#two-player ttrpg

[cassimothwin]

Which house will be you be assigned at Brackroot Academy??? Pause or Screenshot the gif at the top to learn your destiny!

Then "Keep reading" to learn more about your house!

Brackroot Academy is part of Tangled Blessings, a magical school horror roleplaying game that uses tarot cards to uncover your fate as a student.

If you like this fun exercise, learn more about the crowdfunding campaign happening now!

Learn more about your house further below! Does it suit you?

House of Celestials 

The skies borrow from the elements to paint a backdrop for life. Featuring iconography of the sun, moon, and constellations, celestials are known for their inner glow. Still, they do not shy away from the dark surrounding them, understanding that all things require balance. Students in this house often carry at least one or more of these marks: discipline, passion, or indifference. This dorm overlooks the lake. 

House of Dahlias 

Dahlias rely on the energy of celestial bodies for growth and endurance. As a vibrant flower, dahlias are a symbol of elegance and devotion. The plant may seem abundant, but it requires careful nurturing in the wet and cold climate of Brackroot. Students in this house often carry at least one or more of these marks: creativity, perfectionism, or obsessiveness. This dorm is connected to the greenhouse. 

House of Panthers 

The panther needs a garden to rest from its daily stroll, and the dahlias always supply. The panther is a symbol of grace, athletics, and agility but still elusive and rare — a fierce creature of the shadows. Students in this house often carry at least one or more of these marks: observation, punctuality, or ruthlessness. This dorm is at the edge of the forest. 

House of Spires 

The spires are only safe in their tower because of the panthers who keep guard. The House of Spires represents the connection blades, pens, and spirituality share. While members of this house may only show interest or aptitude in one of the represented icons, they are a full member of the spire. Students in this house often carry at least one or more of these marks: empathy, isolation, or judgment. This dorm is in the high tower. 

House of Elements  

Elements are the wildest of the quintet, but they maintain control with help from the spires. The elements symbolize excess and power, but together, they represent the strength of unity. Students in this house often carry at least one or more of these marks: cleverness, hunger, or negligence. This dorm is under the school, but furnished with enchanted windows that overlook the neighboring mountains.  

House of None

Accessible by only walking along the edge of a bridge in the right invisible spot, students in the House of None often think of themselves as beyond reality. These thoughts only worsen the more they understand magic on cosmic and atomic scales. Students in this house are often detached, cold, and fiercely intelligent Symbols commonly associated with this house include the number zero, a black hole, a vortex, lanterns, and knots. 

House of Divines

Hidden beneath the campus Chapel and graveyard, this house was annexed centuries ago for blatant misuse of dark magic. Some stories claim this house serves as the birthplace for demons and vampires. Whatever the reason for the House's former eradication, blood stains remain in the foundation. Students in this house are often vengeful, patient, and not above harming others to get what they want. Symbols commonly associated with this house include blood, fruit, teeth, bones, claws, horns.

[tootallferne]

I have a new game coming out tomorrow, called Guards at the Gates!

It’s a two-player diceless game that has you playing as two town guard, dragons, or whatever you like, trying to stall heroes from entering your domain by sending them on meaningless fetch quests! But be careful, because too many requests and they’ll get fed up and chop off your heads!

It’ll be up on my itch.io store!

[canonkiller]

world's most normal animals

(if you want to use my concepts in your ttrpg campaigns you should 1. ask me 2. update me on events like a little podcast 3. give me money about it. I also take commissions once my queue is cleared!)

[rollforfelicity]

Colin and I played for 3 hours last month and only got through years 1 and 2, so we will be BACK with years 3 and 4 this Monday, August 5th!

This Monday, July 8th, at 6:30pm EDT, I'm playing @cassimothwin's Tangled Blessings with Colin Epstein of The Roll Report podcast! What mischief will we two rivals get up to at the magically dangerous Brackroot Academy? Only one way to find out!

