From publisher blurb:
A new family has moved into Pleasant Acres, buying a house that has remained empty since the ghastly murders there just four years ago. Everything was fine, until the oldest child found an antique brass jar in the basement. Decay and age have worn away the inside, but it appears it once held human ashes.
But whose?
Before long, things around the house go missing and strange sounds reverberate in the attic and basement when everyone is asleep. Then one day, a strange child appears at the back door, covered in filth and ichor. Her face is ruddy and streaked with tears. She is malnourished and mute. But before anyone can open the door to help her, she runs off and disappears into the treeline.
Protocol is a series of story roleplaying games that thrusts characters together into dramatic situations. Each game uses the same set of rules, with vastly different parameters, start points, characters, and finales. Players take on the roles of directors outside the action and characters inside the action, using the ebb and flow of four different scene-framing styles (vignettes, interrogations, interludes, and ensembles) to tell meaningful stories about characters in crisis.
Each game in the Protocol series is zero-prep for 3 or more players. The game length is exponentially long, so games with more players take more time to complete. The Protocol Series requires a deck of poker cards as well as tokens to track drama points.
The Protocol One-Sheet Series do not include rules, only charts. Each game requires players to own at least one game in the Protocol series, or Protocol Prime.