bleongambetta
Brandon Leon-Gambetta
Designer of Pasión de las Pasiones and the slowly growing pile of tabletop toys known as RADCrawl.
31 posts
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Anyway the funny thing about D&D 4e is that if you actually listen to both sides and compare what they're saying to what's actually written in the books, you will soon realize that its biggest fans have actually played it while its loudest critics have actually not :)
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Hello! Wanted to tell you I stumbled upon Pasion de las Pasiones by chance and I LOVED it! I only found the ashcan version so i'm looking forward to getting the whole game! You made an excellent choice designing the moves and the audience, it really spices up the game! I am planning on making a solo run of it, and wanted to know if you would have any tips for it?
This was asked all the way back in August and I didn't realize! Sorry about that, @the-blue-eyed-fallen-angel!
Thank you so much! I'm so glad that people are finding and enjoying Pasión de las Pasiones!
I'm guessing that I'm about 5 months too late with this advice, but let me see what I can do!
A solo run may also mean a couple of things, so I'll try to answer all possibilities because... hey, more advice is better!
If you are playing just one episode: More or less, think of the game in thirds. In the first third of the game, let everyone show what they want. Set up what they need to get through in order to get their goals. Show an easy way out if they give up some morals. In the second third, let the players go at each other and have a little chaos. In the third third, it's GM time. Go HARD. Every move should hit like a truck.
If you are playing with 1 player, 1 GM: Turn the audience moves into a question of what you two players believe together the people watching your show would think and swap to a -2 or +2 instead of counting audience members. If you can't come to an agreement on the feelings of the audience, make it a +0!
If you are playing alone: That may be tough! I'm not an expert in fully solo game experiences, but I think usually those involve some sort of an oracle that you can consult on rolls. I could see making a quick oracle out of the GM moves, but not sure if that would work! Got me thinking though!
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2024 TTRPG Winter Stovetop
It's cold out there and the orders are stacking up for new ttrpgs so it's time to check the ttrpg stovetop. CHEF, I NEED HANDS
Maybe lost the metaphor a bit there.
TTRPG designers tend to have a lot of games in progress at once and it's useful/nice to be able to check in on those things! Here's what I'm working on!
I'm structuring mine (as I have for a little while) as front burner (active), back burner (paused, but simmering), cold (essentially abandoned, but may pick up again), or done.
I think probably that's also the order of how interesting they are, so I'm going to write them in that order. Feel free to ask me about any of these games or ask if there's something else you know I've worked on!
Front Burner (by approximate time focus)
Pasión de las Pasiones: Tormentas del Corazón
Contract Work That Isn't Public Yet (but a preview is 💀🤹🏽♀️)
Towershield/The BL-G Hack/Three Musketeers/Romantasy Roll Under Apasionado por el Apocalipsis Game
Deadly Kobold Racing: Artful Version
Pommel Ball
Back Burner (by approximate interest)
Bottle Episode (to be inserted into long-running campaigns or played as a one shot experience)
RADCrawl Roguelike
Dancecards & Debutantes (may be part of Towershield, etc)
Can't Handle The Heat
XOXO
Cold
Catching the Nice Guy
Luchadorratón
Chase the H0ll0w (hopefully will revive with edits for 2023 Spooky Season?)
Done
Pasión de las Pasiones
Deadly Kobold Racing: Artless Version
If you want to know anything about any of these projects, give me a shout!
#ttrpg#ttrpg design#ttrpgdesigntwitter#blghack#ttrpgs#indie ttrpg#deadlykoboldracing#pasion de las pasiones
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In Praise of Random Encounters
I'm in my "responding to frequently asked Reddit r/rpg questions" phase, so please allow me to defend the random encounter. This post is in response to everyone who goes, "Why do people use random encounters? They interrupt the flow of the story, and it doesn't make any sense to have something randomly show up and fight."
Did you know there was a Pokemon named after me?
In this post, I will argue against these strawmen, make a case for random encounters in certain games, and describe my favorite random encounter situations from my own games.
This disputation against random encounters can be broken up into three parts:
they interrupt what is already going on ("the story")
they are illogical
they're automatically a fight
I'm going to address these last to first.
Random encounters shouldn't jump right into fights. If used as intended, they come with an encounter distance, meaning sometimes you just see signs of the encounter, or you spot them from far away. And they should also come with what used to be called a reaction roll, which dictates how the encounter feels about the PCs. These were rolled on 2d6, which meant there was a bell curve that favored results in the 6-8 range, which were usually something like "wary" or "neutral."
Second, the logic of random encounters. If you're using them right, random encounters should make sense. They should only have a chance of happening in places where the encounters could be, and encounter tables ought to be chosen based on location. So you won't get a dire trout in a desert or whatever.
This last bit is the hardest one. If it feels like a random encounter would disrupt "your story," you're probably running a game whose underlying philosophies are opposed to random encounters, yes. It's probably also opposed to many other frameworks that were present in traditional/old-school rule sets. If your game has a pre-planned story or plot, if that plot requires a certain pace or order, and if the injection of outside elements would disrupt that plot, you probably shouldn't use random encounters.
