Children of the Shrike

Captain Wilbert J. Schriker of the starship Endeavour was one of the most famous explorers in the Terran Space Agency. Reports from across space speak of his heroism, ingenuity, and devotion to the principles of the United Earth Authority—well, most of them. Indeed, out on the frontier of human exploration, far from superiors to keep tabs on his behaviour, Schriker would often take liberties when interacting with locals. Sometimes, his unorthodox actions would solve intractable disputes. Other times were of a more intimate nature—and you are the result.

You are the children of Captain Schriker, sired across the stars by a string of affairs, flings, trysts, orgies, and romances. Recently, you’ve heard that your errant father has retired from a cushy admiralty, though his exact whereabouts are secret. As you set out to find him, you ran into one another and joined forces. You each have your own reasons for seeking out your father, but one thing is for sure: Schriker’s past is finally catching up with him.

This is a one-page tabletop roleplaying game, made for One-Page RPG Jam 2022.

Thematically, this game is inspired by the philandering of James T. Kirk and William T. Riker in their respective Star Trek series.

The similarity in Schriker's implied nickname ("Shrike") and the name of a character from the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons is accidental and unintentional.

Mechanically and presentationally, this game is based on Jared Sinclair’s What’s So Cool About Outer Space? You could consider it a scenario for that game, but Children of the Shrike has everything you need to play by itself. You can get optional rules that I wrote for physical, mental, and social combat and injuries here.

The downloads include a simple text version of the rules for screen readers and ease of printing.

Thanks to Matt Jones, Karl Aho, Alida Liberman, and Kat Curwin for feedback on earlier drafts.

I wrote this game on the traditional and ancestral territories of the Mississauga and Massachusett peoples.