The ChaosGrenade

Quick & Dirty Tabletop Role-Playing Games

RAMBLING ON: TRICUBE TALES

2020-01-27 Rambling R.E. Davis
I need to talk about this game, Tricube Tales by Richard Woolcock of Zadmar’s Games. There’s a lot I want to say about it, which is crazy because it’s also pretty lite and simple. Also, the damn game is free (full thing in the preview) so you can easily check it for yourself. Yeah, it’s 49 pages, but it’s using that fancy Phone PDF format so it’s really a quick read. Continue reading

MAIN SEQUENCE: TRI-FOLD EDITION

What is MAIN SEQUENCE? MAIN SEQUENCE is a fast, “Rules-Necessary” science fiction RPG written by Matt Bryant. It uses the WyRM System, originally found in titles like Warrior, Rogue & Mage and Resolute, Adventurer & Genius. MAIN SEQUENCE characters have three Attributes (Soldier, Agent and Tech). They choose a handful of skills and Tags, some equipment, and then they’re off on their planetary adventures! Folks who are wanting a traditional space RPG with a little meat on the bone, but don’t want to be bogged down with bloated catalogs of tech or complex space battles will be at home in MAIN SEQUENCE. Continue reading

SHROOM GOONS Update!

2019-09-26 Rambling R.E. Davis
Some big news regarding SHROOM GOONS! First off, we got third place in the Goon Jam on Itch.io! Thanks to everyone who’s supported this little title and left amazing feedback and reviews. And to the person who left a 1 star without comment — why do you hate fun? Second off, there is now an updated SHROOM GOONS available on Itch! Minor edits, small clarifications, expanded Difficulty Scores, and a Referee section that offers some ways to tweak and handle difficult encounters & challenges. Continue reading

SHROOM GOONS — A New Free Title!

SHROOM GOONS is a “Spore-Core” Fantasy Trip for Weird People. A hack of Nate Treme’s Tunnel Goons , players take on the role of tiny mushroom folk on a big adventure! Inspired by Fragglerock, Smurfs, The Littles, Toy Story and other childhood “tiny people” stories. It’s weird, it’s fun, it’s easy to pick up and play. And it features artwork by Skullfungus! Arm yourself with a sewing needle sword, a button shield, and ready your matchstick torch! Continue reading

FABRICATED VENTURERS — a Classless Hack for Vieja Escuela

I have written a classless, patchwork/piecemeal character hack for Vieja Escuela. Taking advantage of the format of VE: Pamphlet Edition, it’s written as a modular variant to the Character Creation rules. Just swap out and use without changing the rest of the game! Or you can just print out, fold up, and tuck it in your original VE rulebook. The Concept Fabricated Venturers ditches classes. Everyone starts as a d6 hit die character, proficient in simple weapons and Leather armor. Continue reading

VIEJA ESCUELA: Pamphlet Edition

I have taken the core rules of Vieja Escuela (which I’ve praised on herebefore) and repackaged it. As the name implies, this version is intended to be printed out and folded into three “zig-zag” or “accordion” style pamphlets (Character Creation, Game Rules, & Tables). Of course, it also looks good on tablets, or printed out and left on their own. Do whatever pleases you! This was a first time project for me using Affinity Publisher, and I’m pretty happy to share the results! Continue reading

AWESOME D.P.S. — A Free, Narrative-Driven Dice Pool System

AWESOME D.P.S. (Dice Pool System) is a fast playing, narrative-driven dice pool RPG framework that is now live on itch.io! as a Pay-What-You-Want Pamphlet RPG. The goal was to create a game that captures the best part of a dice pool system (grabbing handfuls of dice and feeling like a bad-ass) while minimizing stat blocks and keeping the math simple. Inspired and built off Diogo Nogueira’s Lost in the Fantasy World, these rules were written for gaming sessions that focus more on story and narrative flow than stat crunching or tactical play. Continue reading

Revisiting Anarchy

2019-05-13 Rambling R.E. Davis
Shadowrun: Anarchy is a title that I often call a “flawed gem” — a great game marred by poor execution. Rushed edits, a somewhat schizophrenic design (is it a core rulebook? Is it a supplement?), stretching itself thin trying to please both traditional SR veterans and newcomer storygamers. But despite all of that, underneath the rubble you can find the chassis of a slick, streamlined and adaptable dicepool system. While I’m excited to see where the Sixth World Edition is heading, I find myself slinking back into my copy of Anarchy (goblinized warts and all). Continue reading

D·10 TOOLKIT: RULING DIFFICULTY

2019-05-09 Rambling R.E. Davis
For today’s article in the D·10 Toolkit series, I wanted to take a look at the core mechanics and, specifically, how difficulty and challenges are expressed in the die rolls, and how you can change it up for your own games. Drive·10 was designed for fast rulings and game play, and with it I used a very straight-forward approach to determining the difficulty of the roll. All rolls are 1d10 + Proficiency (total bonuses), succeed on a total of 10+. Continue reading

Pamphlets, Zines, and Other Fun Things

2019-05-02 Rambling R.E. Davis
Another spotlight post of cool indie/DIY RPG stuff and other fun things from around the geek webs. The RPG Pamphlet Craze! Nate Treme (Highland Paranormal Society/ In The Light of a Ghost Star) has made some awesome pamphlet dungeons, and hosted an Pamphlet Dungeon Jam that has resulted in some incredible creations! I had received hard copies of his Temple of the Bat Serpent and The Mephitic Laboratory of the Pescamancerand was impressed with how much you could put on a standard tri-fold adventure module! Continue reading
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