. Instead it is a place of refuge and a location where they can interact with a few normal people of their age. So in this case I don't play out the classes so much or have big events, instead I make occasionally reference to how the school sometimes impacts their out of game lives. The game may also have an even more dramatic split, as in the Neon Genesis Zombie game I ran (An All Flesh Must Be Eaten game based on Evangelion) in which we had an absolute split between their school lives and their mecha piloting secret activities. Finally, as I mentioned before, the school can simply serve as a starting or jumping off point, a prologue or first part of the campaign, establishing the group together for the big dramatic shift.

GM Prep Needed?
Basic layout of the school; list of classes; list of rules; NPCs same year friends, same year rivals, select upperclassmen, teachers (for the classes the PCs take), staff (nurse, cook, security, etc), administration (headmaster, house master); and a few events.
(Next Time: Examples from Libri Vidicos)

The Unscene
The Between introduces a gameplay concept that is completely original—no other TTRPG has anything like it. It’s called the Unscene. The idea is that the city of London is a living, breathing place, with a life all its own outside the dark work of Hargrave House. We explore London via the Unscene, which is a scene that runs in parallel to the hunter scenes during the Night phase. We bounce back and forth between the Unscene and the hunter scenes, possibly connecting them thematically, but always staying focused on painting a picture of London that is vivid and throbbing and real. The end result is a story that is highly cinematic—it’s truly like watching a really great episode of television. Here’s an example Unscene: ​

By using the Mask of the Past, the player of the American gets to tell their whole backstory, from childhood to the moment they gained their lycanthropy curse to the event that forced them to flee to London. The player could certainly tell us these things all at once during character creation, but it’s much more interesting and cinematic to have them revealed gradually, through play. ​

Playbooks
The Between has seven different playbooks—six that can be chosen at the start and one that enters play at a later time. The playbooks are a mix of character types drawn from the works that inspired the game. 

The Vessel
The Vessel is a magic user; they allow dark, supernatural entities to enter their body in order to fuel powerful rituals. Throughout the game, you learn about their history with these dark entities as well as their time with a coven of witches that tried to use their talents for evil ends. The Vessel can perform dark rites, use divination tools, conduct investigations by drawing supernatural entities to them, and more. Play the Vessel if you want to explore dark rituals and what it feels like to be in control of dangerous things.

The Explorer
The Explorer is a member of the upper class. They made their name and fortune mapping the unexplored parts of the world for the Crown. They are also the rival of the criminal mastermind Hargrave House will eventually have to face. Throughout the game, you’ll be exploring the story of a young man whose village was terrorized by the Explorer when the Explorer was camped there during an expedition. Play the Explorer if you want to move in elite social circles, use money and other resources to solve problems, and be a rival to the game’s main antagonist.

The American
The American is a gun-slinger from America’s Wild West. They grew up with great privilege but abandoned it for frontier life. Along the way, they picked up a curse that sometimes changes them into a feral beast. Throughout the game you’ll be exploring how they came to leave their privileged life and why they eventually fled to London. The American is an excellent shot, a terrific storyteller, a master of disguise, and more. Play the American if you want to solve problems with violence or if you’re interested in being an outsider. 

The Mother
The Mother is a highly-talented doctor and scientist. They lost someone they love and are using that heartbreak to fuel their creation: a person crafted from the body parts of other people, given life by experimental, alchemical processes. Throughout the game, you will be exploring their past with the person they lost, and why they were driven to create a new form of life. Play the Mother if you want to use science and medicine to solve problems, or if you want to delight in blood and guts. 

The Undeniable
The Undeniable is an immortal being of incomparable physical beauty. They have been worshipped as a god for much of their lives and a cult dedicated to them is active in London. Throughout the game, you’ll be learning about the artistic masterwork that bears the scars of the Undeniable’s wickedness, as well as their history with the artist who created it.  Play the Undeniable if you want to be extremely powerful, occasionally villainous, and focused on sensory experiences. 

