Colin Kahl
@colinkahl.bsky.social
Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford. Husband. Dad. Music fan. Game lover. Wonk and all-around nerd. Former national security practitioner.
Check out my new roleplaying game engine WONDER × WORLDS. One system. Any genre. Infinite possibilities. Both GM-led and solo play fully supported. Think Blades in the Dark meets D&D—but in any world imaginable. FREE to download! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
August 12, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Check out my new roleplaying game engine WONDER × WORLDS. One system. Any genre. Infinite possibilities. Both GM-led and solo play fully supported. Think Blades in the Dark meets D&D—but in any world imaginable. FREE to download! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
Check out WONDER × WORLDS. One system. Any genre. Infinite possibilities. Both GM-led and solo play fully supported. FREE to download! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
August 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Check out WONDER × WORLDS. One system. Any genre. Infinite possibilities. Both GM-led and solo play fully supported. FREE to download! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
First session went great! Stop by and join the fun!
July 31, 2025 at 4:39 PM
First session went great! Stop by and join the fun!
GenCon in Indianapolis kicks off today. Stop by the First Exposure Playtest Hall to play my new tabletop roleplaying game engine WONDER × WORLDS. We're doing 8 playtest sessions across 4 days (see times on the flyer below). You can also download the game for FREE! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
July 31, 2025 at 11:15 AM
GenCon in Indianapolis kicks off today. Stop by the First Exposure Playtest Hall to play my new tabletop roleplaying game engine WONDER × WORLDS. We're doing 8 playtest sessions across 4 days (see times on the flyer below). You can also download the game for FREE! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
If you are going to GenCon this week, stop by the First Exposure Playtest Hall to test drive my new roleplaying game engine WONDER × WORLDS. You can also download the game now for FREE! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
July 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM
If you are going to GenCon this week, stop by the First Exposure Playtest Hall to test drive my new roleplaying game engine WONDER × WORLDS. You can also download the game now for FREE! wonderxworlds.itch.io/wonder-worlds
This comment on itch encapsulates everything I was aiming for when I created WONDER × WORLDS: A Roleplaying Game Engine for Limitless Adventure! 1/2
July 25, 2025 at 10:08 PM
This comment on itch encapsulates everything I was aiming for when I created WONDER × WORLDS: A Roleplaying Game Engine for Limitless Adventure! 1/2
Conveniently, all the Oracles spread across the rulebook are collected & reproduced in a dedicated Solo Play Toolkit Appendix. This puts everything solo players need to play at their fingertips! 5/6
July 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Conveniently, all the Oracles spread across the rulebook are collected & reproduced in a dedicated Solo Play Toolkit Appendix. This puts everything solo players need to play at their fingertips! 5/6
Speaking of Oracles, there are 60+ Oracles in the rulebook, covering everything from worldbuilding, to NPCs, Creatures, complications, hazards, traps, combat environments, clues, story developments--and more. 4/6
July 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Speaking of Oracles, there are 60+ Oracles in the rulebook, covering everything from worldbuilding, to NPCs, Creatures, complications, hazards, traps, combat environments, clues, story developments--and more. 4/6
Crucially, a Solo Scene Workflow Diagram walks solo players through the process of constructing Scenes using W×W's "Five Ds" framework (Description, Dialogue, Dangers, Discoveries, & Developments). It cues solo players to the most relevant Oracles (random tables) to use to substitute for the GM. 3/6
July 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Crucially, a Solo Scene Workflow Diagram walks solo players through the process of constructing Scenes using W×W's "Five Ds" framework (Description, Dialogue, Dangers, Discoveries, & Developments). It cues solo players to the most relevant Oracles (random tables) to use to substitute for the GM. 3/6
Solo players can follow a straightforward 4-step process to craft a world, build a character, create a Quest, and start their adventure. A Quest Loop Diagram then helps visualize & structure the relationship among solo Quests, Missions, and Scenes. 2/6
July 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Solo players can follow a straightforward 4-step process to craft a world, build a character, create a Quest, and start their adventure. A Quest Loop Diagram then helps visualize & structure the relationship among solo Quests, Missions, and Scenes. 2/6
If you're going to GenCon, play the new TTRPG WONDER × WORLDS in the First Exposure Playtest Hall. We'll demonstrate W×W's intuitive system and showcase the game's adaptability to empower adventures in any fantastical world imaginable.
We're running 8 sessions across 4 days👇
We're running 8 sessions across 4 days👇
July 21, 2025 at 2:04 PM
If you're going to GenCon, play the new TTRPG WONDER × WORLDS in the First Exposure Playtest Hall. We'll demonstrate W×W's intuitive system and showcase the game's adaptability to empower adventures in any fantastical world imaginable.
