OSSUARY

Content warning: bones, violence

Picking the bones of OSR clean and crushing them underfoot

OSSUARY is a minimal, one-page dungeon delving system. It's been designed with speed and play-by-post in mind — the rules are straightforward, the character sheets are simple, the rolls are handled by the Bone Collector (aka GM).

In this game a Bone Collector guides a group of players through a game of traps, terror and treasure, where creative problem-solving is key. 

Features at a glance:

• 3 randomly generated stats — Spine (strength), Femur (dexterity) and Skull (willpower) — represented by die sizes (d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12)
• core stats double up as HP
• pseudo-lifepath character generation and equipment
• emphasis on lvl 0 funnel play
• freeform classes and abilities beyond lvl 0
• micro adventure hidden within the rules

Example character sheet:

Vagrant 
Spine: d8
Femur: d4
Skull: d10 
...with...
an empty promise 
...who wants to...
eliminate a nemesis 
Equipment:
Stick [0]
Goose
Vial of weak poison

24 additional character options are available in the A Heap of Bones supplement.

Level 0 Character Generator:

Here’s a handy little HTML tool for making funnel characters really easily. You can use it on your phone or desktop (no download required).

Make your own content:

• adventures
• settings
• classes
• abilities
• equipment
• additional rules
• …whatever you want

Please share with me so I can admire it. If there’s enough demand I’ll make a jam!

Play-by-post advice (for Bone Collectors):

• On a Discord server create a category for your lvl 0 campaign
• Create a channel for each player, generate 4 characters per player and post them in the respective channels
• Create a channel with ground rules and be explicit about content warnings, safety tools and expectations around how frequently everyone should post
• Create a private channel with just you and a dice bot
• Invite your players to the server/category and ensure they have notifications switched on
• Amend characters' stats/statuses/equipment in the players' channels as required (use strikethrough formatting for elements that might return back to their original state/value)
• Have fun!

Submitted as part of:

Tiny Tome single-page RPG jam

Update: OSSUARY can be found in print in the published Tiny Tome anthology by Long Tail Games.

Spanish version:

A Spanish translation courtesy of Daniel Galdames Orellana is now available amongst the downloads!