For the Guild! and Games Worth Playing

For the Guild!

I've done what I've been threatening to do for a while now and updated my Patreon page, the Graverobber's Guild. Currently, this is the best way to support me and the stuff I make on a regular basis.

You can tip $1 USD a month if you like what I'm about, or for just $2 USD a month you can get monthly updates, advanced playtest documents, sneak peeks and discounts on the games I make! Back in April, Guildmembers recieved my game GoGoGolf! for free, and there are lots more lil nuggets like that on the way.

Have a look and please consider chipping in to help keep the lights on!

art by Nicoletta Migaldi
(the Graverobber she designed is the blog's mascot! That's her, there, at the top of the page!)

Games Worth Playing

I'm starting a review series here on the blog called Games Worth Playing. That includes tabletop RPGs as well as other tabletop/analogue/physical games. Whatever I want, basically.

Here's a bit of info so you know what to expect, and so I have some kind of structure to hold myself to:

- I will only review games I think are actually good in at least some respects, hence the Worth Playing. No scathing takedowns.
- No review scores! I don't think they really do much good overall.
- I guarantee that if I am reviewing a game, I have played it. I'll play games as many times as I feel is necessary before reviewing them, so likely more than once.
- I will attempt to approach reviews from a design perspective, so if you're here for me talking Game Design then this series will fit in with the rest of this blog.
- Blog posts on here are fairly stream-of-consciousness, often just my notes given a roughly readable shape - I'll be doing my best to write Games Worth Playing to what I consider a professional standard.
- I won't review expensive games unless I feel they unequivocally justify their price tag - I doubt you'll see many, if any, Games Worth Playing that cost more than £30 or so at time of purchase, and many that are much cheaper than that (or free!).

- Generally speaking, there will be more of a focus on independent creators and lesser-known games!
- Also, can't believe I need to say this, but given the current climate around media journalism - reviews are just my personal opinions! No more, no less.

I've put a goal on the Patreon page; if we reach 20 Guildmembers, I'll do one Game Worth Playing per month. Until then, I'll post them whenever I get round to it.

First review coming soon! It's shaping up to be a doozy...

It Came From the Blogosphere! Straight to Video

Back from holiday! Currently in the process of moving out! Too... busy... for... RPGs!

But while there hasn't been time for much writing this month, there's certainly been time for reading. Here's a lil instalment in my ICFTB series.

did you know: you can read "blogs" (birtual logs) from all around the world while On Line?? 

My off-the-cuff ramble about the SWORD DREAM moniker is now the most viewed post on this blog. People really like talking about thinking about games, huh? I prefer making and playing them, so that's likely the last major thing you'll see me write on the topic - but here's some more context for people who want it. I edited the post to include a couple of links too.

If you're still looking for yet more high level meta-commentary, I found this post on how the indie scene fosters an unwelcoming attitude a worthwhile read, and true to my own experiences.

I enjoy learning more about the early days of the hobby, a time during which I was very much Not Born Yet. Here's a fascinating and well-written dive into a lesser-known RPG from that primordial era... and I really do mean "lesser-known".

Jeff Rients is running a FLAILSNAILS game again! If you're on this blog you likely already know about this and why it's a Cool Thing. You may even be taking part! Jeff's games are super fun, inclusive free-for-alls, and I'm definitely going to try and play once I'm more settled. If you don't yet know about FLAILSNAILS, you should check out the play reports Jeff's been posting - like this one - and get stuck in.

Finally: Zedeck wrote a living weapon class and it rocks socks.

Your regularly scheduled (to wit: largely unscheduled and highly irregular) Guide resumes next month!

a SWORD DREAM

Stop reading about games online. Play them with your friends.

Buy my stuff.

It Came From The Blogosphere! the Third

Every once in a while I'll round up some good things I've read lately on the so-called "Internet" and yell at you to go and read them too - welcome to It Came From The Blogosphere! Check the tag for earlier instalments.

actual footage of me surfing the Web

This is one of my favourite things about the scene we still tentatively call the OSR - everyone's just sharing their fun ideas and helping folks out and whatnot. All kinds of people, with all kinds of good stuff!

F'rinstance:

Emmy Allen's game about secret agents doing missions in the faltering reality of a dreamworld, Deep Morphean Transmissions, is OUT! I've been hyped for this for a while - read more about it right here and then buy it. Emmy is just so good at what she does, you'll love this and everything else she makes. (There's a heart rate mechanic, you guys.)

