I was going to make a tabletop-roleplaying game.
I shared this idea with many other people after Wizards of the Coast, the parent company to Dungeons & Dragons and by far the loudest voice in the space tried rolling out changes to their Open Gaming License in early 2023. They later backed off of these changes, but the damage for a lot of people, including myself, was done. (Truth be told, I was wrapping up a year-long 5e campaign that I GMed, and I was pretty sick of the system at that point).
I was going to make a game. I had no idea whatsoever where to start. Before I get into that, an aside:
Heyyyyyyyyyyyy. I'm Matt Shay! I'm a game designer based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Today I'm going to be writing about my system, Inkwarren!
Infancy: Gnosis
When I started designing Inkwarren, I had a vague idea of what I wanted out of it. I have a particular taste in fantasy that was never really scratched by traditional elfgames like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder. I wanted a game in which:
- Magic and monsters were mysterious and folkloric.
- Medieval political intrigue could stand alongside more classical, danger-filled adventures.
- Combat was fluid, impactful, and suspenseful.
In my first drafts of the system, I was calling it Gnosis. I conceived of a dice system inspired by Fantasy Flight Games' Genesys dice, a couple of bespoke fantasy races, and some class concepts, and more or less wrote and rewrote this for several weeks. I was doing most of this straight into Affinity Publisher, which meant that even small edits would require redoing pages of work. Never again.
Gnosis had a system called the Torch that would gradually ramp up tension through Flickers as the game went on. Eventually, the Torch would go out-- I conceived of this like a Darkness Zone from Destiny-- harder encounters, deadlier consequences, and the climax of the session.
I kept running into the same problem: a lack of identity for the system. Gnosis was fine, but did little to really stand out from other fantasy games out there. I needed a theme to build around-- an elevator pitch that couldn't just be accomplished by a setting book for one of the larger elfgames.
I kept running into the same problem: a lack of identity for the system. Gnosis was fine, but did little to really stand out from other fantasy games out there. I needed a theme to build around-- an elevator pitch that couldn't just be accomplished by a setting book for one of the larger elfgames.
Around this time, I got really into a lovely board game called Root. Root is a wargame with a similar ethos to games like Risk or Smallworld, but centered around factions of woodland animals in a large, medieval-ish Woodland. It's a delightful game that I still play almost weekly with my friends-- every faction plays differently, different board or card setups can entirely change a game, and table-talk and table-politics are central to victory in an average Root game. I digress-- Root gave me an idea.
Also around this time, I had been officially dating my partner, Beck, for around a year. Beck is a huge fan of Dimension 20, and while hanging out in my tiny college apartment we watched through all of A Crown of Candy, their spoof on A Game of Thrones shunted into a Candyland type setting. I was really struck-- and inspired -- by how authentic the drama of the Intrepid Heroes' game felt, despite a setting that would normally run counter to that kind of drama. I thought about it a lot. I thought about Root a lot.
Suddenly, I had my elevator pitch.
Suddenly, I had my elevator pitch.
Adolescence: Game of Thrones with Squirrels
I started really getting into the meat of the game once I had the elevator pitch. "Game of Thrones with Squirrels." A game set in a fantasy woodland with woodland animals populating it-- low-fantasy, points-of-light, scary wilderness, weird magick, the works.
The first iteration of this game was called Ruin and Rue, and I had my first playtest for it in January of 2024. I made some simple sheets and brought together my first group of playtesters for a simple adventure. It went great. It was messy. The system was essentially Pathfinder 2e warmed over at that point.
It felt special, though. It felt like my game.
I playtested about once or twice a month for the next year. The game started to get more of an identity around it. I nailed down my core resolution pretty early on, which is still present in the game, with a metaresource called Hope (now called Courage in Inkwarren's current form.) When you failed a roll, you would become filled with Hope. Later, if you failed another roll, you could spend your Hope to get a partial success. This was a good loop to me, and I've stuck by it across a lot of different iterations of the system. It avoided the fiddly numbers of a more Powered by the Apocalypse approach, but allowed an escape from a binary pass/fail system.
It felt special, though. It felt like my game.
I playtested about once or twice a month for the next year. The game started to get more of an identity around it. I nailed down my core resolution pretty early on, which is still present in the game, with a metaresource called Hope (now called Courage in Inkwarren's current form.) When you failed a roll, you would become filled with Hope. Later, if you failed another roll, you could spend your Hope to get a partial success. This was a good loop to me, and I've stuck by it across a lot of different iterations of the system. It avoided the fiddly numbers of a more Powered by the Apocalypse approach, but allowed an escape from a binary pass/fail system.
