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madhogthymaster · 4 months

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This is Not a Review of In Stars and Time

Let us set the stage.

An entity known as The King has cast a horrible curse upon the land, freezing people in time. It's up to the Chosen One and her friends to save the day. After a long journey, the party arrives at the final town right before the final battle with the final boss. He awaits the heroes at the final castle which was once the house of worship to Change Themselves.

You, the player, are the second to last party member (who joined right before the cute mascot character) and you find yourself "blessed" with the symbolically relevant ability to loop in time - which you discovered after being suddenly crushed to death by a big rock with a sense for dramatic irony. Now, admittedly, the prospect of dealing with Groundhog Day related shenanigans might seem daunting, at first. Dare I say, it might even be emotionally and psychologically taxing, in the long run. However, do not panic! A volunteering social worker has already been sent to "assist" you with your predicament. You can trust them completely.

Now that we have dispensed with the formalities, let's get down to business to defeat The King. Use your newfound powers to help your friends navigate the castle, climb the floors, overcome the obstacles. Be ready to repeat all that several more times. You know the drill. Perhaps, if you do everything right, your buff boyfriend will finally confess his feelings to you.

Wouldn't that be swell?

Wouldn't it?

It would be nice.

It sure would.

...

There will be no additional plot synopsis, at this time.

As I type these few words of appetizing anticipation, I find myself in a predicament of my own: I played In Stars and Time and now I have to talk about it. I have many emotions swirling, dancing incoherently within the very fabric of my being. Feelings that I must convey to you before The Moment passes, you see. I'm not sure I can, though. I'm not sure I can steel my trembling hands for long enough to wax poetically about this being, without hyperbole, one of the best games I played in the past decade. A masterpiece with many juicy layers waiting to be peeled back, one by one. I don't have the energy to write the monstrous essay it deserves for all I want to do is sit in a corner and weep quietly for a few hours, trying to process it all. I'm sad not because it's over but because I can't experience it for the first time ever again. Which is an ironic statement considering the nature of this game, I realize. Allow me to try this again.

Let us set the stage.

In Stars and Time is is a cleverly designed title. The time loop structure works both as a gameplay and thematic device, a means to (purposefully) emphasize the monotonous nature of the RPG grind in relation to the protagonist's deteriorating state, cycle after cycle, play after play. You have your classic meta-textual musings about video games as well as a legitimately gripping tale filled with many twists and turns, good use of symbolism, salient points to make about Trauma and its effect on one's memory, the Fear of Change versus the necessity of it, and Depression. It all comes together by the end in a subjectively satisfying manner and...

...

And...

...

...I have to stop myself.

I'm reducing this deeply personal experience to a mere "review" and that's not what I'm here to do.

I don't know what I'm here to do.

Frankly, there are themes in this game I am not equipped to discuss, such as its intensely felt (and horrifyingly topical) commentary about Diaspora, the shared trauma of cultural displacement, a people fading away from memory like stars in the sky. That kind of analysis would be too much for a simple "review." if this were to be one, I would praise the game for being the best possible version of itself, the best version of a Time Loop story. One that perfectly applies the narrative tropes of the genre to its gameplay, narrative, all that jazz. I would also state that it didn't reinvent the wheel of "Indie Gaming" and I could feel inclined to make obligatory comparisons to That One Game because that's the unfair standard by which everything MUST abide! No, I shall not do that. I need to rethink my approach. I am going to take a small break. In the meantime, please enjoy these unrelated GIF files of Christopher Lloyd from Toonstruck that I have lying around on the floor.

I had dinner with the family. It was a small, daily reminder that I am loved unconditionally. That I deserve it. Something that is immensely easy to forget. The meal was tastier than usual.

...

Back to it.

