#Ttrpg haul

[mortphilippa]

Since attending Dragonmeet last weekend, I've been slowly been reading my way through the various TTRPGs and supplements I picked up. I don't buy physical copies of things often, so it's fun to spend my gaming budget on some beautiful books and zines every now and again.

[aidenwaites]

If I may I'd like to recommend a single player ttrpg I tried out tonight, VOID 1680 AM, a game about running a radio broadcast and building a playlist using a deck of cards and a six-sided die

[theinstagrahame]

One of the best things about Crowdfunding is, stuff arrives even when you're cutting way back on spending. A *ton* of stuff arrived in the last month and a bit. Got a bunch of really neat projects in, and it's time to get hype about it!

Why these games rule, under the cut

The Revenant Society: Banana Chan is one of those names that immediately catches my attention when she's on a project. Actually, looking at the list again, the team for this game was stacked, it was a real All-Star Cast. But like, even without the powerhouse designers on the case, this just gets all the things I want in a game: Time loops, murder mysteries, trapped on the Underground. A PbtA game where you solve your own murder is, y'know, a pitch that'll attract my attention.

Hellwhalers: I saw this game coming up through design phases in the Plus One Exp Discord, and it sounded incredible. Using tokens and an old ship betting game, you're part of a whaling crew chasing Moby Dick into actual hell. Maybe Ahab wasn't crazy after all, and maybe we won't survive.

Xenolanguage: I might own everything Thorny Games makes now, because they make games about language. Folks who may not know me might not know that I *love* linquistics. Honestly, if I could repeat college, I'd put more of my time into Linguistics. But due to the linear nature of time, I'll settle for playing games about decoding alien language in a first contact situation. Sorta like that movie Contact. Which, I loved.

Mothership and Desert Moons of Karth: I read through the original version of Mothership a couple of years ago, and it's one I wanted to get more into. When I saw that there was a chance to pick up the full 1e boxset on KS, I jumped. I've also seen tons of people talk about Karth as a really awesome sandbox module for the system, so when I had a little cash on DTRPG from selling books, it was an easy pickup.

Inscrutable Cities: Possum Creek Games told me to back this, so I did (this is a joke, but I do love PCG a whole lot). In reality, I saw Inscrutable Cities on Itch a while ago, and the pitch grabbed me. I love reading solo journaling games (I still haven't found a way I like to play them, if I'm completely honest, but they're really neat reads). Walking through an impossible city is something I'd love to do, so, I have the book for it now.

Reap: Spencer Cambell makes bangers, and bangers only. I'm not *not* on a mission to collect all of his work, but Necromancers? Solo tactical board games, built on Rune? Sure. I'm in.

Luna: Spencer Campbell makes bangers, and bangers only. I also picked up another of his books this month. The Nova universe? Moon cultists trying to destroy the sun? Sure, I'm in.

3 Moonlight on Roseville Beach zines: I played Moonlight on Roseville Beach on my now-defunct podcast, and it's a game that I honestly think about a lot. The dice system was complicated, but in a really neat way that gave the players a ton of really interesting decisions with every roll. What part of my action succeeds? What kinds of complications am I opening myself to?

Anyway, R. Rook put together some characters, mysteries, and monsters for the game, and I really wanted to explore more.

Hiria, In the Margins, A Visit to San Sibilia: I mentioned earlier that I like the notion of exploring weird cities, right? Well, here's two games about that, and a cool bookmark RPG for reading. I listened to San Sibilia played in an episode of Friends at the Table, and it really captured my attention. The questions were fascinating, and they let the players flesh out a city we'd only heard of, but not seen prior to that game. It was a cool coda on a really fantastic and weird season, Sangfielle.

Grandmothership: The title alone had me, but Armanda Haller is a creator I keep an eye on, because she makes really rad stuff. This caught my attention because solving mysteries in a weird, Mothership-esque sci-fi setting, as nosy grandmothers, really just, gets me. I want to do that. I want to live that.

Holdfast Station: I've been watching Stonetop develop through its email updates. It's another PbtA game, but with a robust city-building and city development core loop that, is 100% my jam. (Low-key, one of my favorite games is Dragon Quest Builders 2.) This game takes that concept to space, which is 1000% my jam, in fact.

Spectres of Brocken: Aaron Lim is a designer I got into early on in my foray into games, and I do love Mech Anime. I am eager to see his take on Mech Anime, and I am really intrigued by the way this game handles playsets and worldbuilding as part of the game itself. Really can't wait to dive into this.

