Love & Darkness • 2018 rpg

Standard 54-card deck. Red is loving. Black is dark.

Shuffle face cards into their own deck -- the characters. (Other cards are events.) Turn two cards up: First, the head of the family. Second, their child.

Deal each player three event cards.

Tell the story of the family -- an oil dynasty, fantasy kingdom, your suburban neighbors, whatever -- as follows:

On your turn, play a card from your hand to a family member, as long as it's at least as high as the highest event card already present there. If red, describe a loving event involving that character and another. If black, a dark one. Say why. Higher numbers means higher stakes.

Play an Ace to kill any character.

Play a Joker to discard all event cards from any character. Shuffle the Joker back in. Play again.

If you can't play, expose a new character, if any remain. Narrate their connection (dark or loving) to the family, then draw three event cards.

For events, a change of color may mean upheaval. A change of suit in the same color may be a change in direction.

Play until events run out. Did dark characters meet dark ends? Did loving characters remain so?