Dark Fantasy X

DARK FANTASY X is the signature role-playing game and associated setting of this website. As the name implies, it's a hybrid of swashbuckling sword & sorcery-like fantasy with heavy influences from the noir and horror. Imagine, if you will, combining Robin Hood with Dracula, Clash of the Titans, and the X-Files and you have a pretty good idea of what this will be like. The subtitle for DARK FANTASY X is "fantasy • horror • madness." I admit that swashbuckling action and horror seem like paradoxical goals, but I don't think that's necessarily true. There are a few movies, for example, that hit that vibe fairly well, like The Mummy (the Brendan Frasier one), Van Helsing or Solomon Kane. The Warhammer Fantasy setting and its associated Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game are also similar in their approach, as is the fantasy half of the Black Library catalog of novels and other fiction. I admit it's a somewhat tricky, fine line, but it's not something that's never been done before either. It will also come with variant "Hardcore Mode" rules for those who want a more "grimdark", horror-feeling game and who want that vibe and tone emphasized specifically by the mechanics.

The system I'm using is a very pared down, simple system that follows the original ethos of the mid-70s versions of Dungeons & Dragons, but does not have an overly similar rules system. Rather, the rules are a customized version of the "Microlite 20" or m20 system. This was built originally on the chassis of the d20 Open Game License, but was adopted for a radically different design goal; to be as simple, rules light, and fast to run as possible. Considering that this is in some ways the direct, polar opposite of one of d20's attributes, this may seem like an odd choice, but since one design conceit of d20 was that it be as consistent as possible from a mechanics perspective makes it work out surprisingly well.

The more detailed attributes of the system and setting will be discussed at length (let's be honest; ad nauseum) on the blog, but this page will be where the links to the system document and the setting website will be housed.

I've finished updating the old Dark Heritage 2 game to Dark Fantasy X. Here's the file in pdf. I've decided to go with a simple no graphics look, except for the title page.

Dark Fantasy X (pdf version)

Dark Fantasy X (epub version)