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Bored Ghost uses tabletop roleplaying games to create stories. Each week we release half of a tale born out a play. From independently published collaborative storytelling games to traditional Role-Playing Games, we try it all to tell stories. These tales and games are experiments.
"The thing that makes me happy is that I know that on Mars, two hundred years from now, my books are going to be read. They'll be up on dead Mars with no atmosphere. And late at night, with a flashlight, some little boy is going to peek under the covers and read The Martian Chronicles on Mars." ― Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles
The nations of Mars bow before the metal city.
Icarus is live on Kickstarter til March 11th, 2019. The game is beautifully crafted. Thanks again to Hunter Books for providing us an in-progress printable set to present before the Kickstarter concludes. We'll have a primer up when the game officially releases. Learn more Here.
The Setup:•Mars based colony civilization, long since out of contact with Earth.
•The Monument in the center of our civilization is a massive moisture gather that branches out in aqueducts to irrigate the farthest outposts of the colonization.
The Characters:Grung Fortnight - (Ken Breese) they/them, Musician and outsider performance artist, part of the kaiju kids movement.
Aluf Klump - (Daniel Kelley) he/him, Whaler Bodyguard and right hand to a political leader in the society.
Sarta MorningStar - (Alexi Sargeant) she/her, Lobbyist for the high rollers of the society.
Angeline Noth - (John Holt) she/her, one of the Welders who modify the metal structures to house more people.
Find Alexi on twitter @alexisargeant and learn more about Alexi Sargeant's work on his website, alexisargeant.com.
Find Daniel on twitter @danieljkelley and learn more about his work at the Center for Technology and Society at the ADL.
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme song is by the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"Mars is far more attractive as an outpost colony for earthlings than the moon is." ― Buzz Aldrin
The nations of Mars bow before the metal city.
Icarus is live on Kickstarter til March 11th, 2019. The game is beautifully crafted. Thanks again to Hunter Books for providing us an in-progress printable set to present before the Kickstarter concludes. We'll have a primer up when the game officially releases. Learn more Here.
The Setup:•Mars based colony civilization, long since out of contact with Earth.
•The Monument in the center of our civilization is a massive moisture gather that branches out in aqueducts to irrigate the farthest outposts of the colonization.
The Characters:Grung Fortnight - (Ken Breese) they/them, Musician and outsider performance artist, part of the kaiju kids movement.
Aluf Klump - (Daniel Kelley) he/him, Whaler Bodyguard and right hand to a political leader in the society.
Sarta MorningStar - (Alexi Sargeant) she/her, Lobbyist for the high rollers of the society.
Angeline Noth - (John Holt) she/her, one of the Welders who modify the metal structures to house more people.
Find Alexi on twitter @alexisargeant and learn more about Alexi Sargeant's work on his website, alexisargeant.com.
Find Daniel on twitter @danieljkelley and learn more about his work at the Center for Technology and Society at the ADL.
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme song is by the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"Slums are always a marvel; how human desperation can seem to warp the very laws of physics." ― Sam J. Miller, Blackfish City
In a super-dense metropolis the dutiful locksmith opens a door that should remain closed.
Lovecraftesque is available at Black Armada games, online game retailers and your friendly local game store. Learn more at our primer.
The Setup:•heroic horror
•Near Future Urban Environment
•Main location: A "Walled City" called Warren Station
•Additional Locations: an Abandoned Blood Bank/Clinic, "Wherehouse" a Mega-Club, and "Street Level" a series of subterranean nutrient farms.
•The Witness: Beat Theremin - A locksmith, they are assigned to maintaining Warren Station. They have deep family obligations and a large extended family all housed in the Warren. After some youthful indiscretion Beat has become very by-the-book in their work.
The Clues:
•A spiked high heel that is dissolving in a green slime
•An antique door knob and lock in the shape of a fish head.
•A pipe grate that has been 'graffitied' to look like a fish's maw
•A giant pile of orange spoor or eggs
•An ancient tome "Moby Dick"
•An etching that altered itself.
