[#Tabletopthursdays’nt, 06.03.26] Kickstarter News + ISC Staff Explore An ITCH.IO Bundle.
Welcome back to another edition of Tabletop Thursday - it’s been a while! Australians, I’m well aware that this is being posted on Friday evening. You can thank the old laptop rapidly approaching its’ final death-saving throw (with disadvantage) for that.
Neverthelss, here we are! You nerds and geeks are seen, heard and welcomed.
Welcomed back with loving arms, fists extended, many polyhedral dice spilling all over the place.
See below for some Dicey News (tabletop/gaming/hobby news) for cool finds from us about the place, a run-through of an itch.io bundle or two from fellow staffer Elodie Orlando and myself, plus a brief discussion about our Patreon and what to expect in this space.
Support your local FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store)!
On that note, before we continue - shoutout to my FLGS, Guf Geelong.
Great space, good atmosphere, solid selection of TTRPG’s/CG’s/skirmish games, etc. Thanks for hosting our local board game night Guf - cheers!
As Always,
Peace, Love and Tabletopcore - Brady.
Brady’s Gamemaster-Prep Album Of The Week :
[New Thing I’m Trying, ‘Kay?]
Cryptic Shift (UK)
Overspace & Supertime
(Released 27th February via Metal Blade Records)
Progressive/Technical/Experimental Death Metal
FFO: Obscura, Tomb Mold, Demilich, Alarum, Cynic, etc.
Full-Album Stream Link (YouTube):
Synopsis:
I’m painfully aware that there might not always be a clean overlap between my personal music tastes and that of other GMs out there. Additionally, I myself vacillate perpetually between music-with-lyrics being ‘fine’ and ‘sensory overload/cognition nightmare’ when I’m in the mood/need for worldbuilding, session prep, reading a solid chunk of a new TTRPG, etc.
Complex, atonal, challenging and technically proficient to over-the-top-ness at times, I wouldn’t honestly in good faith personally recommend this album to anyone trying to sit down and do tabletop prep TBH!
For me, though, it’s been hitting the spot real nice, all week long. I’m aiming to resurrect the burnout/adult-life-responsibility-Tetris marred Forbidden Lands campaign of mine. With a reasonably decent grasp on mechanics, systems and lore, I’ve got a little more head-room and thus can take on…. weirder stuff.
And this album, folks? This right here is weird. Expanding on from the prior psychedelia-infused theatrical shred-pomp/bad LSD Pink Floyd adventure that is the crushing and ambitious Visitations From Enceladus (one of my favourite prog-death albums of the 2020s thus far, no small feat), Overspace & Supertime veers off into far more jagged, discordant and melodic avenues all at once.
There’s a palpable and immediate Alarum/Cynic feel with the smoothed-out jazzy segues, through to sullen, doomy and reverb-laden bass heavy passages. Between, there’s ample breathing room for ambience, reverb and a wash of effects to help the mindscapes along. It’s evocative in both a soothing and challenging way, which helps ensure my own ADHD-ified game prep has a more kaleidoscopic palette of threads to potentially draw from in-session.
Props to Cryptic Shift for inspiring what may be a more interesting next session than I even bargained for, come Saturday… also, come back and play to us geeks in Australia.
Guaranteed there’s more than a few game-masters in any prospective Melbourne crowd, that’s for sure. Atheismo knows I’m one of ‘em.
Cryptic Shift - LINKS:
Dicey News - Thursday, 5th March 2026:
Tavers RPG Kickstarter (Meow Wolf/Exalted Funeral - Commenced Today):
Quantum Parabox!
There’s nothing theoretical about this deluxe, component rich box set. We’ve collected everything you need to play TAVERS in one beautifully designed container. Within this wondrous sturdy cardstock shell you will find plenty of opportunities for superposition, cosmic entanglements and of course Ossahedrals (dice)!
Includes:
Back the campaign anytime from launch at 10am ET Wednesday March 4th until 11:59pm Friday March 6th and receive FREE 3.5" d8 embroidered patch!
FeatureD:
Checking Out The No ICE in Minnesota Bundle (itch.io):
Trailer Credit: Duncan Robinson.
Link to Bundle (via itch.io)
Now. Before you come in swinging your ‘keep your politics out of muh XYZ’ dick around my blog:
Cry harder,
There’s the door,
Please put some pants on at least, before you fire off with some faux-moderate whimsy.
Settled? Ready to behave? Good.
Art, particularly independent-focussed initiatives like tabletop roleplaying and game design, are inherently baked into the happenings around us. Fortunately for you pretend-centrist ‘Devil’s Advocates’ (massive, cringe-induced eye-roll) - this isn’t a bundle packed with politically-slanted titles, propaganda, etc.
What it is, is a stupidly, ridiculously good-value bundle of over one thousand tabletop/video gaming titles, tools, reference materials, supplements and the like.
All for 10 shiny American dollary-doos, with proceeds going to support the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.
These bundles are stupidly great value, guys. I can’t stress it enough. itch.io bundles of this kind are just too fantastic to pass up.