The Factotum
The Factotum is a servant of one of the other hunters. They are a highly skilled operator—resourceful and practical. When the other hunters are mired in darkness, the Factotum is busy getting the job done. Throughout the game, you’ll explore their professional past and how they came to be a servant. Play the Factotum if you want to be highly effective or if you want to explore what it’s like to have your personal goals and dignity subsumed by another’s. 

The Orphan (Playbook)
The Orphan is a special playbook that isn’t immediately available to us; it is unlocked after certain conditions on The Mother playbook are met. ​

Threats
Monster hunters need monsters to hunt, and that’s where the Threats come in. The game comes with ten Threats: six standard Threats and four special Threats associated with specific playbooks.

The St. James’s Street Ghost
The Beales of 18 St. James’s Street are in a terrible predicament: their townhouse is being terrorized by a malignant spirit. The ghost has already taken the life of their maid, and it seems no one in the house is safe so long as the haunting continues. Hargrave House investigates in order to learn how to quiet the ghost so it can pass into the next world. They may also learn how to make contact with ghosts, a feat that may prove helpful in future investigations.

The Limehouse Lurker
Bodies are turning up in Limehouse, completely drained of blood. Hargrave House knows it’s a vampire, but something about the initial report indicates the undead monster has the physical body of a child. An old vampire must be dealt with in a very different way from a young vampire, and so Hargrave House must initially determine if the vampire is truly adolescent or if it’s actually an ancient being in a small body. 

Sally No-Face
A killer is stalking the streets of London. Their calling card? The victim’s faces have been removed with surgical precision. Panic sets in across the city, with some believing the killer is Sally No-Face, an urban legend reborn. Scotland Yard has had no luck capturing the perpetrator, and so Hargrave House steps in. But which approach to take? Finding the killer’s lair? Drawing the killer to them? Learning what makes the killer tick in order to bring them in peacefully? 

The Whateley Camera
A young actress went missing after being photographed by the Society Obscura, a secretive club for photography enthusiasts. Hargrave House cares less about missing actresses than something in the Society’s possession: the Whateley Camera, a known object of power said to contain the consciousness of a powerful extra dimensional being. Recovering the Whateley Camera and discovering how it acts as a portal to another world is a matter of the utmost urgency.

The Creature of Cremorne Gardens
A number of people report being terrorized by a “fish-like man” in and around the Cremorne pleasure gardens. Rumors suggest the creature can even lure people to a watery doom with the use of a hypnotic song. Hargrave House investigates to determine if the fish man is actually real, or simply a hoax perpetrated by someone with a financial incentive to see Cremorne Gardens fail. 
 
Figg’s Piggs
Pie maker Titus Figg is arrested after it’s revealed his famous Figg’s Pigg pie contains human meat. Titus’s three family members—wife La Hortencia, eldest son Obert the Blade, and youngest son Patrick—managed to escape capture, and Scotland Yard has asked Hargrave House to help track them down. The loose Figgs are extremely dangerous, and pursuing them will force Hargrave House to face a level of darkness and depravity they have only imagined before, to say nothing of the pagan swine god, Moc’h. 

The Coven
The Coven is a special Threat that only enters play after certain conditions are met on The Vessel playbook.

The Cursed
The Cursed is a special Threat that only enters play after certain conditions are met on The American playbook.

The Pinkerton
The Pinkerton is a special Threat that only enters play after certain conditions are met on The American playbook.

The Orphan (Threat)
The Orphan is a special Threat that only enters play after certain conditions are met on The Mother playbook.​

The Mastermind
A criminal mastermind is pulling the strings behind the scenes, possibly manipulating the various Threats in order to enact a grand plan to bring down the monarchy and the entire British empire. Hargrave House will eventually have to reckon with them. 

The Mastermind is The Between’s campaign framework. The hunters become increasingly aware of the Mastermind’s machinations as they resolve Threats. This growing awareness will eventually lead to a confrontation with the Mastermind, which represents the final, grand Threat to overcome. 