I have been itching to play Tangled Blessings since it came out. In fact, I pulled the move of buying it for a friend when I saw it at my favorite game store, a classic sign that I myself want to play a game. After playing Anamnesis (which originated the game mechanics used in Tangled Blessings) and listening to the Tangled Blessings episodes of Party of One, I made plans for this stream! (I am constantly hearing people play games on Party of One and then saying "now I must play that game" because I'm a dirty dirty idea thief.)

I'm very excited to play with Colin, who (if you can't tell from their picture) has a flair for the dramatic, which means this game will be a juicy one.

[sohkrates]

I Can't Stop Playing Two-Hand Path

(rescued from a post from r/solo_roleplaying)

I backed Two-Hand Path on Kickstarter and now that it's out I've been playing it daily. It's got the good vibes of a rogue-like video game with modern post-apocalyptic dungeons. The central roll and write mechanic gives you tattoos, jewelry, and scars to define your mage's struggle to survive, and backstory of how they inherited their magic as you try to clear dungeons and complete goals. Your character sheet is literally just a picture of two hands you fill in with details as you play.

I haven't fallen this hard for a solo RPG in a while and it feels like something innovative in the genre, so I wanted to spread the love. Here's a photo of my mage's hands from my most recent runs:

Scars give you more HP, bracelets let you reroll dice, rings let you substitiue their number for numbers on the dice, and tattoos tell your story when prompted in certain encounters.

I've never played anything like it. Anyone else playing? Know of any other roleplaying games with similar roll-and-write mechanics?

[takataapui]

'Earth Mother, Sky Father' is a game about the aftermath of an indigenous creation story.

Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother, are two Māori atua (deities) who play an integral part of the Māori world.

This is a two player game with players choosing one of the atua and asking questions back and forth, leading down branching paths of options.

Players: 2

Time: ~30 minutes

Materials: a copy of the PDF each, though one will do in a pinch. (Once you've bought the pdf, feel free to share the downloaded PDF with your other player.)

No prior knowledge of Māori culture is needed, this game is written to be playable by anyone.

Community Copies are available for BIPOC.

Buy 'Earth Mother, Sky Father', here, for $2.99:

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played I HAVE THE HIGH GROUND ?

By Jess Levine

A game of banter, posturing, capes and sexy duelling. I Have the High Ground is a short, collaborative tabletop roleplaying and storytelling game for 2 players. It's GM-less and genre-neutral, and takes 1-2 hours to play.

[damsels-n-dice]

a traveler wanders through a world created by someone else's mind. two friends sit on a beach at sunrise, contemplating reality. a monster hunter finds humanity in the face of his prey. two strangers talk about colours.

if any of those premises sounds interesting to you, or you're looking for a short ttrpg to occupy spare moments, consider checking out my new lyric game collection: Duets from Other Worlds. right now, it's a selection of four pay-what-you-want, two-player lyric games, but i have plans to expand it as more ideas come to me!

each of the games is formatted to be played on a phone, placed between two people sitting across from each other -- the text you can read is the text you'll be using for your character. as for the themes and topics of the games, there's very little in common! expect fun formatting, reality-bending and queerness, as always.

again, that's Duets From Other Worlds, it's pwyw, and it's also one of the rewards for my birthday sale last month!

[dungeonofthedragon]

Ttrpgs for Palestine: duo edition

Your regular reminder that you can get this incredible bundle of 195 titles for $15 and help kiddos in need in the process!

I wrote a post on some of the solo games in this bundle, but what about duos? Games you can play with a partner, a bestie, or a sibling? I live with just one other person, and ttrpgs are the major thing we bond over. Fortunately, this bundle contains many, many games I look forward to playing together. Below I've spotlighted four five examples of GMless two-player games in this bundle!

A Court Divided by Carlin Wednesday

(Bitter- Dramatic- Magical)

Build a fey domain together through a series of questions, and then break it apart as you play fey monarchs going through a divorce. You must negotiate how your court and assets will be divided between the pair of you. This game can be played in a single session, perfect for an afternoon or evening of dramatic roleplay.

