Time is blurry...

I am sorry that the Release of Bleak will be delayed for a while still.

I am finishing the text for the first draft publish and will share it soon, I'd say within about two weeks. Hang in tight, because i am pouring a lot of love into  it!

Violent Confrontation in Bleak

The concept for Bleak came after I played some Sekiro. I really liked the poise break mechanic and I figured that if it was a ttrpg, blackjack would be a great analog for it.

So I figured I could do blackjack with d6s. It took me forever to write the rules in a satisfying way but I finally managed. The section is a little beefy but I chose to favour thoroughness over minimalism because I would love players that are not very experienced with ttrpgs to pick it up.

I did consider using Cezar Capacle's PUSH for it, since the mechanics are LEAN, but the issue is that I wanted players to get the feeling of picking "builds" that did different things and with blackjack there is a lot of room to mess with the rolls.

Quick summary

In case you are not familiar with it, blackjack has a player challenge a dealer. In Bleak, those are the Harbinger, the player character, and the Foe, respectively. The dealer has a default procedure, that allows a player to play solo or coop.

We follow a set of 4 turns per Round. The winner strikes the loser's Hit Box. When you have no hit boxes left, you die, same for your Foe.

Player archetypes

There are 6 archetypes, such as bulwark, ranged, and mobile. I decided against a granular list of weapons and armour because I felt that would bloat the game. Instead you pick an archetype that will allow you to make special moves in a confrontation round. Then you describe what that looks like for you. You can have a second archetype as a backup that you can change into between rounds.

I also am working on a set of consumables that you get to use suck as healing items, explosives and other things.

If not now, when?

I know better than set a date right now. Bleak turned out to be a lot more challenging than expected but I aim to have a playable draft within the next two weeks or so. I can forego layout until the game is actually formed and good to play.

I ask kindly for your patience as I work through it. I promise it will be well worth it.

Next devlog - worldbuilding

Next one will be about the core concept and why I chose to have players journal their own lore in Bleak.