#possum creek games

[sticksandsharks]

HARVEST

one of two cover artworks for Possum Creek Games' latest double-feature tabletop games, Grand Guignol & Harvest, written by @wildwoodsgames. There's a few more days to back this project if you like themes of dark secrets, ritual horror and community.

[jdragsky]

"Immediately captivating and effortlessly charming, Wanderhome is the perfect blend of whimsy, heart and the spirit of adventure. Who knew a game about being on the road could feel so much like home?" — Brennan Lee Mulligan, Dimension 20

[fakedtales]

The physical version of Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast is gorgeous.

[s-che]

From the Game Designer Tarot, I'd like to draw JUDGEMENT. Tell me about something you designed that taught you something important, please?

From yesterday's Game Designer Tarot ask game

Judgement — Talk about a game you’ve made that taught you a lot.

In 2022, when I was, like, a year out of college and already pretty burned out by teaching, I wrote the extremely quick and angry first draft of Queen of the Moon, a game which yanked the lindworm oracle from Jay Dragon's Sleepaway, slapped a couple of playbooks in for different the types of children, and said there you go. There's a game. Kids and a thing that hurts them. That's all there is in the world. I was angry with the educational system, I was pessimistic about the craft of teaching, and I wrote a game that was miserable as a result. It was extremely important to me to write it the way I did — to make a point — but it wasn't until last year when I finally started revising it that I realized how little fun there was in playing the thing.

All this to say, I think a lot of people write bit-based games. Polemical games. Games that only exist to make one point. And I think it can be really therapeutic to write that way, or just to write for a joke (God knows Queen of the Moon isn't the only time I've done it — Ritual & Experience, another early game I'd love to come back to and make into something more interesting, basically works the same way). But I do think it's worth considering the limitations of writing one-note games.

I had a really good conversation while helping @jdragsky move apartments a few months back (great setting for design yapping, tbh) about how super duper rules light, one-mechanic games can be extremely restorative to play after dealing with a bloated, clunky, D&D-esque system — but that there's something to be said for the fact that D&D & co. have all those goddamn mechanics in them. There are, whether we like them or not, multiple things to do in dungeons & dragons, and playing a game with that much shit to do in it can be fun! I don't want one universal dice roll -- I want lots and lots of little bespoke systems overlapping nibbling at each other! I like it when there is a lot of games in my games! One good mechanic is still just one mechanic — it might be better than any one of D&D's twenty mid mechanics, but D&D still has 20 of them.

Anyway, I bring up Jay's writing specifically because that's a hallmark of what PCG does — Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast most obviously, but Sleepaway too. It took me a long time to get to a point where I could joyfully make Queen of the Moon less one-note. It's still pretty pared down compared to Sleepaway (although some of that is on purpose), but it's a lot bigger than it was when I started. And that isn't because of bloat: it's because it's good to write more good game.

[ttrpgbookclub]

This month, we read Grand Guignol, an upcoming Victorian romance-horror game by Luke Jordan.

Grand Guignol isn't out yet, but you can find Luke's other work here.

We also covered the demo of "Little Wolves" from Dinoberry Press, which you can find here. You can also support "Little Wolves" on backerkit.

[emtheanxiousdragon]

Our Hæth: A Wanderhome ARG

Ok so if you are any sort of game designer, whether that be a programmer for a mobile app, an artist for an indie TTRPG, or a top-tier producer at a AAA-game studio, you should read Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal, it inspires you to make games that don’t just form digital communities or entertain, but allow a deeper connection to your real life.

And one game that I think, with a twist, could really fit McGonigal’s idea is Wanderhome, the excellent pastoral RPG by tumblr’s very own @jdragsky . This game is beautiful, simple, and a tool for telling these lovely stories about anthropomorphic travelers exploring a recovering society and finding themselves along the way.

Now, let me introduce my idea, tentatively titled Our Hæth: A Wanderhome ARG.

You make a Wanderhome character, just like in a typical game. You also make a separate Wanderhome profile that represents yourself. (this can be your actual Wanderhome character if you want to take on an alternate persona). This secondary Wanderhome character doesn't actually travel the Hæth. They represent your journey in the real world. Your second character's playbook should fit yourself and what you hope to get from this experience. My secondary character will be a Peddler, because I want to grow my personal career.

Then you get connected to a Hæth. These are shared worlds/servers that begin like all Wanderhome games (at the start of Tillsoil very soon after the end of the war) and progress from there. You can start with other players or begin on your own and find others later.

When you wish to travel to a new area, instead of randomly deciding what it should be, you base it on your current location. It can be as simple as your bedroom or as grand as the Great Wall of China! I’ll show you what I mean with where I am now.

