#magpie games

[c-schroed]

If I had a nickel for every time an eldritch universe I love got an RPG announced on an August 1st,

I'd have two nickels.

[s-che]

a game where we hurt each other

Last month, I played perhaps the most intense TTRPG session of my life as part of the Dream Library’s discussion of Bluebeard’s Bride, a game of “feminist horror” (more on this later) published by Magpie in a gorgeous print edition. Over the course of the month of October my guest lecturer/collaborator @marvelousmsmolly I collectively hosted three sessions of what was by far the most challenging game the Dream Library has ever discussed. 

We came to Bluebeard as the second part of our fall semester covering games of intimacy and monstrosity — a unit which began in September with Avery Alder’s Monsterhearts 2 and is continuing this month with Vampire: The Masquerade (If you want to get in on the VTM discussion and future semesters, please, come join). Both Molly and I suspected that Bluebeard was going to be both a quieter month and a riskier text — but opted to play through it anyway, albeit with some tools in place to make sure everyone knew what they were getting into with a book that doesn’t pull many punches. And with all that, the first two sessions went... fine? We had some lumpy pacing, some conflicting styles of play, some questions about how a game that really seems to encourage player bleed can possibly be played online, but for the most part things were fine. Not great, not bad — not worth the anxiety we’d had about them.

And “fine,” of course, doesn’t make for interesting conversations, so Molly and I took a step back. We talked about what was going wrong: a sense that neither of us quite felt comfortable hitting hard enough, even though we asked players ahead of time and at the start of sessions to tell us what was off the table. A frustration that player choice had trended towards the Bride as a detective/hero and not someone embodied in a world of horror. A confusion — once again — over what it means to “shiver with terror” in a discord call with some friends online. Out of that conversation came a new idea: rather than two more one-shots, Molly took some time to charge up a spirit bomb and put together some more formal prep, then recruited a group she felt could get together for a more curated experience. She wrote up her own excellent thoughts on what went down — along with a lot of session details — but you’ll have to join the Dream Library for that. 

The result of all that curation and preparation was that on October 23rd a group of four trans women — Molly, @jdragsky, our friend Mars, and I — sat down to play Bluebeard’s Bride knowing exactly what we were in for. We would be playing a transfem Bride, Bluebeard would be cis, and we would be hitting transfem-specific horror as hard as we possibly could. 

I’m going to quote from Molly’s reflection, where she wrote:

“Another really great aspect of running this game for this table is there was such a clear feeling that we all understood, wordlessly, what was going on... There are some moments in Allison Rumfitt’s gothic horror novel ‘Tell Me I’m Worthless’ where it felt like the author, a trans woman, was dropping phrases knowing exactly how her transfem audience would react... This had a twofold effect of both giving the players a chilling moment but also, a very brief but appropriate separation between fiction and player where could all grimace and be together in that discomfort before pushing on. People knew what I was doing. The problem with the original game is it doesn’t really want to discuss the politics of what “feminine horror” means. Because of this you’re really lacking some focus. I think a table of cis women could actually play bluebeard’s bride in the way we did last night and have it hit hard for them if they approached it correctly, I don’t think our experience was uniquely elevated by our trans reading, however that was one of several tools we used for that elevation.”

Setting aside the strengths and weaknesses of the original text, that sense of shared experience was key to our game and key to allowing us to hit — and get hit — really hard and trust that our coplayers were there with us. Compared to our earlier efforts (prioritizing safety by taking things off the table via lines/veils) tightening the topical scope from an ambiguous “feminist horror” to a specific transfeminist horror in the context of a chaser bf, in the context of an economic disparity, in the context of the medical pressures of transition in the contemporary U.K. allowed Molly, our lovely host, to hurt us knowing that we were all in it together and choosing to play this game. It transformed the horror from an obstacle in an adventure game into a thing we were seeking out: a pleasure/pain we asked to feel. 

