Deathtrap Lite, Preview 1: The Devouring Wilds

"Coffin" by Vera Petruk; ©Vera Petruk,
Licensed through Shutterstock

As my regular readers might know, I have been working non-stop for two weeks now on my own TTRPG, which I am calling Deathtrap Lite. It started out with me trying to help my Low-Fantasy Gaming GM, Stephen Smith, revamp the alternative skill system he is using for our campaign... and I ended up writing something radically different out of it.

I have been trying to cram everything I like in both OSR and Minimalist rules systems into something a little different. It is crunchier than most modern minimalist games. At the same time, where it borrows from older OSR games, it streamlines, simplifies, and unifies everything that really worked about B/X and AD&D.

I would characterize it as light, but with more crunch than some of the indie OSR games I enjoy.

Where I am most proud of it, however, is in the places where I am making sure my own ideas are showing through, like the Wilderness Survival chapter, which has a system for managing overland travel that makes sure that no matter how tough your PCs are, trying to survive in the wilderness is potentially lethal.

I am so proud of this section, that I intend to make an advanced version of it as a sourcebook if this game is popular enough to warrant one.

So, to show you what I have been working on, I am setting down at least parts of eight chapters of my book so that you have enough to make a character, handle non-combat and non-magic tasks, and explore the wilderness using version 0.30 of the Deathtrap Lite engine. (I will confess: I am already making tweaks) You will probably find that it is not at all difficult to make it work with an OSR system. I wanted to make sure that before I shared it with you, I could give you something PLAYABLE.

You are, of course, missing out on Magic, combat, alchemy, madness, addiction, grisly wounds and healing, monsters, traps, and treasures... and three of the four PC classes here.

Grab it for free on DrivethruRPG

(I made it PWYW just in case you want to keep me caffeinated and get the game out faster.)