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A new hunter has landed at the Denver International Airport!

Payton is ready to go, Blucifer ears ON.

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Anton O'Toole is back and learning about himself.

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from @x_khou over on the twitter machines

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hey kid...

want a free ttrpg?

Dog and background by @b-marsollier

The demo version of A Fool's Errand is available for free on itch!

A Fool's Errand is a tarot-fueled science fantasy roleplaying game about playing the Fool, keeping the gods in check, flirting with godhood yourself, and preventing the next Big Oops.

4-6 Players (including GMs)

Play with a deck of tarot cards in lieu of dice

Session 0 mechanics heavily baked in

~2-4 hours per session

Great for campaigns (4+ sessions)

Modular and replayable with tons of GM support to pick up & play

Interested? A Fool's Errand is funding starting October 22nd. Pre-save so you don't miss it!

The Game

A Fool’s Errand uses tarot cards to tell an expansive science fantasy story over several phases.

First, the group collaborates on the Big Oops - the biggest calamity in this world’s history. Players pinpoint what the world lost when the previous Fools reached their journey’s zenith, and which Major Arcana consorted or clashed with each other along the way.

Then, players create their Fools - Android or Human characters who become intertwined with the Major Arcana gods (including those who had a hand in the Big Oops), and whose journeys are led by unique tarot decks built with choices made in character creation.

Finally, the player’s characters play in the post-calamity, exploring both the waking world, and the Dream & Digital Networks - the surrealistic subconscious realm of Humans & Androids, respectively. Both are places of heightened power and quantum knowledge accessible to the Fools.

Players’ unique decks determine success, failure, and when a Major Arcana can’t help itself but to intervene in the adventure. Characters always have the option to accept the obligations from the Gods, or deny them.

Can they keep the Gods in check, contend with calamity, and spare the world another Big Oops?

Character Creation

Players build their Fools by selecting three motivations, each tied to a different Major Arcana. Included among these choices are the key Major Arcana who involved themselves in the previous Big Oops.

Each Major Arcana has a list of motivations to choose from. These three selected motivations provide a springboard for players to conceptualize their character. The three chosen Major Arcana are then inserted into the player’s play decks.

Players then expand upon their character builds by selecting their Lineage (Human or Android), Archetypes (Influencer, Inquirer, Operator, Outlaw, Protector, and/or Virtuoso), Skills, and Power Trees (a list of abilities themed after the Minor Arcana and branching into either Magic or Tech).

Characters pursue their motivations by exploring both the post-calamitous waking world and the Dream and Digital Networks. All the while, the Major Arcana intervene, planting seeds for players to clarify and satisfy their requests, or “Obligations”. As the Obligation Tracks fill up, the Fools flirt with godhood and draw closer to the advent of their own Big Oops.

Get This Game!

Head here to help us fund a physical print of the game!

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New Episode: Desperation (The Isabel) with Jason Morningstar

Jason is the designer of Desperation: The Isabel, a haunting historical horror game of a doomed cod-fishing vessel on the Gulf of Alaska in 1888 (as well as Fiasco, Grey Ranks, and a tremendous number of other hugely influential games). We set sail on the Gulf to explore what happens to this doomed crew as a storm overwhelms them… and then Hell comes with it.

You'll dig this episode if you like: Coen brothers movies, historical horror, The Terror, grim survivor stories, interpersonal nightmares, talking about cod

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"If you can make your own destiny, so can we."

Power Rangers Time Force was the 9th season of Power Rangers produced by Saban and ran from February 3rd to November 17th, 2001. 

I mention this because I think it’s important to remember that the War On Terror was just getting its boots on the ground when the finale of a children’s action show ended in peace and regret rather than a big robot spectacle. 

Normally a lot of the drawing points for a PR series is the Zords, the costumes, and the cool gear they get along the way, and sure, Time Force has a ton of that. It’s all decent bait designed to make kids buy toys, but this season didn’t impress me a lot. (With exception to the Quantum Ranger and the Q-Rex, that fucks.)

No, the best thing about Time Force is that this season has so much heart and isn’t afraid to have a few laughs as well. 

