CO T

N E NTS
Palimpsest.......... 4

What Is This Game?.....
..... 5
Copyright 2020 by Gordie Murphy Safety Tools.......... 7

Setup.......... 7
www.gmurphy.itch.io

Written by Gordie Murphy Your First Civilization.......... 8

Design & layout by Gordie Murphy
Creating Civilizations.....
..... 10
Mechanics based on “I’m Sorry Did You Say Street Magic”
Adjectives.......... 12
by Caro Asercion 3
ample.......... 1
3 Player Ex
Cover art by Madeleine Ember
Playing The Game.......... 14
Other images and fonts are public domain Actions.......... 16
Game Setup Example.......... 18
Another 3 Player Example.......... 20
Transitioning To The Next Civilization.......... 22
A Handy Cheat Sheet
.......... 24
Ending The Game.......... 27 3
PA
What Is This Game?
Palimpsest is a game about creat-
ing and discovering the develop-
ment of civilizations across thou-

LIM
sands of years, and understanding
how one led to the other. You and
a few others will be collaborative-

PSE S T
ly creating concepts for civiliza-

tions, taking on Lenses of them,

explaining how they faded, how This game
they came to be, and how ideas does not have
get recontextualized from one a game mas-
to the next. ter: everyone
We live and work above layers and layers of history, of
art, of culture often unknown to us. Sandwiched in be- has equal own-
You'll be connecting these ership over the
tween the remnants of bloody wars are the relics of a
civilizations to each other story, and every-
peaceful stretch of history. The architectural prowess
by leaving behind artifacts, one should intro-
of one civilization gives way to the simple construction
relics, traditions and ideas duce and build off
of homes as technology is lost. Traditions get passed
for the next civilization, of ideas.
down, changing through time as one group passes
and building subse-
them on to the next. These form a palimpsest of history,
quent civilizations Palimpsest can be
diverse layers hiding beneath the surface we see every
based on what you played in a single ses-
day.
leave behind. sion of a few hours, or
you can split it up over
several sessions.

It's also helpful if someone

takes notes during this
game, even brief ones.
You may well want to refer
back to things that hap-
pened earlier in the game,
so having some sort of re-
4 cord is advisable. 5
 a r i n g
Safety Tools

Pre
p
When roleplaying, sometimes the story can involve
subjects that some people find uncomfortable. I
strongly recommend using a tool like an X card, script
change, and lines and veils, to help avoid what topics
people might find upsetting, and give players tools to

Fo
respond to topics so you can create a safe space in
which to tell your story.

r
Setup
What you need to play:
• 3-5 people
• Some paper or index cards

P l ay
• Something to write with
• A few hours

6 7
 Your First Civilization
The first civilization you build is a starting point
only. You're going to be exploring a timeline of
civilizations that spans thousands or even mil-
lions of years. You'll find out what this timeline
looks like through play, and things can change
drastically over the course of the timeline. You
can change genres if you like, or play through
civilizations that follow very different rules, as
long as you can explain what happened in the
transition from one to another.

Take a piece of paper or index card and in the

corner write a 1, an A,or something else to mark
this as the first civilization. Each subsequent
civilization will get its own sheet or index card
as well. This is called the Civilization Sheet.

