Anti-Imperialist RPG Bundle funds solidarity kitchens by selling LATAM tabletop RPGs
Food for thought, er... THAC0.
A bundle of tabletop RPGs created by artists in Latin America is raising money for community kitchens to aid areas of Brazil that “endure the daily hardships caused by imperialist and colonialist actions”, according to organisers.
The Anti-Imperialist RPG Bundle was created by tabletop designer Lucas Rolim, best known for Moorcockian title Pacts & Blades and MiniBX - a hack of the original Dungeons & Dragons Basic/Expert boxed sets. Thirty nine creators across Latin America pitched in 85 games, supplements, adventures, tools and other resources to help raise money for solidarity kitchens running in Brazil’s working-class neighbourhoods, colloquially called favelas.
“They are more than just places that provide food. They are vibrant spaces of struggle, resistance, support, and culture for the marginalised communities they serve,” Rolim writes on the bundle’s description. “Within these kitchens, collective and individual legal support efforts take place, along with cinema-debates, conversation circles for pregnant women, cultural workshops, courses, tutoring for children, and literacy training for young people and adults.”
All of the funds raised through bundle sales will be donated to the MTST Solidarity Kitchen in Sol Nascente, which Rolim claims is committed to food sovereignty in that favela and surrounding communities by promoting shared urban gardens and other collective efforts.
A quick peek through the games on offer reveals the influence OSR design and other old-school RPG revival movements have had on the LATAM design community. Rolim’s own Pact & Blades, along with Torthevic’s Carapace and M.A. Gaux’s pamphlet games, such and Backpack & Dream, show an inclination towards design minimalism and emphasis on player agency.
Other titles veer further into the kinds of indie titles more familiar to a Western audience - Riverbend (also by Torthevic) is a fishing adventure RPG, and Bones Deep is a fully bespoke system for roleplaying skeletons traipsing along the bottom of the ocean - with some extremely rad artwork accompanying that knockout premise.
The Anti-Imperialist RPG Bundle will remain live on Itch.io through the end of June, and you can pick up everything for $15.