Tabletop RPG fans looking for a unique sci-fi experience to kick off their year should give Austin Walker‘s Realis a look. Due out January 23 on itch.io, Realis is a story-focused game where “a set of rules that shapes conversation into an engine for collaborative storytelling.” In other words, the game shifts in scope and scale according to the needs of the story or the whims of its tellers.
Realis is a setting for moon-hopping adventure, full of arcane discovery, fatal conflict, and meditations on the ever-changing nature of the self, society, and history. Admittedly, it’s a heady concept. You will tell the story of a Band of protagonists who use malleable Class Sentences, useful Ephemera, and the raw power of their Dreams to explore, love, fight, worship, and unfold their stories across the Thousand Moons. Realis is designed to explore how these characters become increasingly specific over the length of a story.
While most players will take control of a single character, one player will be dedicated to playing as the Game Master–a combination of facilitator, narrative guide and a reliable soundboard for ideas.
The version that arrives this Thursday is referred to as the “Ashcan Edition”, which has 20 Playable Classes and 40 NPC Classes (both of which are less than half of what will be available in the final edition), three Grand Factions, two Example Moons, art by Sam Beck and Oddesque, and layout by Tyler Crumrine of Possible Worlds Games. It has some additional design and writing by Friends at the Table’s Jack de Quidt and Janine Hawkins.
If you’re keen on hearing Realis in action, you can check it out this Thursday on the main Friends at the Table feed, featuring a special intro episode where Jack and Austin talk through the basics of the game and show things off with a one-on-one session. This will be followed up with the entire first Arc of the campaign releasing over the following month (with Patrons getting eps a week early, once it’s rolling).
