Author Archives: Thor Olavsrud

The Bridge of the Damned

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Castle Erobring by Kurt Komoda

Hello friends!

We’re excited to introduce the Kickstarter for our latest Torchbearer project: The Bridge of the Damned. Follow the link to back this project and help me bring it to fruition!

The Bridge of the Damned is a new adventure targeted for characters levels 2-3. It’s based on the amazing contributions all of you have made in the Robber’s Bridge series of posts right on this blog:

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One More Day

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Hello friends!

My apologies, but if you’re here for the announcement of the new Torchbearer adventure Kickstarter, we’ve opted to push it back by a day. Sorry if you’ve been waiting with baited breath, but thanks for your interest!

We’ll launch tomorrow instead (Monday, Feb. 18). I’m not sure what time, but we’ll make sure to post here, on the Burning Wheel HQ forums, the Torchbearer RPG Facebook page, the Torchbearer subreddit, and I’ll post it on my Twitter account too.

Talk to you tomorrow!

The Cult of the Dragonslayer

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Dragen, Theodor Severin Kittelsen, 1892

Hello friends!

Since we’ve been talking about adding a shrine to the Dragonslayer to our Robber’s Bridge adventure, I thought we might take a deeper look at the cult this week and explore its most closely held secret. Note that the rules for the Mysteries of Lith have not yet been playtested. If you use them in your games, I’d love to hear about it.

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Introducing The Grind

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Do you need even more Torchbearer in your life? The cool cats at Mordite Press, makers of ‘Wicked dope Torchbearer Sagas content’ are at it again.

Today, as part of Kickstarter’s RPG Zine Quest, they launched The Grind, a Torchbearer zine packed with stories, one-page adventures, adventure ideas, monsters, items, town locations, NPCs, and more.

Check it out!

Of Family and Spirits (Part II)

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A part of The Viking’s Bride frieze by Walter Crane, 1883

A few weeks back we explored using the Ættir1See Of Trolls and Men, Middarmark, page 91 in Torchbearer games set in the Middarmark. In particular, we took a look at Ran Deepmind, ættir of the Ageiring clan led by Jarl Stigand.

Ran, though much diminished by the near obliteration of the Ageirings in the Battle of Sølvfjord nine years ago2See Sudstrond, Middarmark, page 22, seeks to guide her descendents back to greatness. But the Ageirings have many enemies standing in the way of the young jarl’s path back to power. Perhaps the most immediately dangerous are the Tualings, a clan of Græling3See Grælings, Middarmark, page 14 outlaws with a score to settle.

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Adventure Design: Robber’s Bridge (Part VI)

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Robber’s Bridge Concept Map (v3) by D. Koch

Hello friends!

Our adventure is really starting to come together. If you’re new to this series, we’re collaboratively developing a short Torchbearer adventure.

If you need to catch up:

Last time I asked for your input on various features of the map and you provided some great suggestions. Let’s nail down the details.

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Adventure Design: Robber’s Bridge (Part V)

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Robber’s Bridge Concept Map (v3) by D. Koch

Hello friends!

If you’re new to this series, we’re collaboratively developing a short Torchbearer adventure.

If you need to catch up:

Last week we took a look at a concept map from Mordite Press developer D. Koch. Above Koch has provided an updated map adjusted for many of the things we discussed. You’ll note that the break in the bridge has been enlarged and the Middle Tower now has a portcullis on either side with murder holes that could be used against attackers trying to pass through. There’s also a stairway on the southern side of the Middle Tower that grants access to the upper levels of the tower.

There are still a few issues that I need your help to address, but first I want to circle back to some of the questions raised in Part III. The suggestions are below. What do you think about them? Which ones do you like or not like? Do they suggest any additional ideas to you?

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Adventure Design: Robber’s Bridge (Part IV)

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Robber’s Bridge Concept Map by D. Koch

Check out this amazing concept map from Mordite Press developer D. Koch! This is really starting to come together!

If you’re new to this series, we’re collaboratively developing a short Torchbearer adventure.

If you need to catch up:

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Adventure Design: Robber’s Bridge (Part III)

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Pont Valentré

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with their thoughts on the submissions for the Robber’s Bridge adventure. Everyone contributed some great stuff! I would encourage everyone to recycle some of those ideas for your own adventures.

I’ve taken everyone’s feedback, incorporated some of my own editorial discretion, and brought it all together. There’s still time to change things, of course, so please share any feedback or ideas inspired by the content below. Let’s take the next steps in pulling this adventure together!

If you need to catch up:

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