Play by the writing is a small application powered by Espanso that enables rolling dice, random tables, and playing solo RPG systems directly when writing with your keyboard. Just write down the magic keywords (listed below), and they will be replaced with the result of such command, wherever you are typing from.
To put it in plain words, for example, when you write down the command “:qq” (a yes/no oracle), an answer text like “[No]” or “[Yes, but]” will appear. That’s it!
- Call your GM emulators right away from your note-taking application: Mythic 2e, PUM, SUM, GUM, OPSE, MUNE, CRGE, Prompty Questions
- Roll dice anywhere in your system just with a short command,
like
:r2d6+1.→2d6+1: 11 - Seek random tables and roll on them super fast, getting the results in your text
- Use ChatGPT and Dall-E to interact with AI from anywhere (needs OpenAI account) with high levels of customization
- An insane amount of random tables is included to roll right away
- (Advanced) Use nested tables to roll many tables in one go
- (Advanced) Configure your own random tables to access them anywhere
- Install Espanso (free) before you install Play by the Writing
- Install Play by the Writing with either the installer, unzipping, or compiling the source code yourself
- Launch Espanso and play!
For using AI, after installing Play by the Writing, run :aisetup - this will ask you for your OpenAI API Key (and place it in $HOME/PlayBTW/config/openai.txt)
Test if everything works by typing :qq, if you get an Oracle yes/no answer, you're good to go! Have fun.
Check YouTube explanation video
If you are a Windows user, the recommended way to use this is with the installer found HERE There's a price tag on it to justify the work effort overall, for the installer. If you use the open-source version, please consider a donation too.
The installable is compilable from the source code available HERE. If you know some Python and want to fiddle with Espanso, the source code for this is Open Source and Free (consider a donation!) Instructions included in the source code files.
Would you like to chat about this? Join us!
- Example kit: Test before you buy. Once installed, by writing
:exampleyou should see a happy output. - Core kit: Includes dice rolling, random tables, weighted tables from:
- AI kit: Includes Core kit + OpenAI ChatGPT and Dall-E integration
- An installer which will setup play by the writing for you
- An executable (Windows, MacOS, Linux) that is run by Espanso to support dice rolling and random tables' logic
- Other configuration files necessary for PlayBTW
- Random Tables as included and used by PlayBTW (plain text)
- Instructions in PDF format (README, INSTALL, KEYWORDS, LICENSE)
- Espanso itself is an open-source application
- Play by the Writing is open source, feel free to compile it from source
- Microsoft Windows may consider PlayBTW unsafe, you'll have to trust me, and ignore the warnings or set an exception if necessary
- I am an indie developer; I do most of my stuff for free and open source - Including Mythic GME Tools for Foundry VTT
- I do this for love. But this took me quite a bunch of hours to get it right. This is why this time I decided to put a minimum price cap for it 😊 Take it as a contribution and a coffee for me
The installer will install everything correctly by default, only change the installer path if you know what you're doing. Just press next until it installs. That's it.
Play by the Writing (PbtW) files go inside Espanso's user config directory. IMPORTANT: Config directory is NOT the same as installation directory.
For example, if you install Espanso on the F:/ drive, the config directory will still be on the Windows installation drive, where your user files are.
The installer will identify this location automatically, so normally you don't have to switch the path installation of Play by the writing.
- Make sure Espanso works fine in your system and starts and works correctly (test with
:espanso). - Download Play by the Writing Windows installer executables
- Follow the installer instructions. By default, the installer should point to Espanso config folder:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\espanso\. Adjust if it is different.
- Make sure Espanso works fine in your system and starts and works correctly (test with
:espanso) - Download the MacOs zip archive
- Unzip and merge the archive
PlayBTW_v3_11_ai_macos.zipinto~/Library/Application\ Support/espanso. Alternatively, from a terminal, you can rununzip -o -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/espanso ~/Downloads/PlayBTW_v3_11_ai_macos.zipwhich will achieve the same result.
Note 1: If you get an error saying "Apple cannot check this application for malicious software":
- Press OK, then open "Privacy & Security" and scroll down until you see this:
-
Press "Allow Anyway"
-
Runn a command again like
:qq. Now you should get this window:
- This time press "Open". From now on, all commands should work.
Alternatively, you can build the MacOS version yourself from the GitHub repository's code by yourself, which will also run faster as you can use the standard build instead the fat build. Building it yourself will automatically make MacOS trust this software on your MacBook.
