Kriegsmesser Zine
A downloadable game
Kriegsmesser is a tabletop RPG zine that was created for #zinequest 2021. It was inspired by history (cca. 1453-1630) and roleplaying games named after medieval weapons.
Its focus are 36 backgrounds compatible with Troika by Melsonian Arts Council, but it comes with a set of custom rules and can be played standalone.
Also includes some essays, GM tools, random tables, rules for horrible injuries, recommended media and a bunch of historical woodcut art.
What is it not?
- It's not a historical game as such, it's fairly anachronistic and sparse on detail.
- It is not high fantasy with evil gods and orcs and wizards and pirate elves on lizard mounts.
[Print copies are now sold out.]
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $8 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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Currently playing a campaign of this right now, using a lightly modified version of Skerples’ Kidnap the Archpriest as the starting scenario. Having an absolute blast! Some highlights of the campaign so far:
-our Apothecary poisoning the Black Endoguard’s food, causing them to violently puke and crap themselves.
-our Graverobber getting the heretical archbishop (and possible messiah?) addicted to laudanum.
-our Vermin Snatcher getting his nose chopped off in a fight and the Barber-Surgeon and Starving Artist working together to make him a prosthetic nose to wear.
-getting into a carriage chase and fight scene with robber-knight Ritter Lokus, where Lokus fell to the ground and then got his face stepped on by Peaches the Rented Horse. Peaches then proceeded to trip, fall, and immediately die of catastrophic organ failure.
That sounds amazing! Really glad you're having a good time with the game.
Question:
Will physical copies ever comeback? If not I guess I'll have to do with the pdf. Thank you.
Hi, no plans for another print run in the near future, sorry.
I really want to make a revised version first and add more content (as well as update several older projects), but I simply haven't had any time to work on games at all. PDF will remain the only option for the foreseeable future.
Question:
In combat, do characters without a combat skill roll two dice to attack and take the lowest? I would have assumed that, except that you say that the least skilled NPCs roll one die.
Hi, yeah, the NPCs and PCs don't really follow the same rules and the game is discouraging combat for its own sake, so it's always supposed to be dangerous. The PCs do have Luck on their side though, which should generally get them out of a bad spot when necessary. I think having untrained/wounded or otherwise disadvantaged NPCs roll two dice and pick lowest is a valid call though. A lot of the combat rules are optional toggles anyway.
Ah, okay. I was wondering whether Luck was the advantage. Thank you so much for responding.
And what a great game. Thank you for creating it.
Hey Gregor, just got the pdf version. Really loving the style and simplicity of it. Gonna run a game of it tomorrow, but I do have a question about optional combat rules: do you get a minimum damage of 1 when attacking armored foes? It's not specified but I feel that without it armored PCs (or foes) can become almost completely immune to damage.
Hi,
the intent is that there's no minimum damage, but all weapons can theoretically deal enough dmg to bypass armour if you roll enough sixes on your mighty blow.
I know that's pretty brutal, but I wanted an armour system that was "realistic" and "unfair" in the sense that if you only have a dagger and you're facing someone in full plate, you should probably reconsider the situation rather than trying to stab them.
This is really cool. Maybe I overlooked this, but how does a PC recover "toughness points"?
On further thought, I'm thinking that by not having toughness points replenish, the game takes on a more scary tone. Low toughness points may even represent characters taking on mental trauma and being afraid of combat.
I loved it! I'm already thinking about hacking. Is there a license for this? ^^
Hi! There's no explicit licence but you can essentially consider it CC-BY. I'm ok with people hacking it, remixing it, writing materials for it as long as some credit/attribution is given to the previous work.
Wonderful. ^^
Hey, any chance you would be willing to add that text to the PDF? Just to make it official
I'd love to update the pdf, but I've just been really strapped for time recently. I'll get to it when I can.
No problem, thanks!
I’ve just received my print copy. I had no idea it was coming from Slovenia, a country of which I am only vaguely aware but believe to be in Europe.
I’ve only read the mediography so far but will delve into the rules themselves shortly. It’s fair to say there’s no likelihood of being intimidated by their length.
Hi Gregor, I was reading the pdf and wandering what is the difference between the skill Notice and Awarness. Can you give me an example in play? Thanks a lot!
They are really quite interchangeable as far as their result goes, and it's mostly a flavour thing regarding the action and description. In my head, Awareness can be used for a more general awareness of your surroundings and situation, while Notice is about spotting odd details that stand out.
Or if you want a more technical definition, Awareness is a "save" roll that the GM can call for when the PCs are heading for a disaster ("So you just wander into the tomb? Ok, anyone got Awareness?") and Notice is a "move" roll that the players can call for when they want more information ("Do I notice anything strange about him as he says that? Is he lying?"). If that distinction doesn't make sense, you can conflate the two without any complications.
Perfect!!
I have just bought a print copy, my first ever purchase from itch, having discovered Kriegsmesser only today through the Glatisant newsletter. I’m in the UK and VAT was added, though I think only to the PDF portion of the price. I assume this is because PDF’s are regarded as software, whereas printed books and magazines are exempt from VAT, so this is presumably correct.
While it doesn’t pertain to this purchase, the collection of VAT at the point of purchase since Brexit has been very flawed in my experience, at least as far as eBay goes. I’ve had to pay it on imported items whose cost is below the threshold of £15, and also seen it applied to print items, and whenever I’ve queried it with the seller have received no response. Broaching the issue with eBay, which appears to be entirely staffed by bots these days, would require more energy than I have, and would almost certainly be futile. Thankfully, from what I can tell, it is being correctly handled here.
Apologies for the rant. I’m looking forward to receiving the zine.
Hi, yeah, itch does all that stuff automatically on their end and I have no control over it, I just put the zines into envelopes and ship them off. So I would hope they are doing it right. :)
hi ive never bought anything on itch. i dont read pdfs so i bought the print copy but i was confused by the process and wanted to make sure it went through . thanks.
Hi, yes, I got your order! I will be shipping out a new batch later this week.
That's great thank you.
How do we reach out to you to provide our shipping address for the physical?
same
My bad, see above.
How should I give you my address?
There should be a form in itch when you make the order. If you can't find or access it, please send me an email to gregor.vuga1 (at) gmail (dot) com.
I received it months ago, and I'm just dropping in to say that this is awesome, awesome work. Thanks very much!
Me too. Don't see the usual link to the address field after purchasing
My bad, see above.
ditto!
My bad, see above.
Yeah, it was my first time setting up a physical product on itch and I messed up. I'll message you all about the address.
If I want a physical copy, should I just order using the main link like the others did? Or is there a better way to do it?
It's the best way for now, I just need to jump through some extra hoops to get your address, so it's more work for me.
This is incredible. Got Handegg for Knave ended up purchasing this after seeing how Beautifully slim and approachable it was. Absolutely wonderful art, some wonderful writing from the creator. Grounded and avoidant of violence with plenty of background for people to tell a realistic-realistichish tale with some wonderful spark tables. New fave.
Thank you, that is extremely kind. <3
It turned out super good I think. Very glad I backed it. Cheers.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Just finished reading and already loving it, I'll be bringing it to the table soon! Wonderful!
Great, let me know how it goes! Thank you for the support.