Monastery of Monday @sexy-lil-wizard-freak - Tumblr Blog

TTRPG System Focusing on Hexcrawls

Walk in winding paths o’ pilgrim. Keeper of road, helper of folk both corporeal and not, creator of great works. May the path you blaze be long and meandering. Walk until you find your home. Walk.

Today the official release of "Pilgrim's Passages" happened. I figured I'd yap a lil about the project on here too.

Pilgrim's a system/setting that is explicitly built for games about travel, crafting, magic, and the things your Pilgrims carry. It is also explicitly built to make prep more game-like for the referee. It is filled with tools and procedures for generating spaces with inherent conflicts.

Your journey begins on the newly revealed lowlands around Elcontra. The greatest mountain on the planet. Spirits race to fill the new niches made available by the Queen's Recession (the event at the end of my module/game "A Rasp of Sand". The plants, fish, crustaceans, birds, and mammals of the worlds are evolved rapidly to fill the ecosystems these Spirits create. The same is true from Elcontra's peaks. Alpine species are modified as rapidly as possible by the Spitits that spread out from the frigid slopes of Elcontra.

Players play as Pilgrims, wandering craftsfolk and mediums. Every Pilgrim follows a Spirit that grants them access to Verses that the Pilgrim can create spells with. Being a craftsperson, each Pilgrim has a trade that they can use to solve problems, make art, and ply in settlements. Your Pilgrim will grow and change with their experience. Gain permanent Skills and work around permanent Scars until your Pilgrim retires to ply their trade in a settlement.

I dearly love this game. It has brought me and my tables so much joy. If this sounds like something you might be interested in please give it a look, it's PWYW but I would love any donations due to my current unemployment!

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design

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"Pilgrim's Passages" is not a dungeon game.

Wrote a short update on "Pilgrim's Passages", and how moving forward it will not be a dungeon game.

https://itch.io/blog/1585151/on-settlements-and-the-hexcrawl-is-the-dungeon

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #ttrpg

Been thinking about “We followed the hum of the power lines to where the gps wouldn’t take us.” My more modern coming of age setting for “Pilgrim’s Passages”. For those who are interested in making their first pact with a Spirit in Hum’s setting…

Does the Spirit resemble a...

1. Mammal

2. Bird

3. Reptile

4. Amphibian

5. Fish

6. Arthropod

The Mineral/Plant that is interwoven within your Spirit. If you need inspiration, use your birth stone/flower.

1. January: Garnet/Carnation

2. February: Amethyst/Violet

3. March: Bloodstone/Daffodil

4. April: Diamond/Daisy

5. May: Emerald/Lily of the Valley

6. June: Pearl/Rose

7. July: Ruby/Water Lily

8. August: Sardonyx/Gladiolus

9. September: Sapphire /Morning Glory

10. October: Opal/Cosmos

11. November: Topaz/Chrysanthemum

12. December: Turquoise/Holly

What is the first, or most impactful, moment with nature that inspired awe within you.

1. Storm

2. Earthquake

3. Mountains

4. Cloud Banks

5. Blizzard

6. Volcano

7. Wildfire

8. Lightning

9. Forest

10. Plains

11. Ocean

12. Rainbow

13. White Water

14. Flood

15. Cave

16. Desert

17. Heatwave

18. Coldsnap

19. Hurricane/Typhoon

20. Meteor Shower

Think of a human-made object, or structure, from your childhood that sticks out in your memories. It can be positive or negative. How does/did the chosen object leave its mark on the world?

1. Plastic

2. Chemical

3. Noise

4. Light

5. Radioactive

6. Thermal

#ttrpg #ttrpgs #ttrpg design #indie ttrpg

Some readers might have noticed a new link on the left called “Pilgrim’s Passages”. That link will take you to a series of pages that includ

Finally dropped a public playtest of "Pilgrim's Passages" my ttrpg about playing as traveling craftsfolk, road wardens, and mystics. If you the idea of a game that focuses more on travel and narrative character growth in a world of spirits and their creations inspires you feel free to give it a shot, it's totally free.

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #dnd #ttrpg design #osr

zedecksiew

THE BLOGGIES 2023: NOMINATIONS OPEN

If tabletop roleplaying games were a hydra, blogs would definitely be one of its heads.

Probably the smartest, zaniest one? The one with the unexpected ideas; the silliest quips; the most devious schemes; the most profound observations.

The OSR / post-OSR style of play arose on blogs. I was inspired to make roleplaying games because of a blog post (this one, by Patrick Stuart, specifically).

Beyond the actual playing of games with friends, blogs are the most important part of TTRPGs, to me.

Last year, Prismatic Wasteland hosted the inaugural Bloggies.

64 excellent posts from across the TTRPG blogosphere were considered. A celebration of our community, our psychic brain-trust---the many heads of this, our TTRPG beast.

All the nominees are worth perusing. Winners list here.

My post, "D&D's Obsession With Taxonomy", won Best Blog Post of 2022. (Thank you, everybody who voted!)

Because I won, it falls to me to host this year's Bloggies.

Nominations are now open for the BLOGGIES 2023!

Is there a blogpost about TTRPGs from the past year (December 2022 to December 2023) that you think deserves attention and recognition?

