A ramp leading down into a mysterious city
A ramp leading down into a mysterious city
A ramp leading down into a mysterious city

Story

  • A fortified ramp leading from the forest down into the depths of a mysterious abandoned forest
  • Marble tiles, polluted water, and crude wooden fortifications

Possible Objectives

  • Avoid mushroom spore explosions - roll 2d8 to pick a tile, and anyone in a Small Blast is POISONED(5).

Possible Enemies

  • Fungal or decaying creatures
  • City defenders

Tactics

  • The map has two main ramps leading down
  • One of the ramps is blocked by a fortified wooden barrier
  • Another ramp has a plank placed over it, where ranged defenders can attack interlopers

Tiles

  • The flowing water tiles are Charged but inflict the POISONED status if you occupy them.

Map download: FungalNecropolisEntrance.blend

Texture credit: Pixel Textures Pack by FlakDeau

On Saturday, December 30, I ran the second session of Exsurge Auroram, the Arise playtest. We got through a more complex battle, and learned some important things!

Read more "Session 2 Playtest" »

The galidrie (singular galider) are only superficially related to Elf-kin. They have lithe builds, graceful movement, and long lives. Their skin is bone-white and the fibers that make up their “hair” tend to be long and straight. But the resemblance stops there, for they are more like animated mushroom-folk than flesh-and-blood aeshee or savards.

Read more "Galidrie" »

Walking Pavise ● Stone ● Artificia ● Grunt

A shield imbued with animation and limited limbs, letting it move around a battlefield on its own.

Basic (R3)
Made of wood
Adv (R5)
Made of metal
SPD: 1, DASH: 2, ATK: 15, MGK: 0, PDEF: 44, MDEF: 44, RES: 3
SPD: 1, DASH: 2, ATK: 30, MGK: 0, PDEF: 54, MDEF: 54, RES: 5
Basic
Advanced
Action Name
Action Description
1-3
1-2
Intervention

Dash +1, I gain READIED(1)

4-5
3-4
Toss Ally

One GMC in Aura 1 Flies 2 tiles in a line

6
5
Brace

I gain RETALIATE(1) and Heal 1 HP

-
6
Shield Smash

I inflict CRUSHED on a target in melee range

BASIC
PDEF: 44
MDEF: 44
ADV.
PDEF: 54
MDEF: 54
No Loss
0 - 43
0 - 43
No Loss
0 - 53
0 - 53
44 - 53
44 - 53
54 - 63
54 - 63
⯀⯀
54 - 63
54 - 63
⯀⯀
64 - 73
64 - 73
⯀ x 3
64 - 73
64 - 73
⯀ x 3
74 - 83
74 - 83
⯀ x 4
74 - 83
74 - 83
⯀ x 4
84 - 93
84 - 93
⯀ x 5
84 - 93
84 - 93
⯀ x 5
94 - 103
94 - 103
⯀ x 6
94 - 103
94 - 103
⯀ x 6
104 - 113
104 - 113
⯀ x 7
104+
104+
⯀ x 7
114+
114+
Counters per Turn: 1
Counters per Turn: 2
Vulnerabilities: FLM ‐, WAV ⯀, FRS ▢, STN ▢, AER ⯀, BLT ▢, BLM ‐, MTL ⯀, NVR ‐
HP: ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀ (8)
HP: ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀ (10)
1d6 - Loot Table
1d6 - Loot Table
1-4
1-2 Normal Crafting Materials
1-4
2-3 Normal Crafting Materials
5
1 Gaianite
5
2 Gaianite
6
1 IP
6
1 IP

A Walking Pavise can expend a Counter to use the Protect Counter, as well as the normal Defend Counter.

Description

Walking Pavises are the creation of wizards with a peculiar sense of humor. They are walking shields, made of wood or metal, with a single eye at the center and a pair of feet. They otherwise lack manipulators, but are extremely agile when it comes to using their shield-bodies to move things around.

A Walking Pavise

Encounters

Walking Pavises accompany other creatures. They protect them from attack, use their Toss Ally move to get them into melee faster, and otherwise act as support units.

Their low ATK makes them unsuitable as attackers. Instead, they rely on status effects like RETALIATE to do damage, and spend the rest of their actions absorbing damage done to allies. Trapping them away from allies can negate their effectiveness.

On Saturday, I ran the first actual session of the Arise playtest game, Exsurge Auroram. We got through one Battle and one Camping scene.

It went well, and we learned a few things.

Read more "Saturday Playtest" »

A battlemap of a forest path
A battlemap of a forest path
A battlemap of a forest path

Story

  • In the middle of a forest, a dried-up creek has formed a pathway
  • A fallen log rests over part of the path

Possible Objectives

  • Locate an item lost in the forest
  • Dig up an item buried somewhere off the path

Possible Enemies

  • Forest sprites or elementals
  • Goblin bandits

Tactics

  • The map is divided into three parts: the left bank, the right bank, and the center path
  • The two banks are accessible via ramps, but there’s one fewer ramp on one side
  • The banks are otherwise too far apart to leap over the gap
  • The fallen log connects both banks, but it’s a chokepoint
  • The more accessible bank has several elevated points

Tiles

  • The flowing water tiles are Charged
  • The fallen log tiles Obscuring

Map download: ForestPath.blend

Texture credit: Pixel Textures Pack by FlakDeau

Skrint ● Metal ● Goblinkind ● Grunt

Small goblinkind with a worrying quality: when a band of Skrint latch onto something beautiful or interesting, they develop a hivemind with each other.

