Cannibal Halfling Gaming

Geek Native is an independent news site and community for tabletop roleplaying games, board games, anime, and geek culture. It covers tabletop mechanics, industry news, and reviews with a critical but welcoming tone. Whether you’re a player, a Game Master, or somewhere in between, it’s a solid place to find content that actually holds up. It also publishes practical tools for session prep and world-building -  things like spaceship name generators and lists of oddly unsettling phrases to throw at your players. Alongside those, there are columns on the psychology of gameplay and table dynamics. It’s been around long enough to build a genuine community, and it shows. Links geeknative.com - Website

We’re a bi-weekly magazine of tools, advice, homebrew, and inspiration for Daggerheart GMs, players, and creators. Our mission is simple: to help you play better, create smarter, and stay connected to the wider Daggerheart community. Each edition cuts through the noise—subs, blogs, podcasts, Discords, and socials—to surface what’s most useful, inventive, and inspiring, so you can keep up without feeling overwhelmed. The Daggerheart community is full of clever people sharing sharp insights and creative work; our job is to bring it all together in one place so you can learn from it, build on it, and get better at the game you love. The Dispatch is ad and sponsor-free. If something's included here, it’s because we genuinely think it’s worth your time. Links daggerheartdispatch.com - Official website

The Kind GM Blog is a place you visit when you're on the hunt for Tabletop RPG content. It provides articles and ideas in various formats, including reviews, analysis of newly-released content, and more. Links thekindgm.com - Official website patreon.com - Patreon page

Mappadux is a free, browser based virtual tabletop built for in person play, often referred to as "VTT@Home". It needs no account, no server, and no install. It runs entirely in the browser, and the maps and assets a GM uploads stay on their own device. The aim is a tool that sets up immersive maps in minutes and stays out of the way during a session, rather than one that becomes an evening prep job. Built originally by the creator for their own table and needs, it offers a streamlined solution for anyone with similar goals. /images/general-media/1785161337_ZnhecuRG.png Mappadux is system agnostic and designed to be used for any in person RPG, fitting a playstyle where the same game system is rarely used twice. It does not enforce any rules, but it does contain general purpose GM tools applicable to most games, such as scaled maps, measuring tools, clocks, timers, initiative trackers, and map markers. This VTT is about adding immersion and setting a mood. For in person games, these elements are far more important than managing movement, actions, or other busywork. Setting the mood and getting players immersed in the game with audio and visual effects without getting in the way is the central design philosophy. Allowing the GM to manage everything during play with a couple of clicks or by pressing a touch screen is key; needing to reach for a keyboard during a session is considered a design failure. On the GM side, Mappadux covers usual table needs without menu hunting mid scene: fog of war, painted shader effects, animated backdrops, markers, motion trackers, atmospheric and positional audio, and immersive visual filters like parchment, hand drawn, or CRT phosphor. Image maps, animated maps, composite or layered maps, and rich text map handouts like letters, posters, and journal pages all sit side by side in one library. Players are not passive participants unless the GM wants them to be. While phones or tablets are not required at the table, connecting them unlocks optional Player Voice functionality. These features give each player a named identity with their own draggable map token, map pings (a quick 'look here!'), two way secret note passing with an optional LLM assisted reply for the GM, and a way to submit initiative easily. Everything a GM builds, including maps, audio, splash screens, and themes, travels in a single .mappadux pack file that can optionally be encrypted. This allows a prepared session to be handed to players, posted to a Patreon, or shared with the wider community as easily as forwarding a file. Mappadux is attribution focused: every map and sound carries its license, source, and creator, and the asset library can copy a ready to paste credits block. /images/general-media/1785161343_us80ZTo0.png Its defining trick is peer to peer screen sharing over the local network. Any phone, tablet, TV, or laptop on the same WiFi becomes a fully functional second screen by scanning a QR code or entering details manually, with no HDMI cable, no dongle, and no app to install. A GM can run a laptop as a control screen, lay a tablet flat on the table at true 1 inch or 25 mm scale as a mini battlemap, and face another tablet at the players for handouts and reveals. This creates a complete three screen setup that fits in a bag. Mappadux includes accessibility features such as screen reader compatibility for handout text blocks on both GM and player views, and feedback for improvement is always welcome. Mappadux is open source (MIT), free to download, modify, and use, and remains under active development with a community on Discord for feedback and bug reports. /images/general-media/1785161349_qbDExtcX.png Links mappadux.com - Mappadux website github.com  - Github page discord.gg - Discord server ko-fi.com - Support the project

