snowynight

Liminal Horror is a free 43-page modern horror game that let you play normal people with little power battling against (or being changed by) things that bump in the dark. By the time these stories begin, the systems of power that should have protected the characters have already failed. Death is a possible consequence in this dangerous world. When attempting to do something dangerous, roll a 20 faced die. You can roll to generate a character.

My Character is a a bit of a jerk because of their black and white morality. They are estranged from their family, and doesn't really have much friends. Their boss is a bit weird, but also their only contact. They have an online relationship that may go bad considering what world they are in.

( Detailed Stat )

Grant Howitt made a lot of free interesting one page RPG. Honey Heist is probably the most famous.

You play a bear to carry on out the biggest honey heist at the Honeycon. Chaos and comedy ensue. There are only 2 stat: Bear & Criminal, which both start at 3. Bear is for doing bear stuff, and Criminal is for doing others. Doing well or worse will shift the stat into another. 6 points in criminal means the character betraying the party, living out a life of crime for the rest of their days. 6 points in bear result in the bear going completely feral, hulking out and losing control of your character.

My bear is a slick sun bear thief who can sense honey. That's the full extent of my character.

I use the adventure generator to generate the adventure premise:
( adventure detail )

Zenobia is a fast-play RPG set in the darkest days of the Roman Empire. Full of classic fantasy elements, and with an atmosphere akin to Conan's Hyboria, Zenobia is easy to run and play and includes some innovative combat mechanics - for maximum crunch!

Zenobia is a 226 page free tabletop RPG set in a low fantasy version of the ancient near East when the Roman Empuire in its last days. The setting session covers everyday life (calendar, clothing, social customs and currecy, etc), geography and the history timeline. It uses 6-faced dices (d6) only and combat is resolved with might+combat modifier+2d6 roll. The random table of description of crippling blows can be quite bloody.

Characters can work on becoming a priest of one of the many gods or learn magic/alchemy. Befitting sword and sandal fantasy characters, there are rules for gambling & surprising people. The monster list covers 26 monsters like children of Gaea (half human half snake giants), empusaes (vampires that can turn into dogs, cows and women) and more. There's also a section for mundane creatures like giant scorpions

My character stat:

( Read more... )

Mork Borg is a post-apocalyptic fantasy tabletop RPG inspired by heavy metal music like Domkraft, Bongzilla, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard and Tiamat. Its thriving fan community makes a lot of fan content like character classes, adventures setting, etc.

One day all will blacken and burn. Just as the Two-Headed Basilisks have predicted.
The world is dying, time is short. How will you face these last days? Robbing graves for soil-stained wealth, or facing down the apocalypse, hoping it can be fought?

Its rule is simple enough to fit into an A4 size paper. The description and art are very evocative. For example, this's one of the occuklt treasure you may get during an adventure.

Silver bird cage: slays whatever is placed behind its bars, slowly, over one long night. That which is killed reanimates twice as strong, as a raging uncontrollable undead.

Link to the free version of the game without art
Link to full version

My character: Graft the Wretched Royalty

( Character Stat )

Chasing Adventure is a tabletop rpg tailored for DND tropes: fast paced cinematic action in a dangerous fantasy world. The free version has everything you need to play, while the paid version has more tables and options. If you have heard of Powered by the Apocalypse (PBTA), it's a streamlined version of Dungeon World and does its own thing. If you haven't heard of PBTA before, the rule system is inspired by Apocalypse World and here's an explanation about the design philosophy. TLDR: Chasing Adventure let you play DND-que adventure without ability scores, hit points, encumbrance, gold pieces, & race and alignment.

I really like how simple and clear it is. My character feels distinctive without me pouring hours into character optimization. There're story hooks and in-group connection just from character creation.

I create my character by choosing the cleric playbook (flexible archetypal cores for a player character.)

You see the world as it truly is - a part of something greater, an existence filled with angels and demons, gods and devils, mortals and spirits. Some call you mad, others a liar, but you carry this truth with you to all people. No malady is too severe for you to heal, no burden too heavy for you to carry. For truth is made worthy through action.

Each character archetype has 4 starting moves. Clerics have Atonement (taking negative conditions onto themselves and negating some with Spirit [default no: 2]), Divine Agent (gain favour from a deity define by you), Hearts and Minds ( to uncover someone's deepest thought), Invocation (call upon the deity's power).

My character, Renate worships the god of death, who's an impartial judge of the dead. People with newly dead loved one pray to them so that their spirits can find peace in the underworld. The god and abhors the undead like zombies, vampires, liches, etc. Their cleric are responsible for proper burial of the dead, bring lingering spirits to the underworld and destroy the undead. When the god favours Renate, they hear voice of ghosts and animals fear their presence.

