Leyline Press Blog

Depression I’ve been depressed since around December last year. January was the worst month. I’m starting to feel human again as spring creeps in. There are good days and bad days. I’m ok. I’ve been in therapy for several years and it’s helped, I know how to work through things. In December of 2023 we launched Salvage Union, a post-apocalyptic Mech TTRPG that I wrote and designed alongside Aled Lawlor. It was a huge accomplishment for me that I’m incredibly proud of, and that has consumed the last couple of years of my life. I always wanted to publish a game I’d...

 'Mother May I' is a complaint, often thrown disparagingly at tabletop roleplaying games with simpler rules sets, that lean on 'rulings' based play, that play devolves into the players 'begging' the GM to let them do things in play. 

Therefore, the argument goes, tabletop roleplaying games need to have a robust set of rules and mechanics in order to ensure consistency during play, prevent GM favouritism and ensure players are able to engage with the gameworld fairly and with a wider degree of depth.

I believe 'Mother May I' is an issue far more in theory than in practice, during actual play that's thrown unfairly at games with simple rules set, implying they are arbitrary, or lack depth when this isn't the case. 'Mother May I' is in fact a positive feature of roleplaying games that allows them to have the depth and scope that they do. 

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a game designer is to know when to kill your darlings. As much as you may love an idea, sometimes you have to just bite the bullet, take it out back, and shoot it in the head. This will make your game better, but it's a tough and painful process.

Salvage Union is a post-apocalyptic, Mech, tabletop roleplaying game with accessible mechanics.

This is a two part blog post. In the first place we will be explaining the formula we used to design and balance the 30 Mechs in the Salvage Union Core Book.

In the second post we'll be going deeper into the design decisions that led to us creating the formula and it's utility in play and for homebrew content.