The Mastermind sheet gives the Keeper everything they need to organize this campaign aspect of the game: relevant details for the Mastermind, including their backstory and servants; a place for the Keeper to take notes about the campaign; a five-layer campaign progression, with the threshold for each layer unlocking new aspects of the Mastermind whenever crossed; and a list of Mastermind Clues. The game comes with one Mastermind: the ruthless mercantilist and former pirate queen, Theodora Brathwaite. ​

FIND PART ONE HERE​
Building Meaningful Places Together
The thing to remember when you are asking questions is that you only need to build ‘just enough’ and to focus on the things that matter when the story is in focus.

In a recent game of Quest I and my players built a fantasy world using the wonderful Azgaar fantasy world generator  https://azgaar.github.io/ we cycled through options for the world until we had a really clear idea of what the world was like. 

Interestingly, for the first time in a long time I built some internal history for the game, and shared out in a whole three pages of the world. It set out the sandbox in a more traditional sense and I am now applying the techniques I outlined elsewhere in this article. This approach allows me to set the ‘internal rules’ of the world but then pass the details out to the characters. 

This hybrid technique gives the GM a good degree of control and sets up the consistent and structural parts of a game but invites the players into defining the world with you as they make their way across the fantasy setting. This way, you only need to create the ‘world bible’ for the game as the game encounters it. 

This leads back to my observation above that lore builds game by game, it matters that it is internally consistent for gaming groups - once it is established it is true. This way we take more of the ‘here be dragons’ aspects of the sandbox and give them detail when it is relevant to do so. 

You can use this approach in a more localised way as well - I ask questions in world building when I  want some signature locations for the characters - it's a technique I have used in Masks, Urban Shadows and Monsterhearts 2. 

This is an example of questions I asked at the start of a 20 session Masks game set in a Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman sort of setting - the five or so blocks the teen heroes defended needed to feel real so I asked them to give me somewhere that really mattered to them. 

Welcome to Union City and the lower West Side of Union City. Our story takes place in the increasingly gentrified village and the ethnic melting pot of the ‘Triangle’ - or as locals call it ‘Tri-Town’ - are you Village or Tri Town? What's your favourite place and thing to do

• The Arcade - on the riverfront, close to the docks. Dynamic hangs out here
• Books and Stuff, a local and hidden bookshop full to the rafters of new and second hand books
• The Boiler - a rough skate park, where small scale drug pushing goes down, not to far from the Village
• Illegal rave in the docks - Novak Shipping - run by 'Madam Percy'

You can watch the ‘writer’s room’ session zero of this Masks game here https://youtu.be/i0bOP8dL4UY?list=PLKaVqoVBo79gFK1PUnDZfCC94_M5xFRsr

And the full play of our Masks: Neighbourhood game here - every session has use of Stars and Wishes as a cool town tool. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKaVqoVBo79gFK1PUnDZfCC94_M5xFRsr

I can not tell you how many scenes were set in that skate park and without a doubt Books and Stuff was the MVP location of the game.  

‘Books and Stuff’ had awkward teen kisses, a mob hit and eventually it was torched by the mastermind villain. It had become so real it was almost a character in its own right. As a GM it was something I could put in peril, or bring people back to in the same way that a Buffy episode used the Library. 

Another tip here - you do not have to use everything, incorporate what works and what will be fun for you to explore. I didn't really want to run illegal rave stuff in my Masks game - so instead had a major super fight there instead and trashed it. 

Making NPC’s Real
You must have run a game where the minor background NPC becomes a huge center stage character whilst the big bad you put a huge amount of effort thinking about is a bit of a damp squib.

Let’s explore why that might be happening:
Recently I went a bit old school and ran the OG Star Wars RPG. In one scene it turns out the rebel operative they are dealing with is Cassian Andor. Awesome name-drop, the crowd goes wild! 

Or do they? 

Why does Cassian Andor matter to these characters? So I asked one of the players  “Do you think Cassian has forgiven you for what you did to him?”

All of a sudden the fiction turned from an excited player getting to play in some Star Wars lore to their player becoming excited that their character and the messy breakup they had with Andor.

That’s the responsibility you have with NPCs as a GM. If you are not making them relevant to your players stories then why are they there? To dump plot exposition on them? That can work but it will rarely make them care as much. Build back to those earlier questions and create characters with motivations that allow the PCs to shine. 

