I was really excited to play this once I heard of it, it's a really rad concept! The layout is very lovely, and hits the vibes incredibly well! Very nice job on translating survival horror into a solo TTRPG! I love the inventory system especially, here.
Always a fan of body horror too :)
Couple questions!
1- I'm not sure exactly how CONTINUE works? Like, when you enter a PLACE, you roll to see if THEY appear. This implies that if THEY don't...that I can move to explore more PLACES until THEY appear, is that correct?
Or am I supposed to like, face THEM again after I finish with a PLACE, even if the roll didn't have THEM appear?
2- If THEY appear when entering a PLACE, does that cancel whatever would've happened in that PLACE?
3- When it comes to inventory items, what happens when they're used? Like, do they go back into the stack or are they gone forever? Like...is there a limited amount of each item for the entirety of the game?
4- Similarly, does the LODGE have limited stock?
5- Are PLACES limited, too? If you manage to, say, find all 7 LODGES before you get the COMPASS, do you never find them again? LOCKED DOORS especially-- as you need exactly 7 for the escape, and there are 7 tokens total. Is escape not possible if you lose a single LOCKED DOOR?
6- Do KEYS take inventory slots? Or do we just write them down?
As a note of feedback, if I may-- I think there's something really cool here that I'd love to play, but I can't help but feel as if I only have like...70% of the rules? If that makes sense? There are significant gaps where rules are not wholly explained or elaborated on that left me confused-- a few were answered by other comments here, and I asked the big ones I had above.
Like it's clear you're cooking something great here but like, it's just not all written down. I don't know if I actually played the cool thing you made correctly! I want to play the way you intended!
Either way I wanna see you continue to make cool stuff! And, you made me realize a Very Smart thing for one of my WIPs-- the size you printed the inventory tokens at gives a wide margin so that even if they're not cut to atom-precision-- they still fit in inventory slots! Smart!
I would totally have made the cutouts for my WIP too big if I hadn't gotten to see how someone else handled theirs first! Thanks!
Hi! Cool game! I have a few questions though because I keep dying lol.
1) How are you supposed to start? Are you fighting THEM right at the get go? Or rolling for a place?
2) If you miss one of three shots and FIRE AGAIN, do you fire three shots again or only one shot?
3) Is WHAT REMAINS only for when you make THEM fall or is that used also when you enter a room?
4) Can you reload all your bullets in one move or only one bullet at a time?
5) I didn’t realize that I wasn’t supposed to map out the place if I didn’t have the compass until I read the other comment on here. Also, if a room is considered empty once visited, what use is backtracking? Is it for the locked rooms? And do you need to roll for THEM when revisiting a room?
6) Less of a question and more of a suggestion. I was defs very confused at first and would have loved some kind of introductory blurb to explain how to read the rules and especially where to start.
7) One more suggestion would be to put the text of the items and places on or next to each image in the cutouts. The art is cool, but hard to remember what each image represents on a glance.
I really like all the vibes though and will try it out some more!
1) You start by fighting THEM immediately. The intention was for players to start playing the moment they read the game.
2) You fire 3 Shots in a burst each time with your Pistol and the Three Kings. The only exception is when you have less than 3 Shots loaded. So you will fire the remaining Shots instead (1 or 2). This can happen if your total ammo for a gun is at an odd number.
3) WHAT REMAINS can only be found and picked after making THEM fall. Under PLACES, each new place you enter will have its own list of items or effects. Some of these items are the same ones you see in WHAT REMAINS. If you mean entering a Room under the list of Places given, you can choose to add either 1 Shot or 1 Skin into your Inventory.
4) You reload all your Shots at once. The game won't stop you from reloading less. But it would not be wise.
5) I split my answer for this in two parts for backtracking and revisiting Places:
Backtracking is useful when you want to keep track of important Places. Especially Lodges to keep yourself topped up, Locked Doors to work towards Masks and Boxes you plan to open later with Shanks to avoid THEM.
You roll to face THEM when you revisit a Place the same way you would when you enter a new one. This also applies when a Place becomes Empty. If an Empty room feels too risky, charting a new route around it might be better. But this can also have its own costs. If you're uninjured and need to restock at a Lodge with an Empty Place in the way for example, taking the shortest route could be safer than taking a detour with more Places in the way.
6) This is definitely a common problem I'm seeing from first reviews! There is a short preamble on the last page of the game right now. But it does not explain much. I plan to add a better introduction to help players get into play better in the next big update.
