New TTRPG ‘Sine’ Hopes To Create Cinematic, Reactive Tabletop Stories – The Fandomentals
It’s been over twenty years since humanity fell at the hands of the Stock. Brutal metal creatures from another world, these faceless
monsters butchered billions in order to cure Earth of its prevailing disease: humanity.
After years of struggle, pockets of survivors have formed communities, nestled amongst the new alien landscape of a terraformed Earth. Mutated animals, called Xenos, roam the lands that are now flush with overgrown plant life, and the Stock have created throne-like Spires and rule over their domains. Humanity is fighting to survive against these forces and, as always, each other.
But they aren’t alone.
SINE, an original tabletop roleplaying game created by improv comedians-turned-game designers Jason Ox and Julian Frid, launches on Kickstarter October 7.
SINE is set on Earth in an alternate future where humanity has been all-but-obliterated by a strange alien race known as the Stock. You take on the role of a Catalyst, a genetically engineered super-soldier clone, whose mission is to help reestablish human society twenty years after the initial invasion.
Jason Ox and Julian Frid both come from an improv comedy background. During the 2020 pandemic when comedy clubs closed down, they opted to take a homebrew system and world of Julian’s design and turn into a full-fledged TTRPG. They’re turning to Kickstarter to crowdsource the remainder of the art needed to complete the books.
Both Julian and Jason come from an improv comedy background, and say that they’ve taken the improv principle of “Yes, and…” and built it into the foundation of Sine. SINE casts players as Catalysts — genetically engineered super-soldiers originally created to fight humanity’s invaders. Now returning to a radically transformed planet, their mission has changed: humanity no longer simply needs warriors. It needs help rebuilding civilization.
The initial funding for Sine will focus on two core rulebooks:
Player’s Handbook
- A detailed rundown on the history of the Sine world and your part in it
- Creation guides for all 3 Character types including improv tools for portrayal.
- Mechanics, Reference section, and Characters sheets
Handler’s Guide
- Suggested best practices on leading a Sine adventure
- Archives including the details of the Stock, APOHC, Xenos and Known Factions
- Narrative advice and suggested advanced mechanics with example missions.
The team behind Sine consists of:
- Jason Ox – Creative director, writer, game designer and owner of Ox Games, publisher of Sine TTRPG.
- Julian Frid – Game designer, writer and creator of the Sine world.
- Ben Steamroller – Primary artist, focused on inking and character design.
- Jacqueline Manherz – Cover artist and background artist
- Anthony Nijssen – Editor
- Amanda Spencer (OneFish Creative) – Graphic Design
- Kyle J Smith – Colourist, background artist
- Chad Skiles – Industry consultant
The Kickstarter will fund physical production of the Player’s Sourcebook and Handler’s Sourcebook, alongside equipment cards and other add-ons/stretch goals. It is set to launch October 7.
Images via Ox Games
Have strong thoughts about this piece you need to share? Or maybe there’s something else on your mind you’re wanting to talk about with fellow Fandomentals? Head on over to our Community server to join in the conversation!
