penguinkinggames

[penguinkinggames]

FYI: the URL of the Penguin King Games website will be changing to penguinking.games within the next week or so. If you have any bookmarks that need updating, now's the time!

[penguinkinggames]

Hey, folks. Starting today and continuing through November 28th, all of Penguin King Games' non-PWYW titles are 50% off. In addition, today (November 24th) only, 100% of all sales will go toward the creator as part of itch.io's Creator Day program. If there's something in our catalogue you've been meaning to pick up – or if you want to support our games currently in development, including Eat God, Space Gerbils and Tiny Frog Wizards – now's the perfect chance!

Note that the preceding link leads to a bundle containing all discounted titles; however, you can also claim the discount on individual games by clicking through to their respective pages.

(Credits for the preceding illustrations go to @shelandsorcery for the giant municipal crab @kalkiedoodles for the long-suffering elf queen.)

[penguinkinggames]

Hey, folks. Starting today and continuing through July 13th, all of Penguin King Games' non-PWYW titles are 50% off. This includes Zach Welhouse's Cerebos: The Crystal City – a surrealist travelogue game about riding trains and getting mixed up in existential shenanigans – as well as my own Costume Fairy Adventures (a game whose title is entirely self-explanatory) and its various supplements. You can get the whole lot for $22.50, or pick and choose individual games for half price – it works out the same either way.

It you're are interested in seeing any of the games I've got cooking right now go 1.0, the back catalogue is what pays to keep the lights on, so why not send a few bucks our way? In particular, if you've picked up Costume Fairy Adventures but not the supplements via one of those charity bundles on itch.io, this is a great chance to round out the collection – all three CFA playsets are only $7.50 with the sale.

(Credits for the preceding illustrations go to @shelandsorcery for the crab on the left and @kalkiedoodles for the queen on the right!)

[penguinkinggames]

One unearthly night, a ray of colourless light descended from the stars, and under its warping radiance, creatures unlike any the world has ever seen were born. They do not know the world, and they do not know themselves. Unfortunately for the world, they're quick learners!

Star-spawned is a GMless, oneshot-oriented tabletop RPG in which you don't know what your own traits do when play begins. The names of each group's stats are randomly generated using morpheme chaining, and characters are created while having absolutely no idea what they mean; figuring that out forms the greater part of play.

This is the official version 1.0 release. If you've been following along during playtesting, the only major differences between this version and playtest draft 0.4 consist of formatting and typographic fixes and some reorganisation of the random lookup tables in the back of the book.

Credit where credit is due goes out to @pomrania for beta reading, @catgirlhell for graphic design, @counterclockworkminds and their crew for playtesting, and far too many names than can feasibly be listed here for suggesting entries for the random milieu tables and stress-testing the stat name generator to make sure it won't easily spit out any slurs, swear words, and/or results that sound like they might be a kind of penis – check the "Credits & Acknowledgements" section for the full list!

Star-spawned can be obtained at the link above, or right here.

[penguinkinggames]

Hey, folks. Cerebos: The Crystal City and Costume Fairy Adventures are 50% off for itch.io's Creator Day Sale. The preceding link leads to a bundle containing everything that's on sale, but you can also get the same discount on each item individually by clicking through to it.

Cerebos is a surrealist travelogue game written by Zach Welhouse (and edited by me) about a group of amnesiac travellers riding a train to the titular Crystal City, with plenty of strange stops along the way.

Costume Fairy Adventures, meanwhile, is one of the earliest games I worked on from back in 2013; it's about, well, fairies. In costumes. Having adventures. (Look, I freely admit it's not a creative title.)

If you've ever been terribly curious to check out either one, now's your chance. All of my smaller games (Radical Catgirl Anarchy, Olaf Hits the Dragon with his Sword, Jellyfish Felonies, Sinister Hovering Orb, and To Serve) are already pay-what-you-want, so there's no sense putting them on sale, but they are included in the "100% of all sales go to the creator" thing that's running today, so if you just happened to pay what you want today in particular, that sure would be convenient!

[penguinkinggames]

To Serve, Version 1.0 released

Hey, folks. To Serve is out of public playtest and has been officially released! For those just joining us, To Serve is a tabletop roleplaying game where one player will take on the role of a questing Knight, and the other 2–4 players will assume the roles of the various Servants who make up the Knight’s retinue. Throughout your travels, many challenges will be overcome through the Servants’ careful preparation and occasional direct interference, and the Knight will – of course – receive all the accolades.