I have developed my own technique for building major NPCs that allows players to co-create  using the template below. You do not need to use all the questions at once - fill them in as you go along. 

Let me introduction you to The Blue Rose - an NPC in a Spelljammer inspired Quest game I am running. I started with a picture (pro tip: Pinterest boards as game mood boards are a great help), a brief description and questions which brought the NPC to life. 

Let me begin with this: Ancient Detective is simply the best. It’s an amazing show which combines wuxia with Agatha Christie in the best way. As of this writing, you can find it on YouTube. If you dig wuxia Drama series, you absolutely ought to watch it. The mysteries are solid, the conspiracy is great, and the characters are wonderful.

Ancient Detective got me thinking more about my idea of a Brindlewood Bay/Hearts of Wulin mash up. I posted about that earlier here. But since then I’ve refined my approach and run several sessions of it—as a one-shot drop-in for an ongoing campaign and as a standalone series I’ve called Hearts of Wulin: Numberless Secrets.

One of the challenges for Western players is it might not have the same resonance of tropes that Brindlewood Bay does. Murder She Write and similar cozies are a great and useful touchstone. This version relies on different, less universal sources. In novels Gu Long’s Lu Xiaofeng and Chu Liuxiang series both have a strong focus on mysteries. While translations are hard to come by many of them have been made into movies (see below). 

In TV series, besides Ancient Detective, you can watch several other mystery wuxia series with English subtitles: Magical Nights of the Glorious Tang (aka Oriental Odyssey), The Four, Maiden Holmes, Miss Truth, Maiden Holmes, Amazing Detective Di Renjie, Young Sherlock, The Longest Day in Chang’an, and Vigilantes in Masks. Movie-wise I’d recommend the Detective Dee series (young and old), Pursuit of Vengeance, Duel of the Century, Clan of Amazons, The Sentimental Swordsman, The Four series (film), Swordsman & Enchantress, and the Lord of Justice series.  

Note: this hack assumes knowledge of both Hearts of Wulin and Brindlewood Bay.  

MECHANICAL CHANGES
In this version of Hearts of Wulin we adapt elements of Brindlewood Bay. In particular clues, theorize, and the conspiracy. What defining elements get left out? the day/night moves, the Crown move, and the player-facing approach to the metastory. 

First, let me define some things: 
The Mystery (with a capital M) is the current investigation facing the players. Usually this is a murder (or string of murders). To progress on the Mystery, the players need to acquire clues. They can look to gather other information about the situation, persons, or places but this is background and doesn’t add to the final roll for Theorize. It may offer context and establish truths, but the Mystery Clues always trump this.

The Conspiracy (with a capital C) is the big plot going on in the background. I’ll offer some examples later. At the start, the players know there is a conspiracy, but not what it is. As they play, the characters will uncover Conspiracy Elements. These are like the Void Clue and Conspiracy ladder from BB. At the first stage, the players will be give passing details or signs that point to something else. Conspiracy Elements are arranged in Tiers. Until the players gain enough Conspiracy Elements, they may not move forward. They can’t investigate the Conspiracy directly until they have Elements (=# of PCs).

It is a given that the Mystery has a connection to the Conspiracy. Depending on how far the PCs are along the Conspiracy tiers, they may discover that connection or backfill what connection there was later.

NEW ROLES
The Unready (Loyal)
When you want to help someone, you may choose to skip using Bonds. Instead, roll to assist. On a hit, you boost their level of success by one (a miss becomes a 7-9, a 7-9 becomes a 10+). On a 7-9 if their final result has costs or consequences, you share in those. On a miss, your intervention drags both of you down and the final result becomes a full fail you both share in. (Note: you may not spend on bonds on this helping roll).
Note: I’m not entirely happy with this one-- it needs mention of a check in and it isn’t as interesting as I first thought. I want to reconsider this. 

The Former Assassin (Outsider)
You begin with only one Entanglement. For your second, choose someone as your anchor for your past or future. When faced with what could have been or the delights of a normal life, roll Inner Conflict. (Note: making this roll counts as interacting with a second entanglement for purposes of end of session XP).

