Bacchamania

The young god Dionysos has returned to the city of Thebes. 

He brings with him his retinue of ecstatic and unpredictable followers: the Bacchae.

Pentheus, the mortal cousin of Dionysos, is king of Thebes—but there is no warm welcome awaiting Dionysos here. Pentheus denies the legitimacy of Dionysos’ claim to godhood and has forbidden his worship in Thebes. In response, Dionysos has driven the women of Thebes (including his own aunt/Pentheus’ mother, Agave) to madness and has summoned them forth to join the Bacchae on nearby Mount Kithairon.

Bacchamania is a 3+ player pen & paper mini-RPG created for the 2024 One-Page RPG Jam and inspired by The Bacchae by Euripides. Rather than roll dice to determine outcomes, players riff off roleplay prompts and drink alcohol to raise their stats and unlock more actions. It is designed to be played in a single session, during which chaos (and inebriation) crescendo until the tale crashes into its conclusion.

• Take on the role of Dionysos, Pentheus, or the Bacchae, and take a classical Greek tragedy wildly off-script
• Perform miracles or plot revenge, launch into righteous tirades or revel in Dionysian delight, defend the rule of law or upend it
• Raise stats such as "Fury" and "Hubris"—but watch out, because other players can steal them

With 6 different endings and virtually infinite ways to get there, Bacchamania lets you re-imagine the story of The Bacchae as many times as you want, creating a unique story each time. What twist will you bring to the tale? Play to find out!

Note: While Bacchamania is designed as a drinking game, the rules provide options for alternative ways to play. The core rules fit on one side of a single sheet of paper, and the reverse side contains examples of TTRPG safety tools as well as suggestions for running a sobriety-friendly game of Bacchamania.

Additional Credits

Cover illustration by the always-phenomenal Alden Sumstad. Rules document references safety tools by John Stavropoulus, Beau Jágr Sheldon, Ron Edwards, and Patrick O'Leary.