Note 2: If you accidentally replace, and do not merge and get errors, simply restart the Espanso service and all will be fine.
That's it, test an oracle example with :qq.
- Make sure your Espanso installation is valid and espanso starts and works correctly (test with
:espanso). - Download the Zip packages for Linux (either base or base with AI)
- If using default paths, this should just work:
unzip ~/Downloads/PlayBTW_v3_11_ai_linux.zip -d ~/.config/espanso/
There are many files with .yml extension inside the match folder of espanso. Open with a text editor and change the lines
that start with : in order to change their command keyword.
The match files point to the random tables included out of the box, which are in the tables folder, in the same level as the match folder.
There you will find all included random tables by default (this will be overridden on every upgrade, so you should work in my_tables instead for customization).
Most match files entries point to a command using --table (or --wtable for weighted tables) which follow with a table name. This table name
is the filename within the folder tables, and you can append using comma symbols more than once, i.e. table1,table2 when customizing.
Understanding this, will allow you to copy these segments to create your own commands with your own tables!
Play by the Writing stores its config and random tables in a different folder, precisely $HOME/PlayBTW/.
There are two types of tables. Ones ending in .txt (simple tables) and others in .psv (weighted tables). Check
the ones available in the folder tables for examples of each.
Add your own tables in the my_tables folder within the espanso folder to keep your own tables safe and untouched after you upgrade PlayBTW.
You can also copy tables from Espanso's tables folder into my_tables and change them there, they will be prioritized!
You can nest table rolls within others, by utilizing the format {{table_simple_name}} or w{{weighted_table_name}}
where the table name refers to the file name. You can use these however you like, and even build sentences with more
than one of them, i.e. Hello {{table_1}}, I hope you had a great {{table_2}}!
Inside the folder list_tables you can find references to tables that change during the course of your game, like Mythic's Characters List.
The tables here are generated dynamically as you use PBTW, but you can check this folder to make backup or changes manually.
The keyword column is what you simply write in your keyboard, to get it replaced with an output (usually, at random).
Note: There are some . Surrounding certain commands. These represent user input and must be written down to denote the ending.
| Name | keyword | Output | Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dice | :dd |
🎲 | Just fancy dice |
| Arrow character | :arr |
→ | Just an arrow |
| Roll dice | :r<formula>. |
3d6x: [1, 3, 1] | Complex formulas: https://github.com/fionafibration/py-rolldice |
| Roll fudge dice | :df. or :df<modifier>. |
( ) (+) (-) (-) + (3) = -1 | Fudge dice for FATE |
| Roll denesys dice | :genesys or :gend |
... | Rolls dice for Genesys RPG by FFG |
| Roll Random Table | :tt.<tablename>. |
[Third result] | Roll from a .txt table based on its filename |
| Roll Weighted Table | :wt.<tablename>. |
[Next quarter] | Roll from a .psv table with weights based on its filename |
| Update tables | :update or :pull |
... | Download and update PlayBTW tables |
| Shuffle Poker Deck | :shuffle |
Shuffled! | restarts the poker deck |
| Draw from Poker Deck | :draw |
8♠ 7♥ 6♦ | Draws a card from poker deck |
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL commands | ALT+SPACE |
| BROWSE Mythic commands | :mythic |
| BROWSE PUM commands | :pum |
| BROWSE SUM commands | :sum |
| BROWSE GUM commands | :gum |
| BROWSE OPSE commands | :opse |
| BROWSE MUNE commands | :mune |
| BROWSE CRGE commands | :crge |
| BROWSE UNE commands | :une |
| BROWSE BOLD commands | :bold |
| BROWSE AI commands | :aicall |
Play with Mythic Game Master Emulator: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/422929/Mythic-Game-Master-Emulator-Second-Edition
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :mythic |
| Fate Check (prompted) | :mmfc |
| Alteration Check (prompted) | :mmalt |
| Fate Check (per modifier and chaos) | :mfc<mod>c<chaos> e.g.: :mfc+2c4 (+2 modifier, 4 chaos rank) or mfc-3c9 (-3 modifier, 9 chaos rank) |