Renate is devoted to giving rest to spirits and help them and their family/friends handle their unfinished business, so I choose Minister from the 3 available backgrounds. Then I choose a staff, polished chainmail and an adventurer's gear for additional equipment.

( Cut for length about further details )

Game Stat

( Read more... )

Iron Valley is a free solo tabletop RPG with a Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley vibe. It's a hack of Ironsworn: Starforged. You play a new resident in the peaceful Iron Valley, and you can roll all the way to decide what this place and your character is like. Your character can grow corps, raise livestock, help your fellow townies and get to know them better (and unlock heart events if you like), restore the family farm, investigate the mysteries of the Iron Valley and celebrate various festivals, or just enjoy a cozy life in the town. There're a lot of random tables for you to generate NPC in the town (eg: Jasper, an arrogant homebody zombie rat farmer who likes hiking and flowers), NPC quests, random location, food and more.

I really enjoy the game. It's easy to pick up and very flexible, but the "make a promise" mechanic (same as that in Ironsworn) can guide your game if you feel lost. If you enjoy cozy slice of life role play, I'll recommend it.

( My character )

Troika! : "The other world's favorite RPG"
a science-fantasy RPG in which players travel by eldritch portal and non-euclide-an labyrinth and golden-sailed barge between the uncountable crystal Spheres strung delicately across the Humpbacked Sky.

The system is based on Advanced Fighting Fantasy (a British tabletop RPG based on the Fighting Fantasy and Sorcery! gamebook). It uses 6-faced dice only, and combat initiative is randomly decided.

The weird fantasy setting is implied through its fascinating character backgrounds, illustrations and the introductory adventure. One of the character background is a Little Prince reference. The adventure takes place in a hotel of chrome and gold, which its mandrill guards is among the less weird things. There are a lot of third party content inspired by the whimsy strange aesthetic.

You can read the rule book free on its website.

My character:

( Canon background: Bored valet in need of challenge )

Songbirds 3rd Edition is a d20 based eldritch fantasy tabletop roleplaying game "about undeath, supernatural powers, and the blue dreams of the moon." It's available as a pay what you want pdf on itch.io.

In the game, you create a strange survivor of the world who was chosen (or cursed) by Death. Spirits aren't able to pass on to the afterlife and grow monstrous with each passing day. You know the songs to send them on. You have the abilities that help you find them. You are the canary in the coal mine.

Songbird characters have 5 points to assign across four stats. Zero is allowed

Reflex (REF) - Finesse, balance, agility, and reaction time.
Physique (PHY) - Power of the body and the knowledge/control of it.
Lore (LOR) - What you know about the world and how it works.
Charisma (CHA) - Your will and spirit interfacing with the world.

Everyone can use magic at a great cost. Ritual magic requires time and ingredients, while songs are requires full attention and offering to the spirits (money in game terms). Draconic words are language of nightmare, so it requires spending life (hp). Summoning great spirits requires great sacrifice. Traumatized songbirds can get psychic abilities but risk psychic backlashes.

The writing is atmospheric. Domain is an otherworld being who the PC can signs a pact with. "Dungeons, his twisted dreams. And we are his intrusive thoughts. Made to be painful and crushed." There're random tables for adventure generation, trinkets, your PC's relationship to fellow PCs, downtime activities, secret sodas, etc.

My character:

( Game Stat )

Mausritter is a tabletop RPG that you play a small mouse adventurer in a dangerous world. The rules are simple - only 10 pages, There rest are an example of play, lists of weapons and tools, bestiary, random table for character creation and master resources, It has a pay what you want digital edition that you can check it out freely.

Character generation is randomized, so it's very fast. I throw dice to decide the name, appearance, background, starting equipments, and attributes. There's an official online character generator. It has a physical card based inventory system. You can put items squares into the limited slots. Some heavy items need two slots, If you exceed your inventory limit, the character can't run and will be at disadvantage at rolls. So it's a hard choice what to keep. Items can be used up too.

Magic is rare and dangerous in the world of Mausritter. It often requires a quest to obtain spells. The mice have to hold the magic tablet to cast spell, so each spell will eat away your inventory slot. Like other items, magic tablets have limited use. The way to replenish magic is demanding. For example, the way to replenish the fireball is to "Burn in the heart of a raging fire for three days and nights"

My mouse adventurer Brynn Danger was a message runner before turning into an adventurer. She is a stubborn but charming, and loves to tell colourful stories about her exploits that may or may not be true. She is looking for a missing mouse to deliver her last letter.

