I’m very pleased to release a big update for Heartseeker, my very tiny old school adventure game.
Heartseeker is now five years old and I figured it was time for a refresh. Rather than overhauling it as a new edition I’ve added the following updates:
All new cover and logo
Fresh new layout
Bloodlines now have a choice of abilities – a bump in stat or something else. I’ve removed a couple of bloodlines (orc and kobold).
Slight changes to ability bonuses.
More spells!
Big list of gear
Random encounter tables
More monsters! Monsters have a single universal save
Ultimately you have everything you need for an old school campaign that’s easily compatible with other OSR games.
War Axe is my upcoming fantasy skirmish wargame. Note that it’s now a skirmish game. I’ve reduced the model count to 5-10 per side.
War Axe is a single-stat game, using Battle for all rolls including fighting, wounds and morale. It started with 3 stats but I changed the dice system which meant I no longer needed armour and wounds. As a unit takes wounds its Battle also reduces, making it less effective so players should think about how best to use wounded models.
It’s also an anti-lore game (wild for me considering I love lore). There are four main factions but their background, vibe and faction abilities are rolled randomly. One player’s Goblin Court may be out to destroy civilisation while another may believe the world needs an etiquette lesson. Your Empire of Lamarque may be a burgeoning force while mine may be diminishing and rotting.
Many faction abilities are affected by the Winds of War mechanic central to the game. Any time a unit takes a wound that player gains a point of favour. If one has more favour than the other the winds currently favour them. This can trigger additional benefits like more dice or new abilities for every unit. In addition, a point of fortune can be spent to reroll dice. Do you spend to reroll, knowing that a wound could turn the winds against you?
Of course, units have their own abilities. The points system is simple and allows you to easily craft your own units and even factions, with rules for doing so outlined in the book. For instance, if I wanted an undead dragon I might spend 5 points to give it Battle 5, 2 points for the Flying ability and 2 points for Immortal. Overall my dragon costs 9pts. I could give it a ranged attack and bring it to 11pts to make a formidable unit.
“For I knew that the King in Yellow had opened his tattered mantle and there was only God to cry to now.”
You are investigating the impact of The King in Yellow on Parisian society. You have read the play. Carcosa will eventually reveal itself to you. Reality isn’t as it seems.
It is a time of war in the world of Yore. The fields of battle are bathed in the blood and gristle. Spears shine in the dawn as armies clash – the noble Knights of Lamarque against the mind-addled Goblin Horde. Shambling Gravespawn colliding with the Dwarven Warbeards of the Craglands.
A couple of weeks ago I posted about the best D&D edition that isn’t a D&D edition. I know THAT game sucks all the air out of the room, but YAG D&D (Young Adventurer’s Guide) has wormed its way into my psyche.
I set out some initial rules for YAG but I wanted to spend some time here revising them as I wasn’t totally happy with the initial draft.
I did a quick straw poll on BSky asking whether, back in the day, players of BX/Basic/OD&D actually saw combat as a fail state. This is the thinking that came from Matt Finch’s Old School Primer and has become the standard for OSR games or people playing older D&D.
The magic circle is the space and time when the usual social constructs of reality are replaced with the artificial notion of play. We gather around the table or computer to play a TTRPG and the circle is formed. We become others. We create heirarchy. We roll dice to find out.
I’m very pleased to release a big update for Heartseeker, my very tiny old school adventure game.
A couple of weeks ago I posted about the best D&D edition that isn’t a D&D edition. I know THAT game sucks all the air out of the room, but YAG D&D (Young Adventurer’s Guide) has wormed its way into my psyche.