Lichcraft
A downloadable game
Physical copies of lichcraft are available at my own store, Twelve Pins Press, here!
The Year is 2069...
The setting is Great Britain. The Tories have been in power since 2010.
Due to National Health Service cuts, trans healthcare has become increasingly hard to access. The waiting list for a first appointment at a gender identity clinic is now 300 years. They don’t want to outright refuse you; that would imply that the health service is over capacity or underfunded. Instead they will simply add you to the end of the list and wait for you to die.
But they are fools. For you have learned the secrets of immortality. And you will get to the end of that waiting list, even if it means waiting another millennium...
This is a game about spite, necromancy, being trans, and a 300 year long NHS waiting list. Although the game itself deals with serious themes, it is set up to be tongue-in-cheek, satirical, super queer, and intimate.
Content note: this game contains discussions of the difficulties surrounding trans healthcare, which may be a sensitive topic.
Lichcraft is a rules-light tabletop RPG set up to be played with 2 or more players. The play is inspired by Forged in the Dark systems, with a simple D6-pool resolution mechanic. Instead of choosing classes or players, characters begin by choosing their politics, hobby, day job, and magical source, and use attributes from these to add to their dice rolls.
Give this game a try if you like dystopian settings, collaborative world-building and play, magic wielding queer characters, interesting and individualistic ways of spellcasting, and undeath as a metaphor for... something.
As seen on Kickstarter and Dicebreaker
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $10 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Free copies
Free copies!
Development log
- Physical CopiesSep 01, 2021
- Whole New PDF!Jul 09, 2021
Comments
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This page is the best pitch for a TTRPG i've ever read
Amazing game! The game gives a lot of good prompts and suggests for character creation and world building you can follow, but allows enough flexibility that you can do whatever you want in it! It’s very fun and I can’t wait to play it more! It clearly is a game you can play many times and have it feel like a different story each time.
The rules are clear. The print quality is good, and had amazing artwork inside. I’m truly in love with this game
I'm a big dummy and had a misspelling in my email address when I purchases a physical copy. Is there any way to get in touch and rectify this?
Hi there, please email me your address at oconnelgames@gmail.com. Thanks so much for getting in touch, I was worried about what to do about my emails bouncing!
Well, I laughed and oofed in about equal measure reading the various intros and tables in this.
It's simple and sweet, yet cutting and accosting. Like a candy cane that you've been sucking on, and suddenly realised you've inadvertently sharpened into a spike, where upon it is promptly driven directly into your heart. So the style gets three candy-coated bleeding black hearts of approval!
As for the system itself, its bare bones but its a good framework. The prompts are few in number, but evocative and set the style well enough to easily add your own. The mechanics are light and direct, needing little more than a handful of d6 and a post-it note for reference, so new players will find it easy to grapple with.
First time GMs may need to do a little more work, but there's an excellent examples of play section to get them up to speed (an oft omitted feature, so kudos there). I would advice any GM to pay close attention to the questions that are asked at the end should your player/s achieve lichdom. They're not an afterthought, and make up the soul of the game. So it pays to be mindful of them when weaving scenes and obstacles during play itself.
Overall this is perfect for a one-shot, and the many alternative settings at the end of book help cater to that exact usage, it is truly ripe for riffing off of and expanding (I know I will).
What has actually been delivered though is usable, funny, and more than enough to get you started without being overwhelming. Worth looking at for seasoned gamers or new starts alike, if only for the sparks of dark-humoured inspiration it will no doubt ignite!
If you want pure British Black Humour bliss with enough wit and charm to teach you something then Litchcraft is the game for you! Genuinely one of the cleverest games I have ever had the pleasure to read and Laurie as a creator is great even coming on my tiny podcast! This is definitely something you should love and support!
This game is incredibly smart and charming! All of the tables are super helpful. The rules are both clear and simple. I feel like I'd easily be able to GM this game with zero prep. Also the art is so delightful! Highly recommend.
The character sheet is very cute! I really like everything about this game
I love this game!
Minor note: When playing it, we used grave dirt instead of mummy wrappings since that seemed pretty sketchy.
I'm really glad you liked it! And I'm glad that people are changing up the rollable tables to suit them too.
I might edit that actually next time I update the game doc.
I really appreciated the personal touch this game has. It feels like it would be a great game to play on a date. Intimate, cute, and a total blast.
! thank you!