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Spire: The City Must Fall
You are a dark elf. Your home, the towering city of Spire, was occupied by the high elves two hundred years ago. Now, you have joined a secret organisation known as the Ministry, a paramilitary cult with a single aim – to overthrow the cruel high elves and restore the drow as the rightful rulers of the city.
What – or who – will you sacrifice to achieve your aims? Will you evade the attention of the authorities, or end up shot in the street like so many before you?
What – or who – will you sacrifice to achieve your aims? Will you evade the attention of the authorities, or end up shot in the street like so many before you?
220 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2018
15 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 13, 2023
Disclaimer: I haven't played the system yet.
First, the issues. The book feels a bit shoddily edited: there are some obvious typos, which is a bit embarrassing, but more importantly, at least one piece of rules text (the weapon tag Debilitating) simply isn't defined (I'm guessing it got changed to Stunning in development and it never got fixed in some areas). I'm also not a huge fan of the organization of the book. I think they're handicapped somewhat by the convention that the basic rules (and particularly the classes, which are shiny and exciting) go at the front of the book, but it means that a great deal gets referenced that the reader has no real way of knowing. Presumably in an effort to save pages (which I appreciate, as a goal), the worldbuilding is spread out through the chapters on specific factions and districts of the city. This has the effect of being quite confusing though; many critical points (such as the fact that aelfir cannot feel pain or empathy) often get referenced obliquely, but lack exact or comprehensive descriptions (or said descriptions are squirreled away somewhere nonobvious). Finally, while I like the mechanics, there are quite a few mechanics and abilities where the GM is given little support to adjudicate.
Now, the good: The rules light mechanics look quite solid (above complaints notwithstanding), and the classes just insanely fun and interesting. I love how they are intertwined with the setting. And what a setting, too! The premise and worldbuilding of this game is just superbly creative. I really am so excited to play it. It has such a unique and rich feel to it that's well conveyed throughout the book. The chapters specifically on the setting are excellent too; every aspect of Spire is crammed tight with corrupt, zealous, occult quirks, all ready to burst into conflict or intrigue for the sake of your game. As I read, I was just filled with ideas for oneshots and campaigns.
This version comes with the Blood-Witch class (very cool), as well as a "module" (it's pretty loosely described, in an effort to not be prescriptive) which looks great too.
First, the issues. The book feels a bit shoddily edited: there are some obvious typos, which is a bit embarrassing, but more importantly, at least one piece of rules text (the weapon tag Debilitating) simply isn't defined (I'm guessing it got changed to Stunning in development and it never got fixed in some areas). I'm also not a huge fan of the organization of the book. I think they're handicapped somewhat by the convention that the basic rules (and particularly the classes, which are shiny and exciting) go at the front of the book, but it means that a great deal gets referenced that the reader has no real way of knowing. Presumably in an effort to save pages (which I appreciate, as a goal), the worldbuilding is spread out through the chapters on specific factions and districts of the city. This has the effect of being quite confusing though; many critical points (such as the fact that aelfir cannot feel pain or empathy) often get referenced obliquely, but lack exact or comprehensive descriptions (or said descriptions are squirreled away somewhere nonobvious). Finally, while I like the mechanics, there are quite a few mechanics and abilities where the GM is given little support to adjudicate.
Now, the good: The rules light mechanics look quite solid (above complaints notwithstanding), and the classes just insanely fun and interesting. I love how they are intertwined with the setting. And what a setting, too! The premise and worldbuilding of this game is just superbly creative. I really am so excited to play it. It has such a unique and rich feel to it that's well conveyed throughout the book. The chapters specifically on the setting are excellent too; every aspect of Spire is crammed tight with corrupt, zealous, occult quirks, all ready to burst into conflict or intrigue for the sake of your game. As I read, I was just filled with ideas for oneshots and campaigns.
This version comes with the Blood-Witch class (very cool), as well as a "module" (it's pretty loosely described, in an effort to not be prescriptive) which looks great too.
