by Christian Nonnenbroich

Aaaaaaaaaand we're back. And... that was something, wasn't it? I'm talking to Schaaf here. The rest of you wasn't there. Prolly. I mean... maybe you were. Maybe you were the food delivery guy. I don't know. What I'm talking about is our long-gestating second and final RPG session for our third "The Adventures Of Theo, Bruno, and Gregor"-campaign two days ago. Backed by yet another rules system. Cairn this time.

I'm not gonna talk about Cairn at length, because it is very lightweight. It was serviceable. It did what it was supposed to do (although as Schaaf admitted in the end, maybe it wasn't the best choice for this kind of adventure, because things became combat-heavy, and Cairn seems to be one of those games where you mostly want to avoid combat, if you're able to), and it didn't get in the way too much. And that's kind of what I'm looking for in TTRPGs, most of the time. Oh, yeah, sure, it fucking sucked, but every system that isn't Chronicles of Darkness does, right? We clear on that? We still had a good time, because RPGs are usually fun despite the rules, not because of them. So... what happened this time?

Well, it was 163X again (actually, the prologue happened at some later, unspecified time, and a young woman was researching the strange going-ons of one particular cheese festival that was supposed to be held in the town of Vierlaiben, Switzerland, one year in the 1630s, but then something had happened, and she was trying to find out what, and a helpful older gentleman, who certainly WASN'T three tiny mythological creatures stacked on top of one another, wearing a coat, was happy to tell her what went down that year... so good, no more old Swedes reading bedtime stories... I'm happy), and part-time adventurers/part-time tavern owners (we're told... we've never actually seen that fabled tavern... maybe it's just a scam?) Theodor Drach, Bruno Berg, and Brother Gregor were called in to check out some weirdness at Vierlaiben, where the annual cheese festival was in danger. They were probably promised some sort of compensation, but we never talked about that.
So... arriving at Vierlaiben, they were led to the cheese caverns by the mayor and the "Oberkäserin" (the head cheesemaker... female gender, because she was called Inge Bürli or something like that), where... something was afoot. Apparently, some of the best cheese had gone missing. And the suspected culprits... were a bunch of small creatures wearing caps and liking mushrooms a lot. Schaaf used the term "brownie" in his last comment (which I mostly know from a more... erm... "Caledonian" form of these guys), but since we're German, we talked about "Wichtel" a lot, and dict.cc tells me that the translation of that word is "imp", so... I'm gonna use "Wichtel" for the rest of this post, because why the fuck not? It's a fun word. So a bunch of these Wichtels, who had come from deeper down the caves, had been captured trying to steal cheese, and they were pissed, and the guards didn't really know what to do, because they couldn't talk to the Wichtels, and a quartet of guardsmen had already been sent down there, but only one, Jochen Harzer (who I constantly wanted to refer to as "Jochen Schweizer" for some reason), had returned, injured and unsure what had happened to his companions. So... our heroic trio bumbled around for a bit, uncovering an illegal distillery behind a big cheese wheel that didn't seem to have any connection to anything (it... kind of did, we learned AFTER the adventure was over, although more in a meta-sense), and then Theo came up with the brilliant plan of using sign language and drawings to convey to the captured Wichtels that they didn't intend them any harm, and that they only wanted to figure out what was going on, and with a bit of improvisation, they got one of the female Wichtels to "tell" them that apparently, the cheese was doing something to the Wichtels' favorite mushrooms, that turned some of them evil, or something like that, and so Theo asked said Wichtelin to lead them into the deeper caverns, so that they could take a look at the whole thing. This piece of paper, helpfully uploaded by Schaaf... three months ago (as said, it's been a while since we started this), illustrates our conversation:

Dunno what the problem is, it's pretty clear to me. So anyway, that didn't work, because as soon as the cage holding the Wichtels was opened, the female one bolted, through the cheese caves and deeper into the caverns below. Reasoning "Well, she'll lead us somewhere", Theo immediately followed, and since Bruno and Gregor didn't have any better ideas, they did so, too. At some point, our trio lost the Wichtel's trail, but by that point, they were pretty deep down, and so they continued onward, until they reached a weird passage, which emitted a strange glow. They deduced (well...) that this might be the passage linking the deeper caves where the Wichtels live to the upper caves, so they sabotaged the supporting columns of that passage, making it so that it could be made to collapse without a lot of effort, should the need arise, and then they ventured forth.
Behind the passage was a pretty big cave, filled with luminescent mushrooms, and also probably some kind of stream running through, because they could hear the sound of flowing water from somewhere. Our heroes decided to investigate the shroom grove, and while they were doing so, they heard a loud clattering and crashing from the entrance, which apparently meant that their sabotaging-efforts had been a bit too successful, because the way back had just collapsed. Whoopsie. That was a problem for future Theo, Bruno, and Gregor, though, so they investigated some more, and they happened across a bunch of really fungal giant rats chewing up a human corpse. The skirmish was quick, because of our heroes' superior tactics (and also a bit of luck when it came to rolling the dice), and after the rats were dispatched, they recognized the corpse as belonging to one of Jochen Harzer's companions. Further inspection of the grove led them to another exit on the opposite side of the cave, and soon, they were following endless dark corridors again. In one of those, a floating skeleton came towards them. You know? Sensible stuff. Turns out, the skeleton wasn't really floating, but instead, it was encased in something translucent (and pretty fucking nasty), yet highly flammable, as the heroes noticed, when they ignited it and lost a few pairs of eyebrows that way. Still, it saved them from whatever it was (an invisible fungus, apparently). And then after some more spelunking, our trio actually found the Wichtelin again. She had joined forces with another six Wichtels, four nameless, faceless grunts, their leader Svonzo, and an old shaman-type guy called Twarog.

