Ripples in Tradition

Even a brief exploration of articles shared on the Hyperspace Tachyon Transmission Protocol show that Cephal is described in radically different ways by the various sides of Aquatilium’s culture war. To some he is a sell out to an interplanetary order dominated by terrain species, to others he is a brave but dynamic soldier of […]

Muckraker System & Future Game Dev

It has come to my attention that not all persons are as obsessed with aliens as I am. This is honestly a bit of a shock. Nonetheless, I wanted to make my Tarot based RPG system accessible to lovers of all genres so now the rules behind the Martian Muckraker RPG are available as a […]

Pulse & Pressure

For those curious about how Martian Muckraker RPG is doing, please note that based on my playtest I have made a simplified dice system. A 3 page ruleset is ready that I will be playtesting with a group early November. If you want to take an early look at it, it is the Streamlined Hybrid […]

Worldbuilding Spreads

Tarot is a most under appreciated tool in roleplaying games. If you need inspiration in a flash a quick tarot spread and give you tons of world building possibilities, devious plot twists or hidden clues. Here are some world-building tarot spreads from the most recent version of my Martian Muckraker RPG book followed by an […]

Aquatic vs Terran Sports

I don’t undertand how three dimensional beings can stand the functionally two dimensional existence land enforces upon them. I confess that I often sleep during their terran sports which are often so . . . flattened from my point of view. Will the dribbler go left . . . or right? Only two options. Not […]

Playtesting and Other Extreme Sports

So the first Martian Muckraker playtest was a little rough. Maybe more than a little rough. A lot rough. It was rough. Solidly rough. So the first part of this post is to state that when you are designing a game: PLAY TEST PLAY TEST PLAY TEST. And be not discouraged. The chief areas of […]

Muckraker RPG in Playtest

For a little over the year, I have used this blog to explore science fiction scenarios. The short fiction format of these posts allow me to play with a wide variety of ideas and overtime I have started to get a sense of a “Muckrakerverse,” a world of science fiction whimsy populated by mild-mannered Alien […]

Crisis of Faith

Written by Sp’Rark, Cultural Editor of the Martian Muckraker Nothing shook the religious foundations of Ancient Mars more than the discovery of Earthlings. For generations Martians regarded Mars as an Oasis in an otherwise uninhabited universe. Then scientists started hearing the transmissions from Earth. Two planets, Mars and Earth. Practically sisters. Each oblivious to the […]

Facing Fate Core

Many RPGs are known for their tomes and tomes of rules. The recent Pathfinder Player’s Handbook runs 600 pages (and I can’t wait to dive into my copy!) This allows the game designers to craft and simulate a detailed and fascinating world, and provide lots of meat for players to strategize with. There is a […]

Micro RPGs

Many people think of tabletop roleplaying games as requiring books and books of rules. However in recent years, there has been interest in rules-light systems. The limit case of this is the Micro-RPG or One-Page RPG. A Micro-RPG can cover its rules in four-pages or less and is designed when players want a quick-and-easy game […]