Lay on Hands: This is another of those games I've heard about, but never actually checked out. I know Alfred Valley better by reputation than by direct experience, but this is one of those games I hear people constantly telling people to check out. So, I'm gonna!

Penumbra City: Maybe 5 years ago, I read a novella by Margaret Killjoy about anarchists living in an abandoned city, and beset by assholes within their community, and supernatural horrors from without. The world kinda stuck with me, so when I saw she was working on an RPG not in the same world), I was curious to see what that would look like. I haven't cracked Penumbra City open yet, but I'm jazzed to do so.

These two fell off the pile for the big photo, so I forgot:

Deathmatch Island: I enjoyed the Hunger Games and Battle Royale movies a pretty moderate amount, but what really caught my attention here was the promise that players could also break the Reality TV Parody. The use of the Paragon system also caught my attention. After hearing one AP of Agon, I really wanted to see how that would translate into this, and it didn't take me too long reading it to go "Oh, okay, this rules."

Our God is Dead: What if you were a paladin or priest of a faith, and you found out your god was dead? What if you also had like, a bunch of people who really needed that god not to be dead, like this weekend? This sounds hilarious, and I am going to insert it into conversation often to see if people want to play it. Apologies to people who know me.

Eagle eyed viewers may have noticed a second Mothership box. What's that about?

It's a storage box for all my Mothership Zines so far... Except the two that are just slightly too big!

And, some fun comics/graphic novels:

Good Boy Paws: A friend of mine in comics put this together, and it looked extremely cute. A sweet tale of a good boi.

Wine Ghost Goes to Hell: Picked this up because the creator had contributed to Bugsnax, which is a game I enjoyed, and the concept seemed fun. Will have to check it out and report back!

[noblecrumpet]

The haul from ECCC! Can't wait to learn Wyrmspan, and I love the art book that is the Mork Borg rulebook. And I adore pins! There's a closeup of those goods. The unlabeled ones are from Floral Frolic, Typlosion is from Ihuatzin, the space fox from Oyakoro, chokobo from Geekthirst.

[occult-cupcakes]

Making my own post so I’m not accidentally yelling at another OP:

Jump ship from D&D, jump ship from WotC, jump ship from 5E. Just do it. The new OGL is heinous and it’s only going to get worse. I fucking called this back when One D&D was announced because they were headed towards moving everything in house and the new OGL and micro-transaction/subscription laden VTT they have planned are only the beginning. They’re consolidating hard so they can squeeze as much money out of creators and players as possible. Don’t be a sucker and buy into their bullshit.

Let them atrophy like they did after they pulled a similar licensing maneuver when 4E dropped, let them hemorrhage fans and players by not giving them a cent. Buy used books or pirate pdfs if you are that attached to 5E, but stop paying them and don’t let them trap you in subscription hell.

There’s other, better systems, there’s better books, and there’s better publishers that don’t fuck up nearly as much and have far fewer scandals. I am begging people at this point to play anything else because that is how tabletop role playing is going to survive whatever comes next. And this is how the hobby persists when it eventually leaves its current pop culture moment. Try something new, try anything else but 5E, fuck, if you still want D&D you can find almost everything published for 2E somewhere and same for 3.0-3.5, just take 10 minutes and actually try.

[1983ram]

LH1983:RAM Episode 1 - Pilot

Summary: Rue places her first call and tries not to worry Bridget as she explains her situation.

EXT. ROAD - NIGHT

We hear the crunching of boots on snow as RUE, a truck driver with gray hair wearing bulky winter clothes over her bulky frame, steps out of her RIG. She takes a second to breathe in the cool snowy air and then puts a cigarette to her lips, puffing on it a few times before heading towards a payphone booth across the road. 

She doesn’t look both ways, not because of the lack of cars, or the fact that everyone seems to have disappeared overnight. RUE simply has faith in the road.

INT. PHONE BOOTH - NIGHT

Once she has paid the required 25 cents, she hits the numbers with more force than necessary, causing the booth to shudder slightly. We hear the dial tone, it goes on for a long while, until finally–

BRIDGET (quiet, audibly smiling) Hi, you’ve reached Bridget and Rue, unfortunately neither of us can come to the phone right now so leave your message after the beep!

There's a long beep, a long sigh from RUE.

