indie-ttrpg-of-the-week

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Trans made TTRPGs

Due to… recent events that I would rather not talk about, today's post is a highlight of different tabletop games made by trans peeps! These games are fantastic in their own right, of course, but you can also know that they were made by incredibly cool and attractive people

(Also, these are flyover descs of the game, they'll get more in-depth singular posts later, this is because I am lazy)

Perfect Draw is a phenomenal card game TTRPG that was funded in less than a day on backerkit, it's incredibly fun and has simple to learn hard to master rules for creating custom cards, go check it out!

Songs for the dusk is fucking good, pardon my language, but it's a damn good post apocalyptic game about building community in a post-capitalist-post-apocalypse-post-whatever world. do yourself a favor and if you only check out one game in this list, check this one out, its a beautiful game.

Flying Circus is set in a WW1 inspired fantasy setting full of witches, weird eldritch fish people (who are chill as hell), cults, dead nobility, and other such things. It's inspired by Porco Rosso primarily but it has other touchstones.

Wanderhome is a game about being cute little guys going on a silly adventure and growing as the seasons change, its GMless and very fun

https://weregazelle.itch.io/armour-astir Armour Astir has been featured in here before but its so damn good I had to post it twice. AA demonstrates a fundamental knowledge of the themes of mech shows in a way that very few other games show, its awesome

Kitchen Knightmares is… more of a LARP but its still really dang cool, its about being a knight serving people in a restaurant, its played using discord so its incredibly accessible

https://grimogre.itch.io/michtim Michtim is a game about being small critters protecting their forest from nasty people who wish to harm it, not via brutal violence (sadly) but via friendship and understanding (which is a good substitute to violence)

ok this technically doesn't count but I'm putting it here anyways cuz its like one of my favorite ttrpgs of all time TSL is a game about baring your heart and dueling away with people who you'll probably kiss 10 minutes later, its very very fanfic-ey and inspired by queer narratives. I put it here because its made by a team, and the expansion has a setting specifically meant to be a trans "allegory", so I'll say it counts, honestly just go check it out its good shit

https://willuhl.itch.io/mystic-lilies

Mystic Lillies is a game inspired by ZUN's Touhou Project about witches dueling powerful foes, each other, and themselves. Mystic Lillies features rapid character creation and a unique diceless form of rolling which instead uses a standard playing card deck.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/141424/nobilis-the-game-of-sovereign-powers-2002-edition I… want to do a more general overview on Jenna K as an important figure in indie RPG design, but for now just know that Nobilis is good

https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/apocalypse-keys Apocalypse Keys is a game inspired by Doom Patrol, Hellboy, X-men, and other comics about monstrousness being an allegory for disenfranchisement. Apocalypse Keys is also here because its published by Evilhat so its very cleaned up and fancy but I love how the second you check out the dev's other stuff you can tell they are a lot more experimental with their stuff, this is not a critique, it is in fact a compliment

Fellowship! I've posted about this game before, but it is again here. Fellowship has a fun concept that it uses very well mostly, its a game about defining your character's culture, and I think that's really really cool

Voidheart Symphony is a really cool game about psychic rebellion in a city that really does not like you, the more you discover for yourself the better

Panic at the Dojo is a phenomenal ttrpg based on what the Brazilian would call "Pancadaria", which basically means, fucking other's people shit up. Character Creation is incredibly open and free, meaning that many character concepts are available

Legacy 2e is a game about controlling an entire faction's choices across time, its very fun

remember to be kind to a trans person today! oh also don't even try to be transphobic in the reblogs or replies, you will be blocked so fast your head will spin

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

I'm actually about Shadowrun 5e, as we all know i love shadowrun, its like every problem with abled written cyberpunk AND white written fantasy rolled into one!

"Dragon's den" but you need to pitch a new ttrpg you just found to 3 disinterested friends who'd rather just play 5e or lancer or something

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

an indie publisher approached me on bsky and was like "hey could you check out our stuff?" and i went to check their page and it was 99% AI-Generated 5e modules and im just like. who do you think i am

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Eidolon: Become your best self!

