For a tutorial with video, visit

storyenginedeck.com/tutorial
Introduction Five Types of Cards
The Story Engine® Deck contains 180 cards for The Story Engine Deck contains five types of cards
creating storytelling prompts for fiction, art, role- you can combine to build prompts. Prompts help you
playing games, and more. You can use it on your own, create ideas for stories, characters, conflicts, settings,
or as a multiplayer activity (see p. 6). magic items, adventure hooks, and more.

The Story Engine Deck has two rules: The five types of cards below represent five elements
found in great stories.
1) Don’t put the deck away until you create
something. It can just be a word in a notebook or The sets of white words on the edge of each card are
an idea in your head. called cues. When you lay out cards, the cue facing
2) Ignore any card, rule, or guideline that doesn’t you is the one that is active in the prompt.
help you create.
1 Agents, 3 Anchors, and 5 Aspects each have
The deck is meant to serve your creative goals—not four cues.
the other way around. Ditch the rules when they get
in the way. 2 Engines and 4 Conflicts each have two cues.

1 AGENTS 2 ENGINES 3 ANCHORS 4 CONFLICTS 5 ASPECTS

are characters who are motivations and are objects, are obstacles, are adjectives that
make choices in the relationships that locations, or events consequences, or describe other
story. drive the story. of importance. dilemmas. cards.

Creating Simple Prompts Simple Prompt: Story Seed

You can create simple prompts by arranging cards The simplest prompt is created with one of each
into patterns. There are three ways to arrange cards: card type:

1) Place: Put a card on the table faceup. Place cards A) Draw and place 1 (1 Agent) to create a character.
from left to right unless otherwise specified. B) Draw and place 2 (1 Engine) to give them
2) Tuck: Place a card faceup under another card so a motivation.
that one cue from the bottom card is visible. C) Draw and place 3 (1 Anchor) to create
3) Rotate: Turn a placed or tucked card so a new something they want.
cue is facing you. D) Draw and place 4 (1 Conflict) to create an
obstacle or consequence.
When creating a prompt, you may be instructed to E) Draw and tuck 5 (1 Aspect) to add detail to
draw more cards than you need. Choose the cards a card.
you want to keep and put the extras aside. These
extras are called your discards. When you are happy with the cards and cues
you have chosen, interpret the prompt and start
You may rotate cards to use different cues at any imagining a story. Read the cards from left to right.
time. You may also exchange cards from your prompt Each cue can be interpreted literally or in an open-
with your discards whenever you want. ended way.

Example: Story Seed

A survivor wants to expose the secret of a corrupted paradise but their community will reject them. This prompt
might inspire a story about an apocalypse survivor who finds a seemingly perfect haven community with a dark
secret and must decide whether to dig deeper. Or an ageing war veteran who moves into an idyllic senior’s
residence, only to discover it’s being used to launder money.
You may want to use your prompt to:
Example: Character Concept
• Write a story on the spot.
• Make notes for a future story.
• Take a picture to work from later.

You do not need to use the actual words or images

from the cards in the story or idea you create. On
rare occasions, an 1 Agent may imply a gender (e.g.,
“A WITCH”), but you may freely interpret character
genders. When you are done with a prompt, take it
and your discards and put them on the bottom of the
deck or shuffle them in randomly. A decrepit prophet with a fiery shield wants to steal from
an impulsive rival but it will mean breaking a promise.
Optional Mechanic: Locking Cards
Tip for RPG players: Lock the card in Step C to
You may want to create a prompt that includes a represent a party member or something they love. Now
story element you have already created, such as the you have an adventure hook: an interesting NPC whose
main character from your novel or a location from agenda involves the party.
your RPG campaign. This is called locking a card.

