Skyworthy is the creation of Navi and Shawn of A Couple Of Drakes based on the Lost & Found SRD
Get your own copy at https://acoupleofdrakes.itch.io/skyworthy-zimo22 where they are currently crowd funding an expanded edition with new art.
I’ve played a lot of rpgs, everything from D&D to Shadowrun, and many games in between. I’ve done a number of Make your Choice (aka choose your adventure style books) and even some solo D&D esque campaigns where the book was the DM.
This is my first time with this particular kind of game. Chance is determined by drawing a card from a regular deck of cards, based on the suit, not the number or face. This is not a full fledged review of the game, but more of an initial thoughts and impressions.
Skyworthy is well written, and the art is thought provoking without being distracting. The descriptions bring visions to life in my mind and send my imagination soaring.
Lost & Found is a system where the story is told from the perspective of an object. In Skyworthy, that object is a Skyship. Crew and cargo come and go, but the skyship remains, ever floating along, avoiding the perils of the landbound.
Without any further adieu, my first game of Skyworthy.
For my commission, I drew a Hearts. I was a labor of love. Every line carefully planned, every inlay and carving carefully and purposefully made. I was not created to join some large government fleet, or to sit in a ship yard waiting for someone to buy me. No, I was a life dream made real. My captain had me made so his wife, who could not walk, could soar among the clouds. I am not one of many off an assembly line, I am Aspire.
My first captain is the Dedicated Explorer (Spade and Hearts). Captain Dean Martell and his wife Jane. They set off without a destination in mind, only caring what was over the horizon.
The strangest sight I ever saw with Captain Martell at the helm was that of a giant beasts skull sticking out of the side of a mountain. It was like nothing anyone alive today had ever seen. It must have been as big as I was. If such a beast existed today and could fly, no skyship would be safe!
One time my captain brought the most amazing plant on board for Jane. It had delicate blue flowers, and would glow brightly in the moonlight. Jane took care of that plant like it was their child. Keeping it in a bucket of soil. Eventually she was able to take cuttings from it and get them to grow. Captain Martell would never tell anyone where he found it, but it’s cuttings became high in demand whenever he made port.
During one stop at a far away port, Captain Martel had secondary drive frames installed in me. I was content to float along wherever the wind may take me, but Jane had heard a story of a beautiful land far to the east where there was a mountain in the clouds and when the sun rose behind it, it cast a shadow for hundreds of miles. Captain Martell could never say no to his wife, and as I was, there was no way I could fly into the wind and get there anytime in the next decade. With the new drive frames, I could go faster than ever before.
I saw many wonderful sights in my service to the Martell’s. Birds with a wingspan wider than Dean was tall would rest on my bow. At times, we would tie off beside a fellow skyship so that our crews could mingle and pass the time while waiting for their next journey. I saw many new ports under Deans command, even encountered a fair number of pirates flying in stolen skyships.
But as they say, all good things must come to an end. One fall morning, Jane didn’t wake up. Dean tried to go on, after giving her a fairwell, but his heart was no longer in it. Nor was the crews. Jane was the heart and soul of the crew and my decks became a lonely place without her.
At the end of our last voyage together, everyone gathered in the green room, where Jane spent a lot of time tending her plants. They spent the night telling stories about her and drinking to her memory…
That was just the first era, the first captain, and some of the things they did together. The current game, which you can get at the link above comes with 3 eras. For just $5 you can get the current version of the game right away, and a pdf of the new edition once it comes out. There are higher tiers as well, for those that want a physical version.
This was a lot of fun. All 3 eras could be played in an afternoon, or you can go real in depth in the writing and take as long as you want. You can use it as a starting point for whatever your heart desires.
I have absolutely no regrets backing their campaign, and can’t wait to see what the new edition is like when it comes out.
Don’t worry, this is not the end of the Aspires journey. She will soar again, and if you’re interested, you’ll be able to read what she gets up to with her new captains.
I love to write, but I struggle with keeping on track and figuring out where to go with my stories, so something like this is perfect to give me the direction I need.