8 9
 Creating Civilizations
Follow these steps to create civilizations, writing down
information on the sheet of paper or index card you’ve
marked for this civilization:
Get a feel for it. Each player chooses or rolls an adjective
from the list on page 12 to get an overall feel for the civi-
lization. This is just to spur some ideas, and are not strict
guidelines for play.
Define the core concept—a one-sentence broad-strokes
view of this civilization. Start a conversation about the
core concept using the adjectives you selected. What
do they make you think of? What comes to mind? You
can keep this general. You’ll define much more detail
during play, but this is a good chance to get the tone
down. Is this a civilization that echoes the world we live
in? Is it bright and fantastic, filled with magic? Or is it in a
speculative future? Write this core concept down on the
paper or index card representing this civilization, enough
to remember what everyone agreed on.
Determine your focus. Although your civilization might
encompass a continent, a planet, or a galaxy, it’s helpful
to focus on one particular part of it. That might be one
nation, a city, an island, or however you want to draw
the boundaries. As you go through subsequent civiliza-
tions your focus might move or shift to another area, and
that’s totally fine.
10
Discover the downfall. What hu-
man trait leads to the downfall of
this civilization? Ultimately it will be
some flaw of the people living in
this civilization that leads to its down-
fall, even if the final stroke is a natural
disaster. Were the people so self-ob-
sessed that they didn’t see the warning
signs? Did they think themselves invinci-
ble? You’ll explore how exactly the down-
fall comes about through play, so you don’t need to fig-
ure that out yet. For now, just define the human trait that
spells their doom.
Give this civilization a name. If you don’t have one for it
just now, you can do it at any time during play, just make
sure you give it a name before you move on to the next
civilization.
Choose your Lens. Each player should choose and de-
fine a Lens of this civilization to play. A Lens can be any
slice of the civilization, and is called so because it’s a
lens through which you’ll see everything that happens
to this civilization. You could choose to play as a group of
people, a cultural movement, an idea, the climate, the
fashion, part of the environment: anything that seems
interesting to you. Interpret these broadly. If something
really interesting could happen but it falls just outside
the scope of your Lens, go ahead and include it. 11
 3 Player Example
Jamaal, Alexandria, and Kara are starting their game and
creating their first civilization. Jamaal has volunteered to
be the designated note-taker for this civilization. He sets
up a Civilization Sheet with the number 1 in the corner.
The players randomly decide on the adjectives sepul-
chral, decaying, and futuristic. Jamaal writes these down
on the Civilization Sheet.

They agree on a common image of an ancient under-

ground city, largely abandoned, marked by giant stat-
uesque totems that perform a technological function
Adjectives: the current residents don’t really understand anymore.
They decide that while this civilization encompasses
1. Dark vast stretches of caverns, they’re going to focus on this
2. Fantastic one city.
3. Dirty
4. Idyllic After discussion, Kara suggests that the trait that even-
5. Low-tech 16. Ethereal
tually causes the downfall of this civilization is reckless-
6. Heroic 17. Hierarchical
ness. Jamaal and Alexandria both agree that that’s inter-
7. Mundane 18. Ancient 26. Sepulchral
esting, so they agree to go with that idea. Jamaal writes
8. Hopeful 19. Compact 27. Urban
that down on the Civilization Sheet as well.
9. Industrious 20. Vast 28. Unforgiving
10. Secretive 21. Bustling 29. Rugged
Alexandria suggests that this civilization be called the
11. Prosperous 22. Gloomy 30. Futuristic
Ghalo Caverns. The others agree, and Jamaal writes it
12. Decaying 23. Majestic
down.
13. Isolated 24. Sacred
14. Peaceful 25. Uncanny
They each think over what Lenses they’re interested in
15. Arcane seeing this civilization through. Jamaal decides his Lens
is the trading business that crosses a huge lake in the
caverns. Alexandria decides to play as the main cavern
itself, and Kara decides to play as the city’s cuisine. They
each write their Lens down.
12 13
 Rounds of play:
Palimpsest is played with several rounds, called epochs,
for each civilization you create. Each round contains sev-
eral turns.

One player will define a Keystone, naming a broad sub-

ject related to the civilization that they’re interested in ex-
ploring further. You could ask a question about the civ-
ilization, or focus on one of the adjectives or ideas you
chose during the setup phase. Every turn in the round
will be related to this Keystone. Write down the Keystone
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creating and exploring intersections between the Key-
stone and their Lens. On that turn, players can take one of

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15
 Establish something about your Lens of the civilization.
You can do this whenever you just want to add details to
your Lens.

