THIS IS AN EARLY PREVIEW

This edition has not been edited

“Let not my southern reader who associates and does not represent the final
ideas of comfort with the term ‘cottage’ edition of the game. More art, an
mistake. This thing is built of shingle, with editing phase, bookmarks, and a
low walls. Its thatch is hollow; the peat- complete table of contents are
smoke curls stingily from its stunted planned.
chimney. It is worthy of its savage
surroundings.”

-JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU in LAURA SILVER BELL

Carved
To play, you will need:
by the
Garden
♦ A standard deck of cards
with the jokers
♦ A 6-sided die
♦ 8 small pieces of nature to
act as tokens (leaves,
pebbles, seeds, thorns,
petals, etc.) By Cassi Mothwin
♦ A tumbling block tower
(optional or alternatives
listed)
♦ Something to write in, such
as a notebook or word
processor
 Acknowledgments and Credits If you enjoy this, please
Writer, designer, layout, artist: check out my other horror
Cassi Mothwin works.

We are all j
Assistant developer: Joshua Peters
Editors: Cylinda Parga What Crooked Roots
Proofreaders: Erin Bowen This collection offers 15
compelling folk-horror scenarios
Playtesters: Emma Hughes to unsettle your players in group
(gothHoblin), Carro / @RedRosesRot, games. It’s designed for 5e, but
Kaden Ramstack, Cylinda Parga, Aaron pretty easy to use the ideas in
Voigt, and Erin Bowen. other systems).
This work is based on The Wretched Find it at: bit.ly/CrookedRoots

ust
(found at http://loottheroom.itch.io/
wretched), product of Chris Bissette Tangled Blessings pa
and Loot The Room, and licensed for This is a solo or two-player magic rt o
our use under the Creative Commons academy horror game that uses
tarot cards and doesn’t require a
f the cycle
Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http:// game master. Study, face your
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). rival, and avoid bargaining with
the dead.
THE WRETCHED™ is a trademark of
Chris Bissette. The Wretched and Alone Find it at: bit.ly/MagicSchoolRPG
logo is © Chris Bissette, and is used with
permission.
And I a
m

r ea
ISBN Physical:
ISBN HTML:

dy t
ISBN PDF:

o bloom.
ISBN Epub:

Sounds
♦ This was written with Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token on
repeat. Do with that what you will.
♦ Rituals On the Bank Of A Familiar River by Kiki Rockwell was also
on repeat.
♦ I highly recommend playing Black Hill & Silent Island (Full
Album) on repeat as background music for Carved by the
Garden. I discovered this album by playing Red Snow by Snow
(found at https://johnbattle.itch.io/rsfe). It’s a great solo horror
game.
 SAFETY
There is disturbing and upsetting
content ahead.

This game includes themes of fear,

isolation, suspense, despair, violence,
self-harm, claustrophobia, drowning,
fire, stalking, gaslighting, allusions to
cannibalism, snakes, insects, birds,
There are horrors within these pages, and you are one of them. spiders, body horror, suicide, abuse, lust,
light sexual themes, and death. There
isn’t explicit child death or torture to
animals, but the prompts may hint at
these themes.

Read and play with caution. Remember

that you can change, ignore, rewrite or
abandon any part of this game that you
want.

1 | Carved by the Garden |2

 TUMBLING TOWER ALTERNATIVES
There are several online dice generators that match the averages
of a tower tumbling pretty well. You’ll roll a pool of 100 dice, and
every time you roll a 1, it’s removed from the pool until you have
none left. You miss out on a source of tension by using a dice
generator instead of an actual tumbling tower, but they’re nice a
alternative.
THE SITUATION
♦ Good for mobile and desktop devices, a simple HTML dice
substitute by Max Kämmerer: https://maxkaemmerer.github.io/
wretched-and-alone- d100-dice-roller/ Those you live with are worried for you.

