Reach & Strive!
The Drying Time is a brutal game system + campaign set in the Bronze Age partial collapse of a land built around being one of 3 tin export terminals in the world. Players are thrust from their existence into a brutal trek across deteriorating desert trade lanes. They’re asked when they’re going to fight or fold, where they’ll head next, what their overall goal in this sandbox is (typically reaching one of a number end-points to find stable futures), and whether they want their clothing\weapons more than they want more food for their journey as the press east continues.
Mechanical points:
- All characters have BLOOD, STAMINA, and HEAT (set by their other stats) as variables that adjust throughout combat. Blood keeps you alive, Stamina is expended to do certain moves and Spikes to full as long as you have Spikes left (set by another stat) and Heat is accrued via combat and represents an adrenaline rush style combat euphoria that is both helpful and dangerous as lethal temperature impacts the bar as well (but normal gain can’t kill you)
- Melee settled in “Clashes” where both parties simultaneously roll d6 damage, presumed hit, defender can choose a d4 defense that subtracts from incoming roll instead; Armour is Hard DR, rules for breaking it\better quality makes it harder to break.
- Shooting is 3d6 at-or-under based on multiple factors like if an enemy has sprinted, is in cover, or raises a shield. Each Hit deals weapon+ammo quality and 2+ Hits deliver Wounds
- “Health” is not an abstraction. There is Blood and Wounds and you can enter Shock, a state of near organ failure where you’ll die on a failed Resolve test that can be assisted by allies and delayed using the Heat resource
I have posts in the discord for discussion + playtesting recruitment for anyone interested in seeing the full rules.