A solo journaling game about a factory occupation wasn’t in our Bingo card, and yet here we are.

Tomorrow is finally the release day of “Rise Up!”, a solo game with our engine about a real struggle and real people. Yes, it’s very (VERY) left-wing, but the story you can write is more universal than you can think.

What? Are we really publishing a proper, long-ass TTRPG? About goblins, nonetheless?! Incredible. Also terrifying.

We’ve got a new game coming out that we care deeply about, and we’d love to tell people about it, ideally more people than just our relatives. Hey Bluesky hive mind, do you have a list of lovely #TTRPG content creators who cover indie titles from itch.io?

Apparently #gobtober is a thing, and we have an upcoming game about our favourite green idiots, out this November. We’re sitting on dozens of illustrations of goblins. Should we share them?

Let us introduce you to our bulletproof strategy for marketing a new TTRPG: 1. Publish it by mistake days earlier. 2. Forget about it for days. 3. Half-assedly fill a couple of forms for a mention in newsletters you don’t read. 4. Get drunk with four bottles of Chianti in three. 5. Rinse and repeat.

Our psychological horror setting is now available on itch.io. It’s pay-what-you-want, which means you can download it for free and forget it on your hard drive for a couple of years.

To the chuds reading, we assure you that our next game is not political, not at all. It neither tries to pass off shamefully subversive concepts, such as the fact that work is a right and workers should be treated with dignity. It’s just a red manual with a lot of raised fists—nothing to see here.

We’ve just published a horror setting, while here in Italy it is still summer-y. In October, when all products are spooky experiences, we’ll release a journaling game about a factory occupation. Terrifying in its own way, but not creepy. It’s not like we want to be different; we’re just idiots.

“You were clever to release a product so similar shortly after an original Silent Hill came out,” a friend stated, glancing at Mala Yerba. “Well, of course, we’re extremely clever,” we lied, utterly unaware of Silent Hill f. oddplan.substack.com/p/mala-yerba

Is it easy being relevant in the indie #TTRPG space? No. Is it economically convenient? Nope. Is it time-intensive? Well, Yes. Still interested? We wrote a ludicrous strategy to be the top dog in a very tiny kennel.

The feeling of serendipity when you’re wrapping up your journaling game about a factory’s resistance to closure, and, through the window, you hear "Bella Ciao" being played and sung at the multicultural festival in the nearby park. It’s good to be in one of the most socialist regions of Europe.

After analyzing crowdfunding for TTRPGs from an economic perspective (spoiler: it’s not pretty), let’s take a look together at why some of the system’s perks, such as stretch goals, are also one of the reasons for the market failure of the games that use it.

So, we’re still having a nazi problem on Substack. Monetized nazis, nonetheless! As grandsons of Italian partisans and nazi POWs, we can’t possibly stay on a platform that gives these scums of the Earth a place to spew their brain-dead hatred.

We’re not particularly fond of crowdfunding as the primary revenue generator for TTRPGs. There are several reasons, but we’ll start by discussing the economics of it.

Me: “Mom can we have Mario Kart?” Mom: “No, we have Mario Kart at home” Mario Kart at home:

Aztlan is a Mexican #rpg setting that mixes Mesoamerican mythology with pop culture. If you haven't tried Epigoni yet, this is a good opportunity to do so.

They made a Jam for our silly engine! We're still processing this.

As an RPG designer, you should be proud and happy of being no more than an artisan. Leave all the "Artist" posturing to other creative endeavors.

To get our bearings as game #ttrpg authors and producers in this post-tariff environment, we sought the advice of an industry expert. After all, as much as we might be right to complain, it sadly doesn't achieve anything.

Somehow @rascalnews.bsky.social thought it was a good idea to let me ramble about The Soloist Substack, solo RPGs, and why SOLO BORG isn’t just one more way to die alone in a pit. By @chasecarter.bsky.social. Read it here: www.rascal.news/solo-borg-se...

Do you know what no one asked for? A new engine for your tabletop escapades. So we delivered, in a way? Pressure12 is a cool, lean, and mean #ttrpg framework for solo and one-page games. It is absolutely free in every sense of the word. Just have a read—it's four pages long for ZERO dollars.

A sneak peek of the setting of Goblindom, the game we've been working on for years (YEARS!) and which will finally be available at the end of May.

I just wrapped the social media plan for Goblindom by @oddplan.itch.io. It’s pure nonsense — deranged goblin shitposts with zero comedic value. This is, without a doubt, my magnum opus.

In our last newsletter, we wrote that adding just a pinch of weird and funny to your table should be (almost) always good. We also took some time to reflect on the role of the Ogre in our shared imagination, and it really is like that Tate fellow, just more adjusted and with a stronger chin.

