modo reads ttrpgs

this is me trying to actually read some of the dozens i keep buying

[modoreadsttrpgs]

Welcome, I’m modo (he/they), UK-based enjoyer of TTRPGs. I started playing in 2020, when one of my friends decided to try running D&D to stave off the pandemic boredom. We’re actually still going, and at some point my neurodivergent brain locked onto TTRPGs as its hyperfocus. Since then I’ve played a bunch, been a GM a few times, and generally become obsessed with buying, reading, and playing games, as well as reading articles and blogs, listening to podcasts etc. It’s a bit of a problem, but a fun one.

I buy so many games, because I get very excited about the possibilities of them. Then I’m too over-stimulated, and exhausted from capitalism to actually read most of them. The plan here is that I encourage myself to read them and share my thoughts, mostly just for my own benefit. Maybe what I’ve done is give myself another way to procrastinate from actually reading and playing games, but we’ll see!

I’ve got no idea what the format of this will look like. I’ve definitely been partially inspired by Idle Cartulary’s bathtub reviews, “stream of consciousness and unedited”, to keep the pressure low. My experience of reading and playing is limited, and I’m no critic by any stretch, so I plan to mostly just log what I’m reading, describe what it is, and add a few thoughts about what struck me as interesting or challenging about it. I don’t expect anyone to ever read any of this, but if you are doing then hi, I hope you find something… of value… in it?

[modoreadsttrpgs]

Game Reflections: Deathmatch Island

Deathmatch Island is based on the Paragon system, from John Harper's Agon. That game is a story of Greek heroes facing trials from the gods. This one sits somewhere between Battle Royale, Lost, and Squid Game. Players are competitors in a dystopian game show, taking on challenges, earning followers, and ultimately competing in deathmatches to determine one final winner.

I've just recently finished running a season. We had four players, and it took six sessions - which was impressively quick considering our sessions are only 2 hours long. We were using the roll20 module to play, but I also made a basic playkit here: https://www.tumblr.com/modoreadsttrpgs/813964156982198272/deathmatch-island-playkit

Overall, we had a blast. It's a lot of fun, and gives considerable room for players to get into some wild antics. The Paragon system was new to all of us, and it runs very differently to most of the games we've played before. It was really low prep for me, certainly once we were up and running. There was some confusion and awkwardness as everyone got the hang of it, but I'd be delighted to run it again, or join as a player

My thoughts on the game really come down to two points - it's extremely structured, which has pros and cons, and it hands a lot of freedom, but also therefore responsibility, over from the GM to the players.

Paragon's structure

Without explaining the entire process of playing the game, basically players select the next point of interest they wish to visit, the GM presents the situation, the players explain their approach, GM rolls, players roll, then in reverse order of results (i.e., lowest score to highest) each player narrates the outcome. That's for a basic point of interest, but there are specific procedures for the battle royale phase of each island.

Playing with a group whose primary experience is trad games, 90% of it D&D, this is a very different experience. In some ways it feels more like playing a board game. No one needs to figure out where they should go next or who to talk to. It removes a lot of the clumsy portions where anxiety about the theoretically infinite possibility space of a trad game can cause paralysis within the group. With players that are used to video games, there was a definite level of comfort and enjoyment from knowing you're not 'playing it wrong' because all you're being asked to do is pick a point on the map.

On the other hand, it could also feel too much like a board game if you're not careful. Being my first time running the game, I found myself wrapped up in the procedures at times, and forgetting to add flavour and make it feel like we're telling a story. Same goes for the players - these are people who, when I run trad games, I very consciously add moments and even mechanics to force more roleplay and remind them that they're playing characters rather than steering empty avatars through a puzzle box. So here, collectively we could very easily slip into ticking all the boxes and not having much fun. We didn't, but I was always worried about the risk.

One big positive though, is that so much structure really helps with time management. This was the closest we've ever gotten to finishing a game in the number of sessions I thought it would take, where normally you can double my estimation.

Authorial responsibility

The flip side of this is that all the guardrails on the structure stand in opposition to, or more accurately open the space for, a huge amount of narrative freedom for the players. This is the real magic of the system I think.

When each player gets their alloted time to narrate the events surrounding their character, they already know the outcome of all the rolls. There's no "can I do this?" because they already know if they passed or failed, and they have the freedom to narrate that in whatever ridiculis, goofy, dramatic, or violent way they feel like.

It was a bit of a barrier for them to get over too. Getting comfortable with how much they could describe about the world, the NPCs, and definitely the other PCs, took some time. Also, late in sessions, or if a player was more distracted, there was an underlying vibe of 'well, the roll is done so nothing I say here really matters' and I didn't always get the best out of them. It's a bit of a catch-22, because removing any mechanical pressure around narrating your actions is what gives players the freedom, but it also reduces the tension.

