Portland, Oregon Trail is GM-less. Everyone shares the narrative and takes turns in the spotlight.

You make a character and you all create your vehicle together.  It's important that your vehicle ACTUALLY gets you where you're going!

What else happens on road trips? Coffee breaks, pee breaks, stopping for gas, someone having gas, rain, flat tires, fast food drive-thru stops, singalongs, car games, naps, traffic, recalculating GPS, getting lost, car breakdowns, person breakdowns, snow, getting car sick, seeing sick cars, deep conversations, stupid conversations, diners, roadside attractions, roadside animals, rest stops, trucks, vanity license plates, bumper stickers, cryptids? 

All of that and more could happen on the Portland, Oregon Trail. 

You all have a road trip specialty, whether it’s the licensed backseat driver or the aux cord DJ. Your Seat on this trip is represented by a polyhedral die. You’ve got four seats to pick from: the nerd: d4, the hipster: d6, the activist: d8, and the punk: d10.

THE NERD (d4)

• You're the organizing force behind any road trip. You’re the one who makes a practical plan out of everyone’s wild ideas. 
• You’re smart, situationally aware, and proud of your pub trivia win streak. I
• Most likely to be holding the GPS and probably the only one who knows what a spark plug does

• You’re the first to be into anything. Some might call you pretentious, but you’re just a trendsetter!
• You value being unique and ahead of the curve, which means you never stick to one thing long enough to become a true expert in it. 
• Most likely to be non-stop talking, and the only one who knows how to reach Sparky the plug. 

• You never want to sit back and let things happen. 
• Your passion for the cause can land you in hot water, but that’s never stopped you!
• Most likely to be behind the wheel, and the only one who knows a spark plug breaks a car window. 

• You don’t think twice about getting loud or throwing a brick or two.
• You express yourself through your physicality ;your hair, fashion or getting bruised in a mosh pit. 
• Most likely to be flipping off that asshole in the other lane, and the only one with SPRK PLUG tattooed on your knuckles. 

In a polymorph™ game, each player only ever uses their specific polyhedral die (d4, d6, d8, or d10). Your ROLE is your ROLL. 

• No math! Roll your die and consult the Resolver Chart.
• The GM never rolls, keeping the focus on the player.
• Players succeed when they do things that their character is good at
• Rules light with a narrative focus 

polymorph™ is the in-house system for 9th Level Games and has already been used in 17 released core books including Thunder Road Vendetta RPG, Mazes Fantasy Roleplaying, Sentai & Sensibility, Pigeon's Eleven, and Rebel Scum.

The system won BEST RULES 2020 from IGDN Groundbreaker Awards (for Mazes Fantasy Roleplaying), has been nominated for ENNIE Awards for both Best Rules and Product of the Year (Mazes, Kobolds Ate My Baby Orange Book, The Excellents), and Mazes Fantasy Roleplaying has been nominated by Indiecade for Best RPG in 2022. Learn more.

Stretch Goal Achievements

What is the Community Saying? 

Jess Geyer, Writer

• The coolest tourist attraction Jess has ever been to on a road trip is the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters in Florida. Her favorite cryptid is the Deepstar 4000 fish. When she's not writing her own third-person bios for crowdfunding campaigns, Jess designs games as the co-owner of Wannabe Games and has written for TTRPGs such as Arkham Horror, Never Going Home, and CAPERS Cyberpunk.

• Afraid of every monster in the book after seeing Tooms on the X-files when he was 5, Alex likes to categorize all cryptids to know who got his back. Really banking on aliens being chill. When not living the dream of a Game Designer at Wannabe Games Alex splits time as a mentor at Unpubbed, an advisor with Chicago Tabletop Gaming Association and learning how to take a natural looking photo. 

• Learn more: www.brieckdraw.com