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Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Four more days of funding! ⏳

If you like:
- struggling against the patriarchy of 1815's Bavaria
- grieving your beautiful friend's disappearance
- chambermaids
- slacking on your job to investigate an occult mystery

Then check out The Girls of the Genziana Hotel: gamefound.com/en/projects/...

A mock-up of a staple bound zine, open, and lying face down. The monochrome deep blue cover showis two chambermaids walking towards the viewer brandishing a lantern and a knife. The back cover says 'a gothic horror mystery role-playing game'.

November 9, 2025 at 9:55 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

I find it kind of beautiful that we're seeing the next iteration of Apocalypse World's DIY art. Two of the biggest names in indie roleplaying games show, once again, that it's not about spectacle or expense. It's about using the skills you have and the skills you can develop to make it how you can.

A black and white, almost woodcut-like digital image of two characters. One in a furry coat, with a three-pronged red tattoo on their chest. The other with caped in black, with a red gas mask on that covers their whole face.

November 7, 2025 at 9:29 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

't Is the season 🎃

A push alert from BlueSky saying: a hide pus thing liked your repost.

November 1, 2025 at 10:42 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

During the set up for my game of @wildwoodsgames.bsky.social's Harvest, we created such a tapestry of relationships I thought it would merit a map. As in any game, we'll see which bonds will float to the top and which will slowly become irrelevant, but it's nice to have a frame of reference.

An expansive relationship map, centering around Damian Farseer, Hyacinth, Ezekiel Moorhart, Gwen, and Lady Charlotte.

October 31, 2025 at 3:13 PM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

One sixth of a devilishly unreachable number of backers.

A partial screenshot of the Gamefound page of The Girls of the Genziana Hotel, showing it's got 111 backers.

October 20, 2025 at 7:17 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Genziana's version is called: Step Out of Line. You trigger it by skirting the boundaries of proper behavior: by using your womanly wiles or by breaking character and making a scene. I kept Brindlewood's suspense prompt: before you roll, you share what you're afraid will happen if you go too far.

STEP OUT OF LINE

When you try to get your way or fail to conform …
- … by acting like a floozy, roll+charm
- … by acting like a problem, roll+guts
Before rolling, say what you’re afraid might happen if this doesn’t work out. On a 10+, things go your way and you ensure that there are no consequences for acting up. Describe what happens. On a 7-9, choose: either things go your way, or you ensure that there are no consequences for acting up. The Mistress describes what that looks like. On a miss, you’re in trouble and the Mistress reacts.

October 17, 2025 at 8:39 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Patriarchal norms structure every space through which Genziana's chambermaids move. Risks they take are always moves beyond those normative limits. So when I adapted Brindlewood's Day Move, I looked to Night Witches' Act Up, which is about 'stepping out of your role as a demure, obedient soldier'.

ACT UP

WHEN YOU TRY TO GET YOUR WAY…
…by acting like a hooligan, roll +luck.
…by acting like a lady, roll +guts.
…by acting like a natural-born Soviet airwoman, roll +medals.
On 10+, choose two. On 7-9, choose one:
- Make someone do what you want (If the person you are imposing on is a PC, she can do it or not, but if she doesn’t you are both marked)
- Ensure that there are no consequences for acting up
- Add one to the mission pool
On a miss there will be trouble.

October 17, 2025 at 8:39 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

The Day Move is a reflection of this. It's a move about risk, about fear, so it is by no means colorless. It's geared towards horror and suspense, especially in the way it asks players to confess their fears before the dice hit the table. But: it's not about being a woman, not explicitly at least.

The Day Move

When you do something risky or face somethingyou fear, name what you’re afraid will happen if you fail or lose your nerve, then roll with an appropriate ability.
On a 10+, you do what you intended or you hold steady; describe what it looks like.
On a 7-9, the Keeper will tell you how your actions would leave you vulnerable, and you can choose to back down or go through with it. If you go through with it, the Keeper describes what it looks like.
On a 12+, you do what you intended or you hold steady, and the Keeper will tell you some extra benefit or advantage you receive. Describe what it looks like.

October 17, 2025 at 8:39 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

The chambermaids you play in The Girls of the Genziana Hotel serve at the bottom of a patriarchal hierarchy. This puts them in a vulnerable position when they try to investigate a disappearance that's being kept quiet.

Let me explain how these themes link the girls to, yes, soviet airwomen: 🧵

A mock up of a sticker, depicting sewing scissors shaped like a stork. It's a black and white, etch-like illustration.

October 17, 2025 at 8:39 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

So my gothic horror mystery game, The Girls of the Genziana Hotel, is 100% funded. It all went very fast, so I'm honestly still recovering. Anyway, if the world is still there come November, I'll be printing some zines, stickers and cards!

October 15, 2025 at 10:59 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

That went fast.

