#indiettrpg

[allthewitchesrpg]

Hi everybody! I made a game called All the Witches!! I really wanted to make something magical for the queer community who have struggled with the creators of certain worlds being jerks. It’s an original TTRPG system with some cool deck building mechanics exploring the diversity of witches in fantasy. It would mean a lot if you checked out the Kickstarter here!

The Kickstarter ends this Saturday, April 15th at noon EST!

[progressordecay]

⚔️🖤 Enter the World of Mörktober 2024 🖤⚔️

Get ready to descend into the brutal imagery of Mörk Borg! Through my art.. hosted by @exeuntpress Posting in batches of 6.

[anim-ttrpgs]

Example of Melee Combat in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

Here is the recently rewritten and updated example of melee combat gameplay from the Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy rulebook.

This example follows up from where the example of investigative gameplay left off.

An actual combat scene in Eureka should have more colorful descriptions than this, but that has been dialed back specifically to help highlight the mechanics as it is a learning device, and to keep it from taking up too many pages.

When we left off in the Example of Investigation in Chapter 1, detectives Nick Morgan and Hector Law, the investigators of players Addison and Ash respectively, had just discovered a hidden trap door in the office with the secretary, Hugo. The jig is up, and Hugo moves to attack, hoping to clobber at least one of these men and slip away in the chaos.

He swings the marble paperweight Law’s head. There is no “Marble Paperweight” weapon listed in the rulebook, but, the marble paperweight is a bit bigger than a hand, and, of course, made of marble. It is not a stretch of the imagination to say that getting hit by it would be similar to getting hit by a hammer, so everyone at the table can easily agree that the marble paperweight is a weapon that does 2 Penetrative Damage. Because every human character in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy has 5 Superficial HP and 5 Penetrative HP, that’s enough to Injure a person in 2 good hits, and kill them in 3.

Because Hugo swung first, he automatically gets to take the first turn.

Ash quickly interjects, Law is going to try to react quickly and seize the initiative. This requires rolling Law’s Reflex skill, and if he gets a Full Success, he will be able to make a move first and interrupt Hugo’s strike. Law’s Reflex stat is good, a +2. However, the dice come up as double 1s, ‘snake eyes’. Even if Law had a Reflex of +100, double-1s would always be a Failure. This means that the strike will go through uninterrupted, as Law is not able to meaningfully react quick enough, even as Morgan yells out “Look out!”

Law also does not get any Investigation Points for this Failure, because it was not an investigation roll.

This is a dangerous situation for the investigators. Because he has a hard-hitting weapon, and because of Epicenter Initiative, Hugo could end up Injuring Law before Morgan even has time to react.

Epicenter Initiative means that the two participants that an instance of melee combat starts out with get to make two moves in the first Round before anyone else involved moves, and then every character takes their actions in order or who is closest to the center of the fray.

Round 1

First, there is Morale to account for. 

Morale is like a very simplified Composure for NPCs. There are no rolls for it, it just goes up and down depending on things happening in the fight, and when it goes to 0, an NPC will flee or surrender—though they may flee or surrender before that, at the Narrator’s discretion.

Hugo is a bit of a wimp, he only has a base Morale of 1. At the start of this instance of combat, he is outnumbered by his opponents, which is -1 Morale. (This is not the same as the “Overwhelmed” mechanic which we will get to in a moment. This Morale hit still counts even if not all of the enemies are directly engaged.) However, he also feels like he has no choice but to fight, which bumps his Morale up by +1, balancing it out and leaving him with a Morale of 1. Of course, the investigators could probably force him to surrender instantly just by pulling out their guns, but for the sake of having an Example of Melee Combat, we are saying they somehow don’t have their guns.

If either of the investigators are hit with Hugo’s melee weapon, they will have to make a Melee Weapon Composure Roll. Law and Morgan are both pretty tough guys, their fear of melee weapons equates to a +0 and +1 modifier respectively. Morgan also has the “I’m Fine” Trait, which adds +2 to all his Composure rolls. 

