What is PTFO?
PTFO is novel-length fantasy and science fiction stories, published serially here on Substack. The stories you read can here are part of a small but fun genre called AP Fiction: Stories told through the solo play of a tabletop roleplaying game.
Because the direction of the story is influenced by the roll of the dice and, sometimes, by the votes of the readers, AP Fiction stories are unpredictable, even to the author — rather than the author setting out to tell a specific story, we Play to Find Out.
Who is this for?
If you like fantasy and science fiction, this is for you. First and foremost, PTFO will be exciting adventures through distant but familiar worlds.
If you like tabletop RPGs, this is for you. There’s a lot of delight in seeing how the rules and structure of a TTRPG can help create a great story, and in each episode, we’ll explore the GM and player decision-making that leads to each scene. I sometimes compare it to a cooking show — I do my best to tell a great story through a TTRPG, but I also try to show you how it came together the way it did, so that you can take whatever good ideas you find here and bring it to your gaming table.
What are we playing right now?
We are playing Stonetop, a very cool game by Jeremy Strandberg and his team, which follows the heroes of a small village named Stonetop in the Iron Age of a magical world. You can find the introduction and Session Zero here, and a table of contents here.
Strandberg is a brilliant game designer and worldbuilder, and he’s iterating on several other great narrative systems like Dungeon World, Apocalypse World, and Blades in the Dark. Stonetop is in playtesting right now, and you can still preorder it on Kickstarter.
Content Guidance
PTFO’s Stonetop campaign is a story of fantasy adventure in a magical Iron Age — as such, it will contain depictions of violent conflict, cruelty and oppression. Depictions of violence will be kept pretty PG-13. Tonally, I’m going to do my best to depict the main characters as heroic (and not anti-heroic): good people trying to do the right thing, in a world that’s tough to survive in.
There will be no sexual content in the text — character relationships will be depicted as strong friendships and bitter rivalries. If you’re looking for spicy stuff, there’s a big, sexy internet out there for you. Godspeed.
Can I read this without knowing the rules and setting of the game?
Yes! The game will explore and explain the world of Stonetop as part of the story, so not knowing the setting shouldn’t be a barrier at all.
As far as the rules go — I will do my best to explain the rules as they arise, and occasionally excerpt them from the source material to show you exactly how something works. But here are some basics that might be helpful right off the bat:
The Basics of Stonetop
Stonetop is from an excellent family of narrative-focused games called PbtA, or Powered by the Apocalypse. They’re much less tactical than D&D 5E or Pathfinder, and more focused on ensuring interesting narrative outcomes.
The core mechanic is this: When the characters try to accomplish something risky, they roll 2d6 and add one of their attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom Intelligence, or Charisma, which range between -1 and +3). If they get a 10 or more on the dice, they get a Hit, and achieve their objective! On a 7-9, they get a Weak Hit. A weak hit will let them partially succeed or succeed with a cost. 6 or less means they Miss. They fail, and the situation turns against them — sometimes very badly indeed, depending on the stakes.
These rolls are always part of Moves. Moves are actions that characters take when ‘triggers’ in the narrative occur — like Clash, which is triggered when a character fights in melee combat with a foe, or Seek Insight, when a character studies their surroundings and tries to learn something about the situation at hand.
When I break down the game mechanics behind the story, I will mention the names of ‘moves’ that the characters are using, and tell you how those moves are being resolved. Sometimes, I’ll share the exact text of the move, but often I’ll just give the gist. In the course of this, you’ll learn a bit about how Stonetop is played.
