Chronicles of Skin

Version 1.1 released July 2012

By Sebastian Hickey

Cover art by Jason Hickey

Interior art by Sebastian Hickey
Edited by Andrew Kenrick and Jason Hickey
Fonts GFS NeoHellenic,
and

Fontin.

Special thanks to Andrew Stirling MacDonald, Bill Reichle, Brian Whitcraft, Christian Nord, Christine Lawrence, Craig Marsden, Daniel Klein,
Erlend Hoem Thordarson, Gregor Hutton, Harv Barker, Jason Hickey,
Matthew Sullivan-Barrett and Stephanie Jackson. Without your generosity
and support, this game would not have been possible.

Small Print

Core testers Adam Kelly, Daniel Klein, Eoin Corrigan, Jason Hickey,
Piers Newman, Roger White, Ruth Kelly, Stephanie Jackson and Susan
Holmgren.
And a special, special thanks to Adam Kelly and Chelsy Berry, the
Founders of Chronicles of Skin, and to Ayaka-chan, the smile of my life.

Visit cobwebgames.com
2011 Sebastian Hickey & Cobweb Games, London, UK
info@cobwebgames.com

Introduction

hronicles of Skin is a creative game of storytelling. You and your

friends will invent epic characters and discover what happens in
a terrible war. Using cards and a pencil, you will doodle and
collaborate.

Youll need three to five players, a pencil and a special sheet used
throughout the game which we call the skin. You can find one inside
this box, or you can download it from chroniclesofskin.com. Youll also
need a large pile of tokens (coins, beads, poker chips).

How to play

There are two ways to play Chronicles of Skin.

The first method, called the Sketch, is suitable for new players. It lasts
90 minutes and is outlined in the first three chapters.

Roleplaying

Have you played a tabletop roleplaying game or storytelling game

before? If not, great! Welcome!
Just follow the rules, invent stuff
and see where the stories take
you.
If you have played lots of these
kinds of games before, this section
sets some expectations.

Intro

The second method, called the Chronicle, is suitable for experienced

players. It lasts three hours and is outlined in chapters four and five.

Game Terms
In Chronicles of Skin, important
words are marked differently.
For example, some words refer to parts of the skin, while
other words refer to components of the game.
New terms are bold when first
mentioned and all the examples
are presented in italics.

N.B. This section was written in

response to the first edition of the rules. It outlines some of the macro
scale questions, like is this a roleplaying game? and when do we
roleplay? If youre not interested, skip it or come back later.

Flow of play

Some storytelling games use scenes to distinguish parts of the action.

Chronicles of Skin uses storytelling tools called puppets and events,
which allow you to direct someone elses character (like a movie director).
Storytelling in Chronicles of Skin is, at its most rigid, a series of commands and reactions. At its most fluid, it is a conversation between
characters interspersed with commands and reactions. The puppets and
events are your way to aggressively collaborate with other players, asking
them to join in with your cool idea.

Intro

E.g. The players are telling the aftermath of the death of terrible
monarch. Two characters are feasting at a banquet. One of the
characters is celebrating while another curses him for his heresy. Its a
languid, jovial curse, plied with wine and friendship. All in all, nobody
seems too bothered. Enter the high priest, demanding, suddenly, that
the traitor be brought forward. One of you, he booms, murdered
the king. Turn over the traitor or burn!
Wouldnt it be interesting if one of them betrayed the other? In
Chronicles of Skin, the rules allow you to command another player.
You would say, I want your character to betray his friend. The other
player could accept that and narrate the betrayal, or reject it using
the rules (p.11) to figure out what happened.

Sketch vs. Chronicle

So, the action of a story flows from one puppet/event to the next. But
when do we roleplay? When do we hear what the characters say and
do? While roleplaying takes up a lot of the game, it works differently
depending on the mode of play.
In the Sketch, each player takes the spotlight, one by one. There is
very little cross-talk and no room for improvised conversation. Everyone
gets a turn and roleplaying happens in isolated bursts. Think of it like
a single barrel shotgun. Someone passes you the gun, you load it up
and fire. Bam! Then pass it on.

In the Chronicle, there are no turns. Roleplaying happens when you want
it to happen. There is a huge space for improvised conversation, nobody
is forced to contribute and the structure is loose. While experienced
players rise to the themes of the game, inflicting mayhem and delight,
newbies often lack the confidence to engage with the game rules.
So, if you like having a turn and you want to learn the ropes, play the
Sketch. If improvising is more important to you and youre not afraid
to grab the rules by the throat, seek out the Chronicle!

Big Scenes with small interactions

Each story in Chronicles of Skin is a big scene with pockets of roleplaying. It starts with character introductions and ends in tragedy.
What happens in-between depends on the mode of play. In the Sketch,
players take turns directing puppets or events against a target. Interestingly, their target always describes the outcome.
Intro

E.g., (Puppeteer) I want your character to poison him. (Target)

Okay, cool. So my character walks up to him, straightens her gown
and blushes, Ahem How do you do? She offers one of two goblets
and smiles.
In the Chronicle, players do not take turns. Players can still use puppets and events, but there is a lot more roleplaying in-between. The
story is still one big scene, but there is more improvising and extended
interactions.
E.g. For this story, I want your character to fall in love with mine so
I use a puppet to make it happen. You describe how your character
is overwhelmed with emotion. We help each other describe the moment. Perhaps they are cautious and awkward. Sometimes speaking
as our characters, sometimes describing their actions, we improvise a
conversation between them. We keep talking until were satisfied or
until someone plays an action card to interrupt.
Now you (sort of) know whats coming, lets jump into the first game.

1: First Game

ar was inevitable. Two jealous cultures (the Croen and the

Iho) were living in peace under the rule of a single monarch.
The spark of his death lit a bonfire of terrible events, the
worst of which you will explore in this game.

Two Cultures

1: First Game

Before we find out about those tragedies, lets learn a little about the
Croen and the Iho people. Every time you play, the Croen and the Iho
will be different. For your first game, use the example cultures below.
Experienced players will invent the Croen and the Iho cultures using
the rules in chapter four.

