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[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Apocalypse World

Did you know that some early PBTA games used to have *Blank* world as a naming scheme? it never really caught on

Touchstones: Fallout, Mad Max

Genre: Post-Apocalypse, Drama

What is this game?: Apocalypse World is a roleplay focused post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, its also the game that spawned the very popular PBTA framework

CWs: Apocalypse world deals with many dark themes, it's considered an "R-Rated" game citing Language, Sex, and Violence, it also features Mind control, mentions of drug use, and general post-apocalyptic horribleness, however I will attempt to stray away from those themes if possible

How's the gameplay?: OK, I'll likely actually link back to this review a few more times as we talk about other PBTA games, just so we can skip explaining the PBTA gameplay every time, so we're gonna try to be pretty thorough this time Apocalypse World's primary mechanic focuses on the use of Moves, Playbooks, and a 2d6 resolution system, where 1-6 is a miss, 7-9 is a weak hit, and 10-12 is a Strong hit, however your roll will always progress the story in some way, this way even failure can be fun! Moves trigger when doing specific actions, and they all interact with mechanics in some way, the prototypical move in Apocalypse world reads like this: "When Narrative trigger: gameplay effect", then this will either help you with a roll around the gameplay effect, or have you roll for a new gameplay effect, whereupon it'll read like this: "On a 1-6, Failure with consequences, on a 7-9 Success with Consequences, on a 10-12 Success with no consequences" Moves will usually add a stat to them, Apocalypse world's stats are Cool, Hard, Hot, Sharp, Weird, and HX, HX being an asymmetrical stat determining your relationship with other characters.

Playbooks are your character's narrative role, it will give your characters their narrative abilities, gameplay moves, relationships, appearances, basically everything about your character beyond things such as name (and even then, some games remove THAT distinction too), you pick one at the start and generally stick with them the whole game, think of it as a class, in Apocalypse World specifically every playbook has a "Special", a move that generally triggers when characters have sex, this might seem like the type of thing that other games in the framework dumpster pretty quick, but you'd be surprised it actually took a bit for people to get rid of that one

What's the setting (If any) like?: It has one Ok, in all seriousness, Apocalypse World's setting assumes you're playing in an edgy, presumably nuclear, mad max inspired post apocalypse, characters are grimy, aesthetics are leathery and gritty, mutations are common, and shit's BAD. Otherwise, feel free to work on the specifics, maybe you just want to play 1-to-1 fallout, or maybe you want to create your own fully original apocalyptic version of The Butt, Coventry, UK

What's the tone?: Dark. Apocalypse World makes it very clear that the world sucks, and the characters (probably) suck, while you could play a ragtag group of do-gooders, the game assumes a morally gray cast in a world that is actively hostile towards them. Apocalypse World's tone is, not for the faint of heart

Session length: Variable but 3 hours is usually enough to do quite a bit

Number of Players:  3 Minimum, but obviously more can help

Malleability: Apocalypse World's setting is generic to non existant, letting you play a ton of post apocalyptic settings, while branded apocalypses like Fallout or Mad Max might be difficult due to the inclusion of overt supernatural elements, you could really do any nuclear apocalyptic setting within this framework.

Resources: Apocalypse World has quite a few resources just due to being one of the oldest PBTA games, a google sheet exists, I've seen some short scenarios, and the game provides you with Move and Playbook cheat sheets, fan playbooks also exist and there's some pretty good ones if you look around enough, it's not a lot but it's enough for what the game is And here's the big cheese! While most modern PBTA design comes from Monsterhearts and Masks, this is the game that started it all, its gritty and very rough around the edges, but I still really like it

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

embedded link

(also correction: i forgot she made .dungeon, i adore .dungeon)

reblogs help more than likes!

psst if you uh, are the type to boost various indie ttrpg bundles, might i suggest snow's personal fundraising bundle for laser hair removal? (link: https://itch.io/s/121206/laser-hair-removal-for-snow)

snow makes the songbirds system and lots of other very cool games; if i was in a position to, i'd donate the money she needs to meet her goal; i'm not, so for now i'll try to boost her bundle to other folks in the indie ttrpg space

I saw, go support snow, she's a phenomenally talented creator, I've checked out some of her games and while most of them are squarely under not my thing, they all demonstrate a lot of mastery and passion

