Four Against Bullshit: Core Rules
Solo epistemic survival protocol. Part dungeon crawl, part psychic armor, part zine ritual.
Setup
- You are one human, wearing four archetypal masks to navigate the Scrollstorm—the chaotic churn of information overload.
- Track Clarity (grounding), Cognitive Load (chaos processed), and Fatigue (mental depletion) with tokens or tallies.
Your Party
- Nosideist – The Withholder
- Power: Nod and Walk — Exit the cycle, starving the churn.
- Weakness: Emotional detachment; may miss moments needing response.
- Companionist – The Connector
- Power: Reflective Loop — Translate conflict into shared understanding.
- Weakness: Burnout or co-optation; may lose boundaries.
- Archivist – The Rememberer
- Power: Context Bomb — Deploy lore to clarify distortion.
- Weakness: Paralysis by overcollection; may miss the present.
- Provocateur – The Trickster
- Power: Mirror Trick — Break binary frames with satire or inversion.
- Weakness: Seen as unserious or abrasive.
- Record each mask with a symbol, tool, and tendency (e.g., Nosideist: 🕳️, closed book, “avoids spirals”).
Stats
- Clarity: Spend 1 to reroll a resolution die. At 0, rolls take -1 until you Walk the Dog or journal. At 7+, gain a Eureka Token (skip an encounter, archive an insight).
- Cognitive Load + Fatigue: If sum > 6, roll a Depletion Die (d6) per encounter:
- 1–2: Lose one mask until you rest.
- 3–6: No effect.
Encounter Flow
- Generate Encounter: Roll d6 on the Scrollstorm Encounter Table, draw from a media feed, or invent one.
- Choose a Mask: Declare which mask responds.
- Resolve Outcome: Roll d6 or narrate:
- 1–2: Bullshit sticks (+1 Load).
- 3–4: Bullshit stalls (+1 Clarity).
- 5–6: Bullshit backfires (+2 Clarity, -1 Fatigue).
- Adjust Stats: Update Clarity, Load, Fatigue. Journal if desired.
- Mask Merge (Optional): Once per session, combine two masks. Roll 2d6, take highest. +1 Fatigue. Describe the fusion (e.g., “Archival Satire”).
- Walk the Dog (Optional): Once per session, reset Load/Fatigue, +2 Clarity. Skip next encounter. Describe something real you noticed.
Encounter Table
| d6 | Encounter | Manifestation | Prompt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bad Faith Bait | Outrage over a twisted claim | What’s the sleight of hand? Who benefits? |
| 2 | Echo Chamber | Half-truth reinforced, no dissent | Where’s the missing voice? |
| 3 | Data Deluge | Stats overwhelm without context | What’s buried under the numbers? |
| 4 | Virtue Signal | Morality as performance | Is there substance behind the words? |
| 5 | Tinfoil Spiral | Conspiracy gains traction | What emotional need fuels it? |
| 6 | Fatigue Trap | Endless scroll, no substance | What’s this costing your attention? |
When to Stop
You’ve regained footing, the Scrollstorm quiets, all masks fall, or you archive something worth keeping.
Reflection Journal
Per session, write:
- One insight that resisted the Scrollstorm.
- A phrase overheard that deserves a better story.
- What the dog noticed today.
- Which mask led? Which faltered?
Advanced Rules
- Custom Mask: After 3 sessions, forge a 5th mask (Name, Symbol, Power, Weakness, First Manifestation).
- Multiplayer Variant: Players manage own masks, rotate as “Scrollmaster” to present encounters. End with a Party Debrief, sharing one journal insight.
They shouted, “You owe us your outrage!”
I nodded.
Then I went outside where
The dog had found something worth sniffing.
Example Play Session
Setup: I’m journaling in a notebook, doodling mask symbols (Nosideist: 🕳️, Companionist: 🤝, Archivist: 📚, Provocateur: 🪞). Starting stats: Clarity 3, Load 2, Fatigue 1.
Encounter 1: Roll d6 → 4 (Virtue Signal). A post on X screams, “If you don’t share this, you’re part of the problem!” It’s about a cause I care about, but the tone feels performative.
- Mask: I choose Provocateur. Their Mirror Trick posts a reply: “Shared! But only if you donate first—link me your receipt.”
- Resolution: Roll d6 → 5 (Bullshit backfires). The poster doesn’t respond, and a few users call out the hypocrisy. +2 Clarity, -1 Fatigue.
- Stats: Clarity 5, Load 2, Fatigue 0.
Encounter 2: Roll d6 → 6 (Fatigue Trap). I’m stuck scrolling a thread of memes with no point. My eyes glaze over. Load + Fatigue = 2 > 6? No, I’m safe.
- Mask: Nosideist. Nod and Walk—close the app.
- Resolution: Narrate: I feel lighter but miss a chance to engage. +1 Clarity, +1 Load.
- Stats: Clarity 6, Load 3, Fatigue 0.
Walk the Dog: I step outside. The air smells like rain, and a crow caws at me. +2 Clarity (8, triggering a Eureka Token), Load/Fatigue reset to 0. I journal: “The crow didn’t care about my timeline. Neither should I.”
Journal:
- Insight: “Performative posts need my silence, not my fight.”
- Phrase: “Share or you’re trash!” (Ugh, rewrite it with heart.)
- Dog: The crow’s stare.
- Provocateur shone; Companionist stayed quiet.
Stop: I’m grounded, Clarity high. I archive the crow moment and call it a session.
Afterword
The news still happens.
Events unfurl.
The spin continues.
The headlines scream your absence.
But you are in the sun.
Waiting for the dog to finish sniffing.
That moment is not escape.
It is a return.
You are no less aware.
You are just unscrolled.
The Scrollstorm will churn again.
But you’ve remembered:
The dog is real.
So are you.