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Stonetop

Created by penny lantern

A tabletop fantasy adventure RPG centered on a village community.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Stonetop progress report
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 28, 2021 at 10:47:22 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Preview Playkit! Stonetop Discord! What's next!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 07, 2021 at 04:19:30 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

All the thanks
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 02, 2021 at 02:59:42 PM

Introducing: the Judge
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Apr 01, 2021 at 07:34:44 AM

I'm gonna save most of the gushing gratitude and bewilderment for tomorrow. Right now, I just want to introduce our final playback:

Click for a PDF of the Judge playboo,

This was the first playbook that I wrote for Stonetop, and I thought it'd be fitting to post it here last.  As I mentioned in the Kickstarter video, this whole Stonetop thing was originally-originally a D&D campaign, back before I'd ever played Dungeon World or Apocalypse World. One of the players, Brian, made a paladin a named Einion. Einion was based on this mini, with it's big old hammer and book. Brian called the book the "Chronicle of Stonetop."  He gave Einion the title of "Judge." 

This is how traditions get born. 

Fast forward a few years. I started working on Stonetop as a "campaign playset" for Dugeon World, and shared it with a few folks who I'd met on the old Dungeon World Tavern (back in the days of Google+). Michael Prescott said something to the effect of "This is really cool, but the local bean-chewing farmer vibe clashes pretty hard with Titanius the Paladin riding in astride his warhorse, no?"

Damn. I thought. He's right

So I sat down and made a playbook for Einion, that paladin that Brian portrayed, the Judge.  And that led us to here.  

The Judge is a mix of an enemy of chaos, a tough-as-iron tank, a team player, and a lore-keeper. Like the Lightbearer and Blessed, they get to define a lot about the role of their deity, and how she is worshipped in Stonetop. The Judge also gets to define the nature of the Chronicle--no mere book, but an actual place in the village, where the town's records are kept. 

If you're wondering "why doesn't the Judge have a move for passing judgement?" it's because I always thought it was more interesting to give the playbook lots of narrative authority in this regard, but no mechanical weight to back that up. The Judge is great at handling straight-up threats to civilization and agents of chaos. But how well do they handle the heated dispute over the one neighbor's goat who keeps eating the other neighbor's tomatoes? The dice aren't going to answer that, not really.

Anyhow...

I just went digging, and was able to find the first public PDF I'd posted for Stonetop. It included a snippet of the setting overview, a piece of the Steading Playbook, and that first incarnation of the Judge playbook. 

We've come a long way. Jason's been a huge part of that, encouraging me to make the setting weirder and less familiar, to think bigger, to write more clearly and concisely. He took my barebones playbooks and made them into things that I think are gorgeous. He found Lucie, who has made the characters and the world of Stonetop come alive in a way I only dreamed of when I started.  I'm incredibly grateful to both of them. 

But, really, it was the playtesters that pushed this game where it really needed to be. Both the gang who played in my long-running home game, and the dozens of groups who volunteered to play and give feedback--they've all been invaluable in making this game come together. We would be here if it weren't for y'all. 

And of course, we wouldn't be here without all of you, the backers.  

The Judge was always a playbook about community, and Stonetop has always been a game with the community at its heart. 

And here we are.

Welcome to Stonetop, neighbor. 

A look at the GMing procedures, and some actual play
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Apr 01, 2021 at 03:58:55 AM

The final-day push is well underway, and we continue to welcome newcomers to our not-so-small, not-so-isolated village.  Welcome, one and all!

I've noticed that we're piquing the interest of folks who are intrigued by the setting and premise of Stonetop, but who aren't familiar with Powered by the Apocalypse games. It's definitely a style of play that can feel strange if you've never experienced it. 

Even if you're a PbtA veteran, each game comes with it's own agenda, principles, moves, and unique perspective. Stonetop is no different.

So, here's the current draft of the "Running Stonetop" chapter. 

Click for a PDF of the Running Stonetop chapter

This is not the full extent of the GM rules, guidelines, and advice. There are further chapters that look at each of the player-facing moves (rules) in detail, with examples and clarifications and guidance for how to resolve them at your table. There are chapters that get into the types of preparation you might do, and how to run specific parts of the game. But this is the chapter and the framework that the rest of the game is based on.

Some actual play

No amount of reading can perfectly convey what it's like to actually run or play a particular game. And, heck, you might just enjoy watching good old hearth fantasy. 

Hobbes is currently still working on the Annotated Actual Play for Stonetop (the $47.5K  stretch goal). But it's a ton of work, and it'll take time for those to roll out. (Thanks, Hobbes!)

In the meantime, I ran a "long con" of Stonetop a few years ago, as part of the Gauntlet Con online gaming convention. We recorded the sessions and you can find them collected here:

https://spoutinglore.blogspot.com/2018/10/stonetop-at-gauntlet-con-2018.html

Keep in mind that:

  • The rules have evolved a bit since we ran this game, though the general flow of play and structure of the game is still very much the same. 
  • This was an abbreviated form of the usual startup process. Typically, you do a full session 0 during which you make characters, flesh out the village and the world, and otherwise get ready to play.
  • Despite the snazzy lead-in and lead-out cards and soundtrack, I did basically no editing on these. Sound levels are all over the place, and you get to listen to us hum and haw quite a bit. 

With that said, these sessions were a joy to run, and if y'all ever get a chance to play with David, Horst, Taylor, or Greg, you should jump at the chance!   

As always, I'm happy to answer questions!  And that you all sooooo much for your continued support and enthusiasm!


-Jeremy