The Tab Creations Collective
Join the Against the Dark Yogi Open Beta
We're currently running an open playtest of our upcoming tabletop RPG based off epic Indian Mythology, Against the Dark Yogi. Everyone is invited to download a beta copy of the game, run it and participate in the playtest by filling out a feedback survey or posting in our Tab Games Forum.
Against the Dark Yogi is a high-action tabletop RPG where the players take on the role of epic heroes, destined to defend the mythological India-inspired world of Bhurloka from the machinations of the Dark Yogi, a sinister figure attacking the dharma, the order of the world, itself. On the subcontinent of Bhurloka are a thousand cities with a myriad customs. Hundreds of city-states and small kingdoms parcel up civilization, with great swaths of untamed forests and mountains wedged between. Wandering ascetics practice austerities on mountaintops, seeking spiritual enlightenment and supernatural powers. Rajas stand before their palaces, speaking to their peoples. Archers, surpassing all others in skill, compete for great prizes and boons. Chariots roll and elephants march with armies to war. And all the while the devas look down upon the world from their celestial home, watching events and warding off attacks from their eternal rivals, the asuras.
The open beta test is still in its early stages, and it still needs editing and some balancing work, but that's exactly what the open beta is for. The current iteration of the open beta is Beta 2. Click here to read the README file for this iteration of the beta.
Against the Dark Yogi Beta 3 Released
Today we announce the third public beta of our mythic India-inspired fantasy game, Against the Dark Yogi. Anyone can participate in our open beta simply by clicking here to download the game, running it and providing feedback in our occasional feedback surveys.
The focus of this iteration of the beta is to refine the game balance of the numerous character creation options, as well as the balance and playability of the various non-player characters and creatures available for GMs in the game.
Remember, this is still a early version of the game and significant aspects are subject to change before the game's final release. It is recommended that players read the open beta readme for more in-depth information on how to participate. Also remember that this is a playtest version of the game, and as such the full setting material that will be included in the final version of the game isn't yet included here.
- Against the Dark Yogi is a high-action tabletop RPG where the players take on the role of epic heroes, destined to defend the mythological India-inspired world of Bhurloka from the machinations of the Dark Yogi, a sinister figure attacking the dharma, the order of the world, itself. On the subcontinent of Bhurloka are a thousand cities with a myriad customs. Hundreds of city-states and small kingdoms parcel up civilization, with great swaths of untamed forests and mountains wedged between. Wandering ascetics practice austerities on mountaintops, seeking spiritual enlightenment and supernatural powers. Rajas stand before their palaces, speaking to their peoples. Archers, surpassing all others in skill, compete for great prizes and boons. Chariots roll and elephants march with armies to war. And all the while the devas look down upon the world from their celestial home, watching events and warding off attacks from their eternal rivals, the asuras.
Ganjifa Kickstarter a Success!
As backers have already heard, our Ganjifa Kickstarter ended a few days ago and it was a thrilling success! We've already been working on getting the art for the cards and solidifying plans with the printer. We've also been putting the final touches and editing on our rules sheet of games that can be played with ganjifa cards. Expect to hear more about this in the next couple months.
Meanwhile, the surveys for Beta 2 of Against the Dark Yogi have been coming in and many changes have been made to the rules. Look for the release of Beta 3 in the next couple weeks.
Again, thank you to everyone who helped make the Ganjifa Kickstarter possible!
Against the Dark Yogi Beta 2 Released
Today we are happy to announce the release of the second public beta for our upcoming mythic India-inspired game, Against the Dark Yogi. Anyone can participate in our open beta simply by clicking here to download the game, running it and providing feedback in our occasional feedback surveys.
The focus of this iteration of the beta is to make a first pass at balancing the different traits and various player character options, as well as smoothing over any rough edges left on the game's systems.
Remember, this is still a early version of the game and significant aspects are subject to change before the game's final release. It is recommended that players read the open beta readme for more in-depth information on how to participate. Also remember that this is a playtest version of the game, and as such the full setting material that will be included in the final version of the game isn't yet included here.
- Against the Dark Yogi is a high-action tabletop RPG where the players take on the role of epic heroes, destined to defend the mythological India-inspired world of Bhurloka from the machinations of the Dark Yogi, a sinister figure attacking the dharma, the order of the world, itself. On the subcontinent of Bhurloka are a thousand cities with a myriad customs. Hundreds of city-states and small kingdoms parcel up civilization, with great swaths of untamed forests and mountains wedged between. Wandering ascetics practice austerities on mountaintops, seeking spiritual enlightenment and supernatural powers. Rajas stand before their palaces, speaking to their peoples. Archers, surpassing all others in skill, compete for great prizes and boons. Chariots roll and elephants march with armies to war. And all the while the devas look down upon the world from their celestial home, watching events and warding off attacks from their eternal rivals, the asuras.
