Alright everyone, today is the day.

I’m literally Breathless

Okay, well, I was working out, but you know what I mean.

We’ve been developing this thing for a while, and now I’m beyond happy that we can actually start sharing a bit more with everyone.

TLDR: this new edition includes:

• 12 super high-quality pamphlets

• Core rules, haven and journey rules, hazard generators and 4 adventures

• Rules by me.

• Layout by Jack of DNGN Club

• Adventures by M. Allen Hall

If you back it today, you get 3 games for free:

• Stoneburner, a Breathless game about space dwarves killing demons

• The Gas Station, a super great game by DNGN Club

• CBR+PNK, a Forged in the Dark cyberpunk game by Mythworks

Our stretch goals? More free games we’re going to give away to all.

Help us make this campaign a success.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mythworks/breathless-frightmare-edition

Want to play it tonight ? Get the core version for free here.

Alright, wish us luck ❤️

Oh, one last thing, here is a super high quality AP of the game!

The Breathless Frightmare Edition starts on April 7th, so it’s happening, y’all.

I’m so hyped, and I still find it truly unbelievable that this is happening.

So I was trying to think of what I could do to give back to the TTRPG community for all the love and support you’ve given me over the last 5 years, and I decided to take all the updated core tech I designed for the new Breathless edition and port it back to the original pamphlet version of the game, originally released in 2022. I also took the time to redo the cover, text styles, and character sheet from scratch to better align with the new aesthetic.

That’s all well and good, but the pièce de résistance is that I’ve just published the whole thing and made it free for everyone.

Thanks for all the support, and don’t forget to follow our Kickstarter page. We’re only 51 follows away from reaching 1,000. We were at 700 follows 3 days ago, so I know we can do it. And if you’ve already followed, send the Kickstarter link to a friend!

Free PDF: https://farirpgs.itch.io/breathless

Kickstarter: http://farirpgs.com/r/breathless

OK, so if you’ve been following my work for some time, you probably know that next week, on April 7th, I’m launching a new and remastered edition of Breathless with Mythworks.

You know Mythworks, right? They are the amazing folks who published The Wildsea, Slugblaster, CBR+PNK, The Last Caravan, and a bunch of other cool stuff.

Anyways, we’re currently a bit under 800 followers on the campaign and got a nice “Project We Love” from Kickstarter themselves, which is super cool!

► Follow Breathless on Kickstarter

But here’s the thing: I’d really, really like to get to 1,000 followers on the campaign before it launches, and we’re so close.

I mean, if only 10% of y’all clicked the button, we’d reach this!

It may sound silly, but those numbers are so important for the algorithms, which in turn have a huge impact on the livelihood of small creators like me.

More than 1300 people have signed up for my newsletter (thanks btw) so please please please go give the Kickstarter page a follow and help me make Breathless as big a splash as possible.

► Follow Breathless on Kickstarter

Oh, right, I mentioned goodies in the title. We’re working with Vil (of Mothership fame!) for Breathless, and he made some amazing art pieces for Breathless, but this one in particular is absolutely stunning, and I decided to make it a nice little phone wallpaper for y’all and release it for free!

And I have one last thing. As a thank you for supporting my work (and following the Kickstarter … 👀), here’s a preview of Breathless 2e/Remake/Something, I don’t know what the name is going to be. But this is not the new Frightmare Edition laid out by Jack of DNGN Club with new haven and journey mechanics and everything.

BUT, it takes all the core tech and rules updates of Frightmare Edition, as well as some of its aesthetic, and merges it back into the original 2022 pamphlet version of the game. Enjoy, have fun, and please spread the word about the Kickstarter!

► Follow Breathless on Kickstarter

Breathless 2e Preview

13MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Download Wallpaper

My latest post was about the Unsung Blade, one of the backgrounds available for Chronicles of the Boundless. Today, I want to talk about the Whispering Flame.

In this game, there used to be spirits, and the spirits were everywhere. People lived either in fear of them, or they revered them. Eventually, a cult called the Church of the One Light decided to wage war upon the spirits and kill them all, crossing into the spirit world to do so.

One of the pillars of the setting is that spirits cannot be killed. So as spirits were slain, their energy spilled into the world, and that’s what brought magic into the realm.

Some people started harnessing that magic to help their daily lives. But that gave those people power. And I don’t mean just magical power; I mean power, power.

And people having that kind of power, well let’s just say the Church of the One Light wasn’t too happy about it. So they decided to call magic their right alone, their divine right. Everyone else was considered a heretic for using magic.

If you’re interested in more content like this, become a (free) member of my Patreon at patreon.com/@farirpgs and subscribe to my newsletter at news.farirpgs.com/.