(You also shouldn't use D&D or its cousins. You might also not want to have other players, since they can disrupt those plots. But that's just me being petty.)
A page of random encounter rules from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. This is a shitty example. I promise it's easier than this.
So when SHOULD you use random encounters? Use them if the game you're running is attempting to simulate a world that has its own logic and background that is not dependent on the player characters. Random encounters help show that the world is in motion at all times and that people and creatures move about of their own volition. They don't show up when it's meaningful to the plot or the other characters; they wander. They're random.
Another key component of this style of gaming is that they usually consider story as something that emerges from or comes after play. "Remember how we tried to cross the raging river full of electric eels, and you dropped your sword, and I almost died, but we made it across? That was awesome." These things didn't happen because they were important plot points predicted by the DM; they are the results of rolls at the table, rolls that are honored in their immediacy and only made sense of after the fact. Does this mean that you risk having a disjointed mess from which no pleasing story can emerge? Yes! But you also risk having a story emerge that no one could have planned, that is equally surprising and pleasing to everyone at the table.
This emergent storytelling is probably the greatest joy of the random encounter. Don't approach the encounter with, "It doesn't make sense that a goblin would be here." Instead, adopt the attitude of, "Let's figure out why this gobllin would be here." (And while you're at it, use that same attitude toward books you read and movies you see.)
A related aside: in some play cultures, the DM is considered to be someone who plans everything out and slowly reveals bits of story as rewards to the other players. As a DM, this can feel really stagnant, and it can be a lot to keep track of, and there is far less joy of surprise. Using dice at the table to introduce new elements can bring some of that fun back to the DM.
Everything I've said so far is a synthesis of dozens of rulebooks and blog posts I've read across a decade of running games, so please allow me to introduce a final element: my own experience with the joy of random tables.
In 2014, when 5E was coming out to great demand on the backs of Stranger Things, Critical Roll, and The Adventure Zone, I started running a campaign for friends and coworkers. There was no developed play culture around 5E at the time, no cottage industry of third-party developers. So in running it, I was drawing on what I had been reading for years: old-school roleplaying and story games.
So I prepped my starting town (doing way more work that I would today), including random encounter tables for the area. And when the players were out searching for some ruins and getting lost west of town, I rolled a random encounter. It was some gnomes. All the gnomes here had escaped from a gnome hell for greed, so they weren't exactly kind. And their reaction roll was just south of neutral, so they were a little surly.
A bad screenshot of my "west of the town of Wall" encounter tables.
They led the players to the ruins and waited, trying to trap them inside after they'd been run down by the undead inside. But the players overcame the trap and told the gnomes off. (They didn't want to get in another fight after going through the ruins; more emergent storytelling.) So the gnomes ran off, but they would remember this.
Flash forward to a different session. In the main mega-dungeon under the town, the players were exploring a new area. Another random encounter: the devil of gnome hell! It was a giant mole with masses of earthworms for limbs, and it was searching for its escaped prisoners. It threatened to kill the PCs unless they gave it a magical item. So Pepper the elf gave up his winged sword, which he'd found in the aforementioned ruins. He loved that sword.
And here's where it all comes together. The gnomes were trying to settle the land west of town, but the humans had a fort there. The players were going to that fort to get some information about the faerie realms. How could I show this situation in a way that would, as succinctly as possible, illustrate the tension while giving the players a choice on who to join? Well, the gnomes would be attacking the fort. This normally wouldn't be much of a battle…but the vengeful gnome from the ruins had made a deal with the gnome devil for power. And now he was wielding Pepper's sword, using it to fly over the fort walls and attack.
Pepper was pissed! He wanted his sword back! The other players were more interested in figuring out a way to stop the ongoing conflict between gnomes and humans. And the gnomes were split between wanting to peacefully settle their new land and get revenge on the players for driving them off from the ruins. Who would prevail?
I hadn't planned a story, but I had created a situation a story was likely to emerge based on the players' actions and the results of the dice.
Conclusion
This isn't me saying this is the only way to play. It's not the only way I play. In a short one-shot or a tightly paced, emotional game, I would never use random encounters. But they can be fun! And they (and their associated suite of rules) can address some of the issues that lead to DM burnout and genre predictability.
If you find me in the wilderness, I will fight you.
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#AdventureCalendar December 1st
Dice Goblin Games launched this idea for taking drafts, ideas, and unfinished works and putting them into an Advent Calendar style release with a little something each day compiled possibly into a PDF at the end of things.
I love that idea, so I'm doing it too! It's gonna be a scattered collection of bits, but hopefully something people enjoy! There's a jam also (that I'll link when I'm not idly copying and pasting)
In the first little box... Where Did This Goodberry Come From?
The natural forces that guide nature arcanists allow them to create a goodberry when they camp. Higher level nature arcanists may be able to grow multiple berries or produce them more often.
Upon each time they camp, roll under Arcana for each rank in nature arcanist. On each hit, produce 1 berry that will heal 1d6 for each rank of nature arcanist.