When it gets going though, it really sings. The players had a lot of fun for long stretches where I, as the GM, was barely doing any work. Once they were used to doing it, I could see such a difference in the same players who would normally resist any sense of narrative control in a game of D&D.

Other thoughts

An assembly of other thoughts from my first campaign:

- The Roll20 module is great in every way, except the rolling which is clunky, confusing, and didn't always seem to add up correctly

- It's super low-prep, certainly once you're past the first session or two - the dynamics of the island and the competition can change so drastically within an hour of play that you really can't prep

- I'm not quite sure why it felt worse than most other games I've played, but I really had to flick back and forth in the book a lot, from the islands to the cast to the resolution procedure to exactly how trust and support work etc

- I was worried that the rolling would take too long per person, and initially tried to get them to just do their rolls simultaneously, but they absolutely rejected that, and seemed to enjoy talking through building their dice pools step-by-step

- The team leader mechanic is really fun - they all vied for the position but then all equally hated holding it and being responsible for group decisions

We ended with 3 of 4 players choosing to break the game (gold star for that one player, I was so happy), so they couldn't work together until the turncoat was killed later in the final stages. Only one competitor made it out, and with minimal damage done to Deathmatch Island. We left it wide open for a New Game+ return, and I'd be excited to run it when the time comes. I've also pitched the game to another group.

Sometimes I run a new game and think ah that was great, but what other new game will I run next. This went so well, and feels so unique, that I can see it being a staple game in my arsenal to pull out at any time, for any group.

[modoreadsttrpgs]

Deathmatch Island Playkit

I'm close to finishing the campaign I've been running of Deathmatch Island. I'll post some reflections when it's done, but in the meantime I've built a quick playkit. I've been using the roll20 module, but I figured it would be fun to make the playkit, and it's always easier to know what is needed once you've actually played a game. That being said, I basically just recreated the character sheet - you can really tell Tim Denee's background is in design, because it's so neatly constructed. You could do some other things like roll for injuries etc, but that crosses into actual game content, and is more fun to roll properly anyway I think. Here's the link:

Deathmatch Island Playkit

[modoreadsttrpgs]

We had a night away in the van this weekend, and I used some of the time for final prep on a short campaign of Deathmatch Island that I started running last night. First impressions are very positive - we quickly got into the action and the system is working well to create some fun moments and strong characters.

I'll look forward to writing some reflections after the campaign is done. This group almost exclusively plays 5e, and for Deathmatch Island you're picking nodes on a map, doing one roll per person, and then narrating the scene by taking turns. It's such a different structure and I wasn't sure if they would take to it, but they did and enjoyed themselves.

I may have over-emphasised the intra-team conflict element as they were squabbling throughout 😄 Their narration was entertaining though, and one player paused early to say "is it OK to describe what the opponents are doing as well?" Once I said yes, you could sense the realisation of the authorship that gave them and they unleashed some mayhem. Can't wait for next week!

[modoreadsttrpgs]

Game Reactions We Dig Giant Robots (those teens should not have that mech!)

Link: https://far-horizons-co-op.itch.io/we-dig-giant-robots

We Dig Giant Robots by Far Horizons CoOp

Rock into the pilot seat of your giant robo-car and kick alien butt before your cheesesteak gets cold!

I backed this on Kickstarter in January, and the final PDF was released in April. Also this game seems SUPER GOOD. It's designed as a one-shot game, about a prototype mech from the future that accidentally ends up in the wrong time period (not explicit, but probably the 90s) and in the hands of a bunch of teenagers.

Sessions in We Dig Giant Robots are structured like an episode of of a 90s TV show, and that framing is carried throughout the entire book. It's very effective at communicating the right vibes, and at the same time very useful as a shorthand for getting across the mechanics etc.

Visually, it's maximal - cartoon flames, about five hundred different fonts, busy backgrounds etc. It looks like the first time you set up a geocities website and wanted to use all of the possible HTML functions. I feel like if the PDF could have embedded auto-playing midi files, it would do. This isn't Mork Borg though, it's not overwhelming, and it's deceptively legible.

Mechanically it's light, as you'd want from a one-shot game, but still with some interesting wrinkles. Player characters are referred to as hooligans, and they have six stats which function as you'd expect. The exception is the Cool stat, which you can use in place of any other stat for a check, but it comes with increased risk. Basic rolls are a d6, roll under, and you can have penalties or bonuses apply based on other factors. Health is actually represented by your Luck stat, and it dropping to zero means you are 'Taken Out', which can mean you're unconscious, but doesn't mean you're dead and can mean you're just ineffective for any other reason (e.g., too angry, distracted - I think players could come up with some very fun reasons for their characters being taken out).

Hooligans also have Knacks and Qualities, and the ability to collect and use a resource called Plot Points that are a really interesting way for players to influence what is happening without needing their character to take direct action. I would say, though the system is fairly straightforward, I would've liked some more play examples, particularly for things like the Plot Points.

