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ODD GOBS: A Pocket-Sized, Fold-Out Map of an RPG

Created by Madness Heart Games

Goblins Surviving the Gig Economy in a Cyberpunk Dystopia. Odd Gobs is a stand-alone tabletop RPG for 2+ players, fully contained on a single double-sided folding pocket map. Taking place in a near-future cyberpunk dystopia, the Goblins (that's you) have to make ends meet in any way they can. What better way than signing up for an app that allows you to take jobs as they come up and do what Goblins do best? (What do Goblins do best? Introduce chaos to any given situation!) Each game will consist of one player (the GigL Master) creating gigs for the Goblins. The Goblin players will then travel through the liminal spaces of a sprawling cyberpunk metropolis to reach destinations, perform whatever tasks they need to, return to a safe space, and then negotiate their pay, all while avoiding getting burnt out by too many stressors! Utilizing its own system that allows you to roll whatever sort of dice you have on hand, Odd Gobs is geared for quick pick-up and play. Goblins have tags called Benefits and Stressors that can improve (or hinder) how they do certain tasks. These tags can be modified through shopping, getting paid, getting hurt, or the ever-present CHAOS TABLE. The map will feature: - A Z-Fold Design, making it easy to pack up and store! - Covers that are laminated and durable, making it safe to carry with you to whatever area of the city your GigL jobs take you! - One side with rules, random tables for creating jobs and Goblins, and the Chaos Table, which helps the GigL Master add more and more chaos to the game as things go on. - One side with a map of the city, which features locations for tasks and random tables that display events, threats, obstacles, and treasures. - Easy hackability into other Cyberpunk-themed roleplaying games! - The map of the city is player-facing so you can share the beauty of dystopia with all!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Fully Funded!
about 3 years ago – Thu, Feb 09, 2023 at 02:21:33 PM

We Get To Make a Game!

Today we hit the most important milestone there is, funding! At the end of the day that's all there is to it, we now have the ability to get this game made. This has been an absolute rollercoaster of a design cycle, and I am extremely happy with what we have been able to accomplish!

What's Next?

Stretch goals! We knew we wanted to make this game not only a stand-alone thing, but something that could be useful in several circumstances. And while yes, you can use the map and the tons of random tables on it in any of your games, our stretch goals will add new dimensions to how you can integrate Odd Gobs with some other games.

  • Cybermetal 2012: We love this game so much, the art of it alone was reason enough to grab it for us, but the setting is full of the chaos and anarchy that we want to make sure thrives in Odd Gobs. On a fun side note, World Champ Game Co mentioned on Twitter that they would be happy to help, and as we all know, Tweets are legally binding, so they'll be guest designing on this stretch goal. Or at least, you know, looking at what John designs and giving some insight!
  • Cy_Borg: Where would we be without Stockholm Kartell's bevy of games? And if we're diving into Cyberpunky goodness how could we resist the urge to create some custom Goblin content for Cy_borg?

(Okay, the rest of this is just backstory on the creators who are making this game, so feel free to skip it if you don't need IRL lore.)

Why a Folding Map?

We knew we wanted to do something cool for ZineQuest, and ZQ offers a lot of leniency on what it considers a "Zine". Madness Heart Press loves experimenting with different formats and finding different ways of telling stories. We had seen Philip Reed create really cool Mork Borg content using folding maps, and we really wanted to play with that format, but we also wanted to make our own game.

The idea that you could use the map and tables however you wanted in any game you wanted was attractive, but we also wanted it to stand alone. A pocket-sized game that fits wherever you need, both physically and into your hobby.

But How Did This Come About?

Fun story time for y'all! Rollin Kunz and I (John Baltisberger), met back in 2016, after I had hooked up with Studio Woe, the guys who made Gruff. We had a little "club" where Rollin, Brent Critchfield of Studio Woe, and I would get together and playtest games. We would build prototypes, play through them and then talk about what worked and what didn't work.

Then we all changed jobs, and the timing of meeting up once a week to do game design sort of fell apart. Fast forward 8 years. Rollin puts out two games called Dungenerator, (actually based on a game we were playtesting way back when) and I'm doing work reviewing and making 3rd party Mork Borg stuff. Which is when I see Orc Borg. I recognize Rollin's style immediately.

So we got back in touch and, of course, the first thing we said was "well we should work on a game together". Gluttons for punishment, we leaped into a couple of brainstorming sessions, and then immediately began to design what would eventually become Odd Gobs!

Okay, that's enough backstory for now. Thank you everyone for your support, and I can't wait to see how much chaos and weirdness we can inject into this game.

--John Baltisberger