If any roll is a crit, you may produce more berries when you camp next regardless of how much time has gone by. If not, you must wait until the sun next rises.
If the area you are in has magical miasma produced from the death of a wizard or the splintering, the goodberries will be infected by the miasma. If it has been clarified, they gain a magical boon instead.
General Arcana
Miasma: Roll with disadvantage against spell effects targeting you for an hour
Clarified: Roll the healing dice twice and take the higher
Flames
Miasma: Roll Arcana next time you are struck. On a failure, burst into flames causing d6 damage to yourself and adjacent people
Clarified: You are immune to non-magical fire for an hour. You may scoop fire as though it is mud.
Undeath
Miasma: Your skin blanches and your visage becomes drawn; roll with disadvantage for social checks for one hour
Clarified: Your scent changes nearly imperceptibly, the undead will treat you as one of their own for one hour
Frost
Miasma: Your body begins to shiver as cold grips you; you can not heal from any source other than goodberries with frost miasma until you sweat out the curse.
Clarified: Your skin takes on a layer of frost and ice. For an hour, you cannot be grabbed and can slide at 1.5x your speed down hills or 2x your speed on ice.
If you'd like to join the jam, check it out!
https://itch.io/jam/the-adventure-calendar
Hope you enjoyed the first little box!
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Oil your sword, check your engines, and get ready to race! Deadly Kobold Racing is coming!
EDIT! The Minimal Viable Product of the game is available now on itch.io! Check it out here!
Deadly Kobold Racing is a kart racing board game built for quick one-off sessions, a legacy racing campaign, or to slot into your existing dungeon game. Players choose a racer, pick a track, and slam on the accelerator to take home the win! Use your hero abilities, track hazards, and a pile of chaotic items to dominate the opposition.
Deadly Kobold Racing will run on a one-time-buy seasonal release model that allows players to contribute to world-wide achievements that unlock new loadouts, characters, items, and more! At your own table, unlock Fans and get permanent equipment to chain together races, or just drop in a single race for a change of pace!
The Game At A Glance
All of the materials for this game will be available as print and play or in a digital format. Print out the race and both the racer card and mini for each of the racers.
Each player chooses a racer like Beins & Bufo below!
1) Name, team name, and flavor to introduce the character
2) HP: The number of hit points you have before you get spun out
3) Size: The weight of your vehicle
4) Gears: How many spaces you can move each turn (speed) and how many of those can be diagonal at each gear.
5) Stats: Your four stats, roll under these when you use them (the picture shows an old version! These will be more like D&D stats!)
6) Defenses: Your four defenses, turns a hit against you into a partial hit if the roll is under this
7) Abilities: Your two racer abilities. Includes how often they can be used, their effect, and whether it is an Action, Reaction, or Passive.
Rolls and Actions:
When you make a roll (from an Action, hazard, or otherwise), roll a d20 under your indicated Stat. If you roll under your Stat, that's a Hit!
If you have a target and roll under their indicated Defense, that hit becomes a Partial Hit.
If you roll exactly your stat, that's a Crit. Be sure to make an appropriate sound to your character (ex: a Wahoo! or a Ribbit!)
Play goes in turns with play order determined by the current track.
On your turn:
1) Move your current Gear's Speed forward. You may use Swerve to move diagonally instead of straight forward.
2) At any point during your movement, you may use an Action, resolving it as it requires. You may also use as many Free Actions as you would like.
3) If you enter a square with something in it, resolve that immediately as explained by the rules for common situations (ex: Crashing Into Walls, Jumping Ramps, or Picking Up items) or using the special track rules (ex: Entering Blood Portals, Bouncing on Crocs).
4) At the end of your turn when everything else is done, you may choose to shift your Gear up or down.
Items
As you move around the track, you'll sometimes pass over item chests. When you do, get an item by drawing a printed card or using [perchance link]. Some items will activate automatically, but most can be held and used like any other Ability. Unless the card says otherwise, assume that an item is a one-time use.
Events and World-Wide Play
Creating new stuff for Deadly Kobold Racing is easy! Racers require only a couple of stats and two abilities, items are extremely simple, and even tracks don't add a ton of complexity.
Because of this and a deep abiding love of Events, my intention is to continue to support Deadly Kobold Racing far beyond it's initial release. When an Event is launched, it will introduce some new Racer options (either loadouts that change an existing Racer or a whole new one), a track or race-style, and a handful of items. These themed Events will also introduce at least one world-wide achievement.
After each race, you may fill out a form that gives the results of your race. You'll be able to say who raced, who won, and check off whether certain events occurred. When an achievement is fulfilled, all players will unlock something new for the game! Additionally, when each Event ends, the results will have an effect on the world (ex: changing a Racer, giving a new loadout, altering a track, etc).
Down The Road
There's a lot of things to come that I'm excited about, but I don't want to let this post get too much longer. So just as a little treat for myself, here's some of what's to come!
*Long Term Play: Upgrade your character, get new cool equipment, and build a fan base that gives you bonuses!
*Campaign Play: Travel from track to track dealing with bandits, street racers, and explore the locations around the racetracks!
