Five Torches Deep (FTD) is a streamlined adventure game combining the best mechanics and principles of 5e¸ the OSR¸ and modern game design. The core of the game is familiar to anyone who has played 5e or previous editions of the game¸ but every mechanic has been pared down¸ modified¸ or expanded upon to create a coherently gritty¸ resource-focused¸ roguelike¸ old-school experience.
The game's about tough choices¸ risk vs reward¸ and using as much out of character smarts as in-character mechanics. It's just about everything we (Ben and Jess) have come to expect from an OSR adventure game: brutal¸ challenging¸ streamlined¸ and accessible. How is it different?
5e skeleton¸ OSR meat
Succinct but complete
Modern layout for ease of reference
FTD is a blend of old and new¸ digital and tabletop. It loots the corpses of four decades of gaming in just 48 packed pages. It's able to comprehensively recreate an authentic OSR experience while bringing plenty of new subsystems to the table. Heavier than Knave or Into the Odd¸ more concrete than the Black Hack¸ less epic than 5e¸ more familiar than the Whitehack¸ and less "edgy” than other dungeoncrawlers. It hits the sweet spot between post-clone ultra-light rules and burdensome mechanics. Mechanics
Familiar but fresh
Comprehensive adventure play
Favors cleverness over crunch
FTD strips 5e down to its skeleton and fleshes it out with mechanics focused on resource management¸ clever problem solving¸ and streamlined OSR gameplay. Combat is a last resort¸ magic is dangerous and wild¸ and every ability matters.
