itch.io

THE TENSION SYSTEM features mechanics for resolving challenges quickly and dramatically while continually ramping up the pressure on players throughout the game. Although setting-agnostic, the system is most appropriate for fast-paced, intense adventures like those in 80s action movies, spy thrillers, and stories where the clock is ticking, the stakes continually rise, and the heroes are under unrelenting stress while in constant danger. However, the system is adaptable enough to accommodate other settings, including science fiction, dark fantasy, horror, and more.

You may use or adapt THE TENSION SYSTEM to create your own games and settings. The system is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. 

Hi! Thanks for the comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the game. 

I also appreciate the suggestions for an expanded edition. I tried to think of ways to integrate some specific prompts in this version but struggled due to the 36-word limit of the jam. 

I definitely want to add some prompts that would help build out a stronger/more complex narrative. I also thought about (1) creating an audio track to be used while playing the game that would have some audio cues embedded in it, and (2) creating some "artifacts" (notes, pictures, clues) that could be randomly uncovered over the course of the week-long investigation.

I just need a week or two off from my day job to get it all done.

Best,
TS

Thanks for the comment. In retrospect, it's similar to the Blades in the Dark progress clocks, but in reverse. Instead of the narrative moving the clock forward, here, the clock drives the narrative. At least that was my thinking. I like your idea of the 'never-ending prompt/oracle clock' as well. 

Doomsday Clock is a doomed TTRPG created by Groovy Dad Games for the 36-word RPG Jam.

thanks!  I appreciate it!

Thanks! My email is trent.seltzer@gmail.com.

Hi! Given that this is a solo RPG/LARP, there really isn’t a win/lose state. That is to say that the goal isn’t to “win” but rather to have an experience and tell a story. 

Some of this is vagueness is due to the 36-word limit of the jam. There wasn’t much room for extensive mechanics for encounters, combat, investigation, etc.  That being said, I am considering expanding this after the jam ends, so some of those elements may be added along with some more detailed events/encounters. 

Behold. Another submission to the 36-word RPG Jam. This one is called Eulogy. It's a TTRPG about honoring heroic sacrifice. Also, by telling the hero's story, you are also telling your own. 

I thought I was done submitting to the36-word RPG Jam. Apparently, I was wrong. Behold and despair. "A Commonplace Guide to the Ubiquitous Minor Gods" is now available for download at Groovy Dad Games.  It's a rules-lite TTRPG about everyday gods using a scarce pool of words of power to make their mark on the world. 

My childhood home, there was a window above my bed that looked down a long dark road.  I was always worried someone would poke their head thru and peer down at me while I was sleeping.  

Let me know if you play the game. Would love feedback as I may build this out after the jam.  

Groovy Dad Games has just two new games for the 36-word RPG Jam:

It Lurks Just Out of Sight is a solo horror live-action role-playing game that you play alone in the dark.

Ephemera15 is a simple tabletop role-playing game in which players create and destroy characters by writing and erasing words on their character sheets. 

Both are free to download during the jam period.

Of course! The world needs—no, demands—more games and stories set in the dad says Rizz Cinematic Universe.   I’ll get to work on  an SRD for the Rizzverse posthaste!

Thanks! I appreciate the comment. And, yes, I will add a low ink / printer friendly version as soon as I can. 

it was worth it to hear the kids’ sweet groans of horror

Thanks! I appreciate it. This was indeed the most depressing thing I’ve ever created.  

We've just submitted our latest game, Make Fantastica Great Again, to the One-Page RPG Jam. 2024. 

Every four years, the people of the once great United Kingdoms of Fantastica elect a new high king. The players form a party of campaign operatives working to elect their party’s candidate. The operatives will use all manner of strategies and tactics—some honorable, some distasteful; some mundane, some magical—to ensure their candidate garners enough political capital, coin, and votes to claim the high throne.

Sure. Here's a link to a .docx copy of Temporal that you can use as a template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u4PXD6MhAPCgiK3gaUlS4TOGwCNfrBbo/edit?usp=sh...

Hope this helps.

Best,
TS

Hi, Alexander. I finally had time to go back and remind myself what the exact rules were regarding the villains. So, rules as written, if the NPC has a villain tag, then yes, they follow the same damage/condition rules as PCs. I agree, this can make them pretty tough. However, the most commonly applied damage from weapons is Chassis damage, so it should be possible (not easy, but possible) for the PCs to send a villain into negative Chassis repeatedly until they hit system failure.

Thankfully (for the PCs), only two stock foes have the villain tag (Apostles and Boilermakers), and then the 3 main baddies in the included adventure.  I wanted the main big bads to be tough to take down.  That's the DM in me who gets frustrated when a party takes out the main villain too easily. 