Round 1: Hugo’s Bonus Turn

Now for the attack. The Narrator rolls 2D6+[CQC] for Hugo because he is using a melee weapon. His CQC is -1. (5+5-1=9) A 9 is a Partial Success, meaning the weapon hits, but for only half its regular damage. That is 1 Penetrative Damage instead of 2.

The Narrator lets Ash take this description, because it involves her character. Ash describes that Law is able to move out of the way just enough that instead of hitting the top of his head, the blow hits his shoulder, leaving an earful bruise but nowhere near as bad as it would’ve done to his skull.

Law now has 4/5 Penetrative HP.

At the same time, Ash rolls 2D6+0, Law’s Melee Weapon Tiers of Fear modifier, because taking damage from a melee weapon also means that he has a chance to take Composure damage too. (4+5+0=9) A 9 is a Partial Success. Law takes 1 Composure Damage, putting him at 6/7 Composure.

Round 1: Law’s Bonus Turn

Law jumps to his feet, and Ash declares that he is going to take a swing back at Hugo. An unarmed Basic Melee Attack can use either Athletics or CQC. His Athletics(+0) is worse than his CQC(+1), so the roll will go with his CQC. Ash rolls the dice. (1+6+1=8) An 8 is a Partial Success. Partial Successes with unarmed basic melee attacks deal 1 Superficial Damage. A Full Success would also deal 1 Superficial Damage.

Ash describes that Law stands up and socks Hugo in the chest.

Hugo now has 4/5 Superficial HP.

Round 1: Hugo’s Turn

Not dissuaded by the hit, Hugo goes to swing again. (4+6-1=9) Partial Success. 1 Penetrative Damage again.

Hugo swings the marble paperweight around and clubs Law’s nose with it, blood now drips from his nostrils. Law now has 3/5 Penetrative HP. A Full Success hit from that weapon at this point, and he could become Injured and possibly Incapacitated. Another two hits, and he could die. There is also a Composure Roll. (4+4+0=8). Law loses 1 more point of Composure, now with 5/7.

Ash and Law both realize that even with Morgan’s help, they will probably not be able to outpace the damage Hugo can do with a weapon as long as they’re only using Basic Melee Attacks.

[off to the side] In melee combat, when characters are unarmed, often their best bet is the Advanced Combat Moves, such as Grabs, Holds, etc.

Round 1: Law’s Turn, or is it?

Law changes strategies. Instead of punching, he is going to tell Morgan to Grab Hugo. Law can hold his action and wait for another character to go first, which is just what he’ll do.

Round 1: Morgan’s Turn

Morgan is starting his turn on the other side of the room, which isn’t too far away for him to cover the distance in just a second or so, but is too far for him to swing a fist, so he has to move into engagement range. This is less than 30 feet away, and there are no obstacles in between, so it requires no special roll, Addison just has to say he goes there and he goes there.

Now that Morgan and Law both are within arm’s reach of Hugo, Hugo is Overwhelmed. This means every attack against him will have a +1 bonus for every additional character trying to fight him. Because it’s two against one, this will be a +1 bonus total.

A Grab is an attack that, well, grabs ahold of the enemy. It can use Athletics or CQC, but always has an added penalty of -1.

Morgan’s CQC and Athletics are both +2, so it doesn’t matter which one he uses, but now that Hugo is officially Overwhelmed(directly engaged in melee by more opponents than him), there is an extra +1. Morgan’s Grab Roll is (4+2+2-1+1=8). An 8 is a Partial Success.

A Grab is a somewhat risky maneuver, it leaves the attacker open to a counter-attack. With a Partial Success, Morgan does get a grip on Hugo, but Hugo gets to swing at him as he does. That’s why it was a more tactical choice for Morgan to make the Grab attempt instead of Law, because he still has enough HP left to take a hit if Hugo clobbers him.

(6+5-1=10), 2 Penetrative Damage.

