A TTRPG of Dark Fantasy, Demons and the Hands of Fate, powered by a deck of playing cards.
ABBADON The Thirteen Seals is a Tabletop Role Playing Game (TTRPG) with an unusual twist; it uses a standard 54-card deck, including jokers, as the determining factor for character actions.
Abbadon is a dark fantasy RPG that takes a heavy dose of inspiration from the Diablo franchise and a lot of the asthetic look of Darkest Dungeon and Mike Mignola comics. It also uses playing card, your standard deck used for poker for action resolution. It uses four archetypes associated with each suit, each with thre unique skill trees allowing for flexible characters. Fighting demonds, undead and other monsters seeking to stop the rise of the demon lord Abbadon also comes with a share of random loot to make your characters stronger, as well as exp to spend on skills and attributes.
Set in the world of Haven - a dark fantasy world that pays homage to games like Diablo and Darkest Dungeon - players are tasked with taking control of ill-fated and grim heroes, who must battle hordes of undead creatures, monsters, and demons, to prevent the looming darkness from spilling forth upon the world.
This darkness comes in the form of Abbadon, the Lord of Demons himself. In order to ensure their victory, these brave souls will have to explore the depths beneath cities, long forgotten temples and caverns, where they can only hope to find ancient artefacts belonging to Abbadon's loyal servants, or even earn themselves some fortune in gold or magical items that will help aid them along their treacherous journey.
Playing cards seemed like the perfect option, since they are easily accessible and most households likely have them on hand.
The use of cards provides an additional element in the comparison with dice because everyone at the table is impacted each time one is drawn from the deck; particularly when players may be hoping for particular ones. Suits and face cards also provide some interesting variation and allow for a system with multiple levels of success.
All of the actions in the game are resolved by hands of cards, which the Fate Weaver,often referred to as the Weaver (Abbadon's term for GM), will deal whenever a player character intends on performing an action. The default amount of cards they receive is two, regardless of expertise, and the aim is to get a total score of 13, in order for the action to be successful. However, the target number and number of cards will vary, depending on the PC's level of skill and other elements, such as equipment, conditions and situation.
This game offers 4 unique archetypes, that each bring with them diverse talents and abilities, and each is tied to a specific suit within the card deck. It is the will of the Fates that they band together to battle against the evil forces that lurk here.
Elementalists are formidable wielders of Fire, Water and Air magic. Drawing on forces of nature, they can generate fierce flames to burn their foes, call forth oppressive ocean waves to crush any obstacles in their path or conjure a spectacular lightning storm to strike down those who dare oppose them.
Hexxing are feared and reviled, due to whispers of their arts being shrouded in mystery and dark sorcery. These practitioners of dark magic speak to spirits of death through necromancy, manipulate the forces of fate through hexes and moirai, and are known to engage in bloody sacrifices for tremendous acts of devastation towards those who oppose them.
Stalkers hunt in the the wild places of the world of Haven, which have always been dangerous. These individuals have made it their duty to slay the monsters that roam there. Those that have witnessed one of them at work, have claimed that they can move through shadows, slay many enemies from afar with a hail of arrows, or bolts, and that the monsters that they hunt are hindered by the presence of cunning traps.
Faithful are those that stand in the darkness as a beacon of light. They are those who worship the dual deities of the sun and moon and are a blessing to those that they protect, wielding the powers of light like a weapon, enduring blows that would befall others, while seemingly getting stronger and using prayer to uplift those around them.
It may not be possible to ship very heavy items outside of the Mainland UK.
Released: 06 July 2024