( Character Stat )

GURPS stands for "Generic Universal RolePlaying System", an universal RPG system that allows you to play in any setting. it's a toolkit for depicting worlds with a default assumption of verisimilitude. It has many well research source books that are useful outside role playing purpose. I really love the Horror book that discusses the horror genre.

I have complicated feeling about GURPS. I love how flexible it is, but it's also agonizing to decide what rules to use and what kind of character you want to make. You can make any characters in GURPS, which's a blessing and burden.

I make my character based on Evan, the protagonist of a Chinese web novel, Guidebook for the Dark Duke. Evan has transmigrated into a regency romance as a doomed Anglican priest side character, so he decides to win the yandere duke's heart for money and status. However, he falls in love with the duke while investigating crimes. It's refreshing to see an ambitious, two-faced, sharp, and selfish yet believably charming protagonist. He's competent but doesn't have super ability, so it'll be easier for me.

I use a 100 character point as an exceptional character level. I also use both the priest and detective template in GURPS 4E Horror for reference. I bases his stat as he's in in the early canon. He's a conman but not a fighter, and hasn't earned the duke as his ally yet.

( Game Stat )

I have bought the Solo But Not Alone 4 bundle (available to 9 March) and am (very) slowly going through the games. I have only played three of them yet. Here's my thought about them after my first playthrough. These are all solo journaling games, in which you are writing a fictional character's account in response to given prompts.

Hamsters and Himbos:

Summary: Hamsters and Himbos has a wacky premise: "The town is under attack by giant hamsters. You play a self declared detective to solve the mystery of giant hamsters with the help of three himbos." You need a 8 faced dice, a 10-face dice & a 12-face dice (or dice roller app) to play. When assigning the himbo to the task, you roll the dice to see if it goes over 5+ to get a clue. If you roll under the number, the next time you'll use a smaller dice. For example, if you starts with an 8 faced dice and rolled 3, next time you'll have to roll a 6-face dice. Failure is a feature, as the game encourages you to throw characters into mishaps and suffer. If you think you have enough clues, you string together a theory and roll to decide whether you solve the mystery.

Thought: I like this premise, which's ripe for comedy. I have fun creating the three himbos with "Big Thigh", "Big Heart" & "Big Arm". The random table for clue has interesting items. However, I wish there was a random table to help me generate what kind of mishaps and hijinks my characters will get into. (20 pages)

Hiria: the Eternal City:

Summary: In Hiria, you play a character trying to track someone down through different versions of the same city with an Invisible City vibe. The city changes in every turn, along with things happening around you. Can you trace your querry's tracks and catch up with them? (24 pages)

Thoughts: I love Invisible City and the designer's previous game "A Visit to San Sibilia", so I was excited about playing the game. The game delivered on its promise and beyond. I enjoy rolling to see how the city changes with time. The art and the writing are evocative. There are a lot of tables to randomize the querry and the city. The game premise gives me a purpose while remaining flexible about what kind of stories to tell: looking for a missing heir, an inhuman fugitive, a missing family member, etc.

You, Beyond the Pale:

Summary: You plays a lonely monster a world full of mortals. "Observe them. Learn about them. Scare them, or leave gifts for them. Make a friend. And brace for when your friend tells the rest of the mortal world about you." You draw playing cards to randomly generate mortals your character come across in their long life. (24 pages)

Thought: I like how contemplative the game experience is. My character has mostly observed the confusing and intriguing mortals that get in their way. She also explores abandoned mortal dwellings that can be dangerous, comforting or confusing. Making friend (drawing the first joker) feels significant as I develop my character's relationship and experience with them

Challenge #14: Try something new

There's a 24-word RPG jam for writing a tabletop rpg/larp in 24 words. I'm fascinated by the idea of using so few words for a playable game. Here's my first attempt in writing a tabletop RPG, because tabletop RPG is kind of a fandom too.

"You play a ghost. Who or what chains you to the living? Write and cross them out when you let them go, or not."

Traveller is a scifi tabletop rpg that let you play merchants, space military, espionage or explore the space. Mongoose Traveller is currently the most recent and supported version.

The character generation is a game in itself, creating a character with interesting life story. You roll their attributes, taking careers, encounter different random events and decide when to quit before mishaps happening. It's very unpredictable and fun.

My character is a smart ruthless cybernetics & robotics researcher.

She doesn't come from the higher clase nor finish university education, but still earns prestigious awards as a field researcher.