| Scene Alteration | :malt<chaos> e.g.: :malt6 |
| Setup characters list | :mlists or :mchars |
| Roll characters list | :mlists or :mcharr |
| Setup threads list | :mlists or :mthreads |
| Roll threads list | :mlists or :mthreadr |
| Setup adventure features list | :mlists or :mfeatures |
| Roll adventure features list | :mlists or :mfeaturer |
| Random Event | :mre or :mev |
| Action Question | :mac |
| Description Question | :mde |
| Setup Focus | :mlists or :mfocs |
| Roll Focus | :mlists or :mfocr |
These are meant to be played with PUM: https://jeansenvaars.itch.io/plot-unfolding-machine
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :pum |
| Yes or No Deterministic | :qq :+qq :-qq or with :qdet |
| Yes or No Subjective | :qsub :+qsub :-qsub |
| Yes or No Interaction | :qint :+qint :-qint |
| Random Prompt | :scene or :prompt (add +/- for fav/unfav) |
| Modified proposal | :modified or :proposal (add +/- for fav/unfav) |
| Challenge | :challenge or :test |
| Catalyst | :catalyst |
| Complication | :complication |
| Situation | :situation |
| Focus - What | :what or :focus |
| Someone - Who | :someone or :who |
| Intent - Want | :intent or :want |
| Activity - Doing | :activity or :doing |
| Place - Where | :place or :where |
| Reason - Why | :reason or :why |
| Explain - How | :explain or :how |
| Time - When | :time or :when |
| Object - What for | :object or :for |
| Fight - Skills | :fight or :skill |
| Insight - Notice | :insight or :notice |
| Discovery - Find | :discovery or :find |
| Stake - Risk | :stake or :risk |
| Description - Looks | :description or :looks |
| How many/much | :many or :much (add +/-) |
| How good/well | :good or :well (add +/-) |
| How hard/tough | :hard or :tough |
| Disruption check | :disrupt |
| Scene starter unblocker | :starter or :stuck |
| World Elements setup | :pnodes or :elements or :worlds |
| World Elements roll | :pnodes or :elementr or :worldr |
| Meaningful Encounters setup | :pnodes or :encounters |
| Meaningful Encounters roll | :pnodes or :encounterr |
| Things to be Found setup | :pnodes or :finds or :things |
| Things to be Found roll | :pnodes or :findr or :thingr |
| Pending Questions setup | :pnodes or :pendings |
| Pending Questions roll | :pnodes or :pendingr |
These are meant to be played with SUM: https://jeansenvaars.itch.io/scene-unfolding-machine
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :sum |
| GM Intervention | :sceneint or :+sceneint or :-sceneint |
| GM Reaction | :scenereac or :+scenereac or :-scenereac |
| GM Scene opener | :sceneopen or :+sceneopen or :-sceneopen |
| Char Matters | :npcmatt or :+npcmatt or :-npcmatt |
| Char Backstory | :npcback or :+npcback or :-npcback |
| Char Bonding | :npcbond or :+npcbond or :-npcbond |
| Char Attitude | :npcatt or :+npcatt or :-npcatt |
| Char Contribution | :npcc or :+npcc or :-npcc |
| Char Opinion | :npco or :+npco or :-npco |
| Char Impression | :npcimp or :+npcimp or :-npcimp |
| Char Small talk | :npctalk or :+npctalk or :-npctalk |
| Char Truth or dare | :npctruth or :+npctruth or :-npctruth |
| Char stereotypes | :stereo |
These are meant to be played with GUM: https://jeansenvaars.itch.io/game-unfolding-machine
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :gum |
| Exploration | :ggexplo |
| Battle location | :ggbatt |
| Plot clue type | :ggclue |
| Plot useful finding | :ggfind |
| Plot enemy activities | :ggenemyact |
| Plot recent occurrences | :ggoccur |
| Nemesis impression | :ggnemesisimp |
| Nemesis deeds | :ggnemesisdeed |
| Nemesis intention | :ggnemesisint |
| Location by feature | :gglocfeat |
| Location by worth | :gglocworth |
| Location by purpose | :gglocpurp |
| Location by content | :ggloccont |
| Character by possessions | :ggcharposs |
| Character by intention | :ggcharint |
| Character by impression | :ggcharimp |
| Character by activity | :ggcharact |
| Object by function | :ggobjfunc |
| Object by form | :ggobjform |
| Object by state | :ggobjstate |
| Creature by type | :ggcretyp |
| Creature by ability | :ggcreab |
| Creature by behavior | :ggcrebeh |
| Faction driving focus | :ggfacfoc |
| Faction resources | :ggfacres |
| Evil motivations | :ggmotevil |
| Evil deeds | :ggdeedsevil or :ggevilact |
| Good motivations | :ggmotgood |
| Good deeds | :ggdeedsgood or :gggoodact |
| Grand Oracle (all) | :ggorac |
