I would really love a game about, uhm... the basic concept is playing enchanted weapons, and the people who bear them? Like, even if the human bearer dies, the weapon goes on, and you are playing the history of this item? does that make sense?
Hello friend! Have I got games for you!
Chronicles of the Lost Relic, by Worldmaker.
Everyone wants it, and most will try to take it.
Yet, the Relic also seems to have a mind of its own. And it seems to be in control.
Chronicles of the Lost Relic is a fantasy journaling TTRPG about carrying a powerful relic. You are the Relic Bearer, and you must complete your goal to bring balance to the world, or to satisfy your lust for power.
A weapon is just one of six different choices in Chronicles of the Lost Relic. You follow the story of this item over what could be hundreds or thousands of years, following it as it trades hands, enables quests, and may even corrupt things over time. From what I can gather, the game centres around the relic, but you as a player embody the people who wield it. As a result, you will likely find yourself picking up new characters over the course of play.
I think this mode of play can allow the solo player to not just build the legend of an item, but also a history of various heroes and villains, which could be a very rewarding experience.
Boyfriend Dungeon: Life on the Edge, by trumoi.
The cult classic shack-and-slash, in an all-new format. Boyfriend Dungeon: Life On the Edge is a tabletop roleplaying game that lets up to 4 players (plus their Master of Ceremonies) explore their inner psyche, confront their fears, and also smooch swords! Roleplay as your favorite lasersaber or make up your own weapon-person. Wield your friends, defeat your enemies, and level up your love… around the table.
Boyfriend Dungeon roots its mechanics in Powered by the Apocalypse rules, as well as Rhapsody of Blood, which takes a lot of inspiration from the game Legacy: Life Among the Ruins.
The NPC description on the store page reminds me of the antagonists in the Persona series - normal people whose actions or inner lives have turned them into monsters, who need to be fought in order for them to re-discover their humanity. I think that in this game each player embodies two forms: the wielder and the weapon.
If you want to explore the inner lives of spear, swords and axes - including their love lives - you might like Boyfriend Dungeon: Life on the Edge.
Artefact, by Jack Harrison.
ARTEFACT is a story game for one player, designed for contemplative solo play.
In the classic dungeon crawl, you follow the lives of adventurers as they overcome challenges to gain prestige and, most importantly, magical treasures. But what were those treasures doing before the adventurers came along? How many aeons have passed, in silent darkness, since they were last used?
ARTEFACT shifts the focus to the perspective of a single magical item, and its history as it passes through the hands of many different keepers. You’ll feel the weight of time as the item is lost or abandoned again and again, the dust & decay piling around it until it’s found again by someone new.
There are many different magical items that you can follow across the span of generations in this game, but the two that will probably stand out to you are The Weapon and The Shield.
When you select an artifact to follow, you also choose a number of traits to describe it, and also draw the artefact to get a good idea of what it looks like. You’ll also have to answer a number o questions about the artifact, designed to fit the kind of item you choose. Then you’ll navigate the story of its life by filling out the keepers who held onto it, the time in between each keeper, and the actions that the item finds itself participating in, adding stories to its legend as time goes on.
If you want a solo exercise that can give depth to something that you might even want to drop into another campaign, you might be interested in Artefact!
You Are A Magic Sword, by beatingthebinary.
You are a magic sword, sleeping in your scabbard.
Remember the hands that last wielded you, how they felt around you.
This is a business card game, and I think it feels more like a writing prompt than a fulll game. It falls in the family of sworddream games, which from what I can understand, is a movement that originated with in the OSR and similar spaces to invite diverse and passionate people into the space. According to the nine principles of *DREAM, these games value experimentation, anti-canon, emergent stories, generative worlds, non-violent play, and more.
You Are A Magic Sword invites you to create a story based off of a few small lines. I think it might be a good excuse for a writing exercise, or perhaps combined with some other small game-things to generate an interesting story.
Heartbearers, by Whimsy Machine.
It's a dangerous world of heroes and monsters. You play in pairs: a sentient weapon and their bearer. You go on thrilling adventures with other pairs. Be the greatest fighter pair through the ultimate feat of strength: making friends!
Long ago weapons realized that their bearers can get really hurt in battle, so culture shifted: the goal of combat changed to skillfully clash weapons, not harm bearers. Two weapons going head to head can show off their magic, abilities, and legends. Colors burst, sparks fly—it's intense!
Only half of the players in this game play as the weapons, as the game depends on relationships between the weapons and the people who wield them. While the interaction between weapon and bearer is largely a partnership, these partnerships can come in conflict with each-other, whether that be in the nature of some kind of rivalry, or perhaps a difference of opinion.
What’s interesting about Heartbearers to me is that the goal of the characters is to develop friendships with each-other, and the way the game centres that goal around combat. You don’t fight each-other out of a source of outright hostility - you fight to know each-other better, and get a better understanding of who your opponents are and what they want. Your characters are built up out of descriptive words as well as keywords, if you choose to play a weapon.
At the beginning of combat, weapons roll 2d12 and take the highest result as their points pool, with point expenditures allowing them to use special actions such as shifting form, casting magic, or highlight important moments the past. The Bearers of the weapons are authors of the reason behind the combat, and use the lower result of the die roll as their source of points, using those points to banter with each-other, declare personal opinions, or encourage their weapon in combat.
If you like what I do and want to show a token of appreciation, feel free to give me a tip on Ko-fi!