Ganjifa Kickstarter!
A while back, while researching for Against the Dark Yogi we briefly considered using Ganjifa cards in the action mechanic for the game. Ganjifa cards are traditional round playing cards found throughout India, although they were originally introduced to India by way of Persia during the reign of the Mughal Empire. They're pretty cool.
It turns out, though, that they're super-difficult to get in the United States (at least without shelling out a lot of money). In fact, as far as we tell, there has not been a general US printing of ganjifa since the 1950's.
That's why today we've launched a Kickstarter to print ganjifa cards and once again make them available in the West. We think they're pretty cool, and we hope you'll think so too.
You can read more about ganjifa here.
And you can support the Kickstarter here.
Setting Sheet: Ishtaban
I'm now happy to present the third in our series of Setting Sheets: Ishtaban. Like our first two (Tansaar & Bhurloka), this Setting Sheet a page--both front and back--detailing a particular setting in brief. We plan to release more of setting sheets, all leading up to the release of our final product for the first generation of Saga Machine games: Nexus Endtime.
This sheet details the world of Ishtaban,a world where early modern tech meets thaumantic principles, all in the aftermath of a devastating civil war. Here is the blurb from the sheet:
- Ishtaban is a world with a modern society reemerging from the aftermath of a devastating civil war. It is also a world where state-sponsored thaumaturgist battle rebellious elements of society, and all the while a conspiracy of thaumantic constructs watches and waits while the political situation develops.
Art Preview #4: Against the Dark Yogi
Now we proudly present our fourth art preview for our upcoming game, Against the Dark Yogi. Here a naga can be seen, ready for a fight. We would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that Against the Dark Yogi is currently in the first iteration of its public beta, and the beta can be downloaded from the link above.
Second Quarter 2013 Tab Update
Like the last few, it's been a busy quarter at Tab Creations.
This quarter our main focus has undeniably been on getting out latest game Against the Dark Yogi ready for its public playtest. And we have met that goal! Our epic Indian mythology game was released for the first iteration of its public playtest just days before the end of the quarter. The playtest was even featured as a news item on the front page of ENWorld.
But that hasn't been our only focus. In the last quarter we've also revised our LARP The Difficult Life of the Costumed Henchman, released a setting sheet for our upcoming Nexus Endtime game and unveiled a number of new art pieces for Against the Dark Yogi. And throughout all this we've repeatedly updated out Development Blog with new posts.
On the business end of things this quarter we underwent a significant restructuring, becoming incorporated once again as a Kansas-based LLC. We've also upped our outreach efforts, including once again being a sponsor of Intercon.
Looking to the future, throughout the next quarter we plan to continue to develop and test Against the Dark Yogi, leading to an eventual Kickstarter release sometime in the early third quarter. We also plan to continue chugging along with Nexus Endtime freebies until that setting is ready to go. Finally, the Blaugh'Ock supplement for Trystell: Reborn continues to edge ever-closer to release. Who knows, there may even be a surprise release or two that creeps into the quarter.
Against the Dark Yogi Open Beta Begins
The time has finally come. Today we officially release the first open beta test of our Vedic mythology-inspired game Against the Dark Yogi. Throughout the open beta process anyone can download, playtest and give feedback on the game, thus making it better for everyone and having some fun in the process.
Remember, this is still a early version of the game and whole systems are subject to change before the game's release. It is recommended that players read the open beta readme to know what aspects of the system are currently receiving focus for testing. Also remember that this is a playtest version of the game, and as such the full setting material that will be included in the final version of the game isn't yet available here.
Art Preview #3: Against the Dark Yogi
The private alpha test of our upcoming Vedic mythology-inspired game Against the Dark Yogi is nearing its end, and the public beta is likely to begin sometime late this month. Meanwhile, I have our third art preview for the new game. In this one an exiled Kumar (Prince) is seen leaving his kingdom behind.
Costumed Henchmen Updated!
Our one-shot theater-style LARP The Difficult Life of the Costumed Henchman was first released over two years ago, but we continue to refine it and make it better. With that in mind, we're here to announce that the game has just received another update and that update has been uploaded to the website! This now brings the most recent version of the game up to v1.3. This update clarifies the GM instructions, fixes a few typos in the game text and smooths out a few confusion points when running the game. From the game blurb:
- Most villains have them: themed, costumed henchmen who aid them with their fiendish heists and dastardly plans. They may appear faceless behind their masks, but those henchmen have lives, too. And their lives are can be difficult. They have to put up with crusading heroes, the cackling madmen who employ them and poor working conditions. It's tough work, for which they get little respect. Something has to be done about this! It's time for the costumed henchmen to unionize.
- Tonight select henchmen in the employ of the city's most prominent villains have gathered to decide how they should proceed, and what collective demands they will make to their employers. Will be the start of a new era? Or, like those of so many villains, will their plans be foiled?