To do this, take the instructions for building a prompt

and choose a card to replace with the pre-existing When tucking 1 Agents, 3 Anchors, and 5 Aspects
story element you want to use. When you reach in a single stack, think of each 1 Agent or
that point in creating the prompt, place that card 3 Anchor as the start of a sub-unit within the stack.
facedown. You can place each sub-unit further right within the
stack to make the relationship between the related
The facedown card represents your pre-existing story cards easier to identify.
element. For example, you might lock an 1Agent
facedown to represent the main character of your Keep 5 Aspects tucked at the bottom of the sub-unit
novel. Place the rest of the prompt as usual to of cards they apply to.
brainstorm a new story idea for them.
Simple Prompt: Item/Setting-Driven Story
When drawing cards to place next to locked cards,
you may draw an extra card so you have more choice This prompt creates an idea for an interesting prop
in creating a good match with your story element. and setting that will be the heart of a story.
You do not need to tuck 5 Aspects under locked
cards unless you would like to brainstorm additional A) Draw 33 and place 1 as an object. Tuck the
descriptive details for your pre-existing story element. other under as a setting for it.
B) Draw 222 and place 1 as the effect the object
will have on the story. It may help to ignore the
Example: Locking phrasing of “wants to” and use “will” instead.
C) Draw 3 and 1 and choose 1 to place as a story
element affected by the setting.
D) Draw 11 and choose 1 to tuck under any 3 to
establish a character who owns it.
E) (Optional) Draw 4 and place or discard it to
create an obstacle or consequence for one of the
characters.
F) Draw 555 and tuck any number of them.
The player in the previous example can lock the 3 Anchor
in Step C to represent their main character’s hometown, a Example: Item/Setting-Driven Story
seaside village called Gullport. Now, a new character (a
ghostly survivor) wants to expose the secret of Gullport but
their community will reject them. This might inspire a story
about a lingering ghost haunting the main character’s
community in an attempt to reveal how they died.

Simple Prompt: Character Concept

These instructions help create an idea for a complex
character and a starting point for their character arc.

A) Draw 11 and place 1 as the character. A long-lost book in a cave owned by a private witch will
end the power of a besieged city but it will cost their (the
B) Draw 22 and place 1 as their motivation. witch’s) self-respect.
C) Draw 3 and 1 and choose 1 to place as the
object of the character’s desire.
D) Draw and place 4 to create an obstacle. Tip for RPG players: Lock the card in Step C to
E) (Optional) Draw 3 and tuck it under the card represent the first party member to touch the object or
from Step A or C to provide a distinctive location enter the setting. Then, skip Steps D and E. Now you
or possession. have an item and/or location that is sentient, haunted,
or cursed, and has an agenda involving the party.
F) Draw 5555 and tuck any number of them.
Changing a Prompt Complex Prompts

Stuck with a prompt? Bored with a format? Remix Complex prompts are made of one or more simple
your prompts to bust writer’s block or train new prompts arranged in a multi-directional structure. The
creative muscles. prompts cannot be read from left to right, and instead
are interpreted as a map of motivations and desires
Reconsider your choices: tying together the elements of a larger story web.

• Rotate: Rotate a card to a new cue and try re- In a complex prompt:
interpreting the cards. Does it help to think of
the cues more, or less, literally? • 2 Engines and 4 Conflicts are always placed
in tucked pairs, with the 4 Conflict tucked under
• Relocate: Move an 5 Aspect to a different card
the 2 Engine.
and optionally rotate it. Do you see that card in • 2-4 Engine-Conflict pairs have an orientation,
a new light? meaning they originate from an 1 Agent or
• Salvage: Take a card from your discards and use 3 Anchor (which wants something) and are
it as a substitute for a card in the prompt. Does oriented toward another 1 Agent or 3 Anchor
it help? (the object of its motivation).
• The orientation of an 2-4 Engine-Conflict pair
Tuck more story details: is indicated by the side of the 2 Engine that the
4 Conflict is tucked on.
• Describe: Draw and tuck 5. Do new details • Two 2-4 Engine-Conflict pairs can exist
help? between the same two cards as long as they are
• Furnish: Draw and tuck 3 under an existing oriented in opposite directions.
3 Anchor or 1 Agent. Does adding a location, • You may ignore the cues on a 4 Conflict and use
prop, or personal possession to the existing card it simply for orientation if the cue overcomplicates
help bring the prompt into focus? your prompt.
• Bestow: Draw and tuck 1 under an existing • You may interpret an 2 Engine cue as beginning
3 Anchor to suggest an owner for it. Do story with “will” instead of “wants to” when an
opportunities emerge if a character is connected 2-4 Engine-Conflict pair belongs to an
to the object? 3 Anchor and is oriented toward another card.
• Specify: If a 4 Conflict or 2 Engine leaves
something open-ended (like referring to a Complex Prompt: Circle of Fate
“secret” or an “enemy”), draw and tuck 1 or 3 or
5 to fill in that detail. Is the prompt clearer? This prompt ties two characters together in a dynamic
• Diversify: Draw and tuck 1 under an existing two-way relationship. Position the cards at each step
1 Agent to add a new dimension to their as shown so it can be interpreted as a circle.
character. How does this change their options or
A) Draw and place 1 to create character #1.
role in the story? B) Draw 22 and 44. Choose 1 of each to create
a tucked pair and place it, oriented right, to
Replace or remove cards: give character #1 a motivation (and optional
obstacle) related to character #2.
• Replace: Remove a card and draw and replace C) Draw and place 1 to create character #2.
it with a card of the same type. You may choose D) Draw 22 and 44. Choose 1 of each to create
to replace an 3 Anchor with a new 1 Agent, or a tucked pair and place it, oriented left. This
vice versa. Any better? will be character #2’s motivation (and optional
• Simplify: Remove a tucked card. Does this give obstacle) regarding character #1.
you more room to interpret? E) Draw 55 and tuck any number of them.

