A dive into the grimdark, with Dan Master’s rules-light d20 system.
Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons are great systems; they have a tonne of lore, settings, skills, races, feats… and rules. Excellent if you want that blend of wargaming and roleplaying, but not always the best choice if you care more about the roleplay. This is where games like Deathbringer shine.
Deathbringer comes in two flavours – a minimalist 1-page, and a more fleshed-out version available on Patreon. I will be covering the deluxe edition; there’s a bit more to get your teeth into.
What is Deathbringer?
Deathbringer states that it’s not so much a game as it is a kit to adapt your chosen 5e or OSR system. You can certainly use it that way, but it contains more than enough to stand on its own two feet. You don’t need a battle map, and you can fit the rules of import on a single sheet of paper. Outside of the basic rules, you are encouraged to use your own initiative and make rulings on the fly.
This resonated strongly with our group. We love fantasy settings, daring exploits, and overcomplicated schemes; what we don’t like is 200-page instruction manuals. After all, when you’ve played a lot of RPGs and know the common mechanics – can’t you just make it up as you go along? Yes, yes you can.
The Deathbringer world is harsh and unforgiving. Magic users are uncommon, feared, powerful, and quite likely to blow themselves up. Combat is deadly and generally to avoided unless the odds are in your favour. Negative hit points result in a death from which there is no return.
Character creation
As with most RPGs, there are six stats – Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha. There is however none of that base stat and modifier nonsense. Your number is your number, and it can be between 0 and 6. Roll 3d6 six times and use the results to determine your scores – 0 (3-12), 1 (13-15), 2 (16-17), 3 (18). You may assign the results to whichever abilities suit.
Hit points start at 10 + Con, so they will never exceed 16. Defence is 10 + Agi + armour. That’s it – you’re done! On to character classes.
Classes
Come up with your own creation that suits your fancy (assuming GM approval), or pick from one of five suggested classes.
Fighter
The classic armed archetype; you hit things with heavy objects. The defining characteristics are the ability to hit a second foe after a kill, and the option of using a Deathbringer die (covered later) to make another attack. There are a few suggested types of fighter to consider, but those are just for flavour. Fighters cannot use magical wands, scrolls, etc.
Thief
Another popular RPG class. You can backstab for additional damage and gain advantage (roll twice and take the highest) when performing roguish actions. Such actions may include sneaking, pickpocketing, disarming a trap, or picking a lock. Thiefs are limited to light armour; anything heavier results in them becoming naff fighters.
Magic user
You’re a wizard, Harry! You start with three spells, and any spells you know are tattooed on your body. Critical fails result in bad things happening, and there’s a chance you will simply explode. Oh, and magic is generally illegal in civilised society. No armour of any kind for you.
Witch hunter
You are Van Helsing, and can treat people’s wounds, grant defensive bonuses, and make the undead run away. You don’t like magic users; you probably don’t like anything different to you. You’re a misanthropic, intolerant xenophobe – I picked this class for Brad’s campaign.
Plague doctor
You can heal and cure ailments, but you can also create kickass potions. Suggested potion effects are listed, ranging from sleeping gas to simple bombs – you can also come up with your own creations. This class looks like a lot of fun.
Background
Now roll some dice and use the tables to create your character’s background. This decides the following:
- Birthplace – A haunted hamlet, plague-infected city, decaying farming village, etc.
- Misery – Such as disinherited, defrauded, condemned.
- Parent’s fate – Were they burned at the stake or did they sell you for coin?
- Sibling’s fate – Starving, murdered, estranged?
- True love – Wrongly executed, drowned, died by your hand?
As you can see, your character’s background is full of warmth, happiness, and good times.
Equipment
The usual assortment of armour and weapons are available, but there are also firearms such as a blunderbuss. Guns, much like magic, pose a risk to their user – they do decent damage but may misfire and result in lost fingers. They also take 6 rounds to reload, so you’d probably only use them once per combat. The fancy items are very expensive, so you may not live long enough to save up the coin.
Deathbringer Dice
Characters start the session with one d6 Deathbringer die per level. These allow you to block or deal additional damage, but you can also add them to any d20 roll. Multiple dice can be used in one round, so you could save them up for when it really counts. For example, adding two dice to your attack roll and one to your damage, or simply adding three to your damage.
Combat
There are three combat zones – Melee, Ranged, and Out of Range. Use your imagination to figure out where everyone starts. Players can choose from the following actions:
- Move two zones
- Move one zone and attack
- Aim and fire
- Cast a spell
- Bravely run away
Spell casters and archers can move from Out of Range to Ranged and still attack. I assume this is intended only for the first round of combat. Melee attacks are Str vs Def, ranged attacks are Agi vs def, and spellcasting is Int vs 10. These are all d20 plus your modifier. Ranged and melee damage is your weapon damage (1d4,1d8, etc) plus your skill modifier.
Critical hits are double damage. Critical fails are very bad news. With a ranged or melee attack you might shatter your sword, hit a party member, or run out of arrows – there’s a table to roll against, but the GM should probably just decide in the moment. Critical fails for spellcasting are another matter entirely – you could summon a monster that tries to bite off your head, age 20 years, or simply explode in a shower of gore. You also gain a point of corruption.
There are various tips for handling large encounters, when to grant advantage/disadvantage, etc. There is also the recommendation that you “keep it moving”. If you don’t know the appropriate mechanic off the top of your head, make it up! If it sounds about right then it’s fine; you don’t need to pore over the rules and interrupt gameplay.
Corruption
Characters gain corruption points when they do something evil. Murdering the innocent or neglecting to help those in need are such examples. Players should be given the heads up that their actions will cause corruption – it cannot be removed or even reduced. Bad deeds will live on with your forever. Magic users gain one point every time they roll a one (critical fail) when casting a spell.
What happens when you have too many corruption points? You guessed it – bad things. You gain a mutation at six points, and for every point thereafter. The mutation is decided with a d20 roll, and may result in a craving for brains, ageing d20 years, growing demonic horns, or other such delights.
System thoughts
Deathbringer is an excellent framework for running a DnD-style game. The ruleset is uncomplicated and never gets in the way of play; you are actively encouraged to make stuff up as appropriate. At £4 for a month of Patron membership, it’s also very attractively priced. You may ask yourself why you need such a minimal system to run a game. You don’t; you could just call for rolls of an arbitrary DC and adopt the rule of cool. But it’s nice to have a basic system as a starting point, and it sets player expectations.
I would encourage anyone who puts roleplay above mechanics and enjoys a grimdark setting to check Deathbringer out. It’s fast and it’s fun – a winning combination.