Shadow & Fae

    Beware what you wake in the dark... At some point last year I bought Mothership, and after reading through the player's survival guide I decided to give it a shot. I ran some friends on the GLoG server through a space station as they tried to rescue... someone. There were lots of laughs along the way (My ma' was a robot!), but I'd hardly call it horror. A little disappointed, I put it back on the shelf. Still, I've been meaning to come back and read through the Warden's Manual for some time, especially as I keep hearing it called one of the best referee books in the Old School vein. Friends and foes, I was not lied to. The Warden's Manual is punchy, blunt, and full of hands-on guidance about how to create situations that are already bad, and destined to get  really bad  before the get better (and some day even worse). The usefulness of the manual extends beyond sci-fi into the realms of all role-playing games. A few items that I found especially good were: T...

By Harikayu The second challenge I rolled for GLoGtober 2024 (but the first one I've finished) was a 300 word hack. I give you:  Winter Wyrm Tiny GLoGhacks have been my jam for a while now. I've written 2 or 3 over the years, the most notable one being MiniGLoG , but even that game is 1100 words long. Winter Wyrm  was nuts. It's probably horribly broken, but it is a complete GLoG in exactly 300 words. It even has three 4-Step classes! I did want to do something slightly different, so I switched abilities from d20-based to SWADE's tiered dice chain, with every 4 points being a success. Vivanter  got an early first look at this, and suggested an additional little challenge: Write a 4 step GLoG class of your own in 30 words or less. I dare you to try!

The other day I dreamed up a dangerous game of desperate folk doing what they needed to survive in a world that doesn't care for them. For now, I'm calling it Goon . The Setting Imagine a world something like 1920's America, and nothing like 1920's America. There's a City on the River Rhynne named San Rheese. Illegal casks of booze flow up river from Port Victoria to the factories of Cipolla City, and trains run from the civilized East steadily deeper into the untamable West. And here in the center, at the Crossroads of the New World, we do what we have to do to survive. The Players The game is about little gangs vying for power and recognition in a corrupt world. Some are dedicated to the good of the people, and some to the size of their pocketbooks. It's up to the players to decide what their little gang will pursue, and how. The System I've taken cues from GLoG and Into the Odd to create a dangerous system where tomorrow is never guaranteed, and drawing a...

I've been working on Shadow and Fae for about three years now, and I think I'm getting to the point of calling it done. But then, why not improve it just a touch more... Why not make it a zine? And if it's a zine, why not make two more zines to go with it? If you want more details on this journey, the three zines I'm working on, or to support me as I go, take a peek here:  https://itch.io/s/120972/shadow-and-fae-2e-3-zine-fundraiser

Redcrosse Knight, by Walter Crane Essentials You’re going out into the wild then? If I can’t stop you, I can at least give you some wisdom. Heaven knows I lacked it. Abilities Each character has three Abilities, which determine how well they can perform in several broad situations. Might  - A measure of one’s strength and vitality, tested in moments that require great endurance and power. Grace  - One’s deftness of foot and finger, tested for balancing, aiming, dancing, etc. Will  - One’s strength of heart, tested to influence others and control yourself in the most trying of times. Each ability’s score begins at 1.  You may increase a score by decreasing another up to 3 times. Scores may be negative. Alternatively, you may roll a d6 on this table to set your scores, then increase one score by 1. Tests When a character attempts something possible but risky, they may need to test for success by rolling a d20 and adding their most relevant Ability Score. If the result ...

Godmar Turn'd Again, Florence Harrison MythicGLoG First off, if you haven't already you really need to go read Mythic Bastionland . It's a work of art, and a work of genius. I don't even care if you come back to this post. It's criminally derivative. MythicGLoG is meant to take some of the big-picture aspects of MB and adapt them into a one-page GLoGhack that lets PCs play as weird knights or any other GLoG class in existence out there. Notably, just about any knight from MB should be easily convertible into this system. Things I'm Happy With: Stupid-simple roll under, or roll under 1/2 for saves 5-15 point ability scores, with good variation due to d4+d8+3 Passions: I think these could use good examples, as they're the most "new", but I like the idea of giving players a bonus for RPing well. Combat: 2-Action tactical combat has always felt good to me. This one contains solid rules for grappling and long weapons. Things I think Could Use Work: I wa...