Phew! It’s a good thing Morgan took that hit instead of Law; if Law had taken it, he would be down to 1 Penetrative HP, and he would’ve had to make an Injury roll, and that’s bad news. Now Morgan is down to 3/5 Penetrative HP, which isn’t great, but at least neither of them are Injured. Morgan also has to make a Composure Roll because he took damage. His Melee Weapon fear is +1, and he gets +2 from the I’m Fine Trait. (3+5+1+2=11). An 11 is a Full Success so he loses 0 Composure, keeping him at 7/7.

Round 1: Law’s Turn, for real.

Hugo is now Grabbed, meaning he has an extra -1 penalty to all actions he takes, and any character attacking him gets a +1 to their attack. This stacks with him being Overwhelmed.

Despite the penalties, Hugo is still dangerous with that big block of marble in his hand. It’s a low chance, but a good hit would now Injure either of the investigators. Law needs to end this before that has a chance to happen. He has a lot of options.

He could just punch Hugo with a Basic Melee Attack, but that would only do 1 Superficial Damage at best, Hugo would get to make a move of his own right after.

He could wind up for a Knock-out Blow, and try to take all 4 of Hugo’s remaining Superficial HP in a single strike, which would force him to make an Injury Roll, and making any kind of Injury Roll would take his last point of Morale, but Knock-out Blow carries a -3 penalty with it that is not entirely made up for by the various bonuses, making it unlikely to be a Full Success and do the 4 damage needed. Plus, if Hugo fails that Injury roll, it might actually knock him unconscious, and then Morgan and Law wouldn’t be able to question him. Worst of all, if Law gets a Failure, Hugo could make a counter-attack.

He could try to Disarm Hugo of the marble paperweight, which would not only render him unable to do so much damage, but also take his final Morale point, but that also carries a penalty and a chance for Hugo to counter-attack.

He could Guard, which would make him less likely to take damage if Hugo attacks him next, but that wouldn’t put him any closer to defeating Hugo, and plus Hugo could just attack Morgan instead.

His best option in this specific situation then is probably to try and put Hugo in a Hold. A Hold is a much more effective form of a Grab that can only be attempted if a target is already Grabbed, either by the character attempting the Hold, or by an ally of the character attempting the Hold. It also has a less serious penalty than Knock-out Blow and does not open Law up to a potential counter-attack. Plus, even though a Partial Success on a Hold does not put the target in a Hold, it gives the attacker a +2 bonus to the next Hold attempt, and being put in a Hold takes -1 Morale from NPCs.

Ash declares that Law is going to attempt to put Hugo in a Hold, and rolls the dice. The penalty for a Hold is -2, but he also has his +1 CQC skill, the +1 bonus from Hugo being Grabbed, and the +1 bonus from Hugo being Overwhelmed. (6+3+1-2+1+1=10) A 10 is a Full Success.

Law is able to get a grip on Hugo too and completely restrain him. Now, any action by Hugo would have a debilitating -3 penalty, and any attack against him would get an extra +3 bonus. Law could also put him into Submission, which would automatically do 2 Superficial Damage to him every time it is Law’s turn and make any resulting Injury Roll count as one degree of success lower than its actual result. However, none of that really matters, because being put in a Hold has taken Hugo’s Morale down from 1 to 0.

“Stop! Stop! I give up! I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me!” He cries, dropping the marble paperweight and surrendering to Morgan and Law.

This does not necessarily stop combat, Morgan and Law could continue to hurt him until he collapses or dies, but neither of them is that kind of guy.

Morgan tells him he has some explaining to do, and he better answer all their questions.

Lastly, at the end of combat, Law and Morgan must each make a Composure roll using the Melee Weapon Fight modifier from their respective Tiers of Fear, because they just got in a fight where melee weapons were in play. Ash and Addison roll the dice.

(6+5+0=11) for Law. A Full Success. He loses 0 Composure Points.

