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#flying circus
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Trans made TTRPGs
Due to… recent events that I would rather not talk about, today's post is a highlight of different tabletop games made by trans peeps! These games are fantastic in their own right, of course, but you can also know that they were made by incredibly cool and attractive people
(Also, these are flyover descs of the game, they'll get more in-depth singular posts later, this is because I am lazy)
Perfect Draw is a phenomenal card game TTRPG that was funded in less than a day on backerkit, it's incredibly fun and has simple to learn hard to master rules for creating custom cards, go check it out!
Songs for the dusk is fucking good, pardon my language, but it's a damn good post apocalyptic game about building community in a post-capitalist-post-apocalypse-post-whatever world. do yourself a favor and if you only check out one game in this list, check this one out, its a beautiful game.
Flying Circus is set in a WW1 inspired fantasy setting full of witches, weird eldritch fish people (who are chill as hell), cults, dead nobility, and other such things. It's inspired by Porco Rosso primarily but it has other touchstones.
Wanderhome is a game about being cute little guys going on a silly adventure and growing as the seasons change, its GMless and very fun
https://weregazelle.itch.io/armour-astir Armour Astir has been featured in here before but its so damn good I had to post it twice. AA demonstrates a fundamental knowledge of the themes of mech shows in a way that very few other games show, its awesome
Kitchen Knightmares is… more of a LARP but its still really dang cool, its about being a knight serving people in a restaurant, its played using discord so its incredibly accessible
https://grimogre.itch.io/michtim Michtim is a game about being small critters protecting their forest from nasty people who wish to harm it, not via brutal violence (sadly) but via friendship and understanding (which is a good substitute to violence)
ok this technically doesn't count but I'm putting it here anyways cuz its like one of my favorite ttrpgs of all time TSL is a game about baring your heart and dueling away with people who you'll probably kiss 10 minutes later, its very very fanfic-ey and inspired by queer narratives. I put it here because its made by a team, and the expansion has a setting specifically meant to be a trans "allegory", so I'll say it counts, honestly just go check it out its good shit
https://willuhl.itch.io/mystic-lilies
Mystic Lillies is a game inspired by ZUN's Touhou Project about witches dueling powerful foes, each other, and themselves. Mystic Lillies features rapid character creation and a unique diceless form of rolling which instead uses a standard playing card deck.
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/141424/nobilis-the-game-of-sovereign-powers-2002-edition I… want to do a more general overview on Jenna K as an important figure in indie RPG design, but for now just know that Nobilis is good
https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/apocalypse-keys Apocalypse Keys is a game inspired by Doom Patrol, Hellboy, X-men, and other comics about monstrousness being an allegory for disenfranchisement. Apocalypse Keys is also here because its published by Evilhat so its very cleaned up and fancy but I love how the second you check out the dev's other stuff you can tell they are a lot more experimental with their stuff, this is not a critique, it is in fact a compliment
Fellowship! I've posted about this game before, but it is again here. Fellowship has a fun concept that it uses very well mostly, its a game about defining your character's culture, and I think that's really really cool
Voidheart Symphony is a really cool game about psychic rebellion in a city that really does not like you, the more you discover for yourself the better
Panic at the Dojo is a phenomenal ttrpg based on what the Brazilian would call "Pancadaria", which basically means, fucking other's people shit up. Character Creation is incredibly open and free, meaning that many character concepts are available
Legacy 2e is a game about controlling an entire faction's choices across time, its very fun
remember to be kind to a trans person today! oh also don't even try to be transphobic in the reblogs or replies, you will be blocked so fast your head will spin
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slavicgerman · 5 months
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One of The Red Baron's triplanes on display, 1935
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prokopetz · 1 year
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Me: *flips tabletop RPG open to a random page*
The game: *a two-page spread discussing various engine failure modes and the perils of carbon monoxide poisoning, accompanied by an inset illustration of a jumpsuited soldier desperately attempting to crank-start a First World War tank; bullets spark off the tank’s hull and pass mere inches from the soldier’s head, while the soldier’s tears cut tracks through the diesel-grime caking their cheeks; the soldier has adorable cat ears*
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astralbondpro · 5 months
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Monty Python's Flying Circus // S01E11: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom
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sileomaolduin · 5 months
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Have you heard of Flying Circus, the early air combat fantasy RPG by Erika Chappell?
