3rd May 2022

Version 1.5.1 released

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Well, that took longer than expected. I've completely redone (and enhanced, I think!) the layout of the rules document, and crucially, the document's text is now searchable. Definite quality of life upgrade, that. Naturally all the bookmarks are still there, so you can still navigate using those. Honestly I'd argue the bookmarks are the better way to do it, but understandably people begged for searchable text you can copy/paste into your own summaries and character sheets. This has the added benefit of reducing the filesize from 20MB to 1.6MB!

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I'll be doing the same with the other main documents; now that I've gone through the surprisingly tedious technical issues with the first documents, it should be easier to convert the others.

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Minor changes only

The changes in this version are mostly cosmetic; a few minor bits of wording have been tweaked, but fundamentally this is still v1.5.

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Probable future changes

Chase scenes are definitely over-fussy, and I'm not sure people would really choose to use them, so I'll probably strip them back to a set of looser guidelines. If you have thoughts, get in touch!

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Empty spaces - why?

My highest priority with the new layout was keeping stuff visually grouped together, even if that meant half a blank page. In time, those blank spaces give me somewhere to put illustrations and flavour text, so it's a win-win.

 

 

29th November 2021

Version 1.5 released!

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One would be forgiven for thinking that we stopped existing during the pandemic, but in reality a number of things occurred.​ If I listed every change I made to the game since the start of the pandemic, it'd be an impenetrably long list. If this was a company with a budget, and illustrators on the books, it'd easily warrant a new edition. Here are the headlines:

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Jeff stepped away from the project

Don't worry, we didn't have a tiff. Between his leatherwork, and a new job with startup Photon Fabrication, he didn't feel able to give his all with Twobeard Games as well. Most understandable! Will I change the name to Onebeard Games? No. Will I change the name? Probably. To what, I've no idea. Naming a company is almost as hard as writing a game. Anyway, Jeff's off to laser-filled pastures and I couldn't be happier for him.

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Character Creation simplified

The maths around XP has been streamlined, and what's more, there's now a selection of pre-built character archetypes for people wanting to make a player character on the fly. Don't worry, all the flexibility and freedom of the original ruleset is still in place!

 

Oddnesses

These have been clarified, refined, and split into two categories. Odd characters have a single special rule, perfect for most players. Downright Odd characters are more complex, and intended for use by experienced players. These include Evocationists, Neuromancers, and Divine Instruments.

 

Skills

This section now includes more guidance and use cases for all skills, hopefully making things easier for people new to the game.

 

Abilities streamlined

I cut out a number of abilities, and clarified/refined the rest.

 

New sections added to the rules

There's now dedicated sections for facing monsters, performing exorcisms, and creating magic circles.

 

Existing sections improved

Investigation, interrogation and chase scenes were either uselessly vague or uselessly complex. All these sections are now sitting pretty at a double page spread of (hopefully) useful guidance.

 

Melee refined

The amount of nuance packed into a single roll-off is something I'm pretty proud of. Additionally, melee weapons now have much simpler rules, as befits a game set in the 40s that isn't a medieval combat simulator.

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New digital character sheets

A surprise late-stage addition to v1.5 was the complete replacement of the character sheet we've been using for years. The new one's much more technologically advanced, and achieves what for me is the gold practicality standard: enabling easy navigation for players using their phones to look at their character sheets when sat around a gaming table, while also working well for those using a PC/tablet during online roleplay.

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7th April 2020

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ZIP bundle v1.0 now available

In the interests of convenience, everything in the Downloads sections can be acquired with a single click, courtesy of a .ZIP archive. This has the added advantage of preserving filenames (where previously Wix had full sway over any downloadable asset on the site).​

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Evocation cards v1.1

The rules in the previous printable evocation cards (v1.0) were a touch out of date. Additionally some formatting tweaks and additional images should make the cards even more intuitive. These new cards have, of course, been included in the .ZIP bundle.

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31st March 2020

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Errata fix on Character Sheet PDF, spreadsheet & kit list

It transpires that some devil had used time travel to insert a radio telephone into the list of team kit, despite the fact that the device wasn't invented until 1946. Suffice to say, this nonsense has now been fixed.

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New versions of the affected files can be downloaded here.

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11th February 2020

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Additional guidance on ritual magic

While watching a livestream of the game, it became apparent that the rules could be clearer in describing how, if at all, player characters can use ritual magic. The Rules have therefore been updated to pre-release version 1.3 and now contain additional guidance on the subject.

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What with rituals being dangerous procedures that often require barbaric ingredients, they're intended primarily for use by NPCs. We have, however, included some guidance for what to do if you're trying to create a character who might know one or two rituals. Additionally, this means that the one ritual the Ministry considers 'safe' to use - the Circle - is presented in a document intended to be read by players (whereas the other documents are aimed more at GMs).