(6+6+1+2=15) for Morgan. Also a Full Success. It is also double sixes, or ‘boxcars’, meaning that no matter what the modifier was, it would have always been a Full Success. Even with a modifier of -1,000, double sixes would still count as a Full Success. Morgan loses 0 Composure. 

That whole combat encounter lasted less than a minute in the world of the game, and only took about 5 minutes in real-world time. Combat in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is fast, exciting, and decisive, and this helps it be every bit as characterful as any other scene in the game without running over on the session time. Like in real life, simulating combat in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is a small handful of very meaningful decisions happening one right after another in a very short span of time. 

None of these rolls gave the investigators any investigation points, because they were not investigation rolls.

Find out what happens next in the Medicine Example.

You can pick up a free promotional copy of this rulebook and a free starter adventure module for free from the link on our website, and get the full rulebook and two other adventure modules for just $5 on our Patreon.

[stonegearstudios]

Well, I finished a early version of the Bunker Builder, a series of tables to help inspire the creation of post apocalyptic bunkers Posted a early version for C&C on some discords I'm on

[sabrinateenlich]

Think a lot of DMs would benefit from reading this short article

[patervoss-punbard]

The Bag of Folding

It's pretty simple. You put dirty clothes in, and when removed they are freshly laundered and folded.

WARNING: do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES put a living creature in 😬

[cassimothwin]

"And don't ever forget, you're never alone in those woods."

I'm so proud of this piece! I wrote a folk horror journaling game, and right before you get to the prompts, you'll turn the page to this spread.

If you'd like to see what I mean, take a look at the free preview!

If you want to help me fund a print run of the game, please follow the Kickstarter!

[grimsourgames]

Playing Tabletop Games Alone: Our Backstory, Influences, and Why We Make Solo TTRPGs

When you want to play a tabletop game, but don't have a party, you play solo!

Who are Grim Sour Games?

We are a husband and wife team who love games. Although we usually play solo.

I’m more into Tabletop Games while he plays video games, and we’ll be branching out to video games too, eventually. 

But for now, I enjoy making tabletop tools and solo games.

My biggest influences are:

Ironsworn: Starforged

Brindlewood Bay 

Floating Bookshop

Colostle

Into the Starlit Sky

Pine Shallows

Star/Pathfinder

Troika!

And Cesar Capacle games

Just to name a few. If you like games like these, they will be big influencers on everything we make. 

So, how'd it all begin?

I spent years wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons but didn't have enough players, and at the time I had no idea there was anything else like it, let alone solo games.

I finally got my mom and sister to play but it got too hectic trying to get everyone together. I was yet again… solo.

Determined to play, I did a little poking around and found out that there is more out there and even ways to play solo!

I tried a few resources that helped me, but I still found it lacking. That's when I started making my own resources. An all-in-one solo system to help me move forward in my games. 

Read the rest on our brand new Substack where I'll share:

Game and Tool Updates: Stay up-to-date with the latest developments and features.

Solo Actual Plays: Check out our solo gameplay sessions, which are written in script + prose format and include dice rolls and other information.

Blogs for All Players: Whether you’re new to solo tabletop gaming or an experienced player, our blogs offer helpful insights and tips.

Game Recommendations: Discover new games we think you’ll enjoy.

Content Updates: Be the first to know about upcoming releases and content.

Community Interaction: Share your stories and connect with other soloists.

Discount Codes & Early Access: Gain special discounts, early access to new releases, and top priority for playtesting new games and tools.

[mooniestarstruck]

Are you looking for a game to play this Halloween with your friends? Look no further! I got a great recommendation for you! Boneyard is a frantic game about being a necromancer and finding parts to create a body to animate. The fun doesn’t come from that alone, though, it comes from the competition in having to fend against other players and their attempts to usurp your body parts or even destroy them. It’s quite fun to play and only requires a d20, something to draw with and something to draw on, and the prompt list from the game!

