Healer
A downloadable game
Healer is a one player journaling game in which you play as a for-hire healer in a world of fantasy adventure. You'll float from party to party, meeting new allies and exploring dangerous locales in hopes of keeping your group from falling to the darkness that confronts it (and keeping your wallet from running out of coin).
And you'll keep a journal along the way, charting the course of your adventure and looking back on the places you've been and people you've met, all inspired by draws from a Tarot deck.
Writing & Layout by Tamsin Bloom (@tamsinthegame). Featuring art by Hero Fox (@heyfoxprince)!
A note on Tarot: you can find an online tarot generator here, and information about card meanings here, among many other places online. Similar tools to Tarot, such as Oracle decks or more standard playing cards, can be used with minor rules adjustments.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $2.50 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- "Jounraling"Dec 28, 2021
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hey, thanks for the simple but fun system! I did a session of it on twitch and now I have a story I'm attached to xD I used the Book of Shadows vol. 2 tarot deck and a couple of dice to randomize some outcomes because I'm a dice goblin and love contested rolls xD To be honest, the freedom to roll or not wherever I wish feels quite refreshing. I could fully fall into my imagination or let the dice decide for me. Honestly I might play this game again on stream one day. The tarot cards really lend to making a nice story :D Thanks again Tamsin!!
My first run : Amarosa and the Rookie Duo in the Dungeon of Swamp xD
This short game provides for such great world building and character development. The prompts and mechanics are direct enough to provide clear direction and also open enough for much creative expression.
I ended up playing for a few hours because I wanted to really take my time contemplating what was being built and the story being created. It ended up turning into a beautiful story about recovering from self doubt, friendship/community, and healing from our inner demons.
I also ended up rolling to randomize some aspect, but this is by no way needed to enhance the game. The tarot system allowed for inspiration for beautiful narration.
If you are unsure about getting this game, please get it. It is wonderful.
This game is so fun! I was really surprised at how quickly the Healer started to develop relationships with some of the party members, purely based on the tarot cards. Like the other commenter, I home-brewed it a bit to use dice to randomize the choices a bit, but I added using a d8 to decide the type of dungeon, and a d20 to decide if the party continued or left the dungeon (although the d20 could easily be replaced by any other die, or even just a coin flip).
I had no idea "journaling" rpgs were even a thing before I tried this game, and I'm SO glad I found it! I'm totally obsessed now. Especially since my collection of blank journals now has a use!
Thought I'd leave a comment, so others would know how awesome this one-page game is! The tarot mechanic is so lovely, and has the benefit of being both simple and flexible. I really enjoy being inspired by whichever deck I'm using when writing my healer's adventures. It's also nice that you have the option of ditching your party and either re-rolling or retiring altogether. I did use a d6 to randomize several things (e.g. the kind of party I'd join) but didn't feel I needed to do that to enhance the game.