The King's Feast

A creative brainstorming and world-building game for adventuring parties, GMs, writers, and anyone who wants to build a court, kingdom, or noble house quickly and have fun doing it. The setup is simple: you are planning a royal feast. Take turns describing the hall, the guests, the food, the customs, and everything that could go wrong before the first toast. Use the attached worksheet to map the feast as it grows. Continue for as long as you want. Contents: Why Play?, FAQ, Play Tips, Examples, Inspiration, Worksheet, Links WHY PLAY THE KING'S FEAST? Use it when you need a royal court, a noble house, a diplomatic occasion, a family dispute, a celebration, or an adventure thread—and want to discover it through play. The game turns small observations into connected worldbuilding. GMs can use the collective imagination of the group to establish a kingdom and its tensions. As a solo player, you can build a court, plan an upcoming event, or discover the people and problems waiting behind a palace door. Set a specific goal or direction when you begin. You might want to establish rival noble houses, create a reason for the party to attend a feast, decide who rules a region, introduce a diplomatic crisis, or uncover the history of an old royal line. Play before a campaign, when the party reaches a court or important settlement, between adventures, or whenever you want to create a memorable gathering. You can also bring it to dinner and use it for creative storytelling around a real table. FAQ Q: Do I need to be a GM? A: No. Anyone can play, write, ask, and answer. Q: What languages are available? A: So far English and Korean are available. Message me if you would like it translated into another language. Q: Do I get access to future updates/versions of the game? A: Yes. Anyone who buys the game will get access to download future updated versions of the game. Q: Can I play solo? A: Yes. Answer the prompts yourself, follow the branches that interest you, and use the Solo Play rules on the leaflet. Q: Do I need to use a royal setting? A: No. The feast can be held by a king, mayor, guild, temple, military commander, wealthy family, crime boss, or anyone important enough to gather people around one table. Q: How long should we play? A: Play until the feast has given you enough useful material: important guests, local customs, political tensions, rumours, locations, or a possible adventure hook. Q: How do I use the worksheet? A: Begin by filling in the Venue, Host, Total Guests, Occasion, Quarters, and Linchpin. Place the host and important guests first, then use the CHAIRS, TABLE, and SERVICE columns to note the subjects and details that emerge during play. Treat it as a loose map of the feast, not a strict floor plan. Q: What level of detail do we add with each turn? A: Keep it short. A detail should add something meaningful and distinct to the current subject, but stay with one thing at a time. Q: What happens if we continue to roll "Deeper" forever? A: Continue going deeper. This is part of the game’s intention. The surface of the feast populates a court and makes it feel alive, but the deeper you go, the more history, politics, and adventure you discover. Q: Should I keep notes as a GM? A: Probably. Use the worksheet if you want the game to help build your world and bring the players into the worldbuilding. Q: How was this game made? A: Manually. The first draft was done on a train after UKGE in Birmingham on the way to London - in my notebook. The drawings are either mine, using my 30-year long (unsuccessful) passion for drawing or Santo's very pretty drawings (the cover art). Santo's are drawn by hand and scanned. The icons are me drawing a representation of free-use icons online.  