I've had this roleplaying game idea in my head since 2010 and after twelve years it's become clear I'm never going to do anything with it, so I want to just share it here in case anyone else is inspired to run with it.

It's a core mechanic for a paranormal investigation game. The party is contending with a haunted house, possessed person, or other spooky phenomenon. Each character has their unique lens through which to understand the phenomenon: psychic, priest, skeptic scientist, detective, resident, and such.

The story starts before the sun sets.

Here is how credit cards work:

Imagine stumbling into a fairy ring that belongs to the fairy mafia. An enchanting being appears, smile wide enough to reveal rows of sharp and glistening teeth, and it remarks, "Why, traveler, you look positively destitute! I have just the thing!" It turns its palms up, revealing fistfuls of gold coins. Gold coins falling to the moss below. Gold coins all around you.

"Borrow whatever you'd like! Just bring it back by the next full moon, alright, my sweet?"

That's when you notice its necklace of withered human fingers.

Another thread in my series of game design threads:

I want to talk about what The Forge meant for me, as a new roleplaying game designer getting started in 2005.

I don't think it was perfect, but it definitely shaped my career and life. This thread is mostly autobiography! At its core, The Forge was a site that hosted game design theory articles and a community forum for analyzing play and design, and it was live from 1999-2012. It was dedicated to independent, creator-owned RPGs. It also organized projects that spilled out into the real world.

🎲✏️✨ Making an Income as an Independent Tabletop Roleplaying Game Designer 📚💸📈

I've been designing/self-publishing tabletop roleplaying games for 14 years. I've experimented a lot with design approaches, publishing formats, & funding strategies. I've learned from mistakes. I started as a teen who was barely covering costs, but now my game design work is the primary income source for my family. I've had a lot of privilege and luck in my corner, which partially accounts for my success, but I've also developed a lot of knowledge I can share with you.

I want to talk a little bit about the tools I use to do tabletop roleplaying game design, and the process by which I use them.

I know that everyone's process is different, but maybe learning more about mine will be inspiring or helpful for how you approach your next project! For me, the thing that kills my love for a project the quickest is feeling stuck and tired, and I encounter this ever time I sit down in front of a blank page and try to just *force* writing out of myself.

As a result, I work really hard to avoid the dreaded blank page.

When I was first getting into roleplaying games, @PaulCzege's My Life with Master (released 2003) was the first game to truly ignite my imagination. Its text was both atmospheric and conversational. Its design was spare and built upon emotional landscapes. It had an endgame! Next, I discovered Shock: Social Science Fiction, released 2006 by @JoshuaACNewman. At first, I found the writing alien! I'd never seen neo-pronouns before! But Shock's setting matrix was fascinating - it enlisted the players in defining both the themes and verbs of their story.