The Archivists

The Archivists is a collaborative storytelling game that sees players exploring and building a written history in a setting of their own design.

Players take turns adding add lore to an existing canon and then mailing the entire collection on to the next player who can then delve into and create their own expansion to the story.

Before The Game

1. Pick a player order.
2. Decide whether the group wants to maintain a digital copy of the archives in addition to the physical archive they will be mailing around.
   1. The digital archive creates an opportunity for players early in the turn order to see how the story unfolds after their turn.
   2. The first player in the turn order will take on the role of the digital archivist.

Anatomy Of A Turn

1. Open the physical archive and read through all of its contents.
   1. Take note of how story elements relate to each other across different entries in the archive.
2. Create a new physical story entry to add to the archive.
   • Expand on story elements from previous entries.
   • Tie together story elements from separate, existing entries in the archive.
   • Introduce some new story elements of your own.
   • New entries can take place chronologically before or after any entry in the archive.
3. If applicable, send a digital photo of your item to the digital archivist.
4. Shuffle your new story entry into the physical archive.
5. Seal up and mail (or hand-deliver) the physical archive to the next player in the story cycle.

Ending the Game

End the game by sending the finished archive back to the first player in the turn cycle. Get together and review the great stuff you've created, either physically or digitally.

...or just send the archive for another loop to continue building on the world you've created together!

Checking The Digital Archive

The digital archivist should store all of the digitized entries that players send them in a place that players can check in on from time to time.

In order to avoid spoilers, it is recommended that you refrain from checking the digital archive before your turn.

Example Scenarios

• An ancient, high-fantasy evil has returned! Read through the tales of the havoc it wreaked a thousand years ago, and how our predecessors tried to stem the tide.
• A research team from the local university has tapped into a signal of unknown origin. What happens to those who are exposed to the signal, and how have the locals attempted to escape its influence?
• Members of our cold war spy unit have failed to check in. How did they avoid capture for so long, and how can we avoid their fate?

Example Story Items

• A printout of an email
• A memo on custom letterhead
• A post-it note
• A photograph
  • bonus points if it's one of the old ones that you had to shake to develop
• An incident report from some government body
• Lab notes
• A piece of evidence from a trial
• An ancient scroll
• A pirate treasure map
• Letters from the front