The week is ending! KiwiRPG week has been tremendous fun and we’ve done lots of cool things! So that’s it, see you later! Bye now!

Wait just a second!

What’s this? 

It says that’s the last track on the CD… but it’s still playing? Oh my goodness, there are BONUS TRACKS on this CD! The most exciting tracks of all!

Last minute surprise KiwiRPG bonus tracks

ThisIsRubyOK’s video playthroughs of solo RPGs – dive into the world of solo RPGs with Ruby and enjoy playthroughs of a bunch of brilliant and unique experiences… Save Community Radio, The Siren’s Calling, Quill, Muse, These Teeth Are Mine, and more!

 

Death on the Dessarin, for D&D 5E, by the Forger’s Hand. It is the tail end of winter, coming into spring, and you stand astride the deck of a riverboat called the Harvest Moon… A first-level adventure for beginners and experts alike, designed to be flexible and adaptable while covering all pillars of play. 

 

Game jam entries! The jam isn’t over as I write but there are already some fun-looking entries in the KiwiRPG week 20-minute game jam (spotlight blog about it here). Go see! 

 

Aotearoa critters become 5e monsters ! Four creature stat blocks that were made during a special Dice Legenz world building stream Vahid ran as part of KiwiRPG week. Discover the Giant Wētā, Dire Kiwi, Dire Kiwifruit Plant, and Sandfly Swarm! (Oh gosh the last one is TERRIFYING)

 

Gungeons and Dragons! Aotearoa’s longest running kid’s show is delivering a brilliant take on D&D for kids, with Te Aihe Butler as GM, and Dungeons & Comedians core player Tom Eason as writer/director 

 

 

Okay that’s it for real now, this is really the end. After the closing ceremony tonight, at the end of the Monster of the Week livestream, we’re done!

Thanks for joining us this time! See you next year! Ka kite anō!

It has been a busy year for KiwiRPG creators!

So many fun games and great shows doing amazing things – join us today for a whirlwind tour of what else we’ve been up to in 2024! You might just find your new favourite show-slash-game! 

Start with the Game or Show? table…

Game or Show? (roll 1d4)

  1. Roll on the Wandering Games table!
  2. Roll on the Wandering Shows table!
  3. Roll on BOTH tables and enjoy both at the same time!
  4. Don’t roll at all, just methodically click through every single link below because how can you resist??

If you encounter a game or show, make sure you check for surprise and encounter distance.

Good luck!

 

 

Wandering Games (roll 1d20)

