Into the Odd is at once an homage to and a departure from the classic RPGs of the 70s and 80s. In the game, to quote the book: “You are an Explorer, braving the unknown in search of riches, fame, knowledge and power. Most of all, you seek Arcana, strange devices hosting unnatural powers beyond technology. They range from the smallest ring to vast machines.”
The system itself does a lot of very interesting things, but rather than give a full system breakdown, what I want to talk about is how Into the Odd handles stats.
Heroes of Adventure could easily be called a bit of a D&D clone, but just because it’s high-fantasy doesn’t make it a copycat. The world-building is certainly D&D-like, and your heroes can be the ubiquitous wizards, warriors, rangers, thieves, and clerics; but the system uses a die-size system instead of a flat d20 system. Spells are limited through schools, rather than classes: if you learn Air magic, you can cast Air spells, no matter if you are a cleric, druid, or magi.
The Dreamer is a one-word RPG by W. H. Arthur.
No, wait, let me back up. There needs to be some context here.
If I haven’t been explicit about this before, I should explain for the RPG tourists that most RPGs, especially those from the early generations of the hobby, are long. Rulebooks, supplements, worldbooks, magazines…you can fill bookshelves with the content from a single game, to say nothing of reprints and revised editions.
The Lighthouse at the End of the Universe belongs to a sub-genre of Solo RPGs, the Journaling RPG. Lighthouse is, quote: “best played at nighttime before bed or for when you can’t sleep. You are the current lighthouse keeper of the Lighthouse. Record your duties, thoughts and observations. Your notes in the logbook will be a record of your time in the lighthouse and the lighthouse itself.”
Journaling RPGs lean heavily into the narrative side of RPGs.
Into the Woods is an RPG wherein your only goal is survival. Akin to the stories of Robinson Caruso, Swiss Family Robinson, and Castaway; and taking inspiration from games like Aground or Don’t Starve; Into the Woods is focused on the challenges of keeping yourself alive in a hostile ever-changing environment.
An interesting idea in itself; the cliche RPG experience is one of “Humanity vs. Monstrosity,” where evil enacts its will on the innocent, and the heroic players step in to save them.
Based on Cairn and Into the Odd, Runecairn is draped in Norse and Viking mythology, and inspired heavily by Dark Souls and Bloodborne games. There are re-skinned estus flasks, immortality, near continuous combat, even rules about bonfires. For all else that it does, Runecairn wears its inspirations on its sleeve.
That the game is obviously inspired at least in part by video games is not uncommon. Table-top RPGs have always had major influence on video game RPGs; consider the deluge of D&D RPG video games like Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Menzoberanzan, and Balder’s Gate — and that’s just a fraction of one license.
Cobwebs is an RPG about, quote: “reluctant investigators uncovering terrifying conspiracies and getting far more than they bargained for. It combines elements of noir, horror, and science fiction to create a uniquely haunting mystery built collaboratively.”
Cobwebs centers around two specific characters: the Darling, and the Missing. The Darling is the “investigator,” the person who — in their search for the never-present Missing — gets pulled deeper and deeper into the truth of a conspiracy.
Escape from Dino Island is, quote: “a thrilling adventure game about intrepid heroes trapped on an island overrun with creatures from a lost age — dinosaurs! Players take on the role of everyday people who are brave and competent, but also in over their head. The game is designed to help you create the kind of stories that are full of action and suspense, but in which fighting is rarely a good option.
I Got Hit By A Meteor & Was Reincarnated as the Hero of a Tabletop RPG is an RPG and I am not typing all that out again. I’ma call it Meteor.
Meteor is purportedly a redesign of D&D 5th edition rules, with the framework detailed in the title; the players are dead, having been crushed by a meteor, and the devil has offered to redeem the players’ souls if they beat him in a game of 5th edition D&D.
Endless Lands is a fantastical RPG about traveling across the titular lands. As laid out in the rulebook, the game begins with everyone sitting down to talk about what kind of game they want to play, and then building the world that allows them to do so. The campaign’s Great Threat is discussed and decided on, all before the characters are created. Character creation is not particularly difficult, and the rules are simple enough to learn quickly and master easily.
