Maps & Mishaps

Welcome to MAPS & MISHAPS - a collaborative storytelling game for 2-5 players about journeys, and all the ways they go off the rails.

In a single session, you and your table develop a world (or choose one you already love), create characters called “Travelers” who fit that world, and then go on a journey filled with challenges shaped by your imagination as well as the guidance of randomly-drawn prompt cards.

Maps & Mishaps might be for you if any of these are true:

• You like playing through a full story in a single evening
  
• You're interested in a game system that requires zero prep and has no GM
  
• You enjoy the freedom to play in any world, setting, or genre of your choice
  
• You’re looking for a game system that’s a great way to introduce new players (or even kids) to the fun & freedom of roleplaying
  
• You love the deck of cards prompt system ofThe Quiet Year
• Your favorite part of D&D is exploring or goofing off

The game guides you through building a world with your group, but you can always pick an existing world you already know and love. Take advantage of that freedom to tell stories in any kind of world you can picture, like:

• An underwater Rock Band racing to get to the Battle of the Bands
• Redwall-style Chefs on a journey towards a legendary ingredient
• Monty Python Greek Mythology in Space
• Your very own Pokémon adventure

Every one of those is an example from a game I've actually played using Maps & Mishaps.

Maps & Mishaps rides the line between being easy to learn, but deep enough to allow you a lot of flexibility in the stories you can tell. That flexibility is supported through each of the game’s primary systems:

• The World Deck is a deck of standard playing cards, each with unique prompts to help you introduce complications and opportunities to the unique world or setting you’re adventuring in.
• The fast-paced d6 Challenge System that keeps the action moving and always makes the likelihood of success & failure easy to understand.
• A flexible system of Traits, Drives, and Chains that allow you to express any character through story-focused mechanics that define their skills, personal motivation, and troubles.
• The “Map-Making” index card system lets you build a visual "map" of your journey and track your traveler's progress from start to finish no matter how unconventional the setting.

If you're interested in holding the book in your own two hands, you can pick up copies from the Bardlight store! These were printed thanks to the support and generosity of our Kickstarter backers!

If you want a deeper preview, "SHORTCUTS" is the simplified "quickstart" of the full Maps & Mishaps rules. Rather than tell the story of an entire misadventure, shortcuts focuses on the unintended consequences of a single ill-advised shortcut taken while on a longer journey.

This project was made entirely, 100% by humans! Yay! If you're interested in supporting this indie project even further, there's a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the game available for an extra $5 - bringing the total price of the PDF to $25.