Retreat Forward

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge . The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here . Character 3: Mausritter For today's character, I've decided to go paper-and-pencil instead of digital. Mausritter is a delightful little OSR-adjacant game in which you play a mouse adventurer facing the dangers of the wild world. I got to play it at Gamehole Con in 2023 and was greatly charmed by it. Part of what I like about the game is the way it handles inventory. The boxed set comes with little square equipment cards that you have to fit on a grid on your character sheet, much like a video game. The illustrations on each card really reinforce the flavor of being a tiny mouse in a big world. The weapons and armor are made of things like needles, buttons, and thimbles. You can see the item cards in the photograph of this character (below). The Char...

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge . The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here . Character 2: XCrawl Classics My next character is a try at the brand new XCrawl Classics RPG (XCC) from Goodman Games. I’ve been a big fan of DCC since it was first published. I’ve also been a fan of XCC designer Brendan LaSalle since I got to play in a DCC game he was running at GaryCon a number of years ago. If you’re not familiar with XCC, it’s set in a world where dungeon crawling is a competitive sport, broadcast via magical means to entertain the masses in a version of modern America based on the Roman Empire. Think Smash TV / The Hunger Games meets D&D. Every dungeon is a literal competition designed by a Dungeon Judge (DJ). There are sponsorships, character fame, and pro-wrestling finishing moves. The whole thing is ridiculous in the best way po...

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge . The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here . Character 1: Mini Six My first character is for the Mini Six RPG (Bare Bones Edition) from AntiPaladin Games. Mini Six comes up now and then as a suggestion for a quick and simple RPG that still delivers a certain level of mechanical crunch. It’s a streamlined, simplified version of the OpenD6 system, which is itself an IP-neutral version of the old West End Games Star Wars RPG . I’ve played a bit of the Star Wars RPG here and there over the years. The longest run was a short campaign I played in back with the Food Court Gaming Crew in South Korea. While it never really stuck with me personally, I know at least two gamer friends who absolutely swear by West End Games d6. Setting: Duskhollow P.D. For this character, I had a particular setting i...

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge . The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. There aren’t really a lot of rules or restrictions beyond that. I don’t have a really strong plan going into this challenge as far as what sorts of characters I’ll make, or even what RPG systems I'll use. I’m just planning to see where inspiration leads me each day. Making a character is a good way to learn the basics of an RPG, and goodness knows I have a lot of RPG books I’d just love to have an excuse to crack open. Characters January 1: Frank Malone (Mini Six) January 2: "The Ivy League Kid" Johnny Worth (XCrawl Classics)