I grew up on too many viewings of The Neverending Story. I mean, if there is such a thing. And try as I might, while there are snail race board games, I could not find any snail racing RPGs.
So I made one. It’s called Snail Trails.
It’s a small start, but I have the basics in there. It’s a simple one-shot based Fate Accelerated Edition entrant into the #EarthEmpathyJam over on Itch.io. I’m hoping to return to it soon and add more flesh to the bare-bones alpha version it is, but the concept is there with some imagination.
More info and downloads can be found here:
A table-top role-playing game using Fate Accelerated Edition module for 3-6 players and a GM.
Primary inspiration for this game came from watching The Neverending Story, reading about them in the book, and then getting increasingly imbued with them from my Environmental Arts and Humanities degree research. More on the latter later, but email me for more info.
There also don’t seem to be any RPGs out there that simulate the fun and dramatics of what a real fantasy racing-snail race would look like and could be.
Further inspiration comes from wanting to write stories and experience together with friends the impending changes coming from global climate change, the need for changes in culture to appreciate the problems we face collectively and individually in the Anthropocene. While even that moniker, the Anthropocene, is rife with problems, a more grounded, situated view from the perspective of a snail may help. I think racing through biomes of various degradation, encountering well-meaning and absent-minded (of snails especially) adversaries, and trying to figure out how to balance competition and collaboration during times of strife when the odds are so high may be meaningful and fun for many, at least a few snail aficionados.
Hearthspeaking 