If you want to support me, send a small cup of coffee my way at ko-fi.com/farirpgs ^^

Who the Whispering Flame is

The Whispering Flame is one of the mages who was lucky or fool or cursed enough to learn how to do magic. Maybe they learned from a long lost master, or were were trained by the Church to help resist the corruption of their world, or as a weapon to hunt down other mages in the realm.

Odds and ends

• Poll: I posted a poll on my newsletter to know if people would be interested in weekly updates there like I do on Patreon, or if they preferred more occasional announcement style updates. I’m not sure if y’all prefer using Patreon or Substack, so if you have an opinion, drop a comment or answer the poll. https://news.farirpgs.com/p/a-poll-about-the-future-of-newsletter

• Nightsong: in case you didn’t know, we have the Nightsong Living World Jam going on at the moment and 60 people have joined. The goal of the jam is to create canon content for the world setting, all teamed around one event that is happening currently within the world. If that’s something that you’re interested in, here’s the link. https://itch.io/jam/nightsong-living-world-season-1

• Freeblade: I still need to decide what I’m going to do with Nightsong, as in, like, the game is going to take some time to develop and one thing that I’ve been thinking about is potentially releasing it as, like, a setting primer along with some rolling tables to create your characters and the core mechanics maybe will live in another PDF. I’m not sure, we’ll see. But I’ve been thinking about what the name of the system behind Nightsong, the system that powers Nightsong, is going to be, and I think it’s going to be called Freeblade. So the player kit pamphlet in Nightsong is being transformed into the Freeblade PDF. I’m extending it, adding more rolling tables and procedures and whatnot, so if you’re a Patreon member, you’re going to get that PDF very soon.

• Nightsong website: i’ve also been working on the official website for Nightsong. In the past, it was just a very basic one-page site, but I’m making it into more of a full-fledged thing that will host the game marketing material, compatibility logos, and the third-party license page. I’ve also been thinking about adding tools like an hex-map generator and interactive rolling tables. I’ll share a link to this probably next week; so stay tuned.

• Music: i’m a really big fan of video game soundtracks and movie soundtracks and TV show soundtracks to listen to while I work. And the soundtrack that I want to share today is the soundtrack of Wolfwalkers. The movie is absolutely fantastic, but the soundtrack is equally as good. https://music.apple.com/ca/album/wolfwalkers-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1539748859

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of activity on Substack, and it made me realize I might be not using the platform properly. Up to now, I’ve treated it like a traditional email blast: very occasional updates along the lines of “I launched something new; here’s what you should know.”

The reason is: I don’t want to spam people. I don’t want to send too many emails. I don’t want anyone to feel bored getting updates like “here’s a cool new spread for an RPG that isn’t even out yet,” or other in-progress, behind-the-scenes devlog stuff.

I’ve tried putting that kind of content on my own blog and sharing links on Bluesky, but it hasn’t been especially fruitful. I also considered Patreon. I genuinely love the concept behind Patreon, but using it as a creator is… not fun. I’m a software engineer during the day, and every time I open their web or mobile app, I scream internally at how painful it is to use.

Substack, on the other hand, feels nice to write on.

So I’m thinking: maybe this is where I should start posting my updates and devlogs; the things I’m excited about as I’m building them. That could mean early access to games, screenshots of what I’m working on, short blurbs of ideas, and regular progress notes.

Now I’d love your input.

There’s a poll below. I’d really appreciate you taking a moment to answer it:

• Should this newsletter stay as a “once a month (or once every two months) announcement email” whenever something is finished and ready?

• Or would you rather get more regular updates, like a weekly post about what I’ve been up to?

One more note: Substack lets me publish posts without necessarily sending them as emails. That could be a good middle ground; frequent posts for those who want to follow along, without filling inboxes for those who don’t.

If that sounds appealing, leave a comment and tell me what you’d prefer.

Here’s the poll. Happy Monday!

Hey folks

Very excited to share with y'all that Boundless Space is now available for playtesting.

If you haven’t heard, this game is a scifi TTRPG written by Galen Pejeau and Shawn Drake with a core system designed in close collaboration with yours truly where players will take on the roles of a spaceship crew, trading necessities between the scattered settlements of the Eridani Belt, avoiding the remnant forces from the devastating Shell incursion, and hopefully making a better world.

This game is also part of the same universe as Voidlight and uses the same core system (Boundless)

You can download the playtest kit below and help make the game better prior to its full launch later this year.

► Download at: https://nightjargames.itch.io/boundless-space

Download Playtest Kit

I recently talked about the idea of a living world TTRPG game jam for Nightsong, and then I thought I’d just set up a jam page and test the waters.

We have more than 35 people who’ve joined a jam for a game that’s still unreleased, so I’ll take it as a good sign that people like the pitch of the game AND the idea of a living world format.

