Hi All, WILD is an great game from a UK publisher. I’m eager to give it a second session.
We do carry it on my marketplace: WILD RPG and Tarot deck
I’ve run a quick 1 on 1 session.
I made a video about it:
The "Script", sortof - for those who prefer text.
WILD (Wake Initiated Lucid Dreaming) is a dreamshare RPG that can be played as a solo journaling game or by a small group of friends with one taking on the roll of DreamMaster.
In WILD, you might explore the dreams of a coma patient, search for secrets in the mind of a criminal or a troubled youth, or lose yourself in the depths of the collective unconscious.
WILD was created by UK based we evolve , designed by David F. Chapman.
In the setting of WILD, there has been a breakthrough in dreamshare technology. PALIS (Portable accelerated Lucidity Induction System) allows the sharing of curated dream experiences as well as allowing the delving into the dreams of any individual “primary dreamer.”
WILD uses a custom Tarot deck to inspire scenes, obstacles and challenges (situation, obstacle, aid, resolution). The Tarot cards are also used to resolve actions and to create two important parts of your character: their Persona [mostly positive parts of your nature] and their Shadow [the more negative parts]. These primarily inform roleplaying and the rest of your character build but do have special rules if either your Shadow card or Persona card are drawn during action resolution.
4 Attributes are rated from 1 - 6 from 12 points as you chose. Control [physical precision], Strength [physical power endurance], Focus [mental precision], Passion [mental power endurance]. – Each corresponds to a suit.
5 Abilities are rated 4, 3, 2, 2, 1. They are: Scholar, Rogue, Guardian, Diplomat, and Visionary – Each corresponds to a court cards.
You create ~3 aspects which are best when they are both positive+negative based on the situation. “Cautious” will be helpful in some circumstances and a hindrance in others.
For an action requiring resolution you choose one Attribute and one Ability. You draw three cards, + or - 1 card for any relevant aspects.
Any card equal or below the sum of Attribute + Ability generates a success. If a card matches an attribute (suit) or the ability (court card) this also generates a success. It is possible for a single card to generate 3 successes . . .
Major Arcana drawn indicate that some sort of dreamlike effect has occurred. Major Arcana do not contribute successes, they indicate that something unplanned, interesting and dreamlike has transpired. You should pause, look at all the drawn cards for that task and interpret a twist based on their standard or reversed meaning, the text, or imagery on the card.
I recently ran a short game 1 on 1 and the cards do a wonderful job inspiring a dreamlike quality. Simply looking at the cards is very helpful, but the book also lists many suggestions particularly for the situation, obstacle, aid, and resolution in crafting a new scene or location.
The last 42 pages of the 100 page hardcover book is dedicated to the cards, and since this acts as a big random generator of ideas it is space well used. It also allows you to play the game event without picking up a WILD Tarot deck. The book is otherwise broken into a brief introduction, the rules, character generation, a fairly detailed adventure (a training program devised by the creators of the dreamshare PALIS device, where you are delving into the dreams of a coma patient) and a final chapter covering other dream scenarios.
The book positions itself as a bit of a “starter version” and this shows in a lack of rules for character advancement, but there is a ton of playability here.
The cards are gorgeous surreal feeling black and white, with just a hint of color for each of the suit symbols. The finish on them give the cards a bit of a shimmering glitter.
In my 1 on 1 play through our “hero” played a disgraced hedge-fund manager, who had jacked into the dreams of one of his co-founders who had ousted him from their company. He delved into the dreams trying to get dirt on his rival so he could have revenge in the “real world.” He was almost ejected from the dream when they confronted each other in the board-room on the day he’d been ousted. An they both awoke after he became his rivals dog and attacked him. Since PALIS dreams are so real, his rival went to the hospital in the real world.
We basically had our PC draw for everything, though important NPCs could make their own draws. Instead I mostly opted to shift the difficulty (a single success normally generates “Yes, but” result, 2 success a clear win-win, but this can be stepped up one or down one) or required multiple draws.
Hopefully that has peaked your interest in WILD RPG. You can get both the core rulebook and the WILD Tarot deck from the Compose Dream Games RPG Marketplace in either print/physical or PDF/digital versions.
Good gaming!
Outro
I usually don’t state pricepoint in videos, the rulebook is $40 CAD ($31.41 USD), the tarot deck $25 CAD ($19.47 USD) with pdfs at $26 and $16 respectively (~20.24 USD and ~12.45 USD).
Happy to answer questions, I am looking forward to running it the game again!
Have any of you played it or similar Tarot powered games?