  1. Lineages of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa animal backgrounds for D&D 5E (also on itch!), by Kelly Whyte
  2. Super Cryptid Friends, a new game from City Square Studios: play as Cryptids working together to defend your habitat, if proof of your existence gets out you lose!
  3. Deathmatch Island, on a mysterious island of strange secrets, the game is just the beginning. Paragon System game by Old Dog Games and Evil Hat Productions.
  4. Arcane Crime Division Casebook, five new cases for Arcane Crimes Division from Imaginary Empire
  5. A Small Patch of Moss, by takataapui — Become a small patch of moss in a big bog. A solo game, you only need yourself, a few minutes, and the ability to imagine yourself as a patch of moss.
  6. 25th Century Vampires, cyberpunk vampires and neon demons using the 24XX system, by Sam Robson
  7. Blades & Darkness, a Lasers & Feelings hack inspired by Blades in the Dark, by Sam Robson
  8. These Little Delusions, a one-page RPG approximation of delusion, by takataapui
  9. The Time Eater, a mystery for Monster of the Week, by Malcolm Harbrow. One scientist has gone missing, and another has been found shrunken, withered, horrifically aged, and very, very dead…
  10. The Ripped Rats of Raineford, a tower dungeon for Meatheads by S. Murphy
  11. Into the Oldest Tower, an adventure for Free League’s Dragonbane, by Marcus Bone (Unbound Publishing) — Deep in the Krummer Mountains stands an old and broken tower with a dark secret…
  12. It All Started In A Tavern, The Big Book from BeaDnD, for D&D and other fantasy games!
  13. The 52 Pickup Free Issues Collection from City Square Studios: original tabletop & board games completely for free every single month!
  14. Lore Library — created by Hugh Lashbrooke, a way to create a public, searchable catalogue of all available content for your tabletop role-playing game
  15. Dice the Halls — a kid-friendly Christmas adventure for d12GO!, by Brad Zimmerman. Find Santa in time for his big delivery!
  16. Tangled Blessings: Rock Band — a supplement for Tangled Blessings by GothHoblin — start a rock band with your fellow Brackroot Academy students!
  17. Strike Force: Oz — Join an elite squad of magical special operatives in the whimsical world of Oz, for D&D 5E, by Mockm
  18. White Magick: The Angels, a supplement for Wreck This Deck, by The Forger’s Hand
  19. Shadowrun: The Needle’s Eye, a plot book for Shadowrun, including work by Grant Robinson   
  20. BUNDLE SURPRISE! There are lots of new releases in the itch and Drivethru Bundles! ROLL ON THE BUNDLE SURPRISE MINI TABLE BELOW
Bundle Surprise Mini Table (roll 1d10)
  1. The Accursed, a 5e class (itch and DTRPG) by Kelly Whyte
  2. Mermaid Bay: Go Where the People Aren’t, a mystery for Monster of the Week, from Mr Ray and Sero (Redgate & Wolf) (also on itch!)
  3. Explorers of the Forever City, a rules-light fantasy game about ordinary people making extraordinary discoveries, by Sam Robson
  4. Hard Sell, on Itch and DriveThruRPG — a standalone negotiation game and system-agnostic bartering module by Hugh Lashbrooke
  5. A bunch of stuff for Traveller from FSpace Publications
  6. gothHoblin’s Fresh Blood solo Firelights game, and issue 2 of gothHoblin’s Grimoire Issue 2: Ancient Magic
  7. Sam Robson’s Tower in the Meadow solo game and
  8. Voidwalkers for Forged in the Dark by Sam Robson
  9. it is a beautiful day in the wetland and you are a horrible bittern, a swampy solo RPG by takataapui
  10. Capybara for Mausritter, a capybara, for Mausritter, by Hugh Lashbrooke

 

 

Wandering Shows (roll 1d20)

  1. Kea: Mountain Trolls, a one-shot of mountain parrot mayhem from Sero Does Stuff (YouTube video)
  2. Severus Svarti’s Magical Funfaire, a Monster of the Week one-shot from Sero Does Stuff that went kaiju-weird in the first five minutes and never looked back (YouTube video)
  3. Dungeon Leap: Dawson’s Keep, a teen angst-tastic D&D 5E mashup of Quantum Leap, Dawson’s Keep, and the Keep on the Borderlands, from the Diceratops podcast (podcast episodes)
  4. The Great Monster Make-Off!, Monster of the Week monster and mystery building in game show format, featuring creator Michael Sands (podcast episode)
  5. Dungeons & Comedians: Potion’s Eleven, a D&D/Blades in the Dark mashup played live on stage with an animated intro, costumes, accompaniment on double bass, and a twist ending worthy of Danny Ocean.
  6. D&D out of context, a hilarious short slice of actual play from Dice Legenz
  7. Vahid from Dice Legenz talks with Viva La Dirt League’s Adam, a long-form chat about making one of the world’s biggest D&D shows!
  8. Getting Dicey plays through ALIEN: Chariot of the Gods!
  9. Wizards and Warp Drives, a new podcast from A J Pickett and Nacho covering geek culture from comic books to role-playing games!
  10. The Tear-Able Adventures of the Janderson Breffords Parchment Company — the grand finale episode of this epic/silly/both D&D podcast campaign that really understand the value of electrum
  11. GM Breakout‘s Kiwi and international crew rounded off their Pathfinder 2e actual play with the longest-standing PC picking up the GM’s idea for a retrospective and gleefully running off with it into the darkness
  12. Saturday Knights: Another D&D Live Show/Podcast also finished their run, as their very assorted crew of 5e misfits try to save the world and/or their house
  13. Deadbeat Dungeons and Dragons “The only D&D podcast where the setting has daddy issues” arrived, delivering a lot of character and SO many dads.
  14. Tycho’s Tales, a new discussion podcast about all sorts of TTRPGs! 
  15. A deep dive review of new D&D adventure Vecna: Eve of Ruin, by Brad Thompson (Cutting Words) 
  16. Carrion Company: Preacher Tailor Soldier Spy, the latest episode of a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying saga at the Toa Tabletop podcast
  17. The Rando Stream: The Entertainer, a two-part actual play of The Expanse RPG!
  18. Fate of Isen Book 2 ep 39: Wasted Guardian, D&D with a room filled with strange ancient secrets, Granny as a crab, and a mystery within a mystery within another mystery!
  19. Wait, Roll That Again ep 8, the final episode of season one, where the journey to create the Fight or Fright RPG led to some powerful insights about game design
  20. Of Horrors and Heroes continues their Rolemaster Actual Play — it’s episode 118 of Ain’t No Place For A Hero, “The Pain of Reanimation”

