February Murmurs
Featuring Tales from the Low Cantrefs, Free from the Yoke, and ZineQuest
Welcome. In December made a wishlist of games I was hoping to play. Already in 2021, I’ve checked off two of these. In this newsletter we’ll hear about one of them. I’m curious, though: What are your must-play games that you’ve haven’t gotten to play yet? Sound off in the comments!
Ran: Tales from the Low Cantrefs
In January I ran a series of Tales from the Low Cantrefs, a hearth fantasy coming-of-age game by Luke Jordan of Games from the Wildwood. Outside factors delayed our last session, but we played it this month and it made for a wonderful coda to the series, which you can find in its entirety on my Youtube channel.
Highlights: The game absolutely delivers on its promise of “petty village politics, childhood superstitions, adults who just don’t understand, strange magics, wild and ruined landscapes, monsters out of old folktales, and the terrible responsibility of growing up.” Low Cantrefs has a really specific set of fantasy touchstones: The Prydain Chronicles, Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom, Rowan of Rin… The common element is a sleepy rural setting in which young people must step up to confront mundane and supernatural problems, all the while making choices about who they are and who they’ll grow up to be.
The four playbooks currently available in the playtest packet are wonderful and diverse: The Bell, The Blade, The Door, and The Loom. Some highlights from my series were The Bell navigating family drama with her rebellious younger sister and the unquiet ghost of her departed older sister, The Blade discovering the hidden magic power of her family’s heirloom spear, The Door venturing into the mists of Death to aid the passage of one soul and confront an ancient deathly lord, and The Loom rediscovering the neglected rune of the Yew tree.
Musings: An interesting part of the game’s premise is that “It’s not a game about saving the world, but one about holding on to your small corner so there is a world left when the time for saviours comes.” Our protagonists are facing various troubles and coming of age, but they are no match for the apocalypse slowly building the background. Part of this premise lives in the “stanzas of Doom” that players mark off when they roll the move “The Years Pass,” which creates an epilogue for a particular group of characters. And while our epilogue was pretty satisfying, I also found myself wishing to see these characters journey even farther in a longer campaign—and yes, perhaps even save the world. Am I defaulting to more generic fantasy goals there, and not appreciating enough the particular flavor of Tales from the Low Cantrefs?
Final thoughts: I would definitely play this game again! And the designer has said there are four more playbooks in the works: The Book, The Cloak, The Flint, and The Staff. I can’t wait to meet them.
Played: Free from the Yoke
I got a chance to play some Free from the Yoke in January and February. It’s my first foray into the Legacy-descended branch of PbtA games. The game tells the story of a Slavic-inspired land that has just shaken off the shackles of the Empire. Now various houses vie for influence, and the players take on the roles both of the entire houses and individual characters that represent the houses. It’s published by UFO Press and illustrated by Emily Cheeseman (a wonderful artist who’s also done work on our games Great Soul Train Robbery and Back Again from the Broken Land!).
Highlights: The collaborative process for creating the land, the Empire’s occupation, and the rebellion that ousted the Empire is really cool. You might think the framework of Slavic-esque historical fantasy would be limiting, but in fact we were able to make lots of big choices within that structure. For instance, I’m playing the Church of Uncreated Fire. I specified that the Church came to this land as the religion of the Empire’s slaves, but had begun to spread to some elites and attempt to redeem the Empire from within right as the revolution broke out. An imperial officer executed the Church’s Conclave of Prophets as a show of strength, and so the Church threw in with the rebels… but we’re still not entirely trusted by the post-Empire populist regime.
A shared map is also a key component of the game. Some elements are added collaboratively during setup, but more get added as the game progresses. A few sessions in, we filled in a previously-blank bordering nation on the map, and answered a couple questions to establish that they worship a kraken and forge distinctive scale-like armor. Also, they’ve captured a bunch of skilled artisans. Looks like we’ve got an antagonist for our next session!
