#for truth's sake

[punkbarbarian]

[image id: a dark photograph of a grassy cliff face with dense clouds. a white illustration of a bat with its wings spread sits behind white text. text reads: Vampire Manor / a for truth's sake game by punkbarbarian. /end id]

On a rocky cliffside overlooking rolling moors as far as the eye can see sits a dark, towering manor home made of brick and iron. Tempestuous clouds cast a perpetual drizzle on the countryside and nearby forest, leaving the air damp and cold. Surely the generous owner of the manor the villagers whispered about will let you shelter there.  Maybe you’ll gather some interesting material for your research… Investigate the macabre manor, its eccentric inhabitants, and the nearby village through interviews and observation. What is the relationship between the unliving and villagers? Why do members of the community go missing without a trace? How long has the Vampire actually been alive?

Vampire Manor is a solo-journaling game where you explore a vampire's ancient manor and the surrounding village to learn more about the community and write an ethnography on them. 

Pull cards to ask questions of the residents, roll dice to see how well interactions go, and get to know a number of residents and fellow travelers, from a petty thief, to wandering nomads, a vampire hunter, and the intimidating Vampire. Unlock 12 different locations and gain levels in friendship and familiarity with the community as you document your discoveries in field notes.

You'll need: A d20, d12, and d8, and a deck of playing cards

Vampire Manor is a setting of For Truth's Sake by @hmooncreates. It was inspired by Dracula by Bram Stoker, Castlevania (Netflix), and Curse of Strahd. 

included in download: a plain text pdf and a formated pdf!

check it out on itch!!

[hmooncreates]

10 "Games" for $10 for 10 Days!

Starting with two different For Truth's Sake's Settings - the spooky ones! For Truth's Sake is a solo journaling game where you play as a journalist studying a culture new to you! Study a coven of Urban Witches and a Werewolf Neighborhood!

There are two poetry collections included - a collection of poems about being queer in the south called Here & Queer and one of romantic/self-reflective poems in honey sweet.

Three multiplayer games available! Play a romance sim game with a board game feel in In Want of a Match! EXTENDED - The Fool Who Got Married is a game about a woman moving across the country during the Gold Rush communicating with her female family members back home. Play using songs by The Crane Wives and The Oh Hellos as your mechanics. Have you ever wanted to be a professional wrestler? Play with teammates as a stable in Ring around the Road a game made using the new Horseshoe System by @psychhound!

Lumping Lyric Games and homebrew together for space and Feywild Inspired reasons. I LOVE feywild inspired games and all three of these are! Add some Feywild into your games with my Fairytale/Feywild 5e Homebrew. Have you ever wanted a game to be more poetry than game? Explore The Changeling Keeper and learn about what it takes to watch the border between worlds. Explore a revolution through the words of the people who survived it in The Oral History of a Revolution.

[masculinepeacock]

For Truth's Sake - The Set!

[Image Description: An image of a closed smaller chest sitting on top of a larger one. The title reads, "For Truth's Sake" and "by h. moon". /end ID]

"The passion for seeking the truth for truth's sake can be kept alive only if we continue to seek the truth for truth's sake." - Franz Boas

For Truth's Sake is a solo-journaling rpg about studying culture's other than your own. Play as an anthropologist studying different cultures, and gain trust within the community you're studying. Pull cards and roll dice to determine who you talk to/where you go and what questions to ask. The game uses a "trust points" system - you gain and lose trust points by playing and interacting with NPCs and locations! And these trust points allow you to gain access and learn more as you play the game.

This SRD provides you with core rules and explanations on how to build a setting to explore on your own time!

Also comes with examples and questions to get started. Included is a creative license for making your own settings.

SRD on itch.io!

The Set

Get For Truth's Sake SRD and three settings for only $10 until June 14th! Each setting comes with NPCs, Locations, Events, and Questions.

Urban Witches A setting that explores the lives of a coven of witches who live together in an apartment building. (on itch.io!)

Werewolf Neighborhood A group of werewolves live and work together in harmony as a pack in a neighborhood. (on itch.io!)