Reformat your prompt:

Example: A Circle of Fate
• Combine: Turn an 2 Engine or 4 Conflict
sideways to indicate that both cues apply. Your
character now feels two conflicting motivations
toward the same thing, or must choose between
two obstacles/consequences. Does this make your
character’s desire more complex? What are they
willing to do to get what they want?
• Reverse: Reverse the placement of two cards
on either side of an 2 Engine, and consider
interpreting that 2 Engine’s cues as “will”
statements instead of “wants to” statements. How
does the dynamic change? Can you tell the story
this way?

And if a prompt just isn’t working for you, don’t be

afraid to scrap it and start again. A demon wants to defeat an archaeologist but it will cost
them (the demon) their mental health. The archaeologist
wants to control the demon but the innocent will suffer.
 Tip for RPG players: Turn one of the 1 Agents into
Complex Prompt: A Clash of Wills an NPC and have them approach the party for help
as an adventure hook. Now the party must either take
In this prompt, two characters (usually rivals) want a side or form their own.
the same thing for different reasons.

A) Draw and place 1 to create character #1. D) Draw 22 and 44. Choose 1 of each to create
B) Draw 22 and 44. Choose 1 of each to create a tucked pair and place it, oriented left, to
a tucked pair and place it, oriented right, to give give character #2 a motivation (and optional
character #1 a motivation (and optional obstacle). obstacle).
C) Draw 1 and 3 and place 1 as the person or E) Draw 11 and place 1 as character #2.
thing motivating both characters. F) Draw 5555 and tuck any number of them.

Example: A Clash of Wills

A bloody god wants to destroy the world with a dire contagion but they must face their deepest fear. A wounded
villain wants to find redemption in the dire contagion but they may lose their life.

Complex Prompt: A Soul Divided

In this prompt, one character faces a choice between E) Draw 1 and 3 and choose 1 to place as the
two things they care about and must choose only one. second object of desire.
F) Draw 5555 and tuck any number of them.
A) Draw 1 and 3 and choose 1 to place as the first
object of desire. With this prompt, you may ignore 4 Conflict cues
B) Draw 22 and 44. Choose 1 of each to create a and instead treat the character’s choice between the
tucked pair and place it, oriented left. two 2 Engines as their conflict.
C) Draw 11 and place 1 as the main character.
D) Draw 22 and 44. Choose 1 of each to create a Tip for RPG players: Lock the card in Step A or E to
tucked pair and place it, oriented right. This is the represent a party member or something they love. Now
main character’s competing motivation. you have an adventure hook where an NPC (the
1 Agent in Step C) wants something from the party but
has a second motivation that gives the party leverage.
Example: A Soul Divided

An honest criminal wants to upstage a rival with a passionate letter but also wants to find a way back to their twin.

