Tabletop Games - Tumblr Posts
Star Wars resin tiles from a kickstarter. Private commission work. Works with the X wing Game system.
For those late to the party who want to know what the hell is going on with #OpenDnD, #StoptheSub, #DnDBegone etc, and why everyone is cancelling DnDBeyond subscriptions, I tried to do a crash course as succinctly as possible. OpenDnD.Games is a great resource for more in-depth details, and if you wish to do so, you can cancel your DnDBeyond subscription through this direct link (as there have been many reporting trouble in locating where to do so). Edit: Tweaked the very first detail below, as someone reminded me it was not a wholly accurate statement as I had initially written it. Apologies to everyone who already reblogged the first version of this :')
Hasbro acquired Wizards of the Coast (WotC) some time ago, but recently they got new leadership who said in an interview that they see D&D as "under-monetized". Hasbro is on the decline with finances, and WotC is its biggest cash cow. Why milk that cash cow through producing more content when you can instead revoke a legally irrevocable license that makes it impossible for 3rd party content creators to exist?
America loves a good monopoly. The old license that permitted the community to grow to what it is today was OGL1.0a, and without it, D&D would not be what it is right now, nor even close. They tried to shift to OGL1.1, a new license that is, in a word, PREDATORY. Horrific, nasty shit.
OGL1.1 was quietly sent to large creators to sign. It then got leaked. The community erupted. The backlash was loud and unanimous. WotC was radio silent for like two weeks. They finally gave a single-sentence "we'll explain soon" tweet on DnDBeyond's account. Then more silence.
A WotC employee reached out to large creators to blow the whistle on WotC. The source was verified, and they shared that WotC sees the community as an obstacle between them and their money, all they care about is bottom line, and they're delaying in hopes we forget and move on.
And also that they are mainly looking at DnDBeyond subscription cancelations to gauge the financial impact; they don't care about our sentiments, only our money. So everyone erupted into signal boosting for others to unsubscribe as the single and best way to make ourselves heard. Cue the mass unsubscribing.
Today (January 13th 2023), a shitty PR piece was posted on DnDBeyond full of blatant lies and, in my opinion, barely-contained saltiness. Right before that, though, OGL2.0 leaks came out; the tweaks they'd begrudgingly made following the backlash. 2.0 is basically just as bad as 1.1; they just spoke of it as being more changed than it was.
In other words, they keep bold-faced lying to a community of rules-lawyers who recreationally read fine print :)
Meanwhile, Paizo (creators of Pathfinder) has come to the rescue, vowing to release a truly open license that will allow everyone to continue pursuing the livelihoods they're passionate about; this is the Open RPG Creative License, or "ORC".
Canceling subscriptions immediately sends a potent message, even if you may have to resubscribe later for functionality in your games. You'll still have the remainder of your billing cycle to enjoy paid perks.
Everything's a little on fire, but I think we'll be okay ♥️
OGL1.0a was never meant to be revocable, as loudly stated in the past couple days by the very people who authored it. It is very likely that WotC is actually just bluffing and bullying, and is actually powerless to revoke it--something many lawyers more knowledgeable than myself seem to be suggesting. In which case, it is my greatest hope in all of this that 3rd party creators are able to continue doing what they love, with no further interruptions.
Remember: the majority of WotC and DnDBeyond employees feel the exact same way we do, but they don't have a choice. Hasbro is the enemy here. Be kind to each other, and know where blame should and should not be placed. If you want to stay up to speed, the account of @.DnD_Shorts seems to be a very active and informed voice, largely responsible for sharing the first leak. If Twitter makes you want to puke, I completely understand; DnD_Shorts also has a YouTube channel with frequent updates on the situation posted in video format.
It's cathartic to me to try to signal boost this stuff, and provide summaries that might help others stay informed. It helps me feel like I'm somehow able to affect these nasty things that are otherwise just inflicted onto lil guys in the community like myself.
However, this has been beyond exhausting and stressful. I'm going to start untangling myself and stepping back from posting about this issue so I can hopefully restore some of my own sanity.
It's been really crazy--in a good way--to see the power this community has when rallied together under a common threat. It makes me proud to be in that community.
At the end of the day, all TTRPGs are really just exercises in creativity and fun. The golden rule has always been and should always be that there is no right or wrong way to play, other than what suits you and those you play with. Likewise, no one should ever feel guilty or judged by others for playing one system over another. It's okay to like D&D5e despite all this. No matter how much they've tried, Wizards of the Coast cannot claim jurisdiction over the invaluable memories you've made, and what has become a creative outlet for countless people. Myself included.
