#apocalypse keys

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Trans made TTRPGs

Due to… recent events that I would rather not talk about, today's post is a highlight of different tabletop games made by trans peeps! These games are fantastic in their own right, of course, but you can also know that they were made by incredibly cool and attractive people

(Also, these are flyover descs of the game, they'll get more in-depth singular posts later, this is because I am lazy)

Perfect Draw is a phenomenal card game TTRPG that was funded in less than a day on backerkit, it's incredibly fun and has simple to learn hard to master rules for creating custom cards, go check it out!

Songs for the dusk is fucking good, pardon my language, but it's a damn good post apocalyptic game about building community in a post-capitalist-post-apocalypse-post-whatever world. do yourself a favor and if you only check out one game in this list, check this one out, its a beautiful game.

Flying Circus is set in a WW1 inspired fantasy setting full of witches, weird eldritch fish people (who are chill as hell), cults, dead nobility, and other such things. It's inspired by Porco Rosso primarily but it has other touchstones.

Wanderhome is a game about being cute little guys going on a silly adventure and growing as the seasons change, its GMless and very fun

https://weregazelle.itch.io/armour-astir Armour Astir has been featured in here before but its so damn good I had to post it twice. AA demonstrates a fundamental knowledge of the themes of mech shows in a way that very few other games show, its awesome

Kitchen Knightmares is… more of a LARP but its still really dang cool, its about being a knight serving people in a restaurant, its played using discord so its incredibly accessible

https://grimogre.itch.io/michtim Michtim is a game about being small critters protecting their forest from nasty people who wish to harm it, not via brutal violence (sadly) but via friendship and understanding (which is a good substitute to violence)

ok this technically doesn't count but I'm putting it here anyways cuz its like one of my favorite ttrpgs of all time TSL is a game about baring your heart and dueling away with people who you'll probably kiss 10 minutes later, its very very fanfic-ey and inspired by queer narratives. I put it here because its made by a team, and the expansion has a setting specifically meant to be a trans "allegory", so I'll say it counts, honestly just go check it out its good shit

https://willuhl.itch.io/mystic-lilies

Mystic Lillies is a game inspired by ZUN's Touhou Project about witches dueling powerful foes, each other, and themselves. Mystic Lillies features rapid character creation and a unique diceless form of rolling which instead uses a standard playing card deck.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/141424/nobilis-the-game-of-sovereign-powers-2002-edition I… want to do a more general overview on Jenna K as an important figure in indie RPG design, but for now just know that Nobilis is good

https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/apocalypse-keys Apocalypse Keys is a game inspired by Doom Patrol, Hellboy, X-men, and other comics about monstrousness being an allegory for disenfranchisement. Apocalypse Keys is also here because its published by Evilhat so its very cleaned up and fancy but I love how the second you check out the dev's other stuff you can tell they are a lot more experimental with their stuff, this is not a critique, it is in fact a compliment

Fellowship! I've posted about this game before, but it is again here. Fellowship has a fun concept that it uses very well mostly, its a game about defining your character's culture, and I think that's really really cool

Voidheart Symphony is a really cool game about psychic rebellion in a city that really does not like you, the more you discover for yourself the better

Panic at the Dojo is a phenomenal ttrpg based on what the Brazilian would call "Pancadaria", which basically means, fucking other's people shit up. Character Creation is incredibly open and free, meaning that many character concepts are available

Legacy 2e is a game about controlling an entire faction's choices across time, its very fun

remember to be kind to a trans person today! oh also don't even try to be transphobic in the reblogs or replies, you will be blocked so fast your head will spin

[prokopetz]

Flipping through Apocalypse Keys for the first time, what immediately strikes me is that a lot of playbooks have moves where rolling too high can result in accidentally spawning additional monsters, who will implicitly or explicitly go on to become significant antagonists. While this is perfectly consistent with the game's genre, suddenly I'm picturing a group where – whether by collusion or coincidence – every single player character is built with one of those moves as their thematic cornerstone. The poor GM has a whole arc planned, but it never gets off the ground because the party keeps generating new monsters of the week in an endless chain reaction of fumbled rolls. "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"-ass campaign.

[summoningcirclepress]

We're so excited to have Meg and Vince Baker AND Rae Nedjadi (@temporalhiccup) together to talk Powered by the Apocalpyse for Splat 5!

[temporalhiccup]

Intimacy in TTRPGS

(art by @geezmarty)

It's been a while since I geeked out about ttrpg design and I thought I'd dive into it! Some time ago there was discussion about intimacy and romance in games, and I wanted to talk about that today.

