Levi Kornelsen
First Post
Hoard is a roleplaying game for 3-6 players (including the Guide). In it, players take on the role of dragons, ranging from hatchlings to 'Sovereigns' in age and power. It is available now, for free, on the Amagi Games website.
The setting of Hoard places the dragons on The Reach, an island chain which they fled to under pressure of powerful hunters, and which the dragons now rule absolutely. Their retreat has been successful enough that their poulation has grown enourmously, and they are now expanding swiftly back into human-held territories along the islands and coast of the world.
In the meantime, humanity, dependant on mystical items crafted from the remains of dead dragons, turns to infernal magic and raises the prices on dragon hunters, placing the world itself in danger and renewing their opposition to dragonkind.
STYLE OF GAME
Hoard is built to create dramatic action, rather than to faithfully simulate the physics of the world. Groups looking for sessions featuring quick, constant back-and-forth description of interesting action will find quite a few things things to like in this game. In addition, the game has a strongly featured 'coin' mechanism which creates kinetic, active rewards for playing 'to your traits' within the system (and, additionally, allowing easy modifications using several of the different gambits found on the site, if desired). It is generally assumed by the game that a certain amount of customisation will be natural for the group - that the group will 'make it their own' through play. Naturally, the reverse of these things applies; if you're looking for strict physics, mislike rewarding play so overtly, or prefer to look at your games as "finished", and something to play strictly to the rules, this is likely not the game for you.
A SNAPSHOT
As with all the other games on Amagi, Hoard is a 'snapshot'. It, like all games on the site, remains in a state of constant development. Hoard has been playtested repeatedly, producing a lot of great play, but it is (and will remain, even as it is updated) perpetually the subject of more work and development.
INFLUENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Hoard is strongly rooted in ideas found across a number of different games. Rather than smoothing away these influences invisibly, the influences have been made as plain as possible, so that groups wanting to "tap into" that wealth of other material know where to look. Influences include: Wushu (Dan Bayn), Spirit of the Century (Rob Donoghue, Fred Hicks, Leonard Balsera), Polaris (Ben Lehman), …In Spaaace! (Greg Stolze), Dogs In The Vineyard (Vincent Baker), The Shadow of Yesterday (Clinton R. Nixon), and the musings of Cheetoism (Kyle Aaron). Groups looking to refine this game or find further ideas to adopt for their use are encouraged to look at these sources.
RIGHTS AND ART
While the text of Hoard is Public Domain, the (utterly gorgeous) art is copyright Laura Hamilton, 2007-2008. Permission is given by her to make use of this art for non-commercial purposes.
THE SHORT FORM
It's free. It's as open as it gets. It's about dragons. It's there. Why are you still reading this?
The setting of Hoard places the dragons on The Reach, an island chain which they fled to under pressure of powerful hunters, and which the dragons now rule absolutely. Their retreat has been successful enough that their poulation has grown enourmously, and they are now expanding swiftly back into human-held territories along the islands and coast of the world.
In the meantime, humanity, dependant on mystical items crafted from the remains of dead dragons, turns to infernal magic and raises the prices on dragon hunters, placing the world itself in danger and renewing their opposition to dragonkind.
STYLE OF GAME
Hoard is built to create dramatic action, rather than to faithfully simulate the physics of the world. Groups looking for sessions featuring quick, constant back-and-forth description of interesting action will find quite a few things things to like in this game. In addition, the game has a strongly featured 'coin' mechanism which creates kinetic, active rewards for playing 'to your traits' within the system (and, additionally, allowing easy modifications using several of the different gambits found on the site, if desired). It is generally assumed by the game that a certain amount of customisation will be natural for the group - that the group will 'make it their own' through play. Naturally, the reverse of these things applies; if you're looking for strict physics, mislike rewarding play so overtly, or prefer to look at your games as "finished", and something to play strictly to the rules, this is likely not the game for you.
A SNAPSHOT
As with all the other games on Amagi, Hoard is a 'snapshot'. It, like all games on the site, remains in a state of constant development. Hoard has been playtested repeatedly, producing a lot of great play, but it is (and will remain, even as it is updated) perpetually the subject of more work and development.
INFLUENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Hoard is strongly rooted in ideas found across a number of different games. Rather than smoothing away these influences invisibly, the influences have been made as plain as possible, so that groups wanting to "tap into" that wealth of other material know where to look. Influences include: Wushu (Dan Bayn), Spirit of the Century (Rob Donoghue, Fred Hicks, Leonard Balsera), Polaris (Ben Lehman), …In Spaaace! (Greg Stolze), Dogs In The Vineyard (Vincent Baker), The Shadow of Yesterday (Clinton R. Nixon), and the musings of Cheetoism (Kyle Aaron). Groups looking to refine this game or find further ideas to adopt for their use are encouraged to look at these sources.
RIGHTS AND ART
While the text of Hoard is Public Domain, the (utterly gorgeous) art is copyright Laura Hamilton, 2007-2008. Permission is given by her to make use of this art for non-commercial purposes.
THE SHORT FORM
It's free. It's as open as it gets. It's about dragons. It's there. Why are you still reading this?