Something else I really latched onto here is that players can choose to play a Special Character instead of a normal Hooligan. You'd really only want 1 or 2 of these, and probably only 1 for every 3 players maybe. There are 8 of these, including the Future Warrior (who is cool AF but cannot pilot the mech and is struggling to wrangle these messy teenagers) and the Ghost in the Machine (an onboard AI who can effectively guarantee a successful roll at least once per episode, but obviously can't physically interact with the world). This setup is pure genius, because firstly it really leans into the theming. You can absolutely imagine the TV show where the main characters are constantly frustrating the very straight-laced warrior from the future, who needs to rely on them to pilot the big murder robot to save the world. Secondly, it serves an interesting function in a one-shot game. Many of the Special Characters are mechanically more streamlined than a normal Hooligan, so if you have an impromptu one-shot session and one or more players are less experienced with TTRPGs, they can play a unique role that lessens the mechanical burden on them. Very smart!

One thing that I absolutely need in an RPG designed for one-shots is a clear structure for sessions, and a lot of guidance to GM it without a tonne of prep work. Luckily that's what we get here - each episode has an Inciting Incident (a Hooligan does something very dumb), followed by a period of Messing Around (Hooligans get into more trouble whilst almost accidentally investigating or triggering the main plot), then a Climax where the villain is dealt with, and a short Epilogue. There are a bunch of tables included to roll on to create the villain, pick an inciting incident, etc, and the entries on these tables are descriptive and fun. There's also a surprisingly huge number of example characters included, so players could also just pick one of those.

I remember choosing to back this game, it wasn't expensive, had mechs, and sounded like it could be fun, so I just went for it, but honestly wasn't necessarily expecting too much. After reading through, it's shot right to the top of my list of games to run. I'm immediately excited to make a playkit for it and force one of my groups to give it a go. It seems easy to run, and I think almost any group could have a good time with it. Could not recommend it more.

[modoreadsttrpgs]

I'm reading another game that has some similarities to this, but its equivalent to plot points only have the impact of giving players a numerical bonus to an action. The use of them in WDGR to allow a player to state that something is true about the world, e.g., I know someone who has that exact skill, I've been there before etc, is really great. I should be running a one shot of it before Christmas, can't wait.

[modoreadsttrpgs]

Game Reflections: Lichcraft (liches and trans healthcare waiting lists)

Link: https://laurieoconnel.itch.io/lichcraft

Lichcraft by laurieoconnel

An RPG about trans necromancers

My spouse actually picked this up at UKGE this year, while I was buying Out of the Fold and generally geeking out about meeting Kayla Dice. We've played two games now, each GMing one, so this is the rare example of writing my thoughts after playing and not just reading.

Lichcraft is a 2-player game by default (there's options for more players), with one as GM and the other playing as a trans character in a UK where the NHS waiting lists for trans healthcare have reached 300 years long. It's depressingly not that exaggerated. Determined not to let the bigots win, you decide to become a lich, granting yourself immortality and ensuring that you'll live to reach the top of the list. Should be an entertaining first appointment…

It's rules light, with a d6 dice pool system based on 3 stats, and bonuses if you can work in your day job, politics, hobby, or the source of your magic - all of which you pick or roll for at character creation. You have a small health pool, and even a mixed success forces you to drop either health or a stat. There's also a mechanism for regaining those, in which your character must sacrifice something important to them, describing how it helps and why it is a significant loss for them. That part works really well to inject some poignancy in a largely goofy (complementary) game.

Structurally, the player needs three things: the spell, components, and the location to perform the ritual. The GM rolls for three elements of each, generating where it is and what the complications are, and the tables for these are full of delightful prompts for the imagination.

The whole thing comes together really well. It's easy to pick up and play with zero prep, mixes tones successfully, and gave us very different games the two times we played. There's additional rules for new settings and different tweaks, including a WH40K-inspired setting, and multiplayer rules from Sam Dunnewold (of Dice Exploder). It's deceptively strong, it feels like a breeze to read and play, and is a great case study in having a fun premise, exactly the mechanics you need to support it, and nailing the execution.

[brucesterling]

[modoreadsttrpgs]

We Dig Giant Robots Playkit

I've made another playkit, this time for We Dig Giant Robots, which I posted about recently. I mentioned that I was excited to get it to the table, and I may have an opportunity to do just that as one of my main groups is between campaigns until the new year. Here it is:

We Dig Giant Robots Playkit

The game is built for one-shots, so it's not a super-involved character sheet. I did use checkboxes that automatically update the stats, and I'm kinda chuffed with the Luck stat appearing in a star symbol (I think the proper character sheet is actually an explosion, which I didn't realise until after I'd done this, and I still liked it, so that's how it's staying :D) - there's an image with a square cut out sitting over a cell of the same colour. It does mean that you can't edit the cell directly, unless you navigate there with your keyboard. I made it a lookup and added a cell to edit to the side. Not perfect, but I like the visual regardless.