Boycotting is a great way to be heard, since they only care about money. But continuing to use the content you have to play D&D5e is your prerogative, and hurts no one. Furthermore, it's also okay if you can't cancel your DnDBeyond subscription because you rely on it too heavily for your games. That doesn't make you a traitor. That doesn't estrange you from the community. DnDBeyond, at its core, is a great tool that is popular for a reason; it's the new leadership that is forcing it to become something it wasn't meant to be. One day, I hope to be able to resubscribe in good conscious, and I hope that day is soon.
To reiterate, if anyone's even read down this far... be kind to one another. Keep in mind that big enemies win when the party is divided. You can love or hate anything you want in the TTRPG sphere, but how you feel about it does not invalidate someone else feeling the opposite.
Be kind. Be patient. Be empathetic. We're already coming out on top.
A map for a TTRPG campaign I'm running. The town of Groville
Sisters of Battle Kill Team, hopefully I'll finish the last 4 this week. The models are OnePageRules proxies, I sort of wanted my Repentia to look a little more dominant and in control and these figures sell that a lot better than the GW ones. The Mistress in the back is a pilot from Infinity, still looks like she's in charge of the squad but that figure's tone puts the swordswomen in more of a bodyguard role rather than cannon fodder, which I like.
THEME: Space and Stars
This week's themes are all loosely categorized under space, from space-westerns, to space-fantasy, to some games entirely within their own genre.
Boar Beasts on A Barbarous Planet, by Z.W. Garth.
Boar Beasts on a Barbarous Planet is a 2-page Push Powered roleplaying game of boarfolk warriors surviving on a planet of swords-and-lasers, covered in hostile biomes and littered with the sci-fi tech of planetary invaders who couldn't cut it in this harsh world.
Players take on the role of warriors dedicated to protecting their sounder from the many threats that plague them, in this harsh, psychedelic world.
Push games use an interesting 'push-your-luck' mechanic, in which your can choose to re-roll and add to your roll in order to make a "weak" success stronger - but roll too high, and you meet disaster. In my opinion, it's an SRD that feels a little over-looked in the indie scene.
This game is meant to be brutal and violent, on a world that is difficult to survive. Your characters enter the story battle-scarred, and will leave the story worse, possibly even dead. This looks to be a game that’s full of prompts and roll-tables, so if you like random generation, I recommend checking this one out.
From Out of the Boundless Deep, by Scyllaycs.
From Out the Boundless Deep is a two-player game about a mech pilot and an engineer working on the starship the Boundless. The game follows the pilot’s dangerous missions off the ship, the engineer’s meaningful repairs onboard the ship, and the brief moments the two meet between missions.
This game has two players, and no set GM. If you want to be a character who’s interacting with a dynamic set of stats and risky endeavours, you can pick up the Pilot. If you like building and modding things to set up the two of you for future challenges, then the Engineer might be more your style. The Game itself is split into two phases: Ship Phase and Mission Phase, with each phase giving the player a chance to shine. A Tarot Deck will be used to provide benefits and drawbacks throughout the course of play.
This is a game where you can really explore the conflict and community between two characters, in a situation where they can’t always communicate in a way they’d like. It doesn't demand an epic storyline but definitely has the space for it. This is also a great game for two people who have different and complimentary styles of play.
Dead Belt, by A Couple of Drakes.
Dead Belt is played by building a Belter and taking them out into the Belt to scavenge randomly-generated starships, using things you already have laying around: a six-sided die, a deck of common playing cards, and a few tokens of whatever sort happen to be close at hand.
With a dozen unique ship deck plans, over 100 flavorful prompts, and plenty of character stats to help you avert certain death, no two ships will ever feel the same. You’ll board these derelict starships, navigate barriers, dodge threats, monitor your air-supply, and salvage as you go.
You’ll deal with all the dangers lurking onboard these starships, push your luck, and finally return to spend your hard-won booty to secure better equipment, improve your skills, pay down your crippling debt, and hopefully, maybe, eventually set yourself up to live out your dreams far from the Belt.
There are three ways to play this game: Solo, Co-Op and Rivalry. This means that in a two-player game, you can choose to either work together or attempt to sabotage each-other in a race for pay. This game is an homage to Cowboy Bebop and similar Space Westerns, with a lot of tantalizing options designed for duet play.
Vaults of Vaarn, by graculusdroog.
Vaults of Vaarn is a 48-page, black and white tabletop RPG zine, which presents setting information, a full game system, and character creation procedure for adventures in Vaarn, a vast blue desert that lies at the very end of time. The game is built on the chassis of Knaveby Ben Milton, with lightweight rules, speedy character generation, and gameplay that emphasizes creativity and problem-solving on the part of players and referee.
