#52: A New World
I. Dear Reader,
This week, we’re back to more or less regular programming where I just excitedly talk about something every issue. Today, its A New World for Whom by Pedro Lhallier, a fantasy setting steeped in magical realism and post-colonial latin america that just exists as a free PDF on twitter as far as I know.
Finding it online was a bit like stumbling across some dusty gem in a secondhand book store. A wonderful, serendipitous moment because the book has some beautiful writing and art - and is just a pleasure to read. It opens as follows, “The New World was, for a particular moment in its history, only one of the worlds upon the land - south of the Old World, which came to drag it by force into the Known World.”
From there, it tells us of a ritual that “tore the continent from its foundations, shrugging away from the gods of Archadia, and flung it to the cosmos to fall on the seas of another land.” This new land - a new world for the new world - is our setting.
My favourite sections in these types of settings are always the gods. This is no exception. When the New World appears in these strange lands, there are numerous immortals waiting. But you can’t have hundreds of gods, can you? That would be too complicated! So a council was formed and religious bureaucrats make deals with nine of them to become official, sanctioned deities. But they should’ve checked the fine print. Because as they worshiped these official gods, the counter-gods emerged - each one a reverse and opposite effect.
For example, the Professor whose domain is creation, knowledge and curiousity gave rise to the Jailer, who “besides alienation and incuriosity, also governs the devastations that sweep both minds and landscapes.” Great stuff.
There’s a version in Portuguese and English. Check them out!
Fantastically yours,
Thomas
II. Listen of the Week
The Bonus XP podcast reads and talks about Dragonhearts, a game based on the Firebrands system where you play shapeshifting dragons fighting and smooching. Here’s an iTunes link.
III. Links of the Week
Articles
Running a score in Blades in the Dark entirely through flashbacks. This is an amazing idea and I’m jealous I didn’t think of it first.
And the second part of Lowell Francis’ 72 ideas for sci-fi heists. Full of neat ideas. Like “Shared Consciousness Defense Team: The defenders have a fully connected network, allowing them to share insights, information, and thoughts at all times.”
ExLibris is a new RPG catalogue site which just launched with a massive database of all third-party Mork Borg content. It looks lovely and they have plans to expand it to other games which is really cool.
Jeeyon Shim wins the 2021 Diana Jones Emerging Designer award. Jeeyon is one of those designers that seems to be doing something radically different from everybody else and thoroughly succeeding.
Avatar: Legends, the new PbtA game from Magpie Games, becomes the highest funded TTRPG kickstarter of all time.
Game Design
Caroline Hobbs, designer of Downfall, walks us through the design choices behind her new game, Fedora Noir. A game where one player plays the Detective’s hat.
Not a new article but one I found this week: Why “genre emulation” is a better objective than “realism” for your RPG sessions.
An excellent designer’s commentary on their first game. Take a moment to learn all about Space Train Space Heist, a lighthearted FitD game.
Some tips on making your game’s PDF more accessible.
IV. Small Ads
All links in the newsletter are completely based on my own interest. But to help support my work, this section contains sponsored links and advertisements. If you’d like your products to appear here, read the submission form.
An Altogether Different River is a GMless storytelling game about building a town together and seeing it change through the lens of those who left and returned, and those who stayed throughout.
Thomas already told you about Ex Libris on Kickstarter, but this is here in case you forgot. Please check it out and help us build a new indie TTRPG resource!
This newsletter is currently sponsored by the all-new, fan-supported Fate-SRD.com. Built to be fast, attractive, and accessible, check out the site for rules, downloads, actual plays, and community.
Hello, dear readers. This newsletter is written by me, Thomas Manuel. I’m half-man, half-beast, half-journalist, half-game designer.
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