FMC: The Icon0clasm Ball
Hi all! Hosting The Icon0clastic Ball on Itch.
This is a jam for Fantastic Medieval Campaigns, a free version of the original role-playing game, published under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Although it functions on one hand as a “retroclone”, what distinguishes it from other versions is its unwillingness to compromise the confusing and fractal nature of the text, as well as its willingness to criticize that text and its authors. This culminates in a project to situate the original role-playing game within its socio-historical context, to illuminate the perspectives of its original authors and also reveal the extent to which the text is distorted by our own perspectives. It is neither traditional nor old-school nor war-game, and yet here we all are merely grasping the legs of this elephant.
As for this ball, the category is ICON0CLASM. Most readers and players of the original role-playing game, even in the form of FMC, attempt to envision and emulate the game as it was originally played. Resorting to cliché and pastiche, their visions are both generic and ultimately derivative of their own notions. This jam challenges you instead to make something novel; to deface the memory of this text with concepts untenable to the Gygaxian imagination; to resurrect this corpse into a new body.
I'm personally going to work on two to three things: first, I'll be publishing the Apolitical Edition of FMC (you'll see what that means when it's available!); second, I'll be laying out "Kill the Devils!" into a booklet that hopefully looks and is usable (unfortunately, may not be able to commission art for that one; we'll see); finally, I'd like to imagine what it'd look like to cast 0E through a lens that is neither old-school nor war-game.
I hope this theme also speaks to you and, if so, that you consider contributing your own take! :) Submissions will be open for the whole month of August, so you have a grace period of like two weeks lol.
Marcia, did you see my initial attempt to read OD&D? https://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-domesday-book-josh-reads-little.html I feel like I might have a contribution to the jam.
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