This is the brutally simple truth of the matter: there is a lot to love about In Stars and Time, with its writing, design choices, characters, nuances, big feelings. It has the potential to be a massive crowd pleaser and it would be well-deserved. It's got explicitly gay lore, as well! In case I didn't make it abundantly clear, this game is 100% queer. Every aspect of it, from the characters and the world they inhabit to the culture and its history, is built from the ground up as a queer utopia. You might recall, all the way to the first paragraph of this long-winded, amorphous ramble, I mentioned something about Change with a capital C. That is because the very concept of Change has been deified, becoming the base of a whole religion: an extremely inclusive, open-minded, progressive community that celebrates life in all its multi-faceted forms. A significant portion of its foundation is the magical technique of "Body Craft" which allows the user to literally transform their physical appearance into their preferred shape, one that better reflects who they are. Children are given many names, both male and female, for the purpose of facilitating their own change, should it occur. Literal and figurative transience lies at the heart of this belief system, meaning that about half the population is trans/non-binary, and queerness is normalcy. As a side note, I want to live in this world. Change is viewed as positive, in other words. In light of that, the arrival of a hostile entity with the power to simply stop all of existence from ever progressing by freezing everyone in place might seem like an easy metaphor to read. I assure you, the game is eager for you to make that assumption.

As I mentioned earlier, this story tackles Depression and it doesn't pull its punches when it comes to portray the more "inconvenient" aspects of living with crippling self-esteem issues. That's when the game became a masterpiece to me. I resonated with Siffrin (He/They), the protagonist. That's you!

Their struggle to navigate the constant torment of the loop is paralleled with their increasing mental and emotional instability. Intrusive thoughts overpowering their head, saying he will never be loved, that he's toxic and manipulative. There's the all too familiar frustration of not being understood by others despite not having tried to explain how you really feel to them, trapped as you are in your own head. Big issues are equated to "small" issues. I relate with most of this. Through the Time Loop allegory, In Stars and Time captures the Kafkian Horror of existing as a neurodivergent person who gets in the way of their own happiness. It's isolating, drives a barrier between your loved ones, makes you lose touch with reality. Sometimes you have good days, sometimes you have bad days. Everything eventually blends together in a sickening routine until you either drown or you start swimming furiously.

Then the cycle repeats.

It's too much.

You cannot do it alone.

You are not alone.

Let them in.

Let yourself be loved.

That is, in essence, the reason why I think so highly of this title. I related with the story and characters. Yes, it all comes down to the most obvious thesis statement in the universe. Yes, I probably didn't need to write so much about it but, regardless, I'm glad I did. I poured my feelings towards an Object D'Art onto figurative paper as I was processing them, doing away with any pseudo-intellectual vernacular in order to get to the soul of the matter. I expressed my emotions and I feel better for having done so. Now, I can move on. All that is left to do is to recommend the game.

...

Go play In Stars and Time, I recommend it. It's good.

...

That's about it.

...

You're still here.

...

......

..............

Go away, stupid!

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A/N:

Thank you for reading this rather personal piece. The article was extrapolated from a thread I wrote down on the subject. You can read that here. I also typed about the official prologue to the game, Start Again, which you can view here.

As a reminder, I have a YouTube channel.

In Stars and Time was developed by Adrienne Bazir. Follow them on Twitter, Tumblr and Itch.io.

Tell the people in your life how much they mean to you, and have a good day.

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open-hearth-rpg · 8 months

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Stress Dice: Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics Week One

I’ve played a lot of the Mutant System, beginning with a multi-year Mutant: Year Zero campaign. That has a great setting, with a solid mechanic supporting the vibe. You have a pool of d6s in different colors (stat, skill, gear). You want to hit 6s to get successes. If you roll and don’t get enough of those, you can push yourself and roll again. However, each 1 you have showing on your stat dice after you roll inflicts damage to you. Each 1 showing on gear dice lowers your gear’s bonus.

There is a benefit to taking that damage; it generates willpower to fuel your mutant abilities. But, especially at the beginning of the campaign, it is a losing game. The system pushes the feeling of living on the edge and dealing with scarcity & breakdown. Those mechanics also work well in Forbidden Lands, the fantasy implementation of this which also has you exploring a post-apocalyptic landscape.

