The Three Coins
Publisher: Handiwork Games
Author: Morgan Davie
Published: April 2022
Get it on Drivethru
Cost: $5.33
System/Genre: Post-apocalyptic, for A|state
💎 - Everyone should read this
📖 - A joy to read
💡 - Unique & Clever
Can I tell you about the three coins? I want to tell you about the three coins. The three coins aren't like other roleplaying games and I am quite, quite excited to talk about why.
For starters, the Three Coins isn't really sold as a TTRPG. Instead it's a supplement for the 2nd edition of the post-apocalytpic game A|State by Handiwork Games. The idea being that Three Coins is a storytelling game played by inhabitants of 'The City', the setting of the aforementioned game. The book plays out as an anthropological investigation of this storytelling phenomenon and how it is played throughout the city.
The author has not taken great pains to write a perfect textbook clearly outlining the rules. Instead they've written an entertaining little satirical investigation of the game, that loosely outlines it, presents some of the contradictions of a game with an oral tradition, and then adds in numerous humorous footnotes as a censor writes in the 'official opinion' of the centralised government, then a player of the game handwrites their own commentary over the top.
Which means that, instead of being a dull textbook edited to within an inch of its life, the Three Coins is an entertaining book that kind of teaches you how to play a game, but also spends a lot of time exploring the world of A|state, situating the game in a culture.
But here's the thing You can absolutely still play it and we did. Immediately after finishing reading, a group of us were able to play this little storytelling game with just as much friction as picking up any game despite the fact that the book wasn't optimised to teach you.
I'm going to hammer this idea home for the indie authors and editors in the back who struggle with this idea:
- Prose is more enjoyable to read and grasp than dry, technical writing.
- If it's well written, your reader is more likely to finish the booklet.
- This hobby is meant to be fun, and books like the Three Coins is fun to read, to play, and to talk about.
I spend a lot of time talking about how we can do better as a community when it comes to writing and creating and The Three Coins delivers that idea in spades. I truly think everyone should read this.
That being said, yes of course I have criticisms. I really think The Three Coins suffers for not having a reference sheet at the back outlining the whole process in a single sheet. While it may break immersion in the fiction of the book, reference tools help when you are playing, and this is a hobby about playing games.
I also wish they'd gone a bit further with the two commenting characters, adding more information in the wide margins, and making blue pen girl's writing a little easier to read. It was like they found a great bit and committed to it, but could have committed harder.
It's also worth raising that The Three Coins isn't really a TTRPG at all. It's improvised performance storytelling and worldbuilding for A|state. But it can, (and should) be played by anyone who is keen on play.