Welcome to the very first* episode of System Shop, the podcast where we deep dive into RPG design, one subsystem at a time.

Today, we’re talking about inventory systems: what’s the point of tracking all your bits and bobs, and can it actually be fun?

Violet can’t wait to talk about Ryuutama, and wants everyone to know it. Freya can’t stop talking about counting missiles (ancient and modern). Violet gleefully torments her players with maths homework. Freya has no idea how heavy 1lb is**. Blades in the Dark defies the Taxonomicon, for what will surely not be the last time.

Games discussed in this episode:

Dungeons and Dragons
World of Darkness
Apocalypse World / PBTA
Pathfinder
Blades in the Dark
Dogs in the Vineyard
Knave
Ryuutama
Troika
Mausritter
Heavy Gear
Black Hack
Shadow of Mogg
They Do Not Stop, You Must Not Fail
Mistborn (the 2011 TTRPG, not the upcoming one)

Wingspan
Battletech (the tabletop wargame, not the excellent strategy videogame)
Battlestar Galactica (the board game)
Galaxy Trucker
Resident Evil
Diablo
Megaman: Battle Network 2 (Blue Version)
Backpack Hero
Halo: Combat Evolved
Going Under
Breath of the Wild
Gears of War
Homestuck

Notes:

* Unless we become bold enough at a later date to release our secret Episode Zero!

** The D&D 5e Player’s Handbook says a longsword weighs 3lbs, in defiance of Wikipedia’s estimate of 4-6.6lbs. Either way, I was way out - F.

The “inciting blog post” discussed in this episode can be found at https://harbingergames.blogspot.com/2020/04/if-your-torches-burn-for-only-one-hour.html

Additional credits:

Our intro music is

"Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Editing, musical stings, and other sound effects by Violet Henderson