Final Hour of a Storied Age
Final Hour of a Storied Age: A Roleplaying Game of Epic Fantasy
The end of an age draws nigh, an age of magic and wonder, an age when legends walked the land and great deeds were done. That was all long ago, when lives were larger, before things were settled. Now, if there is any greatness left, it is great evil, evil that will change the world for the worse. In the last hour of that age, a new story begins. Will it be the story of a hero, rising up to save what is good and true about the old age to shepherd it into the new? Or will it be a sad lament for things long gone, to usher in a new age of darkness? It is now the final hour of a storied age, and telling the tale falls to you.
Storied Age is a no-prep, GM-less roleplaying game that, over a few sessions of play, creates an epic fantasy story in the vein of The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, or The Sword of Truth. The game weaves together creative contributions from each player around a structured plot arc and then helps you play through a chapter-by-chapter account of how your characters face adversity, echoing how an author starts with an outline and fleshes it out into a full novel. By distributing responsibilities and providing creative constraints to guide players’ contributions, Final Hour of a Storied Age lets everyone experience an epic fantasy story without asking anyone to shoulder an epic creative burden.
Current Version Download
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.71
- Printer-friendly Storied Age rev 0.71 (same text, different formatting)
Final Hour of a Storied Age is in Beta Playtesting!
I’m looking for beta playtest groups for the game. The playtesting I’ve done with the latest versions has been very successful, producing fun sessions and really satisfying Epic Fantasy stories. There have been a few hiccups along the way, but they all seemed to be in line with the problems that any new group might have when learning a new game. In order to get a better handle on what still needs work in the game before I officially publish (either with the mechanics themselves or with they way I explain them in the text) I need some feedback from groups playing the game without my direct participation. I would really appreciate any beta playtesting people are willing to do for me. I would absolutely love audio recordings of the game in play, honest reactions, AP reports, or really any feedback people would be willing to give me. I’m happy to answer questions about the game, and would appreciate feedback or discussion about the text itself even if you’re unable to playtest. I believe the game works best with 3 or 4 players, but might work with as few as 2 or as many as 5. The recent playtests I’ve done have been 3 player games and have both finished story arcs in four 3-hour sessions.
I think there’s value in transparency in the design process so I’m happy to discuss the game in the open (I blog here, and also participate on Story-Games, Praxis, and RPG Geek). E-mail conversations are great, too, if you’d prefer a less public conversation (I’m dan.maruschak@gmail.com).
Older Revisions:
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.70
- Printer-friendly Storied Age rev 0.70 (same text, different formatting)
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.68
- Printer-friendly Storied Age rev 0.68 (same text, different formatting)
- Character Sheet for 0.65, 0.66, 0.67, 0.68
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.67
- Printer-friendly Storied Age rev 0.67 (same text, different formatting)
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.66
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.65
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.62
- Quick-Reference Sheet (0.62)
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.61
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.6
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.51
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.5
- Final Hour of a Storied Age rev 0.41
- Final Hour of a Storied Age Rev 0.4