Watch Well Games #48
Review: Skorne RPG. Free Maps. Naming the hedgehog and more.
Welcome to our RPG community newsletter!
Hi. I’m K.J.
Today:
Warren Davidson (Wazza’s Whimsical Wanderings) reviews The Laws of Skorne.
Schlau @ LiD Gaming shares free maps for the next section in a larger series. I’ve seen all these connected in person - and together, they all look quite keen.
I make brief commentary throughout on a few items, including announcing the winner who named the hedgehog in the WWG logo. Enjoy.
📖Read
I just finished Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Two Scalzi books in a row.
What book are you enjoying right now?
🎲Review: The Laws of Skorne
a review by Warren Davidson (Wazza)
“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.”
Wow, this is the first role-playing game review that left me breathless on my first read-through. It’s relentless, brutal and unforgiving and makes no apologies. If you ever enjoyed the “Soul” series of video games (Demon Souls, Dark Souls and my personal favorite Blood Bourne), then this is the RPG for you, because, believe me, you will “Die and die again!”
The Laws of Skorne was written by Samuel James and is available from dreamingdragonslayer.itch.io for $9. It comes as a 45-page black and white document with several illustrations throughout and is presented in a landscape format with two pages per printed page. So you’re looking at 12 double-sided pages in total if you want to save on paper. To quote the marketing: “Skorne is a minimalist RPG with near-diceless combat packed with ideas that fantasy gamers will find both familiar and new with plenty of tools and tables to get play started.” Oh, and did I mention you’re gonna die a lot?
You need 2D6 to play and character generation is straightforward and fast as it needs to be as you’re gonna die (have I mentioned this already?). You play a Renegade, who along with the other players, are leading a near-suicidal insurrection against the evil Demon Prince Skorne and his armies of darkness. Your task: wipe them out, all of them, before Skorne can destroy the seven seals which spells humanities doom. Beneath Skorne are his demonic hierarchy of Tyrants (several of which are detailed along with rules for creating your own) who lead Skorne’s armies and spend their downtime squabbling amongst themselves and scheming. With all this infighting it makes you wonder how evil ever achieves anything!
Give your PC a name and roll 2D6 for each ability: Strength, Dexterity and Willpower. Next, cross reference each number with a character matrix to determine the equipment "package" you start with, they include weapons, armour and miscellaneous items. Oh and every PC has three hit points, so you’re gonna die a lot!
As this is a minimalist game the rules are understandably short and concise, just three and a half pages in fact, covering saving throws, morale, fatigue (a big deal which I’ll cover in more detail later on), travel, magic, combat and dying of course. This game encourages the players to be imaginative and inventive with the rules as the odds are definitely stacked against them from the outset. D&Ders used to taking multiple hits and buffing themselves are in for a shock as this game takes no prisoners. Three hits and you’re dead, that’s it, sayonara, game over. Scrunch up your character sheet and throw it in the trash can as there’s no resurrection in this unforgiving world. Time for another cannon-fodder, I mean character to step up.
So how about the rules themselves? Simple, if you need to avoid danger roll a save on 2D6, add in an appropriate ability modifier ranging from -2 to +2, beat the referee’s roll and you'll probably survive. Having a disagreement with another PC? Then roll as above and hope to beat their total. The rules apply equally to uncertain social encounters and enemy morale on the battlefield. Overall they work fine. Initiative is a Dex roll, go last and you’ll pay the price. Oh and you don’t roll to hit in combat, you dish out and take hits on a one-for one basis against an opponent who generally has more than you, so you’re gonna die a lot. This is where situational awareness and team work come into play. Scope out the battlefield and asses your enemies. Charge in and it’s probably a foregone conclusion (yeah you’re gonna die.)
One crucial aspect to the game which I mentioned earlier is fatigue. Each renegade has ten item slots. Small items take up one, bulkier items such as armor, shields and two-handed weapons two. So no carrying around a huge arsenal here. Take a strenuous action and/or endure harsh conditions then you mark one off, cross off all ten and you’re dead. Every Renegade has access to magic (which is outlawed), in this case fire. Want to immolate that troublesome NPC then roll as many D6’s as you dare. Note each number separately and tally up the results as follows: 1-3: do that much damage and suffer that much fatigue, 4-5: hit a friend and apologise profusely as they roll up yet another character. 6: Encounter time. It’s brutally effective and could easily spell the end of your Renegade though it’s great for wiping out Skorne’s endless minions. If you manage to dispatch a Tyrant then you gain one hit, so now you can last a little longer…
There’s a useful two-page spread on how a game session might actually flow followed by an appendix covering: game principles and prep, handling violence, character dilemmas, enemy and tyrant creation, world history and creating simple dungeons.
This game is tough and favours the bad guys, however it also favours smart players who, through skill, determination and luck may actually prevail, but don’t count on it. Oh and did I mention you’re gonna die a lot?
🎤Interview with Skorne RPG Creator
Samuel Doebler James shared some brief thoughts with K.J. on making The Laws of Skorne.
What inspired you to create this?
Playing and reading a lot of dark fantasy. Things filled with grit and fighting evil.
For fun: Describe your creation in 10 words or less.
Sauron won, fight evil in diceless combat, prevent the apocalypse.
What was the most rewarding part of the creation process when making this?
The iterative design process. It really feels like the whole project has grown over the years.
If you could go back and do it all over again, what would you do differently in the creation process?
Get started in Affinity Publisher sooner.
What advice or encouragement would you give new creators?
Work on "the project" every day. Even when you're just going through the motions or making small changes. Go through the motions.
Do you have a future creation you can give us any teasers or hints about?
I have three-quarters of a bestiary on my desktop and big plans for the hexcrawl The Campaign of Skorne.
How did you discover tabletop RPGs?
My father, a Lutheran pastor with a deep love for Tolkien.
What other hobbies do you enjoy aside from RPGs?
Reading, playing music.
Favorite RPG items?
Thematic playlists, a common pool of dice, evocative character sheets.
Anything else you want to share about this specific project?
I designed the game I wanted to play, something with teeth that pushed for hard choices in combat. It's all about getting the edge on the enemy and real consequences.
🎫Community Watch Party: The Electric State
I’m considering hosting a watch party for The Electric State (Netflix): Friday, March 14th (exact start time TBA).
Interested? DM me on Substack or leave a comment below to get more details closer to the date. A special group will be set up.
*NOTE: You must have an active Netflix account of your own to join.
🗺️Free Maps from Schlau of Light in Darkness Gaming
Schlau offers the next set of free maps in the current series. Once complete, this entire series of maps will make quite a healthy collection for you to use. Download them via Dropbox here:
If you missed the starting point of this map from the previous newsletter, you’ll find that set along with all previously released free maps in that Dropbox folder. Enjoy!
Stay up-to date with Schlau’s cartography journey (you can join for free!):
🥇Naming of the Hedgehog
On February 15th, I invited folks via Notes to help me name the hedgehog in the Watch Well Games logo.
The winner is Emerson Delaney, who offered the name Thistle. I’ll be sending the info on your prizes very soon (a DriveThruRPG gift card and any one free map of your choice from Schlau of Light in Darkness Gaming).
That’s a wrap. Remember:
Our 50th newsletter is scheduled for Friday, March 27th.
Tomorrow is March 1st. How’d February’s purification challenge go?
I’ll post March’s mini-game in Notes very soon™.
Tips appreciated.
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Skorne sounds very cool. It’s on my wish list now! And welcome Thistle!