itch.io

Oh absolutely! I never go with "inherent villainy," and agree there should always be a nuanced way of helping the audience understand how and why someone is doing something really problematic! I'm just always careful with mental health stuff - wanna be supportive. There's folks who know a lot more than I do about how to portray struggles with trauma in a respectful way (hence why a lot of folks get sensitivity readers). 

Let me know if you have any questions - excited to see what you make!

This made my day, Hessan! I really had fun kind of "opening the hood" to noodle about the why of what I was doing, and the parallel page structure really helped me put all the material together in a way that didn't compromise the simplicity of the base structure.

SO glad you liked it!

Nobody will take anything! One thing I'd advise: be careful with the depictions of abuse and "bad wiring." There's a lot there to understand, and being too casual about depicting people struggling with adversity as problematic can be rough for some readers!

I love god-based stuff (I am currently running an XD6 game for my after-school class in which the kids are playing a new crop of gods out to replace the old ones, who've become complacent and aren't serving their worshippers anymore). Good fun!

Hi there - and thanks! Let me clarify:

1) Anyone can roll up to their Hearts in dice - max three, minimum 1.

2) If someone loses a Heart, they lose one die; if you've got 2 Hearts, you can only roll 2 dice.

3) Therefore, you still have a ton of Lines to choose from ... but you can only use as many as you have Hearts. 

The idea is to create a mechanic that makes people think about how their character would, in the fiction, suceed.  While there might be a lot of Lines one could leverage, they won't always apply in the fiction; sure, you might be besties with Rex the dragon, but if Rex isn't in the scene, getting a dice for that doesn't make much sense. Everything depends on how the player describes why their character will succeed; if they want to put a dragon to sleep, a character with the line "incredible voice" might sing, where a character with "dumb luck" might get half-eaten before the sleep potion in their pocket from earlier glugs down the dragon's gullet (and they after have to struggle out of the thing's mouth as it snores!).

When a line's crossed out, it's just not available to use! This can be especially handy if a player's been leaning on one line too often; removing it pushes them to think about the other ways in which their character matters.

Hope that cleared it up - and let me know if it didn't! 

Hey all,

A quick update: I've been busy removing inappropriate submissions, lately, which includes games that aren't educational (and have no clear educational application), those that don't meet the jam's specifications (most video games, for example), and a few that I've found which contained speech and content that directly persecuted marginalized groups (clearly against the guidelines of the jam).

That last was a very small sample, but let me be clear: this jam - and, for that matter, any educational tool or setting - is not a place in which to disparage, exclude, or attack anyone. Work expressing prejudice against a particular gender identity, religion, culture, language, country of origin, sexual preference, physical/mental/emotional ability/condition, or skin color will be removed from this jam. If there's a type of prejudice I haven't covered, consider this my statement that it, too, is unwelcome.

I've looked into how to report and ban submissions, and I can't, as moderator, unless a user flags their work (which then sends me a report which I can use to ban said user). In order to get a "report" on these submissions, I'd have to have them re-appear in the jam, which I will not do. My other option is to make submissions private until the jam is over, which would defeat the purpose of having a "living library" of narrative game resources. I've emailed Itch support to see about next steps.

In the future, I'll ask another user to report any submissions that violate the rules of the jam so I have the option, depending on the severity, of banning the user instead of simply removing or disqualifying the submission. Please do let me know if you find prejudiced content in any of these submissions and I'll investigate.

Learning, like many things, can't happen until a person knows they're safe. "Safety tools" are meant to help people at the table have a default understanding of how to respect one another; they have little meaning unless safety is considered by a creator as a central element of their game's design and content.

Let's keep this a safe space for all!

Cheers,

Michael

Absolutely! The Discord (which I know you're on!) is very much the spot where a lot of us are around. Let's keep chatting there!

A little, one page duel system - sort of a min game. Plays well with my Minifig Madness system (if you wanna play the pilots, too!).

The sound of the punching us hysterical! Good times!

In time for game night!? Oh so COOL to hear you're using it TONIGHT! DO let me know if you go for building a world first, use Drama Clocks, Power Ups, Teller Tips - whatever tools you find useful! This bundle is more the core rules (which are modular) as opposed to a story arc with rules embedded (as in Starsworn, Gigacity, and to a lesser degree, Partnerz in Grime).

I'll be waiting for field reports if you feel up to it - that kind of feedback is absolutely the BEST THING for a designer! Cheers!

Oh gosh, I have ZERO idea why! Let me see what I can do.

AH HA! I had switched a payment mode! Please let me know if this helps - if you like, you can check out Gigacity Ghosts, too (which I think it the best of my adventure arcs, along with Starsworn!).

So excited to hear you're interested in world building and the rest, and that you like the pod, too! That's an absolute thrill - please let me know how the download goes, and don't hesitate to ask anything else; I'd be thrilled to chat!

This is so cool! I love the concept!

This looks zany! 

Wonderful! It should ALSO include a bonus 3rd page of "Teller Moves" - do let me know how it all strikes you? LOVE any feedback!

