✨ Do you love storytelling but struggle with solo TTRPG pacing? ✨
Realms is a solo+ storytelling RPG built for focused, engaging play. Instead of open-ended journaling, you draft three key moments each chapter, creating a structured but flexible story arc in 30 minutes.
🏆 “I think the drafting phase of choosing encounters is my favorite part of any journaling game I’ve done.” – theNwDM (Alone Together)
🎭 “Knowing that I am only committing to a single chapter makes me much more likely to pick it up and put it down… It focused my story better.” – Eleanor Hingley (Ex Libris)
Realms: Etria just launched on Kickstarter as part of #ZineQuest! If you love structured storytelling, fascinating post-apocalyptic species, and a GM-free, chapter-based format, check it out: Kickstarter link
Excited to finally announce that Realms: Etria V2 will launch on Kickstarter as part of #ZineQuest2025! 🎉
This non-traditional TTRPG is perfect for solo or collaborative play, with no game master required. It’s all about storytelling and shaping your own adventures, whether in the world of Etria or one of your own creation.
📅 Launching February 1st, and I’d love your support! Follow the pre-launch page here:
The roleplaying game for storytellers: no game master required
This release has been a long time in the making, but if you loved Realms: Etria's first edition, you'll love this one even more!
It's got:
A brand new cover, designed and illustrated by Alice Williams, https://alicewilliamsportfolio.myportfolio.com/.
Better human-made inner art, illustrated by me.
Descriptions of how to play with more than just 1-2 players.
Six Archetypes, including the new Scholar archetype: "Your character is well-studied; they enjoy delving deep into books and ancient texts."
Eight Natures, with updated art for each and new, more evocative names and descriptions like, "Rootbound: Plant-based beings deeply attuned to nature. Who strongly rely on magical energy to communicate."
Six Belongings, now with taglines like, "O’lage Depths, the Realm of Heat and Stone" and "Grojie Heartlands, the Land of Ancient Wisdom."
Six Magic Types, including two new ones, such as, "Imbued, generate magic by waving enchanted objects. Each motion releases the latent power of the objects’ material. "
The game is fully playtested and awaiting the final layout design. It will be released digitally and physically. Follow the pre-launch page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waufl/realms-etria?ref=bqg94t
THERE IS NOT ENOUGH CHANTS OF SENNAAR CONTENT SO TODAY I AM DUMPING SOME OF MY BRAIN INTO A TUMBNLR POST ABOUT IT
Fair warning - This might not be that coherent because I didn't write it as a tumblr post, I just copy pasted the messages I sent a friend about Chants of Sennaar in the middle of the night
SPOILERS AHEAD
Learning the languages in this game is like a really big part of the game, it's even a main focus of the story, but I will be talking a lot about it so if you don't want spoilers you shouldn't tap on the readmore.
YES I CAN SHARE THE BRAINROT
Okay so I've gotta say I love the looks of the languages
They all have their own distinct styles and small deviations in rules that make them unique
In the first level of the tower, you get the Devotees language
They're got a sign for man/human which kinda looks like an L and the signs for specific kinds of people are based off of that L
The sign for devotee is an L with a floating diamond shape - which looks really similar to their sign for god
I think it's interessting to think that the diamond shape represents the word faith, that's why it's so similar for the word god and would technically mean that DEVOTEE is FAITH HUMAN or HUMAN WHO HAS FAITH IN GOD or smth like that
Then there's a word for WARRIOR which also hat the MAN/HUMAN sign but this time instead of a floating diamond shape it has two triangle shapes like >< kind of offset next to it
I think the sharp angles and harsh look of those triangles and the way they're pointed makes it look aggressive and fitting for WARRIOR
later we also find a broken mural which depicts part of a sentence in the DEVOTEES language, a sentence in another language which I think was the BARD language and then a part in the WARRIOR language and basically you learn what that sentence in the BARD language means by cross referencing the parts of the other two languages
Most of the translation comes from the DEVOTEE language but only the word FORTRESS comes from the WARRIOR language
But we actually see part of the word for FORTRESS in the DEVOTEE language, but it is so broken that the game labels it as [INDECIPHERABLE] and doesn't let you mark the word in the notebook that your character uses in game to learn/note/unlock new words/translations
However- the reason I'm mentioning this is because from that broken part of the mural we can guess that the word for FORTRESS would look like the floating triangles from WARRIOR inside of the almost-box that presumably means PLACE
The almost-box shape shows up in other place names too
Notably the word for CEMETERY is the almost-box and the word for DEAD/DEATH inside
The CHURCH is the box with FAITH inside
at least I'm speculating it means faith
So basically CEMETARY is PLACE with DEAD inside and CHURCH is PLACE with FAITH inside
This continues also continues with GARDEN being PLACE with PLANT inside
They also have a specific sign that seems to show that something is a tool of sorts
KEY, DOOR, INSTRUMENT, POTION/FORMULA and POT all have a curved line at the side, which kinda looks like a C
KEY looks like OPEN-TOOL because it's made of OPEN and the TOOL signifier
INSTRUMENT is MUSIC-TOOL
Oh I forgot about LENS which looks like a simple drawing of an eye with the TOOL signifier
So basically Lens is EYE-TOOL
SEARCH/LOOK also has the eye drawing but with a line underneath it
The line seems to be common with verbs I think?
SEEK/WANT CREATE/MAKE LIKE/LOVE all have that line underneath
So basically SEARCH/LOOK is EYE-VERB
And I genuinely think that's neat
Oh the sign for TALK is similar to the sign that is added to MAN/HUMAN in the PREACHER word
So PREACHER is TALKING HUMAN which is funny af
The signs for ME and YOU are also with the MAN/HUMAN shape!
