A tabletop RPG Kickstarter launching February 14 has combined two unusual themes: cutthroat reality TV and adorable llamas. Drama Llamas is a rules-light, roleplay-heavy game that substitutes the combat of D&D with wacky challenges and social drama. The cutesy camelid concept comes from the mind of Yvris Burke at Button Kin Games.
“I’ve been making games for a couple of years now”, Burke tells Wargamer. “My most successful game by far is Bumbling, a solo TTRPG about being a baby bumble bee.” Burke also created Righteous Jaunt, a LARP/TTRPG focused on hope and despair that Burke says she’s most proud of.
Her latest project, Drama Llamas, takes inspiration from other indie TTRPGs, particularly ones with a cosy feel. “In terms of influences I have to shout out Honey Heist and Brindlewood Bay specifically”, Burke says. “I started out wanting to make something fun and elegantly concise in one page like Grant Howitt’s Honey Heist, which is around the point where I got the title ‘Drama Llamas’ and the basic concept of a reality TV TTRPG.”
“Then I was prepping Brindlewood Bay for a stream and admiring its incorporation of the structure and tropes from the ‘cosy’ detective TV genre”, she adds. “I figured you could do the same for reality TV, which has such a clear, formulaic structure enforced by editing.” “From there the ideas just exploded and now it’s going to be a 30+ page book”, Burke tells Wargamer.
While Burke cites RuPaul’s Drag Race as one of her major inspirations, art for the book also features challenges in the style of shows like Ninja Warrior. We’re expecting Big Brother confessionals, and maybe a stressful cooking show moment or two.
According to the Kickstarter page, Drama Llamas backers will receive a 40-page booklet with full-colour illustrations. “The art for Drama Llamas is by an artist based in Barcelona named Álvaro Torres”, says Burke. “He’s been great to work with, and I’m so pleased with the pieces he’s done so far and how they capture the silly, surreal spirit of the game.”
The RPG book is available as a PDF for $12.16 / £10, and the physical rulebook can be picked up for $30.40 / £25. The core book includes session zero and character creation advice, player rules, game master advice, character sheets, and player reference sheets. Drama Llamas has a crowdfunding goal of $4,255.95 / £3,500.
If you’re looking for something new to play, here are a few of our favourite tabletop RPGs. We can also help you get started creating a character: our DnD classes and Pathfinder classes guides are great places to start.