Now updated - if you need to, email me at Michael@LuckOfLegends.com and I'll happily send the pdf personally!

Weird! Let me re-upload. Apologies!

Oh wow ... technically, that's like ... ALL the boosts for Stories RPG? Scenes, Power Ups, Drama Clocks, Teller Moves ... yeesh! Off I go!

Thank you for the heads-up!

AAAAH! THIS IS SO COOL!

I LOVE that you're combo-ing systems, and I'm FASCINATED at the structure! This is INCREDIBLE!

I … I’m not sure! Let me check what Hessan did?

SOOOO PRETTY! I love this so much! You have the FIRST entry, officially - stoked to play this!

I'm jamming on Restrictions - really wanna plug it back into the base SRD. That and the "narrative level caps" concepts need to be in there - so good!

I just posted on the discord - we’ve got someone creating a game about the team who maintains reality on a badly made planet, one about trainers who raise swarms of insects, Pokémon style, and I’m whipping up my arcane mech game, Mecha Magi. Soooo many ideeeeeas …

Newt, you started this - what’s up? Feel free to drop in the discord - we chat there on the regular!

Oooh! Another thought: Restrictions! These would be for crunchier systems with scales of mass, speed, etc. on the Impact Chart. A Restriction would LOWER the Impact for certain things ... 

For instance, Getta Grip might start with a restriction: may only affect items within Average range. This would mean her FX would all have to be up-close; no changing the friction of a meteor on it's way towards Gigacity, for instance!

Level Caps are a way to limit the number of dice rolled at one time - basically, a way to keep the action from getting too big, too quick. If you don't want your characters shifting planets right out the gate but still wanna give them a big pile of dice, put a Level Cap on it (10 dice per roll, max) that you can either let players raise by purchasing or have go up as their dice pool gets bigger (10 for 30 dice, 15 for 40, and so on).

But I've been reading the Mistborn saga by Brandon Sanderson lately and got to thinking. See, the thing that makes his superpower system - "allomancy" and "ferruchemistry" and "hemalurgy" - work? It's that the powers are all 1) hyper specific (you can pull on iron OR push on it, you can store weight or lighten yourself, etc.) and 2) require clever strategic and cinematic description to use.

So how could I do something like that in XD6?

Welp, had a thought: what about a PLAY-based "level cap increase?" Call it a "condition," and make the number of extra dice that break the Level Cap PLAY specific! Check it - each of these could raise the level cap for an FX Move by 2:

• Environment: If you can describe how your power could be used effectively where you are.
• Innovation: If you come up with a new use of your power.
• Combination: If you can explain how you use two of your powers, together.
• Description: If you can make the whole thing sound epic (if everyone at the table reacts!).

Like so:

Getta Grip (a favorite superhero from my Gigacity Ghosts game for Stories RPG podcast!) can control friction - this is really TWO powers bought separately: Stick and Slide. She could normally only roll 10 dice, but here are some of her moves:

• Skates: By creating, on the soles of her shoes, a razor-thin line of friction while making the rest completely slippery, Getta Grip can skate at incredibly high speeds (14 dice: +2 from combo, +2 from description if you do it right!).
• Constrict: Facing foes in clothing, she can up their friction till their clothes start chafing to the point they can't even move! (14 dice: +2 from environment, +2 from description).
• Swing n' Fling: She sticks with a touch, increases her own grip on the pavement, then removes all friction from her enemy's feet - and suddenly they're on their back, flung like a sliding hockey puck towards a wall! (16 dice: environment, combo, description).
• Supersonic: Increase friction on a coin; fling it and remove all gravity to put the thing through a wall. (14 dice: combo, description)
• Bass Beast: Increases friction on her fingerpads to get squealing, roaring riffs out of her bass guitar (FX to wow a crowd - effectively, Empathize for a +4!)

ALL, of course, could get an extra +2 the first time they're used for Innovation. I could keep going, but I like the concept. Players can pre-gen cool narrative moves, then get a mechanical boost for prepping them - it incentivizes good narrative THINKING about what makes powers neat! 

That MAKES MY DAY! I'm stoked - it's a gem of a system, and I feel like I really laid out a lot of ideas in the doc for making it YOURS.

Let me know any and everything you want to know! If anything's missing, I'll edit!

Thanks so much! It's my partner's first game, and I think the journal prompts really center the experience. The goal is sort of "experiential fiction." Do let us know any other thoughts, and THANK YOU!

Oh yeesh. Wrote a whole reply and then mistakenly moved off tab (arg!). I'm SO glad you dig this funky little system, and you've gotten ME thinking about putting some stuff together - and the possibility of a jam (even posted on Twitter to see if there was any interest!).

In any case, here's the short intro to each setting (there's lots more to both, but here you go!):

Punk Pantheons:

People think of gods, now, as stories - something ancient peoples revered that don’t have much to do with everyday life in the modern world. They couldn’t be more wrong.

