EGIL

A ROLEPLAYING
GAME

BY

KARL OTTO KRISTOFFERSEN

CHRISTOPHER RAKKESTAD

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WHAT IS THIS? HOW TO PLAY?
A small roleplaying game, where you portray the The game consist of four phases, with a time cap
legendary Viking poet Egil Skallagrimsson as an of 10 minutes. The immersion of Egil requires a
old man. Haunted by dark memories, you are se- chair, a table, your phone with a stopwatch and an
ated by a fireplace to confess regrets of the past. application for streaming music.

WHO CAN PLAY? Your creative tools will be a pen (Egil’s QUILL), a
EGIL is designed as a creative process, and an blank piece of paper (Egil’s PARCHMENT) and
individual exercise. You can still share the expe- a fistful of RPG dice (D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 and
rience and enjoy the crazy outcomes by playing D20, Egil’s RUNESTONES).
simultaneously with multiple participants.
PHASE 1 CHECK IN:
Start your timer, play atmospheric Viking music
WHY ROLEPLAY EGIL? and sit down on your chair. Grab your QUILL
It is a time-efficient exercise in: and RUNESTONES, and close your eyes. Bre-
• Creative writing during time constraint
athe. Relax. Allow full immersion and whisper to
• Utilizing dice as a narrative tool
yourself “I am Egil, I am Egil”. Whenever you are
• Practice fictional positioning ready, open your eyes.
You are EGIL!
WHO WAS EGIL SKALLAGRIMSSON?
The controversial bard lived and died in the 900’s, PHASE 2 CONFESSION:
as written in Egil’s Saga. He was ugly, quarrelsome Let the RUNESTONES fall decisively to the ta-
and full of himself. At the age of seven, he killed ble, and interpret the outcome properly. Recollect
for the first time, beating an older boy to death. the dark memories, and create spectacular poetry
As a young man, he cracked open a farmer’s jaw with QUILL to PARCHMENT.
only to vomit down his throat. At the time Egil
was thirsty for mead, and the farmer could of- PHASE 3 ATONEMENT:
fer nothing but sour milk. And so he drank. Egil Before the time is up, rise. Grab the PARCH-
travelled all around the known world and fought MENT with firm hands. Read your poetic confes-
in several battles. He quarrelled with Ladies and sion aloud, to speak the unspoken in atonement.
Lords, and fell out of grace many a time. Repea- Feel the power of confession embrace your heart
tedly, Egil avoided death sentences by enchanting and soul. If you play in a group, wait until the
stakeholders with carefully composed poetry. time is up and rise in orderly fashion.

METHOD OF EGIL’s POETRY PHASE 4 CHECK OUT:

The poetry of Egil Skallagrimsson was usually Sit down, and close your eyes. Breathe. When you
written from his own perspective. It was infamo- are ready, open your eyes again and stop the ti-
usly vulgar, atmospheric and brutal. Just like the mer. Turn off the music. You are yourself again.
man himself. The journey is over, for now.

Egil wrote methodically in verses and lines. He

was among the first to use end rhymes.

As a part of the confession, you will write one to

three verses of poetry, containing four to six li-
nes. You can choose one of three structures. Sym-
metrical, asymmetrical or limerick.
• Symmetrical: AAB AAB AAC AAC
• Asymmetrical: AAB AAC AAB AAC
• Limerick: AAB AAB AC AC AAB

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SECRETS IN RUNESTONES HOW DID IT HAPPEN? (D20)
Bring forth the fragments of Egils dark memories. 1 Head from torso
Interpret the RUNESTONES and forge your con- 2 Ripped apart
3 Stabbed in the heart
fession. Quickly, the hourglass is running out!
4 Skull crush
5 Fists
WHEN DID IT HAPPEN? (D4) 6 Kicked by a horse
1 Dawn 7 Chokehold
2 Noon 8 Poisoning
3 Dusk 9 Thrown overboard
4 Midnight 10 Crucified
11 Berserker rage
WHERE DID IT HAPPEN? (D6) 12 Rip out chunks of hair
1 At a marketplace in Holmgard 13 Limbs from torso
2 Aboard a ship in the North Sea 14 Remove teeth
3 In a Church at the Orkney Islands 15 Bow and arrow
4 By golden acres in Mesopotamia 16 Vomiting
5 National parliament of Iceland 17 Stab the eyes
6 Fertile oasis of Miklagard 18 Hanging
19 Someone saved you
WHO WERE INVOLVED? (D8) 20 Rip out intestines
1 Lost love
2 Renegade WORDS THAT RHYME
3 Religious authority • Sword, fjord, bored, chord, horde, hoard, lord
4 Mighty warrior • Blood, flood, mud, stud, wood, stood
5 Rich merchant • Gut, but, cut, nut, shut, hut
6 A bastard • Knife, fife, life, wife, strife, midwife
7 Random victim • Spear, deer, clear, beer, sphere, year, gear
8 Rival skald • Monk, drunk, chunk, hunk, punk, sunk
• Priest, beast, yeast, feast, decreased, released
• Armour, charmer, farmer, burner, corner
WHAT KIND OF SITUATION? (D10)
• Death, breath, width, wraith, bathe
1 Duel
• Shield, yield, wield, healed, field, concealed
2 Drunk fight
• Wine, line, fine, mine, decline, shine, shrine
3 Surprise
• Gold, bold, cold, blindfold, hold, scold, told,
4 Hunt
• Song, long, strong, throng, wrong, prolong
5 Bargain
• Word, bird, heard, slurred, absurd, unheard
6 Plundering
7 Diplomatic situation
8 Combat EXAMPLE
9 Survival Method: Symmetrical
10 Sex Runestones: Noon, Orkney Isles, religious
authority, diplomatic situation, romance,
WHY DID IT HAPPEN? (D12) stabbed in the heart
1 Revenge
2 Greed “I fell in love with an Orkney girl,
3 Romance the most beautiful in the world,
4 Justice her father was a holy man,
5 Rumour and I dared ask him for her hand.
6 Desperation
7 Orders
8 Forced by someone
No filthy heathen would get his daughter,
9 A fat reward as he shouted I burst out in laughter,
10 Honour she was already quite a slut,
11 By chance with my bastard growing in her gut.”
12 A secret mission

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FINAL COMMENTS
This is an attempt to create a small and atmospheric roleplaying game, where you challenge your crea-
tivity and learn a few things. The gonzo violent approach is supposed to be cartoonish and fun.

The game was crafted over the course of 2 weeks for ”R.I.S.K”, the annual Norwegian Indie RPG Crea-
tion Contest. ”EGIL” won best design & text, received the most votes from the community and ranked
second place in total.

For the original version we drew the visuals ourself. For this version we utilize stock art from www.
kisspng.com, and a painting of the madman himself from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons
License.

The unbelievable historical person, the man, the myth, the legend Egil Skallagrimsson, inspired this
game.

You can find more information about him and other spectacular stories of the Viking Era in the
Saga-literature. The game is also inspired by the comic Conan the Barbarian, and the Norwegian Soga
om Olav Sleggja.

Safe journeys, EGIL …

Karl Otto Kristoffersen CHRISTOPHER RAKKESTAD

[email protected] [email protected]

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