Out from the Shadows (Forking Paths #3)

Forking Paths is my ongoing RPG zine spanning a variety of analog game ideas. The theme for issue three: Out from the Shadows. 

The game spread throughout this issue is New Forms, an eerie atmospheric chamber larp in the Nordic style, heavily inspired by the works of horror/weird fiction/philosophy writer Thomas Ligotti. Players assemble in a strange variation of a support group, using an apparatus of light and shadow to search for unusual "forms" hidden within mundane objects, recording and discussing their findings and what insights they reveal in relation to the group's ominous otherworldly beliefs.

New Forms is playable in two hours or less and is ideal for groups of 3 to 12 players (number of players is the main factor governing the larp's runtime).

Contents of this 24-page zine:

• Tone-setting short fiction piece "Ruins midnight Sunday all welcome"
• 12-page "in-character" pamphlet, covering the core larp activity & doubling as an optional in-game prop
• Observation sheet for use during the Exhibition section of the larp (physically cut & pasted together using text from a typewriter, for that bureaucratic feel!)
• 4 illustrated examples of recorded observations from investigated relics
• Additional game context, larp-running logistics, ideas for altering the game, & larp safety tools
• Also included: separate PDF downloads of the New Forms pamphlet and observation sheet for DIY printing

The zine’s cover pages are in color; all other art and illustrations are in B&W. The main PDF is in single-page layout format, and the New Forms pamphlet prop is already in booklet layout for easy home printing. Need any of it another way? Let me know!