It’s not as great in Coriolis or even Vaesen. The tension that resolution system creates feels out of place with the game’s focus. That’s especially true with Tales from the Loop where the brutal tension it doles out is at odds with the game’s tone.

ALIEN is also built on this roll & push system, but with a tweak that amps it up. With ALIEN you have Base (stat, gear, skill) dice and Stress Dice. In this version you again roll all of your dice, looking for 6’s which represent successes. You need to roll at least one success. If you don’t, things go wrong. At this point, you can push yourself and reroll any dice without successes.

This, however, increases your Stress Level by one. The good news is that you now get to add a number of Stress Dice to your pool equal to your Stress Level. Those Stress Dice actually remain in your pool from then on, making you sharper and more effective. But there’s a cost.

If you roll a 1 on a Stress Die when making a test, you panic. This stops any rerolls, makes you fail, and has you make a Panic roll. Roll a d6, add your Stress Level and consult the chart. It can be pretty bad. Other events can raise your Stress Level besides pushing, but it's this mechanics that really shines.

It’s one of the best risk/reward, push-your-luck mechanics in a roleplaying game. In play it creates a strong and definite feeling of tension; it forces hard choices. There are mechanics to reduce stress level, and you may tell yourself pushing is OK because you’ll use that. But then shit will hit the fan and you’re looking at four Stress dice in your pool, any of which could roll a 6. I dig it.

#ttrpg #rpg #rpg mechanics

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paperhatcollection · 2 months

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For aspiring young trainers, Vinyl City- music capital of the world, offers a unique and harmonious opportunity for people and Pokemon alike. While the city may lack both a League and Championship status for the region, there is no shortage of contests and concerts to dig one's teeth into. While there may not be the opportunities to battle found in other regions across the world, bonds between trainers and their Pokemon shine as brightly in this city as any other, if not more.

You know, despite the pokemon, we don’t actually see NSR’s gameplay loop changing all that much.

We don’t really believe that just because you’re giving these characters a pokemon team that the game would automatically become an rpg, or that everything would now be solved by a pokemon battle. Or anything, really. Mayday and Zuke are musicians, neither of them have any actual interest in straight battling. Sure, they’ll take the NSR artists on in a battle of the bands, but aside from the pokemon now being responsible for some of the attacks you already see in the base game (DJ’s Minior does his sun beam attack for him, Rillaboom aids Yinu’s mother in slamming into the ground, etc), but you never fight them directly. With the exception of Neon J’s team, none of these pokemon have even been trained for battling.

We’d also say most of the fun in picking out pokemon for characters like these is the hows and whys- there’s more to this sort of thing than just picking from a list. Did the trainer want this pokemon, or did they stumble upon it? What stories might the two share? What have they been through together? Eve probably had the most discarded pokemon on this list- not just in terms of being considered, but outright with bits of lore in our head as to the why and written blurbs for their place on the team. Who knows, maybe Eve has more pokemon than this, and this is only her current ‘performance’ team.

Shoutout to PoisonousSugar over on deviantart [LINK], who was responsible for the original trainer card used to make this!

Likewise, we couldn’t make something like this without mentioning this art [LINK] of Neon J with a shiny Dhelmise by Corruptimles. Not only is it some sick art, but the pokemon just fits Neon J to such a T that anytime we see someone give these artists pokemon without giving Neon J this ‘mon, it just looks wrong

Likewise, Espathra works so well for Eve, that if we were only giving all these artists one pokemon each, that would 100% be her partner. Aliendragondreaming recently made pokemon teams for all the nsr artists that inspired us to also take a crack at the idea [LINK]- and though Minior for DJ was something we had already had the idea of before this, their picks for Neon J and Eve each inspired the same Pokemon for those trainers on this list.

