indie-ttrpg-of-the-week

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Planedawn Orphans

It is such the nature of humanity that we every so often reinvent Homestuck 

Genre: Found Family, Vaguely fantasy?, multiverse game (Kinda)

Touchstones: Planescape (they don't mention it but I imagine Torment's party specifically was probably a big inspiration), Dark Heart of the Dreamer

What is this game?: Game's a generous term, Planedawn Orphans is a system-agnostic campaign kit meant to introduce a general story loop to any system

How's the gameplay?: Planedawn Orphans has the gameplay of any system you'd like!.. ok that's not EXACTLY it, but planedawn orphans has only small amounts of gameplay on its own, instead what it adds is a storyline to any system, somewhat similar to a module, but entirely system agnostic, and left open ended for modification, we'll get into what exactly the plotline is in the next session, but for now just know that most of Planedawn's gameplay is entirely focused on players taking actions to add drama into instanced levels, as the game focuses on the players hopping between different themed planes

What's the setting (If any) like?:  This is where the going gets interesting, the players are all Orphans, people from different planes of reality who, for one reason or another, were abandoned by their own world, and left to wander in the big city between worlds, they have recently met an incredibly powerful patron who promises to create a new world, one where they can live peacefully without prejudices of their previous world. Planedawn Orphans' primary setting are the different universes the players will have to explore to gather the parts for their new world, maybe they need to get a bag of wind so that their universe has oxygen, or the blood of a dead god to create life, that sort of thing! there's 13 aspects by default, meaning that a game will usually by default have 13 "chapters" as the players explore different universes, the game's episodic nature also lends itself to round-robin style play, with one player taking over the role of GM in a rotating format every realm.

What's the tone?: Planedawn Orphans treats on themes of found family, hope in a desolate place, and friendship between unlikely people.

Session length: Uh, depends on what you're running it on ig?

Number of Players: 3-5, round robin parties can likely support more players

Malleability: Infinite, I guess, since its not really a game 

Resources: You don't really NEED resources for this but the game features some trackers to keep track of clocks and collected artifacts

Ok so this isn't REALLY a game, this is a campaign resource for running a specific type of campaign, it as such shouldn't really Be here, but Planedawn is also one of my favorite... ttrpg things of all time, and I think more people need to be aware of it! it's a really really fun time if you can find a good game to run it in, I recommend Lancer! there's 13 artifacts, which maps exactly into a 0-12 lancer campaign

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

What is her fault? She used to cry about the silliest stuff or about a new shiny toy, now she cries because she goes to sleep hungry every night. She gets food in priority whenever we have some, but even giving her two meals a day requires a miracle. As for us, one meal every other day has become normal.

One kilo of flour is $100. The merchants only accept cash and the commission rate is around 50%. That means we would need $200 so my family of ten can get just one kilo of flour and still be hungry at the end of the day. And even then, we won’t buy a full kilo, because we need to secure rent too, which is $1,300 a month. That’s why we’re so hungry still.

Please help us. Even if you just have $5, even if you can only share, please do it. I swear we need help or we won’t make it.

✅Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #347 )✅

PLEASE DONATE HERE

Please share my friends @feluka @strangeauthor @omegaversereloaded @briarhips @ankle-beez @ot3 @dykesbat @rhubarbspring @b0nkcreat @beserkerjewel @90-ghost @yekkes @butch-farmer @lesbiancube @krafterwrites @thesims2psp @necronatural @mettaworldpiece @postanagramgenerator @eternal-fractal @paparoach

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

What are some good ttrpgs for high schoolers? Having trouble finding any that are appropriate since the ones I tend to play have Mature Content Warnings.