Croen

The Croen, for example, are famous for being brutal. They believe that
if you rise quickly, you will fall, they have a rule never to settle in one
place and they revere a person called the Eater of the Dead.

Emblems

Place the skin onto the table, with the Sketch side face up. At the
top, you will find two emblems. They tell us about the people they
represent. On the left, we have the Croen emblem, on the right, we
have the Iho emblem.

Traits

Underneath the emblems, you will see three unique traits for each
culturecalled the aspect, the belief and the RulEand one shared
traitcalled the unity. These traits describe the cultures and are used
later during play.
In the top right of the emblems, each culture has a shorthand pictographic representation called a device.

1: First Game

Iho

Meanwhile, the Iho are known as enchanters, they are wary of the
mountain people (it is up to you to decide what that means), their
children must be chained and they also revere the Eater of the Dead.
Dont worry if these seem weird or ambiguous. For now, just keep them
in your mind and read on.

2: The Sketch

he Sketch is a mode of play that suits new players. Using the

emblems on the Sketch sheet, you will collaboratively tell three
stories.

The Table

Set up the tablesee opposite. Pick one person to be the Scribe (the
most experienced player), who reads aloud:
After the death of the Old King, the Croen and the Iho people
turned their knives in the dark. One of the great flags burned,
and the culture was no more. We are the Scribes of the Skin.
Today we will discover the chronicle of the forgotten war.
2: The Sketch

The First story

Every story starts with

cards

and

tokens.

In the following order:

Deal two theme cards beside the skin, blue side up.
Deal one glyph of war card face-up on the skin.
Each player, starting with the Scribe, takes one random card
from either the Croen or Iho deck and places it face-up in front
of them. This is that players character card and it determines
which culture that character is from.
Each player gets three tokens.
Every story has six phases (each explained in its own section):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Doodles: Choose a location and draw on the skin.

Begin the story: Describe the locations and the impending threat.
Characters: Introduce one character each, according to your card.
Play: Take turns playing puppets or events.
Tragedy: Describe an atrocity.
Vote: Decide which player earns tokens and record it on the skin.

2: The Sketch

Glyph of War

Theme Cards

In every story, one culture

commits a terrible atrocity.
The glyph of war helps to
inform the Scribe about the
nature of this atrocity.

You will have the opportunity

to steer toward these themes
by influencing the actions of
the characters. When each
story is over, the Scribe will
decide who represented each
theme most successfully, earning the corresponding player
extra tokens.

The name, icon and verbs on

the glyph of war cards are
there to help the Scribe invent
suitable threats (see p.8).

1. Doodles

The Scribe chooses where the story begins by selecting one of the
three locations from the skin. Now draw both cultures devices above
the chosen locationsee IMAGE. You dont need to get fancy, just
scribble them down!
E.g. Adam is the Scribe for the first turn.
He chooses to start at the Slave Towers
of Chikugo. He doodles the Croen and Iho
devices (the wheel and the spider) above
the Slave Towers.

2. Begin the story

As the Scribe, you get to introduce the story. The Old King
just died (murdered?). You know where it happened because
2: The Sketch

you chose the location, but you dont who was there yet, or how the
people are reacting. Lets find out!
Read out the following, replacing the [part in brackets] with the
tion you chose:

loca-

I am a Scribe of the skin and I choose to examine both

cultures. It was the beginning of the civil war, near the [The
Slave Towers of Chikugo, The Wheeled Market of Seriphim or
the Byzen Stage].

Set Changes

How often do you switch the place or time during a story? Rarely.
It is intended that stories take place at the chosen location and
dont move far from it. That is, dont try to change the backdrop.
But if it feels right, here are some guidelines:
Keep the characters together.
Maintain the threat.

Using the location that you picked above, help the other players to
imagine an important, fantastical place and all the people there.
What youre trying to do is to describe a scene that people can imagine.
Where do you think the Old King died? Is it at the front line of a great
battle or in the royal bed chamber? Is it night? Who is there? Are they
calm? Invent a scene and explain it to the other players.
Once youve described the situation, look at the glyph of war card
and invent an impending threat. Something that is about to happen. It
could be an encroaching army or even a dragon on the skyline!

2: The Sketch

E.g. Adam chooses the Slave Towers of Chikugo and has the word
Rage on his glyph of war. He introduces the story: Imagine a city
of endless towers. Between those towers, there are great bridges, where
slaved men carry heavy burdens. High above them, the royal family
surrounds the bloody corpse of their murdered King. Looking at the
glyph of war (Rage), he introduces an impending threat, Down
below, at news of the Kings death, slaves begin to drop their burdens.
E.g. In another example, Chelsy is the Scribe. She has the Poison
glyph of war and chooses the Byzen Stage as her location. The
Stage is the name they give to their parliament. Its a cool, classic
theatre, full of robes and wine. Theres a big crowd of politicians,
yammering at the King. When they see his goblet of water smash on
the stone steps, they realise he has been poisoned. In this example
Chelsy tied the glyph of war to the introduction. She anticipates that
the whole parliament will have been poisoned alongside the King, so
it still works as an impending threat.

3. Character Introductions

Its time to add some people. Take a look at your

character card.

Name & Rank

At the top, youll see the characters name. Below that, youll see the
rankbetween one and three.
This determines the status of
the character compared to the
rest of the characters, the higher
the rank, the higher the status.

Culture

2: The Sketch

Below rank, you will find culture. Every character will either
oppose, lack or lose by one of
the cultural traits (this is called
being at odds with the trait)
or support, embody or benefit
by one of the cultural traits (this
is called being in line with the
trait). Look at the appropriate
emblem for your character and
find the trait that affects your
character.
E.g. Adam gets the character card Targon, rank 3, who is at
odds with the Croen RulE. Adam now knows that Targon is of a very
high status in this story, but he opposes, lacks or loses by the RulE.
Adam checks the Croen RulE on the skin, and finds that a Croen may
never settle in one place.