Feywild Inn A idealic inn is nestled on the edge of the Feywild full of people ready to....talk. Maybe even share. But be careful, a promise is a promise. (on itch.io!)

Get the bundle on itch.io!

[dungeonofthedragon]

For Truth's Sake is a solo journalling game where you interact with and write about a fictional community. You can find a collection of games using the system here!

If you'd like to try it out, Bagel Lox Golem Talks is an excellent free introduction to the system.

So you're looking for a system other than D&D...

Have you tried solo RPGs? Because it's not just "how can I play D&D alone" there's a whole world of cool stuff out there….And I want to tell you about it.

(I'm quite sick today so please forgive any incoherence or typos.)

First off, it's totally fine if you're more of a party person over a solo person. I just know a lot of people aren't aware of solo games, how they work, or the breadth of diversity you find among them.

If you ask about solo games, the first one mentioned is almost always Ironsworn. It's freeeee and comes with a lot of resources. The PDF is over 200 pages, so I understand if you don't want to dive in with Ironsworn quite yet.

Ironsworn has a large community, including support for Foundry and Roll20, along with many derivative works. It offers a gritty default fantasy setting, but encourages you to ignore that if you prefer another world… maybe one from another RPG you enjoy the lore from…?

BUT maybe you want something that isn't as much of a commitment (and maybe a little sad)?

Many Wretched and Alone games use a tumbling block tower to simulate a random ticking clock. It might represent your failing mental health, the barricade crumbling, the ship sinking…

One of the creators of the system has a great thread highlighting their favorite games. Just search Wretched an Alone on Itch.io to find even more.

And if you don't want to go buy a Jenga tower, there are some great random simulators out there. I've been able to play W&A games on road trips, using a deck simulator, a dice simulator, and a tumbling tower simulator. Here's tower replacement I like. It replicates the odds of a tumbling tower falling without being too complicated.

Carta is another cool system where you use a standard deck of playing cards to create a map that you explore. As you explore, you usually have to manage resourses to avoid something bad, but not always.

Here's a collection of several games made using Carta.

Dead Belt takes this concept and RUNS with it. You have a few things to track as you explore abandoned randomized ship decks, searching for a good payload. Upgrade your gear and do it again.

Does the thought of managing your character sound exciting? Do you enjoy soulslike games, like Elden Ring and Bloodborne?

Rune is a fresh release with a lot of third-party support already. It's pretty easy to pick up and play too.

Apothecaria and Apawthecaria have you making potions for the local village. Go out exploring, collect ingredients, and see if you can solve the greater mysteries of the land.

Interested in horror, but want a more narrative-driven experience? In Dwelling, you'll spend the night sleepless and alone in a haunted house. This is a very neat game.

Songs of the City is a delightful tarot game that you play once a day for a week. It's another narrative-driven game where you draw cards and cast magic to see small neat changes in the city you reside in.

Anamnesis, Anamnesis, Anamnesis. I talk about this game a lot because it's magical in its simplicity. There's nothing to track and it's an incredible way to generate character ideas or tell a story.

And now there are more Anamnesis games coming out (including mine) You don't need the original games to play any of the games you see here.

There are so many more games I want to talk about, but alas, this cold is making me stop there.

If you've written a solo game, streamed one, reviewed one, or have one you really like, I invite you to share it!

[spookberry]

Kyoko is so funny

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

probably will be FORCED by Pomp And Circumstance to go to the CLOWN HOSPITAL, for a CLOWN INJURY (may or may not be An ALLEGEDLY Fractured Foot...a MOURNFUL MALADY incurred in the most PATHETIC and LAPSIDAISICAL Fashion of TRAGICALLY UNFASHIONABLY Events......

Anyway. Forgot what I was saying. Buy me 1/25th of an x-ray or whatnot I guess

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

As an owner of an xxy calico Jin rusong as an xxy calico is both so fun to see but so fitting and so sad in context of your warrior cats au

May I offer you a small consolation in the form of a slightly older Jin Rusong kitty?