Who the heck are we? What are we doing? Why are we like this?

It’s Matariki, the start of a new cycle of the year down here in Aotearoa. This is a time we mark by remembering what has passed, celebrating where we are, and looking ahead to the future. 

So in that spirit, let’s check in on Kēmu Whakatau O Aotearoa, KiwiRPG: where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.

Our journey so far

KiwiRPG began in late 2021. Big Bad Con had set up a 24-hour online convention, and as they looked to fill slots in their middle of the US night, they started talking to folks in Aotearoa. We set up a couple of panels featuring game folks around the motu here, and once that conversation started, we thought we could keep it going. It’s a big world, and working together to speak louder across it made a lot of sense! 

You can find those first two panels on the KiwiRPGers Talk YouTube playlist, along with the ones that followed as our networks strengthened

First we agreed on a hashtag, and then we set up a discord, and with that came a kaupapa (a way of doing what we do, a set of expectations and understandings), and a website, and the first KiwiRPG week, and finally a lengthy period of discussion where we agreed to become a formal organization and worked out rules and elected a committee. 

In that long process we really figured out what our priorities are:

  • getting the word out about our creations
  • supporting each other as we make our stuff
  • encouraging new voices from Aotearoa
  • speaking out when needed about how Aotearoa is represented in TTRPGs  

 

Where we’re at

Kēmu Whakatau O Aotearoa today is a few things!

There’s a busy and encouraging community in the KiwiRPG discord, where people work together to solve design problems, troubleshoot podcast technical issues, work on the logistics and economics of getting printed games into game stores (surprisingly complicated!), and provide moral support when times get tough.

We also hang out and make silly jokes and most Fridays have a community check-in where people just talk about what they’re up to and what’s going on with them, and it’s honestly a good vibe.

The discord is the buzzy centre of the community, but it’s not the limit! We have a bunch of members who visit the discord occasionally or not at all, who are busily doing their own thing in their own spaces, and more power to them. They’re still part of KiwiRPG and our network of support!

We’re present on a bunch of social media channels and we try to celebrate the wins all across our membership. It’s all a bit haphazard, because volunteer groups are like that, but it seems to work! 

And the highlight of the year, of course, is this week! KiwiRPG week is when we wave our flag and yell out “look at us”, and my goodness, if you know any New Zealanders you’ll understand that we are terrible at waving our flag and yelling “look at us”. We hate having to do that. The trick of KiwiRPG is that even the shy, reticent Kiwi creator will speak up when it’s about something cool our friends have done. 

What’s ahead

We’re not even halfway through our second year in operation as a formal association, and we’ve come a long way. But there is so much more to come!

  • Mentorship opportunities: We’re right now having conversations about setting up a formal mentorship programme for new Kiwi creators. We all already do a lot of mutual mentorship just by chatting away in discord, but this would be more structured and productive. We have in our membership creators who have made globally successful games, who have run very successful crowdfunds, and who produce viable and successful livestreams and work in professional media production. There is a lot of expertise ready to lift up someone new!
  • Special in-person events: There has been a lot of call for KiwiRPG events of various kinds. Already there are a few irregular meetups for KiwiRPG creators, but there is interest in setting up small conventions and looking for other opportunities to bring folks together in the real world. Early days on this one, but the spirit is willing!
  • Speaking up when needed: It has been a while since we have needed to speak up on an issue of representation in the TTRPG industry, but we stand ready to do so. This is a crucial part of our kaupapa and we will never fail to honour it.

