Bookstore By Chance - Day 1
Game: Bookstore By Chance
Price: $5
Link: Bookstore By Chance
I've recently found myself gravitating towards solo journaling RPGs and while I'm still taking my first steps into this hobby I always think its fun to share actual playthroughs, even if my writing talents are amateurish. Bookstore by Chance caught my eye just because its one of those niche cozy genres and the enthusiasm from the author on social media was contagious. I didn't have as much freetime as I had hoped so its likely my posts might be by interaction as opposed to day. Here we go!
World & Character
The manual asks- "is the world full of goblins and elves?" so - you know what, yes. Yes it is. Nothing else, in fact. Welcome to Tolter - a modern day setting but featuring only goblins and elves. Bloody wars and conflict paved way to boring but blissful peace, nervous tolerance between the two races and the important arrival of bookstores and capitalism - of which this little game could not exist without.
We are Weh Fernsick - a first year goblin freshmen at Kaukose college. The recent move and exorbitant prices to the bustling city of Kaukose had a bit of a sticker shock attached and Weh found it imperative to land a job, no matter how menial. The appropriately named Kaukose books had been hiring and she had jumped at the opportunity. What an utterly disastrous choice that had turned out to be.
Day 1 : Energy 8 (d20 result - 8)
It wasn't Weh's first day at Kaukose books, but rather the first where she was entrusted to open up shop, manage customer expectations and sort out the new inventory without an onboarding mentor (or as the owner Mr. Offenbrook would say - a 'Booky Buddy'). Yesterday had painfully concluded with a proper Booky Buddy graduation ceremony - a celebration of her successful completion of onboard training. It had included an official Kaukose Bookstore book sash (meant to be worn at all times during work hours), tinny celebratory music played through a flip phone speakers and a long-winded speech from Offenbrook himself. Offenbrook's lecture had been fifteen unpaid minutes of corporate speak, peppered with elven idioms that she hadn't been familiar with. A long day kept upright with casual swearing.
Weh adjusted her sash so that it wouldn't tickle her neck, sighed, and twirled the closed sign to open. She still needed to finish that history paper in the next few days and her Dance History course had five pages due tomorrow. Five pages! She was going to murder Aeiko for telling her it was a plum course. This semesters coursework was burying her.
Day 1 : Open up shop
Day 1 : Customer Check (d20 result 1 : New Customer)
Name: Sionia Aieko(Elf)
Description: (d20 result young adult, student) Weh's roommate, best friend, gossip, talkative, excitable
Book Interest: 2
Social Resistance: 3
Books Sold: 0
* Rolled an 8 on Social resistance but as the game recommends playing loose and fast with the rules I felt lowering it by 5 as a bonus for rolling a student that she knows.
Day 1: Conversation Interaction
Deep Conversation -
Number to beat: 6 (3 Conversation Interaction + 3 Social Resistance + 0 books sold)
Rolled: 8 - SUCCESS
Updated Energy: 5
Active Conversation Topic (Rolled: 14 - Recent Tragedy)
The bell on the bookstores door chimed violently as a bony cheeked, brown haired elf barged into the bookstore, arms extended wide as if to accept the cheers and applause from an invisible audience. She was dressed in a forest green, short-sleeve blouse, a pair of well worn jeans and boots that looked as fashionable as they did uncomfortable.
"Aeiko!"
"Who goes there? Oh blessed spirits, do not haunt me!"
Weh stepped onto a step stool and scowled at Sionia, level with the cashier desk.
"Oh! Weh! So glad to see I've not gone mad"
"What in the nine hells are you doing here? Don't you have Curse Creation at this hour?"
She pivoted, leafing through a few of the new periodicals that had arrived before quickly pivoting back.
"Cancelled. Six kids passed out in the middle of class, middle of the floor."
"Botched curse?"
"Don't think so - Lee al' Vai knows how to prevent mishaps like that, has the floor all decked out with prevention wards"
"What then? Bad cafeteria food?"
"Dunno, Vai seemed nervous, gave the rest of us the day off so I came to check in on my favorite gobbo."
Weh rolled her eyes, while mulling over the news. It was extremely unusual for something of that nature to happen at Kaukose - the elves running the school were nothing if not sticklers for safety. Nothing would happen without the approval of the Board of the Infinite. Meticulous and rigid rulesets, sure, but things ran like clockwork. Should. Should run like clockwork.
"I can't just phase out today, first day flying solo. Got a lot of boxes to tick and I cant afford to lose this job. Lunch though?"
"Bale'l El. You're buying."
"You might be hearing spirits again, Aeiko."
Day 1: Book Genre check 19 - Agriculture
She laughed at that, twirled and randomly selected a hardcover with a dust jacket featuring a panicked looking goblin being chased by a menacing looking wheat thresher. "Is that..."
Weh didn't even look up from her work "Isanborn. Quite the writer. Grew up in my hometown, though a lot older then I am. His thirteenth in the Farm Attacks series"
"Thirteenth?!"
"Its absolute dreg but Isanborn knows his audience. It's on sale because of some holiday, probably just an excuse as it wasn't selling as well as the others. You want it?"
Day 1: Book Interest 18 (2 + 16) 2 books (Really, Sionia?)
"Yeah and ...ah, that one too" Sionia threw Ugly Hayride on the countertop, raising Weh's eyebrow. "You're the one telling me its not as good, gottah compare it to the original."
"Its your lost freetime and braincells." Tossing the books into a too thin plastic bag, Weh's brows furrowed and her stomach tightened "Hey, I've got a bad feeling about those students. Be careful out there."
"O'Course gobbo! Fully alert!" She snatched up her books and not moments later the bookstore fell silent once more.
"Isanborn you hack" Weh muttered to herself.