Mitchell Wallace, Chief Creative Director of Penny for a Tale, shared their next project, Necrobiotic – A Dystopian TTRPG. This Kickstarter will create the English translation of the Italian RPG, L’Ingranaggio. After reading the English Google translation of the pitch of the game, I had a number of questions about the setting, the system, and how similar this game will be to the original, and Mitchell was happy to provide me with the answers.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thanks for sharing this RPG with me, what is Necrobiotic?
MITCHELL WALLACE (MITCHELL): Necrobiotic is a card-based TTRPG where humanity’s birth rate has dropped to 2%. Medical advances have allowed them to use corpses as the dominant labor force. Set in Italy, you will explore the scientific discoveries and the political organizations that have formed, all while making hard choices in an effort to preserve humanity.
EGG: Is it accurate to categorize this as steampunk zombies or something deeper?
MITCHELL: It is something deeper. It explores the hard choices that were made in order to survive. Humanity’s greatest commodity has become human life. Every person who breathes is another fighter for humanity’s continued existence, while every person who stops breathing is used past their death in order to carry the burden of humanity forward.
EGG: That sounds like an excellent basis for an RPG. This game builds on the idea that societies will stop having children, which means the next generation will have to be built instead of birthed. Taking that idea at face value, what conflicts will that create for the PCs in the game?
MITCHELL: So, humanity has not figured out a way to build the next step of humanity. We have scraped by through the use of corpses as a labor force, which comes with a whole plethora of interesting ethical questions. It also challenges you to find new solutions to problems. The game discourages killing NPCs, there are massive social ramifications when you take a human life… This game’s setting is focused on the preservation of humanity. So most games will likely explore themes surrounding that. The conflicts will likely arise from ethical quandaries with the current technology, investigations into the current predicament and the world outside the city, and the politics surrounding a city run by scientists who’ve created a society that keeps humans breathing and moving at any cost.
EGG: What engine does this RPG use?
MITCHELL: The Gear system, which is a card based system where each person has a deck of cards that reflects their character. Successes are any combination of cards that add up to 8s and if the suit falls in line with the action that you are attempting you get another success too.
EGG: This is a translation of an Italian game, L’Ingranaggio, correct? What about this RPG made it the right one to bring to the English language market?
MITCHELL: Correct. L’Ingranaggio is the Italian version of the game. It is based on the novels by Valerio, which the whole setting is built on. There are RPGs that come around every now and then that speaks to you on a fundamental level. I found most of my games I was doing a lot of senseless killing of NPCs without much thought and finding a game that explores the value of human life was refreshing. I am also a huge fan of cards. Dice are hard to customize to the same level as cards and I love how unique they can be.
EGG: The original is set in the future of Italy? Will the translation carry that setting and timeframe forward?
MITCHELL: The book will be a true translation of the original work so Italy will be the main setting. We hope in future supplements to expand on how the rest of the world is doing, but for now we feel that Italy serves much of the narrative already. It is interesting because the book series that the game is based on has been finished. There is so much lore that won’t fit into the first book, so I’m looking forward to creating new books once this one has been successfully launched.
EGG: Is this licensed for an English localization or is the original publisher making this product on their own?
MITCHELL: We are taking the original game and converting it for English publication. There will be some differences, we wanted the book quality to reflect the quality of the writing and creativity behind it. We are updating the art, adding more content, and building the foundation for an international community concerning the game.
EGG: Beyond this project, what else are you working on?
MITCHELL: I am the marketing director for Helmgast and Black Void Games, so I have been working on Kickstarters for their IPs coming up. Specifically, for Helmgast, we want to bring Neotech to the rest of the world so I’ll be launching a similar project to translate that into English. I am also working on a secret project with Imagining Games which is based on a popular comic IP.
EGG: I can’t wait to see those! Thanks for talking with me. Where can fans learn more about this RPG?
MITCHELL: Thank you as well! The best way to learn more is to go to [the Penny For A Tale website] or to check out my Twitter!
Necrobiotic – A Dystopian ttrpg from Penny for a Tale
“The dead walk among us. It was we who put them back on their feet. Welcome to Necrobiotic.”
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