Expanding a Complex Prompt

When expanding a complex prompt (whether on • Create a story branch: Draw 2 and 4, create
your own or for a multiplayer prompt), it may help to a tucked pair, and place it oriented either toward
play with the top card of each deck revealed. Every or away from an existing 1 Agent or 3 Anchor.
time you or another player draws a card, they may Then draw an 1 and 3 and choose 1 to place on
draw the revealed card or the card below it. This lets the other end of that 2-4 Engine-Conflict pair.
you look for opportunities to expand your story with • Reciprocate: Draw 22 and 44. Choose 1 of
greater intention and less random chance. each to create a tucked pair and place in parallel
to an existing 2-4 Engine-Conflict pair, but with
the reverse orientation. How does the dynamic
between 1 Agents and 3 Anchors change if the
motivation/relationship is two-way?
Think of complex prompts as toy train set, mapping 3) Write: When the prompt is complete, the players
out stories with growing branches and intersections: spend 5 minutes (or a set amount of time) writing
a story or story notes.
• 1 Agents and 3 Anchors are stations where 4) Compare: Players compare and discuss how they
multiple tracks intersect. used the prompt differently.
• 2 Engines are the pieces of track connecting
those stations. Larger groups can be accommodated as well:
• 4 Conflicts are the tollbooths along the track.
They are obstacles/costs for the characters that • 3 players: Choose a player to go first and have
pass them, and they keep trains flowing in the them start as placer. The player to their left takes
right direction. a turn as rotator. Play continues in this direction
• 5 Aspects are bits of scenery that make each with the active role of placer or rotator switching
route or station interesting and unique. every time a player finishes their turn.
• 4 players: Divide into teams of 2. Follow the rules
Converting From Simple to Complex Prompts for 2 players, with each team discussing options
and operating as a unit when placing cards or
You can convert any simple prompt into a complex rotating cues.
one by moving any untucked 4 Conflict so it is
tucked under its corresponding 2 Engine, oriented Multiplayer Prompt: Collaborative Storytelling
right. Then take any 2 Engine that does not yet
have a 4 Conflict tucked under it, and draw and Players begin by following the instructions for
tuck a new 4 Conflict under it, oriented right. “Comparative Storytelling.” When they complete
Step 2, they begin to take turns fleshing out the
Modifying Prompt Patterns details of the story together. On a player’s turn, they
may do one of the following:
Prompts made with The Story Engine Deck are like
recipes in your kitchen. You’ll find that by changing • Interpret: Point to a card or set of tucked cards
measurements, making substitutions, and seasoning that has not yet been interpreted and explain its
the final dish to taste, you’ll not only get better meaning in the story. This is now a shared element
results, but you’ll learn more about the chemistry that of the story players are building together.
makes your creation engaging. Example: “This A GUARDIAN 1 Agent with a FIERY
5 Aspect is Captain Conniption, a superhero with
Here are some ways you can change how you create an anger problem.”
the prompt patterns: • Change: Use one technique from “Changing a
Prompt,” as long as you do not move, replace, or
• Draw additional cards to make your prompt remove any card that has already been interpreted.
more intentional. This helps when you have a • Expand: Use one technique from “Expanding a
sense of where you are going with a prompt, or Complex Prompt” to add a new element to the
need to use 3 Anchors in restricted ways (for story. You may add elements to cards that have
example, you only need an item cue, and not a already been interpreted.
cue for a setting/event).
• Draw fewer cards to make your prompt more Multiplayer Prompt: Competitive Storytelling
challenging. If you like the puzzle of making
sense of a difficult prompt, draw fewer cards, or Follow the instructions for “Comparative Storytelling”
limit the number of rotations you can use. for any simple prompt, except have players seated on
• Change the order of placement. You may find opposite sides of the table. When you tuck cards, tuck
you conceive of stories better when you place all them to the side of the top card so both players can
1 Agents and 3 Anchors first, and then read it with equal ease.
2 Engines and 4 Conflicts once you know more
about those characters. You may prefer to place When the prompt is finished, each player writes using
5 Aspects between steps, rather than placing only the cues facing them (i.e., each player reads the
them all at the end. cue on their side of the card). Both players share use
of the same tucked cards.
Multiplayer Prompt: Comparative Storytelling
The player who began as rotator will have to reverse
Simple and complex prompts can become multiplayer the order of cards while interpreting the prompt.
activities with a few adjustments.

