Crux - A Solo Climbing RPG

The mountain does not care whether you make it. Crux is a solo roleplaying game by Ennio, published under the Owl Point Press label, about climbing a peak, falling short, and going back up anyway.

You play a Climber, one of three archetypes or one of your own making, and every attempt on the summit moves through the same three phases. In Ascend you draw cards from a standard deck to see what the mountain puts in your way and roll dice to get past it. In Fall the game asks what it cost you. In Rest you recover, reflect and decide what to change before you try again. Failure is not the end of a playthrough. It is the material the game is made of.

Between the mechanics sit five prompt tables that invite you to write about the climb, so Crux works as a tight card-and-dice game, as a journaling game, or as both. A full attempt takes two to three hours and no two ascents look the same. You need the book, a deck of playing cards without jokers, a few d4s and d6s, and something to write with.

The zine is 36 pages in full colour, with custom artwork, a one-page rules reference and a character sheet. It suits solo players who like a real challenge under the story, climbers and hikers who want to see their sport on the page, and anyone with a project they keep coming back to.

Add it to cart - it ships from Leeuwarden, ready to go.