Seeking playtesters for Spectre of the Beast!

[Joel P. Shempert]

I'm in great need of some solid outside playtest of my 2008 Game Chef entry, Spectre of the Beast. I've been having fun playing it with my own friends and acquaintances, but I could really use some outside perspective.

SotB is a game about the bloody cost of civilization's progress. You play pivotal people whose Ambitions will change the course your made-up history. Several means are available, with violence always available but carrying a chance of horrible consequences. Once those Ambitions have all resolved in Victory or Defeat, you chart out the reverberating effects of your actions on the surrounding Cultures, narrate the results, then create new Champions in a successive era. The cycle continues until either Hope or the Beast hits the endgame total, at which point you determine whether civilization has collapsed or blossomed into a utopia.

If you'd like to know more, there's a playtest report here on the Forge that breaks down the game structure pretty comprehensively. If you'd like to playtest, there are several things you can do:

1: Purchase the PDF for $2 on RPGNow.

2: Private message me to buy the print copy  for $5 plus $1 shipping.

3: Private message me to get a free PDF for playtesting.

4: Private message me to work out a deal (i.e. free or at cost) for a print copy if you're broke.

Here's the thing: most places, I'm just offering the text for sale. But this ain't most places. This is the Forge, and if you tell me that you earnestly intend to playtest the game, and in a pretty close (coupla months-ish) timeframe, then I will believe you. In such a case, any money changing hands becomes a suggested donation, very appreciated but not necessary. But this means you're really agreeing to playtest, with feedback, and not just sorta kinda thinking about it. If that's the case, the text reverts to being goods that I ask money for.

So, then! I'd love to see others enjoying my game and helping me refine the text into something that reliably produces the fun I've been having. Who's game?

Peace,
-Joel