Playtest - Old Skull Publishing

May 4, 2024May 4, 2024

Petty Gods & Playthings – Introduction #WIP

I’ve been working on a thing between the various work I do on various other things, and guess what? It’s another TTRPG! Yeah, I just can’t help it. But to be fair, I’ve actually start working on this game around September of 2022, and I even playtested it couple of times. It worked all good and well, but it felt it was missing something. I don’t know. I even commissioned a cover but the talented Łukasz Piwiński, so I would be motivated to finish writing it, but things got in the way. Thankfully.

During my trip to Gen Con I played a game in development by my dear friend Steve Albertson, from Mad Dungeons podcast, and Epic Levels, which inspired me in a way that made everything click. We were playing this very cool and very well thought Horror Game with a well known mechanic used in a very singular way. That made me immediately start thinking into all the things I could explore with that mechanic, and in a few minutes, I wasn’t really at the game anymore. Fortunately/Unfortunately I was having idea, after idea on how to explore this, how this could work with Petty Gods, and I haven’t stepped writing since them. Notes, paragraphs, some fiction, some possibilities, planning, adventure ideas. Anyway. I am living through a phase of high inspiration and creativity, so I intend on taking advantage of it.

Petty Gods & Playthings is a game about small gods with great ambitions and the mortals entangled in their machinations. It’s a game I intend on exploring some new avenues in game design, exploring the limits of the magic circle and the limits of representation in the game. It is also a game that is heavily inspired by Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar stories, and the marvelous world and humor of Terry Pratchet’s Discworld Series. There’s also touches of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens, and a lot o other stuff. The point is, it’s a game I am exploring another passion of mine. Comedy. And, to complete the mix, it’s a game about gods, religions, beliefs, and the construction of these elements while playing. So it will explore some very interesting things.

I hope you stick with me while I post here on the blog the development of the game, and discover it with me as I create Petty Gods & Playthings!

Today, the Introduction! Or part of it!

August 29, 2023August 29, 2023

Primal Quest – Players as Ancestors

In the mythical primal world of Thaia, the ancestral spirits of the world can sometimes influence the fate of their descendants by interfering with the world and by lending these individuals their talents. Almost like how players do with their characters.

Thus, in Primal Quest, players also act in the role of Ancestors of their characters, watching over them, lending their strength, and granting them benefits from time to time. As their descendants go out into the world and face a myriad of challenges, they grow, change, and earn Ancestral Points (AP). Then, the players can spend these AP either to improve their descendants through Character Improvement or to grant them Ancestral Gifts.

April 28, 2022April 28, 2022

Primal Quest – The Winged People’s Problem – Session Report #01

This week I was back at our friendly local game store, Game of Boards, and was ready to either continue our campaign with the full group venturing into The Tower That Fell, or finish our dreamcrawl at The Cave Our People. Alas, that didn’t happen and only two players showed up (and only one of them was playing on the cave adventure).

So after a quick debate over our options, we decided to make another set of characters and do something else. That way we keep playtesting the game, and develop the campaign in another direction, like those old-school RPG campaigns of yore.

April 18, 2022April 21, 2022

Primal Quest – The Cave of Our People – Session Report #01

This last Thursday I went to Game of Boards (our FLGS) again, and was ready to continue our Primal Quest campaign and test the stuff I am making for The Tower That Fell adventure for the second issue of The Primal World of Thaia zine (I have the first 5 issues planned). The adventure will also be available in an early release format for Old Skull Publishing newsletter subscribers, and for those who choose to pay the asking price for Primal Quest – Essentials, the game rules that will be released as a PWYW product in a couple of weeks.

However, various Random Encounters and the heavy rain prevented half the group from showing up, so we decided to playtest The Cave Of Our People, a Dreamcrawl introductory adventure (and character creation funnel in the future) with the 3 folks that showed up just for fun. It wouldn’t directly affect what’s going in the game, and the new characters could become allies and future replacements when their main characters (or if) they die.

So I handed them each a blank Primal Quest character sheet made by @LicopeoArt and began explaining what we were doing and what the adventure is about (and will do the same with you, dear reader).

April 12, 2022April 21, 2022

The Primal World of Thaia – OSE Character Classes – Part III

We have been covering the adaptation of Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy Rules Tome to The Primal World of Thaia, my upcoming setting/zine of weird stone & sorcery adventure in a mythical stone age that never was!

In the first post we covered some general principles, and the Shaman (former Cleric) and the Molekin (former dwarf), and on the second the Ancient One (Elf) and the Warrior (Fighter). Today we get to see the last 3 starting classes!