Welcome to the Dicey Delivery
Hello and Welcome
So I'll mainly be using this newsletter as an announcement space, but try and pair those announcements with other worthwhile content; be that reflections or designer commentary, or just recs for other things.
Today we realised two new one page rpgs! Both are PWYW, any dollars or ratings and share would be very appreciated.
Here's the links first of all: BLOOD//RUSH (https://thedice.itch.io/bloodrush) and The Claws of the Substitute Santa (https://thedice.itch.io/santa-claws)
BLOOD//RUSH
Every 90 years the orbit of Enyo’s Comet casts a bloody shadow on the Earth. The greatest warriors, all over the world, can empower themselves with dangerous elements. The shadow has been cast once again. L Redbreaker has invited you to the BLOOD//RUSH tournament, held on their mysterious private island. The prize of victory would be life-changing. Get ready to battle!
BLOOD//RUSH is a fighting game ttrpg for two or three players using a deck of cards as a trick-taking game. You play the game as a series of rounds in the tournament, moving through characters and exploring the epic highs and lows of combat sport.
The Claws of the Substitute Santa
You are a horrible monster and you owe Santa Claus a favour! Big Red is taken mighty sick and it’s Christmas Eve! They’re calling in all their favours getting people to sub in and make some deliveries. That means you’ve gotta leave the safety of your cozy cave, grab a sack, and get to Ho-Ho-Ho-ing. Don’t mess it up and have a Merry Christmas!
The Claws of the Substitute Santa is a solo journaling game. To play, you will need something to record your journal such as paper and pen as well as a d20 and a d6. The game is divided into a series of turns known each representing an individual delivery. At the start of each turn, you will roll the d20 and consult the chart to determine what delivery you’re making. If you roll the same prompt an additional time, look back at that prompt and realise you made a mistake on that delivery. Double back to fix your error, and don’t dilly dally.
Reflections
I started working on BLOOD//RUSH explicitly to challenge ourself with a one page game. We enjoyed that enough we chose to make Claws to challenge ourself to make another game in a short time span (it came together probably under two days work). My take aways from this:
Layout was really important in terms of precision
But it was also a much quicker thing to do and it was fairly straightforward to replicate a house style across two games
The Second Guess system is very fun and straightforward
My main stumbling block was figuring out a premise that meets the SRD where it is (a couple of ideas felt close but didn't feel they earned the uncertainty)
One page games means leaving lots to interpretation (for BLOOD//RUSH there's little guidance for how roleplaying outside of the fights works, it's mentioned but that's probably left to a tables culture of play)
Wild Duelist
Also gonna open this with a re-upping of last weeks release; Wild Duelist, our LUMEN game of medieval action. You play an animalfolk warrior on a journey to a duel. The journey will threaten your life and question your honour.
Grab it here: https://thedice.itch.io/wild-duelist
Recommendations
Some things we've listened to/read this week:
GilaRPGs Coffee Break with Chris Bisette (https://www.twitch.tv/gilarpgs/video/1231512876)
Yes Indie'd episode with Jay Dragon (https://www.yesindiedpod.com/)
Draw You Dice episode with Marx Shepherd (https://shows.acast.com/dydpodcast/episodes/slice-and-dice-marx-shepard-far-horizons-co-op)
Sam Leigh's tiktok on 2 player games well suited for long distance play (https://www.tiktok.com/@goblinmixtape/video/7040547066984008965)