Triangle Agencyis a forthcoming tabletop RPG system that presents players with a unique premise: paranormal investigation through the lens of corporate horror. Players take on the roles of supernaturally gifted agents who must subdue reality-warping anomalies for their sinister corporate employer, the titular Triangle Agency. The game’s developer and publisher, Haunted Table, recently launched aKickstarterthat blasted through its initial funding goal and is now running until July 6.
Game Rant recently sat down with Caleb Zane Huett and Sean Ireland, co-founders of Haunted Table and lead designers ofTriangle Agency,to discuss the game’s inspirations, mechanics, and storytelling goals. Despite its evocative range of influences, which spanX-Men,Scooby-Doo,Chainsaw Man, real-life work experiences, andRemedy Entertainment’sControl, the most impressive aspects ofTriangle Agencymay be the original game mechanics it brings to the table.
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A Supporting Cast of Player Characters
Huett stated that his favorite aspect ofTriangle Agencyis a mechanic that he hopes to see “everywhere” in thetabletop gamingcommunity. As a part of main character creation, players define their character’s key relationships, developing a supporting cast of secondary characters controlled by other players at the table. As described by Huett,
“When asked about your manager, you might say “he’s kinda like a rude, fast-talking, movie manager sort of guy.” And as you describe these characters, players can slam their hand down and claim that they want to play that character.”
While possibly intimidating tothose new to tabletop RPGs, this system solves a number of common problems. A skilled GM will ensure that each player at the table has a portion of the narrative dedicated to them—every player at the table gets to have a moment. But extended conversations between one character and an NPC can be boring for the players who are left uninvolved, and taxing for GMs. By allowing other players at the table to engage with each other as background characters, more players can be involved in any given scene.
This extended cast of player characters also serves to reinforceTriangle Agency’sinspired-by-TVformat, where each session acts as a discrete episode with a definite conclusion, while also developing a greater whole.
Crunchy Role-Playing With Competencies
While most paranormal investigation properties follow amateur sleuths or government agencies as perMen In BlackortheX-Files,Triangle Agencymarries the occult and supernatural to implacable and unfeeling capitalism. The sort of role that a player takes on at the Agency has huge implications for what they can do at the table, not only in terms of action or combat mechanics but regarding role-playing as well. Huett explained,
“…our role-playing is crunchier than people expect. And we’ve had people refer to it as crunchy in a way that I find very funny. That goes back to the Competency system we mentioned earlier, where you can get commendations for role-playing effectively, and demerits for violating your prime directives. It adds a level of thought and planning to the way that you approach situations, that people say is a crunched weighted on your role-play, rather than your math abilities.”
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Huett provided one example of a prohibition associated with Competency. The Barista must address every other character by a nickname, and they earn demerits whenever they use a character’s real name. Other role-playing habits can earn players commendation points, which can be used to unlock new tools and other perks that expand player’s options. WhileTriangle Agency’s role-playing has an extra dimension of strategy, the combat is heavier on flavor rather thantactical battle rulesor math. One reason for that is that combat, by nature of the game’s clandestine premise, is generally a bad idea, a last resort, or an unwanted side effect of something else having gone wrong.
Multi-System Madness
To promote the Kickstarter launch ofTriangle Agency,Haunted Table is hosting a home-brew cross-overgame jam eventthat invites players to submit their custom-made character Competencies, or entire adventure modules as a way to connect with creative members of the corporate horror and tabletop role-playing communities. The event, which is titled the Stabilize All Realities game jam, also features cross-system cross-over missions where characters and rule sets from other games can interact with Triangle Agents, and vise versa. Huett noted that in the context of those other games, Triangle Agents can be easily construed asScooby-Doovillains—which seems telling about the game’s tone.
Triangle Agencyis fully funded on Kickstarter and its campaign runs until Thursday, July 6.
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