MANTLEBROT
A bombastic TTRPG where words are power and creativity is king
MANTLEBROT is a TTRPG (Tabletop Roleplaying Game) inspired by 2000s era cartoons, shonen anime and silver age superhero comics. Conceptualised, written and designed by Steven Goodison.
In the world of MANTLEBROT, 5% of the worlds population has been born with a superpower called a ‘Mantle’. Mantles are enigmatic and chaotic, best understood to those who have them as being a single immovable word. They embody their word so entirely that they are said to be ‘taking on the mantle’ of it.
In game terms, players go on a random word generator. Roll five words and choose one. That is their superpower, and they must create various abilities around their own interpretation of that word. For example- MEDAL, TRANSFER, CREAM, LOT and TIGER
MEDAL inspires powers based around awarding yourself abilities by sticking different metals on you, inventing credentials to sneak in places, or simply turning into a medal and rolling away from danger.
TRANSFER opens up ideas of body swapping, inflicting your own injuries onto an opponent, or being able to stick a USB stick in your own head and read the data.
CREAM makes you think about the obvious, turning into sentient cream with all the goopy benefits that entails. But also being the literal cream of the crop, or turning other things and people into cream, sending them down the drain.
LOT instantly brings to mind a superhero who can never lose an auction. Or who can instantly identify what category of thing a particular thing is. Or frighteningly, be able to be in complete control over someone’s lot in life.
TIGER is a bit simpler. Make a hero with all the abilities of a tiger. Not all mantles have to be complicated and weird.
You can see just from that little slice of MANTLEBROT the possibilities for weird and creative heroes to take justice into their own hands, fighting villains just as strange. As a game, MANTLEBROT is very combat heavy but rules lite. Offering an unshakable framework, but a wobbly, mouldable centre to make any character viable.
The setting of MANTLEBROT is also loose enough so that you can have any kind of adventure. You want a noire style mystery with lots of role-play? A bombastic city spanning fight with giant mechs? A wilderness adventure fighting super-powered hill folk? MANTLEBROT lets you do all of it. If you like the sound of that, or even if you don’t, MANTLEBROT has two ways that you can play entirely for free.
The MANTLEBROT Quickstart guide has everything you need to make a character and run a short adventure.