The first encounter turned almost violent. One of the grunts brandished a vaguely bomb-shaped thing and threw it at our heroes, but Theo, hero that he is, simply... caught it in midair (and noticed that it reeked intensely of piss), put it down, and then continued to approach the Wichtels with raised hands, telling them that they didn't mean any harm and just wanted to talk. Surprisingly enough... that worked. Twarog apparently spoke Swiss-German, and so our heroes learned that the Wichtels actually weren't all that evil, but some kind of weird fungus had taken over parts of the caves and infected some of them, and THESE were the bad guys, and all these good Wichtels were trying to do was... I actually don't really know. Right before our heroes had arrived, they had collapsed the corridor they were currently in, which had apparently killed one of the Wichtels, but then Theo and his friends were like "We would really like to go that way", and then the Wichtels just... opened the corridor back up. Maybe I misremember things. That part of the campaign took place three months ago. But yeah, afterwards, the Wichtels were like "And we'll accompany you and help you deal with the bad fungus", so... maybe that was what they wanted to do in the first place? I don't know, maybe Schaaf can chime in.

So the way towards the "nest" of the bad fungus was cleared, and the group, consisting of two humans, a dwarf, seven Wichtels, and a surprising number of pee-filled clay jugs, ventured forth. There followed a couple of skirmishes against weird cold fungi, that hurt our three heroes quite a bit (although luckily, Twarog was carrying warming-up-berries on him, that helped with the cold), and strange huge mushroom people, that were no match for Bruno's axe. Then at one point, they stumbled across some sort of pit trap, half-covered by shrooms... and inside, they found a cool new armor for Bruno, as well as a really light axe. That's the best kind of trap, right?
Soon enough, they also reached a fork, with one way leading toward a bigger cave (from which ominous sounds were coming), the other towards a... yellow-orange-ish hump on the floor. Someone had to make a judgement call, so Theo (maybe still fearless leader of the bunch? I don't know, he never declared himself leader) was like "I check out the hump", and before he could actually do so, Gregor was like "Okay, then I go and poke it". It attacked. Naturally. Theo quickly shot a (pee-soaked) arrow into the thing, which made it explode, but then it turned into two smaller humps which attacked Gregor and Bruno, and also apparently something was coming from the bigger cave, because the Wichtels were drawing their weapons. So in light of the multiplying tendencies of the blobby opponent and the potential of someone backstabbing them all, Theo went "Everybody down, piss-bomb incoming!" and threw one of the wee-wee-jars into the corridor, destroying the blobs and soaking Gregor in distilled Wichtel-urine. Whoopsie again.
So meanwhile, a melee had broken out between "our" Wichtels, and a group of six fungusized bad Wichtels, that had come from the other cave, and Theo had also wanted to clear the blob to help the Wichtels deal with that threat. During the first attack, one of "our" Wichtels quickly felled one of the bad ones, so Theo went "Oh, maybe they don't need any help, maybe they can do that on their own". That great piece of military strategy by Theo was quickly proven wrong, because in retaliation, the other five bad Wichtels killed or seriously maimed five of the six good Wichtels (Twarog didn't take part in the fighting). So... that wasn't great. Bruno, Gregor, and Theo waded into battle (Theo with an open jar of Wichtel-pee in one hand, theorizing that maybe the fumes would distract or hurt the bad Wichtels... they didn't, but it was a funny image) and quickly dispatched the bad bunch (and Gregor also managed to save the Wichtelin with a healing spell, but she wasn't in any shape to fight anymore). So... yup, the group was down to our three heroes, plus two Wichtels, Twarog and one of the grunts, who was called Brendo, we learned later (shortly before his death... am I channeling my inner Flint Maxwell or what?).

So the cave was infested with fungus, especially at the ceiling, where weird "fungus pipes" were leading bob knows where. Well... probably somewhere where humans trodded, because a human corpse dangled from one of these, with a nasty head wound, and a dented helmet on the floor beneath it. Theo checked whether the dent in the helmet and the headwound matched, and when he noticed that he didn't, he couldn't help but soliloquize "So first he lost his helmet... and then his life", which prompted everybody else to burst into laughter and go "Great deduction, detective Theo!". Twarog, not to be out-deduced, also shared a bit of wisdom, when Theo asked him whether the bad gnomes might have come from the fungus pipes, saying something along the lines of "I don't know... but they came out of that cave, so... they must have gotten into it somehow". Get ready for the upcoming teamup of Theo and Twarog, two of the finest minds to have ever investigated any fungal cave or whatever. It was very funny. So our heroes decided to burn the fungal pipes. Naturally. And they burned quite well. So well in fact, that they quickly filled the whole cave with biting smoke. Whoopsie a third time. But yeah, since there was no more to be done there (no other exit from that room), the group retreated and followed the formerly blobbed corridor.