Let’s make it official then. But first, what is Nightsong?

Nightsong is an OSR adventure game of free-blade wanderers in a sorrowful world of bug-folk, towering trees, vast hive-cities, and gleaming Voidways. Awaken from an amber tomb and sail the skies on giant mounts, drifting between fading beacons where dreams, songs, shadows, and Beast-Gods shape the land.

https://nightsong.farirpgs.com/

At the start of the winter equinox begins the Nightsong Living World Season 1 game jam on itch. The goal: design something that revolves around a still unannounced canon event in the setting. It could be an adventure, procedures, rolling tables, NPCs, bestiaries, a blog post, anything. You will have 2 months to design and publish your project, and what you design will be canon in its own way within the world of Penumbra.

The event of the world will be announced soon. I’m also working on creating official Affinity Studio templates (both in book and sheet formats) for you to work with, and some compatibility logos which should be published soon.

You can download the free playtest material which includes the rules and setting details of Nightsong here: https://store.farirpgs.com/products/nightsong

You can join the jam at https://itch.io/jam/nightsong-living-world-season-1

Hey everyone, very excited to share that Boundless, my free and open licensed soulslike OSR adventure game has been translated in French thanks to the incredible work of Jo Sévigny (Wendigo Workshop)

You can download the free PDF on Wendigo Workshop’s itch page or read the text version on the Boundless site.

The game is also being translated in Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Russian and Spanish so stay tuned for when those will be available.

If you’re interested in translating the game, please reach out at https://farirpgs.com/contact

Boundless in French

Boundless in French

Wow, y’all, when I made this Black Friday promo, I didn’t think I’d get so many purchases on my store, but even less so that you all would be so excited to get your hands on Voidlight. That’s amazing, and thanks for all the support!

There are around 12 hours left to get the game while it’s still 50% off at $7.50 on itch!

Here’s the link: https://farirpgs.itch.io/voidlight

P.S. if you want to read the rules for free, the core system is freely available at https://boundless.farirpgs.com/game/

A rules-bright sci-fi horror dungeon crawl where your only safety is a beam of light that shrinks every ten minutes. Descend into a space station bolted to a migrating leviathan then go and explore the void with this complete kit for building your own sci-fi adventures in a dying future.

Light on rules, bound to the dark.

One shot and campaign ready. Support both group and solo play

You’ll probably get hundreds off those emails today so I’ll be brief.

• All my TTRPGs are 50% off for the weekend (the PDF versions)

  • Get them on itch here.

  • You all my games for 20$ as a bundle.

  • Same discount is available on my store.

• All my printed TTRPG are 20% off.

  • Get them on my store here.

Enjoy your time with your friends and loved one!

If you don’t know what to pick

• Voidlight is a scifi horror dungeon crawl where your only safety is a beam of light that shrinks every 10m of real time.

• Stoneburner is a game about dwarves in space fighting demons that raised over 70K on Kickstarter/Backerkit

• Firelights is a solo metroidvania TTRPG inspired by Ori and the Blind Forest and Hollow Knight. It’s also my most popular solo game.

• Breathless is a one page zombie survival horror game with an open licensed SRD that spawned over 250 hacks.

Alright, it’s time...

This is Voidlight: A rules-bright sci-fi horror dungeon crawl where your only safety is a beam of light that shrinks every ten minutes.

Light on rules, bound to the dark.

100 playtesters battle tested this game and it’s finally available!

farirpgs.itch.io/voidlight

This game is a sci-fi horror dungeon crawl with old-school grit and modern design, built for a GM and 2–4 players, or for solo and co-op play.

You owe so much to the Concord Corporation that you had no choice but to enlist as a Delver in the Gut, crawling through the innards of a space-faring monster in search of lost treasures while fending off the dark.

Soulslike and player facing mechanics, 12 background classes, a compact combat rules for fast and deadly encounters, ship rules for travel and engagements, 70 rolling tables, a bestiary of 36 monstrosities, free online tools and fully open licensed.

Get it at 20% off for the spooky season and good luck fending off the dark and clearing your debt.

farirpgs.itch.io/voidlight

If case you hadn’t seen what was announced by the great folks at Mythworks…

Breathless is getting a full remaster: Breathless: Frightmare Edition!

Written by yours truly, with layout by DNGN CLUB and production by the incredible team at Mythworks (publishers of The Wildsea, CBR+PNK, Slugblaster, and The Last Caravan), this new edition is a 12-pamphlet collection packed with:

• refreshed core rules

• innovative base-building mechanics

• exploration systems that make every journey dangerous

• rolling tables to generate your apocalyptic world on the fly

• and a lineup of ready-to-play adventures

Follow the Kickstarter page to get notified when we launch the project.