The rules are simple: you roll a d20 to see if you get a body part and another to see how chaos ensues! From there, you read what happens from the lists of prompts, and you might get to choose the fate of your fellow necromancers. Mostly, it’s up to destiny to decide who gets ahead, but in those precious moments in which you get to choose who gets a setback, you feel like you’re holding the last +4 in a game of UNO.

The only hiccup with this system is that sometimes the gameplay might become a bit long and repetitive, but my friends and I have a great house rule to aid with that! It consists in rolling the “chaos ensues!” table only after getting a useful result in the “body part” one. To make things more dynamic, a high player count is advised, but it can definitely be played one-on-one.

The game’s design is pretty nice, with really cute illustrations and a well-organized distribution, and it is full of references from different pieces of horror media. Just a treat for the player! It shows that Darkheart Games put a fair amount of effort into this project, and however you choose to play it, I can guarantee you’ll have fun with this game, so I hope you give it a try!

[nanaluvbug]

🌲 Camp Cryptid Counselors 🌲 here's the first look at my NPCs for my patron-exclusive game! the game is set at a spooky summer camp for little monsters and explores the connections you make when you know you’re a bit different from other kids.

which counselor is your favorite? patreon * twitch * shop  

[allthewitchesrpg]

I made a queer fantasy TTRPG about Witches called All the Witches! It uses the standard dice as well as a deck building system using tarot cards (or playing cards) and is really cool! We’re doing really well on Kickstarter right now, but it would mean a lot if you’d check us out and support us here!

[biomechttrpg]

Little BIOMECH update (:

BIOMECH is very soon leaving pre-alpha, and I am working on some closed alpha test groups! Once I get a beta, I plan on doing something more open. we'll see how that rolls out. In the meantime while I hear back from some test readers, I wanna talk about some inspirations, and some fun things I have come across and been pointed to. I won't count the weird nightmare I had that caused me to start writing this, but it certainly is a thing that inspired the whole project. - First: Alien. I watched the move at an age that was probably too young, but it left such an impression on me and has remained my favorite horror movie for a long, long time (still is). I think my fascination for body horror stems from my exposure to this movie. - Gurren Lagann: It took my friends 3-4 years to finally get me to watch it? I almost bounced off due to the high amount of Weeb Shit (put a shirt on, kid) but it ended up becoming one of my favorites. There are a couple things that are inspired by a fighting spirit and never giving up; BIOMECH may be horror, but it isn't hopeless.

- Metal Gear Solid: While things *are* in an endless war, I do like to think the message in the base writing is anti-war. I could be here for 4 hours talking about MGS; so I will spare you and say that while it is an inspiration, I'm not looking to do a bunch of Kojima level writing. - Star Wars: I grew up watching the tapes my mom and dad had, i can't help loving it, and I bet there are notes of star war in this thing. It is an inescapable pit in my brain. - Bladerunner: This one is not nearly as surface level, and may only really appear in writing about the system/in a game module I want to write. But I really like how the movies explore humanity, a sense of self, and more. I won't go into a ton of detail here yet. Maybe once I showcase a game module for people to run.

Some other mentions!

Warframe! I started playing it again in the past few months, and some ideas run somewhat parallel to things I had planned for BIOMECH. It's been real fun to play it after barely ever touching it.

Anti-capitalism. Capitalism is the bad guy in the writing. Granted, a GM can use the system to make any story they want, but capitalism fuels war in this story. War is a never-ending evil that fills the pockets of the rich and keeps the rest suppressed and fighting each other for their "all-powerful" leaders.

Multiple game systems, but FFG Star Wars and Call of Cthulhu are the most influential on the system I am making. In the end, I am making something I find fun and interesting and following the path I want. But these games have deeply influenced how I formed some of the base designs.

Pacific Rim/Armored Core/Other Big Mech Stuff: I just like big robot, ok?

And more! I'm gonna let people try and pick some out though (: Now, the one I haven't seen. And some alpha readers, friends, and viewers have asked if i was influenced. I have never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion. I now will not be watching it until I am done with the beta, I feel that would be against my interests at this point when it comes to making something that is authentically mine. Anyway, hope this was somewhat interesting to read. More to come!

