FRIENDSHIP LETTERS This is an epistolary game about friendship and everyday challenges. It is intended for four players. Players take on the roles of candy colored ponies who live in different cities or towns of the same country and correspond with each other and with the princesses who rule the country to ask for advice. Each player takes on the role of their pony character (PC) and the role of one of the four Princesses of the Seasons who rule the land. The princesses are pseudo-GM characters. Who is taking on the role of a princess rotates in each story the players tell. THE WORLD Friendship Letters is set in the magical kingdom of Greater Caballia, a large country stretching across most of a continent. The kingdom is ruled by the four Princesses of the Seasons, although cities and towns have their own local governments. Technology is about the level of 1930’s America: electricity exists, long distance communication is by mail, travel between cities is by train, within larger cities there are pony-drawn taxis. Most of the population still lives in small towns and works the land to produce food. Owning weapons is not normal (firearms do not exist) and the country is almost entirely peaceful. Most hooved creatures are sentient and can talk (ponies, donkeys, cows, zebras, deer, etc.) but ponies are the majority population. There are other countries in the world and mythical creatures (griffins, minotaurs, dragons, etc.) exist, especially those described in classical greek myth. There are no humans. THE GAME Start the game face-to-face with the other players to negotiate character creation. The rest of the game is played via letters sent through the mail. To begin the players create their pony characters (PCs). Each character should have a name, an occupation, a special talent, and one sentence descriptions of four supporting pony characters (SPCs) who are their local friends and family. As a group the players should decide why their PCs are friends and why they have all moved so far apart. For example, they all attended the same school and graduated, they moved to attend different schools or colleges, or they moved to follow careers. The players take turns choosing which of the Princesses of the Seasons they will play. Each player has one princess and vice versa. The four princesses are: Princess Cherry Blossom (spring), Princess Gentle Monsoon (Summer), Princess Pumpkin (Fall), and Princess Diamond Dust (winter). Each of these princesses has a distinct appearance and is responsible for magically controlling the changing weather of their season for part of the year. (For a larger game, consider creating “equinox” or “solstice” princesses.) The players pick someone to be the first troubled pony of the game. From now on the game is carried out via hand-written letters (typed is ok if a player can’t write). The troubled pony writes to two of the other players’ PCs (the advising ponies) and describes a dilemma their pony is facing. This problem should include some of their local friends and family and will usually be a more mundane “daily life” problem like “X asked me to hang out but I already promised Y that I would play chess with him”, “My sister lied to me about being sick and she went out with her friends when she’d promised to help me plant a garden”, “W thinks I like frogs and keeps giving me frog things, but I actually hate frogs”, or something similar. Problems can be higher stakes, but this is “slice of life” not “saving the world” scale. The advising ponies each write back to the troubled pony (as their PCs) offering advice about the troubled pony’s problem. They should make up anecdotes to justify their advice. They may also mention details of their daily lives and relationships with their local friends and family that could lead into problems for their PC later. The player of the troubled pony should consider both sets of advice and decide how their pony wants to handle the situation; they may take some, all, or none of the advice. They then write a letter to the princess played by the fourth player (the player who hasn’t yet sent or received letters for this problem; the GM-princess) telling the princess about their dilemma and how they plan to try to resolve it. The princesses receive letters from many ponies (not just the PCs) so they know a lot about what goes on in their kingdom. The player of the GM-princess should write back to the player of the troubled pony (as the GM-princess) and describe how the situation turned out from the point of view of the troubled pony’s local friends and family. She may also offer advice or complications from the solution that the troubled pony can come back to later. In describing the resolution the GM-princess should pick 3 of the following: * Things go as the troubled pony intended * Nopony involved is upset or hurt by the troubled pony’s actions * Somepony involved goes out of their way to be a good friend (can be the troubled pony or somepony else) * Nothing external disrupts the situation while the troubled pony is trying to resolve it Whenever possible: * the GM-princess should respect the troubled pony’s intentions on how they said they would resolve the problem * the resolution should represent at least a partial success for the troubled pony * the SPC ponies involved should have good intentions (though they may do stupid things or lash out when hurt) The GM-princess may also mention something interesting that happens in the background where the troubled pony lives. This may be something the troubled pony can come back to in later stories or something colorful and amusing about the world. When the troubled pony receives the princess’ letter, they should write to one of the two advising ponies, telling them what they learned from the experience (what they’re glad about, what they regret, etc.). This is a signal that advising pony will become the troubled pony for the next story. The pattern repeats until each player has played the troubled pony twice. Rotate so each player gets to be a troubled pony, advising pony, and GM-princess about the same number of times and each player’s role changes from story to story. It is ok to coordinate this out of character via email or instant messages. If desired, collect and share scans of all the letters for the players to enjoy after the game.