Once Upon a Time

Centuries ago, a rebellion Split the Fae into two courts. The proud and capricious seelie court
presides over the seasons of Spring and Summer, meting out punishments and rewards as they
see fit. The cold and meddlesome Unseelie Court presides over the seasons of Autumn and
winter, sowing discord in the mortal realm, often simply for fun.
Both courts view mortals as mere pawns to manipulate, punish, reward, and steal at a whim.
You are a fairy of one of these courts, and you have taken interest in the life of an unfortunate
mortal. The courts will push and pull this protagonist through a series of events in an effort
to gain more control in the mortal realm .

Gather Your Forces

You will need a deck of playing cards, a twenty-sided die, and writing materials.

Seelie/Unseelie plays best with 2-4 Fae. Each player chooses a different dominion. You do not
need all four seasons, but you must have at least one representative of The Seelie Court and one
respresentative of the Unseelie Court present.

Order of P lay
Setup
Create Player Characters
Create Story Setting
Create a Protagonist
Gameplay
Act I
Add a Setting Element
Add a Secondary Character
Add a threat or conflict
Call to Adventure
Enlighten the Throne
Act II
Add a test or trial
Add an ally
Add an enemy
Midpoint Crisis
Enlighten the Throne
Act III
Choose something the protagonist lost
Choose something the protagonist gained
Choose an emotion, hope, or fear the protagonist must deal with
Final Test
Enlighten the Throne and Resolution
Choose Your Allegiance
Each dominion exhibits particular traits and motivations to keep in mind during role-play.
Each Dominion also has a special ability that can be used once per game at any time to influence
the lives of the mortals in your story.

Seelie Court
Members of the seelie court must move the protagonist in a benevolent direction.

Spring Dominion
Spring Seelie are the most likely to kill you with kindness. They will lure, flatter, cajole, and
lie to get their way, but they’re not likely to cause any direct harm.

Special Ability: Manipulate

Change the motivation or direction of the protagonist or an ally.

Summer Dominion
Summer Seelie are the most benevolent of the fae, but are still frivolous and self-serving.
They want the world to follow their code and will reward “good” behavior and punish “bad.”

Special Ability: Gift

Bestow a character with a fairy gift that grants a single specific power or trait

Unseelie Court
Members of the Unseelie court must move the protagonist in a Malevolent direction.

Autumn Dominion
Autumn seelie are the most active in human lives, but are more of a mischievous nuisance than
a serious danger. They will rob, trick, and prank unwitting mortals for fun.

Special Ability: Trick

Make a character believe something that is untrue in the context of the story. The
character cannot be swayed from this belief.

Winter Dominion
Winter Seelie are the most dangerous of the fae. They are as cold and beautiful as the season
they reign over, and will harm, kidnap, or punish mortals for their own purposes.

Special Ability: Curse

A subject is given a physical transformation or a life-disrupting obligation, like a donkey
head or a forced engagement to a troll.
Build Your Character
Once you have chosen your dominion, create a fae character that serves this faction. You can
create a fairy, nymph, brownie, bogart, kelpie, banshee, elf, gnome, or any other fae you want.

Choose a name, physical traits, and personality features

Decide how you fit in with fairy society and how you feel about the factions
Decide on a personal goal, motivation, or backstory to add depth to your fae

Once you’ve come up with your character, give a brief introduction to the other players at the
table. Write your name and title down on an index card, along with your faction and your
special move, and put it in front of you.

Create Your Setting

The setting for your story is where the action will take place, and also defines the flavor of the
world you’ll be telling your story in. While Seelie/Unseelie is written with a focus on a fairy
tale setting, don’t be afraid to adapt it for other locales that you’re interested in exploring.
Discuss as a group to find something everyone is interested in.

Decide on a time period and a general aesthetic for your setting. Examples include:

A fantasy or fairy tale setting

A historically medieval setting
A Victorian-era setting
A far-future, space age setting

Once you have your time period, pick a focal location for your game. This is where most of the
action will happen: the primary community you’ll be following. Other locations may come into
play over the course of the game, but this one should remain the focus. Examples include:

The small village in the woods, by the river

The king’s castle and surrounding town
The new Mars colony

Make sure everyone at the table is invested in the setting and the locale before moving on.
Create a Protagonist
You’re telling the story of the fairy courts all trying to interfere with one particular mortal:
the Protagonist of your story. Fairies are meddlesome, and what the Protagonist ends up doing is
going to depend on how you influence and manipulate them and the people around them.

