Gridshock, Twisted Lands and Trashumanism go under Iain McAllister’s indie RPG spotlight this month
It is an undeniable fact of the roleplaying game (RPG) hobby that some people end up mostly playing these games and others end up running them as forever GMs. I am firmly in the latter category. But it’s a position I cherish, as I get to bring new games to curious players, and I thoroughly enjoy teaching games to my groups. I’ve had the pleasure to extend that love for teaching into the realms of mentorship from time to time and it is with that in mind that I bring you the forthcoming RPGs this month.
All of our tabletop roleplaying games this month are part of an initiative on crowdfunding site Gamefound called “RPG party,” which sees independent creators mentored by folk from Darrington Press, Free League Publishing and other notable publishers. Wine Dark Sea, which has featured in this column before, is part of this endeavour, but here are three others that we haven’t previously discussed.
This one jumped to the top of my list thanks to its distinctive art style. Although it styles itself as a setting supplement with a player’s guide and GM book, Twisted Lands has expanded that original premise into a full RPG with its own system. It’s designed by Brandon Schooner and Rennie Saunders and published by 9th Persona. This fully fleshed-out game asks players to take on the role of Gidim (“elite hunters, scholars, wanderers, witnesses”) who are called upon by the people of planet Ghar. They investigate what the regular people of this strange planet can’t, tackling its odd factions and weird creatures. Along the way, the characters become part of the living record of the planet, changing as they change the world around them.
I’ve played a couple of games using the Free League Year Zero system: Vaesen and Tales from the Loop. Both are investigative games and see you either hunting down monsters (Vaesen) or getting involved in sci-fi shenanigans (Tales). Gridshock – designed by Paul Vermeren and published by VX2 – takes that system and puts you in the role of powered individuals on the run. It’s set post-apocalypse… well sort of. The bad guys definitely won at some point in the past, defeating the superheroes of the era. Now Vectors, new powered individuals, are rising up, determined to change the course of their world. Reminds me a little of Psi-Run from Night Sky Games and I look forward to seeing what a super-powered Year Zero game looks like.
Riffing on transhumanism (a movement that supports using science and technology to improve the human body and mind), Trashumanism is based on the Resistance system that powers many of the games produced by Rowan, Rook and Decard. Trashumanism is very much in the cyberpunk vein, as characters take on the United World Government, tech oligarchs and nefarious corporations. Technological advancement – especially biotech – is placed above the needs of the populace, but those who have been augmented often find themselves exploited and oppressed. Multimedia artist Kristina Olson (AKA, Le Destroy) has previously released Trashumanism as a comic and album, and three of her music tracks appear in the Cyberpunk 2077 computer game, so we’re excited to see her take on this premise.
Written by Iain McAllister