I present to you the new Crowdfunding Collection #136 – Part 2 of 2 – Zine Quest, including every tabletop rpg project started between 02/23 and 03/01.
With this edition of the collection, the Zine Quest officially ends, which should see it shrink back to its normal single post format. Yet, today you’ll find two parts:
Crowdfunding Collection #136 – Part 1 of 1
Kingdoms is not only the first game in this list, but as well the first I backed. Players will form and head a civilization, overseeing the birth of heirs, slay beasts and try to conquer the Sunless World within the span of generations. The game by Sophie Tinney uses light, OSR inspired rules as well as a neat design. I recommend having a look. Trying to conquer worlds requires planning, and Agile is a technique to manage small and big projects. If you like to explore the up and down of this particular technology you should check out Agile, Anxious, Attached. The project by Hannah Pate offers three game about the Agile project management system, burn out and office affairs. Quite unique topics for a ttrpg. Though quite contemporary, if you want a game a bit more in the past, check out Covert Wars. Players might assume the role of any parties involved in the cold war and fight for their cause. I feel The game might be worth having a look if you are into shows like The Americans. Maybe its still to modern for you, and to realistic. Seance and Sensibility gets you into the Ewardian setting of Austens novel with almost the same name and adds some eldritch horror to it. Fascinating. Though maybe you want to do your own thing? Gone with the Wights? Kingpink: Darkness enables players – its done without a GM – to create a rich setting and world. Which they might then play within for like 1 or 3 sessions, using a card based system. I am intruiged.
You could create your own dungeon crawl with it, or directly get your hands on Fabled Dead. While it looks kinda of Usagi Yojimbo – anything with a killer rabbit to me does – players apparently play mutants instead of anthropomorphic animals. If you are in for a d6 based hexcrawl, take a look. If you prefer a more classic fantasy dungeon crawl check out The Treasure At The End Of This Dungeon. Which kinda grants you the treasure of a dungeon at the beginning.
The Lost Tale offers a not so dungeon based fantasy game, and is inspired by East European folk and fairytales. The 2d6 system has been tested and I like the inspiration. If you prefer a more focused fantasy experience, you might use Darker Malleus to find out if your characters will become the monsters they went out to fight. It’s designed for 2 to 4 players and made for oneshots. Maybe you prefer it big scale, god-like? The story game Incarnis offers you the opportunity to assume the role of flawed and quite human gods, who’ll create a world and its myths. The game aims to offer the option to rotate the role of GM and plans to develop it’s system based on the DramaSystem. Though sometimes one just wants to venture out to kick ass and collect treasure. Which is what I imagine GFDP (Goddamn Fucking Dungeon Punks) deliveres. Including a quite ragged look. If you rather want to dream of what your beard – or a beard – like that facial hair in people faces – does instead of being just a lazy beard… you can experience beards whisking of into fantastical adventures in Beards & Beyond. Though, imagine that ones beard takes off, gets slayn, and you’ll wake up all face-naked kann be quite terryfing and high stake. The Magical Repair Shop offers a rather low stakes game in which you repair and care for magic items whether heirlooms, treasure or other things. The narrative game seems quite neat.
There is the possibility to combine technology and fantasy. Like, why not explore a haunted data partion? Pocket World offers a cool mix between Metroid(vanias) and the Forged in the Dark system. I would back it in a minute, if the only level that delivers to Germany wouldn’t require me to get creative (I don’t like to work or design XD). Alternatively you might teleport a media influencer from today, back into the 90s with Viral.exe. The card based game does appear to back on the 90s nostalgia and an interesting card based system.
Another rather abstract thing, imho, is faith. Lost Scriptures explores how to react to newly discovered scriptures. How to interpret, handle and speard them. An interesting idea realized with a narrative system. Numious does share the faith aspect, as an holy angel will hand the player a divine dictionary with its last breath, warning of the apocalypse. The dictionary, a literal one, will be torn to shred and obliterated as player use the magic words. A strange idea, that makes me feel uncomfortable. Like, I don’t like shredding books.