RUE Hey Bridge, I- uh… I just finished a job and I’m heading back home, hopefully you get this… I guess I really should head back since something seems to have happened to everybody. 

I mean… even the guy I had to take the parts to, the uh… the dude with the glasses and the fancy suit, he wasn’t even at the office, it was just an empty building! And he- he seemed like he lived there.

(Thoughtful) You think the rapture happened or something? Sorry- I dunno, I know you don’t like it when I get all religious so… I’ll shut that up real quick…

Is it snowing real bad where you are too? Back at home? I know I always worry you when I talk about the weather, you start worrying the weathers gonna run me off the road or something (she chuckles). Honestly, I’m in more danger on those busy roads, all those other reckless drivers, you know me- Er- I guess I would have been in more danger… but now everyone's like gone…

Anyway, it isn’t that bad out here, a lil snow’s not gonna stop me, my rig plows right through it, you’ve seen that. Nah… What I am worried about is this whole… the whole nobody anywhere situation… That’s why I’m gonna get home as soon as I can, gotta get my Bridge to calm my nerves heh… 

Don’t worry, I can already hear you saying (Imitating Bridget) “Please, don’t push yourself so hard! Just get here when you can!” And I won’t… I won’t push myself, after all my old bones really can't take how i used to drive… All that caffeine I used to hammer down as a kid’s gotta have some kinda impact on my life expectancy (She chuckles). And I’ll sleep at night and make sure I don’t forget to eat, no need to remind me.

(Quietly, nervously) I’m um… I did uh… do something a little reckless I’ll admit. My hands… my hand’s been bleeding since this morning, I cut it on accident. I thought I heard someone in this office, hiding or something, so I uh… the door was locked and so I broke a window to get in and see but… I cut my hand on some of the glass. It was a nice office at least heh… I dunno.

We hear her fidget with her bandage, shuffling the phone to a comfortable spot on her shoulder.

RUE (CONT’D) I wish you were here… to like… sew it up or something. I know you hate blood, get faint at the sight of it heh, but… I won't be tough, it's a little bad, but I am keeping an eye on it. I got it covered so it won't bleed too much and won't get worse but… Don’t worry, I think I saw in a movie once they put a rug over some barbed wire to get over it… wonder if that works with broken glass. Might just cut through but… I dunno.

Oh… oh- speaking of movies, you remember all those UFO movies I’d make you watch when we first started dating? I mean- I don't think I need to explain, you see the lights too… right? Real pretty but… Almost like a wildfire or something. They… They seem dangerous but… sometimes I can't help it, I gotta stare. I- I’m gonna avoid it though, wouldn't wanna get abducted after all.

But ah… It… It is getting closer and I should probably keep on trucking on. I’ll call you tomorrow sweetheart… I’ll be there before Christmas, I promise you.

(Singing) “Christmas Eve will find me. Where the love light gleams. I'll be home for Christmas, If only in my dreams.”

RUE’s singing devolves into light laughter, she picks the receiver up and makes a kissing noise into it.

RUE (CONT’D) Love you Bridge, I’ll talk to you soon.

We hear RUE click the receiver back into place, ending the call for the night. She looks out towards her RIG and the snow falling gently and takes a deep breath, she still had so long to go to get home. 

But she had to get there, for Bridget. 

EXT. ROAD - NIGHT

She climbs back into the RIG, sliding her keys into the ignition and hearing the satisfying click as she starts her engine.

We hear her drive off, in search of a place to sleep and something to eat. 

FADE TO BLACK

END OF EPISODE 1

[daniellethamasa]

Tabletop Tuesday: Gen Con 2024 Wrap-Up

Hey all, Sam here. Hello, hello, and as promised, I am here to give you the wrap-up of all things Gen Con. This year the tabletop gaming convention took place August 1-4 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, and I knew it was going to be a good time. I had a whole bunch of panels planned, and I took a lot of great notes. I’m hoping to roll that creative inspiration over into actually doing more…

[dawnsplaceyt]

DnDDice Advent Calendar Haul

[axolotlesque]

my handbag of holding has spoiled me for years but now it’s shredding fake leather like it’s been through a woodchipper. i’ve been searching for room in my heart to replace it but nothing is large nor bedecked in enough pockets to fill that gaping void. 😔

[honourablejester]

A Space-Themed Trinkets List for TTRPGs

Exactly what it says on the tin. Roll a d100 or choose from the following list of space-themed trinkets for your character to have with them:

01-02. A tattoo showing the galactic coordinates of your homeworld.

