In June 2023 we presented the Brinkwood Quick Deal featuring Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants, the Forged in the Dark castlepunk FRPG from Far Horizons Co-op of rebellion against world-dominating vampires. Drink the rich!
The world is not as it should be. The rich feed – literally – upon the poor, as bloodsucking vampires who barely conceal their parasitic nature. The downtrodden people of Cardenfell struggle under the burdens of rent, payable through their toil or their blood. Evil has triumphed – but not all is lost. You are renegades, thieves, and rebels, radicalized by tragedy and struggling now for freedom. Your unlikely allies – the fae, forgotten creatures of myth – offer the means to fight your oppressors. Masks, forged of old wood and older magic, take their price, etching themselves on your very soul; but they also let you spill the blood of the vampires. From that blood you strengthen yourself and your movement.
Brinkwood implements (with minor changes) many Forged in the Dark core systems: action rolls and effect, progress clocks, resources and resupply, consequences and harm, and so on. Brinkwood departs from other Forged games by allowing players to take different roles each session. In one session you might wear the mask of Violence, acting as the bruiser, fighter, or defender of the party. The next, you might wear the mask of Lies, serving as a trickster, diplomat, negotiator, or “face.” No matter your current adventure, you can always participate and contribute fully to the adventure.
Brinkwood blends elements of gothic horror, medievalism, Victorian steampunk, and fantasy. Though medieval in setting, Brinkwood isn’t concerned with historical details so much as aesthetics. Factories, gearworks, Victorian fashion, and other anacrhonisms are set against a backdrop of gloomy castles, old decaying cities, and vaulted gothic architecture. Faeries and other supernatural creatures have been driven back into the darkest forests where few dare tread. The notable exception is vampires.
Brinkwood is “Robin Hood vs. vampires.” Brigands aren’t here to admire the scenery, brood in secret castles, or soliloquize on moral complexity while they drink the blood of virgins from a crystal chalice. This isn’t a game about sympathy for blood-drinkers and oppressors; it’s about staking them through the heart. Brinkwood is about this:
- Joining together, finding unlikely allies, understanding cultures and people that might at first seem alien to you.
- Organizing people. Recruiting in secret. Staging a full-fledged rebellion against the oppressors that drain people, both literally and figuratively, of everything they have.
- Blowing stuff up. Assassinating vampires and their collaborators alike. Planning raids, taking what you need from the stores of your enemies, waging guerrilla war, and slowly but surely growing your movement.
- Navigating the politics of underground resistance and, eventually, revolution. Making hard choices about whose needs to prioritize, and giving voice to a collective, democratic will in a tyrannical world.
- Taking back power for the marginalized, dispossessed, and poor. Putting fear into the hearts of your oppressors. Masking up, spilling blood, and drinking the rich.
There were three titles in our Brinkwood Collection (retail value $55) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the complete Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants corebook, the Brinkwood: Codex rules expansion, and the gory Brinkwood Artbook.