In a games discourse that is — understandably — interested in protections which might be implemented anywhere, including at cons and home tables with much less of an art-and-politics interest, safety tools are often thought about as a negative thing, a preemptive cutting away of all the things which might end up hurting us. I think that’s part of why people can have a hard time filling out a lines/veils list in advance of a session. What are all the things in the world I’m sensitive to? What are all the contexts in which I’m sensitive to them? Good sensitive or bad sensitive? Sensitive enough to cause a scene? Sensitive enough to make it off the table? 

In place of that — and in a table with a really remarkable amount of trust — this final Bluebeard session leaned in, hard, to the things that hurt us. That was the game. Molly wrote a lot about kink in her reflection, and I think she was right to do that. The point of the game was to hurt each other and to feel, and it was a better game for keeping that in mind. It was an actual horror game, and not just a game with horror aesthetics. I agree with Molly that there was nothing essential about having an all-transfem table — I think what we did could be done by anyone, even with the base Bluebeard’s Bride. What was essential was having a table where we all trusted each other enough to play a hurting game and to know that we were there on purpose. It elevated Bluebeard’s Bride into a really fascinating, messy experience — one I can’t wait to play again.

[rpgsandbox]

Magpie Games is excited to bring you Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game, the officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game set in the world you know from Sunless Sea,Sunless Skies, Mask of the Rose and the original Fallen London browser game from Failbetter Games! With over a decade of roleplaying design and publishing expertise, Magpie Games has created an innovative system that brings the Neath to life in a tabletop roleplaying game.

Fallen London: The RPG includes setting information seeded with plot hooks for your game, numerous character types representing the variety of Londoners fans love from the browser and video games, a full set of conflicts and dynamic systems for departing on ventures across London, a sample venture to get you started on your journey, and much more. Delve into the Neath like never before in an immersive roleplaying experience that gives you the chance to change all of London…though the cost might be far greater than you ever imagined.

London, 1899. Forty years ago, the city fell into a vast cavern beneath the Earth. Now Hell is close, immortality is cheap, and the Traitor Empress Victoria still reigns.

Devils and betentacled people walk the streets. The cloaked and mysterious Masters control the city’s commerce from a towering building covered in words of fire. Death, for most, has become more of an inconvenience than a finality. All the old rules that once bound the world have become flexible. 

That’s an opportunity for someone like you. You crave something more than most think is possible. If it’s fame, then you want your name to live in the mind of everyone in London, forever. If it’s power, then you want the world itself to bend to your will. You want to destroy Death itself, or open the gates to the abode of the stars, or to restore London back to the surface. You want something so far out of reach, you have to change the rules or break them entirely just to have a chance at getting it.

You’re not going to be able to do all of that on your own. So you found others to share in your ambition. Together, you might be able to do the impossible. You might be able to fill the burning holes inside of you. Even if you have to burn everything else to do it.

Your concern is assembled and you are ready to act. What will become of London now? Time to find out.

The setting of Fallen London is rich and well-developed, with countless stories hiding in its deepest corners. Here’s a rundown of what you need to know:

Victorian London is now located in a gigantic cavern, overarchingly called the Neath. To the east, the docks now lie on a brackish subterranean sea known as the Unterzee. There are other places and nations throughout the Neath – the seventy-seven kingdoms of the Presbyterate on the Elder Continent far to the south; the maritime state of the Khanate over the Zee; and to the west, Hell itself. Suffice to say, London is not alone.

There are many inconsistencies in the basic laws of reality in the Neath. Time and causality don’t always operate as expected, and geography can change without warning. The most well-known of these changes is to do with mortality: Death is no longer permanent for most humans. If they die, they will return to life after some time.

Many, many different kinds of people have become common in London. Rubbery Men with tentacled bodies and squid-shaped heads; Rattus Faber, intelligent and mechanically proficient rodents; Clay Men, folk of living stoneware; and even Devils, pleasantly engaging in the commerce of souls.

