This Place is Older Than Us
A downloadable game
This Place is Older Than Us is a game exploring the surreal, almost sentient auras that some places can give off, as well as the feeling of taking shelter somewhere secure while a storm rages outside.
Players can create totally new characters and lore for this game, or can play using existing characters or settings; the ruleset is built with flexibility in mind. This Place is Older Than Us looks however the players imagine it -- you could play as a group of teenagers taking shelter from a daunting gym class just as easily as you could play a circle of knights hiding from a dragon in an abandoned castle. Whatever the frame chosen, the game is meant to be played in a single setting.
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This Place Is Older Than Us is a game about sheltering somewhere unfamiliar.
The PDF is 13 pages, with a bare but very readable layout.
Mechanically, This Place is crunchless, but still has the format of a conventional trpg.
The GM plays the building that the PCs are sheltering in, and is allowed to make specific moves only at specific times. They do have the freedom to change the makeup of the building (or the atmosphere it's presenting to the players,) but a lot of these changes are made once, and then the GM takes their hands off and lets the players react.
It's a different flow then the usual "I do this and then what happens?" feedback loop between players and GMs in conventional games.
This Place *can* be used to run fantasy dungeons, and it could also be used to run something like Resident Evil, but it's not about mechanically overcoming traps and monsters.
This Place's focus is on the characters and the connections between them.
To that end, the game has a sort of cinematic framing. It gives the group prompts, lets them roleplay, and doesn't intrude with its dice or GM. There are random tables that you can use to generate story elements, but they're optional and they're also as far as the dice go. The GM doesn't roll to see if there are zombies, and you don't roll to see if you hit them. There are zombies, and you hit them, if that's what both you and the GM decide happens.
The game does have a built-in narrative arc, and it ends with some choices about the fate of the Place, so there is a satisfying payoff at the end---but it's very much a game where you get out of it the energy that you put into it, and it might fall flat if the group doesn't really engage.
Overall, I think This Place is a cleverly made thing. It can be run in almost any genre, but it produces a tight, character-focused experience every time. If you're looking for a seasonal spooky game, or if you just want to tell a story without worrying about stats, I would definitely recommend giving this a try.
Also: I do want to note that while This Place lends itself really well to suspenseful narratives, you can also run it perfectly heartwarming, with people stuck at a bus stop in the rain, or any other non-violent, non-scary scenario.