Why are you making a TTRPG?

Eleventh Beast dice tower, why make a TTRPG, suboptimal choices, BLACKFLOWER update, and The Skeletons

Welcome to Exeunt Omnes, the official newsletter for loyal fans and sworn enemies of Exeunt Press, creator of games such as Exclusion Zone Botanist and Eleventh Beast. You can find digital games at games.exeunt.press and physical products at shop.exeunt.press.

TL;DR Summary

• 💀 Eleventh Beast dice tower

• 🤔 Why are you making a TTRPG?

• 🧙 Suboptimal choices

• 🐝 BLACKFLOWER pre-order update

• 🎲 Recently played: The Skeletons

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💀 Eleventh Beast Dice Tower

You need to see this!

I first met Rose of Fyre & Ashe at Save Against Fear last year. She picked up a copy of Eleventh Beast during the convention.

Well, I recently received a custom Eleventh Beast dice tower! It’s shaped like a book, and sized to hold a copy of the A5 zine edition of Eleventh Beast.

Magnetic closures. Map on the inside cover. Magnetic tokens for the beast, hunter, rumors, and wounds. It even has the Eleventh Beast Sonnet on the back!

Thank you so much to Rose for sending this, and showing what kind of things she can make! It’s really beautiful.

SHOP: Fyre & Ashe on Etsy

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🤔 Why are you making a TTRPG?

I recently saw a post on Reddit that said there were 29,000 free TTRPGs on itch.io, and asked, “Why are you making a TTRPG?”

It’s an interesting question, and made me check out the physical games and tags on itch.io. Currently there are about 43,522 total physical-games in the catalog. About 22,400 are tagged as tabletop role-playing games:

Some of the most popular physical game tags.

After a brief search, it became clear that questions like this are fairly common. Why do people make their own TTRPG? Is it work making a TTRPG? What drove you to make your own TTRPG?

Of course the answer will be different for each creator of those 22,400 games listed, but here are some that I thought were interesting:

1. Being creative is always worthwhile. Making a new roleplaying game is a great way to do it.

2. There might be thousands of TTRPGs out there, but none of them are yours.

3. I didn’t filter by language, but it would seem most of the itch.io games are in English. Making games in other languages opens up games to a broader audience.

4. You might end up with an idea in your head that won’t go away until you turn it into a game you can share with others. You have no choice but to make the game.

5. Perhaps you want to explore an area that is less common, a theme unexplored, or a mechanism rarely used. A game about being a muffin, for example.

6. The design process is, for you, a form of entertainment in itself. It’s better than other activities, and might even end up with a game at the end of it.

7. Being a GM is an inherently creative process, so it’s a natural step to want to expand that into a full system.

8. There’s a low barrier to entry. For little to no money, you can make a game and maybe even enter it in a game jam.

9. Public domain art and generous third-party licenses make it easy and fun.

10. Because you can.

Make games for whatever reason works for you. Have fun.

BROWSE: Physical games on itch.io.

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🧙 Suboptimal choices

Call to Adventure

This week’s Skeleton Code Machine article was about the game Call to Adventure (O’Neal & O’Neal, 2019). My original intent was to look at the probability of success when throwing the rune tokens. I accomplished that goal, and I think it shows some interesting results.

Along the way, however, it really struck me that this game also does something special:

In my experience, Call to Adventure succeeds at the table because it does what few board games can do. It gets players to make choices that aren’t based on what will win the game. Instead, I’ve watched players intentionally make suboptimal choices because, “That’s what my character would do.”

READ: Call to Adventure at Skeleton Code Machine

Skeleton Code Machine is a weekly publication that explores tabletop game mechanisms in board games and roleplaying games. It’s been called a “Seemingly endless source of gaming ponderings” and a “Goldmine.” Check it out at www.skeletoncodemachine.com.

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🐝 BLACKFLOWER pre-order update

BLACKFLOWER copies ready to ship

Some good news regarding BLACKFLOWER!

Pre-orders for BLACKFLOWER closed on March 28, 2024, and I placed the print order soon after that. The copies came in earlier than expected, and they look fantastic! Exactly like the demo copies that were printed earlier.

• Physical fulfillment: Fulfillment is happening this week, so packages are beginning to ship. You should receive a tracking number via email after your order has shipped.

• Digital fulfillment: The BLACKFLOWER page at itch.io will go live soon. If you pre-ordered, there is no need to purchase the PDF! Watch your email. You will receive a separate email with a download key for the PDF.

Missed the pre-order and want to get a copy? You can order BLACKFLOWER from the Exeunt Press Shop. Copies are also available at FARBO Co. in Lancaster.

SUBSCRIBE: Watch Exeunt Omnes for the next update in two weeks.

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🎲 Recently played: The Skeletons

The Skeletons

I recently played a solo game of The Skeletons by Jason Morningstar. It is described as a “meditative structured freeform game for 1-6 players.”

As a solo game, it seemed like a more freeform version of Dark Fort and I mean that in the best way possible. I quite enjoy games that can be played in an hour or so, and leave you with some artifacts of play that could be used to make other games. The tomb that I created via The Skeletons would be a fun little place to add to a MÖRK BORG adventure.

It’s an interesting twist on the usual tropes, and I enjoyed being a skeleton fighting off those who wanted to plunder my tomb.

READ: The Skeletons at Skeleton Code Machine

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- E.P. 💀