In particular this is about the Reveal Your Heart move in Apocalypse Keys and how it's a response to games that came before it.

Above is the Comfort or Support move from Masks: A New Generation. It's representative of what a lot of similar Powered by the Apocalypse moves are like (and many PbtA games since Masks have emulated this too).

In my experience with Masks it created a lot of lovely drama, "on a hit, they hear you" suggested that on a miss, they didn't. This often lead to delicious moments filled with angst: misunderstood feelings, good intentions not being enough, or being interrupted at the worst possible moment!

My main issue with this move and those like it (and it came up with various groups and players) was that most of the time it's hard for a player to correctly guess what would actually comfort or support another character in the moment.

It was also interesting that this was a move that was mostly about the person you were trying to comfort or support! Like most PbtA games, you're statistically more likely to roll a 7-9, which meant the target of the move was the only one who benefited mechanically.

This lead to a lot of awkward play. If we were lucky, the target of the move would speak up and offer a clear alternative "Oh that wouldn't actually comfort my character, he doesn't like being hugged or touched. I think what he'd want to hear in this moment is that he matters to you, that you think he's an important member of the team."

But most of the time something would go wrong somewhere - the target player wouldn't feel comfortable with speaking up, the triggering player would insist that this is what their character would do, etc. So the move would effectively not trigger, or we'd pretend it would and everyone would be awkward.

It just reminded me too much of my own personal experiences, where I would have to pretend I was happy with someone trying to comfort me because they had good intentions and it didn't matter if I was actually comforted or not. Seeing it play out, again and again, in Masks was something that always made me feel uncomfortable.

The trigger includes keywords like "offer" (suggesting acceptance is not guaranteed), "in a way that could be meaningful to them" reminds a player to place the target of the move's preferences first. Both results require the target to "open up to you", if they don't, the rest of the move just doesn't trigger.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians, which has a lot of Masks DNA in it, addresses this in an interesting way. It spells out a few things by refining the trigger and response of Emotional Support.

It felt a lot better in play, but for Apocalypse Keys and my own design preferences I wanted to shift the move into a different direction!

Reveal Your Heart (like every move in the game) taps into the relevant central themes. In this case the PCs are Omen-Class monsters who struggle with staying in control and handling difficult emotions (as well as the horrifying truth that they may become a Harbinger one day, and bring about the apocalypse instead of stopping it!).

The trigger here is dependent on a revelation of some kind, what are you revealing to another? This suggests vulnerability, or at least an innate truth of self. "try to sincerely connect to another" replaces the awkward and difficult task of trying to figure out what would comfort another person. This is a move that prioritizes an attempt towards intimacy, whatever that may look like. This is usually much easier to figure out, the question then becomes "how vulnerable are you going to be in this moment?"

Like in most Apocalypse Keys moves, I wanted each narrative choice to lead to a mechanical reflection. This further supports the idea that the narrative and emotional are mechanical and structural truths in the game - roleplaying and characterization are not separate aspects, they are connected to the act of playing. It also gives the players room to interpret what that means, "they gave you hope", what does that hope look like to you? How does it quell and calm the Harbinger that shifts and aches in your soul?

But! In general, I love how much intimacy and romance have flourished in the indie ttrpg space! It's definitely improved my play experience, and it's something I love to design around in my own games!

Essentially this move offers the players the room to name the feelings they have and lay bare the nature of their relationship. By the end of the move there's usually a sense that we've learned something essential about the relationship between the characters. No matter how small, it bears significance.

Many of the moves in Apocalypse Keys focus on relationships and intimacy of some kind, it's just very very queer that way.

[moofahdrome]

In regard to your pin post, what games do you like to play? I'm always a sucker for hearing about other tabletops people enjoy.

Ooooooh thank you for asking!!! I'm a big sucker for easy to run character focused games like Thirsty Sword Lesbians or Masks: A New Generation, but I also love love love games with potential for really cool and creative combat like Eidolon: Become Your Best Self, Gubat Banwa, and LANCER.

My primary experience is with Powered by the Apocalypse games, but I'm looking to expand my horizons a bit in the future! Blades in the Dark is super cool, but other Forged in the Dark games appeal to me a lot, especially Brinkwood - The Blood of Tyrants, a super cool game about organizing a revolution against colonialist capitalist vampires.