| Grand Oracle (action) | :ggact |
| Grand Oracle (adjective) | :ggadj |
| Grand Oracle (subject) | :ggsub |
| Game setup (location) | :ggsetloc |
| Game setup (background) | :ggsetback |
| Game setup (mission) | :ggsetmission |
| Game setup (opposition) | :ggsetopp |
| Game setup (motivation) | :ggsetmot |
| Game setup (hook) | :ggsethook |
| Game setup (initial lead) | :ggsetlead |
| Game setup (caveat) | :ggsetcaveat |
| Game setup (full) | :ggsetfull |
These are meant to be played with https://inflatablestudios.itch.io/one-page-solo-engine
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :opse |
| Oracle (Yes/No) | :qa :+qa :-qa |
| Set the Scene (Complication) | :setscene |
| Set the Scene (Alteration) | :setalt |
| GM Moves (Pacing) | :pacemove |
| GM Moves (Failure) | :failmove |
| Oracle (How) | :opsehow |
| Random Event | :opsere |
| Action Focus | :afocus |
| Detail Focus | :dfocus |
| Topic Focus | :tfocus |
| Plot Hook Generator | :opsehook |
| NPC Generator | :opsenpc |
| Dungeon Crawler | :opsedungeon |
| Hex Crawler | :opsehex |
These are meant to be played with https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/7251/Conjecture-Games
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :crge or :une or :bold |
| CRGE (Loom of fate) | :qkno or :qcon or :qend |
| CRGE Unexpectedly | :qunex |
| UNE NPC Creator Identity | :unpc |
| UNE NPC Creator Motivation | :umot |
| UNE NPC Creator Power | :upow between :--upow and :++upow |
| UNE NPC Interaction Mood | :umood between :---umood and :+++umood |
| UNE NPC Interaction Bearing | :ubear others in :bold |
| UNE NPC Interaction Focus | :ufoc |
| BOLD Waylays | :bway |
| BOLD Connections | :bcon |
These are meant to be played with https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/134163/UNE-The-Universal-NPC-Emulator-rev
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :mune |
| Oracle (Yes/No) | :mqq :+mqq :-mqq |
| NPC Interaction Attitude | :matt :+matt :-matt |
| Intervention | :mint |
| TWENE | :mtwene |
| Name | keyword |
|---|---|
| BROWSE ALL TABLES | :question |
| Any question | :prany |
| Location | :prloc |
| Travel | :prtrav |
| Relations | :prrel |
| Situational | :prsit |
| World | :prworld |
| Character | :prback |
| Faction | :prfact |
| Crafts | :prcraft |
This experimental functionality relies on OpenAI: https://openai.com for using Artificial Intelligence to autocomplete a prompt. For this to function:
- Go to openai and create an account (for free)
- Go to your account settings and copy the API Key
- With Play by the Writing installed, type
:aisetupand paste your API Key
| Name | keyword | Output |
|---|---|---|
| AI OpenAI API Key setup | :aisetup |
Setup OpenAI API Key to be used by other commands. |
| AI ChatGPT New conversation (erases past) | :aistart :ainew |
Initialize a new AI ChatGPT interaction. Deletes history. |
| AI ChatGPT Continue conversation | :aichat :aiadd :aicontinue |
Continue an initialized ChatGPT conversation |
| AI ChatGPT Single question | :aiask :aisingle :aiquestion |
Ask ChatGPT out of the conversation/context (won't remember) |
| AI ChatGPT Show history | :aimemory :ailog :aihistory |
Bring AI accumulated knowledge memory |
| AI ChatGPT Forget history | :aiforget :aierase :aiclear |
Delete AI memories (saves costs) |
| AI Image Dall-E 3 | :aiimg :aiimage :dall-e |
An AI generated image |
- The software is free, what is sold is the installer and executable files for your convenience, and as a way to support the author
- This software is provided as-is, I support users on goodwill and listen to feedback and ideas, but cannot commit to eternal promises
- This software is only available on itch.io – For your safety, only download from there
- Tested in Windows 11, MacOS Sierra, and Linux (Ubuntu, and OpenSUSE)
- This software is purely and entirely recreational, and it should not cause any harm to your system. I cannot be held responsible for misuse or damage caused to your system.
- Users that have paid, shall receive all future updates for free. However, new content may be sold separately.
- No refunds! Sorry – Use the example package to test this software before you buy
This application has been made to have fun, and I am not a business. You can do whatever you would like to with this software, but be kind, say thanks, and share it with your friends!
JeansenVaars