I think two things are really important for digging into and learning an art form-- I think an artist has to be in community with their art, and I think they have to love their art (low bar, I know. And yet!). If you truly want to develop yourself artistically, it's important to experience art-- and let others experience, critique, and talk about your art. For game design, this means reading games, talking to other designers, and playtesting. I got really into that.
It's been a joy to become involved online with the online game design circles on Bluesky (and formerly, Twitter). I've gotten really into reading articles and blog posts (like this one) about games, or game design. I subscribed to the Patreon for MCDM throughout their process of making the game now called Draw Steel, and was continually inspired. I read lots of games, and lots of games ended up inspiring and being drawn from for Inkwarren (as a non-exhaustive list of highlights: Heart: The City Beneath, D&D 4th Edition, Break!!, Mythic Bastionland, The One Ring, Modiphius's Dishonored, City of Mist).
It's been a joy to become involved online with the online game design circles on Bluesky (and formerly, Twitter). I've gotten really into reading articles and blog posts (like this one) about games, or game design. I subscribed to the Patreon for MCDM throughout their process of making the game now called Draw Steel, and was continually inspired. I read lots of games, and lots of games ended up inspiring and being drawn from for Inkwarren (as a non-exhaustive list of highlights: Heart: The City Beneath, D&D 4th Edition, Break!!, Mythic Bastionland, The One Ring, Modiphius's Dishonored, City of Mist).
One game, however, really made a mark on Inkwarren. His Majesty the Worm, by Josh McCrowell. His Majesty the Worm is a terrific dungeon crawler that uses tarot cards as the core randomizer, and the game bleeds a low, weird fantasy vibe that's perfect for my tastes. Once I read about the tarot randomizer, and even more so when the game released, I was hooked.
Young Adulthood: Tarotwarren
After reading His Majesty, I had a lot of back-and-forth over whether or not I should upend the system to implement a tarot randomizer. I was really in love with the idea. Tarot gave a pretty endless set of dimensions for randomization with a single set of tools, had thematic weight as well as mechanical weight, and pretty seamlessly worked with a lot of the ideas that I had for the system already.
Many of my friends, however, served as a counterweight. I had already been working on Inkwarren for two years, centered around dice. The current 2d10 iteration was working well, and had been for several playtests in a row. I shouldn't just throw that all away to redesign the system from scratch.
Many of my friends, however, served as a counterweight. I had already been working on Inkwarren for two years, centered around dice. The current 2d10 iteration was working well, and had been for several playtests in a row. I shouldn't just throw that all away to redesign the system from scratch.
I ended up redesigning the system from scratch. I took a month to write out some rules. I got my friends together for a playtest, and nicknamed the draft Tarotwarren. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
That first playtest was electric. Don't get me wrong-- it was sloppy. Combat fell apart. The rules were confusing or too complicated in areas. But the palpable feeling amongst myself and the players after the test was 'This is really cool. There's something here.'
That first playtest was electric. Don't get me wrong-- it was sloppy. Combat fell apart. The rules were confusing or too complicated in areas. But the palpable feeling amongst myself and the players after the test was 'This is really cool. There's something here.'
I have been iterating and improving on Inkwarren every since. For every mechanical idea that worked as well as tarot at the table, I've had two more that bombed during play. I was really down about a combat mechanic that I wrote up-- a dynamic rock-paper-scissors system that mixed Heavy, Light, and Rife attacks against Blocks, Dodges, and Counters. It is, to this day, the worst-reviewed mechanic that I've ever brought to table. Yet, it was a lesson. This is why we playtest.
Other mechanics fell in casualty to playtesting: an Alignment mechanic to sociopolitical powers, several iterations of a 'Character Traits with Mechanical Weight' mechanic, an Upper Hand/super abilities system, and more that I'm sure I've forgotten. A lot of playtesting was throwing ideas at the table and seeing what would stick.
Eventually, a system started to take shape-- enough of one that one of my friends asked me when I was going to run a full campaign in the system. After all, mechanics like progression, session-to-session abilities, and character building hadn't been tested yet.
This was around Christmas of 2025. "I don't know," I told him.
"How about January?"
Eventually, a system started to take shape-- enough of one that one of my friends asked me when I was going to run a full campaign in the system. After all, mechanics like progression, session-to-session abilities, and character building hadn't been tested yet.
This was around Christmas of 2025. "I don't know," I told him.
"How about January?"
Adulthood: Inkwarren Zero Edition
Tonight, as of writing this, I am running the 17th session in our campaign. The party is currently exploring the central region of Middle Cradlewick in a hexcrawl-style play mode, after being driven out of their capital city of Gwynt in a coup by a rival noble house. They are traveling with several members of the Lich, a fungal unitary mind that, while peaceful and polite, has made clear its intent to grow and spread if the party allies with it.
