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Comedy RPG with an AI game master

Werewolf regulars, a portal by the printer, a goblin who needs a loan. Pitch something ridiculous; the game master plays it straight enough to be funny.

How comedy plays in Orpheus

Comedy at the table works when the world takes the joke seriously. A dragon on trial still needs a lawyer, and the judge still hates hearsay. The game master keeps your premise at the intensity you wrote it, so an absurd setup gets a world that commits to it.

The people carry it. Everyone you meet wants something, remembers how you treated them, and makes their own choices, so the werewolf who tips well and the manager who doesn't trust you both turn into running bits. They gossip, too, so your worst moment at the diner is common knowledge by Friday.

The dice help. A confident plan can still fail, and a failed roll is often the funniest thing that happens all night. If a fight breaks out, it still uses initiative, real rolls and death saves, so the goblin's small-business dream can end in a very real brawl.

Comedy pairs with anything: fantasy farce, cozy supernatural, a courtroom where the defendant breathes fire, an office where the strangest thing should be the printer.

You can be the straight man or the chaos. Play a sensible character in a ridiculous world, or a ridiculous character in a sensible one. The world reacts to who your character is, so the joke lands on whoever you chose to be.

How a scene opens

An example first beat from “Werewolf night shift”, written the way the game master writes. In the game, nothing is scripted: this is just how a scene like it might start.

A retro diner with red booths, a jukebox and a neon OPEN sign

Your first shift started at eleven, and by four minutes past you've learned three things. The coffee has to be scalding. Booth six is reserved for the Hendersons, who are all, at the moment, wolves. And Marge, who trained you for exactly ten minutes, has gone home.

The bell over the door rings. A very large, very hairy man in a reflective vest sits at the counter and slides a twenty across.

“Rare,” he says. “And I mean rare, kid. If it moos, it's perfect.”

Your choices

  • Ask the Hendersons how they take their coffee
  • Shout “if it moos, it's perfect” back to the kitchen
  • Ask him if he's new around here too

Or type what you do in your own words.

Pitches to start from

  • A retro diner with red booths, a jukebox and a neon OPEN sign

    Werewolf night shift

    “An all-night diner where the regulars are werewolves, and it's your first shift.”

    Cozy supernaturalYou play: The new hire

  • A bright open-plan office with rows of desks

    Portal by the printer

    “You, your actual job, and the morning a portal opens next to the printer.”

    Portal fantasyYou play: You

  • A busy fantasy market street with fruit stalls and bunting

    Goblin, small business

    “A goblin trying to get a small-business loan in a city that hates goblins.”

    Fantasy comedyYou play: The goblin

  • Stone steps up to a columned courthouse under a blue sky

    Dragon on trial

    “A courtroom drama where the defendant is a dragon, and you're his public defender.”

    Courtroom comedyYou play: A public defender

  • A misty graveyard under a full moon, bare trees over the headstones

    The dead have notes

    “A gravedigger who can hear the dead, and every one of them has a complaint.”

    Spooky comedyYou play: The gravedigger

Make it yours

Pick your flavor: dry, absurd, cozy or chaotic. Tell the game master what's off limits and how hard it should play, and whether the jokes should come from the world or from your character. Start from a pitch below or a sentence of your own.

More worlds: Fantasy · Sci-fi · Horror · Mystery · Cozy · Adventure · Fan fiction. New to this? Read what an AI game master does.

Start something ridiculous

Pitch the premise you'd never get a group to agree to, and the game master sets the first scene. Free to start, no card needed.

Play free

Plays in your browser, on a computer or a phone