You committed terrible sins in the past. When you describe your secret role in an NPC's tragedy, briefly play out the flashback and take +1 Forward in dealing with them. When you reveal that secret to them, roll. On a hit, choose: halt their current action, clear an element (you or them), make them answer a question, drive them off. On a 7-9, manipulation or betrayal are revealed- mark an element (choice). On a 6-, they reveal how your actions destroyed a hope they had. They turn fully against you. 

 The Amnesiac (Student)
Your past is locked behind a gate your mind can no longer open. When you take this role, describe how much you've forgotten and what it cost you. Once per session, you may describe how your memories connect to something in the present, becoming crystal clear for a moment. When you do, roll.

On a hit the memory remains clear. You may declare the connection or ask the GM to establish it. You create an appropriate bond. On a 10+ if someone’s trying to conceal the connection, they give themselves away. Take +1 Forward against them. If not, clear an element instead. On a miss the memory shatters and the gate closes once more Choose: you hold on to the wrong part of the memory and make a terrible assumption, or whoever locked away your memories will take action against you and what you hold dear. 

The Historian (Aware)
You’re part of the group dedicated to recording the stories of the Wulin world and updating the rankings of members in the world. When you meet a new, named member of Wulin society, roll. On a 10+ they desperately want a good story of them told or to have their rank adjusted. Take +1 Ongoing to Hearts and Minds against them as they work to impress you and curry your favor. On a 7-9 they reveal a secret about someone or something in the Wulin world. This may be a Conspiracy Element but not a Mystery Clue. You may declare this or ask the GM.

On a 6- the person has an abiding dislike for your society due to perceived bias, inaccurate reporting, or some kind of discourtesy. They will ignore or abuse you.

The Eccentric Expert (Bravo)
You’re bored with the little cases everyone brings to you. *Yawn* When you are brought or butt into a case which is not part of the Mystery or the Conspiracy, roll. On a hit, narrate what actually happened. (check in with any connected players). You impress and astound those around you convincing them of your expertise. Word of your skill spreads. Gain a bond with someone present. On a 7-9, name one person who resents or grumbles about your “methods.” On a 6- you’re wrong. Choose: you’re wrong and realize it, but you can’t admit it; someone of lower status points out a flaw in your work; or this is all a set up by an enemy to undercut you. 

I had one other new role which I’m not using. I want to present it as a good example of someone spotting something outside my thinking. Here’s the role:

The Dying (Unorthodox)
You suffer from a deadly malady inflicted by someone (poison or a curse). At the start of each session roll, on a hit your condition has an unexpected side effect. Choose:

• Once during the session, you may use an unchosen move from another playbook. After you’ve chosen a particular move for this, you may not pick it again in the future.
• You may avoid marking an element.
• Your condition sparks sympathy and elicits aid from someone.

On a 7-9, also take a cumulative -1 Forward to making this roll on following sessions. This clears when you roll a miss.
On a fail, your condition takes a turn for the worse. Mark your style element or Wounded. Choose a symptom which can only be cured by intervention of an expert: visible marks, weird eyes, disfigurement, freezing chills, heat sweats, or the like. This will be noticeable to others.

A reader pointed out to me how ableist this is and how it treats serious, real-life debilitations flippantly without consideration of how triggering that could be. While I first considered a rewrite, I think the premise is flawed and I want to figure out another direction. 

In addition players GMs may choose to allow Courtly and Supernatural roles and moves. If they chose the latter the GM can easily add the Influence Mechanic. If they choose the former some will need to be excluded, but a surprising number can be refined as wuxia mundane instead of supernatural magic. For example one player took the mystical communication move of Phoenix Flying in the Sky and shifted it into a network of informants and (very in genre) carrier pigeons. Another took the In Human Disguise role move from the Unorthodox playbook and made it about a gender switching identity. 
 
Basic Moves Changes
STUDY
When you study something in order to learn about the world or establish new facts, roll. 
ON A 12+ You may gain a Clue and choose two options from the list below. Alternately you may declare a new Clue or Conspiracy Thread. 
ON A 10+ you may choose two options from the list below; gain a Clue, or gain a Conspiracy Thread with a cost. 
ON A 7-9 you may choose one option from the list or gain a Clue with a cost (alienate someone, cause a misunderstanding, reveal a secret, etc.).