A
Establish a Remnant: something that will be left behind
for the next civilization. Be specific: what will outlast this
civilization? It doesn’t have to be something physical, and

ct i
could be abstract, like an idea. You could create some-
thing new that is related to your Lens, OR choose to pre-
serve something someone else has mentioned that is

on s:
not necessarily related to your lens. Write this down on a
scrap of paper or index card, called a Remnant Card and
put it on top of or next to your current Civilization Sheet.
This can apply to anything that comes up in play, even
something generated during one of the other actions.
Once something is made a Remnant, it stays a Remnant
through all future civilizations.

Recontextualize something from this civilization or a pre-

vious civilization. Concepts change over time: what have
people come to think about differently? Keep this related
to your Lens. Write this down on the Civilization Sheet or
on a Remnant Card, or wherever it makes the most sense
to keep this record.

Discover something new from a previous civilization, re-

lated to your Lens, and describe how the current civiliza-
tion understands what they find. You won’t be using this
action during the first civilization.

Once again, interpret these actions broadly. The goal here

is to tell an interesting story!

16 17
 After each player has taken a turn, the lead player who
defined the Keystone describes a Flashpoint that leads
toward the downfall of this civilization, that is still related to
the Keystone. This is a major event for the civilization, and
it doesn’t have to be related to the player’s Lens.

Each other player has a chance to say how their Lens is

related, or how the Flashpoint changes their Lens. Keep
these reactions brief. You can use this as a chance to re-
act to information that came up in the round after your
turn, if something sparked your imagination and you want
to add to it.

When everyone has responded to the Flashpoint, the

next player to the left will define a new Keystone. Repeat
the above process until each player has defined a Key-
stone for this civilization.

After each player has led an epoch with a Keystone and

Flashpoint, it’s time to wrap this civilization up. Sum up the
fate of this civilization, drawn from the Flashpoints you’ve
created. These are the moments that sum up the down-
fall, all you need to do now is draw them together with a
few minutes of discussion. Summarize the downfall, then
it’s time to transition to a new civilization.