And finally, shoutout to the (literally being) pokemon au done by meister-draws [LINK], in which their picks for what Team Sayu would be are so good we just imagine the kids having these pokemon each. Both ideas they created for the DJ are also really good (if you asked us? DJSS as a Deoxys is really good, with the theming and ego of this man. Plus it adds something to the whole ‘you think you’re so special and above us all, but you’re not stronger/important than anyone else. Minor works really well as a pokemon he has, but not so much one he is, even if it’s stature is as short as he is)

Finally, a written description of the text in this image under the read more just in case:

MAYDAY

Fuecoco

A newcomer to Mayday’s team, inspired by tales from Zukes past and Kul Fyra’s performances. While it’s true Mayday had always wanted a fire type of her own, they are not native to the islands.

Pikachu

Enjoys rocking out during B2J’s performances, and can serve as a handy jumpstart if its trainer doesn’t feel like breaking out the equipment. Also answers to Sparky, Ratman, Hey you, and Pichu.

Trubbish

Optional Pokemon the player can find if they click around the sewers enough times. It must’ve been attracted to the piles of junk a certain someone keeps bringing home. Seems to enjoy the sounds of B2J’s concerts.

Any fan of rock is a friend in her book!

ZUKE

Krookodile

This lazy ‘croke spends most of its days dozing away. However, if it were to run into a certain someone from its trainer's past, Krookodile would become aggravated and protective of its trainer.

Luvdisc

A gift from someone Zuke used to be close with.

Is unsure how Mayday even came across a Fuecoco to begin with.

DJ SUBATOMIC SUPERNOVA

Minior

A rare, enticing find worthy of being his partner Pokemon. While the DJ can easily tell Saturn apart from the other Miniors, fans struggle picking it out from just the shells.

The Club Planetarium is filled with indigo Miniors, though their shells rarely break. It’s a guessing game amongst fans to try and find ‘Saturn’.

YINU + MOTHER

Applin

Currently Yinu’s first and only Pokemon, Applin was obtained fairly recently to remember a loved one by.

Appletun

Despite being a normally calm Pokemon, Appletun has been acting aggressively of late, and refuses to follow orders given by Yinus mother in battle. It has an undeniable soft spot for the family, however, including the Applin belonging to Yinu.

Shaymin

Technically, the Shaymin of Natura is meant to be in the protection of the district's current charter. However, as Shaymin require advanced care, it is being looked after by Yinu’s mom until she’s old enough to properly care for it.

Rillaboom

Has a remarkable knack for keeping rhythm, even amongst its fellow kind. Has been trained by Yinus mother to duet with her should the need arise.

Chesnaught

Extremely protective of the family, is tasked with keeping Yinu safe during Bunk Bed Junctions hijacking.

Tropius

Yinu’s favorite of her mother’s Pokemon, as it always allows her to eat the fruit from its neck.

Appleton will join Yinu’s team one day, alongside Shaymin.

1010

Falinks

Lacking a Brass, each Trooper is instead assigned to a 1010 unit. The two move and fight as one, constantly changing their formation as they battle. It seems both are listening to orders given from offset.

Fans have just as much fun coming up with personalities for each Trooper as they do for the 1010’s themselves.

NEON J

Klinklang

Neon J was given this Pokemon (already fully evolved) when he awoke with a new rank and body.

Aegislash

It wasn’t originally known this sword was even a Pokemon, until it was given to a newly rebuilt Neon J and sprung to life. Neon J feels as though he can relate to it, the Navy feels as though they should check the armory.

Dhelmise

Caught from the wreckage of a ship during his time in the Navy, his go-to battle partner.

Falinks

Although Neon J enters the fray with only the Brass by his side, it quickly calls its Troopers back from the 1010’s limo. It considers Neon J’s orders absolute.

Quaquaval

Although Quaxly was Neon J’s starter Pokemon, its struggle with self confidence led to it being unevolved until after the war. It now only waits for its trainer's command to take the spotlight.

Ludicolo

After failing to catch a Wingull for several hours as a child, Neon J had stumbled upon Lotad entirely by mistake. It is now hard for him to imagine his team without Ludicolo on it.

All of Neon J’s pokemon have been taught how to, and enjoy, dancing with their trainer

EVE

Smeargle

Her starter, starting out as a young artist. Has been with her the longest, and has picked up quite a strange assortment of moves, even with Sketch’s notorious reputation.

