Original Release (for posterity)

Below is the original description of the Itch page... Well, technically not the original, but the description before I updated the actual document. I was already feeling if-y about the (intended) vagueness of the design, but after getting a comment about it, decided to make some minor edits... It's still not perfect... But I'm not aiming for perfection here. This was a silly idea for an RPG and a fun writing exercise, I'm happy with how it turned out.

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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.

"What is a Senryu?"

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.

"What is this game?"

This RPG sees players making their character simply by writing a Senryu for them. What words make up that Senryu will determine how likely they are to overcome challenges, while how you choose to distribute the limited syllable count will determine how often you can fail before losing your character.

Players work as a team, choosing freely among themselves who gets to try to best the challenges presented to them by the GM. As they succeed at these challenges, they slowly make progress completing the GM's plot framework, which is written in and tracked using a Tanka.

As a result of writing exclusively in poems, the rules may seem vague in some points. This is mildly intended. Akin to the poetic stylings this (admittedly goofy) RPG is pulling from, the rules themselves are up to the interpretation of the people reading and playing it.

"Why was this game made?"

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.