The Pilgrimage - A Game about Seeking • 2016 rpg

Ian Howard • no link

This is a game of people on a journey.  They are all going to a special place seeking something.

The game needs three players minimum.  One player, called the Scribe, will not create a character.

The group will ask three questions and the Scribe will record.  Each player, including the Scribe, gets one veto on each question.
 
When and where does your journey take place?
Where are you going to?
Why do people go there?

Each player, other than the Scribe, will choose a Pilgrim to play.

Soldier, Bureaucrat, Priest, Hermit, Merchant, Student, Police, 
Affluent, Builder, Physician, Spouse, Farmer, Lawyer, Politician

Each Pilgrim has three Motivations:

Belief, Action, Destiny

Distribute 15 points in your Motivations. Nine is the maximum.

The Scribe will narrate the Pilgrims meeting.  

Each player will tell a story about their Pilgrim.  The other players, including the Scribe, will play other characters in the story.  At moments of uncertainty the storyteller will roll, on a d10, against the appropriate Motivation. Rolling less than the Motivation is a success.   Any player can call for a roll.

After all the stories have been shared the Scribe will tell a story concluding the Pilgrims journeys and stories.

Author Comments (if any)

Well this was an interesting experience. I stumbled on the contest about a week before it was due. I thought it sounded interesting since I have played around with game design but not completed anything to my satisfaction. I decided I would tackle this challenge. Then the work week struck and by Friday evening, the night before it was due, I had done nothing. The only thing that had happened for me was that in the back of my mind I had been thinking about an inspiration for the game and the general feel. I wanted it to be a broad story driven game but I did not have a theme of any kind. Than I stumbled, while doing a Wikipedia read, on Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I had read the book years ago and enjoyed it but just did a quick glance at the wiki page and moved on. Than Friday night, as I chaperoned a High School dance, my mind worked on what I would do. It finally clicked for me as the music increased intensity and I watched the High School drama unfold before me that I wanted to tell stories about people in a place of last moments. Hyperion was inspired by The Canterbury Tales, the most famous English story there was, and wanted to have game like that. Let the players both lead, as storyteller, and follow as support these characters journeys to their Sacred Place. I didn’t want the place set but let it be set by the table every time. I also wanted to look at character actions from inspiration not ability. This is not a perfect piece by any definition but it is payable and I will look to expanding it into something more. I thoroughly enjoyed this journey.

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