It led to a subterranean lake with larger rocks protruding from it, leading to an opening on the other side, from which a weird, green, sickly glowing emerged. Actually, there were two openings, one at ground level, and one a bit higher (and Theo quickly decided to call these the "foot entrance" and the "hand entrance"... he's not THAT smart). Also something was in the water, maybe? Theo threw a piece of sausage from one of his rations into the water, and that drew the attention of something under the surface, and when Theo then shot an arrow close to where he had thrown the sausage, it stuck to something. Which was kind of useful, because whatever was under the surface didn't submerge, but instead stayed right up there, so our heroes could track its movement via the arrow sticking up. They crossed the lake and on the other side, they heard a human voice coming from whatever lay behind the opening. A human voice... THEY KNEW (dun-dun-duuuuuuun). And they quickly identified it as the voice of Jochen Hartzer ("Who?!?" everybody at the table asked in unison, because that guy had appeared only briefly during the first session, and that session had been three months ago), and he was talking to someone or something he called "master", and was making excuses for not being able to steal so much cheese or something like that. Theo decided to climb up to the "hand entrance" (and I'm gonna call it that until it's a generally accepted thing to say), failed, fell into the water, was almost eaten by whatever was under the surface, climbed back onto (relatively) dry land, and then took cover alongside his companions, because the whole commotion had been so loud that Jochen Harzer had obviously heard it. He seemed kind of timid, though, going "Wait, I'm supposed to check up on that? Alone? But... but... but... well, okay, but hey, you, you'll accompany me!", and then two shadows approached the opening, one a lot bigger than the other, and Theo thought to himself "Oh shit, he has a gigantic fungal golem" or something like that, but then the thing casting the smaller shadow turned out to be just a single infected Wichtel (which Bruno quickly bisected with his axe), and the bigger shadow was Jochen Harzer. So while two half-Wichtels were still in the process of slopping to the floor, Theo jumped into the corridor, sword drawn, and went "Hello Jochen!", surmising that timid ol' Jochen Harzer would fall to his knees and pee his pants or something like that (if there ever was a time to unnoticedly pee your pants, it was probably during this dungeon encounter, because the party was still carrying four jars of distilled Wichtel-urine). Like so often, Theo was wrong, and Jochen hit him with the big fucking warhammer he was dragging around. And it was a good blow. A strong blow. Would have probably knocked Theo right out, if not worse, if I hadn't rolled a one on the strength-save-roll you have to do whenever you're dealt "real damage"(™) in Cairn, which led to Theo brushing off the hit relatively unharmed, going "Big mistake, Jochen", and then going medieval on the guy alongside Bruno and Gregor. I'm not sure whether our heroes wanted to kill the guy, but after the first attack, he was really fucking dead. Well... he was technically really fucking dead, but somehow a bit fungal on the inside, and when the fungal strands started to grow, Theo went "Shitfuck!", grabbed one of the pissjars, and doused the body with it. Which made Jochen Harzer's corpse explode almost immediately. Lovely.

So Theo, Bruno, Gregor, Twarog, and Brendo, most of them covered in bits and pieces of piss-soaked Jochen Harzer, entered the final chamber, and encountered... some fungalized Wichtels, as well as a big fucking mycelium (with three very notable bulbs in it), that talked in their heads, calling itself "Mykolos", and making vague threats. Halfway through his badguy-monologue, Theo launched a pee-pee-arrow into one of the three bulbs, shrugging and telling his friends "It would have come to this anyway", and then the carnage began.
The infected Wichtels were out of the picture very quickly. Theo kept shooting piss-soaked arrows everywhere, while Bruno fought a weird black variety of the blob that had previously brought trouble. Meanwhile Gregor was busy with... I think another one of those invisible fungi, although this one didn't even have the courtesy of having a skeleton inside, so it was even harder to see. So hard, in fact, that it did pummel Gregor almost into oblivion, taking him out of the battle quickly, and then also killing Brendo, who - before succumbing to the bad shroom - managed to destroy one of the three bulbs with his last piss-grenade. Theo tried to avenge the helpful Wichtel by shooting pee-arrows (sorta provided by Twarog, who didn't actively take part in combat, but helped Theo prepare these, and occasionally blessed someone) at the invisible thing, and he did hit it once, but then the thing also took down Theo (and as far as I understand, following regular Cairn-rules, Theo wouldn't have been just out of combat, but absolutely DEAD, but since it had been a lucky hit and it was close to the end of the adventure, Schaaf allowed a short period to save him) with a single hit. Things looked dire. Two bulbs remained, there were some blobs there, plus that invisible thing, Brendo was dead, Gregor and Theo were bleeding out, Bruno had been grabbed by some fungal tentacles, and Twarog was just a small, old Wichtel with a stick, a sling, and one-and-a-half pee-grenades.

So... he showered the invisible fungus with the remains of the pee-jar that Theo had used to prepare his piss-arrows, killing that thing, while Bruno broke free from the tentacles, dragged Theo out of the line of fire, and managed to do his best to staunch his bleeding. Meanwhile Twarog used his sling and the final piss-grenade to do massive damage to one of the two remaining bulbs. But yeah, there were still two left. So in an actually-not-that-coordinated attack, Bruno hurled his surprisingly light (and also still somewhat pee-covered, because he had applied some of that to it before a prior battle) ax at the higher bulb, while Twarog... dropped his pants, dodged the blobs, and then widdled his only "charge" all over the lower one, for a simultaneous explosion of both of them, and a probably very humiliating demise for the being calling itself "Mykolos", who - until the last moment - kept screaming "Surrender, you have no chance!" in everybody's heads.

