2019 was a fantastic year for me. My wife and I decided to be parents, I got a new job, we’re hanging out with our friends, and RPG got back into my life.

An old friend visited me with an old notebook with many random tables and a copy of Old Dragon(a Brazilian D&D retro-clone). We rolled our characters, and he had one extra rule: the PCs should have Portuguese names.

That changed everything.

He disarmed us, and right from the beginning, the game became less complicated and easygoing.

This is because my friend was super excited about this Youtube series about some guys playing an old module of D&D. The show was called D&D Moleque (“Brat D&D” in a free translation). This group tested old rules and gameplay without skill and ability checks in the videos. And all with a super chill vibe. The show made me realize that I had forgotten that RPGs could be light and fun. It’s just a game you can just sit down and play.

My previous experiences were in pretentious tables, heavily focused on role play and story. I even got a GM that used to say how my character was feeling. I couldn’t even play or imagine my character’s emotions. Zero player agency. I also saw a lot of sessions-zero or plans for new groups and games that never saw the light of day. Don’t get me wrong, I think that session zero is crucial for the game, but you have to be playing something by the end of it.

By the way, 2020 came with all the chaos that you know. My son was born in May, and life is different now. I got many new responsibilities and less time. But a lot of inspiration. In the middle of that year, some friends invited my wife and me to play online, which was awesome. As parents, it was our (almost) guaranteed time for ourselves and our friends.

I also was getting out of bed at 4 or 5AM to take care of my son; We got outside, and in my ear was playing “Café com Dungeon” podcast (Coffee with Dungeon), hosted by the DM in that show I mentioned earlier.

What awesome content.

The podcast had an episode every weekday (they had 1000 in total), and Balbi, the host, got really deep into the discussion of RPG as a genre. Because of that podcast, I connected with many incredible people, games, and playstyles. I got fascinated by how much the RPG indie scene produced. I had to contribute in some way. And that was my plan for 2021.

I joined many communities, talked to many people, and timidly started to illustrate some projects and find my way to produce. I remember the first time I posted a map online, and someone got really excited about it and wrote how they imagined some hints in the drawing. That moved me. Made me want to do more.

I tried my way into the game design before but never published anything. I also had a lot of music bands, and from that, I got something to compare. I love when my work gives someone a moment of joy or creativity. It’s like a moment to take a breath in this chaos we live in. And now, with 15 years of experience in design, I’m getting all the extra time I can get to do a little of the game thing.

And why I’m telling this story? Because it has a lot to do with how I rediscover RPGs and how they can fit into my life now. And also how they manifest in the design of my games.

I have a day job, a son, and a lot of responsibilities. I wanna test new games, but I don’t have the time or headspace to read through 300 pages of rules. Or a goddamn long expository story about a scenario. I remember getting excited about a module for a game I liked, and then I discovered that 90% of the 200-page book was expository content. Got no time or patience for that. Games must be short, clever, easy to remember, and improvise. We should be able to sit for a few minutes and be ready to play.

The game should have the right amount of lacunes. That was what made that guy imagine things through my drawing. That makes GMs more creative and with more domain of the table. RPGs don’t happen in books. They happen in the interactions on the table. The book is just a tool, as the dice are. And it also gives room for players’ shenanigans to impact the created world.

And finally, about the chill vibe of D&D Moleque. I express myself a lot in the design of my RPGs. My first little game was political and carried with emotion. But I like to imagine my games as a catalyst for friends around a table having a little fun. Being that overthrowing tyrants or dancing with silly monsters.

I can come back here in a few days and change everything I said, but for now, that’s what I’m aiming for my designs: fast, inspiring, and silly games. I genuinely believe that this principle can bring more people to the hobby or at least make our games lighter and healthier.