TTRPG – Ms. Bella's World

2–3 minutes

I love trying out many different games, and my Steam library is populated by numerous RPGs and survival games. Yet, amongst those are a handful of programs that I find fun or useful. One of those programs is RPG Stories by Brave Alice Games.

This program is a Virtual Tabletop (VTT) 3D worldbuilder created to allow you, the GM, to create settings for your fantasy, horror, or Sci-Fi TTRPG. It features tools and models to build whatever you want.

Do you need a haunted forest with an abandoned witch’s shack in the middle? You can make that. Want to create a town with a large inn for your adventurers to congregate and plan their next adventure? Go for it. Need a far-future sci-fi setting for your gritty war adventures? You can do that too.

The program, despite being early access, already has an array of models and building places to choose from. You can place them where you want, scale them to fit, mix them with other pieces. There’s also a wide variety of clutter pieces, from tables and chairs to small bric-a-brac to populate shelves and more. And if the program doesn’t have quite what you’re looking for, the community may have it as there’s an active workshop where people add creations, some of them impressive in their own right.

Beyond the building itself, you can import a 2D map of a campaign setting and use it as a template to create the 3D version.

I’ve tinkered with it, creating a large inn, and the controls were easy to use once I figured out what they were. Once I’m a bit more comfortable with the controls, I’ll even do a couple of quick videos showcasing what can be done with the building features.

Now, a 3D setting is nice, but what good is it if you can’t let your players play in it? Well, you can do that too, if you own the GM version and your players own the player version. The initial outlay for the GM will be $35.98 USD + tax on Steam, while each player copy will cost $18.99 USD + tax on Steam. So, while it’s not the cheapest, it’s not super expensive and doesn’t require monthly subscriptions.

With that, you can use the tools available to add mobs to for your players to fight, interactable objects, and even fog of war so nothing gets spoiled before players get to an area. I’m sure there’s a lot more to this, but I’ve not gotten that far yet.

And, currently, they’re running a Kickstarter for an expansion called VTT Expansion: The Wrath of Devs, which will add procedurally generated scenes, VTT exports, pre-built quests, and more. Depending on if you own the game or not, you can elect to fund just the expansion ($25.00 USD), buy a player version along with funding the expansion ($49.00 USD), buy the GM version + fund the expansion ($73.00 USD), and more.

With the developer’s dedication to constantly updating and adding to this program, I’d say it has potential to be a solid Virtual tabletop for most of your gaming needs. I highly recommend heading over to Steam to check out the demo and see if it meets your gaming needs.

Until next time, bye for now!

2–3 minutes

It’s time for another Creator Showcase, and this gentleman is a master of dice, a Dungeon Master (DM) of great renown, and a lover of old-school tabletop gaming – The Dungeon Delver.

I came across The Dungeon Delver, or Bill, over a year ago when Wizards of the Coast dropped a nuke on their reputation by making some undesirable changes to the Open Game License (OGL). These changes angered the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) community and, while they’ve since rolled back most of the changes (for now), the anger and distrust they garnered continues to simmer to this day.

While I haven’t played any tabletop games in decades, I do keep my eye on it as perhaps one day I’ll feel ready to try again. However, I do have many RPGs, a few even D&D branded and the OGL news and aftermath were of some interest to me.

Thus I was searching for straightforward news on the topic when I came across a video by Bill. His was a no-nonsense look at the situation from the perspective of someone who had played tabletop games for decades and known the late Gary Gygax. On top of clearly being knowledgeable and loving the topic he spoke of, he was a huge fan of old-school tabletop gaming, especially games like 1st edition D&D and Gamma World.

Of course I had to watch more and learn what I could. What were the differences between the new D&D vs. the original version? What exactly was Gamma World? I’d heard of it but I didn’t have the first clue.

It turned out that not only does he have informative videos on D&D and other tabletop news of interest, but he holds livestreams where he talks old game modules, regales his audience with tales from his past, and even runs various games’ sessions on his channel. He is a treasure trove of information and his streams draw a group of fun people to listen to and chat with. I was welcomed, despite not playing myself, and I have since had fun watching and learning. His streams even conclude with a catchy little song about owl bears that I frequently stay until the very end to listen to.

Aside from Bill being a fun DM, the various players all bring distinct styles of play to the table which means each game session is fresh with unexpected things happening.

So, if you’re a fan of TTRPGs and curious about old-school games, or already a fan and looking for a like-minded community of gamers, then I highly recommend The Dungeon Delver. Check him out.

Until next time, bye for now!