Role Player's Digest #7
July 27, 2026
Welcome to the seventh edition of Role Player’s Digest. Extra special thanks to Kerova for stepping in at the last minute to provide the feature article for today’s edition. I think you’ll enjoy it. And we’ve got some fantastic inspiration in the links as well.
Index
Feature Article
The Art of Pressure: An Early Access Review of Boundless by Kerova
Mindset
A Desire to “Make Things” and Solo RPGs by Tacky Nowacki
Playthroughs
Obojima D&D5e Cozy Solo Actual Play by Alone in the Realm
Boundless Solo Actual Play by Jordan Woosley
Omens Below & Mythras Imperative by Threads & Throws
Podcasts and Videos
The Rolling Alone Podcast is SIX by Paul Walker
Resources
Foeditates by GMaia
Storytelling through Gaming
Skill Creativity by Natural 7
Reading as Inspiration for Play by Niamh Celeste
TTRPG Design
The Situation Roll: Designing Generative Rules into 24XX by Roberto Bisceglie
The Best Villains Don’t Wait for the Players by Calum Stokes
D&D With a Special Effects Approach: On Magic, Wonder, and What the Rules Should Leave Undefined by Christian Lindke
Feature Article
The Art of Pressure: An Early Access Review of Boundless by Fari RPGs
Review by Kerova
Initial Highlights
The menacing dark fantasy atmosphere evoked by the art of Galen Pejeau is fantastic. It perfectly aligns with the dark, moody, stylings of René-Pier Deshais-Gélinas, who leads the project with concept, rules and layout. He names the Year Zero Engine and Cairn (among others) as inspirations for the ruleset.
The lore is presented in short descriptions, spanning aeons of time, that sets the stage of the current perilous world your player character will exist in.
Pressure Built In
This is what I consider to be the bread and butter of the game: Mechanics used to create and release Pressure.
The game uses a 6 sided Dice Pool system where results of 5-6 are hits. This comes into play via Fortune Rolls and Attribute tests.
2+ Hits: Success with extra Hits amplifying the effect.
1 Hit: Success, but there is a twist or a setback.
0 Hits: Failure and there is a twist or a setback.
This concept is further developed with more nuance through Positioning, which I will get into later. PCs have four Attributes: Strength, Agility, Presence and Wisdom that range from 1 up to 6 max. Attribute checks are made by rolling their Dice Pool and resolving successes (Hits) as above.
Fortune Rolls are where a lot of the dice rolling takes place. This is used to progress through key elements of play such as Journeying, Delves, Mysteries, and even running a Stronghold. The Fortune Roll also doubles as an Oracle, a staple for Solo Play.
The Fortune Roll Dice Pool goes from Very Unlikely (0 Dice), up to Very Likely (4 Dice). Players choose how likely the Fortune Roll is by considering the narrative, planning, and PC skill. The results, determined as above, are set up to draw setbacks a lot.
This creates a key component of the game: Pressure via Setbacks. Its very nature pushes and changes the fiction, moving your story forward.
Setbacks can take many different forms. Some elements (Journeying for example) have tables that can be used to generate thematic Setbacks. Often players may choose how the Setback occurs, using the narrative as a guide, which is part of the fun.
Slots (carrying capacity) is another key factor that generates pressure. Limited to 10 Slots in total.
Slots perform double duty by holding both Items and Conditions (as in Cairn). The limited space quickly creates pressure. A PC can plan for a comfortable journey, in theory, with lots of handy equipment (Rations, Torches, Tent) and then soon find themselves needing to choose what to drop when Conditions like Chilled and Fatigue begin to set in.
Conditions being thematic to the fiction with options to clear it are interesting puzzles.
My PC had the Chilled condition and could get rid of it by sitting near a fire - but that in turn costs time and resources. It affects the narrative naturally and perfectly: Do I have them spend time around the campfire or should I press on? Resting at a fire may cost more time or draw attention and pressing on may push the PC too far, since the Condition cannot be dropped arbitrarily.
Pools are a great pressure inducing mechanic. Their very existence, and what they represent can create varying stresses.
They come in different forms such as Usage, Event and Strain Pools. These Pools have a starting number of dice and are rolled as an applicable setback or when the narrative calls for it. When rolled, Hits stay and misses are taken away (up to 2 at a time). Pools are used to track everything from rations, torchlight, impending encounters, weapon strain, spell uses and much more. The Pools come and go and ease bookkeeping in many cases. They keep up the pressure because you know something is about to happen, and you can plan accordingly, even if the full details are not known quite yet.
The Importance of a Pressure Valve
Having the means to relieve the pressure is equally important. Just as the PC needs a moment of respite, the narrative also needs time to breathe. This allows time for planning, resource gain and recovery.
Mechanically this happens in two major ways.
First, Pools have the dual job of both inducing Pressure and Releasing it. They can lessen pressure in small doses, being rolled when an applicable Setback is called for. When the Pool is still present, via Hits when rolled, they may allow a moment of rest, gear functioning just long enough or light to hang on that much longer.
The second is Positioning. It represents planning, character skill and knowledge.
Standard positioning uses the result of 5-6 for Hits.
Planning or skill may allow the PC to approach a situation from a Good Position. This allows Hits to occur on a result of 4-6.
Conversely, unfavourable circumstances, lack of planning, skill or knowledge can create Bad Positioning. Hits instead only occur on a result of 6, and therefore causes, yes, you guessed it - pressure.