[theresattrpgforthat]

MASKS Playbooks 2.0

For those unfamiliar with the game, MASKS: A New Generation is a PbtA game published by Magpie Games, about young superheroes trying to figure out their identity while also keeping their city safe.

I've finally updated my MASKS playbooks! I think I've got some beautiful Google Sheets for this well-loved game, and I think you should check them out!

Each playbook has the information any player needs to start putting together a wet mess of a teenager.

I've included my standard Safety Tools Sheet, but I've also included a version of the Palette Grid, for tables who prefer this safety tool! Now you have more options than ever for ways to talk about content at your table.

I've also included a Basic Moves breakdown, with links to each of the playbooks on offer, for quick navigation, and as a rules reference.

You can check out my MASKS play-kit here, and you can click on the link below to see my full library of play-kits.

Clicky.

I did this one for fun, but I also do play-kit commissions? Is there a game that you want to be able to play online? Check out my commissions sheet! I'm pretty proud of the work that I do, and I'd love to do it for your game.

[modoreadsttrpgs]

Game Reactions: ION Heart (solo cozy mech exploration)

Link: https://www.parablegames.co.uk/pages/ion-heart

ION HEART

Parable Games

ION Heart is a solo (or duo with optional rules) journaling game. I backed it in July 2024 on Backerkit, and just recently received the physical copy:

It's uh, quite pretty, as you can see. I've see nit called cozy, lo-fi etc, and the vibes match. To play the game, you create your character and their mech, each having 2 stats with one shared. The core loop sees you generate a system and planet, a settlement, then play through a 'Story Circuit'.

Story Circuits are self-contained narrative arcs, with a handful of isolated encounters and a designated finale. The core book contains a good amount of these, 18 in total, split into peaceful, protective, and dangerous. It's worth calling out that there are story circuits included that are written by Tim Roberts (Be Like a Crow) and Jay Dragon (Wanderhome, Yazeba's).

The story circuits look like they form the bulk of the solo game experience, so I've avoided reading them in any detail. From a glance though, they seem like a nice way to include small scenarios that can contain a full story in themselves but with high compatibility to fit into your overall narrative no matter where it is, like (cozy) monster of the week episodes. I'm excited to play through a game and experience some of these fully.

In the handful of other solo games I've written about, I've been honing in on what works for me and what doesn't when it comes to solo journaling. Being very prescriptive about events and character narrative but very open with the world (i.e., Koriko) causes me to struggle. Being extremely open about both but at least super specific with the vibes (i.e., Wreck This Deck) can work well. ION Heart appears to be a different mix, having a thoroughly detailed world, prescriptive events, but leaving your own story really open. I'm anticipating this to work well for me, fingers crossed.

Speaking of its world, this is a post-war setting. A simplistically and purely evil alien force known as the Nephilim invaded the known galaxy, and a significant part of the fighting force of the Astral Union (our good guys) took place in mechs, piloted by people (human and others) capable of bonding with them psychically.

With the war won, mechs are being retrofitted to rebuild after the destruction. Your mech even gets a specialisation like Bridge-Builder or Shepherd. Honestly I got such strong Turn A Gundam vibes here and I am completely on board!

There's a surprising amount of detail given to the combat system, given the overall premise of the game - 7 pages for combat itself and 6 pages of enemy stats, from a roughly 160-page book. I was a little worried at that point, but based on what I could pick up of the tone of the protective and dangerous story circuits, it all has a positive spin. You're being tasked with handling remnants of the alien forces, corporate militaries, and bandit equivalents, typically defending yourself or protecting others. By the time I was done, it felt like less of a potential issue.

Beyond the core rulebook, I also got the Remembrance expansion. This in itself reaches 130-pages, adding a huge new area of the galaxy to explore, and two new species. The Rakaen were isolationist before the war, and suffered the initial invasion. The Ionborn are sentient synthetics, created by a corporation during the war and now free people finding their way forward as a society.

On top of that are also another 18 story circuits, including some that are woven together to create longer narratives across 3 circuits in total. Finally there are additional tables for generation of characters, systems, planets etc, and new enemies.

One aspect of ION Heart that I'm curious to see more of in play is the politics of the world. The Astral Union sounds on the surface like a utopian authority. They ensured the Ionborn would be free once their sentience was known, they've welcomed their pre-war enemies the Raeken with open arms. Although the Remembrance additions feel potentially very juicy for storytelling, we have a very alien species (the Raeken are spider-like and communicate in clicks) who were isolationist, and whose government suffered from an abundance of pride and lack of sense. They were humiliated in the war, which has given them a fresh start, and they've been immediately welcomed by the AU. It feels on the surface like it's very convenient, and potentially awkwardly coded.

