#@jennamoran

[xavidotron]

Just posted my Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine introductory heist one-shot, To Rob Death’s Dominion. Steal the jewel that justifies existence from the Headmaster of the Bleak Academy, or fall into chaos trying! If you’ve ever wanted to see what the fuss is all about with Chuubo’s but wanted either something bite-sized or something a bit less pastoral, this is what you’ve been waiting for.

#cmwge #@jennamoran #apocynum press #b19 #ttrpgs

[prokopetz]

I have a pinned post for my games in development, but it doesn't really describe what they're about, and apparently this is something we're doing today, so:

My games in development, in rough order of priority:

(Note: all of these have public playtest drafts behind the links.)

Eat God

A game about weird little anarchist muppets with reality-warping powers themed after classic Looney Tunes gags wandering around a classic sword-and-sorcery fantasy setting stirring up trouble. Roughly 50% character creation rules by volume, with provisions for randomising every part of it; the linked draft, above, includes an online character generator if you want to play with it. The mechanics are a sort of elaborated spiritual successor to Costume Fairy Adventures, a game whose development I headed up about a decade ago.

Current status: actively writing, hopefully zeroing in on a feature-complete playtest draft within the next month or two.

Tiny Frog Wizards

One of my customarily literal titles, this is a game where you play as wizards who are tiny frogs. Features elaborate semi-freeform rules for casting spells, lots of big stupid random tables for when spells go off the rails, and absolutely no mechanics for anything that isn't casting a spell; it's a very focused sort of game. Narratively, it's a game about being an overpowered little twerp sticking your nose into other people's problems and offering solutions no-one asked for. Portions of the rules crib shamelessly from @jennamoran's Nobilis 3rd Edition, for which I offer acknowledgement but no apologies.

Current status: development of the text has been set aside for the moment to work on visual identity, with an eye toward crowdfunding an expanded hardcover edition later in the year.

Space Gerbils

A tactical mecha combat game with a very silly twist: the entirety of the tactical positioning occurs inside the mecha, because the game's premise is basically "what if instead of the Big Reveal at the end of Metroid (1986) being that Samus Aran is secretly a girl, Samus Aran was secretly 3–5 small gerbil-like creatures operating a person-size mech suit?" Players engage in positional jockeying and resource management to determine which stations they're crewing within the suit, which is boiled down to a single roll of the dice to determine what happens outside the suit. Includes papercraft minifigs.

Current status: essentially feature-complete, apart from some character creation options and a planned random mission generator; this will likely be the next game I crowdfund after Tiny Frog Wizards.

Indie RPG Prompt Generator [working title]

Essentially a joke that got out of hand, this is a big set of random tables of common indie RPG tropes that you can roll on to generate a description of a hypothetical game, complete with specific rules toys and setting beats. I probably could have finished this up already, but I decided to include examples of each rolled element, which turned into this big hairy research project I'm not able to give adequate attention to right now. If you've got a game of your own that you think would be a good fit for a presently unfilled example slot, please, let me know!

Current status: plugging away at it in bits and pieces as I'm able.

Three Raccoons in a Trenchcoat

This is an anthology consisting of three minigames: the eponymous Three Raccoons in a Trenchcoat, which is self-explanatory; Unfamiliar, in which you play as uncooperative wizards' familiars; and System Crash, in which you play as malfunctioning robots. More a series of formal experiments in character creation and group composition than proper full-featured games, all share the same core mechanics, with milieu-specific addons of varying practicality; for example, System Crash has specific rules for which senses each player is allowed to use when asking the GM for information, because it's completely possible to have a group in which only one of the robots can see. Large portions of Unfamiliar were later re-used in Eat God, above.

Current status: I have a list of notes as long as your arm on planned changes to integrate into the text, and I'm confident I'll get around to doing so one of these years.

Gone to Hell

Literally a Doom (2016) pastiche as a Belonging Outside Belonging game, which is just as silly an idea as it sounds; grown out of an earlier 24-hour RPG called Doomguy. The central conceit is that there's only a single player character, with players taking turns assuming the role of the Slayer, while everyone else takes ownership of the various hostile factions comprising the game's conspiratorial twelve-car pileup of a plot. Lots of pontificating about the implicit power structures of tabletop RPG groups. This one probably needs a full rewrite in order to lend a bit more formal structure to the "one player character, many GMs" conceit than out-of-the-box BOB offers.

Current status: I have not looked at this game in three years, which is actually a really long time for me.

Rotate Bird

Another of my "is this a formal experiment or a real game" titles, this one revolves around constructing characters out of abstract symbols, which are interpreted during play to retroactively define what your character is actually capable of doing. Even the title seen above is an interpretive approximation; strictly speaking, the game is called 🔄🐦. Possibly the most shitposty game I've ever written, which is saying something, but based on playtest feedback it seems functional.

