Writing For Solo Journaling & Epistolary RPGs
A downloadable game
THIS IS A QUICK GUIDE to help you make the most of your time with solo journaling/epistolary RPGs, including those from AdventureByMail.
These aren't intended to be hard and fast rules, but simply to give you the tools and techniques story tellers of every level use to create and populate their worlds. They are also somewhat simplified to better apply to story-driven RPGs. Once you have a handle on these systems, you can better understand how to use them and when to break them
As humans, we are natural story tellers. Before we built houses and harvested grain, we were telling stories. It's in our bones.
It's in your bones.
Credits:
The Story Grid Shawn Coyne
The Anatomy of Story John Truby
Lessons from the Screenplay Michael Tucker
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What Others Have Said About AdventureByMail:
"Very, very cool."
-Johnny Chiodini, Dicebreaker Podcast, Episode 26
"So damn unique and so super cool...The subject matter is incredibly compelling and the game play is super interesting."
-Ivan Potocnik, Passive (Aggressive) Perception, Episode 18
"I'm starting a game with our editor as soon as we both get decks of playing cards."
-Sally Tamarkin, Oh I LIke That, Episode 3
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Comments
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Hi there, love this guide, it will be very helpful to play the two games I bought.
Silly question; I am a little bit confused about the elements of scenes, and how they relate to prompts
What I think the storytelling guide says is:
- the game (I.e. strange places) provides prompts
- you write a letter that turns each prompt into a scene
- a scene can be either action or revelation
- either way, a complete scene includes all five elements
Does that sound about right?
Thanks for the kind words!
Yea essentially that's it. And the prompt can be used for any of the five elements. The rest is up to you and your imagination and the momentum of your story.
Although it's important to keep in mind that these are not set-in-stone rules. They can be bent and even broken, but it's always vital to know the rules before you break them.
This article dives deeper into scene construction: https://storygrid.com/five-commandments-of-storytelling/
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Would you at all be interested in fan translations of the individual games? They could be provided along the official document, then, in order not to bypass any sales...
Hey, thanks for reaching out! I'd definitely be interested. Where can I DM you?
BlueSky is easiest: @mirimayhem.eu and only publicly available. If you’re not on BlueSky, I can temporarily open my Signal or Discord