Sparksingers (Pocket Quest 2023)
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In the 15th year of King K'ziik's blessed reign¸ a tragedy struck - the second moon went dark¸ with a fiery comet appearing in the sky that same night. Many considered this a bad omen¸ and indeed: Lord Q'rill declared the King dethroned on grounds of the Ancestors' will¸ and raised an army against him. He was defeated and the omen proved to be false¸ but many have perished and the kingdom was weakened.
-Wise Hermit's Chronicle
Sparksingers is a journaling game in which you lead a tribe to greatness. Generate your world¸ the species you'll guide¸ and go! The game will prompt you events¸ and you will decide what is the best way to face them. But even your best guidence does not always lead where you intended - though not always for the worse. You can narrate the events and your civilization's reaction to them¸ their triumphs and failures¸ creating the history of your chosen people with each roll.
You are an eternal entity¸ and as such are beyond things as stats. Instead¸ the planet and the civilization you are trying to guide has a set of stats that you will use during the game. Sparksingers was inspired by 4X games such as Civlization and Stellaris¸ and it lets you create your narrative (or maybe a fictional history book) for the alien species you guide. You can also use it as a form of preparation for your "big" Sci-fi RPG game with your friends - you'll have the planet and its general history outlined and ready for further examination and planet delving.
Sparksingers uses a very simplified Ironsworn system¸ which allows for narrative-first approach and possible twists whether you succeed or fail your roll.
The game revolves around random events that present opportunities and threats to your civilization. Choosing how you react in narrative also determines the stat you are going to roll to see how your civilization tackled the situation. Then you check the Consequences Table - the better the roll¸ the higher chance of a good result - and narrate how it all went and what are the consequences for your civilization.
Sparksingers is played in three eras¸ each ending with a Major Event. After guiding and whispering all this time¸ you can decide whether you were successful or not.
Journaling games require some kind of way to record your gameplay. In Sparksinger's case it can be an actual journal¸ a fictional excerpt from a chronicle¸ or just short bullet points for you to remind you what's going on. If you like¸ you can add pictures¸ or draw a small map. There is a picture of the planet on the Planet sheet for you to utilize if you wish to do so.
The point is not to make you work¸ but to start your imagination. Just use whatever style you are comfortable with¸ or mix and match as the mood strikes.
You can end up with just some notes on the Planet sheet¸ a fictional chronicle¸ or anything in between. Whatever you prefer!
Contents:
- easy rules that only take 2¸5 page themselves
- tables for creating a planet and your species
- big table of a hundred random events
- table for major events¸ marking the end of an era
- table of consequences
- quick rules reference
- planet sheet
- example of play
This game was made as a part of Pocket Quest 2023.