The highly anticipated tabletop roleplaying game BREAK!! has launched on Kickstarter and has already surpassed its funding goal by over £43,000 in just a few hours. The game, which is inspired by classic anime and SNES-era videogames, promises an easy-to-play experience of exploration and teamwork set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world.
The 470-page, full-color book is loaded with diagrams and infographics, making it easy to learn and play the game quickly. The game’s designers have created a 95% complete PDF that will be available to backers shortly after the end of the campaign, presuming they reach their funding goal.
BREAK!! is aimed at a broad audience, including new TRPG players, 5e players, gaming parents, and old-school players. It offers a familiar, yet clean and modern rule set for those looking for a new place to have their fantasy fun. The game is rated 12+ and contains some challenging themes and art that may not be suitable for younger players.
As adventurers in the game, players will journey across shattered landscapes, explore ancient ruins and the wonders of the modern age, encounter and interact with Outer World’s many unusual inhabitants, negotiate or fight with monstrous or cunning adversaries, survive and endure Outer World’s many perils and challenges, craft items, magic, and mechanical devices, create social bonds with the friends they meet along the way, and attempt to rise through the adventuring ranks to become a legend.
The game’s setting is a post-apocalyptic fantasy world full of derelict mega structures, shambling war machines, and nature warped by magical pollution. Themed regions allow players to find adventures that suit their taste, including Wistful Dark, Twilight Meridian, Blazing Garden, and Buried Kingdoms.
BREAK!!’s character creation allows players to choose from eight callings and eleven species, enabling them to create anything from a nekomimi ninja to a mechanoid mage. Each PC has a quirk, a physical or psychological anomaly that makes the character unique. Characters also come with a history that ties them into the setting and provides them with useful knowledge and expertise. Gear options provide players with more tactical options, such as interesting weapons, mildly magic consumables, outfits, pets, followers, vehicles, and more.
The game includes 21 distinct and archetypal, ready-to-use adversaries, including demonic plague carriers and tiny, annoying elementals. Titanic monsters roam the land, and players can harvest monstrous body parts to craft magic items.
The game’s rules are streamlined to make them easy for new players to pick up. The game only requires a d20, and aptitudes are set by your calling, not rolled, but you can tweak them with your traits. Experience points are awarded for rank advancement (leveling), and simple roll-under aptitude checks are used to resolve most situations.
The BREAK!! Kickstarter campaign runs until May 17, and backers can choose from a range of rewards, including the limited edition variant of the physical book, which comes with an alternative cover and a protective slipcase. The game is expected to ship soon after the end of the campaign.