Torchbearer is written by Thor Olavsrud and Luke Crane and published by The Burning Wheel. Torchbearer decribes itself as a "riff on the early model of fantasy roleplaying games". In Torchbearer you do not play a hero as such, but rather an adventurer - one who explores dangerous places (frequently underground) battling monsters in order to retrieve their treasures. It is a game of resource management and of survival... and the fun is found in doing just that. You "win" at Torchbearer by keeping your player character alive.
Sometimes we gamers forget what the World's Most Popular Role Playing Game is/was all about. In its early days, the game was about exploration and survival in a fantastic milieu created by the referee from imagination. The fun and the stories that emerge from playing this game come from what happens at the table as the referee and players discover together just what could happen when their characters interact with the setting. The rules govern game probabilities and time and resources and the dice determine what happens when chance is involved. Many aspects in the game are abstracted, often intentionally so, in order to better facilitate the use of our imagination. The game rewards creative play and clever solutions through not limiting to a set of skills or abilities just what players may try. Succeed at your attempt and your character survives, gets rich and levels up. Failure at the attempt simply results in rolling up a new character, which can also be fun. Everything that happens during the game is part of the unfolding story of your game experiences. The basic concept and style of play of the original game remains popular to this day - after all it gave rise to a new hobby and has arguably changed popular culture in a number of ways.
Physically, Torchbearer reminds me immensely of that original Advanced Game hardcover in its size, layout and feel (even down to the texture of the cover!). The description of the default setting set forth in the opening chapter, "The Light of Civilization Flickers", brings to mind my own gritty campaign world which I have developed over many decades of play. Characters adventure because there are few opportunities for social advancement and wealth other than monster slaying and treasure hunting. In such a world adventurers carry their torch into the darkness, pushing back the forces that would snuff out the light of human civilization if left unchecked.
The Torchbearer game mechanics revolve (wheel metaphor!) around a pool of six-sider dice. Skill and frequent assistance from other characters may determine how many d6 to roll. Success is rolling each four, five or six on a die. The difficulty of a thing is expressed in terms of how many successes are required in order to avoid negative consequences. Torchbearer keeps track of food, water, ammunition, character health and any sources of light. Running out of resources can lead to increased difficulties and ultimately your character's demise. Characters start out in a "Fresh" condition and can become "Hungry and Thirsty", "Angry", "Afraid", "Exhausted", "Injured" "Sick", or "Dead" as play progresses, resources run out, and tests are failed.
Much like its inspiration, the ancestral Advanced Game, Torchbearer is not a simple system. It takes a couple reads to get a working understanding of the unique concepts involved, but it all makes so much sense once mastery is achieved. Torchbearer focuses on the essential game concepts that made playing an adventure game such special enjoyment the way many of us remember having enjoyed it back in the '70s and '80s. This isn't "high fantasy/ high adventure", rather Torchbearer is a game about discovery and survival and it rewards players who develop skill at playing the game.
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