Locus

What if the world was really against you? What if you couldn't escape? Struggle against the stress and pressure of the world - of your own guilt - bearing down upon you. There are no heroes here.

Locus is a bespoke, mystery/horror roleplay game with unique mechanics crafted entirely around horror.  

It is a game about flawed character, about exploring consequence and morality against a backdrop of very real, supernatural and monstrous danger.  

The game master assumes the position of a Director, who conducts their Cast (the players) in their tragic play of characters haunted by their own pasts and a scenario which aims to turn those haunts against them.  

The goal is two-fold - to unravel the mystery of the world, and then survive it.

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Locus is ideally played with 2-5 people, with one taking the role of Director (GM)
It requires a Standard Deck of Cards and 3D6 to play.
It is typically designed for 1-5 sessions of a few hours each.

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Game Features
Locus offers a number of unique features to facilitate the horror stories it is made to tell.

• Negative attributes - You do not decide how well your character might perform tasks. Instead, you score how badly they might do.
• Haunts - Every character comes with a Haunt. This is an event in their past that weighs upon them. This acts as the focus for the personal horror that character must confront.
• Custom made monsters - Locus includes the rules and a guide to create your own monsters to reflect each of the player characters, their fears and their failings.
• Item cards - Notable items are represented on cards the players can hold. However, they degrade with use, making each use a decision with consequences.
• Simple execution - The rules are designed to facilitate horror and provide meaningful decisions and cues for characters and Director while not getting in the way of the roleplaying experience.

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The Documents

The game is presented in two documents - a Director's Guide and a Player Guide. Potential players should ideally not read the Director's Guide, as it reveals many of the secrets they would be aiming to discover in play.   The Player Guide covers what you can expect as a player, the rules, character creation and some guidance on roleplay, interacting with the world and how certain conflicts will play out mechanically.  The Director's Guide contains all the tools needed to understand the lore of Locus and build and run your own game, guidance on working with players to get the most out of the personalised elements of your design including monsters tailor made to the player characters, and a full sample campaign. 

Both guides are included in the purchase and both are needed to play.

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The Locus Open Licence

Locus is released under the Creative Commons CC-BY licence. This means you can create games and content using the contents of this game provided you give attribution to it's creators. For more information visit here.

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Praise for Locus:

"This game is the definition of 5 stars in my book. The tone of this game is so distinct, which is not an easy task in the horror genre where so many things can blend together and look the same. The mechanics and game design itself are SO clever, from characters rolling against their own negative attributes and the system of check difficulty. It all plays so well into how the game calls itself: *personal* horror. Locus will be one of my top TTRPG recommendations for a table of trusted friends for years to come." -SirHeckalot, TPKRoleplay

"No exaggeration, this is the best horror RPG I've had the pleasure of playing. We streamed a four episode series over the course of a month, and it was spectacular! Unique game design, a modular framework that you can mold to fit your tables preferred style, incredibly intuitive mechanics... My only caveat (and this is far from negative criticism) would be that a session 0 is vital, and that everyone at the table should be able to trust each completely.  I can't recommend this enough for a mature group of friends that are looking for a stellar horror setting to try out!" - Andrew Hooper, LostCaravanRPG.

"Locus is a unique and innovative horror roleplaying game that takes a different approach to traditional tabletop RPGs. The negative attribute system and haunts add a personal touch to each character and provide a deeper exploration of their flaws and fears. Overall, Locus seems like a great game for players who enjoy delving into the horror genre and exploring the personal demons of their characters." - Crow, Itch user.

- Please note that we usually have physical copies for sale on this page, but they have been suspended during the Halloween Sale. The physical orders will returns later this year!