LedgerofEnds
First Post
I’ve been working on a rules-light, card-based fantastic RPG called Blessings of the Dark Gods. It’s set in a world where progress and (pre)industry stalled overnight - when people discovered a quicker, if more diabolic, way to get things done.
The game is built around desperate deals, drawn fate, and darkly divine interference. Dice are replaced with cards. Gods don’t demand worship - just agreement. And every favour has a price.
It's launching on kickstarter next week - Tuesday, 23rd September. Here’s the pre-launch page for anyone who might want to follow it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ledgerofends/blessings-of-the-dark-gods
We've been having a lot of fun with it.
Mechanically, it’s narrative-focused and consequence-driven:
Players use personal decks of cards to resolve actions. These are discarded as they're used, and represent both a character's personal pool of luck, and energy. Once they're out, you're out. Not literally. That would be mean. But you can't take any more tests until you've recuperated.
When luck runs dry - and it often will - characters can make an appeal to one of the five Dark Gods watching over the game session.
The gods always respond. Sometimes helpfully. Always memorably.
Characters who make appeals to a Dark God can draw a card from that God's deck, and use it to resolve the action. The decks of Dark Gods are smaller, skewed towards particular outcomes, and never run out.
Once the test is resolved, it is time to pay. You'll draw against the Dark God. One card each. If you win, you get lucky, and nothing ill-toward happens - this time. If you lose, you receive a Blessing. A new trait - an item, an ability, a quest, a physical mutation - the options are endless, and different Dark Gods favour different Blessings.
The Dark Gods include:
–, the Ledger of Ends, is the god of death, bureaucracy, and finality. His deck contains only 10s. His blessings are all forms of death - filed in triplicate. You'd need to be pretty desperate in deed. But don't worry. You will be.
Mirelle, the Mother of Thorns, is the god of nature’s cruel wisdom - witchcraft, midwifery, folklore, and the slow, heartless procession of seasons. Her deck spans 5 to 8, and her blessings bring beautiful, bountiful gifts. The kind you can't return.
V, the Coin That Laughs, is the god of deals, chaos, and transactional mischief. Her deck contains 3s and 9s. Her blessings twist luck and bend rules.
See, characters are defined solely by their traits. There are no stats or numbers. You have a list of 'noteworthy' details that you exploit for bonuses on tests - or suffer as penalties if the GM remembers they're there. They might include a species type, a comment about appearance, an old injury, a piece of gear, a legend (true or otherwise), a belief or opinion, an interest or hobby, or anything else. If its worth noting, note it. And 'everything works as you would expect'.
The full game is written and playable. The Kickstarter is raising funds for art, layout polish, and possibly printing. If you enjoy games that lean into absurdity, satire, and strange-but-sensible mechanics, you might enjoy this.
And for those who want a little tease about the World:
This world is old. Not in the poetic sense, but in the way a cellar is old - damp, uneven, and full of things best left undisturbed. Towns thrive unnaturally or else they crumble quietly. Trade routes shift. Ruins whisper. Names carry weight.
Folklore has returned - not as belief, but as currency. Taverns host cults of two. The stones ring at midnight. The river is emotionally compromised. And somewhere, someone climbs the Shale Steps at night - where none have returned.
Happy to answer questions, share more details, or talk shop about rules-light design. Thanks for reading - and may your contracts be short and your gods inattentive.
The game is built around desperate deals, drawn fate, and darkly divine interference. Dice are replaced with cards. Gods don’t demand worship - just agreement. And every favour has a price.
It's launching on kickstarter next week - Tuesday, 23rd September. Here’s the pre-launch page for anyone who might want to follow it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ledgerofends/blessings-of-the-dark-gods
We've been having a lot of fun with it.
Mechanically, it’s narrative-focused and consequence-driven:
Players use personal decks of cards to resolve actions. These are discarded as they're used, and represent both a character's personal pool of luck, and energy. Once they're out, you're out. Not literally. That would be mean. But you can't take any more tests until you've recuperated.
When luck runs dry - and it often will - characters can make an appeal to one of the five Dark Gods watching over the game session.
The gods always respond. Sometimes helpfully. Always memorably.
Characters who make appeals to a Dark God can draw a card from that God's deck, and use it to resolve the action. The decks of Dark Gods are smaller, skewed towards particular outcomes, and never run out.
Once the test is resolved, it is time to pay. You'll draw against the Dark God. One card each. If you win, you get lucky, and nothing ill-toward happens - this time. If you lose, you receive a Blessing. A new trait - an item, an ability, a quest, a physical mutation - the options are endless, and different Dark Gods favour different Blessings.
The Dark Gods include:
–, the Ledger of Ends, is the god of death, bureaucracy, and finality. His deck contains only 10s. His blessings are all forms of death - filed in triplicate. You'd need to be pretty desperate in deed. But don't worry. You will be.
Mirelle, the Mother of Thorns, is the god of nature’s cruel wisdom - witchcraft, midwifery, folklore, and the slow, heartless procession of seasons. Her deck spans 5 to 8, and her blessings bring beautiful, bountiful gifts. The kind you can't return.
V, the Coin That Laughs, is the god of deals, chaos, and transactional mischief. Her deck contains 3s and 9s. Her blessings twist luck and bend rules.
See, characters are defined solely by their traits. There are no stats or numbers. You have a list of 'noteworthy' details that you exploit for bonuses on tests - or suffer as penalties if the GM remembers they're there. They might include a species type, a comment about appearance, an old injury, a piece of gear, a legend (true or otherwise), a belief or opinion, an interest or hobby, or anything else. If its worth noting, note it. And 'everything works as you would expect'.
The full game is written and playable. The Kickstarter is raising funds for art, layout polish, and possibly printing. If you enjoy games that lean into absurdity, satire, and strange-but-sensible mechanics, you might enjoy this.
And for those who want a little tease about the World:
This world is old. Not in the poetic sense, but in the way a cellar is old - damp, uneven, and full of things best left undisturbed. Towns thrive unnaturally or else they crumble quietly. Trade routes shift. Ruins whisper. Names carry weight.
Folklore has returned - not as belief, but as currency. Taverns host cults of two. The stones ring at midnight. The river is emotionally compromised. And somewhere, someone climbs the Shale Steps at night - where none have returned.
Happy to answer questions, share more details, or talk shop about rules-light design. Thanks for reading - and may your contracts be short and your gods inattentive.