That being said, I agree it's probably too hard as written. If I do an update (and this is a game I've been meaning to get back to at some point), I would probably come up with some other solution for making the villains challenging without using the PC rules.  In the interim, you could certainly house-rule this if you play and say villains must be knocked to zero on a stat X number of times before they're destroyed.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for improving the game.

Best,
TS

Hi there! Glad to hear you enjoyed reading through it. Great question about villains. I’m under a deadline for my day job, and will give you an answer as soon as I can. Just didn’t want you to think I was ignoring this. 

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words.

You add the d6 to defense only for the model that took the dodge action. The dodge bonus is used the next time that model is targeted by an attack, after which the model loses the dodge bonus (i.e., the model would need to retake the dodge action on a future activation to gain the defense bonus).

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
TS

Yes. That's correct. On your turn, you can use one of your actions to dodge. The next time someone attacks you, add +1d6 to your defense roll. 

Technically, rules as written, you could use both actions on your turn to dodge and add 2d6 the next time you are attacked.

Hope this helps! Thanks for playing!

SYNAPSE is a hex-crawl adventure that sees players exploring a Subject's subconscious searching for a valuable memory buried deep in the Subject's psyche.

The adventure is system-agnostic; however, a modified version of our TENSION SYSTEM is included. 

Created for the Fill the Hex Jam. 

Deal. Happy to do it. It's just fun to know that someone is actually playing these games and getting some joy out of it.

Rolled a d20 and got a 4, which was for Enhanced. I'll send a download key shortly. 

Best,

TS

Also: you’ve been so kind and enthusiastic that I want to give you some download keys for my other games. Let me know if there’s any of my other games you want to try, and I’ll email you a key to the address on your receipt for M&M. 

same!

That’s awesome.  We’ve been using Tinker Turf mixed with some Battlefield terrain and using locite fun-tak to hang minis. Minis are a mix of infinity for agents and the aliens from Glorious Day in the Corp for the madness.  

I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the game! This is one I've been meaning to get back to for a while now to create solo agent vs. agent rules and some scenarios. I've also toyed around with developing a role-playing game based on the setting.

I really appreciate all the positive comments! If you have any photos of a game in progress, please share!

GROTTO OF THE ROT DRAKE is an ultra-rules-lite tabletop fantasy role-playing game created for the 24-word RPG Jam. 

Create your character. Roll the dice to see which chamber you explore. Pass challenges to proceed to the next chamber. Fail and suffer the consequences. 

Grotto of the Rot Drake can be played with a group or used to power a solo/journaling adventure. 

YOUR VERY OWN APOCALYPSE is an ultra-rules-lite tabletop role-playing game created for the 24-Word RPG Jam.

MURDER HOBOS is an ultra-rules-lite TTRPG created for the 24-Words RPG Jam.

Thanks! Hope you give it a try.  

Awesome! Glad you like it!

Thanks for the reminder on this. Got busy with work. Yes, feel free to translate. You can email translated copy to me at trent.seltzer@gmail.com. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Depends on the victim type. E.g., if it's a young adult, they have 10 pints, so 20% would be 2 pints, etc.

Given jam restrictions, I didn't have enough room to include a bigger table that broke all of that down for each victim type. That is something I would include in an expanded/revised version. 

Hi! Thanks for the offer. Let me think on it.

Thank you!

I've just released BLOOD, a solo role-playing and journaling game in which you play an ambulance driving emergency medical technician (EMT) infected with vampirism. Each day, you must navigate The City with your paramedic partner, facing the mundane trials of your job and personal life while trying to keep your affliction a secret. 

Each in-game day, draw event cards to see what kind of trials you'll need to face while balancing your Hunger, Cash, and Visibility. Get too hungry, and you might loose control. Run out of money, and you may have to look for less than honest ways to pay the rent. If your Visibility gets too high, then the police, hunters, or other infected might come looking for you.

Created for the One-Page RPG Jam 2023. 

Thank you! I appreciate it.  

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it. 

My intention for the step up/down of the test die was more along the lines of "just go by feel in each situation." Part of that decision was driven by the one-page limitation for the jam and trying to get the core mechanics on the front page. I'll try to cram in a little more detail somewhere in a revision. 

That being said, I'm planning to either expand the game at some point and/or write a generic version of the system that could be applied to different settings. In both cases, I would probably include either specific mechanics for stepping up/down (e.g., one per trait) or more detailed guidance for GMs in setting the tension rating.

I just released TENSION, my final submission for the One-Page RPG Jam 2003.

TENSION is a rules-light tabletop role-playing game of covert operations and ticking clocks. Of mounting stakes and unrelenting stress. 

Players are a team of covert operatives on the trail of a doomsday weapon. Manage a finite pool of resilience points to accomplish daring actions and use PC features to stay alive just long enough to save the day.