itch.io

I'm sayin'...

That's so wonderful to hear! I always love designing games that give players the freedom to do absolutely bonkers stuff so it's so lovely to hear that's happened! 

It was a joy to make! Let me know how it goes!

I'll think on it. The only one that I can immediately think of that's vaguely in that vein is Bloodclotte, which is a Sparked by Resistance game where you play as weird doctors.

Lol, great minds and all that... 

First of all, the art in here is terrific and very funny. Nobody has any excuse to use AI art when you can just crudely collage an octopus over the head of a bigfoot to get your point across. Also, the map is so completely over the top I burst out laughing when I saw it.

The game itself is very silly and I have a lot of affection for it. I like how the set-up immediately puts you in danger and you have to fight your way out. I like the various playbooks being weirdoes who would just rock up and do something in this ridiculous situation (and I like that they each have their own unique class-based resource, like Faith or Preparedness or Distrust). I like the writing ("Fed Helicopter: Turns out pigs can fly, and these ones are squealin' mad."). 

It's just neat!

Ooh. I'm an absolute sucker for a game where you play as municipal workers who aren't cops. The fact that it has elaborate fantasy world-building on top of that is just icing on the cake.

I love the way you do the Attributes. Extremely interesting to make you choose what outcome you'd prefer and force you to pre-emptively assign dice in that way. Also, the way that harm is a slow descent towards death or quitting is very fun too.

Also, this game figured out how to do a dungeon crawl in a Havoc Game? Incredible.

Ain't got nothin to do with the havoc game jam.

Really fun idea to swap out Blood for Drive, add car stats, and do a very silly adaptation of the latter Fast and Furious movies. 

I also adore Granny Chen.

So: I adore  Marie-Helene and I think all her abilities rule. Letting others gain a little bit of Blood whenever she feeds? Steal an Attack dice of an enemy? A persistent cough as minor harm? 

Brilliant. No notes.

The layout and art is incredible. As someone who had to work really hard to come up with something passable under the deadline, I'm extremely impressed with the work done to make it really match with the design of the core book.

My one thing is that, while the Grotesques are conceptually really fun and interesting... mechanically I wish they had more to offer. The one big innovation is the countdown clock which'll add a bunch of fun tension, but otherwise they're just another bag of hit points that players have to whittle down (while the players are probably close to finishing up anyway). I know that Devil Whale Games can write extremely cool abilities... just do one more and I'll be overjoyed.

Not a problem! And thanks so much!

Very good questions! 

Firstly, excuse me if I'm a little rusty with my own rules, as I published this a few years ago now. 

Secondly, I strongly encourage you to make the game your own at the table. Bend and twist and interpret and create rules as you see fit. 

That being said, here's some answers for your questions:

1.  Each action starts with zero dice, so...
2. ...If you make a roll with no Traits or Clues or Collaboration, you will have zero dice. I think the "(or less)" is probably a relic of an earlier draft which still had Conditions. 
3. It is phrased fairly ambiguously, but I think you're right. I, personally, prefer to restrict myself to very sensible theories, but that rule's probably there so Consultants can just make absurd and silly connections and be awesome. 
4. Yes, it is entirely possible and intended! I find Carved From Brindlewood clues a little too lose, so I like to have like 2-3 different interpretations in mind when writing lists of clues. The main reason I made the Fabricate move is that I disliked being restricted to a list of existing clues in Carved From Brindlewood games and wanted players to feel free to invent their own mystery if they want. Because writing new clues is fun.

If you end up running it, I hope you have a bunch of fun with it!

Thanks! I'm super proud of it. I think it's my first proper scifi thing!

Thanks for the heads up! I'll change it up... 

Updated the files! It just was a harmless little relic of the layout process that showed how the sausage got made. Maybe I'll sneak fun hidden messages that way in the future, tho...

Thanks for letting me know! I'll tinker with the file and see if I can fix that... 

Hell yeah! Look at us!

Careful! It's a fragile pdf

Thanks! It's one of those things that just came together!

Not a problem! Always happy to help a printer in need!

Just created some Printer Friendly versions for your convenience!

https://mynarlenahan.itch.io/cold-metal/devlog/960812/printer-friendly-versions-...

Absolutely! Give me an afternoon and I'll come up with some printable versions for this and maybe Salvager's Isle too...

Just double checking that you know that the picture you have as the thumbnail is a real guy in the process of self-immolation? He was a monk non-violently protesting government violence on the eve of the Vietnam war. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c

So, in my experience, 1 GM and probably 2-6 players, but the sweet spot is at about 3 players.

I've been going through old issues of The Electrical Experimenter for research and, god, what an amazing magazine...

Honestly, as someone who basically only interacts with physical games (ie. a document based game) on itch, I DO sorta wish there was a clearer deliniation of physical vs computer on this website.

But also, I make my living doing this, dude. Don't disallow me.

Thanks so much! It's my only lasers and feeling hack and I'm so proud of how I tried new things with it. 

Not a problem! Do 'em one at a time and see how far you go! 

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't that jam end in 5 months? 

That sounds delightful! I'm glad you had such a fun time with it, especially with it being your first time playing a TTRPG! So congratulations!

And honestly, my policy with changing rules on the fly is that you should absolutely feel free. TTRPGs are a collaboration, after all, so when running it at a table with friends, its really your game as much as it is mine. That said, these are some really interesting modifications and I'm glad you commented so that future players can take inspiration!

Thank you so much! Actually, to do some unrepentant self-promo, I did actually write an unofficial Brindlewood Bay mystery, The Mavens Stop A Presidential Assassination, in which the Mavens can decide the future of America by how they solve the mystery.

But also, the trick is that you can ALWAYS just frame terrible people in your TTRPGs...

Yep! I wrote it for the Paranormal Inc jam and it's very much designed as a companion piece for that game rather than a thing to stand on its own. 

I wrote a fan supplement for this!
https://mynarlenahan.itch.io/the-technicolor-forest

It honestly started off as a MÖRK BORG hack before it evolved to this hahaha

Ominous...

Oops! I think it should still be correct on the character sheets, but for reference, her Goals are:

• Ensure she will never, ever return to an ordinary life.
• Help Goncharov become the gangster she once loved.

And I'm glad to hear it! Let me know how it goes!

Thanks so much! And absolutely! 

Only the real fans know!

Glad to hear it! Let me know what you think! 

That's good to hear! I'm a big Thomas fan and super excited for the new patreon. 

Oh, and I included the .rtf file since I heard somewhere it was easier for people to access if they're using text to speech.