BIBLIOCALYPSE

Game Design
Michał Gotkowski

Writing
Michał Gotkowski

Art & Layout

Michał Gotkowski

Playtesting
Michał Gotkowski

Marketing
Michał Gotkowski

Community Management
Michał Gotkowski
 As the
words
of yore
began to
vanish, the
world as you
knew it got
torn asunder.

The False Librarian

broke seals of the For-
bidden Library, gaining
access to Lexiconomicon
– the book of all the words
that were, are, and will be.

Through their foul logoman-

cy, the usurper began med-
dling with the ancient tome,
draining it from its vocabular
essence, and redefining mean-
ings of the words as they saw
fit. Beasts and birds, kingdoms
and continents, forces of nature
and even abstract concepts, be-
came warped beyond recognition,
or ceased to exist altogether.

As time went by, there were fewer

and fewer words left to describe
how bad things really were. How-
ever, for as long as but a single one
remained, there was still hope.
Letter Scrying OPTIONAL RULE:
As a result of a vocabular calam- It has begun!
ity, names, words, and concepts Before you start your game, scry
started vanishing from the face a number of letters equal to the
of the earth. Only those who have number of players. As a group,
been initiated into the arcane art for each letter you scried, come
of letter scrying, can recall the up with a concept beginning with
ancient words and will them back that letter, which was altered or
into existence. erased due to Librarian's machi-
nations. Also as a group, decide
When the game asks you to scry how it influences the game world
a letter, select one random letter and your characters.
of the alphabet, including any dia-
critic characters (e.g. ö, ź, ě, etc.)
Example
used in the language in which you
are playing the game. A group of 3 characters is about
to begin their journey into the For-
Use any scrying method you like, bidden Library. Before they do,
including: drawing from a bag of each player scries a letter using
letter tiles, using a mobile app, the d66 table. The results are as
or rolling on the table below. Use follows: 22–H, 16–F, and 41–S.
empty fields for diacritic charac-
ters or simply reroll the dice. As a group, players decided that
the calamity impacted the world
Scry a Letter [d66]] in the following ways:
• Hunger simply doesn't exist,
•1 •2 •3 •4 •5 •6 nor do the very concepts of
food or eating.
1• A B C D E F
• Friction got weird. It became
2• G H I J K L more difficult to hold things
and easier to slip.
3• M N O P Q R
• Skin is no more. All the living
4• S T U V W X things suffer more harm due
5• Y Z ... ... ... ...
to their exposed flesh.

6• ... ... ... ... ... ...

3
 You are
a group
of Rogue
Linguists,
clinging to
the few last
words you
can still recall.

You stand at the

threshold of the For-
bidden Library, about to
venture into its perilous
corridors, in a desperate
attempt to foil the usurp-
er's schemes, retrieve the
primordial Lexiconomicon,
and restore all that was lost.

Character Creation
Each player creates their own
Linguist using the following steps:
• Generate your Name (see p. 5)
• Generate your Class (see p. 5)
• Generate your 3 Skills (see p. 5)
• Generate your Item (see p. 6)

