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Ashcan-Demo Release: For the Badge

Can you juggle your life off-the-pitch while weathering the highs and lows of sport?

Colin Mancini

Colin Mancini

— 3 min read
Ashcan-Demo Release: For the Badge
Picture of football players celebrating in front of and amongst a horde of fans. Imposed above the crowd is the title "For the Badge: Stories from your football club".
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Available in an ashcan-demo format on Itch.io, RPG-Trader, and DriveThruRPG, For the Badge is a tabletop role-playing game where you are players at a modern football (i.e. soccer) club; characters will seek to further their own career goals (such as acting as a mentor, solidifying your legacy, or getting noticed by the coaches) and goals of the club (growing the fanbase, avoiding relegation, or preventing the best players from leaving) while also managing life, stressors, and relationships away from the pitch (helping your parents downsize, supporting the community, or obtaining a sweet new sponsorship). Play alternates between matches on the field and downtime in which characters explore scenes in their life off of it. Inevitably, what happens on the field will affect you off of it, and vice versa.

This is a game for tabletop-curious sports fans and sport-curious role-playing fans including those who love Ted Lasso, Welcome to Wrexham, Hard Knocks, Moneyball, and Blaseball fandom as it explores the highs, lows, drama, elation, and heartbreak of daily life revolving around sport. For the Badge tells grounded, personal stories of semi-professionals and professionals alike for 2-5 players and 1 Facilitator. You'll need pencils, paper, and a set of polyhedral dice for each player and the Facilitator.

A screenshot of the "Character Sheet - Off the Pitch", which includes space for the player and character name, character archetype, stress tracking, emotional states, connections, milestones, and development.

The game's unique system has influences stemming from Forged in the Dark, Powered by the Apocalypse, Sparked by Resistance, and Belonging Outside Belonging. For the Badge has been in development for about 4 years and had dozens of playtests, including multiple campaigns.

A set of three tables, with the first describing differences in sets of 10 (i.e. "0-9", "10-19", up to "40+"), and the corresponding outcome table (i.e. "Tight", "Slight Advantage", up to "Class Difference"). The next two tables show potential results from the "Tight" and "Slight Advantage" tables, including goals, adding stress, and stating which player acts as the narrator during that moment.

Now it's ready for the limelight and your thoughts! This is still in development, and may be subject to change.

This Ashcan-Demo of For the Badge includes all of the necessary rules in order to create your own club, footballer(s), and experience the drama yourself, presented in a simple text format.

Features:

  • 10 club reputations (such as Bridesmaid or Sudden Investment)
  • 9 character archetypes (such as Controversial or Glass Bones)
  • 22 milestones for each archetype
  • 9 positions with 2-3 roles for each
  • 16 talents
  • 6 constituency sheets to flesh out the world around your club
  • 66 pages of rules with 22 additional pages of reference and resource material

The full version of For the Badge includes full rule explanations, as well as additional Club Reputations, Character Archetypes, Milestones, match modifiers, play formats, variation/optional rules, and tools.

Sociable Turtle Games is run by Colin Mancini, a designer based in Philadelphia.

Learn more here!

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