€35,000 was a pretty high Kickstarter target for an RPG indie coming out of Europe, but Netherland’s Dicetale Games has hit it with Blood and Doom.
The dark fantasy RPG has hundreds of backers and over three weeks left to raise money on the crowdfunding platform.
Athyr is a world with ruins and tombs; a dozen dark cults are actively corrupting the world with perverted rituals designed to call the Heralds of Doom and with those extradimensional horrors, death and destruction.
The Blood and Doom RPG uses a d10 dice pool, Archetypes for PCs and the GM uses the mantle Doomsayer.
There’s no HP in the game, but Bruises, Wounds, Injuries and Madness. On a similar note, there’s no single Charisma; there’s Heart, Mystique, Courage and Willpower instead.
The core rules call out these;
- Player-facing rules that keep players engaged even when it’s not their turn
- Easy to run for Doomsayers, with minimal effort required to start running a game
- d10 dice pool system utilizing Momentum to express degrees of success
- Setbacks that represent horrible failure with grave consequences
- Blood Points fuel both martial Powers and Magic in a unified system for all Classes
- Doom Points can help you in a tough spot, but spending them comes at a high cost
- No Hit Points. Track your Wounds, Injuries, Madness and Trauma instead
- No set Initiative Order. Let the story at the table guide the action naturally
- 18 unique Weapon Attributes that let weapons do more than just ‘deal damage’
- Intuitive to learn, yet offering extremely deep and customizable rules
- Will appeal to both 5E players and fans of TTRPGs with narrative mechanics
The core rules is just one book being funded. Two other significant ones are the Doomsayer’s Codex: Guide to Athyr and the Twelve Pillars of Doom.
A pledge of €20, around £18, is enough to get the core rules, and digital stretch goals, including a soundtrack, character sheets, an adventure and a DM screen.
Those two other PDF books are added to the rewards at €45.
Backers at €55 get the core rules in hardcover and the rest in PDF. Then, at €75, some accessories, such as the poster map, come in print.
The deluxe three-book slipcase unlocks at €135 (£119), and that’s had two dozen or so backers, with worldwide shipping included.
However, the tiers continue well beyond that, with €190 adding dice and cards. Minis are added at €245, and limited in number, with more at €290.
The campaign tops out at €900, and retailer pledges.
The timetable is impressive, with Dicetales suggesting shipping in December this year.
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