7) That's a good suggestion. I'll try to add labeled cutouts for accessibility.
And this was not in the questions but I notice dying quickly happens frequently for players. So I'm considering more options for players to adjust the difficulty for themselves without taking away the challenge facing THEM. Such as a better starting inventory and more risk-vs-reward effects.
Thanks for the compliments too. I hope you enjoy your next play!
Thanks for your quick reply! And actually I had another thought about what you said about mapping PLACES. I just assumed you were going from room to room in a straight line. One door in one door out. Could a PLACE have more than two entrances?
Yes. Each Place can be connected side-to-side. So they would have four "entrances". This wasn't communicated to keep the instructions short. So I'm writing a clearer Mapping section next.
Thanks for the feedback! I made some changes to address your questions so the new version (1.3.2) should be helpful.
1) If you missed a hit and immediately have to reload, you will be attacked twice. Once for missing and not immediately taking Them down. And again for reloading and giving Them the chance. If you're having trouble with this, getting a P. Mag might help a lot.
2) You only roll to check if you will face Them when you move into a new Place. The new version has changed the rule to make it more clear.
3) The penalties only happen to your Hit rolls.
4) If you mean "SELL for COIN" under FLESH, this was the old name for currency in a previous version. You collect and use EYES to buy things instead. You can find a small box to keep track of it under the INVENTORY heading.
5) Yes, you can only start tracking and returning to old Places once you get the compass. They will disappear otherwise. The cutouts can be physically printed and cut to keep track of inventory and your map.
For inventory, the items can be placed on your inventory slots. You have a starting limit of 4x4 slots (-1 from your Pistol which cannot be removed) to work with. Note: The Triple King takes up 4 slots!
For mapping, the places can be arranged on a surface or paper to keep track of how things are laid out or connected around you. I realize mapping can be a little obscure. So I will try to make something for that in the next update.
← Return to survival horror ttrpg
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I was really excited to play this once I heard of it, it's a really rad concept! The layout is very lovely, and hits the vibes incredibly well! Very nice job on translating survival horror into a solo TTRPG! I love the inventory system especially, here.
Always a fan of body horror too :)
Couple questions!
1- I'm not sure exactly how CONTINUE works? Like, when you enter a PLACE, you roll to see if THEY appear. This implies that if THEY don't...that I can move to explore more PLACES until THEY appear, is that correct?
Or am I supposed to like, face THEM again after I finish with a PLACE, even if the roll didn't have THEM appear?
2- If THEY appear when entering a PLACE, does that cancel whatever would've happened in that PLACE?
3- When it comes to inventory items, what happens when they're used? Like, do they go back into the stack or are they gone forever? Like...is there a limited amount of each item for the entirety of the game?
4- Similarly, does the LODGE have limited stock?
5- Are PLACES limited, too? If you manage to, say, find all 7 LODGES before you get the COMPASS, do you never find them again? LOCKED DOORS especially-- as you need exactly 7 for the escape, and there are 7 tokens total. Is escape not possible if you lose a single LOCKED DOOR?
6- Do KEYS take inventory slots? Or do we just write them down?
As a note of feedback, if I may-- I think there's something really cool here that I'd love to play, but I can't help but feel as if I only have like...70% of the rules? If that makes sense? There are significant gaps where rules are not wholly explained or elaborated on that left me confused-- a few were answered by other comments here, and I asked the big ones I had above.
Like it's clear you're cooking something great here but like, it's just not all written down. I don't know if I actually played the cool thing you made correctly! I want to play the way you intended!
Either way I wanna see you continue to make cool stuff! And, you made me realize a Very Smart thing for one of my WIPs-- the size you printed the inventory tokens at gives a wide margin so that even if they're not cut to atom-precision-- they still fit in inventory slots! Smart!
I would totally have made the cutouts for my WIP too big if I hadn't gotten to see how someone else handled theirs first! Thanks!
Hey! If you run out of shots, are you able to attack in any way? I assumed no and proceeded to die at the very beginning a dozen times in a row.
I got stuck the same way til I read further— the NOTES bit on the PLACES page in particular offers 2 ways to avoid that trap.
- You can UNLOAD all remaining bullets in your magazine for a guaranteed HIT.
Or
- You can CONTINUE without making THEM FALL and take 2 ATTACKS as a penalty.
Awesome layout and ideas, CABBAGEHEAD team!