We're all just people :D
OH ABOUT SMILEYS HOW COULD I FORGET
The word for Hello genuinely looks so mu h like a smiley in the DEVOTEE language and it's so adorableeee🥺😭❤️
Oh also the word for GO/PASS looks like a little MAN/HUMAN turned away from a PLACE with a verb-line underneath!!
There also doesn't seem to be a distinction between GO/PASS and COME or LEAVE
So basically GO/PASS is basically MAN/HUMAN COME/GO/LEAVE from/to PLACE
Or MAN/HUMAN doesn't stay in one PLACE
Oh also originally I guessed that the word for POTION/FORMULA meant MEDICINE because it shares a part of its picture with HELP
Actually POTION might just be what they refer to MEDICINE as so not that wrong
They also do not have a distinction between UP/GREAT
So whenever I see one of the DEVOTEES say God is great
Instead of GOD GREAT my brain goes GOD UP
Or it mixes UP and GREAT so I just read GOD GOOD
Lmao get good😎
And that's pretty much most of the DEVOTEE language
Because it's a pretty short game all things considered so we only ever learn small snippets of the language
OH but another thing
The DEVOTEE language is the only one that doesn't have any plural modifier
Like if you want to say PLANTS you just say PLANT PLANT
Or if you want to say WE you say I I
Or you (plural) (uh, y'all?) would be YOU YOU
Or WARRIORS would be WARRIOR WARRIOR
So "The warriors closed the door/gate." would be WARRIOR WARRIOR CLOSE DOOR
There's also no conjugation or past and future tenses or anything but that's with all the languages since it's all simplified for the game
Anyway the DEVOTEE language is very down to earth, they believe in god and they're connected little people that are very down to earth and lead simple lives, so t reflects in their language
The DEVOTEE language also has very organic shapes - there's some sharp corners and some curves and everything has thick lines and looks hand drawn
Now we move on to the WARRIOR language, which in contrast is *all* sharp angles and artificially steady lines, no curves or wobbles or anything at all
Very heavy, they value duty, they don't walk - they march.
It reflects in their language too - they don't have a word for GOD but they have a word for DUTY
Here's a spreadsheet in case you wanna see what the languages look like because I've been talking a lot about them and will continue to do so but it's probably hard to visualize without having seen them
Oh and I went back to look for the post I got the spreadsheet from - it's from @asp1diske-art
Thank you for this wonderful resource/compilation, it makes it much easier to take another look at the words and their meanings and which of the languages have a translation in another of the languages!
I'm gonna be honest, despite this post being quite long already, this isn't even all my thoughts on the DEVOTEES and the DEVOTEE language and I'm pretty sure there's some stuff I haven't mentioned yet because it was the middle of the night when I wrote those text messages.
I also haven't gone back and reread anything so there's likely some spelling mistakes but whatever-! I don't care. :)
Poll: How important is a "leveling up" mechanic to you for a TTRPG?
For this poll "leveling up" is going to be defined very broadly. It could mean getting EXP and increasing level, it could mean using points to buy upgrades, whatever. The more your character does stuff, the more strong or complex their abilities get. How important is this feature to you in a TTRPG? Do you consider this an essential part of a TTRPG?
How important is "leveling up" as a mechanic to you?
I flat out refuse to play a TTRPG if it has no leveling up mechanic.
I would hesitantly try an RPG with no leveling up mechanic.
I'd play it only once, I see no point playing long term without leveling up
Whether there is a level up mechanic or not makes no major difference to me.
I hate level up mechanics and avoid RPGs that have them.
Traveller (1981 Reprint) by Game Designers Workshop
This is the game you've heard about where it's possible to die in character creation. Or maybe you've heard about it for popularizing lifepaths. Either way, it's my read today and I'm finding it interesting! You can indeed die in character creation. But what struck me as interesting is that you explicitly go into character creation at age 18, or thereabouts! I suppose the lifepath situation makes this the most practical thing to do.
stained glass cookies: i know them more commonly as aquarium cookies but i thought this name fit more here. i also don't like them irl but they fit so well that i didn't want to pick anything else. also if it wasn't clear they're shaped like the hand mirror yi sang has
melon soda: the chocolate decor on the vanilla ice cream is meant to make it resemble an eyeball, and the stirrer is based on k corp.'s excision weapons.
spicebush tea: self explanatory. i added spicebush twigs (what the tea would actually be made of), berries and flowers as a garnish. the saucer has a camellia pattern on it.
sokkoritang: i thought a hearty korean soup using a cheap cut of beef would fit dongrang/farmwatch's origins. i could see him (and yi sang + dongbaek) eating this after a day of fieldwork.
jumeok-bap: i honestly couldn't think of a good dish to represent the TLA so i went with rice balls that resemble the different ego suits they use... if you're curious red sheet is the kimchi one, sloshing is represented by the dipping sauce and the green?? vegetable one?? and sunshower is the seaweed + meat one. also i didn't want there to be only one korean dish in this spread
Welcome to the Indie Press Revolution tumblr page!
If you’re not already familiar with us, we’re a distributor of small-press roleplaying games. We’ve currently got over 600 different TTRPGs for sale on our website, https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/home.php.
We work on a consignment basis with our publishers, which means a percentage of each sale goes directly back to the creators of the game. If you’re interested in selling through us, or would just like to see the exact breakdown of percentages, you can check out our Potential Publisher FAQ.
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Oh and one last thing, for avoidance of doubt: IPR supports trans rights and BIMPOC creators and gamers. Fascists, Nazis, and TERFs can all fuck right off.
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