[dungeonofthedragon]

Dang that game looks cool! I'm running Strixhaven (the D&D 5E university campaign) at the moment, but D&D is really not the best system for this sort of game. xD

Cassi Mothwin's Tangled Blessings is great for magic school worldbuilding. It's not a worldbuilding game itself, but it does have tables of cool NPC ideas (ghosts, students and faculty), and lots of implied lore with open-ended questions to help you expand upon it for your own game.

Hollis Moon's For Truth's Sake system is a solo journaling game that poses questions which lend themselves well to worldbuilding. The Urban Witches setting, adapted slightly, might work for your purposes?

My own The Tower in the Meadow is a For Truth's Sake game about a magical tower full of studious wizards. Even a little glimpse at the free preview (red button on the left below the cover image) will give you an idea of the questions and scenarios it poses.

ttrpg folks ! looking for some recommendations !

my group is starting a new game set in a magical university, and we'd really like to do a collaborative worldbuilding session to flesh out the details of the school. i'm having a hard time finding an appropriate worldbuilding game to use or adapt, so if you've got any ideas please share ! we don't really have much of a setting beyond "magical university" right now, so anything helps.

(the game is arcanademia by @ostrichmonkey-games btw! very fun read and we're really excited to play)

[cynicalmusings]

had a couple more thoughts about socrates-esque!reader and anaxa, which i thought i may as well share:

you get a bad rap around the grove of epiphany, because you are, admittedly, rather annoying — anytime somebody’s finally submitting their thesis, you’ll butt in, ask a few questions, and suddenly three years of hard work goes right down the drain because oops, there’s a little oversight which, if you go down deeply enough, actually undermines the whole argument of the essay.

(people are genuinely beginning to leave herbs and offerings in front their doors in the hopes of warding you off. they do not seem to be working.)

point is, you’re infamous, and as a result are altogether treated pretty badly by the majority of other people; they’re rude, even though you respond to them civilly and politely, they make personal attacks on you instead of responding to your point, and so forth. (to be fair, there are some people who admire you—the majority is convinced you’re an evil messenger of some sort sent by zagreus to mess with everyone.)

you don’t care, of course—your interest lies in uncovering the truth, not what people think about you (in fact, were you concerned by people’s perception of you, you would have stopped questioning ages ago)—but funnily enough, there’s somebody who does get irked when they hear people badmouthing you behind your back (or indeed in front of your face), and this person is, surprisingly enough, anaxa.

he’ll never admit it—gods forbid, he’s far too prideful—but it really just… gets on his nerves when he hears all these nasty rumours being spread about you. if you’re going to criticise someone, especially in a debate, you criticise their position, not the person; it’s basic intellectual honesty and etiquette, and yet so many people forget it the moment you step into the room.

part of his vexation arises from this behaviour; part of it arises from a certain… fondness, one might say, which he has inexplicably developed towards you while he wasn’t looking.

so, whenever he catches people saying this kind of stuff, he will confront them. not in a particularly aggressive way, not in a way which betrays that he might, gods forbid again, actually care about and respect the subject of criticism, but he’ll go up and very flatly ask them to repeat what they said, provide evidence for their claims, and when said people inevitably come up spluttering for words, leave, and feel a tad more satisfied about it than he should.

tldr; anaxa has actually got your back, although he’ll never admit to it. nobody would guess it, considering how much you seem to get on his nerves with your constant challenges and questions to whatever he say, but it’s true. you were mildly surprised yourself the first time he spoke up from the sidelines in the middle of a debate and told your interlocutor to shut their mouth about your method of questioning and answer the question they’ve been so obviously avoiding.

anyway, let’s just hope you don’t get sentenced to drink hemlock. that would really piss him off.

[dungeonofthedragon]

For a limited time: grab three of my solo-friendly games for just $1. That's a saving of over 80%!

Seek the Grail alongside King Arthur.

Navigate a vampire's castle to rescue a loved one.

Explore a wizard's tower and meet the colorful characters within.

Get this bundle here!