To Serve can be found here:

https://penguinking.com/to-serve/

Illustration by @catgirlhell​

[penguinkinggames]

Radical Catgirl Anarchy Version 1.2

Radical Catgirl Anarchy has been updated to version 1.2. This is a minor revision that brings the game in line with the most current licensing terms for Lasers & Feelings. As these terms permit commercial use, it’s now possible to donate when downloading the game (though it’s pay-what-you-want, so you can still get it for free).

[penguinkinggames]

Cerebos: The Crystal City, a tabletop roleplaying game about magic trains, lost memories, and the intersection thereof, is available in print-on-demand softcover via DriveThruRPG. Whether you’ve been waiting for this day or you’re just hearing about it for the first time, you can now get your hands on Cerebos in the literal sense!

(If you previously backed the crowdfunding campaign at the PDF-only level, don’t forget to claim your discount code.)

[penguinkinggames]

Cerebos: The Crystal City has been updated to version 1.01 – you can find the changelog here, or under the cut. Illustration by Madeleine Ember.

Note: page numbers refer to the PDF version of the game.

Core Rulebook

Linked cross-references added to the Glossary (pp. 12–14)

Added one new illustration: "Figure 1.1" by Madeleine Ember. (p. 17)

"Releasing  Touchstones" updated to clarify that re-rolling dice due to a  touchstone's Momentum does not reduce that Momentum (though the roll's  outcome might). (p. 51)

Ensured that the word "Stop" is always capitalised when used in its game-mechanical sense. (various pages)

Quick Reference Postcards

Updated text of Eye of the Desert Power of "Psychogrit" Conductor for consistency with core rulebook.

[penguinkinggames]

Cerebos: The Crystal City Version 1.0

Cerebos: The Crystal City leaves early access today! This tabletop game of memory, attachment, and magic(?) trains was successfully crowdfunded in April of this year, and today’s update marks its full public release. If you’re into trains, deserts, magical realism, the looming spectre of mortality, and/or talking about your feelings, Cerebos may be the roleplaying game for you.

Cerebos is available via itch.io and DriveThruRPG.

Changelog under the cut:

Note: all page numbers refer to the PDF version of the game.

Core Rulebook

Added four-page introductory comic "City of Surprises" by Cynthia Yuan Cheng (pp. 2–5), plus a bonus epilogue page (p. 91)  

Updated "Credits and Acknowledgements" (p. 6) to include authors of stretch goal Conductors (see below)  

Added four new illustrations: "Meet the Conductors" (p. 18) and "Traffegg Jam" (p. 50) by Kaninchenbau, and "I Hate Phantom Mothman" (p. 39) and "Speeding Along Like Dynamite (pp. 58–59) by Madeleine Ember. This rounds out fulfillment of the the "Double Art" stretch goal.  

Expanded preamble/genre discussion for all four existing Conductors (pp. 20–23)  

Inserted hyperlinked page references for Conductor Powers that modify or replace standard Train and Stop Actions, pointing to the relevant Action's writeup (pp. 20–26)  

Corrected several incomplete/improperly formatted pull quote citations (pp. 20, 26, 52, 54)  

Made minor clarifications to the "Musical Journey Through Space" Conductor's Montage Power (p. 23)  

Added three new Conductors: "Surreal Anime Bildungsroman" by Ashley Flanagan (p. 24), "Twisted Folk Horror" by Madeleine Ember (p. 25), and "Mythic Transgression" by Zach Welhouse (p. 26)  

Restored missing page border art to the "Random Touchstones" appendix (pp. 74–83)

Events and Stops

Added printing instructions to "Events and Stops" PDF  

Added "Cities of Motion" by Zach Welhouse to the Events packet.  

Added "Cities of Persistence" by Zach Welhouse to the Stops packet.  