The city still maintains many of the old apparatuses of government, including Parliament, the Constables, and the Ministry of Public Decency. In truth, however, London is ruled by the Masters of the Bazaar – large hooded figures, each of whom claims domain over a different aspect of trade. All commerce must pass through the Bazaar now, and therefore is only legal under the auspices of the Masters.

London is sometimes called the Fifth City, even by those who don’t really know why. There was something in the Neath when London fell upon it – the Fourth City – and if London is the Fifth City…could a Sixth still be coming?

Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game is a brand new way to experience the setting of Fallen London. Create your own characters and play together, telling your own inventive stories of London in the Neath! The tabletop roleplaying game supports approximately 3-6 players, with one taking on the role of a gamemaster responsible for portraying the world and adjudicating the rules, and the rest taking on the role of their own individual character. The game is designed for ongoing stories, as the characters pursue their goals and face the consequences of their choices. 

In the TTRPG, each player creates their own character, together assembling a concern – a single group devoted to a grand ambition. Grand ambitions are the giant overarching goals of the concern, the kind of goal that no one of them could ever achieve entirely on their own. But while grand ambitions are grand, they are rarely good; the members of a concern are obsessed with achieving their ambitions for their own reasons. They might be trying to create a permanent door into the world of dreams, or they might be trying to travel to some hypothetical future. They might be trying to unseat the Masters, or they might be trying to become Masters themselves. Whatever they hope to achieve, it is a grand, difficult task, and they won’t be able to get there on their own.

The characters of a concern don’t have to be particularly friendly with one another; in point of fact, they often wind up as rivals with significant disagreements between them. But they all agree that the grand ambition of the concern is worth sacrificing nearly anything to achieve, and to that end they agree to work together.

They also have help from another source – the principal of the concern. This is a figure of some importance, a character with power and resources capable of supporting the concern in their pursuit of their grand ambition. The principal is a non-player character – an NPC – with the largest share of ownership in the concern. They don’t participate in the day-to-day operations of the concern, seeing as they’re far too busy for that. They might show up to make some demands at inopportune moments. But the other members of the concern need the principal. They need the principal’s money, or influence, or reputation, or knowledge…otherwise, they don’t stand much of a chance. 

A concern can be anything from an artists’ collective to a Surface – goods importation consortium to a gang of scoundrels and thieves. So long as the group is all committed to the grand ambition for their own reasons, and they have their principal, then they have everything they need to take on the Neath.

Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game allows the concern to make its own choices about how to pursue its grand ambition. In particular, a concern always has a pool of opportunities and leads to work with. Opportunities represent clear, certain ways to get something the concern wants. An Infernal Smuggler is willing to sell the players a map of the old sewer tunnels buried beneath Spite – if the players will part with a crate of high-quality souls for the privilege. That’s an opportunity; the Smuggler isn’t lying about the offer! Give them the souls, and they will sell! 

Leads represent facts about the world that the concern can capitalise on for resources and advantages… especially to fulfill their opportunities. Knowing that there’s a valuable shipment of jarred souls Hellbound from London might be a perfect lead to get the supply the concern needs for the merchant!

The concern as a whole debates and discusses what it wants to do, ultimately combining an opportunity and a lead to go forth on a venture – an attempt to capitalise on the lead, and to fulfill the opportunity! When the concern hatches their plan to raid the soul shipment and sell the stolen souls to the merchant for the map, they’re undertaking a venture, and now they have to deal with all the troubles of their intended thievery!

Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game keeps the supply of leads and opportunities churning to ensure players always have lots of different options and ways to pursue their goals, while also reflecting how London isn’t static; if they take too long, some opportunities and leads will fall away!

Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game uses the Ædana System, a new game system built upon many lessons the team at Magpie Games have learned over the past decade of game design. Ædana is built for flexibility, with a simple central dice mechanism alongside more complex and intricate conflict systems to flesh out exciting moments.