18 19
 Another 3 Player Example
This is an example of one epoch of play, in this group’s
second civilization (not the civilization from the earlier
example). Jamaal has chosen the civilization’s physical
buildings as his Lens, Alexandria chose the climate, and
Kara chose the folklore of this civilization.
Jamaal starts off the epoch by deciding that his Keystone
is the rituals performed by this civilization. He’s interested
in exploring what those rituals might look like, and how
everyones’ lenses portray them. Kara volunteered to be
the group’s designated note-taker for this civilization, so
she writes the Keystone down on their current Civilization
Sheet.
Jamaal introduced the Keystone, he takes the first turn,
choosing to establish something related to his Lens. He
decides that this civilization has a series of ornate physical
buildings specially set aside for these rituals to take place
in. Kara makes a note to remind them.
Alexandria goes next. She wants to leave a Remnant for
future civilizations, and decides that the rituals this soci-
ety performs involve burning substances that leave nox-
ious gasses in the air. Her Remnant is the poisoned air
that future generations will have to breathe. She writes
this down on a Remnant Card and places it on top of the
Civilization Sheet.
20
Kara takes the last action of the epoch, and decides to
recontextualize something from their previous civilization.
She chooses a Remnant Card from a previous civiliza-
tion (see below for instructions on how to transition to
new civilizations) that describes artistic artifacts creat-
ed by artisans of that era. While they were purely for
decoration, Kara decides that people of this civilization
incorporate them into their oral storytelling tradition.
She makes a note on that Remnant card to show the
change.
Since Jamaal chose the Keystone for this epoch, he’ll
also decide on a Flashpoint, an event that leads to the
downfall of this civilization. Since the group previous-
ly decided that this civilization’s downfall is caused by
selfishness, Jamaal decides that the civilization’s richer
citizens horde food for private rituals, causing a food
shortage. Kara writes the Flashpoint down on the Civi-
lization sheet.
Alexandria responds to the flashpoint, saying how
it affects her Lens. Food shortages mean that it’s
harder to get new seeds to grow new food, and
less plant life means worse air.
Kara also responds, saying that the folklore of
this civilization morphs to include the promise
of a time of plenty as more people go hungry.
21
 Transitioning To The Next Civilization
During this step you’ll seed the next civilization, the next
layer up in the strata of left behind societies. There are a
few steps to do this:
Set up a Civilization Sheet. Get out another piece of paper
or index card, and write the next letter or number in the
corner to mark it as subsequent. Place that next to the
previous one. You’ll be recording information for this new
civilization on this civilization sheet.
Transfer your Remnants. Take all of the Remnant Cards
where you wrote down things to leave behind for the
next civilization, and transfer those to this new civilization.
These are all a part of the starting point for the new civili-
zation. By default, all Remnants from past civilizations stay
Remnants, even if no one specifically designated them
as Remnants again. For example, all of your Remnants
from your first civilization will automatically get passed on
through from civilization two to civilization three as well.
If you’ve recontextualized any of your Remnants, it’s up
to you how you want to notate that, or whether you think
they’re best left as separate things, preserving both op-
tions, or not.
22
Develop the new civilization. Select one of the adjectives
from the previous civilization to retain. Then, go through
the steps to create a new civilization again, with each
player adding a new adjective. You’ll end up with one
more adjective for all of these subsequent civilizations
than your first one. Your concept, focus, and Lenses may
all change; they don’t have to be related in any way to the
previous Lenses. The flavor of the previous civilization will
be reflected in your new civilization through the adjective
you’ve retained and the Remnants left behind.
Describe the transition. How did the previous civilization
lead into this new one? How much time has passed until
the emergence of this new civilization? What do you re-
member about the last civilization, if anything?
23
 A Handy Cheat Sheet
Start off by discussing safety tools like lines and veils, the X

me
Ga
card, or script change.

Creating civilizations:
1. Set up your Civilization Sheet
Se t up
2. Each player chooses one adjective from the list
3. Define your core concept
4. Define the scope of the civilization to focus on
Example
5. Choose a character flaw that leads to the downfall of the civ-
ilization
6. Name the civilization
Civilization A Civilization C
7. Each player chooses a Lens to play as for this civilization Civilization B

Every epoch:
1. Choose a Keystone
2. Each player takes one of four actions related to the Keystone:
• Establish something about your Lens
• Leave something behind for the next civilization (Remnant)
• Recontextualize something
• Dig up something from a previous civilization
3. Describe a Flashpoint that leads to the downfall of the civili-
zation (does not have to be related to your Lens)
4. Each player says how their Lens relates to that Flashpoint. Remnants Remnants
Remnants
5. Repeat until each player has chosen a Keystone.

Transition to a new civilization:

1. Set up a new Civilization Sheet
2. Transfer all the Remnants in the last civilization to this sheet
3. Follow the steps to create a new civilization, keeping one of
the previous adjectives
4. Choose new Lenses
5. Describe the transition, including how much time has passed
24 25
 E
You can end your game of Palimpsest after any civiliza-
tion concludes. There are no conditions you need to fulfill,
you can just stop when it feels satisfying to stop. I rec-
ommend doing at least three civilizations to get the full

n
layering effect of a palimpsest, even if you spread them
out over two or three shorter sessions.

If you feel like the current civilization you’re on might be

d
your last, check in with everyone so you can see what
unanswered questions people still have. This will be your
last chance to weigh in on them, and maybe answer a
few.

i It’s worth going back through the things that passed

from civilization to civilization to reflect on what changed.
Where did things start and how did they end up? What

n
do you think happens to this world? Is it doomed, or are
these civilizations on a road to something healthy and
sustainable?

g
the
26
Game 27
Gordie Murphy
gmurphy.itch.io
@gordiemurphy