As a Storyteller, you will use the resources in different ways to create and run your scenarios. These resources are here for you and the players to build upon and change. There is not a “canon” Kahal: every group playing will create its own, starting with you as Storyteller. You may add a Spirit to the Book of Spirits, add new medical records, or heavily change existing ones. If a player adds a detail that contradicts the materials, feel free to roll with the player’s version. The depth of world building in the materials is to give storytellers and players something to pick and use to enhance play. You do not need to memorize every detail. Nor should existing details limit you.

Find the details that inspire you and change what you do not like. The world that you and the players create is the real Kahal; not what is written by us. 

Patient Medical Records #

In many ways, the patient medical records were built for storytellers. They give you a base for creating engaging NPCs with starter professions, relationships, and personalities. As relationships are key to the game, you can build off of any pre-existing interpersonal drama, stated or implied. Similarly, medical records shared with players may prompt how they respond to patients emotionally or psychologically before you even start acting as the patients.

When creating a scenario, you can look for NPCs and families that might fit the type of story you want to tell. The medical records have tried to provide a range that will accommodate a variety of scenario possibilities. Sometimes your story may need someone with a particular temperament, and other times you may want to scout for a specific profession or age. The benefit to using at least some predefined NPCs is that they are configured with some primary characterization. These especially flesh out secondary characters you might not spend time preparing and allow different Rafa Circles to compare stories and personalities known to other play groups.

You can add to or modify the records based on the needs of your Scenarios. It is quite common to learn/invent more about NPCs as you build out Scenarios. You are also encouraged to add new NPCs that don’t currently exist. When doing so, think about what you want to add in the medical record vs. role play directly.

Make sure you know your NPCs’ general personality and relationships, so that they can react realistically with guiding motivation. Choose both essential characters (whom you know you’ll use) and optional characters, as that will give you flexibility depending on player actions.

Having optional characters is great because you don’t have to always prebake details about how each individual enters or influences the story, but you don’t have to entirely improv it either. For example, you might know the pregnant patient has a close relationship with her sister, the latter of whom can be used if the patient’s existing children are too distracting or you need another NPC to provide under-explored details about the patient’s history.

Brainstorm each main and tertiary non-player character’s motivations and views regarding the Scenario.

• What is their relationship to the key NPC’s and how much sympathy or drive do they have towards being involved in resolution?
• Would they have strong views about certain solutions?
• Do they have power dynamics?
• Respond in certain ways to setbacks or achievements?

There is no end to the types of questions we could pose, but it all comes back to the story you intend to tell and what interesting-but-consistent ways these non-player characters can respond.

Finally, see these medical records as living documents. Encourage your players to update records with new information, both medical and other important facets like personality. If a pregnant lady gives birth successfully or unsuccessfully, it can forever change their bodies and minds. Say that players achieve hard won knowledge that a patient gets hysterical whenever you mention their mother–write it down so that it can consistently inform family dynamics and allow Rafas to improve bedside manners for that patient.

Book of Spirits #

Half storybook/bestiary and half meta-commentary, the Book of Spirits exists as a collection of knowledge about the non-humans sharing Kahal and surrounding regions. This is, of course, a great resource for spicing up stories with supernatural elements and fascinating parallel societies, like the Frog Scholars or the House Gnomes.

The official menagerie of spirits derive mainly from Jewish mythology and folklore. Some, like the dybbuks, share their name and traits with popular folklore while others afford much greater license. For example, our estries share the Jewish name but subvert the vampire/succubi interpretation for puns on the meaning of the name (roughly “night owl”), making our estries shapeshifting bird-people. Within worldbuilding, the fact that estries live among the Avodai is rich fodder for stoking other humans’ distrust of the Avodai cavorting with spirits; these racial tensions can parallel real world history including blood libel, a false and maliciously perpetuated accusation about blood magic and murder against Jews.

Storytellers can, of course, add additional Spirits, whether from Jewish folklore, other cultures, or of your own invention. You may add additional entries to the Book of Spirits or create reasons your new spirits were never included in the current edition. Maybe they are too rare, too new (immigrated recently), or purposefully excluded from the spiritual census. At the end of such a Scenario, ask your players to create their entry, adding to the Rafa scholarship.