“When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!” - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Every adventure requires a first step.
Through the Looking-Glass is a roleplaying game based on the world of Wonderland, created by Lewis Carroll and explored in his wonderful stories and poems. The game sees you take on the role of a protagonist in such a tale, exploring the whimsical nonsense of the realm, and trying to overcome one of its terrifyingly bizarre villains.
This micro ttRPG is based on the works of Lewis Carroll, specifically Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). The game embraces Carroll’s love of wordplay by utilising letter tiles from the household word game Scrabble®️ (by Mattel) as its conflict-resolution mechanic. In order to overcome obstacles, characters draw tiles from a sack and create words.
"Take the two words 'fuming' and 'furious'. Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards 'fuming', you will say 'fuming-furious'; if they turn, by even a hair's breadth, towards 'furious', you will say 'furious-fuming'; but if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say 'frumious'."
- Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass includes:
- Rules for surviving the whimsically sinister world as a protagonist
- A Protagonist Sheet to detail their greatest desire, worst fears, and real-world bonds
- Two adventure types for the GM to run - the Mystery or the Quest
- Three Archenemies for the Protagonist to defeat
- Sixteen illustrated nonsensical NPC Contenders
- Adventure openings for the GM
- A summary of gameplay for the GM to structure their conflicts and challenges
- Random Occupation Tables
To play Through the Looking-Glass requires a flat surface, a sheet of paper, a pencil, a sack of tiles with a single letter and number upon them, and a sense of imagination.