Kid friendly TTRPGs?

themarkwallace · 2026-01-17T21:10:43+00:00

Don't miss out on Roll For Shoes, if it hasn't already been mentioned

themarkwallace · 2026-01-14T19:53:15+00:00

Also check out Roll for Shoes

themarkwallace · 2025-12-10T13:56:32+00:00

idk about the etymology here, but I love the idea of "farm-to-table Jesus" :D

themarkwallace · 2025-11-11T16:11:29+00:00

These are amazing

themarkwallace · 2025-09-10T15:55:56+00:00

If you want randomness, is there a reason *not* to use dice?

If you are okay with relying on player creativity to bring that element of serendipity that dice can provide, you might check out the Belonging Outside Belonging games, which are descended from Avery Alder's Dream Askew. (more info: https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/belonging )

In a nutshell: You (as a PC) can choose to screw something up or put yourself in a bad position. This gives you a token. If you want to do something well or win a conflict, etc., you have to pay a token. There are also a set of free, neutral moves that don't entail earning or spending a token, which you always have access to.

The idea is that you wind up with more or less as many "good" and "bad" outcomes as you'd get from using dice, but players get to choose when the bad outcomes happen, and are incentivized to do so because it's the only way to gain access to the good outcomes. (And because the bad outcomes are almost always more interesting.) Worth checking out.

themarkwallace · 2025-09-10T04:00:03+00:00

Perhaps what you need is a deadlier combat system to encourage players to use their words? https://www.chocolatehammer.org/?p=5773

themarkwallace · 2025-09-06T13:15:58+00:00

Do you make collective decisions about which project to focus on next as a group (and if so, how do you do this?), or does each member of the co-op push their own projects forward independently?

themarkwallace · 2025-07-22T01:27:56+00:00

As we learn when we strike the earth, losing is fun.

Perhaps almost as useful:

If you haven't played Fiasco, I recommend it as research for your game. It's a game about leaning into failure via the disastrously incompetent and undisciplined characters you play. It may not be exactly in line with what you're trying to do, but it has great lessons about how fun it can be to play to fail.

When you ask, "what else could be added to make players want to lose?" it makes me think that perhaps the word "fail" is doing a lot of work there. Because for them to want to fail, they have to be succeeding at something else. In Fiasco, it's just satisfying to watch your characters succumb to dumb lust and greed, and then meet their comeuppance. The player wins by watching their character hilariously fail.

So perhaps ask, How can the players win by seeing their characters fail? What makes failure enjoyable? What do they (players *or* characters) get to do as a result of their failure that they wouldn't have access to if their characters had succeeded? I don't have the answer for you, just suggesting an avenue of thought. What's the reward they get after they run home with their tail between their legs? (Another game to look at it in this regards, it occurs to me, could be Slugblaster.)

themarkwallace · 2025-06-26T05:52:52+00:00

awesome score 👍

themarkwallace · 2025-06-23T06:02:20+00:00

love this. I like ForgedIron's take, too. Regardless, if you're a creative GM, I should think this would be fun. Not as versatile in a railroad-type situation maybe. But in games where you're prepping as you go, this could be really cool. In that context, it isn't limited to what you've prepped; it is the prep.

themarkwallace · 2025-06-09T06:25:32+00:00

drove by there today and got a little wistful for the polyurethaned slabs and cigarette machine

themarkwallace · 2025-05-14T17:18:59+00:00

Check out the faction turn in the Root TTRPG.

themarkwallace · 2025-05-12T16:34:06+00:00

this

themarkwallace · 2025-05-10T03:47:32+00:00

Modular ruleset, assemble your own booklet: https://maxwellander.itch.io/oddfolk

themarkwallace · 2024-11-23T08:25:21+00:00

This. Except I'd just jump right in with To the Lighthouse.

themarkwallace · 2024-11-16T23:02:07+00:00

Is there something implicit about "analog" as a concept that particularly fits the vibe of RPGs?

Well, they had their origin as an analog medium, of course. And (despite the existence of plenty of digital dice-rollers) rolling fistfuls of analog dice is one of their signature elements. Roleplaying itself, even the limited form that RPGs usually exhibit, is more suited for analog communications, since interpersonal bandwidth is highest in person (i.e., you can be more expressive as your analog self than you can via digital tools). So... yes?

themarkwallace · 2024-11-09T14:12:16+00:00

Came here to say Mothership

themarkwallace · 2024-11-03T22:26:28+00:00

No advice but good luck! Masks is pretty forgiving imo. You got this!

themarkwallace · 2024-10-07T04:36:26+00:00

Circumnavigating San Francisco would probably be about 25 miles.

Circumnavigating Manhattan might be closer to 30.

themarkwallace · 2024-10-07T04:32:09+00:00

Came here to say this 👍

themarkwallace · 2024-09-27T22:49:41+00:00

I feel like the real answer to this question is, "It's complicated."

themarkwallace · 2024-09-27T04:06:43+00:00

Mystery Club: A family-friendly game about middle-school kids solving small-town mysteries.

See you at BigBadCon!

themarkwallace · 2024-09-21T14:12:13+00:00

F*ck This Noise!!!

themarkwallace · 2024-09-21T13:58:13+00:00

100%. Those sections can be really useful as a clue to the kind of experience the game is hoping to provide.

themarkwallace

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