The Librarian's Apprentice - Press Kit

2024 CRIT Awards Winner for Best Solo TTRPG! 

Infinite, ever-shifting, and sometimes dangerous, the Library exists in the space between worlds and times. Among the many who call it home are the Librarians, and only those who truly understand it may join their ranks. You seek to do so.

The path of a Librarian’s apprentice is a long one. Your current task is designed to test your skills at traversing the Library and locating documents. Find the information requested by your Librarian before the day is out and you will have completed one more step on your journey.

Good luck.

Fact Sheet

• Creator:  Dan Bronson-Lowe (Almost Bedtime Theater) (he/him)
• Digital copies: The Librarian's Apprentice (itch.io)
• Physical Copies: Indie Press Revolution

What is The Librarian's Apprentice?

The Librarian's Apprentice is an all-ages solo journaling TTRPG that takes place in an infinite library.  Players take on the role of the titular apprentice and, together with their familiar, journey through the Great Library in search of documents requested by their Librarian.

Built using the Firelights game system by Fari RPGs, the core rules fit on a single trifold brochure.  Two additional brochures contain descriptions, complications, and other details to inspire the player's imagination, and the character sheet comes in the form of a bookmark.

This game was inspired by The Stygian Library by Emmy Allen, Terry Pratchett’s L-space, the Interstitial Library Circulating Collection, and various works from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, including Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Princess Mononoke.

PDF press copies are available.

Key Features

• Choose truths about your background, community, and the Library itself to kickstart your story.
• Select your familiar's strength to augment your skills.
• Resolve fiction-driven actions by comparing card values to dice rolls.
• Using playing cards, create a map of your travels as you go.
• Roll on tables of descriptions, document formats, and events and secrets capable of creating over 60 million different areas of the Library to discover.

Game Links

• Itch.io game page:  https://bronsonlowe.itch.io/the-librarians-apprentice
• Itch.io press kit page:  https://bronsonlowe.itch.io/tla-press-kit

Contact Information / Social Media

• Email: AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com
• Instagram / Threads: @Almost_Bedtime_Theater
  
• Bluesky: @AlmostBedtime.bsky.social
• Website: Almost Bedtime Theater - itch.io

Promotional Assets

Promotional assets and logos are available via the download link below and on Google Drive.

From Dan

The Librarian's Apprentice started out as a question - "What if Kiki's Delivery Service took place in the Stygian Library?" - and ended up a love letter to libraries and to everyone who makes them possible. Libraries are amazing, magical places, and I wanted to capture that feeling in a game where you could explore the ultimate library, discover its secrets, and create your own story along the way.

I knew I was on the right track when I started testing roll tables and ended up with fascinating combinations of book content and document formats that I'd never considered, like autobiographies as memories passed along through a meal, or books written by the undead as runes on ravens. 

Praise for The Librarian's Apprentice

This was a really fun game to play, and I loved the setting and how the cards and dice worked in tandem with each other to create a very unique difficulty scale and challenge each round.  The prompts were great and engaging, and the mechanics were complex enough to be interesting without being too complicated to explain to kiddo.  

- Steph C | TTRPGkids.com

This was a wonderful, somewhat cozy solo game, with whimsy and a little Pratchett/Henson-style spookiness. The character sheet is a bookmark, people. Put it in one of your favorites, and find it again years later!

  - Galen Pejeau | Assembly Requisite

The Librarian's Apprentice expands on the Firelights system in both highly thematic and efficient ways. One pamphlet includes the rules, while another is full of interesting tables for you to use as you explore the library while the character sheet is laid out in the form of a beautiful bookmark. Staying true to the Firelights ways, the game provides just enough information to get your mind going, but includes many tools to truly experience a wonderful journey alongside your familiar. Additionally, the layout of the game is beautifully achieved. Stellar work from start to finish.

- René-Pier Deshaies | Fari RPGs

Dan has written a masterpiece for us with each piece of the game fitting together perfectly. A joy from the first word, The Librarian's Apprentice gives players all the tools needed to get lost deep in the infinite library on a spectacular adventure. Packed within the trifold pamphlets are tables brimming with secret knowledge, lore, and mystery to get lost in. This is a fantastic game.

- Andrew Boyd | Pandion Games

Everything about this journaling RPG appeals to me. From the theme of a ever-shifting library, to its engaging narrative prompts and even the inventiveness of its folding pages to resemble ancient books.

Rich (HatchlingDM) | Hatchlings Games

Follow Up

If you have any questions, would like to schedule an interview, or want a digital copy of the game for use with a review or actual play, please contact Dan Bronson-Lowe at AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com.