Ep.20: Twilight Imperium RPG (Genesys)
This week is an interesting collision between board games and tabletop RPGs as we jump into Twilight Imperium: Ashes of Power, the Free RPG Day adventure built for the Genesys roleplaying system. Designed as an easy on-ramp, Ashes of Power comes with simplified Genesys rules and pre-made characters—so you can go from “what is Genesys?” to “roll initiative” fast.
In play, we focus on what makes Genesys narrative dice work: a roll doesn’t just hinge on success or failure—it also includes story-driving fallout like Advantage vs. Threat, plus swingy moments of Triumph and Despair that change the scene in surprising ways.
If you’re curious how a “board-game readable” resolution engine can still generate rich improvisation, this episode is a great sampler of Genesys in motion.
This is also our final sci-fi themed system for the time being in our actual play series. Next episode, we’ll look back on the sci-fi games we’ve played and what we learned along the way.
For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.
Topics discussed:
00:00:30 Boardgame to RPG
00:03:40 Free RPG Day
https://www.edge-studio.net/shares/twilight-imperium/
00:11:35 Setting Info dump
00:17:45 Scene 1: Ashes of Power
00:22:15 Scene 2
00:41:40 Scene 3
00:48:40 Scene 4
01:05:25 Scene 5
01:11:25 Scene 6
01:18:30 Scene 7
01:40:30 Scene 8
01:44:10 Scene 9
01:48:00 Debrief
01:55:40 Let’s Roll Some Dice...