The Movie-Director mutant doing a bit about producers ruining things after the main villain pushes for his daughter to be in the movie. 

The same main villain being protective and sweet to the Blue Ranger when they mistakenly think he has a crush on his daughter. 

There's more than a few times the series embraces it’s goofy premise and it elevates the episodes. 

The other side of the coin there is how serious the content and subplots of the show can be. From the jump it’s a story about how a minority group (mutants)  weren’t being taken care of in their world, which pushed them into desperation, crime, and hate. Then that hate compounds itself with the addition of robots and the origin of the secondary villain of the series. 

The cycle continues over and over in the show, with multiple episodes convincing characters to set aside some bias, until in the finale of the show, after injuring and nearly killing his daughter and a human baby, Ransik sees the error of his ways, and turns himself in. No bloody conclusion, no screen filling explosion, just penance. 

The Time Force Rangers aren’t immune to life lessons either. 

Jen, The Pink Ranger, is the de facto leader of the group at first, and is driven on this mission to capture Ransik after the supposed death of her fiancé, the first Red Ranger Alex. 

Wes is Alex’s ancestor, is some rich kid who’s dissatisfied with his father’s plan for him, and so when Jen and Wes meet, Jen is so full of grief that she hates him. Over the course of the series we see Jen loosen up a bit and learn to love Wes for who he is, and realize that Alex is too married to the rules for her. (Alex is alive btw  don’t worry about it). 

Wes struggles with earning  his father’s love, but forges ahead on his path to do the right thing, regardless of the financial cost. We see him struggle with pre-determination, and fight to choose his own destiny rather than follow the easy road laid out before him. 

His father, Mr. Collins, goes from a greedy slimeball millionaire CEO to a proud, loving father, who is willing to search all night in a disaster to find his son, and learns the value of helping people along the way. We meet Eric, a foil to Wes who struggled to get to where he was and resents him for growing up in privilege, and the best part is that they never really just let him suddenly be cool with everyone. He’s the antihero for most of the series, and even in the finale states outright why he’s had a problem with Wes the whole time. We see him soften and work towards having peace with the others, but he’s never fully just part of the team like Tommy or the Titanium Ranger before him. 

The rest of the rangers are fairly flat characters who might learn a small lesson here or there, but are mostly around to help people. 

A big exception to this is Trip, the Green Ranger, an alien who in the series deals with self doubt and being treated differently because of his race, and defends a mutant who doesn’t want to fight from the Quantum Ranger. 

Most of these characters have some level of depth and motivation, and although we got a bit less from the villains in the season, how we see the characters grow makes up for that. 

Time Force is copaganda for sure, but it exists in a fictional world where billionaires can change into loving fathers, private military forces can become public and used to help people, and the good guys always catch the bad guys. Sometimes it’s nice to visit that world. 

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Season 2, Episode 39 is out on your podcast platform of choice!!!

Rabbit and Nammi make a pitch to end the threat of the Crystal Flower, while Kelly attempts to quell threats on his own.

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Party Of One is a good podcast and you should listen to it.

I promise. It's a good show. I like it a lot. If you like TTRPGs, you will like it. You should check it out.

Party of One is an actual-play podcast focused on two-player roleplaying experiences. Every episode I sit down with a guest, we play a 2-player TTRPG, share some laughs, maaaaaybe a few tears, and tell a self-contained story in 90 minutes or so.

It's like an interview podcast wrapped in an audio drama wrapped in an actual play. It's neat and funny and sad and weird and there's not a lot quite like it in podcasts. There are hundreds of self-contained episodes, you can jump in everywhere, and some very cool people have been on the show (we've had Jonny Sims, and Jadzia Axelrod who wrote Galaxy: The Prettiest Star, and also wrestlers, and comic artists, and game designers, and one time we did an episode with a puppet).

You can find the podcast in all the podcast places, or on the website.

There is also a guide to diving in, with episodes sorted by tags, Spotify playlists, and lists of all the different games we've played.

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Making a TTRPG and can't afford commissions? Try public domain images

Wikimedia project, library of congress, and various other databases have countless photos one can legally use and are meant to be used this way.