The rest was relatively smooth sailing. The trio of heroes managed to climb back up top through the charred remains of the cave with the fungus pipes (that led right back into the cheese caves, for some reason), where they were greeted by a furious Inge Bürli, who was like "What the fuck have you idiots done? The fire and smoke has ruined all of the cheese!" (I read through parts of the adventure afterwards, that's something that the author actually anticipated, and doing so reduces the reward for the heroes SIGNIFICANTLY), but after some back and forth, where a lot of wise things were said (like "If we hadn't done that, you could have hosted a fungus festival here next year", and of course Theo's brilliant "The cheese festival isn't about the cheese, but about the people!"), everybody kind of agreed that the whole thing was sort of a success. Also the rest of the Wichtels were released from their captivity, and they made peace with the humans.

Or something like that, because who knows whether any of that was what had happened at Vierlaiben that year, because as the young woman researching that stuff pointed out to the weird old man who had just tolled her an absolutely piss-soaked story: "This sounds insane and none of it makes sense". But then he used a second where she wasn't looking at him to quickly sneak away, and when she went looking for him, she only found an old, ruddy coat, and a weird Wichtel-y cap. Which also didn't make a ton of sense, because the guy wasn't even wearing one of those, so why was that left there?, the young woman researching THAT incident asked the other weird old guy who was telling her about THAT unsolved story. Not really, but I suggested to close the adventure with that scene.

But yeah, that was the story of the cheese festival at Vierlaiben. And how it almost didn't happen. Or maybe really didn't happen. I don't know. But piss saved the day. And it was fun. I really like these characters, and the way we're playing this, across different systems, without any real "stats continuity", it feels... just nice, because it isn't about the mechanisms or the loot or experience points or whatever. It's really just about having an adventure with these weirdos. We already talked shortly about which system to use for the next adventure, that will inevitably happen one day (there were two and a half years between the first and the second campaign, and then another three years between the second and the third, so... expect the next one around 2030, I guess?), and yeah, I'm all for it. Because that's what RPG-ing is all about, right?

Cool. Done. Tomorrow: Fabian and me still have something to talk about. So maybe we'll do that then. If you want to listen in, you can do so! See you then!

A new episode has been added to the database: 2.6 - It Goes Bzz Bzz

A new episode has been added to the database: Testing Your Priors

by sdonohue

Convocation of Zwołanie by Clark B. Timmins (aka Clark Timmins) is an entry in the 2018 RPG Geek 24 Hour RPGs.

Presentation
The game is presented as a 9 page PDF. Two pages are the rules and the other 7 pages are 62 cards and a back meant to be cut and used as part of play. It's black & white throughout. The rules are presented in a single column format. There are no illustrations.

Theme
The game is a larp. Players are competing to become The Most Serene Plenipotentiary Divine and are currently attending the Convocation of Zwołanie hoping to achieve their goal of taking the Benevolent Seat for themselves.

Characters
Characters are not really defined, except that they have 4 resources to start the game, represented by beads of different colors. Piety (white) and Influence (Pink) each start at one. Land (green) starts at two, and Gold (yellow) starts at 3. During the course of the game, players may earn additional beads (see below). They may also trade of gift beads to other players, with the exception of Piety (white beads) which are non-transferable.

To start the game, each player secretly writes down a goal for their total bead count at the end of the game; these are not revealed to other players and are kept secret until the end of the game. These goals must total 10 beads.

Playing the Game
Gameplay is regimented into five turns each of which has three segments. In the first segment, each layer draws an Event card and applies its effects. If the player is required to give up a bead they no longer have, they ignore that portion of the card. If the card says to lose beads of more than one type and you have a choice, you can't choose a type you don't have if you have beads of the other types. Cards are then place in the discard pile. If there are no cards in the draw pile, then no more events occur (the discard is not reshuffled).

The second phase is the bulk of the game. Players talk amongst themselves either together or in small groups. They can make promises, explain why the should be the plenipotentiary, trade or gift beads, or just brag about themselves. There really isn't much in the way of limits in this phase. A player may gain Piety (a white bead) by ignoring this phase.

After this phase, the players vote for who did best in the discussion. Best is undefined and determined by each player. Players may not vote for themselves. The winner gets two Influence (Pink) tokens; if there's a tie, each character in the tie gets 1 Influence token. Play then starts back at the drawing of cards until there have been 5 votes, then it's on to the election

After 5 rounds of discussion and voting, The Election and Ascendancy of the Most Serene Plenipotentiary Divine takes place. Players score 1 point for each Gold, 3 for each Land, and 5 for each Influence they have. The character with the most Influence gains an additional 7 points; in the event of a tie, each tied character earns 2 points. Players then reveal their goals and if their count matches their goal, they gain another 7 points. The character with the most points wins.



Evaluation
I think it would be unfair to judge a game made and designed by a single person in a single day using the same standards I'd apply to a game with designers, editors, artists, and weeks, months or even years of design and playtesting, so I'm not going to do that.

