#glitch rpg

[confusedbyinterface]

Love how Excrucians think it's "skeevy" to have relationships with Powers because their embodiment of a single fixed concept and inability to see the wrongness of the world makes them seem kind of, childish? Immature? Non-agentic? to them.

It's like, "Dude, I don't care if she's 'actually a thousand years old' and 'is literally an adult', it is REALLY creepy that you're hitting on someone who can't comprehend the Four Noble Truths."

[rampagingpoet]

Unofficial Glitch Character Sheet for Roll20

Hello! I'm planning to run of game of Glitch: A Story of the Not in the next couple months, so I built a Roll20 character sheet for it.

The first draft, version 0.1, includes everything you need to record a character. Quests sold separately.

The next version will have a separate tab to record your quest slots.

[dizzyhslightlyvoided]

Merry: the world is wrong on a deeply fundamental level unrelated to the status of its truthfulness or the nature of its individual elements.

Renko: the world is incorrect, we could fix society if we just explained things properly

Sumireko, ruining her sleep schedule: Reimu is my favorite Touhou character, she's just so [wildly incorrect assessment of Reimu, who is this actual person she knows in real life] [is somehow the most well-adjusted member of the Hifuu Club]

[monsterpotion]

Since you added on to that Nobilis post, I don’t suppose you know where online one could find people to play with?

Aside from "in the notes of that post" (I'm secretly hoping at least one game starts directly from this suggestion, but not holding my breath for it)...

Following the Glitch Kickstarter back in 2020, a Discord server centered on the works of Jenna Moran emerged. It's probably the highest concentration of Nobilis players into one digital space. We also do a ton of other stuff there! Here's an invite link!*

If Discord doesn't suit you, I'm not sure - obviously I've seen that there's a rising awareness of Nobilis on tumblr, but it can be hard to coordinate between people hereabouts. I would encourage the would-be players reading this to organize amongst yourselves, though, like... tumblr might not be a place online where one could find people to play Nobilis now but I'd love for it to become such a place! Beyond that, well, me, personally, I'm really just a tumblr/Discord woman, for better or worse. I'm sure there are Nobilis players on Cohost! I probably even know them! But I don't know how to find 'em, necessarily. I'm open to comments from anyone with more information on this matter!

And just to be upfront about this part: the current state of affairs means that games of Nobilis tend to emerge slowly. This is something I'm hoping to change with my propaganda, certainly, but I don't want anyone to expect to roll into the Discord server and find a group day one. It might happen! Depends on how this post does, I imagine. But I don't want to give an unrealistic impression.

*this invite link is currently active and should remain so. If it is deactivated at some future point (due to spam or misuse) I will edit this post. right before I hit post I remembered I can't edit asks that I've answered. If the link don't work anymore we probably had a good reason!

[the-wizarding-woodsman]

If I had the World Breaker's Hand, I'd absolutely use it to shave.

[raidhosketchonhematite]

On a side note, and we find it entirely hilarious, but after reading the Glitch… Fern is a Wild Magister. Cinder is a Strategist. Sirin is a Warmain. Io is a Deceiver. And… it fits.

[theconceptofkidney]

For Some Unknown and Uncertian Reason, We Have Attempted Translation of Glitch Attributes Into Toki Pona

So, Wyrd. At first we thought "pakala", but "pakala" doesn't fit Wyrd. It's one of the things it can do, but it's not all it is. So it's not "pakala"... A Wyrd is kinda like a soul, isn't it? We think we remember reading something about that on the ninuanni names lipu. Or was it something more like destiny? Anyways, it sounds like it's some type of kon. Kon it is.

Eide is about the Strategist's myth. It allows for legendary abilities, good plans and being persuasive. Sounds like Wawa to us.

We actually started with Lore. We thought about naming it something like "Sona pi ma Ala", but then we realized that it was the only sona related attribute and we could just call it "Sona". Also, iirc, Investigate is a Lore miracle.

Flore... We don't know. Maybe Kasi? Flore is a flower related word, right? Also, there's the whole "Creation is a big tree" thing. Except we don't like calling it Kasi, it doesn't say anything about what Flore is or does! Maybe Pilin would work. Olin is probably too strong. Almost definitely too strong. tomo and awen have the right vibe, but not the meaning.

