Designers | John Harper |
---|---|
Publication | 2009 |
Genres | Tabletop role-playing game, science fantasy, romance |
Lady Blackbird is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game about space pirates by John Harper. It won two Indie RPG Awards in 2009.
The game comes with a default adventure module, including a set of pre-generated player characters. In this adventure, Lady Blackbird has hired the player characters to smuggle her off an imperial planet in order to reunite with her pirate king lover. [1] The game is typically played in one to three sessions. [2]
It won two Indie RPG Awards in 2009, for "Best Production" and "Best Free Game."
Chase Carter for Polygon listed Lady Blackbird as a "seminal" game of the late aughts "blooming of indie RPG designers", along with Dogs in the Vineyard, Apocalypse World, Fiasco, and the Romance Trilogy. [3] Coleman Gailloreto for Screen Rant recommended it for beginners to tabletop role-playing games. [1] Ashley Johnson for High Ground Gaming listed it as one of the ten best one-shot RPGs, praising its "adventure, romance, intrigue, and steampunk pirates." [4]
In the open gaming movement, a System Reference Document (SRD) is a reference for a role-playing game's mechanics licensed under a public copyright license to allow other publishers to make material compatible with that game. In 2000, Wizards of the Coast pioneered this by releasing a SRD for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition under their Open Game License (OGL).
Dogs in the Vineyard is an independently published role-playing game published by Lumpley Games in 2004 that is loosely based on the history of the Mormons.
An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published by individuals or small press publishers, in contrast to games published by large corporations. Indie tabletop role-playing game designers participate in various game distribution networks, development communities, and gaming conventions, both in person and online. Indie game designer committees grant annual awards for excellence.
A tabletop role-playing game, also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines, usually involving randomization. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise, and their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
Fiasco is a role-playing game by Jason Morningstar, independently published by Bully Pulpit Games. It is marketed as a "GM-less game for 3–5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation". It is billed as "A game of powerful ambition and poor impulse control" and "inspired by cinematic tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong—films like Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, and A Simple Plan."
Apocalypse World is a post-apocalyptic indie role-playing game by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker, published in 2010 with only an implied setting that is fleshed out by the players in the course of character creation. It was the game for which the Powered by the Apocalypse engine was developed. On release, Apocalypse World won the 2010 Indie RPG Award and 2011 Golden Geek RPG of the year.
Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) is a tabletop role-playing game design framework developed by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker for the 2010 game Apocalypse World and later adapted for hundreds of other indie role-playing games.
Breaking the Ice is an indie role-playing game by Emily Care Boss. It's a game for two players where the player characters go on three dates together to see if they will become a couple.
Modiphius Entertainment is a tabletop role-playing game and board game publisher based in Fulham, London that is known for licensed adaptations of established media. Notable titles include Star Trek Adventures, Fallout the Roleplaying Game,Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork, and the Mass Effect board game.
Lucian Kahn is an American role-playing game writer/designer and musician based in Brooklyn. His work focuses on LGBT, Jewish, and subcultural themes, typically utilizing satire and farce. His games include Visigoths vs. Mall Goths,If I Were a Lich, Man, and Dead Friend: A Game of Necromancy, and his music includes Schmekel.
Visigoths vs. Mall Goths is an urban fantasy tabletop role-playing game with LGBTQ dating sim elements by Lucian Kahn, with art by Robin Eisenberg. The ancient Visigoths have time traveled to 1990s Los Angeles and are battling mall goths for control of the mall. The game's tone is silly and the setting has many puns. The game was inspired by 1990s movies The Craft, Empire Records, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Clueless.
Aabria Iyengar is an American web series actress known primarily for tabletop role-playing game anthologies, streams and podcasts. She was the Dungeon Master (DM) for the first season of Exandria Unlimited. Iyengar has been both a player and a Game Master for multiple seasons of Dimension 20 and a guest DM on The Adventure Zone.
The Gauntlet is a publisher/producer of tabletop role-playing games and podcasts. Their publications include Trophy RPG and Brindlewood Bay. In addition to game books, they publish a monthly game zine called Codex to encourage experimentation in indie role-playing games and OSR. Their games and podcasts have won multiple ENNIE Awards. As of November 2024, The Gauntlet has raised over one million dollars USD on Kickstarter and BackerKit combined.
Grant Howitt is a tabletop role-playing game designer, publisher, and journalist. He won six ENNIE Awards for his game Heart: The City Beneath. His game Honey Heist, which inspired an online trend of self-published games with one-page rulesets, has been featured on Critical Role, The Adventure Zone, and Friends at the Table. Through his publishing company Rowan, Rook and Decard, Howitt is a co-designer on Kieron Gillen's DIE: The Roleplaying Game.
Sean McCoy is an American game designer, artist and writer.
Dream Askew, Dream Apart is a set of two tabletop role-playing games about marginalized communities struggling for survival. "Dream Askew" was designed by Avery Alder and "Dream Apart" was designed by Benjamin Rosenbaum. Dream Askew, Dream Apart is the blueprint for the Belonging Outside Belonging game system.
Trophy RPG is a psychological horror tabletop role-playing game by Jesse Ross about doomed treasure hunters in the woods. There are two versions of the game: Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold. Trophy Dark is designed for single session play, while Trophy Gold is designed for longer campaigns. Both versions were published by Gauntlet Publishing in 2022 after a successful Kickstarter campaign raised $210,141. Trophy RPG won the silver medal for "Best Game" at the 2023 ENNIE Awards.
Queerz! TTRPG is a tabletop role-playing game about LGBTQ superheroes, inspired by Super Sentai. The heroes use kindness, empathy, self-acceptance, and friendship to battle villains that represent bigotry and ignorance. The mood is campy. The game is based on the manga Queerz! by Isa Isago Fukuda. The game was designed by Amít Moshe based on his City of Mist system, with writing by Steven Pope and illustrations by Isa, who created the manga. Queerz! was published in March 2024 by Son of Oak game studio after raising $104,292 on Kickstarter.
Quest is a rules-light, fantasy tabletop role-playing game designed to welcome beginners to the hobby. It was created in 2019 by T.C. Sottek, executive editor at The Verge. It was published by Sottek's indie publishing company, the Adventure Guild, after a Kickstarter campaign raised $153,614. Quest was nominated for the 2020 ENnie Awards in four categories. Since 2022, the digital edition of Quest has been available for free. Other creators are allowed to make and sell products based on Quest.
Slayers is a 2020 tabletop role-playing game by Spencer Campbell about monster-hunting in a cursed city. It won an Indie Game Developer Network award and was nominated for three ENNIE Awards.