No Ice in Minnesota itch.io Bundle Trailer:
Bundle Titles That Give Us Emoji-Eyes:
Elodie Orlando:
(Inner-Strength Check/Into The Weird Blue Yonder):
Throwing in yet more free promo for my TTRPG-designing staffer-homie: reminder that her mecha-RPG BRASS Redux exists and is available now. It’s good rules-lite Transformers/Gundam inspired mecha. Not just saying that ‘cause I’m the ISC-Boss.
You click, you look, you buy, you like - right here.
Elodie’s Bundle-Picks:
A game about Soviets dealing with demons, with some killer visual design and art.
Without knowing anything about it, this game is as mysterious to me as the dreamlike campaigns it supposedly supports. I do know, however, that it's positively dripping with vibes, and an Over the Garden Wall inspired campaign is one of my white whales.
[Editor Being Annoying: Haha, White Whales, geddit metalheads?!]
The OG, the Adam & Eve, a pair of games that spawned Belonging Outside Belonging, an engine that has inspired countless games (like Wanderhome)... and if you haven't already heard of Avery Alder, it's time to fix that!!
Multiple Trophy Dark Incursions:
Click below for preview images for: Rosenwald, Chelicerate Queen and The Halls of Valencia Trophy Dark Incursions:
I love me a bit of post-post-OSR gaming, and these are both unique sci-fi takes… apocalyptic punks and the right team for the job? Yes please. FIST even comes with an official expansion in this bundle (and an unoffical one).
Brady’s Bundle-Picks:
I’m approaching the No ICE in Minnesota with the ISC blog in mind, and I need to at least sometimes neuter my over-inclusive/over-explanatory writing style.
To that end, the titles below are just some I plan on playtesting and reporting back on through both regular blog/podcast content, as well as some Patreon-exclusive bonus content in future.
Trust me when I say the full list is way beyond the scope of this article! As mentioned before, this bundle is truly jam-packed.
It could be growing up wedged between hinterland and coast. Might’ve been due to the influence of my very-hippie Mum with her love of naturalism, nature, animals and the natural sciences. Either way, I’m forever a sucker for any TTRPG titles that explore biology, ecology and the like with more of a pointed thematic vision.
I really like the Black and White god-game type of deal we’ve got going on here, with the title focussing on the creation of ecosystems and using rolls to explore the interaction of symbiotic flora/fauna within said environment.
Cool idea! Definitely one I’m keen to trial, playtest and write up on further.
Much to the chagrin of fellow staffer and DnD 5e campaign DM of… 7? 8 years? (Dean Underhill), my tastes in ‘roll a new character’ tend to vacillate between either stock-standard MMO-healer, or just whatever super-neurodivergent edgelord concepts my melted-cheese brain concocts before the next session.
No DM will be harmed in the playing of this rules-lite (dexterity-based? hmmm) solo RPG zine, though, and I’m always really intrigued by both gaming and tabletop titles that have the oft-backgrounded healer as a central archetype.
Aforementioned neurodivergence also makes me incredibly clumsy, so I kind of feel like playtesting something as the worlds’ least dextrous man will be super-fun content-fodder for you guys. Interesting take on skill checks for sure!
Images matter, and the gorgeous artwork above had me initially both intrigued and heavily misdirected. Specifically, I was expecting more of a full-blown steampunk affair until my cursory read-through.
Don’t get me wrong - I love a lot of aspects of steampunk, particularly settings informed by the genre/trope. Ghibli, Eberron, the Dwemer in the Elder Scrolls series, etc. But any mention of steampunk also evokes imagery of sweaty ‘genteelmen’ creeping on either cosplayers at cons or goth girls in nightclubs, pocket-watch, fedora and faux-British mannerisms included.
Aetherway has a very steampunk/intraplanar feel to it, but I like its’ focus on traversing a range of different planets. Also, big up-sell for me from this opening paragraph:
“Hit the road between worlds with a black cat, a clockwork assassin, a fallen star, and a pilgrim who huffs the ashes of a dead saint. Deliver lumber to communist skeletons living on the back of a gargantuan crab. Ride a comet to a party in the skull of a cosmic god that was converted to condos.”
Thank you, Jason Tocci, for injecting enough hallucinogenic weirdness into your title! Colour this steampunk-cynic intrigued.
Additional resources:
(via the above page, courtesy of organisers)
Know Your Rights - ACLU has put together a webpage with scenarios surrounded ICE
Red cards - Immigrant Legal Resource Center has red cards translated into 39 languages which you can print at home
Want do to more? Create a tiltify fundraiser for ACLU or directly donate to Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, Unidos Minnesota, or CAIR Minnesota. You can also support a TTRPG focused raffle supporting Minnesota Freedom Fund.
inner-strength check - links:
If you’re interested in the prospect of bonus podcast episodes/articles, prizes and giveaways, Member shoutouts, a chance to contribute to future ISC content, private community chats and more - consider heading on over to the Inner-Strength Check Patreon!
ISC is entirely volunteer run/led, and we don’t take on any paid advertising in either blog, podcast or on our other platforms. Just $5AUD/month is all that’s needed to become a Riff Nerd (Member), but if you’re doing it tough we also have free-tier membership with general access chats, updates and more.
Hope to see you there soon!
Thank you to our existing Riff-Nerds:
Jason Grubb
Kelly
Kaza
Curtis Fern
