Two major tabletop conventions are happening this weekend: Dragonmeet in London and Pax Unplugged in Philadelphia, and if you’re going to either, I am very jealous and hope you have a wonderful time. So many of my favourites will be there; if you’re in the UK say “hi” to Rowan, Rook and Decard at Stall 41 and if you’re heading to PaxU, be sure to sign up for the Possum Creek Rime Gala!
Featured Designers: Far Horizons Co-Op
The Far Horizons Co-Op (formerly San Jenaro) is a publishing group that centres creator ownership, profit sharing, and fair treatment of its writers, artists, editors, and anyone else who may be involved in game creation. The Co-Op has created Brinkwood, Friendship Effort Victory, and the Short Games Digest/Far Horizons Anthology series, as well as the Roleplayer’s Guide to Heists and the Far Horizons’ Guide to Cults.
The Co-Op is made up of an international collective of creators who focus on education and support within the creative industry, providing a framework for sustainable industry entry. Their most recent work is O Morningstar! written by Jamie O’Duibhir, a short game about rebelling against heaven, which will be the flagship game for the Co-Op’s new game series, A Thousand Burning Stars. This series will be a grouping of “small games designed and produced by small teams within the Co-Op.”
From O’Duibhir, who wrote this in the Far Horizons Co-Op newsletter,
O Morningstar is game centered on the idea of Satan as maligned and puts players in historical moments with other figures who were maligned and hated by those in power, those with the ability to propagate a narrative. This game asks you to give Morningstar a new story, to tell her story and imagine how they must feel and react to dominance and oppressive nature of Heaven. It asks to reevaluate the assumptions of that old time religion, the assumption that Christian = good, that Heaven is place of reward.
Follow along with the Co-Op’s work by subscribing to their newsletter, or following them online. You can see their full list of titles on DriveThru RPG or on itch.io.
New Releases: Tending, TOMBS, Necrobiotic, Means of Magic
“Tending is a mixed media journalling game where you take the role of a devotee at a holy site. Over a span of seasons you’ll carry out sacred work, seek the divine, and change everything in the process. The game invites you to create a fantasy religion inspired by elements of nature, and to then explore how time, events, and individuals shape the practice and meaning of that religion. You can treat it as a one-off experience, use it for worldbuilding, or slot it into an existing campaign.”
“TOMBS: Toot on my balls skeleton is about you, and you are two (or more) skeletons. You are both horny and up for each other’s sex. But over the millennia you have forgotten how sex works. This minigame collection is here to help you reconnect with your sex unlife. Each game will help flesh out some missing aspect of your history, your sexual wants and needs, and the sex you have.”
“In Necrobiotic, you can taste the whole spectrum of emotions, from the deepest horror and the bitterest melancholy to the most moving compassion and the lightest laughter, in a continuous celebration of life and a rediscovery of its fragile uniqueness. The original game system is based on deck-building mechanics with a standard deck of playing cards, though Tarot cards can also be used. Players will always know what they can do alone or together, and the game’s mechanics will easily push the player’s roleplay toward the character’s features, highlighting everyone’s specialties.”
“The Means of Magick is a tabletop RPG set in the aftermath of the Magick-Industrial Revolution. Megacorps are vying for control of the economy by extracting mass amounts of magick from the earth, which is slowly killing the planet. Players will have to face off against magickal natural disasters, corrupted flora and fauna, and the insidious corporations themselves.”
Crowdfunding: The Valley of Flowers, Inscrutable Cities, Heretic’s Guide to Devotion & Divinity
“The Valley of Flowers is a fantasy campaign setting of mythic adventure in an Arthurian world gone strange designed for use with tabletop role-playing games. The book includes stats for both Old-School Essentials and Cairn, allowing for compatibility with a broad range of old- and new-school RPG systems.”
“Inscrutable Cities is a fabulist solo role-playing game about a traveller from a faraway land who has arrived within an impossible city, whose beauty and strangeness you seek to capture in your journal as you explore and travel through this magical metropolis. All you need to play is a journal, a pencil, and a coin to flip at the fork in the road.”
Heretic’s Guide “blesses your game” with new rules and inspiration for handling the divine in 5E, including tools to keep track of and expand the traditions, superstitions, and tenets of your world’s pantheon. Plus new religious ceremonies and rituals, new divine boons, and oaths.
In Other News:
- Nem of Sandy Pug Games (Monster Care Squad) has started collecting advice for TTRPG designers on their site.
- Do Dragons Dream Of Scorched Sheep? has released episode 34 of its epic campaign.
- A new TTRPG discussion board, paper cult, has popped up.
- Sam Leigh is hosting an Anamnesis Jam, which runs through January, for their Ennie-nominated solo TTRPG.
- The DIE RPG pdf is now available for purchase.
- Hard City, a noir RPG, and Jackals, a bronze age swords and sandals RPG, are both available now from Osprey Games.
- Hitpoint Press has just released a free QuickStart of its original game, Shift.
- Abraxas’ Precipice, The Expanse RPG Actual Play, is finishing up its Phase 3 season on December 14.
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