Introduce

Starting with the Scribe, each person, in turn, introduces their character
to the story. First of all, think about the characters rank and culture.
Try to imagine what that person would be doing here. Now follow the
instructions at the very bottom of your character card.

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When youre finished, allow the next person to introduce their character.
E.g. According to his character card, Adam must introduce his
character by name, role and appearance. Adam says, Dressed in
swollen robes, with a crown of bronze keys at his temples, Targon is
the overlord of the Slave Towers of Chikugo.
E.g. Chelsy has Babyss, who is rank 1 and in-line with the Iho
aspect, enchanters. Chelsy introduces her by her name, appearance
and passion: Babyss is this young witch with a woollen skirt and a
white shawl. The King treated her like a daughter, so now she wants
to murder his assassin.

4. Play, Puppets & Events

After all the characters have been introduced, each player in turn (starting with the Scribe), has two options: puppet or event.
2: The Sketch

Puppet
Take control of another players character! You can dictate what the
other character does or how they react to your characters actions.
It may only affect one character.
First, grab the puppet action card and point it at your target.
When someone grabs the puppet action card, everyone must
stop, and everyone must listen. Announce your command with a
single verb like, I want your character to beg, or, I want your
character to stab my character.
To improve the chances for success, you may place one or more
tokens in the middle of the table, called the puppet pool.
E.g. On Jasons turn, he points the puppet action card at Adam.
I want your character to admit he killed the King! Jason places
two tokens in the middle of the table. I reject that, Adam replies,
placing three tokens in the middle of the table. Jason takes a card
from the Iho deck, and gets a rank two card. Adam takes from the

11

Croen deck and gets a rank one card. Adding their tokens to the
results, Jason gets a four (two tokens + rank two) and Adam gets
a four (three tokens + rank one). Its a draw, so Jason wins. Both
puppet pools are placed in the tragedy pile.
Because he lost, Adam must now describe his character admitting that
he killed the King. With a strong kick, Targon shoves the Kings body
to the floor. He pauses to wipe the blood from his knife before taking
a seat on the throne. Death to the Old King! he shouts, raising a
glass to the air.

Resolving a Puppet
The target may accept the puppet: place the puppet pool onto
the skin in the area marked tragedy pile.
2: The Sketch

The target may reject the puppet: the target pays one or more
tokens into the puppet pool (unless they have no tokens,
in which case the rejection is free).
Concluding a Puppet
In the case of a rejection, both players take a random card from
one of the culture decks (Croen or Iho, it doesnt matter which),
noting the rank. Each player adds one to the value on this new
card for each token paid. The highest total wins (in a tie, the
puppeteer wins). Both puppet pools are placed on the tragedy pile
and the cards are put at the bottom of their decks.
The target always describes the outcome for their character,
win or lose, reject or accept. If the target loses or accepts, they
must satisfy the command of the puppeteer.

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Event
To control anything outside of the players charactersan unnamed
citizen, a fiendish monster or the boom of a witchs lightning
play an event. Whoever starts the event describes the event. That
player describes the world or its people, but not the other players
characters.
Grab the event action card and hold it in the air. When
someone grabs the event action card, everyone must stop, and
everyone must listen.
You must place one or more tokens in the middle of the
table, called the puppet pool (unless you have no tokens,
in which case the event is free).

2: The Sketch

Now, announce your description! What if all the peasants cheered

for your character? What if an army attacked? What if a monster
came out of the caves?
Reaction
Immediately afterwards, you must dictate how one players character
(not yours) reacts to the event. This reaction is resolved as though
it were a puppet. See the Resolving a Puppet sidebar (left).
N.B. You do not contest whether the event itself occurs. You
contest one other characters reaction to the event.
E.g. Andrew takes the event action card and holds it in the air.
Suddenly, one of the politicians starts coughing up liquid. Its really
black, he points at Chelsy, As your character notices, I want her to
blame the Iho for poisoning the water.
This reaction is resolved like a puppet. Andrew places one token in
the middle of the table. I accept the reaction, Chelsy replies. Now
she describes her character blaming the Iho for poisoning the water.

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Take turns!

After the Scribe finishes, the next player gets the choice: puppet or
event. And so on, until each player has had two turns. At this point,
its time for the tragedy.

Death

It is possible for your character to be killed by a puppet or an event. If

it happens, the player in charge of that character immediately receives a
token and discards the character card from play. It doesnt matter
how a character diesit could be the result of an event, puppet or the
player narrating for his own character. But just because your character
is dead, that doesnt mean you are out of the game! On your turn,
choose a puppet or an event, just like everyone else.

5. Tragedy

2: The Sketch

After two turns each, as the Scribe, you must tell the other players how
one of the two cultures (Croen or Iho) is affected by the outcome of
the story. Inspired by the glyph of war card, invent and describe
a terrible tragedy in which dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people
are killed. Now, ask each player in turn if they will succumb to your
tragedy, inserting a verb from the glyph of war card:
If you succumb, the tragedy will [VERB] your character.
In a few sentences, the player describes what happened to the character
during or after the tragedy. If the Scribe thinks they narrated in sympathy
with the chosen [VERB], the player earns a token. Now move to the
next player, and so on, until its the Scribes turn.
The Scribe narrates their characters fate but does not earn a

token.

E.g. The story ends and Chelsy describes the tragedy. It turns out
that the assassins poisoned the city wells, but only in the Croen district.
Thousands of corpses lie on the streets that night, left unburied. She
turns to Andrew, saying, If you succumb, the tragedy will exterminate
your character. Andrew describes how his character was poisoned and
Chelsy awards him a token.

14

Does the Tragedy always mean death?

Tragedy, very importantly, does not = death. As a player, it is your

decision how to interpret the offered verb. Sometimes it will seem proper
to kill your character to earn a token, other times it will not seem
proper. Do what the fiction demands!

Early Death

For characters that die during open play (before the tragedy phase),
the player is not asked whether the character succumbs or escapes.
If the character is already dead, the character, in a sense, has already
succumbed. In other words, you cant get a free token when your
character dies during play and then get another free token for succumbing during the tragedy!

