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Max Fefer 🍉✡️

@hydroforge.itch.io

630 followers 301 following 56 posts

TTRPG Designer ✡️🎲 | Disabled | Non-binary/agender (No Pronouns) 🌈 #TTRPG #judaism #boardgames Check out my games!: hydroforge.itch.io

Posts Replies Media

Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 19/06/2026

Fresh in stock @twentysided.bsky.social, can’t wait to check out @vidityavoleti.bsky.social’s hot release ❤️🔥✨

Photo of Viditya Voleti’s A Land Once Magic zine. A saturated pastel colorful cover with pink glass mountain, a gumball balloon, and a wizard with pink hat in a rural field.

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 15/03/2026

@gordiemurphy.bsky.social’s Mythomorphosis in the wild! Mox Boarding House in Portland!

Photo of Mythomorphosis zine by Gordie Murphy. Colorful cover with a person in a colorful robe of reds oranges yellows looking at an orange moon.

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 05/05/2025

I started my spring garden this weekend! First time growing tomatoes and eggplant, I hope it works 😅 (and yes I fixed the cages after I took this pic, I’m only 99% a goofus)

Two large garden bags with plants in them. The first one has a smaller upside down cage in the center for an eggplant plant surrounded by small seedling plants. The other garden bag has a larger upside down cage for a tomato plant, surrounded by herb plants. The bags are sitting on a brick patio enclosed by a wood fence.

A closeup photo of a vivid green plant with small purple flowers (Midnight Magic)

Two different lavender plants in a flowerbed, newly planted.

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 01/01/2025

New year, new game! Esther the Queens is finally available on Itch! Esther the Queens is a Jewish TTRPG featuring a queer & feminist retelling of the Purim story. Using the Firebrands framework, Esther and her fellow Queens play carnival mini-games to save the Jewish people and defeat Haman.

Photo of the game box and game cover for Esther and the Queens by Max Fefer. The cover features 5 queens with Queen Esther in the center. She has a stern and confident expression, wearing a blue dress with white and gold accents. She is facing a man in a crown and a balded advisor. This is to represent King Haman from the Jewish story of Purim.

An interior photo of the Esther and the Queens game box. Shown in the inside lid is an oblong dining table with multi-colored placemats and Persian food in the center. At the head seat, Vashti's name was carved in and later crossed out. In the base of the box is a multi-colored skeeball arena. Also shown are a bag of dice, red raffle tickets, and a piece of cardstock for the ballroom dancing mini game.

Closeup of the Skeeball arena in the game box. The large green area is marked "0", the center mid-size yellow circle is marked "1", two smaller orange circles within the yellow area are marked "2". In the green area is one small orange circle labeled "2". There are two small red circles in the corner of the green area labeled "3".

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 16/12/2024

If you need a fabulous TTRPG gift for your Jewish friends, I'm announcing my *small* restock of Hanukkah Goblins at a new lower price! If you buy soon, It can arrive in their mailbox within the US before Hanukkah! I also have the order page for Esther and the Queens, but I'll announce that later :)

Cover mockup of Hanukkah Goblins. Hanukkah Goblins by Max Fefer. Background is a blue sky with clouds. Foreground is five green Jewish goblins with various weapons, including a donut launcher, dreidel (Jewish top), magical wheelchair, menorah (Hanukkah candelabra).

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 16/11/2024

Hello all you wonderful new folks! I'm Max, a Jewish TTRPG designer based in the San Francisco area. My most well-known games are Hanukkah Goblins and soon-to-be-released Esther and the Queens! My design touchstones are Judaism and environmentalism. My current WIP is a salmon game!

Game cover for Esther and the Queens by Max Fefer. The cover features 5 queens with Queen Esther in the center. She has a stern and confident expression, wearing a blue dress with white and gold accents. She is facing a man in a crown and a balded advisor. This is to represent King Haman from the Jewish story of Purim.

Hanukkah Goblins by Max Fefer. Background is a blue sky with clouds. Foreground is five green Jewish goblins with various weapons, including a donut launcher, dreidel (Jewish top), magical wheelchair, menorah (Hanukkah candelabra).

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 13/11/2024

It was a pleasure chatting with you at Big Bad Con about Esther and the Queens! Hope we get another opportunity :)

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 10/11/2024

You know how they say "don't write your game in layout"? For my salmon game, my motivations is steering me to create a layout first and then design around those constraints. I have a specific image in mind, so I'm leaning into that by curating the vibe first. No words on page, but layout? 😅

Two page spread with a river rapids illustration fully covering the pages. On the right page is a semi-translucent text box titled "RAPIDS" with a salmon icon below it. There is random text in this box to see how text looks on the page.

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 09/11/2024

FISH ARE FRIENDS NOT FOOD /j

Search results from a public domain images website for "salmon". Pictures include cooked salmon fillets.

Search results from public domain image search. Search criteria: salmon ALIVE. Picture results are salmon living in a river, not cooked.

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 09/11/2024

I'm a water resources engineer! Although i've made mainly Jewish games so far, I've been itching to design environmentally-themed games. I mocked up a lil salmon zine at Big Bad Con to see what I could make into a game.

Small folded zine on lined paper with glued pictures. The title of the two-page spread is "Home" in blue handwritten cursive. The pictures include a grey gravel background, several wooden logs, plants lining the banks, and a pile of salmon eggs in the center. It's supposed to look like a salmon redd (spawning site).

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 04/11/2024

I promise y’all, I don’t just make Jewish games 🤣 I mocked up this #PbtA playbook from a home game based on the Mistborn series. I wrote some new mechanics for how Investiture (magic) works and I’d love to build it out some more for the right project 🥰 #ttrpg Anybody else love the Mistborn series?

The Archivist playbook by Max Fefer. Styled like Powered by the Apocalypse. A stat block to the left with Charm, Wise, Gaze, Tough, and Shard. Spots for marking Luck, Harm, Experiencex Leveling Up. Paragraph on how Investiture works. A move list to pick from, including Coppermind. A fan illustration of a brown skinned man with brown, purple, and orange robes. Plus an inspiration quote about knowledge.

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 02/11/2024

Esther and the Queens is coming to life 🥹 I’ve been working through some layout changes for the printer and I finally cracked the code.

Open book with pages 14 and 15 of Esther and the Queens. On page 14, there is a list of character classes (The Tech, The Wanderer, The Learned, The Fearless, and The Forgotten) and a list of attractive qualities for your character. Page 15 includes describing your character’s outfit and accessories.

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Max Fefer 🍉✡️ @hydroforge.itch.io · 02/11/2024

I HAVE ARRIVED

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