Espathra

Although Flittles aren’t native to Vinyl City, Eve found the Pokemon injured while searching for inspiration for her art. After aiding it, it has clung to Eve’s side ever since and fiercely defends her.

Mr. Mime

Aids Eve in her performances, is a bit of a diva in its own right.

Furfrou

Everytime this Pokemon has been seen in public, it has had a brand new hairstyle and color job applied. Rumor has it that it was a gift from someone Eve was close to before becoming a Charter.

Malamar

Despite its fearsome reputation, this Pokemon merely enjoys the lights of Vinyl City, and cares deeply for the trainer that raised it. Eve has used it’s ink for her art before.

Milotic

After acquiring Smeargle, Feebas was the first Pokemon Eve encountered and caught on her journey. Eve now considers it fate the two of them met.

Eve has been known to take spa days with her Pokemon in tow.

TATIANA

Chatot

Rarely ever seen without her trusty Chatot, the public is very aware of what is believed to be her sole Pokemon companion. Despite this fact, very little is known about it or how Tatiana acquired it.

Volcarona

It was said that Kul Fyra had a Volcarona that shone so brightly and burned so hot during performances that it rivaled the sun.

Rumor has it that even Kul Fyra lost in a battle to Tatian’s orderly strategies.

#NSR #No Straight Roads #Encore Edition #NSR AU #pokemon #Most people don’t even have ‘full’ teams #Not for difficulty or anything. They just don’t want more.#The only two that combine their teams in a double battle sense are Yinu and her mother #(only because of Yinus mother overshadows her own daughter in her own fight)#You might have noticed Tatiana has a pokemon that is associated with both a metronome and having been banned for censorship concerns #Yes #Although not featured DK West has a Mimikyu #Who acts has a hype man and gestures with its trainer #But you know. It’s still a rap battle #And all of Sayu’s ‘pokemon’ are just digital sprites- no twists or porygons or anything #just straight up not real pokemon #not linked to real pokemon #nada #All of which are designed to match her aesthetic #Though they aren't a staple of her performances- the main appeal is supposed to be Sayu herself #and her pokemon would appear rarely if at all #Might not even be the same ones! There’s a reason we choose not to include her in the list #Kliff straight up does not have a pokemon #He just cannot manage the bond needed to partner with one #Zuke has not battled much he’s just had his pokemon for a Very long time #Also imagine B2J’s pokemon rocking out in the concert hall in the menu #Pickachu headbanging on a speaker system #trubbish bouncing back and forth #Krookodile’s tale rhythmically smacking the floor #etc

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goldyke · 8 months

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if you have the time, what are your favorite ttrpgs? I'm interested in getting into the genre but dnd is kind of hard to break into. Again, you don't have to answer if this would take too much time to explain. Thank you!

So I’ve played about 35 different games, mostly one shots. I’ve had the benefit of playing with people I trust which can greatly influence game play. Below I’m going to include the full list of games with brief descriptions, but favorites first.

I definitely prefer non-traditional, narrative, and gmless games, so that will be a running theme.

Tales From the Loop has to go first because it’s the game that made me fall in love with ttrpgs. This game has Stranger Things vibes. You play a preteen in the 80s in a town where weird shit is constantly happening. This game is more on the traditional side. There’s a GM running the story, you roll for skill checks, there’s probably a specific story playing out that your gm will try to hook you on to. This game uses only 6 sided dice. There is a sequel listed below for teens in the 90s.