*Original Racers: Make your own Racer, including advice for using your other dungeon game's stats to inform your racer!
*Collabs: Play as characters from and inspired by indie ttrpgs, podcasts, and more!
SO WHEN IS IT?!?
As soon as I'm done with layout, a minimum viable product will drop! Following that, it's art for minis and races! I'm hoping this month!
What do you think? Excited? Confused? Are there collabs, racers, or other stuff you'd like to see? Let me know!
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I've been dying to get everything lined up enough to release it! I'm VERY hopeful that the artless version will drop today!
I love third party content. I think that honestly third party content is what drives the longevity of a game. Incredible games come out every day, but the ones that you continue to hear about for years later encourage people to develop within the playground.
For my non-contract design (games I'm writing and publishing myself!), I try to be as open as I possibly can. I want to not just give a legal thumbs up, I want to encourage, I want to hype and boost, and I want to offer help where it's wanted.
Bottom line is this: If I made it and it isn't being published by a different entity, you can use it for just about anything you can think of short of just selling it in it's exact form.
You may:
Make and sell new characters, skins, teams, items, maps, scenarios, rulesets, etc for DKR or other games including using or remixing the included characters, mechanics, exact wordings, and art. If you need layered art files, hit me up
If you do, let me know, so that I can hype up your work and have links from here to your cool stuff
Make new art of characters for use in or outside of this game, post, publish, or sell those new pieces of art you’ve made with or without attribution.
Hack the game for the creation of other games with or without attribution as a paid or unpaid product
You may not:
Use this license for materials that are pro-fascist, white supremacist, or anti-LGBTQ.
Sell the unedited materials as though they are your own
Sell merch using my unedited art without talking with me first
I keep an updated version of this text here. I tried to get as many scenarios as I could think of written out as clearly as I can, because the core message is "If you made it, you should get paid for it."
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask!
Oil your sword, check your engines, and get ready to race! Deadly Kobold Racing is coming!
Deadly Kobold Racing is a kart racing board game built for quick one-off sessions, a legacy racing campaign, or to slot into your existing dungeon game. Players choose a racer, pick a track, and slam on the accelerator to take home the win! Use your hero abilities, track hazards, and a pile of chaotic items to dominate the opposition.
Deadly Kobold Racing will run on a one-time-buy seasonal release model that allows players to contribute to world-wide achievements that unlock new loadouts, characters, items, and more! At your own table, unlock Fans and get permanent equipment to chain together races, or just drop in a single race for a change of pace!
The Game At A Glance
All of the materials for this game will be available as print and play or in a digital format. Print out the race and both the racer card and mini for each of the racers.
Each player chooses a racer like Beins & Bufo below!
1) Name, team name, and flavor to introduce the character
2) HP: The number of hit points you have before you get spun out
3) Size: The weight of your vehicle
4) Gears: How many spaces you can move each turn (speed) and how many of those can be diagonal at each gear.
5) Stats: Your four stats, roll under these when you use them (the picture shows an old version! These will be more like D&D stats!)
6) Defenses: Your four defenses, turns a hit against you into a partial hit if the roll is under this
7) Abilities: Your two racer abilities. Includes how often they can be used, their effect, and whether it is an Action, Reaction, or Passive.
Rolls and Actions:
When you make a roll (from an Action, hazard, or otherwise), roll a d20 under your indicated Stat. If you roll under your Stat, that's a Hit!
If you have a target and roll under their indicated Defense, that hit becomes a Partial Hit.
If you roll exactly your stat, that's a Crit. Be sure to make an appropriate sound to your character (ex: a Wahoo! or a Ribbit!)
Play goes in turns with play order determined by the current track.
On your turn:
1) Move your current Gear's Speed forward. You may use Swerve to move diagonally instead of straight forward.
2) At any point during your movement, you may use an Action, resolving it as it requires. You may also use as many Free Actions as you would like.
3) If you enter a square with something in it, resolve that immediately as explained by the rules for common situations (ex: Crashing Into Walls, Jumping Ramps, or Picking Up items) or using the special track rules (ex: Entering Blood Portals, Bouncing on Crocs).
4) At the end of your turn when everything else is done, you may choose to shift your Gear up or down.
Items
As you move around the track, you'll sometimes pass over item chests. When you do, get an item by drawing a printed card or using [perchance link]. Some items will activate automatically, but most can be held and used like any other Ability. Unless the card says otherwise, assume that an item is a one-time use.
Events and World-Wide Play
Creating new stuff for Deadly Kobold Racing is easy! Racers require only a couple of stats and two abilities, items are extremely simple, and even tracks don't add a ton of complexity.
Because of this and a deep abiding love of Events, my intention is to continue to support Deadly Kobold Racing far beyond it's initial release. When an Event is launched, it will introduce some new Racer options (either loadouts that change an existing Racer or a whole new one), a track or race-style, and a handful of items. These themed Events will also introduce at least one world-wide achievement.
After each race, you may fill out a form that gives the results of your race. You'll be able to say who raced, who won, and check off whether certain events occurred. When an achievement is fulfilled, all players will unlock something new for the game! Additionally, when each Event ends, the results will have an effect on the world (ex: changing a Racer, giving a new loadout, altering a track, etc).
