I am getting really close to releasing the play-test rules to the 13th Circle tier on Patreon. I have been working like a madman to make a good core representation of what I want for the Samhain Hearth & Horror RPG for those play-test games.

Oh, you didn't know? Yeah, Samhain is getting the full RPG treatment.

A d20 based system (because that is what I want), a HIT/Wound system (because that is what I want), B/X style combat round resolution (because that is what I want), monster stats that are simple and monsters with enough to do to keep them interesting (because that is what I want).

Sorry, that may sound egotistical, "because that is what I want." I hope it is not ego. I learned from Rick Rubin a while back that you cannot make "art" for the audience if you want something to endure, make it for yourself. If it's from the heart it might just stick........I am very much paraphrasing here, but you get the idea.

And maybe that is the real point. There are already thousands of RPGs out there. Samhain doesn't need to be everything for everyone. It needs to be the game I want to run when the leaves turn, the lanterns come out, and I want to spend a few hours in the Vale. If other people want to come along, even better!

To play Samhain all you really need is a d20 and a d6. There is no need for damage dice like the d8, d10, or d12. I am going for rules light with GM rulings over rules, very OSR in concept. Then there are specific rules to inform the setting, such as Hearth & Horror.

In my play-test before official play-testing begins, the party went up against a Gravepatch Monstrosity (basically a flesh golem or Frankenstein's Monster).

It went awesome!

The players came out victorious and it felt dangerous. I forgot a few things, like when the monster was down 1/2 HITs I should have rolled a Resolve check (just like morale). If he had lost and tried to get away, it would have made the very cramped building even more of a madhouse than it was, as it would have done everything it could to get out of the building by running through the party or smashing through the stone walls to escape.

The system is familiar enough to not have to think too much and flexible enough to allow the PCs to use improvised weapons, like throwing a pot of honey at the monster, covering it in oil along with the honey and igniting it.

Yeah, it was a brutal fight!

More importantly, nothing in the fight made me want to tear out a major part of the system afterward. Most of what I found were little things—wording that needed clarification, rules I had forgotten to use, or places where the character and monster sheets needed to do a better job of reminding me how the game works.

That is exactly what I wanted out of these early play-tests.

After a few more passes with spell check and basic grammar and clarity, I'll be releasing this to the 13th Circle to get some thoughts on actual play and rules clarity, and to tighten things up even more before an official release.

I think it was good using the system last night. Little things I did not see were able to be cleaned up and addressed, or will be soon. Then the book will go to the top tier of Patreon to give it a whirl and try to break the thing.

Once we have some time with it, I'll get it out to the rest of the Patreon supporters for play-testing and feedback. Then I'll make the final decisions so I can get the book out to the public.

And then it is on to the first Mugwort zine, dedicated to the Gourd Garden, which is already at least 75% written at this point.

It is a strange feeling. Samhain started six years ago as some notes for a Halloween campaign. Then it became a setting. Then a book. Then apparently I couldn't leave well enough alone and started building an entire RPG around it.

Now other people are about to sit down at their own tables, roll a d20 and a d6, light their Hearths, and see if the thing actually works without me standing there to explain it.

That is both exciting and a little terrifying.

But I suppose that is what play-testing is for.