2: The Sketch

Corpses

For each players character that died, add one corpse icon to the skin
(appropriate to the characters culturesee below) near the location
of the story, and discard the character card from play. E.g. If it
was a Croen character, add a Croen corpse. Only mark a corpse if the
character dies (and is removed from play).
Furthermore, depending on which culture was the victim of the tragedy, for each token in the tragedy pile (see puppet, p.11) add another

15

corpse icon. All corpses that come from the tragedy pile must have the
same icon; they cannot be split between the cultures. When drawing
corpses that are generated by the tragedy pile, always use the corpse
for the culture that was affected by the tragedy. Afterwards, discard the
tragedy pile tokens.
E.g. Two players characters, both Iho, died in the story, so Adam adds
two Iho corpses to the skin near the Slave Towers of Chikugo (see
image, left). Checking the tragedy pile, he finds 12 tokens. In their
story, the tragedy affected the Croen, so Adam adds 12 Croen corpses.

Survivors

2: The Sketch

If any character survives the story, place the character card onto the
skin in the appropriate survivor slot on the skin (either Croen or Iho,
left or right). When placing a survivor, the player who places it chooses
which side he belongs to (so it is possible for an Iho character to become a Croen survivor, for example, if the character betrays his people).
If, during a subsequent story (see p.24), a player chooses to play a
survivor character instead of a random character, the player receives
one free token!
E.g. Adams character, a Croen called Targon, survived the story. Adam
places Targon in the place marked Croen Survivors on the skin. If
a player chooses Targon as their character card in another story,
they get an extra token!

Iho vs. Croen

Is it possible, when playing a Iho story, that the Croen are the ones
to suffer from the tragedy? Yes, that is possible but often awkward
If you have an Iho story, youll have Iho characters. You will be asking their players what happens to them during the tragedy. If you aim
the tragedy at their opponents, you might find it difficult to incorporate
elements on the glyph of war card. To mollify the issue, narrate
long term outcomes.

16

E.g. In an Iho story, the tragedy affects the Croen: The Iho are soldiers
who plunder a village and lay waste to its people. If you succumb,
the tragedy will END your character, offers the Scribe. The player
responds, a few weeks later, recognised at an inn as one of the soldiers at the massacre, he is beaten and strangled by a dozen men.

Adding Extra Characters

During a story, you may want to add a new character, someone who
isnt controlled by a particular player. Use an event to introduce the
character, and turn over one of the Iho or Croen cards to give the
character a name. Immediately convert that character into a survivor
by placing it onto the survivor slotsomeone may like to play as that
character in a subsequent story.

2: The Sketch

E.g. During an event, Jason says, One of the crowd grabs you. Actually, its your brother and his name is, he pauses, turning over a
random card from the Croen deck, Ti Bor. Ti Bor is now placed
in the Croen survivor pile.

6. Vote & Skin

At the end of the story, the Scribe awards the players based on how
well they guided the story toward the theme cards. As the Scribe,
choose one player for each theme (dont chose yourself) and announce
why each player was chosen. Thats important. Then each player takes
two new tokens.
Its okay to award one player both themes. Its also okay to award
themes to players who made things happen but who didnt actually
describe anything.
E.g. At the beginning of the story, there were two theme cards: Heart
and Swords. If one player kept pushing for a love affair between
two other characters by playing puppets on those two characters, he
should get the tokens for the Heart, even though his character didnt
get involved.

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2: The Sketch

Finally, the Scribe copies both theme symbols to the skin, near the
location of the story and adds the symbol from the glyph of war
nearby. Enthusiastic Scribes may like to continue adding to the skin at
this point. Thats OK.
E.g. The theme cards for the scene were Heart and Crown, so Adam
doodles those symbols near the Slave Towers of Chikugo. He also
adds the Rage symbol, from his glyph of war card, interpreting
it as flames coming off the top of the towers.
That is the end of the first story (of three). In the next chapter, learn
how to finish the game and find the winner of the war!

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Example of play
I am a Scribe of the skin and I choose to examine both cultures.
It was the beginning of the civil war, near the Wheeled Market
of Seriphim.
The players have chosen the Wheeled Market of Seriphim for their first
story. The two themes are Crown and Swords. The Scribe turns over
the Army glyph of war and announces
Scribe: So, the Wheeled Market of Seriphim is trundling through the
desert valley. At its fore, the Old King and his son sit on a white
carriage, surrounded by an entourage of advisors, serving men, shade
givers, fruit bearers, manacled children with great, feathered fans and
Ogres with swollen, elephantine feet (carrying ornate, enormous chests
filled with unknown riches).
2: The Sketch

Several of the men suddenly clutch their throats, including the King
and his son. The entourage crowds around to find them riddled with
poisoned darts. They scan the endless horizon for sight of an enemy.
But there is no enemy to be found
Im introducing Byrod Lars (rank three), in line with the Croen RulE:
Hes the Sultan of the Wheeled Market, dressed in white, with a
long, black whip.
Player 1 (Argo): Im introducing Argo (rank one), at odds with the
Iho aspect: Argo despises the enchanters who took him from his
family. Hes a wiry boy with a terrible scar along his neck, wearing
heavy chains.
Player 2 (Koko): Im introducing Koko (rank one), at odds with the
Iho unity: Kokos family were killed without burial. Terrified for their
souls, she will do anything to reach and speak with the Eater of the
Dead. She is disguised as a shade giver.
Scribe: Byrod Lars snaps his head from the horizon and calls out to his

19

entourage. The King is dead! The Wheeled Market rules the desert!
Argo, I want to puppet you. I want you to bow. Ill pay one token.
Argo: I accept. Argo bows low, then whispers, Lord Lars, the plan has
worked! You are the king of these lands!
Scribe: Its your turn, Argo. Puppet or event?
Argo: Ill play a puppet. I want you to unlock my chains. Ill pay one
token.
Scribe: I accept. Byrod Lars kneels down, unlocks the chains and says,
Now the Croen own the desert, you need not worry about filthy
Iho traditions.

