Reading TTRPGs - 55 - Without any RPG

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Well, this column is really getting out of hand... Not even a single game reviewed this time. My reading stack is focused on other things right now. So, I'll still talk about TTRPGs, but from articles and podcasts.

The Intent of RPG reviews

I'm a big fan of the blog Cannibal Halfling Gaming. I really like the game reviews, the monitoring of game releases (in particular the crowdfunding), but also and above all the in-depth articles on role-playing games, which cover a wide range of topics, from technical and game-design issues to community and industry.

In the article The Intent of RPG reviews, Aaron Marks asks the question: what's the point of reviewing an RPG? For what, for whom? Why did we choose this game?

Check out this article, and feel free to dive into the blog.

Évolution des systèmes de jeu

A french article, whose title translates to "Evolution of the games systems", on the Lapin Marteau website. An article also featured in a book released via crowdfunding a few weeks ago.

For anyone interested in the evolution of RPG game design over the years, this post is fascinating. The seriousness and competence of Coralie David and Jérôme Larré are no longer up for debate, and this text is perhaps a little rough in full-text mode (the layout version in the book should be easier to read). Here, I invite you to pick and choose, so as not to be drowned out, and to discover some of the evolutions but also, and above all, some of the considerations and definitions that were intelligently put together at the beginning.

Évolution des systèmes de jeu, on Lapin Marteau's blog.

What I'd Tell You To Try If You Told Me Your Game Sucks

I've already mentioned Kieron Gillen in these lines, as a comic book writer (DIE, Once & Future). For the past few weeks, he has also been running the RPG blog Old Men Running The World.

In this article with a maybe too long title, he talks very well about two tools I find hard to live without: C.A.T.S. and Stars & Wishes. Would you like to read someone else discuss it? Follow the link!

The Driver

A short french podcast on the JDR Academy that uses a particular scenario, in duo: one GM, one player. And very strong choices regarding the setting, which will (undoubtedly?) guide the story. A story that centers around a driver.

The story veers towards the disturbing, at first (Trigger Warning: child abuse). Then to horror. Quickly. Violently. And finds its conclusion. An open-ended one.

It would have made an excellent episode of Tales from the Crypt. It made me want to know more about this scenario and its construction. And maybe I'll talk about it again...

Discover The Driver on the JDR Academy or on your favorite podcast app.

The Darkened Threshold

I'm continuing to listen to The Darkened Threshold, which has been releasing a weekly podcast for the past few weeks. And while I'm a strong adept of the Carved from Brindlewood games, diving back in and (re)discovering Trophy was great (and might encourage me to get back into it). I still love Jason and Alex's analysis and feedback, and the latest episode, on Mystery Sheets, has given me thoughts on some points of my own game design orientations. Which is why I listen to this.

An unmissable podcast if you're interested in this TTRPG galaxy, or in game design in general. Also, the cultural recommendations are often interesting.

Quickly

I'll come back to them in more detail later (when I've read them properly), but if you're interested in Brindlewood Bay, you should know that Cédric Ferrand (Wastburg, Sovok, Montgascon...), a french novel and TTRPG author, has made available a supplement of 5 mysteries for the game, richly illustrated. As for The Between, Sprigs and Kindling has released its second issue, entirely devoted to The Between. An issue of over 140 pages, including a Threat by myself.

I'm reading all this, and I'll be back soon with some proper "Reading TTRPGs" , which are true TTRPGs.