03-04. A sheared metal bolt from a spacewalk tether mounting unit.

05-06. A frayed cloth patch torn from your old uniform when you left.

07-08. A small display case containing soil samples from every planet you’ve visited.

09-10. The last vacuum-sealed bar of a discontinued line of rations that you’re keeping as half collector’s item and half item of last resort.

11-12. A small holo-unit that projects an image of your parents.

13-14. A poster showing a luxurious pleasure resort that you’ve never had the money to visit.

15-16. A small chip of a reddish mineral that glows in the dark that you have no idea of the origins of.

17-18. A small holo-unit that you bought in a junkshop near the spaceport and that purports to show a partially-corrupted map to a hollowed-out treasure asteroid.

19-20. A portable lamp that mimics the sunlight and day cycle of your homeworld.

21-22. A chunk of rock from the first asteroid you helped mine.

23-24. A metal box containing a horrific lump of congealed engineering fluids that you found on an inspection and are keeping partly as an example but mostly out of curiosity.

25-26. A strange metal object bearing a weird greenish symbol on one surface that you found on an otherwise completely uninhabited asteroid.

27-28. The smashed remnants of a medical scanner from your first, ill-fated mission.

29-30. A collection of tiny bottles of the weirdest alcohols you could find on various worlds you’ve visited.

31-32. A picture of you and your old crew in a protective sleeve.

33-34. A bio-locked address book containing the contact details of friendly faces in the various spaceports you frequent.

35-36. A holo-unit showing a person you don’t know that you salvaged from the personal quarters of a derelict ship.

37-38. An electronic portable library of choice reading material to keep you company on long hauls.

39-40. A really cool jacket that you bought with your first pay check and like to wear for shore leave.

41-42. An ‘emergency depressurisation kit’ that consists of a grappling hook and a canister of ‘sprayable oxygenated face mask’ that you bought from a shady guy at a spaceport and have no idea if they’re functional or not.

43-44. A medical pass granting you permission to leave the quarantine zone around your homeworld.

45-46. A disabled distress beacon from your escape pod fifteen years ago.

47-48. An inert and cracked AI core module that you really weren’t supposed to have taken from that derelict ship.

49-50. A ‘lucky coin’ you won in a game on leave that your opponent seemed weirdly upset to lose.

51-52. Your grandmother’s lucky bone-handled knife from when she used to be part of the distant exploration corps. She never told you what type of bone it was.

53-54. Your trusty environmental scanner that is four models out of date but has never failed you yet.

55-56. A tiny metal disc that a weird guy once paid you for a job with, which if pressed to your skin somehow perfectly regulates the temperature of the air in your vicinity to your preferences by no visible means. It works on every planet with an atmosphere that you’ve been on so far.

57-58. A beautifully carved spice chest containing spices from your homeworld, for when you’re feeling homesick. It’s been getting really hard to restock it out here.

59-60. A disabled registration chip from the labour camp that you kept after escaping, even though it would be a really stupid thing to have on you if you’re ever back in that sector of space.

61-62. A tiny bag of glittering micro-crystals from the surface of a moon. Worthless, but so pretty.

63-64. A canister of engineering lubricant that you are literally never without.

65-66. A tattoo of a series of unknown symbols that you and your buddies from your old military unit got after a particularly hellish mission. None of you took any pictures of the lab you found them in, but somehow all of you remembered them perfectly.

67-68. A portable mining lamp your dad ‘borrowed’ when they decommissioned the old colony. The batteries on this thing are incredible, as they haven’t run out nearly 55 years later.

69-70. A seashell from the first time you ever saw an ‘ocean’ after growing up in space.

71-72. A portable personal forcefield that only stops rain, from the first time you experienced ‘weather’ and decided you didn’t like it very much.

73-74. The helmet of a spacesuit that has clearly been partially melted through by some sort of acidic substance and which you refuse to answer questions about.

75-76. An object which you found in a junk bin at a salvage yard and which no one you’ve ever met has been able to identify.

77-78. A single live seed in a viability canister that everyone who leaves your homeworld is given to take with them.

79-80. A religious pamphlet that some nutjob on the hub station gave you. It’s got some seriously weird and somewhat apocalyptic stuff in there, but for some reason you haven’t thrown it away yet.

81-82. A well-read, second-hand copy of ‘Myths of Hyperspace: A Collection of Spacer Tales’ that you bought for funsies and totally don’t believe in, no sir.

