Since This Post Was Popular But My Other Post With The Free Update Didn't Get Traction, I'll Try Re-blogging

Since this post was popular but my other post with the free update didn't get traction, I'll try re-blogging this one so you all don't miss out! Here is the updated primary page and added GM Page. Have fun!

Enjoy this free game! If you like it, please consider purchasing it through itch to support my further work. Would love to hear your thoughts in any case, is this interesting? What's missing? EDIT: Since it's a popular post, a new update out on Itch or here on my Tumblr.

https://chaosmeister.itch.io/6-q-system

Evil Hat are running a public playtest of The Dagger Isles! Remember that place that somehow manages to not have a lightning barrier? Well, we're getting a whole book about gaming there! Blades in the Dark is expanding beyond Duskvol.

You can register interest below. I have just done so and am excited to see the playtest.

Google Docs

Dagger Isles Playtest Principles

Thank you for your interest in playtesting The Dagger Isles, a supplement for Blades in the Dark. Please read over these principles and, if

do you have any recomendations for ttrpgs with interesting mechanics around inventory management? for example something where you need to fit the items of your inventory in a grid (like dredge (which although it is a videogame rather than a ttrpg does have the kind of mechanic im thinking of)) or where inventory management is a core part of the gameplay.

thank you in advance :D

THEME: Interesting Inventory.

Hello friend! I’ve got a few games here that do interesting things with inventory limit, and I also have some other games that provide limitations on your gear in other ways.

SCRAPPED, by rolomics.

The year is 2124, and 99.9% of the human population is gone. Automatons reign supreme. Homunculi were created by splicing human DNA with other animal/creature DNA to enhance their body structure and strength. Because of this, Homunculi serve as super soldiers for the humans, but even with all their efforts, they still could not stop the automaton take over. 

You are a Homunculus, the echo of a past era and all that remains of humanity.

Scrapped is an original post-apocalyptic rules-lite tabletop role-playing game about scavenging, crafting, and surviving in the unforgiving wastes of a planet obliterated by war. This game was inspired by other post-apocalyptic games from the Fallout franchise.

Scavenging and crafting are at the heart of this game, and that means that Scrapped has paid a lot of attention to inventory. The game comes with item cutouts to help you visualize your inventory, and also requires you to ‘slot” certain items into certain places - if an item doesn’t fit, you can’t carry it! Each character occupation starts with specific pieces of equipment, although you’ll be able to scavenge more along the way. On top of that, you’ll also play around with mutations that affect your character, spending Mutation Points to get beneficial and effective mutations.

If you’re interested in this game, it’s currently free! The designers are eager for feedback and would definitely love to hear from anyone who plays it.

Numenera / The Cypher System, by Monte Cook Games.

This is the Ninth World. The people of the prior worlds are gone—scattered, disappeared, or transcended. But their works remain, in the places and devices that still contain some germ of their original function. The ignorant call these magic, but the wise know that these are our legacy. They are our future. They are the …

Numenera.

Set a billion years in our future, Numenera is a tabletop roleplaying game about exploration and discovery. The people of the Ninth World suffer through a dark age, an era of isolation and struggle in the shadow of the ancient wonders crafted by civilizations millennia gone. But discovery awaits those brave enough to seek out the works of the prior worlds. Those who can uncover and master the numenera can unlock the powers and abilities of the ancients, and perhaps bring new light to a struggling world.

I’ve talked about it before but I really enjoy the way items in this system are used to hold really powerful abilities that are usually only used once. Your character can only carry so many Cyphers at any given time, with a risk of strange or weird things happening if they decide to carry more than their typical limit allows. Cyphers can be found on roll tables, which means that any time players decide to look for loot, the GM can just roll a d100 to generate something interesting - and if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of customizable inventory, I recommend both the Destiny and Building Tomorrow books to complement your campaign.

Breathless: New Horizons, by The Silent Mage.

Breathless - New Horizons is a game based on a primordial future, where giant technological beasts took over with inexplicable awareness, after a scientific crash down.  This game is freely inspired on the Horizon Zero Dawn games.

As humanity rebuilds itself from nothing, you act as Hunters, skilled member of the Guilds, scouting the world for lost knowledge and mysterious pieces of technology called Echoes. 

In Breathless - New Horizons, your items are nearly equally useful to skills, with a dice attached to each item. As with other rolls in Breathless, the item deteriorates the more you use it, symbolized by the size of your dice getting smaller with each use - but unlike skills, items don’t refresh when you take a break. Use an item too much and it deteriorates to the point of uselessness, which means that getting new items is important if you want to be able to keep adventuring. Fortunately, there are loot check rolls attached to tables, which means that while you might not have a lot of control over what you get, there should be plenty of opportunities to re-stock.

This game also has a special kind of item, called an Echo, which can be carried in limited numbers (typically you can only carry 2). Echoes might require a bit of construction before they’re usable, but have special effects that go above and beyond a regular item, and some of them can even be re-charged.

Dead Meat, by Blind Ink.