2: The Sketch

Koko: My turn. Id like to play an event. Koko slips away from the
entourage, over to one of the Ogres. Good Ogre, now the King is
dead, all creatures will be free. Drop your burden, go! With that, the
Ogre grunts slowly and tosses the huge chest to the floor. Boom! It
crashes open spilling jewels and gold. In reaction, Byrod, I want you
to hurt my character. Ill pay one token.
Scribe: I accept! Byrod Lars turns from Argo and jumps to the desert
floor. You trickster! You thief! Ill have your head! He strides over,
knocks her with the back of his hand and drags her by the hair
toward his guards My turn and Im playing a puppet. Byrod Lars
takes up a great scimitar. Koko, I want your character to die! Ill pay
one token.
Koko: I reject. Ill pay two

tokens.

Scribe: (Draws a random card from the Iho deck) I picked a rank two
card, so thats a three in total.
Koko: I drew a rank three card! Sweet. My total is five. So, you lose.
As Byrod Lars swings the scimitar down toward her head, Koko tucks
herself into a ball and kicks away, rolling under his legs. In half a

20

heartbeat, shes behind him with a knife to his throat.

Argo: In the commotion, Argo leaps down to the spilled jewels and
starts piling them into his pockets. Koko, I want to you to abandon
Byrod Lars. Ill pay one token.
Koko: I accept. Youre lucky I have more important matters, Sultan,
she spits and shoves him forward. Get your hands off my coin,
urchin. This is holy gold, released by me, owned by me. Touch it
and Ill have you chained like you deserve. My turn. Koko grabs
the loot, and begins to jog out into the desert. Id like to play an
event. The Ogres, seeing their friend depart, all toss their chests to
the sand and begin to lurch away, free from their duty. Byrod Lars,
I want you to act defeated. I have no tokens.
token.

I got a two, plus the one for the

2: The Sketch

Scribe: I reject. Ill pay one

token, is three.

Koko: I got a three. I win because I started the puppet.

Scribe: Okay, so Byrod Lars drops to his knees as his fortune spills into
the sand. Speechless, he stares at the glittering gold
Onto the tragedy. The Iho brigands, holed up in their desert caves,
watch this event with glee. As soldiers, slaves and civilians scramble for
the gold, the brigands attack with poisoned darts and curved blades.
All Iho are spared but Croen blood drenches the sand. Argo, if you
succumb the tragedy will overwhelm you.
Argo: Cool. The hoard of Iho, seeing me out of my chains, truss me
up like a stuffed pig and take me back to their camp.
Scribe: Cool. Take a
plunder you.

token.

Koko, if you succumb, the tragedy will

Koko: No way! Koko escapes with her gold and jewels, hoping to use
these riches to seek out the Eater of the Dead.

21

Scribe: No token for you! Byrod Lars manages to escape the killing.
He had arranged the assassination of the king, but hadnt expected
the Iho to betray him. They must have become brave after the Ogres
departed.
He takes a horse and gallops into the desert, searching for Koko, the
thief who stole the throne from under his feet.
Argo: Who won the themes?
Scribe: Koko did something clever with her event. She manipulated me.
She tempted Byrod Latrs to start a fight with her and then defeated
him in combat. So, Koko totally deserves the Swords. Furthermore,
I reckon she made the most (money) out of this calamity, so Im
going to award her the Crown as well. There you are Koko, take
four tokens.
2: The Sketch

Koko: Thanks. That was cool.

Argo: I loved the Ogres. Maybe one of us could play one in the next
story? Speaking of which, what do you want to do with the survivors?
I think Im going to change Argo into a Croen. Hes been horribly
mistreated by his own kind and his allegiance lies elsewhere.
Koko: Cool. Well, Koko is definitely still an Iho, so shell go into the
Iho survivors pile.
Scribe: Byrod Lars is also a Croen survivor. But there are plenty of
Croen dead, right?
Koko: Check out the tragedy pile. There are eight
eight Croen corpses.

tokens,

so thats

Argo: Ill draw those on there. Also, what were the two themes?
Koko: Swords and Crown.

22

Argo: So Ill draw a crown here and a little pair of swords here And
both devices, the wheel and the spider. Wow, the spider is hard to
draw. Do you mind if I just do a blob with eight lines coming out?
Scribe: Yeah, thats fine. Its supposed to look naive anyway.
Koko: Better than I could do.
Argo: Is that everything?
Koko: Dont forget the glyph of warthe army. The card has lots
of soldiers all over the place. You could just copy the card. Here.
Argo: Thanks. Thats it then. I added a big Ogre looking guy and a
treasure chest.

Argo: I have six

2: The Sketch

Scribe: Great, thats it. Argo, its your turn to be the Scribe. Discard
the used glyph of war card, shuffle the theme cards again and
start dealing. Oh yeah, everyone gets three new tokens. How many
tokens do we all have now?
tokens.

Koko: I have seven.

Scribe: I have a measly three.
Argo: Okay, new story. I am a Scribe of the skin and I choose to
examine the Iho. It was the middle of the civil war, near the Byzen
Stage

23

3: Finish the sketch!

fter the first story is complete, take a five minute break. When
you get back, you will play two more stories, one after the
other: Discard the storys glyph of war from play and shuffle
all the decks (Croen, Iho, glyph of war, theme cards).

The role of the Scribe passes clockwise to a new player and a new
story begins. The new Scribe will do everything the old Scribe did in
the first story, but they have more choices to make.
1. First, the new Scribe chooses whether it will be a Croen, Iho or
Mixed story type. This decision affects the type of characters that players
can play during this story.
3: Finish the Sketch!

