The Great American Novel (PBtA)
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The Great American Novel¸ A Roleplaying Game is a collaborative storytelling tabletop roleplaying game for 3 to 6 players that uses character-driven game play to create a literary experience for a variety of settings and genres.
The Great American Novel has three specific criteria for every Novel to create an experience resembling some of the best American literature:
- Literary
Character-motivated stories that are focused on their interactions and personal journeys in a thoughtful and meaningful way. - Realistic
Honestly depicts the characters¸ events¸ and history; use of magic and the supernatural are welcome¸ as long as these themes are also depicted honestly and realistically. - Americana
Situations and characters that are unique to the U.S.¸ whether currently or historically.
Beyond this¸ it is entirely up to the table to determine what themes they would like to experience. These can be broadly-stroked ideas like "fall from grace¸" or specific experiences like "loss of a family member." They can also bring up a particular time period or genre "film noir" or "1960s counterculture." They could be places "Jamestown" or events "The Battle of Bunker Hill."
The game provides tools to help players determine what themes¸ time period¸ and setting they want to explore and also features built-in safety mechanics to address themes they do not want included.
GAN uses a Powered by the Apocalypse approach to dice resolution¸ as well as featuring metacurrency mechanics and a story structure inspired by literature and featuring classic archetypes for presenting the sort of characters one can find throughout Americana.