83-84. A collection of antique medical equipment that your old captain gave to you, for reasons you aren’t entirely sure of.

85-86. An unlabelled collection of beautiful music recordings you found in a spaceport, and which you’ve been idly trying to identify ever since.

87-88. A dataset of sightings, speculation and other information regarding a mysterious ship that has been seen on and off for the last fifty years by gas miners and illegal racers in the clouds of your gas giant homeworld, and which you’ve been obsessed with since you caught what might have been a glimpse of it yourself.

89-90. A ring gene-locked to your lost partner that will never come off your finger.

91-92. A tiny realistic-looking but robotic animal that was the only type of pet allowed on your company’s spaceships.

93-94. A bottle of extremely heavy-duty and almost definitely expired anti-nausea medication that you kept from your first shuttle ride into space.

95-96. A dog-eared magazine containing a two-page spread of the most beautiful spaceship you’ve ever seen in your life, and which you’ve sworn to yourself that you will one day own.

97-98. A corporate logo of the company that left your colony to die, torn off the side of one of the cheap delivery crates full of useless equipment that they supplied.

99-100. A recording of a garbled and unintelligible transmission one of your old buddies sent you, and which you’ve only kept because they vanished not long afterwards. There’s a weird sound that keeps repeating in the background, but you don’t know what it is.

[psychhound]

ttrpgs in the classroom (part 4)

howdy!! back again after,, a time away (grad school is insane <33 save me <33) for a long overdue classroom post!!

so this one is about our first big essay assignment, the personal narrative essay! we'll actually be going over a number of games for this one!!

the assignment:

write a 900-1200 word personal narrative essay by playing a solo journaling ttrpg and reflecting on the experience using the prompts provided

the prompts:

What memory surfaced while you were playing the game, and why do you think that is?

What was your main emotion while playing, and where do you think that emotion came from?

What story from your childhood did your playthrough remind you of, and how did you come to know that story?

How did playing through the game inspire you? Is there a change you want to make in your life because of this experience?

Did playing through the game remind you of a success or failure from your real life, and if so, how did playing help you reflect on this?

the games: (as presented on the assignment sheet)

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the Universe by @lostwaysclub

You are a lighthouse keeper in the far reaches of space. Every day, there is work to be done to maintain your lighthouse, safeguarding passing ships from the edge of the universe. Log your observations, maintenance, and events while facing threats like emotion-driven weather.

Yourself

You have just discovered that you are a changeling: something between human and fey. Over five acts, you will reckon with this new discovery, and let your feelings shift and grow.

Snow

There’s something on your mind. There’s snow in the driveway. As you take the time to shovel it out, you think through and process your situation, whether mundane or life-altering.

Long Haul 1983 by @seanpatrickcain

You are a long-haul truck driver making a journey through an empty but dangerous world. Each day, you face a long, lonely highway filled with threats—whether mechanical, supernatural, or psychological. Each night, you make a payphone call to your most important person and leave them a message, though they never pick up.

Last Tea Shop (CW: death)

You own a tea shop on the border between the worlds of the living and the dead. As people pass from the first to the last, they stop into your teashop to have a drink and talk with you.

&

village witch - which was not on the assignment sheet but one student asked special permission to play this one after we listened to an actual play podcast that played this game (alone at the table by @ladytabletop) and the themes of the game really spoke to her

(if folks know other tumblrs for the creators feel free to tag them!!)

the results:

i was really really happy with these essays overall. the students wrote about some very impactful memories and emotions, and all seemed to get a lot out of playing

i had a lot of essays that came back and said "i never thought i'd be a gamer but i really enjoyed this" or "i didn't think i would get anything out of this experience but it really moved me". i was particularly happy with the essay from the business major that said "this was way better than being on my phone" considering these are 18 year olds still adjusting after years of the pandemic and leaving home for the first time and also this was homework

the most popular game played was last tea shop, and i had a mix of responses of "this made me realize how much i value my friends" to "i really need to value my friends and memories with them more" to "i really want to make more friends". i also had students who said this game helped them process grief over losing loved ones

long haul was also a popular one, and i got my most descriptive writing out of this game. it was interesting who the students chose to make their calls to, as well as what they chose the threats to be. one student got a bad ending and decided to play the whole thing again so he could make it home

the students who played lighthouse found it really soothing, as the game intends, and said it was a good way to process things that were on their mind after some of them had rough days leading up to playing (one student said he had to start over because he almost fell asleep on his desk after the game was too relaxing)

and with snow, none of the students chose to meditate on things directly from their lives, but all ended up finding that they had unconsciously put things they needed to process into the game and found new perspectives on them from playing. the kids who chose this one were the most surprised at what they got out of the experience

no one ended up choosing to play yourself, so i may switch this one out for future classes

the reason i chose these games in particular is that they all have an element of choice, and they all deal with emotions in some way. i thought this was a really successful first assignment and was glad the students all seemed invested and excited to play more after this

