Apr 26
Project Hail Mary burnaway cake
🎥 Cake design and video credit: @HangmansJoke_89 (tiktok)
seen from Singapore
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from China
seen from Italy
seen from Russia
seen from India
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from Sri Lanka
seen from Taiwan
seen from Sweden
seen from Malaysia
seen from Sweden
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Sweden
seen from China
Project Hail Mary burnaway cake
🎥 Cake design and video credit: @HangmansJoke_89 (tiktok)
Can a house be haunted even while it burns down?
A not-so-hypothetical question in a world with Embergeists – spirits so mournful or vindictive that their very ectoplasm combusts, setting their haunts ablaze. Players enter the scene as a brigade of Burnaways – mercenaries who must act as fire fighters, detectives, and ghost hunters to stop the Embergeists by means of force or empathy.
A near-future retropunk setting and “grimhope” tone puts focus on narrative growth, contrasted with a unique “level-down” advancement mechanic in a lightweight, accessible system geared toward one-shots and short campaigns.
WHAT MAKES BURNAWAY UNIQUE?
🔥 Burnaway’s mechanics are easy to pick up for first-timers, while still offering depth and detail in skilled hands. The hit-based system allows the use of any type of dice, so bring your favorite mix to the table!
🔥 Each mission is a unique puzzle with many different solutions, though not all of them are satisfying, and the puzzle is constantly on fire. Characters’ decisions are the greatest determiner of their fate, with no railroading to hamper their actions (or to protect them from fatal disaster).
🔥 Who said anything about getting stronger? BURNAWAY eschews traditional TTRPG power up mechanics. In a line of work where retirement or death are the only prospects, it’s up to the characters to process their own Grief and avoid suffering permanent Burns at the end of each session.
🔥 Acknowledgement of hope is just as important as the acceptance of Grief. Characters may build Bonds with each other, relationships forged in literal fire, and gain mechanical benefits from their evolving interpersonal dynamics.
🔥 BURNAWAY adapts to how your group wants to game, providing a full ruleset for traditional, GM-lead or collaborative GM-less play.
KICKSTARTER FUNDING NOW!
READ MORE ON OUR SITE!
To my audience of five mutuals and a hamster, if you are in any way interested in ttrpgs, please consider supporting this game! My friend has been working on it for over a year and the concept is so cool. They're really close to their goal! Please share!
The game concept:
Can a house be haunted even while it burns down?
A not-so-hypothetical question in a world with Embergeists – spirits so mournful or vindictive that their very ectoplasm combusts, setting their haunts ablaze. Players enter the scene as a brigade of Burnaways – mercenaries who must act as fire fighters, detectives, and ghost hunters to stop the Embergeists by means of force or empathy.
BURNAWAY is a game about making tough choices in the literal heat of the moment, and coping with the consequences when the ash has settled. A near-future retropunk setting and “grimhope” tone puts focus on narrative growth, contrasted with a unique “level-down” advancement mechanic in a lightweight, accessible system geared toward one-shots and short campaigns.
“I’m so wired for it, seen it, tried it”
Al Taylor (1948-1999)
”G“ from the portfolio All Thumbs, 1997, photogravure printed in black ink on Somerset Satin paper. The Estate of Al Taylor, Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London. BURNAWAY.
Last Chance to pre-order BURNAWAY!
Challenge fate and make impossible choices as you exorcise or empathize with inferno-powered ghosts.
hello there! It's been nearly a year since the successful crowdfunding of BURNAWAY: A ttrpg about Loss and Hope from the Ashes. A lot of writing, editing, layout and logistics have happened since then, and the result is going to be even better than I had been hoping for. Genuinely, this book is gonna look dope. If you missed out on backing BURNAWAY last year, or are just hearing about it now, here's one more chance to pledge for a digital pdf, a lovely softcover physical edition, and/or one of three limited 8x10 posters!
BURNAWAY is a lightweight, self-contained roleplaying game for three to five players. In the darkening days of a possible near-future, fire is still a common cause of lost homes and tragic deaths. However, not every spark is started by a flicked cigarette or a faulty wire. Some wandering spirits, whose sorrows lash them tight to this world, can become so distraught that their very ectoplasm combusts, starting a blaze wherever they seek to haunt; we call these troublesome phantoms embergeists. Regular firefighters aren’t trained to deal with this supernatural threat; extinguishing one fire means little when an irate ghost kindles many more at the same time.