Tell me about it! Drop a link to it, tell me why you like it, tell me which category it falls under:

Theory---broad criticism, observation, and analysis about TTRPGs (its cultures, its aesthetics and texts, its politics, etc);

Gameable---cool stuff (monsters, subsystems, bits of design, etc) you could grab and add to your own games;

Advice---ideas, tricks, and procedures for making your games better / easier / more fun, basically adding to the play-culture;

Review---specific criticism of specific books / games / systems / adventures / products.

Drop your nominations in the comments below, or in this Xwitter thread, or wherever else you can get in touch with me on the Internet. Do this before the end of 31 December 2023.

How BLOGGIES 2023 Will Work

Here's how I am thinking of running things:

25 Dec 2023 - 31 Dec 2023: Nominations open!

1 Jan 2024: Nominees shortlist announced!

First week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Theory Post!

Second week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Gameable Post!

Third week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Advice Post!

Fourth week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Review Post!

First week Feb 2024: Final round of voting for Best Blog Post Of 2023!

"Imperfection is a feature, not a bug, of blogging," as Warren said about the Bloggies, last year. I am but a single person. I will be copying much of his methodology.

I will be whittling down the nominations I receive to a shortlist of 64 posts (16 per category bracket), via personal judgment. No blog will be represented more than once per category---except for reviews (3 posts per blog).

Public voting for each category will happen in four rounds (16 / 8 / 4 / finals). Winners in each category will face off in a four-way vote for Best Blog Post.

Voting will most likely happen on Twitter, same as last year. (I am loathe to do this, but Twitter is still the social-media network most TTRPG people are on, sadly. But am also considering Google Forms. Thoughts?)

Month-long voting gives us the space to celebrate / argue over all the work our community has turned out this year---and gives me time to create prizes. (Am thinking of making linocut prints, inspired by the winning posts.)

Finals being announced in February just before the Lunar New Year justifies the header art above---as the Year of the Rabbit gives way to the Year of the Dragon.

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Here we go here we go here we go!

Would you be interested in a 1950s magical setting version of glog?

I would always be down to give it a look, but I doubt I have time to run it due to working on my own books and running my campaign.

#ask monday

I was watching my friend, Chris P Wolf, play Caves of Qud this week. It’s a fantastic game, you should play it. The game describes itself as

A new post about generating threads for dungeons just dropped! Caves of Qud was a big systemic inspiration for this one.

#ttrpg #osr #dnd #procedurally generated

Like most folks who attempt a “Fantasy Heart Breaker” I swear mine, Pilgrim’s Passages, has different goals from the big dragon game. A focu

Today on the blog we are talking about ttrpgs, crafting in them, and some rulings to maybe fix crafting.

#ttrpg #ttrpg design #osr #nsr

Gonna try my hand at blogging again. Putting together "Pilgrim's Passages" and prepping for another two projects has given me a whole lot to talk about. To start here's my article on generating elevation for hex crawls.

I grew-up, and currently live, in Southern Appalachia, it’s a big part of who I am. My childhood was spent on the sides of hills, up to my k

#ttrpg design #hexcrawl #osr #ttrpg #dnd

zedecksiew

STATEMENT REGARDING A THOUSAND THOUSAND ISLANDS

Due to a disagreement over ownership, Munkao and I have severed ties. I have no further involvement with Centaur Games. I consider A Thousand Thousand Islands (ATTI) ended, as a project. ATTI was built as a collaboration between Munkao and myself.

I named the project, and was the driving force behind its identity as a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG). In September 2022, following the success of our Kickstarter campaign, I asked that my role be formally recognised as an equal business partner in the project. Munkao disagreed. After multiple rounds of negotiation, we have been unable to come to terms, and my trust has been exhausted. I assert my moral and artistic rights as co-creator of ATTI.

I do not agree with any republication of past ATTI works or new works published under the ATTI name. Anything of the kind is done without my involvement.

I have not been remunerated for my contributions to ATTI since April 2023. I will receive nothing from the sales of ATTI works going forward.

I remain proud of what I did for ATTI—its achievements as a TTRPG setting; its cultural importance as a Malaysian / Southeast Asian work.

I am heartbroken.

Zedeck Siew Port Dickson, Malaysia 10 July 2023

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To the many, many people who supported ATTI: I sincerely apologise if this dampens your enjoyment of the works. Especially the recently-completed Reach of the Roach God. It has certainly dampened mine.

For the past ten months, I have felt empty and foolish and humiliated. But now it is time to move on. I would like to make new things, new art, new games.

To my friends, colleagues and fellow-travelers in the TTRPG community: from my hearts of hearts, I thank you. I am glad to see you as my people, and am grateful you would continue to have me as one of your own.

teapot-studies

Random writing tips that my history professor just told during class that are actually helpful

Download all your sources or print them so you can turn off your wifi

Give your phone to someone

Just. WRITE. Writing is analysing, you’ll get more ideas as you write. It doesn’t need to be perfect, for now you can just blurt out words and ideas randomly. You can fix it later.

Create a skeleton/structure before writing.

Stop before you get exhausted. It’s best to stop writing when you still have some energy and inspiration left, this will also motivate you to get started again next time.

Make a to do list

Work in bite sizes. Even if it’s not much, as long as you put some ideas on paper or do some editing.

Simple language =/= boring language, simple language = clear language.

Own your words. If they are not your words, state this clearly in the text, not just in the footnotes.

STOP BEFORE YOU GET EXHAUSTED. Listing it again because it’s easily one of the best tips a teacher has ever given me.