 Art by Me The Best Job on Earth! "The Best* Job on Earth!" is a one-page game I wrote that's kind of a tip-toe into a new genre for me. Some of my favorite games and shows have been Stargate, Eureka, Half-Life, Portal, and Fallout, and I wanted to be able to bring those genres to the table without forcing my players to learn yet-another-game. I suppose they still do have to learn another game, but at least this one's quick to pick up! 3d6 down the line, d20 "Duties" with starting gear, really simple roll-under, and (my favorite part) the whole game is fun to read . If you like it, and you want to support my writing, I've also written "The Mad* Scientist's Handbook," a referee's guide to creating interesting scientific breakthroughs and watching as it all goes wrong. My brother, who's never GMed before in his life, had built a playable scenario with it in about 30 minutes. I'm asking $5 for it, and I think it's worth it....

  Wow that's a title! "Cookbook" by Brittnie When I wrote MiniGLoG a few weeks back, I realized it's incredibly minimalist, and honestly I like that. It offers the bare bones of an OSR game, and is completely playable in its given form. But what if we want to put a little more meat on its bones, what if we offer players some more choices? MiniTALES The first asset I wanted is inspired by the work I did on my Burning Wheel hack . Essentially a quick way of rolling up "What was I before?" MiniTALES gives players a flavorful background Title, some starting gear, a rollable skill, and, most interesting in my opinion, a Passion .  Passions  are simple actions a character can take during play that may not always be optimal, but evoke their character's drive. When a character acts on their passion, they gain one point of Fate . Characters can hold up to 5 Fate at a time, and may spend Fate to gain 50 XP, decrease the impact of falling to negative HP, or gain a...

Art by Jorge Jacinto Skip to the Game A Game About Stories Without question, I play games for the story.  My favorite video games, TTRPGs, and even board games all contain these beautiful, unpredictable stories that leave me with feelings  about the events that transpired while we were having fun. And the trouble I've run into lately with writing RPGs is that my systems tend to consist of different mechanics to tell the same type of stories: stories about monster-hunters and treasure-delvers who risk life and limb for gold and glory.  Sometimes the stories stretch beyond those simple bounds, of course, but they usually do this on their own , not because the rules actively encouraged them to do so. Saving children doesn't make you a better Barbarian. There are few game mechanics that actually encourage you to save the orphanage or pursue whatever else it is your character believes in. 5e has its oft-forgotten "Inspiration", but it falls flat when put to the test. It is...

We're playing as these guys. MiniLOG Ages ago I wrote a One Page GLoG as a challenge to myself. I looked back on it recently and shuddered. While there were some good ideas there, I felt it lacked precision, beauty, and was still plagued with too much bulk. I slimmed it down and painted it up into MiniLOG, which is everything a player really needs to know to enjoy a game of GLoG. The basic rules are: 3 Attributes (Might, Grace, and Will) that are  the modifiers. 3 Fixed DCs Boons and Banes that stack, cancel each-other out, and boost the Crit/Fumble chance. A simplified Death & Dismemberment table. Simple and familiar gear, spells, and leveling. Plus some other things. All on one page. You can take a peak here . MiniDELVE   We're slaying these things. To accompany such a small game, I needed an equally small but punch-packed GM toolkit. Enter MiniDELVE, a distillation of everything I know (or think I know) about dungeon crafting. Dungeon overview prompts. Layout guidelines...

  "Address to the Deil" by William Hole “Eyes that fire and sword have seen, and horror in the halls of stone, shall look at last on meadows green, and trees and hills they long have known.” - J.R.R. Tolkien Roam: Version 0.1 Rules The Lord of the Rings, The First Law, A Song of Ice and Fire, these are stories that follow a diverse cast of characters as they pursue their goals in a world opposed to them. If I could create a game that fosters those kinds of stories, I'm not sure I'd play much else. I have no idea if I've captured it or not, but I intend to find out. Roam is largely based on my previous post, Magus Ludus , and takes a few pointers from Into the Odd. I still hold to the belief that the best rules are the ones that stay firmly out of the way, and only step in during moments of uncertainty to show the path forward. With that in mind, Roam is a minimal 2-page ruleset that includes suggestions for Tests & Saves, Stamina & Rest, Combat (including ...

Gold and Sleeping Bears The gold is just lying there, but so is the bear. What do you do? And just like that, we're playing Dungeons and Dragons. Now, yes, someone will tell me there's all sorts of rules about Conflict Resolution, Dice Mechanics, Action Economy, Death and Dismemberment, etc. But all of that exists to support one question: How do you get the gold? This gives us not 2, but 4 categories to consider: 1. Rewards What is the reason for the players being here, what do they want? While gold is the simplest answer, and the most versatile, other rewards exist as well. 2. Danger Why hasn't someone else claimed the treasure? 3. Environment Dreams of the Slumbering Moon Each player takes on the role of a member of the small village with an important job. Each turn represents 1 week, wherein the members of the village do their best to overcome the struggles of the village and prepare for the coming festivals. Each season is 12 weeks, and ends with a Festival. To start, p...

