The time has come Blood Engine Lite!
A few days before Modena Play 2023 Nicola Santagostino has released, on the platform itch.io, a lite version of the Blood Engine. It is its OSR system that is suitable for challenging gamers.
Do you know this author? Then if you follow our site, you know for sure that he has written for us several times. If you want a more in-depth biography, here's a couple of lines for you.
Nicola Santagostino – Biography
Nicola Santagostino, born in 1983, has always felt a dangerous attraction to what is hidden behind reality. Especially remaining fascinated by the small and large differences with which each culture tells the world in which he lives.
He is passionate about storytelling in all its forms. He continued his studies in anthropology and philosophy in parallel with a passion for role-playing. He has also dedicated himself to cultivating the love inherited from his parents for the worlds of cinema and literature, both as an enthusiast and as a critic.
Alongside the humanistic preparation is the commitment in the social field. Starting from university activism, he arrived at volunteering in sectors related to the anti-mafia. Here he gained a background in the field of training in legality and in the knowledge of the mafia phenomenon in Italy and in the rest of the world.
ALSO READ: EPIGONI – A MYTHPOP RPG
He has also held several collaborations in the role-playing industry. First as a reviewer for Lokee, the fantasy social network, and then as a consultant and collaborator for some Italian role-playing games. For GGStudio you can find his works in Enascentia, of which he dealt with part of the Bestiary of the basic manual. In the first Almanac of the Wild Worlds of him are some optional rules for Deadlands (more precisely "The Kitchen of the Weird West" and "The Six Colts of the Devil"). He also acted as a consultant for Stirpi Reiette, expansion of the Cabal role-playing game by the Crimson Lodge Collective (published by GGStudio). Together with them he participated in the creation of the free adventure module for Cabal, "The Mysteries of Wulfburg".
He actively collaborated in the drafting of the volume #UrbanHeroes VM18 for Tin Hat Games, expansion of the role-playing game #UrbanHeroes by Alessandro Rivaroli and Matteo Botti.
ALSO READ: BRANCALONIA – THE SPAGHETTI FANTASY – A NON-REVIEW
And there's more!
He acted as rules consultant for Epic Party Games for the Kickstarter project of the spaghetti fantasy setting for Dungeons and Dragons 5e “Brancalonia” by Acheron Games. For that project he also wrote some additional text for the "Macaronicon" expansion manual.
He was, together with Luca Salvoni and Stefano Salvoni of Scuoladigdr, one of the authors of an unofficial and totally free module entitled "Buried legends of Glantri: Archeology of D&D".
As a speaker he has participated in various meetings related to both pop culture and social issues. Also always looking for points of contact between the two realities. Among the most recent interventions: “Mafia, addictions, violence, racism. Gdr to work on”, “Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll! Dealing with hot topics without getting burned" for Lucca Educational, an internal path at the Lucca Comics & Games 2018 fair. "Shaping the boundaries of reality - David Cronenberg's cinema" for the Tortona Cinema Circle and "The mafia and pop culture" at the inside the path "100 steps towards March 21, 2019" for the Libera association.
He is currently the author of Epigoni – Gdr Mythpop, a project of which he also oversaw the Kickstarter campaign as project manager and the subsequent production of the volume, in collaboration with the publishers Dreamlord Games and Nowhere.
Blood Engine Lite – some information
Il Blood Engine is an OSR-style RPG that aims to provide a lethal, tactical, and choice-based experience. The rulebook draws inspiration from games such as Mouseritter, Savage Worlds and Mordheim, to create a system that rewards careful management of resources and focuses on the emergence of the narrative, problem solving and informed decision making, providing an experience collaborative gameplay and based on the choices of the characters.
And don't forget the six basic principles:
- The answer is not in your file. It is up to the players to find solutions to the difficulties placed before the characters, not the abilities present on the
card or dice - If you roll the dice you have already lost. Rolling dice always involves an uncertain situation; better look for safe solutions
- The risk makes everything more interesting, but it must be known. Rolls must be visible and the consequences for risky choices must always be paid. The GM, however, must leave clues so that the players can understand the risks they take
- You are adventurers, not epic heroes. The characters are not heroes fulfilling legendary sagas, but adventurers and explorers in a wild and hostile world. Therefore it is important to act in the game with this awareness
- Fighting is the worst solution. Always. Combat should never be the first solution to a problem
- Play to find out. Explore the world, experience adventures, let any stories emerge accordingly and let it be the whole table a
discover them together
Thoughts and conclusions on the Blood Engine Lite
First, I was very amazed at the amount of material Nicola released for free with this product. Although I shouldn't be surprised at all, knowing him. This author has always "badly" accustomed to his community. Where I see 4-page quickstart (literally, I swear, I downloaded one a few days ago ed) here instead we have 64 pages full of drawings and with which you can already start playing!
Personally I also got to try it last year and it was a traumatic and dramatic experience. It is very true that you have to approach the game with a different mentality, also because otherwise the players literally go nowhere. I still remember exploring the cave which turned out to be a death trap for players accustomed to D&D. Guaranteed fun, though!
In any case, the author has released it for free, so why not give it a try? Want another reason? You can play a cook and I've been waiting to use a catapentula again since WHRPG!
Download!
bleed!
Survive!
And let's hope he doesn't hate me too much for changing his new war cry!