For a little behind the scene of what the game will look like, head over to Patreon.

Follow the Kickstarter

I figured it was time to stop waiting and publish the damn freaking SRD I had been working on for the past year.

So today I have a bunch of gifts for y’all.

Boundless Tides

A rules bright souls-like pirate TTRPG of cursed seas and daring crews.

This is a full game with rules, adventures events, extras, sheets for the characters and ship and lots more. This is a tight package that packs one hell of a punch.

I also went pretty hard with the layout and design and I’m very happy with the end result.

Download for free at https://farirpgs.itch.io/boundless-tides

Boundless SRD

This is the SRD I have been working on for the past year. It’s a spiritual successor to the Charge RPG system (my first game ever) with a soulslike twist

It’s d6 based, has a stamina based core system powered by narrative character aspects and uses d6 pools for clocks with maths that make sense. For real.

I spent a lot of time programming actual unit tests code to make sure every single part of the math of this game is legit and balanced. It’s super accessible and extensible for all kinds of tension focused adventures.

Download for free at https://farirpgs.itch.io/boundless-srd

Boundless Website

I want to make this system as accessible for people to use as possible. That’s why I designed a full fledged custom website for the community. It includes all the rules of the SRD, license information, logos to download to mark your game as a Boundless Game, FAQs, extra rules, and more.

Oh also, there’s a dice roller on the site.

Check it out at https://boundless.farirpgs.com/

That’s it

I love giving stuff away for free and building for the community. If you love what I do, consider becoming a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/farirpgs

I’m almost at 700 members over there and would love to make what I do more sustainable in the long run.

So yeah, that’s it for today! Talk to y’all soon.

Cheers.

https://itch.io/jam/breathless-jam-2

To help you cross the finish line, I’ve recorded two new interviews. First, Ryan Lucas from The Cargo Bay shares insights on designing sci-fi horror and how solo playtesting can help your game design process.

Next, with Binary Star Games about minimalist design and crafting truly immersive thematic TTRPGs.

Keep pushing. Your finished game or adventure is just around the corner!

With Ryan Lucas

With Star Games

We have a new interview up on the channel with Andrew Boyd .

Andrew is the designer behind Substratum Protocol, Midnight Muscadine, Whispers in the Walls, as well as the Hints & Hijinx SRD.

He gave some pretty sweet tips on how to START designing a game (which is pretty intimidating honestly), which I had never even thought about. Very cool stuff.

Watch for yourself.

Until next time, cheers!

This week's video is a short and sweet interview with Spencer Campbell of .

Spencer is the brilliant designer behind the LUMEN System, Slayer, NOVA, THORN, and so much more (I’m not kidding, the guy is so prolific!).

I especially loved his take on how SRDs should be seen as guidelines and not gospel. A truly refreshing take. He also had lots to say about how to properly hack Breathless.

Take a look for yourself. Until next time, cheers!

So here comes Tabletop Blueprint, the rebranded Fari RPGs YouTube channel to cover everything related to TTRPG game design. We’ll talk about mechanics and layouts, interview game designers, give tips and tricks, and a lot more.

So make sure you subscribe because there’s a lot of stuff coming up.

Also, we’re opening sponsor blocks on the channel so if you want to promote your new TTRPG or Kickstarter campaign, head over to https://farirpgs.com/sponsor

Until next time.

Three years ago, I released Breathless and its SRD. Since then, the community has made it their own as there are now over 250 games built on Breathless.

A new edition of Breathless is on the way, and to mark the occasion, we're running Breathless Jam 2.

• The jam was announced just last week ago, and already 95+ people have joined.

• You can submit a full game or an adventure.

• We’re looking to license high-quality adventures for the new edition, your work could be published officially!

Whether you’re returning or new to Breathless, now’s a great time to jump in.

Share ideas, collaborate, and see what’s possible with the system.

► Join Breathless Jam 2 on itch.io

Vines draw you into a slithering embrace; tendrils burrow into your body, encasing your corpse in a shell of moldering bark and fungal ridges. You belong to the forest now, a puppet of its malign intelligence.

Hey everyone!

I’m happy to announce that Dungeon Bound, a gothic fantasy horror RPG, is launching on Backerkit next year!

Images are worth more than words so check those out and sign up for the campaign!

I’m also going to be adding a bit more details on this Bluesky post.

Sign up for the campaign

Features

• Easy to learn old-school style system.

• Beautifully illustrated rulebook.

• Print-friendly version to use during play.

• 35+ random tables for NPCs, monsters, traps, treasures, spells, etc.

• Ready-to-run starter adventures.

• Extensive bestiary of corrupted horrors.

• And more…!

Sign up for the campaign