The Dream of the Questing Beast

The Questing Beast is a creature of dreams and prophecies.  It appears like a half-remembered song or a dim childhood memory, haunting and inspiring the person chosen to seek it as he or she makes her way through life.  Some reject the call and try to turn away from destiny; others struggle to keep it in focus despite being battered by the storms of life.  Both face the same sense of longing and mysterious opportunity.

The Dream of the Questing Beast is a story game for three players inspired by the Arthurian legend of Pellinore.  The players will trace the life of someone chosen to seek the Beast, describing the character’s encounters with the creature during different phases of life and the ways she tries to understand their strange connection.  The group needs to make a few decisions before beginning the game.  The story can cover several decades, so players will need to decide when the narrator was born.  Each player should also describe one of the Beast’s traits, such as the way fireflies dance above its head when it dreams or how it sings to itself while eating.

You will need a deck of cards to play.  Draw to determine who will narrate the first three turns, moving from high to low.  The first vignette occurs when the character is somewhere between seven and twelve years old. The other two players contribute elements to the tale.  Before the scene begins the player to the narrator’s left names the character’s greatest strength during this phase of life, while the player to the right describes the greatest challenge facing the character during the same period. The scene itself can be a direct encounter with the Beast or a fleeting glimpse, or it could focus on how the character tries to explore her connection to the legend.  Each scene should last about five to ten minutes.

When the first narrator has finished describing a vignette the next player lets the group know how many years have passed before the beginning of the second scene.  The other players name the character’s strength and the challenge she faces, and the next narrator resumes the tale.

After the third scene, the players draw cards to determine the turn order for the remaining three scenes.  The roles of the two non-narrators switch during the final scenes:  the player to the narrator’s left names a challenge and the player to the right names a strength.  Following the sixth and final scene, the players draw again.  The one with the highest card narrates an epilogue.  Does she find some sort of peace in her endless search for the phantom creature?  Does she give up the quest and live the last years of her life in bitterness?  Does she find someone to assume her mantle?