Likewise, the Nephilim are very straightforwardly evil, to the extent that you definitely don't need to feel bad about killing them, and the AU were completely justified in every action during the war, with no culpability for any death or destruction. Honestly, this could all be stuff that is complicated and given nuance in the story circuits and I just haven't seen it. Alternatively, it could be simplified world-building on purpose, to fit the lo-fi vibes. Which would be ... ok I guess, though might be tough to put out of mind completely. Either way, I wouldn't consiider this a criticism yet, until I've been able to play the game and experience the story circuits themselves.

That aside, I am genuinely buzzing that the structure of ION Heart looks like it could provide a rich, rewarding solo experience without putting too much creative burden on the player, but also giving you enough creative freedom. I'll definitely be reporting back once I've been able to complete a game.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Any recommendations for games that focus on car racing?

THEME: Car Racing

Hello friend! You might find something you like in my Racing TTRPGs Recommendation Post, but here are some other games you might also want to check out!

Thunder Road Vendetta, by 9th Level Games.

The world fell. Your world—the world that remains—is gas and scrap and speed. The wretched survivors cling to and venerate the barely recalled vestiges of civilization’s glorious past, with none so important as the almighty gas-guzzling internal combustion engine. Those hungry few with wits and stamina, a bit of luck, and a steady supply of scrap aspire to the ultimate ambition: to race for glory on Thunder Road.

In a vehicular wasteland, driving is how disputes are settled, resources are gathered, and legends are made! SHIFT, STEER, SHOOT, and SLAM your way to victory in this offically liscened RPG based on the hit board game from Restoration Games, Thunder Road: Vendetta!

THUNDER ROAD: VENDETTA RPG brings together the over the top action of the board game with the freedom of an RPG. Explore the WASTELAND after the DISASTER; rule the Racetrack and the RADIATION RUINS.

The Polymorph system does this neat thing in which your character trope and abilities are all wrapped up in the dice that represents you. Your character die determines what kind of moves your character excels at: it's compact, fairly simple to run, and encourages character diversity! What kind of driver are you? Will you not just drive - but thrive?

It's About Family, by CORESPRING.

Here you'll find FAST rules, designed to play FURIOUS games. Using a hack of the BREATHLESS rpg engine, developed by the duo, your RACERS will never be the same again.

Another game inspired by The Fast and The Furious, It's About Family uses the Breathless system and follows your characters as they try to complete a job, while a rival team attempts to get in their way. Typically the job involves getting access to some kind of MacGuffin, presumably in order to get it from point A to point B. Your character has three skills: Focus, Force & Faith, with different die sizes attached to each. I like the balance the game strikes between watching your resources and leaning into stylistic tropes: plus you can download it at pay-what-you-want, which makes it fairly affordable!

Night Drifters: Second Stage, by Will Uhl.

Night Drifters: Second Stage is a roleplaying game about teen drama and street racing. Iterating and expanding on the original micro-RPG Night Drifters, Second Stage has tuned its speed and handling to perfection. Whether you're running a one-shot showdown or long-form story, expect tension, heartbreak, and burning rubber.

Burn with love, fear, and fury from the beginning, then watch the fire build. Character creation ties your characters' lives into knots, and Buildup Scenes bring the drama to a fever pitch - just in time for the race.

Rules based on blackjack mean you can learn & play in the same night. Optional rules for GM-less play means everyone can get out on the track.

One of the easiest ways to add more drama to your game is make it about teenagers. You don't have to logic out why your character does so many ridiculous things if they're running on teenage hormones and the desire to impress a crush or beat a rival. Race tracks come with inciting events, locations where you can trade insults or burn asphalt, hazards on the road, and soundtrack inspirations to play as you race for your reputation. I love it when games provide these little modules, as I think they make it easier to move from concept to game play.

Love By The Quarter Mile 2E,, by Dice Monkey.

Live Fast. Fight Hard. Never Turn Your Back on Family.

In Love by the Quarter-Mile 2e, you’re a street racer fighting for pink slips, pride, and the people who ride or die with you. Every second matters, behind the wheel, with fists flying, and when the ones you love are on the line.

Build your Racer with speed, fury, and loyalty. Race for everything you care about. Fight for the ones who won’t give up on you. Argue for what matters when the smoke clears.

Fast-paced, emotional, and driven by heart, Love by the Quarter-Mile is about more than who crosses the finish line first. It’s about who’s still standing when the dust settles.

How far will you go, and who will you take with you?

Inspired by The Fast and The Furious, Love By The Quarter Mile is about family, drama, and personal growth, wrapped up in street races, fights, and standoffs. Ask yourself: why are you behind the wheel? What is so important to be worth such a risk? If you like high stakes, passionate arguments, and feuds between rival houses, I think you might like this game.

Werewolf Race Car Drivers, by Laughing Lark Games.

“It’s definitely a balancing act, being a world-renowned racer. The schedule, the travel, the danger, the sordid affairs… And even when a race goes right, a person can get whiplash from the sheer speed of this life all on its own. But separate from the competition, the threat of accidents, and the fast-paced world of racing, things are even more complicated – for me, at least.

