Friday, February 21, 2025

New TTRPG Forsaken Finds Light In The Darkness Of Oppression

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Designer Kyle Tam (Hit The Road Jack, MORIAH), in partnership with publisher Exalted Funeral, has released a brand new TTRPG about what it means to be a hero.

Forsaken TTRPG cover

Writing: Kyle Tam

Editing: Reilly Qyote

Layout & Design: Sinta Posadas

Logo Design: AJ Duncan

Cover Art: Chalkdown

Forsaken is a game about famed heroes and nameless children, each seeking to define themselves in a world that has condemned them to servitude. Based on the LUMEN system by Spencer Campbell and Belonging Outside Belonging by Avery Alder, it invokes “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by way of Sucker Punch, with players as characters who live and fight in the space between two different worlds. In the City you are children whose misery provides happiness to the outside world, but in the Kingdom you are grand heroes capable of impossible feats. By bonding and cultivating Hope in the City, you are able to fight for your freedom in the Kingdom and master your own fate.

Hope is a flame in the darkness, lighting a path to tomorrow.

You were venerated and celebrated by all. Raised in darkness. Unloved. Tasked to create a paradise for your people, you exist without purpose. Each day spent in ceaseless combat, vanquishing the minions of darkness. Each day spent in mind-numbing misery, longing for something you cannot understand.One hopeful day you received a book and a letter. You had been exiled, accused of a crime not your own. The letter states that you had been a prisoner…that your misery had sustained the happiness of others. What now, then, is your purpose? Who and what will you fight for? Can you ever be truly free?

Forsaken features:

  • A setting inspired by the likes of Sucker Punch and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
  • Two-phase roleplaying, moving between Belonging Outside Belonging socialization and LUMEN-fast combat
  • Four playbooks split between a nameless, lovable child and a named hero of great renown
  • Eight Stories, fairy tales who bestow great power in the realm of the Kingdom
  • Guidance on creating your own scenarios and Stories for Forsaken

Forsaken is available now at the Exalted Funeral website or on itch.io, with the digital version selling for $11.00 and the physical edition going for $18.00.

Images via The Afterthought Committee and Exalted Funeral

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  • Dan Arndt

    Fiction writer, board game fanatic, DM. Has an MFA and isn't quite sure what to do now. If you have a dog, I'd very much like to pet it. Operating out of Indianapolis.

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