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

psst if you uh, are the type to boost various indie ttrpg bundles, might i suggest snow's personal fundraising bundle for laser hair removal? (link: https://itch.io/s/121206/laser-hair-removal-for-snow)

snow makes the songbirds system and lots of other very cool games; if i was in a position to, i'd donate the money she needs to meet her goal; i'm not, so for now i'll try to boost her bundle to other folks in the indie ttrpg space

I saw, go support snow, she's a phenomenally talented creator, I've checked out some of her games and while most of them are squarely under not my thing, they all demonstrate a lot of mastery and passion

ps: reblogs help more than likes!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

please note that this blog is a strong believer in mothman

no other cryptids are real

just mothman

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Single Unique Power, it has some stuff based around the origins of superpowers but otherwise its really cool and handy, I think See Issue X is also a worldbuilding game? but i haven't checked that one out

I am now taking suggestions for worldbuilding ttrpgs to build a setting for a Masks campaign!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

No such thing! yall are always welcome to advertise in the RBs, esp south american content creators

here, there, be monsters! is a rules-lite response to monster-hunting media from the monsters’ point of view. It’s both a love letter and a middle finger to stuff like Hellboy (and the BPRD), the SCP Foundation, the Men in Black, the World of Darkness games and the Urban Fantasy genre in general. It is an explicitly queer, antifascist and anti-capitalist game about the monstrous and the weird, in any flavor you want, not as something to be feared, but to be cherished and protected.

Play as a diverse crew of monstrous, anomalous or just generally odd beings, fighting against those who would use, abuse or even annihilate you. Create and populate your own supernatural underworld, abnormal gang and extra-dimensional haven. Hunt monster hunters! Punch nazi occultists! Eat the rich! Protect each other! Fight back! Here, there, be monsters!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Lancer RPG

pfft, your mech is your dead mom's soul? well MY mech is co-piloted by Cthulhu!

Touchstones: Armored Core, General Mech Media

Genre: Mecha, Tactics game

What is this game?: Lancer is a tactical TTRPG focused on mechs, and the folks piloting them, with a sturdy "Gameplay over Realism" mentality to its game design

How's the gameplay?: Lancer is a tactical RPG using primarily d20s for attack rolls and other problem solving, it's primarily based on the tactical combat rules of Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, however it is mostly its own thing, with new mechanics, simple but fun character creation, and a high focus on quick and aggressive combat rather than lengthy and Defensive combat. in effect imagine character creation as going to a subway (of mech parts) and picking your ingredients, with a mech's frame being your choice of bread, and combat as an SRPG of your choosing but everyone is in giant mechs

Out of Combat is a bit different, to the point where I didn't even bring it up during my first draft of this! the Out of Combat rules are deliberately bare bones, you can very easily insert straight up a different game in there, or mod it to be something else. But I wouldn't recommend it, as the rules by themselves are 100% useable, fun, and blend into the combat portions pretty easily, Lancer is fully aware of this, and the lack of out of combat depth is partially covered by the KTB book, which gives characters simple out of character skills

What's the setting (If any) like?: Lancer throws you into a world where mankind's either solved, or is close to solving, most of the issues back on earth... too bad we also colonized other planets 10k years ago! Now, while Earth thrives, planets outside of it struggle with poverty, imperialism, dictatorships, and human and non-human rights issues, Earth tries its best to help, but they're stretched very thin. Lancer also has many small details to its setting that are way too in-depth to get into right now, but a major one is the existance of non-human people, eldritch beings strapped to computers in order to create effective and fully sentient artificial intelligence

What's the tone?: Lancer's tone is generally speaking, hopeful. Empires are mighty, but there are people fighting, and they will be toppled, mankind's horrors have attempted to wipe out entire species, but survivors remain, and secretly thrive. While there is some doom and gloom and grimdark stuff, especially with how the highly unethical and wicked corporations are treated as necessary evils for enterprising pilots, but overall lancer is a setting where no matter how bad things get, there will always be hope

Session length: A few hours, it depends on how mean your GM is, generally speaking however combat heavy sessions will only run you around 2-3 hours, with RP sprinkled in between

Number of Players: I generally like to recommend around 4 or more, but I'm sure you can do it with less

Malleability: While lancer's mechanics are pretty hardset in its setting, the existance of Beacon RPG and how at its core its very much a Lancer hack does show that Lancer can be hacked into differing settings, a very popular one I've seen is Magical Girl Lancer.