Basic (R2)
Scuttling, shrieking defenders
Adv (R4)
Calculating, conniving directors
SPD: 3, DASH: 3, ATK: 30, MGK: 5, PDEF: 15, MDEF: 15, RES: 2
SPD: 4, DASH: 3, ATK: 35, MGK: 5, PDEF: 20, MDEF: 20, RES: 4
Basic
Advanced
Action Name
Action Description
1-3
1-2
Raking Claws

Dash +0, Melee Attack +5

4-5
3-4
Pelting Rocks

Dash +0, Ranged Attack +5, Range 4. Sharp Rocks: On 1-2 on d6, the target is BLEEDING.

6
5
Battle Frenzy

I gain HASTE and Heal 1 HP

-
6
Summon Pack

Add one Skrint (Basic) to the bottom of the turn tracker, otherwise as per the Grave Thrall’s “Howlcall” move.

BASIC
PDEF: 15
MDEF: 15
ADV.
PDEF: 20
MDEF: 20
No Loss
0 - 14
0 - 14
No Loss
0 - 19
0 - 19
15 - 24
15 - 24
20 - 29
20 - 29
⯀⯀
25 - 34
25 - 34
⯀⯀
30 - 39
30 - 39
⯀ x 3
35 - 44
35 - 44
⯀ x 3
40 - 49
40 - 49
⯀ x 4
45 - 54
45 - 54
⯀ x 4
50 - 59
50 - 59
⯀ x 5
55 - 64
55 - 64
⯀ x 5
60 - 69
60 - 69
⯀ x 6
65 - 74
65 - 74
⯀ x 6
70 - 79
70 - 79
⯀ x 7
75+
75+
⯀ x 7
80+
80+
Counters per Turn: 1
Counters per Turn: 2
Vulnerabilities: FLM ▢, WAV ‐, FRS ⯀, STN ‐, AER ‐, BLT ⯀, BLM ▢, MTL ▢, NVR ⯀
HP: ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀ (5)
HP: ⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀⯀ (7)
1d6 - Loot Table
1d6 - Loot Table
1-4
1-3 Supplies
1-4
3-5 Supplies
5
1-2 Normal Cooking Materials
5
1 Special Cooking Material
6
1 IP
6
1 IP

Description

Skrint (the singular and plural are the same) are small goblinkind with a worrying quality: when a band of Skrint latch onto something beautiful or interesting, they develop a hivemind with each other. Without individual motivations, the collective sets to work protecting and venerating the “shiny” that has captured their attention.

For this reason, fellow Skrint often encourage adventurers to steal the “shiny” away from a Skrint pack that’s fixated on it, even if some individual members of the pack must be hurt. Once the “shiny” is gone, the hivemind collapses and the affected Skrint will return to their original selves.

Individual Skrint in the world often pick up eccentric habits, manners of dress, or obsessions in an attempt to resist this urge with fellow Skrint. They become fanatically individual to retain their selves, no matter how quirky or weird it makes them seem. Their latent telepathy, the source of the hivemind, otherwise makes them empathetic and sensitive to the needs and feelings of others.

Skrint in history were responsible for the preservation of many old relics from the lost times and may be the reason so much stuff survived to this day. Did the gods make them this way? Or did they, knowing their natures, volunteer to do it? Nobody knows.

Playable Skrint would use the “Hobb” Cath.

Skrint were originally posted about here.

Encounters

An encounter with a Skrint hivemind should include at least one upranked Skrint, who can summon more units.

The map should include the “shiny” - an object, or a doorway to a place - that the Skrint have latched onto. An objective of the battle should be to deprive the hivemind of the shiny, either by destroying it or carrying it off the map boundary. This will bring the Skrint to their senses, ending the battle.

The GM can stipulate that Downed Skrint aren’t killed, merely injured, and that they’ll be treated by their comrades once the hivemind is dispelled. The PCs can help with this task, perhaps during a Camp scene, or leave it to the goblinkind themselves.

This section of the site is about Exsurge Auroram, a setting I’m developing for the Arise RPG, currently under playtest.

Read more "Exsurge Auroram Introduction" »

A battlemap of a ferry docked at shore, being loaded with cargo
A battlemap of a ferry docked at shore, being loaded with cargo
A battlemap of a ferry docked at shore, being loaded with cargo

Story

  • There is a small flat-bottomed barge that carries cargo and passengers across a wild river
  • The party is ready to set sail - or come ashore? - when enemies attack

Possible Objectives

  • Find (or destroy) cargo contained in a crate, before an enemy gets to it
  • Rescue someone from the barge and bring them ashore (or vice versa)
  • Get all enemies off the riverboat, at which time it can set sail

Possible Enemies

  • All types of enemies, coming from shore
  • Pirates or fishpeople, who emerge from the water

Tactics

  • The map is broadly divided into two parts: shore and the riverboat
  • The crane and stacked cargo are the harder path onto or off of the boat, but the crane offers a perch for ranged attackers
  • The boarding ramp is an easy chokepoint, but the gap between the boat and shore is narrow enough to leap with effort
  • The wheelhouse and cargo on deck offer defenders cover
  • There are few cover options on shore, but the height advantage may compensate for that

Tiles

  • The shallow water tiles around the ferry are Slippery and Charged
  • The wheelhouse tiles on the ferry are Obcuring

Map download: Ferry.blend

Texture credit: Pixel Textures Pack by FlakDeau

The Arise playtest is out, but there’s only a handful of GMCs - GM Characters, or “monsters” - available. Let’s work out some principles to make more, and then create a few

Read more "Principles of Arise GMCs" »

Arise is different from other tactical games in a few key ways:

  1. Maps are of fixed size (8x8 or 12x12)
  2. There’s emphasis on three-dimensional movement, similar to video games like Final Fantasy Tactics
  3. Domination of a quadrant of the map gives the dominating side attack bonuses

What does this mean when it comes to designing original maps?

Read more "Principles of Arise Map Creation" »