[stonegearstudios]

The Bunker Builder

Well, unlike September I actually managed to get something out this month, and it's something that's been on my mind for a while, but I'll talk about that later.

In short:

-A series of lists/tables to inspire you to create your own post nuclear bunker

-Consider who made it, why, what they stocked it with, and more

-Use them as direct roll tables, or just as inspiration for your own, better ideas.

Currently on Itch, will be on my DriveThruRPG once it processes

As always I super appreciate any sharing of my work, I'm terrible at marketing and social media

So, I've been fascinated with the post apocalypse for a long time. It started with Fallout 3 (yes really) and has extended forward and backward in time since then.

As a consequence, I started work on Those Left Behind, what would be a big, chunky rpg, the ultimate toolkit game for the post apocalypse. It's been in the works for... a long time, long enough that I can't pinpoint exactly where it started.

It would have tools for generating entire regions, mutations (for both players and monsters), a full rule system, and of course, the Bunker Builder.

For what are bunkers but the dungeons of a wasteland?

The original vision was much more ambitious, and maybe I can get to it someday. It would have actual pieces that you could roll for, and assemble, literally building the bunker corridor by corridor, room by room.

But that would require a lot more than one month of work (at my speed) plus art assets, and much greater layout skills than I possess.

So this Bunker Builder is a compromise, meant more to inspire the creation of one, rather than one to one build it.

I still have some smaller Post Apocalyptic ideas that may come up soon, and maybe Those Left Behind will come out someday, though it will need exponentially more support than I have now.

But for now, what matters is getting things done

[highshelfcollective]

It's time for a new tale to be told. One that stretches across the treetop waves . . .

🍃 HEY SHELFIES! We've got a new series starting tonight that you're NOT going to want to miss! 'Verdant Echoes', a new WILDSEA campaign, ran by @potay-tayto , will be live on Twitch starting TONIGHT and every other Friday at 9PM EST! Jump into chat and meet our new crew of Wildsailors, who are ready to encounter a myriad of challenges and mysteries as they navigate the dense forest waves! We'll see you tonight!

#Twitch: https://twitch.tv/highshelfcollective

[patervoss-punbard]

A spellcaster who makes a pact with a freshwater monster?

That's a....

Warloch

[cassimothwin]

What waits quivering beneath the crashing sea? Read The Isle, written by Luke Gearing and published by Spear Witch, to find out.

Designed for The Vanilla Game RPG, a lightweight retroclone OSR-system, The Isle is a body horror dungeon crawl adventure that’s pretty playable in most fantasy RPG systems with minimal reworking. I could see someone running it with Mörk Borg without much issue. This review is of the physical book, but it also comes with a PDF and an EPUB (yay EPUB!).

Something draws your players to the isle, a mostly forgotten, small, and haunted piece of sea-locked land that 10 monks call home. The party is likely to either force or lie their way to the seal: a bone-porcelain disc hidden beneath the monastery floor. Once broken, adventure calls from below, where there awaits hundreds of years of horrors with lore and worldbuilding woven into the fabric of each room…

There are 5(ish) floors of around 10-20 rooms each in this adventure. But what about these floors is so evocative? The dungeon is a bit indescribable as a whole. Strange and violent creatures with alarming habits occupy this prison. Floor 1 is close to what you’d expect to find in a dungeon near the sea, but the domain grows more horrifying the farther down intruders go. One of the “floors” is actually the inside of a huge mysterious sea-thing where players navigate through organs.

The creatures are sublime. Beyond being just undead, they’re wonderfully described and horrifying. They’re not all dangerous, and some even promise power. Players might meet an amalgam of pony teeth that rolls around chewing air and stone, choose between helping two undead brothers permanently remove the other from this plane, assist a worm in its quest to ratatouille a giant sea-thing creature, or just die to one of the many interesting yet easy-to-deliver traps...

Read the full review on my website! 👇