Oh jeez! I know some good ones actually! Quest RPG is a fun one, its pretty kid friendly by default and the rules are very simple to understand meaning quick sessions are very easy (Plus it actually has a guide for teachers to run the game as an educational tool)

LANCER's mud-and-blood vibes are a liiiittle mature, but if they're highschoolers it should be fine Triangle Agency's great, and the tone, vibes, and pacing are imo perfect for shorter games Animon Stories is a pretty fun one, but its a VERY specific vibe of Literally Just Digimon Fabula Ultima leans a liittle more complicated but it has a tone a lot of teens will recognize and is generally a fun time, and the rules are pretty simple MASKS is a game I have beef with in a few ways but its still one of my favorite superhero TTRPGS

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

And for reference, this isn't a case like how most people run, D&D where the setting is simply so boring that they just go "you know how this works", this is a setting with weird shit, there's a species of weird 4 armed critters called Raiders, weird frog folk, a bunch of very much non traditional fantasy setting critters, so why are you just not bothering to make a setting? either elaborate or don't make the setting at all. I almost wonder if this is a way to sell more splats later on?

yknow i dontr fully agree with the anim post thats like a game without modules is like a console without games... mostly beause i think phrasing it specifically in terms of 'advernture modules' i think is a very narrow and limiting horizon... but i do actually kind of vibe with the core idea being expressed there, like... i Do think that your game should be playable out of the box and not require someone to go and do hours of homework just to like have a setting and plot hooks to play with

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

visavis setting, Draw Steel feels weird because it SO clearly wants to be generic fantasy setting.png but it doesn't really dedicate to it? it has like 30% of a setting and says "if this confuses you a god did it we don't really care", I'm fine with no setting or even just a boring generic setting, but the weird half way they go for is really really annoying Sucks cuz I think there's def a universe where i'd really like the game

yknow i dontr fully agree with the anim post thats like a game without modules is like a console without games... mostly beause i think phrasing it specifically in terms of 'advernture modules' i think is a very narrow and limiting horizon... but i do actually kind of vibe with the core idea being expressed there, like... i Do think that your game should be playable out of the box and not require someone to go and do hours of homework just to like have a setting and plot hooks to play with

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

im like. 99% sure the Vagabond's strong and weak moves in warrenguard are switched but i have nothing to prove it other than "Surely this isn't how this playbook is intended to work right???" long shot but can anyone who has read the book confirm im not crazy

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Yes this is a twilight ttrpg, No it doesn't have any of the mormon shit

Genre: Romance, Drama, Supernatural

Touchstones: Twilight, Riverdale,

What is this game?: Monsterhearts is a TTRPG about navigating teenage romance as a monster

How's the gameplay?: Monsterhearts is a PBTA game, if you're familiar with them then it'll likely be familiar, no grid, roll 2d6 + stats to determine things, -6 is a fail, 7-9 is a success, 10-12 is a big success, characters have special abilities they activate when they have sex with players generally reaffirming some sort of toxic trait they have, and when characters "die" they become their "Darkest self", a dark shadowy version of themselves which makes their worst perceptions reality

What's the setting (If any) like?: Modern day, but with monsters! (or not with monsters actually, a lot of the playbooks double as just allegorical, but also cmon if you're playing this you're playing with the monsters)

What's the tone?: Monsterhearts has that sort of Dark queer romance vibe, its hard to really describe but if you've watched like, any CW show you get the picture

Session length: Leaning short, the game is more narrative focused than anything

Number of Players: 3-5 players

Malleability: Its fairly malleable, you generally need to stay within a semi-modern day setting with vampires and ghosts and shit, but otherwise you can go nuts

Resources: Character sheets are provided, this is not a complex game so thats more than enough

So this game's a classic, its really really good and if you haven't read it you're doing yourself a disservic

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

sometimes i feel like i shouldn't do a write up because everyone already knows the game im talking about but then i remember the target audience of this blog is people who think 5e is a story game and just go back to writing

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Happiness is playing lancer with a bunch of trans girls

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Please help a disabled Brazilian trans woman survive this month

Hi sorry I fucking hate asking for help online, but as some of you know, I've been in the amazon taking care of my grandma after she had a really delicate surgery And taking care of my baby niece (since my grandma can't take care of her while recovering) this past month.