A beautiful pond, right? Let’s turn it into a spot in the Hæth! Our first nature is based on a literal take of the area. I’m by a pond, so the first nature will be Lake! The second nature is more metaphorical; based on what you know about your location, choose a nature that describes its personality. A lot goes on around this pond, so I’ll pick Carnival. The third nature should describe the place as it is when you arrive. The calm nature of the pond today means the third nature is Field. Build the location with the rules of each nature, combined with the traits of the season, and you’ve made a Place!

In Our Hæth, each location is permanently saved into the world you created it in. If other players want to visit this location rather than create a new one, they’ll replace the third nature and the seasonal traits and set off! They can see what you’ve written about the place and the adventures you’ve had here. If you know them in real life, you can share what the real-world inspiration is. If not, you can discuss as much about it as you feel comfortable sharing.

Once you're in a Place, great! Start playing Wanderhome. If you're alone, write down what your traveler does in this place. If you're with friends, get together in person and roleplay it out, or chat together over Discord or your online forum of choice. Their characters may travel with you for a while or your paths may diverge and reconnect later. Just remember what happens so you can share it as part of your character's story. When you make a Kith, go through the regular Kith creation process and add them to your Hæth. If other players visit this Place later, they may meet your kith and will want to know what happened.

The other big ARG element of this version of Wanderhome comes with using tokens. When your character does something to create a token, you need to do something to make a token in real life. Have a list of what different actions in Wanderhome mean for you in real life. For example, when my character Camper gives away something he holds dear, that means I have to complete some professional networking. Your token action should be challenging or good for you. Change your token action as your challenges and needs change. Make them fit your life and your goals.

Take a break to complete your token action, or write it down for after the session. You won't be able to spend your real-world token until you complete your task. Once that's done, the next time your character spends a token, you can spend one too! Your token rewards are something positive to reward yourself for putting in the effort and caring for yourself, your relationships, or the world. In my Hæth, when Camper keeps someone safe from the difficulties of the world, I get to take a nap rather than work!

The months can change in small groups when you agree to change them. In bigger groups, you may set a real-world date for the change in the months. Ask the month's question to yourself and your Wanderhome character. Consider your answer a "yes" regardless of which one of you says so. When the time comes for the seasons to change, set up a party with others in your Hæth or throw your own private celebration. Just as the holiday marks a moment of personal growth for your character, take a major step forward with your own goals. As Camper celebrates the new year, I'm going to start searching for a summer internship. I'll adapt my token actions and rewards as needed, and I'll continue playing.

So long as you have Wanderhome, you can play this game. You can keep track of your Hæth in a notebook, on a google doc, whatever. My perfect version of this project would be a little website where players can join different Hæths, watch their world grow on a virtual map, see all the information neatly organized online, and connect to a wide range of people in the Wanderhome community.

Thoughts?

[paperbridge]

Any Wanderhome players on here? I want to get more into it. I am loving it so far. I grew up on Wind In the Willows so that explains it lol.

[thefandomentals]

Dan sat down with @jdragsky for an in-depth look at Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, a beautiful game of community and change five years in the making.

[bunbunbunni]

Played a few games now I have a better idea of what the horror camp yuri girls look like… sneak peak for the lesbians this is for u

[fxl3]

My copy of Yazeba's bed and breakfast came in last week and I finally got a play session in today- and it went so well! I'm sure I'll be playing it well into the future.

[sarahmeeps]

It's finally here! 😭 (and it's beautiful!)

[sticksandsharks]

GRAND GUIGNOL

one of two cover artworks for Possum Creek Games' latest double-feature tabletop games, Grand Guignol & Harvest, written by @wildwoodsgames. There's a few more days to back this project if you like themes of intimacy, monstrosity and the Gothic.

[jdragsky]

possum creek games is doing a sale on their entire library right now, which is completely fucking bonkers

so if you like queer tabletop rpgs, found family, weird liminal creepy shit, or just new ways to play games that you've never thought of before, go fucking nuts

[kingwormm]

I may be late irl but I can never be late in canon! Happy (late) Birthday Gertrude!

[merelymatt]

Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast is properly, fully out and available to buy as a physical book now! Here's me and a few of the @merelyroleplayers cast playing one of the early scenes as guests on What Am I Rolling?

It's a beautifully designed game by every measure, and reliably creates fantastic fun and tender moments, and is super easy to pick up and play.

[ttrpgbookclub]

This month, we read Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, a game so huge we had to break it into two episodes. We also had our first special guest and one of Yazeba's co-creators, Jay Dragon, on to discuss it with us!

You can find "Yazeba's" on Possum Creek Games' itch[dot]io linked here.