Music of the Spherewalkers
Everway is one of my favorite TTRPGs. I picked up the first edition box in 1996 and was immediately enchanted by the design, both visual and mechanical.
The game is incredibly easy to pick up and play; character creation requires only quick consultation with the "Fortune Deck" oracle cards, consideration (in the first edition) of the included art "Vision Cards", and the distribution of 20 character points among Element attributes, Magic and specific Powers.
Actual play involves GM adjudication by a kind of "educated fiat", advised by the character's stats, the needs of the story, and/or a draw from the Fortune Deck. And that's it; there are no difficulty numbers, combat rounds, action economies, health tracks or dice. It's a bare minimum of the "game", and a maximal approach to the "roleplaying", in "roleplaying game".
Everway's 1995 release was way ahead of its time. The climate of then-current games made it a revolutionary outlier in the market, and it didn't sell well. A supplement, the Spherewalker Sourcebook, was released in 1996, containing information on the game's backed-in Spheres multiverse, and more art cards were also printed, but that's it as far as support. The game languished for decades.
Then, in 2020, a new "Silver Anniversary Edition" was released. It had been 25 years, and Everway's time had finally come. Narrative, rules-light games were now quite popular. The new edition consists of two weighty standard-sized, full-color tomes, one for Players and the other for Gamemasters. The Fortune Deck's cards are all explained in the Players book, and the Vision cards are now a list of images in that same manual.
The Players' book includes complete character creation, thorough explanation of the Elements and how to use them (singly and in combinations), much more complete details for Magic, and the return of the easy and flexible Powers. There's even a Quickstart summary toward the back for easy reminders.
The GM's guide repeats the original edition's advice on running the game, just expanded, and now the book provides four massive quests, all of which can be used to start the game or continue an ongoing chronicle. The loveable premade characters from the first edition return, ever so slightly tweaked in some cases, and there's a great section detailing fantastic creatures the players may encounter in the Spheres.
Both books include an important new feature. The bottom of every page lists a Fortune Deck draw (upright or reversed), obviating the need for the deck itself. Simply open either tome to a random page and take the card listed there. I, however, bought the Deluxe Fortune Deck, which adds new "Season Cards" as a kind of Minor Arcana to the Major Arcana of the Fortune Cards. These new cards are not listed in either manual, but have keywords and other interpretation aids listed right on them.
Much of the first edition's art returns in both the Fortune Deck and the Visions, aiding in familiarity for those who played or owned that inital release. All the new art is similarly spectacular and flavorful. Everything is now in full color. The character sheets have not changed in any way, so if you still have some from the first edition box, you can still use them!
Everway has a baked-in concept and multiverse that is easy to understand and adopt, with almost everyone speaking the same language, mortals all having names derived from common words (such as Chance, Praises Be, Clarity, Shadow, and Amber), and the Fortune Deck being ubiquitous across the Spheres (except for one single card in each world, known as the Usurper). Unlike the Amber Diceless RPG, however, which was designed for world-beating superhuman charcters, Everway's engine and character modelling can be used for a variety of other worlds. I once wrote an adaptation for Doctor Who, including a revised Fortune Deck; sadly, I lost the document long ago.
It's a terrible shame, to me, that Everway is not more popular, especially in the modern era. There are no APs for it on YouTube; the only Everway videos are unboxings for the first edition and the occasional review. There's no discussion on social media or forums that I can find. I don't understand why this is so. I've also never even had a chance to run or play the game, despite its simplicity. Most folks I know in the TTRPG space haven't even heard of it. I'd like to change that.