Clean Spirit
A downloadable rules-lite RPG
Clean Spirit is a token-based, rules-lite TTRPG designed to inspire an emotionally meaningful cleaning session with your new or old characters.
There's nothing quite like cleaning and the magic of discovering something lost, placing a treasured item in the perfect spot, finding the strength to let something go, and reliving the stories and memories these items inspire.
It's time to join your fellow players and get to work. You'll achieve goals for your dwelling and hopefully have a meaningful experience along the way. The rules for Clean Spirit are beginner friendly, and the game can be completed in one 3-4 hour session, depending on the number of players and amount of roleplay.
While the stage for this game is "clean your dwelling," the game is more about...
- Discovering things that matter to your character.
- Exploring the origins of your group.
- Deepening relationships.
Clean Spirit can serve as a mid-campaign slice of life session, a campaign starter to meet characters, an epilogue to say goodbye to characters, or you can play it without any connection to your other games. Tuck this game into your favorite system (including 5e) for a fresh exploration of your characters and their shared histories.
Your preferred world doesn't matter. This game is somewhat modular, fitting in almost any environment. There are roll tables that might be more suitable for modern and fantasy settings, but the ruleset works whether your characters are creatures sharing a tree, astronauts in a space station, guild members sharing a building, or poor adventurers sharing a room at the tavern for a long while.
Clean Spirit is a loose, mostly freeform role-playing game with a focus on characters and their interactions with each other and their world. There aren't a lot of numbers to track, and the character sheet mostly serves as a quick way to organize your thoughts, but you might not even need it.
Clean Spirit doesn't require a game master, but it offers support should you want to play with one.
- Ideal for 3-5 players.
- Play for 3-4 hours in one session (depending on length of roleplay).
- Learn about your dwelling, characters, relationships, and more about what's important to them.
- The character sheet or a way to track your goals and progress.
- Several tokens (buttons, coins found in between the cushions, loose bolts, matches, or any other small object without a home).
- At least one 6-sided die.
I created several pieces of custom artwork which you'll find previewed on this page and inside the text! The PDF is easy to navigate thanks to tabs that link to the start of each section. If you're not a fan of the tabs, the traditional PDF bookmark system and table of contents are also hyperlinked. The spread version of the PDF is the best way to engage with this game, but I've uploaded the single-page version for those of you who want all the options.
- A full-color PDF with bookmarks, hyperlinked tabs, and artwork.
- A printer friendly, plain text document.
- Character sheets that are fillable in your favorite PDF note taking app, or you can print them out.
"It's like Marie Kondo, but with pen and paper."
-Ennio, Clean Spirit Playtester
"An interesting exploration into how much of ourselves is stored in the spaces we occupy, and how our possessions and spaces inform and facilitate our interactions with ourselves and others."
-Clean Spirit Playtester
"A flexible, low-key "downtime" game that serves as a framework for meaningful RP and a contemplative story beat."
-Clean Spirit Playtester
"A game where a group of friends clean a shared space and find time to connect with their pasts, their futures, and each other."
-J.C. Darcy, Clean Spirit Playtester
Looking for a no-stress, no-mess, cozy little TTRPG to try out? Look no further!! My group used CLEAN SPIRIT’s structure during one of our “downtime” sessions (established 5e campaign), and it created some deep, memorable, & functionally useful RP/ character interactions. I’m sure it would also be delightful without the backdrop of an established campaign, but there was something special about getting to crack open our emotionally repressed characters like they were geodes. anyway, give CLEAN SPIRIT a go!! (The price tag is a steal, btw.)
-@rjsheddwrites, Clean Spirit Playtester
I still have a few items I'd like to release within a few months. Here's what's coming.
- Audiobook
Status | Released |
Category | Physical game |
Release date | Jul 26, 2022 |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (29 total ratings) |
Author | Cassi Mothwin |
Genre | Role Playing |
Tags | Co-op, Cozy, dnd, Dungeons & Dragons, GM-Less, One-shot, rules-lite, tabletop-role-playing-game |
Average session | A few hours |
Links | Homepage |
Purchase
In order to download this rules-lite RPG you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $9.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Community Copies
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Development log
- Print Editions Available!Jul 11, 2023
- Better colors throughout! Minor visual updatesJun 21, 2023
- Clean Spirit is OUTJul 26, 2022
Comments
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Really enjoyed playing this game! It is a great way to have personal character moments, and a natural way to reveal some secrets about players. I love that it can be used as a "filler" for other TTRPG campaigns, or works as a stand alone game.