August 23, 2020
Gloriously grim, singular urban fantasy of rebel Dark Elves waging a doomed guerilla war against their High Elf masters in one of the best fantasy cities ever devised. Brimming with atmosphere and with about three instantly exciting adventure hooks per paragraph, this is the most playable thing to come down the pike in years. Manages the neat trick of feeling both intoxicatingly novel and immediately familiar; it is precisely itself. Read and be amazed; play and be uplifted.
May 10, 2024
Beautifully, amazingly detailed written world. I'll be using the lore in this book for inspiration for many a campaign. I am torn however, on mechanics. Oddly, there are mechanics that are referenced that would have been equally if not more useful in the (sister game) Heart the City Beneath book, that I wish I had known to implement in my Heart game.
I find myself, as seems to be my consistent case with Howitt, wanting more meat and less juice. A number of really, really useful mechanics (including bases, rules for demons, and plot hooks) that are missing. I fully intend to run a Spire game, as I was hooked with Heart; but I feel as if I must refer to multiple other books in order to run a fully fleshed experience. I can improvise a great deal, but core features of a system, or where to begin, are extremely useful for figuring out how to operate a system.
A beautiful, fantastic resource that lacks some structure that I think would make it perfect. An inspiring TTRPG, all the same.
I find myself, as seems to be my consistent case with Howitt, wanting more meat and less juice. A number of really, really useful mechanics (including bases, rules for demons, and plot hooks) that are missing. I fully intend to run a Spire game, as I was hooked with Heart; but I feel as if I must refer to multiple other books in order to run a fully fleshed experience. I can improvise a great deal, but core features of a system, or where to begin, are extremely useful for figuring out how to operate a system.
A beautiful, fantastic resource that lacks some structure that I think would make it perfect. An inspiring TTRPG, all the same.
August 23, 2021
Actually 4.5 stars for reasons given below -
This is an incredible RP system -- rules light, setting heavy. This sourcebook is incredibly readable, functioning probably 80% as a sort of in-world (as in, IC) reference book to the city of spire and the organizations within it, and about 20% notes on how this mechanically might work for players and GM. There's a lot of incidental lore and, as someone who loves to read setting guides and immerse myself in the worlds I want to play or run in, it's just a joy and pleasure to read. It's rich and written with a clear love for the material.
The one problem I had when reading it is that because the PCs all have "domains" they can specialize in, the book organizes the setting by these domains. This makes sense on a character creation level -- if you want to play a religious character (ie a character with the Religions domain), flip to the Districts and Factions of Religions section, read through it, and make your picks. But from a in-play perspective, if, say, the players say to me the GM "Okay, I'm going to head over to Ivory Row, can you tell us what we already know is there?" I'm going to be having to flip all over the book to find it, because Ivory Row has major religious organizations, major academic organizations, organizations around death, artistic movements, the entire low-society area of Perch, each of which are in their own sections. Even more inconveniently, where in Spire these occur aren't clearly labelled (no "Location: X" note under their header) so I had to have the full map open next to me and was cross comparing every time an organization was named. Obviously, each GM can rearrange Spire however they want -- but having this info described, or even some sort of list/table somewhere for those who want the handholds a settings guide provide, would be really useful for quickly being able to answer your players if they're Going Somewhere To Do Things.
(I'll likely end up making some sort of doc for things like this for my own GMing or for my players but I'll review the rest of the sourcebooks first in case some of the secondary material included this.)
This is an incredible RP system -- rules light, setting heavy. This sourcebook is incredibly readable, functioning probably 80% as a sort of in-world (as in, IC) reference book to the city of spire and the organizations within it, and about 20% notes on how this mechanically might work for players and GM. There's a lot of incidental lore and, as someone who loves to read setting guides and immerse myself in the worlds I want to play or run in, it's just a joy and pleasure to read. It's rich and written with a clear love for the material.
