JohnBrownsBussy2

Hey folks,

I've put out feelers before, but it's the new year and I wanted to look at offering to run some tabletop RPGs. Right now, I'm feeling pretty open system-wise (although would prefer the lighter-weight side of the hobby) and can help figure out schedule at some point. Also not necessarily looking for a long term commitment, but thought it might be fun to meet some folks and try out some games together.

Eclipse Phase is a d100 sci-fi/transhumanist/cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic/post-scarcity/horror RPG published by Posthuman studios. The game is a skill-based d100 game with some interesting dice mechanics and large trait and gear lists (think Shadowrun, but more streamlined.) The real draw of the game is its highly detailed and unique setting. The game takes place in the nearish-future (couple hundred years or so) after an uprising by super-intelligent AI led to earth becoming effectively uninhabitable and the development of new transhuman societies across the solar system. There are multiple campaign frameworks, but the most prominent/recommended has players as members of Firewall, a decentralized but secretive collective dedicated to protecting transhumanity from extinction (X-risks).

A key development, one that drives both the setting and character creation, are morphs. Transhuman society is defined by the ability to transfer the human (and other sapient) consciousnesses through digital means, allowing the transfer of minds between bodies. In the corporate-dominated inner system, this has lead to the enslavement of millions of "infugees" people who were unable to evacuate their bodies off earth, only transferring their minds which are now indentured to the hypercorporations storing them. As the principles of faster than light travel have not yet been worked out (it's possible through mysterious alien gates), travel throughout the solar system is often accomplished by far-casting one's consciousness into new bodies on far-away planets and stations. This means that players will end up switching morphs throughout the campaign (as well upgrading into morphs to better fit the needs of their mission). While this was pretty darn complex in the 1st edition of the game, the 2nd edition streamlined the process immensely, along with other aspects of the game, mainly by introducing metacurrencies separate from the core skill system. While there are plenty of different morphs, ranging from non-mechanical bio-morphs, mechanical synths, and hybrid "pods," I wanted to highlight the uplifts (unfortunately, support for neo-whales is not in the core rulebook 😿).

Overall, the game is very crunchy, but not as bad as Shadowrun. The authors are anarchists/socialists of some variety (I don't dig too deep into these things), and the anarchist and socialist factions in the setting are written as the good guys. The entire game is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, so game materials are actually 100% free/legal to share (DM me if you want a copy).

Mausritter is an OSR/NSR game in which you play as mice going on adventures (and often delving dungeons for treasure). While Mausritter's inventory is derived from Cairn (which derived its system from Knave), I have a soft spot for the Mausritter inventory slots based on how they fit nicely on the character sheet. I think this sort of inventory system is great for players learning how to play TTRPGs since it's so tactile and presents you with your tools in a clear manner. The conditions are also interesting, in that they steal inventory slots. Once you start accruing conditions or treasure, you have to make the decision whether to discard items, or to be encumbered and be at extreme risk from traps and ambushes.

The game is free at itch.io: https://losing-games.itch.io/mausritter

Thirsty Sword Lesbians (TSL) is an award-winning (ENnies 2022 Best Game & Product of the Year) implementation of Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) to a genre of queer romance and swashbuckling adventure. Written by a transfem author, the game forefronts safety and queer identity/liberation. A lot of games these days have sidebars noting available safety tools, but TSL actually integrates them into the game rules, encouraging their use and the active discussion and check-in when it comes to boundaries. The "No Fascist" rule is also quite useful, because it makes said fascists out themselves immediately by complaining about it.

Mechanically, the game is the first great fantasy PbtA game I've read. Dungeon World is retrograde in its implementation, The Sword, Crown and the Unspeakable Power is too conservative a hack visa-vi Apocalypse World, and Fellowship is interesting but also quite rigid. TSL takes a lot of inspiration from other high-quality PbtA games like Masks (conditions) and Monsterhearts (strings). The game's core moves are well designed, and the playbooks are top-notch. Each playbook has a unique mechanic and points towards potential emotional arcs, which is helpful for keeping the players invested in their character's growth. I think that the some of the included settings/adventures are a bit corny, but the game is actually pretty adaptable to a wide range of fantasy settings.

As another note, if you contributed to the itch.io TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas! bundle last year, then you already own the game (it may have been in other bundles as well.) https://evilhat.itch.io/thirsty-sword-lesbians

EDIT: Also at the itch.io link there are plenty of community copies, free to anyone who can't afford the book.

Electric Bastionland is a game by Chris McDowall, author of Into the Odd (a pretty influential OSR game). One of its key selling points are the Failed Careers (equivalents to classes or kits). In Electric Bastionland, every character has a failed career (and a colossal debt), which helps explains why they'd be willing to risk theirs lives delving dungeons in the pursuit of treasure. Of the of the most fun (but also saddest) failed careers is the Good Dog.

Electric Bastionland also has a novel setting, one that I've characterized as "anarcho-Fabian," and basically a satire of democratic socialism in Britain. The city of Bastion (the only city that matters) has no (known) central authority, and is instead run by autonomous borough councils. Anything necessary to live can be gotten for free (free housing, free food, free healthcare), but in the British tradition it's all of poor quality and takes forever to queue for. Almost everyone is in a union, the concept of unions has devolved into either social clubs or secret societies. In general, capitalism runs amok, and with the frontier completely exhausted (every other city and nation has been destroyed by Bastion or has been completely hollowed out by emigration and market forces), capitalism has turned inwards to increasingly surreal hyper-exploitation at home.

Anyways, the game is fun and pretty easy to play. There's only so much mechanical depth, but it's great for short campaigns and for running dungeon crawls.

Other than the art itself, the Calendar of Nechrubel is probably the "killer app" for Mork Borg. It is a countdown clock on your entire campaign, and the random nature leads to layering miseries that add complications to your continuing misadventures.

Despite Mork Borg's pitch-dark aesthetic, it's basically a (dark) comedy game, too miserable and grotesque to take seriously. Everything is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and the result is a solid game with a great and expansive fan community. Mechanically, it's not that special, but the aesthetic is really fun.

I'm very impressed by the Mothership 1E GM book. While a lot of GM books are full of supplementary procedures (like D&D games) or just lore books (glares at the Delta Green Handler's Guide), the WOM is actually about how to be a good GM: how to design adventures, work with your players, build tension, use themes, etc...