Tiny Table has wrapped up their Yeld game, and honestly it was great. I want to talk about it a little. To start with, you should go listen to the whole thing! They did 5 episodes, which includes a rules breakdown, a 3 part adventure and today's post mortem (above). If you're interested in Yeld or want a fun adventure to listen to, check it out! And show them some support by leaving a comments, review or checking out their Patreon!
Yeld is a game about children who discover a magical land on the other side of a secret door, and then get trapped there when the door shuts. It is a game about growing up. Textually, its a game about exploration, team work, tactical combat and character building. Sub-textually its a game about choosing your family, facing the terror of becoming a teenager and discovering who you are (in a queer way). We've seen a lot of people play Yeld since we released the first playtest rules way back in... 2010 (so long ago). I've sat in on so many games. I've read so many recaps and reports. I've sifted through so many forum and discord posts. I've heard more than a few actual play groups take a stab at it. And, of course, I've ran the game for hundreds of people. Not everyone gets Yeld.
Tiny Table gets Yeld. They get it so well.
Its obvious from the first 10 minutes of the first episode that the group has a handle on playing kids (and a Dog), which is inherently fun and funny. But Yeld also requires you to take playing kids (and a Dog) seriously. Its not a bit. Its not a meme. Its a role that is as important to the setting and premise of the game as being an Elf or Dwarf in D&D (and really, maybe more so). The Tiny Table cast sinks into their role and gets the most out of it. Of course, they're entertaining performers and they put on a great show, but they also flex both the premise of the game and the rules. This adventure is a showcase for Yeld.
Genevieve (played by Holly) is the Rival (I think? I should have kept notes. She feels like a Rival). Energetic. Physical. Looking for adventure. She's a gamer, and wants to get lost in a fantasy world. She's so damn excited to explore Yeld, and recognizes it immediately for exactly what it is. She doesn't want to go home, and gets upset when her friends try to ruin her fun. Later in the Adventure she becomes a Soul Thief, and revels in her ability to launch into combat and sink her daggers into her enemies!
Dolores (played by Skyler) is the Big Sister. She radiates Big Sister energy, worried about her younger brother and much more cautious and realistic about exploring Yeld than her friend. She's not interested in Genevieve's gamer stuff, and doesn't have those video game points of comparison that her friend does. Instead, her approach to Yeld is practical, but still curious! When later her little brother is kidnapped, Dolores puts aside that practicality to try to rush to his rescue. At this point n the adventure Dolores' Brave dice had been reduced to 0, and Skyler does a fantastic job portraying this. Dolores is afraid, but not for herself. She'll throw herself against the horrible monster known as the Dollyhook in order to save her brother. Dolores chooses the Oathbreaker Job in order to protect her friends.
Princess the Dog (played by Neo) is the matronly family caretaker. She sees the kids as her charges, and its her duty to keep them safe and happy. Where the rest of the characters are kids, Princess is an adult. Princess is cautious, patient and indulgent. Her job is to take care of the kids, and she considers herself to be an integral part of the family. When Princess first passes through the door into Yeld and discovers she can talk, she's absolutely delighted! Finally, she can communicate with the kids in her care! Later, when she meets other talking animals in Yeld she's so very disappointed by their lack of care and responsibility. Princess becomes the group's White Mage, but quickly is more interested in summoning other animals than healing the kids!
(BTW, all the art here is by Neo. As the person who has done every bit of official Yeld art, seeing someone else do cool Yeld illustrations is always a treat!)
I think a big part of what made Tiny Table's adventure so much fun for me is how willing the entire group was to accept the premise of the game, and even revel in it! Dolores is willing to trade her prized possession, her new Jordans, as an offering to a ghost in order to gain the power to save her brother. Skyler becomes the assassin thief of her fantasies and immediately stylizes her look based on Princees Mononoke and Assassin's Creed. When finding that an entire town of children had been left without adults, princess immediately interrogates every animal in the town, demanding to know why they hadn't taken responsibility!
Equally, the Tiny Table team had a very solid grasp on the rules (not always common for a first game) and were excited to use them! Dolores was eager to wade into the dangerous Water Hazards in the boss fight, confident that her high strength would allow her to much through. And when the evil ghost called the Dolly Hook tried to gain the initiative, Dolores was ready to point out that her Oathbreaker Oath made her immune to interruptions. Later, she broke that Oath to gain back some of her Core dice, restoring her bravery at the peak of the fight where it really mattered! Neo mentioned that they were worried they might have made a mistake choosing White Mage as Princess's Job, since the Dog didn't have hands to hold a spellbook! But very quickly Princess was casting spells to call Monsters into fights, and Neo described each monster through Princess' perspective. A wiggling Silverfish. A bright white furry Squirrel, eager to shake its but at enormous Howligator it was trying to distract. Holly seized on the lethality of Oathbreaker, charging into fights with a dagger in each hand. She quickly realized that Genevieve's enhanced Brave dice let her streak across the Action Board, and made her nearly impossible to interrupt. I could hear the excitement in her voice as she described how delivering a killing blow to a monster let her Bank and Action, and explained all the cool things she could do with that!
Julian is the Game Master, and she brought all of it together. She had asked me to write an outline for them to use, and I put together what I think of as a basic "welcome to Yeld" adventure. Julian brought it to life, elaborating on the parts that felt important to the players and making sure each character had a distinct voice. Both figuratively and literally! Her voices for Rolo the Fairy and the incredibly creepy Dolly Hook were amazing! Julian gave her players plenty of room to explore their characters, but also kept the story going in what ended up being a very tight adventure. As the game's creator, the whole thing was a joy to listen to. I think you'll agree with me that the only real complaint is that we won't be seeing their ongoing Yeld adventures!
If you're new to Yeld, I think this is a great introduction. And if you're a Yeld fan already, you'll probably agree with everything I said here. Thank you so much Julian, Neo, Skyler and Holly! I'm glad you had fun in Yeld.
- J
Get the Stuff: Listen to Tiny Table's Yeld adventure here. Support Tiny Table on Patreon!