Blood Engine Essential

Blood Engine Essential is a complete OSR package in a lean, mean format. Inside the book, you will find everything you need to play brutal, bleak adventures in unforgiving worlds, easily compatible with all the best modules, monsters, and adventures of the Old School scene.

Old School doesn’t mean playing like it’s 1977

While born for the love of classics, Blood Engine’s rules are also inspired by games such as Mausritter, Savage Worlds, and Mordheim. Its simplicity in character creation and challenge resolutions hides deep customization options, thanks to a tag system that makes all items and creatures as different (and dangerous!) as you want. 

An elegant and stream-lined Clock mechanic elaborates and dictates the flow of all dangers and threats, giving the player an actionable tracker of their progress. Clocks also help track torches and resource use, like rations and healing salves.

Players at the center 

It’s all about players’ ingenuity and choices; the Blood Engine is designed to help you take center stage rather than your character’s sheet. The game is so mechanically hostile and unforgiving in its rules that it actively encourages you to find a solution without rolling the dice; asking the right questions and pursuing action without uncertainty in results is always the best choice.

And if you still want the thrill of a fight, a tactical and lethal combat system will meet your match; there is no to hit roll; everything always hits. Every roll counts on the battlefield; even a simple skirmish is a matter of life and death.

While the lethality is high, you can roll a new character in minutes, with a wealth of Roles that help you flesh out your new sacrificial lamb with exciting tools and qualities.

What you’ll find inside

Blood Engine Essential is a 79-page-long digital-only book with all the rules, every character creation tool you need, a solid progression system, a quick adventure, and dozens of weapons, spells, equipment, and monsters. 

About the authors

Blood Engine Essential is a project by Oddplan, an indie label and collective run by Nicola Santagostino, designer of the Blood Engine and Copperhead System.  Oddplan is based out of Italy, somewhere between lands. 

Sample art credits: Simone Tammetta 

Layout credits: Filippo Rivaroli