[punkbarbarian]

[image id: game cover for ‘vampire manor,’ a for truth’s sake game. at the top in a white banner reads “finals sale!” at the bottom of the image it reads “1/2 off from 4/23-5/23” /end id]

vampire manor is on sale!

my for truth’s sake setting vampire manor is half off ($2.50) until may 23!!

get it on itch!

[dungeonofthedragon]

What a great idea! Here are some from my Itch collection:

Monster Hunter Journal by Mel Duncan is a journalling game about a monster hunter (or monster hunters- you can play it with more than one player too.)

For Truth's Sake is a journalling game system, created by H. Moon. In this one, you write an ethnography of a magical community. Bagel, Lox, Golem Talks is a great pwyw introduction to the system.

HuntRPG by VJHCREATIONS follows a vampire as they first hunt rogue vampires for their Agency, and later become a rogue themselves.

Bog Body, Watching by Riwhi Kenny is about a body that was long ago mummified in a bog, watching the world change around them. It's fascinating and reflective and I highly recommend it.

I've been running a casual solo ttrpg club (pretty much like a book club) lately on my discord.

Anyone have any good recs for lesser known solo ttrpg's? I'm always down to expand my list of options

[hmooncreates]

ALL FOUR SETTINGS OF THE SOLO JOURNALING GAME FOR TRUTH'S SAKE ARE ON SALE ON ITCH.IO FOR $8 (TYPICALLY $20).

For Truth's Sake is a solo journaling rpg based on the fieldwork done in anthropology! Visit and live in another culture and take field notes during the course of your research. Using the Trust Points system you earn trust points that determine your success and the information you learn!

Each setting provides 20 NPCs, 12 locations, and 12 events for you to interact with. All you need is a deck of cards, d20, d12, d8, and your imagination!

Settings Include:

Urban Witches

Werewolf Neighborhood

Feywild Inn

A City Where the Sun Never Sets

60% FOR $8 ON ITCH.IO

[masculinepeacock]

[Image Description: A photo of a large white building with a red roof at the edge of a lake. The house is surrounded by woods and is reflecting off the water. In large letters across the top reads, "For Truth's Sake Feywild Inn". On a brown square reads, "A solo journaling game about studying culture's other than your own". Below that it says, "by h. moon". /end ID]

"The passion for seeking the truth for truth's sake can be kept alive only if we continue to seek the truth for truth's sake." - Franz Boas

For Truth's Sake is a solo-journaling rpg about studying culture's other than your own. Play as an anthropologist studying different cultures, and gain trust within the community you're studying. Pull cards and roll dice to determine who you talk to/where you go and what questions to ask. The game uses a "trust points" system - you gain and lose trust points by playing and interacting with NPCs and locations! And these trust points allow you to gain access and learn more as you play the game. This setting is called "Urban Witches" - you play as an anthropologist studying a coven of witches living in an apartment building in a big city.

What you'll need: a deck of cards, a d20, a d12, and a d8 The game includes core rules, as well as setting specific NPCs, locations, events, and questions. The questions grow in personal level as you level up friendships with NPCs and familiarity with locations. Formatted and non-formatted documents.

Feywild Inn

An inn nestled in an odd space between what we consider reality and the wilderness that some call the feywild is home to an interesting group of fey and humans alike. Are they living together in harmony? Are the fey preying on the humans? Or is your bias showing through?

Remember, it’s polite to eat what a person that has invited you in offers you.

Get Feywild Inn on itch.io or ko-fi!

[atwas-gaming]

I've had a scenario in mind for a while now about what it would take for Sonic to finally own up to his feelings about Amy. And I think what it would take is...

Shadow.

Well, just plain jealousy and a fear of losing Amy before he even has her. But Shadow would be the best one to instigate it.

First, some headcanons about how they behave romantically:

Amy's maturing and spreading her wings. She's not moving on from Sonic, not really, but it's possible that she's starting to notice other guys. There's some hints in the Twitter takeovers that she may be developing some small interest in Shadow.