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sprintingowl · 1 year
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Flying Circus
Flying Circus is a game that looks extremely normal on the surface.
Okay, sure, there are biplanes and dragons. But the overall cover aesthetic evokes red box D&D, and there's barely a hint of the wild design choices lurking beneath.
Flying Circus is also a pbta game. This means Powered By The Apocalypse---broadly, a group of ttrpgs that are more narrative-y and story-game-y and collaborative in play.
So the last thing you'd expect here would be pages and pages of highly detailed biplane aviation physics and moves that model the affect of G-strain on the pilot and fuel burning at different rates at different altitudes.
Right?
Flying Circus is a game about running a biplane company in a post-WWI Hayao Miyazaki aesthetic german countryside. And like a Miyazaki movie, it's not non-violent. There's conflict and dragons and and ancient technology and horrifying things beyond comprehension---but there's also rolling hills and swaying grain fields and the overbearing beauty of a world un-industrialized.
Every player plays a pilot, builds their own plane (out of a *lot* of different component parts,) manages their stress levels between sorties, and engages in highly technical, heavily researched biplane combat where altitude is a currency and there's a million ways your plane can stall out, crash, and explode.
To say that Flying Circus is audacious is underselling it.
This is a high crunch game wearing the shell of a zero crunch game like an octopus in a coconut.
But it's tightly built, *very* comprehensive in what it lets you do while flying a plane, and tricky to learn but fun to try and master.
I am not smart enough for it, but I think it might be one of my favorite games I've read this year.
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nebmia · 14 days
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Reviewing every rpg book on my shelf: 5, Flying Circus
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Flying Circus is a a game by Erika Chappell where you fly planes, have messy dramatic relationships, and find out who you are. Sometimes all at the same time. More specifically you fly *rickety planes from the dawn of aviation* and have messy, dramatic relationships, and find out who you are *in an essentially queer way*.
The first thing I love about Flying Circus is it's sheer audacity in taking pbta (usually deployed for low crunch storygame-y titles) and twisting it into a highly detailed and technical system for running dogfights. I think its really clever how Erika has taken the idea of a detailed combat system are re-appraised it from the ground up in the context of dogfighting.
There is no grid based movement here, it simply is not useful in the three dimensional world that planes inhabit. Instead your positioning is modelled through altitude and air speed, with each being tradeable for the other and spend able to perform maneuvers.
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Honestly the whole system is rather intimidating (a fact the book freely admits). Each plane requires a little personal instrument panel sheet (and a few extra side sheets) that resemble somthing you would expect in a euro-game boardgame more than an rpg. The system goes as far as modelling how your plane performs as you use up your modelling fuel and with varying altitude. There are also a lot of fairly involved moves that it feels would be a little tricky to keep aware of while running a dogfight. However, from what I hear, the system works well and, once you understand it, isn't /that/ tricky to run. I think this isn't actually that crunchy when compared to your standard tactical battlers, it's just completely new (and working in a zone most people have less of an intuitive understanding of [although its worth noting that most peoples intuitive understanding of medieval style combat is dead wrong]) so we are unably to draw upon our preexisting assumptions.
You will notice I have to fall back on reports and intiitions here because I am yet to be able to play the game, which is honestly my biggest problem with it: it carves such a specific niche that I think I will really struggle to ever bring it to the table. Anyone I have talked to about the game has always responded to the effect of 'I don't think I'm into planes enough for this'.
I am also not half as into planes specifically as Erika Chappell is. But what I am into is getting deep into things in general, and this whole system excels at letting you get incredibly technical and nerdy about your plane (as far as things like exactly what radiator fluid it has, if you use the advanced rules) and making those choices actually matter in play.
ok, that's probably enough about planes (a phrase I anticipate has never once been uttered by the author of this book), what are you doing when you get out of the planes?
The game follows a cycle of mission and downtime, which you spend relieving stress (in healthy or unhealthy ways) and running upkeep on your company. This is where you do a lot of the character work and bring into focus the 'coming of age' narrative that the game intends.
