The ORPHEUS Protocol
A downloadable game
Since the dawn of time, humankind has struggled to survive the ravages of nature, the frailty of the body, and the cruel whims of fate. This is known by all. But what only the initiated know is that nature and its attendant miseries are the least of our concerns. There exist powers and realms beyond the comprehension of the unbroken mind, and the dark corners of the earth are home to the twisted offspring of these powers, and to exiles from these realms.
How has humanity survived in the face of threats whose very names can sear our souls? Some say by the grace of God. Some say by mere luck, or by the strength of the human spirit. All of these are wrong. We survive because we have captured some few of these supernatural threats and put them to use. Humanity has stolen from the gods a dark fire it cannot comprehend, and wields it desperately against the coming night.
ORPHEUS, a secretive paramilitary organization tracing its roots to ancient history, strives to maintain a monopoly on deployable paranormal power, operating in strike teams and secret cells around the globe. Their methods are ruthless, their resources bottomless, and their directive simple: Assess, Contain, Employ.
The ORPHEUS Protocol is a tabletop role playing game in which players explore a world of eldritch horror, occult espionage, and shadowy paramilitary engagement. To this end, players take on the role of supernaturally augmented or impeccably skilled operatives as part of ORPHEUS's eternal mission to protect the world-- and consolidate its supernatural power in the process. These operatives investigate strange occurrences, navigate dangerous social situations with cunning and finesse, and do battle with forces inconceivable to the undamaged human psyche. The ORPHEUS Protocol contains all that a group needs to learn, play, and design in the game, including:
- Rules for Operative creation.
- Resource management driven mechanics that promote an atmosphere of tense, life-or-death decision making.
- 17 feature-rich character Archetypes, which can be mixed and matched for limitless mechanical possibilities for PCs and NPCs alike.
- Advice to help new Directors run the game effectively.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $25 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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Cosmic horror, existential dread, the slow erosion of all that you are. Allowing the unnatural to kill you by inches in order to harness its power in the fight against horrors lurking just out of sight and beyond comprehension. Nightmare fuel fluff and just the right amount of crunch. Resource management, great mix-and-match character building, and a core mechanics system, the Blood & Breath System, that can easily be used for for many different genres of ttrpg.
I've been playing this game and system through its beta versions since 12/25/2017, as part of a 14 month long living campaign and as part of many short-term games and one-shots. I highly recommend it.
The long used elevator pitch for The Orpheus Protocol is "What if the X-Files were investigated by The X-Men?".
This is still very appropriate. A solid indie title, built on a system, Blood & Breath, that is both easy for new players, while having a depth and crunch that will appease Min/Max players and dice mathematicians.
I have played the game online via Discord for about two and a half years, starting with the beta 3.0 ruleset, and have had a good time, made good friends, and have been very happy to support this game on its way to a final ruleset and public release. Also continuing to support by introducing friends to the game.
Gameplay mechanics are varied widely and well balanced. If you want to run or play in a very loose and cinematic feeling game, that's in there. If you want to play in a taut meat grinder of a game with probable player character deaths, you can do that too. If you want to have a balance of both with times of levity and times of player choices very much having weight and feeling that they matter, go ahead, you can.
Character Archetypes are well designed and balanced, skills being as useful across the board as the player can imagine them and think their way into interesting and inventive uses of them.