Runecairn: Wardensaga Now Available from Exalted Funeral

Press | 2022 | Links: Assets

In a long-forgotten age, a raging war shattered and devastated the worlds of gods and men. Now green life blooms amidst the ruins of the lost worlds. Wondrous and terrible beings roam the Nine Realms. Civilisation stumbles forward, fresh and reaching.

Fate carves the skein anew but there are loose threads, lost long ago in the wars, with no place in the tapestry. These threads must seek the fire within and weave their own path.

Strap on your bearded axe and linden wood shield, delve into the forsaken barrow and cleanse the draugr within. They will overhwhelm you at first so prepare to die. But when you wake up at the bonfire, you’ll know what to expect for your next attempt. Parry their attacks, disarm them, and hack them to pieces. Defeat the mad jotunn within and claim the soul remnant they protect.

Death is not the end.

What is Runecairn: Wardensaga?

Runecairn is a Soulslike Norse fantasy RPG by Colin Le Sueur for 1-3 players. Character creation is quick and intuitive, dynamic combat is intense and reactive. Wardensaga combines the Runecairn: Core Rules, introductory dungeon crawl adventure Beneath the Broken Sword, and newly introduced Advanced Rules in an 84-page deluxe hardcover edition with a cover from ground-breaking artist CROM.

Runecairn: Wardensaga is published by Exalted Funeral and is available in hardcover and softcover.

Wardensaga Features:

• Set in a Norse fantasy world some time after Ragnarok
• Core gameplay designed for 2 players, one Warden and one Adventurer
• Streamlined d20 roll-under rules based on Cairn, Into the Odd, and Knave
• Soulslike mechanics such as resurrecting at bonfires, respawning monsters, and dynamic combat
• Quickstart dungeon crawl adventure Beneath the Broken Sword, perfect for new players
• 4 core starting classes: Warrior, Scout, Seer, Skald
• 2 new advanced classes: Berserkr, Pyre
• New options for solo play with a rune-based oracle
• New random delve generator for creating Norse dungeons
• New options for 3 or more players with summoned allies (jolly cooperation!) and invasions

Links

• Exalted Funeral
• System Reference Document (SRD) and 3rd Party License: https://runecairn.byodinsbeardrpg.com

Social Media Links

You can find Colin (@ByOdinsBeardRPG) on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Or you can find our store at shop.byodinsbeardrpg.com.

Art Assets

The primary art & promotional assets for Runecairn: Wardensaga can be found here.

Team Members

Colin Le Sueur (@byodinsbeardrpg) - Writer/Illustrator/Designer

CROM (@bitsofcrom) - Cover Illustrator

Jonus Lau Markussen - Viking Age Illustrations

From Colin

Runecairn started as the kernel of an idea: could I turn Dark Souls into a TTRPG? After early tests with different systems and approaches, I had a rickety skeleton. I just needed some Norse magic to bring it to life!

Combining Norse fantasy and Dark Souls was the key combination I’d been searching for. Cairn is an efficient and streamlined system built for hacking and it sings with additional mechanics like weapon abilities and item as class. As the game developed, I realised it worked best when played with just two players, to allow the Adventurer to get closer to a Soulslike experience.

The response to Runecairn has been amazing and I’m so proud of how far this little game has come in the last year.

What People Are Saying

Rich August (@RpgAugust), designer and writer at Steamforged Games (Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game):

Thank you for such an awesome game - I loved reading Runecairn and it’s on my list of 2022 games to get to the table. And the layout is lovely too.

Richard Kelly (@SprintingOwl), designer:

If you’re looking for a moderately crunchy duo TRPG, or if you’re a fan of Souls games, or if you want to see a stellar adaptation of video game mechanics to tabletop, I would strongly recommend giving Beneath the Broken Sword (and Runecairn) a shot.

Sebrina Calkins (@EntwifeXP), reviewer:

This is a quality game, adapting Cairn to an apocalyptic Norse setting with a greater emphasis on arms, armour and combat without losing the deadly and considered tone of its forebear.

Print:

US: Exalted Funeral

PDF:

Itch.io: https://byodinsbeardrpg.itch.io/runecairn-wardensaga

DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/385682/Runecairn-Wardensaga

Follow Up

If you have additional questions, would like to schedule an interview, or have any other questions please feel free to reach out via email: [email protected]