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FACE YOUR DOOM AND JOURNEY TO ATHYR!


Download 500+ pages of free content!

Enter the realm of Athyr, a world of high adventure and unparalleled danger where ancient ruins hold untold secrets and dark prophecies whisper of impending doom. Hidden in the shadows, twelve vile cults are spreading their corrupting influence throughout the world. In tombs veiled by the sands of time and lairs hidden from prying eyes, these unsavory groups worship the twelve extradimensional entities known as the Heralds of Doom. And should one of these loathsome beings claw its way to Athyr's surface, the fate of its people will be sealed.

Yet amidst the gathering darkness, there are those who seek to unveil the secrets of Athyr's forgotten past, to unravel the ominous prophecies whispered by trembling sages, and to navigate the labyrinthine web of treachery that threatens to corrupt the very fabric of society. In an age of Blood and Doom, they are there to confront the rising tide of corruption, to battle and oppose the cults and monsters that threaten Athyr's very existence.

Will you rise up to meet this challenge? Enter a world of both tremendous wonder, and unparalleled danger… 

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A Brand-New Dark Fantasy Tabletop RPG

Blood and Doom is a brand-new dark fantasy TTRPG that invites you to explore Athyr's seven realms, from the vast and parched deserts of Ethennia to the treacherous jungles of Ishta, teeming with primordial beasts. And as you venture forth, be warned - arcane energies from other planes pulse through the land, unleashing unspeakable horrors upon those who dare tread its path.

In Blood and Doom, you'll find mechanics that fuel fast-paced, cinematic gameplay, yet stay true to the gritty essence of life and death on Athyr. Unearth the nefarious plots that lurk in ancient ruins and long-forgotten tombs. Foil the twisted machinations of humans and creatures alike. Arm yourself with steel and sorcery to confront the rising tide of monsters that threaten this world’s very existence. Heed the omens and portents that foretell of impending doom, lest the darkness swallow you whole.

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Award-Winning Creative Team

From a creative team that includes some of the ENnie Award-winning writers for games such as RuneQuest, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, Star Trek Adventures, Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of, Champions, HERO System, The One Ring and many more comes the new dark fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Blood and Doom.

Included in This Bundle

In this huge bundle, you will find three Primer books totaling over 500 pages, each of them a fully playable excerpt of the Blood and Doom core books.

The Blood and Doom Primer Bundle includes:

  • Core Rulebook Primer – The Core Rulebook Primer is a gateway to a world of adventure, where heroes are forged in the fires of battle and legends are born. Within its pages lies all the knowledge needed to take up arms and join the fray, with rules that will guide you through every step of your journey. Choose from eight character Archetypes, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. But that is only the beginning, as you can customize your Character even further, tailoring them to your individual playstyle. Combine that with a multitude of Traits, Powers, Spells, weapons, armor types, and more, and the possibilities for your character's growth and development are nearly limitless.
  • Doomsayer’s Codex Primer: Guide to Athyr – The known world is a tapestry woven of many colors, each region a unique and wondrous realm to behold. But fear not, dear traveler, for this Primer shall guide you on a journey through the vibrant realms of Ethennia and Ishta, their wonders and perils laid bare for your discovery.
  • Doomsayer’s Codex Primer: The Twelve Pillars of Doom – Twelve cults, each steeped in the foul worship of one of the Heralds of Doom, loom like a shadow over the world. Their twisted rites and depraved practices are whispered of in hushed tones by those few who are aware of their existence. And now, in this tome of dark secrets, we unveil the mysteries of both the Yiukashin, who pray to the fragmented monstrosity Dhaos, and the Sheddai, who craft Simulacra to find out where the Great Subjugator known as Lanesh, is being held prisoner by the gods.
  • Blood and Doom Soundtrack Sampler, several songs from the exhilarating score composed by none other than Knut Avenstroup Haugen (Dune: Awakening, Conan Exiles). Get a taste of the full soundtrack that can be unlocked during our crowdfunding campaign.
  • A Highly Detailed Map of Athyr that includes all seven regions in all their full-color glory.

This is version 1.0 of the bundle. During the next few weeks, we will also make available newly-edited versions of all Primers, 4 fully-detailed Pregenerated Characters and two entire adventures. Discover what is going on in the action-packed mystery investigation Faces of Evil, which is set in an Ethennian trade town, and hunt for ancient treasures in the hex crawl of The Seven Jewels of Azul-Ra, set in the jungles of Ishta! By downloading the current bundle, you’ll make sure that we will notify you as soon as this amazing new content becomes available.