• Ask a question about a situation or place (escape routes, hidden details, threats, dangers, etc.). 
• Ask a question about a person (motivation, desires, intentions, means of manipulation, etc.). 
• Ask any other question.
• Learn a person’s Scale (below, on your level, above). 
• Reveal a detail—declare something

Information gained from the list pick above supports and contextualizes Clues and Conspiracy Threads. They are not applied to the Theorize move, but provide some truth. However the results of the Theorize move may trump some established truths. 

THEORIZE
When the Heroes have an open, freewheeling discussion about the solution to a mystery based on the clues they have uncovered—and reach a consensus—roll plus the number of Clues incorporated into the theory or otherwise explained away, minus the mystery’s complexity.
On a 10-11, it’s the correct solution. The Keeper will present an opportunity to take down the culprit or otherwise save the day.
On a 7–9, it’s the correct solution, but the Keeper will either add an unwelcome complication to the solution itself, or present a complicated opportunity to take down the culprit or save the day.
On a 6-, the solution is incorrect, and the Keeper reacts.
On a 12+, it’s the correct solution and you may declare a Conspiracy thread.

CONSPIRACY THREADS
These are elements which push towards the group uncovering the bigger mystery happening behind the scenes. Until the group has gained a Conspiracy Tier by uncovering (# of players) Conspiracy Threads they may not begin to go after the conspiracy directly or establish its agenda or membership. Going up in further tiers will open up new options.

SHADOWS
When you do not succeed on a Study roll as well as you would like, you may mark a Shadow. This raises the level of your roll by one tier (i.e. a miss becomes a 7-9, a 10-11 becomes a 12+). Each Shadow has a theme and the player must narrate a flashback involving that theme. You may only unmark Shadows with an advance, trading in one advance to reset two Shadows.
Shadow themes

• Mentor
• Family
• Betrayal
• Duty
• Passion
• Failure 

Our Mystery: House of the Falling Sun
These Mysteries follow the pattern of Brindlewood Bay: a set up with a basic premise, a cast of characters, a Clue list, and a Conspiracy Thread list. Here’s the example from the current series.

PCs

• Bao Shi--an Eccentric Expert and consulting detective of the well-informed Mengzi Society. 
• Iron Lotus/Golden Peony--Bao’s “assistant” and a formidable mind disguised as their late brother. 
• Blue Mountain Scholar/Lost Song Zhenai--another PC in complex disguise, this time a young woman taking the place of her legendary investigator great uncle who is currently occupied elsewhere. 
• Song Da--a young man who became a historian in The Bureau of Legends, despite the disappointment of his wulin clan. 

Cast of NPCs

• Sun Guanyu—master of the Sun School. The host and murder victim.
• Sun Zheng--daughter of Guanyu and apparent favorite. 
• Sun Yang—envious son of Guanyu. As the PCs would discover also the secret child of Mao Qing.
• Mao Qing—older warrior, past her prime
• Yellow Shadow Hunter—Guanyu’s first disciple and day to day leader of the Sun School. 
• Undaunted Zedong—drunken master with inside information
• Starry Garden—a wuxia hero with a history with Guanyu and some of the other invitees. Thought Mao Qing invited him.
• King of Pearls—an arrogant and nervous wuxia. (Conspiracy thread uncovered: desperately in debt to secret force).
• The White Monk—Not a Monk. Chief Sun has something on him. 
• Cheng Ruogang—Possesses a secret technique. Carries a legendary trick sword once borne by Songbird Rao. 
• First Orchid—A spy and thief. Calls herself a “Diplomat” scholar

Premise
The PCs are individually invited to a gathering at the estate of Sun Guanyu, chief of the Sun School. He indicates he has a matter of importance to tell them. They arrive after meeting some people on the road including a merchant secretly delivering coffins to Guanyu’s house. The group arrives and senses tension. Some of the guests have a history with Guanyu and don’t care for him. 