However, she takes shortcuts and conducts unethical researches. When the government objects to her research because of politics, she continues openly. That's why she is hated.

Jane retires with the highest rank as a field researcher. She is eager to explore the space with her lab ship for more science (and dodge her enemies)

Link to the game on the publisher's website: Mongoose Traveller
Link to online character generator.

( cut for game stat )

( Challenge #7 )

I have posted links to resources about website building, world building and
writing interactive fiction before. This time I would like to discuss solo roleplaying because tabletop roleplaying is totally a fandom.;) The tools and generators links are useful for writing too.

Solo Roleplaying is a fun way to explore a story or a game on your own.

Some people use oracles: tools that answer questions, create story elements, and provide content for improvisation. Journal RPG are popular, as they gives you prompts for you to write a story.

Currently, there's a charity bundle for 125 solo rpg games for $10 (Available to 9th March). I have written a post about it with selected recommendation.

My favourite games (All free because I love free things):

( Game list )

Solo Tabletop RPG Resources:

( Getting Started Guides, Toolkits, Generators and a Newsletter )

The 'Solo, But Not Alone' 4 bundle is a charity bundle that help raise awareness of mental health. Currently it contains 100+ solo tabletop rpg for $10. It's a good entry point if you're interested in tabletop role playing but don't have people to play with. Even if you're not into them, a lot of games have interesting premises and can be used as writing prompts and inspiration.

The charity it supports, Take This has created a downloadable Excel spreadsheet of the games including summaries, content warnings, and tags.

Highlights of the games included:

Games for 1 or more players:
English Eerie Second Edition: A Rural Horror Storytelling Game for 1-4 Players is a GM-less tabletop game of terrifying proportions, allowing you to weave your own haunted tales set in the dark English countryside.
We Deal in Lead: a Weird West game inspired by the Dark Towers series

Solo Game
Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop: You play a little creature who runs a bookshop that travels along a great river. A cosy and lovely experience
Glyph: "a single player adventure in runic magic, an exercise in creativity, and a supplement to add language and artistry into a variety of tabletop roleplaying games.
Project ECCO: "a game of time travel and cosmic horror—a solo journaling game with a twist. Time travel across the pages of a planner, writing in and marking up the dates based on prompts as you go, ultimately creating an artifact of your travels through time."
Haxen: a diceless map making game exploring a shifting post-apocalyptic future
Hiria: the Eternal City: "a solo journaling game in which you play a character trying to track someone down through different versions of the same city. "

Top Secret S. I. is a spy tabletop RPG published in 1987 inspired by James Bond movies. I have first known about tabletop RPG because I have stumbled on a Top Secret S. I fansite (Web archive version). It blew my mind that I can use rules to make a character and go on adventures. For fun and nostalgia, I use the rules to make a character.

I use online dice to decide my characters's basic attribute and psychological profile. I also randomize her nationality and general appearance.

Agent Felicitás Kázmér is strong, tough and has quick reflex. She is laid back and loyal to her employer, but her big heart and piety was a mismatch with her job. She was traumatized by her career, but few people could recognize that she was off to the deep end. She would leave a simple drawing of a blunted sword in murder scenes as a sign of judgement for everyone involved, despite the risk of exposing herself.

( Cut for the Details )

Sherpa RPG: a game designed for outdoors. The rules can fit on a business card. You only need the stopwatch function on your digital watch/phone to play. There is a free web version of the rule
Munchkin: a comedic card game that you compete with your friends to kill dungeon monsters and collect treasure. There are 33 themed variants of the games including cooking battle, horror films, kungfu, Marvel and Disney Duck tales and more than 70 expansion packs..
Out of Dodge is a four-person, “American Freeform” live-action game about desperate criminals on a car ride to nowhere. It's designed to be played in a car.
Dungeon Janitor's Apprentice: a free two-page tabletop rpg that centres on two people arguing with each other
Hey, this song reminds me of you: a 200 word experience about two players sharing songs with each other

Mechanical Oryx: "You play as a mysterious mechanical beast with magical powers spreading your domain among the peoples who populate the world." An evocative world built in under 200 words

Sea Dracula: You play a dancing lawyer animal that wins crime case with actual dance off. Two pages long.

Ghost/Echo: //While hunting for loot FOR in the ghost world, your crew was sold out. You've walked right into an ambush, with hungry wraiths on your heels. // An one page RPG with style and deliberate void for players to fill in.

The Queen of Cups: A cute and cozy RPG that your character works in a magical coffee shop and and help your supernatural patrons to solve problems.