Dicetale Games have partnered with Modiphius Entertainment's VIA Modiphius imprint to bring this thrilling Dark Fantasy Sword & Sorcery RPG to the tabletop. Blood and Doom uses a d10 dice pool system.

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Reviews (9)
Discussions (15)
Customer avatar
Todd S August 16, 2023 4:10 pm UTC
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Somehow I missed the KS for this. I can't find any link to a late pledge manager, though I've found references to it. Have I missed that as well?
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Ferruccio A September 25, 2023 10:35 am UTC
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You haven't missed it. If you subscribe to our newsletter (found on our website) this is the best way to stay up to date. We're doing late pledges later this year!
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Matthäus C July 01, 2023 3:46 pm UTC
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Any news on when the adventures and pregens will be added? It's been a few weeks already. (Or did I miss a KS update?)
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Ferruccio A July 14, 2023 1:53 am UTC
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Faces of Evil is already available here in Drivethru for free, including the latest pregens. They won't be added to the Primer Bundle itself. As for the Seven Jewels of Azul-Ra, see my reply to Gil S below. Hope that helps!
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Gil S June 28, 2023 2:50 pm UTC
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I’m really impatient to test this new game system with my group ! The rules sound very dynamic and action-oriented.
I really like the way the book is written, giving plenty of advices to the GM on how to make everything more cinematic.
The rules are a real pleasure to read ! So many possibilities. And the setting is very evocative, I do hope you publish more ready scenarios and we get to learn more about the Heralds’ plans !
Really looking forward to the full version :)


By the way, where can I find the « Seven Jewels » scenario ? It’s mentioned in the product description but can’t find any link to it. :(
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Ferruccio A July 14, 2023 1:50 am UTC
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Thanks! The Seven Jewels has been delayed somewhat because we're making a few updates to the rules. The Primer will get an update, and the Seven Jewels will be released along with that.
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Chris D April 10, 2023 3:15 am UTC
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Ninja? Really? NINJA?
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Ferruccio A April 12, 2023 12:06 am UTC
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You don't like ninjas?
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Chris D April 12, 2023 3:32 am UTC
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I neither like nor dislike them. I just don't understand why you chose such a loaded, over-used, culturally specific term. I think 'shadow' would have worked just as well, comparing nicely with 'viper'.
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Ferruccio A April 12, 2023 4:49 am UTC
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I see. Fair comment! We're actually talking about this with some other community members on our Discord and 'Shadowblade' came up. I think 'Ninja' does sum up really well what the Archetype embodies, but we're open to feedback and the final game is still being fully formed. We listen to everyone's feedback. Feel free to join in if you want to contribute! I don't think I can post a link here but you can find our Discord on the Dicetale Games website.
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Krisztián R April 30, 2023 7:56 pm UTC
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To be fair, Druid (who where the wise man/priest of the Celts) and Barbarian (which just meant someone who doesn't speak Greek or was not from Greece) is also culturally specific term, just as they have European roots it found its way into our RPG vocabulary early.
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Gil S June 28, 2023 2:46 pm UTC
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Well I don’t know. I can picture a Mongol or Tuareg « Barbarian » and a Maya or Tunguz « Druid », but I have a much harder time imagining a Portuguese or Ethiopian « Ninja ».

By the way @Argento, I found a glaring linguistic inconsistency in the background, you have two emperors of Roshan bearing obvious Chinese names (Zhang, Xiao-Hin), whereas everything else in the archipelago has names that have a clear Japanese or Korean inspiration. I mean they’re completely different languages so it really strikes as odd.
Either go for Chinese or for Japano/Korean, but you can’t mix them up linguistically.

And by the way i find that the core rulebook contains too many Japanese elements, like, half the weapons are named katana or what else, whereas Japan is just one relatively small country in Asia.
Also, talking about sources of inspiration, Athyr has one « Europe », one « Middle-East », one « Japan », and then Ishta, that piles MesoAmerica Central Africa...See more
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Ferruccio A July 14, 2023 1:40 am UTC
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This is what I found too, and agree. Still, nobody mentions those but I've had several comments on the term Ninja. I think Shadowblade would make a fine alternative. In addition, we'll add more info in the final game for each Archetype on how they might be known per region/culture in the setting, and how they are perceived, etc. I think that can even make the Archetypes more integrated into the lore.
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Ferruccio A July 14, 2023 1:48 am UTC
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Where did you find two emperors? As far as I know there's only one: Zheng. I'm actually trying to mix up as much as I can, as they're not directly related to any particular real-world culture, but each region takes inspiration from many different ones.