Added blank and form-fillable Events/Stops table templates to download package; these resources are also available via the Penguin King Games website

Quick Reference Postcards

Reformatted print-and-play PDFs to have more printer-friendly margins  

Updated page references throughout "Summary" reference card to reflect updated core rulebook pagination  

Updated page reference in Waking Dream Power of "Psychogrit" conductor reference card to reflect updated core rulebook pagination  

Update description of "Musical Journey Through Space" Conductor's Montage Power to reflect core rulebook changes  

Added reference cards for "Surreal Anime Bildungsroman", "Twisted Folk Horror", and "Mythic Transgression" (see above)

Miscellaneous

Fixed several formatting issues with passport-style character record sheet; this resource has also been made available via the Penguin King Games website  

Download package reorganised to gather all blank playsheets into a zipfile and keep the length of the file list from getting out of control

[penguinkinggames]

An art teaser from the forthcoming version 1.0 release of Cerebos: The Crystal City, a tabletop RPG of memory, attachment and magic trains currently available in early access via itch.io and DriveThruRPG. This piece – courtesy of the very talented Kaninchanbau – depicts the game’s Conductors; each journey to Cerebos will have a single Conductor, and each Conductor carries with them a set of special rules that defines the journey’s genre, ranging from the cheerful Mr. Wumpus’s “All-Ages Fairy Tale”, to the enigmatic Duke Akira’s “Surreal Anime Bildungsroman”, to the gruesome Grimlight’s “Folk Horror”. (No points for guessing who’s who!)

[penguinkinggames]

Radical Catgirl Anarchy Version 1.1 and Olaf Hits the Dragon with His Sword Version 1.2 now available

This is a minor update that addresses portability issues in the previous versions of each game.

HTML versions no longer have an external dependency on Google Fonts API

HTML versions no longer require Internet access in order to correctly display Creative Commons logos

HTML versions now provided as zipfiles containing all required resources (i.e., rather than having to download the illustrations separately)

Radical Catgirl Anarchy and Olaf Hits the Dragon with His Sword are now available in EPUB format

The latest versions can be downloaded here:

https://penguinking.itch.io/radical-catgirl-anarchy

https://penguinking.itch.io/olaf-hits-the-dragon-with-his-sword

[penguinkinggames]

Jellyfish Felonies, Version 1.1: Changelog

This is a minor update that addresses reported legibility issues in version 1.0, particularly with respect to the small-caps effect used for Attribute names.

Main body font changed from "Poppins" to "Raleway"

Attribute names now use true small-caps (i.e., rather than faking it by reducing the font size)

Improved formatting of footnotes

Minor clarification to how the GM allocates Ill-Gotten Gains

Version 1.1 can be downloaded here:

https://penguinking.itch.io/jellyfish-felonies

[penguinkinggames]

Version 0.254 of Cerebos: The Crystal City is up in early access, including a special sneak peek at the game’s forthcoming introductory comic by Cynthia Yuan Cheng. You can check out the full changelog on itch.io, or under the cut, below.

This is a smaller revision than the last one, focusing primarily on stretch goal fulfillment for the game's Kickstarter campaign rather than large structural changes. Note that all page numbers refer to the PDF version of the game.

Core Rulebook

Updated "Credits and Acknowledgements" (p. 2) and "Illustration Credits" (p. 80) sections to reflect new contributors (see below)

Added extended examples of play to the "Flashbacks" (pp. 30–31) and "Endgame" (pp. 56–59) sections

Added four new illustrations: "It Begins" (p. 11) and "A Delightful Jest" (p. 29) by Kaninchenbau, "Night Scene" (p. 43) by Madeleine Ember, and "Great Escape" (p. 51) by Shel Kahn.

Updated the "Supporters" appendix (pp. 81–86)

Events and Stops

Added "Wayfaring Strangers" by Kevin Snow, "Performance" by Madeleine Ember, and "Snakes on a Train" by Ashley Flanagan to the Events packet

 Added "The Rolling Waves" by Amelia Gorman, "Once-Sacred Spaces" by Natalie Ash, and "Coins for Kitsch" by Kevin Snow to the Stops packet

Miscellaneous

Fixed an issue with the form-fillable character sheet where the "In the Second Leg, I Am..." box was defaulting to "A Demon" and would not permit blank selection (which is pretty important, since you don't start out knowing the answer!)

[penguinkinggames]

Gaming with Godot is a compendium of fifty tabletop RPG supplements – playbooks, scenarios, rules modules, and other miscellanea – by 48 different authors, with a catch: none of the games the material is written for actually exist. Entries run the gamut from transdimensional diners, to polyamorous starships, to a character class which can only be taken by a character who has killed God, each one offering a tiny glimpse of what tabletop roleplaying might look like in a world very slightly askew of our own.

