Senryu Saga

Senryu Saga is a rules-light one-page RPG 'zine written in, as well as designed around using, Senryu poetry... No, I'm not gonna to also write the Itch page exclusively in Senryu... As funny as that would be.

A Senryu is a format of Japanese poem written with 3 lines, following a 5-7-5 syllable count... If that sounds like a Haiku to you, it kinda is. The 2 poem formats are very similar in design, but the primary difference is that a Haiku is usually about nature or the world around the poet (usually with a "Kigo," a word to denote season), while a Senryu is typically about people (often in a humorous sense). Additionally, both of these poem formats can be the basis for a Tanka, a 5 line poem with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure.

The idea for a Senryu focused game, and more so a game that uses syllable count for character creation and HP, was inspired by GeoK's Shutdown RPG. Originally, when I decided I wanted to try to make my own game using syllables, my first thought was Haiku, but in researching for the game I discovered Senryu and Tanka, which felt like they fit a lot more for the basic concept I had in mind.

This game was made entirely within Google Slides (and more so the mobile version... Which is a pain to use in my opinion). If nothing else comes out of this silly little idea, having the self-imposed restriction to right the whole thing in Senryu/Tanka was a fun challenge.