WHAT IS BANNERS?

BANNERS is the first new roleplaying game from multi-award winning RPG designer JOHN WICK in 6 years. Inspired by games such as BIRTHRIGHT, PENDRAGON, and A GAME OF THRONES, Banners puts the players in the roles of officers of a Banner: a region of land ruled by a monarch called "the Crown." They are the Crown's inner circle of experts and advisors who protect the Banner from dangers. They are the Crown's spies, bodyguards, spiritual advisors, and generals.

But there's more to a Banner than just its people. Players also create the Banner itself, its history, enemies and allies, triumphs and tragedies. And as time passes, their characters grow older, and eventually, pass their titles to younger characters ready to take up the challenge.

WHAT DO I GET?

When you back BANNERS, you get a 100 page, full color PDF with the option to order the book at cost plus shipping from DRIVETHRURPG. (Cost of printing the book $16.56.) There are no add ons or stretch goals.

WHAT SYSTEM DOES BANNERS USE?

BANNERS uses a "roll low d20" system. If you have a skill at 15, you roll 1d20 and try to roll 15 or under. If you do, your character succeeds.

BANNERS also includes rules for:

• MULTI-GENERATIONAL DYNASTIES where players take on the role of a family rather than just a single character.
• REALM MANAGEMENT with simple, elegant rules that allow you to use your Banner's resources during play.
• SWIFT AND DEADLY COMBAT that puts an edge of danger into every confrontation.
• DIVINE MAGICfrom the Banner's Patron that is powerful and costly.
• QUICK MASS COMBAT RESOLUTION where every character gets a chance to change the tide of battle.

WHO IS BANNERS FOR?

If you are a fan of high political and military drama, espionage, intrigue, and romance in a fantastic world, BANNERS is the game for you. Not only will you make characters, but you and your fellow players will also make the Banner itself. 

BASIC GAMEPLAY

BANNERS uses the ORC license for a hack on the BRP System sponsored by Chaosium. It uses d20s and d6s only. 

When taking risks, players roll a combination of Trait + Skill to create a Target Number (TN).

The Traits

• Strength: physical power
• Dexterity: agility and speed
• Constitution: willpower and toughness
• Guile: fooling others and not getting fooled
• Appeal: charisma and physical attractiveness

The normal range for both Traits and Skills is 1-10. So, if a character has a 7 Guile and a 6 Seduction, their TN is 13. 

In a contested roll between two characters, whichever character rolled lowest wins the contest.

When a character's TN reaches 21 and higher, the character can start making CRITICAL HITS. For every point above 20, the character has a "crit range." For example, a TN 25 has a crit range from 1-5. A TN 22 has a crit range from 1-2. A TN 30 has a crit range from 1-10.

Combat

Combat in BANNERS is deadly. Whenever your character draws a sword, there is every possibility they won't be putting it back into the sheath. Characters have a number of Hit Points based on their Constitution (between 3 and 30). A standard hit with a weapon is around 4d6, making the average hit a 16. Your character can get knocked down with a single well-placed dagger between the ribs.

Characters who reach zero Hit Points are not dead, but Helpless. They cannot take any actions. Another character can kill your character with a single Action if they are Helpless.

Magic

Characters receive blessings and curses from their Banner's Divine Patron. If a character wishes to receive a blessing, they must ask the Patron. In return for the blessing, the Patron makes a demand from the character. In exchange for summoning a rainstorm to slow an approaching army, a Divine Patron could ask the character to build a shrine or repair a church. Or, they may demand the character accept a political marriage they've been avoiding.

This simple system gives a wide breadth of blessings and curses to the players while also giving the GM the ability to push the players in certain directions with the Divine Patron's demands.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

BANNERS is already done and ready to go at DrivethruRPG.
Here is the schedule for delivery.

STEP 1: PDF

This campaign runs for 14 days. You send $10 and get the PDF at the end of the campaign.

Backers can send me feedback on typos and other errors which I will be correcting. The timeline for this feedback is 14 days.

STEP 2: PRINT AND SHIPPING

After I make corrections, I need to order another proof from DrivethruRPG. Once that gets approved, it's time for you to get your book.

• IF YOU ARE HAPPY WITH THE PDF:You do nothing. You have what you ordered.
• IF YOU WANT A COPY OF THE HARDBOUND BOOK: You go to DrivethruRPG and order a copy of the hard bound book at cost ($16.56) plus shipping. Drivethru sends you your copy of the book. 

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT THAN YOUR PAST CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS? 

I've learned a lot from crowdfunding in the past. I've learned what I'm capable of doing and what I cannot do. For this campaign, I'm keeping things simple. Rather than promise stretch goals and add ons, I'm only funding the book. As I said earlier, BANNERS is already complete. It has been playtested, revised, edited, laid out and ready to print. You are not helping fund a project that will be finished sometime in the future, you are funding a project that is ready to go now.

I have also designed this crowdfunding campaign to be as simple as possible. You get the PDF, you can order a copy of the book. I don't manage shipping, handling, or anything else. If you have any questions about your order, you can talk to the professionals at DRIVETHRURPG and they will handle any problems you might have.