Chronic Illness: The Tabletop RPG
The main mechanic of this game is the feedback loop of energy use. You’ll be given five spoons to place in front of you. Do not question the spoons.
In this game you get what you’re given.
Each action costs you one spoon.
Actions you may take include, but are not limited to:
fighting running problem-solving walking talking eating screwing loving digesting crying sleeping sitting shitting breathing
To reach the next level, make sure you take plenty of rest breaks. To take rest breaks you must be supine, succumb to gravity, thinking of nothing.
You must also use designated restorative spots, or ‘beds’.
Each time you find a ‘bed’, roll a dice to determine the quality of your rest. The number you roll determines how many spoons you will receive.
You may think this game seems difficult. It is. You play the role you are given.
True, the next adventure looks much like the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that, ad infinitum.
How can you win?
That’s really beside the point.
Charlotte Heather’s writing explores bodies experiencing chronic illness and disability, often intersecting with gender and sex, and is a member of resting up collective and founder of the remote body. Their work has appeared in Hotel, Spam Zine and Lighthouse Journal. Charlotte is currently editing a pamphlet concerning RPGs and illness whilst teaching creative writing.
Twitter: @Lottyyy / Instagram: @TheRemoteBody
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