Sonic is clearly interested in Amy, and if you pay attention, he has been for a long time. What he's not interested in is marriage- at least, not yet. And Amy is clearly wifey material- she cooks, she takes care of people, she has a caring nature, she's protective, and she's extremely loyal. She's not someone you can use for a one-night stand, you take all of her or you risk shattering her into pieces. She's Sonic's friend, no matter what else he may feel about her, so he avoids any romantic interaction because he doesn't want to hurt his friend.

Meanwhile, Shadow is... not aro-ace, per se, I don't know what you'd call him. He can see that Amy is attractive, but so is Rouge, and Shadow has no interest in Rouge. He just isn't interested in the physical side of romance.

What I think it would take to get Shadow's attention is something deeper, an emotional or spiritual connection.

So here's the Sonamy/Shadamy love triangle scenario that I came up with:

As Amy ages, she feels her desire for male companionship growing stronger. Sonic takes little notice of it, but it doesn't escape Shadow's attention.

Somehow or other, Shadow and Amy end up alone together, probably on a mission or something. I haven't figured out the exact circumstances, but they're together for quite a while. Amy loves to talk to people and get to know them, and Shadow has a soft spot for her, so she's able to get him to talk to her about things that he's probably never told anyone before. And he knows she won't tell anyone about them, either, so he feels safe telling her.

At some point, Shadow realizes, she's done it. She's broken through his barriers, and at the same time, she's calmed the storm of emotions that he's had swirling inside him for 50-odd years. He hasn't felt such peace since... no, not even then. This is something else. He's never felt this way before, and he doesn't have the words to describe it, but he's fallen head over heels for her.

This is why he never lets his guard down, even around the people he trusts most. Because if he lets them in, even a little bit, he might let them in too far. ("Can you see all of me, walk into my mystery, step inside and hold on for dear life.")

He loses control of himself and kisses Amy.

And when he lets go, he instantly hates himself, he starts throwing his barriers back up, because... she's crying. She's crying because she liked it, and she wants more of it, but she's still so desperately in love with Sonic, and she's starting to think she'll never get it from him, so she'll accept affection from just about any man, and it's not like Shadow's unattractive, and, and, and...

So Shadow's raw and open and hurting, he knew before he said or did anything that he was going down a dangerous path, but talking to Amy felt so good he didn't want to stop. And he wants to erase what just happened like it never did. But now he has to be the one to comfort Amy, because this was his fault, Amy was just being the kind and compassionate person she always was and Shadow was an idiot for letting it get to him and making more of it than what it was and losing control. So he has to keep his barriers down for just a moment longer, just long enough to hold Amy and tell her it's not her fault, until her tears finally stop.

It leaves Shadow burning with rage, and as soon as he can, he forcefully confronts Sonic (I imagine Shadow slamming Sonic against a wall or a tree and shouting in his face 😝) and basically tells him, "Amy needs attention from a man, she wants that man to be you, but if you can't grow up and do what it takes, then I'll be more than glad to take your place."

Which scares Sonic good and proper. It's bad enough to think that he could lose Amy, anyway, but to lose her to that faker??? And it finally makes him go to Amy and (very, very awkwardly) ask her to be his girlfriend. And... I'll let y'all imagine the rest.

As for Shadow... he, quite understandably, becomes somewhat aloof towards both Sonic and Amy for a long time after that.

But Shadow's immortal, right? And there's other Amy's in the world. He doesn't have to be alone forever.

Oh, and as for why Shadow would confront Sonic instead of just taking Amy for himself: because he respects both Amy and, especially, himself far too much to do that. He knows good and well she will never be able to fully commit to anyone else as long as Sonic is still an option. If Shadow was to start dating her, she'd go along with it, but it would become a power play between him and Sonic to try to "win" Amy's affections. Shadow has no issues with fighting Sonic over just about anything, but when it comes to his own feelings, he won't stoop that low, and he's not about to hurt himself by playing such a game. I also don't think he would view Amy as "a prize to be won."

[iamacolor]

Bogeol looking at Mokha since their reunion - for @lenteur

CASTAWAY DIVA (EP. 1-8) + bonus