War of the Pips
A downloadable ttrpg
A rustic fantasy TTRPG set in a world inspired by the games we grew up with. Explore the world as one of the four Aces, completing quests and keeping the peace between the royal houses of the ancient Spades, the arcane Hearts, the hidden Clubs, and the rising Diamonds.
DEMO: PIPSBURG ACADEMY
Want to try War of the Pips? Download the Demo: Pipsburg Academy below and use the VTT to run a session.
THE GAME
War of the Pips is a TABLETOP ROLE PLAYING GAME that can be played solo, or with a GM and 1-4 PLAYERS.
This game uses an OSR-style system named Pipsqueak, and leans on the following principles:
⬩Player agency (do what you like)
⬩ Resource management (items are valuable, and inventory space limited)
⬩ Exploring a sandbox world (go where you want).
Quests and NPCs are run with a deck of playing cards. There are also tables you can roll dice with to develop and further your adventure.
SETTING
Players assemble in the world of Tavolo, where four houses are vying for power over the realm: the warrior house of SPADES, the mercantile house of DIAMONDS, the forestfolk house of CLUBS, and the magical house of HEARTS.
Each card represents one or more NPCs in this world along with a quest they wish the players to accomplish, while each player assumes one of the aces of each house.
Complete quests, combat foes, and build alliances in this realm! The world of Tavolo is a dangerous one, so be sure you’re among friends you can count on when the going gets tough. It is up to each player to choose their destiny.
INCLUDED
⬩ Core Rulebook - 160 Pages of the core rules, game map, NPC & Quest sheets, Landmarks, Tables, etc. Everything you need in one place. Provided in PDF.
⬩ Interactive Character Sheets - Interactive PDFs of all 4 character sheets that can be used on your computer, or printed out.
⬩ Interactive Player Assist Tools - A collection of cards that can be used on your computer to keep track of elements in your games, including: horses, homes, companions, etc.
⬩ Beyond Tavolo - A set of 3 Bookmarks and 3 Postcards that provide extended adventures beyond the map of Tavolo in the core rulebook. Cross the Endless Sea, and delve deep into the Dark Abyss. These include mini-maps, landmark details, and NPCs and quests.
THANK YOU!
Thank you for checking out War of the Pips. If you played and enjoyed the Pipsburg Academy introduction, we'd love you to try out the full game! Your support helps me continue to work on the game and add more of the world to explore. If you are in a less than ideal financial situation, please feel free to grab a community copy whenever they become available. Spread the word and share the game with others!
CREATE YOUR OWN PIPSQUEAK STORY...
The Pipsqueak System was designed for worldbuilders to do what they do best. A general framework that is easy to create in, and adjust to suit your story. Start creating today!
Purchase
In order to download this ttrpg you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $15 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Community Copies
Support this ttrpg at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copy
For those how are not in a financially ideal place at the moment, please download and enjoy War of the Pips.
Donate a Copy
Wish to share the adventuring with others? Purchasing a copy for yourself donates a copy to someone else.
Download demo
Development log
- War of the Pips: World Reforged V3.0 Update33 days ago
- Focused Eyes, Sharpened Teeth: V2.5Jul 29, 2024
- Beyond TavoloMay 01, 2024
- War of the Pips 1E V1Apr 28, 2024
Comments
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This is great from what I've read so far, but I figured you should know that you only partly-garbled the LOTR references used on page 41. The starting encounter descriptions use the "parody" name of Helob and reference imps, while the result descriptions use Shelob and reference orcs instead. It doesn't make it impossible to follow, but you may want to revise it for the future.
I really like what you've put together here, and am going to try and run a solo game for myself using this. I'll add on to this comment if I see any other little editing bits you might want to take a look at, and great job!
EDIT- Found another couple spots. Page 49, the descriptive text under "Action Rolls" reads "fast a fluid" instead of "fast and fluid." Also page 52, last portion of the "II. Landmark" section carried from the prior page, uses "Merlin" instead of your chosen rename of "Merlon" - and in the "II. Road" encounter description, you use the phrase "Each player can not roll to loot the Deer" instead of "now."
Hi, thanks so much for feeding back what you've found! Will be adding them to the next update. Would love to hear your solo game when you get a chance!
Thanks, I certainly will let you know once I've got it underway.
Found a few more bits and pieces as I've read. (I used to work as an editor, so apologies for the in-depth breakdown here - most of these aren't something that serious, but as long as you're making additions and changes I figure you should be aware.)
First off, is the "Monstrum Monster Maker" you reference accessible anywhere? I haven't been able to find it, either on your itch.io creator's page or via Google.
Next, on page 60, you used "sell their wears" instead of "sell their wares" on first "In The Streets" description block. Second description block also includes "eye them wearily," which may be intended as a play on words from "eye them warily" - but if it's not, it's a homonym error.
Page 63, the Seven of Spades character entry appears to be the only entry which does not bold/italicize a weapon in the passage. It appears there may be a missing separator in the last sentence as well, as the sentence is currently a run-on in addition to the word "swords" not matching the other entries. If I were to rewrite it, I would suggest: "Their giant [bold/italic]shields[bold/italic] are their badge of honor - their [bold/italic]swords[bold/italic], their vow."
Page 64, the Three of Diamonds entry - ordinarily a captain might be described as "reckless" instead of "wreckless," unless this is intended as a play on words. If so, you may want to use further description to clarify.
Page 66, Five of Clubs entry - "Deer" is both the singular and plural for this noun in English, and so "Deers" is incorrect. Additionally, "Chainmail vests" on the Six of Clubs entry is not bolded/italicized as other armors in these entries are.
Page 71, entry 12 on the Table, the stat-block has no condition listed.
Page 74 - This is more of a suggestion than an error, but I struggled to read the font used here. A plain-text version of this letter's contents, set below it, may be of value to others.
Page 75, "The Proving Grounds." I believe you intended to use the word "wary" instead of "weary," but suggest you use the word "aware." The phrasing "make the PCs wary" generally means to make them suspicious or cautious, while this is a tutorial and you are trying to teach the players (which fits the word "aware" better).
Additionally on page 75, this is again more of a suggestion. You mention the Cave Troll in two passages, but don't state its statblock. I would suggest either duplicating the stats here or including a reference to page 70 where those stats can be found.
Page 77, Queen of Spades - the last sentence is missing a comma after the word "Palace."
EDIT- Finished reading the rulebook, final editing notes:
Page 82, Ace of Hearts - the second sentence should not have a comma.
Also page 82, Six of Hearts - the final sentence should not have a comma.
Page 85, "Solforot" section - one of the bullet points is missing a space between the bullet and the text.
Page 102, "Foreign Temple" section - the sentence "Its walls are built from a not found in all Tavolo" is missing a noun, presumably "stone" or "material"?
Page 121, "Health Elixir" entry - "by a master alchemists" has an incorrect article. The phrase needs to either be "a master alchemist" or "the master alchemists."