Thursday, 6 July 2023

HAMLET: A ONE LETTER RPG

 …totus mundus agit histrionem

- Petronius


Sometimes it takes a while for me to catch on, and so it was with Hamlet: a One Letter RPG by W.H. Arthur. Regular readers may recall my interview with Arthur back in 2021, but if not please follow the link or have a glance over his itch.io page: he has built up an excellent catalogue of games and material during the two years that have passed since he kindly agreed to be interviewed.

This post very specifically examines one game in particular: Hamlet: A one-letter RPG, inspired by the Business Card RPG Jam and We Are But Worms. You can download the game here:

https://aryl-ether.itch.io/hamlet

Photograph of wood-veneered tabletop, upon which are two teal-green and gold business cards, arranged so that each displays the opposite side of the other. The card on the has a decorative, leafy gold edge to the left and right sides (but not the top and bottom); in its centre sits a large lettter B encircled by a gold ring. The card on the right has an identical margin, but the text in the centre reads as follows  HAMLET (first line); A one-letter RPG (second line); W.H. Arthur (3rd line); Twitter: @Aryl-ether (fourth line): itch.aryl-ether.itch.io (last line)
Screenshot: a business card RPG, Hamlet


Tuesday, 4 July 2023

PLAY REPORT: MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM

This is a play report of a PARIAH sub-game that takes place in the Hive Swarm aspect of The Beyond

However, in truth it is my homage to the now-nerfed forces of Hive Fleet Kraken and my brief, intense love affair with them back in 1998. I miss you x

Prayer to GW: please don't sue me for using this image, nor what you are about to read...

From Sketches for My Sweetheart, The Beyond:

Wisewomen speak of the chaotic immediacy of Dawn in contrast with the rarefied reptilian intelligence of Dusk: within the Beyond, these two realms have conflated. 

The plague swarm is a complex, technologically advanced culture of monstrous insectoid reptiles driven by the insatiable hunger of Dawn to replenish and reproduce. Biomechanical monsters driven by the desire to assimilate all life and reform it in their own image

The civilisation spans millions of worlds and represents the amalgamation of trillions upon trillions of species, dreaming of a reality in which no single element exists outside of their domain, working in unison towards their goal of multiversal omni immortality

Friday, 23 June 2023

LONG LIVE THE BLOGOSPHERE!

TL/DR: bookmark this blog, use my sidebar to keep up-to-date on other interesting blogs

I received a message from Reddit yesterday, congratulating me on my "7th cake day".

A birthday cake thrown to the ground, a hilarious reference to SNL's Lonely Island
Happy Birthday to the Ground

Sunday, 11 June 2023

THE BEYOND: POLARIS REVISITED, via Carcosa and... The Imperium of Man?

In this post I return to THE BEYOND in PARIAH, principally the realm of POLARIS. This idea's been stewing for several years now but two recent blog posts by others prompted me to revisit it. 

CONTENT WARNING: The Absolute Worst Stuff Imaginable is alluded to.