The one problem I had when reading it is that because the PCs all have "domains" they can specialize in, the book organizes the setting by these domains. This makes sense on a character creation level -- if you want to play a religious character (ie a character with the Religions domain), flip to the Districts and Factions of Religions section, read through it, and make your picks. But from a in-play perspective, if, say, the players say to me the GM "Okay, I'm going to head over to Ivory Row, can you tell us what we already know is there?" I'm going to be having to flip all over the book to find it, because Ivory Row has major religious organizations, major academic organizations, organizations around death, artistic movements, the entire low-society area of Perch, each of which are in their own sections. Even more inconveniently, where in Spire these occur aren't clearly labelled (no "Location: X" note under their header) so I had to have the full map open next to me and was cross comparing every time an organization was named. Obviously, each GM can rearrange Spire however they want -- but having this info described, or even some sort of list/table somewhere for those who want the handholds a settings guide provide, would be really useful for quickly being able to answer your players if they're Going Somewhere To Do Things.
(I'll likely end up making some sort of doc for things like this for my own GMing or for my players but I'll review the rest of the sourcebooks first in case some of the secondary material included this.)
January 12, 2023
Love this game and have had some of the most enjoyable times running and playing it, both as one-shots and as extended campaigns. The art and writing are evocative and frankly I would to read fiction set in this world.
If I had one criticism to make, and it is a mild one, it is that sometimes the presentation of rules information is not always as clear as it could be. I found myself having to go to the Discord channel to ask questions more than once.
If there is a second edition or a revised printing, I hope they clarify these small issues.
If I had one criticism to make, and it is a mild one, it is that sometimes the presentation of rules information is not always as clear as it could be. I found myself having to go to the Discord channel to ask questions more than once.
If there is a second edition or a revised printing, I hope they clarify these small issues.
May 30, 2018
A fun RPG to play, but also very enjoyable to read. Rather than read like a dry history book, the game reads more like a very weird tour guide. There's a lot of darkness in the setting, and the undercurrents are quite grim, but the tone of the writing is enjoyably humorous.
February 19, 2021
Spire is a New Weird RPG with a heavy setting a light system. You a drow revolutionary, a guerilla cultist in the Ministry of the Hidden Mistress. You home, the mile-high city-building Spire is ruled by cruel Aelfir, high elves who cannot feel sadness, pain, or empathy. Your own people will sell you out, and you life will be short and awful, but perhaps in that time you can strike a blow for freedom.
The system is simple, d10 based with the highest counting. You get 1d10 for being you, +1d10 if you have the skill, +1d10 for domain/background. Difficulty subtracts dice, and the highest result counts. Most successes are partial, stacking stress. Whenever you take stress to one of the attributes (Blood, Mind, Silver, Shadow, Reputation), there's a roll-under chance of triggering fallout, something awful that will happen.
Most of the book focuses on the strange abilities of the character classes, and then the meat of the setting itself. There are dozens of districts, each weirder than the next, grouped thematically by background. Along with the drow and high elves, there are dueling occult and technological traditions, orders of brawler knights, a grinding war of attrition to the south, against demon-summon gnolls, and hundreds of heretical cults. The Spire is itself something alien, perhaps an embryonic god waiting to be born, as the most mundane of possibilities.
The clear comparison to Spire is Blades in the Dark. There's a lot to love about the sheer atmosphere of the Spire setting, but I think I prefer BitD's more structured play-cycle, crew sheets for collective advancement, player empowering Push and Resist mechanics, and greater degree of accessibility. Duskvol makes more sense. Even the artwork of the book has trouble making sense of the scale of the city, of the way that districts should be both claustrophobic and parasitic on the alien architecture. Connolly's One Man novel makes the concreteness of living in a dead god's corpse a presence on every page, and Spire doesn't quite grab that.
