My Six Favorite Pieces of the TTRPGs For Trans Rights In Texas Bundle

There’s a lot of darkness in the world today. Endlessly doomscrolling through social media can stomp down any desire to fight back or fix things. There are some bright lights, such as the current game bundle raising money to fight for trans rights in Texas.Three hundred creators have donated over five hundred games, playbooks, classes and more to split between proceeds between Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and Organización Latina de Trans en Texas (OLTT). Not only that, Hit Point Press and Solatian Games have offered more free games for anyone willing to show them a receipt of the donation. This bundle has already raised 225,000 USD for these organizations.

That’s a lot of content for a minimum donation of five bucks. I’ve highlighted a few of the included games that are worth the donation. Each of these games is definitely worth that, though if you donate to get the bundle, I encourage you to give more.

Agon​

The first edition of Agon was one of my gateways into the world of indie RPGs. It was a fantastic game of positional combat and evocative rules. The new edition by original creator John Harper (of Blades In The Dark fame) and Sean Nittner pushes the game further as a mythic tale emulator. You and your table are all Greek heroes vying for the favor of the gods, battling legendary monsters…but only one of you will be remembered as the hero of the tale. It’s a fantastic mix of cooperative and competitive storytelling that’s flexible enough to end your epic tales in satisfying non-combat ways.

Alien Armory​

Whenever they mention the Bioweapons Division in Aliens, weapons like the ones in this supplement for Mothership from Nyhur. The illustrations from J.F. Pierra are exactly the kind of gnarly stuff an evil transplanetary corporation has cooking in their black sites. And if you don’t have Mothership, the descriptions and powers are evocative enough that they could show up in all sorts of dark future games like ALIEN or Warhammer 40k.

A Dirty World​

The Talents system powers a wide variety of superhero games, such as GODLIKE or Wild Talents. But it also powers this game of flawed heroes and hopeful villains from Greg Stolze. Film noir is a hard genre to get right in RPGs, but Stolze nails the tone thanks to a system that shifts characters' identities as they play. Just like noir protagonists, the ideals and dreams your characters start with might slip out of their grasp as they take action in a world that looks black and white but is actually many subtle types of gray.

The Things We Leave Behind​

Stygian Fox has created some fantastic modern horror scenarios. The Things We Leave Behind has some of my favorites including Ladybug, Ladybug Fly Away Home involving a complicated hunt for a kidnapped child and Hell In Texas which casts a modern Hell House in a more disturbing light thanks to some “real” occult items used as props. These adventures are built for Call of Cthulhu, but could be run with any modern investigate horror system, like Delta Green or Monster of the Week with a few minutes of modification.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians​

Combat is easy, romance is hard. Thirsty Sword Lesbians hopes to change that with a PbtA system that mixed fighting and flirting in equal measure. The game puts safety tools front and center and has a light, breezy tone that encourages people to have fun while still taking the time to address a challenging subject for many gaming tables. The game also includes several settings full of fast action and high romance.

Shameless Self-Promotion Alert: My interview with creator April Kit Walsh about romance in gaming is available in Wyrd Science, which is also part of this bundle.

Wanderhome​

Wanderhome offers diceless, pastoral fantasy that’s good for getting kids into gaming or for groups that want a break from the usual looting and violence. I’ve gone into depth on this game elsewhere on this very site so this is a great opportunity to form your own opinion on this unique take on anthropomorphic animal adventures.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

UPDATE
So I sent my receipt in to Solarian Games, and they responded very quickly with a download link to a game bundle of their own: the Top Secret NWO game, and the first two mission modules, "The White Queen" and "Rendezvous Oasis." I don't know if all supporters will get the same bundle of rewards, though...perhaps your own rewards will differ?

I also sent my receipt to Hit Point Games, as directed by the itch.io page. I'll let you know what I find out from them when I hear back.

Thanks for the tip about those additional titles. I bought the bundle a couple weeks back, and wouldn't have thought to check that more companies jumped in after the fact. Particularly psyched about the Top Secret NWO PDF. Who can resist a game with Steganography as a skill?

 

[Eyes of Nine]

This is a great bundle because it's all TTRPGs, no video games in there. It's going to be a while for me to go through them all...

 

[Kannik]

This is above and beyond worth it just for Wanderhome alone. Such a delightful game, I love it to bits.

Thanks for the tip about those additional titles. I bought the bundle a couple weeks back, and wouldn't have thought to check that more companies jumped in after the fact. Particularly psyched about the Top Secret NWO PDF. Who can resist a game with Steganography as a skill?

I backed the kickstarter while back; TS was my first RPG all those years ago so I was really excited to get a new version by the original designer! I found the rules and books alas to not be quite fully baked, but it'll be cool to get an additional adventure while supporting this cause.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I backed the kickstarter while back; TS was my first RPG all those years ago so I was really excited to get a new version by the original designer! I found the rules and books alas to not be quite fully baked, but it'll be cool to get an additional adventure while supporting this cause.

Definitely agree with that. The mix of super-specific and "realistic" spycraft jargon and elements with the somewhat pulpy premise doesn't quite work for me. But it's still cool to be able to check it out, and much appreciated. I did think the random tables for vehicle damage and travel in the desert adventure, and the ship layout in the other adventure, were potentially useful.

 

[Lyandelill]

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[Kannik]

Definitely agree with that. The mix of super-specific and "realistic" spycraft jargon and elements with the somewhat pulpy premise doesn't quite work for me. But it's still cool to be able to check it out, and much appreciated. I did think the random tables for vehicle damage and travel in the desert adventure, and the ship layout in the other adventure, were potentially useful.

I bumped less on the combo elements than the rules system/implementation itself and the (lack of coherent) organization of the book.

Though I did like that this was the first game I've seen that modeled interrogation well with a push towards what happens in RL: it's split into two tests, one to see if they answer the questions, and one to see if they answer them truthfully. If you use violence, the first becomes easier, but the second becomes more difficult. Nice to see that included.