Apothecaria Playthrough 1

So, I mentioned in my post about Apothecaria that I was going to write out my first week of playing through the game, written as though in my character’s journal. I really enjoyed this as a writing exercise, since I haven’t done any story-form creative writing in… well, it feels like forever. I ended up writing 1,000-ish words on Day One of playing the game, and then slammed through another 3,000 words on Day Two to finish up my character’s first week as the witch of High Rannoc. I don’t think anyone is interested in reading about my character’s downtime activities in the village or initial investigation of the old witch’s cottage, so I chopped out those sections; what you’ll find under the cut is my character’s arrival in High Rannoc + their first foraging adventure.

Please enjoy your stay in my imagining of the world of Apothecaria!

TTRPG Thoughts: Apothecaria

Apothecaria is a solo journaling TTRPG written by Anna Blackwell and released in 2021, and after playing it I’d describe it as a mashup of Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) and ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley. Anna has also created other solo TTRPG games such as Delve, RISE, and Umbra, which I am eager to pick up once my paycheck comes in—find them on itch.io!

I initially balked at purchasing Apothecaria for myself, since this was my first time actually buying a TTRPG on itch.io and I wasn’t sure that it would be money well spent, but the promises of herbcraft and foraging sang their siren songs to me… and I’m glad I gave in! Apothecaria manages to pack a lot of information into its 60-page PDF, and is much more than just a simple potion-making game; there’s the mystery of the former local witch (who has gone missing, and whose cottage and job your character has inherited), the social events within the village of High Rannoc, and all of the adventures that your character undergoes while foraging for potion ingredients. I had a lot of fun playing!

D&D Worldbuilding Blog 1.01 – The Dinosaur World

As I mentioned in this post, I’m designing a duet campaign (one player + one GM) in order to coax my prehistory-obsessed boyfriend into playing D&D with me. Once he gets comfortable, I’m really hoping that he’ll join in with the rest of our mutual friend group in playing larger campaigns. For now, though, I’m designing a homebrew world for him to explore, which is very intimidating because… I’ve never done homebrew on such a scale before. However, I have two weeks before my boyfriend is ready to play, so I need to get hustling. This blog post is going to be about my own worldbuilding process and the resources I’m using.

TTRPG Thoughts: One Day at a Thyme

One Day at a Thyme is a solo journaling TTRPG focusing on the small joys of everyday life. It’s chock full of cottagecore goodness and is incredibly whimsical and wholesome.

TTRPG Thoughts: Nor Gloom of Night

Nor Gloom of Night is a solo journaling TTRPG about delivering mail in the aftermath of the apocalypse. (And before you ask, no, this rambling review wasn’t sponsored by Kevin Costner). This game was created for the 2021 “Wish You Were Here: A Postcard Jam” event, and the rules are concise enough to be written on both sides of a postcard.

I wasn’t as blown away by Nor Gloom of Night as I was by my first solo TTRPG, Last Tea Shop (read my thoughts on Last Tea Shop here), but I still had a good time with this game! It just took a while for me to truly enjoy it.

TTRPG Thoughts: What Crooked Roots

What Crooked Roots is an supplement that is nominally for D&D 5e (but it could be applied to just about any RPG with a woodland setting) that includes 15 “folk horror” encounters written by Cassi Mothwin. Find it on itch.io and/or DriveThruRPG—wherever you prefer to buy your RPG supplements!

TTRPG Thoughts: Last Tea Shop

The fog thins. A figure approaches. You stoke the fire.  

Last Tea Shop is a free indie TTRPG focused on meditative solo journaling. I wasn’t sure I would have a good time with this; at first glance, solo games didn’t seem like they could hold my attention.

Boy was I wrong.

Creating Unique Monsters: Dinosaurs

I hate fifth edition D&D’s stat blocks and artwork for dinosaurs; the science is incredibly outdated, and they all feel pretty same-y. I’m trying to design a dinosaur-centric homebrew campaign to tempt my prehistory-obsessed boyfriend into playing D&D with me, and I know I need to have custom stat blocks for each prehistoric creature he encounters during his adventure. The problem, of course, is that I’ve never made a unique creature before… or at least, not any that were done in accordance with “da rulez” outlined in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. If you’re new to creating your own monsters, hopefully me stumbling along will shine some light on whatever you’re scratching your head about!