Tabletop Roleplaying on Aaron A. Reed

Downcrawl

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

An indie tabletop roleplaying game that helps players collaborate on stories of weird underground empires. I wrote, designed, and laid out the game from start to finish. In fall 2024 I raised over $100,000 via crowdfunding and preorders for a second edition of Downcrawl.

Downcrawl features a number of unique mechanics and systems for helping players be spontaneously creative together. The excerpt below focuses more on writing and worldbuilding; for an example of narrative mechanics design, check out this blog post.

The Zone

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I was commissioned to write an alternate sci-fi setting for this tabletop roleplaying game’s "Book Of Twists." Challenges included re-mixing fixed game elements (the deck of idea cards that come with the game) to tell a different kind of story, and effectively communicating tone and expected play style in a minimal amount of space.

The Spirit of Camp Pinewood

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I was commissioned to write this scenario for Mote, a chat-based multiplayer storytelling platform. Scenarios had to succinctly give players characters, motivations, and integrate with the platform’s affordances for forward momentum.