•A repeating "Hello, Beat" phrase
•A mushroom covered DJ
Find James Mendez Hodes on twitter @LulaVampiro, and check out his website jamesmendezhodes.com and on mastodon @lula. Find his recently successful Kickstarter for Thousand Arrows here.
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme song is by the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"To condense fact from the vapor of nuance." ― Neal Stephenson
In a super-dense metropolis the dutiful locksmith opens a door that should remain closed.
Lovecraftesque is available at Black Armada games, online game retailers and your friendly local game store. Learn more at our primer.
The Setup:•heroic horror
•Near Future Urban Environment
•Main location: A "Walled City" called Warren Station
•Additional Locations: an Abandoned Blood Bank/Clinic, "Wherehouse" a Mega-Club, and "Street Level" a series of subterranean nutrient farms.
•The Witness: Beat Theremin - A locksmith, they are assigned to maintaining Warren Station. They have deep family obligations and a large extended family all housed in the Warren. After some youthful indiscretion Beat has become very by-the-book in their work.
The Clues:
•A spiked high heel that is dissolving in a green slime
•An antique door knob and lock in the shape of a fish head.
•A pipe grate that has been 'graffitied' to look like a fish's maw
•A giant pile of orange spoor or eggs
Find James Mendez Hodes on twitter @LulaVampiro, and check out his website jamesmendezhodes.com and on mastodon @lula. Find his recently successful Kickstarter for Thousand Arrows here.
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme song is by the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that." — Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)
A retinue from the rose kingdom travel to seek an alliance and peace.
For the Queen is expected to release in 2019. Keep an eye out at Evil Hat Games to get your copy. We'll put up a primer episode when the game is publicly available.
The Queen:
Kindness and love.
The Interview:
We were honored to have Alex Roberts, designer of For the Queen, continue our conversation about design and play. We've compiled links to subjects that were mentioned if you want to take a deeper dive: Find Alex on her website at helloalexroberts.com and on twitter @muscularpikachu Her amazing podcast, Backstory @backstorycast, is on the One Shot network. For the Queen - the landing page for the upcoming release of For The Queen, Alex's latest design published by Evil Hat Games. Star Crossed - Alex's successfully kickstarted game that mailed to backers in Feb 2019 and is published with Bully Pulpit Games. Look for it at your local retailers and online soon! Designers mentioned: Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games, Emily Care Boss, Vincent Baker Games mentioned: LARPs from the Factory, Dialect, Misspent Youth, Burning Wheel, Fiasco, Dread, My Life With Master, Kagematsu, Shock: Social Science Fiction, We Are Here To See The Evil Wizard Kormakur, Last Item on the Agenda, Let's Be Dinosaurs, Nordic LARP
Find Zelma on twitter @zforzelma and instagram @zforzelma and her website kelseyhercs.com for more information on her playwriting and performance work. Check out her latest performance running mid-February 2019 at the Kraine Theatre in NYC Feb 11th, 12th and 14th: Find Tim on twitter @dicefoodlodging and Tim's Mobile Fiasco App for iOS on iTunes, and for Android on Google Play. You can find his game company at GalileoGames.com
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme comes from the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought." — Edmund Spenser (The Faerie Queene)
A retinue from the storm kingdom travels to seek an alliance, or to demand surrender.
For the Queen is expected to release in 2019. Keep an eye out at Evil Hat Games to get your copy. We'll put up a primer episode when the game is publicly available.
The Queen:
Unknowable and eternal.
