Reviews from R'lyeh: The Unlikely Hero

 Another review!
Thank you so much.

Read it here
https://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/2025/10/companion-chronicles-22-unlikely-hero.html

Reviews from R'lyeh: The Strange Oak

 The Strange Oak got a review!
Very happy it merited a looksee. Hope you check it out too!

https://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/2025/09/companion-chronicles-19-strange-oak.html

A Single Moment, A Second Moment featured in RPG with DBJ

Was surprised to find this very in-depth review of my two books, A Single Moment, and A Second Moment, which honestly nearly brought me to happy tears.  The evident excitement in how each portion of the rules, each playset, and each chapter is explored, I really appreciate how comprehensive the DBJ studies the goals of the game and the structure of its rules.  Thank you so much for really digging deep and seeing the gems embedded in the game.

Come watch the review!
ALL the FEELS || A SINGLE MOMENT || TTRPGs that use Emotions + Mechanics

Worlds Unending reviews: A SINGLE MOMENT

 Thankful for this kind and generous review of A SINGLE MOMENT.

Read it here:
https://www.worldsunending.com/blog/a-single-moment

Connection Lost review by Dan Schumacher

Today, had a pleasant surprise when I visited Twitter. There was a truly kindly worded review of my game, Connection Lost.

A snippet from the review:

It truly does make my heart sing when I hear from others who have heard of my games and have enjoyed playing them.  Thank you, Dan!

Connection Lost is part of the You & I:Roleplaying Games for Two collection.


Please find the full review here:
https://danschuguitar.com/connection-lost

TAG Sessions: 2018 in review

Looking back at 2018, productivity wasn't as good as I had hoped. Despite giving my attentions to writing for the year, I sadly had to brave through certain challenges that suggest maybe I need to still make a few more adjustments.

The year opened with Prince Valiant (link) being released and me being part of the  Prince Valiant : Episode book! (link)

I still struggle to accept the fact that I was in a book which included luminaries such as Justin Achilli, John Wick, and more.

Then there was the invitation to be part of CONclave at iAcademy.

It was nice being able to share knowledge about game mastering once more. Despite reports to the contrary, I haven't turned my back on the local scene to focus on my writing. But I guess that's the more acceptable narrative for some, simply because it implies I'm selfish enough to keep knowledge to myself. Truth of the matter remains, I'm more than happy to participate and share knowledge when given the invitation to do so.

Was also very grateful at Greasy Snitches (link) inviting me to be part of their victory celebrations afterwards. I remember going to this alone (my partner was out of the country) and being terrified of coming face-to-face with certain people. Thankfully, the night went well actually and it felt nice to be part of the community again.

There was some love in the form of media nods.

The first being a mention as one of the people who have been influential in shaping the local gaming industry (which is awesome given I'm not one of those ultra connected or talented folks out there).

Read the full article here:
https://www.gameprime.org/2018/02/philippines-indie-game-dev-scene-community/

The second mentioned my game and Project Tadhana's games as ways to explore the Filipino and Asian experience. Special congratulations to Nathan Briones whose hard work and sheer talent can be seen in every single page.  You truly uplift your team to new heights and create inspiring work!
Read this one here: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/technology/679171/2-tabletop-rpgs-that-explore-the-filipino-and-asian-experience/story/

I also tried dipping a bit into fiction writing.
Thanks to the Community Creators options offered by the Storyteller's Vault, I wrote so far two mini novels for Vampire the Masquerade and one for Exalted.

Red Sickening Lights, Manila (link) and Blood Red Pearls (link) are Vampire the Masquerade stories set in the Philippines. Red Sickening Lights, Manila is the first book of the Reconquista saga, a story that explores the Camarilla’s attempt to regain control of the Philippines, a Ventrue Justicar’s search for an old enemy, and the unexpected bonds that form between two people. It is an insidious tale of revenge, obsession, and love.

I'm pretty proud of these, despite the fact they're probably just okay for most fiction readers. If there's more response to the books, I just might release a Manila by Night setting book based on these stories for others to enjoy too.

The reception wasn't as huge, but at least I was happy to see there were some readers. The vampire stories were even the reading material for a Vampire RPG group called the DSC Tabletop Gaming Club.



