[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 !!
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
the digital zine will be sold from this page on my itch once it launches!!
she has arrived ... 🤲✨
a child who may never be safe / a guardian who will never stop striving
