Journeys: A Magic RPG Fan Format
Journeys is a fan format for Magic: The Gathering that lets you use a deck as your character in a lightweight RPG with your friends. Much like how Elder Dragon Highlander (Commander, for those of you who aren’t fogeys like me) started life as a format to let you use the fundamental rules of Magic to play a diplomacy game, Journeys is a new way to enjoy a game many of you already love. And if you haven’t played Magic? Well, Journeys won’t teach you to play Magic on its own. But I think it’s not a bad place to start. But if you can find a GM who will teach you, you can definitely learn while playing!
Journeys is available here for free in the following versions:
Foldup Booklet (print double-sided, arrange the pages, fold, and staple the center)
Additional files:
What Do You Do in Journeys?
In Journeys, players take on the role of planeswalkers just beginning their travels through the multiverse. Another person takes on the role of the Game Master (GM), who sets up story hooks and scenes for the group, adjudicates the rules, and generally helps guide the narrative. Combat is handled with a modified version of Magic: The Gathering, and other things your characters want to accomplish are done with the core mechanic: tasks.
The Core Mechanic
Tasks are the core mechanic of non-combat scenes, so I’ll give them a quick intro here. Full rules are in the document.
When the GM creates a task, they assign it a sphere (mental, social, or physical) and a number of mana symbols that reflect its difficulty. Each sphere/color combination reflects a specific way of approaching the task.
To attempt the task, a character draws seven cards from their deck, chooses a number of those up to their sphere, and matches those cards’ mana costs or mana produced with the mana symbols the GM called for.
Example Task:
Ramses wishes to kick down a door, but it is made of sturdy oak.
The GM tells Ramses that he must attempt a Physical task using Might, requiring four green mana (GGGG) to succeed.
Ramses draws seven cards, two of which are forests (which produce G) and one of which is Scaled Behemoth (Mana Cost: 4GG). His physical sphere is 4, so he is allowed to assign up to 4 cards to the task; he chooses the two forests and Scaled Behemoth, matching the symbols the GM requested kicking the door to splinters! Then he puts the three cards he used into his graveyard and shuffles the other four back into his library.
Why Make This?
Journeys is purely for fun. It was fun for me to make and test. I hope it’s fun for you to play, too. Share it freely, and have a good time with it. If you do end up playing it, consider dropping me a line to tell me about your experiences!