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Derby Drama

Created by Libby Horacek

A tabletop role-playing game about the drama and excitement of skating in a roller derby bout.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Public beta release! Stream! Stress tokens!
about 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 12:06:40 AM

Public beta release

I released an unfinished beta version of Derby Drama on Itch.io today! I wasn't originally planning to publicly release a beta version. But right now, with bouts cancelled due to COVID-19, the roller derby community could use some new ways to stay connected and have fun with friends. So I'm  offering this very unfinished version of the main rulebook for free as  well as a guide to playing online which can be found here.

Download the beta on Itch.io!

Kickstarter backers will get the finished version of the rules plus two settings for the game. The finished ebook version of the game  will be available for purchase in May.

Stream

Some friends from the Discord server and I will play a game on Twitch tonight from 6pm to 9pm EDT. 

Stress tokens

Finally, I made the first 10 complete sets of stress tokens! There will be at least two varieties: striking jewel tones  and shocking gold. All handmade resin by me!

We made it!! ...Now what?
about 4 years ago – Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 11:01:05 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

If you like Derby Drama...
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 08:27:44 PM

Wow, only 4 days left! Thanks everyone for your support so far. I'm still hoping to get to that 250 print copies Radix Media stretch goal, so please continue to share the project with folks you think may be interested! Right now we're just a little under halfway there (120 copies). That may seem really far from the goal, but all sorts of unexpected things can happen in the last days of a campaign!

As well as sharing my gratitude, I also want to take this time to share with you some other tabletop role-playing game projects that you might like!

Zine Quest 2 games

Derby Drama is a part of Zine Quest 2, a project from Kickstarter that encourages folks to fund short booklets related to tabletop role-playing games during the month of February. There are a TON of great-looking games raising funds right now but I want to highlight just a few. Note, I haven't played any of these games, they just sound neat! 

 LIFTS: Powered by Your ABpocalypse

So, if you're a roller derby player, you've gotta do off-skates training right? So hard. So boring. But what if your off-skates workout was also a role-playing game? In particular, the game "In the Name of the Moon, I Will Punish My Abs!" sounds right up my alley: "a game about transforming magical girls, the problems they overcome, the weights they lift, and the evils they defeat."

Alone on a Journey

One of the hardest things about tabletop role-playing games is finding a group to play with, and Takuma Okada has your solution - play by yourself! This collection of their solo games looks absolutely beautiful and could become your go-to for creative alone-time.

 Let's Make a Mary Sue

A zine about creating ridiculous, idealized characters and embracing their perfections. This could be a great combo with Derby Drama because you could make your Mary Sue in this game, then make her a roller derby skater in Derby Drama!

 Take Root

It's Harvest Moon / Stardew Valley the tabletop role-playing game! (I don't actually know if there's a huge roller derby/Stardew Valley crossover audience but if there isn't there SHOULD be.) Plant and harvest crops, crawl dungeons, date villagers, and in the end compete to win the best display at the Winter Festival.

Not a Zine Quest game, but SPORTS, also I've played this one and it was awesome

Fight With Spirit

This game is still in development, but if you are excited about sports RPGs, you should sign up to hear about news and playtests on the website! I participated in a playtest of this game a couple months ago and it captures the vibe of a sport anime or sports drama PERFECTLY. Plus, the game isn't  about a specific sport, so you could also totally play this game as being about a junior roller derby team!

New reward level! Plus art!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Feb 09, 2020 at 12:30:56 PM

The "Power Jam" level is all gone! New level: The Pack!

Power Jam, the level with the full game set - zines, tokens, dice, and scoreboard for $25, is all out as of this update. And there are just 11 game sets left at the Star Pass community copy level for $30!

I want folks to be able to get all three zines if they want them so I've added a new level - The Pack. The Pack is just the zines and the scoreboard - bring your own dice and game tokens - for $20. 

Some folks might read that and think, "hmm, gee, I supported at the Power Jam/Star Pass level because I wanted all three zines, but I don't really need more dice or game tokens..." Good news! You can go to the project page and click "Manage your pledge" to select The Pack instead. If you were backing at the Star Pass level, you can add a community copy to The Pack by adding $5 to your pledge.

Don't feel bad if you want to downgrade - the difference in price between Power Jam and The Pack is almost exactly my projected cost for the stress tokens and dice. It'll be the same for me in the end! I just want to make sure that you, the backer, are getting what you want!

Artist announcements!

Thanks to everyone's support I've been able to bring on a few wonderful artists to help with the project. Gum (Instagram) will make stickers of cool roller skaters! You'll be able to add these to your pledge when you pay shipping. Michelle S.B. (Instagram) and Alex "Lorena Vomit" Wright (Instagram) are going to illustrate imaginative roller derby bout settings and characters!

I'm so happy to be able to share the success of this Kickstarter with these super cool artists and I can't wait to see what they will create!

Holler Derby stretch goal: funded!
about 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 07, 2020 at 10:20:37 PM

Y'all, I am so excited to announce that Liz Pavlovic's layout and illustrations for Holler Derby are funded! They're a super-skilled visual designer with the perfect style and sensibility for this zine, so I'm certain it'll look amazing.

Some other cool stuff that y'all have funded at this point:

  • An editor!
  • A proofreader!
  • More art! (Details soon!)

Our next stretch goal: illustrations for World-Wide Roller League. I want a specific look for this project (bold lines, lots of action and emotion, sort of comic book-like) and I'm still putting out feelers for the right artist. This will probably be the final stretch goal, at $4,500.

Finally, we're close to the maximum number of pledges at the $25 Power Jam level. I've capped Power Jam and Star Pass at 50 because making stress tokens is time consuming and I have a limited supply of the materials. However, people seem to really prefer these levels to just getting The Bout rule book so I'm looking into either a) adding a new $20 level with everything but the stress tokens or b) finding a cost-effective way to make a limited run of custom tokens. Option b) scares me because it seems like manufacturing is super risky! But I'm going to do some research see if it's a viable solution and I'll let you know what I find out!

Again, thanks so much for your support and please keep sharing the project with your friends. Y'all are amazing. <3