Gaming with Godot can be downloaded for free via itch.io:

https://penguinking.itch.io/gaming-with-godot

[penguinkinggames]

Jellyfish. Few would suspect that these fragile bags of transparent goo are the most dangerous thing in the ocean – and that's just the way you like it. Take advantage of your unassuming appearance and the hidden wisdom of the depths to lie, cheat, swindle, defraud, embezzle, and prove that you don't need a brain to be a criminal mastermind!

Jellyfish Felonies is a semi-competitive tabletop roleplaying game for three to five players, plus an optional Gamemaster, and is available on a pay-what-you-want basis via itch.io:

https://penguinking.itch.io/jellyfish-felonies

[penguinkinggames]

A couple of teasers from the 0.253 update of Cerebos: The Crystal City. This version adds more stops and events by our very talented guest writers, as well as a 216-entry table of random touchstones for when inspiration runs short (or just for those who like tables).

Random Touchstones Teaser (tagged PDF)

Events and Stops Teaser (tagged PDF)

You can check out the full changelog on itch.io – which by an incredibly convenient coincidence is also where you can get your hands on the game in early access – or under the cut, below.

Note: all page numbers refer to the PDF version of the game; the EPUB's page numbering will vary depending on which EPUB reader you're using, and the HTML version of course has no page numbers.

Core Rulebook

Re-organised core rulebook to make room for forthcoming stretch goal content (various pages)

Widened margins and revised page border art in PDF edition; both should now be friendlier to home printers (all pages)

Experimental fix for inconsistent left margin on bulleted lists in some EPUB readers (various pages)

Relocated the Glossary section to precede rather than follow   the "Getting Started" chapter introduction; as a side effect, it's now   part of the "Summary" chapter instead (pp. 8–10)

Added glossary entries for "Cerebos", "Gamemaster" and "Traveler", and updated the entry for "Momentum" (pp. 8–10)

Added a section to the "Getting Started" chapter discussing player safety tools (p. 12)

Updated the mechanics for the Easy Confidence, Naturalist's Pen, and Tea and Doughcakes Conductor Powers (pp. 16, 18)

Added player safety notes for secret goals (pp. 24–25)

Inserted names and page references for which particular   Conductor Powers are being demonstrated in each of the "Use a Conductor Power" examples (pp. 28, 39)

Clarified how solo flashbacks work, especially in GMless games (p. 30)

Clarified how to break certain kinds of ties in GMless games (pp. 30, 48)

Added a new section discussing what Danger is and what various Danger levels mean (p. 32)

Removed an errant reference to forced Trait checks at the ends of Train Action turns when Event Danger is high (p. 34)

Revised and expanded the rules for how Danger works at Stops,   specifically addressing what happens if a Stop's Danger becomes zero as a  result of a forced Trait check when leaving the Stop (p. 36)

Clarified how using a keepsake effect to re-narrate the results of a Trait check works (p. 40)

Clarified the mechanical effects of partial success on a Trait check (p. 44)

Modified the discussion of how the Almanac and the Atlas work to  reflect stretch goal extensions to the Events and Stops packets (p. 46)

Expanded options for what happens when your traveler reaches four Damage (p. 48)

Completed "Random Touchstones" appendix (pp. 70–79)

Added first-pass version of "Crowdfunding Supporters" appendix (pp. 81–86)

Miscellaneous typographic fixes (various pages)

Events and Stops

Added "Hauntings" by  Will Mendoza, "Onboard Amenities" by Paul 'Ettin' Matijevic, and  "Shadows on the Tracks" by Amelia Gorman to the Events packet

Added "Lost  Aviaries" by Pam Punzalan, "Clearly Cursed Trees" by Natalie Ash, and  "Relics and Reclamations" by Paul 'Ettin' Matijevic to the Stops packet

Updated language of various keepsake powers to match revised wording of Trait check rules

Quick Reference Postcards

Updated page references throughout "Summary" reference card to reflect revised core rulebook structure

Updated description of Easy Confidence and Naturalist's Pen Powers of "Adventure!" conductor reference card to match revised Power mechanics in core rulebook

Updated page reference in Waking Dream Power of "Psychogrit" conductor reference card to reflect revised core rulebook structure

Updated description of Tea and Doughcakes Power of "All-Ages Fairy Tale" conductor reference card to match revised Power mechanics in core rulebook