Sid's Real Life (link) on the other hand is my love-letter to Exalted and my attempt to give it a different feel than what most expect from that game. This book is a romantic comedy and yet also houses an incredible unfolding story. Inspired by shows like Pushing Daisies and The Office, this book is quite different and I'm very proud of it.

TAG Sessions was also part of a few events this year.
There was the Retrocon 2018 which was a mini-convention held in The War Room. Sparking from what literally began as just a conversation online about missing old games, a bunch of us very quickly created a humble yet fulfilling RPG event.



We had fun exploring a lot of old school rpgs. I ran a Marvel Super Heroes game and had quite a host of players. 

Then there was our participation in the 9th Philippine International Literary Festival! That was quite an amazing event, with us also meeting a few more local tabletop game designers.




We had a booth, and I was also asked to be the moderator for a talk in the event. It was an amazing feeling. I do hope it won't be the last time a government sponsored event has tabletop present in the festivities.

This year marked the end of one of my favorite campaigns too, our 7th Sea duo-campaign that had two different groups part of a singular awesome story.



I'm going to miss those fun sessions. It was a super blast exploring Theah and having that massive conspiracy narrative. The undertaking was incredible and I was very happy that everyone enjoyed the game big time.

The Eclipse Phase: Forks mini-campaign also ended and admittedly it has given me a larger appreciation and respect for the game system.

Was also part of a few more Kickstarters this year. These included:

Josh Jordan's John Silence, an amazing surreal non-violent RPG.

Alan Bahr's Tiny Supers, which makes playing superhero rpg sessions amazingly easy.

The North Sea Epilogues, which brings an RPG element to the North Sea universe of games!

I was also asked to guest in the podcast, Jianghu Hustle.   

You can listen to the episode here. I was able to share my love for the old movie, The Legend of Zu, which was a funny moment given the hosts of the show watch the OTHER Legend of Zu movie! We ended up talking about both and exploring the world of Xianxia stories.

There was a second podcast I guested in, but I haven't heard yet if its been released so I can't say anything about it yet hehe.

Itras by: Menagerie, which I wrote for, won Indie Supplement of the Year for 2017. In this book, I was able to contribute a Manila-inspired setting to the Itras By world. From having an Indie Groundbreaker Runner-Up award, to being part of something that won a Silver ENnie, I'm feeling pretty happy with this other award. There's always that Imposter Syndrome voice whispering that you didn't really earn it, but the fact it happens again and again helps one be more accepting of it.


Tadhana finally has gone digital and to support Project Tadhana's worldwide reach, I wrote a romance inspired story for them, called Kundiman,  for free. I truly believe in their work and I am very happy to see them reach a wider audience.

There's the angle of work that was written and finally released this year. These include work from freelance gigs or kickstarters I was invited to some time ago.


Tiny Frontiers Revised (link) offers an awesome easy-to-get-into spin on the science fiction genre for RPGs. For this game, I wrote up a sort of inter-galaxy Amazing Race microsetting for it.

Cold Shadows (link) on the other hand is an incredible narrative-first system that allows one to play John le Carre (link) style spy stories.  I wrote up a solitaire, one on one, and other variant rules for the game.

Cities in Shadow (link) is the city setting companion book for Cold Shadows. I helped write up the Manila chapter for those Philippine based spy stories.
 
While Dreamchaser: RomCom (link) added a romantic comedy genre book to its game lineup. I totally don't mind that more and more people reach out to me or ask me to write-up romantic comedy material for their games. There should be more games where love is a welcome story angle.

Tiny Wastelands (link) is your post-apocalyptic go-to game for quick and dirty gaming. I wrote up an animal focused supplement for it for those who'd want to play something inspired by Isle of Dogs, Tokyo Jungle or Watership Down.

You & I: Roleplaying Games for Two (link) is a fantastic collection of 15 different types of games for two people. I was very happy to get a chance to be part of this.

Fragments of the King (link) is a Lovecraftian supplement book for John Wick's Curse of the Yellow Sign game. I was asked to write up a Philippine-inspired play on the Yellow King mystery.

Un Momento Unico (link) is the Spanish edition release of my game, A Single Moment.

I remain at awe looking back at all the stuff I've worked on so far and how far I've gone from simply being a guy who loved playing games. And I do hope to at least inspire more local writers and creators to reach high and tap an international market. The world needs more Filipino creators and voices.