This is one image I plan on using (with some alteration) in some Blades in the Dark content I am working on at the moment. I got it off the Library of Congress.

Here's another, one I got from Wikimedia and used in Sixty Years After. Remember to still put attribution of the photographer if that is listed as part of the license. And I beg people to try this before turning to AI

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AP Review: Reckless Attack - Main Campaign

Listen Here: https://www.recklessattack.com/episodes/ Quick info:

Audio Quality: High Quality and Edited, Effects, Music. Vibes: Lord of the Rings, Ghibli, Never Ending Story, Avatar the Last Airbender, Frogs Extras: Discord and Patreon rewards. System: 5e DnD Average Episode time: 1 hour Uploads 1 Episode per week. Campaign/ Show Length: Long Term Campaign Platforms: Podcast, Audio Only. Accessibility: Content Warnings Language available: English Diversity: BIPOC Number of Episodes Review is based on: 100 (This is my first review so I decided to start with a Podcast I’m already caught up on) ** If you want the TLDR, scroll to the bottom of the post **

Why Reckless Attack?

I honestly believe that part of the draw of listening to people play a TTRPG is not just the story telling but an assurance that adults can somehow actually and consistently come together, in person, to pull off a full long term game. Reckless Attack is one such podcast. They are a small indie podcast with excellent audio quality and editing. 

But, why should you listen to another high fantasy podcast? Well, have you ever wanted to see what a post-apocalyptic High Fantasy world would look like? The deeper you delve into Reckless Attack, the deeper the lore gets, and we have barely scratched the surface a hundred episodes in. You’ll join the players as they explore a world recovering from an apocalyptic event, ripe with magic and unstable artifacts, an undead army, and frogs.

Starting The Pod

Right out the gate, the listeners are greeted by a Lord of the Rings style opening monologue, giving relevant history and context to the kind of place the characters live in. I personally get the feeling a lot of the world was established in a previous game or between the DM and players prior to the start of this campaign. If, as a listener, it feels like you're missing something, don't worry; you'll get a lot more context down the road, especially once the players make it to the city of Agmar (Episode 15). The first 15 episodes are a nice slow build up. 

Conveniently, the first recap episode covers Episode 1-14! (Though I really enjoyed the first 14 episodes, I know not everyone has the amount of listening time I have). If you are so inclined to start from the first episode, you'll get nicely eased into the characters and their relationships with one another before a lot of the bigger world building really starts to soar.

(My one caveat is that I listen to this podcast at 1.3-1.4 speed since the players and Nathan speak with a good amount of pauses, and that can be a little too slow for me.)

About the Team

Nathan, the DM for the main campaign, paints some amazing pictures of his homebrew world. He has a real talent for creating larger than life NPCs and Big Baddies for his players to interact with. They all have clear motivations, flaws, and personalities that truly rounds out the overall story. When it comes to plot, Nathan kept me on my toes with plot twists that would literally snap me out of whatever multitasking I was doing. And I must recognize how often Nathan opens the floor for the players to build parts of the story and describe longer stretches of downtime. Those moments are like the equivalent of cinematic montages to represent the passing of time.

The players, Sophie, Steve, David, and Jonathan, deliver wonderful descriptions and leave plenty of space for each other to speak, balanced with just the right amount of crosstalk. Each character has a very unique voice which is helpful for listeners (especially because David and Jonathan are twins and have similar voices).

Sophie plays Valeska Carter, the Human * Cleric. "Valeska is a young woman in search of answers. Like, compulsively."* I quickly fell in love with Val, an exhausted nerd who can never have enough notes and organization. If you're the kind of person who is always rescuing animals, you will love her too. 

Steve plays Selv Asterlin, the Dragonborn Monk. "Selv’s years at his town’s icy mountain monastery has trained not just his body, but also his mind and emotions. The large dragonborn seeks to be a peacemaker in conflicts, exuding strength, calm and serenity while straying away from violence and lethal force when possible."* But don't be fooled, Selv is often one for the occasional good prank, and I always appreciate Steve's references even when the rest of the group don't understand them. (I got you Steve) 

David plays Kascorin "Kass" Brightmane, the Dwarven Warlock. "Tomorrow (Kass leaves) this city for the Golden Tree adventuring guild, and in leaving this city, (He leaves his) friends, (his) family, and (his) comfortable life behind."* Kass is very grounded, serious, and focused, until he runs into tasty dried meats. Kass has all the charm of a warlock and the grit of a soldier. 