The silver, shadow, and reputation resistances are inspired ideas, representing your character's financial state, cover over subversive ideas, and actual social ties, but much of the game is tied up with the specificity of the setting, which is wonderous, but not particularly gameable, in my opinion.
The system is simple, d10 based with the highest counting. You get 1d10 for being you, +1d10 if you have the skill, +1d10 for domain/background. Difficulty subtracts dice, and the highest result counts. Most successes are partial, stacking stress. Whenever you take stress to one of the attributes (Blood, Mind, Silver, Shadow, Reputation), there's a roll-under chance of triggering fallout, something awful that will happen.
Most of the book focuses on the strange abilities of the character classes, and then the meat of the setting itself. There are dozens of districts, each weirder than the next, grouped thematically by background. Along with the drow and high elves, there are dueling occult and technological traditions, orders of brawler knights, a grinding war of attrition to the south, against demon-summon gnolls, and hundreds of heretical cults. The Spire is itself something alien, perhaps an embryonic god waiting to be born, as the most mundane of possibilities.
The clear comparison to Spire is Blades in the Dark. There's a lot to love about the sheer atmosphere of the Spire setting, but I think I prefer BitD's more structured play-cycle, crew sheets for collective advancement, player empowering Push and Resist mechanics, and greater degree of accessibility. Duskvol makes more sense. Even the artwork of the book has trouble making sense of the scale of the city, of the way that districts should be both claustrophobic and parasitic on the alien architecture. Connolly's One Man novel makes the concreteness of living in a dead god's corpse a presence on every page, and Spire doesn't quite grab that.
The silver, shadow, and reputation resistances are inspired ideas, representing your character's financial state, cover over subversive ideas, and actual social ties, but much of the game is tied up with the specificity of the setting, which is wonderous, but not particularly gameable, in my opinion.
January 30, 2024
I was one of the kickstarter backers for this, but then it took me a long time to get around to running a campaign with it.
SPIRE is an RPG somewhere between noir crime novels, steampunk, gothic horror, cosmic horror, mysticism, high fantasy... And somehow, that works. The flavour text is evocative. The rule system is simpler than most. The emphasis is strongly on creating a narrative together, not on getting lost in minute rules.
SPIRE won't work for you if you like straight forward, rail-roady campaigns with pre-written events. The story and the world are created by the players as much as by the GM, and GMs should be willing to prep well but then go with the flow and invent details on the spot.
Personally, me and my RPG group would have liked to see rules presented a little differently - how exactly resistance slots work, for example, wasn't explained well (reddit helped), nor is there a list of ways to obtain mastery (I created one). Many rules were only made clear by the worked examples, but those weren't given in full detail for all aspects. I would also have liked to see more depth to the flavour. In many places, things were just named but not fleshed out. It feels like the Rule of Cool was applied a lot (which I do appreciate) without bothering to see how the many cool hints and snippets the writers threw in would fit together. Even the Blood & Dust campaign left much that I as GM need to fill in now.
This can be fun. But it also takes a ton of time and energy. More than one may expect to invest in a 5-6 session campaign. Perhaps it's a matter of once you've run a campaign, you'll have internalised the strange vocabulary and the ruleset more, and the next campaigns will be much easier to prepare.
I like SPIRE a lot. The rule system doesn't get in the way (once you've understood it), and it supports the dark, nihilistic atmosphere of the setting. SPIRE is versatile: political intrigue in high society, drug trafficking story, surreal cosmic horror, humorous, philosophical, brutal, disorienting. You just need a group willing to go there, take the plunge, dare to be creative.
SPIRE is an RPG somewhere between noir crime novels, steampunk, gothic horror, cosmic horror, mysticism, high fantasy... And somehow, that works. The flavour text is evocative. The rule system is simpler than most. The emphasis is strongly on creating a narrative together, not on getting lost in minute rules.
SPIRE won't work for you if you like straight forward, rail-roady campaigns with pre-written events. The story and the world are created by the players as much as by the GM, and GMs should be willing to prep well but then go with the flow and invent details on the spot.