Current status: the only reason this is listed as lower in priority than Gone to Hell is because I genuinely don't know what to do with it. It's probably publishable, with some cleanup editing and graphic design, but it feels like there's something missing. I'm open to suggestions!

Get in the Fucking Robot

A pamphlet-size, competitive, GMless title that's at least as much a board game as it is a tabletop RPG, this one is about a bunch of dysfunctional candidate mecha pilots competing to be the first to pilot the titular giant robot. The game is played under misère conditions: while each character's IC goal is to pilot the robot, each player's OOC goal is to avoid that fate, with the player whose character actually Gets in the Fucking Robot being accounted the loser.

Current status: playtesting suggests the current framework of play doesn't actually work – like, at all – so this one needs to go all the way back to the drawing board; I don't feel like doing that any time soon, which puts it squarely at the bottom of the list.

#gaming #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rps #game design #wips #swearing

[jennamoran]

cover image (before banner) by Isip Xin

Just in case I haven't been posting about this enough for you, behold! Here's a promo image for https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jennamoran/the-far-roofs for all your YAY FUNDED LET'S GOOOO reblogging needs!

#the far roofs #jenna moran #kickstarter #ttrpg

[morkaischosen]

Tattoo by 3goblins, inspired by the passage on Hell in Nobilis by @jennamoran; quite possibly the most powerful and personally important piece of fiction I've read in my entire life.

To come: colour on this leg, and later, Heaven on the other; but it definitely needed to be Hell first.

#nobilis #hell is always with you #now more literally!

[petterwass]

Funniest phrase from the RPG* I'm currently reading: "Capital has no use for your sustainable fleurons"

*Flood, a very funny/sad game about mutilating your favorite poem to better fit the standards of capitalism and how it will never be enough. By @jennamoran

#RPG

[broeckchen]

So in the TTRPG "Glitch" by @jennamoran, there is a mechanic called "Spotlights". Basically they're tokens or cards or such that you hand to the GM to either zoom in on something in the narrative or do certain miraculous things.

I am GMing this game now and wanted my players to have something nice, so I designed spotlight cards for them! I also printed them and gave them a nice firm backing so they're actual cards my players can physically hand to me now.

Each card is designed around the player character in question. A bleaksmith turned private investigator, a college professor for acting, and a supervillain.

#glitchrpg #glitch rpg #jenna moran #chen art #spotlights #spotlight cards #haiduil pompeiius

[shieldfoss]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jennamoran/glitchrpg

I can’t tag her, but she has a tumblr at jennamoran.tumblr.com

[aislingiora]

This is my favorite quote from @jennamoran, way back in an rpg.net thread in 2014. It's a little bit about Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine RPG, and a lot about, just, a perspective on life:

Right.

Um. Hm.

OK.

So, there's two ways to look at wish-fulfillment. One is "wishes are immature: they're all about wanting gratification without consequence." It's like when a cynical realist scoffs at an idealist: "yeah," they say, "your ideals are great and all, but this is the real world."

The other way is "wishes are about building something better." Like when the idealist scoffs at the realist: "yeah," they might say. "Just accepting the way things are and lowering your standards might be 'realistic,' but it's also what KEEPS things the way they are."

And the truth of dreams, love, hope, hearts, wishes, ideals, fantasies, ambitions, purposes, striving, and even creative chaos is—

It's both. It's always, always both.

We learn realism. Then we learn idealism. Then we have to learn realism again. Then we have to learn idealism again. If you're an idealist, there will always be realists out there whose narrow-minded embrace of the status-quo is something you've grown past, and there will always be realists out there whose wisdom see through your nonsense and overambition. And if you're a realist, there will always be goofy airheaded idealists out there whose starry eyes you've grown past, and there will always be idealists out there who've accepted and seen everything you've accepted and seen but also gone beyond it.

[ladytabletop]

Do you follow @jennamoran yet? She makes amazing diceless TTRPGs about godlike creatures with executive dysfunction!

I've just given her a follow! I'm familiar with a couple of her works but didn't realize she was on Tumblr!

#the lady answers

[nyessasundries]

Do you follow @jennamoran yet? She makes great diceless TTRPGs! Mostly about godlike beings with executive dysfunction!

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check her out.

[kaaramel]

Happy birthday!

thank you!

#birthday chameleons #jennamoran

[xavidotron]

After a moment, Sid opens one box. He looks inside. “Wow,” he says again. “These are the cutest armor-piercing bullets I’ve ever seen.”

#sid and max #hitherby dragons #@jennamoran

[prokopetz]

hey! I'm getting back into Tumblr and I only remember your Tumbls and one other so I'm interested to hear who you would suggest following for fun content. Nerdy, funny, any one you like seeing on your dashboard!

Sure thing. I actually don’t follow that many blogs on Tumblr – there’s usually fewer than a hundred active entries on my “Following” list at any given time – and a lot of them are people who wouldn’t appreciate the extra attention, but I have a few I can plug.

