Echo Reticent

It would reinforce behaviors that stabilize caloric intake, circadian rhythm, and stress levels. Not because it “wants happiness,” but because volatility produces immunological noise and resource uncertainty.

Survival first.

There's fungi in your gut biome. Imagine that the mycobiome gained sentience and consciously controlled the symbiosis. It wouldn’t seek domination. Its motives follow ecology: keep the host alive, stabilize resources, modulate stress, and avoid immune detection.

#WhatWeBecome

I've gathered some of my game group to help create a new TTRPG.

PCs are symbiotic hosts to an "alien" influence fighting a proxy war of ideologies for the future of the earth... When you're forced to evolve, what will you sacrifice to keep your identity?

#ttrpg #ttrpgdesign

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Overpass Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Overpass
To my mind, one of the saddest places... representing two worlds above and below, both of which barely register on your awareness... If you're here, you're truly in the space between...

open.substack.com/pub/reticent...

Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Back Alley
it's the shortcut, the place for illicit deals, and where to go when you've hit bottom. Lined with refuse and memories people wish they'd forget… it’s a space that offers so much more than just how to get to the next scene.
open.substack.com/pub/reticent...

So, I've made the first tentative steps at building "What We Become", by inviting others to collaborate.

It's a science-fiction TTRPG exploring changing identities.

When you've no choice but to evolve, what parts of you will you sacrifice and what will you keep?

#whatwebecome #ttrpg #ttrpgdesign

Mythos Distortion: Signal and Noise in City of Mist Mythic drift as an information-flow problem

Mythos Distortion: Signal and Noise in City of Mist
A mythical story is trying--desperately--to unfold through the player-characters. So much story filtering through a single human life… There’s bound to be bandwidth problems…

#cityofmist #sonfoak #TTRPG #RPG
open.substack.com/pub/reticent...

ChatGPT recommended
"My Red Goddess" and
Psychosis: Ship of Fools

I'll go search for them after work.

Anyone have experience with either of these?

#ttrpg #myredgoddess #psychosisshipoffools

Transitory Spaces: The Subway Tunnel Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game

Miles and miles of underground tunnels, the arteries of the city. But abandoned spurs and decommission stations mean there's so much potential beyond just getting your PCs to the next scene...

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Subway Tunnel open.substack.com/pub/reticent...

I like the idea of the Shadow in Wraith: The Oblivion. That another player can play a direct voice-in-your-head influence...

Any other games I should look at that have a different player at the table having such an intimate influence on your character?

#ttrpg #wraith #w:to #shadow

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Subway Platform Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game.  Because the subway platform is the first step into the labyrinth tunnels of the underground...  Maybe it's more than just ...

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Subway Platform
Ubiquitous? Yeah. Sometimes creepy, sometimes overwhelming, the Subway platform is a foundational element of many urban centers. Maybe it can be more than just the way to get your player-characters to the next event!

open.substack.com/pub/reticent...

We are starting a game of “Wanderhome.”

I love creepy modern urban fantasy. But right now, I need a break and “pastoral fantasy” just seems lovely.

So, Dorrin Tarn, a half blind Mole Caretaker, tends to forgotten gods in abandoned places. Seems like social and spiritual archeology.

Transitory Spaces: The Bus Stop Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Bus Stop

Taking common places and giving them relevance and insight into how to use them in a tabletop RPG... more than just how you get to the next scene.

Few spaces are quite as potentially liminal as the bus stop.

open.substack.com/pub/reticent...

Transitory Spaces: The Taxi Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game

Encyclopedia Transitoria: The Taxi

We all know what a taxi is.

When the party splits, you might find yourself needing to give your players something to chew on for a little bit.

Even the spaces between the places can add life and strangeness to the mix.

open.substack.com/pub/reticent...

Transitory Spaces: The Elevator Part of the a series of location write-ups you might use in a tabletop game

Transitory Spaces: The Elevator

We all know what an elevator is...

But maybe this'll give some ideas on how to use it in a way that's more than just moving your PCs from one place to another...

#system-agnostic #locations #sonofoak #ttrpg #rrpg

open.substack.com/pub/reticent...