Personally, me and my RPG group would have liked to see rules presented a little differently - how exactly resistance slots work, for example, wasn't explained well (reddit helped), nor is there a list of ways to obtain mastery (I created one). Many rules were only made clear by the worked examples, but those weren't given in full detail for all aspects. I would also have liked to see more depth to the flavour. In many places, things were just named but not fleshed out. It feels like the Rule of Cool was applied a lot (which I do appreciate) without bothering to see how the many cool hints and snippets the writers threw in would fit together. Even the Blood & Dust campaign left much that I as GM need to fill in now.
This can be fun. But it also takes a ton of time and energy. More than one may expect to invest in a 5-6 session campaign. Perhaps it's a matter of once you've run a campaign, you'll have internalised the strange vocabulary and the ruleset more, and the next campaigns will be much easier to prepare.
I like SPIRE a lot. The rule system doesn't get in the way (once you've understood it), and it supports the dark, nihilistic atmosphere of the setting. SPIRE is versatile: political intrigue in high society, drug trafficking story, surreal cosmic horror, humorous, philosophical, brutal, disorienting. You just need a group willing to go there, take the plunge, dare to be creative.
July 3, 2019
Released shortly after Blades in the Dark, it seems mindbogglingly impossible that the authors of Spire did not steal some ideas from that game. But Grant Howitt says he didn't know Blades in the Dark at the time, and I believe him, so here we are. More dark fantasy in a very urban, steampunk-ish setting that's ridiculously fascinating and very weird.
In Spire, you play a member of the Ministry of the Hidden Goddess, a rebel organisation of Drow. The Spire itself is a city set into a giant spire rising into the sky. It used to belong to the drow, but then the aelfir, the high elves invaded and enslaved the drow and other races. You want to put an end to this, as member of the Ministry, and Spire is the game to play out your uprising.
The game system is a D6 system that loosely reminded me of PbtA but not fully, just like in Blades. Every action is based on your current stress level, and once there's too much stress, there is fallout, in one of your attribute pools. There are 10 different playbooks to choose from to play a drow rebel, and I found them very creative.
Unlike Blades, the majority of the book is setting, setting, setting, and it's a hugely bizarre setting. It reminded me of China Mieville's books. If you loved Perdido Street Station, you'll probably love Spire. It is weird, so goddamn weird.
In fact, the setting is so weird that I find it intimidating, so complex that I feel I can almost not fully commit here. I am reading the campaign frameworks now, and would love to try this game. It's a glorious world where games like Spire and Blades can exist.
In Spire, you play a member of the Ministry of the Hidden Goddess, a rebel organisation of Drow. The Spire itself is a city set into a giant spire rising into the sky. It used to belong to the drow, but then the aelfir, the high elves invaded and enslaved the drow and other races. You want to put an end to this, as member of the Ministry, and Spire is the game to play out your uprising.
The game system is a D6 system that loosely reminded me of PbtA but not fully, just like in Blades. Every action is based on your current stress level, and once there's too much stress, there is fallout, in one of your attribute pools. There are 10 different playbooks to choose from to play a drow rebel, and I found them very creative.
Unlike Blades, the majority of the book is setting, setting, setting, and it's a hugely bizarre setting. It reminded me of China Mieville's books. If you loved Perdido Street Station, you'll probably love Spire. It is weird, so goddamn weird.
In fact, the setting is so weird that I find it intimidating, so complex that I feel I can almost not fully commit here. I am reading the campaign frameworks now, and would love to try this game. It's a glorious world where games like Spire and Blades can exist.
Read
January 11, 2023Incredible book that meshes system and theme so well. The resistances and stresses are so simple but so cool, immediately understandable, and always contribute to the mood of the thing, the gathering strain of living under an unfeeling authority. With the caveat that I haven't run it myself (though I would love to), it seems like it'd be reasonably smooth in play.
