It is easy to see why the story of Frankenstein has endured for as long as it has, as it speaks to many problems we all face in our day-to-day lives, including the innate struggle for identity. On top of this, the book’s popularity (and the numerous films it spawned) has made Frankenstein fertile ground for comedy, with many using those same themes to create memorable farces. Frink taps into this latter strand of Frankenstein, turning the story into a comedic co-op TTRPG that tasks you with getting your disparate limbs on the same page, so you can become more than a sum of your parts.
Frink is a group TTRPG where the group plays as Frink, a monster made of various sewn-together body parts. Naturally, Frink is unhappy about this state of affairs and thus decides that the best possible course of action is to enter the tower owned by their creator, climb to the top, and give their creator a good ol’ fashioned beating.
Making A Monster-Sized Adventure
However, each player doesn’t control all of Frink. Instead, each takes control of a single limb, be it an arm, a leg, or a head (though the rules note that a Frink can only have one head). Each part starts with three traits: one related to an animal (as your creator also spliced some animal DNA into you for fun), one related to the limb’s previous life, and the final one based on how it originally died (which tends to give disadvantage on rolls).
Each limb also has access to three moves: Misbehave (which allows a limb to rebel against the head and put the body in danger while gaining an advantage), Pop (which lets them spend resources to detach from the body), and Charge (which lets them expend resources to boost their rolls).
On top of this, the group will have to collectively manage two resources: sparks (that can be spent to improve their rolls) and vitality (Frink’s equivalent of health).
The main flow of the game is pretty simple. At the start of each round, the head issues a command to the rest of the body, and then each limb gets to take two actions. If an action has a chance of failure, the player has to roll to see how it works out. By default, players roll a single D6; however, they get additional dice for each relevant trait (and can spend sparks to get even more), and dice are removed from the pool for each relevant, disadvantage-granting trait.
Once the dice are rolled, the player either picks the highest or lowest value (depending on whether they had more advantages or disadvantages). If this number is five or six, the action goes well. Under five, something unexpected happens, and the action goes wrong.
Building A Multi-Body Problem
Frink is a really fun game that takes all of the classic Frankenstein farce beats and turns them into a really tight, easy-to-pick-up-and-play TTRPG that’s sure to delight your players, no matter their familiarity with TTRPGs.
My favourite element of the game is how it encourages productive bickering. While the head is marked as the leader (as it gives orders to the rest of the body at the start of scenes and only one can exist), players are totally free to ignore it. In fact, they are given a mechanical incentive to do so, via the advantage-generating misbehave mechanic.
While this may seem like a bad idea on paper (as few TTRPGs pull off PvP well), in practice it really suits the game’s comedic tone and its central story beat of limbs being forced together against their will, a classic trope in comedic Frankenstein retellings. Plus, the game’s structure means that no single rebellion can derail the session. The Misbehave action granting advantage, combined with the fact that numerous other moves generate advantage, means that rolls succeed way more often than they fail, which means that players who go against the head but play into their limb’s story are more likely to alter the situation or push the scene forward than limbs who play it safe and go along with the crowd.
I’m also a big fan of each limb getting two actions per round. A big issue that many comedy TTRPGs run into (especially those aimed at 3 or more players) is that players don’t want to take big swings or try unexpected stuff for fear of failing and coming away from the turn having done nothing. By giving each player two actions, Frink encourages big creative moves (including rebelling against other body parts) because even if it goes wrong, the player still has the chance to do something meaningful.
The included adventure is also very good. While it is only one page long, it does a good job of setting the scene and giving GMs enough scene-setting details, a fun collection of creatures, and scenarios that really display the game’s various mechanics at their best. Plus, the included art is really eye-catching and acts as a fantastic visual aid.
Frink is a really fun Frankenstein farce that is guaranteed to appeal to any table that likes their TTRPG sessions fast, fun, and chaotic. The game knows exactly what it wants to be, and is thus packed with clever flourishes that gently push players toward that style of gameplay without ever feeling like it’s railroading you. Because of this, the game is a great one to have on hand, as not only can it be started within 30 minutes of the game hitting the table, but it’s also guaranteed to be a good time, no matter how you play it.