The gods walk among us, unseen, bending our world to their will. They are born human, but come into their power, and their whims and wants can spread peace and goodwill … or submerge the globe in chaos. The old gods have gone sour - deities like Courage and Hope have fallen, and Fear, Rage, Greed, and the twins, Despair and Desire - rule cruelly, fomenting war. They seek to recruit young gods to their cause - those too new to their powers to pose a threat - before they can upset the balance.

But it never pays to underestimate the power of a bunch of punks.

In Punk Pantheons, players take on the role of teenaged kids who’ve just discovered their powers, and must travel through the Ideal realms to search for the reborn gods who can rebalance the energies of the world and fight back against the tyranny of the elder gods.

Mecha Magi:

No-one knows the origins of the mysterious artifacts known as ARCs - Arcane Reactor Cores. The secrets of their use are carefully guarded - only the chosen few ever bond with an ARC to become Mecha Magi. Those who do have nearly unlimited power to create, absorb, and alter energy and matter.

Gearhaven is the last known planet with life upon it - the wreckage of ancient wars that decimated the stars litters space, a warning against the foolishness of war amongst Magi. And to keep the peace, the rulers of Gearhaven - the Council of Demons - rule with an iron fist. They generate the power and resources that support the city, making dissent impossible.

But once a year, at the Choosing, even the poorest of Gearhaven may seek to bond with an ARC and join one of the noble houses of the Council. They may compete to be recognized - or try to create a new house of their own.

In Mecha Magi, players take on the role of desperate demons seeking to bond with ARCs to rebalance the oppressed world of Gearhaven (I’ve also run this one as a school for ARC-wielders, a world in which Mecha Magi are only allowed to play in a sort of hyper-sport as intergalactic darlings, and one in which they’re knights-errant, traveling to far-flung planets with their immense powers to solve the worst problems of lost peoples). 

Oh my gosh you have NO idea how much that means to hear! I LOVE this little gem, and totally imagine big ol' supplements with HUGE lists of goofy powers. Mostly I use it for my Mecha Magi game (people pilot ARCs - Arcane Reactor Cores - that allow them to generate, alter, and absorb energy and matter!) or my Punk Pantheon game (god powers in the modern world), but I've never written those up for public consumption. I've been noodling on the idea of an XD6 SRD Jam, so your encouragement means the world! What do you think - should I go ahead?

In any case, THANK YOU! Comments mean the world and it's the BEST to hear about people being INTO your work!

Sorry for the confusion!  I need to include an explanation - it's a quick shorthand for "Reaction" and "Actions."  The first number is when the foe acts within the initiative order; the second is how many actions it can take (2 for a Move/Attack, double Attack, etc.).

Let me know if this helps clarify?  And would LOVE to keep hearing your thoughts or questions

An ETHNOGRAPHY game?!  AMAZING!  I'll show this to my partner - she got an anthro degree and this would be straight up her alley!

Oh my - SUCH a needful thing.  I imagine, with CAREFUL implementation, that this would be PERFECT for a lot of high-school classes, too.  It's a serious skill deficit area for most humans!

This looks amazing!  Encouraging fast writing is such a great approach, and I love any GM-less system for the classroom.  Thank you!

Amazing!  This is a lovely and fascinating approach to a commonly taught subject.  VERY cool - thanks for submitting!

Cheers!  I'm actually debating extending the "jam" - it's really just a way to keep accumulating games and approaches for educators to use, so if I keep extending the deadline, I suppose it serves as a "living library" of sorts (plus, we don't lose anyone that way!).  We're still up on discord, still happy to chat, and trying to arrange some more meetups - feel free to reach out!

ArithMagine is a one-page TTRPG for the #1pRPGJam that helps people of all ages tell dramatic stories - and build numeracy at the same time!  With just a deck of cards and a few friends, you can go on endless adventures while you master arithmetic and build algebraic awareness.

By teacher and educational RPG designer Michael Low of LuckOfLegends.com, ArithMagine is designed to work with the modular learning tools of StoriesRPG, all of which are one page, modular, system-agnostic tools for using role-playing games as learning tools.  These include tools for teaching how to set up a great Scene, creating edge-of-your-seat (but non-violent!) climactic encounters with Drama Clocks, Teller Moves to help GMs enhance collaborative storytelling, and how to tie literacy to advancement with Power Ups.

Awesome!  Would LOVE to talk about your approach - Steph, of TTRPGkids.com, has been developing a younger age approach, too, with her StoryGuider series.  Holler if you'd like to ask anything, get some support in implementing stuff, or just want to chat!

Clear, flavorful, fun! A board game with RP elements that hits all your farming buttons - but without the mindless button-mashing of your favorite screen-based game. The mechanics male play strategic but easy to grasp - really beautifully designed!

I'll send you one if you like!

Clever system based on Belonging Outside Belonging mechanics that PERFECTLY represents the zaniness of the Scooby Doo cartoons!  If you are looking for a zero prep story game with the fun feel of Saturday morning cartoons from the 80s and 90s, give this a whirl!

Eeek!  Had a sale going for it and forgot - reset to free (donate as you like!).

Apologies!