I got stuck on reading the lore for a while, mostly just because it's a very long section of the book (and comes before the 'running the game' section, which is an organisational blunder imo), but it's all very rich and juicy lore, chock-full of memorable figures, vivid locations, and, most importantly, absolutely overflowing with things for the players to interact with. I've heard it said that the best worldbuilding principle for RPGs is to put everything on a knife's edge, that way the players get to come along and choose which way to push it. Spire takes this principle and goes nuts with it; there are dozens of imminent (and contradictory) world-shattering events here.
Maybe also the first time I've gotten to the list of influences in a book like this and I'm familiar with more of them than I'm not; the authors and I are definitely operating on the same wavelength. Again, incredible. That said, I have a weird hunch I might like Heart even more.
I got stuck on reading the lore for a while, mostly just because it's a very long section of the book (and comes before the 'running the game' section, which is an organisational blunder imo), but it's all very rich and juicy lore, chock-full of memorable figures, vivid locations, and, most importantly, absolutely overflowing with things for the players to interact with. I've heard it said that the best worldbuilding principle for RPGs is to put everything on a knife's edge, that way the players get to come along and choose which way to push it. Spire takes this principle and goes nuts with it; there are dozens of imminent (and contradictory) world-shattering events here.
Maybe also the first time I've gotten to the list of influences in a book like this and I'm familiar with more of them than I'm not; the authors and I are definitely operating on the same wavelength. Again, incredible. That said, I have a weird hunch I might like Heart even more.
March 17, 2024
Fantasy punk? Urban fantasy? Uno Snowpiercer verticale, un'intera città all'interno di una torre viva, ai piani alti gli invasori Aelfir che hanno conquistato la città da decenni ormai, ai piani bassi i Drow, la maggioranza conquistata. Spire è un gioco di politica, religione, magia, violenza, sotterfugi, i giocatori sono Drow che fanno parte di una setta segreta chiamata il Culto (dal Culto ovviamente illegale di Nostra Velata Signora, dea drow del lato oscuro della Luna) votata a far tornare Spire nelle mani dei Drow. L'ambientazione è super interessante e tratteggia bene la vita nelle diverse zone della città, con anche qualche luogo e NPC specifici.
Il sistema di gioco usa un pool di d10 (da 1 a 4) in cui si tiene il risultato più alto, non c'è solo fallimento/successo ma anche la zona grigia del successo con conseguenze, e le classi giocabili sono ben integrate all'ambientazione.
Spire mi ha fatto tornare la voglia di masterare.
Il sistema di gioco usa un pool di d10 (da 1 a 4) in cui si tiene il risultato più alto, non c'è solo fallimento/successo ma anche la zona grigia del successo con conseguenze, e le classi giocabili sono ben integrate all'ambientazione.
Spire mi ha fatto tornare la voglia di masterare.
Read
September 8, 2024I realise that it's kind of impossible to rate tabletop RPGs without having actually played them, so I won't. But I will say that Spire looks excellent. The mechanic of stress and fallout is really interesting and cool, I love some of the more esoteric damage types. The five stress bars are the fairly standard Blood and Mind for physical and mental injuries, but you can also take damage to your Reputation, your Silver (finances) or your Shadow (how hidden you are from the authorities). The classes are delightfully unique with really cool abilities, and the titular Spire itself is such an interesting setting. I've lost interest in a lot of fantasy, so most fantasy needs a really strong hook to get me into it, and Spire has dozens of them. I will for sure be running a Spire campaign after my Lancer campaign.
February 6, 2020
Spire is a powerfully slick system with interesting stories at its core. Many of the mechanics will feel backwards to more traditional RPGs, but trust the game to show you what it wants. And trust players to tell dark, enticing stories of conspiracy and subterfuge. I am excited for the follow up, Heart, and have run a pair of sessions of Spire. I come to the table excited and they come willing to put characters and virtues on the line for the wins, small and large, against colonialism and oppression.