E.g. The next Scribe chooses an Iho story, so now the characters must
all be Iho, and may only draw character cards from the Iho deck,
or from the Iho survivors. Stories about one particular culture tend to
highlight interesting cultural identities.
2. The new Scribe then chooses one of the other locations from the
skin and draws an arrow from the last location to this one. The new
Scribe adds the Croen, Iho or Both devices above it according to the
decision from step one.
3. The Scribe reads out the following, replacing the [text in brackets]
appropriately.
I am a Scribe of the skin and I choose to examine [the Croen/
the Iho/both] cultures. It was the middle of the civil war, near
[the Slave Towers of Chikugo, the Wheeled Market of Seriphim
or the Byzen Stage].
4. Each player gets three more tokens. Next, the Scribe deals the
as before. Additionally, a player may spend a token to exchange
a theme, character card or glyph of war card for another.
cards

24

a. Before the character card is dealt, each player, in turn, must

be given the option to play one of the survivors instead (if there any
available survivor cards from the appropriate culture). If a player
takes a survivor as their character card, they receive one token!
5. The Scribe introduces the story. Unlike the first story, this story
probably has nothing to do with the death of the Old King and could
occur days, weeks or years later.
6. Play continues and concludes as outlined in chapter two. That is,
once every player has had two turns, the Scribe announces the tragedy,
the story is wrapped up and the vote takes place.

3: Finish the Sketch!

After the second story, switch the Scribe clockwise once again to play
the third (and last) story. Repeat those six steps. Once you have played
the third story, you will determine the winner of the civil war.

War

After the last story, players should discuss the skin, recounting which
side they thought most deserving of victory. After the discussion everyone secretly votes on which culture they think should win the civil war.
Everyone closes their eyes and makes the symbol of the Croen (a C
shape) or the Iho (an I shape) with their hand. Count to three and
open your eyes! If all players choose the same side, the player with the
lowest tokens must change their vote to the other culture.
All the players who voted Croen should add up their
all those who voted Iho should tally theirs.

tokens.

Likewise,

Points from Corpses

Next, add up all the corpses (on the Skin) for each side and note the
difference between them. For each corpse difference, add one token
to the side with the fewest corpses.
The side with the most tokens wins the war. In a tie, the player with
the most tokens makes the decision.

25

E.g. At the end of the game, Adam has 11 tokens, Jason has 9 and
Christine has 8. They all vote Croen to be the winner, so Christine, with
the fewest tokens, must change her vote to Iho. At this point, the Croen
have 20 points (Adam and Jason) while the Iho have 8 (Christine).
Counting the corpses on the skin, there are 18 Croen corpses and 5
Iho corpses, giving a difference of 13. These are added as tokens to
the Iho, bringing them up to 21. The Iho win the war.

Losers and winners

Working up from the player with the fewest tokens, each player on
the losing side tells how one of that cultures traits contributed to the
loss of the war. They pick a trait from the losing culture, imagine how
it could have hindered them, and they tell everyone what happened.

3: Finish the Sketch!

E.g. Jason, on the losing side, chooses the Croen trait, brutal. He then
describes how this might have affected the war, The Croen mistreated
their own people, inciting widespread riots. The Croen, divided, were
no match for the unified Iho army.
Continuing upward, each winner describes how one of that cultures traits
contributed to the victory, until, finally, the player with the highest total
tokens (on the winning side) becomes the Great Scribe.
E.g. Choosing enchanters, a player might describe how the Iho were
able to enchant the leaders of the Croen armies.

The Great Scribe

The Great Scribe describes how one trait carries the culture onto greatness for generations to come.
E.g. The Iho, strict with their children, educated the most disciplined
minds in history. Their discoveries enlightened the world, bringing
peace to the land.
That player draws the winning cultures device within the palace (on
the bottom right), signs their name below it and announces:

26

And that is the story of the forgotten war and the fall of the [Croen/
Iho].

The Sketch for new players

(See page 6)

1. Choose a Croen, Iho or Mixed story (p.24).

2. Choose a

and add

devices

(p.8).

3 tokens to each player.

one character card (or survivor) per player.
two theme cards, blue side up.
one glyph of war card.

3: Finish the Sketch!

a. Deal
b. Deal
c. Deal
d. Deal

location

3. Start the story and introduce the threat (p.8).

4. Introduce

character cards

(p.10).

5. Play On your turn, play an event or a puppet (p.11).

6. After two turns each, the Scribe introduces the tragedy to each
player (p.14).
7. The Scribe nominates two winners (who facilitated the themes
the best), who gain two tokens each (p.17).
8. The Scribe adds the glyph of war, theme card icons and
corpses to the skin. character cards are placed as survivors, or
discarded, and the glyph of war is discarded (p.18).
9. After three complete stories, end the war (p.25).

27

4: INVENTING THE EMBLEMS

he emblems in chapter one are great for your first game, but
you will have the most fun when you create your own! As part
of the game, get everyone to sit at the table.

4: Custom Emblems

You and your friends are going to invent the emblems with the help of
the rune cards (see below). Pick one player as the artist (the most
enthusiastic doodler). First, you will create the Croen emblem.

Croen Emblem

The Scribe should separate the 12 rune cards from the deck and
shuffle them. Starting with the Scribe and going clockwise around the
table, deal one each to the first three players and put the rest aside.
Each rune card is double-sided, with two sections on each side: the
aspect and the belief sections are on the front, while the RulE and
the unity sections are on the back. Within each section you will see
a large icon. This is called a rune.

28

One by one, players will use the runes on their rune cards to build
an emblem for the Croen people and they will record the cultural traits
(aspect, belief, RulE and unity) below the emblem.
During this phase of the game, anyone can make suggestions and offer
ideas, even if it is not their turn.

Aspect

First, the Scribe invents a distinct attribute for the Croen people, called
an aspect. Inspired by the aspect rune on the rune card, the Scribe
invents a word or phrase to describe something unique about the culture
(and discards the card). The artist draws the rune on to the skin in
the space left for the Croen emblem and notes the invented aspect
on the first line.
aspect

rune for inspiration.

4: Custom Emblems

Describe the culture somehow, using the

E.g. Imagine you got the serpent rune for your aspect, how would that
inspire you to invent an attribute for the Croen culture? Cunning?
Stealthy? What about charmers, seductive, or even, snake skinned?