♦ Best for desktop if you want something more visual, use Every day you wander into the woods… alone. When you return at
Another Wretched & Alone Roller by SnepShark: https:// dusk, a wild shadow lingers in your steps.
snepshark.itch.io/awandaroller Those you live with wish to stop you.
But their efforts have proved useless. You always find a way or a
If you’d rather run a tally, make a mark every time reason to return to the woods.
you’re instructed to pull from the tower. Once
you have reached 20 pulls, the game ends. Those you live with offer a compromise.
Journal each day about your experiences. Those you live with
You may also skip the tower entirely. If you promise they won’t read your journal unless there is a night you
do, ignore the instructions on certain don’t come home. They beg you to be honest in your journal.
cards that tell you to pull from the tower.
There may come a moment where
you’re told to pull from the tower You agree.
“one more time” with the Ace of
Hearts. Since you don’t have a
tower, roll a six-sided die. If you
get a 6, you may proceed as
if the tower is still But you wonder if they'll believe what they read.
standing. Otherwise,
the tower falls, and
you’ll follow the fail
condition.

3 | Carved by the Garden |4

 WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND IN THE DIRT?
Or what is this?
Carved by the Garden is a structured journaling game WHO ARE YOU?
where you document your character’s (likely last) days in
the nearby woods. You’re a mud child. A wild woman. A
dangerous man. A creature of the
You love the woods. You fear the woods. branches.
You get the sense your time of unchaperoned visits to the Your age doesn’t matter. But you are
wilds are nearing an end. You must make the most of the human. For now.
time you have left. You reside at the end of a dead-end
road in the middle of the woods. You
During the game, you’ll roll a die, draw cards from the share your home with people who
deck, read their associated events, pull blocks from the care about you, but they’re afraid of
tumbling tower, place or remove tokens from a card, and what you get up to in the woods.
write about your experiences in character. They know they can’t control or stop
you, but they don’t want to lose you.

WHO ARE THE WICKED WOODS?

The woods are vast and mostly unmapped. Some Answer these questions about
landmarks exist in the minds of locals, but interestingly your character…
enough, no one can agree exactly where to find them. In addition to coming up with your
History and legends about the woods differ from person name, pronouns, and time-period,
to person, religion to religion, and evidence to evidence. As answer these questions before you
soon as researchers feel like they’ve unlocked a path to start the game. If you need ideas or
the past, additional resources reveal their proposed truths alternative starting points, review
to be inaccurate. the next section first.
1. What draws you to the woods
This game is written with the idea that cellphones don’t each day?
exist yet, but if you want the setting closer to present day,
there isn’t a signal in the woods. 2. Who do you live with?
Many will agree, however, that there is something strange 3. Why do they wish you’d stop
about these woods. visiting the woods?
4. What would you do if you didn’t
This setting doesn’t have a specific season, but the liminal go into the woods?
space surrounding the autumn equinox may prove 5. What do you fear in the woods?
inspirational.

5 | Carved by the Garden |6

 A FORK IN THE PATH If you’re using
one of the
Or alternative reasons for your character to visit the woods. online rollers
instead of a
If the dark allure of the sun-dappled forest floor isn’t enough tower, roll a
motivation for your character, here are a few other ideas to pull six-sided die.
them in. Or maybe one of these is why you started going into the
woods, and now you can’t stop: HOW TO PLAY Activate the
roller that
Set up your tumbling block tower (or many times
♦ You’re a hunter or forager and your journal is a catalog of animal
replacement). Roll the die once and pull the before you
dens and potential harvests before it’s not.
number of blocks you roll. This represents start.
♦ You make daily deliveries and must pass through the woods to that your connection to the woods is already
reach your customers. Your journal is your delivery log with extra starting to sever..
notes. If you’re using
a tally, roll a
♦ You’re a cartographer, and you’re making a map. Your journal
details your geographic findings until they don’t make sense. THE DAY six-sided die.
Start the tally
This game is divided into days you walk in the with the total
♦ You’re a scientist researching the area after rumors of a new
woods, and each day has two phases: the rolled.
species. Your journal tracks the creature before you get
distracted by other happenings. events and the diary.