On the one hand, the flippant nature of the game makes me think the omission of piety from most of the scoring is deliberate and on the other I wonder if the 7 points for most influence is meant to be for the most Piety. Either way, I think the game comes out about the same, but skipping the discussion phase just means ignoring the game without (likely) moving towards victory.

The system is pretty clear and seems very workable. The discussion and voting reminds me a bit of Diplomacy in the free-ranging nature of deal-making. That's okay with me, I love that part of Diplomacy. This seems like a good game to give a try with some friendly people who may not be gamers, making it a potential starting point.

There is just enough math to make keeping track of resources and your goals important while allowing for some pretty engaging discussions and engaged role-playing.

by LordHorst

​Summary for the impatient:
The German translation is one of the worst I've ever read. No one should buy it. 0/10

​Full review text:
I played Hunter a few times back in the day, when the Revised Edition was quite new. I liked it, but as life goes, my regular game group had more and more trouble finding time for regular meet-ups and we slowly drifted apart.

​Fast-forward to a few years ago. I got back into RPG gaming with family and friends, and I was thrilled to learn about H5 and found the game premise to be even better than the previous version. Since not all family members speak English on a high enough level to read a complete rulebook, especially not if it contains some uncommon vocabulary, I sought out the German version of the rulebook. The translation was done by Ulisses Spiele. Not a small company, so I thought everything was in good hands. I paid 60€ and got the book delivered. So far, so good.

​The small story at the beginning sets the tone really well, and I began reading the book with excitement for the things to come. I noticed a few typos here and there. Odd, but I can overlook a few mistakes. We're all human, after all.

​A few pages more, and the run-on sentences started to get to me. A few more full stops here and there would really add to the overall reading experience, and the typos started to add up as well. Didn't anyone proofread this?

​After a while I noticed I wasn't even really paying attention to what I was reading; I was just on the lookout for the next mistake. And mistakes I found. Lots of them.

I knew there was no way I could give this book to any family member to read. They'd think I wanted to play a joke on them, giving them a book of such low quality.

​My breaking point was pages 34 and 35. Yes, that early in the rulebook (over 250 pages were left unread!), but the mistakes were so numerous I couldn't overlook them any longer.

​

​I got this image from the Ulisses website. It does say "work in progress", but this is exactly how it appears in the finished product. I'll try to translate this catastrophe of a translation back to English.

​Left page, bottom left paragraph:
​"A destroyed vampire can not the mind to influence, but who knows, inhowfar a captured vampire is able to be". Um, okay?

​Left page, second column, second sentence:
​"And apart from, the quarry usually moves faster [...]"
​Seems like someone accidentally the whole thing?

​Page 35, first column, upper half. There is a list, separated by full stops, instead of commas. At least they didn't start the next point of the list with an uppercase letter. Credit where it's due.

​Second line under the "Influencer" header: "[...] and it would have and by a part of the military". Why the second and?

​After that I flipped to random pages later in the book. I found obvious mistakes on 2 out of 3 tries. So it's not like you have to go out of your way to find them.

​This product is so bad, I even voiced my dissatisfaction to the company. Something I usually never do. But I paid a lot of money for something that's not worth the paper it was printed on, to be honest. (Again, credit where it's due: the people handling my complaint were very professional, AND I got my money back without any problems)

​I can only advise anyone to not buy anything from Ulisses Spiele anymore. I feel sorry for anyone working there, trying their best, but being let down by their employer.

​Apparently bad copy editing is part of their CI (at least there are a lot of complaints on the web regarding their poor editing standards). This book right here? There is a name listed under "copyeditor" and "proofreading", but I am 100% certain this person never saw a single line before it was published, or every single editor's note simply got ignored.

​Seriously, you have to go out of your way to release a product this bad. If it hadn't been so damn expensive, I would have kept the book as an oddity.

by Rachel Carpenter

Happy 20th Friday of 2026, everyone!! And as always on Friday, here are the current Friday links: 2026 Friday on Friday: Play Friday EVERY Friday of 2026 and Friday on Friday, May 2026.

Hello again, Level 5! This is certainly familiar territory...

I made it to the first pirate!!!! Woot! I haven't made it this far in a while :geek_grin:.

But no further... I needed 52 points, but could only make it to 48 before running out of lifepoints.

So close!!!

My final score was 15 points: 40 points from Fighting Cards, -10 points from Aging Cards, 0 points from lifepoints, 0 points for defeating neither pirate, and -15 points from Unbeaten Hazards.

At least I made it back to the first pirate :arrrh: and I had a positive score🌴.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Weekly Updates:


Challenge Updates:

:d10-1: 2023 Extreme Numerology Challenge / 2024 Extreme Numerology Challenge / 2025 Extreme Numerology Challenge: Wrapping up. Microbadges for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 will be awarded, please stay tuned! 2026 is live: 2026 Extreme Numerology Challenge
:d10-2: Fire in the Library- Summer/Fall 2023 Solo Challenge- Extended!!: Done! Stay tuned for a new series of mini challenges that include some more Weird Giraffe-themed fan promos. COMING THIS SUMMER! (2026)
:d10-3: 2025 Challenge: 25 un(der)played in 25: is Wrapped! If you spot errors or make updates, please geekmail me!
:d10-4: 2026 Challenge: 26 un(der)played in 26: is Active!
:d10-5: A special note on the Friday on Friday challenges: ALL owed microbadges should be system-awarded THIS YEAR. ALL microbadge reimbursements complete! Update: Stay tuned for progress on microbadges!



