Torchbearer: Basic Rule Book for Levels 1-5

by Thor Olavsrud, Luke Crane

Torchbearer is a riff on the early model of fantasy roleplaying games. In it, you take on the role of an adventurer seeking his or her fortune. To earn that fortune, you must explore fornlorn ruins, brave terrible monsters and retreive forgotten treasures. However, this game is not about being a hero. It is not about fighting for what you believe. This game is about exploration and survival. You may become a hero. You might have to fight for your ideals. But to do either of those things, you must prove yourself in the wilds. Because there are no jobs, no inheritance, no other opportunities for our deadbeat adventurers. This life is their only hope to prosper in this world.

Genres: Games, Role Playing Games, Gaming

200 pages, ebook

First published July 1, 2013

Reviews

[Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between Mouse Guard and Burning Wheel lies Torchbearer. If you've got a dungeon-crawling itch to scratch but are every bit as concerned about character and roleplaying as you are about loot, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than this game.

[Tulpa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presently, it is my favorite iteration of Luke Crane's "Burning Wheel" system. It strips out a lot of the mechanics I tend to trip up on and find fault with and instead is a highly streamlined and efficient engine for dungeon-delving and survival. It tends towards a tone of simulation, where the details of resource use and management are central to play (yet are never bothersome to track). It drops the ever-faulty lifepath system of core Burning Wheel, and institutes a GM-player turn order elaborated upon from Mouse Guard, and this structures the game such that I am hard-pressed to imagine it going badly.

[Itay · Rating 5 out of 5]

נושא הלפיד הוא משחק פנטזיה אולד סקול, אבל הוא שונה מאוד מכל משחק פנטזיה שאני מכיר. במקום להתמקד בעוד ועוד כוחות ובמגוון אפשרויות ויכולות לכל דמות בנפרד, הוא מתמקד בלפעול ביחד. המשחק עוסק במהות ההרפתקנות ובהשפעה שלה על גופם ונפשם של ההרפתקנים ומצליח להתמודד בהצלחה ובצורה מעוררת התלהבות עם מכניקות שבמשחקים אחרים הן זניחות או מיותרות. בנוסף, הוא קושר בצורה חזקה בין משחק תפקידים ומכניקה ויש כמה משאבים קריטיים שזמינים אך ורק דרך משחק תפקידים או החלטות קשות. גם הפרק למנחה מצויין, עם עצות קונקרטיות ותהליך מאוד מובנה של תכנון הרפתקאות. אני לא יכול לחכות עד שאתנסה בו!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This game harkens back to old school rpg play. It is well written and has a great flow from the writers. It handles a lot of time eating issues that older pen and paper rpg systems use by actually making time in town mean rolling dice and doing quick things to assist the overall feel of the game. Enjoyable read! I will be running this very soon for my gaming group!

Danny