This means I haven't been able to work except for my remote translation and writing gigs (which I have been doing despite the fact I also have to care for a 4yo child), so money has been really hard to come by lately.

The money I managed to get from commissions has gone to pay for the euthanasia and cremation of my dog Plus the bills of my family in São Paulo, meaning I have no money left for groceries (for my family back home, as I'm still in the Amazon until next week).

We really really really need money right now, especially before the 1st of August, so any help right now is really appreciated.

P*yp*l: leandrocpj@gmail.com

PIX; 11 94801-6032

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

i’ve had a post in the drafts meant to be a sort of newsletter detailing some changes to the blog since may. im not gonna post it now because most of the things there aren’t relevant anymore but i think that really goes to show what my workflow looks like

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

oh yk, cloudbreaker alliance is def a game to check out if you’re into 5e but want something better designed

I was just going to reply to my other ask, but my list is way too long so I couldn't. So I'm sending a separate ask with a list of things I like and dislike about the TTRPGs I'm familiar with. D&D 5e:

Things I like: -Character creation has both depth and breadth. It's easy to create characters that are very different even if they share multiple similarities. -While I can't say the classes are fully balanced, they do all have a place (some just have more places than others). Any type of character can be viable.

Things I don't like: -The power balance between PCs and NPCs makes absolutely no sense. It's clearly designed for combat balance (which also isn't perfect), but narratively it's utter nonsense. -Proficiency mechanic feels lackluster, though I think this is only because I've also played 3.5e.

D&D 3.5e: Things I like: -As with 5e, character creation has both depth and breadth. -I prefer the skill point distribution of 3.5e over proficiency in 5e.

Things I don't like: -Honestly everything else about D&D, besides the skill points, is better in 5e than 3.5e (or is the same).

Vampire: The Masquerade:

Things I like: -Character creation has both depth and breadth. -Dice pool system, combining both attributes and skills for a roll -Narrative balance makes sense. Being a vampire has both advantages and disadvantages. -Not specifically about VTM, but I think it's just strictly better than Werewolf: the Apocalypse. (Not gonna make a separate listing for it.)

Things I don't like: -I don't always want to play a vampire. That's not a fault of the game itself, but it's just something I'd easily get bored of if it were the only game I was playing.

Mage: The Ascension:

Things I like: -Character creation has a lot of depth and near infinite breadth. -Characters are simultaneously both regular people and not.

Things I don't like: -For being imagination-fuelled, the magic system is incredibly limiting. It might just be the way my brain works, but I have difficulty processing the power scale. It's literally easier to teleport to anywhere the fuck you want that is in your line of sight than it is to teleport directly to the position of a person in your line of sight, because now suddenly you're involving someone else and therefore need Life magic. Your fire magic only works by enchanting weapons? Ah well, that's not just Force+Prime magic but also Matter magic. Just cast Fireball; it's easier. It's just weird to me that the more limited use-case spell is often more difficult, because the nature of the limitation is often a different Sphere.

Call of Cthulhu:

Things I like: -Skill point distribution. -I kinda like the novelty of stat that you sometimes want to roll low and sometimes high (Sanity). But at the same time, I don't know that I'd like it if it were a commonplace thing.

Things I don't like: -Surrealism/weird horror. Nothing against the system; the genre is just not my thing. -Combat is kinda just not well explained. I realize this is because CoC is not a combat-focused system, but it's not devoid of combat. But it feels like it was just slapped in there because people aren't immortal and not because they actually expected anyone to use it.

GUMSHOE:

Things I like: -Skill point distribution.

Things I don't like: -I actually don't like the investigative/general split. I get why it's there, though. -It tries to be setting-agnostic, but it really isn't. Base GUMSHOE in a fantasy or sci-fi setting is incredibly difficult to pull off. Of course, people have modded it to work.

