Hi all,
Thought I'd put out feelers for a possible Torchbearer one shot. I'm running it online for some buddies in early July and hope to run it for some distant friends at GenCon. I had thrown out the weekend of the 19th/20th of July to @no1raddad and he seemed like a possible go. @Salyer and @Mike I'm hoping may be able to game as well, but it all seems tentative and vague right now. I figured I'd open it up and see if others may be interested.
My friend Ted, who I gamed with for about a year on Roll20, drafted a bit of an overview of the game and offered this as an introduction for those unfamiliar:
Probably the first thing you ought to know is that Torchbearer is quite different from Dungeons & Dragons in the way it's played. Though they're both adventure fantasy dungeon-crawler games, the rules systems of the two are focused on rather different aspects. While D&D dedicates most of its rules to combat and spellcasting, Torchbearer concerns itself more with survival, resource management, and roleplay. While you level up and advance in D&D by killing monsters, in Torchbearer you level up by roleplaying your character well and advance in skills through practice - both success and failure. D&D is about becoming a glorious hero and earning wealth, while Torchbearer is about venturing into the dark places of the world for treasure to keep yourself off the brink of poverty and death. While being a hero in D&D is presupposed, in Torchbearer becoming a hero takes a lot of work. Rather, you are an adventurer. Some of the very first words in the book are:
Adventurer is a dirty word. You’re a scoundrel, a villain, a
wastrel, a vagabond, a criminal, a sword-for-hire, a cutthroat.
[...]
There’s naught for you but to make your own way. There’s
a certain freedom to it, but it’s a hard life. Cash flows out of
your hands as easily as the blood from your wounds.
But at least it’s your life.
And if you’re lucky, smart and stubborn, you might come out
on top. There’s a lot of lost loot out there for the finding. And
salvage law is mercifully generous. You find it, it’s yours to
spend, sell or keep.
Torchbearer can best be compared to the 'classic' editions of D&D, where treasure was the goal, death was nearly certain, and adventurers shied from the trappings of civilization to delve into forbidden places. You are the scum of the earth, embrace your role and you may yet flourish. Welcome to Torchbearer.
Anyway, curious if anyone may be interested. No biggie, just wanted to spread the love and get a chance to practice GMing as it's been almost 20 years since I've GMed. It's a niche game though, which is why I've never played in person with anyone in town.
If you're interested, feel free to email me: sheddingDOTsoundsATgmailDOTcom
