ttrpg design blog

Aurora by World Champ Game Co.

I love a game that uses an uncommon oracle, and this one is no exception. Adam Vass created it during the height of Covid lockdowns as a game that could be played by mail/online.

Using elements from zip codes, you and the other players are working on creating a city corrupted by darkness that you then use as the setting to tell a story of overcoming that darkness.

Patchwork World by @aaronmfking

Uma Musume style horsegirls introduced to the Forgotten Realms; setting's lore revised so that they've always been there.

Advancement rules now stipulate per-session XP bonus based on lifetime D&D Beyond purchase history.

Compendium of exclusive feat trees for specific gender and sexual identities. Bisexuality receives no feats of its own, being mechanically implemented as "half gay"; the resulting synergies are disgusting.

Editorial error in revised Dungeon Master's Guide accidentally refers to Dungeon Masters as Hasbro's employees.

"Noble savage" coding of barbarian class walked back, refocused on European folkloric touchstones such as the Ulster Cycle; all barbarian characters become Irish stereotypes.

AI-based DM service trained exclusively on work of Ed Greenwood launched; withdrawn a week later citing "guiderail issues".

Expanded discussion of navigating player expectations frames "not showing up at all" as a valid playstyle.

This June 6th weekend, get three gruesome horror TTRPGs by me for less than 10 dollars.

This horror pack for the squeamish includes:

CHIMERA

A solo journaling RPG of body horror. Document how an alien virus mutates you and changes others as it irrevocably tears apart your life; mind, body and all.

2. THEY DO NOT STOP. YOU MUST NOT FAIL.

A solo classic survival horror RPG inspired by Resident Evil, Dead Space and Silent Hill. Manage your resources and survive an impossible maze against an unrelenting, unstoppable foe hunting you down.

3. Deadlight

Candle-driven survival horror mini-RPG. Don't let the light go out. My oldest game about facing the darkness.

Okay, like, here I am going to inflict you with an image.

Now that you have Suffered The Image, this is the deal.

There's a bunch of TTRPGs in this bundle. They are free. You can get them with a click.

If you do, I would like you to review something on itchio.

I and a bunch of other designers all put games in this bundle in the hopes that it would get folks a little bit more visibility, feedback, community engagement, etc on a platform like itch.

It's very easy as a small designer to work on something, release it, and then hear nothing back ever. So we're trying to fight that trend by offering some sweet pay-what-you-want games.

[video description: a screen recording of flipping pages, showing a few spreads from shadow / giant 2e. end VD]

shadow / giant 2e is coming to print !!!

Following in the legacy of Lone Wolf and Cub-inspired media such as The Mandalorian, Telltale’s The Walking Dead, Birds of Prey, Logan, The Last of Us, Arcane, and more … Shadow / Giant is a tabletop RPG for two players eager to create their own wolf & cub story.  Their journey will be filled with dangers, outbursts, exploration, discovery, and entirely unexpected devotion. One player takes the role of the Shadow: a traumatized youth with powers unfit for their world. The other player is the Giant: an adult who swore they'd grown too jaded to ever care again, until the Shadow crashed into their life. There are tales of somewhere they can go—a Safe Place, far away, where the Shadow will be protected. To make it there, the pair must outrun, outsmart, and outfight the Threat that's hot on their trail. No matter the specifics of the Threat's sinister plans, they cannot be allowed to catch up and take the Shadow away. And they won't—not if the Giant can help it.

shadow / giant 2e is a 2 player TTRPG supporting games from 1 to ~12 sessions. it uses dice and playing cards, with alternate rules for rolling digitally or only using d6s. each session plays out for 2-4 hours

the two character playbooks - the shadow and the giant - are asymmetric. they have different core builds and different rolling mechanics

the giant uses a yahtzee-like mechanic: rolling and re-rolling pools of dice to try to make good combos. they always have to balance the potential for a better and rarer combo but risk total failure versus playing it safe and stacking up complications

the shadow, on the other hand, builds dice towers and knocks them down. they have to balance force and gentleness - leaving some dice stacked creates issues, but so does knocking them onto the floor. they compare their results against a sliding number representing their fantastical powers versus their natural youthful skills

the 60-page zine is full to the brim with examples, pick-lists, roll tables, and oracles that make GMfull play a breeze. you can carefully craft your world and characters or just roll for everything and jump right into play

accompanying players through the gamebook is The Narrator, a cosmic being whose sole purpose is to guide new Shadows and Giants on their journeys, along with a collection of absolutely gorgeous art by @prose-n-scripts (seriously, people can't stop raving about the art)

shadow / giant 2e was designed with accessibility in mind from start to finish:

the game is written and laid out to ease the cognitive load of learning and setting up a new game, as players can read each section out loud (or listen to it from a screenreader or future audiobook version) and follow the steps as they go. each section has summaries as well as visually distinct pick-lists and examples. even new ttrpg players should be able to jump into play within an hour of picking up the book

all the main text is in inclusive sans, and the pdf includes bookmarks and human-written image descriptions. the layout colors balance the need for contrast and any potential color blindness while remaining comfortable to look at on screens. the most-used oracles are at the very back of the book for easy reference

did i mention the amazing art by @prose-n-scripts ?

you can pre-order a print copy now from plus one experience!! the game drops in june of 2026 !!

Into the Cess and Citadel by Feral Indie Studio

Tiny Table Q&A Part 1: Protect The Child

Smallest Salutations and welcome MintRabbit to the podcast! In part one of our interview, we ask Mint all about her playtest journey, her thoughts on the Forged in the Dark engine, and what this game’s past iterations played like! Listen in as we muse about our younger days and reflect on how childhood experiences inform the titular Child’s design. If you want to hear more, subscribe to our Micro Tier for part two of this interview!!

And if you want to see more from Mint:

Listen now!

Gravemire by Clawhammer Games

My vampire Lumen ttrpg, Bloodthirst, currently sits at 29 pages! I expect it will end up somewhere in the mid 30s, so a very reasonable length.

Currently working on scenario blurbs for all four adversarial factions: The Ravenous, The Unbroken (both vampires), Vampire Hunters, and Witches. Lumen games are typically easy to pick up and run, but I think it's nice to give GMs small scenarios to help them establish a vibe and set the scene.

I'm running a one-shot tonight so it'll be interesting to see which of the six archetypes get picked up. So far the Mentalist, Spectre and Idol are being playtested in an ongoing game. Obviously the more data points the better but I'm hoping the Juggernaut, Sanguimancer or Sentinel get shown some love tonight.

Harvest gives us laden orchards and barren fields; desperate fervour and doubts grown thick as weeds; calves born and pigs slaughtered; proud traditions, failing wealth, and hostile stares; juice-stained lips and dirt under nails; and always the questions echoing down through the generations: ‘Whose blood must be spilled to feed the land?’ and ‘Whose hand will hold the knife?’

In Harvest, each player chooses a member of the community to play—such as the established Old Name, the restless Young Blood, or the conflicted Homecomer. Together, you'll sketch the landscape of the island: its beauty and its terror. Across three escalating acts, you’ll explore the island’s buried secrets, succumb to community pressure and private desperation, and turn against each other.

Because the hard truth is this: one of you must die, hot blood soaking into the soil to feed the land. And one of you will wield the fatal knife. The only question is—who?

help me make an irresponsible purchasing decision? reward me for my envious nature?