Lichcraft

What do you do when the waiting list is longer than your lifespan? You become immortal, obviously. Lichcraft is a darkly funny, rules-light tabletop roleplaying game about trans necromancers who turn to forbidden magic so they can outlive the queue.

It’s set in a satirical near-future Britain in 2069, where years of cuts have left the NHS struggling and gender clinic waiting times have stretched to an absurd 300 years. Your characters have found a loophole: lichdom. With a bit of necromancy you can wait it out, cheat death and finally make it to the front of the line. The game uses humour to take on a serious subject, mixing spite, sorcery, solidarity and very British bureaucracy into something sharp, silly and heartfelt.

The rules are quick to learn. The system is inspired by Forged in the Dark, so you build a pool of six-sided dice and roll it to see how things go. There are no classes. Instead you build your character from four parts: their politics, a hobby, their day job and the source of their magic. Each one adds dice when it’s relevant. Prompts and tables help your group build the world and your characters together, which makes it a great pick for a one-shot or a short campaign with friends.

Laurie O’Connell designed the game, and it was first funded through Kickstarter as part of Zine Quest. Since then it has become a much-loved indie favourite, and it’s a great addition to any collection of queer and indie RPGs.

Inside you’ll find:

• Rules-light d6 dice-pool rules, inspired by Forged in the Dark
• Classless character creation built from politics, hobby, day job and magical source
• Random tables and prompts for building characters and the world
• Examples of play to help new groups get started
• Questions for characters who achieve lichdom
• Alternative settings for taking the game in new directions
• Character sheets and full illustrations throughout

Specifications:

• Designer: Laurie O’Connell
• Publisher: Twelve Pins Press
• Format: Illustrated a5 softcover zine
• Pages: 28
• Players: 2 or more
• Age: 16+ (mature themes)
• Language: English
• Requires: Six-sided dice (not included)