We also weren't sure what to call Ability. Maybe something like "o moli ala"? Ability is mundane, not sewi. It'd make sense (to us) to give it a less grand-sounding name, and with the "one word per attribute" naming scheme we've got going on, it'd make sense to use a short phrase to name Ability. How about uhh "people stuff", Jan Ijo. Yeah. That feels nice.

tl;dr:

Wyrd -> Kon

Eide -> Wawa

Lore -> Sona

Flore -> no idea. Maybe Pilin

Ability -> Jan Ijo

Unsure if there's anyone else on this website who's also at the intersection of toki pona and Glitch the ttrpg, but if you are, then we'd love to hear your opinions on this!

[geostatonary]

What's the relationship between CMWGE, Nobilis, and Glitch? The bits of understanding I think I've picked up so far are that they're all (diceless?) ttrpgs and are in vaguely the same setting but at least one's setting is an AU of another one's? They sound really cool, but really confusing, but really cool despite and/or because of the really confusing, and continuing to just pick up the random bits that tumbl my way is Not Enough. Help?

Okay!

Let's talk a bit about publishing for background

In 1999, Jenna Moran (formerly R. Sean Borgstrom) published the first edition of Nobilis through Pharos Press, resulting in what is often called the "Little Pink Book". This was a small run, and it proved successful/interesting enough to get picked up by Hogshead Publishing in 2002, resulting in the second edition of Nobilis, which is often called the "Great White Book". This is the one a lot of people think about when they think "Nobilis", and really put it on the map in the tabletop gamer consciousness. In 2011, the third edition of Nobilis was released through EOS Press. There was a lot of drama involving the publishers and distributors for the last two editions but that's not relevant to your question. Also, a fourth edition is in the works.

Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine (CMWGE) was released in 2015 after a successful kickstarter, initially through EOS Press and then through Jenna's own efforts and the support of a generous benefactor due to her separating from EOS for some of the aforementioned publisher drama. Its technically a multimedia project that also has two associated novels, The Fable of the Swan (2012) and The Night-Bird's Feather (2022).

Finally, Glitch: A Story of the Not was self published in 2022 after another successful kickstarter. This is the most recent of her games within the collective game line, sometimes referred to as "gluubilis" or "the Ash Tree Engine".

Why'd you tell me all that?

So you'd have context for this.

Mechanically, each of these games represents a development on the preceeding works; every later game iterates and develops on the previous games and concepts. This looks something like this

1e/2e Nobilis > 3e Nobilis > CMWGE > Glitch/4e

in terms of major mechanical divisions and advancements.

All the systems are diceless and there's a lot we could say here, but probably the biggest single innovation would be the introduction of Arcs and Quests starting in CMWGE, providing a strong narrative xp framework for all the future games to engage with and be built around.

In terms of the setting, all the games except CMWGE take place on the Ash-Tree Earth in which the universe is a big tree in a cup of fire that's presently at war with the forces of the Void. Nobilis explores play as the Nobilis, individuals empowered by the rulers of Creation to defend it against the Excrucians, the representatives of the Void. Glitch flips this around and has you play as one of those Void beings who used to fight in the war, but is now abstaining from it for any number of reasons.

CMWGE takes place in a world that was drowned in a sort of ontological uncertainty called the Outside. It's set in a possible future where the war of Nobilis and Glitch doesn't reach a conclusive end, but rather the world was cast into an interregnum during which any number of things are possible and also you can have slice of life adventures and shit. None of that background is actually necessary to know to play CMWGE, but I think it's enriching and also it'll help explain some of the various otherwise insane things we the players and fans will say about it. Again, though, nothing actually like. Holds you to that if you wanna do something of your own. CMWGE is notable for being the most customizable of these systems by far.

What's next?

A couple recommendations!

First, I'd recommend reading some of these games! Glitch and Nobilis 3e are imo the most accessible of the game books + they're ones still in use, but CMWGE is also absolutely worth checking out; just be aware that it's handing you a toolbox, so there's a lot more big chunks of mechanics to work through. Honestly, don't be afraid to skip around these books and look at whatever catches your interest. They're very rewarding reads! If you want to read fiction, The Fable of the Swan and The Night-Bird's Feather are both also really good starting points.