This game setting feels like a space opera smashed together with acid fantasy, with bright colourful descriptions of strange monsters, NPC’s and locations. It is a dangerous setting that is designed to work with OSR games, primarily Knave but I have a feeling it would be pretty easy to steal ideas from this for other OSR systems as well. If you’re a fan of big space epics like Dune or weird futures like Numenera or Gamma World, this game is probably worth checking out.
If you want to see what the community has created for this setting, I recommend checking out the submissions to the Vaarn Summer Jam of 2022!
Nibiru, by Araukana Media.
Nibiru is a science fiction tabletop roleplaying game, set in a massive space station in a neighbouring solar system. Players take on the role of Vagabonds; people who woke up in the space station with no memories of their past.
Nibiru tackles themes of memory, nature and artificiality through simple mechanics, evocative art and immersive worldbuilding.
This is a game in which you create your character’s backstory as you play, filling in pieces of memory as you explore a space station filled with strange inhabitants and abandoned or deteriorating locations. The way you write about yourself will also fuel your character progression, with rewards for creativity and turning some of your memories into tools that you can use as you play. The setting is unique, evocative, and has a lot of potential to tell a compelling and heart-wrenching story.
If you want to see a bit of the game in action before buying it, there is a Quickstart Guide available on DriveThruRPG!
Other Space Recommendation Posts
Star Trek (and its sequel)
Space Adventures
Space Westerns
Space Fantasy
Session tomorrow…need evil things to do to my players.
It’s session 2 but I am too excited
My players: we’re bored, we’re gonna do a non canon session!
My players 10 minutes later:
“I LOVE YOU”
“MY BACK IS BROKEN”
“I WANT +5 CHARISMA”
“THE PHONES EXPLODED?!?!?”
“THE SHIP NEEDS TO BE CANON”
“AAAA”
Happy April fools : )
Me: hey guys! Surprise session today
Player: oh sorry I can’t be ther-
*Player has been banned*
Me: anyone else?
I told my players they would be getting a bag of holding but told them the quality would be decided on my mood,
They panicked.
So bad.
Please yall I need bwrbarian names quick
Me showing the dm my player: this is monstrosity she is a very happy barbarian and was raised by her mother and father Hilda and wrug and she’s very happy
The dm: let’s destroy her
Me: WAIT WHAT
This is monstrosity she is a idiot who loves dogs and she is banned from every therapy place on earth because she steals therapy dogs
Dm: aren’t barbarians supposed to be destruc-
NO!!
Please everyone I’m dnd deprived as my players won’t reply. If you have any online campaigns PLS invite me gaghhh
Me: “it’s your turn, on another failed attempt of breaking down the door.”
Them: “I do a backflip to cheer myself up.”
Me: “you do a-just roll for dexterity.”
Them: “18?”
Me: “you do the backflip and wasted your turn. Are you happy?”
Them: “I actually wanted to fail to make (pc) suffer”
Yes, I love my players, why would I not?
Meanwhile:
I've recently been thinking about participating in some online ttrpg. I don't know, hey I tried before but it was two years ago, and it was a one-shot. I want to try something that I've been curious and interested in for a while now but never got around to it because I was at school at the time. Now that I have free time, I would like to play. Can anyone tell me an easy system for beginners? and where can I find groups to play?
how a game of telestrations went one night:
There is definitely a game for that!
Scion: Dragon.
Scion is an urban fantasy game without a masquerade keeping everything hidden from the normies. People know that Gods and Heroes walk the earth still, that walking down the wrong alley can get you jumped by ogres, and that if you’re (un)lucky, Thor will follow you on Nymphstagram.
The Gods and Titans continue to fight the Titanomachy, although these days it’s more of a Cold War. In the middle are the Dragons, who feel wronged by both side. The Dragons of old sat on hordes of gold (and many still do), but these days Dragons wealth comes from their vaults of secret information. They and they Heirs act as freelance spies and information brokers, working for whoever hires them while advancing their own agendas.
Draconic Heirs are roughly the same power as divine Heroes and start off as mostly human, but they become more and more Dragon-like over time. By the time Heroes ascend to the ranks of Demigods or Gods, Heirs are full-on scaled beasts running espionage networks of their own.
Overpowered is a game I feverishly wrote for my birthday a few months ago.
Next week it gets completely re-designed after months of playtesting and development! Get Hype!
Overpowered transforms any RPG adventure into a competitive solo strategy game.