#trollbabe

By Ron Edwards

Trollbabe is a role-playing game about playing trollbabes: horned women that lie halfway between humans and trolls. Using a simple system where each character is defined by a single number that the player must roll under to succeed at fighting, over to succeed on magic, and whichever of the two is worse to succeed at social checks, a system that would go on to inspire the system from Lasers & Feelings.

Gameplay revolves around trollbabes traveling from one place to another, getting involved in conflicts which often force them to mediate between their human and trollish side. It's one of those games which is definitely not an intentional trans allegory, but could definitely be read as an accidental trans allegory. Ron Edwards was definitely just horny for trollgirls, and who can blame him, but in doing so he managed to make a game that dozens of girls who enjoy GIRLS WITH HORNS can probably vibe with.

Trollbabe is a unique game, even by our standards, and we had a lot of fun unpacking what just happened.

Mechanically-speaking, Trollbabe is the very definition of lightweight. Character creation, for instance, was a quick experience. The only real decision you need to make is to decide your character’s single stat, a number between 2 and 9 that determines how good your character is at combat, magic, and socializing. After that’s decided, everything else is details that help round out your trollbabe’s personality and history.

This one stat system is both Trollbabe’s greatest strength and weakness. On the plus side, all dice rolls are quickly resolved: roll below your stat to fight, roll above it to cast a spell, and roll with the worst of the two, inclusive, to convince somebody. The downside of this mechanic is that your character will either be very good at fighting or magic, or just OK at everything. This feels awfully like min-maxing.

Trollbabe’s most unusual aspect is its approach to conflict. On paper, it looks extremely complicated, but it actually works very smoothly in practice. Deciding the pace of a conflict is a conversation between player and GM, and once the conflict is underway one can breeze through it quite quickly. Most intriguing of all, the reroll system allows players to introduce new plot elements and NPCs on the fly, allowing the narrative to evolve in unexpected ways. At its heart, Trollbabe is a collaborative storytelling game, and the conflict system embodies that fact.

The world of Trollbabe is a mishmash of Germanic history, Norse folklore, and swords-and-sorcery adventure. If this isn’t to your liking, the book gives you plenty of freedom to define the setting in any way you like. One of Trollbabe’s strengths is that it is extremely adaptable, and the setting could conceivably be adapted to suit any setting.

Overall, we were very pleased with our experience with Trollbabe. It’s a game that’s easy to pick up and play with a small group of friends. If you enjoy a rules-lite storytelling experience that can be picked up quickly, then Trollbabe is an experience that you don’t want to miss. However, if you want a more tactical, mechanical system, then maybe stay away.

To find out for yourself, you can purchase it at http://adept-press.com/games-fantasy-horror/trollbabe/

Physics has gravity, and tabletop RPGs have GNS Theory!

http://geekandsundry.com/learn-the-fascinating-theory-behind-roleplaying-games/

This year, this year you are determined to take on a paramour! It’s something you’ve been thinking about heavily. It has been a while since you’ve thought about pursuing an interest but actually haven’t had some time to yourself to pursue someone interesting since you decided to sit down on this park bench.  To be more honest with yourself you’ve been toying with the idea of taking one on because you were feeling pretty lonely in that department. It had been such a very long time and you have no idea how to court an alien and well, explain being human, they tended to become very violent.

You could tell yourself “There is always her...” but you knew deep down it just wouldn’t work, even agreeing to be rails was a little eh to you but after thinking about it, it was a pretty beneficial relationship besides her little hints every so often.

You continue your thoughts slumping some more into this comfortable sitting position and started weighing the pros and cons about actually going out there and maybe hanging out with an alien. Who knew how long you’d be stuck here, you got here by unconventional means and have no way of getting a hold of the same stuff to get you back.

By Ron Edwards

Trollbabe is a role-playing game about playing trollbabes: horned women that lie halfway between humans and trolls. Using a simple system where each character is defined by a single number that the player must roll under to succeed at fighting, over to succeed on magic, and whichever of the two is worse to succeed at social checks, a system that would go on to inspire the system from Lasers & Feelings.

Gameplay revolves around trollbabes traveling from one place to another, getting involved in conflicts which often force them to mediate between their human and trollish side. It's one of those games which is definitely not an intentional trans allegory, but could definitely be read as an accidental trans allegory. Ron Edwards was definitely just horny for trollgirls, and who can blame him, but in doing so he managed to make a game that dozens of girls who enjoy GIRLS WITH HORNS can probably vibe with.

End 2018 on a good note!  The final episode of Trollbabe  is our final episode of the year! We hope you’ve enjoyed listening to it, and all of the past year’s TTPL, as much as we enjoyed making it.

These nuts are a perfect snack for any trollbabe on the go! Easy to make and even easier to eat.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Water

1/2 c. Brown sugar

1/2 c. White sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Splash of vanilla extract

2 cups of mixed whole raw almonds and cashews

Steps:

Combine water, sugars, cinnamon, and vanilla in a big saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Add nuts. Keep stirring. Seriously. Don't stop. Stir until you wish you were a trollbabe with beefy biceps. 

Once there is no liquid or syrup at all and the almonds looks all sugar coated, put them on a lined baking sheet until cooled