This campaign has been a lot of work. My other campaigns in 5e and Pathfinder have had online tools and programs, books and Reddit threads of advice, and years of experience in each system. If I had a question, I could crack open a rulebook or look online for the answer. When the campaign is your own system, you are the search engine. Very often I have to say, "I don't know, I haven't designed it." and ad-hoc an explanation. Often, if the improv works, that becomes the new rule. If it doesn't, I sit down and brainstorm on how it should work. I have to make character sheets, patch rules that don't work, and work on overhauls (like I am now) in my free time between sessions.
Despite how much work it is, it is the most rewarding campaign I've ever run. I can't express how freeing worldbuilding is when you aren't constrained by mechanics written by someone else. The system has really come into its own identity after some time playing every week, to boot. Inkwarren is now solidly a game about exploring and interacting with a haunted woodland world filled with intrigue, danger, and competing factions at every turn. Woodlanders are weak on their own, but strong as a group. They must find and build relationships, make hard choices, and record Memories as they play. The progression system allows woodlanders to decide whether they wish to invest in their prowess in Battle or Venture (the two main modes of play), and gives them a look back at the important moments each session that made their woodlander who they are.
This campaign has been a lot of work. My other campaigns in 5e and Pathfinder have had online tools and programs, books and Reddit threads of advice, and years of experience in each system. If I had a question, I could crack open a rulebook or look online for the answer. When the campaign is your own system, you are the search engine. Very often I have to say, "I don't know, I haven't designed it." and ad-hoc an explanation. Often, if the improv works, that becomes the new rule. If it doesn't, I sit down and brainstorm on how it should work. I have to make character sheets, patch rules that don't work, and work on overhauls (like I am now) in my free time between sessions.
Despite how much work it is, it is the most rewarding campaign I've ever run. I can't express how freeing worldbuilding is when you aren't constrained by mechanics written by someone else. The system has really come into its own identity after some time playing every week, to boot. Inkwarren is now solidly a game about exploring and interacting with a haunted woodland world filled with intrigue, danger, and competing factions at every turn. Woodlanders are weak on their own, but strong as a group. They must find and build relationships, make hard choices, and record Memories as they play. The progression system allows woodlanders to decide whether they wish to invest in their prowess in Battle or Venture (the two main modes of play), and gives them a look back at the important moments each session that made their woodlander who they are.
The system feels 'almost done' for the first time in its process. I have all of the core rules in the doc. Now comes character options, formatting, editing, etc. I hope to have the doc up on Itch by late summer/early autumn.
The Elevator Pitch
I am so very excited to introduce everyone to Inkwarren: Zero Edition!
Inkwarren is a low-fantasy tabletop roleplaying game centered around woodland animal-folk exploring a vast, haunted world. In Inkwarren, your adventuring band of woodlanders will balance time and consequences exploring the world, building and growing Bonds with the characters inside of it, and resolving the threats that face your kingdom before it is too late. Inkwarren offers:
Inkwarren is a low-fantasy tabletop roleplaying game centered around woodland animal-folk exploring a vast, haunted world. In Inkwarren, your adventuring band of woodlanders will balance time and consequences exploring the world, building and growing Bonds with the characters inside of it, and resolving the threats that face your kingdom before it is too late. Inkwarren offers:
- A tarot-charged game engine that uses the Minor Arcana for challenges and combat and the Major Arcana for esoteric evocations of the whims of fate.
- An exploration-focused Venture mode of play that ticks up tension until danger presents itself.
- A gridless, turnless Battle mode of play that prioritizes fluid, dramatic tactical combat.
- Deep woodlander creation rules that balance descriptive storytelling mechanics with more traditional tactical abilities. Play any animal you would like with the freeform, descriptive Folk rules, and use unique, flavor-filled Traditions like the Knave, Astrologer, Sellsword, and Medicant to further distinguish your woodlander.
- In a low-magic setting, there are no wizards or sorcerers amongst the player characters-- find a tutor in witchcraft, train in it, and master the Song of the Witch to master magick during play.
- Low-prep tools for the Voice in the Dark (the Game Master) to prepare sessions, regions, and factions to interact with.
The vast woodland of Cairnadal awaits you! Create your band, and wander!
If Inkwarren sounds like something you'd be interested in, keep an eye on this blog. I'll be updating with design diaries, sneak peeks, and setting information in the coming weeks!
If Inkwarren sounds like something you'd be interested in, keep an eye on this blog. I'll be updating with design diaries, sneak peeks, and setting information in the coming weeks!