Ok so, quick note: if this game sounds interesting to you, the version on Itch is 1e, it is much more traditional than the version I will be describing using traditional dice and the like, the 2e version, what we will be talking about, is up on their patreon for a price lower than the itch version, got it? cool Gee, Jojo, that sure was a Bizarre Adventure we Stardust Crusaders went in Genre: Shonen, Fantasy

Touchstones: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, The Persona Franchise

What is this game?:  Eidolon is a game about super-powered individuals fighting using powers that are as bizarre as they are strong

How's the gameplay?: Eidolon (2E) uses a system of tarot cards instead of dice to roll for anything, characters draw cards equal to their relevant stat in the roll, then choose one out of the cards drawn, each card has a Forecast and a Polarity, Forecast gives you a rough vibe on what's gonna happen if you play it, and Polarity tells you if its negative or positive, for example "The Magician" is a Positive Card, and its forecast is "You achieve the impossible"! Characters may also choose a Resonant and a Dissonant card, both must be Neutral cards, Resonants and Dissonants do not have forecasts, instead having a unique effect based on the character's playbook, not only that but if you draw a dissonant, you MUST play it. Now for the fun part: Eidolon creation, each playbook has a template for how to create your eidolon, for example the alchemist's template says "My eidolon can turn any *blank* it touches into *blank*", those two blanks can be replaced by literally anything you'd like! Get creative!

What's the setting (If any) like?:  Eidolon's setting is entirely generic, however the world requires a few universal constants, specifically the Undertow (a supernatural underworld that form the foundations of the universe) and Eidolons themselves

What's the tone?: Chosen by setting!

Session length: 2-3 hours, drawing cards is a bit slower than rolling die

Number of Players: I think you should keep the number of players low, 4 players including the GM 

Malleability: You could theoretically run any setting in this

Resources:��An online character sheet is available, you may use your own personal tarot deck if you wish

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Hello my friend 👋🇦🇪

I am Ahmed and I am responsible for a family of eight, including my elderly father and mother. Our tent was burned and my daughter and I were injured. I already suffer from seizures and convulsions. I ask you to help me and donate so that I can live in the shadow of this bad life and be able to obtain treatment. Please have mercy on us. 🙏🙏😭😔

https://gofund.me/315b0b3c

.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

note: OP does not think these games are similar or equal in quality, lancer is simply being used here as a shorthand for "Standard TTRPG that a regular group may enjoy multiple times"

"Dragon's den" but you need to pitch a new ttrpg you just found to 3 disinterested friends who'd rather just play 5e or lancer or something

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

"Dragon's den" but you need to pitch a new ttrpg you just found to 3 disinterested friends who'd rather just play 5e or lancer or something

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

oh uh. not great day today, regular upload tomorrow, sorry!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

i've been saying this: if every D&D player who makes bisexual tiefling women read thirsty sword lesbians instead society would be a better place

This is something I and other tabletop bloggers like thydungeongal have said repeatedly in the past, but I think it bears repeating.

If you don't like WotC due to the recent scandals they've been involved in (such as the OGL thing and sending the Pinkertons to someone's house) and you are serious about disrupting the economic and cultural stranglehold they have over the entire tabletop hobby, pirating D&D products is infinitely less important than exploring, discussing and platforming games and creators outside of the D&D 5e ecosystem.

A person who pirates every single D&D product but continues to exclusively play, discuss, talk, and blog about Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition is not doing as much as someone who religiously pays for every D&D product but also gives some of their precious time and attention to games that aren't D&D, especially if they have any sort of platform or audience.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Ryuutama

A treat for the Dragon likers in our audience, wait til Warrenguard for some more though

Genre: Exploration! Touchstones: Ghibli Films, Trail of Oregon (not ACTUALLY but its a good comparison point)

What is this game?: Ryuutama is a game about travelling... somewhere! you're not big damn heroes though, just merchants and artisans

How's the gameplay?: Ryuutama uses a system where skill checks will most of the time use two dice and two skills, so for example chopping down a tree might be [Str + Dex], then you add those two numbers together + Your mod in each respective skill to get your final number! at times you might also need to use different dice sizes, for example a d8 and a d4, and sometimes you'll only roll one die, those are very difficult checks. Character creation is a breeze! Choose a class (from options like Minstrel, Noble, Farmer, or Merchant), a Style (from Magic/Attack/Technical), Stats, your preferred weapon, a personal item, and minor details, thats it! The interesting part of Ryuutama is of course, the GM, you see the GM is playing a character throughout the campaign as well as narrating everything, this character is the Ryuujin, a powerful dragon that can assume a less threatening form in order to approach the party, as well as a humanoid form with horns, dragons have an Artifact (A major gameplay modification) and a list of Benedictions (Powerful effects that change the rules for one session) and Reveils (Powerful abilities that immediately have some sort of effect)

What's the setting (If any) like?: The setting is created by the GMs and Players working together, though high fantasy is expected!