Down The Road
There's a lot of things to come that I'm excited about, but I don't want to let this post get too much longer. So just as a little treat for myself, here's some of what's to come!
*Long Term Play: Upgrade your character, get new cool equipment, and build a fan base that gives you bonuses!
*Campaign Play: Travel from track to track dealing with bandits, street racers, and explore the locations around the racetracks!
*Original Racers: Make your own Racer, including advice for using your other dungeon game's stats to inform your racer!
*Collabs: Play as characters from and inspired by indie ttrpgs, podcasts, and more!
SO WHEN IS IT?!?
As soon as I'm done with layout, a minimum viable product will drop! Following that, it's art for minis and races! I'm hoping this month!
What do you think? Excited? Confused? Are there collabs, racers, or other stuff you'd like to see? Let me know!
#ttrpg#ttrpg design#ttrpgs#deadlykoboldracing#ttrpgdesigntwitter#indie ttrpg#open game license vibes
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Oil your sword, check your engines, and get ready to race! Deadly Kobold Racing is coming!
EDIT! The Minimal Viable Product of the game is available now on itch.io! Check it out here!
Deadly Kobold Racing is a kart racing board game built for quick one-off sessions, a legacy racing campaign, or to slot into your existing dungeon game. Players choose a racer, pick a track, and slam on the accelerator to take home the win! Use your hero abilities, track hazards, and a pile of chaotic items to dominate the opposition.
Deadly Kobold Racing will run on a one-time-buy seasonal release model that allows players to contribute to world-wide achievements that unlock new loadouts, characters, items, and more! At your own table, unlock Fans and get permanent equipment to chain together races, or just drop in a single race for a change of pace!
The Game At A Glance
All of the materials for this game will be available as print and play or in a digital format. Print out the race and both the racer card and mini for each of the racers.
Each player chooses a racer like Beins & Bufo below!
1) Name, team name, and flavor to introduce the character
2) HP: The number of hit points you have before you get spun out
3) Size: The weight of your vehicle
4) Gears: How many spaces you can move each turn (speed) and how many of those can be diagonal at each gear.
5) Stats: Your four stats, roll under these when you use them (the picture shows an old version! These will be more like D&D stats!)
6) Defenses: Your four defenses, turns a hit against you into a partial hit if the roll is under this
7) Abilities: Your two racer abilities. Includes how often they can be used, their effect, and whether it is an Action, Reaction, or Passive.
Rolls and Actions:
When you make a roll (from an Action, hazard, or otherwise), roll a d20 under your indicated Stat. If you roll under your Stat, that's a Hit!
If you have a target and roll under their indicated Defense, that hit becomes a Partial Hit.
If you roll exactly your stat, that's a Crit. Be sure to make an appropriate sound to your character (ex: a Wahoo! or a Ribbit!)
Play goes in turns with play order determined by the current track.
On your turn:
1) Move your current Gear's Speed forward. You may use Swerve to move diagonally instead of straight forward.
2) At any point during your movement, you may use an Action, resolving it as it requires. You may also use as many Free Actions as you would like.
3) If you enter a square with something in it, resolve that immediately as explained by the rules for common situations (ex: Crashing Into Walls, Jumping Ramps, or Picking Up items) or using the special track rules (ex: Entering Blood Portals, Bouncing on Crocs).
4) At the end of your turn when everything else is done, you may choose to shift your Gear up or down.
Items
As you move around the track, you'll sometimes pass over item chests. When you do, get an item by drawing a printed card or using [perchance link]. Some items will activate automatically, but most can be held and used like any other Ability. Unless the card says otherwise, assume that an item is a one-time use.
Events and World-Wide Play
Creating new stuff for Deadly Kobold Racing is easy! Racers require only a couple of stats and two abilities, items are extremely simple, and even tracks don't add a ton of complexity.
Because of this and a deep abiding love of Events, my intention is to continue to support Deadly Kobold Racing far beyond it's initial release. When an Event is launched, it will introduce some new Racer options (either loadouts that change an existing Racer or a whole new one), a track or race-style, and a handful of items. These themed Events will also introduce at least one world-wide achievement.
After each race, you may fill out a form that gives the results of your race. You'll be able to say who raced, who won, and check off whether certain events occurred. When an achievement is fulfilled, all players will unlock something new for the game! Additionally, when each Event ends, the results will have an effect on the world (ex: changing a Racer, giving a new loadout, altering a track, etc).
Down The Road
There's a lot of things to come that I'm excited about, but I don't want to let this post get too much longer. So just as a little treat for myself, here's some of what's to come!
*Long Term Play: Upgrade your character, get new cool equipment, and build a fan base that gives you bonuses!
*Campaign Play: Travel from track to track dealing with bandits, street racers, and explore the locations around the racetracks!
*Original Racers: Make your own Racer, including advice for using your other dungeon game's stats to inform your racer!
*Collabs: Play as characters from and inspired by indie ttrpgs, podcasts, and more!
