Downrooted [Cairn]

Made for Cairn, as part of the A Town, A Forest, A Dungeon game jam.

Downrooted is a depthcrawl adventure for Cairn. In the adventure, the PCs will be interacting with three interconnected elements; The town, the forest, and the dungeons. 

The town of Brimton is a place of respite and resupply. It is from here that the PCs will stage their excursions into the forest. But it is also a place of opportunity and intrigue. 

• A magical town inspired by ancient celts and picts.
•  3 secretive characters to help or hinder
• 5 outsider factions looking to disrupt or work with the town
• A collection of quests and opportunities to earn the town's trust

The forest of Erstwald is unnaturally created and sustained by dark magic. The PCs will have many reasons to explore its depths, such as wealth, power, old magic, and a great mystery. 

• A simple depthcrawl mechanics able to generate many unique locations. 
• A dynamic ever changing forest. 
• A cast of magical forest dwelling characters.
• Over 10 unique creatures to encounter.  
• A trove of magical relics to acquire.
• A dark mystery to resolve.

The dungeons of the Shapers are ancient research stations built by an extinct people who vanished without a trace. Their experiments led them to discover a way to travel great distances in an instant, by striding through dreams. 

• A three 8-room dungeons to explore.
• The remains of an ancient experiment gone wrong. 
• Many weird devices and artefacts to wield.
• A large facility to find deep in the woods. 

Help me finish the game and get it into the physical world! 

I want to provide physical copies of Downrooted through print-on-demand services such as DriveThruRPG and Lulu. My work is almost done, but in order to get it out the door and into the real world, I will need some help. That is where Itchfunding comes in. 

I will be raising funds here on Itch to pay for an editor. Professional editing on a work like this is absolutely necessary and will elevate it to new heights. Unfortunately it is not within my budget to fully pay for an editor. As such I have one simple funding goal of $500. Once met, production of the final version will commence.

What is Itchfunding? 

Itchfunding is like Kickstarter except there's no deadline for the campaign. The campaign remains open until the funding goals are met. Once the goals are met I can pay my collaborators and we can finish the game. For your contribution you will receive the final PDF of Downrooted when it is released. The older pre-release version of the game will be available to download for free during the campaign.

If you have previously donated to the game while it was PWYW, you will receive the final PDF as well.  

What will the final book include? 

• Professionally edited text 
• Loads of new artwork
• Reworked dungeons
• Revamped forest locations
• Many small changes
• Refreshed layout

Follow me on Bluesky if you wish.

Book mock-up templates by Jean Verne