In this game you create a character and write poems as that character. Perform Part 1 once to create a character. Repeat Part 2 each time you write a poem as that character. Roll a 6-sided die to select a result from the numbered lists.

Part 1: Who are you?

You are a scholar and a

  1. Bureaucrat
  2. Merchant
  3. Warrior
  4. Artisan
  5. Doctor
  6. Hunter

Your world is one of

  1. Instability
  2. Technology
  3. Scarcity
  4. Abundance
  5. Hierarchy
  6. Nomads

&

  1. Spirits
  2. Philosophy
  3. Heroes
  4. Decay
  5. Intrigue
  6. Love

Your poetry will be remembered for countless generations.

Part 2: What is the context in which this poem found you?

To write a poem, roll on the following tables to determine the context in which the poem found you. Then write the poem.

Repeat Part 2 every day for a week, rolling anew context and writing a new poem each day. Any amount of time may pass within the fiction between the poems.

If you’re not sure where to start, try writing four lines. They don’t have to rhyme. You don’t have to reference the context in your poem; it is enough to be aware of it.

You have been

  1. Writing poetry
  2. Traveling to visit a friend
  3. High
  4. Sick
  5. Working
  6. Outside

It is

  1. Raining
  2. Buggy
  3. Snowing
  4. Hot
  5. Perfect
  6. A full moon

The sense you have been meditating on is

  1. Smell
  2. Taste
  3. Tough
  4. Hearing
  5. Sight
  6. Self-awareness

The poem found you via

  1. A person
  2. A place
  3. A thing
  4. An idea
  5. An emotion
  6. Inexplicably

A note to playtesters

Thank you for playtesting this game! I’d love to hear about your experience. If there were any parts that resonated with you or that you struggled with, please call them out. If you’d like to share the poems, I’d be thrilled to read them. Your feedback is much appreciated. Playtest reports can be sent to brendan@kb-ba.com.