As a group, you can decide to choose

any of the above details yourselves in-
stead of generating them at random.
Name You can't, however, attempt to
Juggle any objects or Intimidate
Scry a letter. Your name begins
anyone).
with that letter (e.g. A – Androm-
eda, C – Chadsworth, P – Pieter).
To perform any action, describe it
using a verb and roll a d6. Results
Your name can be anything you
of 3, 4, 5, or 6 mean you succeed;
want. No one can stop you.
otherwise you fail. Write the used
verbs down – each verb can only
Class
be used once through the course
Whilst Linguists at heart, you all of the entire game, regardless of
come from vastly different back- whether the action succeeded or
grounds. Your character class is failed, or the player who used it.
defined using a descriptor and a
noun (e.g. R, R – Reptile Raider or If an action requires specific con-
C, S – Clairvoyant Swashbuckler). text or item not available to you,
you can't perform it (e.g. you can't
To generate your class, scry 2 let- Swim with no body of water near-
ters. Your class descriptor begins by or Ride without a mount).
with the first letter and your class
noun with the second letter. Advantage & Disadvantage
If an item can help you in perform-
Once you know your class, come
ing an action (e.g. using Perfumes
up with a short summary of what
before Flirting with someone), you
it is that you do, and how you look.
can discard it and perform that
action with an advantage – roll
Skills & Actions 2d6 and take the higher result.
Scry 3 distinct letters and write
them down. You can rescry once. If your action would normally re-
Those are your skill letters. quire an item, but can still be
managed without it (e.g. Digging
Other than moving at a regular with your hands instead of using a
pace or talking, you can only at- Shovel), you can perform it with a
tempt actions described by verbs disadvantage – roll 2d6 and take
beginning with one of your skill let- the lower result.
ters (e.g. with skill letters H, O, R,
you can try to Hit someone with a
Club, Open a Door, or Run away.

5
 Items & Inventory
Scry a letter and write it down.
This is the item letter you find in
your starting inventory.

You can carry up to 5 items in

your inventory, including the ones
you are wearing and wielding.

At any point during the game, you

can define an item letter as a spe-
cific noun starting with that letter
(e.g. S – Spear, B – Brigandine,
R – Rope). Once defined, an item
cannot be redefined. Similarly to
skills, players can only define each
item once through the course of
the entire game.

Most items you find should fall un-

der one of the below categories:
• Weapons & Tools (e.g. Axe,
Sword, Lockpicks) – used in
conjunction with skills; break
on a skill roll of 1.
• Pieces of Armour (e.g. Gor-
get, Fauld, Shield) – discard
to prevent harm from a sin-
gle source (see p. 9).
• Magic Artefacts (e.g. Wand,
Tome, Orb) – allow the wield-
er to cast spells (see p. 9).
• Healing Items (e.g. Bandage,
Potion, Tourniquet) – discard
to heal someone; no skill roll
required (see p. 10).

6
OPTIONAL RULE:
Classic Archetypes
As a challenge, choose the arche-
type that best fits your character
class. Archetypes come with lim-
its to the types of actions you can
make and the types of items you
will find during the game, includ-
ing your starting item.

Warrior Poet
The only actions you perform are
feats of strength and endurance.
All you ever find is large weapons
and pieces of armour.

Ghost Writer
You stay in the shadows, utilising
stealth and trickery. What you al-
ways look for in people's pockets
are small weapons and tools.

Spell Singer
You try to solve everything with
your superior intellect and magic.
You have a keen eye for magic ar-
tefacts and healing items.

Fork-tongued Highborne
Rather than fighting, you prefer
to use your charms and wit. You
keep finding useful valuables, piec-
es of armour, and healing items.

7
 There
comes a
time, when
the only
word worth
remembering
is Violence.

Whenever you find

yourself in a situation,
where one or more en-
emies are aware of your
presence, use the rules
below to navigate through
the combat encounters.

Enemy Rolls
Enemies don't roll any dice.
Assume that all the enemy
actions always succeed.

Initiative
Each combat round, scry a letter. If
it's a vowel, enemies act first; if it's
a consonant, Linguists act first.

