by Matthias Kaalund Keller and Stefan Jacob Bierrings Jensen
The Secret Commonwealth is a journey through European folklore filled with faeries and magic. Manage your dice and treasures as you journey through the country, the wild and the sea to your destination, a great clash, where your teamwork, luck and skills will determine the future of the one who owns the body you possess.
Presentation
- Time: 60-90 min
- Players: 2-4
- Language: English
“The Secret Commonwealth” is a board game inspired by folklore, choose your own adventure novels, and storytelling boardgames. In this game you play heroic spirits, who spend their afterlife in a realm called “The Secret Commonwealth.” Here you dwell, until you´re summoned by someone in dire need of help. It is your duty and curse to descend to earth and possess their body. In this state, there are only two outcomes: solve the problem, or stay with your host in an everlasting state of madness.
In playing the Secret commonwealth each player chooses a character - each character starting with a certain set of dice, treasures and tokens. On your journey you’ll meet challenges that require you to match certain symbols either with dice roll, tokens or items - your repertoire building as you go. When you finally reach the end you’ll have to use all that you’ve earned through your journey to fight a battle of endurance against a boss.
Challenges are divided into four types: Fighting, Magic, Trickery or Charm. These types have associated symbols, that you can roll on your dice. The “Anweald” symbol is a universal symbol and can stand in for any symbol needed.
Along the way, choices will have to be made that will gain some and hurt others. There are many forces of nature in this world, be it the “public”, the “animals”, the “faeries”, the “spiritual” or perhaps your “ancestors”. Your relation to these factions are kept track of on the “standing table”, which will impact perhaps how you get out of a witch hunt or a fairy rath.
About the designers
Matthias K. K.
Hello there. I'm a 31 year old storyteller, who can't stop staring into the void of the collective unconscious. With help from Jung and Lovecraft I try to grasp the forces which pull our strings. A quest inspired by my work with psychiatry. Stefan and I are trying to make a board game where participants can play with these hidden determinants.
Stefan J. B. J
Hi! I’m Stefan. I’m 28 years old, and I love a multitude of creative endeavors. I particularly enjoy trying to make game mechanics work, and feel satisfying. I’ve made my mark mostly on many of the practical aspects of the game, but enjoy writing whatever’s needed. In my daily life I work as a teacher in special education.