Fall of Magic is a narrative rpg with at most 3 dice rolls in the entire game. FoM is played on a beautiful, handmade map. Your characters progress through the cities on the map as you collaboratively tell the story of your journey to the birthplace of magic. Every city on the map has locations in it with a narrative prompt. Each player decides what location to visit and acts a scene at the location answering the prompt. Anything you say becomes true. There are no rolls. Nothing makes me want to write an epic fantasy more than a good game of Fall of Magic

Pasión De Las Pasiones is a PBTA game, which is one of my favorite systems. In it you play a character from a long-running telenovela. I suggest only playing with a gm familiar with the genre who can do justice to the setting. There’s lots of scandal and intrigue. In fact one of the possible characters to play is the secret evil twin of any of your fellow players. PBTA gamesone are closer to traditional with dice rolls and a gm, but emphasizes the narrative more. Rolls are based on you committing to certain tropes and are boosted by narratives rather than any sort of character skills. (I also suggest checking out other PBTA games.)

A Quiet Year is a map drawing game. All you need to play are a deck of cards, a printout of what the cards mean, and drawing materials. You tell the story of a community rebuilding after a harsh winter, answering prompts from the cards for each week of the year. As you build the village and create the story, you draw a map to show all you have done. No artistic skill is necessary. You do not play a character in this game. There is no gm. There are no dice rolls. This is the map from my last game. (I prefer to use wrapping paper for more space)

Dialect is a language building game in which you collaboratively make up new words that become completely normal to you through play. You play as members of an isolated community of any sort (lost mars colonies, online message boards, a thieves guild) which breaks down over the course of the game. You play out the evolution and eventual dissolution of your joint language. Each turn comes with a prompt for which you create a word and then play a scene. This is great as a stand-alone but I love the idea of using it as worldbuilding for a larger campaign.

I will hopefully do another post talking more about someone games tomorrow

(Warning for q slur used once below cut)

This is a list of all the games I’ve played with a short description for each. I do not recommend all of these, but feel free to ask more about any of them. I’ll talk more about some of these in future posts.

Masks (teenage super heroes. PBTA)

Paranoia (dystopian bureaucratic comedy horror)

Weave (app based multi genre. Left very little impression for me)

Tales from the loop (80s teenage horror mystery. D6 based game)

Things from the flood (90s teenage horror mystery. Sequel to above)

Descent into Midnight (map drawing game. psychic underwater entities in a community fighting an influence. PBTA.)

Dream askew (queer enclave as society falls PBTA. Book also contains a jewish companion game set in a shtetl, Dream Apart)

Rippers (dark Victorian. supernatural hunters)

Pasion de las Pasiones (telenovela the rpg. NDNM)

Fall of magic (map based, gmless, story telling game. High fantasy. I own but have not yet played their second scroll game City of Winter)

Fiasco (multi genre heist-gone-wrong game. Gmless. D6 based)

Inspecteres (ghostbusters-esque, bureaucratic comedy. Some mockumentary elements.)

Dnd (we all know this one)

Quiet year (map drawing, gmless game on the growth of community)

Dialect (linguistics based game telling the story of a collapse of community)

Microscope (world-building game played over the course of an era. Great for works building for a larger campaign)

Lady blackbird (single scenario game- helping a noble escape arranged marriage. Steampunk)

Lasers and feelings (Star Trek, basically. One pager. Great for new players and gms. Good system to build a home brew based on)

Castle falkenstein (steampunk+fantasy adventure)

Headspace (cyberpunk, anticorp. Emotionally intense/triggering)

Mouse guard (mouse fantasy adventures)

Numenara (science fantasy adventure game. Earth based, 1000 years off)

Manifest (sci-fi western)

Damn the man save the music (employees try to save their dying indie record store and achieve their personal goals. 90s)

Ryutaama (npcs travel and experience the joy of existence)

Dead Halt (a hotels AI has gone rogue. You work there. Try to survive. Horror-ish but in a campy way)

Knave (a very simplified fantasy adventure game)

Thirteenth Age (similar to dnd with a few unique interesting features. Made by creators of dnd 3&4)

Anomaly (tarot based gmless game about a sinister organization investigating supernatural anomalies)

Visigoths vs. Mall goths (conflicts and romance between the warriors who sacked Ancient Rome and 20th century spooky teens. Takes place in a mall in 1996)

Arcana Academy (magic school game. Don’t play with strangers because they will fall into HP tropes)

Alice is Missing (silent game played over discord or similar. A mystery is solved through texts and group chats

Worlds Without Numbers (large world fantasy adventure game. OSR. Similar in concept to dnd but with plenty of differences. More human centric)

Nahual (Mestizo shapeshifting angel hunting underdogs)

Sign (sign language building game. Deaf children develop their language collaboratively in a new school setting. Played silently.)

