I tend to be pretty low-key about my work in the tabletop gaming industry. I don’t feel like I did a ton of things that couldn’t be (or haven’t been) done by others. I think I have a few unique ways of approaching things, such as the kind of thorough, interconnected worldbuilding I displayed in Steamscapes and my work on the Urban Settings Guide for the Sentinel Comics RPG (which may or may not see the light of day, depending on what happens to Greater Than Games).

But there’s one game that I think may be my most unique contribution, at least as of this writing. It’s self-contained, nicely concise, and it makes a strong case for my view of game design: that games are best when every element works together to create a unified experience. With such a game, you can feel that ethos when reading it, playing it, running it, or even just talking about it. For me, the best I’ve ever done at achieving that was Rockalypse.

Rockalypse, the “post-apocalyptic game of musical conflict,” takes as its central conceit the belief that musical performance can be the sole method of conflict resolution in a tabletop RPG, that a battle of the bands is the only form of “battle” required in the game’s combat system. In my extensive research for the final version of the game, I put together a huge number of media references and inspirations that players can draw on, yet I know that my list was not exhaustive. Every once in a while, I enjoy seeing a piece of media and thinking, “That’s so Rockalypse!” Surprisingly, in the last couple of months, I have had that thought not just once but three times.

When something like that happens, it’s time to write about it.

O’Dessa

I have a high tolerance for niche, flawed movies. I fully admit this, and anyone listening to my recommendations should definitely take that into account and proceed with caution. O’Dessa was a straight-to-streaming rock opera by director Geremy Jasper, starring Sadie Sink and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. This movie has “passion project” written all over it, and as such it is not refined in any way that might soften the edges and make it more accessible and appealing to a broader audience. It is extremely rough, and I love it.

I would describe the movie as Six-String Samurai meets Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, with touches of Across the Universe and O Brother, Where Art Thou? If you’re the sort of person who can find the campy, weird fun in each of those movies, you might enjoy O’Dessa.

Significantly for me, however, is just how very Rockalypse the movie is. It’s a post-apocalyptic blues-country rock opera, just to start. It’s also extremely high concept – the title’s name is certainly an allusion to Odysseus, with Sadie Sink’s title character going through similar travels and travails as she descends into the underworld to face a villain with the on-the-nose name Plutonovich. But the story is clearly also a Russia/Ukraine analogy, with a charismatic dictator exploiting the people through control of media and oil. In addition to the title being an adaption of a Ukrainian city, there are several instances of background Slavic dialogue and Cyrillic writing, all of which suggest to me that this comparison is intended.

The film itself is very music-focused, of course, particularly the final confrontation and resolution. It’s huge and melodramatic, and it is wrapped around a truly excellent song. Also, the love story between Kelvin Harrison, Jr. and Sadie Sink is probably the queerest “straight” romance I have ever seen on screen, so it has that going for it. All that said, I know most people will not choose to watch this movie. If that’s the case, you should at least watch the video of that closing song so you can see a little of what I’m talking about:

Sinners

Hopefully you’ve seen Sinners by now. If you haven’t, you should just go watch it. I’ll wait…

Wasn’t that fantastic? Okay, let’s talk about it.

At first blush, Sinners may not seem like a direct fit to Rockalypse. There’s a lot more straightforward horror going on, and the music is definitely there…but can we really call it the main vehicle for conflict? There’s an awful lot of violence that’s not connected to the music, but I would argue that music is presented very clearly as a source of power in Sinners. It both protects Sammie and incites his attackers. It is the currency that Remmick both uses and desires.

So much of the movie is wrapped around the music, and the opening narration explains the core thesis of that context. The story is, in many ways, a battle of cultures. Remmick’s darkness consumes other cultures figuratively as well as literally, and Sammie and the twins are doing their best to preserve their culture for the future, to carve out a place for their people. As Remmick’s power and influence grows, he represents this through music. And of course, the scene depicting Sammie’s time-transcending performance is exactly what I want Rockalypse to feel like.

On a side note, I respect Ryan Coogler for not presuming that a story about Choctaw characters and lore was his to tell, but holy crap do I want a musical Choctaw vampire hunter movie.

K-Pop Demon Hunters

In some of the media inspirations for Rockalypse, we see music mixed with more conventional forms of combat, ideally in a way that blends them together instead of isolating them from each other. Many of the fights in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World do this, but none as seamlessly as K-Pop Demon Hunters.

This movie is an absolute romp, with a fantastic soundtrack. If I were still running Rockalypse at conventions, I would not be at all surprised to see players come up with KPDH-inspired characters and settings for their one-shots. The whole thing is perfect for the game, right down to the final band-vs-band combat. It’s not post-apocalyptic per se, but that’s fine. Neither was Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks, and that movie is also an iconic encapsulation of what it’s like to play Rockalypse.

I really feel like this one speaks for itself, so I’ll just share another video sample. Huntr/x don’t miss.

You can find Rockalypse on DriveThruRPG or itch.io. (I know both of those marketplaces are having…issues right now, but I am only industry-adjacent these days and do not have the time to create a whole storefront for my small number of titles. If you cannot bring yourself to support either of those sites, I understand. I share these links for information, not because I am in a hurry to sell copies.)