TEXT:  
   
  Solacebound
  Young Monsters lost in a Human City
  CW Structural Oppression and Violence
  
   
   
  Solacebound
            Young Monsters lost in a human City          
  A GM-less storytelling Game 
  for 3 to 5 players. Play with
  2 sets of standard playing 
  cards, index cards and at least 
  two six sided dice
  1 – Create your Monster
  This game is made up of phases and 
  actions. 
  In Creating your Monster, you answer 
  questions to sketch out who you’re 
  playing.
  In Arriving, you set up the table, 
  describe a scene of arrival, and draw 
  your first hand of spoon cards to be 
  used during your first day in the city.
  In Surviving the Day you spend spoon 
  cards to perform actions and draw 
  challenge cards for prompts in an 
  effort to keep each other healthy, 
  while searching for each other and 
  clues for a way home.
  After spending all spoon cards or 
  ending the day, you enter Spending the 
  Night. You may take a pause and 
  reflect, before determining how many 
  spoon cards you draw and entering the 
  new day.
  Ending the Game begins, when the 
  week is over or enough clues are 
  found. The game ends through 
  describing last scenes and reflecting on 
  the story told.
  Dying leafs on the cities streets. The 
  boundary between its realm and that 
  of monsters thinned. Young monsters 
  lost beyond the boundary, their 
  curiosity having carried them too far. 
  One week for them to find each other 
  and a way home.
  Safety & Consent
  You are going to play young monsters 
  who try to survive in a society that 
  others them. Please use tools to 
  ensure awareness about each others 
  boundaries and safety during play 
  (https://www.bigbadcon.com/safety-
  mechanisms/ for examples)
  Discuss which kind of music you 
  would want to play during the game. 
  Even if you don’t plan on playing any, 
  the discussion should let you settle on 
  a mood for your game
  0 - Game Overview
  
   
   
  1 -Creating your Monster
  1 – Create your Monster
  In another world you were friends, 
  rivals, partners and allies. In this one 
  you are all you have left. 
  You may want to write on an index 
  card or on the free space to your right:
  ●
  A name or the refusal to have one
  ●
  Pronouns, as many as you want or 
  none
  ●
  An emotion that you can deal with 
  and one that exhausts you. Choose 
  from the box below. You may want 
  to mark accordingly.
  ●
  A monstrous way your emotions 
  manifest
  ●
  A monstrous feature you are proud 
  of. Describe how it makes giving 
  help easier
  ●
  A monstrous feature that makes 
  you anxious. Describe how it 
  makes receiving help harder.
  ●
  A small memory, important to 
  your connection to another 
  character
  Anger
  Excitement
  Fear
  Sadness
  
   
   
  The city is vast and crowded. Nothing 
  is like you’re used to and the city is not 
  used to you. It does not welcome you. 
  You are lonely and you are lost. Right 
  now, you don’t even have each other.
  2 – Arriving
  Place a die between you, 1 
  facing upwards. This is the 
  weeks die. It counts the days 
  since arrival.
  You have been thrust beyond the 
  boundary, 
  separated 
  and 
  spread 
  throughout the city. Begin the games 
  narration by describing the first 
  impressions the city made on you. The 
  youngest monster may begin. 
  You may want to describe:
  ●
  Your senses overwhelmed
  ●
  Humans reacting to you
  ●
  A sudden feeling of lack
  Place the first deck between 
  you. It is the challenge deck. 
  Place the second deck on the 
  table. It is the spoon deck.
  Each player draws 5 cards from the 
  spoon deck. You will need them as 
  resource to perform an action. Each 
  starts the first day separated from the 
  rest. 
  1 – Create your Monster
  At the beginning of each day you must 
  leave your hideout and will not be able 
  to return. Describe how you disguise 
  your monstrous features to try and 
  pass as human. 
  During each day, you may choose to 
  perform any of the following actions as 
  often as you want or can.
  You may at any time:
  ●
  Search for a way back
  ●
  Search for the others
  ●
  Search for a hideout
  Inside your hideout, you may:
  ●
  Make the hideout comfortable
  ●
  Initiate a conversation
  ●
  Initiate an activity
  3 – Surviving the Day
  During the day you are either 
  separated or connected to 
  each other monster. Any 
  connected 
  monsters 
  may 
  perform any of the first three 
  actions together. 
  To perform an action follow the 
  appropriate 
  instruction 
  on 
  the 
  following sites and narrate a short 
  scene according to them. If multiple 
  monsters participate in a scene, decide 
  together which monster is the focus 
  point and narrator.  
  
