Posts by lord mordeth

The simple rules for rope in Torchbearer’s gear chapter are perfectly suitable for most campaigns, but rope has a special place in the pantheon of adventuring gear. Just like torches and rations, a...

The Delver's Guide to Surviving the Underworld is a FREE expansion to The Vagrant's Guide, brought to you by Jared Sorensen of Memento Mori Theatricks. If you backed the Kickstarter or bought a PDF...

Have you been sitting around waiting for one of your friends to ask you to help them move? Well, wait no more. Using these advanced hauling rules, you can now get all the fun and excitement of moving...

The Vagrant’s Guide to Surviving the Wild is a Torchbearer Sagas supplement for travelers in the wilderness. The nearby ruins are now emptied—picked clean by freebooters and ne’er-do-wells who...

Loyal followers, we have more projects in the works than ever! If you want to stay on top of the latest Mordite Monday posts, crowd-funding announcements and product releases, you should submit to...

The Kickstarter for The Grind Turn 2: Mistvale Nights is thriving. There's still time to support this spooky gothic horror gazetteer-style adventure! On this week's Mordite Monday, let me tell you a...

The Kickstarter campaign for our new book, The Vagrant's Guide to Surviving the Wild is now live! Over 140 pages of mounts, new classes, gear, spells and prayers, monsters... a little of everything...

Mordite legions, today we launch our Kickstarter campaign for our new book, The Vagrant's Guide to Surviving the Wild. Over 140 pages of mounts, new classes, gear, spells and prayers, monsters... a...

Mark your calendars for Monday, October 7th. On that hallowed date, Mordite press will launch a Kickstarter campaign for our new book, The Vagrant's Guide to Surviving the Wild. Over 140 pages of...

Mark your calendars for Monday October 7th. In one week, Mordite press will launch a Kickstarter campaign for our new book, The Vagrant's Guide to Surviving the Wild. Over 140 pages of mounts, new...

Experienced delvers know that Torchbearer's conditions are much more than a hit point meter. Each condition is a strategic restriction, an averted twist, a roleplaying cue, and experience points in...

Certain magic items possess an animating spirit. These driven and often malevolent spirits work through magic to bring about their own goals, utilizing their mortal owners as pawns to this end.

A new optional rule for managing advanced Torchbearer relationships.

A new 'bulk resources' rule for buying whole batches of items.

Transmogrification 5TH CIRCLE SPELL (Vitalis) Tapping into the shared origins of all life, the vitalist rearranges muscle, bone, and sinew into the form of whatever creature suits their whims.

MyNamesArt has been active in the Torchbearer community for a while now, and he's started streaming some Torchbearer content! Check out his Twitch here and give him a follow. In this installment, he...

Previously in the Master's Manual we have explored how to balance a session, how to estimate the difficulty of obstacles, how to gauge the relative power of monsters, and how to make sense of unusual...

Conflicts handle a variety of pivotal moments in Torchbearer: arguments, contests, and struggles of will, daring chases or escapes, and more. While the rulebook thoroughly explores “Fight”-style...

"To snuff out a life with a word... any so-called archmage who would pervert the art to such heresy is unworthy of the title." — Gambinster the Red

Another glimpse into the forbidden grimoire...

One of the coolest features of the conflict system in Torchbearer is that it can be applied to almost any chaotic, dramatic scene— not just fights! However, many of the other conflict types receive a...

In Torchbearer— as in B/X Dungeons & Dragons— magic spells are highly self-contained things. They give you all the rules you need to use them, and they only very rarely note how they might...

Behold, a vision in my scrying orb... there are brave scholars who pray for guidance as they pore through the ancient tomes. Those calls shall not go unanswered.

I just finished editing some awesome upcoming Magician and Elf spells for our Kickstarter-funded, Zine Quest, Mordite Press presents: The Grind, a Torchbearer Zine. But what about the humble (or...

Mordite Press is playing through Shane King’s adventure Floating Castle Ardmor, which is available for free under the Dungeoneers license. The adventure is still in its “alpha” playtesting phase, so...

Mordite Press presents a new Torchbearer class for heartless players and GMs: the Orc Warmonger (PDF).

In Part II, we discussed Obstacles and how to evaluate what obstacles were challenging for a given party. Today we're going to look at versus tests and monsters, and how to gauge just how dangerous a...

In Part I we discussed how skill and ability tests against obstacles are only a part of Torchbearer’s overall flow. A lot hangs on how the GM presents information to the players and the choices that...

The Torchbearer rulebook has solid advice on running the game, and I recommend periodically re-reading it as your Torchbearer campaign unfolds. Specific headings like Describe to Live and...

As the Torchbearer rulebook helpfully explains, the magician is the most complicated class in the game. A close reading and mastery of the spell rules is necessary to get the most out of playing a...

Nature is one of the most abstract rules in the Torchbearer RPG. You could, in theory, play many sessions without rolling it at all. Even so, a lot of the other mechanics hang from it, and once...

Some time ago, I presented Jared Sorensen (Memento Mori Theatricks) with a notion: his Specialist class rules should be used to enable depraved Torchbearer magicians and clerics to attain Lichdom.

The most monstrous of holidays draws near, and so this Mordite Monday is a Monster! Following on Thor's example on the official Torchbearer Blog—which introduced and reproduced stat blocks for...

Dwarven thieves, half-orc paladins, dark elf striders; some adventurers become more than just an exemplar of their heritage. You’ve rebelled against your upbringing, taking on a profession that’s...

It’s been five years since the Kickstarter for the Torchbearer RPG. There have been a lot of developments since then, both through official BWHQ products and the open Torchbearer Sagas License. While...

A hooded stranger stumbles into the tavern from the rain-soaked streets bearing news of a quest. It slowly draws back its hood to reveal it's the Mordite Press Blog! Every Monday we'll post an...