Tabletop RPG creators

There are surprisingly few RPG creators on Tumblr, at least openly – though I'm sure there are many more who prefer to keep their Tumblr identities separate from their work! Those whom I follow include:

@jennamoran – Dr. Moran likely needs little introduction for most who follow this blog; creator of Nobilis, Glitch, and Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine.

@jdragsky – Founder of Possum Creek Games, and creator of Sleepaway, Wanderhome, and the forthcoming Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast.

@nekoewen – Creator of a truly vast number of smaller games, most notably the West End Games Ghostbusters retroclone Spooktacular, and also 100% to blame for my obsession with d66 tables.

@open-sketchbook – Author of many of my favourite games, including Double or Nothing, Unbelievable Macho Bullshit, and their current magnum opus, Flying Circus.

@orbitaldropkick – Putting them under tabletop RPGs may be burying the lede, as they’re also the author of Kill Six Billion Demons, but we know what we’re here for. Lead designer of Lancer.

Artists

These are mostly (but not exclusively) folks I’ve worked with in the past on my own tabletop RPG projects; many currently accept commissions if you’ve got a project of your own the works:

@artbyprophet – Contributing artist for Costume Fairy Adventures.

@artkaninchenbau – Contributor to Cerebos: The Crystal City and cover artist for Gaming with Godot.

@catbatart – A frequent contributor to various tabletop RPGs, including a forthcoming project under my own banner that I’m not ready to discuss just yet.

@dizzimitzi – Contributing artist for Costume Fairy Adventures.

@fungii – Contributing artist for Costume Fairy Adventures.

@mimimariet – Contributing artist for Costume Fairy Adventures.

@mooncalfe-art – If you’re into older tabletop RPGs, you may know her as one of the original artists for Exalted; otherwise, her graphic novels like Shadoweyes and Wet Moon are probably more familiar.

@pencilbrony – Cover artist and graphic designer for the forthcoming Space Gerbils [working title].

@theshitpostcalligrapher – Their main thing on Tumblr is (as the name suggests) calligraphic renderings of trending shitposts, though their full repertoire is much broader. Cover artist for To Serve.

@tredlocity – Creator of the webcomic Val and Isaac and occasional tabletop RPG artist, though I haven’t worked with them personally.

Video Games

Some video game creator blogs, some blogs about video games:

@hollowtones – A streamer who’s participated in several popular projects, including Half-Life VR but the AI Is Self-Aware, though on Tumblr she’s probably better known for a certain post about frogs.

@orteil42 – Creator of Cookie Clicker. If you’re familiar with that game’s sense of humour, you know what to expect here.

@ponett – Creator of the forthcoming Super Lesbian Animal RPG.

@snapscube – A voice actor best known for “abridged” versions of popular video game cutscenes. You know the “Dr. Eggman pissing on the moon” meme? That’s from their podcast.

@suppermariobroth – Oddball and often deeply obscure trivia about Super Mario games, as well as related franchises.

Other

@seatsafetyswitch – Frequently surrealist microfiction, with a strange preoccupation with shitty old cars.

#tumblr #blogging #social media #violence metion #death mention #swearing

[hollyhockash]

There are less than 24 hours left to fund Glitch on Kickstarter - it's already all written and there's a PDF and everything. The Kickstarter is to pay for art commissions and a premium print run. We're almost at the stretch goal for full art replacement!

I wanted to make a character sheet that had everything relevant on it, and figured I'd take the opportunity to make it beautiful too. Here's all four pages of my printable character sheet (PDF).

#glitchrpg #sheet #pretty sure I could trim it down to three if I poked at it for another few hours #but at some point I have to stop

[jennamoran]

And launched!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jennamoran/glitchrpg

^_^

#glitchrpg

[cetaceanhandiwork]

As of now, 48 hours remain before the Glitch Kickstarter campaign ends. It’s funded, but has about $10k to go to get a proper art budget.

Edit: The Kickstarter is closed now, but until 16 Feb 2020 you can back via PayPal here.

This RPG is a lot of things.

You could describe it as a synthesis of the old grandeur of Nobilis 2e with Dr. Moran’s trademark fantastical whimsy.

Or as a game about paying attention to the world around you and discovering what’s there.

Or as a story about living with chronic illness - about the daily struggle and compromise necessary to take care of yourself in the face of it, and the deep down truth that life is worth living even when it’s hard.

In any case, for the next 48 hours, a PDF copy of the game can be yours for $8-20, depending on what you can afford.

Or, if you can spare $75, you can reserve a copy of the deluxe hardcover edition, which aims to be “a book that is itself a work of art[...] the kind of book you can leave out on your coffee table when there's company”.

Either way, if any of the above sounds like it’s up your alley, and you haven’t clicked through on any of my shilling yet, I highly recommend you take a look. :)

#kickstarter #misenchronic index #glitch #glitchrpg #strategists