Is there any chance that Community Copies could be replenished soon? :D
Community copies have been updated. :)
woohoo!! thank you!!
They you do must not not stop. Fail.
Hi! Cool game! I have a few questions though because I keep dying lol.
1) How are you supposed to start? Are you fighting THEM right at the get go? Or rolling for a place?
2) If you miss one of three shots and FIRE AGAIN, do you fire three shots again or only one shot?
3) Is WHAT REMAINS only for when you make THEM fall or is that used also when you enter a room?
4) Can you reload all your bullets in one move or only one bullet at a time?
5) I didn’t realize that I wasn’t supposed to map out the place if I didn’t have the compass until I read the other comment on here. Also, if a room is considered empty once visited, what use is backtracking? Is it for the locked rooms? And do you need to roll for THEM when revisiting a room?
6) Less of a question and more of a suggestion. I was defs very confused at first and would have loved some kind of introductory blurb to explain how to read the rules and especially where to start.
7) One more suggestion would be to put the text of the items and places on or next to each image in the cutouts. The art is cool, but hard to remember what each image represents on a glance.
I really like all the vibes though and will try it out some more!
Thanks!
Hi! Thank you for the questions.
1) You start by fighting THEM immediately. The intention was for players to start playing the moment they read the game.
2) You fire 3 Shots in a burst each time with your Pistol and the Three Kings. The only exception is when you have less than 3 Shots loaded. So you will fire the remaining Shots instead (1 or 2). This can happen if your total ammo for a gun is at an odd number.
3) WHAT REMAINS can only be found and picked after making THEM fall. Under PLACES, each new place you enter will have its own list of items or effects. Some of these items are the same ones you see in WHAT REMAINS. If you mean entering a Room under the list of Places given, you can choose to add either 1 Shot or 1 Skin into your Inventory.
4) You reload all your Shots at once. The game won't stop you from reloading less. But it would not be wise.
5) I split my answer for this in two parts for backtracking and revisiting Places:
6) This is definitely a common problem I'm seeing from first reviews! There is a short preamble on the last page of the game right now. But it does not explain much. I plan to add a better introduction to help players get into play better in the next big update.
7) That's a good suggestion. I'll try to add labeled cutouts for accessibility.
And this was not in the questions but I notice dying quickly happens frequently for players. So I'm considering more options for players to adjust the difficulty for themselves without taking away the challenge facing THEM. Such as a better starting inventory and more risk-vs-reward effects.
Thanks for the compliments too. I hope you enjoy your next play!
Thanks for your quick reply! And actually I had another thought about what you said about mapping PLACES. I just assumed you were going from room to room in a straight line. One door in one door out. Could a PLACE have more than two entrances?
Yes. Each Place can be connected side-to-side. So they would have four "entrances". This wasn't communicated to keep the instructions short. So I'm writing a clearer Mapping section next.
Hi! I just purchased and had a few questions:
1) If I missed a hit, I get attacked. But if I have to reload, do I immediately get attacked again?
2) When I continue, it says face them on a 6+, do I roll that before or after I check what remains?
3) When scarred, is that -1 to hit rolls or all rolls?
4) There's no spot to record coins, do I just write it anywhere?
Can I only return to places when I have the compass? What do I use the places cutouts for?
Thanks! I'm looking forward to playing.
Thanks for the feedback! I made some changes to address your questions so the new version (1.3.2) should be helpful.
1) If you missed a hit and immediately have to reload, you will be attacked twice. Once for missing and not immediately taking Them down. And again for reloading and giving Them the chance. If you're having trouble with this, getting a P. Mag might help a lot.
2) You only roll to check if you will face Them when you move into a new Place. The new version has changed the rule to make it more clear.
3) The penalties only happen to your Hit rolls.
4) If you mean "SELL for COIN" under FLESH, this was the old name for currency in a previous version. You collect and use EYES to buy things instead. You can find a small box to keep track of it under the INVENTORY heading.
5) Yes, you can only start tracking and returning to old Places once you get the compass. They will disappear otherwise. The cutouts can be physically printed and cut to keep track of inventory and your map.
For inventory, the items can be placed on your inventory slots. You have a starting limit of 4x4 slots (-1 from your Pistol which cannot be removed) to work with. Note: The Triple King takes up 4 slots!
For mapping, the places can be arranged on a surface or paper to keep track of how things are laid out or connected around you. I realize mapping can be a little obscure. So I will try to make something for that in the next update.
I hope you have a good time playing!
Thanks so much!