Zine Quest: Errant

Before anything else, I want to apologize for writing two posts in a row which prompt you to spend money. Its been my entire 2021 output so far. Hopefully I’ll have something more substantive to offer before too long.

My callow justification for this behavior is that Ava from Permanent Cranial Damage has written a game that I think is really quite special. Now, I’m not an authority on the vast breadth of TTRPG systems. I’ve even been known to brag—only partially facetiously—that I’ve ascended beyond the need for written rules. If I were to write a system, it would be more of a collection of philosophical essays and modular tools than a coherent game.

Errant’s “rules light, procedure heavy” approach is a sort of middle ground between the real needs of players at the table, and my own heady desires. In that sense, it is much closer to the sort of system I think I would write than probably any other book I’ve encountered. I’ve been participating in the playtest for several months now, and having a delightful time. I’ve been playing a family of nihilists who are each searching for The Good Death. So far Dire, Pyre, and Byre have all met the grisly ends they sought, and the latest member of the family, Unyr, will likely not be too long in joining them.

Full disclosure: Ava is a friend, so my judgement is somewhat colored by my desire to see my friend succeed. I also have some stake in the project as a volunteer working on layout and helping to round out a few d100 tables.

All of that being said, I really do think Errant is worth a look if you’re at all interested in TTRPG systems.

Errant on Kickstarter

I hope everyone reading this is safe and healthy. America delenda est.

2 thoughts on “Zine Quest: Errant

    1. Ava actually goes into that exact question in detail here: https://permacrandam.blogspot.com/

      The long and short of it is that the game itself has a basic rules-light structure that can be played without reference to any of the procedures. While the procedures are semi-modular little systems for handling specific situations that might arise during play.

      In my thinking, the Rules are to the Procedures as B/X is to the OSR bloggosphere; but all condensed into a single text.

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