This scene is so great in part because of how freely great designers share their process and talk about how and why they do what they do. When Sean McCoy talks about layout design, you'd better listen - and he does so right here.

Ben L at Mazirian's Garden is doing a series about the whys and wherefores of old-school design - some very thoughtful and well-referenced articles from the umbrella perspective of the differences and similarities in OSR and "storygames". The latest one is here, and worth a read no matter what kind of tabletop RPGs you play.

One of the best things about games with PC classes is when you read about a class option and want to play the game immediately just so you can be one of those guys. Zedeck Siew wrote one such class for Robertson Sondoh Jr's game, Metatoy, and I want to play one! 

Joseph Manola's back, baby - and he's diving into Dickens. 

How about some preliminary rules for piloting giant robots in Into the Odd, written by its creator? Here ya go.

I wasn't familiar with the blog before now, but Was It Likely has an idea for a game whose mechanics revolve around items, and it's a game I reckon I'd have a lot of fun playing.

Happy gaming! x

After School Demon Hunters

I wrote a 200-word RPG a year or so ago as a kinda of creative exercise and put it up on my Gumroad store, mainly just so there'd be something there.

I feel like it doesn't really fit in there anymore so I'm taking it down, but I didn't want it to just disappear.

So, here ya go!

After School Demon Hunters

The Story

Each player is a teenager in high school. Together you run the After School Demon Hunters and rid your school and local area of demons, using the magical power from a mysterious book, phone app, etc. It may be tempting to use its magic in your daily life, but don’t forget about those demons!

Characters

Your character has 4 Traits: Jock, Nerd, Prep and Goth. Spend 7 points between them, with 0 to 3 in each.

Also pick a favourite subject from the following: Arts & Drama, History & the Humanities, Literature & Languages, Maths & Sciences and Physical Education.

Gameplay

To do something important, roll to match or beat a difficulty of 4 (average), 6 (difficult) or 8 (almost impossible), decided by the GM. Roll 1d6 and add a Trait, explaining why it’s relevant. If your favourite subject is also relevant, you can reroll once.

The team collectively has 7 Magic dice. Add these to any result, but when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Investigate whatever spookiness is afoot, but don’t neglect your school work! When you finally discover and confront the demon, roll your remaining Magic dice. If any are doubles, you exorcise, seal or destroy it.

A Proper English Weather Table

Roll for Season

1. Winter
2. Spring
3. Summer
4. Autumn

Roll for Temperature (1d4 in Winter, 2d4 in Summer, 1d6 in Spring/Autumn)

1. Bitter
2. Cold
3. Cool
4. Mild
5. Warm
6-8. Hot

Roll for Sky (1d6 in Spring/Autumn, 2d6 take lower in Winter, 2d6 take higher in Summer. On a result of 1-5, use Rain table below)

1. White
2. Grey
3. Overcast
4. Cloudy
5. Light cloud
6. Clear

Roll for Rain (It might not rain all day, but this is the most it'll rain when it does. 1d8 in Spring/Autumn/Winter, 1d8+1d4 in Summer. Alternate Winter results in parentheses):

1. Rainstorm
2. Pouring (snow)
3. Rain (hail)
4. Rain
5. Drizzling (sleet)
6. Spitting
7. Threatening
8-12. No rain [Optional: Flip a coin. If heads, alter the previous (Sky) result by adding the d4 you rolled as part of this table, to a max of 6 total]

Reroll results (excepting season) once or twice per day, if you can be bothered. Druids may perform a rite once daily to alter the Rain table result by 1d4, adding or subtracting their result from the GM's.

The Monster is Three Things

For the sake of example, this monster is old, sad and hungry.

Behind your screen or in your book, note these and nothing else. Beyond this, there is no monster.

Do not describe the monster other than through what it is; if the players ask about its size, for instance, speak only of how it has withered through age or starvation, or grown with its insatiable appetite. If they wonder about its appearance, consider the effects of its mood or its long life on its colour and form.

Your players may ask what it is - you only tell them it is old, sad and hungry. "No", they say, "what, it must be something", and list names of monsters they know, guessing. Their guess is as good as yours. All you know is the truth; it is three things. Anything they guess that does not contradict the truth may as well be treated as accurate, if only for the sake of manufacturing shared understanding.

If your game uses stats for monsters, avoid them, unless they manifest its oldness, sadness or hungriness directly within the rules. You will get by fine without your numbers; you have the truth of the thing.

An image will form. Do not dispel it.

Then, move on. They will never see this monster again.