WARDEN

WILL BE RELEASED UNDER ORC LICENSE

Backerkit Campaign opens on January 14th!

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.

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 scales low, but the various Abilities allow characters to do incredible stunts and narratively satisfying activities.
• Level-based: Each level you gain new Abilities, Feats, Skills, to the maximum of 10th level, when you gain an unique Capstone Ability. 
• Proficiency-based: Your level is added to your Proficiency (the modifier found in all d20 rolls), which is rated in three ranks: Trained, Expert and Master.
• 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 the vast majority of abilities (save for the kind of intentionally broken Capstone Abilities) are available to players from Step 1.

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 game during the game. 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.

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

WARDEN's playtest version will be open until the game is in a finished state. The playtest version lacks art, editing, and some extraneous features, but it is the same game for the most part.

The Archetype mechanic will be turned into an optional feature in the final game, alongside a handful of other fixes that will come.