Go Alone [Print + PDF]

Description

Listen to WretchedCast – The Wretched & Alone podcast here!

Time will rust the sharpest sword,
Time will consume the strongest cord;
That which molders hemp and steel.
Mortal arm and nerve must feel.

– Walter Scott, Harold the Dauntless

It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.

– The Legend of Zelda

Go Alone is a solo journaling RPG played with a deck of cards, a tumbling block tower, and a microphone.

You are a sentient magic sword. You are centuries old and have seen and done terrible things, often in the pursuit of some misguided quest for glory and power. Everyone who has ever wielded you has died, and you have spent more time alone in the dark places of the world than you have spent in the hands of someone who would put you to work.

Alone in the dark for decades, now a new bearer has come. A hero has taken you up, and you have tasked yourself with telling your story and convincing them to retire with you at their side. You may have tried before – you may have tried many times before – but you can’t remember now. You aren’t sure you will succeed, but you have to try before you return to the dirt again.

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Go Alone is a game about isolation, abandonment, decay, and the slow passage of time. It is a game about identity, loss, and regrets, and the desire to be more than the world says you were meant to be.

Go Alone is inspired by Jack Harrison’s Artefact, Jason Morningstar’s The Skeletons, and every magic sword in every game I have ever played. In addition the design was influenced by the music of Spectral Kingdom, Fief, Daniel Deluxe, and the soundtracks to all of the Legend of Zelda games.

This game was created as part of the Wretched & Alone Jam, a game jam organised to coincide with the release of the SRD for the Wretched & Alone system, based on my game The Wretched.

Get the PDF on its own here.