Inspired by legendary settings such as Firefly, Westworld, Borderlands, Trigun or Cowboy Bebop, Deep Sky Ballad is a space western ttrpg where the characters play the members of a Posse - fortune seekers more or less tightly bound to each other who share their resources and a spaceship in search of purpose or wealth. Description The game mechanics are based on the Blackjack System, a poker cards based system; it's the same rules system Arcana Familia ttrpg use, and give agency to the player to balance the power and accuracy of an action through what can be considered a subgame. /images/general-media/1776361953_pusoqZrn.jpg The peculiar solving mechanics of Deep Sky Ballad, the Blackjack System is essentially reduced to a very rapid game of the homonymous card game; a number of cards are drawn and revealed from a deck of poker cards, which are then increased or discarded based on the attributes and skills of the character, in order to bring the sum of their value between a number established by the difficulty of the challenge and 21. This system has been designed to be quick and simple but still guarantee the player maximum control over the test itself, and to distinguish between the possibility and the control possessed by the character. In addition to the Blackjack System, there are an innovative spaceships combat system and the Hardboiled System. The first is a simple, agile and fast mechanic involving all the players; the Hardboiled System, instead, is a system of abilities possessed by the character determined by the interaction that he possesses with his fellow Posse, in order to create dramatic and cinematic scenes such as those presented by the TV series from which Deep Sky Ballad is inspired. Even the starship itself owned by the Posse can be defined as a separate character, even if driven by all players. With its own sheet that defines its characteristics, it can be modified according to the needs of the group in every aspect. And space battles will prove to be a pleasant way to break the pace of the game, through a combat system between spaceships that is quick and easy, but which allows each character to contribute to its progress, regardless of his job or her abilities. /images/general-media/1776361986_AKZC0xAQ.jpgDeep Sky Ballad Additional links drivethrurpg.com - Quickstarter drivethrurpg.com - Core Book drivethrurpg.com - Solo-play/Masterless expansion gamefound.com - Space Farmer Expansion

Basic Roleplaying is the venerable "D100" engine that has powered Chaosium’s greatest hits for over four decades. Originally appearing as a slim booklet in 1980, it was most recently revitalized as the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine in 2023. In 2026, it stands as one of the industry's most important open-source platforms, released under the ORC License, allowing independent creators to build and sell their own games using its legendary, time-tested mechanics. Description BRP is a "genre-neutral" toolkit that discards character levels and rigid classes in favor of a pure skill-based system. Whether you are playing a Bronze Age warrior, a 1920s detective, or a futuristic mech pilot, the core experience remains the same: your character is defined by what they can do. Because it uses percentages (e.g., "I have a 65% chance to climb this wall"), it is widely considered the most intuitive and "transparent" RPG system for new players to understand at a glance. System Overview & Key Features The Universal D100 Engine Every action is resolved by rolling two ten-sided (d10) dice to get a result from 1 to 100. If you roll is equal to or under your skill rating, the action is deemed a success. This approach simplifies the mechanical process of the game, as there are no complex tables to keep track of and compare to decypher whether it is a success or failure. Organic Character Growth There is no "Experience Points" system in the traditional sense. Instead, when you succeed in using a skill, you mark a "Skill Check" on your character sheet. At certain stops in the game/story, the player rolls to see if the character improves in those skills, meaning your character evolves based specifically on the actions they performed (and succeeded at) during the game. Modular Rule Design The Universal Game Engine is designed with variations and systems to choose from. GMs can choose whether they prefer to just use "Hit Points" or add a more detailed wound system with "Hit Locations" for more realistic tactical consequences. Systems for Magic, Sorcery, Mutations, or Superpowers (depending on the setting) can be added, instead of being baked in the core mechanics, ensuring the mechanics always fit the theme of the game. Deadly and Tactical Combat BRP combat is grounded and dangerous. Unlike high-fantasy games where adventurers have a vast health pool, a single strike of a sword or bullet in BRP can be fatal. This encourages players to think creatively and use mechanics and terrain to their advantage. Talking their way out of situations is often seen as more reasonable (and survivable), than just treating every conflict as a forced combat situation. The ORC License Revolution By introducing to the Open RPG Creative (ORC) license, BRP started a wave of third-party "Powered by BRP". This has expanded the system into new genres like Cyberpunk, Wuxia, and Cozy Fantasy, all supported by a single, unified ruleset and system, compatible with most themes. Compatibility with "The Big Three" Because the core mechanics have remained the same since the beginning, a monster or spell from a 1980s supplement is almost always compatible with the modern 2026 engine. This gives GMs access to one of the largest libraries of pre-written adventures in tabletop gaming, spanning Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, and Pendragon. Additional links chaosium.com/brp : Official BRP Universal Game Engine portal basicroleplaying.org : The primary community hub and "BRP Central" forums