Arc Dream Publishing has officially opened the barracks doors for Phase 1 of the playtest for The Black Company Roleplaying Game. Running from now until 1 February 2026, this initial phase invites tabletop groups to step into the boots of the mercenaries made famous by Glen Cook‘s seminal grimdark novels.
The playtest kit is not yet a complete rulebook but rather a focused “kit” designed to stress-test the core mechanics. It includes a ten-page rules primer, six pre-generated “Soldiers” ready for immediate play, and a starter scenario titled “The Summer of Riots,” set in the city of Beryl.
The game adapts the setting of The Black Company novels, a series often credited with defining the modern grimdark genre. In these stories, the protagonists are not shining heroes but hard-bitten mercenaries working for the Lady, a sorceress of immense and terrifying power.
Mechanics of Misery
Looking at the provided playtest documents, the system appears to lean heavily into the gritty realism and high lethality of the source material. The game utilises a d100 mechanic where players test Skills (ranging from 30 to 99) or Luck.
Notably, the game tracks distinct states for both “Damage” (physical harm) and “Stress” (mental harm). This reinforces the psychological toll of mercenary life; a Soldier can be “Maimed” in body or “Broken” in spirit. The rules explicitly state that “charging into battle is a good way to get hurt,” suggesting a style of play distinct from high-fantasy power fantasies where characters often feel invincible.
Key mechanical features revealed in the playtest include:
- Stress and Trauma: Soldiers gain stress from fear, outrage, or misery. Failing to cope can lead to long-term Flaws such as “Drunk,” “Hateful,” or “Thousand-Yard Stare.”
- The Company Structure: Unlike standard adventuring parties, players are part of a military hierarchy. The playtest materials outline the command structure, from the Captain down to the rank-and-file, emphasising loyalty to the Company over individual glory.
- Combat: Rounds are described as a “brief flurry of fighting,” with mechanics for initiative, ambushes, and “gambits” that allow for tactical manoeuvres beyond simple attacks.
Future Phases and Feedback
Arc Dream Publishing has indicated that this is merely the first step. While the current kit focuses on essential rules and combat, future testing phases will expand to cover character creation, sorcery, and mass combat mechanics—elements essential for capturing the military scale of the novels.
The publisher is actively soliciting feedback via an online survey and has clarified its stance on content creation. Actual Play recordings are permitted and encouraged, provided creators clearly label the content as a playtest of a work in progress and do not gate the content behind paywalls.
The Black Company novels and stories by Glen Cook have fired imaginations for decades. And what might have happened in those stories if only one thing had gone a different way? — Arc Dream Publishing
Those interested in joining the Company can find the materials at the official playtest website.