You might not know this, but we give away a little game every month. All you need to do is subscribe to our newsletter for free, and you’ll receive sweet treats straight in your inbox. Today, we’re offering a delightful #Solo #TTRPG featuring gummy bears and non-Euclidean monsters. Enjoy!

A lot of OSR-adjacent TTRPGs would be infinitely more enjoyable if they didn’t take themselves so damn seriously all the time.

We're so happy to be included in a list of other nine very cool projects. You should subscribe to Patrick's Substack because it's one of the most valuable and informative newsletters in the #TTRPG space.

We have a Substack where we rant about #TTRPG, and, as a token of gratitude for letting us be cranky, we send free new games every month to our subscribers. On Saturday, we'll release a game about Gummy Bears surviving in the horrific factory of Robert Stonka. Yes, it's stupid. No, we don't care.

Better than a horoscope. Better than a personality test. Better than a “Discover your House of gender-critical Wizardry” Quiz. Leave your exciting discussions on Notes behind and take a moment to find your Slime persona. Just stop the video randomly and be amazed by your inner ooziness.

Running all year long! The *third* Forever Open Source game jam. Come contribute not just games (though we love games!) but SRDs, art, music, settings, anything that helps people create or play TTRPGs! Explore a world of open gaming: itch.io/jam/forever-... #TTRPG #GameJam

Our last Substack explores goblins' hidden, scary significance in pop culture. (Also, a free rollable table, because why not?)

Are we the only ones stunned by game manuals of 160+ pages, where the core rules and setting take up sixty pages, and the rest consists of essays or advice for GMs that are clearly off-target for your experienced audience? Sometimes, it feels like buying ham, sold by the ounce.

Our last free TTRPG is out today. It's about, well, cookies committing crimes. … There's not a lot more to add. … So, download it if you're itching to play biscuits with bad attitudes.

"Are your games political?" they asked us. Yeah, sure. Not that we have a choice. Everything you do is political. Life is like a good RPG: every choice counts and says something about you.

Imagine us offering you this deal for a game: You retain all rights. We cover all production costs. After it breaks even, you get paid per copy sold. The project will be promoted as Oddplan. The game will be released under C.C. 4.0. If a publisher acquires the game, we take a 10% cut. Yes? No?

Our next full game will be a fiction-first game about puny goblins, sleazy heists, and unexpected evolutions. The first part of the making of recounts a very Seinfeldian scene with a publisher that made us laugh, even though there was really nothing funny about it.

We have some doubts about #Zinequest. It would be good if you could tell us how wrong we are.

Our Bloodbornesque solo #ttrpg about, well, delivering pizza is out. It's also free, which is always a good thing.

Tomorrow, we’re releasing our first Solo TTRPG. We’re starting small with a one-page game that combines the two things we love most: pizza and Bloodborne. It will be available exclusively on our Substack for a month, and then we’ll probably hide it out of shame. Who knows?

Our most political TTRPG (yet!) is out in your favorite store. It looks like a bootleg Mage game with a proprietary game system, yet there's much more under the surface. It's PWYW, which means it's free for most of you; you should have a look at it just for the gorgeous illustrations.

In our new TTRPG, you can bend reality with a gesture, pulling at the torn Weave revealed before you. There is a cost: the more you manipulate Fate’s strings, the more reality fixates on you, leading to a spiraling of improbable events as the world tries to rewrite itself to stop your influence.

Our brains when we need to produce new TTRPG stuff every month: "Sure, EZ." Our brains when we need to conjure some bullshit on Bluesky: "THIS IS DIFFICULT. WE HATE IT. WE HAVEN'T A SINGLE OUNCE OF CREATIVITY HERE."

On our Substack, we publish a newsletter sharing our unsolicited opinions about the world of TTRPGs and pop culture in general. To compensate, we always include a little playful gift. Take a look at yesterday's issue if you'd like!

After what felt like an eternity, we're finally wrapping up Godnet Database, the second sourcebook for Epigoni. What started as a simple Bestiary has become a massive compendium. We put more than 80 new illustrations—an unreasonable madness for which we'll probably answer to the law someday.

Our team consists of people who, for various reasons, have been deemed difficult to work with by the upper echelon of the Italian TTRPG industry. Despite this, we've produced 4x their output in six months with no budget. For a bunch of 'unmanageable' folks, we manage ourselves just fine.

"Yep, that’s right: the Gods exist. All of them. Yes, every single one. All the Myths, all the Legends, all the stories you’ve ever heard and even the many that never reached your ears, they exist and they’re among us. And they all have one thing in common: fear. They’re afraid of people like me."

After years of disappointment in the RPG industry, we formed a collective of veterans and newcomers at the start of 2024, aiming to create what we love and make it accessible to as many players as possible.

The beauty of all-digital games is the ability to easily edit, improve, and iterate on the product without waiting for reprints. We made some cool additions and added a much-needed Creative Commons license.

“No Politics” is always a red flag, even when defending your tabletop business