Especially when the moon is full…”

Werewolf Race Car Drivers (WRCD) is a light-hearted and light-weight TTRPG in which you and your friends act through one or more seasons of an over-the-top, soap opera-style show about - you guessed it - werewolf race car drivers. Both lycanthropy and racing are tertiary elements at best sometimes, and like all good TV, the Werewolf Race Car Drivers show you'll create is really all about what it means to be human - er, werewolf - and work together as a pack.

This game feels like it's more about the drama than the racing, since you're playing the actors of a soap-opera series, and then through them also playing their characters. I like that there are character options that are not racers, but rather the team that surrounds the race: roles like the Pit Crew leader, the PR specialist, and the Team Manager. I also like that the game provides 300 unique episode synopses - it's basically a roll-table to determine which episode your characters are playing through today!

Laughing Lark also has a car-theft ttrpg called The Rapid and the Repentant that you might be interested in!

The Dino 65 Million, by Monthlyish Games

Pick your racer, research dinos, and then race to the finish on a track you make yourself with stuff from around the house! A great way to learn about paleontology, car stuff (sort of), and clean out your junk drawer all at the same time.

I love games that don't really require you to buy anything new to play them, and The Dino 65 Million is a great example of this. This game is obviously a little bit goofy, what with the inclusion of Dinos, but I think this game would be a fun game for folks who like to be a little bit competitive. You roll to move tokens along a track, so in many ways I think this might feel more like a board game than a ttrpg, since so much of the game is determined by random chance. Then again, the bits of lore you create by putting your character on a trading card, and the descriptions of how you might sabotage the other racers might be just enough to get you coming up with funky dino voices and trading in-game insults with each-other.

Gravity Rip, by lukewestaway.

PRO-RACING. ANTI-GRAVITY. Gravity RIP is a co-operative tabletop RPG built to tell the rad-as-hell stories of pilots competing in the RIP Racing League.

A theatre-of-the-mind tabletop system for 1,200km/h sci-fi racing adventures, with distinct modes of play for both furious anti-gravity racing, and off-track drama.

‘Story Mode’ describes off-track action. Expect tough talk, flourishing rivalries, underhand deals, secret meetings, mechanical sabotage and more.

‘Racing Mode’ is a polite term to describe the metal-crushing carnage that unfolds when 20 Machines battle furiously for survival and glory in a no-holds barred contest of speed. Keep track of your position in the pack - and that of your Rival(s) - to complete your objective and stay alive.

Gravity Rip is a sci-fi racing game, so it might be a bit outside the parameters of what you're looking for, but then again, it might still give you a lot of the highlights of a racing drama! The teasers for the game mention a mechanic in which you exchange points from your machine's health pool to increase your chances of success, which sounds like pushing your vehicle to the limit in the hopes of securing a win. The game also appears to care about acceleration vs weight: how much do you want to emphasize your vehicle's speed vs your ride's ability to take a hit (or a corner)? If this is the kind of thing you care about in a racing game, you might want to check out Gravity RIP.

You Can Also Check Out…

bozozorku, by Verdigris.

The Art of Powerdrifting, by Garlickatsu.

If you like what I do and want to leave a tip, you can check out my Ko-Fi!

[ratwavekayla]

Mechritter: An Expansion for Mausritter

A modular mech-building simulator and urban adventure setting for Mausritter.

Live now on BackerKit as part of Mausritter Month. Mechritter is a modular expansion/sandbox setting that turns Mausritter into a game of urban mouse and machine roleplaying!

Featuring squabbling high street gangs operating out the walls of chain stores, crafty machines made of litter, a mysterious fox and more interested in your mecha pieces, and more!

Build your mecha using individual stickers to represent each body part, with a really neat system created by Laurie O'Connel. Illustrated by Gustavo Folleto and featuring stickers by Yanahn.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Yazeba's B&B

Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast by Possum Creek Games

A whimsical slice-of-life TTRPG about a witch's Bed & Breakfast and the weirdos who call it home.

I know I should have done this on September 15th. but doing this on Halloween sadly beat it out as a bit. anyways warioware joke here

Genre: Sitcom adjacent? I guess?