You won’t have to shred a book in the Post-Brexit game Shadow of Mogg. In the aftermath of the apocalypse – ya ain’t thinking it would go well? – your characters will explore the London Tube. Quite a new take on the genre and Powered by the Apocalypse. You’ll have a more traditional one in Apocalypse Survive. The zine is a translation from an Italian original game, and sees you confronted with a variety of post-apocalyptic challenges. I like that it only requires a translation. If you are into exploring the traumata of the zombie apocalypse, the betrayals, losses and such, check out Affliction. Which explores the topics following their own take of the 5 stages of grieve by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross‘ and with the card based system of the Effect Engine.
You might be looking into the future, and find that Last Flight of the Pandora offers a fun, chaotic and quite doomed travel in a space ship. If you prefer your SF less fun and more dramatic Damocles‘ Decay, sees you assuming the role of leading a prison ship, which has been abonded next to a sun going supernova. You need to find other ships, trade and fight them, to get your ship ready to leave. While the other players will be doing the same and you don’t like your fellow ex-prisoners to mutiny. Then there’s Lost Ship, in which you play alone or with another person and try to get your troubled colony ship out of its misery. The project ain’t part of the Zine Quest, but is basically a zine, and a ttrpg. I think. Take a look. The fact that BROADSIDE 29XX combines the napoleonic war and atomic age syfy seems normal in comparison. Though it’s not exactly my cup of tea.
There’s always the option to go for some good ol‘ super hero game. Rooftops is a PbtA game where you actually play heros and try to make the world a better place.
What are the motivations and moral compass of intelligent rodents in a post apocalyptic world? Well, you might explore it in Crawlspace. Well, and if rodents are to rodent for you, you can be a trash panda or other animal scavenging for food in Eat Trash. Be Free. The game is done with a Blades in the Dark style system.
Sometimes playing alone will just scratch the right itch. Maybe you’ll keep a diary in Journey Back? With just a deck of cards you may experience and jot down your heroes journey. There’s as well the option to explore a world inspired by Soulsborne and the Mythos with Wandering Dreams. With a standard deck of card, you’ll be exploring the fantastical world. Well, I will, because I backed it. As the system is designed to be hacked and I am curious. If you long for the deep spaces of the universe check out Nadir. The game will be delivered in two zines, one for the rule and the other one to play.
If you want to do a quick larp, No Love’s Land might be worth a look. Two female killrobots will try to conquer each other with love. Kinda. From my understanding. You’ll be shooting at the other killrobot by throwing notes, err firing at them. Well, love is a battlefield? It seems a bit strange to me.
I personally would have loved to back the We’re Just Friends gamebook by Paul Czege. Sadly, all the international pledges are gone and there ain’t even a PDF. If you are in the US, check it out!
There are other projects. Like the Dreamhaven setting for Old-School-Essentials and OSR or the system neutral GRAND TOWER HOTEL. If you alway wanted a supplement about pets for your adventurer, check out Dungeon Pets! I am tempted by it. Well and you might be out of the Bunker to experience OSR adventures with the zine.
You’ll find those, and many more cool projects, here:
English Crowdfundings
5 Role-Playing Games
2 Dungeon Crawler Role-Playing Games
6 Fantasy Role-Playing Games
2 Fantasy-Tech Role-Playing Games
2 Faithbased Role-Playing Games
3 (Post-)Apocalyptic Role-Playing Games
4 Science Fiction Role-Playing Games
1 Superhero Role-Playing Game
2 Animal Role-Playing Games
3 Solo Role-Playing Games
1 Larp
1 Gamebook
4 Settings
4 Supplements
2 NPC Projects
2 Monster Projects
5 Adventures
3 D&D Adventures
Article: https://teylen.blog/2020/03/02/crowdfunding-collection-136-part-2-of-2-zine-quest/