You can read a lot more about the specifics of the system and how to run it in our Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game quickstart, here!

At heart, Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game uses challenge rolls to resolve moments of uncertainty and tension. A challenge roll has a player pick up a bunch of six-sided dice:

Dice for an appropriate attribute, usually between 0 and 4

A skill die, if you have a Trained or better applicable skill

A die for an asset (resources or equipment), if you have something useful to the situation

A die for good circumstances that give you an advantage 

Here’s an example of what assembling a challenge roll looks like:

Flossie, a PC and a revolutionary proponent of rattish rights, is due to give a speech at an assembly for the advancement of rattus faber interests in London. She’s hoping to unite the crowd and draw them together…in part, to act as a distraction that keeps the constables’ attention away from their Concord Square headquarters, so the other members of Flossie’s concern can sneak in! 

For the speech, Flossie’s player, Francis, turns to Flossie’s Persuasive attribute – just a 1, so Francis only takes 1 die. Then, she looks to Flossie’s skills. Expression is the skill for rallying and affecting large groups of people through art or speech, and fortunately Flossie’s Expression is Trained, giving her one more die. The situation is notably tilted in his favor; Flossie and her concern put in a lot of work to get all these rats to show up for a speech, and though the crowd is small in stature, they are predisposed to raucous behavior. The GM tells Francis that Flossie has favorable circumstances, and so Francis takes a third die. Flossie’s not really using any particular resource or piece of equipment to give her a leg up right now, though, so she doesn’t receive an extra die for that. 

Francis picks up the pool of three dice and rolls!

On any challenge roll, you’re looking for 5’s and 6’s, called hits. 

No hits, and you get a defeat: The GM says what happens, and it won’t be good.

One hit, and you get an unstable result: you can make it a success, but only if you pay a cost or face a complication. Otherwise, it's a defeat. 

Two hits, and you get a success: you get what you wanted in full!

Three or more hits, and you get a triumphant success: you get what you wanted and then some!

There’s more to explore in terms of the different advantages skills can give you, different kinds of resources and equipment you can pull from, and special abilities you might have that give you some edge…but on the whole, that’s it! 

Well, except for one little piece of your Fallen London PCs…

Every PC in Fallen London is obsessed with at least one thing: the grand ambition of the concern. But most of them have a few more obsessions that drive them to act, even when they shouldn’t. During play, your obsessions can help give you a boost when the dice don’t go your way, giving you a chance to turn a defeat into a success when you overcommit…but at the risk of worsening your obsession, deepening it further. If your obsession grows too big, then that’s it: your PC becomes unmoored, unconnected to their life and the people around them, consumed by their need. They become an NPC, and a dangerous one at that.

You can read more about obsessions in the Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game quickstart!

The Ædana System uses conflicts to expand particularly intense moments of uncertainty. Conflicts play out a bit like minigames, with their own procedures designed to reflect the particulars of that scene. The quickstart includes conflicts for Investigation and Chases, but the core game will have many more conflicts!

Conflicts are designed to give game groups new options for surprising play, without making demands. Any moment that a conflict comes up could probably be resolved by a few simple challenge rolls instead! But a conflict really focuses and creates tension while producing surprising and deep results. A conflict can take your narrative in a direction you’d never expected!

Be sure to check out the conflicts in the Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game quickstart!

When you sit down to start playing Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game, first you fill in some details of your concern as a group. You pick what you want your grand ambition to be, and the kind of concern you want to play, as well as your principal. Every PC has to be obsessed with the grand ambition, and they all have to be members of the concern, so it helps to know those pieces at the start!

Then, you go to work creating your PCs based on that starting information. Each PC is built by picking one option from six different categories: 

Nature: What kind of person are you? A human? A Rattus Faber? A Rubbery Man? 

Origin: What part of London or its environs do you hail from? Veilgarden? Spite? A tomb colony like Venderbight?

