There was a bit of discussion of this in a recent generic crowdfuding thread, but I though maybe it deserves its own thread - there is a new edition of Torchbearer coming out via Kickstarter: Torchbearer 2nd Edition.
Torchbearer is designed by the Burning Wheel team (Luke Crane, Thor Olavsrud, et al). I'm a huge Burning Wheel fan. BW is a fantasy RPG which emphasises emotionally intense play focused on character's trying and often failing to realise their goals and ideals; and which uses pretty crunchy subsystems to deliver on this. I've never played Torchbearer, so my description of it is based on reading play reports, Luke Crane's posts about the design process etc: it's a cross between pure BW and Moldvay-esque dungeoneering. So less melodrama but more logistically- and suspense-driven challenge.
There are plenty of ENworlders who know this system much better than me and can correct and/or elaborate on my description of it. I just thought it worthwhile to start a thread about it.
Torchbearer is designed by the Burning Wheel team (Luke Crane, Thor Olavsrud, et al). I'm a huge Burning Wheel fan. BW is a fantasy RPG which emphasises emotionally intense play focused on character's trying and often failing to realise their goals and ideals; and which uses pretty crunchy subsystems to deliver on this. I've never played Torchbearer, so my description of it is based on reading play reports, Luke Crane's posts about the design process etc: it's a cross between pure BW and Moldvay-esque dungeoneering. So less melodrama but more logistically- and suspense-driven challenge.
There are plenty of ENworlders who know this system much better than me and can correct and/or elaborate on my description of it. I just thought it worthwhile to start a thread about it.