The Interview:
We were honored to have Alex Roberts, designer of For the Queen, sit with us for a conversation about design and play. We've compiled links to subjects that were mentioned if you want to take a deeper dive: Find Alex on her website at helloalexroberts.com and on twitter @muscularpikachu Her amazing podcast, Backstory @backstorycast, is on the One Shot network. For the Queen - the landing page for the upcoming release of For The Queen, Alex's latest design published by Evil Hat Games. Star Crossed - Alex's successfully kickstarted game that mailed to backers in Feb 2019 and is published with Bully Pulpit Games. Look for it at your local retailers and online soon! Designers mentioned: Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games, Emily Care Boss, Vincent Baker Games mentioned: LARPs from the Factory, Dialect, Misspent Youth, Burning Wheel, Fiasco, Dread, My Life With Master, Kagematsu, Shock: Social Science Fiction, We Are Here To See The Evil Wizard Kormakur, Last Item on the Agenda, Let's Be Dinosaurs, Nordic LARP
Find Zelma on twitter @zforzelma and instagram @zforzelma and her website kelseyhercs.com for more information on her playwriting and performance work. Check out her latest performance running mid-February 2019 at the Kraine Theatre in NYC Feb 11th, 12th and 14th Find Tim on twitter @dicefoodlodging and Tim's Mobile Fiasco App for iOS on iTunes, and for Android on Google Play. You can find his game company at GalileoGames.com
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme comes from the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul." — Pablo Neruda
The gods of darkness and the earth wish to maintain control on creation, but the host of light stand in their way.
This colony base with its military mission teeters on the edge of disaster.
To learn more about how Follow is played check out our primer episode.
Quest: The GodsA generational colony ship has been sent to do an end run around the inhabited worlds of a species the humans of Earth have declared war upon. They are tasked with establishing a colony as a beachhead to launch attacks on the enemy flank. An engineering team has been sent in a smaller ship, the Lightbearer-Alpha just ahead of the colony ship to establish the infrastructure for the landing.
The challenges: Hostile Megafauna in an Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere as well as Dissent & Disagreement amongst the team.
The Characters:
(Ken Breese) Main Character: Stratocaster (god of math and music) - A cloud of equations and musical notes.
Minor Character: Wool Warsh (the Demigod, ferry-man of Death)
(Christopher McFarland) Main Character: Morgus (the god of Excess & Surplus) - A massive hungry god.
Minor Character: Yuri (a mortal granted immortality by touching the godhead)
(John Holt) Main Character: The Veil (the god of shadows) - A veiled god, the bringer of death.
Minor Character: Dulcet (the demi-god huntress)
(Zach Norton) Main Character: Synapse (the god of connections) - A god of humming energy.
Minor Character: Yardik (the spawn brother of Morgus) The Challenges:
(1) Close the gate to the light - a 12 year task (2) Destroy a line of hero kings - a 7 generation task (3) Forge a new land for our chosen - a brief task
Find Zach Norton on twitter @Zmichaelnorton
Find Christopher McFarland on stage and in Jessica Jones on Netflix
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme song is by the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle." — Francis of Assisi (The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi)
The gods of darkness and the earth wish to maintain control on creation, but the host of light stand in their way.
This colony base with its military mission teeters on the edge of disaster.
To learn more about how Follow is played check out our primer episode.
Quest: The GodsA pantheon of gods has survived the last destruction of their world and now seek to gain support from the mortals they rule over.
The challenges: The mortals resent us and monsters destroy our creation, we destroy them but still they rise.
The Characters:
(Ken Breese) Main Character: Stratocaster (god of math and music) - A cloud of equations and musical notes.
Minor Character: Wool Warsh (the Demigod, ferry-man of Death) (Christopher McFarland) Main Character: Morgus (the god of Excess & Surplus) - A massive hungry god. Minor Character: Yuri (a mortal granted immortality by touching the godhead)
(John Holt) Main Character: The Veil (the god of shadows) - A veiled god, the bringer of death. Minor Character: Dulcet (the demi-god huntress)
(Zach Norton) Main Character: Synapse (the god of connections) - A god of humming energy. Minor Character: Yardik (the spawn brother of Morgus)
Find Zach Norton on twitter @Zmichaelnorton
Find Christopher McFarland on stage and in Jessica Jones on Netflix
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme song is by the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one's arms around a side of beef." ― Tom Stoppard, Arcadia
The beast lopes across the face of a barren world. An entire civilization festers beneath its skin. To learn more about how Downfall is played check out our primer episode.
The Haven:
The Glorge is a gargantuan creature of flesh that lumbers blindly, on multiple limbs, across the face of the world. In the dripping moist layer, between the thick folds of its skin and its oily pulsing muscle and flesh, an entire society has formed.