During a dinner it is mentioned that this is the anniversary of the death of the leader of the Green Leaf Society. Guanyu benefited from that death but he believes that those who killed the Leader are now after him-- citing recent mysterious events. The PCs learn that a child of the leader survived and would now be the age of the PCs and some of the guests. Guanyu suspects one of them could be that child. The reason for the other invitees being there isn’t made clear, though they all worked for Guanyu or knew him from the past. 

Some time after dinner, when everyone but the PCs have retired, screams are heard from the garden. When everyone rushes there, they find the decapitated body of Guanyu though the head is nowhere to be found. 

Clues Found
(I’m not providing the full clue list as I may use some for later mysteries)

1. Weighted I Ching coins found near the body
2. A tiny pot with an acrid smell. It turns out to be tattoo remover and smell matches the body.
3. A legendary sword is found rusting in a pond. It turns out to be the sword of one of the said to be deceased disciples of the Green leaf Society. 
4. A jugs of a fine vintage in the household is discovered to have been opened and resealed with only passable wine within.
5. Four coffins are sound concealed near a shrine. Inside they find the bodies of the ox car driver and Yellow Shadow Hunter, the latter strangled
6. Sun Zheng, daughter of Sun Guanyu, possesses a corrupt form.
7. Hand drawn sketches are found showing all all but Zheng, White Monk & First Orchid
8. The leader of the Green Leaf Society’s disciple - Winter Willow - was quite close to Sun Guanyu but their body was never found
9. They find a used sleeping draught in Guanyu’s room. 
10. Translucent snake skin used for a disguise is discovered. 

The Solution
Our mystery starts years ago with the death of the leader of the Green Leaf society and the death and vanishing of his disciples.
 
In truth Sun Guanyu was behind this plot, aided by one of those disciples. That traitor broke his sword to prevent identification and assumed the identity of Yellow Shadow Hunter. 

Years passed and rumors swirled that the leader of the Green Leaf Society had a child who would have come of age and be seeking revenge. Guanyu worried about this, especially as Yellow Shadow Hunter had begun to change, making Guanyu leery of his second in command. Guanyu suspected that Yellow Shadow Hunter had secretly been teaching his daughter a forbidden form. 

Guanyu concocted a plan-- and began to organize what would appear as attacks against him. He used this opportunity to remove students who might be more loyal to Yellow Shadow Hunter than him. He then invited a number of people: including old allies he planned to kill and a several persons he suspected be the Green Leaf Society heir.
Guanyu commissioned a notable scoundrel calling himself the White Monk to craft a set of masks to conceal his identity, including one of the Monk himself “in case we need to switch identities.” The White Monk had served with a villainous clan notable for its miraculous disguises. 

After the dinner party, Guanyu sought out the White Monk and killed him by beheading. He concealed the head and used a substance to remove a tattoo on the Monk’s body. In this and the moving of the body, the Monk’s crooked set of I Ching coins and the empty bottle of the tattoo remover were dropped. 

At some point, Guanyu’s son confronted him. Not wanting to harm his child, Guanyu immobilized him with his arts and hid him away. He planned on finding some way of convincing Sun Yang after this whole business was finished. 

Guanyu assumed the identity of the Monk and then after the revelation of the first murder sought out Yellow Shadow Hunter. Perhaps Guanyu had let him in on the plan enough to make him believe this scheme was something else. He drugged Yellow Shadow Hunter with the sleeping draught. Guanyu replaced the wine taken out of fear that the investigators might find something off with his accounting, since he’d proudly boasted about the number of wine jars he possessed. He concealed Yellow Shadow Hunter’s body next to the body of the Ox Cart driver who had delivered the coffins. These were hidden nearby a secluded shrine at the back of the estate.

When the Magistrates arrived, Guanyu switched to Yellow Shadow Hunter’s identity. The Magistrates include several NPCs from the PCs’ entanglements, including Guard Captain Lin, the object of affection for Bao Shi With the magistrates' arrival, Guanyu realized his small errors had led the skilled detectives towards the truth. The player roll a 7-9 for their Theorize and so in another guise Guanyu has met with Guard Captain Lin and led him off. 

The group fears that Guanyu plans to kill Lin and use his identity to escape!