Devilry Afoot is a game that takes as its premise the questionable notion that the fears which percolated through 16th and 17th century Europe were wholly justified; that ungodliness and moral corruption manifested as an evil that could be countered with religious fervour. The rules, character creation, and monster profiles are all heavily themed around the folk beliefs of early modern Western Europe.
Players take on the role of a small party of self-righteous monster hunters in (mostly) co-operative or solo scenarios to try to defeat the creatures of the night. The monsters are automated using a simple but effective matrix based on their proximity to humans and a single die roll.
When creating their characters, players choose an archetype (gentleman, goodman/goodwife, scholar, soldier, or religious) which provides a basic profile and outlines how the character can develop. For example, a gentleman starts with no discernible skills, but more money than any other character and with a follower in tow; a soldier may start with a trait, or a skill chosen from the hunting or martial skillsets, but may never learn scholarly skills. The money a character starts with, and earns as they complete bounties, allows them to buy equipment. While some archetypes will be more skilled with certain pieces of equipment, there are no restrictions limiting who may use what.
Each character also rolls randomly for a secret. Secrets are little quirks that the character wouldn't want their in-world companions to know, but which might have very real in-game consequences. A doubting character will find it more difficult to quote scripture and be more easily intimidated by monsters, a lustful character is more susceptible to charms, a slovenly character can't run as fast, while a secret witch might find their own objectives in a scenario at odds with their colleagues.
The rules employ a randomised activation system and are d10 based. Each player will roll 2d10 to try to activate their characters, while most other die rolls use a single 1d10.
The game is played on a modestly sized table - only 2'x2' (60x60cm) allowing for plentiful terrain to create dangerous shadows and places for monsters to skulk. There are 13 scenarios given as examples in the book, some have prescribed monsters to be hunted (or avoided), while others have multiple options. There are bounties set for each type of monster - from the 10 shillings awarded for each wolf slain, to 100 shillings for killing a vampyre - and guidelines as to how many hunters should be on the table (i.e. no more than one character for every 15 shillings worth of bounty available at the end of the hunt). The randomised initiative and monster action systems means that no two games should ever play out the same way.
The campaign system allows characters to gain experience and renown, develop new skills, attract followers and buy better equipment, but also accrue injuries, and more dark secrets.
There is now a Facebook group set up for those interested in following the game and joining in the discussions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1091294141966092
Do you're miniature heroes have what it takes to stare evil in the face and walk away unchanged?
Thanks for the preview Nic, it all sounds very interesting and like it will be a lot of fun. I love the small model count and small playing area, it means it will be easy to get the minis and terrain collected and easy to store and more likely to hit the table regularly. I'm very fond of the setting too, and I am also very happy to see co-op and solo rules. I’m glad there seems to be room to play scenarios with just a single Hunter.
ReplyDeleteFrom the profiles, I take it that the Hunters roll to hit with a single D10, adding any modifiers, and needing to equal or exceed the monster’s defence value…and when the monsters attack Hunters they simply need to equal or exceed their own attack value? I’m assuming that there is a table of modifiers for both melee and ranged attacks…any armour? I guess the only Hunter who would likely have some form of armour would be the (ex?) solider…and then a roll to wound is made…against a base value needing to equal or exceed that …which may be modified perhaps???
Are there any magical powers? For instance, can the witches cast spells?
Yes, to hit is a single d10 +/- modifiers, against the monster's Defence +/- modifiers. Attacks that miss risk a counter attack. Attacks that hit then have a modified roll to wound, causing between 0 and 3 wounds with each attack, so it can be pretty brutal.
DeleteMonsters have to roll against their own Attack value as you say, then roll to wound.
Armour is available, but restricted to in period, so buff coat, cuirass, helmet, shield. Each has a different way of protecting your character.
Magic is there, but it is limited to the sorts of spells that witches were accused of casting, charms, threats, and summoning imps/familiars.
Very cool, thanks for the break down, I'm really looking forward to getting into this game, I'm going to start making a few terrain pieces like houses and trees and soem rocky outcroppings to start with, stuff that's non-specific and should fit into most scenarios...just need to decide whether to go with 20mm scale or standard 28mm/32mmscale...
DeleteIs it too late to take requests? I think a necromancer with some raised (summoned) skeletons would be super cool, and it fits with the period and genre...
DeleteAt this stage it probably is! That said, it wouldn't be hard to house rule a witch that summons revenants instead of imps if that is your penchant! :)
DeleteThis sounds like something I'll very likely do on occassion, just to add some variety to my Hunters' foes...these diabolical purveyors of the dark powers have all kinds of evil tricks with which to spread their malign influence...
DeleteDoes facing matter in the game? Just wondering whether to use square bases or round bases for minis...I prefer round if facing does not matter and square if it does?
ReplyDeleteYes, models have a front and a rear. If in doubt, the rules suggest you draw a line across the shoulders. Anything forward of the line is to the front, anything behind the line is to the rear.
DeleteThanks for the info...I like square (or hex) bases for when facing matters, it just makes things a bit clearer to determine...although, I could still use round bases and simply use a paint pen to place a thin line down the side of the base on either side to indicate front and rear...
DeleteJust to clear this up in my head...if you are playing a two player (or multiple player) game, all players are controlling Hunters, and the monsters are always automated regardless of player count? If so, is there a single Hunter party that the players share, for instance in a two player game, "you control those two Hunters and I'll control these two Hunters from our hunting party", or does each player have their own Hunter party?
ReplyDeleteIn a normal game, all players would control hunters from the same hunting party. As you say, you could have five players with one hunter each, two players with two hunters each, or a solo player controlling three hunters. The game will play the same regardless. All hunters would draw from the same pool of initiative tokens and the monsters are controlled by the game.
DeleteHowever, it is possible to have separate hunting parties (just use different coloured activation tokens for each player), and one of the scenarios is written to allow fighting between hunters - whilst still also having an NPC monster on the table causing havoc.
Thanks again for the info mate, much appreciated. The game sounds very accommodating for player count and game mode!
DeleteYou must be getting sick of my questions...ahahahaha, I am genuinely excited by this game though. So from this:
ReplyDelete"(i.e. no more than one character for every 15 shillings worth of bounty available at the end of the hunt)"
...can I infer that it is indeed possible to play the game with a single Hunter in the Hunter party, especially so if the available bounty is 15 shillings or less? Considering that Hunters can progress, increasing their skills and presumably also their profile values, is there a section in the rulebook that guides players on how to create more powerful Hunters than the standard starting Hunter, so that players may begin play with a single, more powerful character. For instance, Solomon Kane or a similar character from fiction or of the players own creation? If not, would you consider adding something like this in as an optional rule, or perhaps at the least a guide at the back of the rulebook for such things?
My approach has always been to build 'toolkits'. I wite the rules, but the players make the game. You can certainly play with a single hunter, although in many cases you will find it hard going as each hunter only gets to activate once per turn, but monsters activate multiple times.
DeleteThe rules are grounded in the historical period rather than later pulp reinterpretations, so there is no 'hero' character archetype. However, as it's your game, you could simply start your character with additional experience upgrades which would certainly make them much more powerful.
Thanks for the reply mate, sounds like a path forward when (if) I feel like trying out a single Hunter.
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