We’re moving forward at the steady pace of a bunch of enthusiastic volunteers, i.e. not too fast, but not too slow either. Let’s find out how far we get before the next KiwiRPG week rolls around!

(And by the way – you’re signed up to the email mailing list for KiwiRPG week, right? So you get the handy reminder that it’s happening and the content summaries during the week? Of course you are…)

What about you?

We love everyone in Aotearoa making games and shows and enjoying tabletop role-playing games in all their unique ways.

If you’re a Kiwi, or you live here in Aotearoa, or you have strong connections to here even though you live elsewhere around the world, why not join up with KiwiRPG? We would love to meet you! Membership is free!

We are ready to help you get started on the path to making something, or sharing something,  or taking something to the next level.

And if you’re already doing things yourself – and here in Aotearoa we are good at getting things figured out by ourselves, that’s a whole thing in our cultural mindset that has its own Wikipedia-worthy metaphorical name – maybe you could come in and add your insights to our shared pool of knowledge and encouragement?

Kēmu Whakatau O Aotearoa, KiwiRPG, is a good bunch of folks, looking out for each other, giving each other a hand, and always ready with a chur at the right time. You’d be welcome here too.

You want new releases? Mate, we’ve got new releases!

There’s heaps of great stuff launching as part of KiwiRPG week – special episodes, new games, and crowdfund campaigns – covering Monster of the Week, OSR, D&D 5E, For The Queen, and more!

Let’s dive into this treasure hoard of awesome and swim around in it, Uncle Scrooge style! 

Skip to: Crowdfunding corner Special episodes

New games!

These fresh releases are out for KiwiRPG week – and we’re going to play one of them for you TONIGHT!

You can find links for more creators and a feed of their work as it comes on our Games page.

Body Swap by the Big Top — a Monster of the Week mystery. Everyone loves that body swapping episode from their favourite TV show and now your hunters can experience it first-hand! (Part of the KiwiRPG itch bundle!)    

Brawl of the Odd — a system-agnostic fight club and PVP arena, especially suited to OSR games like Into the Odd, but compatible with any system 

 

Fight or Fright — a Halloween game about trick-or-treating kids with magical costumes, scary possessed decorations, and (of course) candy! The development of this game was documented on the podcast Wait Roll That Again, and now it’s here!

See Fight or Fright live on Wednesday on our Twitch channel as part of KiwiRPG’s Seven Days of Streaming.

For the Grail by Sam Robson — A Descended From the Queen game in which players explore the relationships, struggles and triumphs of a group of Arthurian knights on a grand quest.

Gaspunk by S. Murphy (Part of the KiwiRPG DriveThruRPG bundle!) Gaspunk is an irreverent rules light post-apocalyptic roleplaying game. New revised version! 

 

Gaspunk adventure Drytongue Valley and the Bunker of Orbital Fortune by S. Murphy — Drytongue Valley is a hexcrawk setting for Gaspunk set in a desert that will kill you.

Paranormal Wellington: Optimal Edition by Morgan Davie — a revised and updated version of the spooky silly Kiwi classic Paranormal Wellington, a game of bumbling supernatural investigation while TV cameras follow you around.

The Creature from the Black Drain — a mystery for Monster of the Week, by Malcolm Harbrow, and set in Aotearoa New Zealand   

 

the farmer and the bog body by takataapui/Riwhi Kenny — (Part of the KiwiRPG itch bundle!)  A two player game about a tender conversation between a farmer and a bog body. Players trade 7 questions back and forth, with each question asked leading down a different branching conversational path.-

 

Crowdfunding Corner!

Help make exiciting stuff and get rewards? Heck yeah!

The Spirits of Wyvernfall is LIVE ON KICKSTARTER NOW! A mystery for 5e by Kelly Whyte. Players investigate a series of undead hauntings in a small town where all is not as it seems to be..

 

Bards of Aratai sign up now for campaign launch! BARDS OF ARATAI is an exciting and hilarious 5E YouTube series by Dice Legenz. Help them make the show and get wonderful rewards, including a BARDS OF ARATAI campaign setting book!  

