A Fistful of Darkness: Weird West Hack of impending doom coming from demon-infested mines

Forged in the Dark The Library
#1

As the book is released and I’m no longer able to edit the old thread I want to start this new one to keep you posted. From now on, please add your questions, requests etc. regarding aFoD here. Thanks! (Old thread about Beta, here)

Status Overview:

  • PDF Book: Released on itch.io; Release on drivethrurpg planned (no date yet)
  • Print Book (POD): I’m working on a hardcover and softcover release via lulu.com. Covers are painful and they made a change to their interface with made my sample books invalid. Not sure if I can made the new books for may 2020, but I will TRY!
  • Roll 20 Characters Sheets: Released (and damn proud of it)! Now available for everybody, just select them in your game’s settings. You won’t need Custom sheets/pro-account any longer. Source files via git hub available, click here.

Other Stuff

Still missing something? Please let me know in the comments.

Thanks everybody for working with me, buying, playing, liking, talking about my game. Thanks to @John_Harper for making this possible. A dream came true for me. It’s out of this world.

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[DEPRECATED] A Fistful of Darkness: Weird West Hack (Beta)
#2

Just picked it up! I’m excited to read through the book.

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#3

A little feedback on the Roll20 sheets. In the FACTION MODE for the LOCATIONS the red colored font against the black background is not very clear. A minor issue and probably due to my failing eyesight but nevertheless you might want to consider white font or perhaps making the background grey instead of black.
Also rules question concerning the location qualities. P 118 for payout tells to make a quality roll to see if there is change in quality. I assume the idea is to use a clock right away for this? The term “next change” is a bit confusing and implies that there already was a change because of PC actions.

Also have you thought of any practical examples how the qualities could be used at the table or did you want to leave it a bit vague like BITD does? I like the idea of having different qualities for different locations but would like to see some mechanical effect there as well for the meta game.

#4

Thanks for the feedback. Will have a look at the black/red combination in locations, thanks for the hint. Similiar problem regarding Achievements (Dark, Light, Neutral) and their text colors. I will try to work something out.

Regarding Location Qualities: Yes, use clocks. Make a fortune roll and tick a clock as per standard 1-3: 1 tick, 4/5: 2 ticks, 6: 3 ticks, Crit: 5 ticks. “next change” was meant as “this will happen when the clock is filled”. Note that there are some examples on page 18.

Additional note: Location Qualities are a good guideline just as in Blades. Wearing open weapon in a Law&Order 4 location? Expect some attention. Open your mind to the Burning Beyond in a Supernatural 1 location? Except Desperate Position and/or no effect/limited effect. Or a Supernatuarl 4 location? Well, Desperate again? But better effect when you’re good enough to channel so much raw energy.

#5

No roll20 sheets are live. fixed the location boxes and some other stuff. Need to learn more about those translation files, though.

#6

Just added 20 community copies of “A Fistful of Darkness” to https://monkeyecho.itch.io/a-fistful-of-darkness. If you want to play but cannot pay, grab one!

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#7

I just finished reading through the main book and have to say that I’m really impressed. There are so many things that you’ve done with the rules that I appreciate, my favorites so far are:

  1. Anyone who dies can make a deal with the devil to return.
  2. Heat being converted into Doom that causes the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to roam.
  3. Stash being used as karma for the next life.
  4. The rules for creating Muddwater and the surrounding communities at the beginning of play. Feels very much like Apocalypse World but with more mechanical direction.

I run a gaming group that meets specifically to play new and different games and we are very excited to try out A Fistful of Darkness in a few months.

2 Likes
#8

Thanks a lot for the feedback! Very interesting for my to see your favorites, what you like. Working in small increments of change I don’t see them as big changes but in the end I hope it’s what this specific game of weird west needs to be fun and what it needs to feel like weird west.

I hope you and your group has a good time playing the game. If you need something or have questions, please let me know.

#9

POD hard cover of A Fistful of Darkness is now available via lulu.com for 27 USD!

