WARDEN

WILL BE RELEASED UNDER ORC LICENSE

WARDEN was successfully funded on Backerkit!

MORE THAN JUST FANTASY

WARDEN is a Cinematic and Genre-Agnostic d20 RPG, built on the bones of Pathwarden. It takes many features of Pathfinder 2e and blends them with mechanics from various other games, ranging from PbtA (Powered by the Apocalypse) to OSR (Old School Renaissance), and everything in between.

It's a fresh take on the d20 and the system surrounding it, taking features from all around to create a robust ruleset you can use for pretty much anything.

If you want it to run your 1980s B horror campaign, it can do that. Anything from Fantasy and Sci-Fi to mundanity of real life, crimes of the 1920s to the high seas of the Age of Sail. Everything is doable with this toolkit, using the familiar d20+Mod rules and having robust options for building characters and settings alike.

What does it do?

WARDEN is designed to be a branching game that expands from a simple core, that being the d20 + Modifier rolls. 

• Cinematic Action: The game has various Abilities that allow characters to do incredible stunts and narratively satisfying activities, many of which are often direct or indirect references to tropes and scenes in video games, movies, anime, and other media.
• Level-based: Each level you gain new Abilities, Feats, Skills, to the maximum of 10th level.
• Proficiency-based: Your level is added to your Proficiency (the modifier found in all d20 rolls), and the proficiency ranks are rated +1 to +5. There are no attributes added on top of them.
• Campaign Map: A nodular map mechanic where players can follow their own goals, thwart threats and uncover secrets.
• Not all combat: The game provides rules for handling various different gameplay styles, ranging from investigation and combat to social intrigue and exploration.
• Built with its own tools: The game provides tools for creating everything homebrew you might need: Items, settings, creatures, you name it. Additionally, the content within the game follows the guidelines set by itself.
• Tech Levels: Build a setting using tech levels, determining the campaign's tech level from Classical to Futuristic. 
  
• Setting Alterations: Hone in on specific features of a setting, such as Magic, Magitech, Superpowers or Bionics. These are easy to integrate and use with each other. So you can easily make an ancient greek fantasy setting with futuristic steampunk tech if you want.

Why Warden?

WARDEN is an honest, setting-agnostic d20 game, that is designed with gameplay in mind first, and is suitable for both new players and older players that just want the damn thing to work like it should.

Setting-building and the subsequent character-building are both relatively simple and easy, but with a lot of options to go for. The Ability-Feat progression is like a massive tree with a lot of branches where you can situate your character. There are no arbitrary barriers for creating a character, since all Abilities are available to players from the get-go.

The gameplay is designed to be simpler and easier than the biggest d20 games in the market, while still having as much if not more meaningful options at any point during the game, be it during conflicts or while leveling up. The game's Campaign Map system also fosters an open-ended gameplay experience naturally, without the facilitators (called Game Wardens) needing to come up with a massive sandbox on the fly or prep for hours on end for all possible eventualities.

The game also provides a large amount of guidance for both players and Game Wardens to play the game, even outside of the ramifications of the game itself, including things like scheduling, table etiquette and how to keep things rolling. The game even provides an incentive for player characters to talk among each other, which can be a struggle for many players.

Playtest

The Playtest version of the game is in open development, and will stay so for as long as the playtest lasts, gaining minor updates and new artworks as it progresses. 

COMMUNITY

You can join the vibrant Discord community for the game to get the latest news and come banter about it!