SO WHEN IS IT?!?
As soon as I'm done with layout, a minimum viable product will drop! Following that, it's art for minis and races! I'm hoping this month!
What do you think? Excited? Confused? Are there collabs, racers, or other stuff you'd like to see? Let me know!
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Fell off of posting, but I've got things I'm looking forward to posting this or next week hopefully!
Also, if there's questions or topics you'd like to see me talk about, please let me know!
Edit: Oops, forgot to include HUNT and Barkeep on the Borderlands reads! Those are on the docket also!
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I'm going to be trying to read more of the games in my collection and probably write a bit about them!
What kinds of things would you like to see in a writeup? Specific games? Specific sections?
Up first, by the way, is Hunt by Spencer Campbell of GilaRPGs!
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Moves That Make Promises In Pasión de las Pasiones
One of the tricks I like to use for writing effective, interesting custom moves in Pasión de las Pasiones (my Ennie 2023 Best Game nominated game of telenovela drama) is to build it around a promise.
I'm a sucker for a payoff in a piece of media, I love to be promised I'll be shown something and then be shown exactly that. I think it's innate to want exactly that, we love foreshadowing and getting that payoff. That's the entire basis of telenovelas honestly, through all of the twists and turns and questions, we have a promise (sometimes direct, sometimes implied) of how it will end.
Bonus points to those who get my gif choice.
Im going to give the quickest background I can before showing the move.
Briefly Custom Moves
Moves, for those uninitiated to Powered by the Apocalypse, are little bits of rules with a trigger, a mechanic (often rolling plus a stat), and a result.
When you MAKE A TUMBLR POST, tell us what it is then ROLL PLUS SHARP. On a hit EVERYONE REBLOGS IT.
These little mini bits of rules let's games really focus on specific genre conventions of the stories they are telling. When they do a good job, they focus play.
Custom moves are invented by the GM either before or during the session. They are for a scenario that the game didn't see coming or that normally wouldn't necessarily be a focus of the game. They follow the same structure and can be a little tricky to master, because often you're doing them quickly!
Briefly Pasión de las Pasiones Moves
Pasión de las Pasiones is a variant on PbtA which instead of stats uses questions. Simplistically, for each "Yes" answer to two questions on a move, the player adds +1. Those questions usually have to do with fictional positioning (what is happening in a scene or what advantages/scenarios a character has).
The Move
When you race across the jagged cliffs, trying to claim the prize that will forever change your life, roll with the questions:
* Are you willing to die to win?
*Are you willing to kill to win?
On a hit, you make it to the end, neck and neck with your greatest rival. On a 10+, pick 1. 7-9, pick 2.
*You chicken out at the last minute and lose, mark 1 conditions
*You make it over the line, but you're busted up to the point that you're not walking away from this. Face Certain Death.
*You drove someone off the cliffs. If they're a PC, they Face Certain Death. If they aren't, they are dead, dying, or missing.
On a miss, you screw it all up. You lose control of your vehicle. If you were willing to give your life, Face Certain Death. If you weren't, watch as someone else takes your place at the podium.
So why does this custom move work?
It asks the player, what are you willing to give for this and the player makes a promise. For promising to give their life, they get a +1. For promising to kill, they get a +1. That's a great little moment, of all of the players listening to the racer say that.
Then, if they roll poorly, we get that payoff. They promised they'd give their life, let's see it happen.
If they roll well, we also get that payoff! You said you would give your life, will you now? You said you'd kill, will you now?
This design basically makes a mirror around the objective, you tell me what it's worth to you and then I ask you if you'll pay it.
For the record, our roll had the racer falling off the cliff, but being saved at the last minute by a mysterious racer who turned out to be the missing heir to the fortune and identical triplet to two of the players.
#ttrpg design#ttrpg#ttrpgdesigntwitter#indie ttrpg#ttrpgs#Pasión de las pasiones#pasion de las pasiones
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TTRPGs As Terrariums For Blorbos
One thing that I think isn't covered enough in TTRPG recommendations is styles of play.
There's a lot of "this game has this tone," or "this game is this amount of crunchy," but less "what are you playing towards?"
In games like Microscope and I'm Sorry Did You Say Street Magic? and The Quiet Year, you're playing to see what happens to the setting.
In games like Mork Borg and Into The Odd and Mothership, you're playing to see how far your character can get.
And in a lot of games, you're playing to create a blorbo, an OC, just a little guy, and the soul of the gameplay is the story of who your guy is and who your guy becomes.
This is blorbo style play.
And the thing about styles of play is that you can apply them to any game, even games that aren't really built to enable them. So I wanted to take a moment to shine a spotlight onto some games that do specifically enable you to fully blorb out. (I'll try to cover a mix of genres and tones, but the rpg scene is vast so if you have a favorite that I missed please feel free to shout it out in the replies.)
-Golden Sky Stories. This is the English translation of the Japanese TTRPG Yuuyake Koyake. You play as shapeshifter kids and spirits in a small town and, instead of tracking EXP, the thing that you carry from session to session is your relationships with other characters. The tone of the game is heartwarming, and if combat happens, both sides lose. There can be emotional turmoil, but this isn't a game where you have to worry about bad things happening to your blorbo.
