#RPGaDay2024
I thought “RPG with great art” was tough to decide, but this one is even harder. I limited myself to games I’ve run in 2024 to narrow the field. Next, I must decide what factors determine what I consider “great writing” for an RPG. Here is what I came up with:
– Rules – they need to be easy, laid out well, and clear
– Genre – it must be clear and present throughout the book
– Concise – it cannot take five words to say what one can
– Tempting – it seduces me and demands to be played after reading
Public Access by Jason Cordova hits all four. Public Access is about a group of former latchkey kids, now grown, in 2004. They find themselves investigating strange mysteries in and around the town of Deep Lake, New Mexico. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Deep Lake was the home of a notorious public access television station called TV Odyssey. The station’s disappearance is a source of speculation in corners of the internet. As they conduct their investigations in Deep Lake, they become increasingly aware of TV Odyssey’s role in everything happening in their strange former hometown.
The creepypasta analog horror feel drips from the first paragraph. The game uses the Carved from Brindlewood framework. The characters are presented with mysteries and must answer a series of questions to solve them. “What happened to the Rappaports that lived in now abandoned house?” “Who summoned the entity posing as Officer Barker? Was it intentional or accidental?” “What are the Deep Lake Devils, and are they terrestrial or from another planet or dimension?”
As they investigate the mysteries to find the answers, they uncover clues. The clues are evocative but purposely vague, open to interpretation, or easily given more details. The reason is that there is no canonical answer to the questions. Even the Keeper (GM) doesn’t know the answers. As they gather clues, they piece together an answer. With enough clues that work to get to an answer, they roll. On a success, their answer proves correct; their theory falls apart on a miss.
As they solve the mysteries, they also come across lost VHS tapes of shows from TV Odyssey. They watch them and, together, narrate how effed-up the station’s programming was. As they find more and more tapes, they begin to see how the station’s old shows are bleeding into reality and how reality is somehow bleeding into the recordings. Finally, they answer the final question, solving what is going on in this town and how the public-access station fits in.
We played the whole game in 12 sessions of two to three hours each. By the end, our characters had complete histories, traumas, and arcs, all of which emerged from the play, not from pages of pre-written backstories. The last session saw it all come together, and it was emotional, collaborative, and immensely satisfying. The game and the table stuck the landing and punched above its weight. The players and I are still talking about it weeks later. I was skeptical of this “mystery system,” and now I am its vocal champion.
If you’ve not looked at this game, you should. It will be talked about for many years. Years from now, I expect to hear designers on my podcast noting the impact Public Access had on them as creators.
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