The Forest Keeper — A Solo Journaling RPG of Moss, Vigil, and the Sleeping Gods

You are the keeper of a hidden grove deep in a very old forest. Two hundred years ago, when the nearest village cut into the heart of the wood for winter timber, the small gods who slept beneath the moss woke for one cold night. By morning that village was gone — doors open, hearths cold, no bodies found. A wanderer named Iyann walked into the grove the next spring, sat down at the foot of the heart-tree,  and made a new pact with what slept there: a Keeper would live at the edge of the grove and keep the quiet. As long as no axe falls and no living thing dies within the grove without ceremony, the old gods sleep. For thirteen turnings of the year, that quiet is yours to keep. THE FOREST KEEPER is a solo journaling roleplaying game for one player. You play by writing in a notebook, in the voice of your Keeper, as the turnings come and go. The game is about who finds the grove,  who is allowed to leave, and what stirs beneath the moss when the quiet breaks. WHAT YOU NEED → A standard 52-card deck of playing cards (any deck — the kitchen-drawer one is fine) → A notebook and a pen → Thirteen small objects to be your lantern tokens (coins, acorns, smooth pebbles, anything) → Optional: a small candle, a cup of something warm, an evening with the windows open You will not need dice. You will not need any other book. Everything you need to play is inside this PDF. HOW IT PLAYS A game lasts between two and four hours, played in a single sitting — or you can spread it across many evenings, one in-game turning per night, like a long woodland walk. Each turning, you draw four cards — one for each watch (Dawn, Noon, Dusk, Night) — and write a journal entry for that watch based on the prompt. There are 52 unique prompts: Hearts (those who find the grove), Diamonds (wanderers passing through), Clubs (the work of the grove), Spades (what stirs in the deep wood). Every Spade raises the Stirring Tally, and the sleeping gods grow more awake. The lanterns of the heart-tree eat one lantern token per turning. When you run out of tokens, the grove falls dark — unless you choose to burn a leaf from your journal. There are six possible endings. The lanterns go out. A successor arrives. One of the old gods walks. The Listening ends early. You complete thirteen turnings and reshuffle, or close the journal. You choose to walk down the wood-path and leave the keeping. Each is a different story. WHAT'S INSIDE → Setup ritual and character creation → Turning-by-turning play structure with full step-by-step guidance → All 52 card prompts, organised by suit → Four Vigils (First Bloom, Long Sun, First Cold, The Listening) → The Stirring Tally with five escalation tiers → Burning a Leaf — a resource mechanic with emotional weight → Six endings, fully described → Three tone modes (Green, Mossy, Hollow) for replayability → Safety tools and a content note → A full sample turning of play (Yarrow of Mossfall, Turning One) → Reflection prompts for when the game ends → Suggested soundtrack → A journal template you can copy INSPIRED BY THE TRADITION The Forest Keeper is indebted to the long line of solo journaling RPGs that came before it — Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings, Alone Among the Stars by Takuma Okada, The Wretched by Chris Bissette, Apothecaria by Sealed Library, and many others. THIRD IN THE KEEPER TRILOGY The Forest Keeper completes our trilogy of solo journaling RPGs: → The Hearthkeeper — tend an eternal hearth for thirteen winters → The Lighthouse Keeper — keep a lamp burning through thirteen great storms → The Forest Keeper — keep a hidden grove quiet for thirteen turnings of the year Fire, water, moss. Same mechanic shape in the hand. Three different elements, three different threats, three different endings. Play any one alone, or play all three as a slow triptych across three seasons of your reading life. FROM HEARTH & QUILL PRESS We make tabletop supplements for Dungeon Masters and solo players who would rather play than prep. If you like this, our catalogue also includes The Hearthkeeper, The Lighthouse Keeper, The Hearth's Last Ember, 50 Tavern NPCs, 50 City NPCs, 50 Forest Encounters, 10 Fantasy Village Maps, and the 100 NPCs Bundle. The grove is older than any of us. May yours stay quiet. Roll well. Run brave. Keep watch.