A Fool's Errand
A downloadable game
You are the jester in King Lyrics’ court. Through mere observation you discovered a conspiracy threatening their rule. You now have the fruitless task of warning their majesty.
A Fool's Errand is a single page, Solo-Journaling game about the futile effort of trying to warn a king about their inevitable destruction.
This game was made for Long Tail Games' Tiny Tome game jam
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Development log
- Tiny Tome!Mar 15, 2022
- TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas!Mar 04, 2022
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I've been watching a lot of DnD recently, and wanted so badly to have a similar experience. But I don't really have an easy way to get into it, since I 've never actually played it and don't have anyone around me that does. So I went ahead and searched for some solo-Rpgs! I figured it'd be an entirely different experience, but it would still have that same "Roleplay! Get creative!" aspect that I wanted.
This one was the first one I tried, and I am very glad for it! I will admit this first round I've played was very rough around the edges; I wanted to sort of test the waters first, see how I was faring. There wasn't as much roleplay on the petitioners' part as there could've been, and I didn't even really finish the game before I stopped.
BUT! I still had a ton of fun with what I did come up with! I actually ended up using a D20 to determine the success of each of my performances (Got a Nat20 on the very first conspirator lmao) to sort of guide me a little bit for this first go at the game.
And! I got a Queen of Hearts as my King, which I interpreted as the newly throned only child (a young daughter) of the late king. The conspiracy was to Coerce Her. And I got so attached to that premise (since it already reeks of tragedy) that I ended up making designs for both her and myself. Since I technically didn't finish this first playthrough, I think I will have a proper session with those two characters at some point. Really see their story through, you know?
So yeah, thank you for the delightful little game!
You are the jester to the king, the only one with the freedom to mock, shame, and bring to light the foolishness of others without consequences. There is a grave conspiracy afoot and you are the only one with the ability to warn your liege.
This game utilizes a deck of cards, each representing a petitioner to the king. The rank will determine who and what they want, while the suit will tell you how they are apart of the conspiracy.
When you draw the first joker, you attempt to tell the king of the plan you have discovered, but he will not believe you. The game then ends on the second joker when the plan comes to fruition despite your best efforts.
My game was a weird one because I never drew any of the suit cards that would let me figure out the conspiracy before I drew both jokers. I mostly played a bumbling fool mocking people and not really knowing what was going on. You can read my playthrough HERE
Thanks for the really fun write up/playthrough! Wild that you didn't draw a single spade. Your poor jester didn't stand a chance
I had such a wonderful time playing A Fool's Errand, a solo ttrpg about a jester that has discovered an insidious plot. The game's set up is so ingenious, and knowing from the start that the odds are stacked against you only makes the gameplay more and more fun. How does your silly little jester protect their king? I know I had so much fun thinking of all of the ways I could make fun of petitioners in hopes of my king understanding their plot against him. Definitely recommend, there's never a bad time to make a silly little jester!
This is really cool! It inspired me to make a game of my own. Do you mind if I create a game based off this? I'll be sure to cite it in the rules.
Yeah go for it!
This solo-journaling game was very pleasant! It was supposed to last 1 to 2 hours, but I put so many details for each of my characters that all my wed afternoon flew in a blink of an eye. Thank you so much!
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I tend to spend extra time putting in details as well when playing journaling games.