#ttrpg #ttrpg community #dnd #fall of Magic #tales from the loop #a quiet year #pasion de las pasiones #long post #dialect #dnd isn’t the only game #answered #lucky charms #one of the six or one of one of the sixes

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miyakuli · 7 months

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Wildermyth

Wildermyth is a tactical rpg in the form of several short tales in which your characters gradually become the heroes of their own story, or even legends that will endure over the generations.

I've played half of the game's individual quests (so I won't talk about the multiplayer aspect, as it hasn't been tested), and my current feeling is somewhere between addictive routine and weariness.

❤ Character customization is quite rich: you can choose your physical appearance (including clothes and other accessories to boost your stats), your gender and sexual identity, and your personality traits. All of these can trigger events and opportunities specific to each character (relationships, transformations, special quests, etc.). Add to this the fact that characters can be mutilated after a battle (modifying their stats and attacks) but also age over time, and I think this strengthens our attachment to each of them. ❤ Each story is quite different from the others, with a rather poetic tone overall, but also with a few touches of humor and more dramatic moments. ❤ The legacy system is pretty cool; it allows us to start a new story with a previous character or even their descendants. It gives a kind of continuity to the whole game. ❤ The game allows mods :D deal for adding more events/quests or customizable elements <3

+/- The game is affordable for beginners and above, given its simplicity, but even so, certain functions could have been better explained in the first part. I quickly found myself overwhelmed by the subtleties of the gameplay, and had to start again once I'd understood everything, in order to approach my game more serenely (and more strategically :p). +/- The musical loops are nice and never really boring….but there are still very few different tracks. +/- Events and opportunities enrich the storyline and character development, but are too often repeated in each story. Moroever, the gameplay doesn't evolve between stories either. As a result, for someone like me who likes to play a game through to the end, it becomes repetitive and tiresome after a while. I think that gamers who are the type to come back to it occasionally will appreciate it more. (+/- The french version is very good, but some events are still in English / the staff seem to be reactive, so this will surely be fixed if we let them know).

✖ Fights are slow, especially when the area is full of monsters. After 30 hours of gameplay, this becomes irritating. ✖ The difficulty balance is weird. I played it in normal mode (adventure) and either the battles were far too simple, or on the contrary, far too punishing (a dozen monsters appearing every round for a maximum of 4/5 heroes can make you sweat very quickly). ✖ The map isn't really that useful; you walk around, eliminate the threat, secure…. over and over again….it's okay at first, but after a while it gets tiresome.

Wildermyth is therefore a rather charming and original game with its generational system, but it should be approached more like a role-playing game: you start a new scenario with a choice of character, and once the story is over, you leave it aside and come back to it later for a new quest. In which case, the game will feel far too repetitive, since from one game to the next, nothing really changes apart from the story.

youtube

➡ My Steam page

#some of my stories were more chaotic than others though xD at least there was still some surprises after hours of gaming #but yeah I'm gonna stop there bcs the routine is getting me bored - I'll certainly come back someday to do the rest of quests #wildermyth #Lola plays games #personal

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tygergm · 7 days

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One Shot Recs

I've either run or played these all as one shots, and are ones I recommended to a friend recently. I also have links at the bottom to a bunch of free quickstarts for more games to look at that might be good for one shots too.

Blue Rose - AGE system from Green Ronin. Romantic fantasy where royalty is chosen by a magical stag and the rich are appropriately taxed. Cool Stunts mechanic to do extra abilities during a turn, easy system to get used to but has that crunchy feel too. Sentient animal race that forms bonds with people is an instant love every time. Free quickstart.

