Troy Press

One of the first Apocalypse Engine (Powered by the Apocalypse) hacks, originally crowdfunded in 2013, Saga of the Icelanders by Gregor Vuga focuses on playing out a historically accurate campaign within Iceland. There’s an emphasis on gendered roles, and playing against or toward gender expectations, which may not be for every table (male moves, a Man playbook, female moves, a Woman playbook, etc.). There’s little to nothing of the supernatural; the focus is on society and feuds. You may want to limit some of the historicity: the lack of nobility […]

Nearly half (47%) of American adults have heard of a fictional of constructed language (“conlang”) such as Klingon (39%), Valyrian (18%), Dothraki (17%), or Esperanto (9%), according to a new online survey of 1,377 adults. Six out of ten Americans (62%) have reported watching a show or movie where people used fictional languages (though they may not have known the language’s name). One out of five (20%) have read about fictional languages. However, few Americans (5%) have ever studied a constructed language. The top three conlangs studied were Klingon (2% of Americans), Esperanto […]

Growing up in the 1970s and excited by the space program, I found Star Trek to be a promise of a bright future for humanity, often advocating for nonviolence and empathy in the face of conflict, while embracing diversity. I watched the episodes so frequently that I could often name the episode by the opening shot. I loved the characters but watched uncritically. Starting last July, after wrapping up Discovery seasons 1 and 2 and Strange New Worlds as part of my goal of re-watching Star Trek chronologically, I began […]

I had expected 7 Wonders: Architects to be a streamlined version of the base game designed for a wider audience, like Simply Catan vs. Catan (e.g., fewer victory points, fewer cards, nicer components). In fact, 7WA is a dramatic reinvention of the game for the mainstream market, with gorgeous components. The result is a great game to give as a gift but probably not a great game to replay. Differences from 7 Wonders— Game decisions are primarily tactical rather than strategic but there are interesting decisions to be made. With […]

Here is one possible chronological viewing order of Star Trek, arranged in roughly chronological order within the fiction. In September 2021, I decided to start a multi-year quest to rewatch all of Star Trek in roughly fictional chronological order. Roughly, because I’m not going to interleave TNG and DS9, and DS9 and Voyager, for instance. And roughly because new prequels like Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds, which I watch as they air, mess up the order. And finally, roughly, as well, because time travel complicates everything. I’m not starting […]

If Dungeon World was the PbtA (Powered by the Apocalypse) homage to D&D 3.5, then Freebooters on the Frontier is the PbtA homage to the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Freebooters provides an OSR (Old School Renaissance) experience, fusing 1970s role-playing with Apocalypse Engine rules: basic character types, a high rate of PC fatalities, and funnel sessions (adapted from Dungeon Crawl Classics, itself an OSR system). The system shines for supporting improv, with hundreds of random tables to use as prompts. Freebooters on the Frontier 2e is available in […]

Which PbtA or FitD games are recommended for science-fiction settings? In part, it depends on which genre you are trying to emulate. The following are each unlicensed settings in similar genres. To boldly go where your favorite science fiction has gone before: And a few fantasy titles: Comments and suggestions welcome here! Updated 2023-05. Added Atma, The Continent Adrift, Invasion of the Third Kind, Light Side, Sixth World, Thirsty Sword Lesbians and changed the description of Uncharted Worlds. Updated 2022-08-23. Added Starforged’s own list of inspiration. Illustration credit: Copyright 2022 […]

Most RPGs require players to carefully track the items they carry. For instance, in 5e, you track how many pounds each item weighs, and the total weight you can carry is 15 pounds times your Strength score: for example, with a Strength of 10 you can carry 150 pounds (!). While 5e doesn’t require you to specify where your items are (e.g., your hands, your pack, your belt, etc.), anti-hammerspace systems require you to specify such details. Such detailed inventory and gear systems are simulationist. As a result of such […]

House of Danger is a nostalgic updating of the original Choose Your Own Adventure® book as a mainstream card game. Two decks—one with locations, one with items—are divided into five “chapters”, so that you can play the game a chapter at a time over multiple sessions. Another advantage of arranging the deck in chapters is that you don’t have to search through as many cards (ironically, since the books never used chapters). In Choose Your Own Adventure® books, unlike Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks and others, all you need to track is […]

We greatly enjoyed playing two sessions of MASHED by Mark Plemmons of Brabblemark Press. MASHED is an Apocalypse Engine take on a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea. (Not a license of the TV show.) The book is well produced, and you can purchase decks of Camp cards, Wound cards, and Event cards if playing a campaign. One aspect I particularly enjoyed was getting to learn the history of the Korean war better (from the book) and then seeing it unfold in play. The PCs landed in Pusan after crossing […]