Profession: What skillset do you ply for your well-being? Are you a poet? An artisan? A detective? A killer? A mushroom tender?

Disposition: What is your approach to the world around you? Are you jovial? Cynical? Intense? Generous? Reserved? 

Association: With whom do you spend your time? Bohemians? The Constabulary? Urchins? A criminal sort? 

Twist: What in particular makes you stand out? Do you have an inappropriate pet? Have you lost your memories? Is there a tattoo in a certain fiery language inked upon your body? 

Each option changes your character a bit. Perhaps it gives you some skills; perhaps you gain some resources or equipment; perhaps it provides an ability or a trait that tweak the rules for you. After you’ve made your choices, you have your own unique Londoner, ready to venture forth!

Character Attributes

Skills

There are 12 base skills, ranging from Coercion to get your way through intimidation and force, to Expression to produce works of art or give speeches, to Occlusion for hiding your person and your intentions, to Scrutiny for closely examining things you can get your hands on. You can find more about the skills in the  Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game quickstart!

Menaces

As PCs suffer consequences, their Menaces rise. When a Menace rises too high, they’re going to have to face some serious trouble, likely forcing the concern to stop acting for a while and costing them opportunities and leads!

The menaces include:

Nightmares: the growing strain upon the mind

Scandal: the growing judgment of wider society

Suspicion: the growing attention and mistrust of the law

Wounds: the growing pain and damage upon the body

Obsessions

Every PC has a few obsessions with a rating between 1 and 8. The higher the rating, the more dice the obsession can provide when the PC gives into it…but if an obsession reaches 8, then the PC loses touch with themself and becomes a threat!

Kickstarter campaign ends: Thu, March 13 2025 8:00 PM UTC +00:00

Website: [Magpie Games] [facebook] [instagram] [twitter]

[thefandomentals]

Get an early start in the Neath with the Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game Quickstart from Magpie Games

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played ROOT : the RPG ?

By Magpie Games

War has returned to the Woodland! The Marquise de Cat led her armies to victory over many of the clearings, but the Eyrie Dynasties rise again to oppose her. Meanwhile, the mice, rabbits, and foxes of the Woodland do not sit idly by - the Woodland Alliance, a homegrown rebellion, has emerged, promising to free the Woodland from any oppressors. In the midst of this war, you and your friends - vagabonds all - travel between the clearings, taking on jobs no one else can or will do. You choose whom you serve, if anyone… but everyone knows you may tip the balance of the War.

[klkbass]

It’s Mei Ru!!

Okay…It’s not really Mei Ru but, if I had commissioned an artist as such, this would be how I imagined she would look (minus the facial scar and with a constant smile instead of a frown).

Allow me to add my description of the woman from my fanfic.

—Cushions served as seats at a low table with the brothers taking one side while the woman sat across from them. Her dark hair hung to her shoulders barely draping her red-trimmed business suit. She gazed at them with a smile that never seemed to vanish.

“Feel free to order whatever you like,” she said behind her perpetual grin.

Bolin was practically drooling as he scanned the menu. Mako, on the other hand, wasn’t interested in food. He wasn’t sure if it was his own cynicism or spirit half, but there was something unsettling about this woman. “Thanks for inviting us to dinner but, who are you?” he finally asked, his arms folded firmly across his chest.

“You’re quite right. In all the rush, I never did introduce myself,” she grinned, almost too pleasantly. “My name is Mei Ru. I’m a local entrepreneur. My associate is Gon. He’s a jack-of-all-trades sort.” She nodded to the man guarding the door. “And how may I address you?” she asked as she rested her chin on her knit fingers.

He hesitated, unsure if he wanted to reveal his real name. An option that was quickly taken away from him by Bolin who paused from his browsing to answer.

“I’m Bolin and this is my brother, Mako,” Bolin casually answered, unaware of the annoyed sneer he was getting from Mako. “Can we get some Fire Biscuits?”

