I released a new version of Board of Mammon, my one-page GM-less RPG in which players are demonic corporate executives competing for Mammon’s favour. Along with a suite of tweaks (Biz Climate is now an Event, and you get to roll more dice), V2’s hot new feature is a second Events table which gives each Board Meeting a bit more infernal colour. Now your supply chain issues might come as a result of church interference, an annoying bloom of demonspawn, or even a newly discovered sin. Thanks for the feedback and idea, Kieron!

Download it here, or on Itch.io, for free.

I’ve updated Fortune Dark, a light TTRPG system I put out a couple of weeks ago. The notable change is to player death. In the original version, player characters would be smited (smote?) by their god and removed from the game once they got their fourth debility. Now they can have as many debilities as they can bear, but there’s also the addition of a new move, Sacrifice:

When the party decides that one of its members has fallen too far from their god’s grace and offers them as sacrifice, collectively describe how you perform this rite, then remove all cursed dice from the party’s fortune and claim 1 tribute. The sacrificed character’s adventure is over.

The idea is that now death is a choice with a dark benefit. Once a player has a lot of debilities, they’ll likely only be able to act by spending fortune and thus be a major drain on the party. So perhaps it’s time to put them out of their misery, a gift which cleanses the party’s stock of luck. Feels like a grim but enticing decision, and therefore very fitting for Fortune Dark. Thanks, Caleb, for the idea, which I’ve basically lifted wholesale!

Download the PDF here.

I’ve been GMing Warhammer Fantasy Role Play for my games group. It’s a venerable tabletop RPG similar to Dungeons & Dragons but grittier, weirder, funnier and has more of a focus on role-play. Though set in the Germanic realm of the Reikland, it feels awfully British. Social class informs many interactions; there are 60+ jobs that act as its character classes, from rat catcher and grave digger to flagellant and huffer to charlatan and bawd; there’s a whole skill devoted to consuming alcohol.

We’re playing the legendary scenario A Rough Night at the Three Feathers (originally written in 1987), in which the players go to the pub and a lot of complicated scheduled-by-the-minute stuff happens around them. So far, Marsh has been robbed for every penny and Oli failed to catch the thief. Jim poisoned a surprised scholar and then he and Oli nursed him back to health. And Dan listened to a couple rutting in their room. I’m really looking forward to concluding the night on Monday.