Midnight at the Library of Worlds

A game for the Fantasy RPG Design Challenge, a challenge to design the most un-D&D-like fantasy games.

Midnight at the Library of Worlds is about an interdimensional Library on the eve of apocalypse. Players scramble to collect what books they can before fleeing.

Blank Book Cards

Contest Edition (v1.0)

Update: Midnight at the Library of Worlds won the competition!

Ryuutama Inventory Sheet

Ryuutama tracks inventory with a combination of slots and containers, and it can sometimes be tricky to figure out exactly how much you can carry. Here’s a sheet to help you visualize it.

The left column counts your actual carrying capacity. Use the right columns to show the space you get from containers. e.g. a Large Backpack takes up 5 carrying capacity, but gives you 10 slots, so block out 5 rows and extend them two columns wide to get a total of 10 slots.

Inventory Sheet v1.1 (Sample)
Pack Animal Sheet v1.0 (Sample)

Older versions:
Inventory Sheet v1.0 (Sample)

Draw Fortress

My entry for the 2016 Game Chef competition is called Draw Fortress. It’s like The Quiet Year crossed with a tower defense game after reading too much Bruce Schneier.

Draw Fortress v1.0.1 (PDF)*
Draw Fortress v1.0 (PDF)
Draw Fortress v1.0 (RTF)

Ingredients: Alarm, Sketch

The combination of “Technology” as a Theme and “Alarm” as an ingredient made me think about security. Security is always about trade-offs. Nobody has the resources to protect against everything all the time, so you have to choose what’s most likely. Any user of the system is a potential weak point, but users are why the system exists. While the initial inspiration was computer security, physical systems are much easier to brainstorm and represent.

Despite a busy schedule, I was lucky enough to playtest the game twice during the week, leading me to cut some needlessly complicated rules and streamline the turn flow. Thanks to my playtesters A. U., D. K., E. G., and T. N.

*After the Game Chef deadline, I added a CC-BY badge to the PDF and fixed a typo in the rules.

Creative Commons License
Draw Fortress by Selene Tan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Ryuutama Town Generation Tables

If you’re stumped during town generation, you can use these handy tables! With inspiration from Courtney Campbell’s awesome Treasure supplement. Add in Doug Anderson’s Fantasy Market and Vendor Generator to round it out.

A supplement entry for the 200 Word RPG Contest.

Population:
1-3: Village
4-7: Town
8-9: City
10: Large City

Ruling System: 1d10, -1 for Village, +1 for Normal/Large City
0: As Needed
1-2: Eldest
3-4: Elected Head
5-6: Elected Council
7: Lottery
8-9: Hereditary Council
10-11: Hereditary Head

Ruler Personality: 1d10
– Resistant to Change
– Secretive
– Cynical
– Lazy
– Inexperienced
– Crude
– Forgetful
– Generous
– Meticulous
– Idealistic

Environment: d8
– Forest
– Valley
– Coast
– Cliff
– Wasteland
– Plains
– Trees
– Hills

Building: 1d6, +1 for Normal/Large City
– Bridge
– Market
– Shrine
– Specialty Production
– Civic Center
– Monument
– Castle

Specialty Goods: 1d10, +2 for Town, +5 for City, +8 for Large City
1: Cotton, Wool, Flax
2: Grain, Vegetables, Staples
3: Raw Metal
4: Lumber
5: Wine, Ale, Liquor
6: Furs, Hides, Cloth
7: Livestock, Pets
8: Leather Goods
9: Wooden Goods
10: Housewares
11: Herbs, Salt, Spices, Sugar
12: Clothing, Armor, Weapons
13: Exotic Fruits
14: Painting, Sculpture
15: Jewelry
16: Perfumes, Potions
17: Scrolls, Books
18: Magical Items

Sights: 1d6
– Greenery
– Festive colors
– Drab buildings
– Gleaming buildings
– Organic shapes
– Geometric designs

Sounds: 1d6
– Running water
– Birds
– Market hawkers
– Clanging metal
– Children
– Livestock

Smells: 1d6
– Animals
– Cookfires
– Forest
– Water
– Specialty Good
– Waste

Threats: 1d10
– Famine
– Drought
– Monsters
– Natural disaster
– Bandits
– Plague
– Unfair treatment
– Missing people
– Vermin
– Isolated

 

Super Planet Force

An entry for the 200 Word RPG Challenge.


You seem like ordinary teenagers, but together you are SUPER PLANET FORCE!

Choose a unique Robot Part to pilot: Head, Right Arm, Left Arm, Body, Legs. Draw your Robot!

When piloting or acting like your Part, roll 6d6; otherwise roll 2d6. Every 5+ is a success.

  • Head – Leadership, planning
  • Right Arm – Forceful, straightforward
  • Left Arm – Underhanded, subtle
  • Body – Courageous, resistance
  • Legs – Fast, graceful

The episode starts with a mundane issue: bullies, classes, dating, family, friendship.

Then a (Lightning | Fiery | Icy | Poisonous | Cyber) (Dinosaur | Spider | Moth | Ape | Blob) attacks! Describe how you secretly change into SUPER PLANET FORCE.

Take turns describing the monster’s rampage, then attacking it. Successes charge its Rage Pool. At [Players x3], it transforms and doubles the Rage Pool!

Describe your transformation into TECHNO PLANET WARRIOR!

Together you have [Players x6]d6. Choose one Part to act with all dice in their style. Every success destroys a Rage die. If it’s out of Rage, finish with your HYPER PLANET BEAM!

Otherwise, the monster rolls Rage. Each success destroys one of your dice. If you run out, it leaves you injured until next episode. Otherwise, keep fighting.

Describe how the mundane issue is resolved or worsened by the outcome.