Designer's Corner:


Published Games:
:d10-1: Charge the Circle: Post-Contest (Revised Edition) Web-published to BGG. 2nd Edition & 2nd Edition (PNP) & 2nd Edition (Altar Decks ONLY!) coming to The Game Crafter in 2026! You can follow along with the ongoing graphic development here: A new edition coming in 2026!.
:d10-2:Eight Elephants: 2nd Edition now available on The Game Crafter! 2nd Edition, Print & Play also available on The Game Crafter! Original WIP thread: here!
:d10-3: Fireworks for the 4th: Semiquincentennial Edition: Now available on The Game Crafter! Revised (Post Contest) Edition remains available here!.
:d10-4: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice: 2nd Edition now available on The Game Crafter! 2nd Edition, Print & Play also available on The Game Crafter! Original WIP thread: here!
:d10-5: The United Cards of America: Now available on The Game Crafter!
:d10-6: Lincoln's Cat: Now available on The Game Crafter! Print & Play edition also available on The Game Crafter!
:d10-7: Liberty, DEATH, or TAXES: Now available on The Game Crafter!


Active Projects:
:d10-1: Finders Keepers: No new progress.
:d10-2: Bears love bows: Very Merry Trashmas edition: New edition is in the works! Now with Extra Bows! And a Solo Scoring Chart too! Big changes! The files are nearly done AND I've still got a video to edit... This new edition of the game WILL be competing in Bad Comet's Cozy Game Design Contest here on BGG! And... I can still touch base with the ongoing pitch that's gone ghost once I get the video and new sell sheet done...
:d10-3: Really Retail: No new progress.
:d10-4: Barricade Brigade: Tentatively coming to The Game Crafter in late 2026. Still needs a lot of work and a new coat of paint :geek_grin:.
:d10-5: The Boxcats of Meowazon : No new progress.
:d10-6: Read the Runes: Check out the updated TTS! I need playtesters to help me continue refining this one. I like the current art direction, but this will need more if I decide to go The Game Crafter route... There's also the drift problem... As much as I hate to say it, this might have to stay a print-and-play for now...
:d10-7: 10 Minutes to Midnight: THIS WILL BE COMING TO THE GAME CRAFTER IN 2026! In fact, it's likely to be the main game in my 2nd batch of releases :geek_grin:.
:d10-8: Surfboard Stealin' Sea Otters: Contest complete! #2 Best Family Game and #8 Best Overall Game! Woot! Video still on the docket. Then I do plan on pitching the otters and seeing if I can catch some waves... and ... in the meantime, yes I am now committing to a Game Crafter release in 2026! Rules revisions continue!
:d10-9: Tricky Treats: Game considered complete and officially Ready for Pitching! I still need a video... no progress on that project this week.
:d10-1::d10-0: Squirrelly (formerly Woodland Warriors) : Contest complete! #3 for Best Art! 2 mini expansions available! Ready for pitching! Video still on the docket...
:d10-1::d10-1: Composer's Cat: 2024 In-Hand Game Design Contest: 5th Best Multiplayer Game; 6th Best Innovative Mechanic; 7th Best Use of Theme; and 4th Best Low-Ink Printing! Major revision complete, new video live, Print & Play Assembly Guide now available, and while entered in the 2026 Cardboard Edison, it didn't place as a finalist. I got good feedback, but I'm not sure what's next for this kitty... I did take some more video footage for the Cat last month.. and I'm seriously considering re-jigging things to at least get the original starter set on The Game Crafter...
:d10-1::d10-2: Librarian's Cat: formerly Palm Library. formerly Littlest Library. 2025 In-Hand Game Design Contest: contest is complete... but I've got plenty of unfinished business to see to and I intend to see it all through, eventually. Please stay tuned!
:d10-1::d10-3: Elements: Coming to The Game Crafter in mid-2026! New cards, done! New rules posted to the WIP thread, take a look and let me know what you think! Print & Fold Tuck Box for the PNP is done and printed tuck box for the full game is also done and ready. Woot! Progress!
:d10-1::d10-4: Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown : Contest complete! #3 Best Solo Game, #3 Best 2 Player Game, and #4 Best Family Game! Not bad, not bad at all, especially since I fell woefully behind on the comments... I do plan on addressing all of the feedback. And I do want to continue to refine and improve the game. There's a decent little game here and it's worth pursuing.
:d10-1::d10-5: Critter Calls: Ready for pitching! I'm happy with the TTS and sell sheet, but do want a video. Not a high priority for pitching, but if I see any calls for party games or icebreaker games I will 100% submit it for consideration :geek_grin:.
