Tag Archives: magpie games

Metatopia 2018 Report – Part 6: Rapscallions

Per usual with all Metatopia recaps, everything presented here is based on playtest material and not final published versions.

Day 2, continued

Rapscallion by Evanleigh Davis

Presented by Evanleigh Davis

Rapscallion playtesters
Around the table: Evanleigh, Jack, Melissa, Adrian, Corinne, and Rob

This was both my luckiest game of the convention (to find; my rolls were terrible!) and the most fun session I played in. I say luckiest because I wasn't previously familiar with the designer, but let's be real; it's rare indeed that I ever have a bad time at a game at this con. Besides just being immediately taken with the name "Rapscallion," I was also attracted to the description of swashbuckling adventure pirates. The game definitely delivered on that and more!

This one is another Powered by the Apocalypse game, and the playbooks and moves all fell within that familiar structure. A standout for me was that the crew's ship gets its own sheet, as well, with one of a selection of different types available at chargen. There's a small amount of worldbuilding in the pregame, but it's mostly just deciding broadly on a setting (which is tied to choosing a ship). The playbooks were all exciting and evocative, and players immediately get a good idea of what this game is about.

And it's about a lot! There's a base of high-adventure seafaring, for sure, but it also includes a slew of fantastical elements like weird magic. For our own session, we chose an airship-based option for the setting, and we wound up sailing the skies basically in a gondola supported by a gigantic floating jellyfish-like creature. There was a ship chase, boarding, swordfights, dark magic, cyclops romance, hat-stealing...just an overall fun time.

This is definitely a game to watch out for. There's more info to be found on the Rapscallion RPG Facebook page, and you can see some of Evanleigh's illustration work here. Latest word is that this game got picked up for publication by Magpie Games, so keep an eye out for it!

Metatopia 2018 Report – Part 4: Root RPG

Per usual with all Metatopia recaps, everything presented here is based on playtest material and not final published versions.

Day 1, continued

Root RPG by Brendan Conway/Magpie Games

Presented by Brendan Conway

Root RPG playtesters
Around the table: Rob, Alex, Kevin, Brendan, Sam, and Glenn

You may or may not be familiar with the board game Root, possibly the cutest wargame ever. This was an early playtest of the RPG adaptation of that game. It's based on a Powered by the Apocalypse system, and we focused mostly on chargen and a brief adventure, so there's not a lot to go over as far as mechanics. One interesting piece that jumped out at me is that there is a sort of extra type of basic move that's tied to equipment, so you can do moves particular to carrying a dagger vs. a large sword, for example.

As PbtA games tend to do, this game did a good job supporting its story genre, which I felt focused on a kind of action-espionage feel as part of an ongoing war. Like other games based on existing properties, this also has a lot of built-in setting, but none of it should be glaringly unfamiliar; the characters are anthropomorphic woodland creatures. It was a fun session with no shortage of action or hijinks, and I think it makes a great basis for some good, clean action-fantasy fun.

As I said, this was a pretty early playtest, so I imagine it will be in development a while yet (latest word is a Kickstarter scheduled for mid-2019), but you can keep up with it by keeping an eye on Magpie Games.