More weapons will get names based in the fictional setting of Athyr as opposed to real-world names. There's quite some now that are neither European or Japanese by the way. Will be happy to add some more variety in the final game!
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Justin W April 01, 2023 3:06 pm UTC
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Well this is just superb. A fantastic system that is full of evocative art and packed with adventurous fun. Pretty much ticks every box for systems I like. D10 dice pool. Player facing. Abstract ranges. Simple but deep rules. Clearly every decision has been made to enhance the experience between players and gm (Doomsayer). And the world is one of my favourite fantasy creations. It’s just dripping with quests, plots, unsavoury characters, and wow- those cults are insane. I am running a game next week in Ishta, and just can’t wait.
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Dirk V April 29, 2023 9:02 am UTC
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Hi Justin, did you end up running that game in Ishta? How did it go? We're in our last two days of the Kickstarter campaign and we were able to unlock yet another stretch goal thanks to our amazing backers, so if you haven't checked out the full products we have in store for you yet (including The Seven Jewels of Azul-Ra, which is set in Ishta), please do! ;-)
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March 27, 2023 4:00 am UTC
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Anyone know what the max stat a person can have in an ability is? Str/Dex/etc? It would appear to be 5, at least at character gen. Will that increase with higher levels? Can you raise a 4 to a 5 with experience, or a 5 to a 6 or higher?

That asked, this is a really good system from what I'm seeing so far. One of the things I'm wondering though is just how absolute that 3 year timetable is. It would make for some great campaign books. Sort of like Wrath of the Righteous from Pathfinder. One group could do the campaign, another do a parallel run with a whole different set of circumstances, and yet another group could do an aftermath(or two) campaign.

Anyway, good stuff. Looking forward to the Kick!
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Ferruccio A March 27, 2023 11:08 am UTC
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Hi! The max Ability Score is 5 (though it can be temporarily higher through use of some Traits, Powers, Magic, etc). Abilities don't increase when you reach higher levels. Instead you can choose a certain number of Skills to increase in Rank at Level 4, 7 and 10.

Very glad you like the system so far! The 3-year timetable is very loose. It's a time of ill omen due to the 100th completed orbital alignment of Athyr's two suns, Aureya and Issira, ever since the Heralds of Doom appeared in this universe. 3768 being exactly 4800 after that calamitous event. I would say 24 years before and after 3768 are just as likely to see events happening as described in Twelve Pillars of Doom, but 3768 can of course be made of special significance. One of the KS Stretch Goals will be a map of the Athyrian Solar System, giving a bit more insight into all celestial alignments.
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March 27, 2023 9:24 pm UTC
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Interesting, I wonder what sort of creepy crawlies are on the other planets.

Start that Kickstarter and hold still so I can throw money at you!

As an aside, good to see some hard limits on attributes and even skills. Its a bit easier to work with something when you have a few solid boundary lines. Always hated seeing someone in 3.0 twink a stat and have to tailor my game to keep them occupied while downplaying for the rest of the group. This should even things a bit.
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Dorien L April 29, 2023 8:28 am UTC
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They've entered their second to last day of the Kickstarter and just unlocked a huge stretch goal, I also backed in the nick of time. Really want to get that next adventure.
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Bernhard T March 25, 2023 10:42 pm UTC
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As a fan of Fritz Leiber, Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard with more than 32 years under my belt when it comes to Sword & Sorcery, I have to say these RPG creators outdid themselves. A masterful blend of the finest Sword & Sworcery meets mechanics and elegance that the Old WOD gave us so many years ago with VTM, Mage and WWTA - but for Barbarians and bloody Ritual. As someone that is directly between the "Gamist" and "Storytelling" Crowd in my GM approach, this game is a godsend in the flowing elegance yet brutal execution of its systems. So bei Nanuman's bearded balls and Crom's icy throne, ye curs: I'll bet me silver on this Kickstarter of yours rather than on Derketo's supple teats! Aye, t'is my Gold ye shall have - and it's Ylbarsi steel for all other Barbarian RPGs at this point! To the guts!
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Dirk V March 26, 2023 11:54 pm UTC
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Thank you so much, Bernhard! I'm one of the head writers for Dicetale Games - but all credit to Ferruccio, who came up with this amazing setting AND the rules system - and you just named some of my greatest inspirations. If you detect some Jack Vance, Neil Gaiman, and Michael Moorcock influences there, you'd probably be right. It's never a conscious thing, of course, but it must be in there somewhere. Maybe some Roger Zelazny, too. ;-) I also know Robert E. Howard and Lovecraft are some of Ferruccio's main influences, so I think you're spot on!
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Dirk V April 29, 2023 9:05 am UTC
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Hi Justin, did you end up running that game in Ishta? How did it go? We're in our last two days of the Kickstarter campaign and we were able to unlock yet another stretch goal thanks to our amazing backers, so if you haven't checked out the full products we have in store for you yet (including The Seven Jewels of Azul-Ra, which is set in Ishta), please do! ;-)
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mark G March 25, 2023 9:51 pm UTC
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one of the best dark fantasy RPG's iv seen
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Lovely P March 25, 2023 6:50 pm UTC
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such a fascinating game, i also really like the character sheets!
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Marian M March 25, 2023 7:24 am UTC
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nice books inviting to read and play
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Dorien L April 29, 2023 8:29 am UTC
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They've entered their second to last day of the Kickstarter and just unlocked a huge stretch goal, I also backed in the nick of time. Really want to get that next adventure.
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Kenny M March 24, 2023 7:35 pm UTC
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I really like what they have shown so far. The setting is amazing! The one big thing I don't like is the range band system. I would really prefer they at least offer optional rules using actual distances for ranges instead of the 'range bands' shown in this primer.
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Ferruccio A March 25, 2023 4:58 pm UTC
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Thanks Kenny! If you are looking for actual distances and ranges, there is a small table in the Core Rulebook on p.235 that offers these (Gridded Map & Miniatures section). Hope that's what you're looking for! If not let me know and I may be able to add something to an update in the future.
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Kenny M March 26, 2023 12:41 am UTC
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Thank you! I found that last night and was coming to correct my post. Those optional ranges for battle maps is what I was looking for. Thanks!

