A Place to Fuck Each Other, Buried Without Ceremony
Bleak Spirit, Chris Longhurst
Crow Cillers, Cate Wurtz
Pain Star (If heaven is full of people), Car Seat Headrest
The Beach, Car Seat Headrest
THE OCEAN WASHED OPEN YOUR GRAVE
A GM-less tabletop roleplaying game based on Bleak Spirit by Chris Longhurst and Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest (now free to download on itch.io)!
“Your ex is dead (to you). It’s time for a beach funeral. Find and close the grave for good.”
GAMEPLAY
The INHUMAN and the GHOST used to have a relationship. Decide as a table if it was as friends, lovers, or something else. As the INHUMAN seeks closure, they’ll approach and touch the PAINSTAR, a vivid memory that will end the game. Decide if you want to play through 5, 7, or 9 non-chronological scenes.
Every scene, a player takes their turn as the INHUMAN. The player sitting opposite is the GHOST. Everyone else is a FRIENDLY PROPHET. The INHUMAN gets to pick if this is an ABSENCE, a NIGHT OUT, a TALK, or a PHONE. Starting with the GHOST, then the INHUMAN, then around the circle twice, add information to the scene. There’s only one rule – it cannot be the moment they broke up for the last time.
PLAYER ROLES
THE GHOST OF YOUR BODY: The ex in question. Describe the scene’s setting.
THE NERVOUS INHUMAN: A young person remembering their relationship. Describe what you remember here.
THE FRIENDLY PROPHETS: A passerby. Describe your relationship to them and what you saw. Contradict where you can.
SCENE TYPES
ABSENCE: The GHOST is away, but the INHUMAN is thinking about them.
NIGHT OUT: The two go out. Decide if it’s on a date or to a social gathering.
TALK: The two have a conversation in the middle of a mundane day.
PHONE: The two talk over the phone. Decide if it’s over text, call, or video.
SCENE PROMPTS
PLACES: An occult store. Harper’s ferry. A train station. Ocean City. A basement concert. KMart. A dorm room. Kansas. A car.
PEOPLE: A Satanist with braces. Fish in suits. A stammering drunk. Partydog. A fugitive from the laws of nature. Mary Shelley.
MAKE BAD STORIES
Once the scene ends, write down what you thought happened. DO NOT SHARE any of this out loud but use it to inform future scenes. They’re not conclusive or canonical – as miscommunicated as their relationship. Play passes to the next INHUMAN.
PAINSTAR
After all the scenes are done, the GHOST narrates the final time they spoke. The FRIENDLY PROPHETS each describe an item the GHOST left behind. The INHUMAN says nothing and nods to indicate which ones they kept. End with the line–
“Don’t worry. You and me won’t be alone no more.”