♦ You want to run away, and you’re trying to plan a safe path Step One: The Events If a card tells
through the woods, hiding gear and tools within it so that you can you to pull
1. Roll your six-sided die. from the
survive alone. Your journal details equipment locations at first.
2. Use the result from the die, and draw that tower, remove
♦ Someone you know went missing and you’re part of the search number of cards from the deck, placing one block from
crew. Your journal details where you’ve searched and each day them face down without looking at them. anywhere in
it gets more unhinged. the tumbling
3. Flip over the first card and find its prompt
in the table section. block tower
♦ You’re a kid or teen with too much time on your hands. Your family except the top
doesn’t make enough money to afford extracurricular activities 4. Complete any task that the card tells you row, and put
or expensive gadgets, so the woods are your only form of to do. the block you
entertainment. Your journal is filled with stories that may or may pulled on top.
not be make believe. 5. Continue flipping over the cards until you
have flipped them all over.
6. Discard all cards unless a card tells you
otherwise.

7 | Carved by the Garden |8

 Step Two: The Diary The pieces of
nature (tokens)
You return home before dusk every day and record your are only used if
experiences in a journal. Write about what happened and you draw the
what you feel, answering the questions presented in the Ace of Hearts. If
card prompts. You don’t have to answer the questions if they you prefer a
don’t feel relevant. The events don’t have to happen in the shorter game,
order you drew the cards. start with the
Ace of Hearts
If you like, you can use an alternative to a journal, such as on top of the
making a voice or video recording, narrating out loud, or deck.
simply imagining the scenario in your head.
Shuffle the deck of cards and place it within reach. Record
your first journal entry using the following script, or by
writing your own similar entry.
Think about who is asking you to record this journal. They
THE WOODS
claim it is for your own safety. Do you believe them? The deck of cards is divided into four
categories. Consult the tables each time
you flip a card to determine what you’ve
Day 1 done and what you’ll do next. Some cards
will have you pull from the tower, place
Dear [caregivers, parents, spouse, roommates, supervisor, partner,
tokens on a card, or shuffle a card back
etc.],
into the deck.
You’ve asked that I record my daily activities in the woods. You’re
afraid I might be kidnapped, get lost, or worse. You promised not to
read this diary and only to use it should I not come home by Hearts: Bonds. Your roots go deep.
sundown. I agree that the woods are dangerous, but I know how to
But would they die for you?
stay safe. I love the woods. And the woods love me.
Diamonds: Supernatural. It’s addictive.
You cannot take magic with you.
Clubs: Factions. Not everyone gets along.
You’ll start the game with Day 2. All other journal entries
You knew this was never a paradise.
should begin with "Day #." to keep a recording of the game's
progression. Spades: Earth. We all come from dirt.
Losing your connection to the woods is the most likely Nourishing. Suffocating.
outcome of this game. If the tumbling tower falls before
the woods adopt you, turn to the ABANDONED section on
page TK.

9 | Carved by the Garden | 10

 EVERYTHING YOU ENCOUNTER IS REAL.
The shadows. The creatures. The inexplicable. This game takes
place during the day, with you returning home each night. But
the bright light and shifting branches make it easy for horrors to
blend in with the wilderness.
You can only assume it becomes so much worse at night. Don’t
miss your curfew.

STOP
If at any time you feel your character has seen enough, and
has been swayed to stay away from the woods, turn to the
SEVERED TIES section on page TK.
Do not read any further until you’re ready to play.

ENDINGS
There are two endings available to you at the start of the
game. You may unlock more paths as you play:
Dim the lights.
♦ The tower falls: ABANDONED on page TK.
Set the soundtrack.
♦ Your character decides to stay out of the woods: SEVERED
TIES on page TK.
Walk into the woods.