First, determine who your Protagonist is going to be. Choose someone everyone is interested in. An
interesting Protagonist will have connections to other people and places in the setting: they’ll
have strings to tug on to build an interesting story.
They should be someone in the focal location you’ve already chosen. Examples include:

A lowly servant in the King’s court

The head of the town’s volunteer guards
The chief engineer of the new Martian colony

Use the questions below to help determine who your Protagonist is going to be:

What is their role in the community?

How much responsibility do they have?
Are they connected to any organizations?
What does the protagonist believe?
What does the protagonist want?
What does the protagonist fear?
What is their greatest weakness?

Give the Protagonist a personality, and decide what they look like. Make sure everyone at the table
has a clear picture of who the protagonist is.

P ique the Interest of the Fae

Decide why your protagonist is important to the fairy courts. This is the story of the fairies’
attempts to influence the protagonist, so why are they interested in this person? What plans do
each of the courts have in mind for the protagonist? Maybe the protagonist is the descendent of a
magical race, with latent magical abilities. Maybe they’re the destined ruler of the kingdom (or the
current ruler) and the fairies are interested in manipulating them for political power, maybe
their dad insulted a fairy once. Fairies can be petty too, so the reason can be as dramatic or as
ridiculous as you’d like.
Starting the Story
Seelie/Unseelie takes place over three acts. You’re telling the story together, but your characters
are not necessarily aligned with each other. The Seelie and Unseelie courts are seeking to push to
protagonist in different directions, and even spring/summer and autumn/winter fairies will
disagree on ideas about what to do and what tactics to use to get there.

The story is told in three acts. Each act will have players introduce some plot elements to the
story over three rounds, with each player taking three turns, and then move to a phase called
“Enlighten the Throne” where player actions will happen and the plot of the story is created.

Before starting act I, separate the deck of cards by suit, removing the Jokers from the deck.

each suit correlates to one of the roles:

Spring: Diamonds
Summer: Hearts
Autumn: Clubs
Winter: Spades

Give each player all cards from their suit. Each player shuffles their suit together, and draws
three cards into their hand, keeping them secret from all other players. These cards represent
your available power to force or prevent story actions.

Using Special Abilities

Once per game, each fairy can use their special ability during the creation process in any act.
When any player (including you) introduces an element, you can interrupt the flow of play to
announce that you’re using your special ability on that element, and describe how you’re using it.
For example, if you’re the winter court fairy, your special ability is to place a curse. Let’s say a
player has introduced a character that you’d like to curse. Announce that you’re cursing that
character, and describe the nature of the curse. Write down who or what you’ve used your ability
on, any relevant details, and cross your ability off of your index card to show you’ve already used
it. Using your ability will affect the narrative for that introduced element, and give you a bonus
in the Enlighten the Throne: Player Action Phase).
Act I
The first act is all about building the initial conflict. Every player takes their turn for each round
of the act before moving on to the next round. Fairies are notoriously hierarchical, so The oldest
player at the table goes first, as the most veteran fairy, and play proceeds clockwise.

Round 1
Add a specific element to the setting. This might be a building or location, a geographic feature, or
a group or organization.

Round 2
Add a specific character to the story. Think about who might be present in the location you’ve
chosen to focus on.

Round 3
Add a threat or source of conflict to the story to introduce stakes for the Protagonist. Choose
things that will complicate the Protagonist’s life.

Call to Adventure
Now that you have established your world and minor characters, it’s time to get your protagonist
moving forward in their story. Use a d20 to roll for a call to adventure on the chart below.

1- An unexpected child 6- loss of a loved one 11-desire to seek a fortune 16- A monster Threatens
2- Discover a magic object 7- invited to a ball 12- loss of a valuable 17- sent on a quest
3- A banishment 8- Apprenticed 13- A terrible mistake 18- enticed by a location
4- A Dark Portent 9- trouble in town 14- engaged to stranger 19- learn of new family
5- A mysterious stranger 10- a challenger appears 15- inherit property 20- Receive a distress call

These prompts are broad, and you’re free to interpret them as liberally as you want. Adapt the
prompt to fit the specific story elements you previously created. Just remember, it must motivate
your protagonist to action.

you’re also free to introduce your own call to adventure here if all players are on board. If you do
create your own, discuss with everyone at the table until you find something everyone is
interested in exploring.
Enlighten the Throne- P layer Actions
All fairies are required to attend a general assembly three times a year to inform the Queen of
their deeds. In the player action phase, players take turns telling the Queen how they’ve conducted
their business concerning the Protagonist. The fairy business should tell the story of how the
protagonist has reacted to the incident rolled on the chart and continued on their path.

Telling the story

On their turn, the active player roleplays a monologue in which they explain to the Queen how they
attempted to influence or manipulate the Protagonist into doing their bidding and what effect
those actions are intended to have.