Which seems a good lead in to talking about the playbooks. Each playbook is focused around a particular thematic idea or experience, which is helpfully spelled out directly in a 'themes' section for each one. This isn't a game where you play as a fighter because you want to solve problems by hitting them but rather one where you play as a Fisher because you want to engage with "a queer reclamation of the monstous", or a scion because you want to engage with "privilege and power, and what obligations come with it", or a believer because you want to engage with "a mindset that thrives on radicalism", or a survivor because you want to engage with "a metaphor for what it feels like to be a transgender person escaping an unwelcome or abusive situation".
Obviously, alongside themes you do also get a load of cool abilities to use.
Of the many games that claim to be ghibli-esque but I think Flying Circus hews closest on account of two things: understanding miyazaki's perspective on war and also due to being absolutely unhinged about planes.
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petterwass · 5 months
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It is finally done!
I finally got my Flying Circus diorama finished up!
It it perfect? Absolutely not. There are several things I'd change if I did it again. But I am happy with the end result. Especially the contrast between the monochrome buildings and the bright planes and toxic gas.
Here it is:
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A poor Goth ace is trying to shake the planes of the flying circus Morgenthau's Minnows by diving through one of the cursed cities, trying to use his agility to lose the heavier planes among the buildings
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Wulf and Minna Hammerl are trying to flank the Goth as tendrils of toxic gas reach up amoeba-like after them.
The heavier Geisterhaj with Isa and Arren brings up the rear.
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I tried to make the gas look not as light as real gas would be but more amorphous and grasping, like the tendrils of a amoeba or a octopus as the city-killing gas of the Flying Circus setting is far from normal, being a semi-sentient production of technology and dark magic, created with the help of dragons. It is not nice. And it is hungry.
I tried to make it look like the gas normally lurks inside buildings and have come reaching out from its lair by the intrusion of new prey.
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Closeup of the planes
Also tagging @open-sketchbook because It would he terrible of my to not.
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moofahdrome · 11 months
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In regard to your pin post, what games do you like to play? I'm always a sucker for hearing about other tabletops people enjoy.
Ooooooh thank you for asking!!! I'm a big sucker for easy to run character focused games like Thirsty Sword Lesbians or Masks: A New Generation, but I also love love love games with potential for really cool and creative combat like Eidolon: Become Your Best Self, Gubat Banwa, and LANCER.
My primary experience is with Powered by the Apocalypse games, but I'm looking to expand my horizons a bit in the future! Blades in the Dark is super cool, but other Forged in the Dark games appeal to me a lot, especially Brinkwood - The Blood of Tyrants, a super cool game about organizing a revolution against colonialist capitalist vampires.
There's really so many amazing games by queer indie creators out there - Apocalypse Keys recently had its full release, as did EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER the TTRPG! There's really something for everyone. I really need to play more Ryuutama for its lovely adventure vibes, Hard Wired Island for a return to true anticapitalist cyberpunk, as well as Flying Circus for amazingly accurate WWI-era plane action in a miyazaki-inspired setting! Other stuff I've had for a while but need to play are Monster Care Squad, Heart: The City Beneath, and Comrades, a Revolutionary RPG.
There's also plenty of nice, charming, slower paced games as well. Wanderhome is a beautiful pastoral journey game, where everyone comes together to heal a land and experience wonders. Our Traveling Home is inspired by Howl's Moving Castle and has everyone play a unique role as a queer found family. Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast just released, and it's an amazing episodic experience packed full of beautiful content!
One of my favorite game creators is Dinoberry Press, creator of fantastic titles like Justicar, What Waits Beneath, and GUN&SLINGER, a cool 2-3 player game where one person plays a magical gun and the other their haunted wielder. It's got a couple great extra modes of play, too, like SWORD&BEARER or MECH&PILOT !
And there's even more amazing games in development. Dinoberry's You're in Space and Everything's Fucked just funded, as did HELLPIERCERS: TACTICAL HARROWING ACTION. Guns Blazing and Wetrunners are really close to being funded, too, check them out! Some other great games that aren't fully complete but you can play right now are ICON, Bloodbeam Badlands, Red West, and In the Time of Monsters, all of which are some of the COOLEST things I have ever seen.
