Thread by @GauntletRPG

Codex - Joy 2 is now available in our $4+ Patreon feed! It is one of the most exciting issues we have ever published and I am going to tell you all about it!

(Note: if you pledge this month, you also get the original Codex - Joy!)

patreon.com/gauntlet

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Before I begin telling you about the features in Joy 2, I want to say the beautiful, touching cover illustration is by @hominidart

The first feature in Joy 2 is Storm Riders! by @michaelgbarford. It is a hack of World of Dungeons and features illustrations by @seanrunamok. The idea behind the game is you play characters from a 1980s fantasy cartoon (think Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, Thundercats, etc.).

You have playbooks that represent common tropes from those cartoons, such as Royalty, Warriors, and Sidekicks, and you do typical fantasy adventuring type stuff.

What makes Storm Riders! really special, however, is it has an awesome meta layer to the game, where as a player you have to be mindful of broadcast standards & practices, merchandising, and your ideal audience member (it has shades of Pasion de las Pasiones by @drcaptainkobold).

Your character doesn’t have hit points, but rather “hot points.” Your character can’t die (that would violate standards & practices), but they can become less popular, meaning they (and their associated toys) are retired.

The game also has a number of really fantastic tables, such as “Villain Names and Taglines,” “Wondrous Locales and Wildlife,” and “Villainous Plots and Playsets.” The game is just extremely fun and cool. You will want to play it as soon as you read it.

Next up is A Feast of Jovial Moments by @curubethion. This is a short piece filled with colorful details to help inspire your Jovial moments in Swords Without Master and other swords and sorcery games. Everything here is extremely imaginative and evocative.

Then comes Grandma’s Drinking Song by @oh_theogony, with illustration by @devonserket. This has got to be one of the most wildly fun games we have ever published. It’s a sort of quasi-larp inspired by Lucian’s own family stories.

It takes place in NYC in 1930. You play a family of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe struggling to get by. According to the text, “they laugh, sing, flirt, and break the law,” and, indeed, in the game, there is a lot of singing (and drinking).

The game is organized around a set number of scenes that are played out over rounds. Whenever someone in the scene gets heated about something, they are handed the Onion of Soliloquy (an actual onion), they get to rant a little bit, and then everyone drinks and sings.

Throughout the game, you are adding more and more lines to grandma’s drinking song, loosely inspired by the events in the scenes, until at the end you have this fabulous artifact inspired by your crazy, drunken game session.

I have a feeling when this little gem gets out in the world, people are going to be playing it a lot, especially at conventions.

Next comes True Beauty, my campaign framework for Monsterhearts 2. True Beauty recontextualizes the Monsterhearts formula to be about young, queer people of color in the 1980s ballroom scene (think: Pose or Paris is Burning).

It includes all the guidelines you will need to play out the stories of these young people trying to find fame and fabulousness within the competitive ball house scene.

It has an overview of what drag balls are all about, changes you make when setting up the game and creating characters, custom moves, and media resources.

I’m always interested in challenging what is possible in roleplaying games—and to tell different kinds of stories—and True Beauty is very close to my heart in this way.

Finally we have the Miscellany in Joy 2. It’s called Three Dozen Local Holidays and Celebrations, and has some really fantastic inspirations for your campaign. Here is an example:

“Weddings in the province of Kithrik imitate the nature of its local penguins who mate for life. A single large dance circle is formed with the most energetic dancing at its center..." (contd. in next tweet)

"(contd.) People on the edges receive drinks and lean on resting sticks decorated for the occasion. Sitting down before midnight curses the marriage for years to come.”

As I said at the top, Codex - Joy 2 is now available in our $4+ Patreon feed. You get that issue plus the original Codex - Joy for just one pledge! Check out our Patreon right here:

patreon.com/gauntlet

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