This is a game I've had sitting around since August, if my memory serves right. I'd written it up for a magazine, gotten some feedback on it, did a little playtesting, and never actually submitted a final version for publication.
However, I got Affinity Publisher and I had all the assets sitting around and waiting for a little polish and tweaking, so here is UNDERBELLY in all its glory!
It's a very simple game, perhaps the simplest roleplaying game I've ever made, but it's streamlined for dramatic storytelling with a focus on being the little guy.
It's available now on itch.io!
From a game design perspective, this came together incredibly quickly. There was a lot of stuff that I initially wanted to do, but I wound up settling on a d12+d6 system (coincidentally, I seem to do this quite often; velotha's flock uses a paired d12 and d6, though UNDERBELLY is a lot simpler in its use of addition instead of specialized roles for each die).
The idea here was to have something you could play on the back of a napkin if you so wanted, basically anywhere you had something to write on (including easily within pretty much any note-taking app), you have what you need to play UNDERBELLY, but it still has a dedicated dramatic arc reflected in game mechanics (in the form of the players contributing to a central character's final confrontation with the adversary).
From the store page:
UNDERBELLY is a game set in a time of crisis. Only one person can fight the war that needs to be fought, but the story focuses on the people who help them succeed.
This is a short roleplaying/storytelling game that is intended to be played in a single session. You will need a 6-sided die, a 12-sided die, and this ruleset to play.
It is easily playable over internet and "theater of the mind." Originally it was intended for publication in a magazine, but I let that fall through and I figured I should show it to the world at some point.
System: Homebrew (d12+d6 roll-over)
Type: Stand-alone game (one-shot)
Genre: Storytelling. Sci-fi (genre agnostic rules).
Mechanics: Light.
Intended Players: Game Master + 1-4 players.
Supplies needed: ~5 six-sided dice, character sheets.
Setup time: 5-15 minutes
Session time: 2-3 hours
License: All rights reserved
Page Count: 4 (cover + 3)