Currently I cannot say when the softcover will be available because lulu has issues with my upload and the customer service is not responding but I will try and keep you posted. What I can say is that the softcover will cost 19 USD and I hope for a release in june 2020.

So, that is the moment I was working for all this time. I’m very happy to post this aFoD bookshelf picture side by side with my heroes (adding lots of other heroes in my mind of which I only own the pdf).

aFoD_Bookshelf_Harcover_Release
aFoD_Bookshelf_Harcover_Release3264×2448 3.49 MB

Thanks to everybody giving support, cheers and buying the pdf book. I’m still overwhelmed by the positive acceptance and the large number of likes, positive comments and purchases. Guys, you’re my heroes, too. Everyone of you made my day during the last weeks.

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#10

Update PDF via itch.io
V1.3 Removed typos and minor editorielle changes
Thanks for the input, Andrea!

1 Like
#11

A Fistful of Darkness is now available as pdf, softcover & hardcover.

PDF: https://monkeyecho.itch.io/a-fistful-of-darkness

Softcover: https://lulu.com/en/en/shop/stefan-struck/a-fistful-of-darkness-softcover/paperback/product-zrjq59.html

Hardcover: https://lulu.com/en/en/shop/stefan-struck/a-fistful-of-darkness-hardcover/hardcover/product-1mm5v4kz.html

Printed book comes with free pdf if you contact me.

aFoD_Softcover_Hardcover
aFoD_Softcover_Hardcover3787×2079 1.19 MB

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#12

Maybe you’re still looking for some cool backdrop pictures for your aFoD game?
Check out those pictures from textures.com.

Small and medium sizes are free if you register. I recommed this source for free pictures anyway like old books/paper for your Blades game etc.

TexturesCom_BuildingsWildWest0024_1_S
TexturesCom_BuildingsWildWest0024_1_S1024×737 544 KB

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#13

Added aFoD Map Tokens to Extended Content

https://monkeyecho.itch.io/a-fistful-of-darkness-extended-content

#14

Has the hardcover on lulu been updated to v1.3?
HC has a pub date of 4/5/2020
PB has a pub date of 6/4/2020

If it’s current and finalized, it would be a great companion to my BitD HC and I could pick up the Andrew Shields novels at the same time.

1 Like
#15

Yep, both (hardcover and softcover) are updated to v1.3.

Please note, that you also get a free pdf but because I don’t get any info or contact data from lulu you have to contact me after the purchase with your receip. I will set up up with a pdf download code. Happy to do so, so please don’t hesitate to contact me.

1 Like
#16

I wrote a review about the Fistful of Darkness on the oldest and biggest Hungarian rolaplaying game site. This review was also shared in the biggest Hungarian roleplayer community on the Facebook.

http://lfg.hu/97365/ismerteto/a-fistful-of-darkness-ismerteto/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MaSzK/permalink/3194836713926374/

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#17

Wow, awesome!

Thanks a lot for your time and effort (and thanks to google translator which let me read your article).

I hope that Blades will be a big hit in Hungary … and maybe aFoD, too :slight_smile:

#18

I added another asset to the aFoD Extended Content package over at itch.io:
Mudwater Facilities Cards​ (big and small version for online gaming)

A little helper for world building while creating your pesonal Mudwater. Use these cards to remind you what facilities are present in your instance of Mudwater and which ones are missing. Extra blank cards for even further customization.

I hope you like them and find them useful. If you have questions or suggestions what I should add to the package, please let me know.

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#19

I added Faction Tokens for the default Mudwater factions plus one empty token for every tier to the free aFoD resource pack (Link). Good to visualize your faction game. I hope you like them and put them to good use.

They look like this
aFoD_Faction_the 8th Cavalry aFoD_Faction_The Black Rider aFoD_Faction_The Thunder Raven Tribe

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#20

Another fine episode of the Hacked in the Dark actual play of aFoD will happen today. We will have a raid today with Thunder Raven!
Tune in via twitch!

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