Whimsy Machine

@whimsymachine.bsky.social

564 Followers 311 Following

he/him, makes games, writes stories. https://whimsymachine.media

A Meiji period painting of a gray cat with a colorful scarf crouched on the floor and watching a spider from around a door. The painting is titled "Cat Watching a Spider" and is taken from MET Open Access gallery.
A white and grey cat curled up sleeping by a blanket on the couch.
A badge icon featuring a picture of a light gray cat biting the back of a black and gray cat who has his mouth open. The text reads "Prey Drive: Features chasing, hunting, or playful fighting."
A badge icon featuring a fluffy orange cat. Text reads: "Extra Fluffy. Includes soft, cozy, and gentle themes."
An ad graphic titled "Solo Tabletop Bundle". The graphic contains thumbnails from all games included. Text reads: "39 games" and "only $12."
A screenshot from the ebook version of The Once and Future King. The text reads: Merlyn wrung his hands. "Well, anyway," he said, "suppose they did not let you stand against all the evil in the world?" "I could ask," said the Wart. "You could ask," repeated Merlyn. He thrust the end of his beard into his mouth, stared tragically at the fire, and began to munch it fiercely.
Page 12 of Fight Item Run. The header reads: The Adventure. The top paragraph reads: "Fight Item Run is played in two phases: Combat and Recovery. Combat is forward motion, and Recovery is retreating. When there are monsters and danger, the characters are in Combat. If all characters run from Combat, then they are in Recovery until they advance forward again." The "Press Start" section reads: "Not every player needs to know everything that lies within this book in order for the group to start playing. So long as each player has enough information to make their characters, play can begin with the Tutorial cutscene. The textbox reads: "Once each player has followed the character creator steps (consider excluding Schools of Magic if playing for the first time), everyone can take turns introducing their characters. Describe their name, pronouns, Class, starting Gear, and general aesthetic. The important elements to convey at this time are the impression someone would get from their character art, what their battle animation will look like, and a couple descriptive sentences in a game manual but nothing much beyond that. The finer details will be discovered during the game."
An interior page of Fight Item Run that lists three possible results of a dice roll using colored text boxes. The section is labeled "Roll Example." The introduction text reads: "Nephele is fighting a monster with an interesting mimicry ability, so she tries to Draw Magic from Target. Nephele’s player rolls two dice and adds Nephele’s SP, which is 2, to the result." The first box reads: "If the total is 10 or higher: Nephele pulls the magical essence from the target and will gain a piece of Gear once that target is destroyed. She also learns that the monster is weak to attacks it can’t see coming. Sneak attacks are particularly effective against monsters with the ability to copy their foes. Nephele swirls her staff in the air and pulls magical light from the monster, which then projects hologram-like visions that only she can see." The second box reads: "If the total is 7, 8, or 9: Nephele still draws the essence and will get Gear, but she doesn’t learn about a particular weakness for that type of monster. Nephele ducks in close to the monster, pulling away magical light into her staff, and then rolls out of the way before getting into danger." The third box reads: "If total is 6 or less: Nephele does not draw the essence of the monster and the DM will be able to use this opportunity to use a Combat Miss Reaction. Nephele ducks in close to the monster, but before she can pull magic from it, the monster lunges and gains an Engagement on her. As she rolls out of the way, she realizes she’s been cornered by the monster. Nephele’s player also marks the character sheet next to Nephele’s Secret."
Page 8 from Fight Item Run. The header labels the page as being in "The Themes" chapter. A purple text box with white font says " If you’re interested in your character becoming romantically involved with another player’s character, let them know and — if they’re on board with it — you can both create opportunities for romantic tension to build. If two characters argue frequently, discuss out of character the reasons why, if it’s a point of stress for the players, and whether or not to explore reconciliation between the characters." There's an emphasized text line that says "The most rewarding chambers to explore, after all, are the ones of the heart." A fantasy warrior wearing red, yellow, and gray armor makes a victory pose as light glows around them.
Table of Contents, page one of two, for Fight Item Run. The page is decorated with pixel art. The sections are: 1, The Dungeon. Discussion of the setting and inspiration of Fight Item Run, and how to go about making it your own. 4, The Themes. Topics Fight Item Run explores and those it avoids in play, as well as certain design decisions explained. 9, The Adventure. The baseline structure and rules for play. 13, The Fight. Rules and discussion of the Combat phase of play. 23, The Recovery. Rules and discussion of the Recovery phase of play. 28, The Relationships. Rules and discussion of Affinity, the representation of character bonds and dynamics. 30, The Characters. Character creation steps and information on character Classes. 37, The Magic. Information about the Schools of Magic, an optional character build. 47. The Items: Rules and discussion on Items (generic, single-use consumables), Gear (character-specific equipment), and Glow (purchasing currency).