 

Daedalus Station and the Rimspace Racing League sign up now for campaign launch! A Hub adventure for Mothership 1e, by S. Murpy Games.

 

Special Episodes!

All our episodes are special but these are the ones we’re putting in this post. Check for any we’ve missed with the links and feeds in Our Shows.

The Lost Koz D&D podcast debuted at last year’s KiwiRPG week –- and they celebrated in style with a brilliant 1 year anniversary episode

 

KiwiRPG member Vex guests on TTRPG design podcast Why We Roll!

 

Special KiwiRPG one-shot fun with a playthrough of GothHoblin’s iconic game TRASH PALS by longtime friends of KiwiRPG, $2 Creature Feature!

 

Dungeons & Comedians presents video from their newest and most incredible live show, a post-apocalyptic rumble that could only be called… MIN MAX. Featuring live animation and a real-life Dexterity challenge!

 

The Diceratops Presents podcast offers a one-shot of the Paranormal Wellington Optimal Edition, in which heads detach from bodies and local council ordinances are invoked… 

 

Say hello to the new best way to get KiwiRPG goodness in your ears!

A special one today: a new KiwiRPG podcast that catches the best RPG audio from across the motu and brings it right to you!

This can be considered KiwiRPG’s official podcast feed, but like pretty much everything in our association, it comes from one person who had a great idea and then made it happen. Alex Marinkovich-Josey makes the fantastic podcast Wait, Roll That Again, documenting his journey making his own new RPG Fight or Fright (which you can see played live on Wednesday as #4 of our 7 Days of Streaming).

Now he’s turned his podcast skills towards our whole community! Here’s what he has to say:

“At KiwiRPG, we’re lucky enough to have a number of fantastic podcasters in in our membership, and to help celebrate their work we’ve created a new podcast feed!

Introducing The KiwiRPG Chorus, the podcast feed that takes episodes and interviews from across the membership and uploads them all in one feed, right for you to listen to!

Every 2 weeks, we’ll have a new episode from across the membership to share, whether it’s a new Actual Play, a special interview, the beginning of a new series, or anything else our membership comes up with!

So check out The KiwiRPG Chorus, and discover just how good we do podcasting. Find the feed wherever you find good podcasts.”

The KiwiRPG Chorus is already live on podcast platforms. The first two episodes feature interviews with Hamish Cameron about his game The Sprawl (live streamed Tuesday in 7 Days of Streaming #3) and Tim Denee about his game Deathmatch Island (streamed on Monday, you might find a recording on our twitch). 


Find the KiwiRPG Chorus now wherever good podcasts are sold, er, given away! Here’s a link with lots and lots of podcast venues.

Or check out an episode below right now!

RSS The KiwiRPG Chorus

  • [INTERVIEW] - Hamish Cameron Talks SPRAWL (PBTA Cyberpunk)
    Find out how to visit a cyberpunk future, PBTA style, as Aotearoa TTRPG designer Hamish Cameron chats with KiwiRPG's Morgan Davie about his role-playing game The Sprawl! The Sprawl is a cyberpunk game Powered By The Apocalypse. First published in 2016, it now has many fans around the world. Find out more about it here: […]
  • [INTERVIEW] Deathmatch Island with Tim Denee
    To celebrate the release of Kiwi RPG Deathmatch Island we chat with it's creator Tim Denee, just in time for Kiwi RPG week. The KiwiRPG Chorus is a podcast feed that brings together interviews, special episodes, and more from across KiwiRPG's membership and right to you! Find KiwiRPG on our Website: ⁠https://www.kiwirpg.com/
The constellation Matariki, by pbkwee (CC BY 2.0)

KiwiRPG week coincides with Matariki, the midwinter rising of the Matariki star cluster. Matariki marks the start of a new year. This year the day of Matariki is Friday, June 28, but this event is marked and celebrated all week. 

The three principles of Matariki are, using words from matariki.com :

Matariki Hunga Nui – Remembrance: Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of Matariki.

Matariki Ahunga Nui – Celebrating the Present: Gathering together to give thanks for what we have.

Matariki Manako Nui – Looking to the Future: Looking forward to the promise of a new year.

