Song of the Scryptwyrm

Physical copies of the game will be available in Oct/Nov 2025.

Print-on-demand copies of the Collection oracle deck will be available in Aug/Sept 2025.

Once upon a time in the infinite and ever-changing Great Library, there lived a fairy tale in search of being told, for that is how such stories survive and grow. It was the tale of an impossible theft, so it found a target, it found a thief, and soon after that, the Scryptwyrm found that a vital song had been stolen from its mind.

Song of the Scryptwyrm is a solo mystery game that slowly reveals the culprit as you gather clues from people, places, and things around the infinite Great Library. It can be played it as a stand-alone game or as a sequel to the CRIT Award-winning RPG The Librarian’s Apprentice, continuing your journey to becoming a Librarian.

• Immerse yourself immediately in the story, learning the rules as you play.
• Gather clues with the aid of your training as a Librarian's apprentice, your familiar, and your Collection - a small oracle deck that reinforces the themes of the Library.
• Craft a ritual for reading your Collection and use it to flavor your experiences.
• Populate the Library with provided characters and locations or create your own using generator tables.
• Explore the game itself for secret messages.

This game is a hack of the Hints & Hijinx solo mystery game system from Pandion Games and uses only human-made art, including elements from Alderdoodle, Galen Pejeau, Emily Entner, and the public domain. 

“The song must be recovered before the twelfth chime,” the Scryptwyrm warned. “Fail, and terrible consequences will follow.”

Song of the Scryptwyrm is a 60-page, full color zine that contains:

• Just-in-time instructions that teach you the rules as you play
• 36 potential suspects, contacts, or witnesses, plus generators for creating your own
• 18 locations, plus generators for creating your own
• Tables of motives, methods, and opportunities
• Ephemera from around the Great Library

In addition to the game, you'll need three 6-sided dice and a deck of playing cards.

Each turn of the game follows the same core game loop:

1. Identify a location for the next step of your investigation.
2. Draw and interpret two cards from your oracle deck, known in the Library as your Collection. Use their elements to establish the opportunity and complication that await you in the location.
3. Decide on an approach you'll use to try to overcome that complication and discover a clue.
   • Your Apprenticeship: useful for research, navigating the Library, and interacting with others.
   • Your Familiar: rely on their personality, knowledge, and connection to the Library.
   • Your Collection: for when you need greater insight into the situation.
4. Roll your Investigation Check.
   • If you discover a clue, the dice will tell you which of three suspects it implicates, and the Investigation Track will tell you whether it reveals their name, motive, method, or opportunity. The first suspect with a filled Investigation Track is the thief!
   • You may also discover Trouble is brewing. If this happens often enough, a twist occurs to make your path more difficult.
5. If you aren't out of time and need more clues, choose your next location!

And so the Head Acolyte pulled forth her collection: a thick stack of bits and scraps of paper bearing symbols, notes, and stains from long use.

Some inhabitants of the Great Library carry custom decks of documents known as collections. By interpreting the symbolism of the documents, they gain insight into a situation: uncovering patterns, identifying challenges, and assessing potential opportunities.

You and your character will both use a collection during the game. Your collection consists of eight cards. Each has a name, a concept, themes, a yes/no oracle response, and a symbol, and each has been created from a different document from the Great Library. 

While the game teaches you how to create a collection using standard playing cards, I've also designed a fully illustrated, tarot card-sized set. A digital version of the deck is included in the bonus content and a print-on-demand version will also be available. 

The bonus content currently includes:

• A print-friendly version of the character sheet / investigation form
• A digital file of all ten - yes, ten - Collection cards

The following additional content will be added as it is completed:

• A plain text version
• A written actual play
• A secrets guide with hints and solutions for various hidden messages
• A creator commentary version of the game with trivia and design notes

Steph Campbell | TTRPGkids.com

Song of the Scryptwyrm starts off with a lyrical story that beautifully sets the tone and then teaches you how to play as you go. It’s full of hidden elements between the pages (like torn bits from one page showing up on another) and documents in various states and forms – basically, the layout itself tells its own story and has a magic to it as well.

A full review from Steph is available here!

Michael Low | Luck of Legends

Dan is an artist. His medium happens to be brilliant, bibliophilic, bespoke games that evoke magical realism, fables, and spark the heck out of the imagination of anyone who picks them up. This game is a love poem to libraries and stories without end, and will guide and inspire and tease and mystify you and leave you wanting more. It reminds me of every afternoon I ever got lost in a mazelike bookstore or library and imagined I heard tiny giggles in the shelves. GO. GET. IT.

Andrew Boyd | Pandion Games

Dan has given us a beautiful love letter to libraries and their keepers. Scryptwyrm is a fantastical romp among the endless library nestled between the yellowed pages of nostalgia and adventure.