29

Belief

The next player invents a religious or occult passion for the Croen
people, called the belief. Inspired by the belief rune on their rune
card, the player invents a superstition or prophecy for the culture (and
discards the card). The artist adds the rune to the emblem and notes
the belief on the second line.
Invent a superstition or prophecy, using the

belief

rune for inspiration.

4: Custom Emblems

E.g. Imagine you got the mountain Symbol for your belief. What
superstition could involve a mountain? What doom? Maybe a saviour
will come from the mountain, or do not trust the mountain people?

Rule

The third player then invents a law for the Croen people, called the
RulE. Inspired by the RulE rune on their rune card, the player invents
a privilege (available to some) or a crime (forbidden to all) unique to
the culture (and discards the card). The artist adds the rune to the
emblem and notes the RulE on the third line.
Invent a privilege or crime, using the

30

RulE

rune for inspiration.

E.g. Imagine you got the candle rune for your RulE, how would that
inspire a privilege or a crime? Perhaps, using the candle rune literally,
it is forbidden to walk without a candle? Or, using the rune metaphorically, only women can learn from the old books? Alternatively,
virgins must be marked by candlelight, only nobles may lead an
army, or criminals must be blinded.

4: Custom Emblems

As you have seen above, the artist is repeatedly asked to draw each
of the rune images onto the skin in the blank area reserved for the
Croen emblem. It doesnt matter how its done, or how messy it looks.
Now it is time to repeat the process for the Iho.

Iho Emblem

Deal three new rune cards, going clockwise around the table, starting with the fourth player. Depending on the number of players, some
players may end up interpreting a rune for both cultures (for example,
in a three player game, everyone will interpret a rune for both cultures).
As you used rune cards to create the Croen emblem and the Croen
traits, do the same for the Iho emblem and the Iho traits, this time
drawing the symbols into the space marked for the Iho emblem, and
writing the traits in the lines below that space.

31

Once thats complete, deal a final rune card. This will be used as
inspiration for the unity. Unlike the other runes, the unity rune applies to both cultures.

Unity

The last part of both emblems is the unity, common to both the
Croen and the Iho peoples. Inspired by the unity rune on the final
rune card, players collaboratively invent a single, respected character
important to both cultures (and discard the card). The artist writes the
role of this character in the space marked by the unity symbol and
adds the rune to both emblems.
Collaboratively invent a respected character important to both cultures.

4: Custom Emblems

E.g. Imagine you got the daggers rune for your unity, how would the
daggers inspire you to invent a character? You might invent the assassin, the Warlord of the North, the Ritualist, or the Dagger Baron.

Device

For each culture, choose one of their runes and draw it in the top
right box. This device acts as a shorthand representation during play.

32

E.g. In the above example, the players have drawn a triangle for the
device, to represent the mountain rune.

Locations

Once both emblems are complete, three of the most enthusiastic players (or four, if youre playing the Chronicle) draw doodles on the skin
above each of the location names (one doodle per location). These
represent important locations within the kingdom.
If you are playing the Chronicle (see chapter five), use all four locations,
otherwise leave one of them blank. Keep the doodles small and leave
enough room around each so that you can add more doodles later. If
you dont like drawing, write some text, or do both.

4: Custom Emblems

If youre stuck, pick one of the traits for the Croen or Iho and use
that to inspire a location. This technique tends to highlight specific
cultural idiosyncrasies.
E.g. Lets take three examples: a confident artist, a dumbfounded writer
and an ambitious storyteller.
The first player is confident she can draw a simple house shape, so she
adds that to the skin and labels it the Castle of Seriphim.
The second player doesnt know what to draw. Scanning the traits, he
notices the Croen belief, do not trust the mountain people. He decides
it would be fun to include a mountain. Rather than draw a mountain,
he writes about it, The Mountain of Chikugo: A dark, wooded slope,
riddled with caves and covered with hoary frost.
The third player is interested in the story of the unity, the Dagger
Baron. To ensure it comes up during play she adds, the Byzen Territories of the Dagger Baron. To represent the territories, she draws
an abstraction of her ideaa knife surrounded by a circle.
Aim for abstraction and navety with your artwork. When youre trying
to create a pictographic artefact, simplicity sells!

33

5: THE CHRONICLE

he Chronicle is an advanced mode of play with less structure than

the Sketch. It is often the preferred game mode for experienced
roleplayers and storytellers. If you havent played Chronicles of
Skin before, it is advised that you play the Sketch first (p.6).
This chapter outlines the Chronicle mode of play, from start to finish,
omitting examples where rules have been described previously. Where
the rules differ from the Sketch, the text will be highlighted gold.

Setup

5: The Chronicle

Use chapter four to collaboratively invent the emblems and locations.

In the Chronicle, there are four stories, so youll need to create four
locations. Now pick one person to be the Scribe (the most experienced
player), who reads aloud:
After the death of the Old King, the Croen and the Iho people
turned their knives in the dark. One of the great flags burned,
and the culture was no more. We are the Scribes of the Skin.
Today we will discover the chronicle of the forgotten war.

The First story

Every story starts with

cards

and

tokens.

In the following order:

Deal each player a single theme card, blue side down.

Deal one glyph of war card face-up on the skin.
Each player, starting with the Scribe, takes a random character
card from either the Croen or Iho deck.
Each player gets three tokens.
Follow the six phases:

1. Doodles

The Scribe chooses where the story begins and adds the

34

devices

(p.8).

2. Begin the story

The Scribe introduces the story, including the death of the Old King
and an impending threat (p.8).
I am a Scribe of the skin and I choose to examine both cultures.
It was the beginning of the civil war, near the [location].

3. Character Introductions

Introduce your characters using their name, rank and culture according
to the instructions at the bottom of your character card (p.10).