:d10-1::d10-6: Unlucky Spirits, Revised Edition: Uncooperative Spirits campaign in-progress. Revised Edition formally entered in 2026 Two-Player Game Design Contest! Come on folks, take a look and help me get this game off the ground! Yes, I'm behind on this contest. I've got to get the campaign done, but the game still isn't getting any traction and I feel like I'm once again wasting effort. Don't get me wrong: I love the game. I believe in the game. But BGG Design Contests are not helping it... The campaign will get done. I got my playtesting and feedback in by the deadline. I will see this current contest through. But I do need to pivot and figure out a better way forward for Unlucky Spirits. The Game Crafter isn't an option for this one. They can't make the current board (30×30) and don't have good options for the larger albeit modular original design either. This game has to find a home with a traditional publisher or it's not going to make it beyond my kitchen table... Voting now underway! And... I'm still experimenting with what I'm calling a Pocket Edition (though it'll still be larger than a lot of games). It *might* be doable...
:d10-1::d10-7: Abydos: Contest complete, game did not place... I'm disappointed, but I'm still committed to getting this game out there. And, yes, it is coming to The Game Crafter in mid-2026. I've figured out a way around the drift issue that works well for Abydos. There's still more work to do, but I'm actually happy with how this is going now. The work continues...
:d10-1::d10-8: Nine Tails: Ready for pitching! This one will be coming to The Game Crafter! I've figured out how to make this foxy game work! The "Lost Cities" solution for drift/panoramic art will be used here, even though it requires re-doing the game's front art. I'm excited! I just need to sit down and redo all the art. New art still in-progress... I was right... this is a beast...
:d10-1::d10-9: Put a bow on it! The new lease on life continues! The game is getting bigger and maybe a bit too complicated for Bad Comet's Cozy Contest... we'll just have to see how this one continues to develop...
:d10-2::d10-0: Eighteen Eggs: Contest complete, game did not place. *sigh*. Rain, Rain Mini Expansion and Player Aids available. The future of this little game... I don't know. It's cute, but it's too kiddie for The Game Crafter. Period. And I haven't come across any publishers looking for solo games for kids... That said, if you see a call for submissions, please let me know! Not writing it off, but pivoting to a more-Game Crafter-friendly design... see Last Leaves below!
:d10-2::d10-1: Snow Squall: In the vein of Eight Elephants and Eighteen Eggs, but a bit bigger, no timer, and more Game Crafter-friendly art. Again, not much progress this week. In fact, I'm putting this on hold for the moment and pivoting to a new take on Last Leaves...
:d10-2::d10-2: Monk's Cat: The Book of [Pawprints]: The third game in the Cat Companion Card Game series, sequel to Composer's Cat and Librarian's Cat. Contest now complete! I'm happy! #1 Best Graphic Design for Visually Impaired Players; #8 Best Use of Theme; & #7 Best Low-Ink Printing! I've still got feedback to address and I'll get there- I promise! But, overall, I'm happy with the game, with its reception, and I'm looking forward to continue developing Monk's Cat... possibly for future publication on The Game Crafter... 😜
:d10-2::d10-3: Unnamed Puzzle Game: multi-level campaign puzzle game in the vein of Abydos, Read the Runes, and Charge the Circle. Fuzzball-inspired. Backburner. Tentative entry in this year's Solitaire Print and Play Game Design Contest...
:d10-2::d10-4: Nine Lives: I haven't heard anything, so I'm assuming this is a no-go. Still, I might revisit this idea down the road...
:d10-2::d10-5: Who's ready for the owlidays?: Might be my entry/one of my entries in this year's 54-Card Game Design Contest! No new progress this week.
:d10-2::d10-6: I sits!: Didn't make the FFF Contest, but watch this space!
:d10-2::d10-7: Caturday @ the cattery: Didn't make the FFF Contest, but will still happen. Eventually. Again, watch this space!
:d10-2::d10-8: Elements 2: Will be 1 of my entries in this year's Solitaire PNP Game Design Contest! Sequel to Elements, draws on the setting/visuals/narrative of Elements and builds on the gameplay of Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice with an added rock-paper-scissors-like overlap mechanic. Stay tuned! WIP will go live sometime this month...
:d10-2::d10-9: Time's up! : Probably my 2nd entry in this year's 54-Card Game Design Contest. Playtesting has gone well, now I'm fine-tuning things, actually locking down the rules, and starting work on the graphics. WIP thread won't go live until July to preserve eligibility.
:d10-3::d10-0: Last Leaves: old name, new game. This is a cozy, cute, Game-Crafter-friendly solitaire matching game that builds on Eighteen Eggs. The original Last Leaves may still happen down the road, but it'll need a new name because the name fits this little game better :geek_grin:. Stay tuned!


Early Development:
:d10-1: The 7th Seal : No new progress.
:d10-2: Gator Glory! Simmering.
:d10-3: So, you want to be a mage......
:d10-4: Barricade Brigade: At the postern gate: A smaller version of the original. Similar story, setting, and mechanics, but more compact.
:d10-5: Reverse the curse!: My forthcoming entry in Button Shy's No Shuffle Challenge. Provided it comes together in time... still still giving me a headache...