Metro: Otherscape:

I don't know that I can split this into things I like and dislike, because I have very mixed feelings about everything. I'm also not super familiar with the gameplay. I've read it, so I know the rules, but I don't have a feel for the general gameplay loop or narrative progression. I like that the theme+tag system allows for very unique characters, but I don't like that characters can be totally human or completely inhuman with absolutely zero mechanical difference unless it's represented by a tag. In general, tags and the narrative seem to be inextricably linked, yet the link is super tenuous and easy to break. Especially since multiple themes can be connected to each other narratively, but aren't at all connected mechanically. Depending how you built your character, if you lose a theme, it can be very difficult to narratively explain certain tags in other themes. It's also possible to lose tags that are just things that are narratively true and remain true even after you lose the tag -- or lose tags that represent things actually changing or being lost or broken, but these are mechanically indistinguishable. But maybe that just means the game requires a lot of forethought when designing your character. Might just be something you get used to as you play. Also, I'm aware there are other Sons of Oak games that use a similar but not identical system, but I'm not very familiar with them.

A couple other things I want to mention: -When I told someone I like crunchy, I was recommended the Warhammer system. Holy shit I did not realize anything could be that crunchy. Tooooo much crunch. Also pretty much zero breadth of choice, which is weird given how many rules there are. -I stopped reading Pathfinder when I saw that it uses an action point system with point costs for different actions.

I think you’d enjoy Lancer, the sort of lego building mecha character creation def would be your thing, as for more story based systems I think you’d like Son of Oak’s mist systems. also good lord if you think 5e character creation has depth wait til you check out like any other game lmao

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

I don't think this should be the *sole* measure to judge the quality for a TTRPG, but I definitely think that between whether a mediocre newbie GM is able to run a fun session by following the rules and whether a "good" GM with 20 years of experience is able to construct a grand epic tearjerking experience by rule-zeroing half the mechanics to steer the narrative towards a conventional story that resolves everyone's character arcs, the former says a lot more than the latter about how good a game actually is.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Ngl most days I want to reach through the screen, grab nonblack and TME people by the shoulders, and shake y’all while screaming “BLACK TRANS WOMEN ARE BEING MURDERED I DONT CARE BOUT YOUR LIL DISCOURSES”

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

What is a fantasy heartbreaker? I looked it up but I'm struggling to map my findings onto your reverse heartbreaker post.

(With reference to this post here.)

In this context, "fantasy heartbreaker" is a colloquial term for when an aspiring new indie tabletop RPG designer decides they're going to Fix What's Wrong With RPGs; however, because their actual experience of the hobby is almost entirely limited to Dungeons & Dragons and very close imitators of Dungeons & Dragons, their revolutionary new game ends up just being a lightly modified version of Dungeons & Dragons.

(Some folks whose actual objective is to produce a lightly modified version of Dungeons & Dragons will ironically describe their own project as a fantasy heartbreaker, but to be a proper example of the type it needs to be unwitting.)

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Do you have a list or compilation of solo games?

no sadly! I planned on doing one a while ago but forgot

I do like solo games they just kinda bounced off my radar for a while since i feel a major appeal of ttrpgs is the social aspect, and thats why people like D&D so much just as an excuse to get together, so for the first year i ignored solo games and kinda just continued doing so, thats my bad!

As for some cool solo games however:

https://w.itch.io/cursed-sword

(and its nsfw younger cousin)

I’ve either heard good things or played and liked all of these

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

I was just going to reply to my other ask, but my list is way too long so I couldn't. So I'm sending a separate ask with a list of things I like and dislike about the TTRPGs I'm familiar with. D&D 5e:

Things I like: -Character creation has both depth and breadth. It's easy to create characters that are very different even if they share multiple similarities. -While I can't say the classes are fully balanced, they do all have a place (some just have more places than others). Any type of character can be viable.

Things I don't like: -The power balance between PCs and NPCs makes absolutely no sense. It's clearly designed for combat balance (which also isn't perfect), but narratively it's utter nonsense. -Proficiency mechanic feels lackluster, though I think this is only because I've also played 3.5e.