Engine Heart: Wall-E: the RPG. Player characters are service robots in the post apocalyptic Earth where humanity is gone.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, itch.io is now selling an indie game bundle with 100 % proceeds going toward National Network for Abortion Fund’s Collective Power Fund. This fund moves money directly to abortion funds across more than 20 states and has a higher focus on the South and Midwest, where it is often most difficult to get access to abortions.

In all, the bundle comes with 1122 items including indie games and tabletop rpg for only $10. Currently I am obsessed with Beyond the Chiron Gate, a text based space exploration rougelike.

The offer ends in 4 days. I think it's a good deal to support a worthy cause.

Signal Boost:

Bundle for Ukraine

The DRM-free itch.io Bundle for Ukraine, available until Friday, March 18 supports Voices of Children and International Medical Corps. Voices of Children is a Ukrainian organization that helps children cope with the trauma of war, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other challenges specific to kids. International Medical Corps provides medical assistance to the region.

There are 566 more video games, plus 317 rulesets for tabletop games, 22 digital books, 10 soundtracks, nine comics, and other downloads. The minimum donation is $10. It includes last year’s Skatebird (which launched on Xbox Game Pass); Kingdom Two Crowns; the outstanding puzzle game Baba is You; 2018’s award winning platformer Celeste; and indie mainstays Super Hexagon and Superhot.

As there are really a lot (900+)You can see what's in them easier in the bundle browser.

The TTRPG Community Stands with Ukraine Bundle

This's a smaller tabletop RPG specific bundle that proceeds goes to Canadian Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal because the Canadian Federal Government is, effectively doubling the total donations from this bundle. It's running to the 17th of March.

There are more than 100 products, valued at over $500. The overlap with other bundle isn't big, and I think it's worth it to get it for Sleepaway, a gmless horror RPG and Ultraviolet Grasslands, a RPG and an art book, if not for Ukraine.

TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas

The “TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas!” bundle, available on itch.io for $5, offers over $2.7 thousand worth in indie role-playing games for Organización Latina de Trans en Texas and Transgender Education Network of Texas.
Its offer is available until 4th of April. One of the most famous games is Thirsty Sword Lesbians, a PBTA tabletop rpg about telling queer stories with swords and adventure and is $15 on its own.

In late February, Republican Governor Greg Abbott penned a directive to the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services ordering the agency to investigate trans children’s parents. The letter equates medical care for youth gender transitioning with child abuse. The country’s biggest pediatric hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital is forced to pause hormone therapy for trans youth.

TENT focuses on eliminating bigoted stereotypes and stigmas against trans people, while OLTT offers a wide number of services for trans and GNC Texans. These include affirming shelters, legal support for trans immigrants navigating the U.S. citizenship process, and emergency housing and food for queer people in need.

I bought them all because they're for a good cause and good value, although the UI of itch.io can be better.

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snowynight

Fic @ AO3

May 2025

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Page Summary

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Liminal Horror
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Honey Heist
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Zenobia
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Mork Borg
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Chasing Adventure
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Iron Valley
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Troika!
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Songbirds 3rd Edition
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Mausritter
2024 Character Creation Challenge: GURPS
Solo RPG Mini-Review: "Hamsters and Himbos", "Hiria: the Eternal City" & "You, Beyond the Pale",
Fandom Snowflake Challenge #14
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Mongoose Traveller
Snowflake Challenge Challenge #7
Launch of 'Solo But Not Alone 4' Solo Tabletop RPG bundle on itch.io (Available to March 9)
2024 Character Creation Challenge: Top Secret S. I.
Five games to play during a car trip
Top 5 Free Unconventional Tabletop RPG
Signal Boost: Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds on itch.io
Signal boost for charity bundle

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Entries tagged with trpg

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Liminal Horror

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Honey Heist

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Zenobia

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Mork Borg

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Chasing Adventure

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Iron Valley

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Troika!

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Songbirds 3rd Edition

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Mausritter

2024 Character Creation Challenge: GURPS

Solo RPG Mini-Review: "Hamsters and Himbos", "Hiria: the Eternal City" & "You, Beyond the Pale",

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #14

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Mongoose Traveller

Snowflake Challenge Challenge #7

Launch of 'Solo But Not Alone 4' Solo Tabletop RPG bundle on itch.io (Available to March 9)

2024 Character Creation Challenge: Top Secret S. I.

Five games to play during a car trip

Top 5 Free Unconventional Tabletop RPG

Signal Boost: Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds on itch.io

Signal boost for charity bundle