The woman nodded in response, her grey eyes fixated on Mako.—

For those curious, this image came from “Uncle Iroh’s Adventure Guide” the latest from the Avatar Legends RPG. I don’t play the game, but I do get my claws on just about anything that has extended lore.

[dice-wizard]

Hey look, the adventure I wrote for Root unlocked at 120K!! Go check it out.

[disjointedaria]

Finally finished up art of the PCs in an Avatar Legends tabletop game I'm running for some local friends. :3

[antiquecipher]

HEY TUMBLR THE BOOK(S) I DID COVERS FOR ARE AVAILABLE THIS MONTH. THIS IS THE SECOND ONE.

Do you like queer teen heroes that focuses on the hot mess express lead? Flashback to the 90s? Nine Inch Nails references? Supporting small publishers? Check out Girl Vengeance: The Downward Spiral (book two of two)! ... And after finishing this if you want to know what becomes of Vivienne, good news! Most of her story is when she's in her 40s, this is the flashback books explaining how she became the person she is today.

Digital copies available SOON, but dead tree versions also coming eventually!

(adventures were inspired by a Masks ttrpg game we played so I'm tagging with that :D)

[ghostofcinders]

Something remarkable about the Root RPG

The art:

The actual conflicts and confrontations at the heart of the setting:

I find it very amusing and special. I love this game, and this contrast sure gives it personality.

[cannibalhalflinggaming]

"Zombie World is both flexible and fast, and from my experience playing I can say it handily takes the zombie horror crown away from incumbents like All Flesh Must Be Eaten. Even if the physical copy is required, Zombie World provides both smart game design and an intense game experience that will make many horror fans very happy." - @levelonewonk

[pandorisnova]

Doing some sketches of an NPC in a Masks campaign I'm running! Her name is Pigeon Girl and she's the party favorite

Bonus: Sticker made for the server

[auntieashleydark]

Just received: Urban Shadows 2e, from the Magpie Games Kickstarter.

[bluewitching]

A secret superhero and a newfound henchperson forge an unlikely alliance… what could possibly go wrong?!

[literalcatpod]

44 - Making the Master of the Water Shuriken in Avatar Legends

In this episode, we take a look at the RPG/Lore Bible based on the beloved Nickelodeon animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: Legend of Korra. You will be happy to hear that our cat is completely lore-compliant, considering a Literal Cat did exist in the show at one point. I mean, if you ignore the fact that it can water-bend. Otherwise, perfectly lore-compliant!

Silent Mayhem Under Springfield is currently Playtesting!!! https://badgertrove.itch.io/silent-mayhem-under-springfield-playtest-edition

Follow the show online: https://literalcatpod.start.page/ 

Follow Joel Holland: https://jholland.start.page/

Follow Avalon: https://twitter.com/AvalonAlchemist

We’ve got a Patreon now! https://www.patreon.com/BadgerTrove 

Download the character sheets: https://bit.ly/literalcatpod 

We’re on Bluesky now! https://bsky.app/profile/literalcatpod.bsky.social 

Cover art, midroll theme, and Intro/Outro music made by Joel Holland

Thanks for listening! We’ll Cat-ch you later!

[neonshift]

The Guardians West

Director of Order Name: Molly Adebisi Alias: Lightbringer Powers: Light Manipulation

Director of Freedom Name: Carmine Crane Alias: None Powers: Combat Origami

Director of Strength Name: Alex Kammo Alias: Tough Powers: Supreme Strength and Durability

Director in Absentia Name: Sangha Hei Zheng Alias: The Tiger Powers: Shadow Manipulation, The Tiger’s Pavillion

Director of Industry Name: Sun Chang Alias: Sun Wukong Powers: Divine Form, Wealth and Industry

Some NPC's for The Worst Generation! Twitter | Instagram | Ko-fi | itch.io