LIFTHRASIR Alpha
A Tabletop Skirmish Game
Listen closely, youngster. This is a story that has been told and retold for countless generations. Your duty will be to remember it, and retell it, as was my responsibility.
You and me, and everyone we know, we are not from here. We are the children of refugees one thousand grandfathers ago. Our thousand-fold grandparents came to this place across the black sea of the nightime sky, a sea more hostile and cruel than the deepest places of the blue seas you know. They came across that lifeless emptiness above us on a great boat, a boat larger than any city this world has ever known, guided by the lantern light of stars.
Our thousand-fold-grandfathers slept through the whole journey, locked inside cold sarcophagi that could halt the process of aging. You see, the blackest seas of the sky are so vast and deep that a person could live 100 lives aboard a great boat and still never see a single island in all their travels.
Our ancestors slept while the navigator sought for us a new home. He found islands beyond counting but none could sustain human life. Some were barren deserts with heat so powerful it would peel your skin and melt your lungs for breathing on them. Some islands were always winter and nothing could ever grow there. Others were hardly even islands, but places of murderous gas that would crush a man and dissolve him until he was gas, too. But somehow, against all odds, the great navigator of that ancient boat brought us to this place.
We did not arrive well. The landing on this island was violent and the people and relics on board were scattered across this place. Those of us who survived that landing settled. We spread, we built, we endured, we factionalized, we warred.
This is a harsh world we’ve come to, filled with monsters and hazards. But we can breathe here. We can grow food here. It’s not the home we were promised but it is the world we found ourselves on and it’s the only one we have since the great boat has been destroyed.
The ancient and great magics of the ship-builders have been forgotten but their spiritual instruments are still here, lost in the most dangerous places, guarded by the greatest horrors native to this island. We don’t remember the esoteric wisdom that created them or the sorcery that allows them to work, but these rare things can be wielded by the chosen among us.
Those who find themselves in possession of a relic are blessed by the gods. They are gifts to us from the spirits of our ancestors who wish to empower us to make and mold the world. A world without famine, without monstrous predators of the wilderness, without the endless tribal squabbling. Those ordained by heaven to discover an instrument are burdened with the responsibility to lead us and to rule over us as heaven sees fit.
I’ve met three anointed in my long life. I saw a man who carries a sword so heavy, one hundred men together couldn’t lift it. I saw a man turned into a creature as big as a house. I met a woman who can fold the universe like paper.
Many young people go out into that wilderness feeling the call of our ancestors, ignoring the warnings of their fathers and the tears of their mothers. They would be right to obey their elders. Few come back from their quest, and fewer still come back with a relic.
These relics are the means to discover something even greater still. Our navigator is still out there, Lifthrasir; a godlike spirit inhabiting a structure of metal, where he guards his great gate. His gate will produce anything you ask it. Anything that can be described with words and anything that can’t be described with words. Armies to avenge yourself against your enemies, cures for diseases with no cure, cities built from nothing. Make no mistake, young one, whoever finds the gate is chosen, selected by heaven. They will become as a god themself and the eternal emperor of this island. Whether that god is a benevolent hero or a tyrant from hell is yet to be seen.
LIFTHRASIR is a Sci-Fantasy tabletop skirmish game.
Thematically, imagine comic book superheroes (and villains) living in the middle ages, fighting enormous monsters—and each other—to collect artifacts that increase their power and clues to lead them to the God-King Maker called Lifthrasir.
Players recruit three heroes. Each hero is a unique individual with very powerful, unique abilities, and armed with fantastic artifacts to enhance their strengths or fill in gaps in their weaknesses. Different combinations of heroes are opportunities for innovative strategies to synergize their one-of-a-kind talents.
Currently there are 40 heroes to choose from. My goal is to eventually have 60.
The centerpiece of the battle is the monster. Even more powerful than the heroes, Monsters are a very dangerous presence, jealously guarding their treasures. The monster is a constant hazardous force that creates problems the players need to work around, or to exploit to use against their enemy.
There are currently 7 monsters being playtested, and 3 more in early development. My goal is to eventually have 10 or more.
The game uses cards and dice and takes place on a small 2’x'2’ board that will easily fit on most kitchen tables.
The game uses a unique rubber banding mechanic called “Limit,” that makes the game a real fight from start to finish.
The Rulebook
You can find the most up-to-date version and print-and-play resources here. (currently Alpha v1.0.2)
Abbreviated rules (minus printables) are here.
I want feedback. I live for feedback. This is a constant work in progress and I need other people’s eyes on it. Whatever you love and hate, email me and let me know.
Video Tutorial
Most people learn games by watching and playing, not reading. That’s why me and my buddy Smooth Operator tried making one. But my computer keeps crashing every time I try. So whenever I have that figured out, I’ll be sharing a video tutorial.