Within each group, characters can

act in any order they want. If you ever
need to determine who acts first, use
the alphabetical order.
Combat Actions Moving
You don't have to face every ob-
Each turn, you can walk, perform
stacle on your path – you can try
one action, and one reaction.
to avoid and bypass them (e.g.
Jump over the Fence, Crawl past
Attacking the Imp, Dive under the Kraken).
To attack, use a skill verb and roll
the dice, like you would with any If you succeed, you bypass the ob-
other action. If you succeed, your stacle and move on. If you fail, you
attack hits the enemy. suffer harm (e.g. you fell off the
Fence, the Imp noticed you and
The damage you deal depends on attacked, you ran out of air and
the skill and weapon you used: nearly drowned).
• Unarmed Attack – 1 dmg
(e.g. Kick, Punch, Bite) Remember that even though you
• Improvised Attack – 2 dmg got past the obstacle, other Lin-
(e.g. Stab with a Mace) guists have to deal with it as well.
• Armed Attack – 3 dmg
(e.g. Stab with a Dagger) Suffering Harm
• Contextual Attack – 3 dmg When you suffer harm from an
(e.g. Push down Stairs, Trip attack, environmental hazard, or
up into Lava, Defenestrate) failed move check, choose one of
your skill letters. This letter can't
• Lethal Attack – instant kill;
be used until healed. If you lose all
enemy has to be unaware
three skill letters, you die.
(e.g. Kill, Destroy, Eviscerate)

Defending Healing
When facing an enemy attack or To heal yourself or a wounded ally,
an environmental hazard, you can use a fitting skill (e.g. Heal, Treat),
react by using a fitting skill (e.g. or discard a healing item (e.g.
Parry, Evade, Block), or discarding Gauze, Medicaments).
a piece of armour (e.g. Chainmail,
Helmet, Shield). If you succeed, If you manage to heal someone,
you manage to avoid danger; oth- they regain access to one of their
erwise, you suffer harm. lost skill letters.

9
 Casting Spells
Magic is a capricious and chaotic
force, not meant to be wielded by
mere mortals. To even attempt
to cast spells, you need to get a
magical artefact first (e.g. Totem,
Familiar, Grimoire).

To cast a spell, instead of using a

verb, choose your target (a char-
acter or an inanimate object) and
roll the dice. If you succeed, scry
a letter and come up with a sta-
tus effect adjective beginning with
that letter (e.g. C – Corroding,
B – Blinded, S – Slow).

Status effects can't harm or out-

right incapacitate your targets,
but will provide an advantage in
some situations (e.g. casting the
Distracted effect on a Manticore
will make it easier for everyone to
Sneak past it).

Status effects used against inan-

imate objects can change their
properties in ways which create
new opportunities not available
before, which Linguists can abuse
to achieve their goals (e.g. casting
the Gigantic effect on a Door will
make it possible for characters
to Crawl under its threshold).

10
Socialising
In the end, words might prove to
be the most efficient weapons in
your arsenal, allowing you to alter
the attitude of your enemies.

To influence another character,

use a fitting skill (e.g. A – Anger,
F – Flirt, I – Intimidate). If you suc-
ceed, scry a letter and come up
with a psychological effect adjec-
tive beginning with that letter (e.g.
L – Livid, A – Aroused, S – Scared).
If you manage to find an adjective
which fits your verb, your action
works, altering someone's behav-
iour. Otherwise, your attempt fails
and has the opposite effect.

11
 Foolish
Linguists.
They soon
shall learn
yours is the
final word.

You hold in your

hands the literary
relic. The omnidiction-
ary. Lexiconomicon. Its
iridescent ink pervading
through the pores of
your skin. Words long
forgotten and those not
yet devised begin coursing
through your veins. You and
the Library are now one, as
will soon be all which exists.

Librarian's Duality
The Librarian plays two very im-
portant roles in Bibliocalypse: the
antagonist, and the rules arbiter.

