Drowning Moon Studios at Metatopia Online
This weekend, Drowning Moon Studios will be participating in Metatopia Online, where company founder Joie Martin will be co-hosting two panels on Neurodiversity in Analog Games at 3:30 - 4:30pm EST on Saturday, and How to Run Online Live Action Role Playing Games at 11:00AM - 12:00pm EST on Sunday. We’ll also be playtesting three very different games!
On Friday, we’ll be playtesting a brand new digital larp called Charlotte Sometimes from 9 - 11pm EST.
Charlotte Sometimes is a live action roleplaying game for 4 - 15 players lasting approximately 3 hours that is explicitly designed for online play. Players portray friends, enemies and classmates of teenager Charlotte Carmichael who have been invited to a video call after learning of her disappearance. Through half-remembered clues, rumors and secrets, they must piece together what really happened to Charlotte, what she was hiding, and where she has gone.
Content Warning: Subjects such as bullying, domestic/child abuse, mental health and addiction may be touched upon during gameplay. We will be using the safety tools Lines and Veils, and the Caution/Cut system for active calibration, and a post-game debrief will be provided.
We will also be playtesting the Quickstart for Follow Me Down on Friday at 4 - 6pm EST, Saturday at 6 - 8 and 9 - 11pm EST, and Sunday at 3 - 4pm EST. This will be your first look at the Quickstart before the Follow Me Down Kickstarter in February of 2021, and your chance to weigh in on the final form the game will take.
Follow Me Down uses the Powered By the Apocalypse rules system and the tragic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to create an intimate pas de deux of a tabletop roleplaying game. Over the course of several scenes, two players take turns portraying the Greek Fates, creating the story of their characters’ journey through the Underworld as they collaboratively build the couple’s shared history together. While this tale of love and loss may be timeless, the telling is as unique as any who ever dared walk into darkness with nothing more than hope and a song.
Finally, we’ll be playtesting Goblin Market for the first time ever on Friday at 6 - 8pm EST, and on Sunday at 4 - 6pm EST. Goblin Market is set to release in early December. Get a sneak peek of what to expect this weekend.
Goblin Market, a hack of the popular Trophy system, is a tabletop roleplaying game about vainglorious individuals seeking their Heart’s Desire amid the poisonous, jeweled excesses of an otherworldly bazaar. Inspired the Christina Rossetti poem, European folklore, and every warning you've ever heard about making deals with fairies, Goblin Market is explicitly designed for single-session games, where characters journey into a sparkling-but-sinister environment that is actively hastening their Ruin. It is a game where desperate and greedy characters take great risks that might benefit them in the short-term, but will ultimately destroy them in the end. If you like high-tension play where “winning” is ratcheting up the drama, and you love making your characters go out in the most dramatic way possible, then Goblin Market is the game for you.
Note: This game encourages cooperative CvC as part of its design.
Registration and attending games and events at Metatopia Online is completely free, so there's no reason not to participate if you have the time. All events occur in a digital space over a variety of platforms, panels are streamed, and there's a private Discord server where attendees can connect with others in the analog gaming industry. To register for Metatopia Online, please click the link below, and we hope to see some of you this weekend!