[campaign-spotlight]

Old School with Max [S2E3]

In this week's episode, we chat with Max about Old School Revival gameplay, the joys of exploration, and how being a guest on our show can improve your romantic relationship. Minor spoilers for Lost Mine of Phandelver, if that matters to you. Also, if you're wondering what the production process looks like, the beginning of this episode has a bit of behind-the-scenes conversation.

This is a very theory-heavy episode with long discussions of the connection between TTRPGs and video games as well as the role of skill checks in D&D 5th Edition. Also, we briefly touch on the economic impacts of explorers continually hauling gold back to the village. For more on how dungeon gold can devalue the currency in a world with magic and dragons, Google "fantasy inflation".

Here's an overview of the BECMI system Max describes in this episode.

Here's the MÖRK BORG system Max mentions playing in.

Here's the Old School Essentials sytem that Max recommends.

Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. You can also get episodes right from the source at our RSS feed. If you enjoy Campaign Spotlight, consider subscribing to our Patreon. For more on the show, including links to all our social media, visit our website. 

[rollforthings]

Game! For the One-Page RPG Jam going on right now, @magicalflyingart and I collabed on a one-page game, and we leaned full into the theme of this year (transport).

Detour is a GMless, solo-or-group mapmaking ttrpg. Each player takes on the role of a long-haul trucker in a strange and unpredictable land. As you take on jobs hauling freight around the region, problems crop up that force you to rework your travel, and you discover new routes and locations that expand the map. Navigate around your hometowns, investigate situations, and team up to conquer roadblocks. Each game of Detour concludes with a unique map fleshed out with a bunch of locations, connecting routes, dangers, and other details. Please check it out and let us know what you think!

[theresattrpgforthat]

how many ttrpgs do you know of that came with soundtracks?

THEME: TTRPGs With Soundtracks

Hello friend! I knew of a few off the top of my head, and went searching for some more. Many of these soundtracks are playlists of already-created songs, hosted on streaming apps like Spotify, but a few are designed specifically for a certain roleplaying game. Either way I hope you find something up your alley!

Monster Care Squad, by Sandy Pug Games and The Fox in the Flowers.

Long after the crowns have fallen, long after greed has had it's day, long after war, poverty, hunger, and tyranny passed into memory, Ald-Amura's peace is broken by The False Gold, a terrible sickness spreading through its greatest guardians and most beautiful Monsters.

Unified by community and driven by a love for the planet and each other, The Monster Care Squad rises. Do you heed their call?

A game about caring for monsters in a fantastical world is already probably enough to sell a lot of folks on the pitch, but the love for this game shines through in the third-party work available, including Sounds of Ald-Amura, by The Fox in The Flowers. Sandy Pug Games is a creative collective that prioritizes support for the entire team behind any given project, which is probably why their games are so beautiful and so well-crafted.

Long Haul 1983, by SPC. (Spotify Soundtrack)

It’s 1983, and the world feels hollowed out.

LONG HAUL 1983 tells the story of a dangerous journey through an empty world. 

You play a long-haul truck driver trying to make their way home. Every day, you’ll hit the road, navigating treacherous highways, fleeing from menacing threats, and dealing with the psychological impacts of isolation.

And at the end of each day, you’ll find a payphone, make a call, and leave a message for the most important person in your life. 

They never pick up. You never stop calling.

This is a solo game, where the soundtrack is designed to enhance the experience of loneliness and isolation, using ambient sounds and hits from the time period this game is set in. The game comes with a list of songs meant to be played during certain moments, as well as a list of songs that are designed to be background atmospheric pieces. If you want something that elevates your solo journaling experience, this game might be for you.

Orbital Blues, by Soul Muppet Games. (Soundtrack)

It is an intergalactic age of cowboys, outlaws and bandits playing on an interstellar stage. It is a time of hyper-capitalism and a cut-throat gig economy. Unreliable trash-heaps carry scrappy underdogs to their next gig, and corporation freighters lumber across the horizon laden with an empire’s bounty.

