Lofi Bards to Study and Relax to is a chilled-out tabletop RPG

Attend a magical high-school, university or college and go on adventures in a chilled out tabletop roleplaying game called Lofi Bard to Study and Relax to.

A fantasy-themed RPG, Lofi Bards sees players becoming classmates at an arcane institution of the games master’s choice, whether that be a high-school, college or university. As well as their scheduled magical classes, players will be exploring the ancient grounds of the institutional building in search of secrets, treasures and mysteries. Along the way, the player characters will form bonds with one another, relying on each other to help get them out of trouble and to provide emotional support during their time together.

Throughout their adventures, the player characters will bring along one of their most prized possessions called the Notestrider, which is a reel of tape placed in a box that is able to play a recording of whatever the owner wants. Using this, the player characters can create their own magical mixtape of songs that are perfect for listening to whilst studying the arcane arts. Inspired by the many lofi playlists found across websites such as Youtube or a streaming platforms like Spotify, the Notestrider serves as a way for characters in the tabletop RPG to relax together and find some solace amongst the stress of the magical world.

As a rules-light roleplaying game, Lofi Bards - which is based on the Powered by the Apocalypse system that also serves as the foundation of the Avatar tabletop RPG - has players rolling two d6s whenever their characters attempts to overcome an obstacle of some sort, with a seven or more resulting in a success. The two gameplay elements of Lofi Bards are study and heart, with study having the player characters trying to manage their stress levels - making sure not to overwork or chill-out too much - whilst heart is all about a character’s emotional development and the bonds they have with their fellow classmates.

When creating their characters, players will be able to choose from over 20 different heritages - with the option to also create their own - that will provide them with a collection of narrative-driven traits, abilities and motivations. Players are not restricted to having to keep to certain stats or features, instead, a character can do something as long as it makes sense with their heritage. Alongside their heritage, players also answer a series of questions to help flesh-out their backstory and determine what their character is searching for during their time at the magical institution.

Lofi Bards to Study and Relax to was created by Ross Eaglesham, whose previous tabletop RPGs include Primordial - a two-page game about surviving on a harsh planet populated by mutant creatures - and a Fall Guys inspired RPG called Goobers.

The Kickstarter campaign for Lofi Bards to Study and Relax to is live until December 7th, a pledge of £5 ($6) will get backers a copy of a digital PDF version of the RPG in June 2022.