# Intro Post and Art Prompts

## Launch intro post

I have been building something different.

**Step Away** is a web-assisted card game about intervention, pressure and time.

You use a normal 52-card deck, remove the Jokers, open the website, choose a case file, and play against an app-driven path that never stops moving. The pawn always reaches the End Stop. Your job is not to stop time. Your job is to build enough around the case before the ending arrives.

The four suits become four kinds of intervention:

- ♦ **Seen**, notice clearly
- ♥ **Held**, connect and stay with them
- ♣ **Helped**, reduce practical pressure
- ♠ **Secured**, create immediate safety

Every case has visible signs, hidden truths, pressure, anchors, and a final outcome shaped by how players engage with them. Some cases step away. Some make it through tonight. Some do not step away this time.

Cases can be shared directly. Results can be shared too. After enough people play the same case, the community outcome locks into the global story and that case leaves the active pool.

You can play free with any poker deck.

The official Step Away deck will replace the proxy cards with proper intervention cards, but the website stays the heart of the game.

Play a case. Share the link. Ask others if they can help them step away.

## Proper deck post

The free version of **Step Away** works with a normal deck of cards.

Remove the Jokers and use the suits as intervention types:

- ♦ Seen
- ♥ Held
- ♣ Helped
- ♠ Secured

The official deck will keep the same 52-card structure, but every card will have its own Step Away title, art and pillar identity so you do not need proxy rules at the table.

The site stays free to play. The deck makes it smoother, more tactile and more emotionally grounded.

## Weave Two rule wording

Each step, the table takes one action.

You may play one card, or you may **Weave Two** numbered cards.

To Weave Two:

1. Use two numbered cards only, 2-10.
2. Add the values together.
3. Totals above 10 are legal, but are capped to 10.
4. Either card can carry the suit.
5. Face cards and Aces cannot be woven.

Example: **7 + 4 is legal. It becomes a woven 10.**

A woven 10 is power 3 before timing bonuses.

## Master art direction

Use one consistent art direction for everything. Do not generate 52 unrelated images.

Style: dark, sombre, restrained, chunky stick figures that are still humanised through posture, clothing, props and setting. Broad human silhouettes, minimal facial detail, emotionally readable body language, muted palette, soft grain, matte board-game finish, no explicit self-harm imagery, no graphic content, no race-coded caricature, no glamour, no horror spectacle.

The figures should feel universal enough for players to project onto, but not empty. Clothing, rooms, streetlights, messages, letters, chairs, cups, doors, windows and small everyday objects carry the story.

## Card back prompt

Create the card back for the board game Step Away. Vertical poker-card composition. Dark sombre matte board-game style. Central symbol: a small figure beside a narrowing path that opens into four subtle lines. Include four suit/pillar motifs around the border: diamond for Seen, heart for Held, club for Helped, spade for Secured. Chunky stick-figure visual language, soft grain, muted navy, charcoal, bone white and dull gold. Elegant, restrained, readable at small size. No text except optional tiny Step Away title.

## Suit prompt, Diamonds, Seen

Create a set of Step Away playing cards for the **Seen** suit, represented by Diamonds. Style must match the master art direction. Every card should show noticing, clarity, direct questions, pattern recognition or surfacing hidden truth. Use chunky humanised stick figures, muted dark palette, matte grain, no explicit self-harm imagery. Keep the diamond icon clear. Low cards feel small and quiet, middle cards feel structured, face cards feel major, Ace feels critical.

## Suit prompt, Hearts, Held

Create a set of Step Away playing cards for the **Held** suit, represented by Hearts. Style must match the master art direction. Every card should show connection, presence, staying nearby, listening, accompaniment or future anchors. Use chunky humanised stick figures, muted dark palette, matte grain, no explicit self-harm imagery. Keep the heart icon clear. Low cards feel small and quiet, middle cards feel structured, face cards feel major, Ace feels critical.

## Suit prompt, Clubs, Helped

Create a set of Step Away playing cards for the **Helped** suit, represented by Clubs. Style must match the master art direction. Every card should show practical help, admin, food, transport, reducing pressure, shared burden or widening support. Use chunky humanised stick figures, muted dark palette, matte grain, no explicit self-harm imagery. Keep the club icon clear. Low cards feel small and quiet, middle cards feel structured, face cards feel major, Ace feels critical.

## Suit prompt, Spades, Secured

Create a set of Step Away playing cards for the **Secured** suit, represented by Spades. Style must match the master art direction. Every card should show immediate safety, not-alone support, planned next steps, protected windows or urgent support without graphic imagery. Use chunky humanised stick figures, muted dark palette, matte grain, no explicit self-harm imagery. Keep the spade icon clear. Low cards feel small and quiet, middle cards feel structured, face cards feel major, Ace feels critical.

## Why not 52 separate prompts first

Do not start with 52 separate prompts. The best workflow is:

1. Generate the card back.
2. Generate four suit style sheets.
3. Generate one full suit at a time using the same style reference.
4. Only then write individual correction prompts for cards that fail the style or meaning.

That keeps the deck coherent instead of becoming 52 unrelated AI pictures.


## Deck production workflow

Do not generate 52 unrelated card images first. Build the deck in layers:

1. Generate the card back.
2. Generate one style sheet showing the chunky stick-figure look, suit icons, frame, typography and grain.
3. Generate one suit proof sheet with four sample ranks: 2, 7, Queen, Ace.
4. Lock the style.
5. Generate full suits one at a time.
6. Only use individual correction prompts for cards that fail.

This gives consistency without needing 52 handcrafted prompts up front.

## Chips note

Chips are not required for the public game. Keep the entry point to website plus one deck. Use chips only for private tactile testing or later deluxe accessories.