A screenshot of a page of Fight Item Run. The title for the section is "The Dungeon." The text reads: "The dungeon is the structure and sole setting of Fight Item Run. The party begins in a chamber and there are monsters; once they’ve defeated the monsters, they proceed to the next chamber where there are more monsters. Chambers also have items, treasures, puzzles, and mysteries. When the party has collected the adequate gear to advance to the dungeon's next level, they come to the chamber with the passage, staircase, portal, or alien warp pad to continue forward." An infobox is introduced with the line: "The goals for the game are as follows:" and lists the following goals. "Fight monsters, collect items, survive the dungeon. Tell a collaborative story of mystery and adventure. Plant and build upon evocative details at every chance. Explore the lives and relationships of characters traveling together." There are illustrations on the page: pixel art flag banners underneath the section title and a pixel art cloud above it. There's a spot art illustration by Bree Wolf of a character silhouette in a creepy dungeon tunnel with vines and glowing crystals.
Cover for Fight Item Run, subtitled "A Pixelated TTRPG." It's further described as "Designed by Whimsy Machine" and "Powered by the Apocalypse." The cover illustration is pixel art of a knight and wizard facing off against a fire-breathing dragon.
A screenshot of a poll titled "What to name these guys:" with the following options: "New Gods, Wordwalkers, Passerfolk, Malaprophets, Misspellcasters." Voters are allowed to select multiple options.
A screenshot of the itchio discord server general chat. The top says "69 new messages since 10:17pm," there's a post that says "jesus christ this is the most pathetic discord-brained filthy group of people ive ever seen," a couple shitpost gifs, and the bottom had the "several people are typing" message.
A screenshot of black serif text on a white background. The text reads: "The tapestry of time is not separate distinct and stable universes—in this one, the sky is pink not blue, and in that one, everyone has a sinister goatee. It’s all one infinite canvas of simultaneous truths, coexisting when they need to. Most people don’t even think about it, and Word Witches are pretty good at sussing out the important bits. Practically, this means that every solo session is canonical in the grand scheme of people playing Word Witch Daily. When any two Witches meet, their individual histories are equally valid and viable."
A pen and highlighter drawing of a person casting the spells "car", "cat", and "hat" with those things appearing.
A screenshot from discord that reads: [The Daily Word Witch] I'm working on Themes and settled on Wordplay, Versatility, and Momentum. (bullet) Wordplay: You don't have to be good at word puzzles, but it'll help to enjoy them. Playing the word ladder puzzle is as much a part of the game as rolling dice is for other games. (bullet) Versatility: There are no static traits that always mean the same thing. There is more onus on the players to be creative and interpretative with their abilities, and the game rewards this. (bullet) Momentum: This game is about trying stuff and moving forward. The default is that it's always better to do something rather than nothing. You will also do cool things you might never recreate. That's okay, don't get hung up on it—there'll be more cool things along the way.
Cover for Chekhov's Coupons, a storytelling companion, designed in a cutout collage style.
A drawing done in purple marker on a sheet of printer paper on a messy table. It's of a nutcracker, a chubby little mouse, a bigger anthropomorphic mouse with a crown and a cape. It's drawn with love, not skill.
An unskilled marker drawing in a notebook of a train engine pulling a see-through train car with a mermaid swimming inside. Next to the notebook is some spilled cereal. There are other doodles and scribbles on the page.
A drawing of a werewolf in a button up shirt and tie. Drawn in ballpoint pen on a yellow sticky note stuck to a desk.
A list of achievements for the Bad Art Jam and how to unlock them. Text only. The full text can be found by following the link in the above bloot.
The young magic user casts a healing spell called dádiva.
Cover image for "The Light Rail is Coming" labelled as "An Absurdist TTRPG of Urban Development by Whimsy Machine Media." The image is black and white with a silhouette of a train leaving a diagonal hill on a tall viaduct.
Number 5, The Restored Card, from the Tricks with Cards series (N138) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
A close up composite image of four different pairs of eyes. The title reads "Deep Dark Deathlike" in a crooked, skewed font.
Text that reads "The Dirty Laundry Pack" imposed in front of a washing machine with laundry hanging out.
A photo of an illustrated page from a children's book. The page is labeled with the letter M and the title "many bears." There are seven bears of varying kinds. In the bottom right corner, a brown bear is making a funny expression similar to the little girl in front of the burning house meme or a Shiba Inu.
Pen and highlighter drawings of colorful eggs. The paper is on an office desk surrounded by highlighters.
Cover image for "Fight Item Run" with tagline "a pixelated ttrpg." Features pixel art of two fantasy characters fighting a dragon.
A black circle with rough brushstroke edges over a pastel rainbow bokeh background. Cutout text in the circle reads "Analog Excellence, a bundle of ttrpgs, comics, artbooks, and more."
A graphic of a black spot with messy, brush stroke edges, a colorful muted background of blurry circles. The text reads "Analog Excellence, A bundle of ttrpgs, comics, artbooks, and more."