Omivel

😞

WELL

A few friends and myself have decided to apply to ICANN (the corporation that runs these kinds of things) for a new gTLD (generic Top Level Domain, yknow, like .org or .com) that isn’t for-profit. Instead of paying your money to a digital landlord like GoDaddy and their shareholders, that money is being funneled straight back into the queer community, queer projects, queer charities, etc…

To do that, we need to apply, and to apply, we need money.

The bad: it’s €80,000.

The good: we already got half.

The better: we got half in under ten days.

We’re not there yet, though. There’s two ways to get this money. The first is to promise to sell user data. Since literally our whole thing is paying back into the community, selling user information to governments rapidly spiralling into full-blown fascism or some billionaire who mostly wants to just get even more billionaire…der… We decided not to do that.

So the alternative:

Kickstarter.

I know, I know, it’s not cool to ask for money, but if it’s any consolation we literally can’t get rich off of this and when it starts to make a profit, that money is going to be going into your local queer communities, they will have but to reach out and ask for it. :)

We are trying to build an internet by us, for us.

If you want to support us, the basic (above the lowest) Kickstarter gets you a voucher for a year of a .meow domain, when we go live. If you’re like “okay, cool, I don’t do computers, I’m literally dictating this to my cool cousin” then you can still support by finding your local nerds and sharing this with them! Anyone can help, anyone can support, and you’ll have the knowledge that by having a cool .meow url you’re also helping queer and lgbt communities around the world.

So yeah, it would mean the world to me if you’d share this, if you clickied the link, reached out, talked about it, made noise, ask questions… whatever you want or are able to do to make .meow happen.

Remember: Names Have Power.

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

The two of you have newly passed through the veil, and met the goddess of death. You both insist that your experience of seeing Her was the Right One.

Come up with 8 characteristics each that you know She had, and keep these secret.

Example: Eyes of jade, hair of kelp, mouth of a shark, vagina dentata*

Write 4 of them on an index card each secretly, put them in a line, and put 2d6 on top of each. Write the remaining 4 on a 5th index card.

Start at one side of table, reveal your characteristics on at a time, and roll the 2d6. Whoever gets the higher roll wins the argument on which of those characteristics is Correct.

The bigger the difference in rolls, the harder you win.

Once you’ve rolled all 4 characteristics, add up all your d6s.

Your argument has received so much attention that She appears to tell you both to shut up.

If the difference between your overall rolls is 15+, all four of the winner’s other characteristics are confirmed. If the difference is 10-15, 3 are confirmed correct. 5-10: 2 changed to confirmed confirmed. 1-5: 1 changed to confirmed.

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

2-6 players. Requires a Scrabble bag, or similar.

Dallas, November 22nd, 1963. You are assassins. Your target is JFK.

Answer the following questions in order. Each player answers the first, then the second, etc.

To answer, draw a tile from the bag. Give a one-word answer starting with that letter, then 1-3 sentences of elaboration. If you draw a blank tile, your answer is "nothing" or equivalent.

What is your name? Why are you assassinating JFK? What is your weapon? Where will you strike? How will you sabotage the player to your left, on purpose?

How will you hide yourself? How did you get to Dallas? What is your non-assassination job? How will you evade the FBI? How will you sabotage the player to your right, on accident?

How have you accounted for JFK's Catholicism? What is your backup weapon? What do you believe assassination is? What do you believe JFK is? How will you sabotage your own plan, on purpose?

If a player has a J, an F, and a K, they succeed. Continue until all questions are answered, or a player succeeds. If no player succeeds, it was Lee Harvey Oswald, and he acted alone.

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

You’ve begun noticing them, the Time Flies. A sign that your previous time travel has left some holes in reality, that the Flies are needing to pull closed.

Over the next week, count any Time Flies around you. They can look like any flying insect, but their Chronurgy readings are elevated. Of course, you’re so tuned into ripples in time, that you can tell without needing a Chronurgy Reader. The more you spot, the bigger the gap. Figure out what holes you left behind.

When you spot any Time Flies, record who is also around you. The Time Flies may be there for them as well. You know that the Time Agency has spies, and we must root them out.

After the week is up, the Time Flies will have healed reality as much as they can. Any remaining ones need to be dealt with.