In this post, Kēmu Whakatau O Aotearoa gives members an opportunity to honour those we have lost in our communities in the last year. Role playing games are about people and connection, and the bonds we form through friendship and play are powerful.

Additionally, as this is the first year our community has aligned with Matariki celebrations, we have invited members to also honour those who were lost in recent times but before the last rising of Matariki. In this first moment of remembrance for our new community it is right that we include them too. 

Some of these remembrances will be private, but some are shared here in this post. 

We invite KiwiRPG members to contact us with any remembrances as the week goes on. We will add them to this post.

I’d like to share the memory of my friend Zac. He was the kind of guy who was always ready with a lift to game night, words of reassurance, or a cheeky quip that made everyone laugh. He was as thoughtful as he was mischievous, and his absence is sorely felt. – Sam Robson

I want to remember my friend Jamie. He believed in the power and value of games and imaginative play and influenced me in a profound way. He made every game better. – Morgan Davie

James Plunket was a stalwart of Wellington’s gaming scene. His loss a few short years ago is still keenly felt by so many people here. Every game with him created joy. – Morgan Davie 

 

This year’s KiwiRPG week features a special event running all week: 7 days of streaming, featuring Kiwi games played by Kiwi players. 

Here’s the whole week schedule in a single image for easy reference and sharing (click for full size):

Of course all the details here are included on the full KiwiRPG Week schedule.

Every stream features Kiwi players from our community of shows trying a different game created by KiwiRPG game design members!

BONUS: Prizes to be won every stream, courtesy of our lovely sponsors Bea DnD Games! Details in the schedule.

Watch us on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kemuwhakatauoaotearoa

KiwiRPG week returns this month!

The third annual KiwiRPG week begins Sunday June 23rd and runs until Saturday June 29th, celebrating Kiwi excellence in tabletop role-playing games!

KiwiRPG week coincides with the celebration of Matariki, the beginning of a new year. It’s the perfect time to acknowledge the year that has been, and  look forward with pride to new challenges. We invite everyone to join us and discover what we are all about!

This year’s KiwiRPG week is sponsored by Bea DnD Games! Thanks Bea DnD!

Main event: 7 DAYS OF LIVE STREAMING

The backbone of our celebration is something we’ve never tried before, a week-long livestream special event. Every day, a different Kiwi game will be played by Kiwi players, live on the new KiwiRPG Twitch channel!

Watch GMs and players from Kiwi actual play shows take on a wild menu of incredible Kiwi-designed game: TTRPG megahit Monster of the Week, new hotness Deathmatch Island, legendary cyberpunk game The Sprawl, fantasy buddy cop tales Arcane Crimes Division, hilarious boardroom brutality in Merger, Halloween kid shenanigans in Fight or Fright, and the world-famous-in-New Zealand d12GO! in zombie action mode.

And while you’re watching, win prizes from local legends and KiwiRPG sponsors, Bea DnD Games (shipping to NZ only)!

KiwiRPG week also features:
  • The launch of new games and adventures including material for Monster of the Week, Dungeons & Dragons 5E, Descended From The Queen, and new editions of some fan-fave standalone Kiwi games! 
  • Brilliant game bundles packed with Kiwi games, available all week on the two major RPG storefronts, DriveThruRPG and itch.io!
  • A new KiwiRPG podcast gathering the best episodes of other Kiwi shows as well as all-new special features!
  • A game jam event running all week, welcoming contributions from game designers anywhere in the world!
  • Special daily discounts at Bea DnD to celebrate different aspects of RPGs!
  • And more to be announced!
How to find out more

Your destination for KiwiRPG week info is https://www.kiwirpg.com/kiwirpg-week-2024/

Signing up to the KiwiRPG week email newsletter is the best way to get the full experience.

 

Over on YouTube we’ve set up two playlists collecting videos of KiwiRPG creators doing their thing! 

The Discover KiwiRPG channels playlist collects some videos from the wide variety of channels run by KiwiRPG creators. Lots of actual play and other interesting sorts of game things to be found here!

And the KiwiRPGers Talk playlist collects videos where KiwiRPG members are chatting about games. This is for convention panel appearances, conference talks, interviews, and other stuff.

Check them out! These lists are by no means complete, please let us know if you spot something we should add!