(RPG PDF Spotlight) Asher's Ridge RPG

RPG PDF Spotlights is a new daily look at a recent release for a new tabletop roleplaying game, supplement or scenario, or solo journaling game, that has caught my eye. This isn’t a review, although I hope we can start offering reviews in addition to our news coverage in the future, more of a “hey guys, check this out!” shoutout.

Asher's Ridge

Rulebook by Montford Tales

Asher’s Ridge is a fully collaborative tabletop roleplaying game for 1 to 4 players, where you direct—and play through—episodes of an original paranormal drama television series.   Experience the unexplainable in the breathtaking heart of the Lake District. Gather your cast of characters, scout your filming locations, and make a show that will keep them guessing for years to come.

Inspired by Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Stranger Things and more, Asher's Ridge captures the twists and turns of your favourite paranormal television shows.

Paranormal versus Supernatural

Paranormal: Not scientifically explainable – Merriam-Webster

This game uses the word paranormal to encompass the supernatural as well as the unexplained and extraterrestrial.

Gameplay

During an episode – AKA a game – you foreshadow a paranormal threat to Asher's Ridge in short, atmospheric interludes and collaborate on scenes using a web of plot threads created from letter tiles. The threat escalates, becoming personal to your characters, and tension increases as you take risks to address it. Eventually problems come to a head, for better or worse, and the episode ends in a dramatic cliffhanger.

Begin by creating a character (or choosing a pre-gen) to suit the style of game you want to play. Characters have attitudes, which affect the mechanics of the game, for example, by altering the web of plot threads, drawing new letters, or affecting the order of card draws. Your character develops across a series of episodes by inviting risk with their actions.

Then choose (or create) a logline. Loglines are the 'elevator pitch' of an episode. For example: "three friends camp in the Wulfwoods under the light of the full moon, while something watches with interest from the shadows." The logline provides the overall tone of an episode and serves as a reference point to return to when playing later scenes.

Decide on the locations to use in the episode. Either choose a pre-set deck of 20 cards, or draft 20 cards as a group. Pre-set decks let you get straight to playing, while drafting lets you share what excites you about locations in the context of the logline.

Play to find out what is happening in Asher's Ridge. Create a web of interlinked plot threads using letter tiles, and play out scenes at locations across the town and its surroundings. Invite risks with your actions, and embrace narrative tension as scenes regularly escalate.

What do you need to play?

• A set of 100 letter tiles

• A set of standard (e.g. poker) playing cards

Letter tiles are readily, and cheaply, available. You may already have a set (e.g. in a copy of Scrabble or Bananagrams), or they can be found online made from various materials. Both print and PDF versions of Asher's Ridge come with a free printable set of letter tilesas standard that you can print onto card and cut, or alternatively use as a roll table using 2d10. 

Playing cards are similarly widely available. Asher's Ridge is most easily played when the cards are customised with location names. There are several ways of doing this:

• Use a set of Asher's Ridge playing cards.

• Use card sleeves and write the location either onto paper (sleeved with the card) or washi/painter's tape (stuck onto the card).

• Write directly on the card. Most cards can be written on with a Sharpie or alcohol marker (e.g. Copic).

• Use index cards and write the card suite and location name on them. (Don't forget the Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Jokers.)

• Use the playing cards as they are, and consult the table in Asher's Ridge as you play.

Asher's Ridge is available through DriveThru RPG in PDF.