D&D 3.5e: Things I like: -As with 5e, character creation has both depth and breadth. -I prefer the skill point distribution of 3.5e over proficiency in 5e.

Things I don't like: -Honestly everything else about D&D, besides the skill points, is better in 5e than 3.5e (or is the same).

Vampire: The Masquerade:

Things I like: -Character creation has both depth and breadth. -Dice pool system, combining both attributes and skills for a roll -Narrative balance makes sense. Being a vampire has both advantages and disadvantages. -Not specifically about VTM, but I think it's just strictly better than Werewolf: the Apocalypse. (Not gonna make a separate listing for it.)

Things I don't like: -I don't always want to play a vampire. That's not a fault of the game itself, but it's just something I'd easily get bored of if it were the only game I was playing.

Mage: The Ascension:

Things I like: -Character creation has a lot of depth and near infinite breadth. -Characters are simultaneously both regular people and not.

Things I don't like: -For being imagination-fuelled, the magic system is incredibly limiting. It might just be the way my brain works, but I have difficulty processing the power scale. It's literally easier to teleport to anywhere the fuck you want that is in your line of sight than it is to teleport directly to the position of a person in your line of sight, because now suddenly you're involving someone else and therefore need Life magic. Your fire magic only works by enchanting weapons? Ah well, that's not just Force+Prime magic but also Matter magic. Just cast Fireball; it's easier. It's just weird to me that the more limited use-case spell is often more difficult, because the nature of the limitation is often a different Sphere.

Call of Cthulhu:

Things I like: -Skill point distribution. -I kinda like the novelty of stat that you sometimes want to roll low and sometimes high (Sanity). But at the same time, I don't know that I'd like it if it were a commonplace thing.

Things I don't like: -Surrealism/weird horror. Nothing against the system; the genre is just not my thing. -Combat is kinda just not well explained. I realize this is because CoC is not a combat-focused system, but it's not devoid of combat. But it feels like it was just slapped in there because people aren't immortal and not because they actually expected anyone to use it.

GUMSHOE:

Things I like: -Skill point distribution.

Things I don't like: -I actually don't like the investigative/general split. I get why it's there, though. -It tries to be setting-agnostic, but it really isn't. Base GUMSHOE in a fantasy or sci-fi setting is incredibly difficult to pull off. Of course, people have modded it to work.

Metro: Otherscape:

I don't know that I can split this into things I like and dislike, because I have very mixed feelings about everything. I'm also not super familiar with the gameplay. I've read it, so I know the rules, but I don't have a feel for the general gameplay loop or narrative progression. I like that the theme+tag system allows for very unique characters, but I don't like that characters can be totally human or completely inhuman with absolutely zero mechanical difference unless it's represented by a tag. In general, tags and the narrative seem to be inextricably linked, yet the link is super tenuous and easy to break. Especially since multiple themes can be connected to each other narratively, but aren't at all connected mechanically. Depending how you built your character, if you lose a theme, it can be very difficult to narratively explain certain tags in other themes. It's also possible to lose tags that are just things that are narratively true and remain true even after you lose the tag -- or lose tags that represent things actually changing or being lost or broken, but these are mechanically indistinguishable. But maybe that just means the game requires a lot of forethought when designing your character. Might just be something you get used to as you play. Also, I'm aware there are other Sons of Oak games that use a similar but not identical system, but I'm not very familiar with them.

A couple other things I want to mention: -When I told someone I like crunchy, I was recommended the Warhammer system. Holy shit I did not realize anything could be that crunchy. Tooooo much crunch. Also pretty much zero breadth of choice, which is weird given how many rules there are. -I stopped reading Pathfinder when I saw that it uses an action point system with point costs for different actions.

I think you’d enjoy Lancer, the sort of lego building mecha character creation def would be your thing, as for more story based systems I think you’d like Son of Oak’s mist systems. also good lord if you think 5e character creation has depth wait til you check out like any other game lmao