What is this game?: Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast is a game about playing as the guests and employees at a Bed and Breakfast in the middle of nowhere

How's the gameplay?: Yazeba's core gameplay is pretty simple, there's no dice and no method of resolving things, if your character can realistically do something in the fiction they do it. The draw of Yazeba's comes in its simplistic and fast-paced structure. Instead of having GMs create stories whole cloths, the game has a ton of "Chapters", short Days in the Life of specific characters, Chapters will determine what this session's storyline will be about, and also will often introduce new gameplay mechanics! For example: in Chapter 3, Laundry day, the characters are trying to work on the B&B's massive pile of laundry, and to represent this characters get a pile of Chaos Coins, if they have no chaos coins they must take one before trying to tick up the track, but if they do they need to flip all their chaos coins! and if all of them get heads, they get to tick up the track, then they take another coin, and at any point they can cash in 5 coins to tick up the track for free. Once they fully tick up the track 3 times (to represent washing, drying, and storing the clothes), Laundry's done! Characters are also pre-made, you have a list of characters you can choose from, which might sound limiting but characters will often have silly and interesting interactions within each chapter, adding to both their personalities, and the gameplay, for example: in Laundry Day, Gertrude can become grossed out and be unable to help out fully until she's calmed down. All of this adds to Yazeba having a frantic, almost microgame-esque style of gameplay. At the end of each chapter, characters can paperclip major developments that happened during the session in order to bring it up to another chapter, for example if 2 characters had a fight, they can paperclip that as a prompt for the next chapter played with this group and these characters.

What's the setting (If any) like?: You are in the magical B&B owned by the witch Yazeba, and you must attend to its guest and help run the place! there's additional details, such as the Moon Prince's extended lore, and the general strangeness of the B&B and areas around it, but frankly a lot of this game is best experienced blind? its interesting!

What's the tone?: Yazeba's B&B's tonally most similar to a sitcom, things can get serious but its mostly comical throughout, I'd struggle to call it "Cozy", mostly because "Cozy" is a stupid fucking term, but its definitely a more low stakes game

Session length: Yazeba's microgame format means you can often play it in shorter bursts

Number of Players: Honestly, in this game number of players doesn't much matter! the gameplay mechanics are deliberately made it so any player can pick up any character at any point, meaning that it really doesn't matter how many people are playing at any given time. I generally will recommend a minimum of 4 people, though!

Resources: There used to be a VTT but that's sadly defunct, but the game's got basically everything you need to play it in the book already, and you can improvise the rest

I reaaaally like this game, its super cute and fun, Its really cute and its gameplay is genuinely genius at times, a definite must play in my opinion

[secretsnowclub]

TTRPG School: Required Reading

This is an alphabetical list of writing on tabletop games, video games, games broadly, and a few adjacent topics. It is required reading. I am not agreeing with anything by having it on this list. Some of the works feature bibliographies and links to other works which they are referencing or in conversation with. Read those if you can. There are works I wanted to include on here but have been taken off of the internet, and I was unable to find them elsewhere beyond my hard drive.

You should read the following (just one a day or one per week, and maybe write a little personal response to it):

About Games and Beings Serious & Why Do Things Have Outlines, Bateson - https://garadinervi-repertori.blog/post/639473512034222080/gregory-bateson-1972-metalogue-about-games, https://garadinervi-repertori.blog/post/166320033101/gregory-bateson-why-do-things-have-outline

Against Procedurality, Sicart - https://gamestudies.org/1103/articles/sicart_ap

Anti-Canon Worlds and the UVG, Rejec - https://www.wizardthieffighter.com/2019/anti-canon-worlds-and-the-uvg/

Avoiding Inapt Discussions in RPGS, Prescott - https://blog.trilemma.com/2023/07/avoiding-inapt-discussion-in-rpgs.html

Bleed: The Spillover Between Player and Character, Bowman - https://www.nordiclarp.org/2015/03/02/bleed-the-spillover-between-player-and-character/

Blorb Principles, snan - https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principles

Boot Hill and the Fear of Dice, Rutskarn- https://www.chocolatehammer.org/?p=5773

Don’t Incentivize Ethical Behavior, Siew - https://slowlorispress.com/post/742713305722961920/dont-incentivise-ethical-behaviour

Game Design is Mind Control, Crane & Sorenson - https://genesisoflegend.podbean.com/e/episode-21-%e2%80%93-game-design-is-mind-control/

Homo Ludens, Huzinga - https://merton.bellarmine.edu/files/original/b0899cfad820ab8ad7033952b7a022ba1d7cab9d.pdf

Inevitable Architecture, Woods - https://lebbeuswoods.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/inevitable-architecture/

Libre Baskerville Jam - https://itch.io/jam/libre-baskerville-jam

Morality Play, Pokey - https://myfriendpokey.tumblr.com/post/183941596800/morality-play

Moralizing and Manipulating in TTRPGs, IdleCartulary - https://idlecartulary.com/2023/09/02/moralising-and-manipulation-in-tabletop-roleplaying-games/

New Simulationism, Sorenson - https://samsorensen.blot.im/new-simulationism

On Romantic Fantasy and the OSR, Manola - https://udan-adan.blogspot.com/2015/07/on-romantic-fantasy-and-osr-d.html

Playing to Win, Maz - https://www.alicemaz.com/writing/minecraft.html

Revisiting GNS, Baker - https://lumpley.games/2025/04/07/revisiting-gns/

Rules Elide and its Consequences, Sinclair - https://web.archive.org/web/20230401204032/https://cohost.org/jared-sinclair/post/1211889-rules-elide-and-it

