Right now, brave protesters across the world are standing up and fighting for the rights of the far too often overlooked Black community, campaigning to dismantle white supremacy and ending the authoritarian reign of police brutality. And we here at Cannibal Halfling have nothing other than complete and utter respect and support for these brave protesters. And many others are stepping up to help support these courageous fighters. In particular, today we are going to talk about the Itch Bundle For Racial Justice and Equality. 

Clocking in at currently over 1000 games (it started with 700+), this bundle can be yours for a five dollar purchase. Of which all proceeds go towards NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund, split evenly. As of this writing, it sits at an amazing $2.8 $3 million accrued so far.

This an amazing bundle of games that has a commercial value of over $3000, all for $5. Some of these games alone are worth five times as much as the bundle by themselves. But, the amount of phenomenal products you get for your donation can be overwhelming to sort through. So, these series of Spotlight articles hope to help sort through and show which ones would stand out the most to your interests. And while you’re buying it, consider buying some as a gift to your friends. Or paying above the minimum. 

Cos it’s damn sure worth it for the cause.

Chalice

Based on the Trophy RPG template, Chalice is a game created by Nicholas Maysk about Arthurian Knights journeying to find the Holy Grail. Along the way, they will be challenged and confronted by trials and tribulations, where not only are their lives and the success of finding the grail on the line, but also their very honor and decency.

Utilizing Tarot Cards in their entirety, the game begins character creation by having each player draw a Trump card from the Tarot Deck. The card you draw will decide the background and archetype of your character. Are you The Fool, full of innocence and naivety? Are you The Empress, a wise counsel to any monarch across the land? Regardless of the many intriguing and immersive characters you create, an important aspect is that no-one in this game is immune to having their honor lost in the journey and betraying the code of honor the knightly party holds dear.

The gameplay itself is based on drawing Suits, where the Chronicler (GM) draws from the Well. The four different themes of suits decides the mood of the scene, while the ranking of it will decide the difficulty. Once the Chronicler has put together a scene from these prompts, the players must bid a card from their hand which consists of the five they drew from the Suit deck, and depending on many factors within play, the outcome is decided.

Including a pregen adventure for those who are not accustomed to Tarot Card games, Chalice is easily a must pick up and I cannot wait to get one of my regular groups together for it. Its knightly fantasy combined with the darker themes of corruption and lost honor is inspired.

For The Honor

Wearing its inspiration on its sleeve in the best way, For The Honor is a love letter to the She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power Netflix series by Quinn Vega. 

Putting to work the Firebrands RPG ruleset, you play as an agent from one of the four warring factions in Athera who are all uniquely characterized and given differences from one another. Will you be an isolationist from the Wilds? An invader in The Legion? A valiant fighter of the Rebellion? Or a separatist within the Kingdoms?

Like many Firebrands games, the heart of For The Honor is in its characters and its minigames, which ties together wonderfully for this system. You can Discover Something New, akin to when Bow and Glimmer found the runaway Adora from the Horde in the series. You may Cross Paths similar to how Alora and Catra do across the TV show. And of course, you may Take To The Dance Floor in a scene any fan of the show would remember.

For The Honor captures the blending of enemy and friend, the wonderful queerness, the hope-punk feel, and the just all around spirit of She-Ra.

If you’re into the show, play it. If you’re not, play it and then watch the show.

Dragonhearts

A game where you play mythical dragons who can shift between their human form, dragon form, and any form inbetween.

Sign me up.

Using the same Firebrands system  as For The Honor, Dragonhearts was written by Alex Guerrero and is about big emotions, flirtatious and sexy behaviour, dreams that literally mean something in the real world, and most of all making sure everyone is safe and comfortable with those things and so much more the game encompasses.

You begin play by allying with a faction of Dragons and becoming a representative of them for the Eclipse Ritual which is so pivotal to the game. There are the Sun Dragons, having reign over the world and physical. The Moon Dragons, whose only presence on the world is in embassies and agents, with the majority having retreated to the moon itself. And The Void Dragons, who spent eons travelling the expanse of space and only recently returned.

As I mentioned earlier, Firebrand games live for their characters and scenes. Will you trade words and barbs in equal measure at A Dance? You can trade topics and boasts within A Conversation Over Food. And uniquely to this game, it all comes to an end at Endgame. The unique part is there is not a singular Endgame to choose from, but three.

Dragonhearts is one of the few games to achieve the very difficult balance between safety and intense emotions. I’m often hesitant to play games that deal with strong feelings due to worrying the game isn’t suited. I have no such hesitation for playing Dragonhearts.

Tune in for the next article as I cover Heart & Lightning, Visigoths Vs Mall-Goths and Sleepaway. Until then, here are some other good causes you can follow and support:

The Okra Project

Trans Women Of Colour Collective

Black Visions Collective

And there are so many more good causes to support right now. And after. And forever. Because we don’t stop supporting when the protests end. This isn’t a temporary thing. We need to come out and help now and on and on and on.

Let’s show our support, OK?