Hearts Unmasked and Hearts Unrivalled by Islanderscaper

(Superheroes- Pining- Lightweight)

Superhero romance? Count me in! Hearts Unmasked is about two heroes trying to balance duty and their feelings for each other, while Hearts Unrivalled is an enemies-to-lovers hero/villain narrative.

The rules for each game fit onto a single page, so they're very quick to learn!

Lovers in the Apocalypse City by Paladin Kite

(Intimate- Intense- Futuristic)

Neon-soaked apocalyptic letter writing for two. I was immediately hooked by this game's gimmick: mailing letters to one another. One player draws a card from a standard deck, finds the relevant prompt on a table, and writes a letter to the other player based on this. Obviously, you can do it without actual letters, but the act of physical letter writing does add something to the experience. As I write, I'm mentally going through friends considering who would most enjoy playing this one with me.

Pale Dot by Devin Decibel

(Enchanting- Exploration- Aliens)

Hoping to play this one tonight! Two (or more!) players travel the cosmos as adorable alien astronauts. There's a good selection of locations with short, evocative descriptions and questions inviting players to further develop them as they explore.

[cassimothwin]

Announcing Tangled Blessings, my upcoming solo or two-player tabletop RPG!

Take on the role of a senior student at a mysterious and magical academy for adults. In fewer than 24 hours, you’ll face your Rival in your last final exam before graduation, and learn about the destiny that awaits you. As you prepare and study, you’ll reflect on the last four years at Brackroot Academy:

the lessons you’ve learned

your experiences

your failures

your friendships

your secrets

Your entire future hinges on this exam, and should your Rival overcome you, you’ll lose access to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Tangled Blessings is a solo journaling or two-player roleplaying game set in the subgenre of dark academia, featuring a wizarding school, ghosts, rivals, houses, and curses. You should be able to play in one sitting, but if you really enjoy exploring the prompts, you can spread out your play sessions. There’s a natural break between each year of school. 

To play you’ll need a deck of tarot cards. If you’re playing alone, you’ll need a way to record your entries. A dark academia playlist may also help set the mood.

The text is nearly complete! We're finishing up playtesting, and then entering editing and layout.

I'm hoping to crowdfund a print run in February 2023! Sign up for my mailing to get notified when it goes live!

[hmooncreates]

EXTENDED - The Fool Who Got Married

The Year is 1848...

...and gold has been struck in California. Your husband has decided now would be the time to catch his fortune, and he wants you to come with him. Of course. you agree, you love him after all. 

...and your family member's husband is on the hunt for gold. What's she going to do? Say no? This could be the key to their better life. You have to let her go. 

The Extended Edition...

...allows you to play one of five different types of characters. 

The game is about historical female hardship and how women stay connected even when they become members of their husbands family before their own. 

The game and story is told through writing letters. This is a two- or more- player game where each person plays a female familial archetype. Someone has to be the bride leaving her family, but there are four options for the other player(s).

The Four Options:

Mother, Sister, Aunt, and Mother-in-Law

Gameplay

This game is played by using music as the storytelling and mechanical device. To play you will need a way to send letters to each other, access to the albums, and something to write with.

Let The Music Lead You.

Music You Will Need Access To: The Crane Wives discography and Through the Deep, Dark Valley by The Oh Hellos.

Get the Game Now on Itch.io!

[cardboardhyperfix-games]

HOUSE of cards

I read this really odd book a while back and loved it. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski does things with fiction that I had never before seen. I've toyed with the idea of making a TTRPG that simulates that in some way. I don't think I've even come close to actually doing that, but I am happy with the result.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Concept: You are in a house. The house has a door. When opened, the hallway in front of you is black. The floors, the walls, the ceiling. Touching it is too warm, or maybe too cold. You cannot tell. It looks like it moves and pulses until you get close enough to see just how rigid and unchanging it is.

You decide to walk down this hallway and see where it leads.

You will not come back, at least not the same.