Gnut Avenstroup is doing the sound track. That is just amazing. I already use his Age of Conan soundtrack for my Conan games. He is amazing.
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Lina D March 24, 2023 5:44 pm UTC
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Wonderful role-playing game. I love these kind of games, but this is truly one of the best!
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Caitlin E March 23, 2023 2:31 pm UTC
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Ooh , Nice. It looks so amazing. I will share it with my Larp friends. Looking forward to play it in a large group.
Caitlin E
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Dorien L March 23, 2023 12:55 am UTC
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Honestly, this is exactly what I was looking for! I haven't had time to read through the entire books yet, but I think I'll just stay up late and write a full review tomorrow. I absolutely respect the whole OSR movement, but system-wise the bring nothing new to the table and I don't like exploding Hit Points and static character advancement. This game seems to have just the right amount of crunch, although I'm certainly not against crunchier games either, and I never knew I would find myself liking a player-facing system this much. The game mechanics are easy to understand and the setting is just amazing. I love the idea of a full cult book, and I don't think I ever saw anything like this done this well. I mean, there's the WoD organizations, of course, and others, but this is just very evocatively written and so easy to drop into a game. I may actually want to use these for some of my other fantasy games as well.
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Matt K March 22, 2023 1:21 pm UTC
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For those wondering about the system and can't be bothered to look at the preview, here's the quick rundown.

It's not 2d20. It's a d10 dice pool system where each 8 and 9 is a success and a 10 counts as 2 successes. The difficulty (target number) ranges between 1-5 required successes (2 is default). There are 15 abilities (attributes) organised 5 each amongst the categories of Body, Mind, and Soul. And then there's a big list of skills. The number of dice in your pool is calculated as your Ability rank plus your Skill rank plus modifiers. So at it's heart it's pretty much a clone of the WoD system, though that double-success 10 result should help keep dice pool sizes down somewhat (the game recommends 12d10).

One d10 is a different colour and is called the setback die; this is always rolled as the first d10 on your pool and when it shows a 1, 2, or 3 AND the test fails, there is a setback (no, and). Otherwise the setback die functions like the other d10s at all times.

There...See more
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Matt K March 22, 2023 2:33 pm UTC
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Just to add, there are 11 combat skills and 33 adventuring skills. All the combat skills are shown on the sheet, but there is only space for 8 adventuring skills (4 of which are pre-populated by your class).
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Jeff R March 22, 2023 3:22 pm UTC
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Thanks Matt I got it but have yet to read it work work work
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Patrick S March 22, 2023 4:09 pm UTC
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Thank you, very much.
I shut down when i read "15 Attributes", "recommended dicepools of 12" and additionally "a full set of polyhedral dice".
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Matt K March 22, 2023 4:43 pm UTC
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I should have clarified in my earlier posts that I like a lot of what I see here; a WOD-inspired S&S game that uses pools of d10s is right up my alley, as I'm sure it will be for other people, too. From a deeper skim, it looks like it has a bit of crunch, but not overwhelmingly so.
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Ferruccio A March 22, 2023 5:14 pm UTC
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Just a few clarifications to comments I see popping up:

- It's actually a maximum cap of 12d10, specifically to avoid having to ever roll more than that.
- On average you'll roll between 4-8 d10 (per Action)
- The 15 Abilities are 5 each in a category of Body, Mind and Soul, but they include also reactive abilities (like you sometimes see as 'saves' in other games)
- 5 out of the 15 Abilities are what you usually see as 'Charisma' but now offering some more layers to carve out a personality (Heart, Courage, Willpower, etc).
- Polyhedrals you don't really need all of them, but d4 up to d12 (just one of each) to roll damage.