To make the game I used only freeware: Google Docs (writing), Affinity (graphic design), Krita (drawing) and Blender (mockup renders). - If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to write a comment or send us an email. PLAY TIPS Focus On One Thing At A Time. Open Questions Are Good. Give People A Place At The Feast: "The envoy sits too close to the host." Let Etiquette Create Pressure: "No guest is allowed to speak until the host has taken the first drink." Use Senses Other Than Sight To Add Detail: "The hall smells of candle smoke, wet wool, and expensive saffron." Keep Notes Short, Clear, And Easy To Connect: Subject: Absent Guest. Chair beside host. Subject: Food. White-fish pie with winter herbs. Subject: Custom. Guests leave one glove at the door. Set Specific Goals For The Session: Create a disagreement between two noble houses. Establish the customs of a newly independent kingdom. Give the party a reason to investigate a missing guest. EXAMPLES All examples use the same Pre-Game Ritual. You can place these answers in the six fields at the top of the worksheet before you begin. OPEN THE DOORS — “The Hall of Nine Windows, above the frozen river.” GREET THE HOST — “Lady Sera Vale, newly appointed regent.” COUNT THE GUESTS — “Thirty-four guests are expected.” CHECK THE CALENDAR — “The first night of the winter treaty.” FLUFF THE PILLOWS — “Honoured guests sleep in the south tower.” CALL THE STEWARD — “No one must toast the dead king.” 1 PLAYER — SOLO PLAY ROUND 1 🎲 Roll for TOPIC [1] — CHAIRS. 🎲 Roll for SUBJECT [3] — ABSENT. 🧩 “General Merek’s chair beside the host remains empty.” (!) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [2] — DEEPER. ROUND 2 🧩 New SUBJECT: GENERAL MEREK. 🧩 “Their sword bearer arrived alone before sunset.” (!) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [3] — MORE. ROUND 3 🧩 More of SUBJECT: GENERAL MEREK. 🧩 “The sword bearer says Merek stopped at the river gate and never returned.” (?) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [6] — RESTART. ROUND 4 🎲 Roll for TOPIC [5] — SERVICE. 🎲 Roll for SUBJECT [3] — CUSTOM. 🧩 “Guests dip two fingers in salt before speaking of the treaty.” (!) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [5] — UP, at a top-level SUBJECT. 🎲 Re-roll [3] — MORE. ROUND 5 🧩 More of SUBJECT: CUSTOM. 🧩 “The salt is poured from a silver cup reserved for the host.” (!) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [1] — DEEPER. ROUND 6 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE SILVER CUP. 🧩 “It bears the heraldry of the dead king.” (!) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [2] — DEEPER. ROUND 7 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE DEAD KING. 🧩 “The king died before the treaty was ever signed.” (!) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [5] — UP, back to SUBJECT: THE SILVER CUP. 🎲 Re-roll [1] — DEEPER. ROUND 8 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE HERALDRY. 🧩 “A black stag with one broken antler.” (?) 🎲 Roll for FOCUS [6] — RESTART. With a RESTART, return to the root and roll for a new TOPIC. 2 PLAYERS — GROUP PLAY ROUND 1 🎲 Rock-paper-scissors [PAPER wins] — TOPIC: TABLE. 🎲 P1 rolls for SUBJECT [5] — SETTING. 🧩 “Nine candles burn in a bowl of river stones at the host’s place.” (!) 🎲 P2 rolls for FOCUS [1] — DEEPER. ROUND 2 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE NINE CANDLES. 🧩 “One candle has been left unlit.” (!) 🎲 P1 rolls for FOCUS [4] — MORE. ROUND 3 🧩 More of SUBJECT: THE NINE CANDLES. 🧩 “The unlit candle belongs to the envoy from the southern coast.” (!) 🎲 P2 rolls for FOCUS [2] — DEEPER. ROUND 4 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE SOUTHERN ENVOY. 🧩 “They arrived at noon but have not entered the hall.” (?) 🎲 P1 rolls for FOCUS [5] — UP, back to SUBJECT: THE NINE CANDLES. 🎲 Re-roll [3] — MORE. ROUND 5 🧩 More of SUBJECT: THE NINE CANDLES. 🧩 “The steward moves the unlit candle farther from the host.” (!) 🎲 P2 rolls for FOCUS [2] — DEEPER. ROUND 6 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE STEWARD. 🧩 “They insist that the envoy’s wine must be tasted before each course.” (?) 🎲 P1 rolls for FOCUS [6] — RESTART. 5 PLAYERS — GROUP PLAY ROUND 1 🎲 Rock-paper-scissors [SCISSORS wins] — TOPIC: SERVICE. 