October 14, 2025 at 7:59 PM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

The Gamefound RPG Party launches tomorrow, and with it, my alpine gothic mystery game ⏳🥁😵‍💫

I'm taking late registrations here: gamefound.com/en/projects/... 🗝️

A screenshot showing the cover of the zine 'The Girls of the Genziana Hotel' and a countdown that says its crowdfunding campaign will launch in one day, one hour, nine minutes and 58 second.

October 13, 2025 at 12:52 PM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

This is me right now

Two posts by tumblr user genderfluid-druid. They read:

hurr hurr I'm a human body hurr hurr I'm gonna solve all my problems using mucus

And:

"i require more fluids" well what did you do with the fluids I already gave you. hmm? did you make more mucus with them? you made more mucus with them.

October 11, 2025 at 8:11 PM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

playing my zombie potato mausritter dungeon again tonight 🫶

A title card reading: 'The Blighted Sack'. It's designed to look like white stenciled letters on dubiously stained burlap.

October 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

I'm biased. I played these games during the playtest and I had an amazing time. Ema Acosta tinkered until only the smoothest running role-playing machine remained, a blend of osr freedom and storygame richness. A real vision.

So, my advice? Pre-order them right now: www.myth.works/pages/cresce...

A digital mock up of Crescent 2e. The cover has been done in a cartoonish, painterly style: centered around a large T-rex is a cast of pre-teens involved in various anticts. One has caught the other with a fishing pole. There's a boomerang flying around. Another is diving into the water, their feet turned into a fish's tail. And while the dinosaur roars, another child is deeply immersed in the ancient tome they're reading at the monster's feet.

A digital mock up of EXILE. The cover has been done in a dark, high contrast, painterly style: an older teen, their eyes glowing red, stands atop the head of a dragon, sprouting their own bat-like wings, holding a sword dripping with blood and charging magical energy with their other hand.

October 3, 2025 at 5:44 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Each token can be exchanged for an extra die (or a useful item, or increased damage). Tokens are earned through narrating actions that are archetypal for your playbook. Below is an example from the Bandage, 'an insightful friend and caretaker'.

A screenshot of part of a The Last Caravan character sheet, showing a tracker and bullet points:

HEROISM
Spend HEROISM to:
▶ Find a useful item
▶ Gain +1d to any gambit roll
▶ Increase harm (limit 2/gambit roll)
Gain HEROISM when you:
▶ Delve deeply into another traveler’s feelings
▶ Suggest an alternate viewpoint
▶ Create a moment for care
▶ Aid a faction
▶ Make things worse because of your inadequacy

October 2, 2025 at 8:11 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Are you a Scarlet Bisexual or a Turquoise Bisexual?

The cover of Hades I, showing the sexy Zagreus, the son of Hades surrounded by a red background.

The cover of Hades II, showing the, some might say, equally sexy Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld, and daughter of Hades surrounded by a blue-ish background.

September 25, 2025 at 6:54 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Successfully tested the potato dungeon today. The zombified clump was a star 🌟

September 21, 2025 at 3:49 PM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

how it started how it's going

A partial screenshot of a blueskypost by Hendrik ten Napel asking 'Potato dungeon when?' above a screenshot of a tumblr post about a potato turning into a monstrosity in the 'farthest corner of your pantry'.

A partial screenshot of the statblocks for a Mausritter dungeon, showing monsters like 'Blighted Tater', 'Blightflower, the oracle' and 'The Blighted Taterclump'.

September 18, 2025 at 6:21 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

First test run is this Sunday. I really shouldn't be doing layout already, but let's just say I'm pretty confident about this idea.

A partial screenshot of an encounter table and two monsters for Mausritter dungeon. The table has entries like: 'd6 Blighted taters, detaching from the wall of spuds' and 'Abeline Holly, stalking the party from the shadows'. The monsters have art made collage style from potato silhouettes, illustrations of octopus tentacles and human eyes.

September 17, 2025 at 6:07 PM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Greenwell believes books don't present worlds so we may judge them as we do our own. They present worlds so we may engage with them like we cannot always do our own. Interestingly, in the course of making that argument, he mentions magic circle, a term role-players migh also be familiar with.

The ability of art to do this moral work, the work I think it is uniquely equipped to do, depends on our acknowledging the power of a frame as a kind of magic circle separating the world of art from the actual world. I don’t mean to suggest that art is cut off from politics or history, or that this separation is absolute. I mean that representation has a fundamentally different moral and existential status from that of reality. This is a point that needs defending. The moral and political demands currently placed on art, the charge that art has responsibilities and consequences as grave as actions in the world beyond the frame, the conflation of art and activism, don’t just mistake the nature of art and art making. They make it impossible for art to do the moral work proper to it.

September 14, 2025 at 9:50 AM

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel

@napel.itch.io

Greenwell is an educator. He teaches writing. And from that position, he is interested in what it means to engage literature morally, but not by teaching how to judge a book for presenting the right worldview. (Which is not to say that one shouldn't be able to make that judgement.)