 Magus Ludus What if everyone were wizards?

A more polished version of this ruleset is available here . For posterity's sake, this post will not be edited, as a testament to the creative process. What do I like about PF2E? Glad you didn't ask, because then I'd ramble for a bit. I'd say things like... Action Economy! It's so simple, everything's just an action, but you can only do three of them! No nonsense about move action, main action, bonus action, all that tripe, it's just action! We love it! Crit Ranges! Exceed the DC by 10? You CRIT! More Crits! More Crits are good! Until the monsters crit... but regardless! CRIT! Diseases! Tired of dying by a spear trap through your posterior? Why not die slowly and painfully over the course of weeks!? I HOPE YOU GOT YOUR TETANUS SHOT! Introducing... GOBLIN FINDER A game that is only slightly different from anything you've ever played before... CHARACTERS Abilities : Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, & Will.  Roll them up using 3d6 in order. Modifiers ...

  Darken Wood Volume 1 , Cover Art, Mandatory Listening During Play Bitterwood Listening to eerie dungeon synth late at night does strange things to the psyche of the average GLoG writer.  Bitterwood is a poorly thrown-together crossbreed of Alone Amongst the Stars and Goblin Tales , intended for solo or GMless play. Let the reader understand, I just wanted to play GLoG, and there was no one to play with... I wasn't originally planning on releasing this, but it is Everything's birthday, so happy birthday, I hope you don't die horribly in the woods.

  A Spluttering and a Splashing, by John Batten I'm not sure why I am the way I am. Inspiration hits me like a shot of espresso, and I write and write and write until I collapse. Then I wonder if it's any good at all. Then I slap it on itch and call it a day. Then, a week later, I remember to post something about it on my blog. Goblin Tales As a kid, I loved all sorts of weird goblin and fairy stories. Lord of the Rings, Narnia, The Knights of the Round Table, and then a ridiculous  amount of books by Terry Pratchett. There was something fun about the juxtaposition of the credible and the incredible, that made me wonder if there were  fairies or goblins hiding around here somewhere. Goblin Tales was spawned by my love of those old stories, some talk on Phlox's GLoG server, my curiosity about rolling-under, and too much free time due to being out of work for the moment.  Find it over on Itch: Goblin Tales

Available Now on Itch I make these games for fun. Mainly my own, but—hopefully—for the fun of others as well. "Take Courage!" Started out as an attempt to include my 5 year old son in the RPG hobby, and has only grown from there. After a few forays into the woods and darker places, I ran a game for my siblings and parents last Thanksgiving, and we decided to play as monster hunters in an airship pursuing a dragon. Being able to include my folks by explaining the rules in 5 minutes, building an adventure idea in 5 more minutes, and then helping them build characters in a final five minutes was refreshing, and seeing them laugh as they pulled off daring stunts with the rest of us kids was well worth every second spent on this system. So, what have I learned? Mainly this: TTRPGs are a means for us to step away from our normal situations and take on the role of someone else entirely. Reality is filled with important responsibilities, and we can't often go where we please and...

  Grab it Here I just got home from a bit of a trip with my wife and boys, and during the trip I decided to run a quick campaign. I considered breaking out a dice app and making some rough stats, but I thought, what the heck, the boy's 4 and my wife's driving, we'll just play pretend. It was... alright. I missed the little bit of grounding that mechanics lend to a game, but it got me thinking, how could we make an RPG without dice, or RNG at all? I've heard tales of such things, but - in the serviceless wastelands we were driving through - I couldn't research them at the time.  So here's an abomination of my own creation. I call it Luckless . Luckless works by giving each character a set of spendable Ability scores. If a challenge's DC is less than or equal to your current ability score, you may simply succeed at it. No sweat. However, if a challenge's DC is greater than your ability score, you may spend a point from your current ability score to add you...

  (Art by Everything ) 1 Page of d6 GLoG Sometimes you just want to put a big bowl of d6 in the middle of a table and play a game. This is GLoG for the dice goblins, the cubic sorcerers, and the champions of justice squared. This is a bowl of GLoG soup. Someday, I promise, I'll start writing hexes and actual adventures, in the meantime, have some soup.