Layer 3 — One Paragraph Per Section
Layer 3 of the zine design. Every section of the page budget gets one paragraph describing what it contains, what the player is holding, and what they do. Still not the actual rules — just what each page is earning. The whole zine stays at the same level of detail before anything goes deeper.
Page 1 — Introduction
The opening page. Sets the tone and tells the reader what they’re holding. Describes the materials at the table, the four beats of a session, and what the experience feels like. No rules on this page — just the invitation.
Page 2 — Game Loop Visual
A single-page diagram of the full session arc: Job → Explore → Cook → Present. No words beyond labels. The reader sees the whole game at a glance before anything is explained.
Page 3 — Character Creation
Players flip three cards. The first card’s suit determines class — four options, one per suit. The second card’s rank determines personality type. The third card’s rank determines calling — the character’s driving motivation. Players write these down and draw their character in their sketchbook. Character creation takes one page because the mechanic is the same as everything else: flip a card, read the result.
Pages 4–6 — Job Creation
Players flip four cards from the main deck — one for each job element: client, event, location, urgency. Each flip uses rank only — find your rank on the table, write down the result. The urgency flip determines how many exploration flips the group gets later. Write all four results on an index card. That index card is the job. It sits in the middle of the table for the whole session. The group brings their own world and tone to every session — the cards generate prompts, the group decides the vibe. Everything that follows — exploration, cooking, presentation — happens in service of that card.
Pages 7–9 — Exploration
Exploration is what happens between the job and the kitchen. The group moves through the world — meeting people, running into trouble, gathering what they need. Players flip cards to find out what’s there: suit determines the type of encounter (NPC, monster, ingredient, location detail), rank points to the specific prompt on a table. Each encounter is a creative beat — talk to them, sketch what you find, draw the thing they give you. The job card sets how many flips the group gets. When the flips run out, it’s time to cook.
Pages 10–12 — Cooking
Cooking is where the group builds the dish. Players take turns — each one flips a card, reads the prompt (a component, a constraint, a twist), and has 30 seconds to draw their part of the dish. Suit determines the type of thing being added (an ingredient, a technique, a garnish, something weird); rank points to the specific prompt on a table. The dish grows one contribution at a time. When everyone has gone, whatever is on the page is what you made. This section explains the structure, then delivers the tables.
Pages 13–14 — Presentation
Presentation is the ending. The group holds up what they made — the dish drawing — and finds out how it lands. One player flips a card. Rank gives the specific client response from a table. Someone reads it aloud. That’s the punchline. There’s no pass or fail — just the reaction, whatever it is, and the story that comes out of it. This section explains the beat and delivers the reaction table.
Pages 15–18 — Misc Tables
Two standalone tables for groups who want more texture: a dish name generator for naming what was made before it goes on the menu, and a complication table for when something goes sideways mid-session. Both follow the same mechanic — flip a card, read the result. These aren’t required; they’re there when the group wants more texture or gets stuck.
Pages 19–20 — Example Playthrough
A complete session shown in action — one group, one job, all four beats. Shows exactly what the table looks like at each stage: the index card going down, the card flips happening, the dish getting drawn piece by piece, the reaction landing. Written as a narrated example, not a rules explanation. The reader should finish it knowing exactly what a real session feels like.
Page 21 — Credits
The back matter. Who made it, any acknowledgments, and a pointer to where to find more. One page.
Layer Status
- ✅ Layer 1 — Experience Sketch (complete, see
introduction.md) - ✅ Layer 2 — Page Budget (complete, see
page-budget.md) - ✅ Layer 3 — One paragraph per section (this document)
- ⬜ Layer 4 — Write the zine