Necromancer Heretic
A downloadable game
You were a Void Sorcerer under the Solar King.
After your tryst with the Prince was discovered, you were banished and the Prince was executed.
In desperation, you’ve returned to perform an unsanctioned resurrection on the Prince.
What is this?
Necromancer Heretic is a solo card and journaling game. You are a sorcerer who wishes to bring your lover back from the dead. Complete the resurrection ritual and escape before you are killed by the king’s guard! Using just a deck of cards and blackjack mechanics, you’ll need some skill and a bit of luck to survive!
Note that this game has references to violence, death, and blood.
What do I need to play?
In addition to the game rules, you need a standard deck of cards with jokers removed, paper, and something to write with. The game length depends on how much time is spent journaling, but can take 1+ hours.
A virtual tabletop can be used in lieu of a physical deck of cards. https://playingcards.io/ is a great site that handles cards very well.
What's included?
The game is a 28-page pdf with lots of great illustrations.
It is formatted to be printed as a 5.5'' x 8.5'' booklet.
Download includes:
- 28-page game pdf (single page and spreads version)
- black-and-white printer friendly version
To learn more, check out the reviews below.
Video review by The Gamers Rest:
Written Review by Idle Cartulary
Physical copies?
Physical copies of the game can be found at the following sites:
The artwork in this game is used with permission by Charles Ferguson-Avery of Feral Indie Studio. https://feral-indie-studios.itch.io/
This game is Human Made. This means that no AI-generated art was used in the creation of this game. Check out the Human Made icon pack by HINOKODO: https://hinokodo.itch.io/human-made
Come hang out at the Junk Food Games discord to discuss this game and other ttrpg stuff.
Necromancer Heretic is now available in French! It was translated by Valentin Daniel of Maison Nébuleuse. Check out their hack of Necromancer Heretic, called Solsticia Détective!
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copies
Feel free to take a copy!
Each time this game is purchased, rated, or reviewed, I will add another community copy.
Development log
- Necromancer Heretic now available in French!8 days ago
- Necromancer Heretic out now!May 01, 2024
Comments
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Hey! Just letting you know Necromancer Heretic in the June 16 issue of The Soloist substack.
Yes, I saw this morning when the email came out! I was so excited to see it in there! Big fan of the Soloist!
What a nice premise!
Look, I'm a professional translator and I would love to translate your game into Portuguese and Spanish.
This is essential to expand your audience. Think about all the big brands of the industry, they are all over the world because of their translations :)
Don't worry about the budget, we can discuss a comfortable point for you and for me. :)
You can check my portfolio here and here is a side project I have translating open license RPGs (not your case, but you can check it anyway).
So, how does it sounds?
Hey! Looks cool :) Any chance of more community copies being added? It's all good if not. I'll just have to wait until I have some spare money.
Hello! Thanks for your interest! I've been adding copies periodically. Usually a handful each week
No worries :) I'll keep an eye out or buy one if I'm paid first. Looking forward to having a look
I played this game on my stream (link below for those interested) and it was well received. The world building is the right mix of inspiring without being too prescriptive or detailed. It gives you a few simple poetic paragraphs that largely leave you to interpret their meaning (e.g., what even is a void sorcerer? etc.)
The mechanics took me a bit to wrap my head around. However, to the creator's credit, they have a detailed demonstration each round of play that is quite helpful. There were some areas I might have wanted confirmation on--such as whether your hand persists from round to round until it breaks or hits 21--but when I thought about it, I could reason out the proper interpretation.
It has shades of "Balatro" in that it is a traditional card game fused with later card game ideas--like special abilities tied to suits. The game cycle gives meaningful prompts that are results of both random chance and deliberate strategy. These events tie well to the journalling aspects of the game.
It's not so challenging a game I would say it works perfectly fine without the RP elements, but it is a meatier set of mechanics than I expected and I appreciated that.
I recommend it! It's a good price, for good art, made by actual people, and straddles its genre lines well.
(P.S. Stream linked below for those that want to see a rough rundown of play)
Thanks so much for checking out and playing my game! I just watched the stream and it was so fun! I loved the story crafting throughout that you did and final story was amazing!
From what I could tell, I think you got the majority of the rules correct while playing. One thing I noticed: during the Cast phase, you only add cards to the Guard hands when their total is below 17. And you never have to add a card to your own hand during the Cast phase.
I really appreciate you spending time with my game!
Thank you for watching!
Oh! Good to know. If I run it again (and I probably will to finish the story at some point) I'll clarify the rules.
This is so fucking cool! Amazing art direction and style, and the game is so interesting. I haven't gotten to play it just yet but I'm sure that it'll be great
Thanks so much!
Very cool, blackjack-based solo game with an evocative theme. Highly recommend!
Thank you!!