Unlike in many roleplaying games,

none of the players is required to be
a designated Game Master. Instead,
all players take turns to fill in that role.
Whenever Linguists ascend a Library
level, the next player in line assumes
the role of the Librarian for that level.
When you become the Librarian, OPTIONAL RULE:
your character gets temporarily
lost in the Library’s vast hallways, Librarian Variants
until another player assumes the
Rather than having each player
Librarian's role.
assume the role of the Librarian,
As a Librarian, you no longer act as a group you may decide to use
as an ally to your fellow Linguists. a different method of rules arbi-
Your tasks are to: tration, which fits your playstyle
better. Below you will find a few
• Generate a Library level for
alternative Librarian variants.
the Linguists to explore (see
p. 14). Describe its themes,
challenges, and intricacies. Grimoire Master
• Fill the level with obstacles, Like in most classical roleplaying
such as enemies, traps, bar- games, have one player, ideally a
riers, and environmental haz- volunteer, be the Librarian for the
ards, in order to prevent the course of the entire game. Use
Linguists from reaching the this opportunity to add subplots,
Lexiconomicon. NPCs, and a layer of consistency
on top of the randomly generated
• Take control of NPCs inhab-
chaos offered by the core game.
iting the level – those friend-
ly, neutral, and antagonistic.
Absent Arbiter
• Make rulings when the need
Have all players be the Linguists,
arises, such as whether skill
and use a random word genera-
rolls should be advantageous
tor or an Oracle of your group's
or disadvantageous.
choice to generate the obstacles.
As a group, decide how efficient
When coming up with obstacles and smart your enemies are.
and hazards, remember that the
goal is to make them challenging Vocabular Hivemind
and fun, but not impossible. If play- Have all players be the Linguists,
ers ever hit a dead end, feel free and the Librarian at the same
to introduce some new objects time. Come up with all the obsta-
or NPCs to the scene (e.g. if Lin- cles and their difficulty together
guists struggle to cross the river, to create the most memorable
an NPC can show up, offering her and fun gameplay experience.
fishing boat in exchange for a gift).

13
 The Library Level Creation
Forbidden Library is a biblically ac- As the Librarian, create a Library
curate, geometrically impossible, level using the following steps:
bookahedron-shaped bibliotheca, • Generate the level's Theme
reaching skyward and disappear-
• Generate an inanimate Barrier
ing in the clouds. Its walls, pillars,
and vaults, seemingly made out • Generate Enemies & Hazards
of dust-covered tomes, create • Place the Chapter Page
a perplexing network of stair-
ways and corridors, guarded by Theme
unspeakable horrors, and crea-
Scry a letter. The level's overall
tures of myth. No two Library lev-
visual theme begins with that let-
els are ever the same, as if ripped
ter (e.g. H – Hellscape, S – Space,
from different literary worlds.
D – Dinotopia).
Library levels are numbered with
Roman numerals (e.g. I, VI, X, XIV). Level's theme influences its tone,
Some level elements will be com- scenery objects, and layout. De-
mon to all the levels, while others scribe them to the other players.
will depend on their numerals.
Barrier
Before your game begins, as a On each level, there is a barrier,
group, decide how many levels preventing Linguists from moving
do Linguists have to complete be- forward – it can be physical, mag-
fore reaching Lexiconomicon and ical, or even psychological. It does
facing the Librarian. The suggest- not threaten Linguists in any way;
ed Library height is 10 levels. it's just there.

You can make the Library short- Scry a letter and come up with a
er or higher, depending on your barrier noun beginning with that
liking and time available. You can letter (e.g. W – Wall, F – Flood,
also decide to skip every second D – Darkness).
or third level (e.g. I, III, V, VII, etc.),
scaling the difficulty faster. Unless Linguists find a way to get
rid of the barrier completely, each
Linguist needs to find a way to ad-
dress it on their own.

14
OPTIONAL RULE:
Stick to the Canon!
Each level's theme normally only
influences its aesthetics. Howev-
er, as a challenge, you can go a
step further and have it influence
the enemies, loot, and even ac-
tions. Below you will find two alter-
native ways to utilise the themes.

Genre-bound Levels
As the Librarian, everything you
place inside a level (e.g. barriers,
NPCs, enemies, objects), has to
fit the theme. The same is true
for any loot and items Linguists
can find. They can, however, move
objects and items from different
themes between the levels.

Scott Bakula's Spectacular

When you enter a new level and
generate its theme, everything,
including enemies, loot, but also
your characters and their equip-
ment, changes to fit that theme
(e.g. if the theme is Mediaeval, a
Gun would transform into some-
thing more period appropriate,
like a Guisarme). Moreover, Lin-
guists' action verbs must also fit
the level's theme.

