Defenders Almanac HC

An extensive illustrated guidebook to the besieged lands of the Commonwood and a rules-light tabletop roleplaying game for collaboratively telling short stories of animal resistance to the machine invasion ~ from T.L. Simons, creator of Defenders of the Wild and Bloc by Bloc with fantasy author Margaret Killjoy, game designer Henry Audubon, illustrator Meg Lemieur, and writer Patricia Noonan.

The Defenders Almanac features extensive reproductions of in-world documents such as histories, maps, botanical guides, short stories, and diagrams that are all paired with evocative illustrations. The final section of the book details the complete rules for a bespoke and streamlined roleplaying game system designed for quickly diving into short stories of sabotage, rescues, escapes, espionage, heists, and other forms of clandestine resistance.

This stand-alone role-playing game and guidebook vastly expands and elaborates on the conflicted world of the Commonwood, first introduced in the cooperative board game Defenders of the Wild.

Each story requires a storyteller and 2 or more players to roleplay as the main characters: animal Defenders embarking on a pivotal and life-changing mission in the war against the machines. Players build their characters using a character web that expands as the story progresses unlocking new proficiencies and unique abilities. Significant actions are resolved using six-sided dice and the average story lasts 3-5 chapters that are each approximately 1 session of gameplay.