Resources: Lancer's primary resource is Comp/Con, it effectively serves as a do everything tool for lancer, allowing you to manage characters, encounter, and homebrew, while also having a very slick and easy to use UI Lancer also has many pre-made modules, of... varying quality, Siren's song and Solstice rain are pretty good, Wallflower is very good but the encounters are of mixed quality, and it's not great for introducing people to the game in my experience

Homebrew is also fairly popular, new frames, NPC types, Bonds, and modules are all pretty popular, my personal favorite being Field Guide to Suldan and Field Guide to Iridia, I also enjoy Field Guide to Liminal Spaces though that one's a bit on the "Be Very Careful" side

Overall, lancer is effectively THE indie ttrpg, being quality, fun, and affordable, with the core rulebook being 100% free if you just wish to see the player-side content, it's a great time, and everyone who's interested in the indie ttrpg scene should check it out at least once

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Btw I know I said the first two weekly posts were gonna be Lancer and TSL since those are my two favorite games. I already have the TSL post drafted but I think I should lead with a certain other game due to its aesthetics and mechanics being very relevant rn

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

I'll reblog it at 6 tomorrow which is the time I usually post at, that one was on me

Post came out 3 hours too late, oops!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Post came out 3 hours too late, oops!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Lancer RPG

pfft, your mech is your dead mom's soul? well MY mech is co-piloted by Cthulhu!

Touchstones: Armored Core, General Mech Media

Genre: Mecha, Tactics game

What is this game?: Lancer is a tactical TTRPG focused on mechs, and the folks piloting them, with a sturdy "Gameplay over Realism" mentality to its game design

How's the gameplay?: Lancer is a tactical RPG using primarily d20s for attack rolls and other problem solving, it's primarily based on the tactical combat rules of Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, however it is mostly its own thing, with new mechanics, simple but fun character creation, and a high focus on quick and aggressive combat rather than lengthy and Defensive combat. in effect imagine character creation as going to a subway (of mech parts) and picking your ingredients, with a mech's frame being your choice of bread, and combat as an SRPG of your choosing but everyone is in giant mechs

Out of Combat is a bit different, to the point where I didn't even bring it up during my first draft of this! the Out of Combat rules are deliberately bare bones, you can very easily insert straight up a different game in there, or mod it to be something else. But I wouldn't recommend it, as the rules by themselves are 100% useable, fun, and blend into the combat portions pretty easily, Lancer is fully aware of this, and the lack of out of combat depth is partially covered by the KTB book, which gives characters simple out of character skills

What's the setting (If any) like?: Lancer throws you into a world where mankind's either solved, or is close to solving, most of the issues back on earth... too bad we also colonized other planets 10k years ago! Now, while Earth thrives, planets outside of it struggle with poverty, imperialism, dictatorships, and human and non-human rights issues, Earth tries its best to help, but they're stretched very thin. Lancer also has many small details to its setting that are way too in-depth to get into right now, but a major one is the existance of non-human people, eldritch beings strapped to computers in order to create effective and fully sentient artificial intelligence

What's the tone?: Lancer's tone is generally speaking, hopeful. Empires are mighty, but there are people fighting, and they will be toppled, mankind's horrors have attempted to wipe out entire species, but survivors remain, and secretly thrive. While there is some doom and gloom and grimdark stuff, especially with how the highly unethical and wicked corporations are treated as necessary evils for enterprising pilots, but overall lancer is a setting where no matter how bad things get, there will always be hope

Session length: A few hours, it depends on how mean your GM is, generally speaking however combat heavy sessions will only run you around 2-3 hours, with RP sprinkled in between

Number of Players: I generally like to recommend around 4 or more, but I'm sure you can do it with less

Malleability: While lancer's mechanics are pretty hardset in its setting, the existance of Beacon RPG and how at its core its very much a Lancer hack does show that Lancer can be hacked into differing settings, a very popular one I've seen is Magical Girl Lancer.

Resources: Lancer's primary resource is Comp/Con, it effectively serves as a do everything tool for lancer, allowing you to manage characters, encounter, and homebrew, while also having a very slick and easy to use UI Lancer also has many pre-made modules, of... varying quality, Siren's song and Solstice rain are pretty good, Wallflower is very good but the encounters are of mixed quality, and it's not great for introducing people to the game in my experience

Homebrew is also fairly popular, new frames, NPC types, Bonds, and modules are all pretty popular, my personal favorite being Field Guide to Suldan and Field Guide to Iridia, I also enjoy Field Guide to Liminal Spaces though that one's a bit on the "Be Very Careful" side

Overall, lancer is effectively THE indie ttrpg, being quality, fun, and affordable, with the core rulebook being 100% free if you just wish to see the player-side content, it's a great time, and everyone who's interested in the indie ttrpg scene should check it out at least once

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Saudade is a map-drawing TTRPG to be played solo or with friends. It is about finding value in a past altered by time.