There's really so many amazing games by queer indie creators out there - Apocalypse Keys recently had its full release, as did EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER the TTRPG! There's really something for everyone. I really need to play more Ryuutama for its lovely adventure vibes, Hard Wired Island for a return to true anticapitalist cyberpunk, as well as Flying Circus for amazingly accurate WWI-era plane action in a miyazaki-inspired setting! Other stuff I've had for a while but need to play are Monster Care Squad, Heart: The City Beneath, and Comrades, a Revolutionary RPG.

There's also plenty of nice, charming, slower paced games as well. Wanderhome is a beautiful pastoral journey game, where everyone comes together to heal a land and experience wonders. Our Traveling Home is inspired by Howl's Moving Castle and has everyone play a unique role as a queer found family. Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast just released, and it's an amazing episodic experience packed full of beautiful content!

One of my favorite game creators is Dinoberry Press, creator of fantastic titles like Justicar, What Waits Beneath, and GUN&SLINGER, a cool 2-3 player game where one person plays a magical gun and the other their haunted wielder. It's got a couple great extra modes of play, too, like SWORD&BEARER or MECH&PILOT !

And there's even more amazing games in development. Dinoberry's You're in Space and Everything's Fucked just funded, as did HELLPIERCERS: TACTICAL HARROWING ACTION. Guns Blazing and Wetrunners are really close to being funded, too, check them out! Some other great games that aren't fully complete but you can play right now are ICON, Bloodbeam Badlands, Red West, and In the Time of Monsters, all of which are some of the COOLEST things I have ever seen.

Feel free to ask more questions about any of these! I love talking about them and I'm thrilled to see interest in indie ttrpgs!!!

[theresattrpgforthat]

Apocalypse Keys Playkits 2.0

Hello friends, I've updated my playkits for Apocalypse Keys, the game about overpowered monsters trying to stop the end of the world!

I've done a complete overhaul of the layout, added the three new playbooks that came with Doomsday Delights, and re-organized how you can add in DIVISION moves.

I've also tweaked the Mystery Map, but only just a bit! The Complexity section has a drop-down menu that will automatically chance the size of the Doomsday Clock.

I've also updated the Safety Tools page, so now you can clock on links to both Apocalypse Keys and the expansion book.

You can check out the playkit here, and you can see my full library of play-kits by clicking on the link below.

Clicky.

[ostrichmonkey-games]

Oh hey! The stretch goals for Apocalypse Keys are fully released now! This means you can go check out the new playbook I wrote: The Chained.

It is a pretty wild playbook that's all about creating bonds (for good and for ill). It also features a starting move that takes up a whole spread, whoops. You can do some truly wild stuff with this playbook.

Plus there's everything else. Two more playbooks, more DIVISION branches, characters, factions, harbingers, a mystery written by Kieron Gillan???

Absolutely wild. Everyone did such amazing work, and it's so cool to have been a part of it!

You can check out the pdf below!

[geezmarty]

more of Bambi, my apocalypse keys player character 🌞 (part 1 here)

[aitze]

Heresy, my character from a campaign of Apocalypse Keys. A shadow demon that has become holy, Heresy is based on the idea that if angels can fall, demons should be able to rise.

[thegiftofgabes]

The Gift of Dice - Intro Post

I am Gabriel Caetano (they/them), and I am a queer, Latine parent, TRPG creator, audio producer, and game facilitator (aka GM) from Brazil.

Roleplaying Games

I make tabletop Roleplaying Games, as well as TTRPG-adjacent experiences.

I like fantasy, science fantasy, and weird fantasy the most and I have been more and more invested in looking at games as enablers of social experimentation and questioning.

I like to say that every game I make is a product of excellent taste and developing skill.

You can find my games at https://thegiftofdice.itch.io/

Indie Games Facilitator for Hire

I run and facilitate (aka GM) roleplaying games as a gig.

I have over 100 session under my belt, and growing, and a large catalogue of indie, alternative games to facilitate for players anywhere out there in the world, including Masks, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Nibiru, Apocalypse Keys, Noctis Labyrinth, Troika!, Blades in the Dark, CBR+PNK, and many more.

You can browse through the dates I setup, or make a custom request.

Politics and Ethics

All TTRPG content has a price tag, except when I think it shouldn't, and all of them should have alternate methods of access for anyone who does not enjoy the privilege of earning dollars, euros, pounds, and other hegemon currencies.

Yet, non-white people, non-het, and non cis-male people anywhere who cannot afford to buy anything I make without putting their safety and well-being financially are welcome to get my stuff for free, one way or another.