-New World Of Darkness. On the other hand, let's say you *want* bad things to happen to your blorbo. You want to play a guy that's really going through it. If you also like modern supernatural stories, New World Of Darkness was built for you. Characters in NWoD can be entirely non-combat, or a literal werewolf, or a noncombat werewolf. The game places a lot of emphasis on navigating through the setting socially, as its supernatural creatures tend to run in factions and starting a fight usually means making a bunch of enemies.
-Pasion De Las Pasiones. Of course, not everyone wants a fantastical setting. Sometimes good old melodrama is hearty and comforting. Pasion De Las Pasiones is a playable telenovela, and it encourages you to play your characters bold and recklessly. Every class even has a built-in Meltdown, where if you're pushed to the edge they become extra reckless, ensuring a broad fallout of messy drama when they do manage to calm down.
-Cortex System / Unisystem. Perhaps you want to drop your blorbo into an existing fictional universe? But you also want stats and meaty character creation instead of just freeform roleplay? There are easily a dozen games on the Cortex engine, including Supernatural, Firefly, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Marvel, and Leverage. And on Unisystem, there's Buffy, Army Of Darkness, as well as a somewhat rare I Can't Believe It's Not Planet Of The Apes.
-Lancer / Gubat Banwa. If you like blorb-y play but still want a heavy side of combat, both of these games have you covered. Lancer has a sprawling scifi universe focused on mech pilots, and Gubat Banwa has a violent and lavish mythological Philippines setting. Both of these games also have stunningly beautiful artwork, so if you like seeing a setting visually come to life, these are for you.
-Fabula Ultima. My final recommendation is also an extremely gorgeous looking game. Fabula Ultima is built on the bones of Ryuutama (itself an excellent travel-fantasy game) to enable meaty, blorby Final Fantasy style campaign play. Combat is a rich and deep option in Fabula Ultima, but so is everything from spellcasting to crafting, and players have built-in resources they can spend to affect the story. If a scene isn't quite going the way you want it to, you can spend a point to nudge it in the right direction. Fabula Ultima also feels extremely complete without being too complicated.
So there you go. Eight options, and that's barely scratching the surface of the sea of blorb-y games (Seventh Sea, Exalted, Blue Rose, Legend Of The Five Rings, Coyote And Crow, Timewatch, Nahual, and more!)
It's also not wrong to play non-blorb-y games in a blorb-y way. Do whatever you're comfortable with! But you might enjoy dipping into these titles.
Finally, if you've read this far and you're somehow still looking for MORE recommendations, I wrote this game about runaway changelings trying to find their place in the world, and it's probably the blorbiest in my catalog.
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So there's a TTRPG work in progress meme going around and I've been tagged by @theresattrpgforthat and I love talking about my ideas! With the release of Giant of Light, I've got a few going, I'll borrow the cooking metaphor @bleongambetta came up with:
Front Burner (actively in progress, I know what I want the game to be, spend some time in the document at least once a week):
-Free Lunch for Magic Users
Fantasy post-post-apocalypse in rural New England. Players are fast talking conmen with a teaspoon of magical talent, inspiration from Fallout and Discworld.
-4AM in Santa Carla
Lost Boys game where you're one of the background vampires. Hopefully a one-page game.
-Hero of Tomorrow
Superman hack of GoL.
Back Burner (I think about it often, I make notes when I have an epiphany, but major mechanics are still open):
-Demon Castle Dracula
My tribute to Castlevania; a mapping/exploration game using a Tarot deck.
-Sentai Squads (title subject to change)
A competitive game based on Super Sentai/Power Rangers. Each player manages a team that's trying to be the most popular team while also saving the day.
-V/H/Essence
Be a movie monster! A thesis on Queerness and mental illness in modern America, also a bit of a World of Darkness deconstruction.
-Pegwarmers
Metafictional game about The Tranformers (or toylines in general); fight to make sure that you have enough fans that you're in the next reboot of the franchise!
-Journey to the Quest
Optimistic Shonen Jump adventure! Play as a powerful child overthrowing oppressive regimes with a card game battle system. Theoretically first in a trilogy.
Still on the Prep Station (I have an idea here, but probably one or two mechanics at most, several don't even have titles):
-plUnderworlds
GM-less existential adventure game about being the last survivor of a dead universe.
-Cooking Competition Game
Mario Kart meets Cutthroat Kitchen. Improvise a dish and mess with your opponents.
-Demonbrain
Anime combat game about having a spiritual parasite. Less JoJo's, more Venom if the symbiote was looking to escape.
-Wasted
"Hi, I'm Ishida Mitsunari and welcome to Jackass!" Time travellers are stuck in a deathless purgatory dimension where the odds no longer make sense.
-Fighting Game Game
Built to replicate my favorite mechanics from fighting games and in service to the wild, expansive lore of the best fighters.
13! Seems fine. I'm not tagging anyone else to do this, because everyone I know well enough in TTRPGs has either done it or has said they're trying to step back from new game design. But I'll answer basically any questions about any of these!
