Explorers of the Weird Unknown is a pickup and play Table-Top RPG where players incarnate scientists exploring alternate realities that are procedurally generated by the Game Master. Each game is unique and never the same twice, inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1930's!
Genre: Table-Top RPG
Engine: The greatest engine...imagination!
Roles: Solo designer
Play it now on itch.io: Explorers of the Weird Unknown
Download the Game Design Document (in french): Explorers of the Weird Unknown - GDD
I aimed at creating a simple to learn and simple to play table-top RPG
As the forever Game Master of my gaming group, I know it is hard to create exciting worlds on the spot, therefore I created tools to help Game Masters to procedurally generate a plethora of worlds for players to explore
Design philosophy of "Fast to play, easy to master"; rolls are simplified and every game mechanic is readily available on the character sheet for reference during the play session
Rolls are player faced, liberating the Game Master to concentrate on the fiction first
Exploration of an infinite multiverse, where the Weird and the Unknown mash-up to create unique worlds and a unique mechanic
Simplified yet deep mechanics
4 Archetypes are available for the player characters
Soldiers are strong omnipotent warriors
Engineers use their wits and their multitool
Scientists have higher intellects and can use Artefacts
Jack of All Trades are rounded and versatile in all situations
Everything a player needs to play the game is indicated directly on their character sheet
A brief summary of the rules are at the top right corner
Everything is color coded to help them learn the game rapidly, as an extra step, icons that represent the skills are represented clearly
The Multiverse is vast, unpredictable and dangerous
Every time players roll a "1" (a critical hit), something helping happens
Every time players roll a "20" (a critical failure), something hindering happens
To randomize and create edge of your seat situations, the Game Master asks of the player that rolled a 1 or a 20, to roll an additional D20
The Game Master could decide on the spot what happens, but in order to help him and have a more balanced choice, they are encouraged to use the Weird Unknown Table provided with the rules booklet
A boon could augment the defense of a player, spawn an ally from an other world to help them or have their health completely restored
Something bad could be an precious item breaking or malfunctioning, additional creatures could spawn through a breach and attack the players, etc.
In playtests, this rule kept the players engaged throughout and on the edge of their seat as anything could happen at any moment, creating emergent situations that were simply epic!
In order for the Game Master to create unique worlds, a simple mechanic is used using the World Generator Table
The Game Master makes between 5 to 7 D20 rolls and validates the results against the World Generator Table
Thus creating: an Era in which the players are sent, an overall Theme, determing the Dominant Species, determining the Challenge they will be facing as well as the Threat(s) and the Level of those threats.
Example of a world would then be:
A Prehistoric era with a Pirates theme putting Dinosaurs and Undead against one another in a Faction War while a Giant Creature is causing havoc where the players currently exit the portal that lead them there.
This is only one example of the limitless possibilities!
See Explorers of the Weird Unknown in action!