Heart: the City Beneath - Resistance system by Rowan Rook & Decard. A dungeon crawler where the dungeon is an NPC. Take stress until you can't, go out in a blaze of glory with one time Zenith abilities, such as summon a train to wipe out everything in its path - including you. Heart's the love of my life and the first RPG to make me cry(in a good way). It's earnest and grotesque and something about going in knowing you will End, and choosing it, does something to me. Also you can be full of bees(on purpose). Quickstart is PWYW($3ish suggested) but you should give them 1 million dollars actually.

Bones Deep - Troika! system based by @technicalgrimoire. The other love of my life. Be a skeleton on the ocean floor! What happened to your skin? Not important! Do jobs for witches, get credits from the crabs, join the cephalopods in their nefarious plans. The classes are fun(shapeshift your bones, or carve spells into them), and the mix of horror and humor is immaculately weird. Many random tables and a couple scenarios to make it easy to start swimming walking. Also not free($15 for digital), but worth every cent and then some(and the website is awesome resource!).

Index Card RPG - d20 system from Runehammer Games. It's 'simple enough to fit on index card'. There's actually lots of stuff, but it's easy to get a game rolling fast! Be a gerblin, get a bunch of loot. If you're a chronic low roller like me, a nice mechanic is when you fail you get to put points in a pool to use for later rolls. Probably the easiest one on this list to jump to from DnD. Free quickstart.

Wildsea - Wild Words system from Mythworks(took me awhile to find the name for it lol which isn't important just play it xD). You can be a mushroom person piloting a giant whale bone ship with a chainsaw on the front above a sea of trees. The world is so cool and unique. Health is measured in stuff to lose/break and there's a sliding success mechanic(you succeed, you succeed BUT- etc.). Free quickstart.

Tales from the Loop - Year Zero engine by Free League. Be kids in an alternate 80s-90s Scandinavia(or US) setting trying to navigate growing up alongside strange tech and apathetic adults. I really like how they tweaked the system to make it fun being kids for this, with iconic items and luck points, and it's very collab focused. I used this scenario as a one shot. There's a starter's set for $4.99.

Old Gods of Appalachia - Cypher system by Monte Cook. Face horrors man-made and monstrous in the haints and hollers of an alternate 1930ish Appalachia. Based on the podcast(don't know anything about the podcast? Even better imo). Cyphers are neat one-time use items you find during game to make you stronger/invisible/etc. Free quickstart.

Under Hill, By Water - OSR hack by Rise Up Comus. Hobbits! Okay, "halflings" for copyright but...it's hobbits. While some are off saving the world, your greatest worry is finding the lost pig before your wife realizes it's missing. It's not a boring life, just a quiet one. Random table generators for Events to happen each season make this easy to pick up, or come up with your own! $10. We loved this one so much we turned it into a mini campaign.

Mörk Borg - OSR-ish by Free League. Last but not least in the amount of shelf space in my room! The basic rules fit on one piece of paper, but the books are packed with amazing art and delicious disgustingness. It's easy, quick and deadly, with so many random tables for generating baddies, loot, etc., and usually each version of it has a doomsday countdown calendar with horrid new things to add, and then a final horrible event to end the game. It IS very dark and gloom, and I don't normally play it as rough as the OG, which works out fine! You can get a free version of the core book on the website linked, and tons of other free goodies there. My current fav hacks are Pirate Borg and Ork Borg.

List of free Quickstarts I found(and some I'll be playing soon!):

Coriolis

Dune

Fabula Ultima

City of Mist

Rapscallion

Fifth Season

Symbaroum

Dragonbane

SCP

Root

Fantasy AGE

Modern AGE

Myth-Stakes

Dead Air: Seasons

Broken Tales

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins

Heckin' Good Doggos

Star Trek Adventures

Flabbergasted!

Familiars of Terra

Daggerheart

Coyote & Crow

7th Sea

Candela Obscura

Fallout RPG

Happy Gaming!

#ttrpgs #technical grimoire #mythworks #rowan rook & decard #free league #game recs

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