4. Free Play

This section is 100% the opposite of the Sketch. Enjoy! After character
introductions, there are no fixed turns. Instead,

5: The Chronicle

Chronicle Rule 1: During the story, you have control over your
own character and you may describe what they say and what
they do, at any time, without playing an action card.
At any time, as long as no one else is using an action card, you may
take control of another players character by playing a puppet (p.11), or
you may take control of the world and its people, by playing an event
(p.13). To play either, grab the appropriate action card and follow the
instructions. Note, however,
Chronicle Rule 2: When you play an action card, everyone
must stop and everyone must listen (until the results of the
action card have been determined in full).

[NEW!] Pictographic Events

Players can boost their events by drawing on the skin! Once during
every story, each player may draw something onto the skin near the
location icon for the story. After the drawing is finished, the player
introduces an event related to that drawing. If they do so, they gain
one token to use during the event.

35

E.g. Jason loves doodling and hes low on tokens. He wants to

introduce a dragon into the story, so he scribbles a dragon onto the
skin. When hes finished, he holds the event action card in the
air. Everyone stops talking. The sky darkens. High above, a great
winged beast lands on the witchs tower. Pointing at another player,
he adds, I want your character to bow to the dragon! Since this is
a pictographic event, Jason gets a free token for his puppet pool.

[NEW!] Ending the story

To end the story, someone must play the

the card and follow the instructions:

end action card.

Grab

5: The Chronicle

Ask if anyone wants to play a puppet or an event.

If no one wants to, you take a token and the story ends.
Otherwise, put the end action card back and allow the story to
continue.

5. Tragedy

Inspired by the glyph of war card, the Scribe invents a terrible

tragedy and tells how one of the two cultures is murderously affected
by the outcome of the story (p.14). In summary, the Scribe asks each
player in turn if they will succumb to the tragedy, inserting a verb from
the glyph of war card:
If you succumb, the tragedy will [VERB] your character.
In a few sentences, the player describes what happened to the character
during or after the tragedy. If the Scribe thinks they narrated in sympathy
with the chosen [VERB], the player earns a token. Now move to the
next player, and so on, until its the Scribes turn.
The Scribe narrates the fate of their character, but does not earn a

token.

Early Death

Characters that die before the tragedy (p.14 and p.15) earn their player a
token but cannot succumb during the tragedy.

36

Corpses

For rules on determining corpses and survivors, see p.15-16. In summary,

add a corpse for each character card removed from play and use
the tragedy pile to add a number of corpses for the culture affected
by the tragedy.

6. Vote & Skin

Because everyone has their own theme in the Chronicle, things work
differently at the end of each story. Players discuss and vote for the
single best theme (theres only one winner).
Each player, starting with the Scribe, describes which of the other players
themes was represented the best (the winning theme). Afterwards, all
players close their eyes and nominate a winner by pointing. Players
may not nominate themselves. The Scribe counts to three and everyone
opens their eyes.
5: The Chronicle

The winning theme is the one with the most nominations. If there is no
clear winner, the Scribe decides the victor. Now, anyone who nominated
the winner gains a token. Furthermore, the player in charge of the
winning theme gains six tokens!
Ive played versions where people are all boasting their own themes and
Ive played other games where the vote is more like a round of flattery. It is intended that players look to each others themes, but theres
nothing stopping you from boasting your own efforts.
E.g. Lets say Jason had the Swords theme card. Adam endorses
Jason before the vote, When Jason brought in the dragon, I had a
feeling there was going to be a fight. Suddenly, everyone was squabbling over what to do and then Jason played a puppet on me, forcing
me to slay the dragon. The story, for me, was all about that dragon,
the battle on the slayers honour. So, Swords gets my vote, I think.
Add the

glyph of war,
ter cards are placed as

theme and corpses (p.15) to the skin. characsurvivors (p.16), or discarded, the glyph of war
is discarded (p.18), the Scribe is rotated and a new story begins (p.24)!

37

The War

After four stories, the game is nearly over. Players discuss and vote for
the cultures, count up their tokens and corpses, and tell the epilogue of
the civil war. Use the War rules in chapter three (p.25) to finish the game.

Chronicle Summary

The Chronicle is competitive. You will talk more about your own character, you will have a clear motivation to support your own theme, and
you can have fun sparring with other players to get your theme on top.
However, without explicit turns, some players dont know when they
should speak. Heres a tip: If youre not sure, grab an action card!

5: The Chronicle

E.g. Lets explore themes with an example. Imagine that Chelsy and
Andrew are playing the Chronicle. Chelsy has the Crown, and Andrew
has the Swords. During play, Chelsy and Andrew are having fun sparring with their themes.
Chelsy starts by introducing her character, an up-and-coming politician.
Andrew introduces his character, a general in the army. Both players
use puppets to control the story:
1. Chelsy tries to introduce the Crown theme by creating a motivation for power: She puppeteers the general, getting him to beg for a
place in the senate.
2. To support the Swords theme, Andrew tries to turn this into a
duel: He puppeteers Chelsys character, getting her to reject him. His
idea is that when the politician rejects the general, the general turns
to violence.
3. If no one objects, its okay to use two puppets in a row: Andrew
announces that his general draws his sword. He then puppeteers Chelsys
character, this time getting her to die of a mortal wound.
On the following page, youll find a summary of play. If you have
any questions, drop us an email, or visit chroniclesofskin.com. Happy
scribbling!

38

The Chronicle for old hands

(See page 34)

1. Choose a Croen, Iho or Mixed story (p.24).

2. Choose a
a. Deal
b. Deal
c. Deal
d. Deal

location

and add

devices

(p.8).

3 tokens to each player.

one character card (or survivor) per player.
one theme card per player, blue side down.
one glyph of war card.

3. Start the story and introduce the threat (p.8)

character cards

(p.10)

5: The Chronicle

4. Introduce

5. Play Describe your characters actions freely (p.35)

6. Or play events, puppets or pictographic events (p.35)
7. When someone successfully plays the end action card (p.36),
the Scribe introduces the tragedy to each player (p.14).
8. Discuss the themes. Vote blindly for the winner, who gains six
tokens. Successful nominators gain a token each (p.37).
9. Details are added to the

skin

and

cards

are discarded.

10. After four complete stories, end the war (p.25).

39