These are the music-fuelled, moon-age daydreams of a rebel space age. 

These are your ORBITAL BLUES.

Games inspired by tv shows and movies have a great starting point in finding music that really fits the tone - you can start with the soundtrack of the things that inspired you. But Chris Bissette was not happy to simply show you the soundtracks for Cowboy Bebop and Firefly and call it a day. They created a custom album to play alongside the game that’s a little soulful, and a little rock n’ roll. A soulful space-western kind of game lends itself really well to music to evoke melancholy and loss, so I definitely recommend listening to some of this if you want to play Orbital Blues or any other game inspired by the same sorts of media.

The Wildsea, by Felix Isaacs, and Songs of the Lignin Tide, by Liam Peregrine Vaughan.

Your character is a wildsailor, part of a crew cutting their way across the island-studded wilderness of the treetop sea on a vessel of your very own. You’ll clash with survivor cultures and wild beasts, scavenge and salvage for wreckage and trade-goods, chase rumours, and uncover secrets. The focus of this game is on exploration, progress, and change - you’ll define the world of the Wildsea as you sail it.

I’ve talked about The Wildsea extensively in the past, so I’m just going to talk a little bit about Songs of the Lignin Tide. The Wildsea community is dedicated, inspired, and creative, and that leads to some amazing work created by players, for other players. Songs of the Lignin Tide is one of those examples. It uses a wealth of different sounds to add richness and texture to this unique and verdant setting, and it feels like the creator drew heavily from their own experiences of playing the game. I highly recommend you check it out if you want more Wildsea in your life.

Quietus, by Sinister Beard Games. (Spotify Playlist)

QUIETUS is a one shot, prep-less RPG of melancholy horror. It’s a game for a GM and one or two players, and emulates tragic horror movies like Oculus, The Strangers, The Babadook, Inside and the Netflix version of The Haunting of Hill House. If a piece of fiction can make you cry and scream, then it’s a great model for the sort of stories that you can tell with QUIETUS.

The music for Quietus is also a Spotify playlist, with a collection of songs that fit the tone of a tragic horror game. It’s an hour and forty-three minutes long, and since Quietus is meant to be a one-shot, I have a feeling you might have to play through it more than once, or let Spotify generate similar songs after the playlist finishes up.

GoblinMixtape’s Soundtracks, by Sam Leigh.

While creating a soundtrack on your own might be a daunting task, using established songs to fit the vibe of your ttrpg is much easier, and GoblinMixtape (aka Sam Leigh) has connected many designers to playlists designed to emulate the feeling of their games. There’s quite a few playlists already created by them, so I’d recommend checking out this list of playlists if you want to see the games she’s worked on before.

[1983ram]

What is Long Haul 1983: RAM?

“It’s 1983, and you need to find a phone.”

Long Haul 1983 is a solo journalling TTRPG by SPC that can be found on Itch.io, in it, players take the role of a trucker traversing across a set of desolate landscapes in order to get to a certain destination. Over the course of this journey, players will face threats, isolation, trauma, death, and occasionally, hope. At the end of each session, players make a call at a pay phone to the person most important to their character, typically documenting their trip, or going in other directions.

This blog will document my characters calls.

RAM is the story of Rue, a trucker who didn’t realize she seemed to be the only one left in the world until a few hours on the road had already passed. She realized in that moment she needed to get back home to the one she loves the most, her girlfriend Bridget. While on the road, Rue sees lights on the horizon, lights that look like a distant ever present flame. She makes a plan to avoid the mysterious lights on her way, believing they may have had something to do with everyone’s disappearance. Whether she is successful or not will depend on the choices she makes and the luck she possesses.

Due to this being a TTRPG, Rue’s outcome will be up to the dice and luck of the draw and therefore this story may end unexpectedly. However, in order to keep the story satisfying, if within the first 3 days Rue finds herself at death’s door in one way or another, I will ignore it and give her a way out.

Other than that, this will be an authentic playing experience documented in a script format and updated weekly.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me an ask!

CREDITS

Profile Picture by Milo Weiler on Unsplash Header Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash Long Haul 1983 is by SPC and can be found on Itch.io

(This info can also be found in my about! Just click on the link here or the "What is Long Haul 1983: RAM" tab on my page!)