   
   
  When you narrate a scene, you may 
  want to:
  ●
  Discuss Ideas with the others
  ●
  Invite questions
  ●
  Start by describing the physical 
  space
  ●
  Color everything in feelings
  ●
  Return to places and people you’ve 
  already been to
  ●
  Fill the world with touch, smell, 
  voice
  ●
  Build up problems without clear 
  answers
  ●
  Let others tell part of the scene
  ●
  Embrace contradictions
  3 – Surviving the day
  1 – Create your Monster
  The Hideout is a place to sleep. Is also 
  a chance to talk to each other in safety, 
  create a piece of home and to be 
  yourself. You can share it with each 
  monster you are connected to.
  To 
  make 
  the 
  Hideout 
  more 
  comfortable 
  discard 
  one 
  card.
  You may want to:
  ●
  Cook something
  ●
  Decorate a small part
  ●
  Talk with your hosts
  ●
  Clean the space
  To initiate a conversation discard one 
  card. You may want to:
  ●
  Discard an additional card to open 
  up
  ●
  Discard an additional card to help 
  the other open up
  ●
  Talk about what happened
  ●
  Talk about home
  ●
  Talk about the hideout
  ●
  Talk about each otherness
  To initiate an Activity discard one card 
  do it alone and two if you invite 
  others. You may want to:
  ●
  Cuddle
  ●
  Dance or Sing
  ●
  Cook & Eat
  ●
  Engage in Spirituality
  ●
  Play a game 
  Inside the hideout
  
   
   
  Draw a card from the challenge deck. 
  In order to overcome the challenge, all 
  participants needs to discard three 
  cards in total. All cards need to have 
  the same color as the challenge card.
  To find a clue for the path home a 
  discarded card must have the same 
  number as the challenge card. The 
  player who does may narrate finding a 
  clue. They keep the card as a reminder.
  Search for a way back
  Oracle
  2
  A deal with a power that hates 
  you, at a disgusting price
  3
  Your presence is seen as a 
  disruption to a place of beauty
  4
  The entrance to power is denied 
  to you
  5
  A reporter attempts to use you in 
  bad faith
  6
  Advertisement imitating you for 
  profit
  7
  Police gathering around a public 
  square, preparing to strike
  8
  A tune you recognize, shunned by 
  most of society
  9
  Refusal to cooperate attracts the 
  anger of authorities
  10 Someone’s monstrosity is revealed 
  and a fight becomes  necessary
  J
  A human not made from flesh        
         stands alone
  Q A grove, once hidden
  K
  A building speaking in a language 
  humans do not understand
  A
  A glimpse of something older than 
  the city 
  Hearts and Diamonds count 
  as the same color, as do 
  Spades and Clovers.
  To narrate, consult the Oracle for a 
  prompt and the emotion that colors it.
  If you overcome the challenge, you 
  may want to describe:
  ●
  How you bash back
  ●
  How you embrace your difference
  ●
  How you deny respect
  ●
  Revealing your monstrosity
  If you can’t overcome the challenge, 
  the participants are separated from 
  non - participants and half of the 
  participants are separated from the 
  other half. Decide groupings together.
  You may want to describe:
  ●
  How you conform to society
  ●
  How you get overwhelmed 
  ●
  How you get swallowed by the city
  ●
  Your monstrosity getting noticed.
  Anger
  Excitement
  Fear
  Sadness
  
   
   
  Search for the others
  Oracle
  2
  Isolated by the walls of narrowing 
  streets
  3
  A monument to horror
  4
  Cruelty disguised in suits and 
  smiles
  5
  Among the masses, both uncaring 
  and intrusive
  6
  Brilliant buildings made from pain
  7
  An honest mistake spirals into 
  conflict
  8
  A stranger attempts to be 
  disastrously helpful
  9
  Monstrous beauty left to rot
  10 Your choice of fashion draws 
  attention
  J
  A protest sweeps you along
  Q Exaggerated stories told at a train 
  station
  K
  The oldest part of the city
  A
  Hidden wonder, seen in passing 
  from a train station
  To narrate, consult the Oracle for a 
  prompt and the emotion that colors it.
  If you overcome the challenge, you 
  will find the smallest group of 
  connected 
  characters 
  and 
  be 
  connected to all of them. If there are 
  several of the same size choose 
  yourself. To narrate your success you 
  may want to describe:
  ●
  How you stay safe
  ●
  How you get away with something 
  important
  ●
  How you leave your mark
  If you can’t overcome the challenge, 
  the participants are separated from 
  non- participants and half of the 
  participants are  separated from the 
  other half. Decide groupings together.
  You may want to describe:
  ●
  How you conform to society
  ●
  How you get overwhelmed 
  ●
  How you get swallowed by the city
  Draw a card from the challenge deck. 
  In order to overcome the challenge, all 
  participants needs to discard three 
  cards in total. All cards need to have 
  the same color as the challenge card.
  Hearts and Diamonds count 
  as the same color, as do 
  Spades and Clovers.
  Anger
  Excitement
  Fear
  Sadness
  
   
   