I also offer seats for free or at a greatly reduced fee to people in the Global South, where the dollar exchange would make access to my game sessions absolutely crushing.

None of the content I create is compatible with Hasbro or Paizo products, or products by any company or individual that shares their ethics and predatory approach to industrializing an art form, on principle.

Additionally I do not use or rely on artificially generated content to create my games or run my sessions.

Game Design Principles

I've come across this game design manifesto and I've decided to adopt it for my own game design as best as I can and let it evolve as I grow as a game designer and writer.

against coercion: a game design manifesto by JPLeBreton

let players wonder about things and trust them to find answers;

connect players with patterns they find intrinsically fulfilling;

never treat a number going up as an inherently positive or meaningful even;

teach respect for the autonomy and boundaries of all things;

posit alternatives to fantasies of accumulation and extraction;

do not think of emotional responses as something you extract from players;

produce and distribute ethically;

aspire to more than escape.

Whether I'll succeed or fail at following these principles, or even how they will evolve over time, all I can say is let's play to find out.

Kindly, Gabriel Caetano

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Apocalypse Keys

Inspired by Hellboy and Doom Patrol, Apocalypse Keys is a game about playing as monstrous detectives attempting to stop the apocalypse, characters are defined by the conflicts they embody, be it toxic coping mechanisms, having to come to terms with the fact that you're dead and out of this world, and other such fun conflicts. Apocalypse Keys' setting is strange, alien, and perfect for the suspense lover in you

[monsterfactoryfanfic]

My latest essay is about Apocalypse Keys by @temporalhiccup (Rae Nedjadi)!! Reading through its moves and playbooks, I was hit with the overwhelming sense that this game wanted me to want to belong, in a way that really hit me hard in a lot of weird, personal ways. I hope this video does justice to the themes of exclusion, diaspora, queerness, and the constant and all-important struggle to save our own individual worlds, the ones we build with the people we love, that this game evokes.

Transcript here.

[aaronsrpgs]

New episode of RTFM! Max and I are joined by @monsterfactoryfanfic to talk Apocalypse Keys by @temporalhiccup. We cover mechanized feelings, hungry worms, and hurting God with your sins.

[ostrichmonkey-games]

🌱, 📖, and 🌺? :3

🌱 An unreleased/not-yet-crowdfunding game I’m looking forward to.

Okay, so my number one answer is REDACTED, and I can't actually talk about it yet. But, of some of the games I've recently backed or am waiting to see launch;

Deathmatch Island looks so slick. I've been following along on the graphical development that the creator's been sharing on twitter for a long while now, and I'm super excited to eventually try it out (semi-related, but Tim Denee, the creator, has also been sharing sneak peeks of a Blades '68 alternate setting that looks equally slick). I think Tim has a tumblr here, but I am blanking on the url...

A second close runner up is Ave Nox from @feralindiecharlie. Everything Charlie does absolutely shreds, so I cannot wait to see this megadungeon.

📖 My favorite class or playbook from a game.

The Hungry from Apocalypse Keys by @temporalhiccup! All the playbooks from AK are killer (cannot wait for people to get their hands on the stretch goal playbooks too, they rule), but I had an especially fun time playing the Hungry.

One thing that's so cool about the AK playbooks is how flexible they are in allowing so many different concepts and takes on the same idea. Like, the Hungry could easily be a classic vampire, but I played a monster inspired by Sandman's Corinthian. He was an ancient nightmare that ate other dreams. The Hungry is all about grappling with this terrible power; fighting against it, giving into it. It's so much fun sometimes being truly wretched 😌

You can check out a this video to see me play the Hungry if you're curious;

🌺 A game with stunning layout or visual design.

Orbital Blues from @soulmuppet! Both layout and visual design are stellar. Pun intended. Lone Archivist (who has incredible graphical assets you can pick up on itch) did the layout, and Josh Clark did the art. Together, art and layout absolutely sells the vibe of the game. A dusty, kind of lonely, space western. I'm just gonna let a couple of spreads do the talking now.

ask game

[ghostsontelevision]

one of my favorite things about apocalypse keys is last session one of my players hit a point where the rules said “one of two bad things happen to your character” and she said “... can both bad things happen?” and i said “you know what? sure!” because it’s the kind of game where even when your characters are in peril, having a bad time, in a bad place, it’s still fun to play, and sometimes when your characters lose, it’s actually more fun than if they’d done perfectly