What's the tone?: Ryuutama is a laid back, chill game... well mostly, a Crimson dragon GM or Black Dragon GM can change the game's tone widely, changing it to either a combat focused game (not recommended, the combat's p light) or a dark intrigue game

Session length: 1-3 hours! Ryuutama's built for shorter sessions

Number of Players: 3-5 players, including the GM

Malleability: Pretty low, there's no real setting but you wanna keep it in High Fantasy ville for the most part

Resources: Ryuutama is actually a pretty big game, so theres some resources if you're willing to look, character sheets, mood playlists, supplements, all available and translated

Ryuutama is a chill, pleasant walk through a world of magic and monsters, you'll need to fight sometimes, but the challenges in the world mostly come from yourselves and the world around you, its a cute game!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Far Field (the Lancer spin off that popped up on Pilot.Net) looks really nice so far, really hope they can keep the steam going from these early versions into the later ones. I'm sure people will be very happy to know about the playable NHPs lol

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Hey yall! gonna try to start uploading on Saturdays instead of Fridays, just to give myself a lil more time to do write ups

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

sorry my grandpa was singing a song in portuguese about how no matter what the sun always comes up the next day and it nearly made me cry

I'll stop doing the sappy emotional posting and go back to my regular grouchy ttrpg self soon, but i jusy want yall to know that im gonna handle the next few years with agressive optimism, love, and support

(side note, if any trans, queer, or poc people have fundraisers they wanna boost, feel free to drop them in Asks)

So uh, what a week huh?

Well, the sun will still come up tomorrow, and the day after

Stay strong, everyone

I'll try to find a good vibes game, i think thats what we all need rn

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

I hope my silly write ups have introduce yall to plenty of new games and brought plenty of joy, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon

So uh, what a week huh?

Well, the sun will still come up tomorrow, and the day after

Stay strong, everyone

I'll try to find a good vibes game, i think thats what we all need rn

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

So uh, what a week huh?

Well, the sun will still come up tomorrow, and the day after

Stay strong, everyone

I'll try to find a good vibes game, i think thats what we all need rn

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

for reasons you can probably expect, I'll be blacking out from the internet for a week or so, I have a post queued up so no post cancelling again, but i won't respond to any asks or whatever

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants

Happy Halloween! lets eat the rich to celebrate

Genre: Horror/Heist

Touchstones: Blades in the Dark, Vaguely castlevania

What is this game?: Vampires are evil tyrants, lets use powerful fae masks to take them down!

How's the gameplay?: Brinkwood runs in Forged in the Dark, meaning it uses many of its basic systems, action dice, devil's bargains, effect levels, if you're familiar with these, you're familiar with brinkwood, it has a few differences but those are at the level we usually don't really go to, they're minute but important. The game features character creation via choosing a character's Folk (no gameplay ramifications, just vibes), Upbringing (How your character grew up, adds some abilities and NPCs), Profession (As above), Class (Gives you extra action dots), and a Tragedy (Determines your character's motive)

What's the setting (If any) like?: Brinkwood is set in a set of isles ruled over by tyrannical Vampire aristocrats who created an alchemical mix of Silver and Blood, turning them into immortal beings who feed on the blood of the peasantry, at the borders of civilization theres somewhere known as the Brinkwood, a forest inhabited by fey, who don't like vampires very much due to them taking down the forest. You now live in the forest alongisde the fey, and are conspiring with them to take down the tyrannical vampires

What's the tone?: Revolutionary and Dark, shit sucks! evil has won, but you're gonna fight against it or die trying

Session length: 2-3 hours

Number of Players: 4-6

Malleability: Brinkwood is very hardset in its own setting, so you could in theory change it but it wouldn't be recommended

Resources: Brinkwood has group character sheets, but its simple enough to where you won't need it

Brinkwood is a great game about killing vampires in a more... unique! way, it's a great spooky time