Jonathan plays Checkers, the Gung Druid, with his trusty pals Mango and Junior. "Joining the Golden Tree adventuring guild on a dare, Checkers and his frog pal Mango are here to prove that it’s better to find your own path than to follow someone else’s. After all, where’s the fun in looking before you leap?"* Checkers is a lot like the characters I personally play. Someone who doesn't stand around for too much planning and prefers to "leap" into action. In my very humble opinion, every group needs an instigator. 

I have also come to really admire the level of trust and respect the group has for one another. They handle both wonderful whimsical beats as well as solemn moments with great care (Episode 108 was magnificent.)

*Quoted from the official Reckless Attack website. You can find this and more at their website www.recklessattack.com. (Be aware, reading the available character sheets may contain spoilers)

About the World

Ryxia is built on a world where long ago, the Gods walked among mortals, but one day they left. As if in consequence, magic in this world seems to ebb and flow, and monsters roam the wilds. Until, the "second of Ryxia’s twin suns disappeared from the sky, the Ultragiants appeared, and the Pentarchy’s great capital city of Narhasur was turned into a smoldering crater." *

You can think of the Ultra Giants as the Titans of this world, being elemental and colossal. These Ultra Giants terrorized mortals until one day, the mortals managed to kill one " wielding their city’s Object of Focus… The object was destroyed, as was much of the army. But strangely, within days, the Ultragiants no longer stalked Ryxia."*

As the mortals re-emerged, they started to rebuild despite the incredible amount of monsters who now roam the lands. 

*Quoted from the official Reckless Attack website. You can find this and more at their website www.recklessattack.com. (Be aware, reading the available character sheets may contain spoilers)

Extras

Aside from the main campaign Nathan has his own series called Reckless A-Talk. This series Nathan or others on the team interview incredible people from all over the TTRPG space. Nathan's style of interviewing is mostly allowing his guest to speak more than he does, followed by the wonderful lightning round questions. I highly recommend listening to these (as a little treat) if you are interested in learning other perspectives and other aspects of the industry. 

Bonus one shots are another part of Reckless Attack, allowing the players to take the reigns.  They serve as fun filler for when you just can't wait for the next episode to drop. 

And if that's still not enough content for you, you can always subscribe to their Patreon for even more content, including the very relaxed Reckless A-Snack.

TLDR

High Fantasy world rebuilding the world after mortals were nearly wiped out.

Listeners will get a good feel of the world within the first 14 episodes. (IMO, the pacing starts to pick up after Episode 14)

Here are "Tale Til Now," recap episodes for those who want to catch up faster. (Episodes 1-14, 14-42, 42-66, 67-84)

Non Player Characters are larger than life, with clear motives and personalities.

The Dungeon Master and Players share a lot of world building and you can feel the love and trust they have for each other.

Recommended listening at 1.3x-1.5x speed if you are one of those people (you know who you are).

Find more details about the world and characters at www.recklessattack.com.

Lots of extra content for those who just need more, including; interviews, one-shots run by the players, and patreon bonus content. https://www.patreon.com/recklessattack/home Do you have ideas or suggestions? Please feel free to comment! No Context Spoilers:

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Today on Memester - Jurnee and her dad go check out the local sights!

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DEATH OF THE AUTHOR is a solo tarot TTRPG of character autonomy.

Play as a Character attempting to gain agency by wresting narrative control from their Author.

Gameplay involves drawing tarot cards for Scene Prompts, events written by the Author. The Character then edits these prompts to shape the story to their will.

Use caution - tampering with the narrative draws the attention of the Author, who might retaliate by using the Character’s own words against them.

Death of the Author will be crowdfunding on Backerkit starting May 14th. Follow the page to be notified when it launches!

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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

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Knowledge Revenge.