Fall of Magic Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview of Play
• Before You Play
  • Plan Your Session
  • Set the Table
• Setup
  • 1. Read this Introduction Aloud
  • 2. Unroll the Scroll
  • 3. Read the Prelude
  • 4. Choose Names
  • 5. Choose Titles
  • 6. Choose Tokens
  • 7. Place the Magus
• How to Play
  • 1. Move Your Token
  • 2. Lead the Scene
  • 3. Use the Story Prompt
  • Ideas for Leading a Scene
• Trait
• Moving the Magus
• Journey Onward
  • Peril
  • Change
• The Lost Islands
• The Deepway
• Closing a Session
  • 1. Call, "Last Round"
  • 2. Roll the Scroll
  • 3. Reflect
  • 4. Future Sessions

Overview of Play

Introduction (5-10 min)

During the Introduction, we introduce basic concepts of the game and choose names, titles, and tokens for our characters.

Play a Session (1-4 hrs)

We take turns. Each turn one of us places our character's token on a Scene at the Magus's current Location. With the help of other players, we use the prompts to tell a part of the story from the perspective of our character. After each player has led at least one Scene at a Location, anyone may, on their turn, opt to play as the Magus and advance us further along the scroll.

Closing (5-10 min)

At the end of a session we do a quick debrief giving every player a chance to reflect on their experience.

Before You Play

One player should read through these instructions and be prepared to facilitate. Don't worry about remembering every detail. Fall of Magic is forgiving and we can always look up something that needs clarification during our session.

Plan Your Session

A session of Fall of Magic will take 2-4 hours depending on your group's preferences. Fall of Magic can be played as a One-Shot in a single session, or as a Campaign in many sessions.

A One-Shot will feel like several chapters of a book or the first episode of a fantasy series where you get to know your characters in the early stages of their journey.

In a Campaign your group will create an epic saga lasting many sessions. Reaching the end of the scroll will generally take 3 sessions, though your campaign could last much longer depending on how quickly your group decides to travel.

Schedule 2-4 hours for each play Session. Decide on a time limit in advance, or leave it open ended and agree as a group when you're ready for the next Session to be the last.

Set the Table

Before your friends arrive, prepare your play space. Clear the table of any clutter so the game can take center stage. You may want to designate a separate place for drinks and snacks.

You will need a notecard and writing utensil for each player. Take out the token, scroll, and the X Card. Leave the other components in the box for now.

Setup

1. Read this Introduction Aloud

When everyone is gathered and ready to begin, pass around these instructions and take turns reading the paragraphs out loud:

Tell the Story

"Fall of Magic is a collaborative Story Game and there are many ways to tell the story. We can talk casually like in a conversation, narrate as authors, perform as actors, or mix several styles all at once. Do whatever feels natural, or challenge yourself to try something new."

Talk about the story

"Each of us is both a writer in the writing room and a fan in the audience. Feel free to casually converse, share ideas, or just wonder out loud about the story, the characters, or anything else that interests you as we play."

Think Small

"When it is time to make something up, think small and don't plan too far ahead. Let the story be a wondrous beast we chase but never capture. Ask questions with no clear answer, raise conflicts with no ready solution. By letting go, the story we find together will be more profound than anything we might have planned alone."

Social Fantasy

"In Fall of Magic, play centers around relationships and the exploration of culture in a world where things are possible that are not possible in our daily lives. Our story will come to life if we treat the characters like they were alive. Make them diverse, nuanced, and sometimes contradictory. Use this space to imagine and explore beyond the restrictions and stereotypes we experience outside of the game."

Safety and the X Card

"The X Card is a safety tool. It reminds us that each of us has the power to remove anything from the story that is making us feel uncomfortable or spoiling our fun. To do so, simply tap this card, or say 'I'd like to X Card that' and we'll find another way to tell our story, no questions asked."

2. Unroll the Scroll

Unroll the scroll so the title and introduction are visible. As the game progresses, keep the unused parts of the map rolled up. Peeking ahead is fine, but in general, only our current area should be visible.

3. Read the Prelude

Read the prelude out loud.

"Magic is dying, and the Magus is dying with it. We travel together to the realm of Umbra where magic was born."

4. Choose Names

Each player chooses a name from the options listed on the map and writes it down on their notecard. Each character should have a different name.

5. Choose Titles

Each player chooses a title from the options listed on the map and adds it to their notecard. It is fine if players choose the same title. Your title is a combination of a Location plus one of the three options listed before the Location.

Someone may ask, "Is a Raven like the bird?" or "What is a Crab Singer?" To this we reply, "It means what you want it to mean."

6. Choose Tokens

Everyone chooses a character token. Then we choose one last token to represent the Magus whom we all share.

7. Place the Magus

Place the Magus on Ravenhall. This is the starting location.

How to Play

We take turns. Anyone may go first, then proceed clockwise. On your turn, do these things in order:

1. Move Your Token

Place your token on a Scene Prompt at the Magus's current Location. You can choose any Scene, even if another player's token is already there.