Boundless has an inherent tilt towards pressure that is balanced very well from tipping over with the release mechanisms.
Other Highlights
Open License
To quote: “Boundless is released under an open license. You are free to use it to create your own game built on its rules or to develop compatible third-party material.”
I love this! Encouraged and fully supported by Fari RPGs. I am pretty sure all their games have an open license.
Solo Tools
The standard Oracle is here with 4000+ random table entries (that is a crazy number).
Community
Fari RPGs has an established friendly community. An active discord where great discussions take place and all questions can be answered.
Rhythm Break
I did find myself looking for a defined way of encountering Boons. The extra Hits could absolutely come into play here. The presence of Tables for Setbacks left me wanting similar for potential windfalls (NPCs, Points of Interest or Treasure).
I would be reaching to find other thoughts on what is missing or what I want more of. Boundless is in early access and therefore a living document subject to change.
At this moment my playthrough is a solid 5 sessions in.
I do want to share an Aha! moment, when I fully appreciated what Boundless was doing for players:
In my fourth and fifth sessions, Edrik (my PC) was tracking a party of 4. They had a prisoner that he wanted to rescue. After tracking them across the wilderness and killing one party member, Edrik was hurt, cold and exhausted (2 x Fatigue and 1 Chilled Conditions taking up valuable inventory space and less HP).
He had two choices:
Engage now at great risk.
Rest and recover.
Sussing out the advantages and possible repercussions of finishing off the last 3 now, while they were somewhat vulnerable (not knowing if the prisoner was in any condition to help) versus allowing the foes to get to the safety of their stronghold was incredibly fun and engaging. It was a wonderful.
I had Edrik concoct a plan, using the environment, gear and his skills to maximise the best outcome possible. Edrik took on the aspect of Rambo and what came next was thrilling to play out.
Sorry, you’ll need to wait until post 5 of my Boundless: Edrik actual play to find out how it all went!
Follow the progress of Boundless on
Discord: https://farirpgs.com/discord/
Website: https://farirpgs.com/
Kerova is a TTRPG enthusiast, artist and game designer. Find him on Substack at https://substack.com/@kerova. He is the author/artist of Dark Covenant Invader, Combat Apothecary, Tome of the Pyromancer and Under the Fourth Kingdom all set in the world of Ghelador. Find them on:
Itch.io: https://kerova-archive.itch.io/
DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/32774/kerova-archive
Kerova is currently working on the sandbox campaign setting “Ghelador.”
Mindset
A Desire to “Make Things” and Solo RPGs by Tacky Nowacki
Playthroughs
Obojima D&D5e Cozy Solo Actual Play by Alone in the Realm — A cozy solo campaign in the setting of Obojima, where we follow the journeys of the Witch-in-training, Naveel.
Boundless Solo Actual Play by Jordan Woosley — A solo playthrough of Boundless, the upcoming release from Fari RPS! Going Dorn and Thora as they try to help their town.
Omens Below & Mythras Imperative by Threads & Throws — Test play of a dungeon crawl generator
Podcasts and Videos
The Rolling Alone Podcast is SIX by Paul Walker — The Rolling Alone Podcast is a fortnightly, 40- 45-minute podcast for solo RPG players. A mix of guests, reviews, interviews and features to inspire and assist YOUR solo play. The latest instalment features Tana Pigeon (Mythic GME), Izzy (Soloist Venture) and Odinson (Odinson Games), among others. Listen here on Substack or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, PodBean, etc.
Resources
Foeditates by GMaia — Core procedure (split in 4 posts) to create fantastical creatures within VI·VIII·X RPG. The procedure is meant to generate new monsters, thus supporting the GM to avoid the ‘usual’ monsters of trad games.
Storytelling through Gaming
Skill Creativity by Natural 7 — This post discusses how player creativity can shine when the game they're playing offers abstract skills. Without explicitly defined skills, a dialogue between the GM and players can create a unique and fun dynamic.
Reading as Inspiration for Play by Niamh Celeste — Inspiration for you campaigns can come from anywhere. Let’s take a look at a few examples taken from reading history.
TTRPG Design
The Situation Roll: Designing Generative Rules into 24XX by Roberto Bisceglie — 24XX is built around a single design decision: roll only to avoid risk. That decision is clean and correct in the contexts it was designed for. The problem is structural. The system resolves pressure. It does not produce it. What would it look like to patch 24XX itself, without replacing it with something else?
The Best Villains Don’t Wait for the Players by Calum Stokes — Memorable villains should not sit around waiting for the adventuring party to reach the final encounter. This practical guide explains how to give tabletop RPG villains their own goals, plans, and momentum, creating antagonists who actively shape the campaign and make the world feel alive.
D&D With a Special Effects Approach: On Magic, Wonder, and What the Rules Should Leave Undefined by Christian Lindke — D&D has historically kept how magic works mysterious by having a catalog of spells so deep that no one could know what every spell does. It's an interesting approach, but Dungeon Masters would be better served by taking what Champions called an Effects Based approach to spells.
Woeful Ranger Celeste (Dark Covenant Scourge Enemy) by Kerova We hope you enjoyed The Role Player’s Digest. If you’d like your work to appear in the August 2026 edition of The Role Player’s Digest, please submit your articles, art, reviews, GM tips, or anything else having to do with role playing to us here by Friday August 28. In the meantime, May the Dice be With You!
Boundless sounds interesting!
An excellent digest as always!