Materials: Deck of 52 playing cards, black paint, red paint, 5 tea candles, matches, walkie-talkies, writing utensils and paper

Player count: 2-players

[strautmaskreplica]

Insatiable Cravings out NOW

INSATIABLE CRAVINGS is a two-player game about courting, bluffing, and meal-making, for ravenous Monsters and their hopeful Admirers.

Played with a standard deck of cards and some six-sided dice.

Enjoy the meal together. It might be your last.

AVAILABLE DIGITALLY NOW OR AS A BUNDLE WITH 5 OTHER WONDERCABINET CREATIONS

One plays as the ravenous Monster, and chooses whether to eat  the meal or the meal-maker. 

One plays as the Monster’s Admirer, and chooses whether to cook something nourishing or deadly.

AT A GLANCE...

20 page A5-Sized Zine 

2 players

2-4 hours, single session

Requires a single standard 52-card deck and a few six-sided dice

Insatiable Cravings is a roleplaying card game. Using a standard 52-card deck and some d6s, you’ll build a hand of cards that will either kill the other player’s character or blossom a relationship between the two. It’s a game of bluffing, courting, and finding the fastest route to their heart (through their stomach, of course).

Through playing scenes, you will build your hand of cards. In the scenes, you’ll have opportunities to get more cards, find out more about the other player's character, and tell a beautiful, vicious story. At the end of the game you’ll reveal your hand and your intentions.

Touchstones:

Beauty and the Beast

Romeo and Juliet 

The vampire fervour we all had in the aughts (and some of us still have)

WONDERCABINETS

I had the absolute pleasure of creating this game for the 2023 Wondercabinet Invitational: a collection of unique tabletop games made by a curated group of designers inspired by randomized collections of oddities and ephemera.

Among my oddities were an antique "Food and Drug" stamp, ads for vintage grocery stores, and a tooth. I found inspiration in the intimacy of sharing a meal with another.

Please check out all the amazing games we created for this project!

[kandadze]

So while I was having my heart crushed anew by this post:

my brain did the freeze-frame, record-scratch jump to someone's comment about WZY just standing there, allowing for that absolutely heart-wrenching emotional beat between our two idiots (and for the energy transfer to complete) instead of, y'know, snapping ZYC's neck, and I realized that if you look at this scene as if it was a D&D combat, it all suddenly makes sense. Hear me out:

WZY's barrier is like a lair action, something that was put in place before the battle, just waiting to be activated - and ZYC's attack does just that;

WZY: has regeneration like a zombie, so he went down to 1 HP instead of going fully down after ZYC struck his inner core; assuming he's the first in initiative order, he can then use his movement to get up from "prone" position, bonus action accelerate his regeneration, and, not being able to use another spell for his action - and surely knowing an unarmed strike would do jack all - he instead takes a gamble and "grapples" ZYC, to put him at disadvantage;

ZYC: rolls poorly on his dexterity/ strength saving throw; with no movement (grappled condition), no relevant bonus actions, and disadvantage on attacks, he decides to give advantage to the "player" next in order and action sends LL's energy to ZYZ;

ZYZ: has no use for movement because of the barrier, action activates his one-word spell...

And then we get that one nerve-wracking moment when the damage is calculated to see whether it was enough to destroy the barrier and WZY, as well as DM last minute remembers that ZYC has immunity to ZYZ's spells, so he's unaffected.

[superdillin]

Metalepsis - a deliberate transgression between the world of the telling and the world of the told.

Metalepsis is a two-player game about living fiction, authorial intent, and agency. Encircling the fight for autonomy between a storyteller and their story.

A two-player narrative RPG with one GM - the Author of the story, and one player - the Protagonist, as they fight for control over the Protagonist’s fate.

Some exerpts:

There is a plain text version available, community copies restocked, and I've included an overlay for Actual Play/virtual players who might like one.

[crtgirl]

I released a new tabletop game!

Let the Fire Soothe is a two player narrative card game about an adventurer making a deal with a fire demon.

it has beautiful artwork by Drew Shields and is played using Spindlewheel, an interpretive tarot-like storytelling deck.

the game is $10 and you can check it out on my Itch.io page