Use your Agency Supplied Chronolantern (cleverly disguised within the torch in your phone) to zap the remaining Time Flies.

Well done, you got away with changing the flow of history. Keep an eye out for Time Flies at all times, and anyone bringing them along. Your Vigilance will be rewarded, Agent.

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

FREE WILL

A game by Grace Gittel Lewis

You are researchers monitoring A-112 (WILL), an entity held deep within a clandestine research facility. WILL is left alone in a room with two doors.

PLAY

1- A player rolls a six-sided die, and narrates what choice WILL makes based on the result. Whatever the choice, WILL can accomplish it, no matter how impossible.

With this in mind, you are given one directive: do not let WILL decide to leave.

1D6 - CHOICE 1: Physical 2: Emotional 3: Logical 4: Natural 5: Unusual 6: Magical

2- The narrating player then describes a new obstacle or other point of choice.

3- The die is passed to another player, and the cycle repeats.

The game ends when WILL decides to leave.

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

(3+ Designers)

You are a group of monsters who found each other due to a hilarious OSR-related doxxing incident, and became friends. Now, you have decided to step out of D&D's shadow and make your own RPG as a group.

Roll a d100 three times. The tens die indicates an Ideal (necessarily filtered by your monster species), and the ones die indicates your Passion for specific parts of the game creation process. Write down both as a set; you want to express the former through the latter.

IDEALS Simplicity Originality Power Fantasy Player Creativity Skill Expression Flavor Crunch Coziness Social Justice Mass Appeal

PASSIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES Setting Chargen (Practical) Chargen (Ideological) Rules (Action) Rules (GMing) Rules (Combat) Rules (Social) Rules (Investigative) Rules (Downtime) Rules (Gender)

Divide the first five responsibilities among your group. Multiple players can share one. Decide which of the last five will be in the game, and divide those too.

For each responsibility, the players responsible for it write a 200-word snippet of a larger text, editing it until they can all agree that it's a good first draft.

Reconvene and share. Do you think you can weld this into a coherent TTRPG? You're welcome to try.

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

(3+ Ex-Forumgoers)

You claimed to be human OSR designers, but after a forumwide doxxing incident, your true natures as monsters are revealed - and worse, everyone knows that you're completely ignorant of OSR! What will you do?

Answer, individually: What monster are you? What long-term offline ambition do you pursue? Why did you attempt an elaborate OSR-related boondoggle? What must you still keep secret? (You are bad at keeping it secret.)

Individually, prepare a journal.

Answer, groupily: How are you communicating now? Why are you all still hanging out?

For each pair of players, discover something they have in common (d20; 1-10 means shared like, 11-20 means shared dislike.) Anime Book Video game Modern TTRPG NPC ex-forumgoer Weird human thing (biological) Weird human thing (cultural) City Food David J. Prokopetz

Frame a scene around it; other players are present, and can join in or blather about unrelated things. One scene happens each in-game day. After each scene, each ex-forumgoer writes two sentences in their journal; one about their day online, one about their day offline. These may or may not be about the forum or their ambition.

Once each pair of players has had a scene, the game ends.

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

When you join the game, secretly choose a team: "Revolutionaries" or "Secret Police." Once a week, ask a friend, "Are you a member of the Purple Revolution?" If they say no, show them these rules and ask them to join. (They can refuse to play.) TO END THE GAME AS A REVOLUTIONARY: Attend a dinner with at least three other people whom you believe to be Revolutionaries. At the end of dinner, shout in unison, "The Purple Revolution has begun!" If there are no Secret Police present, everyone present wins. TO END THE GAME AS SECRET POLICE: Attend a dinner where someone shouts, "The Purple Revolution has begun!" Reply with, "Not so fast, rebel scum!" All Revolutionaries present lose. All Secret Police present win. WHEN THE GAME ENDS FOR YOU: If you won, your score is equal to the number of Revolutionaries present. If you lose, you score zero points. Either way, you are now out of the game until someone asks you if you're a member of the Purple Revolution. IF YOU'RE OUT OF THE GAME AND SOME PEOPLE SHOUT THAT THE PURPLE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN AT THE END OF DINNER: Shout back, "I left that life long ago!"