We're running 8 sessions across 4 days👇
We're running 8 sessions across 4 days👇
To unlock immediate play, WONDER × WORLDS also features pregenerated characters in the Wonderland City setting, and a 20-page Starter Mission, "Bring the Queen of Hearts to Justice." 3/4
July 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
To unlock immediate play, WONDER × WORLDS also features pregenerated characters in the Wonderland City setting, and a 20-page Starter Mission, "Bring the Queen of Hearts to Justice." 3/4
The setting, loosely inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, is used as a running example to demonstrate W×W's worldbuilding and character creation tools, as well as the game's rules, mechanics, and adventure design principles. 2/4
July 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The setting, loosely inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, is used as a running example to demonstrate W×W's worldbuilding and character creation tools, as well as the game's rules, mechanics, and adventure design principles. 2/4
Welcome to Wonderland City, the sample setting for WONDER × WORLDS. It's a rain-drenched, neon metropolis that embraces a mashup of portal fantasy, urban fantasy, noir and cyberpunk--showcasing the genre flexibility of the game's universal roleplaying engine. 1/4
July 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Welcome to Wonderland City, the sample setting for WONDER × WORLDS. It's a rain-drenched, neon metropolis that embraces a mashup of portal fantasy, urban fantasy, noir and cyberpunk--showcasing the genre flexibility of the game's universal roleplaying engine. 1/4
Some go for a run or a hike…or bake…or read novels…or binge TV shows…or collect things…or do puzzles…or play video games…or whatever. Even presidents play golf (sometimes a lot of golf)! When I need respite from the world, I listen to music and think about TTRPGs. 12/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Some go for a run or a hike…or bake…or read novels…or binge TV shows…or collect things…or do puzzles…or play video games…or whatever. Even presidents play golf (sometimes a lot of golf)! When I need respite from the world, I listen to music and think about TTRPGs. 12/
That experience reignited my interest in designing my own game—a gift to myself, my kids, and (someday) their kids. WONDER × WORLDS is that game. 10/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
That experience reignited my interest in designing my own game—a gift to myself, my kids, and (someday) their kids. WONDER × WORLDS is that game. 10/
I particularly loved introducing these games to my wife (who did not grow up with such nerdy pursuits) & watching the sense of wonder & bursts of creativity they unleashed in my two young children. I even volunteered to run the D&D club at my daughter’s elementary school! 9/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
I particularly loved introducing these games to my wife (who did not grow up with such nerdy pursuits) & watching the sense of wonder & bursts of creativity they unleashed in my two young children. I even volunteered to run the D&D club at my daughter’s elementary school! 9/
And while I continued to collect and read TTRPGs as I grew older, especially indie games that foreground narrative, my myriad professional pursuits and the general responsibilities of adulthood tended to crowd out time for playing these games, let alone creating one. 7/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
And while I continued to collect and read TTRPGs as I grew older, especially indie games that foreground narrative, my myriad professional pursuits and the general responsibilities of adulthood tended to crowd out time for playing these games, let alone creating one. 7/
I also wanted to play games in different fantastical worlds without constantly learning (or teaching others) a new system each time. I often dreamed about creating my own universal TTRPG—but I never got around to it as a kid. 6/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
I also wanted to play games in different fantastical worlds without constantly learning (or teaching others) a new system each time. I often dreamed about creating my own universal TTRPG—but I never got around to it as a kid. 6/
The deepest origins of the game date to my childhood in the 1980s. As a kid, I was obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons and other TTRPGs. But I was never completely satisfied with these games and constantly wanted to tweak, streamline, and mash together various parts of them. 5/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
The deepest origins of the game date to my childhood in the 1980s. As a kid, I was obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons and other TTRPGs. But I was never completely satisfied with these games and constantly wanted to tweak, streamline, and mash together various parts of them. 5/
Gameplay uses intuitive six-sided dice pools to drive the story forward. The system seamlessly adapts to high fantasy quests, cyberpunk heists, cosmic horror investigations, space opera sagas, superhero showdowns, post-apocalyptic road trips, giant robot battles—and more. 4/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Gameplay uses intuitive six-sided dice pools to drive the story forward. The system seamlessly adapts to high fantasy quests, cyberpunk heists, cosmic horror investigations, space opera sagas, superhero showdowns, post-apocalyptic road trips, giant robot battles—and more. 4/
It's a rules-lite and narrative heavy TTRPG, with just enough “crunch” to make tactical combat exciting. If you know TTRPGs, think Blades in the Dark meets Dungeons & Dragons—but designed to empower adventures in any fantastical or speculative world imaginable. 3/
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 AM
It's a rules-lite and narrative heavy TTRPG, with just enough “crunch” to make tactical combat exciting. If you know TTRPGs, think Blades in the Dark meets Dungeons & Dragons—but designed to empower adventures in any fantastical or speculative world imaginable. 3/