What’s strategic storytelling? It seems like an oxymoron, and designer Lyme doesn’t use it exactly, but I think that’s what Dawn of the Orcs results in.
The game suits 1 to 8 players, doesn’t need a GM, uses strategic decision-making and fuses it with storytelling to create and modify the world’s first Orcs to win a war. The game is funded on Kickstarter, and the campaign will last until the 19th of December.
Dawn of the Orcs might have RPG elements, but it’s not a TTRPG. Lyme notes that it will be replayed differently. Each game is around 90 to 120 minutes.
Dawn of the Orcs is intended to be a game that blends Tolkeinic fantasy with thought-provoking themes and a touch of dark satire. In Lord of the Rings, the dark lord Morgoth created the orcs. In this setting, while fantastical, the stories explore serious questions about purpose, identity, and the nature of existence, drawing inspiration from works like Dr. Strangelove, Frankenstein, and the writings of Philip K. Dick.
However, players can create noble Orcs seeking dignity in a world that sees them as tools of war, or they can unleash their creativity to design genuinely terrifying monsters.
There’s a single character sheet for all the players in the game – one that tracks the Orcs.
After each battle, you meet in Council and decide how to improve your Orcs. Victorious battles give you the time and resources to make the most improvements, but even after defeats you can always make a couple changes. Each change to your Orcs modifies their stats in specific ways, but also gives you jumping-off points for worldbuilding. Particularly high or low stats also trigger worldbuilding moments. Once you’ve agreed on how to improve your orcs, you use their new stats and a die roll to see if you’ve won the next battle, and repeat the process through the six major battles of your homeland’s invasion.
Backers at just $6 will get the PDF copy of Dawn of the Orcs, and the estimated delivery date is December this year.
At $15, backers will get both the digital edition and the print on recycled paper. That’s slated for a February 2025 delivery.
Those Orcs supporters who step up to $29 will get their name in the credits and a digital copy, while those at $49 get the credit and both copies of the game.
There are retailer tiers plus ways to work with designer Lyme to get rules for playing Orcs in any TTRPG you choose, your own Orc artwork, or both. The delivery for these tiers will be a bit later in April.
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