Use X-Cards and other safety precautions for your game. Don’t hesitate to take breaks, as the content can be brutal, but don’t handhold. Trust and respect your players. This game demands it.
Also, an appendix on goats.
Use X-Cards and other safety precautions for your game. Don’t hesitate to take breaks, as the content can be brutal, but don’t handhold. Trust and respect your players. This game demands it.
Also, an appendix on goats.
June 25, 2025
The pretty elves are in charge…and it’s time for the Drow to change that…
Spire: The City Must Fall by Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor is a dystopian RPG about bringing down a corrupt system…
Set in the towering fantasy city known as the Spire…you are a former Drow slave who has decided to fight back…
The game breaks down the mqnh levels and locations one can visit in the spire…but you also shouldn’t go outside the city walls because of how dangerous it is…
Anyway it’s about formerjnh a resistance cell and wrecking stuff…to the best of your ability…
A wide range of classes (usually tied to your force service job with the high eleven), skills, and gifs are covered for character creation…
I feel this game has some decent potential to try…
Spire: The City Must Fall by Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor is a dystopian RPG about bringing down a corrupt system…
Set in the towering fantasy city known as the Spire…you are a former Drow slave who has decided to fight back…
The game breaks down the mqnh levels and locations one can visit in the spire…but you also shouldn’t go outside the city walls because of how dangerous it is…
Anyway it’s about formerjnh a resistance cell and wrecking stuff…to the best of your ability…
A wide range of classes (usually tied to your force service job with the high eleven), skills, and gifs are covered for character creation…
I feel this game has some decent potential to try…
March 22, 2022
Excepcional juego. detalla la ciudad a un nivel de facciones y de relaciones de poder con gran detalle. Describe multitud de zonas de la ciudad, con sus habitantes y sus curiosidades pero huyendo de los mapas. Le acompña un sistema de juego muy sencillo. A falta de jugarlo, me parece una excelente adición a cualquier ludoteca y ocupa un espacio poco transitado por los juegos que genera incómodas preguntas.
January 10, 2023
If you're a fan of crunchy, rules dense gaming this isn't the game for you. There's all of seven rules, give or take. But if you're a fan of Grant Howitt's one-page-rules creations, like the legendary Honey Heist, you'll find one of those, and it's accompanying "neat idea" blown up in wide-screen and technicolor with hundreds of pages of rich, dark, and humorous lore and incredible artwork. A great game for parties that are driven by debate and problem solving.
September 30, 2018
This is PACKED with ideas and story hooks. Also, I really like the system, and found it pretty novel in some areas (stress and fallout in particular are very cool). Two flaws: layout is quite boring, and also a bit confusing in places, and for players to understand what characters to play they’d have quite a bit to read to make an informed decision.
October 3, 2022
This is the first time I've ever even considered putting a game book on Goodreads. But the quality of worldbuilding in Spire is unmatched. Every single page has an idea that is substantially better than most other entire games. In addition to being an outstanding ttrpg, the book itself is almost like a collection of short stories or microfiction as good as any other I've seen.
May 6, 2024
Probably the most creative, bonkers, and well-written TTRPG I've ever read. The mechanics themselves aren't particularly game changing (a D10 dice pool system similar to Vampire the Masquerade) but that's okay because they're there to serve the wildly cool narrative choices the authors thought up. Even if this one never gets to the table it was absolutely worth the read.
September 20, 2024
Tight and simple RPG with an engaging punk, urban fantasy setting and design. My favorite thing that it does, and I am curious at how well this maintains during play, is that players do not track their Stress. Having the knowledge and infliction of harm solely in the hands of the GM creates cool ludo narrative resonance as they embody the oppressive regime of the Spire.
April 23, 2021
A brilliant system that escews the classic blank-faced roles like fighter and wizard in a generic fantasy setting, instead dropping you deep into a punk world of rebellion and resistance in one of the most unique settings in fantasy, let alone ttrpgs. A masterpiece
February 20, 2021
A sprawling book of few rules and many ideas.
