We revealed many accessories that will help make the Infærnum experience even more exciting, but you might be wondering how some of those items are used. The purpose of the post is to give more details about the book and its contents.
Infærnum is approximately 200 pages long and roughly divided into two parts. The first is the core game mechanics, where you learn how to create your character with their junk and blessings, how rolls work, and how the Dooms, Miracles, and Omens align, among other details and modifiers. Of course, on top of that, you will get detailed instructions about how to structure every day of your seven-day ordeal toward the end of your world.
However, the core role-playing experience of Infærnum is light on rules and heavy on mood and storytelling, where checks should be solved quickly, and decisions can have a devastating impact not only on your character but the fate of your whole setting! If you played our Gameplay Preview, you already got it.
But let’s talk about the other half of the book, which we simply call ‘Extras.’ It is an incredible collection of short supplements that bring new rules, settings, systems, and gameplay suggestions that you can mix and match at your will. That’s where you get to customize your experience and make the game more complex, bigger, and outlandish!
Now, we will try to give a quick breakdown of everything. The explanations will make way more sense if you try the Gameplay Preview Demo. Please take note that the translations of a few game terms might not yet be final.
Themed supplements:
Souls
What it is: A supplement with rules on the absorption of souls from defeated foes, which can be burned to improve the outcome of an action roll.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was inspired by souls-like video games, where souls are absorbed with each defeated enemy. As for the rules, the supplement was created to give the player a bit more control over the randomness of an action roll outcome. Omens allow rerolls, but souls are a different resource—they allow for the direct transformation of one die face to another.
Rifts
What it is: A supplement with rules on the exploration of dangerous locales, with various challenges.
Why it exists: Thematically, Rifts was created to include a classic dungeon exploration vibe to the game. As for the rules, it provides new possibilities for using miracles—beyond blessings—through the legendary artifacts found in each rift.
Colossus
What it is: A subsystem to battle gigantic fallen ones, who are much more powerful than standard enemies.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to represent the confrontation with bosses (or even if your apocalypse was brought by giant monsters). These formidable enemies go far beyond the usual difficulty of regular enemies in
Infærnum. As for the rules, it adds a more tactical combat element (yet with a narrative justification) that works almost like a game within the game, with specific rules for a group of characters to face a single colossal fallen.
Lord of Dread
What it is: A supplement with specific rules for the creation of Mega Rifts.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to reference the beautiful simplicity of the original Diablo. Rule-wise, it brings more specific mechanics to map out much larger rifts than usual—while the Rifts supplement focuses on creating challenges, this one focuses on the design of place with the help of a deck of cards.
Pacts
What it is: A supplement with rules for creating pacts, with boons and debts for characters.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to make even darker settings, with obscure entities willing to bargain with characters experiencing the apocalypse. As for the rules, it was created to provide extra possibilities in character creation (two new tables beyond the initial 5) and even flirt with the Advantages and Disadvantages of some other RPGs.
Cults
What it is: A supplement with rules for creating cults and their temples.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to allow the possibility of dealing with supplications (the game’s bounty system) in a slightly different way than mentioned in the book. As for the rules, it was created to relate to the Pacts supplement and speed up one-shots and cooperative games (without a GM).
Masters
What it is: A supplement with rules for creating specters that can be commanded by characters.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to reference worlds similar to Pokémon, Digimon, or even Persona. As for the rules, they were created to give players new possibilities to control accumulated dooms—which can be attributed to specters—and to inspire the use of deeds and miracles (through the powers of the specters). It's worth noting that this supplement tries to relate the imagined game with the real world—the fact that the player goes around seeking inspiration in the real world for the creation of specters in the created narrative makes this clear.
Paranoias
What it is: A supplement with rules for accumulating traumatic experiences until the state of madness.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to enable the creation of apocalypses that deal with cosmic horror and the loss of sanity of the characters—like in a Lovecraftian narrative. As for the rules, it was created to bring a new resource to characters, giving the chance to reduce dooms and delay the encounter with a horseman. Moreover, the central mechanic of this supplement is the only one that can change the fortune of a character (a positive trait of your character), turning it into a second misfortune (a negative one).
Territories
What it is: A supplement with rules for exploring the sectors of the game world.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to bring the game even closer to a sandbox game, including the use of hex tiles. The rules utilize a simple deck of cards and were created to inspire exploration in your narrative. Additionally, it's a supplement that brings rules related to the promised land (mentioned in the prophecy).
Domains
What it is: A supplement with rules on how the four horsemen's dominion unfolds in each sector of the game world.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to add more depth to the four horsemen in the game world. As for the rules, it was created to relate to the Territories supplement, allowing a reinterpretation of how events occur in the last days (by linking each event to a specific sector of the map).
Cyfærnum
What it is: A supplement with context about a futuristic setting for Infærnum.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to exemplify the possibility of creating apocalypses in any setting, interpreting the game's elements in infinite ways. Since this is a template for a setting, the focus of this supplement is not on introducing new rules. Still, there are tables that serve as examples for modifying even character creation according to the proposed setting.
Infærnaculum
What it is: A supplement with rules for using cards instead of dice.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created because turning cards fit very well with the idea of revealing what happens next. As for the rules, the intention was to bring an alternative to the game's dice rolls, swapping them for cards from a common deck.
Arcana
What it is: A supplement with rules for using the major arcana of the Tarot.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to provoke questions about the prophecy mentioned in the game. As for the rules, it was created to increase the possibility of generating ideas (beyond the 2d6 or the use of a common deck)—and to include a list of adjectives along with the verbs and nouns.
Chaos
What it is: A supplement with rules to assist in improvisation and GM-less play.
Why it exists: Thematically, it was created to instigate randomness in various game situations. As for the rules, it was created to assist improvisation and stimulate the narrative flow—especially in solo and cooperative games—but also to help players cope with the idea of playing without any preparation.
Other supplements focused more on mechanics and resources:
Sacred Tentacles: A detailed example of the structure and functioning of an
Infærnum supplication (the game’s bounty system).
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Infærnal Fallen One Generator: A resource to randomly create enemies.
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Infærnal Game Flow: A resource to organize the narrative into scenes.
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Infærnal End Oracle: A resource to assist the progress of cooperative games.
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Infærnal Point.crawl: A resource to create points of interest (locales) in each territory.
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Infærnal Pentagram: A resource for tactical positioning of characters in confrontations.
● Infærnal Frustum: This resource allows you to play in a world where the apocalypse happened a thousand years ago. It's a preview of the sequel to
Infærnum.
That was quite a read, but I hope you are excited with the depth of content included in the book–and how some of the tools and accessories included in the collector’s edition and the print and play set are used in the game. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions; we will try to answer them as best we can!
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