Challenging Actions
The player sitting to the left of the active player will listen to their proposed actions, and sets a
difficulty for the active player by playing a card from their hand, face up on the table. The value of
the card represents the difficulty of the challenge: be fair in your assessments! Tricking a drunk
tavern patron is easier than kidnapping a king. A two represents an extremely easy challenge, and
an ace represents an extremely difficult one. After playing the card to set the challenge, draw
another card from your deck. You should always have three cards in hand.

Success and Failure

The active player responds by playing a card from their own hand to represent their efforts to
overcome the challenge. If they can play a card of an equal or higher value, they overcome the
challenge and their efforts are successful. If not, they still play a card to represent the failed
effort. A player can always discard a card from their hand and choose to fail, even if every card in
their hand would result in success. After playing the card, draw another card from your deck.

After the cards have been played, the active player should tell the Queen whether their efforts
were successful. If not, what went wrong and how did it affect the story?

If you successfully complete an action, keep the other player’s challenge card to represent a
successfully completed deed. Put that card face up in front of you. These completed deeds are your
reputation among the other fairies: they are what you’re known for.

Each player will undergo two challenges in each Enlighten the Throne player action phase.

Special Ability Bonus

If you describe an attempted action that involves a story element that you’ve used your special
ability on in one of the acts, any card you play to overcome the challenge gets a +2 added to the
value. It’s easier to act against someone you’ve cursed, for example.
The Trial of the Serpent
After you have enlightened the throne the first time, you may be qualified to undergo a fairy ritual
known as the Trial of the Serpent, Which bestows you with great power if successful. Only fairies
of renown may make the attempt: any fairy that has successfully completed 3 deeds may take the
Trial. You may take this action as soon as you accomplish your third deed or you may hold it as a
future action.

To complete the trial, play a card in your hand as if you were overcoming a challenge set by
another player. In this case, the difficulty is always set at 11, meaning you need to play a Jack or
higher to complete the trial.

Players that complete the trial grow in power: all of their remaining cards are treated as if they
had +1 value for the remainder of the game. Write down on your index card that you have completed
the Trial of the Serpent.

Act
The second act is all about building tension and adding action to the middle of the story. The
player who won the most challenge cards goes first, and if there’s a tie the oldest of the tied
players begins the act.

Round 1
Introduce a test or trial the protagonist must face

Round 2
Introduce an ally or mentor to help your character with their trials

Round 3
Introduce an enemy, large or small, that threatens the character

Midpoint Crisis
Your character must now face a challenge or change, threatening harm or distraction. Use a d20
to roll for a Midpoint Crisis on the chart below, then proceed to the Enlightening the Throne phase.

1- An ally is taken 6- An ally betrays 11-environmental danger 16- Trapped

2- A new threat appears 7- Death of a mentor 12- Discover a dark secret 17- Forced to betray
3- The protagonist is lost 8- A false accusation 13- Separated from allies 18- a Valuable is stolen
4- it’s not as it seems 9- A new goal appears 14- loss of identity 19- Physical harm
5- a power is taken away 10- a Temptation 15- Loss of status 20- Discover a new power
Act I
The Third act resolves the Protagonist’s story, for better or for worse. The player who won the
most challenge cards goes first, and if there’s a tie the oldest of the tied players begins the act.

Round 1
Choose something the protagonist Lost in the Midpoint Crisis (object, ally, confidence, ability, etc)

Round 2
Choose an object or knowledge the Protagonist Gained from the midpoint crisis

Round 3
Introduce an emotion, concern, or hope the protagonist is carrying into the final test

F inal Test
Your character must now face their final test. Use a d20 to roll for a Final Test on the chart
below.

1- Reunion with lost ally 6- a confession of love 11-Reclaim what was lost 16- Rescue
2- An enemy returns 7- A battle 12- Acquire great wealth 17- a lucky escape
3- An enlightening find 8- Facing a fear 13- Deception uncovered 18- Saved by an ally
4- A dramatic death 9- Come into power 14- Lose everything 19- Trial and Punishment
5- a rebellion 10- Take vengeance 15- Saved by a trick 20- Destroyed and Rebuilt

Enlighten the Throne- Resolution

Follow the structure of the enlighten the throne stage, but think of your actions as the resolution
to the story. You should describe actions that are related to the final test and that bring the story
to some kind of resolution.

Not all of your characters will get their way, so roleplay appropriately. Work to bring about a
resolution that you all think is interesting, whether or not it’s good for your character.

Ending the Game

spend a few minutes talking about what you think might happen next in the future of your setting.
Talk about what your fairy characters might do next and how their relationship to the court and
each other has changed.