On Hold:
:d10-1: Contagion and Calamity: The Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793: formerly Philly Fever 1793
:d10-2: Rolling Runes
:d10-3: Defend your Dreams: (formerly Dreamcatcher Duty)
:d10-4: Trick or Treat
:d10-5: Last Leaves Needs New Name!: This was going to be my entry in the 2026 Children and Family Game Design Contest (family category), but I'm putting this on the back burner instead to concentrate on getting my shop pages up-and-running over on The Game Crafter. Development will continue later this year and you can expect to see this game in the 2027 Children and Family Game Design Contest.
:d10-6: Unnamed design: Involves the Titanic and Jenny the ship cat...
:d10-7: Nine Nopes
:d10-8: Book it!
:d10-9: History Heist
:d10-1::d10-0: Lost in the Labyrinth
:d10-1::d10-1: Dragon's Draw
:d10-1::d10-2: Push to the Peak
:d10-1::d10-3: Cardshop Caretaker
:d10-1::d10-4: Water always wins
:d10-1::d10-5: Sniper, take the shot!
:d10-1::d10-6: Puppy Pile: (formerly Dogpile)
:d10-1::d10-7: Compound It!
:d10-1::d10-8: My Little Fish Tank
:d10-1::d10-9: Knick Knacks: Lovely Lamps : Sequel to Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown
:d10-2::d10-0: Triskell (or maybe Triskellion): name not final
:d10-2::d10-1: Cursed Cards (Traditional Deck Game)
:d10-2::d10-2: War of the Wilds
:d10-2::d10-3: Scratch-off


Professional Projects:
:d10-1: Explosion in the Laboratory/Fire in the Library (2nd edition): Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-2: Dreams of Yesterday: Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-3: In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944: GMT Games: Complete! I still haven't managed to get this back to my table. Gah! In the meantime... see A Solo Sunday Salute - First Impressions - In the Shadows for a preview.
:d10-4: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game: Minerva Tabletop Games: Initial feedback in. First impressions and some extra crumbs: Solo Sundays- First Impressions: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game and Solo Saturdays - Continuing to make Crumbs. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing. Fingers-crossed that Minerva Tabletop Games comes through... it looks like this is finally in the process of fulfilling...
:d10-5: Crystallo expansions and miniature edition: Light Heart Games: Initial feedback in. Previews and additional adventures shared: A crystal cavern at the garage aka mini Crystallo is here!, First Impressions: Crystallo: Untold Fortune, Solo Saturdays- First Impressions: Crystallo: Den of Dragons, and Solo Stories- Playing with all of Crystallo. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crystallo: Untold Fortune and Crystallo: Den of Dragons. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing... AND there's GOOD NEWS: Crystallo lives!- Crystallo's new Gamefound
:d10-6: Lost Adventures: Belltower Games: First Impressions and continuing adventures shared: Two-Player Thursdays- First Impressions: Lost Adventures, Two-Player Tuesdays- Getting Lost with Mom, and Solo Stories - Lost Adventures. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It: Lost Adventures. Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled. Campaign complete.
:d10-7: Quirky Bird Games: The zine campaign funded! That's a wrap! Congrats Beth and Angel! Fulfillment ongoing. Keep up the great work!
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Woot! I made it to the first pirate! I didn't win, but I had fun and felt better that I made it farther.

No new sales... *sigh*, but I did get the remaining short promos done and posted AND I have a Linktree now. Yay for getting organized and looking a bit more professional :geek_grin:.

I'm happy with Elements. It'll get a final once over before I order proof copies, but I'm considering it "done". Graphics on Charge the Circle, Nine Tails, and Abydos are the next priorities. When I get stuck on one, I jump to another. And when art makes my head hurt, there's always the ongoing rules revisions for 10 Minutes to Midnight and Surfboard Stealin' Sea Otters. There's always work to do :geek_grin:.

Happy Friday and happy playing!
-Rachel

Thank you for reading my blog. If you liked it; then please click the green thumb [microbadge=23724] at the top of the page. If you really liked it; then please subscribe. And follow me across social media with my Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/rachelncarpenter

A new episode has been added to the database: Pathfinder 2e | Season of Ghosts: Ep. 03

A new episode has been added to the database: Big Gay Nerds 320: Who Is Ken Snatch? (Shinobigami 5.2)

A new rpg publisher has been added to the database: Aviatrix Games

A new rpg publisher has been added to the database: Aldercone Studios

A new rpg publisher has been added to the database: Linden Games

by Bruce McG

Have a great weekend, enjoy a happy leopard gecko!



New releases at your FLGS (sourced by Leisure Games)

Frontier Scum
⭐ Frontier Scum - Free League Publishing

Generic / Universal
⭐ Deck of Fateship - LokeBattleMats
⭐ Essential RPG Battle Maps Dungeon Set - LokeBattleMats
⭐ Essential RPG Battle Maps Starter Set - LokeBattleMats

New PDF releases @ DriveThru

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)
⭐ The Year of the Goat - Community Content

Cortex Prime
⭐ Cortex Prime Game Handbook 2nd Edition - Rusty Sellsword Design
⭐ Retired No More - Rusty Sellsword Design
⭐ Terraverse - Rusty Sellsword Design

Daggerheart
⭐ Tales of Untold Paths - Doctor DM

Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game
⭐ Artifact Zero - Arc Dream Publishing

Dragonbane
⭐ Additional Magic Items, A Supplement for Dragonbane - Philip Reed Games
⭐ Mist & Fire - Vildhallon

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)
⭐ Monster Manual Expanded (5.5E) - Dragonix

Starfinder Roleplaying Game (2nd Ed)
⭐ Kernregeln - Spieler - Ulisses Spiele

They Came from [CLASSIFIED!]
⭐ They Came From the Danger Zone! - Onyx Path Publishing

Voidheart Symphony
⭐ Voidheart Symphony Revised Edition - Rowan, Rook & Decard