Enter the Burnaways. A Burnaway is a professional, for lack of any other unifying factor, contracted by a private company to swoop in as soon as a report of an embergeist comes through. Burnaways come from all walks of life, though most are trying to leave dark pasts behind. Exceptional danger for unexceptional pay is a hard sell for anyone save those individuals motivated by desperation, personal atonement, or something else that’s worth walking through fire for. Disparate backgrounds bring together a team with all the skills needed to maneuver through blazing buildings, locate and rescue victims, and even exorcise an arson-inclined specter.
This is a game is about loss.
Fire destroys things we can’t ever recover, whether they be treasured possessions or beloved lives. Regardless of how much we try to prepare for it, we all inevitably lose things we care for, as lights that are snuffed out, leaving our lives darker in the void.
This is also a game about confronting and processing that loss.
When we suffer loss, we fill that void with grief. Sometimes, grief props us up and pushes us forward. Other times, grief threatens to pin us down until our pain buries us. But grief is an emotion, one which fades with time and care. Our relationship with grief determines what grief leaves us with when it’s gone. Grief gives purpose. Grief gives wisdom. Grief gives scars.
As a Burnaway, you are a thief entering the house of Death and snatching back its claim. However, what you leave behind is just as significant as what you choose to take. This is a game about choices; do you rescue the executive or the janitor? The priceless hard drive or the poodle dog? Do you leave your comrade bleeding out to banish the geist and save many others? Or do you leave it all in order to save yourself?
Finally, and just as importantly, this is a game about hope.
When we encounter situations in which we feel powerless or that suffering is inevitable, despair is a rational response, while hope seems illogical. Fortunately, human minds are illogical things, and thus we can find ways to carry on and heal even after an unbearable ordeal, even knowing there are more to come in our future. This is a game that encourages the exploration of these familiar feelings and experiences without denying ourselves the light that always returns from the darkness.
A huge thanks to all who have supported this project from the concept stage three years ago to this point of being a real ttrpg! And again, if this looks cool to you, you can jump on board here!
We’re live on Kickstarter!
It’s been one hell of a long road, but we’ve finally got another chance to fund digital and physical copies of the original ttrpg I wrote and produced!
Can a house be haunted even while it burns down?
A not-so-hypothetical question in a world with Embergeists – spirits so mournful or vindictive that their very ectoplasm combusts, setting their haunts ablaze. Players enter the scene as a brigade of Burnaways – mercenaries who must act as fire fighters, detectives, and ghost hunters to stop the Embergeists by means of force or empathy.
BURNAWAY is a game about making tough choices in the literal heat of the moment, and coping with the consequences when the ash has settled. A near-future retropunk setting and “grimhope” tone puts focus on narrative growth, contrasted with a unique “level-down” advancement mechanic in a lightweight, accessible system geared toward one-shots and short campaigns.
Burnaway’s mechanics are easy to pick up for first-timers, while still offering depth and detail in skilled hands. The hit-based system allows the use of any type of dice, so bring your favorite mix to the table!
Each mission is a unique puzzle with many different solutions, though not all of them are satisfying, and the puzzle is constantly on fire. Characters’ decisions are the greatest determiner of their fate, with no railroading to hamper their actions (or to protect them from fatal disaster).
Who said anything about getting stronger? BURNAWAY eschews traditional TTRPG power up mechanics. In a line of work where retirement or death are the only prospects, it’s up to the characters to process their own Grief and avoid suffering permanent Burns at the end of each session.
Acknowledgment of hope is just as important as the acceptance of Grief. Characters may build Bonds with each other, relationships forged in literal fire, and gain mechanical benefits from their evolving interpersonal dynamics.
BURNAWAY adapts to how your group wants to game, providing a full ruleset for traditional, GM-lead or collaborative GM-less play.
Want to dive into the world of BURNAWAY asap? We’ve got a FREE setting sampler out now that can be played through solo in under 15 mins. Make hard choices and escape a burning building before the Embergeist gets you! 🔥
My team and I have put a tremendous amount of love and effort into this, so if this kind of game seems up your alley, please come check out the campaign!