Reconstructing the Questing Beast
Now on Kickstarter, Glatisant is a new take on Arthurian legends and the Carta system
Launching to Kickstarter on September 16, this game brings a new perspective to the myth of the Questing Beast using TTRPG mechanics.
Glatisant is a GM-less, asymmetrical TTRPG for two players using the Carta system. Players experience a lifelong quest through Arthurian myth as the heroic Knight Errant and the Questing Beast they pursue, encountering people and places from Arthurian myth as they turn over playing cards in a tableau.
The Questing Beast itself is a chimeric beast appearing in Arthurian legend as the object of a knight's quest. "On the plane ride home from PAXU that year, I imagined a Questing Beast that is as committed to building up the Knight as the Knight is to catching it," said writer and designer Lucas Zellers. "It's the original literary metaphor for anyone who's ever loved something more than they felt they were loved in return.
Adding the Questing Beast to the Carta system, an exploration-based TTRPG system, means Glatisant can use game mechanics for a unique contribution to Arthurian literature.
Released in 2021 by Peach Garden Games, the Carta system uses a spread of playing cards to create a point-crawl adventure. As players move to a new card, they find a story prompt matching the card’s suit and rank in the rulebook. The system has formed the basis of dozens of games since its release, including Dragon Dowser, The Land and the People, and designer Cat MacDonald's own Into the Glacier. Carta games are normally written as solo journaling and survival games.
Glatisant adds a second player, a hidden objective, and multiple resources to expand the system’s potential and themes.
"The hidden objective means the Beast has to communicate with the Knight only through their actions on the board and in the story, and that player really takes on the role of a mysterious goal or silent benefactor."
Glatisant is the first solo Kickstarter from Graftbound Press, a publishing company for TTRPGs formed in 2024 by Zellers and creative director Emily Entner. Graftbound's previous work includes Precious Things and Bonds Between, a collaboration with BrightBard Games that uses collage as a mechanic for a cozy duet TTRPG of tiny, backyard dragons.
