The Amazing Digital Circus is a bonafide feel-good story for indie creatives in an otherwise unforgiving industry. With billions of views across social media and sold-out theaters for its upcoming finale, it's a treat to see a work of art get the respect it deserves. One of the most important boons to its success is a very passionate fanbase, who've spawned countless fanart of their own. Naturally, a fanmade TTRPG was bound to happen.
Good news for TADC fans, it already has.
The Amazing Digital Roleplaying Game is a fanmade TTRPG of the beloved indie hit. Players take on the role of Circus Performers as they brave the zany adventures of the Game Master. As befits the show, the mechanics, powered by the Polymorph system, are wonderfully whimsical. Instead of the typical D&D classes, playstyles are defined by what dice you choose for your character, from d4 to d10. Each stat check has a specific range to determine success as per the chart below.
For example, Brain can only succeed consistently on rolls of 2-3, with different numbers being considered a fail (with the exception of Best, which is the highest number on your chosen dice and allows access to other stats). Now, here's where things get wacky. If you roll a 1, you trigger the Bozo roll,, which allows you to succeed on any action using cartoon logic.
However, your latent humanity hates how unnatural the cartoon action feels, and you gain a number of Brokenness. Do too many Bozo rolls, and you'll end up Abstracting. There is no cure for Abstraction, and effectively ends the performer's run. There's so much more to the rules, but I adore how closely the mechanics tie with the series. The best tabletop RPGs seamlessly blend gameplay and narrative, and that's exactly what this TTRPG does.
A character in touch with their humanity would pick a d10, and make them way less likely to roll a Bozo, but at the cost of not maximizing the most important stats. Meanwhile, a d4 represents someone "comfortable" in the circus, but way more susceptible to Bozo rolls as a result. I could go on and on, but it's best to see the game for yourself.
The Amazing Digital Roleplaying Game is free on itch.io.
If you'd like a fun community that won't trap you in a surreal circus world, then join us over at the Wargamer Discord.