Not really a Wyrd of the Week or specifically content for The Hero's Journey 2e, I wanted to talk for a bit about Castigant: Gothic Roleplaying in a Time of Inquisition. As the title suggests it is a gothic-fantasy roleplaying game that focuses on the strength and sorrow that can come from those in a place of spiritual and communal power. I wanted to give readers a sense of what the game will include and how it relates to THJ2e.
Castigant and The Hero's Journey 2e
Both games are rooted in the same foundation of rules. The attributes and how they are generated are the same and the game relies heavily on a d20 roll to resolve combat and conflict resolution. Characters still have Endurance, Saving Throws, Archetypes (and specific abilities associated with those Archetypes), Defense, Reduction Value, and the like. Anyone who has played or read The Hero's Journey 2e will be very comfortable with Castigant.
Differences will become readily apparent. Combat and movement are a bit more abstracted. Initiative becomes a static score based on a combination of elements of a character. Movement and range are abstracted into Melee, Near, and Far. Grievous Wounds are expanded a bit. Characters no longer earn Myth Points as they advance in levels. Heirlooms are replaced by four types of magical items: Blessed, Relics, Sacramentals, and Talismans. Magic itself functions in a manner entirely different from what is found in The Hero's Journey 2e. Characters either draw upon the holy strength of Intercessions or the infernal power of hellish Incantation - and any character who uses such magic will find themselves under heavy obligations and risking terrible consequences. Finally, and perhaps most shockingly, the game does not use an Experience Point system for advancement and player characters can only advance to 5th level.
Player Characters
In addition to introducing five new Archetypes (Metaphysician, Pilgrim, Reliquary, Scapegrace, and Soul-Bound) and two optional Archetypes (Dhampir and Inquisitor). All characters are presumed to be human. But perhaps more importantly, is a character's Social Class. Whether Wretched, Commoner, or Aristocrat, their Social Class plays a huge role in who their character is. This includes their profession, what avenues are available to them in society, their income, and even how they are treated by the law.
Each player character begins play with a Sorrow - a personal tragedy that has an indelible impact on them that they have yet to overcome either materially or psychologically. A character's Archetype, Social Class, and Sorrow mingle to create a character with depth and purpose without becoming weighed down by excessive rules.
Community and Inquisition
There is no hard and fast setting in Castigant. Instead, it is set in the nebulous realm known as the Forsaken Domain. Akin to late 18th to early 19th century Europe in technology, the greater unifying element of this loose setting is a land of hamlets, villages, and cities that are ruled over by a religious Hierarchy that rules through fear. Whether the faithful live in fear of the very real horrors that lay beyond the bounds of their civilization or the secret evil in the hearts of their fellow parishioners, dark secrets and dreaded locations haunt each community and the Hierarchy teaches that Inquisition is the only way to root out this evil. Player characters, strangers who travel between communities and have strange abilities and powers, can become hated by the very people they are hoping to save if they fail an Inquisition Saving Throw in the wrong moment.
Castigant: Gothic Roleplaying in a Time of Inquisition is a game that I'm very excited to see coming to life and look forward to sharing more with you in the the days to come. We're aiming for an Autumn 2022 for PDF/digital release with both hardcover and softcover print-on-demand digest sized physical books to follow soon after. Stay tuned, because until it's release I hope to talk more and more about what makes this game so very special.