The simplest version has two participants. Example: Competitive Storytelling

1) Determine roles: Players sit on the same side of Rotator’s prompt: An artisan wants to find an unlucky
the table. The player who most recently read a boat but it will mean forgiving family.
book starts in the role of placer and the other is
the rotator. Every time the rotator completes a
step of a prompt’s instructions, they swap roles
with the placer.
2) Place cards and choose cues: The placer
draws 1 more card than indicated in the prompt
instructions, and then places or tucks the correct
number, discarding the rest. The rotator rotates
the cards and chooses the cues on each card. Placer’s prompt: An architect wants to escape an unlucky
village but it will mean betraying family.
Use this space to write down notes, story ideas, and instructions for your own prompt patterns.
 Get expansions and booster sets from
STORYENGINEDECK.COM
Take your storytelling to new worlds with genre expansions for The Story Engine Deck. Each expansion deck
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Credits
Design, development, and production: Peter Chiykowski Cook, Gabriel Wasylko, Jaredd Craig, Jens Rademacher,
Jeshoots.Com, Jez Timms, Joanna Kosinska, John Noonan,
Proofreading and editing: Heidi Berthiaume, Leigh Teetzel, Jonathan Francisca, Jordan Mixson, Luca Bravo, Mahdiar
Tyson Pink Mahmoodi, Mark Boss, Maxx Gong, Nathan Wright, Neil
Rosenstech, Neil Thomas, Patrick Hendry, Paul Zoetemeijer,
Curriculum review: Kendra Harrison Peter Chiykowski, Raychan, Riccardo Pelati, Rodion Kutsaev,
Sudhith Xavier, Todd Quackenbush, Wendy Scofield
Photography (box cover): Zoltan Tasi
The Story Engine® Anthology guest authors: Benoit Chartier,
Photography (box sides): Tara Evans, Robert Anasch, Paul Chinelo Onwualu, Cintain M. Quintana, James Miller, James
Zoetemeijer, Ateve Halama J. Stevenson, Jason Taniguchi, Jonathan Sims, Jordan Shiveley,
Kari Maaren, Kat Kruger, L. X. Beckett, O. Westin, S. M. Beiko,
Photography (Agent cards): Aditya Saxena, Ameer Sebastian A. Jones, Shiv MacFarlane, Sonya Ballantyne
Basheer, Andrew Yardly, Annie Spratt, Antonio Molinari, Ayla
Verschueren, Billy Huynh, Carl Cheng, Clark Young, Diana Special thanks to: The 3,590 Kickstarter backers who brought
Simumpande, Dollar Gill, Fares Hamouche, Hatim Belyamani, this project to life, as well as Aaron Lenk, Amo Wong and Dave
Hisu Lee, Jason Briscoe, João Silas, Joshua Medway, Julian Snyder at Gameland, Antoaneta Tarpanova, Benoit Chartier,
Myles, Jurien Huggins, Kenny Luo, Kevin Hou, Luis Del Río Brett M. Bernstein at Precis Intermedia, Cintain M. Quintana,
Camacho, Luizclas, Mads Schmidt Rasmussen, Malik Earnest, Darryl Whetter, Derek Chung, Eric Weiss, Francelina Perdomo,
Miguel Bruna, Miriam Espacio, Nicola Fioravanti, Rahul Gaelen Izatt-Galloway, Isaac Fine, James J. Stevenson,
Pariharacodu, Sharon McCutcheon, Stephane Hermellin, Tung Jason Wiseman, John Lyndon, Karen and Greg Chiykowski,
Minh, Tyler Milligan, Vojna Andrea, Wesley Balten Kathleen Lane-Smith, Mathias Semmann, Pedro Galicia, Shiv
MacFarlane, Tanya Chiykowski-Rathke, Valerie Chiykowski
Photography (Anchor cards): Adam Wilson, Aditya
Saxena, Andrew Neel, Ant Rozatsky, Chinh Le Duc, Christian And to my beloved: Jasmine Minoza—every story worth telling
Bardenhorst, Chuttersnap, Claudio Testa, Dahee Son, Deleece begins and ends with you

The Story Engine and The Story Engine logo are trademarks of Peter Chiykowski. The Story Engine is not related to Story
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