2. Lead the Scene

Next, describe the Scene from the perspective of your character. What does this place look like? Who is there with you? What is going on right now? What is your character thinking and feeling? The rest of us will listen, ask questions, offer ideas, play other characters in the scene, and participate in the conversation of play.

You have final say over what happens during your scene, and each of us has final say over what is true about our own characters.

3. Use the Story Prompt

Beneath each Scene is a Story Prompt. Before your turn ends you must use this prompt in the Scene. How you do this is up to you. When you are ready for the Scene in our story to end, let us know and Pass the Turn.

Ideas for Leading a Scene

• Begin with a description of where the scene takes place and worry about the Story Prompt later
• Use touch, smell, or taste in your description
• Speak plainly — "The Rose Garden is huge, and there is some kind of party going on, like a county fair with fiddlers and a pie contest."
• Speak in first person — "I pluck a single petal from the rose and hand it to you."
• Speak in third person — "Kabu waits till everyone has gone to bed, then sneaks into the private chamber that houses the Scrying Pool."
• Speak out of character — "Wait, why is Kabu sneaking into the Scrying Pool?"
• Ask someone to play the role of a group of farmers, a flock of birds, or the storm
• Ask questions — "What does the Rose Garden look like" or "What is going on at the Bridge right now?"
• Ask for help — "I have no idea what the Menagerie is! Does anyone else have an idea?"
• Skip ahead to the part that interests you or back to something interesting we skipped
• Revisit a Scene and describe something new about it. "OK, we're back in the Rose Garden but it is night time and the garden is full of moths with tiny shears, busily pruning."
• Think big — "We arrive at Barleytown only to discover that the entire town has vanished."
• Think small — "The Magus squats by the cook fire, stirring oats with a spoon."
• Speak cinematically — "The scene opens up to an aerial shot of dark birds soaring over the rooftops of Ravenhall to a soaring orchestral soundtrack. The shot cuts to the courtyard and we watch as the birds descend one by one each transforming into a dark robed apprentice as they land."
• Keep secrets from characters but not from players — "Your character doesn't know this, but Ellamura has been sent by the Storm Queen to spy on the Magus!"
• Wonder about the magical-reasoning of the world we've made — "So if Foxes can talk, can ALL animals talk?"

Trait

Story Prompts with a + symbol are Traits. After Describing the Scene, select one of the Traits listed and describe how that is true about one of the characters (yours or that of another player). Then, write that Trait down on that character's notecard.

Moving the Magus

The Magus is a character shared between all of the players. On your turn, if your character is already on the map, you may opt to play as the Magus.

When you play the Magus, remove the other Character tokens from the map and advance the Magus token to a Location further along the path. Sometimes there will be only one way to go. Other times there will be multiple paths to choose from.

After moving the Magus, Start a Scene using that Location and its Story Prompt. Play out the scene from the perspective of the Magus, portraying the Magus as you would your own character.

Journey Onward

The following rules come into play after Barleytown. If this is your first session, you can skip these for now and refer back to them when needed.

Peril

A numbered Story Prompt is a Peril.

Describe the scene and the first line as you would a regular Story Prompt. When you are finished, roll a die and describe the result.

Change

A Leaf symbol indicates a Change. Before you end your turn, change or remove something from your notecard and describe why your character thinks this is true. This could be your name, your title, or a trait.

The Lost Islands

When you enter the Sightless Sea, shuffle the Lost Island Cards and place the deck face down below the scroll.

When you move the Magus to an Island, draw two cards. Place the Island you wish to explore on the map, and the other Island on the bottom of the deck. Continue your turn as the Magus using the Location and Story prompt on the Island.

Draw two cards. Put one face up on the map and discard the other to the bottom of the deck.

The Deepway

The torch icon marks the Deepway, a road that leads to an additional section of map located on the back of the scroll.

When moving the Magus, you may use the Deepway to travel to the map on the back of the scroll. Find the matching torch icon on the other side and continue from that point along the dashed road.

Closing a Session

Whether our journey was short or long, it pays to give the same attention to the end of our session as we gave to the beginning. Here's how:

1. Call, "Last Round"

Keep an eye on the time and when the end of the session approaches, suggest a final round of turns. This gives us all a chance to wrap things up for a satisfying conclusion.

2. Roll the Scroll

When we are finished, roll up the scroll. Holding it up suspended by the dowel as you roll helps to keep it centered. To bind it with the cord, wrap the cord around twice and tuck the knotted end under the wrappings.

3. Reflect

Make some space for casual conversation and reflection on the story we have created together. Here are some suggestions of what to talk about.

• A moment you enjoyed
• An appreciation of another player
• Something you found challenging or difficult
• An emotion, or memory the game evoked

4. Future Sessions

When continuing from a previous session, don't worry about recreating the turn order or which character was on which Scene. Start with whoever volunteers to go first and then proceed clockwise around the table.