You're probably not an adventurer by choice: In Torchbearer, respectable people till the earth, belong to guilds, or are born into the nobility. But there are too many mouths to feed on the farm; the guilds aren't accepting apprentices, and you're too old anyway; and even if you were born into privilege, your older siblings have soaked up your inheritance. So, to earn your fortune, you must explore forlorn ruins, brave terrible monsters, and retrieve forgotten treasures.
Torchbearer makes the logistical and physical challenges of dungeon-crawling interesting and fun. You must carefully husband resources like gear, tools, light sources, food, and water. The inventory system makes these easy to track, but the decisions around who should carry what, what you absolutely must bring with you, and what can be left behind are fraught. The bookkeeping is easy. The decisions are hard.
One of your most precious resources is time. As you delve into haunted ruins and other desolate places, you grow hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and so on. These are the elements of the character's "damage" track. Neglect your character's needs for too long, and they eventually sicken and die. Planning and teamwork can help, but inevitably you'll need to return to town to rest, recuperate, and restock essential supplies. Better hope you score some loot first.
In these trials and tribulations, you learn who your character really is. Your character has a belief, a goal, and an instinct, all challenged at every turn. Facing, overcoming, or turning away from these challenges earns rewards. Your traits help and hinder you. Your fellow players can assign your character new traits or upgrade existing ones based on how they perceive the character.
Torchbearer is a technical game that rewards mastery. You don't start this game as a hero, but with perseverance and dedication you may become one. Or you might choose to become a hardcase who's only in it for the treasure. You'll discover through play.
The Dungeoneer's Handbook focuses on character creation, abilities, nature, wises, traits, skills, inventory, magic, advancement, and level benefits. This volume also contains reference lists of gear, skills (and the factors GMs use to set obstacles), traits, spells, and invocations.
The Scholar's Guide contains the procedural elements of the game: how to start a session, skill test difficulties, applying and alleviating conditions, participating in conflicts, spending rewards to affect rolls, player and GM procedures for the camp and town phases, designing adventures, creating loot and monsters, GM advice, and the "Dread Crypt of Skogenby" adventure.
Learn more at the April 2020 Kickstarter campaign page. Torchbearer blog.
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