Up or Down?

Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

It’s the sound of an escalator. This game is played entirely over the course of a single escalator ride. PCs take actions on the ride to resolve a problem or to thwart each other’s ambitions.

Imagine:

• an escalator of frost-textured steps rising on a waterfall
• a cyberpunk escalator that is the expression of a laddered program
• a massive copper-tread escalator run on bands and gears and powered by coal 
• the spiraling geometry of an escalator on a centrifugal spinning station
• an escalator arching high above a bottomless pool, with one gleaming purple tentacle feeling delicately along the outside of the rail

What can happen on an escalator? Anything!  From an able escape to a zesty swap of secrets, from a parkour theft to a poignant good-bye, your group defines the story and the conflict, and then plays out the resolution as the moving staircase relentlessly pulls you Up or Down.

This one-page, GM-less, stand-alone RPG is built on Caltrop Core.  Download the game, grab some 4-sided dice or a random number generator, and jump on the escalator!

This game was born at Big Bad Con 2024.  Our thanks to the marvelous Big Bad Con community!