Feel free to ask more questions about any of these! I love talking about them and I'm thrilled to see interest in indie ttrpgs!!!
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thedeepgreensea · 2 months
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Ms. Rita Fairbanks
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Monty Pythons flying circus has consumed my brain
(Left pic is a photo I took of my laptop bcuz for some reason my phone distorts the colours rly badly)
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bionicle-necron · 7 months
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EXCITED
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wrecksalot · 2 months
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Okay, I like Wildbow and Flying Circus, so I'm just going to speculate on what planes various Wildbow characters would fly if they were ace pilots from flying circus, starting with the undersiders.
Grue : a Bahadur Escort(a heavy fighter that can go a few rounds in a slugging match)
Bitch: a Teicher Mammut (spacious cockpit with room for dogs, plenty of bombsmake it a heavy hitter)
Tattletale a Gernsbeck experiment 0012(a fighter with way too many clever gadgets can't actually power them all, making some utterly wasted at any given time)
Skitter a Schnelles Mammut(a bomber with way too many pulsejets to keep up with fighters. Similar bomb capacity to Rachel's as a heavy hitter, absolutely torturous to fly due to engine noise and turbulence.)
Aisha: a Cheetal Fighter (similar make to grues, but with an emphasis on seeing opponents before they see it)
Regent is tricky. If we assume they still have their powers then he flies a Theler drachen(the shittiest plane in the core book, but it can coast at a very low speed without stalling, and Regent would still be the scariest member of the team since his power can easily make opponents fall into a spin)
Otherwise he flies a Kreuzer Spinner v8 conversion( adapted to escape a toxic environment, can almost pass as a normal fighter if you aren't paying attention
If we assume this is their actual lineup then you better believe that they will need a backer with tons of money just to pay for their planes upkeep.
Next, for the Other verse MCs
Blake Thorburn has the grave misfortune of flying a Dr Sonnewende's bargain(extremely fast, so fragile it can barely even turn once it gets going, literally cursed)
The Kenneteers have immense backing in their setting, so for this crossover I'm giving them bougie planes that are unaffordable to most circus pilots.
Lucy flies a Von Morgan Vampyr (high end dogfighter that can shoot down some fighters in a single attack run)
Verona flies a Von Morgan Pferd(a bomber that needs fighter cover but which carries enough bomb mass that you might as well have dropped the moon on your target)
Avery flies a Mauss Z 95 Phoenix ( high altitude ceiling means she travels places most can't reach, pretty fast in general, but can dive down from those lofty heights to get places very fast, still has plenty of fire power for prongs
Ehh, might as well do familiars too
Evan gets an unarmed Albrecht pfeil( no weapons, but fast and free)
And Snowdrop gets a das Gegenbeispiel( apparently someone didn't understand her gimmick when she explained what a good plane would be.
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twosheds · 1 year
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12 DAYS OF MONTYMAS - DAY ONE
One second of every Monty Python’s Flying Circus. 
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thesuetyouforgot · 7 months
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Royal Nay Vee - It really is something other than else
Expedition to Lake Pahoe Monty Python's Flying Circus (S03 E06)
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astralbondpro · 10 months
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Monty Python’s Flying Circus // S03E06: The War Against Pornography
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nichtschwertart · 1 month
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A big ol Emma dump.
Ermelinde Waldersee is a Witch and a combat pilot in the Flying Circus TTRPG.
She is has a complicated relationship with the world outside of her home village Hintertupfingen: She is drawn to the glitz and glamour of high society, but appalled by the ongoing cruelty that make it possible. She and her family have been hurt deeply by the machinations of empire and industry and she'll not soon forget it. But... maybe having one expensive dress or two to party it up in is okay?
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Her scout plane kind of ties into this whole thing. Its frame is made of living wood, which makes it quite sustainable and cuts down on labor required for maintenance. Yet the Machine Guns, the motor and cooling system are all scavenged parts built in factories, drenched in the blood and sweat of innocents.
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The game also encourages you to design nose art for your plane and sticking a photo on their instrument panel so they know what they're fighting for. Emma really needs to get a new photo.
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