Next, talk with people about them! The scene is kinda scattered, but you can still find people on tumblr, Twitter, and cohost at the very least who're talking about this stuff. There's also an official discord and an older fan discord (you can ask me for an invite to that one) where people are pretty active.

Also, just, try playing the games! A lot of the apparent complications are a lot easier to parse and understand when you actually see them in play, and they're fun games.

Finally, don't be afraid to keep asking questions! Given the chance, a lot of us won't shut up about these games, myself included.

[broeckchen]

This is kind of a concept piece. My idea for Bessy's Bed & Breakfast.

It's situated on the highest rooftop of the living district on the island she lives on, overlooking a gorgeous vista of the beach and some ominous pyramids in the waters below and around. Up there, any traffic noise is pretty quiet, and together with the greenery on the rooftop, her BnB is a serene little haven.

You may begin to see what inspired this campaign's setting... ovo

I actually drew very little of this by the way. I am experimenting more with assets lately, and with using them to quickly mock up or block in  more complicated ideas I have so that I can still easily communicate them. These are almost entirely assets from the CSP store or algenpfleger's brush packs.

Also, @nichtschwertart went in and refined some stuff, like adding the reflections of the pyramids. I really love how much they can add to any image with just a few strokes!

[sentientcitysmackdown]

ROUND 1, MATCHUP 8

[ID: The cover of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale and a pencil drawing of a city skyline morphing into a large, tentacle-y shape, with the letters "VS." between them. End ID.]

On the one side, we have THE Night Vale, home to Patron Sexyman Of Tumblr Cecil Gershwin Palmer, who also acts as its Voice. Night Vale is a city that either rejects you violently and calls you interloper or loves you and changes you and refuses to let you go! Its sentience is not quite canon but there's undertones. And on the other side...it's big! It's a city! It's a playable character in an rpg! It's Hlithvida Upon the Western Sea, by far the hardest to spell out of any of the cities in this bracket!! The image for this one comes from here, and you can see more information here: it's very cool, I highly encourage you check this handmade metropolis out.

[confusedbyinterface]

I'm liking the whole described of the Strategist/Deciever split as essentially, people who find out they're building a torment nexus and go "Oh God, no, that's monstrous and wrong, " versus people who go "Oh God, no, that's just from a story, it would be completely impractical to actually construct and operate"

[hinotorihime]

Therefore it is that we are never without our witnesses, no matter how terrible it is that we may be. We are never without something to look upon us and give honor to our suffering and our mistakes. We may tumble to the bottom of the Ash, forsaken of and by all other things, and still we will exist, and still we will not fall into the Not, because there is a Hell. You may take that as a comfort or as a horror. I think it may be both. There are times in your life when you’d like to cradle despair against your heart, when you want the Not, the nothing, the emptiness of the world, anything to stop the pain. And then it’s a cruel joke that you can never be alone, that you can never get away from Hell and its poisons and its flames. But there are also times when you are lost in the darkness, and longing for the brightness, and the goodness, and you cannot find them; and in such times, there is, at least, a Hell beside you in the dark... The work of Hell is holy, in this life.

Jenna Moran, Glitch: a Story of the Not

[runespoor7]

urge to play/understand Glitch: rising.

the pitch as I understand it: once, you Glitched. You realized the universe was Wrong in some undefinable, all-encompassing way. So you tried to destroy it, as the only cure to the soul-sickness that tore you from your life.

and then... you stopped.

now the world is still Wrong around you, and you'll never get rid of what is killing you, but you no longer try to destroy all of Creation.

instead, you - and the other recovering Glitched wannabe reality-destroyers who make up the party - solve mysteries.

It sounds very appealing to me in a similar manner as Changeling the Lost, being about recovery, making a life out of brokenness, and occasional tragedy.

[dizzyhslightlyvoided]

I definitely need to find more friends who are into more of the stuff I have a passing interest in so I can say things like "Octobriana is the Nobilis Power of Communism" and have people actually understand what the hell I'm talking about

[staticafternoon]

some misc art from our Glitch campaign! playing Sungoia, a centuries-old plant enthusiast who hasn’t talked to another person in ~200 years. if they are documented they will Literally Die

man I haven’t posted art in ages

[o-hybridity]

Glitch Campaign Proposition:

Frasier

It's just fucking Frasier