The word Saudade is portuguese for a feeling of deep longing for something, it is to miss intensely, but it is most often than not a positive feeling, the certainty that what is no longer here will always be with us.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Fate Stories; Fate is a well known system, but this take on the engine trims all the cruft. Fate has always been a game about Aspects, and Fate Stories centers them firmly, partly by dropping most other components of characters (no skills or approaches here) but also by giving your campaign and each scenario aspects of their own.

It's a really elegant reduction of a system that can otherwise be a bit clunky, and it keeps the important things front and center. Fate Stories has dethroned Fate Accelerated as my preferred version of Fate!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Last Fleet; Last Fleet is PbtA Battlestar Galactica. While it's flexible enough to do a variety of settings, including a fantasy one provided in the book, Battlestar Galactica is the easiest example of the game's "the last remnants of humanity, fleeing an overpowering force" concept, and a lot of the way the text is designed makes it clear that BSG was a big influence.

Last Fleet features an amazing "Pressure" system, which allows players to boost their rolls and gain XP by "raising the Pressure" on their character.  If a character accumulates too much Pressure, they hit a Breaking Point, can no longer Raise Pressure, and need to take a dramatic Breaking Point action like having a public meltdown or alienating someone they care about...and too many Breaking Points takes a character out of the game.  This means characters need to depend heavily on reaching out to each other or letting loose to reduce the Pressure.

If you like games with a lot of interpersonal drama set against a high stakes background, Last Fleet is absolutely worth checking out.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Going Forward

So, this is a uh, very early spot to change things huh? Yeah I pretty quickly realized that posting every day media that is complex and requires more than just a picture to explain completely by myself was a bit unfeasible Going forward, TTRPG of the Day will become TTRPG of the Week, there may be more than one post per week if there are submissions or games without much to talk about, but we'll slow down to a weekly posting schedule In return, posts will be higher quality, utilizing a template (which will be shortly shown using Lancer and TSL as examples) to be more accurate and less diminutive towards the games we look at

I feel really weird making this post, objectively this blog isn't a huge effort to work on, but completely by myself? yeah this very quickly became unfeasible, a big part of why i waffled on so long about my break is that i kept telling myself "this isn't a big deal, you're just overwhelmed with other stuff, other people have way worse stress", which i now realize is uh. not the healthiest mindset The original plan for this blog was 366 high quality indie games that are better than 5e, then we'd slow down to a more manageable posting schedule, but it does look like we'll have to settle for 52 instead haha

Anyways, I really don't like doing this, but it seems the only way to keep going forward is this

There might be some double posts as we redo some prior games with hindsight + a more introspective and in-depth look, but I'll try to have exclusively new games 99% of the time

Regular posting returns on Friday, we'll have 3 more daily games as a send off (all submissions). thank you for your patience

- Mod Azzy

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Yeah this isn't the first reply i've gotten that i kinda misrepresented the game visavis it being native folklore based and it being "niche", I don't think i did a bad job at pitching the game but i was def a bit reductive towards it, I also made that same mistake with gubat banwa much, much earlier on in the blog's history. In the case of gubat banwa it was because of batch posting but in the case or CnC it's because I hadn't read it before vetting it for the blog.

Also another thing i forgot to praise the game on: in a world where so many marginalized stories focus on pain and suffering, CnC very clearly is more about celebrating its culture and people, its really really cool to see

Coyote & Crow is great, it's set in a self-described "Decolonized" Sci-Fi utopian setting, where many of the stories from North American native groups are real and living. Coyote & Crow is a bit on the niche side, appealing mostly to folks who are knowledgeable about, or are part of, native american groups. But this game's cool enough that I think i can do a broad reccomendation of it, also it's just a good game with a ton of help for people who aren't native to play while steering away from stereotypes

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Honestly I really do wish LATAM creators in the community were more willing to work on games based on their own culture, closest I can think of is that breaking bad ttrpg from Magpie and even then its really torture porny and focuses way too much on "mexico is a drug addled hellhole"' rather than anything on its actual culture

idk i just think its a little bit sad that what little culture we get to put out there focuses on misery and suffering