BROKEN WONDERS - Fantasy Forged in the Dark

Broken Wonders  is a Roleplaying Game about a crew of adventurers in a medieval fantasy world.

Adventurers as underdogs

This isn’t a power fantasy. Broken Wonders is about being adventurers, and adventurers are underdogs. There are terrifying beasts, ruthless undeads and f**king gods out there. You’re going to lose sometimes. You’ll get bloody a lot. You’ll probably stress to death. Life as an adventurer isn’t easy.

This game was inspired by OSR-ish style of play: An open world, a lack of pre-written plot, an emphasis on creative problem solving, disregard for “encounter balance”, high lethality, and the use of random tables and fortune rolls to generate world elements that surprise both the players and the GM.

As a standalone game based on Blades in the Dark, the rules have been widely adapted to offer a new game experience focused on adventure and medieval fantasy.

The rules are mostly setting neutral and can be easily adapted to your favorite setting.

Main Content

• PDF rulebook with index and search option. The "spreads" format makes  easy-to-print A4 sheets that can be used as reference  during the game.
• Character sheet (PDF, and high-resolution image file to play on virtual boards)
• Fast character and crew creation
• 4 unique backgrounds: Cleric, Fighter, Mage & Rogue. Each contains options to differ even from identical backgrounds.
• 50+ background abilities to empower your characters
• A free-form magic system with 3 faiths and 3 magic paths as starting examples
• Useful list of items with price and load
• GM guidelines and advices
• All the basic rules you need. Check the Table of contents screenshot for more details
• Rules for epic play
• A versatile system for playing complex scenes quickly with little or no preparation.

What is different from "vanilla" Blades in the Dark?

• Actions have been reduced to 6 to increase their importance
• A free-form magic system
• New rules for harm and recovery
• Trauma replaced by exhaustion allows for characters with a much higher potential campaign lifespan, while keeping the importance of stress management
• A new mechanic: Endurance reserve to soak harms (replaces special armor and offers new tactical possibilities for the players)
  
• Many special abilities are completely new
• Group actions are no longer overpowered, some teamwork actions are simplified
• The addition of fumble as opposed to critical success
• A way to manage downtime and resources adapted to the adventurer's life
• There are no detailed crew and faction management rules, which allows you to start playing faster and makes the downtime faster.

Information

• Recommended Players: 3-5
• Recommended Age: 15+
• Playtime: 2-6 hours per session