Valthorne: Resonant Play Toolkit
A guide for collaborative, reflective, and improvisational RPG storytelling
Jam Table TL;DR
Session Structure (The Setlist)
| Phase | What It Is | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Tuning | Opening stillness | One minute of silence. Listen to the room. Arrive together. |
| Invocation | First offering | A player begins with a word, image, or memory. |
| Movement | Scene flow | Shape the rhythm together. Echo. Solo. Sustain. Fade. |
| Resonance | Shared emotional peak | A ritual moment or emotional convergence. |
| Echo | Group reflection | Each player offers a word, image, or closing phrase. |
| Fade | Closure | End in silence. Let the story rest. |
Player Cues (Use Freely)
| Cue | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Echo | Bring back a phrase, symbol, or feeling. |
| Sustain | Hold the moment. Let silence breathe. |
| Dissonance | Introduce tension or contradiction. |
| Chorus | Invite others to join or co-create. |
| Fade | Signal resolution or scene end. |
GM Shift
- Anchor rhythm, don’t direct plot.
- Let players offer instead of react.
- Track emotional tone, not just events.
- Leave space. Let the story breathe.
Try This Prompt
“The Flow hums.
Your WAND waits.
The Commons listen.
What do you offer?”
Pre-Session Quick Guide
What This Is
A slow, intentional storytelling experience.
You don’t need to perform. You don’t need deep lore.
Just be present. Just offer. Just listen.
What to Expect
- Play unfolds like music, not puzzles.
- You don’t have to speak right away—or at all.
- What you say is a contribution, not a move.
- The story will grow from our attention.
Session Flow
- Tuning – We begin in silence.
- Invocation – A player offers the first image or phrase.
- Movement – Scenes build from response, echo, and shift.
- Resonance – A collective moment of tone or emotion.
- Echo – We reflect with gestures, words, or silence.
- Fade – We end gently. The story rests.
Helpful Language
- “I offer a memory...”
- “I echo that moment...”
- “Can we hold the silence?”
- “Let’s let the scene rest.”
Core Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Offering | A word, image, memory, or action without pressure. |
| Echo | A callback to deepen the mood. |
| Sustain | A signal to hold silence or tension longer. |
| Fade | Gently closing a scene or session. |
| Invocation | An image or tone that opens the play. |
If You’re Nervous…
That’s okay. You can listen until you’re ready.
Silence is participation. Presence is enough.
“You’re not here to win.
You’re here to remember with us.”
Sample Table Transcript
Excerpt: “The Flow Remembers”
TUNING
(One minute of silence. Dice still. A candle flickers. No one speaks.)
INVOCATION
Aera (Player 1):
“I had a dream. The griefstone cracked in my palm, but it was warm. It sang my name.”
(Silence. The table absorbs it. The GM nods in rhythm.)
MOVEMENT
Rhett (Player 2):
“I don’t speak. I just place my WAND near the stone. If it hums again, I want it to be for her.”
GM:
“It hums—but out of tune. A minor key. Someone else’s grief bleeding through.”
Zel (Player 3):
“I echo the note. Just one syllable. ‘Ka.’”
Aera:
“That was my sister’s chant. You couldn’t have known that.”
RESONANCE
GM:
“The Commons gather. They begin to hum. The Flow Track rises.”
Rhett:
“I offer my grief—my mother, lost in the Flood Years. Let it blend with hers.”
Zel (Cue: Chorus):
“Mine too. Not because I’m ready. Because she never got to.”
GM:
“The griefstone hums in chord. Each of you may speak one line that becomes part of the civic record.”
Players say:
- “We sang what hurt.”
- “We offered the silence before it broke.”
- “Let the Flow remember this.”
ECHO
GM (Cue: Echo):
“What do you leave behind?”
Aera:
“My name, carved in silence.”
Rhett:
“My WAND, cracked but lit.”
Zel:
“A note, unsung—but echoing in someone else.”
FADE
GM:
“Let the story rest.”
(Silence. One player extinguishes the candle.)
End of Toolkit
Play like you mean it.
Listen like the silence matters.
Let your story echo.