TWO STRETCH GOALS MET!

The rulebook is now HARDCOVER at no additional pledge cost. And the first Voice of the Ancestors with four additional scenarios is added in PDF and/or print for backers 39€+.

HELP US ACHIEVE MORE STRETCH GOALS!

Favorite add-ons are "Black Machairodus" (new scenario) PDF for 3€ or print+PDF for 6€ and custom 3d6 (see below) for 8€.

Want to know what a Würm story looks like?

Scroll to the bottom of the project and read about the add-on scenario Black Machairodus.

More information (including character and community sheets) is available in this 7-page PDF:

http://www.editions-icare.com/docs/WURM-sneakpeak.pdf

Also, this #rpgnet chat with Würm author Emmanuel Roudier answers many questions:

https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/2015/11/18/qa-emmanuel-roudier-wurm/

French publisher Editions Icare in partnership with Nocturnal Media (US publisher of King Arthur Pendragon & Aquelarre) is proud to present the roleplaying game Würm in an English-language edition. Loved by players in France for the quality of its writing and illustrations, Würm is a game set at the very origins of humanity, in the last period of the Ice Age 35,000 years ago. The game is system-lite — characters don’t have Attributes or even Skills, but they are instead described by Strengths like Secret of the Bear or Eye of the Panther and Weaknesses such as Fearful or One-Eyed. And the nature of the game is at your discretion — you may play a game that’s more historically accurate or you may decide to incorporate fantastical elements like magic and the spirit world.

For the past eight years, Editions Icare has developed a reputation for publishing independent roleplaying games with strong themes. We would now like to share this bestselling game with a wider audience with this English-language edition. Würm will be professionally translated and then the text will be further developed by Nocturnal Media to make certain it achieves the high standards of the best RPGs.

In Würm you will find adventure in the prehistoric past of our own world, in a time before history began, thirty-five thousand years ago when man was not safe from the world around him!

In this long-forgotten time, many powerful creatures roamed far and wide over a vast territory covered in steppes and taiga, reaching from the white mountains to the raging sea: mammoths, aurochs, bison, giant deer, cave bears and cave lions. Among these huge creatures, two species of humans live in small communities of hunter-gatherers: the robust Bear Men (Neanderthals) and the taller Long Men (Cro-Magnon, or Cavemen).

When you play Würm, it will be up to you to imagine what life was like for our ancestors, and give YOUR OWN vision of this time before time. During your adventures, whether simply surviving or going on perilous hunts or legendary quests, your characters will gain strength, wisdom and prestige by exploring unknown territories, daring to enter the darkness of mysterious caves, seeking out the powers of ancient spirits, or challenging the creatures of the night, the ice and the fire…

All the rules you need to play Würm are included in the core rulebook, detailed over nine chapters. These rules were designed to be simple and clear. For the most part, they only require a few 6-sided dice. Most of all, they were designed to be well adapted to the atmosphere of the Stone Age. For example, to develop the characters, you won’t need skills and stats, but a number of Strengths and Weaknesses that are connected to specific totems. Additionally, Talents and Secret techniques represent the abilities that a character will have to learn, such as painting, shamanism or certain combat techniques.

The game rules have been developed to be as close as possible to established archeological sources, carefully relaying what we know of the technical knowledge, the environment and part of the culture of our ancestors. However, the world of Würm also leaves room for a touch of fantasy and adventure: you will therefore find rules that allow you to play with the real powers of totem spirits, as well as a whole range of fantastical creatures living along side the mammoths and the cave bears, such as fire spirits, witches and glacier giants…

So you may dive right into the prehistoric adventure of the world of Würm, the core rulebook ends with four introduction scenarios, each one providing a specific atmosphere, such as adventure, investigation, melancholy, or humor. One scenario is especially designed to introduce of younger players to the game.

So prepare your flint or ivory-tipped spears, and make certain your clan and your totem spirits are behind you. The adventure begins the moment you step outside your camp…

Technical information

The rulebook will be translated by two US natives living in France.

The core rulebook is US letter-sized (8.5"x11") of 148 pages (in French, page count may vary after translation), printed on 100g paper in black and white with 24 color pages.

The GM's screen is a 4-panel screen on very rigid board. Back will be in French, not in English (unless strectch goal is reached). Nevertheless, it will fully contribuates  to get your play a perfect atmosphere by his amazing front artwork.

The Artbook, will be a A4 20p. book in colour  with hardcover. It'll present all artworks from rulebook in a pleasant form. It'll be an unique print run, just for what is needed and numbered : a valuable collector!

Stretch Goals

UNLOCKED — •12000€ all printed rulebooks will be hardcove

UNLOCKED — •15000€ Voice of the Ancestors issue 1 translated (game information + scenarios). Pdf for all 39€+ backers, printed version for all 60€+ backers

NEXT - •20000€ Voice of the Ancestors issue 2 translated (game information + scenarios). Pdf for all 39€+ backers, printed version for all 60€+ backers

•25000€ LOCKED/SECRET!

Add-ons

To help achieve these stretch goals, we’re making several rewards available as add-ons. On the list is a new scenario as everyone has requested! It will be be written by Würm-designer Emmanuel Roudier.

• Illustrated Bookmark = 2€
• Scenario: Black Machairodus PDF = 3€
• Set of 4 Postcards featuring artwork from the game = 4€
• Scenario: Black Machairodus print & PDF = 6€
• set of custom 3d6 (see image above) = 8€

Or get all of this (dice + print/PDF scenario + postcards + bookmark) for 17€.

NOTE: You may only add physical add-ons (anything other than the scenario PDF) if you have pledged for a physical reward.

Add-On Scenario: Black Machairodus

Unfamiliar with the machairodus? Here!

Here is a description of the add-on scenario, which also gives you an idea of the exciting kinds of the stories you can tell in Würm.

The characters, young hunters from a clan of Long Men, are sent on a few days’ walk to retrieve good flint nodules from a sacred ground. When they arrive, hunters find that the large sinkhole where the flint is buried is flooded. As they wait for the waters to recede, the hunters watch as a a strange fossil skull is revealed. It’s the saber-toothed skull of a creature they have never seen. Thus begins the hunters’ slow descent into darkness. For the characters are now stalked, haunted, and possessed by the spirit of a dark and powerful being who lends them its awesome strength while corrupting their spirits. The shaman, the hunt leader, the voice of the ancestors, all their people and family soon turn their back on the corrupted hunters. What kind of curse afflicts them? Will they welcome the dark powers of the creature they have unearthed, or will they try to regain their clan's love and respect ? What if the only ones able to help the characters are their clan’s nearby enemies, the strange Bear-Men living in the misty mountains, the Ancient Men who were here before the Long Men arrived?