Hope that can give you the 'Courage' (see what I did there) :) to still give it a read!
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Ed S March 22, 2023 5:50 pm UTC
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so basically it uses the current iteration of Free League's Year Zero Engine.
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Matt K March 22, 2023 5:58 pm UTC
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@Ferruccio A - thanks for the clarifications!
@Ed S - not really, all that's shared is a dice pool which counts successes. World of Darkness, Shadowrun, and Burning Wheel (among others) did this long before the Year Zero Engine was created.
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Dirk V March 23, 2023 12:44 am UTC
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I would actually say it's very different. For one, Blood and Doom uses ten-sided dice. It doesn't use Gear Dice, but it does have a Setback Die. It's also player-facing and Year Zero Engine isn't - it's 'player-centric'. There's about just as many dicepool systems out there as systems that use only one or two dice, so I guess you could compare any dicepool system with any other, and any single-die system with any similar system as well, and still end up comparing your game with a couple of hundred other TTRPGs. Oftentimes it's the specifics that make a roleplaying game unique. In this case, it's the d10 dicepool coupled with the Setback Die, the Doom Points, the Blood Points, a player-facing system, etc. ;-)
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Dorien L March 23, 2023 12:58 am UTC
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I think they might add more room for Skills once the final version is out. It just seems most characters start with 8 skills. Would love to hear from the designer about this. The skills are pretty broad at this point, but there does seem to be enough of a choice. I like the 15 attributes - they're neatly subdivided in 3 categories and they give character so much more flavor. Also they're very much in keeping with the game's philosophy and they absolutely do not overcomplicate gameplay.
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Dorien L March 23, 2023 1:03 am UTC
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I believe it's a MAXIMUM of 12 dice. No use having a dicepool system with a max of 3 or 4 dice, imo. It allows for more breadth. Same thing with the attributes: very flavorful and it allows for more diverse and unique characters. Most dicepool systems I can think of use a max of at least 10 dice, so nothing outrageous here.
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Ferruccio A March 23, 2023 9:51 am UTC
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I would love to clarify, but not 100% sure what you mean with 'more room for Skills.' Let me know and I'll get back to you. And glad you're liking the game and setting so far! Thank you for the kind words.
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Dorien L March 23, 2023 10:52 am UTC
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Sure! Well it seems there is only room for 8 skills on the character sheet, but I'm assuming characters can pick up more skills at later levels? I guess that because all of the combat skills are on the sheet there seems to be too much emphasis on combat to some, but it seems clear to me that adventurers can also pick up any adventuring skill, which I vastly prefer to certain skills being limited to certain classes.
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Dorien L March 23, 2023 11:21 am UTC
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As far as the character sheet is concerned: I like it, but I think there could be as much room for the adventuring skills to the right as combat skills to the left. Many of us buy these games for their settings and your is amazing, but I certainly don't want to build my campaigns around combat and having a lot less room for non-combat skills might give people the wrong impression as you've created a very extensive and supremely interesting setting. One of the best ones I've seen in a while, actually. Maybe the only criticism I would level is that there seems to be an aversion towards alphabetization. Alphabetization does make referencing stuff a lot easier, whether it's a short list or a long one. Other than that all of the books are very well structured, so you're still getting my 5 stars.
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Ferruccio A March 23, 2023 1:00 pm UTC
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Thanks! This is great constructive feedback. It's a v1.0 of the Primers and for the final game we intend to take all community input into account (as far as possible) and implement that. To touch on the Skills a bit: two more 'open' slots to gain new Skills are planned, but did not make it into the Primers. For now it's a matter of choosing 4 Skills freely (for a total of 8) and deciding which one of those you want to develop more than others, etc.

Keep in mind the Adventuring Skills as they are are very broad, and each cover (as per the intended creative use of them by the players) more than maybe 3 / 4 more specific Skills as you find in other games. The intention is that players will find creative ways to tell the Doomsayer 'hey, I've got this Skill and I think I have some benefit in this situation because of (x) or (y).' This will lead to story-telling more than just a very defined 'roll this Skill now'.

The Combat Skills on the other hand are very specific to one type of weapon...See more
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MUH140V001
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File Last Updated:
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This title was added to our catalog on March 21, 2023.