The Traditions:
Birth: Everyone in the haven can carry offspring and become pregnant. It is a little strange to not be pregnant. The spheres in their bodies of developing children are mirrored in the symbol of the cornucopia spilling grapes and fruits that is ever present in the iconography of the culture.
Communication: The common greeting is to make out with the person you're greeting. In this ritual you also exchange a metallic lozenge with a name etched on it. These are referred to as candies.
Justice: Secrets are the currency of the society. An entire 'secret' police force and the encouragement of gossip makes information a commodity and a liability. This behavior is encouraged by the allocation of sweet vat-grown tongue meat.
Death: A death that explores the heights of delicious pain and pleasure is a good death. There is an oil derived from growths plucked deep from the Glorge that offers altered and heightened perception and is used exclusively for death seeking.
Entertainment: The coming-of-age ceremony begins when the brood of children reaches the age of consent and partakes in a race into the depths of the Glorge to retrieve the largest cysts. The victor is named Master of Flesh and the others who survive the ordeal are granted a name etched metal 'candy' lozenge.
Relationships: It is forbidden to make emotional connections to others. People play games where they toy with others to make them have an emotional attachment. The only way to ceremonially purge this is to grow a vestigial heart and present it to the object of affection.
The Characters:
The Hero: Sheer, a Feel Agent for the secret police, has heightened senses in their tongue. They are a bit different in the society in that they have empathy that draws them towards reciprocation instead of playing games with other people's emotions.
The Fallen: Master of Tongues, the leader of the secret police, seeks to maintain their control on the society.
The Pillar: Bloom, a peer from the same trial as the hero, works in the processing of the psychotropic Oil Macabre.
Find D on twitter @mxnurd
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme comes from the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
"People who live in society have learnt how to see themselves, in mirrors, as they appear to their friends. I have no friends: is that why my flesh is so naked?" ― Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea
The beast lopes across the face of a barren world. An entire civilization festers beneath its skin. To learn more about how Downfall is played check out our primer episode.
The Haven:
The Glorge is a gargantuan creature of flesh that lumbers blindly, on multiple limbs, across the face of the world. In the dripping moist layer, between the thick folds of its skin and its oily pulsing muscle and flesh, an entire society has formed.
The Traditions:
Birth: Everyone in the haven can carry offspring and become pregnant. It is a little strange to not be pregnant. The spheres in their bodies of developing children are mirrored in the symbol of the cornucopia spilling grapes and fruits that is ever present in the iconography of the culture.
Communication: The common greeting is to make out with the person you're greeting. In this ritual you also exchange a metallic lozenge with a name etched on it. These are referred to as candies.
Justice: Secrets are the currency of the society. An entire 'secret' police force and the encouragement of gossip makes information a commodity and a liability. This behavior is encouraged by the allocation of sweet vat-grown tongue meat.
Death: A death that explores the heights of delicious pain and pleasure is a good death. There is an oil derived from growths plucked deep from the Glorge that offers altered and heightened perception and is used exclusively for death seeking.
Entertainment: The coming-of-age ceremony begins when the brood of children reaches the age of consent and partakes in a race into the depths of the Glorge to retrieve the largest cysts. The victor is named Master of Flesh and the others who survive the ordeal are granted a name etched metal 'candy' lozenge.
Relationships: It is forbidden to make emotional connections to others. People play games where they toy with others to make them have an emotional attachment. The only way to ceremonially purge this is to grow a vestigial heart and present it to the object of affection.
The Characters:
The Hero: Sheer, a Feel Agent for the secret police, has heightened senses in their tongue. They are a bit different in the society in that they have empathy that draws them towards reciprocation instead of playing games with other people's emotions.
The Fallen: Master of Tongues, the leader of the secret police, seeks to maintain their control on the society.
The Pillar: Bloom, a peer from the same trial as the hero, works in the processing of the psychotropic Oil Macabre.
Find D on twitter @mxnurd
Find John on twitter @LordJoho
Find Ken on twitter @Berlingsbeard
Follow us on twitter @boredghostworld
Our Bored Ghost theme comes from the amazing Pat Cupples, see his band website Hotels and Highways.
Bored Ghosts we hope you found some distraction from your eternity in the void this week!
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