Guillotine: Crown of Blood

Dive into a Gothic world that's rife with subterfuge and spellcasting alike, in this PBTA (Powered by the Apocalypse) hack that combines the dynamic, character-driven mechanics of Amour Astir with a dark, sprawling Gothic setting where the Crown reigns supreme. The Crown is a monarchical force that uses its populace for cannon fodder, magical tithing—whatever it wants. You play as a revolutionary with an axe to grind: some reason to want the King's head on the proverbial platter. You have magic, bargains, weapons, and grit at your disposal. You might even have friends and allies, if you're especially lucky. Either way, you and your players will craft a revolutionary narrative where the magic and prowess of the many can overcome the greed of the few.

Direct Action

Power corrupts, magic corrupts—even your ideals can corrupt you, or send you careening towards an early death. Alternatively, corruption can make you powerful enough to cannibalize the Crown, once and for all. It's a thin line to walk.

There's more than one way to fight the system. Fire magic, mechanical constructs, demonic rites and rituals, the ire of a god who trusts you—there are tons of tools at your disposal. Players can stick to their ideals and even impose them on other characters, through a system called Hooks, or they can just beat people senseless. A character tapped into demonic magics might use charm and guile to get his way; a player calling upon her righteous god might annihilate her foes with cauterizing rage. Some characters choose to ignore the theatrics of gods and demons, and just charge forward to stab the bastard. 

Members of the Cause

You might be a Partisan who sold their soul to better fight the Crown. 

You might be an Ordained priest or occultist, able to call the powers of gods and demons alike. 

You might be a Firebrand able to summon both fire and fervor with your words. 

You might be a Discarded Puppet, freed and taking up arms against the Crown that created you. 

You might have given your life for the Cause and are now able to bring the other dead back as a Revenant Orator. 

You might be a Shadow Cavalier who wields shadow itself. 

You might be a Promethean, testing the bounds of what transformation this new age of technology bring but stifled by the Crown. 

You might have loved a life of luxury as a Dilettante until circumstance or conviction align you against the Crown. 

You might be a Monstrous, hunted and hated by the very Crown that drains its subjects near dry. 

You might be something new and terrifying: a God-Thing shaping an unimaginable world in your wake. 

Play the Villains

It's fun to be the bad guy sometimes—and, in between Missions spent fighting the oppressive Crown, you'll get a chance to play the heel, too.

This game has three phases: Missions, Villain Turns, and Downtime. Where missions and downtime are fairly self explanatory—each representing either the core work of the Cause, or the time spent between Missions working on other projects—the Villain turn is straight from Armour Astir, and is a dynamic piece of gameplay that lets players shape the narrative arcs of the entire game.

In the Conflict Turn, players create the main actors of the Crown: the people representing the Crown's various branches of power. Players depict scenes which set up the conflict for future Missions and help shape the villains they will be fighting against. The characters you create in Villain Turns will show up as antagonists and threats in later Missions.

Creative Team

Co-author: Ash Schreuer 

Co-author: Elliot Wren Phillips 

Playbook Art and Layout: Sam Malabre 

Additonal Art: Evlyn Moreau 

Additonal Text: V Williams