Beak, Feather, & Bone is a collaborative worldbuilding and lightly competitive map-labeling RPG. Players begin with a blank, unlabeled city map and take on assigned community roles, then take turns claiming and defining locations across the city.

Using a standard 52-card deck, each location’s function is determined before players describe its beak (reputation), feather (appearance), and bone (interior). As buildings are filled in, the city gradually comes alive, revealing its inhabitants, key NPCs, and evolving power structures.

The game draws inspiration from map-making experiences like Avery Alder’s The Quiet Year and narrative-driven systems such as Powered by the Apocalypse. This zine includes rules, 11 illustrated community roles by Austin Breed, a city map by Jonathan Yee, and optional guidance for running games set in a ravenfolk society (or similar cultures like kenku or tengu).

While typically played in a lightly competitive format, it also supports solo, cooperative, and character-focused variants. Its flexible beak/feather/bone framework can be applied to any setting, genre, or type of map.