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I spent the weekend talking about where I was with my WIPs and I'm considering fully rewriting the WIP post I made like 6 days ago.
Time to redo my entire WIP stovetop.
This is good news for people who have interest in XOXO and Deadly Kobold Racing though.
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I just CANT work on Chase the H0LL0W while it's sunny summer times! I'm expecting that I'll be able to get myself working on it again when there's pumpkin spice coffee and more stores have Halloween candy.
I'm actually thinking there may end up being a spin-off that uses similar rules. I'd really love to have like... 3 or 4 of this style of game as one set.
I think every designer has a dozen projects that they are ostensibly working on and after seeing @temporalhiccup's list, I absolutely had to think on my own.
I'm structuring mine (as I have for a little while) as front burner (active), back burner (paused, but simmering), cold (essentially abandoned, but may pick up again), or done.
I think probably that's also the order of how interesting they are, so I'm going to write them in that order. Feel free to ask me about any of these games or ask if there's something else you know I've worked on!
Front Burner (by approximate time focus)
Pasión de las Pasiones: Tormentas del Corazón
Deadly Kobold Racing
The BL-G Hack
RADCrawl Skirmish
Pommel Ball
Back Burner (by approximate interest)
Hades Style Shared Journaling Game
RADCrawl Roguelike
Bottle Episode
Dancecards & Debutantes
Can't Handle The Heat
XOXO
Cold
Catching the Nice Guy
Three Musketeers Game
Luchadorratón
Tower Shield (has largely become BL-G Hack and RADCrawl Roguelike)
Chase the H0ll0w (hopefully will revive with edits for 2023 Spooky Season?)
Done
Pasión de las Pasiones
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@temporalhiccup #but brandon i gotta know #what is XOXO
I HOPE I DID THAT RIGHT!
XOXO is my GMless PbtA game of incredible drama and unimportant murders. It's based on Gossip Girl, Riverdale, and Pretty Little Liars, telling the stories of a group of frenemies trying to work through their relationships while ostensibly exploring a mystery that is bigger than they are.
The characters are tightly enmeshed with each other with a lot of history that will be explored primarily through the unraveling of a history that ties in to their homes and their pasts. Each player takes control of their character, and an important adult NPC to the player to their left and right. Depending upon your playbook, you also get MC moves that you can trigger during other players turns; exactly the kinds of problems that you can solve (but aren't present for).
It's low on my back burner for two reasons; it's a full size book-length game and coming off of Pasión de las Pasiones, I want to make some smaller things and games that can trickle out with updates. Also, I don't want to be like... The Dramatic TV Shows Guy, so I feel like back to back releases in that vibe wouldn't help me not be type cast!
(that said, Can't Handle The Heat and Catching The Nice Guy are both ALSO drama tv show games, so I may be out of luck)
I think every designer has a dozen projects that they are ostensibly working on and after seeing @temporalhiccup's list, I absolutely had to think on my own.
I'm structuring mine (as I have for a little while) as front burner (active), back burner (paused, but simmering), cold (essentially abandoned, but may pick up again), or done.
I think probably that's also the order of how interesting they are, so I'm going to write them in that order. Feel free to ask me about any of these games or ask if there's something else you know I've worked on!
Front Burner (by approximate time focus)
Pasión de las Pasiones: Tormentas del Corazón
Deadly Kobold Racing
The BL-G Hack
RADCrawl Skirmish
Pommel Ball
Back Burner (by approximate interest)
Hades Style Shared Journaling Game
RADCrawl Roguelike
Bottle Episode
Dancecards & Debutantes
Can't Handle The Heat
XOXO
Cold
Catching the Nice Guy
Three Musketeers Game
Luchadorratón
Tower Shield (has largely become BL-G Hack and RADCrawl Roguelike)
Chase the H0ll0w (hopefully will revive with edits for 2023 Spooky Season?)
Done
Pasión de las Pasiones
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I think every designer has a dozen projects that they are ostensibly working on and after seeing @temporalhiccup's list, I absolutely had to think on my own.
I'm structuring mine (as I have for a little while) as front burner (active), back burner (paused, but simmering), cold (essentially abandoned, but may pick up again), or done.
I think probably that's also the order of how interesting they are, so I'm going to write them in that order. Feel free to ask me about any of these games or ask if there's something else you know I've worked on!
Front Burner (by approximate time focus)
Pasión de las Pasiones: Tormentas del Corazón
Deadly Kobold Racing
The BL-G Hack
RADCrawl Skirmish
Pommel Ball
Back Burner (by approximate interest)
Hades Style Shared Journaling Game
RADCrawl Roguelike
Bottle Episode
Dancecards & Debutantes
Can't Handle The Heat
XOXO
Cold
Catching the Nice Guy
Three Musketeers Game
Luchadorratón
Tower Shield (has largely become BL-G Hack and RADCrawl Roguelike)
Chase the H0ll0w (hopefully will revive with edits for 2023 Spooky Season?)
Done
Pasión de las Pasiones
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