You can decide that each theme

lasts for a couple of levels in or-
der to do this change less often.

15
 Enemies
The Library floors are crawling
with their guardians, now bound
to the Librarian's will. To reach
the usurper, Linguists will have to
first breach those defences. Un-
like barriers, enemies can cause
harm and will actively try to do so.

For each letter in level’s numeral,

generate a specific enemy type:
• I – Weak Foe (e.g. A – Asp)
3HP; does regular attacks.
• V – Magic Foe (e.g. L – Lich)
3HP; hides behind others,
casting spells instead of at-
tacking; does regular attacks
when in close quarters.
• X – Strong Foe (e.g. T – Troll)
8HP; attacks two Linguists
each turn; is immune to each
action verb, status adjective,
and item noun containing its
own letter (e.g. a Golem can't
be hit by Swinging a Sword
at it, because the verb Swing
contains the letter G).
To generate an enemy, scry a let-
ter. Its name noun begins with it.

To move past an enemy, it has to

be incapacitated, or each Linguist
needs to successfully outma-
noeuvre it (e.g. by Running past it,
or Sneaking behind its back).

16
Hazards
Every five levels (V, X, XV, XX, etc.),
an environmental hazard is pres-
ent in the level (e.g. V – Volcano,
S – Stampede, C – Coldsnap).

To generate an environmental
hazard, scry a letter. Its name
noun begins with that letter.

Hazards act like barriers, but are

of a too large scale to be gotten
rid of completely. Each turn, a
hazard will try to cause harm to
every Linguist in its vicinity. They
can try to prevent it by perform-
ing defensive actions.

Chapter Pages
At the end of each Library level,
a glowing Chapter Page awaits.
When touched by a character, it
transports them to the next level.
However, it can only be reached
by those who have addressed all
of the level's challenges.

Loot
Chapter Pages are very volatile
magical items. Shaking uncontrol-
lably, they spawn random objects
around them.

After reaching the Chapter Page,

you can scry one item letter and
add it to your inventory.

17
 Fighting the Librarian Alphabetical Phylactery
The Librarian has no HP and the
After completing the last Library only thing keeping them alive is an
level, all Linguists arrive at the Alphabetical Phylactery. The arte-
Librarian's sanctum. For this last fact contains all the letters of the
encounter, no player needs to as- alphabet used in the language in
sume the Librarian's role. which you are playing the game.

Verbal Assault To destroy it, all of its letters must

Instead of outright attacking, the be erased. Verbs and adjectives
Librarian reads out loud records coming from successful attacks,
of Linguists' exploits, which mate- spells, and social actions aimed at
rialise and turn against them. the Librarian, erase from Phylac-
tery all the letters they contain.
At the beginning of each turn,
players read one verb or adjective
used by their characters earlier The Lexiconomicon
that game, starting from the top
of each Linguist's list. When you After defeating the Librarian and
read an action or effect this way, retrieving the fabled tome, lost
it targets a Linguist controlled by words of yore return and the ca-
the player sitting to your right. If lamity ends. Before leaving, each
the action makes no sense, it fiz- Linguist is awarded with a choice
zles. Linguists can perform defen- to erase a single word from the
sive actions to avoid these. history of the world. For good.

18
The End.
 WORKS OF ART
The Tower of Babel I (1563)
Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Tower of Babel II (1563)

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Błędne Koło (1897)

Jacek Malczewski

Eloe z Ellenai (1909)

Jacek Malczewski

Kain (1891)
Julius Paulsen

Mephisto (1895)
Eduard von Grützner

Sydney Public Library (1931)

Normand Henry Baker

The Studio Wall (1872)

Adolph Menzel

Ahasuerus at the End of

the World (1888)
Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl

Never Gonna Give

You Up (1987)
Rick Astley

Abstract Art (2021)

Paweł Czerwiński