 And there's the Community Creators stuff I've released for 7th Sea.  These, in many ways, were me finding ways to also share the ideas that appear during game sessions. I'm very grateful at the interest they've generated.

Red, Red Winter (link) is a Winter Horror adventure set in the mountains of the Highland Marches.

Young Heroics (link) is my sourcebook for having children as heroes in your 7th Sea games.

The Syrneth Codex (link) was my Syrneth artifacts book of ideas, with an exploration on a character called Warren Cassaday, who kinda was my version of a Doc Savage/Indiana Jones Hero.

The Silent Devushka (link) is an Ussuran Horror Mystery adventure which has inspiration from old Russian fairytales.

Serafina's Choice (link) is my Vodacce Rescue Mission that goes in a different direction that most would have expected.

And the Single Sheet Sourcebooks. These were my attempts to make quick and easy resources that GMs can use to get ideas or prompt new twists into their games. These can all be found in DrivethruRpg.

Finally, on my indie game publishing, I have a bunch of projects that are in different states of being done.

First, my Studio Ghibli inspired game, Cat's Dream, which was already 95% done suddenly had to be delayed when I wanted it to have a bit more meat and time had to be focused on two other major projects. But I'm hoping to get this out.


Secondly, there's Once Upon a Time in Jianghu. After a lot of consultation, writing, and playtesting, the final version of the game is almost complete. The edits Rob Vaux sent to me were eye-opening and I'm mapping down every chapter to answer the questions he brought up. This game should also hit Kickstarter mid or late 2019.



Finally, there's the A Single Moment, The Director's Cut.
This practically ate my entire year, and watching what was once a tiny forty page book has now expanded into a tome with guest writers and lots of settings to explore. Keep an eye out for this book which should be hitting Kickstarter anytime in the coming months!

So thank you, 2018.
This review tried to stay objective and keep things simple.


But here's hoping 2019 will be less... rough.

Review: Tadhana

Tadhana is a Filipino Tabletop role-playing game that uses tokens, cards, and character sheets to tell epic tales of heroism and adventure. Inspired by Filipino folklore, urban legends, and mythology, Tadhana (which means, "Fate") is a tremendously promising work of passion and for its current pre-order price (which was less than $20), the set is quite hefty.  The package first arrives in a quaint burlap sack, which has the pretty spiffy logo on the front. I really loved the minimalist approach to design. 

Inside, the colors then explode outwards.



The bag contained two books; one rulebook at 242 pages, and a Starter Campaign book called Bulong (which means, "Whisper") at 98 pages. Both have full softcolor softcovers with black and white interiors. Also inside are a pack of 40 cards known as the Cards of Destiny, 5 black and white character sheets, a pretty bookmark, a bag of "tokens" and a photo-print piece of art with a personal thank you message.

So the game uses the traditional approach to role-playing games, with one being the Overseer (which is your usual Dungeon Master, Game Master, Narrator role) and the others are the players. The players then portray adventurers who have four Attributes: Lakas (Might), Husay (Skill), Talisik (Wit) and Diwa (Spirit).  They then have their Lahi (Race) which is one of the six playable races: Aswang, Diwata, Engkanto, Garuda, Tao and Tikbalang.   Each Lahi has Traits which are unlocked at Level 1, 6, and 11. Each Lahi also offers places of Origin, which provide rich setting and inspirational material you can use to flesh out your concepts more.

The game then offers multiple Professions such as the Mandirigma, Albularyo, Salamangkero, Pana, and Sarong. Each offers their own list of Profession Traits. The Mandirigma, for example, have Fighting Styles and Stances used in battle. Albularyo has Soul magic and spirit companions. These allow each adventurer to have some unique touches. The professions have nice callbacks to their inspirations yet have enough meat to stand out as new unique takes on the concepts.



Then, there are Generic Traits which are similar to various advantages and merits from other games, and Magic which the game stresses is accessible for all professions in the game. For that reason, the game refers to them as Powers instead of spells, and are limited by your Talisik rating.  The magic system is nicely crunchy with lots of entries (around 40 pages!) to look through to create your own Powers. This is then followed by around 20 pages of gear, equipment, and trinkets.