March 4, 2021
Some of the most fun I’ve had reading through an RPG source book. Haven’t played yet but the system sounds great and the setting is such a refreshing take on fantasy tropes that I’ve been tiring of.
August 8, 2021
I had an awesome one-shot campaign with Spire. I really should write it up as an Actual Play.
July 22, 2023
Playing this with a group and it’s beilliant. The mechanics require a PhD to master so it’s been a bit trial and error, but bless our GM, he tries
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May 17, 2024Oh man I want to play this
December 27, 2018
## *Spire* RPG.
The Spire is a fantasy Megacity, inhabited by the Drow, and conquered and occupied by the cruel Aelfir, but its origins are lost to time. In this game, your characters are Drow Terrorists, sorry Freedom Fighters, striving to liberate the city from the High Elven overlords.
The book is an attractive blue hardback; stylistically, it is cleanly laid out, almost to the point of sterility, and the artwork is excellent and very distinctive. It does look good.
The system is a simple dice pool one, where you can build a hand of up to four dice (more if you have assistance), and take the highest result rolled on any of them for the quality of the result. Failures cause stress, and stress can cause Fallout (damage traits of some form whether physical, mental or social). The system isn’t very clearly presented, so I tied it together in a two-page document for quick reference for my own use.
In particular, the fallout section is laid out in a way that makes it useful to read but far less useful in actual play. However, I think it would work well in play. If it didn’t, I’d just map it to the Wordplay engine. An interesting take is that character advancement is linked to creating significant change in the social structures of the Spire.
The books starts with a short introduction to the Drow, Aelfir and the Spire but then dives into pages and pages of system and characters. It’s dry and sterile and nearly put me off. Fortunately, it gets interesting about eighty pages in when it starts to describe the districts of the city. The organisation here is pretty basic, but it’s not done well for quick referencing. It’s nowhere near the standard of Cthulhu City in the way you can quickly parse and use the information inside. I think I’d be doing some work before I played the game to get this workable; maybe using index card summaries for districts and NPCs.
That said, I really like this book and want to explore it further, perhaps running a short campaign. It reminds me of a less structured, more brutal Blades in the Dark.
The Spire is a fantasy Megacity, inhabited by the Drow, and conquered and occupied by the cruel Aelfir, but its origins are lost to time. In this game, your characters are Drow Terrorists, sorry Freedom Fighters, striving to liberate the city from the High Elven overlords.
The book is an attractive blue hardback; stylistically, it is cleanly laid out, almost to the point of sterility, and the artwork is excellent and very distinctive. It does look good.
The system is a simple dice pool one, where you can build a hand of up to four dice (more if you have assistance), and take the highest result rolled on any of them for the quality of the result. Failures cause stress, and stress can cause Fallout (damage traits of some form whether physical, mental or social). The system isn’t very clearly presented, so I tied it together in a two-page document for quick reference for my own use.
In particular, the fallout section is laid out in a way that makes it useful to read but far less useful in actual play. However, I think it would work well in play. If it didn’t, I’d just map it to the Wordplay engine. An interesting take is that character advancement is linked to creating significant change in the social structures of the Spire.
The books starts with a short introduction to the Drow, Aelfir and the Spire but then dives into pages and pages of system and characters. It’s dry and sterile and nearly put me off. Fortunately, it gets interesting about eighty pages in when it starts to describe the districts of the city. The organisation here is pretty basic, but it’s not done well for quick referencing. It’s nowhere near the standard of Cthulhu City in the way you can quickly parse and use the information inside. I think I’d be doing some work before I played the game to get this workable; maybe using index card summaries for districts and NPCs.
That said, I really like this book and want to explore it further, perhaps running a short campaign. It reminds me of a less structured, more brutal Blades in the Dark.
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