Members of the Party are your classic adventurer types, but with a flair for self promotion. You might have worked together to kill the Monster, but sitting across the table from the Chronicler, your first priority is making sure they understand the importance of your contributions. If you’re playing a member of the Party, decide on your name, and then pick a background, a class, and a treasure from the tables on the back of this sheet. Remember your choices, and introduce yourself to the other players when you’re done.
The Chronicler is a scholar and a scribe, a clever and bookish sort who tries to make sure the deeds of the Realm’s heroes are accurately entered into the annals of history. If you’re playing the Chronicler, your job is to guide the flow of the game and get answers to the following questions from the Party:
Before starting the game, the Party and Chronicler will decide together the exact details of the slain Monster. Using the tables on the back, each member of the Party picks an attribute for the Monster and shares it with the rest of the group (or come up with a new one, as long as its dangerous and everyone agrees).
If you have a whiteboard, record the Monster’s attributes and maybe add a little drawing. If you want to, you can come up with a name for the Monster.
The Chronicler also picks two attributes for the Monster and keeps them secret! (They know a lot about the Realm’s monsters).
Once the attributes have been decided, they should be marked with paperclip or pencil in the boxes next to the attribute list.
Once the Monster has been defined and named, it’s time to start telling the story of how it was defeated! The game proceeds in 5 Phases, one Phase for each of the Chronicler’s questions. Each Phase begins when the Chronicler asks the associated question, and it’s up to them to decide when to move on to the next Phase.
After the Chronicler starts the Phase by asking the question, members of the Party have the opportunity to respond. During this section, talk in character and describe what you did in this part of the monster hunt. This section is built on the following key phrases:
This phrase is the main building block of each Phase. Any time a member of the Party describes one of their past actions, from following tracks to plunging a knife into the Monster’s heart, they’re using this phrase. If nobody contests your statement (see below), then it becomes part of the story and future statements can’t contradict it. For instance, if one player establishes that they used their keen sense of smell to follow the Monster’s scent through the forest and isn’t contested, another player can’t later say that their waterbreathing spell allowed them to reach the Monster’s underwater lair.
Use this phrase right after another player has finished making an And then I… statement and isn’t contested. To use it, you must build off of what they said but describe how it was only possible because of something that you did. To use this phrase, you must reference one of your abilities or one of the Monster’s attributes and explain how you either set up your ally or protected them from the Monster.
Sometimes you’ll feel like another member of the Party is claiming too much glory with one of their statements. In this case, you can contest it and offer an alternate account of what happened. Your account should be less heroic, but you can only diminish their statement in scope, not contradict it entirely. The Chronicler has final say on whether a proposed alternate account is reasonable.
In addition, the Chronicler has to decide which player has advantage in the contest. They should give the advantage to the player whose account makes better or more plausible use of the adventurer’s background, class, or treasure, or the Monster’s attributes. After deciding, the two involved players play a single round of rock-paper-scissors. The winner has their account enter the story. In the case of a tie, the player with the advantage wins.
This phrase can only be used by the Chronicler, and only after another statement has entered the story. To use it, the Chronicler references one of the Monster’s attributes (including the secret attributes they decided at the start of the game!) and asks for more explanation of the previous statement, given the difficulties presented by the selected attribute. For instance, the Chronicler might ask a player how they managed to stab the Monster’s heart, given its attribute of “scales like iron.” The player in question must reference their background, class, or treasure in answering the Chronicler. If they can’t, their last statement is removed from the story.
At the end of each Phase, the Chronicler should make a quick recap of the events described during the Phase (during which players should not make more statements) and give a Heroism token (i.e. one of the coins / rocks / etc.) to the member of the Party who most demonstrated their bravery, selflessness, and competence. When the Chronicler is deciding who receives the Heroism token, they shouldn’t worry about whether the story is believable (that’s what the Belief token is for): just give it to whoever appeared most glorious.
The Chronicler can also choose to give the Party as a whole a Belief token by dropping it on the ground in front of the group. The Chronicler should only do so if they consider the story of this Phase to be believable. While the Party are fantasy adventurers capable of slaying a monster, they are not demigods. Whether or not the Chronicler believes the story is ultimately up to the player, but consider: Were the actions taken by the Party justified by their backgrounds, classes, or treasures? Were members of the party consistently arguing amongst themselves as to what happened during their adventure? Were members of the party able to answer your questions?
Once all five Phases have finished, the story is complete and the game ends. First, count up the number of Belief tokens earned by the party. The Chronicler then plays 5 rounds of rock-paper-scissors with the Party (who decide on their throw together for each round), repeating each throw until one side wins. If the number of rounds won by the Chronicler is less than the number of Belief tokens, then the Party’s story is believed!
Finally, determine which player has the most Heroism tokens. If the story is believed, that Adventurer is bathed in glory for the rest of their life! (If one or more members tie, then they share the glory).