The Librarian's Apprentice RPG

2024 CRIT Awards Winner for Best Solo TTRPG

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Infinite, ever-shifting, and sometimes dangerous, the Library exists in the space between worlds and times. Among the many who call it home are the Librarians, and only those who truly understand it may join their ranks. You seek to do so.

The path of a Librarian’s apprentice is a long one. Your current task is designed to test your skills at traversing the Library and finding information. Retrieve the documents requested by your Librarian before the day is out and you will have completed one more step on your journey.

Good luck.

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The Librarian's Apprentice is an all-ages solo journaling RPG that takes place in an infinite library. Take on the role of the titular apprentice and, together with your familiar, journey through the Great Library in search of six documents requested by your Librarian.

Built using the Firelights game system by Fari RPGs, the core rules fit on a single trifold brochure. Two additional brochures contain descriptions, complications, and other details to inspire your imagination, and the character sheet comes in the form of a bookmark.

This game was inspired by The Stygian Library RPG by Emmy Allen, the Interstitial Library Circulating Collection, Terry Pratchett’s L-space, and various works from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, including Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Princess Mononoke.

Key Features

• Choose truths about your background, community, and the Library itself to kickstart your story.
• Select your familiar's strength to augment your skills.
• Resolve fiction-driven actions by comparing card values to dice rolls.
• Using playing cards, create a map of your travels as you go.
• Roll on tables of descriptions, document formats, and events and secrets capable of creating over 60 million different areas of the Library to discover.

To play this game, you will need:

• A journaling method
• A flat surface to build your map on
• A standard deck of cards
• Two six-sided dice
• A small token

Time to play: 30 - 90 minutes, though it can run as long as you wish.

Content

The game consists of three full-color, double-sided trifold brochures and a character sheet.

• Volume I contains the game rules, actions you can take, and character creation.
• Volume II contains the bestiary and roll tables for fleshing out areas of the library (descriptors, features, content categories, and document formats), events and secrets to discover, and complications to encounter.
• Volume III contains roll tables to help flesh out patrons and inhabitants of the Great Library, including descriptors, quirks, library duties, and what information they are seeking.
• The Character Sheet is a bookmark where you can document your stats, fatigue, resources, and familiar.

Each boxed set also comes with a library card for the Great Library and information for obtaining an online resource document that includes:

• A Google Doc version of the game for use with screen readers
• Google Doc and audio versions of a Play Guide that provides tips on how to play solo journaling games in general and The Librarian’s Apprentice in particular. The first section covers guiding principles; the second section is an account of an actual play-through of The Librarian’s Apprentice.
• An online generator loaded with all the roll tables
• Content for playingcards.io
• Links to a curated playlist compiled by Sam Leigh