Sinistar or: How to Play Games Wrong, Joel - https://youtu.be/OFbhDs_8k1A?si=DGo4y1U3xr_8Qq0z

System Does Matter, Edwards - http://www.indie-rpgs.com/_articles/system_does_matter.html

Systems of Relation, Dragon - https://possumcreek.medium.com/systems-of-relation-c3b27fc4cc99

Ten Manifestos, Harmony Zone - http://harmonyzone.org/ManifestoJam/TenManifestosForGroupsOfNoPeople.html

The Artist is Absent: Davey Wreden and the Beginner’s Guide, Danskin - https://youtu.be/4N6y6LEwsKc?si=DMFViwSTOOa4W6PY

The Big Three, Sorenson - https://memento-mori.livejournal.com/175828.html

The Forms and Fluidity of Game Play, Nguyen - https://gamephilosophy.org/pcg2014/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/C.-Thi-Nguyen-2014.-The-Forms-and-Fluidity-of-Game-Play-PCG2014.pdf

The Hidden Art: Slouching Towards A Critical Framework for RPGs, Laws - https://web.archive.org/web/20080625014524/https://www.rpg.net/oracle/essays/hiddenart.html

The Impermanence of Art, Bissette - https://web.archive.org/web/20241114224733/https://cohost.org/chrisb/post/2011604-the-impermanence-of

The Monomyth Thread, Libre, Kazumi & Udernation - https://bigstuffedcat.itch.io/the-monomyth-thread

Thinking About Formal Incentive, Marcia B - https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/2023/09/thinking-about-formal-incentive.html?m=1

What are assumptions about how to play an OSR adventure that you think might not be commonly held as desired?, Scrap Princess - https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/LinksToWisdom/What_are_assumptions_about_how_to_play_an_OSR_adventure_that_you_think_might_not_be_commonly_held_as_desired%3f

What is a Game?, Suits - https://web.archive.org/web/20061010064123/http://www.stsintl.com/articles/whatisagame.html

What Should We Do With Our Games?, LeMieux & Boluk - https://alt254.itch.io/what-should-we-do-with-our-games

I put this list together in response to seeing a lot of the same arguments and discussions happening in regard to system-matters discourse, and it’s thinly veiled offshoots. The original goal was to ask people to understand both sides of the discussion and the reasons for pushback against both sides. After compiling, it now comprises more than just history and the goal is simply education and the sharing of ideas.

Hope you get something from it,

Snow

[acrisius-ii]

girl frame review

i've recently bought girl frame which is a mechsploitation game. this shit kinda balls, i can't lie-- this is precisely what I had assumed the platonic ideal of a mechsploitation ttrpg to look like. getting punished by your handler is a built-in mechanic. you can have fuck with your fellow pilots. one of your fellow pilots is considered a dog. there is misgendering that makes you think deep. you can fight a kaiju. the kaiju is also girl in a mech. she might even love you like a god loves a follower or the scissors love paper.

the rolling mechanics also captivate me. See, it's a normal 2d6 pbta system, and you have this resource you can spend to alter rolls, but here's the twist-- you have to add it before you roll and sometimes, rolling high is bad. what would be considered a "partial hit" in most games is the best option most of the time. or maybe, the least worst. Least worst is probably more fitting

this is a pretty baller show of how the order of things matters in games as a whole. Playing something that says "draw 1, then discard 1" is much different than "discard 1, then draw 1"-- you don't know what the outcome will be when you pull that card. Mahjong type shit.

en conc.:

THIS IS GIRL FRAME BITCH! WE mechsploitation and transhumanistic dehumanisation IN THIS BITCH!

TAKE YO altruistic ASS BACK TO lancer

i will be taking my altruistic ass back to lancer. unfortunately not freaky enough for this. my friends, however...

check it out here:

GIRL FRAME by anxiousmimicrpgs

Lesbians in mechs, struggling against oppression and eldritch horrors

[modoreadsttrpgs]

UK TTRPG Stores

A reminder to go check out this post from @thecoppercompendium, who has created a huge list of every independent store that sells TTRPGs in the UK. Look how many there are!

We're planning a short trip in the van in a couple of weeks, and are planning to book somewhere that is close enough to visit one or two of these. Hopefully I'll be able to post an update with some thoughts on wherever we manage to visit.

[modoreadsttrpgs]

Punk is Dead Playkit

Similarly to my previous Triangle Agency Playkit, I've made one for Punk is Dead. This is a super simple sheet, but I might be running a one-shot of it in the near future so I quickly built something just in case. I did think about building in some functionality around the stats or rolling etc, but honestly for my group I'd rather force them to use the sheet and do the tiny bit of maths themselves - otherwise they'll end up not understanding how the game works! Anyway, enjoy:

Punk is Dead Playkit