Games like Hundred Red Scales

FIVE DAYS ON FOOT, WESTWARDS Wooden posts line the road. Carved with feline forms: snarling tigers, sulking tabbies. You feel them staring. + In Kraching, woodworking is revered. The surrounding forests are full of haunted timber, longing to be carved into masks and figurines; they want to see the world. In Kraching, cats are revered. Scions of the god Auw, they are welcomed as equal members of an…

THREE DAYS, IN CLOSE FOREST Crashing through the brush, a man carries thrice his weight in stacked cargo -- “Excuse!” he snorts, waving you aside -- he overtakes you. + There is no way to cross the mountains, except through Ngelalangka. On market days every species of trader may be found, here. What do you need? Magic wines that bestow enlightenment? Hats that shield you from more than the sun? A …

THREE DAYS OUT, DURING THE DRY SEASON There is a hole in the ocean, between your prow and the horizon line. A wide, deep valley. The waves slope steeply down to the beach below. + Korvu belongs to the Sea. Its people live in a hole in the ocean. They farm the seabed soil and praise their goddess's generosity. Then the storms come. The Sea drowns Korvu. The people take to their house-boats. They be…

MAYBE FOUR DAYS, ON FAIR WINDS The ship’s navigator collapses. Her seizing limbs beat staccato on the deck. The captain points at her and says: “That’s how you know we’re near.” + In Stray Virassa, locals are outnumbered ten-to-one by immigrants: sailors from distant Mu -- drowned, dead. Spectral.   This is the Fourteenth Hell of Mu-folk tradition, the one reserved for those lost at sea. But life …

THREE DAYS, UP A SWITCH-BACKING TRACK Silk strips on a teak gateway. Drifting gauzily with the wind. Inwards, at first. Then out. In again. And out. The breeze keeps shifting. Breathing. + In every fold of Dog Mountain there is a village, green with terraced rice. The farmers smile at you. They always harvest bumper crops. They all look a little thin, though. A little wan. And there are no animals…

"Mr-Kr-Gr" is a rules-less adventure setting inspired by Southeast Asian culture and mythology, focusing on riverine life and crocodiles. The game is set in a world where crocodiles reign and forbid the building of stone structures, and explorers seek treasure in overgrown, haunted cities. The 44-page gazetteer includes detailed black-and-white art, character profiles, and random generators for NPCs, encounters, and magic crocodiles.

"Upper Heleng" is a rules-less, 40-page adventure setting inspired by forest taboos and Bateq egalitarianism. The game takes place in a mystical forest where time doesn't flow and the seasons are considered gods. The setting includes unique creatures, characters, and detailed black-and-white art, as well as a die-drop map pullout and name generator that doubles as an NPC generator. Explore the wonders of Upper Heleng, but beware the leeches that take more than just blood.

The toyol: an imp created from a dead fetus, a consummate thief. The penanggalan: a vampire whose head and entrails leave its body, to fly about in the night. The hantu tetek, who smothers victims between its massive breasts. "Hantu" -- of Malaysian popular lore -- is typically translated as "ghost", though this isn't quite right; "spirit" or "monster" are better. Hantu are feared, often malevolen…

The Basics Plunderlight is a dark fantasy role-playing game about ambitious characters following their convictions in a world of stark iniquity. There are deals in dark alleys, harrowing chases through haunted forests, duels fought in the morning rain, and pacts made with otherworldly powers who care naught for the plight of mortals. We play to find out if the characters' convictions drive them to…

"Runecairn: Core Rules" is a 44-page black and white tabletop RPG zine set in a Norse fantasy world. It features a full game system and character creation rules, where players battle against wondrous and terrible beings in the Nine Realms. Death is not the end, as fallen characters respawn at bonfires to continue their journey.