Adventures In Random Roleplay: Community Call to Aid — RPG/Comic Creator Jake Richmond

Welcome back, dice fondlers. You may have noticed that we didn’t have a normal weekly Adventures in Random Roleplay article last Friday. While I had an article mostly finished, a news item fell in my lap that I felt you should be aware of.

A creator’s worst nightmare happened to Jake Richmond last week.
On April 1st, the world played a nasty trick on him with the death of his computer— one that held all his comic and RPG design material. You may know Jake from his RPGs or his webcomics like Modest Medusa. Modest Medusa is a charming webcomic about a young medusa from the magical land of Yeld who appeared through a toilet and entered the lives of Marah and her uncle Jake. It’s as bizarre and wonderful as it sounds and goes places you’ll never see coming. Now, full disclosure, I’ve been following Jake’s work for many years – Modest Medusa is one of my favorite webcomics to follow, and I have huge respect for his RPG design sensibilities as well. That’s why we’ve devoted this week’s ARR! to asking the community to help in Jake’s recovery!

Due to this tragic loss of his work, Bundle of Holding set up a world of Yeld charity bundle with anthologies of Jake’s comic, Modest Medusa, and several of his RPGs. As usual with Bundle of Holding, a portion of the proceeds go to charity (in this case, The Roleplaying Game Creators Relief Fund), a portion to the creator, and a portion stays with the Bundle of Holding team. The goal here is to raise enough to get Jake a new computer and recover his lost data.

So, with that being said, let’s break down what’s included in the Yeld Bundle, and give you an idea why I support helping out this particular member of the comic, RPG, and anime community.

Yeld Bundle Games & Comics (Limited Time)

Offer Link: http://www.bundleofholding.com/presents/Yeld

Bundle of Holding packs are always broken down into two levels. The first has a base entry price, while the second is based on average amounts being spent on the bundle. As usual, we’ll start at the beginning.

In the starter pack, there are four items — the first season anthology of Modest Medusa webcomics and three games: Sea Dracula Wave 2, Classroom Deathmatch, and Tokyo Brain Pop.

Classroom Deathmatch is what you play when you want to spend time with your friends reenacting the film Battle Royale in a 50 person free-for-all. You know, like the Hunger Games, but the thing that came before it. Like all of Jake’s games, it is rich in theme and a great way to kill 4-5 hours of time and 49 other characters.
Tokyo Brain Pop (previously known as Panty Explosion Perfect) is the quintessential high school shoujo anime RPG. Key takeaways? Tokyo Brain Pop uses the Best Friend/Rival system to cut the GM out of the game and filled the resulting hole with psychic powers, a tinge of horror, and loads of style.
Sea Dracula Wave 2 is… well… um… So, if you took Phoenix Wright, replaced everyone with animals, and made everything revolve around dance; you still wouldn’t know what Sea Dracula Wave 2 was like, but you’d be a lot closer.

However, for as much fun as the starter collection is, the bonus collection is where things get exciting. Not only do you get the collected seasons 2 and 3 of Modest Medusa, you also get Jake’s latest game, The Magical Land of Yeld, its first expansion, Yeld Towns & Territories, The Tulip Academy’s Society for Dangerous Gentlemen, and Ocean.

The Magical Land of Yeld is an RPG based on the fantasy world in Modest Medusa, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Kid-friendly, with children as characters, it retains the toothy darkness around the edges that really makes Modest Medusa so good. The expansion is a great companion piece, giving players additional options for play.
The Tulip Academy’s Society for Dangerous Gentlemen is another fantastic anime-themed game that evokes classic tropes that hardcore otaku live and breathe, including, but not limited to Utena, and Ouran High School Host Club.
Finally, there’s Ocean. Let’s list the reasons why this one is so cool: an abandoned underwater research station, an isolated group of people stricken with memory loss, and the lack of GM. It’s a lot of fun. Trust me. Maybe don’t trust all the other characters.

The starter collection is $4.99, and when I last looked, the bonus collection was a minimum of $12.38. Personally, I recommend bumping that up to $15 or $20 as the games are definitely worth it. As of right now, the Bundle is set to expire as of 4/14 at 10pm EST, so make sure you don’t miss out.

There’s a ton of great gaming to be had here, for a pair of good causes, and I didn’t feel right throwing a random game rundown at you folks this week when you had the opportunity to help out a member of the community and get some great gaming for yourself as well. With that said, we’ll be back to you later in the week with the game rundown I was planning for last week. Until then….