Hello everyone,
Now that we’ve launched the site, let’s share our current projects. Is it a full game? Is it an add-on for another game? What’s your elevator pitch? What themes or tone do you hope to explore? What core mechanics do you have? When do you hope to launch?
I’m working on Synths in the Shadow. It’s a Blades in the Dark hack, and a full game on its own.
We’re rebuilding after the end with the help of sentient robots, but not all of those robots are on the same side. Whether through corruption, virus, or choice, aberrants threaten the city. Your unit is responsible for stopping them, one way or another. It’s a hard job, and every slip-up could bring more pressure on you from command, or worse, the public.
The core mechanics are the same as BITD: roll a few d6, take the highest, and get success on 4-6 with consequences on 1-5. Take overload to get more dice or otherwise push yourself. Declare items from your possible inventory and use them to increase your effect or to make things possible in the fiction. Flashback to how you set something up.
The biggest difference here is that taking damage makes you stronger rather than weaker.
The unit mechanics diverge heavily. Downtime is managed through your five departments’ chiefs (operations, science, engineering, public relations, security), and many capabilities of the unit are determined by their subordinates. Other upgrades are available through research, though you’ll also need to research lost tech or other artifacts brought back on missions. Perform field exercises to gain XP or patrols to increase base security.
The book’s written in LaTeX and so far the sheets are done in Google Sheets for online distribution, but there will be print versions later.
No planned launch as of yet. I started this thing because I wanted to run a game, and I’m just now planning one-shot playtesting with a few friends. Maybe three months to a tentatively-final playtest version, but I don’t know what it’s going to look like for art and actual production, so.
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I’m working on Metagame, which is a 2d6 tactical rpg system I use to build other games within and on top of. These are sometimes little games on their own, or modules that are built to be combined with other modules to allow for some interesting combinations.
I’m one of those people who loves picking up a project for a week and then moving on to something else, so I’m working on a couple things at any point in time, cycling through things.
Right now, I’m trying to finish up the core of the first TTRPG setting, which is set in the stone age.
Also working on the magic system module, which can be added to the stone age setting, or left out for a non-magic world.
Also also working on a little zombie minigame that uses the rules.
And slowly in the background, everything is working towards a very complex sci-fantasy space setting, which is going to take a lot of work to get to!
You can find it over at
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My primary project is RADS, a lightweight system of rules for roleplaying as a team of outsiders with radioactive powers fighting monsters and government corruption in a 1979 not quite like our own. Think X-Men meets Men In Black with a dash of Buffy.
The primary innovation in the mechanics is a combat system which is simple and quick to resolve, but still offers tactical decision-making. There are three aspects to combat, attack, defence and tactics, and each round you can choose what to prioritise, trading off acting quicker or imposing conditions versus hitting and dealing damage versus protecting yourself by assigning dice to each one that total 24.
The rules for all players are in a non-finalised but very playable state at https://rads-rpg.neocities.org and there’s a fun and functional character generator as well. The rules for the Game Runner are still WIP. There’s been some playtesting of the combat system and Powers, but I’ve yet to run a proper mission.
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I’m working on Dreamlost Dogs, a surreal horror tabletop rpg / board game hybrid, where you play as a dog! You are attempting to survive in the Dream, an anomalous realm where neither time nor place behave in natural ways, and where nightmares come alive. The game is intended for 1 to 3 players, and it does not require a DM.
I’m yet to figure out a decent way to explain how it is played, so I will edit this when I have that sorted out, haha. In the meantime, all of the latest developments can be found on the game’s website:
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These are all awesome projects! It’s wonderful to see such diversity in concepts from everyone.
My main project is Beaumont 1968. It is a game about a team of investigators who work for the Beaumont Institute to investigate paranormal calamities before they happen while outwitting the conspiracies that would see the calamities happen. Similar to @Alex, my game has a bit of Men In Black and Buffy but a bit more X-Files than X-Men.
My game uses a dice pool roll and keep system for resolution and allows players to choose their approach and then select which of their traits apply to that approach in the given situation. I don’t have my rules in a finalized state but I’m hoping to start playtesting soon!
My primary focus is a Cosmic Horror ttrpg that focuses on my favorite themes of the genre. I want to get away from the Cthulhu Mythos and lean heavily into the psycholgoical aspects of it.
For example, many Cosmic Horror stories focus on the corruption and destruction of the Ego. As such, characters in my game must gamble with their psyche in order to succeed. However, if too much is lost then the character loses part of what makes them who they are. They lose their ideals and begin to give into despair.
The game is pre-industrial and heavily inspired by the aesthetic of Darkest Dungeon and works such as The King in Yellow and Annihilation. I want it take place at the precise moment that humanity realized they aren’t the center of the universe.
I’m currently looking into how to use The Trajectory of Fear by Ash Law to make a mechanic which allows players to genuinely feel tension without the GM having to essentially trick them.
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