11 | Carved by the Garden | 12

 .

THE JOKERS
The woods have a mind of their own.
The woods are unmappable, not because of the
difficult terrain, but because the items within shift of
their own accord. The jokers represent this.
When you first draw a joker, discard it and re-
shuffle the deck you’ve been drawing from.
Respond to this prompt:
For a moment, you lost your way. But something
within the darkness pulled you through the woods.
Were you being summoned or were you being
chased? What marker helps you figure out where
you are?

When you draw the second joker, you’re lost. Turn

to the LOST ONE ending on page TK.

15 | Carved by the Garden | 16

 HEARTS
BONDS
There are many bonds that take you to the woods every day.
Sometimes you find the owner of a bond. Sometimes you don’t. Still,
every day you look.
You’re most beautiful when you bleed.

A♥
The woods leave their mark on you. How does it manifest? Do you feel
the beginnings of antlers? Skin tough as bark? Venom along your lips?
Claws on your fingertips? A feral awakening? A craving for blood? Do
not discard this card. Put it to the side. At the end of each day, after
writing in your diary, roll a six-sided die. On a result of 4 or higher, add
a piece of nature to the card. Each piece of nature represents a new
mark the woods leave on you. Describe how it manifests.

When you’ve collected 8 pieces of nature, make a final pull from the
tower. If the tower stands, your bond to the woods is solid and fixed.
You can never leave. Turn to the CARVED ONE ending on page TK. If
the tower falls, your connection is strong, but not strong enough. Turn
to the REJECTED ending on page TK.

2♥
The birds greeted you when you crossed the wood’s threshold. They
pecked at your hair and clothes before darting between the trees.
Their songs are loud and laborious. But when they are finally gone, the
woods seem too quiet. How did you befriend them? How do you think
they’ll betray you? Where do you find the nest made of your hair?

3♥
“Careful what you seek to unravel,” said an old woman stacking small,
round stones as you passed her. She did not stop her task to look at
you. Is she building a monument, a shelter, or a gravestone? What do
you make of her warning?

17 | Carved by the Garden | 18

 THANK YOU FOR READING!
4♥
A disheveled looking couple begged you to witness their wedding
ceremony, and you agreed. Before the traditional kiss, they removed The rest of the text is finished (including the endings), but I
their clothes, and told you not to look away. One of them handed you need help funding the proofing phase and a print run.
a large and full canteen, instructing you to pour the contents over their
bodies. They kneeled before you. What was in the canteen? Why did Please visit the Kickstarter page to follow the project or
the couple run from you after the ceremony? learn more about how you can contribute!
5♥
You’ve been warned not to go into the caves, no matter how tempting
a shortcut home they might be. When you passed by one today, you
heard a voice you recognized calling out. What temptation did the
voice promise with its invitation? How did you resist? Pull from the
tower.

6♥
You are drawn to a peculiar plant you’ve only found in these woods.
You’ve tried to research it, but you never find anything about it. If you
try to bring it from the woods, it dies right away. Why is the plant
significant to you? Why do you fear for its safety?

7♥
The pile of dolls in the middle of the woods didn’t make sense. The
dolls were all made of cornhusks and twine and piled as high as you
are tall. Did you keep any of the dolls? How many of them look like
you? Pull from the tower.

8♥
There are many abandoned tools in the woods, and today you found
an axe stuck in a tree stump covered in sap. When you pulled out the
axe, it pulsed softly in your hands. What is the axe hungry for? If you
feed it, what does it give you as a reward? Pull from the tower.

9♥
The hunters surprised you when they emerged silently from the trees,
wet bodies of slain animals at their waists. They berated you for being
in the woods, stress and frustration evident in their voices. What
weapons did they carry? Why do they see you as a threat?

19 | Carved by the Garden | 20