RPG: Weave – A Storytelling Game
Weave uses both an app and a custom tarot deck to help you weave a tale with your friends.
Proving once again that we live in the future, without even needing to have a pizza-delivering robot, Weave is a game that blends storytelling, tarot reading, and fantastical settings all with a smartphone app that helps bring your game together. The app is available for free, and you can find the game itself linked below. Let’s dive in.
So first things first, Weave is pretty fun. When you open the box you’ll find a set of gorgeous custom cards, dice, and a few instructions. And that’s everything you need to get the game going–that and the companion app on your smart phone.
But for now, let’s talk about these cards. They areally not only beautiful, but also your primary means of interacting with the game. That’s the part Tarot aspect of the game–players and gm alike ate dealt cards to determine various aspects of the game. If you’re a player, you’ll draw a spread of Major Arcana type cards, which might feature things like the Owl or the Coin–these help you determine who your character is, and what they do, with each card corresponding to a suite of character choices depending on what character “suit” you’re playing. There are four all in all, one for each of the classic elements–Flames, Brooks, Gales, and Stones for fire, water, air and earth
And at this point, we need to dive into the mechanics. So hold on to your butts. As we mentioned, each card corresponds to both a player’s suit and the setting of your game. So, for instance, if you are playing a Flames (mentally driven) character, with the Coin representing big changes in your early life, etc. But, to another character that might be all about their romantic rivals or something.
And each card is also dependent on the setting you pick. There are a few of these, ranging from a cyberpunk future world, to a monster hunting mash, to just cliques in high school the app keeps track of all your decisions, including story and location cards drawn by the DM, and character ability use.
Each setting seems to have its own set of subrules, in the form of talents/powers which ever player selects as part of their character creation. This is a seriously fun way to build characters–you develop a real sense of story and theme and narrative trajectory just from the choices each character makes at the outset. So, long story short, there’s a lot of content for this game.
Conflict is handled by rolling 1-3 successes on a custom d6. A success in this case is a symbol that matches the suit of the challenge: flames for mental challenges, brooks for diplomacy, stones for might/endurance, and gales for mobility/agile stuff. Players can increase their odds by adding appropriately connected items/talents from their backstory.
And just like that the game is off and running, ready to take you to worlds undreamt of. It’s a ton of fun, and you can play through a session on about 2.5 hours or so.
via Monocle Society
Weave – $49.99
Weave is a 21st century storytelling platform for everyone. With just two decks of cards and a handful of dice, you and your friends can create adventures in any genre, from sci-fi to high school comedy. When combined with the free companion app, Weave provides all the power you’ll need to discover new worlds, imagine amazing characters, and save your stories online in minutes.
With a single deck of cards and dice, you can select from a plethora of playsets, each with their own fantastic world to explore. From the grungy streets of the cyberpunk world of XORTE/IO, to the hallowed halls of the high school from Clique, the world you choose and the stories you tell are up to you.
So pick a card...any card…
