Steven Universe RPG

#1

I’ve been working on this Steven Universe RPG since last summer, and with the series ending I thought now would be a good time to publish it. I put it up for free on Itch.io for anyone that wants it.

It’s a hack of Swords Without Master, and borrows the central mechanic from that game. I used a five-act structure to get it to simulate episode of the show.

One cool thing about the game is that it plays in just 60-90 minutes, so groups can actually play twice back-to-back in one typical gaming session and get two stories in! It’s like playing two short episodes of the show.

In addition to the game itself, I have also uploaded two digital tools to facilitate online play: a fillable pdf of the character sheet, and a tracker that shows what act you are in and therefore what actions are available.

If you download and read it, and especially if you play it, please let me know what you think of it! I intend to periodically update it with feedback from players.

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#2

Thanks for letting us know @sa_liberty and thanks for adding tools for online play.

#3

Of course! Hope some of you are able to play it!

#4

I don’t know Steven Universe but it’s a very cool game ! I love the gem crafting part, and the powers. Lots of choice, very meaningful. Claims and histories can be harder to come up with though. Advancing history is a good move, but I don’t know how often it can happen. Some actions can be creatively taxing on the players. And the special case of explore loaded question is difficult : the price of failure is asking a loaded question against your character, right ? Not all players will have that easy.
So, some parts are more demanding than others, but character creation, story progression and structure and character evolution are clear and simple. Good job ! It really makes me want those powers.

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#5

Thank you!

Claims and histories are challenging if you don’t know the show. If you are familiar with it, it’s much easier because you’re kind of steeped in the world / genre.

You actually nailed the hardest part of the game for players on the nose: coming up with loaded questions for the Explore action. This is the hardest part for players not used to this kind of game, and especially when you roll a Block on your explore. When I am Authority, I ask the player what they failed to notice but what the audience still saw, and why did they fail to notice it?

From experience, it takes 2-3 games before somebody advances a history, but it is meant to be a rare and special moment.

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#6

You’re teaching dramatic irony there. There must be famous examples.
And yes you’re right : I picture a kid would have plenty to say about their Gem history. But still, a little table of 6 lines wouldn’t hurt 1 for the grown ups and 2 for the most dramatically interesting leads. My principle is : always give tools for what you ask players to do.

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#7

Yes, that’s 100% valid, and the main upgrade in version 1.2 is going to be examples of all of this stuff. Not only character generation, but also how to actually use the actions and narrate in the tone of your drives.

#8

When should we do this online game I’m running?

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#9

I’m free Tue. Wed. and Fri. evenings during the week. I can sometimes make time on weekends as well, but during work hours during the week is probably not workable.

#10

I’d love to join.

Is your time zone EST ?

I’d need to work out when your evenings fall for me in GMT :sweat_smile:

#11

Hey folks, noticing some game planning here. There’s a pretty strict policy against soliciting for games, as opposed to advertising for gaming events or general playtesting. Please move planning to DMs.

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