Games

I have written and co-authored a number of games of the tabletop and live-action role-playing variety. If the link doesn’t lead you to a full game, then contact me and see if the materials can be provided.

2016

Die dreißiger und vierziger Jahre (forthcoming)

A freeform game about the 1930s and 1940s in Germany (and in exile). Loosely adapted from Die grosse Liebe, Ehe im Schatten, and Thomas and Heinrich Mann’s biographies. For 4 or 8 players.

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Slayer Cake (With Kat Jones, Parlor Sandbox)

In Metal World, a land where music has magical power, a musical battle ensues between Baby Metal, Glam Rock, Heavy Metal, Emo, Grunge, and *shudder* Doom Metal. WHO WILL BECOME THE OVERLORDS OF ROCK? Heavily inspired by Brütal Legend and Metalocalypse, Slayer Cake will rock. your. world. Players take on the roles of musicians and roadies who must rehearse and perform a variety of rock songs. 10-26 players + 5 gamemasters.

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The Intrepid Seven (2016 – With Jacqueline Bryk, In competition, Fastaval 2016)

Seven survivors of a crashed space colony ship scavenge the wreckage to build their new society. Fortunately, they have the help of their new spouses: each other. The Intrepid Seven is a queer science-fiction game about the first seven days of the creation of new life and civilization by a group of seven survivors. 4-7 players + 1 gamemaster.

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“Something to Drink With That, Sir?” (2016, #Feminism Collection)

This is a game about flight attendants and emotional labor. Exactly 4 players.

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2015

Shadow Carnival (2015 – Hack of Itras By)

My homage to German expressionist cinema, adapted from Itras By. Runs great in 2-hour slots at conventions. Print out Itras By cards before you run it. 3-6 players + 1 gamemaster.

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Maya Deren Discotheque (2015 – 200 Word RPG Contest)

I came up with this freeform while in bed one morning. Good thing there was a contest happening at the same time. 3-5 players.

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2014

Uwe Boll’s Big Gay Wedding (2014 – With Kat Jones, In competition, Fastaval 2014)

Adapted for Fastaval, Uwe Boll’s Big Gay Wedding takes on the wedding film genre, Uwe Boll style. 6-10 players + 2 gamemasters.

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a quiet place in hell (2014 – Out of competition, Golden Cobra contest)

Newly arrived souls in Hell have to contend with the real estate market there. Based on my own real-estate experiences. 4-8 players + 1 gamemaster.

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Blood in the Bayou (2014 – With Kat Jones, Parlor Sandbox)

A larp adaptation of True Blood that also only lasts for hour-long episode increments. Play vampires, werewolves, witches and humans in a chaotic supernatural murder soap opera. 10-20 players +2-4 gamemasters.

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Voyage to Venus, Planet of Death (2014, Parlor Sandbox)

It’s 1970, and Communism has won. Now they’re sending a mission to Venus filled with young cosmonauts who are exploring both outer space… and each other. A sex farce that suddenly turns very serious. The third Parlor Sandbox game. 8-10 players + 2 gamemasters.

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2013

Uwe Boll’s Christmas Special (2013 – With Kat Jones)

As a result of many hours of research, watching Uwe Boll’s films and taking notes, Kat and I came up with a great Sunday morning silly freeform game. About miscasting celebrities in a Christmas special directed by Uwe Boll. What could go wrong? 6-10 players + 2 gamemasters.

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Posthuman’s Progress (2013 – In competition, Fastaval 2013)

Lola rennt / Run Lola Run, the freeform RPG. Plays fast and loose with just about everything. Revisions for a second edition will happen once a larger collection of scenarios based on German film seems on the horizon. 5 players + 1 gamemaster.

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The City of Fire and Coin (2013 – With Epidiah Ravachol, Parlor Sandbox)

Before Swords Without Master and Worlds Without Master were published, Epidiah Ravachol braved the murky muskegs of the larp medium with me. The result? Epic pulp fantasy in a mysterious city full of adventure and danger. The second Parlor Sandbox game. 8-28 players + 2-8 gamemasters.

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2012

Mist-Robed Gate Additional Play Materials (2012)

Shreyas and Elizabeth Sampat’s tabletop RPG is one of my top five of all time and one of the only games that works well with large groups of 7-9. Mist-Robed Gate tells tales of doomed love and fraught relationships that are resolved through kung fu and wirework against beautiful landscapes. After having worked on the extensive filmography for the book, I later generated a few materials for this system that were useful to me at conventions. 6-10 players + 1 gamemaster.
–Play Techniques and Examples
–Temple of the Crimson Flower Scenario
–Mist-Robed Gate Quick Reference

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Metropolis (2012 – Nominated for Best Game Devices at Fastaval 2012)

Metropolis is an American freeform game based on the characters, scenarios and locations found in the eponymous 1927 German silent science-fiction film written by Thea von Harbou and directed by Fritz Lang. One of the key interventions is that players play the part of the City, transforming a larp into something resembling an abstract theater/dance performance. It actually debuted at Intercon K, then went through considerable revision for Fastaval 2012. Along with Nina Runa Essendrop’s Verdens Ende and others, the game helped soft-launch the Blackbox movement in the Nordic countries, as detailed by Martin Nielsen. 6-11 players + 1 gamemaster.

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BloodNet (2012 – With Kat Jones, Parlor Sandbox)

BloodNet is a cyberpunk-vampire larp based on the eponymous 1993 MicroProse adventure computer game. Players take on the role of one of the characters of Manhattan 2094, either eking out a living between cyberspace and reality or trying to rule it all. We mapped out cyberpunk Manhattan on the floor with folders. This was the first Parlor Sandbox game, and the first run had a glorious 5 GM to 11 player ratio. Kat suggested that we have players fill in the content of the folders as they played, which has become a key Parlor Sandbox game mechanic. 6-11 players + 3-5 gamemasters.

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2011

Figurative Destruction [Alpha Testing – 2011]

An action figure-based game started and half-finished for the RPG Solitaire Contest in January 2011. Development can be followed across a couple of blog posts: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
I could be persuaded to get out my action figures and fix the combat system, if someone were to prod me. 1 player.

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2009

Heritage: A Game of Descent and Dissent [Alpha Testing – 2009]

My first tabletop RPG. Simulates a conflict-ridden, three-generation heritage novel like Buddenbrooks or a film like American Pop. Created based on Otherkind Dice, and my own interpretations about how families work. Playable, but the materials are still a little rough. 3-5 players + 1 gamemaster.