Dead Meat is a hack of FIST by Claymore. It is a cyberpunk game set in a brutal, absurd dystopia where man and machine are equally worthless in the eyes of the unrelenting pressure of exploitation. Thrown headfirst into problems beyond their ability to solve, players will have to cheat, steal, and sabotage their way through missions to get by. Put money away in a stash to get out of the life, watching your friends drop like flies.

Dead Meat takes an approach to gear that is similar to what I’ve seen in games like Apocalypse World and Monster of the Week. Your gear is determined by your origin, and how the gear can be used is determined through the use of tags. Some of these tags are mechanically transparent - how many times you can use them, or how much they heal or harm - but other tags are more evocative. For example, a vampiric weapon heals you when you use it, while a messy weapon prevents enemies or victims from being identified by police. I have a feeling some of these tags could also bring a narrative downside - perhaps it’s hard to hide a murder with a messy weapon, and a weapon that houses an AI might disregard the wishes of its user.

As with many cyberpunk games, there’s plenty of items that your character can pick up and carry without that much of a drawback - because regular items aren’t what makes this interesting. What you’re really here for, is the Cyberware. In Dead Meat, Cyberware is difficult to get access to, which means that beggars can’t be choosers - if you decide to get chromed up, you’ll take whatever the market gives you, and you’ll like it. As far as I can tell, getting a new piece of Cyberware is kind of like getting a new PbtA move - for example, if you end up getting Advanced Optics, you get +1 to your Chrome stat and you have the ability to pull up someone’s records off the net.

The Grim Odd, by g0ri.

This is a grim world. Any life lived in this world shall be nasty, brutish and short. This is an odd world. From the foul cracks and fissures of the world creeps a strange and omnipotent current – the Odd. Some say the Odd suffocated the gods. Others insist the Odd is the gods. In either case, the Odd animates the living world and it presents opportunities for the daringly ambitious.

The Grim Odd is a fantasy roleplaying game that takes place in a perilous world of unjust dealings and unworldly strangeness. Roll up a character quickly, search for magical artifacts known as Oddities, and delve - as a group or alone - into a role-play experience where rules are mere tools to facilitate the application of the internal laws of the world itself.

OSR/FKR Games often put the lore in pieces of the game like characters or gear and this is a great example. The Odd is a mysterious, powerful piece of the setting, illustrated through Oddities, strange items that grant you power but demand a cost for their use. You can use these oddities to inspire an adventure or mystery, and let the players keep them as they adventure - at great personal risk.

Characters also start with a basic inventory determined by their career, which they should be able to use to solve problems in ways that help them avoid having to roll - and therefore face death or other consequences. If you want a game where your inventory is a fundamental part of telling a story, you might want to check out games like this one.

Convenience Stores & Casinos, by Archangel Studios.

We've all seen those over-the-top, high action heist movies with get-away drivers, explosives, and wild gun fights. Well, what if you took those tropes, typically reserved for the likes of bank, museum, and casino heists, and applied them to just about anything you can get your grubby paws on? I mean, a heist is a heist is a heist as long as you have the right attitude. 

Convenience Stores & Casinos is great for groups that want to go big or go home - even if going big just means an over-complicated heist just to steal a bag of chips. Characters are derived from rolled stats, and playbooks that represent different tropes in heist fiction.

There’s not a lot to do with inventory in this game; the only tables present are the weapon and armour tables. However, weapons and armour are attached to level; you have a chance of getting something good at a low level but that chance is very slim. As the characters prepare for a heist, they can roll to see what kinds of weapons they’re allowed to have, and the higher level they are, the higher chance that they find something that can pack a real punch. Combat is not something you’ll want to get into at the beginning - but as you level up, you’ll take bigger and bigger risks, which will probably lead to more and more things going wrong. I also like the section on the weapon table titled “you just wanted to play D&D didn’t you?”

Other Posts of Mine To Check Out

Markets and Trade

Gathering and Crafting

Weapons and Customization

My hommage to the TV series Supernatural "Carry On" using 24XX is part of this fun Supernatural TTRPG bundle. There are 50 games here for 20 USD. It is the perfect time to get some games to peruse and prep at your leisure for Halloween! 👻

I made a little something. Trying to keep this idea up and around.

We really need to get better in telling those stories. And we really need to do away with the idea of Solarpunk just being these chill utopian fictions. A fight about getting to that Utopia can be Solarpunk to.

We also need to do away with the idea that there are no conflicts in an utopian setting. Because there are.

Thanks for the shout-out of Carry On! It's one of the games I am most proud of.

Supernatural TTRPG Bundle is now live!

It's $20 for over 60 games, with the profits divided among the various contributing indie creators. Check it out and support independent talent!

My personal highlights:

Magical Cleanup Service, an rpg about witchy cleaners.

Carry On, a Supernatural-inspired game of monster hunters.

The Dreaded and the Deep, a spooky Sunless Sea inspired game.

Pine Shallows, a seaside town where kids investigate strange events.

Cryptid Creeks, where a cryptid helps the River Scouts save their beloved home.