I played, I cried. And I LIKED IT.
The "secrets" mechanic was such a great way to test those relationships and really bring in opportunities for strong emotions. Really just felt like giving an enormous hug to my fellow players after the game. Woe the limits of online play!
just played this in between pathfinder 2e sessions and had a great time creating and working with my party to help clean up their new hideaway! as a gm, I found it easy to slide into our current set up, occasionally tossing in rolls where it felt right and otherwise letting the party members discuss and work together organically. a really great module that works beautifully in whatever game you want!
Thank you so much for the kind words!! I'm glad you and your party enjoyed it!
I had a great chat with The Weekly Scroll about tabletop RPGs. After my interview portion was done, they did a great and in-depth flip through of Clean Spirit. Check the video description for timestamps!
Clean Spirit is a lovely and charming game that delivers on its premise -- a cozy exploration of a space and revealing hidden truths of characters.
I ran a 3 hour session for my D&D group one week when some of our players were travelling and to give our DM an opportunity to play as a character. The rulebook is gorgeous and lays out the rules in a clear and easy to read manner. The rules itself are simple, but evocative as it helped bring up stories and questions that created deeper connections between our characters, letting us learn about quirks and anecdotes that were only hinted at in the dramatic fantasy storyline of our main campaign. For virtual play, I recommend using the online whiteboard Miro as a pseudo-VTT. It was easy to upload the pdf, write on the handouts, copy-paste tokens based on events, and even has some simple drawing tools for people to doodle with.
I really loved Clean Spirits and had a great time bringing it to my table!
Oh my gosh!! This made me tear up! Thank you so much for playing!! 💜💜💜
Super super excited by the premise of this game! Admittedly I've only gotten a chance to skim the rules so far, but I'm already eagerly daydreaming about bringing this game as a oneshot into a pre-existing campaign.
Just wanted to ask: the game mentions that it could be used for a group that's just now moving in, which I would absolutely love to do, but a lot of the game's spirit seems to be wrapped up in pre-existing memories and feelings associated with the dwelling and items therein. Do you have any advice for running Clean Spirit as a "moving in" game rather than "cleaning up" or "moving out"?
Thanks for checking out Clean Spirit!
It's easy to run Clean Spirit for a move-in experience! You'll want to make sure the group has a good understanding of the location they're moving into, but ensuring group goals are move-in based instead of focused on cleaning will help. Players should focus on setting rooms up during play, describing how they are organizing items and furniture as a group. Many of the moves on the character sheet are designed with unpacking in mind, so as players go through boxes or suitcases of items, they can pull stuff out to gain motivation and make progress. I think you'll see what i mean when you review the way players make progress in the "start" section.
Hope this helps!
Songwoven played Clean Spirit live on Twitch! Here's the VOD from YouTube!
Clean spirit is so lovely. The writing is beautiful, the layout is so clean.
The navigation bar at the right side is such a blessing to navigate.
Love the use of the post it notes in the design, and the color choices really makes the pages dynamic to look and read through.
Thank you so much for your comment! I'm glad you found the navigation bar useful!
I'll never be able to properly tell you how much this means to me. ❤️
I am enamored with Clean Spirit! Fantastic writing, the layout and digital accessibility is amazing (the adorable tabs are clickable!), and the gameplay gets the wheels turning. I cannot wait to play through this one with my group! Really great work, Cassi!
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!! I admire your work a lot!
Great layout and a well put together game. After an initial readthrough, I'm excited to get into it more. Great work Cassi!
I really appreciate the kind words. Thank you so much for checking it out!
A CLEAN SPIRIT IS A FULFILLED SPIRIT
HECK YEAH.
WHAT IS HYPE MAY NEVER DIE
BUT IT WILL DUST
I can't wait to TIDY
TIDY YOUR ROOM. TIDY YOUR SOUL.
Looks great! I must admit, when I saw the premise, I was hoping it was a game to play with your actual housemates to help get your house happily cleaned. :D
Which I now want!
Maybe in an expansion??? 🤔😂
Yes please! I wonder if it would get hubby involved. :D
ITS HAPPENING
OH GOSH ITS HAPPENING
SOON!!!!
SO EXCITED
🥺 Yay! Same!