[Heroes Against Darkness] Free Indie RPG Released!

[Justin Halliday]

Heroes Against Darkness is now released!

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Heroes Against Darkness is a free, fast, flexible, and fully-featured fantasy d20 RPG system.  The game is quick to learn and play, while offering progressively greater options and flexibility as players develop their characters and explore the breadth and depth of the system.

The key aspects of Heroes Against Darkness are:

For Players:
• A game that's fast, fun and deep
• Streamlined rules system using unified mechanics
• Eleven character classes for all play-styles
• Three martial classes: Warrior, barbarian, berserker
• Two specialist classes: Rogue, hunter
• One hybrid class that combines magic and martial: Hospiter
• Five magi classes: Warlock, healer, canonate, necromancer, mystic
• Extensive character background and skill options
• Fast character building with plenty of depth
• Martial and specialist classes get meaningful combat choices through class-specific techniques that are based on trade-offs and the unique capabilities of each class
• Anima points-based magic system with five main schools focusing on each of the following; physical, healing, protection, necrotic and controlling

For GMs:
• A system that's easy for the GM to set up and run
• Intuitive and clear rules
• Set up unique combat encounters in minutes
• A simple ability test system for non-combat challenges
• Support for long-term campaign play
• Extensive GM's Guide to help run the game
• Huge bestiary with over 80 monsters
• A framework for quickly making custom monsters
• A comprehensive world-building guide
• Appendix of key tables for GMs

For all you indie RPG developers out there, here's a quick overview of what it takes to get where Heroes is now:

Version: v1.0
Revisions: 282
Pages: 231
Character Classes: 11
Monsters: 81
Total Words: 100,000
Illustrations: 68
Martial Powers: 80
Spell Powers: 210
Data: 2GB
Development Duration: 13 months
Total Work: 350 hours

You can download Heroes Against Darkness from the blog here:

http://heroesagainstdarkness.blogspot.com

edited to change the image into a link - RE

[greyorm]

Hi Justin, I'm curious why the free release with this much work put into it? What's your overall plan to monetize it or continue its development, if you have one? (And not saying you need to--many exceptional games have been released for free--just curious.)

[kksimons]

It looks like you really went at it~ if you don't mind me asking how much did it cost you to put it all together?

[Justin Halliday]

Hi Justin, I'm curious why the free release with this much work put into it? What's your overall plan to monetize it or continue its development, if you have one? (And not saying you need to--many exceptional games have been released for free--just curious.)

I actually don't have a plan to monetize it (foolishly).  It kind of started smaller and has grown over time to where it is now.  I think that the actual market for a non-clone, non-D&D, non-Pathfinder new system is pretty small, so a free release seemed the better idea.

It looks like you really went at it~ if you don't mind me asking how much did it cost you to put it all together?

Aside from my effort, I did pay for some of the artwork in the game. Obviously the cover art was a big part of that, plus the monster art inside which I bought as a collection of monster art (through a kickstarter).

All up, the game cost be about $600-$700 of direct financial outlay.

[kksimons]

It's very well done! Did you do editing, layout yourself then? What did you use for layout? It is all really well done!

[Justin Halliday]

It's very well done! Did you do editing, layout yourself then? What did you use for layout? It is all really well done!

Yep, I did all the editing and layout myself.  Editing sucks pretty hard.  For the layout, I just used Word.  I'm very familiar with it, and I find it easy to use.  I know all the pros use proper DTP software, but I didn't have the time or inclination to learn a whole new package.

[David Artman]

Is there anything you'd care to discuss, either regarding design decisions or your deliverable (i.e., proofing, style feedback)? The former will require significant time investment, by us, to read the book, unless you have specific questions about specific mechanics/systems and you can direct us to the salient pages/paragraphs.

[Justin Halliday]

Is there anything you'd care to discuss, either regarding design decisions or your deliverable (i.e., proofing, style feedback)? The former will require significant time investment, by us, to read the book, unless you have specific questions about specific mechanics/systems and you can direct us to the salient pages/paragraphs.

I've posted periodic updates here of the game and I've progressively settled the the individual mechanics of the game, but I'd love more feedback on the system as a whole.

[bosky]

Terrific quality for a free game! As has been said the art and layout are both top notch. Some of the art reminds me of the Diablo 1 manual (in a good way), especially the Canonate and Warlock.

As a D20 game there isn't much criticism to say, but I do like most of the additions/changes you've made to the core SRD.