Swedish company The Free League have been making a lot of waves since they started publishing their games in English. Mutant: Year Zero, Coriolis – The Third Horizon and, of course, Tales from the Loop all come from their design studio. So the news that they have a new game on the way, launching on Kickstarter on Thursday 21st September, is sure to excite many. The fact that the game is also going to be a classic fantasy setting, not to mention a boxed set, got us straight in contact with them to find out more. So, come and explore the Forbidden Lands with us…
Forbidden Lands is a classic fantasy RPG with a modern twist. Set in a remote valley, isolated from the civilized world by an iron wall. Once the domain of a mighty sorcerer, now a lawless land where demons and dark creatures roam the countryside, while common folk barricade themselves in their small villages. The players are adventurers and rogues, bent on making a mark on the land. They will discover lost tombs, fight terrible monsters, wander the wild lands and build their own stronghold. They are not heroes, but raiders and rogues.
The land is isolated, by mountains to the north and west, the sea to the east and the iron wall o the south. Once the domain of elves and dwarves, the sorcerer Zygofer invaded from the south and waged a bloody war against the people living here. Wondrous ruins still remain from before the war. Zygofer eventually turned on his former masters and the iron wall was closed, leaving Zygofer the dark ruler of the land. Along with his daughter, Therania, they used their dark arts to summon weird creatures from other worlds. Demons that now roam the land. After a series of bloody wars, the strange Blood Mist settled over the land and three centuries of quiet and relative peace followed. Recently the Blood Mist has lifted, and now the Forbidden Lands are at your feet.
The game is a dark and dangerous low-fantasy affair. The stakes are high and there is no real good or evil within the Forbidden Lands. Everyone has their own agenda and the PCs are adventurers, scoundrels and rogues looking to survive and thrive in a harsh world. The world us filled with violence, traps and deadly threats… but the characters will matter, and their actions will (quite literally) change the face of the Forbidden Lands forever.
The centrepiece of the game is the Forbidden Lands map – which is double sided, for reasons mentioned below. The map is a clear canvass waiting for your group to explore… with important events (such as character deaths, catastrophes, magic, etc) changing the map as stickers are used to place Adventure Sites and other important discoveries on the map. Thus making every map unique. Players track their journeys and adventures in a chronicle sheet, and chronicling adventures is formalised in the rules. Being a double sided map allows two full campaigns to be played.
There are optional rules enabling characters to build, and develop, their own Strongholds. Indeed there is a mini game for base development and resource management that can also be fun to work on between sessions. Rules for integrating the strongholds into your campaign are also included.
The rules for Forbidden Lands are built upon the award winning Year Zero engine, which features in The Free Leagues other recent games. Combat is fast, furious and dangerous, characters attributes will degrade if they don’t strike camp and find food, and magic is wild and dangerous. A small set of traits and skills make character generation quick whilst a comprehensive set of talents provide mechanical depth and development opportunities.
Scenario locations can be placed anywhere on the map and are based on three main categories – Village Stronghold and Dungeon. Every site contain events, people, creatures, treasure and lore and many are classical themes with twists. The adventures, as with much of the lands itself, take much more of a sandbox approach to things.
Every adventure site will contain a Legend, which gets handed out to the players upon discovery. Legends come in thematic handouts and tell stories about adventure sites, important characters, history, creatures, monsters and artifacts, enabling the players to collect them and piece together the lore of the world one step at a time.
Artwise, the Forbidden Lands box sports a cover by Simon Stalenhag (Tales From The Loop) whilst the interior art is black and white, for the retro fantasy feel, by acclaimed Swedish illustrator Nils Gulliksson and others.
Due to be released at the same time as the game is the main campaign. The campaign is flexible and modular, allowing it to be played in any order. Players will face hard decisions and the events of this gritty, yet epic, campaign will change the Forbidden Lands setting forever.
Much of the boxed sets contents will be decided over the course of the Kickstarter. It will definitely be a boxed set, and definitely contain the double sided map, but time will tell what else will fill it. Cards for artifacts, weapons, equipment and horses, custom dice and stickers for customizing the map are all expected to be included though.
There are several expansions also planned, exploring the lands (and oceans) that surround the Forbidden Lands. The Frozen Wastes (North), The Wild Sea (East), The Ashen Vale(West) and The City of Pillars (South) hopefully await for future exploration.