🎲 P1 rolls for SUBJECT [1] — SHOW. 🧩 “A masked chorus rehearses behind a curtain in the gallery.” (!) 🎲 P2 rolls for FOCUS [3] — MORE. ROUND 2 🧩 More of SUBJECT: SHOW. 🧩 “They only perform one verse of a wedding hymn.” (!) 🎲 P3 rolls for FOCUS [1] — DEEPER. ROUND 3 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE WEDDING HYMN. 🧩 “It honours a royal line erased from the court records.” (?) 🎲 P4 rolls for FOCUS [4] — MORE. ROUND 4 🧩 More of SUBJECT: THE WEDDING HYMN. 🧩 “The host’s mother banned it when she became regent.” (!) 🎲 P5 rolls for FOCUS [5] — UP, back to SUBJECT: SHOW. 🎲 Re-roll [3] — MORE. ROUND 5 🧩 More of SUBJECT: SHOW. 🧩 “The steward has ordered every guest to stand when the final verse begins.” (!) 🎲 P1 rolls for FOCUS [1] — DEEPER. ROUND 6 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE FINAL VERSE. 🧩 “Its words are missing from the choir’s copy.” (?) 🎲 P2 rolls for FOCUS [4] — MORE. ROUND 7 🧩 More of SUBJECT: THE FINAL VERSE. 🧩 “A single page written in red ink lies beneath the host’s plate.” (!) 🎲 P3 rolls for FOCUS [2] — DEEPER. ROUND 8 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE RED INK. 🧩 “The same red ink marks a blank place on the seating plan.” (!) 🎲 P4 rolls for FOCUS [5] — UP, back to SUBJECT: THE FINAL VERSE. 🎲 Re-roll [1] — DEEPER. ROUND 9 🧩 New SUBJECT: THE CHOIR’S COPY. 🧩 “The steward tore out the final page by hand.” (!) 🎲 P5 rolls for FOCUS [6] — RESTART. INSPIRATION Music and Ambience I listen to this channel a lot when I write. It is a channel of atmospheric music, but with no AI used. The channel does not endorse this game; it is simply something I want to recommend. Blue Turtle's YouTube Channel How Do I Go Deeper? Look at the detail that was just added and find the small part of it that makes you curious. Choose that part—not the entire sentence—and imagine that you have moved closer to inspect it. Where Is The Feast Held? This is the first question of the Pre-Game Ritual. The venue establishes the scale, wealth, safety, weather, politics, and mood of the feast. A throne room, a monastery refectory, a riverside palace, a guildhall, a hunting lodge, a war camp, a temple garden, a ship's great cabin, a ruined ballroom, a mountain fortress, a merchant's estate, or a tented pavilion. A feast in a warm palace feels different from one held in a damp keep at the edge of a battlefield. Think about who can reach the venue, who controls it, and what the guests can see beyond its doors. Who Is The Host? The host sets the tone of the event. They may be generous, frightened, ambitious, grieving, newly powerful, or barely holding their position together. Maud, Orra, Sera, Rhen, Ysabel, Othric, Nadi, Mirel, Vey, Tamsin, Arvo, Leda, Celestine, Garren, Ilyra, Brann, Olyra, Corvin, Selka, Dorian. The host does not need to be a king. They might be a regent, an ambassador, a guildmaster, a high priest, a general, a wealthy merchant, or the heir to a title nobody wants. What Is On The Table? Food and drink establish what the region can grow, trade, preserve, afford, and value. Is salt a luxury? Does every dish include butter? Is meat rare? Does the host serve something imported to impress a guest? Roasts, pies, stews, smoked fish, honeyed roots, winter greens, pickled fruit, river eel, spiced wine, berry cider, dark beer, sweet cakes, cheese, bread, and preserved citrus. WORKSHEET The King’s Feast Worksheet gives the game a physical map. Fill in the six Pre-Game Ritual answers at the top, then use the CHAIRS, TABLE, and SERVICE columns to track the people, details, customs, food, omens, conflicts, and questions created during play. You can use it as a simple note page, a seating chart, a family map, or a loose diagram of the feast. Place important guests near the host, move people when tensions change, and draw lines between details when a connection becomes useful. Download it below (Marked as a free demo) LINKS The Infinite Tavern Game The Living Garden — coming soon The Traveler's Journal — coming soon