From Now to the End of the World

Welcome back to our third Tiny Table Game Poll! We once again received so many lovely submissions and we need your help to narrow them down. We will be taking the top 3 games to Patreon for our patrons in the Mini and Micro tier to vote on

Shepherds:  A game of young do-gooders struggling with their issues as they work together, become friends, and strive to protect the peace and happiness of ordinary people.  Pour your heart out in a heroic speech, discuss your fraught relationship with your father, and offer entreaties to villains so blinded by their own pain and frustration that they can't see a path forward in a game where the power of friendship is real and tangible. Embrace the JRPG melodrama in an easy, dynamic Powered by the Apocalypse format. Available on Itch.io here.

Clutch: This TTRPG is centered around being tactical and crafting interesting builds without having to use a spreadsheet. All options are supposed to be interesting with very little bloat or useless options. WIth also heavy emphasis on survival mechanics. In this game you can play anything from a cowboy to a psychic warrior that uses telekinesis to wield 4 swords at once. All while traveling across the land fighting monsters. Check out the game here: https://matthew-bradford.itch.io/clutch.

Dawn of the Orcs: Dawn of the Orcs is a GMless dark fantasy worldbuilding and roleplaying game. You play as the magical technocrats who create the first Orcs as weapons of war, modify and improve them over time, and tell the story of how the Orcs become their own people. https://lymetime.itch.io/dawnoftheorcs 

Extra Ordinary: Extra Ordinary is a tabletop roleplaying game where you play kids with extraordinary powers on the run from danger in the ordinary world. It is a game of belonging outside belonging, a dice-less and GM-full game system that uses tokens and the players’ imagination to create a narrative-focused and roleplay-heavy story. https://jaztice.itch.io/extra-ordinary

MechTale: Mechtale is a rule-lite TTRPG aiming to offer mech customization while also keeping gameplay simple. If you want a mech game you can learn and teach to your players easily, this is your game! Besides that, it is quite accessible, only using d6s to play, a pencil, and a piece of paper, so c’mon! Give it a try! https://mooniestarstruck.itch.io/mechtale

Spindlewheel: Spindlewheel is a tarot-like interpretive storytelling game where you weave a story from card to card. Using a poetic oracle deck that features archetypes from tarot, fairy tales, and the turn of the century, interpret spreads of cards to generate a world and its characters. Then, use those same cards to unfold the story as the desires of those characters collide and change the world. To find out more, visit https://teacabbage.com/spindlewheel!

Pilot Episode: Pilot Episode is a ttrpg about the past and how we remember it. You play actors on a 1950s sitcom who find themselves trapped within the sitcom's world, forced to recreate the pilot episode of the sitcom and entertain the mysterious and otherworldly Live Studio Audience. https://smallredrobin13.itch.io/pilot-episode-the-quickstart

Branded for Sacrifice: Branded For Sacrifice is an original dark fantasy roleplaying game set in the world of our video game by the same name. Play as a solo-RPG or with friends, and create a Branded warrior from scratch, then go out and slay the Demons that plague the planet! Roll D6 for attacks, wipe out hordes of enemies at once, and generate piles of loot while you learn more about the mysterious mark that's appeared on your body and what it entails. https://fracturedgems.itch.io/branded-for-sacrifice-ttrpg

Deathcap Sauté: Death Cap Sauté is a GM-less one-shot TTRPG for 2 to 5 players. Players will compete in a deadly cooking competition in the weird post-apocalypse to gain the favor of the elusive Shroomp Lord! Using a simple push-your-luck dice system, face-off in 5 unique cooking challenges to see who will come out on top! https://junkfoodgames.itch.io/death-cap-saut

Echoes from the Frost: EftF is a journaling rpg set in a world that has already ended, consumed by a relentless force known as the Frost.  In the face of assured oblivion your character carries a fragment of the past, a skill or piece of knowledge too important to lose, navigating the frozen wastes for a year as they search for a way to pass it on to future generations.  A dark game that is primarily about hope, it is played with only 3d6, a journal, and your imagination. https://fragileasglass.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-from-the-frost.

Here's a weird bird for @redtailedhawk90! Thank you so much for your donation!

What's all this?

Threadstarters is a resource for freeform and text rpers, writers of any stripe, indie ttrpg designers and enthusiasts, and anyone who is curious about roleplaying.

Neat! How do I use it?

WHAT IS THIS GAME?

Spindlewheel is an interpretive tarot-like storytelling game where you weave together a story from card to card.

WHAT'S THE OBJECTIVE?

The objective of the game is to tell a satisfying story. Your Character might win wealth and respect and come away from the adventure a better person; they might crash and burn, and end the story as a warning to others. Both of these are victories if they fit the arc of the story you've told, and bring satisfaction to you as a storyteller.

HOW DO YOU PLAY?

Spindlewheel's fundamental verb is interpretation.

Each card's text evokes an idea.  The upright and inverse text are different. Sometimes they’re diametrically opposed; often, they’re two sides of the same coin.

Use the card as an anchor for the part of the story that you're telling.

A card can be a person, an event, an attitude, or a physical object. Use as much as the entire card, or as little as a single word. A card is interpreted twice: once when it enters your hand, and again when you play it. It does not have to be the same interpretation.

Spindlewheel is a 103-card deck of completely bespoke illustrated oracle cards by Sasha Reneau; this edition also features four additional 15-card expansion packs illustrated and designed by Caro Asercion, J.A.C. Clark, Coey Kuhn, Michael Teller Ornelas, Takuma Okada, josie robo, and Ray Felix Carter.