Character development is through what is called milestones, and by accomplishing enough milestones, one increases the level of their adventurer. Multi-classing is allowed as the game permits one to have multiple professions, but mentors are required for the second and third professions that are embraced.

Starting page 198, the rules of the game are then introduced. Combat is resolved with Lakas being used against Husay in combat. Husay is subtracted from the attackers Lakas, and the player draws at least one Card of Destiny to resolve the attack. If the drawn cards have no duplicate symbols, the attack misses. If a pair is drawn, then the attack hits. 3 of a kind then deals a critical hit.  It's a simple system that seems elegant in design, but sadly this is marred by the card design they've used.  The cards have one side which seems to have been rushed in the design process due to its simplistic black and white art. The other side looks gorgeous but suffers a fatal flaw in its design.

These are sample cards from the Cards of Destiny. Sadly, the white symbols on the center of each card are the symbols one must use to compare and match to see if you succeed in your challenges. Sadly, white on off-white does not read well at all.  And this painfully mars an otherwise ambitiously innovative game. Had the symbols simply been black, they would have stood out against the card art.  Likewise, this was a place I wish they had more art present. The covers for Tadhana and Bulong itself could have been used instead as additional card designs here.  I personally feel a minimalist cover would have worked given the bag's introduction of a clean design.

Trails of Fate are challenges to the adventurer that may appear during a scene. Trails of Might, Skill, Wit and Spirit may occur and a similar system to combat is used to resolve them. The appropriate Attribute is used in the said Trial, with the difficulty being used to reduce it. The final value is the number of cards that is drawn as above.

The tokens are then used to track the rise and fall of one's Attributes in combat. Lakas is spent when adventurers take damage. Husay is spent from taking certain actions. Talisik is rarely spent as it tends to act as a value used to determine things Power-related. Diwa is spent to use Powers. I do like how Rounds of Combat are split into two phases: Talk Phase and Action Phase, with Talisik determining Initiative.  I definitely can imagine some finding this system a bit quirky, with the tokens being moved around, then the cards being drawn to make sets... then going back to the tokens to mark lost Lakas or spend Diwa. But I always believed any system is daunting until you learn it and most systems become more fun once you master it.

The rest of the main book explores other systems, such as Time, Weather, Training Animals and the like.

Bulong, on the other hand, contains a lot of the meat of the game and I suspect will be the area many will focus on.  They introduce a setting called Sekunda, with Zho as one if its five major continents. The sun is a dark void ringed with silver and two moons accompany the presence of daylight. The book dives in with mentions of 25 hour days, Church of Two Gods, and various scenarios. 



The book is a fun way to get used to the system, acting like both a module and a guided how to play in one.  It also introduces the many monsters and threats in the game, such as the Tiyanaks, the Sigbin and more. A third chapter shares the story of the game's creation story and ends with a list of legendary and rare items.

All in all, the game is clearly the product of love and passion and creativity, and barring some design decisions I feel that could have been better made, I'm pretty impressed with this game overall. Heck, I'd even say it looks damn far better than my simple game, A Single Moment.  While I do feel some art pieces feel rushed (some look like cutouts which didn't seem to look good even if they were an intentional design), or were not given careful editing consideration (forcing colored art to automatically become black and white caused many pieces to suffer), and some of the tables feel very haphazardly pasted into the layout rather than carefully designed to work with the look of the book, the final product is still quite well worth the price.   I do wish the tokens were... thicker stock. Or maybe were a sticker sheet to use with something readily available. But then again, I know tokens are hard to source out for cheap.

The game system is intriguing, with the use of tokens and the drawing of cards as the main system instead of dice. While I'm no stranger to such systems (given I do play at least 12 new games per year), I worry this may become a barrier for others who are more used to simply playing the traditional games and quickly shy away from opportunities to learn new systems.

I highly recommend that people support this game and give it some space on their gaming table. It takes true grit and courage to try to come up with something new and unique and bring it out into the world for others to enjoy. Congratulations to you all, Project Tadhana. You have succeeded in leaving a worthy contribution to the tabletop role-playing game industry.  I hope you find your audience soon enough.  But I really really feel you need to somehow fix those cards. I fear many will give you low reviews because of it.

Visit their facebook group here:
https://www.facebook.com/ProjectTadhana/