The Forbidden Lands Kickstarter goes live on Thursday 21st September. So get ready to hexcrawl the world the way you want and to decide on the fate of the Forbidden Land.
Forbidden Lands is a classic fantasy RPG with a modern twist. Set in a remote valley, isolated from the civilized world by an iron wall. Once the domain of a mighty sorcerer, now a lawless land where demons and dark creatures roam the countryside, while common folk barricade themselves in their small villages. The players are adventurers and rogues, bent on making a mark on the land. They will discover lost tombs, fight terrible monsters, wander the wild lands and build their own stronghold. They are not heroes, but raiders and rogues.
The land is isolated, by mountains to the north and west, the sea to the east and the iron wall o the south. Once the domain of elves and dwarves, the sorcerer Zygofer invaded from the south and waged a bloody war against the people living here. Wondrous ruins still remain from before the war. Zygofer eventually turned on his former masters and the iron wall was closed, leaving Zygofer the dark ruler of the land. Along with his daughter, Therania, they used their dark arts to summon weird creatures from other worlds. Demons that now roam the land. After a series of bloody wars, the strange Blood Mist settled over the land and three centuries of quiet and relative peace followed. Recently the Blood Mist has lifted, and now the Forbidden Lands are at your feet.
The game is a dark and dangerous low-fantasy affair. The stakes are high and there is no real good or evil within the Forbidden Lands. Everyone has their own agenda and the PCs are adventurers, scoundrels and rogues looking to survive and thrive in a harsh world. The world us filled with violence, traps and deadly threats… but the characters will matter, and their actions will (quite literally) change the face of the Forbidden Lands forever.
The centrepiece of the game is the Forbidden Lands map – which is double sided, for reasons mentioned below. The map is a clear canvass waiting for your group to explore… with important events (such as character deaths, catastrophes, magic, etc) changing the map as stickers are used to place Adventure Sites and other important discoveries on the map. Thus making every map unique. Players track their journeys and adventures in a chronicle sheet, and chronicling adventures is formalised in the rules. Being a double sided map allows two full campaigns to be played.
There are optional rules enabling characters to build, and develop, their own Strongholds. Indeed there is a mini game for base development and resource management that can also be fun to work on between sessions. Rules for integrating the strongholds into your campaign are also included.
The rules for Forbidden Lands are built upon the award winning Year Zero engine, which features in The Free Leagues other recent games. Combat is fast, furious and dangerous, characters attributes will degrade if they don’t strike camp and find food, and magic is wild and dangerous. A small set of traits and skills make character generation quick whilst a comprehensive set of talents provide mechanical depth and development opportunities.
Scenario locations can be placed anywhere on the map and are based on three main categories – Village Stronghold and Dungeon. Every site contain events, people, creatures, treasure and lore and many are classical themes with twists. The adventures, as with much of the lands itself, take much more of a sandbox approach to things.
Every adventure site will contain a Legend, which gets handed out to the players upon discovery. Legends come in thematic handouts and tell stories about adventure sites, important characters, history, creatures, monsters and artifacts, enabling the players to collect them and piece together the lore of the world one step at a time.
Artwise, the Forbidden Lands box sports a cover by Simon Stalenhag (Tales From The Loop) whilst the interior art is black and white, for the retro fantasy feel, by acclaimed Swedish illustrator Nils Gulliksson and others.
Due to be released at the same time as the game is the main campaign. The campaign is flexible and modular, allowing it to be played in any order. Players will face hard decisions and the events of this gritty, yet epic, campaign will change the Forbidden Lands setting forever.
Much of the boxed sets contents will be decided over the course of the Kickstarter. It will definitely be a boxed set, and definitely contain the double sided map, but time will tell what else will fill it. Cards for artifacts, weapons, equipment and horses, custom dice and stickers for customizing the map are all expected to be included though.
There are several expansions also planned, exploring the lands (and oceans) that surround the Forbidden Lands. The Frozen Wastes (North), The Wild Sea (East), The Ashen Vale(West) and The City of Pillars (South) hopefully await for future exploration.
The Forbidden Lands Kickstarter goes live on Thursday 21st September. So get ready to hexcrawl the world the way you want and to decide on the fate of the Forbidden Land.
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