The Origin Story: How FREAKS Came to Be

Welcome to G33K.PUB! I thought I’d kick off our blog by sharing the story behind our flagship project, FREAKS, and how it grew from family gaming sessions into something I hope other groups will love as much as we do.

A Father-Daughter Gaming Legacy

Like many of the best creative projects, FREAKS started at the gaming table. My daughter Sydney has been one of my greatest inspirations for this project, and honestly, one of the main reasons it exists at all.

When Sydney first joined our gaming group, I watched something magical happen. Here was a young person discovering the same wonder and excitement that had hooked me on tabletop RPGs nearly three decades ago. But more than that, I noticed how naturally she gravitated toward stories about young people with extraordinary abilities trying to figure out their place in the world.

Finding Her Genre

Over the years, as we explored different games and settings, one theme kept emerging as Sydney’s absolute favorite: teenage superheroes. Not the polished, public heroes of the comic book movies, but the messy, complicated, secret world of young people dealing with powers they never asked for while still trying to navigate high school, family drama, and figuring out who they were becoming.

Whether we were playing superhero RPGs, exploring coming-of-age stories, or diving into anything that mixed the extraordinary with the everyday challenges of growing up, that’s where Sydney’s eyes would light up. That’s where the best stories happened at our table.

The Spark of Inspiration

Watching Sydney and the other players in our group get excited about these stories made me realize something: this wasn’t just a genre she enjoyed playing—it was a genre that spoke to something fundamental about the gaming experience itself. We’re all, in some ways, young people trying to figure out who we are and what we’re capable of. We’re all dealing with new abilities (character abilities) and trying to understand how to use them responsibly.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that while there were superhero RPGs out there, very few captured that specific sweet spot of teenage empowerment mixed with the very real fear of being different, being discovered, being judged by a world that might not understand.

The 1980s Connection

The decision to set FREAKS in the late 1980s and early 1990s came from wanting to create that perfect storm of nostalgia and authenticity. It’s a time period that feels both familiar and foreign—close enough that we understand the world, but different enough that it feels special. It’s also a time when secrets could actually be kept, when government conspiracies felt plausible, and when being a teenager felt like existing in your own separate world anyway.

Plus, let’s be honest—the 80s just have that perfect aesthetic for secret superhero stories.

Building on Solid Ground

When it came time to actually create the game, I knew I wanted to build on Richard Woolcock’s excellent Tricube Tales system. After nearly thirty years of gaming, I’ve seen a lot of systems come and go, and Tricube Tales struck me as something special—elegant, narrative-focused, and flexible enough to handle the kind of stories we wanted to tell without getting bogged down in complex mechanics.

The beauty of Tricube Tales is that it gets out of the way and lets the story happen. For a game about teenage drama and growing up with superpowers, that narrative focus was exactly what we needed.

More Than Just a Game

FREAKS became more than just another RPG project—it became a love letter to everyone who’s ever felt different, who’s ever had to hide who they really are, who’s ever wondered what they’d do with great power when they’re still figuring out great responsibility.

It’s dedicated to Sydney and her brother TJ, who’ve both shown me that the next generation of gamers is going to take this hobby to amazing places. But it’s also for every parent who’s discovered the joy of sharing their favorite hobby with their kids, and every young person who’s found their tribe around a gaming table.

What’s Next

This is just the beginning for G33K.PUB. FREAKS is our flagship, but we’ve got more projects brewing that celebrate the intersection of nostalgia, creativity, and the geeky stuff that makes life more interesting.

We’ll be sharing more about the development process, design decisions, actual play stories, and the broader world of tabletop gaming that’s shaped who we are as creators.

Thanks for joining us on this adventure. Whether you’re a longtime gamer or someone just discovering the hobby, we’re glad you’re here.

Now let’s go save the world—or at least survive high school with our secret identities intact.


What’s your favorite coming-of-age story in gaming? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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