Musings: There’s a real learning curve to zooming in and out between house level action and character level action. There are house level moves that can shape the whole political climate and map, and then there are character level moves for fights, negotiations, and rituals for on-the-ground characters. The criterion for when to zoom in is basically “when it feels right.” I’m not sure we’ve fully gotten a handle on this, even a good number of sessions into the game.
I wonder if it’s easier to do this while playing in person? Playing over Zoom requires more careful orchestration, lest everyone talk over each other and the game descend into incoherence. But I feel like this format wants some crosstalk, so that idly musing about a spot on the map can turn into zooming in for a mission, with some players prepping their main PCs and others gearing up quick characters.
Final thoughts: It’s been very fun to get a taste of Legacy-descended PbtA gaming. Someday, I’d love to play a long in-person campaign in one of these games, with the ages turning every few sessions and players going through multiple characters who have different perspectives on the concerns of their house. Sounds like it could add up to a uniquely satisfying experience.
Feature: ZineQuest3
Next month I’ll do a design discussion of how to make rotating-GM campaigns happen more naturally. What can we do during design and at the table to help pass the GM role among players? Please share your thoughts or questions on this in the comments!
But for now, I want to highlight a few ongoing ZineQuest projects. ZineQuest is a Kickstarter initiative to encourage new RPG creators to put out content as zines, smaller and scrappier than full hardcover books. We’re very pleased with the success of our ZineQuest project, Back Again from the Broken Land! Thanks to all of you who joined us on the journey. If you missed the Kickstarter but want to know when the game will be available to order, sign up to be notified here.
Though the month is coming to an end, a few zines I have backed have ongoing campaigns. Act fast if you like the looks of these: some of their campaigns are entering their last days.
Stealing the Throne is a GM-less heist game about stealing a thousand-year-old mech. Such an amazing premise, and the creator has put a lot of thought into how to get the fun of hyper-competent heist-y characters into an RPG.
TOKEN is a Rooted in Trophy game about a fallen hero and a terrible monster circling each other in a haunted forest. Dark, moody, inspired by folktales, and meant for duet play—one hero, one monster.
External Containment Bureau is a Forged in the Dark game about a well-meaning (?) conspiracy to keep humanity in the dark about the sinister supernatural anomalies out there. Play as the bureaucrats hiding the weird stuff in a game inspired by Men in Black and the SCP Foundation.
Against the Dark Conspiracy, by contrast, is about ex-spies trying to bring down a vast conspiracy—because it’s run by vampires! Use your expertise to fight the supernatural, but be careful you don’t provoke the Conspiracy into going after your Anchor, the person you care most about in the whole world (the Conspiracy will definitely do this).
Bloodstained Hands is a solo game about seeking forgiveness from the souls you’ve slain. It’s surreal and contemplative and macabre. This one’s also Rooted in Trophy, so that system is delivering on pitch-dark fairy tales this ZineQuest!
Elsewhere
—We did a lot to promote Back Again from the Broken Land! I made my first full episode appearance on Plus One Forward, the premiere podcast covering Powered by the Apocalypse games. Listen here for design discussion and a taste of Actual Play. I also had a great conversation about the game on Yes Indie’d, a podcast covering the indie tabletop scene. Find that conversation here—Marx has also covered a bunch of other ZineQuest projects, if you want to dive in deep!
—Leah, who designed Back Again from the Broken Land with me, wrote two articles digging into the thought behind the game. At the Gauntlet Blog, she discussed the wounds of the world as a GM-facing mechanic in the game. And at Mere Orthodoxy, she discussed the theology of guilt and mercy underlying the Turncoat playbook in the game. Highly recommended!
—I will be running games at Gauntlet Community Open Gaming this coming weekend. My sessions are all full, though often we end up pulling from the waitlist. Plus, there’s a couple games with open slots still! It’s a free and open virtual convention, so please take a look if you’re interested.
See you all next month for more games and a discussion of rotating GMs. Until then, may you rise to challenges of adulthood, cast off the yoke of the Empire, and back some good zines.
Gamefully Yours,
Alexi