  Search for a hideout
  Oracle
  2
  A media center for youth who fear 
  society
  3
  A community gardening project, 
  kept alive against cooperate 
  interest
  4
  Spirituality different then yours, 
  but accepting nonetheless
  5
  A book store, long out of business, 
  but still lived in
  6
  The basement in a school of a 
  heavily segregated district
  7
  Squatters in houses abandoned by 
  everyone but them
  8
  A cafe open to everyone willing to 
  fight along
  9
  Kindness ripened with age and the 
  wider space polished by it
  10 A graveyard uniting through grief
  J
  A shelter for those who are denied 
  citizenship
  Q The abandoned, living in cars and 
  tents 
  K
  Artists practicing an art younger 
  then themselves
  A
  Fellow monsters hiding in plain 
  sight
  By performing Search for a hideout, 
  you will find a hideout for each 
  monster you are connected to. As long 
  as they are connected to you they will 
  return to this hideout at the end of the 
  day.
  To narrate, consult the Oracle for a 
  prompt and the emotion that colors it.
  You may want to describe:
  ●
  How you open up to help
  ●
  How they overcome suspicion
  ●
  What they give you or what you 
  give them
  Answer the following questions for 
  your hideout:
  ●
  How do your hosts make you feel 
  welcome?
  ●
  What of this place reminds you of 
  home?
  ●
  Why can you only stay one night?
  ●
  How does this place make you feel 
  the weight of the city?
  ●
  Why can you not fully relax here? 
  If the day ends and you have no 
  hideout, your hideout is:
  a dark gap between towering buildings
  In that case, answer only the last three 
  questions.
  Anger
  Excitement
  Fear
  Sadness
  Discard two cards of your choice. 
  Then, draw a card from the challenge 
  deck.
  
   
   
  Whenever you draw a challenge card 
  of an emotion you can deal with, draw 
  two cards after the challenge.
  Whenever you draw a challenge card 
  of an emotion that exhausts you, 
  discard a card with the same symbol. If 
  you can’t you get separated from 
  anyone else. Narrate as if you couldn’t 
  overcome the challenge.
  Minding Emotions
  1 – Create your Monster
  When no player can or wants to 
  perform another action, the day ends.
  Before proceeding you may want to 
  take this moment to:
  ●
  Take a pause
  ●
  Talk about your feelings about the 
  characters and the city
  ●
  Talk about how you want the story 
  to develop
  ●
  Mention something that hurt you
  ●
  Mention something delightful
  Over night the young monsters may 
  recover spoon cards. Discard all cards 
  in your hand and then:
  ●
  Add a first die in your dice pool for 
  luck
  ●
  Add a die if you had at least one 
  spoon card left
  ●
  Add a die if you feel your monster 
  can deal with what happened today
  ●
  Subtract a die if your monster feels 
  unsafe
  ●
  Subtract a die if your monster 
  doesn’t 
  feel 
  comfortable 
  as 
  themselves
  Shuffle all spoon cards back in, roll 
  your dice and redraw spoon cards 
  equal to the highest number among 
  the dice rolled. Roll less then 1 die by 
  rolling 2 and taking the lower result.
  Before you start the new day, tick up 
  the weeks die.
  4 – Spending the Night
  Minding Safety
  Whenever you as a player do not feel 
  comfortable narrating a scene with a 
  drawn prompt, or hearing another 
  player narrate a scene with a drawn 
  prompt, say so. Draw another card 
  from 
  the 
  challenge 
  deck 
  and 
  determine a new prompt from the 
  oracle. Outside the oracle, the original 
  card is still treated as the drawn card.
  Minding Yourself
  If you want to leave the game and/or 
  want your character to be safe you 
  may want to describe how they are 
  found by older monsters and brought 
  home. Describe to the others what 
  you leave behind so that they may 
  know that you are safe.
  
   
   
  Thank you for playing
  Pictures by Ömer Faruk Tokluo lu, 
  ğ
  Evgeniy Grozev, Ramil Ugot and Suzukii Xingfu
  When you find one less clue then the 
  number of players, you have found a 
  way home. 
  Any group of monsters (even one) can 
  return home as long as all clues are 
  among the participants. 
  When you return home, pay no 
  spoons. Any participant can decide to 
  stay for another year. With this, the 
  Game ends. Any non-participants  
  need to stay in the city.
  When the weeks die ticks to Seven, 
  the way home disappears. The Game 
  ends, and the Monsters need to stay 
  for another year before the boundary 
  thins again.
  As the Game ends, narrate a Scene 
  together. You may want to describe:
  ●
  A glance back
  ●
  Your hideouts and the people 
  you’ve met
  ●
  The feeling of home, however 
  close or far
  ●
  Something left behind or taken 
  with you
  ●
  A conversation and nothing else
  After the Game, you may want to take 
  a moment to talk freely and reflect 
  about the story you’ve told.
  5 – Ending the Game
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Solacebound/Solacebound.pdf